Family Affair

Boscanova Cafe

Earlier this summer, I got out of the city and went to stay with my family for a couple of weeks in Bournemouth. I had a lovely time hanging out with them and catching up. Now that I live away from home I don't get a chance to do that for such a length of time anymore and I miss it.

On my last day, we went for a family lunch at Boscanova Cafe. If you're ever in the area, check it out. It does really good brunch. Trust. Get the pancakes.

The house chili.. and I haven't just ruined that shot by tucking in... not in the slightest..

What I like about Boscanova, is that it's one of the few (oh so few) really good independant eateries in Bournemouth. Everything is made fresh, with mostly, feel-good, healthy ingredients. This time I got the special, which was the house chili. It was delicious.

Bro-fo, coke float.

Although, if you're anything like my brother, you'll choose a coke float. Some things, by their very nature are not made with feel-good, healthy ingredients.

But if they were, I don't think they'd taste quite as awesome, no? And why say no to a little bit of awesomeness in your life?

Cappuccino-a-go-go - I love how the chocolate flecks reflect the speckled wood. Er. Well done me.

I, being the caffeine, Starbucks-obsessed girl that I am, had to have a cappuccino. Which came in a decent sized mug. That is also, quite a little bit of awesome.

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Er, irrelevant, but:

P.S. Download Calvin Harris' new album. Do it now. You'll never regret it. Er, also irrelevant but, I just want to give him a nice big cuddle.

Lemon Drizzle, Bizzle Schizzle

Lemon Drizzle

Right, so my camera is working again. Seems it's like me. It won't get out of bed unless it's shown a bit of attention!

So I'm back. I'm back on a regular basis. And I'm glad, I've missed this weekly-ish process of capturing little gorgeous moments in my life and taking time to reflect on them. They are hard to see sometimes, but they are there.

But first I have a bit of catching up to do on what I've been up to this summer.

In June it was my Mum's birthday, or bizzle schizzle, as I am known to call these things. I was keen to make this a special birthday, as I had missed her 50th last year as I was having the year of my life, in the best city in the world.

Bizzle Schizzle

To celebrate the occasion, and make it one of the best birthdays ever, I invited Mum, and my sister to visit me in London. They stayed for a few days. We hit up Wahaca, with all its yummy Mexican delights and copious glasses of mojitos. We went to see Oliver! in the West End, with the always awesome Rowan Atkinson, totally owning the role of Fagin: we were all on such a high when we left the theatre. And then, for an extra special amazing treat, my sister and I treated Mum to afternoon tea at Claridges. Mum, as an avid lover of both tea and afternoons (she can't get out the house before noon) was in her element.

But of course, all of that paled in comparison to the super amazing Lemon Drizzle Cake that I made her.

I didn't want to make a chocolatey or heavy cake as we were in the midst of a super HOTT heatwave, so I wanted something fairly light and summery. In the end, I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe, and it worked a treat. As well as lemon juice and peel in the cake mixture and in the drizzly sticky yummy icing, the recipe called for a lemon sugar syrup glaze to be made and poured into the cake once it had come out of the oven. I used a cocktail stick to prick holes all over the cake so that the glaze could seep right down deep.

Once cooled and iced, the cake was moist, lemony, sweet and summery. Perfect Lemon Drizzle Bizzle Schizzle for the Moomin Mama. Big love xxx

And in Any Other Business:

1) Am I the latest one to the Alphabeat party or what? I have just discovered This is Alphabeat. What a slice of perfect pop

2) I am all over Around The World. Promise. I am just waiting for some photos to be developed before I can crack on!