Danish inspiration from Oyoy

Oj oj oj (as they say in Sweden!), but what's not to love about the relatively new Danish brand Oyoy?! Led by designer Lotte Fynboe, Oyoy's vision is to design functional products using high quality materials in beautiful colours and shapes.

Oyoy

So many patterns and geometric shapes! Really lovely. It's definitely worth checking out their website here.

I am sitting nervously waiting to hear baby news from my wonderful friends David and Ullis who are in hospital on this stormy January day. Fingers crossed for you guys, thinking of you! x

Daylight and lessons learned

A quarter the way through the course. For me this week has really the been the turning point where I am starting to really realise my weaknesses rather than feeling confident 90% of the time. I need to learn to slow down and take stock. To actually go through everything twice before going ahead with recipes. It's been a hard one I can tell you but also enjoyable and rewarding to learn that I will never make these mistakes again!

But, on the other hand, it's been another great week. After it being my turn at cooking family dinner (chilli roasted veggies with bulgar wheat and quinoa tossed in parsley and golden oyster mushrooms), finally we are making our way into the kitchens with daylight! Daylight is such a beautiful thing at 8am after leaving demo the night before in the dark! I made my second sourdough and already it's a 100% better. Still got some way to go to perfection but it's a yummy mistake we are all happy to get wrong. We've had some extra hours wine tasting of Little Beauty Wine... happy days! I made Bean Can Bread, so great and easy and then just some great times in the kitchen.

The Pink Cottage also received a great treat in the post from Raw Nibbles, some Cacao butter. We plan on making chocolate and raw chocolate and I've been using this page as some inspiration…can't wait for those final ingredients to arrive and get making!

And one of the best pieces of news…one of the cows had her calf on Monday evening. Welcome baby Babette heifer to the family.

Swedish fireplace inspiration

So many of the Swedish homes you see feature a fab Kakelugn (tiled stove) in the corner of the room. These date back to the 1880's neo-renaissance era (today's history lesson!). Many of them are not used for heating today but can still look pretty with lit candles. This home for sale through Alvhem is lucky enough to have one in the sitting room AND in the kitchen.

Alvhem

There is something very cool and cosy about having a fireplace in the kitchen don't you think?! In fact I'll add 'kitchen fireplace' to my dream home 'must have' check list right now!

Sitting pretty in Lund

Today I love the sitting room in this apartment currently for sale in the South Sweden historic university town of Lund. The mix of black, white, grey and pastels is such a pretty palet and combined with the beautiful Kakelugn fireplace in the corner: a perfect space!

Bo-laget

I know I'm a little obsessed by it at the moment.....but I think I've decided on a white, grey and washed out pastel colour scheme for my new bedroom. I love H&M home's 'Linne' collection and the Bodie & Fou linen duvet cover in blue/grey. My other discovery is these simple and pretty candles from LET LIV. Oooo such little time, and so much decorating to be done!

Danish home with a romantic side

Morning all! I was so excited to discover this Danish home as it was a while ago I featured a space with a soft romantic side. The home itself is beautiful in it's simplicity (original features, white canvas with brown accent). However, the chandelier and shabby chic style mirror in the sitting room, soft floral cushions in the bedroom and a candelebra with floaty lace curtains in the bathroom adds such a pretty, floaty feminine touch.

 

With kind permission: Stylist: Katrin Martensen-Larsen from Kmldesign, photography Mikkel Adsbol

We're currently moving our entire bedroom up one flight of stairs into a 40 metres open plan space - so exciting! I'm obivously driving my man nuts with all my bedroom moodboards! But I'm still a little stuck - do we go modern scandinavian or antique, floaty, romantic? Perhaps somewhere in between?

Do you have two styles you can never choose between?!

Tips of the Week

Oh happy weekend. How glad am I that it is only Saturday. After a short visit to the Black Bird Pub in Ballycotten last night to mingle with the locals, the alarm clock came as quite a shock! Off to do our kneading of our Sourdough Sponge with Tim and then a quick, and yummy visit to Middleton Farmers Market.

Quite ashamed that I'm almost in week 4 of the course at Ballymaloe and still haven't managed to visit Middleton Market, we toddled off down the country lanes ready to see all the great vendors. 

There was the mushroom lady of Ballyhoura Mountain Mushroom selling shitake, several oyster species and nameko all grown in sawdust and chemick free. These were amazing and I opted for the Golden Oysters for my turn at cooking 'family supper' tomorrow night.

There was the Ahern family there selling their chickens, the Hederman family selling their amazing hot and cold smoked mackerel, salmon and mussels. Several local farmers selling veggies and fruit, the pate guy who's pate is amazing by the way! I was so blown away by the caramelised onion pate in my mouth and excited by the pate package in my hand I utterly forgot to ask his name…next week.

Of course Ballymaloe was there with it's stall and several of our classmates helping to sell, there was the sausage lady who we purchased several rustic hotdogs from and last but not least there was the best hot chocolate seller ever. And as a person who never drinks coffee and always hot chocolate, I should know! The name is O'Connail and they are really known for roasting and grinding their own coffee. But these guys also make their own chocolate for their hot chocolate. Oh boy. Go. Go now!

And so after a busy jam packed week. Here are 'my' tips of the week…

1. When boiling/blanching greens, never put the lid back on the pan once the veg is in the water. The evaporation that hits the lid will drop back into the mix actually discolour your veg.

2.  Soups that have potato/flour in are harder to reheat.

3. The yellower the fat on a piece of meat, the more grass fed it has been.

A dining space with a personal touch

It's Friday yay! In case you're having friends over for supper this weekend I thought some dining room inspiration could be perfect (thoughtful, no?!). And who better to take inspiration from than Victoria from SF Girl By Bay with her fab sense of style (see her previous home here). 

SF Girl By Bay with kind permission

I love that Victoria's dining space is so personal. From the antique dining table, Tulip dining chairs and the vintage Eames rocker in the corner, to the collection of photographs, candle holders, and prints. What a lovely space to spend an evening with friends.

What does your ideal dining room look like?

This week I was interviewed by The People Stories about my work space, the article is up and running here. They have such a beautiful website, I'll definitely be keeping my eye on it in the future.

I've had such a busy week I'm looking forward to some serious down time this weeked! Maybe a little ice-skating, some baking (I've promised to make Bear pops with my  girls) and lots of R&R! What about you?

PS Just wanted to say how much I love all your comments, they are so interesting and add so much to every post. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Is it me, or are we moving at warp speed?

This week has been so jam packed full of goodness. I had my meeting with Darina, it was insightful and great to speak to someone who knows so many people within the food industry, whether it's producers, restauranteurs, entrepreneurs or stylists . Literally she must know at least 100 people in each country in the world. Lots of great ideas and challenges came out of my meeting, as well as her loving my biscuits, asking if she could have the rest to take home plus lots more. Lots lots more of great little secrets and future things in the pipeline that I hope you come back and read all about!

We've learnt to make a new type of bread, brown yeast bread which is, by far the best so far. Tim Allen has been patiently walking or kneading us through sourdough starters and sponges. We are still waiting to actually get it proved but it's all exciting. I've named mine Bernie. He's lovely!

We've had Rachel Allen and Rory O'Connell for most of demos this week which we are all loving. And I mean loving. Rory brings a huge recipe encyclopaedic knowledge of exciting techniques and ideas for ingredients with a far more professional approach. Rachel is fun and vibrant and just makes three hours very fun, full of giggles and great tips. Today we learnt all about shrimps, prawns, crayfish all from 10minutes down the road.

We've had wine tasting with Maurice O'mahony from Wine Alliance and had a fun hour of swirling, sniffing and spitting. Ok, who am I kidding, we all drank our tasters!

Spring has started, buds are on the trees and as we learn more and more, the talk of what our future holds is boiling over and it seems quite symbolic coinciding with this time of the year. 

I cannot believe next week is week 4. Week 4! That means we only have 8 weeks left of the course and 2 weeks till our fist set of exams! Wow. I've left the 'oh my god I'm so excited to be here' stage and I've moved to the stage of loving it and soaking everything this place has to offer but thinking to the future and what that holds.

Knives at the ready!

Old meets new in a Stockholm home

It's all happening in Södermalm, Stockholm this week. So if you're looking for somewhere to live, this area of Sweden's capital city's got the place! Following Tuesday's all white affair, this beautiful apartment (which I found via one of my blog favourites, La Maison D'Anna G) has a lovely relaxed old meets new feel with a touch of industrial / shabby. 

Burfors via La Maison D'Anna G

So which style is more you - the fresh white or the relaxed old meets new?

Me? I'm definitely for a little mix of old and new, I love an old floor with history like the ones they sell at The Reclaimed Flooring Co and antique / vintage pieces which tell a story. Plus if you're a bit messy (like I am) it this tyle is much more forgiving!

PS Just a quick question before I leave, does your man / girl understand your love of Pinterest? My guy is finding it hard to grasp the context, or actually I think he gets it but doesn't actually get why. Oh how he's missing out!