recent Lifestyle blogs
spicy food fixes

spicy food fixes

We've come a long way since we moved to Istria, in being able to satisfy our spice cravings. There's still nothing - quite - on our doorstep, as we used to have on Burton Road in West Didsbury, but compared to the early days, we're practically living on Spice Island...

bread point bakery : poreĉ

bread point bakery : poreĉ

We've missed sourdough bread since we moved to Istria. We did find it once, in a Konzum supermarket in Rovinj, but have never found it again. Italy, so far, hasn't turned it up either for us. We used to buy it from a very cute shop on Burton Rd in West Didsbury called...

one dish speedy pasta bake

one dish speedy pasta bake

This meal is definitely one of our favourite go-to recipes, especially when the nights are getting darker earlier and you just need a bit of comfort food. It's so easy and you will definitely have all of these ingredients in your cupboard and fridge, and there's...

the easiest recipe, ever…

the easiest recipe, ever…

If you are a fan of curry, then this is a perfect recipe. I found this on Instagram, and just had to give it a go as I couldn't believe that a curry - or, soup, as the recipe calls it - could be anywhere near tasty with so few ingredients. How wrong was I? It...

ikea mash soup…

ikea mash soup…

Yep, you saw that right. We really did use a packet of IKEA frozen mash in a recent soup recipe. And, believe you me, it was a bit of a game-changer. Our freezer often has a few packets of this particular brand of mash - containing apparently 82% potato - because of...

sprout and stilton cheese quiche

sprout and stilton cheese quiche

Stilton cheese and brussel sprouts, combined, to form the filling for a quiche. I mean, what's not to love? We adapted this recipe slightly - the original recipe called for the sprouts to be halved and steamed, but we wanted them to be shredded, so did things a little...

structural gardens

structural gardens

Over the years, our gardens have evolved. The front garden has become more private as we have had walls constructed, not only to denote our boundaries, but also to provide us with privacy. The rear garden had been designed from scratch, after the demolition of our...

bacon and brie bake

bacon and brie bake

When we go to Lidl - either here, or in Slovenia, which is probably the closest one to us - and they have a Special Week, we often stock up. When it's Greek Week, the trolley is full of smoky tuna, halloumi, pitta breads, olive oils. Spanish Week and it's olives,...

cheesy irish soda bread

cheesy irish soda bread

A while ago I discovered the easiest bread recipe using just four ingredients - plain flour, baking soda, salt and 0% fat plain drinkable yogurt. For the record, Siggis yoghurt is the best. By far. Since making the initial loaf, we've experimented with different...

creamy mushroom stroganoff

creamy mushroom stroganoff

We made this last night, and it is utterly delicious. It's super simple to make and requires very few ingredients that you'd probably have in the cupboard anyway. what you'll need 2 tbsp butter/olive oil 1 onion finely chopped 4 garlic cloves crushed 500 g (1lb)...