Thomas the Tank Engine 1st Birthday Card

Copyright Caroline Makes dot Net

This card is obviously for my friend's one-year old son Alex! I know a lot of small boys like Thomas the Tank Engine so when I found this picture of Thomas - it's actually from the end of a wallpaper border - I decided to cut it out and make it the centre point for the card. I had some foam letters and numbers that I think I got from The Works, that are a bit too childish for most of my cards, but I thought would work well on this. There was just enough room to spell out Alex's name and I added the number 1 in the top corner.

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Restaurant Review: Bill's, Epsom

C) Copyright Caroline Makes dot Net

It seems ages since I went to the cinema – the last time we drove the half hour to our preferred cinema in Epsom, we discovered the film we wanted to see was listed on the website as 3D but actually only showing in 2D, so we turned around and drove home! The other half is quite into his Marvel movies and they do look better in 3D….

 

The time before that, we had a bit more time before the film and so I thought we could venture slightly further for dinner (so this time, all the way down the end of the high street and round the corner!).

 

I’ve eaten at Bill’s restaurants before though never the one in Epsom. This one has two floors with some cosy booths as well as standalone tables, and an outdoor seating area but the weather wasn’t good enough to be outside.

 

I wasn’t going to have a starter but since my fiancé wanted one I decided to have the houmous – which they spell hummus – and piadina bread, which is a large round Italian flatbread served folded and slightly warm, which was delicious.

 

For my main course I had a halloumi burger but the thick slab of cheese was a little too solid; I’d have preferred it to be slightly melted. It came with fries and a mayo dip and tasted good but after the houmous as well was far too much to finish!

 

Bill’s does provide a good selection of food and judging by the number of families we saw is quite popular with children as well as adults and it made a nice change to eat here before going to the cinema.

 

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This content is for http://ift.tt/1dErdfS only

A message to content thieves: it has come to my attention that a couple of other blogs are stealing my content on a regular basis. If you are reading this on another personal blog that is not http://ift.tt/1dErdfS, please let me know.

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BBQ Pulled Pork - finished on the barbecue

I've made pulled pork in the slow cooker before with barbecue sauce flavour, but I've never actually done it on the barbecue.

I found a recipe booklet in my cupboard called 'pulled pork for lazy days' from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board - I have no idea where I got it from. It includes recipes like chilli con carne pulled pork and pulled pork Middle Eastern flatbreads but I decided to start with the basics and make the BBQ pulled pork rolls. It takes about 6 hours to cook on a low heat in the oven and then you finish it off on the barbecue - though that last part is optional. The weather turned out to be not very good that evening so we didn't put the barbecue on in the end!

To serve 6 (with leftovers), you need:
1.6kg pork shoulder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
2 tbsp. American mustard
6 bread rolls to serve

Preheat oven to 220C, fan 200C, has 7. Line a roasting tin with a sheet of foil large enough to go over the top of the meat as well as underneath. Remove the string from the pork shoulder and unroll and put it in the tin on the foil; fold the rest of the foil as you don't want to cover the meat just yet.

Mix the salt, sugar, paprika and mustard. Rub half the mixture over the pork and reserve the rest. Put the pork in the oven for 30 minutes to brown.

After 30 mins, turn down the oven to 150C, or 130C fan (Gas Mark 2). Take the tin out of the oven and fold the rest of the foil over the pork, return to the oven and cook for about 6 hours.

For the last 30 mins of cooking transfer the foil-wrapped pork to a hot barbecue. To serve, carefully unwrap the foil and pull the meat apart with two forks and stir in the rest of the rub mix.

Serve in bread rolls. I found this pulled pork a little dry compared to the ones I did in the slow cooker but the meat was really tender and if the weather had been good enough to finish it off on the barbecue I think it would have been even better!

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Teddy Bear and Birthday Sentiments Stamped Card

This card is similar to another one I made a while ago, where I used a rectangular rubber stamp that had 'happy birthday' in different fonts as the background across the whole card. I also stamped the design once onto a blue banner which I stuck at an angle across the card. I had a bag of mixed card toppers I'd bought from Ebay and found a teddy bear on a lightly patterned paper with a blue bead necklace, which matched the colour scheme of the card.

I haven't had time to do any card making for about six months as I was too busy wedding planning so I'm looking forward to getting back into it soon and being able to put a bit more time and thought into what I make.

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Meal Planning Monday - Week 29 2016

Monday
Salmon and veg for me (on the meal plan last week but didn't do it), chicken chargrills and mashed potato for him

Tuesday - home late as I have an after-hours meeting at work so will get my husband to put on something from the freezer for dinner. Or he can barbecue as today is meant to be a total heatwave!

Wednesday - out for drinks with a friend

Thursday - spiralized veg with mince for me (like spaghetti Bolognese), frozen pizza for him

Friday - spicy seafood chorizo paella from Inspiralized for me, gammon and chips for him

Saturday
Lunch- fishfinger sandwich on doorstep bread for me (on the meal plan a week or two ago but didn't do it), bacon sandwich for him
Dinner - either at the cinema or outdoor theatre in the evening, depending on the weather and whether Shakespeare can win out over Star Trek! So might need dinner a bit earlier and think I will cook the chicken tikka masala I didn't do last week, if there is time. Or if it's really nice we will barbecue.

Sunday - at another car event, this time at Castle Combe, so out all day

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Afternoon Tea at the Skylounge, Hilton Tower of London

Before I went away to get married and go on honeymoon, my colleagues surprised me with a lovely send-off by arranging a surprise afternoon tea at the Skylounge, the rooftop bar at the Doubletree Tower of London hotel. There’s seating both inside and out, with a great view over London from the 12^th floor of the hotel. It’s open for lunch or dinner or drinks in the evening (when there is sometimes a DJ), or you can have afternoon tea.
 

 

We had the champagne afternoon tea (£40, or £30 without champagne); I was expecting something quite traditional so was pleasantly surprised at a first course of sliders (mini burgers); everyone was served one each before the three-tier cake stand arrived.

 

The sandwiches were a mixture of sliced bread and mini rolls, with coronation chicken, cucumber and cream cheese, egg and watercress, poached salmon and horseradish.

 

 

The scones were nice and we had a debate about whether you should put jam or cream on first. But as I don't eat jam I just have the cream!

 

 

 The desserts were surprisingly large - the treacle tart was a proper slice, not a bite-sized morsel, and it was really good. There was a lovely light mousse - in a choice of two flavours - with a mini meringue on top, and a square of carrot cake, which I wasn't going to try because I felt I couldn't possibly eat any more, but was persuaded and was very glad I did!

This is not the best afternoon tea in London but it is very nice and the view is lovely - so I'd definitely recommend it for a summer's afternoon.

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