Cottaging

Last week I had a horrible bout of flu.  It was dire.  I spent days in bed, too weak to get the next lemsip or even press repeat on the Steel Magnolias DVD.   Sad times in the Rose Household.

By Sunday I was well enough to desire something other to eat than Heinz tomato soup and toast, and I was craving something to make me feel a bit better.  So inspired by watching several episodes of Saint Jamie Oliver I decided to make a Cottage Pie. 

I didn't just want any old cottage pie though, I wanted a low GI pie, packed with vegetables, strong tasting, satisfying and hearty. 

This is what I came up with.  I loved the orange and green mash - it livened up the dish a lot.

Ingredients

Lean minced beef

1 leek
2 onions
4 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
1 stick of celery – not essential
Sweet potatoes
Frozen peas
Few white potatoes
Worcester sauce
Tomato puree
Mustard
Can of chopped tomatoes

Fresh herbs (I used tarragon and flat leaf parsley)

Method

1)  heat up your oven to about 180 degrees

2)  on the hob, warm up frying pan with slug of olive oil. 

4)  gently soften the chopped onions, garlic, carrots, leek and celery and simmer for about 15 mins. 

5)  While you are waiting start chopping the potatoes – both the sweet and white – skins on or off, however you like.  Place in boiling water with good slug of salt for about 25 mins till really soft.  I like skins on as it is more vitamins, but for guests I would probably peel.

6)  chuck in the mince to the pan and brown it slowly. Add the herbs now.

7) for the sauce:  in a cereal sized bowl put in 2 table spoons of tomato puree, 1 table spoon of yellow mustard, 4 table spoons of Worcester sauce.  Mix up so you have a couple of inches of the sauce in the bottom of your bowl.  Top up with a little water if you like a very saucy pie.  Add to the meat and veg mixture.

8)  Chuck in can of chopped tomatoes with a sprinkle of sugar on the top to cut the acid and simmer it all together for about 5 mins. 

9)  Lay on the bottom of your dish.  Should cover it completely. 

10)  Open a bottle of red wine – pour out 2 glasses – one for you and one to cover the meat mixture.  It's important not too add the wine before this as you don't want to cook off all of that lovely booooze.

11)  Boil some frozen petit pois for a few minutes till soft.

12)  mash the potatoes together with dollop of butter, slug of milk – liberal salt and pepper.  Mash the peas into the potatoes, but not so much that the peas smaulch – the effect you are going for is orangey potato green speckles

13)  pop the mash mix on top of the meat. Use a fork to make a nice pattern on top so it goes crispy in the oven.

14)  Sprinkle a good handful of good handful of strong cheddar on top.  You can leave this out if you are being good.

15)  pop in the oven for about 45-50 mins till top is golden and crispy and the sides are bubbling.  Serve with greens and the rest of the red wine. 

YUM.   The best thing about this pie is the leftovers, once it has rested in your fridge for about 24 hours it became even tastier. 

 

 

 

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

 

 

Rose

xx

A new love affair

Signs that I am in love with a new man:

1)  My iPhone battery is constantly running low so I can talk about him with all of my friends and family
2)  When I have a quiet moment I run through the pics I have on him and stare into his dark blue eyes, longing to give his smooth face a stroke
3)  I have had 20 minute long discussions with bored colleagues about which of his pictures I should put on the fridge
4)  I wonder what he sounds like
5)  I think how cute he would look in certain outfits
6)  I've been making collages of his face with a sweet little app on my phone

So yes - I admit I am in love.  Cousin LL had a baby last week and he might just be the most darling thing I have ever seen. 

We'll call him Baby Boris to protect his identity when Working Title make a film about my us all.  Baby Boris is the cutest thing I have ever seen.  Sadly we have not met yet, as Cousin LL has moved to Germany.  Yep that's right - in 18 months she has got engaged, got married, got knocked up and moved to Germany.   It is indecent.  But a lot of fun. 

And after a very tricky pregnancy and birth, she has produced a darling little boy, who looks so cuddly and cute I can't tell you.  We are all thrilled and so excited about the Next Generation.

Rose xx

Rose De Vacaciones

Mr Rose, Mum, Dad, Izzy and I are on hols. We are staying at the Spanish house of close friends S and M, who are here also, so what we have is a very jolly house party.

It has been a tough year so far for Mr Rose and I, so the holiday has been much needed. We are now almost packing up to go home after what has been a fabulous week at Casa Rosa so I thought I'd give you some of my highlights.

While we were here I had a birthday. I awoke to find the house decked in balloons.

We celebrated with traditional British afternoon tea, complete with egg sandwiches to rival Claridges and a Victoria Sponge my mum made which was totally delicious.

 

That was so yummy I had to lie in the hammock to recover.

I had some divine presents from everyone. When asked what I wanted this year, my instructions were 'frivolous'. So I got some lovely jewels, matching luggage, make up, clothes and was thoroughly spoilt. One cute little gift was this fab nail varnish

Holidaytastic, non?

 

In the evening we had Champagne and canapés

Followed by a divine BBQ.

 

My mother is, as you all know, a very glamorous woman. She is here for 2 weeks and has bought with her no less than 63 swimming costumes and matching kaftans. She swears she has only bought 6 but I feel fairly sure she changes it 7 times a day ("no one likes a wet bottom, darling") and I've not seen any repeats yet.

 

There was much excitement over K Middy having the new Prince George. We ran a little sweepstake.

 

And were glued to Sky News when they came out the Lindo Wing

 

Then we went out for dinner on the seafront to toast our future king

 

We loved people watching all of the Spaniards out for an evening walk with as many dogs as you would find in crufts. We most admired a lovely sausage dog and agreed he should be called Senior Chorizo.

Mr Rose has been treating us to lots of cooking. Before we came out he swotted up on Andalusian recipes which are totally delicious and generally involve so much garlic and chorizo that as soon as he announces he is going to cook something our mouths start watering and mum practically jogs to the gaviscon bottle. Big faves so far have been these two salads: Green Beans and Serrano Ham and Jamie Oliver's Tomato and Chorizo salad.

I've been reading The Cuckoo's Calling, the one poor JK tried to write under a pseudonym. I bought it before I knew it was her, based on a tweet from India Knight about how good it was. I'm not a JK Groupie so probably wouldn't have bought it had she published in her name, but I've enjoyed it so much I think it might be my Book of the Year. It's gripping, funny, insightful, gosspipy and beautifully written, really bringing Mayfair to life. I'm not normally a fan of detective stories either but now I think it might be a good genre to get into. If you have any suggestions let me know!

Izzy is showing off the results of a new love of running in a variety of gorgeous bikinis. Neon is featuring quite significantly in The Collection. She looks like she should be on Made In Chelsea she is so poised and gorgeous, but when she is bobbing around in the pool it's hard for me to remember she isn't my baby sister who will squeal with delight if you a) dunk her b) play catch with her c) offer to make up a dance routine with her. So we are instead bonding with a 45 min gruelling swim each morning where she yells at me like Tracy Anderson if I slow down. Which considering the amount of rose wine and bread I'm consuming is much needed.

Big thanks go to our lovely hosts S and M who have so generously opened their divine, Spanish home to us. S is keeping me entertained with her demon scrabble moves, and just when you are nearly asleep on a lilo, M will do a superbly executed dive bomb just to keep you on your toes.

Right, the sunbed is calling. It's the last day of the hols so we all know that means getting a bit fast and loose with the factor 20.

Adios amigos!

Rose x

 

 

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Sometimes it's hard to be a woman

Well it is. 

We have to deal with all sorts of crap that men don't even have to think about. Like glass ceilings. More expensive haircuts.  Universal expectation that we will not have chipped nail polish.  Split ends.  How appropriate it is to be 31 ¾ and have a photo of K Middy pinned on your fridge.  No carbs before Marbs. Etc etc etc. 

And then of course, there is the worse feminine thing of all – tights.
 
Picture the scene.  The seasons are finally drifting from icy cold Spring into fairly chilly Summer and the time has come to go from your lovely thick, black tights (possibly navy on a Jaunty Friday) into something a bit more sheer.  Nude hosiery.   You pop into Marks & Spencer when you have a spare 10 minutes, as any fool knows M&S is the business.  

Fear grips you.

You see in front of you maybe 40 different choices.  I'm not even exaggerating.  A big M&S will have a hosiery department that is about 20 square meters.  It’s a fairly long time since you last wore nude tights, so impossible to go straight to some trusted favourites.  Now I'm over 30 I have trouble remembering what I did last weekend, let alone what tights I wore in September. 

Questions flood your mind.

1)  Do I want NUDE?  Natural Tan?  American Tan? Too beige and you look like a little girl going to a birthday party.  Too dark and you look like an ice skater. 
2)  What denier?   No doubt the smart ladies buy very sheer 7 denier tights but I will of course have ripped these to shreds by the time I have had my first Americano. 
3) 10 Denier?  Still risky.  They are possible if you are going to a wedding and want to have the sheer, sexy look – but if you go this low on the denier you will only be able to wear them once at most and you'll need to have another spare pair in your clutch bag ready to whip out in the Posh Portaloo in the middle of a field.  Chances are by this stage you will have had one too many and will rip the second pair too, will give up on the whole thing and will descend the portaloo steps, and then you will spy an interesting Frenchman you have been longing to discuss the state of Anglo French relations with and will spend the next 30 mins nicking his cigarettes, banging on about Carla Brunai and the whole time with a sheer, natural tan tail.   (THIS IS NOT BASED ON A TRUE STORY.)   (OK MAYBE IT IS SLIGHTLY TRUE). 
4) 20 Denier?  Well you might overheat on the tube?  Yes you can wash them 40 times but will you look like Nora Batty? Will you?  Hmm? 
5)  Toeless.  For if you want to wear open toe shoes. 
6)  What exactly is a gusset?
7)  Cooling tights?  Surely the point of tights is to keep you warm??
8)  Anti cellulite tights?  Well now they are just being stupid.
9)  Obviously we want them to make us slimmer.  But HOW MUCH SLIMMER?  Medium strength control?  Full strength? 
10)  Control from our knees to our chin?
11)  Or just control around the bottom?
12)  Control around the waist as well, surely? 
13)  Matt look or oiled??  Oiled makes you sound like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl and that has GOT to be a good thing. 
14)  Whatever you do don't buy shiny. 
15)  Seriously, why do I need a strengthened gusset?  What do they thing is going to happen? 
16)  The stockings or hold up option look lovely on the packet, but in reality by the time you get to Camden Town on the Northern Line they will be rolling down your dimply thighs in a most unsexy fashion.  Best saved for mini breaks. 

You glance around you, lost in a sea of Lycra. You look at what other ladies are popping in their shopping bag in hope of inspiration.  You wish you had a Percy Pig to revive you.

Then. 

In the corner of your eye you spot something new.  Something lovely.  Something familiar.

A Beauty Hall.

Yes my friends, Marks and Sparks has branched out and now has a luxury beauty hall in the big branches.  And it is a wondrous thing.  It has a variety of lovely, unusual brands – not just their own – including Leighton Denny, Ren, Nuxe, Crabtree and Evelyn, Philip Kingsley and Skyn. 

Also, if you are in the market for a polkadot shower cap, some nice spongebags and make up brushes – you are in the right place. 

Here are some pics of just how lovely it is. 

As well as the non M&S brands – I have to say how amazed I was by the quality and variety of M&S make up – specifically the Autograph Collection.  Priced somewhere between Chanel and No7, with glossy packaging, lovely textures, good basics and staples plus some nice fashion shades – it is my new beauty crush.  I invested in this lovely bronzer, which is really good value at £14 and has a lovely glow.  They have a shimmery version and a matt version, so whatever you are after they have it.


I also invested in the Leighton Denny crystal nail file.  At £15 this probably is the most expensive nail file in the world but I am not exaggerating when I say it has changed my nails – it is amazing and my nails no longer split. 

I spent maybe a good 30 mins drifting around.  I never did buy any tights.  But boy, did I leave that store a happier woman. 

Rose x

T minus 6 days to Annie's Wedding

Eyebrows dyed?  Check

Hair highlighted?  Check

Hair conditioning treatment?  Check

Panic lost 7lbs?  Check

At home facial?  Check

3 pairs of control pants bought?  Check

3 pair of control tights bought?   Check

Eyelash extensions?   Check

New giant beige bra?   Check

Pin down Mr Rose and trim his eyebrows?  OUTSTANDING

Have 1st sunbed?  Check

Have 2nd sunbed?  OUTSTANDING

Pin down Mr Rose and slap some St Tropez on him whilst telling him it is just moisturiser?  OUTSTANDING

Shave legs to within inch of life?  OUTSTANDING

Scrub red bobbly arms twice daily and slather with moisturiser?  Check

Pedicure?  SERIOUSLY OUTSTANDING I HAVE CLOVEN HOOFS

Manicure?  OUTSTANDING – though I am manicure ready thanks to amazing new product

Diary cleared to allow for only protein and veg evenings in at home with early nights?  SORT OF

Overnight bag packed with every make up product known to man?  OUTSTANDING

 

Helpin Annie find the perfect natural but not too natural, long lasting but not dry coral lipstick?  OUTSTANDING

 

Keeping my excitement under control?  OUTSTANDING!

 

 

Rose xx

 

 

 

 

Annie and Mr Annie and a chocolate cake

So in just under 3 weeks my darling middle sister will be marrying her beau, Mr Annie. It only seems like yesterday that we were planning weddings for our many Barbie dolls and the one, polygamous Ken doll.

When she got engaged last year and I told friends and colleagues, their first reaction was always 'gosh how lovely' and then they cocked an eyebrow at me and said 'how are you taking it?'. For as the elder and unmarried sister, a sense of Jane Austen still lives in 2013.

But the thing is about love, that even though you may wish you had what they have, you are so pleased they are happy it cancels out the jealousy. I'm fairly sure Annie is deeply jealous of my BLUE SHED and we are both insanely jealous of Izzy's washboard stomach.

Mr Annie is like the little brother I never had, to see them together is a joy because they are not only soul mate ish, but he relentlessly takes the piss out of her, which helps to keep her grounded ;-)

My mum and dad, as you can imagine have been relishing marrying a daughter from home: dad has done full scale models of venues to work out seating plans and conducted raucous blind wine tasting tests which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mum has been sweet talking the local farmer into lending a field for the marquee, bribing old ladies to do the flowers and you can tell she has really got into it now by sending emails with menus for 4 days worth of celebrations.

So just before the wedding on the day itself, we are having egg sandwiches, sausage rolls and my mum's famous Almond Cake. Just reading the email about it gave me an idea and I got my Baking Tickle. This cake is famous throughout Warwickshire and is known to heal the sick. People who barely know her ring up and ask for one.

As Mr Rose has been such a Trojan in the garden this weekend (he is Master of Weeding whereas I'm more of a Creative Director type) I decided he had more than earned a cake. So I found my recipe book, found the page with it on and lo and behold, next to it was a recipe that belonged to my mum's god mother for a chocolate almond cake. So as he is a chocoholic I though I'd try it and he has given it a big thumbs up.

 

 

As you can see its not giant, but its very rich.

To make it you need:

2oz butter
4oz caster sugar
3 beaten eggs
4oz drinking chocolate
2oz SR Flour
2oz ground almonds
1 tsp almond essence
Chuck it all in a 6" cake tin at 180 degrees for 50 mins.

 

Serve to a hungry man on a garden bench while he admires his handiwork.

And no, none for me- I've got a bridesmaid dress to fit into!!!

Love,

Rose xx

 

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Banko fun

About 6 months ago, Mr Rose and I were aimlessly wondering around Homebase trying to pick which Crown paint was a good enough copy of Farrow and Ball's Dorset Cream to fool Aunty Mame, when I stumbled on the previously unknown concept of shed paint. Shed paint! I know, brilliant huh?

You can paint your shed violet, rose pink, line green, slate, stone, Cotswold fart - whatever you like.

I clocked the shade 'forget me not' and made a mental note to transform our shed come spring. This weekend was the allotted time so we skipped back to Homebase and bought it. I woke ludicrously early yesterday morning and raced outside to get the first coat on.

The reason for my speed was that I wanted to slip outside before Mr Rose woke up. He is the sort of chap that does things properly - if he'd awoken I'd have been made to read the instructions, prepare the area, wear appropriate clothing, cover the ground etc etc. All of this would have totally ruined my impulsive moment!

I forgot to get a 'before' photo but you get the drift here.

And here is the finished product:

Anyone wondering what the effect was of not preparing the area? Well we now have some rather blue strawberries...

Here is Whispa from next door admiring it

We went to Ikea yesterday and snapped up these amazing solar fairy lights to go in the plum tree next to it:

 

It was so easy, and just a flash of colour at the end of the garden has transformed it.

Love,

Shed Obsessed Rose

(I don't know who I am anymore)

Xx

 

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Going, Going, Gone Girl

You have probably seen half of the people on public transport reading this book. 

I don't normally like thrillers, as I'm a total scaredy cat but I am gripped to this book. 

It has lots of twists and turns and has kept me interested on the Northern Line all this week.  A perfect summer read!

Highly recommended

Rose x

Effortless Glamour

I often think that around Easter is the least attractive time for a British female.  We have survived a long winter, not unscathed, and the days of freezing cold wind, the heat from tube carriages and general lack of Vitamin D are taking their toll.   I don't know about you, but I'm finding getting out of bed on cold mornings even harder than normal because the winter has gone ON SO LONG and I can't take it anymore.  Instead of glamming up in the morning I feel like closing the curtains and staying inside with a greasy pony tail and old joggers.    

 

However, the show must go on!  Here are two tricks I've come up with that enable me to stay in my warm cosy bed as long as possible in the morning.

 

Bendy rollers

Hair is the first key to effortless glamour.  Get your hair looking good and it will distract from any winter weariness.  But if I set my alarm half an hour early so I can get up and use my Babyliss Waving Wand for curly locks, or give the mop a proper blow dry then I will guarantee to just hit snooze 4 times till I get up, spray some dry shampoo on the roots and run out the door with the hair of a slattern. 

Now I haven't used these since I was a kid, but I spotted them in Superdrug and thought I'd give them a try.  Old school, huh?!

The beauty is that you wash your hair at night, rough dry it, wind these babies in like this…

Bedtime Chic

 

And then just go to sleep.  OK so they aren't the most comfortable things ever but you get used to them and the brilliant thing is you wake up with hair like this..

Bendy foam rollers - the results!

Which not only always works brilliantly, but the curl lasts till you next wash your hair – giving you glamorous hair for days – for zero work on it in the mornings. 

 

Really thick foundation

If ever I am asked which foundation I use, then the answer is 'well I have about 4 different ones depending on what I need it for, where I'm going and how good my skin is!'. 

The secret is to keep changing it depending on your needs, which can vary from one day to the next. 

In the summer I just use tinted moisturiser (Liz Earle is the best), the foundation that takes me through winter is an Armani one which is heavenly but recently I've been looking so tired it hasn't cut the mustard. 

Like most modern foundations it is really all sheer and light and glowing, which is great if you've had lots of sleep and can top up the patches with concealer and also finish with powder etc.  But who has time for a 3 step programme on a Monday at 7.40am?!  Not me, that's for sure. 

A few weeks ago I rummaged through Annie's make up bag and found Estee Lauder's Double Wear Foundation.  

I put it on and was HOOKED.  With this stuff it is all you will need on your face apart from a touch of blusher.  It lasts all day long.  I put my face through a lot – air conditioning, tube carriages, long days..  but it doesn't ever need touching up. 

Yes it is quite thick, but if you match the colour to your skin tone properly there is no reason why you should look too made up.  And they do 30 shades, so excuse for getting that wrong  ;-)

 

 

So there we have it - a few things to glam you up, really quickly, on cold winter mornings. 

What tips do you have for instant glamour?  Let me know!

 

Rose

xx

The importance of Brand

Mr Rose has many good qualities.

You can name any country in the entire world and he will be able to tell you the current political situation, the state of their economy and a brief history of their wars. 

He is blessed, follically speaking, and will never ever go bald.

He is braver than a lion.

He wears what I tell him to.

He knows all about Wagner. 

He loves going on holiday to exotic, 5 star beach locations with me and never makes me go sightseeing or mountain biking. 

However, nobody is perfect and Mr Rose is what can only be described as a Stubborn Little Bugger.  

For months I've been wanting to try out my new loaf tin from Lakeland, but every time I offer to make him a banana bread, he screws his face up like a toddler being fed a sprout and replies 'well you can make it but I wont be eating any of it because I DESPISE banana bread'. 

Yesterday my darling mum sent me back to London after a very lovely weekend of Warwickshire Rehab – with a bunch of very mouldy bananas that had 'come off the back of a lorry'. 

(Don't ask)

So I was determined to make some banana bread for Mr Rose's breakfasts (he has a tendency to leave the house to go and run a government department with only an apple inside him – I see it as my duty to the Nation to make sure he arrives at Westminster well fed).

I needed to get rid of him for about half an hour while I went about my secret mission so I nonchalantly asked if he knew where my records were for a savings account.  He bounded up the stairs 2 at a time and spent a merry half an hour tutting at how bad my filing was till he jubilantly found it. 

By which time I'd whipped up banana bread, chucked in some raisins and REBRANDED it.
So when he approached the kitchen to see what I'd been up to, he was presented with Breakfast Loaf – a new concoction of mine.  Full of protein, goodness and fruit to keep him going on his way into the office. 

Reader, he wolfed it down and had another slice this morning for breakfast, so Her Majesty's Government is being properly run today – we can all rest easy. 

The recipe was got from one of my all time fave blogs:  Esther Walker's Recipe Rifle (read it, it is magnificent) – and the exact recipe can be found here.  She has 3 different banana bread recipes on the site, but this was the only one which I didn't need to go and buy new ingredients for.   The only thing I changed was adding in 2 handfuls of dried chopped raisins and apricots.

So here's to fooling boyfriends with the rebranding of banana bread!  Pics below...

Rose
x

Breakfast Loaf - not banana bread!!

Aren't the daffs lovely?