Carvin' & Cookin' the Pumpkin

Considering the Pumpkin flavour can be incredibly bland, this particular recipe is exceptionally tasty.

Not only is this the easiest recipe i've cooked but it is undoubtedly the messiest too!!

It just comes down to chucking it alllll in. What more could you want? Especially if you have a lot going on in your house hold for Halloween, a simple yet effective hot meal that hits just the right spot at this time of year.

Ingredients:

• 1.5kg of Pumpkin (to feed up to 4 people)
• 3 cloves of Garlic (1tbsp of Garlic granules) 
• 250ml of water
• 500ml Vegetable Stock
• 125ml Single Cream
• 1/2 tsp of ground Cinnamon 
• 20g Butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste

To enjoy with:

• A good couple of fresh crusty rolls!

If you're cooking pumpkin soup then it's bound to be for Halloween so why not make the most of the pumpkin and create your Jack O Lantern while you're at it! Pinterest do the best designs so if you want to go for a really different one have a look here.

Instructions: 

1. Cut a big square hole in to the bottom of your pumpkin, using the largest spoon you have to scoop out all the seeds and pulp.
2. Cut the pumpkin in to small squares and add to your saucepan, placing all seeds in a seperate dish
3. Place remaining ingredients in the saucepan along with the pumpkin all except for the cream.
4. Leave to simmer on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes so that the pumpkin eventually becomes very soft.
5.  For a smooth soup pour one half in to blender and the rest to side and repeat with the next half adding the cream after.
6. For lumpy soup add your cream with a generous amount of salt and pepper to taste!

A big hefty knife is a must for this job, depending on how tough/ripe your pumpkin is the skin will need breaking in with a lot of help from a sharp friend!

Adding some of the pulp can add more flavour so make sure you don't miss that part!

Try not to laugh at the look of my pumpkin it wasn't the prettiest one of the bunch but now it looks like it's just had a stroke LOL (definitely seen better days). Didn't pay enough attention or give enough time for my pumpkin design. My bad. But then it is Halloween so I'm only doing my bit for the holidays...

If you have time for the seeds either roast them in the oven to add to other meals also nice to have as a simple snack or perhaps if you have a little girl then they're fab to make necklaces out of, which I loved to do when I was younger!

Enjoy everyone and Happy Halloween!! 

Grace Loves Lace

As Wedding Days are one of the most special days we can all ever experience, it's so important to  enjoy and soak up every little detail and choice that we make through the whole process as after all it is sadly just one day. Making a decision as big as this is without a doubt one of my most cherished memories that I shall never forget...

Picking out dresses for a Wedding took me by surprise with the way I thought I would feel - to be honest, I didn't know how to feel not being engaged before! The feeling was a lot more special than I had ever anticipated and took me by complete surprise. The more dresses I tried on the more time went by, making me not want to come out of this magical bubble that I never wanted to end.

Grace Loves Lace is an Australian Designer who uses French lace to create these beautiful, elegant pieces. When I first got engaged I had no idea what sort of style I wanted to go for; not being a particularly girly gal and having an acquired taste in fashion that changes constantly makes it slightly challenging! As soon as I'd heard of GLL I instantly knew that I was going to find what I wanted. I wanted something that wasn't ridiculously fancy and formal which sounds so silly for a bride I know, but you want to feel completely yourself on your big day don't you? I tried on six gowns all together and the more I tried on the more I wanted all of them! Unfortuantely I could not have them all, maybe if I was earning the big bucks I could! Every single dress was just out of this world and was me all over. Unique and unpredictable for a bride design is what I'm looking for - and that's exactly what I got.

The showroom made a huge impact on the whole experience for me. Decor is very important to me and which I have a huge interest in, instantly falling in to my comfort zone with the brick wall and blush tones on the sofa and rugs. Very delicate but edgy at the same time. Considering it was a very small boutique it was incredibly spacious and to top it all of we got bubbly on arrival so there really was nothing to complain about!

I was so grateful for the girls who helped me that day they were so attentive and friendly giving me all the help and support that I needed at an instant. It's even better when booking by appointment because you don't need to worry about the showroom getting really crowded, it felt nice to have it almost to ourselves so you can really focus, relax and enjoy every moment properly.


An hour later after trying on beautiful dresses, hard core brain storming, sipping bubbly, discussing the options and more trying on -  I finally made a decision with my dress against another. I made the appointment with a specific dress in mind that I had my eye on and fell completely in love with walking out with something the complete opposite. I guess all those rumours about picking a dress you wouldn't normally go for are true! Almost a year from now I will be able to reveal my choice with pride! Sooo watch this space ... Eekkk!!

My Absence from Blogging + Social Media

I've always been a very honest and out spoken person so I've been wanting to express myself about this particular subject for a while as I feel I need to justify why I've been fairly quiet on the blog front...


Since I've been blogging I've always been fading in and out, purely for normal life reasons.. that being having a full time job, spending time with family and friends, house duties, weekends and holidays away, buying a house and SO much more.

I have days where a whole load of ideas and inspiration rushes to my head with what to do next with my blog, exploding with excitement and intuition/anticipation but the truth is most the time I'm so busy keeping up with my day to day life antics and priorities I mainly forget to fire up my blogger brain OR I literally just do not have the thrive or motivation and that feeling is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. It's always one or the other! When you so want to thrive to succeed with a passion you've built up yourself over the past 4 years it can be so difficult to maintain that these days. I used to give myself this silly excuse as to why I shouldn't resume my blogger career with in mind that everyone is blogging now so it takes the enjoyment and differentiation out of it for me which used to be what I liked about it most, because it was something so different to what every one else was doing. When I left school pretty much everyone had something they wanted to get their mits stuck in to at college media studies, art, design, science, literature, acting etc etc... and I had no clue what I wanted to do - so discovering online diaries and knowing I can use my love for photography and writing in my own time was perfect.

Sometimes I feel social media just eats us alive; that we forget that it's not the most important thing in the world. Taking control and using it in sensible measurements I think is the healthiest option when using social media, don't let it take over otherwise life will go a lot quicker than it is already and you will miss out on so much that is happening around you.

I guess the lesson in this particular situation is to set more of a positive mind set and to always better myself to get that little bit further to where I really want to be. I can quite easily say I do not push myself hard enough and the only person I can rely on to be successful is me and myself only. Taking every opportunity along the way. Most of all enjoying it at and treating it like my hobby without any pressure just how I started from the beginning.

My First Time Skiing | Filzmoos, Austria