Food Glorious Food!

Monday 6 January 2014


Hi again. I've been a bit slack on the old blog front. I know I've been a bit slack because the Grumps said to me yesterday evening "Sue, whatever's going on???" and I said "What do you mean?" mentally trying to recall what I'd racked up on the credit card over Christmas. "You haven't posted since Christmas Eve!" My first thought was "phew it's not the credit card!" My second thought was "hmmm, he has a point".

Admittedly it wasn't my fault - I just haven't been in much. I was abducted by eating drinking aliens aka George's God Parents who persuaded us to stay over on New Years Eve and then bolted the door and wouldn't let us go home for a few days. All we were allowed to do was hang out in jim jams and eat delicious food and be plied with drinks. It was torture :o)  Their evil plan was to make us fat and turn us into weebles. They succeeded.

But we escaped. Back to our cold house complete with bare fridge. But there's no place like home is there? Bare fridge or not.

Confession time now. I slobbed in my slobbiest gear over Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed wearing these joggy bots from Uniqlo. They are slim cut and not the thickest cotton and they do loosen up and bag a little as the day goes on but I was at home and no one was looking and they were very accommodating especially after a few of these :o)

Heston's Spiced Mince Pies #nomnom


I was also very grateful to be slipping them on after a visit to Grandma who's a bit good at cooking.



Beef & Guiness stew with horseradish dumplings served with homemade chips.


and followed by a rather hefty slice of homemade apple pie.

A favourite of the boys. I confess to not finishing mine. My belly protested!


and I may have needed them again after a family meal out ....




See the synchronised chopsticks?


And a visit to the Trafford Centre and a walk past the Selfridges food hall might have resulted in one of these meringues ....



and just one of these salted caramel maccarons coming home with me.

I cannot resist salted caramel anything.


Err ... basically I ate my bodyweight through Christmas. And I have the thighs and belly to show for it.

But something's got to give folks and yesterday was about the first time I stepped out of the door in relatively normal clothes to do a supermarket shop.





After a lovely period of really really relaxed (we are talking joggy bots, joggy bots and more joggy bots) dressing, I felt the need to don real clothes. I nicked the Mulberry scarf from the Grumps wardrobe - this one is a kind of boucle type wool and the colours are very accommodating of anything you want to wear it with. The pattern is the one that you find in the Scotchgrain Mulberry bags of old. And the £14 H&M peacoat which has now sold out got an outing too. I've still not got round to changing the buttons though and that's because I've not ordered my buttons yet. But you know how it is, the world stops at Christmas doesn't it? Or is that just me?

Anyway, this is a quick post to bring me in to 2014 and sums up what I've been doing since my last post. Basically eating a lorra lorra food.

Take it you all did the same?




27 comments

  1. Definitely did the same, time to try to be good now! Interested to get some ideas for looking smart whilst working from home. I'm out doing nursery run morning and evening so like to look nice and always try to make an effort! but don't find jeans all that comfortable to sit in all day working, any tips? p.s. Lovely colours I'm that scarf and I like the way you've put that outfit together!

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    1. Hi, I'm on the no snacks bandwagon. It's hard. I usually also have double breakfasts (I know I know) but I've made myself cut back. As for looking smart whilst working at home - I'd have to have a think. I'm a bit of a slob. I change out of jeans sometimes and in to something "a little more comfortable" after the morning school run and then change back into the jeans for the afternoon run. All a matter of keeping up appearances. I have to say over the summer when I was a little heavier - I found dresses were the way to go. A shift dress is fab and nothing cutting across the waist. A dress always looks like someone's made an effort.

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    2. Good to know I'm not the only one then! Dresses are fab in summer and so easy. Will need to be on the look out!

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  2. Yup. And still eating...

    www.nomadicd.com

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    1. I wish I still was! Happy new year Defne :o)

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  3. THAT FRIED CRULLER DONUT THING.
    I love dimsum. UGH. Why did everyone start a diet now?? Steaming hot food is great in the winter!

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    1. Is that what it's called? I think the one we had was really good as the outer rice noodle layer was quite thin and translucent and that's usually taken as a good sign that the dim sum chef is quite skilled. But I confess I may be watching what I'm eating but it's still hot food. No rabbit food for me.

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  4. gosh the food looks amazing! dem meringues! if it's any consolation i think quite a lot of us were slobbering about the house during christmas break :) well, welcome back!

    steph / absolutely-fuzzy.com

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    1. The meringue was really sweet but I expected it to be and I ended up giving it to the Grumps. The inside was sticky and gooey though which is how a good meringue should be. Didn't you make a rather awesome meringue pie for W just recently? I wouldn't know where to start apart from egg whites - I do not bake anything other than brownies. I'm a one trick brownie pony.

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    2. haha yeah i did! apparently it's a birthday tradition of his - only took him three years to tell me! if you're a one trick pony at least you're a one trick brownie pony, the best possible one trick pony there is!!

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  5. Fabulous food and great outfit! I made a beef stew as well that always goes down very well. We had our dim sum fix in London before xmas and the table looked pretty similar to yours :-) So did Santa cough up - I mean did you get some of the things on your xmas list?

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    1. I got a Longchamp bag which I'm test driving. It fits lots of iPads in it as I found out over the Christmas period. And it took me a week before I even realised it had a pocket in it - it was well hidden! I still would prefer a bag with a messenger strap but when I tried the leather Pliage, I wasn't as sold on it as I thought I would be. That's not a bad thing as that's a lot of pennies saved.

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  6. Glad it's lunch time as I read this Sue so that I can indulge my hungers pangs after seeing these glorious foodie photos!

    What a gem you've unearthed from the Grumps wardrobe.....he's obviously a very stylish fella too! x

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    1. He has some good scarves tucked away which I have laid claim to. I found another plain Burberry cashmere scarf and I have to say something - boy do Burberry know how to make a cashmere scarf. I've tried others since and it's unfortunate that they all have to compare to the Burberrys - everything else feels that much thinner and basically not as lush. I have been ruined!

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  7. You're so mean to post all this food porn, it looks delicious! Makes my mouth water! I just had my first "normal" lunch today: soup, green beans and whole bread but what I wouldn't give for this stew and French fries.
    Great casual-back to real clothes outfit!

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    1. The stew was good but Grandma makes an even better steak and kidney pudding. But she got tired of making it so stew it was. And her to die for chips. I can't really complain can I? And it does feel funny to be doing without all the treats - I've even resorted to eating Pomelo.

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  8. Happy New Year Sue....grandma's stew looks amazing . I think I will dress more casually next Christmas as it is far too much effort trying to look stylish and cook a dinner at the same time. All they want is lots of food to appear on the table!! I also like your husbands scarf:)
    ~Anne

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    1. She's a good old fashioned cook. Learnt from her mother and the recipes are stored in her head. And dressing up for Christmas - I have to hand it to you - you made the effort - I didn't ... and I'd hate for anything nice to be splashed with food as I cooked. Oh I forgot - I didn't cook :o) I was just the commis chef aka washer upper.

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  9. Food pics! Sue!!! I can barely believe my eyes. Pretty darn good photos too, I might add. I got a friend to take my photo the other day. Gosh, I looked like a hog after lounging in my PJs for a week and ate every junk food available in the pantry.

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    1. Yup food pics. I quit with the clothes stuff over Crimbo (my joggy bots look is not quite on a par with yours) and just took pics of all the food we ate. And there was more. I forgot to add in the Moroccan lamb, the steamed chicken and sea bass at the Godparents and so on and so forth. Oink Oink.

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  10. Well I've just eaten and my mouth is still watering at the sight of all that lovely food Sue! In answer to your question yes we ate loads and did loads and I enjoyed every minute! It's taking a bit of doing getting used to normal food and normal activities again! :)

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    1. I'm kind of glad to be back to normal. There was a couple of nights when my tummy physically hurt from having consumed so much food. Might take a few weeks before I'm back in my favourite jeans though.

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  11. Gorgeous food, that picture of all the chopsticks in the background made me laugh. I take it santa got you that certain bag you hinted for?? Fabulous xx

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    1. I admit, I laughed too when I went through my pics and found that one. We quite often go out as a family and we sit at a round table (much more sociable). The food is always good at our regular Chinese restaurant - a zillion times better than the one in London's Chinatown which I went to during last half term and which cost considerably more. Pffft.

      And yep, there's a new bag in the wardrobe :o)

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  12. That food is worthy of any cookery book Sue, my mouth is watering at it's gone 11 as I desperately try to catch on blogs having been out all day then to Tesco this evening! I wore my H&M today too and like you liked in joggers over Christmas thanks to Baukjen! x I must try chips with my stew, I love chips and I love stew but never before I had them together, no wonder you couldn't fit the pie in!

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  13. Uggggghhh, I am currently on a post holiday detox in the effort to shed some pounds and this post has got my belly grumbling. I also ate non-stop all through Christmas. The low point must have been my multiple turkey sandwiches each day stuffed full of crisps (?!?!). Oh well... YOLO.

    xx

    http://thestylecrusader.com

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  14. It all looks just delicious! I wouldn't mind being locked in wearing trackie pants with yummy food being served left, right & centre! Never had chips & stew before but my...it looks so good! Ax

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Susie So So