The bake festival and a bbq

A few blog posts ago I wrote about the Christchurch food festival & mentioned the bake weekend. We had a few minutes spare in between our copious amount of trips to the tip, we've been sorting out the garden in our spare time lately, we decided to pop in and see what yummy goodies we could fill our tummies with.  I'm really sorry that it's another post to make you all hungry, if you're really keen on being hungry Rosie blogged about the Sunday if you fancy having a little nosey at that too! We headed down mid afternoon, after the judging had happened and I was quite sad to have missed the demonstration from Kirsti at Claridges on how to make perfect macarons. We had a little wonder through the tents and browsed all the stalls, we decided to grab a quick smoothie although Dan didn't quite realised what he'd signed himself in for, having to pedal to blend the smoothie- what an awesome idea I'm thinking they'd be even better for summer cocktail partys! I was pretty impressed by all the entries for the bake competition this year, especially the circus tent, although dare I say I reckon I could definitely give them a run for their money- I might have to enter next year?! The picture of one cupcake was a gorgeous strawberry and champagne cupcake from Fox's cupcake co , I have never ever had a cupcake quite so spectacular-  the sponge was lighter than a feather and the buttercream was incredibly light but full of flavour, absolutely heaven (I feel like I'm cheating on lulubelles by saying this).

We then bundled back in the car with bags filled with goodies and headed home for a doggy walk (there were loads of dogs at the bake sale but ours is no where near good enough to resist cakes) and a BBQ, we decided got some lovely butchers sausages and chicken fillets which we marinated in sweet chilli before chucking them over the coals. I also made almost health puddings for everyone, layers of strawberry, banana and sugar free marshmallow, they were so yummy!

What've you been up to lately?
xo

The Raft Milford on Sea

I hate sharing little gems like the raft, it's one of those restaurants that you just want to keep secret between you and a few near and dear. We first heard about the raft when a friend suggested drinks in their shack, I was a little confused at first but the shack is a gorgeous space in the garden, cosy enough for drinks with friends or a small party (it's the picture with all the cushions), whilst passing we'd checked out the menu and popped a note on our to visit list at home. We've been really busy bunnies lately but have just had massive hand ins and deadlines so to celebrate decided dinner and drinks were in order so we got dressed up, hence the almost outfit of the day and face of the day pictures, & wondered on over to milford on sea. We were greeted by friendly staff who showed us to our table, as you can see the decor is to die for, theres a fire & cosy grand dad chairs, a huge table for parties and booths through the main part of the restaurant, you then walk past the open kitchen where the chefs are happy to natter whilst spinning pizzas and off to the garden and shack. Being the fussy fiona that I am I decided to mix and match pizza toppings and they were more than happy to accommodate this, the pizzas are all made in the kitchen on site so changing things about a bit isn't a problem at all, you can even watch if you want. Dan went for the burger which was served in a quarter of a lovely bread roll with chips and salad. We were both over the moon with our choices, everything was cooked to perfection and full of flavour. After washing down our mains with a celebratory pint we decided to order 'the raft' sharing dessert, a coconut panna cotta with mango sauce, meringue with fresh berries & an ever changing chocolate brownie- it was baileys and almond that day. The puddings were all delicious and despite me thinking otherwise were more than enough for two to share after dinner.

We will most definitely be returning to try out some of their other dishes soon!
 xo

lulubelles cafe

Last year I posted about my favourite place to fill my sweet tooth cravings, lulubelles. Since then they've purchased the shop next door and out of the builders rubble blossomed a gorgeous, kitsch little tearoom. You probably don't know much about Canford Cliffs but it's a gorgeous area and was long over due a cosy little cafe for locals and passers by alike and I now find myself battling to not pop in every day on the way past. Louisa has carried the Lulubelle's look through in to the tearoom, it's pink and girly and a little bit shabby chic, perfect for little princesses and wise queens alike (boys are welcome too!), the window seat is my favourite place to grab a drink with friends after a shift and indulge in something naughty. And for those of us who are a little bit too naughty, there's a naughty stool. There's bean bags and colouring in for little ones and a book swap shelf filled with amazing books for grown ups, but if reading's not your thing make sure you browse all the lovely trinkets and homemade goodies for sale.

I feel rather qualified to talk about how perfect the cakes are now, I wouldn't be suprised if I've tried everything on the menu in the past year or two! Today we didn't have long so we grabbed a slice of coconut and lemon layer cake to share & it was amazing as expected, the sponge was deliciously moist and bursting with flavour and the icing was gorgeous. We washed our slice of cake down with a vanilla milkshake and a cup of hot chocolate which was quite possibly the richest cup of hot chocolate I've had in my life, I'm not complaining though!

If you're in the area Lulubelle's tearooms are open Monday - Saturday 9.30-5 & Sunday 10-4
If you dont have time to stop in for a drink you can always pop next door for a takeaway.


xo


p.s lovely readers if you've got a spare moment I'd be over the moon if you nominated me for a cosmo blog award in either the travel or lifestyle category!

Christchurch food and wine festival

This post's got lots of pictures, sorry if it takes a while to load!





For this little adventure we didn't have to go very far at all. Christchurch food and wine festival is now in it's 13th year and had quickly become one of the must visit food festivals in the UK and I'm sure you'll agree from the pictures there's something for everyone. There's a mix of celebrity & local chefs (we spotted James Martin!), cider makers, cheese masters and veggie growers, the cafes and restaurants of Christchurch come out in force to display their best loved dishes and show just how varied this little town can be. There's also classes for kids and adults and a whole heap of events throughout the week, from free chef demos in the marquee to a black tie charity dinner to celebrate the end of the festival. There's tonnes more information on the website - if you're local you should definitely check it out, it's well worth a visit. If you've got a sweeter tooth the last weekend of the festival (18 / 19th May 2013)  is bake weekend & fete on the quomps (what a great word!), the whole quay gets transformed in to a gorgeous little fete and on the Saturday Jo Wheatley from the Great British bake off is coming along to judge to baking contest and do some demonstrations. I'll definitely be front row for that!

We headed down around mid day and the festival was already in full swing, everyone seemed to be braving shorts and sunglasses despite the dull skies, we can wish the sunny weather back surely? After a quick natter with one of my favourite ladies, Marina (check out her blog) we headed through the crowds, enticed by every smell and sign, to the marquee to watch the demonstrations. After a while our taste buds were tingling with excitement so we headed back out to the high street to find something yummy & bumped in to Max and mummy in the macaron stall. We set to work smelling out our lunch, I settled for a hot dog & Dan went for a venison burger then we washed everything down with a summery cup of pimms. We wondered on down to the square where we watched some belly dancing before grabbing an ice cream and heading home, luckily we just missed the rain!

Have you been to Christchurch food & wine festival before?
xo