WEEKLY FAVOURITES ROUNDUP | 5 June 2016

WHOA WHOA WHOA

How is it June already? The thought makes me shudder. Where did the last 3 months go huh?

This week was a sharp check back into reality, returning to work after a whole week off. The rain certainly did a jolly good job of reminding me that, oh yes, I am back in the UK.

You’d never have thought it was bloody June.

Although today is making up for it. Let’s carry this sunshine through pretty please.

Here’s all the sparkley things making my world sparkle this week:

 

5 SPICE DUCK RECIPE

You know those nights when you’re dying to hoover up a plate of hoisin duck, washed down with a pot of sweet & sour sauce?

Story of my life.

Well this recipe is a nice alternative for when Chinese take out isn’t an option when you know you gotta fit into that Ascot dress in a few weeks time (true story, wah).

Chinese 5 spice is a fantastic spice to have on hand in your store cupboard. You can put it with chicken/duck/veg and it packs a real punch to your food. Invest in some if you’re lacking.

INGREDIENTS

Duck breast

Chinese 5 spice

1 Garlic clove

Broccoli

Jasmine rice

Chicken stock

Soy sauce

Spring onion

Frozen peas

Salt & pepper

And here’s how it’s gonna go down. Score your duck breast and douse it in Chinese 5 spice. Leave to marinate for a bit in the fridge if you can.

Turn on your oven (200) and get your water boiling for your rice.

Pan fry the duck (fat side down) on a low heat for around 6 minutes. You want the fat to go all crispy but try not to burn it. Some chef told me to imagine that I’m melting the fat. Great tip. Flip it over when it’s done to seal the other side and then chuck it in the oven .

Put your rice into the pan with your stock and leave to cook. Add some peas when it’s nearly cooked through.

Pan fry your broccoli with garlic in the pan you cooked your duck in.

After 12 mins (depending how you like your duck, obvs), take the duck out and leave it to rest. Drain your rice and run some soy sauce through it. Plate the rice and broccoli, and slice your duck. Chuck it on the plate with chopped spring onions to finish.

And enjoy.

MY NEW BAE – FUJIFILM X-A2

I’ve got a permanent grin on my face ATM. My new camera finally arrived and she’s oh so pretty and full of sass and sophistication.

It’s just a camera, you say.

No, it’s not, it’s my new bae. And she’s gonna take some spendid photos for me.

She’s already making my life 183627 times easier with her sweet little wifi capabilities. So where as before I had to plug into a laptop to upload photos to the blog, now I can whizz those photos straight over to my phone and into a post. Magical right? I don’t think you can fully appreciate this feature unless you’re a fellow blogger.

I’ve only had a wee bit of time to play around with it, but it’s image quality seems pretty up there.

Hurrah for nice images.

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NEW LOOK MIDI SKIRT 

Another purchase that was made for Budapest (land of dreams) but y’know, kinda haven’t taken it off since I’ve been home. And I wore it to a BBQ yesterday and got a handful of compliments on it so thought it deserved a place in the weekly faves.

The thing I’m liking about this piece is the versatility (I think I say that about everything don’t I?) But anywho, I wore it for a wedding with courts the other day and felt a bit like a princess. Chuck some converse on with it and tuck in a tee and it’s it’s an easy casual look.

I love myself a midi skirt. You can pick this up for £24.99 from New Look. It comes in other colours I think.

I’ll check when I go buy another one because I *might* have worn it on a bike in Budapest and got oil on the back. Yeah you’d think that would look all dreamy and romantic wouldn’t you? But lemme tell you, getting your midi skirt stuck in your bike wheel  doesn’t make for a great look. Lols.

CAMPING TRIP HAUL 

We’re hitting up a camping trip next weekend (squeal) with the family and we can’t wait. Camping is one of the best ways to recharge.

Maxwell & I are what I like to describe as pro campers. We have all the gear. All the gadgets. Every type of fold up chair and 67 different  gas heaters.

Today we went on the hunt for a lil summin’ summin’ new to take on the trip next week. We ended up coming back with a whole bag of goodies. My fave purchase from the day have to be:

Velcro catch game. Because I always win. Score.

Watermelon cup (Primark). Um cute alert.

Battery powered white lights. For our marquee so it’ll feel all special and magical. Because camping is magical.

Leaf print duvet cover (Primark). Because I’m camping out back. So need me some outback themed bedding right?

I cannot wait. There’ll be a full post when I’m back. If you’re a camper though, how about checking out this post I wrote last year:

HOW TO SURVIVE A BRITISH CAMPING TRIP


BRUNCH OF QUEENS

So I’ve been writing this post over the most kick ass brunch I’ve ever made. And TBH I just thought it deserved a special mention because hello it’s a whole brunch spread and I can never usually be bothered with that. And it does look kinda pretty.

We were gonna nip out for breakfast this morning and hunt down some macarons but I need to save the pennies to buy a giant obscure hat for Ascot. So I opted for the home grown version instead. And yup, I’m pretty smug about it.

I’m talking raw juice, eggs, melon & Parma ham and peaches & honey.

I need to make brunch more often.

 

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Happy Sunday everyone. Hope you’ve all had an ace day in the sun.

And don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t…

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1 Comment

  1. Sara
    6th June 2016 / 11:51 pm

    Another great post, where you going to buy your hat for Ascot? I needone !!! Xx