It's that time of year again...

And although the weather is terrible and we're thinking about moving I have seen fit to go and spend money on plants for the garden that I really like and will therefore be sad about leaving or insist on digging up.

Every year since we moved here four years ago I have removed shrubs I've not been keen on, cut things back and weeded. Removed trees, pruned roses, threaded jasmine and clematis and weeded. Except last year, last year I quite quickly got too pregnant to weed and then it looked like I had decided to have some sort of wildflower paddock instead of a garden which was fine but instead of wildflowers they were 5ft weeds. It became apparent that having removed things I then spent a lot of time weeding three particular patches, watching the weeds grow again, weeding etc and could never decide what to plant there. It became this massive decision. What if I planted the wrong thing?

I had to admit that I know what I like but I know nothing of the textures, height differences and colours needed to make a really spectacular garden. Knowing what you like is good - I like peonies in all colours, shapes and sizes and we have a majestic tree peony that flowers at this time every year to fill me with inspiration. I love oriental poppies, lilac, camellias and of course roses. But what of the shrubs that are oh so necessary for texture and variety and for something evergreen during the long winter months.

Luckily for me I have two people close by to help me when I'm struck with indecision and who's knowledge if far greater than mine. My lovely neighbour who's garden is like a haven of colour and calm not only puts up with my constant questions but actually comes to help me in the garden sometimes (most shamingly she had to do some weeding last year when bending over for me was not an option). And my mother, who's garden is my favourite place to be, has similar taste to me, knows what I mean when I try to describe something to her that I think I'd quite like (she had to dissuade me from having cow parsley in the church when i got married 'sad little brown things by the time people arrive darling') but she's not afraid to give me a good kick up the backside when she thinks I'm dithering. And dithering I was.

Having lovingly weeded these bald patches for four years I could not decide what was worthy enough to go in them. Something needed to be done so my mother went with me to the garden center and I got a few things to get me started. Two hellebore's, a foxglove I was too dithery to buy last year, some flax, lobelia and a hebe that I didn't need but fell in love with.

I got back to London and nothing would actually go where I had originally intended but they are in and they've worked and I love it. I think often with gardening although you need to plan and think ahead you also need to go with what you love, a little at a time and build from there. Anyway everything is in and I love it... as usual the pictures don't do it justice

Clematis - planted three years ago, first flower

Peony, Hebe and Hydrangea

Hellebore, clematis, geranium, vinca

Lemon and Lime Cream Tart

Another recipe that I copied from my mother's copy of The Naked Chef. There wasn't a picture (I don't think) and I was expecting something more like the cold, set lemon tarts I usually make. But it's not, it's cooked and browned on top and completely different. Like the Simple Chocolate Tart I bought the sweet shortcrust pastry base to see if it worked better for this - it went really well with the chocolate tart base - and it was fine but I think if I had more time I probably would hand-make the pastry for this. I'll put a recipe up for this asap. I served this with raspberries but it would work just as well with strawberries.

It was incredibly easy to make and, because I was using the shop-bought base, I had leftover filling which I froze and is apparently spectacular as a sort of ice cream. I didn't get to try any, my husband ate it all. I did use the lime zest as decoration so I zested them, squeezed them into a measuring jug and topped it up with lime juice from a bottle. The 4 limes makes about 100ml.

Lemon and Lime Cream Tart

1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell, baked blind.
340g caster sugar
8 large free range eggs
350ml double cream
200ml lime juice
100ml lemon juice
zest of 4 limes (optional)

Egg wash the tart base and pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

1. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. When they are well mixed slowly stir in the cream and juices.

2. Put the tart shell onto a baking tray and pour in the filling.

3. Bake for around 40-45 minutes until the filling is set but still semi-wobbly in the middle.

4. Put on a cooling rack and after about an hour the filling will have firmed up.

5. Dust with a little icing sugar (I forgot), sprinkle with the lime zest and serve with raspberries or strawberries.

Simple Chocolate Tart

I occasionally bite off more than I can chew but I'm becoming so grown-up now that I can now usually resist the urge to try to make three courses, look after the baby, tidy the house and do some writing all in the same day. For lunch yesterday this new regime manifested itself in the form of a shop-bought sweet shortcrust pastry tart base.

I never buy pastry unless it's puff, because I think it's a waste of money. It's not hard to make it and it's incredibly smug-making when you do and it goes really well but lunch with five adults, two toddlers, two babies and three dogs it seemed that maybe lovingly making a tart base was a bit too much. I didn't want to buy a pre-made pudding so I thought just the base was a good compromise. The filling was from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver which I've never cooked from before but I'd written a couple of recipes down ages ago and anything with the word simple in the title was going to ideal for yesterdays lunch.

I'm not that fussed about puddings but this was really delicious and actually the shop-bought base was perfect because it was drier than home made which went really well with the rich chocolate filling. I have quite a lot of chocolate left-over but I'm going to whip up some cream, stir it in and make some sort of chocolate mousse... I'll let you know how that goes.

Simple Chocolate Tart

1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell baked blind
315ml double cream
2 level tbsp caster sugar
the smallest pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
455g best-quality cooking chocolate (half milk half dark works well), broken up
100ml milk
cocoa powder for dusting

1. Place the double cream, sugar and salt into a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture has boiled remove from the heat add the butter and chocolate and stir until completely melted.

2. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, stirring in the milk until smooth and shiny.

3. Scrape into the pastry shell, shake gently to even it out and allow to cool for 1-2 hours until it is at room tempterature.

4. Dust with cocoa powder.

E & O

This time last year I was just out the other side of morning sickness but still in the stage where I was awake for five minutes at a time and only then to eat. So for our anniversary we got sushi delivered I had a glass of champagne, felt drunk and nodded off in front of the tele. As Joe said last night he was 'quite dissatisfied as you insisted we watched things saved on the Sky box, not even a movie'. I was perfectly happy but maybe it wasn't the most romantic of anniversaries... I've always loathed the number three anyway.

This year though was four and everybody likes four. I got peonies, my mum babysat and we resisted the urge to go to the trusty gastro pub round the corner and instead went to E & O on Ladbroke Grove - a restaurant I have wanted to go to for the last couple of years due to a colleagues constant ravings and the fact he never ever goes anywhere else.

Now it did have a bit of a head start in that I have barely been out to dinner with my husband in the last year let alone to a properly nice restaurant and I was amazed by the beautiful people having actual fun and drinking cocktails and looking glamerous so the food could have been a bit below par and I probably wouldn't have minded. But the food was absolutely fantastic - the best I can remember having anywhere.

The menu is a mix of dim sum, sashimi, tempura and things from the grill, the portion sizes are just right and everything we had was cooked to perfection and clearly well sourced. I know I'm not an expert but I eat a lot of sushi and I can tell when sashimi is good or not and this was absolutely spot on fresh and delicious.

We had prawn and chive dumplings, chili salt squid and crispy pork belly with black vinegar to start with. The dumplings were the least exciting but still delicious and perfectly cooked, the squid was absolutely perfect, served in a little wrap of newspaper just enough so you felt you got enough but not too much to spoil your appetite for everything else - this and the pork belly were my favourites. The pork was melt-in-the-mouth cooked with beautifully crispy fat and the black vinegar an ideal match.

Next up was the mixed sashimi - incredibly fresh and simple salmon, tuna and mackerel and wild pink shrimp tempura.

I had to stop there - my nil-by-mouth diet has successfully shrunk my stomach and I couldn't fit anything else in but Joe persevered with sesame and soy po choi and chili chicken with pickled cucumber also delicious apparently.

If I had anything to complain about (I always like to find something) the service was slightly slow but ever so slightly and very polite, no one asked me how my food was when I'd had one mouthful and was mid-conversation (I hate that) and the place was heaving so I really can't blame them for being a little on the slow side. All those people can't be wrong - this place is amazing and well worth going to. It's not cheap (the pink shrimp tempura was £18.50) but for a special occasion or if you don't need to worry about such things, it is worth every penny.

 

Healthy Salmon Burgers

Another recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine. Was very easy to make and yummy served with a green salad. Perfect for when you need to eat later than usual as it's really light - do make sure you add enough salt otherwise these won't taste as good as they should. I halved the amount to make enough for two.

Healthy Salmon Burgers

Serves 4

4 Salmon fillets
1 tbsp Thai green or red curry paste
4cm (1½) fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
Fresh coriander, small handful
1 tsp vegetable oil

I used my magimix for this, as instructed by the recipe but you could probably do it all by hand if you don't have one.

1. Put half the salmon in a food processor and whizz until completely smooth.

2. Add the remaining fish, curry paste, ginger, lime and coriander, season and whizz until combined but still retaining some texture.

3. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Form the salmon mixture into four equal patties and fry for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through, turning once.

4. Serve with salad, sweet chili dipping sauce and lime wedges.

The Cottage

My family like things to look nice, my sister is the messiest member and she's an artist, so you see even she wants things to look nice. This means we hoover, we clean, we um and ahh about interior decoration, we sleep for weeks with curtain fabric swatches pinned to the old curtains to see how we feel about them, we update paintwork and maintain exterior walls, upgrade boilers and bleed radiators. My husbands family, who I adore, seem to exist more on the idea that they'll be dead long before anything drastic happens so why bother. This is not to say that their houses don't look wonderful, they really do, but I'm not sure that there's much room for property maintenance in their rather academic brains and they are the base-camp for shabby chic.

Rather scary damp patch over the stairs

My father-in-laws bolt-hole in North Norfolk is the worst hit by this lassez faire approach to home owning. When I first met my husband, nearly a decade ago, it looked rather aged and worn and there were a few cracks. Nothing was done and now ceilings are falling in, carpets are removing themselves and one end of the house is threatening to fall off altogether. Being from a family who likes everything clean and working and I suppose, being a girl, I have been making noises about 'doing the place up' for some time. My husband agrees with me in person, then speaks to his father and they both agree that really I'm just looking for another outlet from which to spend money. Up until now I have been all but patted on the head and told to run along.

The bathroom... my nemesis

That is until the ceiling started to fall in an a rather scary looking drip appeared over the stairs... right where the pipes from the bath run. The bathroom is my bete noir. I hate it. It hates me. It's ill flushing loo, the carpet that shows evidence that this is a mans house and runkles up to shut me in whenever it feels like it. I have had designs on this bathroom for sometime. For my 30th I would like a few quiet minutes with it and a sledgehammer. I may get my wish. These rather scary new developments mean then men in my house have had no choice but to call in the builders and I have persuaded them that there is no point doing things by half. This cottage would be fantastic for renting out some day and doing it up to rental standard is the most sensible thing. This means not only structural maintenance including fixing the roof, but new kitchen, new bathroom, new flooring and completely new paintwork.

Where the ceiling's started to go... over my bed obvs

I have put myself forward as project manager and, because of the beauty of the cottage and it's location, the size of the job, and the wonderful outcome of all this work that I am hoping for, I thought I would blog it occasionally. I've been round taking my before photographs and doing measurements of most of the rooms so I can do costings and have references from London (the fact that all floors need redoing and all rooms repainting make it not ideal for staying long with a baby... that and radiators not working). I hope it's interesting - I'll try to only blog the interesting bits - and that the transformation is successful. Right now, waiting for quotes, it all seems quite daunting, especially as it's not my house. But the only thing to do is jump in feet first so here I go...