Watermelon Martinis

Eclipse in Chelsea is my favourite cocktail bar in London.
Forget the music, forget the groups of beautiful people lounging on the sofas, there's one reason this place tops my list.
The watermelon martinis.
Mind blowing.
Promise me next time you're in the area you'll pop in for one?
You'll find them here.
Oh, and make sure you order a round of 'Crack Babies' for dessert. Vodka, passion fruit & raspberry liqueur, topped with champagne.
Outrageous.
Anyway, a few friends popped round yesterday afternoon to lay in the sun & make the most of our mini heat wave. Having slathered ourselves in factor 4, we decided that we could murder some Eclipse martinis… but there was no way we were moving.
There was only one thing for it, we'd have to make our own.
So here's my recipe for homemade Watermelon Martinis.

You'll need:

A whole watermelon,
Vodka (stored in the freezer so it's nice & cold),
2 limes,
Ice.

Start by slicing off the top of your melon & put it to one side.
Scoop out the middle & pop it into a bowl, or directly into your blender. Don't worry about the seeds, you won't notice them.
Add a big handful of ice & your vodka.
I'll leave the strength up to you. For most people a double shot each is enough, but we put significantly more in!
Squeeze both of your limes into the mix & blitz.
Leave it whirring away while you get your glasses out. Pop a big handful of ice into your hollowed out melon.
Turn the blender off & pour into your glasses. Pour the rest into your melon punch bowl & voila!

Ofcourse, if you're feeling particularly naughty you could do what we did & make yourself individual melons. Just pop the lid back onto the melon & stick a couple straws in.

Bikini from here

Lay back & pretend you're on your own private island.
Bliss.


PS. If 3 of you share a watermelon, each glass has about 140 calories (a small Pina Colada has around 530!)
Watermelon's good for your heart and contains lycopene (antioxidant), beta carotene (good for eyes, skin, helps you tan) and citrulline (natural viagra!).
So you can slurp away guilt free, although you may get a little frisky.

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Skinny Dreams

I have been hunting for the ultimate pair of jeans for years. 

It's not quite as easy as it might sound. 

They have to be sleek, tough, stylish, flattering, smart enough to wear on a night out & cool enough to sling on & run errands in during the day. 

That's a lot of responsibility for a couple of strips of denim. 

I'd almost given up hope when a friend of mine popped around for tea. 

She wiggled her way around my kitchen & said "take a look at these, baby!" 

All civility went out the window as I grabbed her by the belt hooks & asked where the hell she'd found them! 

Eventually she gave up & pointed me in the direction of Stanwells Boutique. 

A sweet little website, I'm embarrassed to say I'd never even heard of. 

Once my jeans were safely in my basket, I allowed my self a little online wondering & stumbled upon a gorgeous pastel lime silk shirt by Equipment. 

Playing giant in the gardens!

Pastel shirt by Equipment
Jeans by Nobody
Bag by Prada
Boots are vintage

I highly recommend checking out Stanwells, they're one of the few online stores which update their goodies every few weeks, so you'll never get bored.
What do you think? Have I found skinny jean nirvana?

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My Week on Instagram

Bikini from Agent P

If you're a Southerner, you'll know that this week has been the hottest of the year so far.
Day after day of glorious sunshine has left Britain a little shell shocked, but very happy.
Sometimes I can't face lugging my DSLR everywhere with me, so my well loved little iPhone picks up the slack.
This is everything I got up to this week but didn't get a chance to blog...

Firstly (and most importantly) Wales won the rugby!
The Grand Slam 2012 was all ours, and I was lucky enough to be shouting my little heart out in the stands on the day.

Even Custard got all dolled up to celebrate...

(He couldn't find his red tie, unfortunately. Probably left it at one of his girlfriends' kennels, the naughty boy.)

My mum, Custard & I took my niece down to the beach for the day.

The youngest of my nieces, Ruby is unimaginably fussy when it comes to food (unlike her aunt who will eat anything!), so I suggested she made her own pizza.
The idea being that it's a fun way to engage (distract) her & she can't turn her nose up at it if she's made it herself.
Sneaky, I know.
I whipped up a quick batch of really easy pizza dough and we went to town with serious amounts of buffalo mozzarella, ham & pineapple.

I'll blog the pizza dough recipe sometime this week. You'll love it, trust me.
Of course, there's a smattering of food porn. You know I can't help myself...

The result of a little shopping spree on FeelUnique.
Clarins Lip Perfector, Maybeline Gel Liner, Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara (which I obviously bought for the name alone!) & Benefit Outdoor Glow.
The hair colour is just down to the instagram effect... but does make me wonder if I should dip dye?
What do you think? Is it over done now?

I fell head over heels for Prada's new clutch & this little number from Moschino had my heart all of a flutter.

Clearly I'm having a bit of a retro moment.

On Friday, Hetti & I celebrated the last sunset of the working week with dinner at Nozumi in Knightsbridge & drinks at the new West End nightclub, Project.

Hetti wears Herve Leger & a vintage Chanel chain purse.
I'm in a Joseph silk shift, Prada bag & you can't see my killer new shoes from... wait for it...

MissGuided!
Ya'll know I'm not one to shy away from a bargain & these were just too delicious to miss.
I think they might be the cheapest pair of shoes I own, but they're also the most complimented by far!
I'm officially a missguided convert.

Starbucks saw me through Saturday morning with a mango frap.
Nectar of the gods, it's seen me through many a delicate morning.
I spent the rest of the weekend with Jam Jar (an unexplained nickname).
We wondered around the farmers market on the Kings Road, lounged in the sunshine & drank our weight in Pimms.
On Sunday morning we had an incredible breakfast in the sun at Aubaine on Brompton Road.

Before flower shopping & a fab lunch I'll post about later this week (used the grown up camera for that one!).

In the afternoon we whipped up Slutty Brownies...

(Photo credit to JamJar, he puts me to shame with his instagramming skills!)
And after a lazy afternoon of old war movies & Draw Something championships, I came home.
Now Custard & I are curled up on the sofa admiring my beautiful new roses.

So pretty, they hardly look real!
A spectacular end to a wonderful week. Sunshine, please stay a little longer?


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Courgette Fritters

(Also known as Zucchini Fritters for all you kids across the pond.)

About 6 months ago, I packed my bags & ran away to the Greek islands.
Greece is one of my favourite places in the whole world & over the last few weeks I've found myself pining for the clear blue skies, the sound of the crickets & the huge expanse of ocean, rolling out infront of my hotel room.

But you know what I've been missing the most?
The food!
Real, authentic Greek food is simply unbeatable. It's so packed with flavours & different textures, it can be hard to stop once you get started.
So, in the interest of my sanity I decided to try my hand at courgette fritters & a home made tzatziki dip.
I served them with a few other nibbles & a huge jug of elderflower cordial.
If I can't go to Greece, Greece can come to me!

The recipe is ridiculously easy, and once you've made them once they'll soon become a frequent favourite, trust me.

You'll need:
2 cups coarsely grated courgette / zucchini
1 cup coarsely grated (uncooked, peeled) potato
Salt
2 medium (free range) eggs
2tbsp chopped chives
2tbsp chopped mint
zest of one lemon

Once you've grated your vegies, you'll need to leave them to dry for a little while.
Pop them into a colander or sieve, sprinkle liberally with salt and leave on the side for about half an hour.
While you wait, you can get started on your dip.
You'll need:

350g/12oz Zero fat Greek yoghurt
1 grated cucumber
Juice of 1 lemon
2 crushed garlic cloves
Pinch of salt
Splash of extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of paprika

In a large bowl, mix together your yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, garlic & salt. Swirl in your olive oil & mix. When you're done, cover it with cling film & pop it in the fridge.
The flavours will start to develop as you cook your fritters.

Go back to your veg, put them into a clean tea-towel & squeeze any remaining moisture out of them. Really go to town and get rid of as much as possible!
In another bowl, beat your eggs, chives, mint & lemon. Stir in your veg until you're left with something like this:

Turn your oven on and pre-heat it to about 350°F, 180°C. Don't worry, you wont be cooking with it, but it will keep your fritters nice & toasty.
Heat a frying pan until it's nice & hot. Add a good glug of olive oil.
When it's really, really hot... add your mixture!

It's a good idea to cook about 3 at a time, so you can keep an eye on them.
I find about a tablespoon just the right amount. Spoon it on and use the back to flatten them out and even them up.

They need about 2-3 mins on each side before flipping.

When they're nicely brown, remove them from the heat using a spatula. Place them on some kitchen roll, on a plate & pop it in the oven.
This will remove some of the oil, stop them getting soggy & make sure they stay warm.
Keep going until you've run out of mixture.

Serve with your tzatziki, just sprinkle some paprika on top for a little colour.
Tear with your hands & dip away!

Preferably served on the beach with an enormous glass of wine, but failing that you could always serve them to friends as nibbles.
Bon apetite! or Kalí óreksi! as they say in Greece.




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