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At the moment I’m feeling a bit fed up of London. Its been a hard few weeks for the city I grew up in and I spend a lot of time thinking about our future here. But then I remember all the things I love about living here. The diversity, the museums, the heritage and culture and of course the food. Trying new places to eat and exploring the city through food, will never be something I get bored of. I absolutely love finding new places to enjoy a meal with a friend, there really is nothing better for the soul than good food and good conversation.

I have digressed a little from the point of this post! I recently visited the fabulous Wild Food Cafe, I loved this place so much I just had to write a little review and talk about what I thought.This wonderful little spot,  is tucked away in the vibrant Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden.  This wonderful little spot is an oasis in the busy city, a lovely little retreat from a busy day. If you need a little colour in your life head to Neal’s Yard.

I absolutely love healthy food, I’ve always loved my fruit and veg and fresh beautifully cooked meals. I also love my treats, and I do like to indulge in delicious things. The cafe has a fab menu of plant based foods, as you’ve never seen them before. Healthy, colourful, vibrant food at it’s best. I visited the cafe a few weeks ago with Fay.

As soon as we arrived, we were seated on  a long table, by a window looking out on Neal’s Yard. We had loads of questions about the food and the waitress was absolutely fantastic, she talked us through the menu, made recommendations and explained ingredients to us. By the time we ordered we were really happy with our choices and it was just really nice having a chat with someone who was passionate about the food.

The menu has loads of great choices and almost all the ingredients are things I really enjoy. The menus are seasonal and we chose from the Spring menu. They’ve now moved on to an exciting new summer menu and I’d love to go back every season and see whats new.

For my main I opted for the Quan Yin Bowl, a beautifully presented combination of wild and black rice, asparagus, sweet potato, avocado, sprouting broccoli and pili nuts, served with kohlrabi slaw and grain mustard. All good stuff! The presentation was stunning and this tasted every bit as beautiful as it looked. It was very filling and utterly delicious.

The dessert was every bit as lovely as the main. I opted for the White Chocolate and Goji Berry Tart and Fay chose the Matcha Cheesecake. Both desserts were beautiful and considering all the lovely healthy ingredients they tasted every bit as lovely as their more surgery counterparts elsewhere.

I was impressed with everything about the Wild Food Cafe. The location is lovely and the perfect fit for relaxed atmosphere. The food is beautiful and the staff are lovely. If you find yourself in the area looking fro a good meal, then I couldn’t recommend it enough. The meal along with a freshly made juice cost just over £20, which was very reasonable for the quality of the food.

Find the cafe at – 1st Floor, 14 Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden WC2H 9DP

Find out more on The Wild Food Cafe website.

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I have such a weakness for all things Cath Kidston. If like me you’re addicted to pretty dresses, gorgeous fun prints and classic vintage inspired styles, then its all very hard to resist. I’ve seen a few things I’ve been coveting for a while that have now gone into the sale, so I thought I’d put together a wishlist of some of my favourite pieces.

Fashion: I already have a really big thing for Cath Kidston dresses, but the seperates are gorgeous too. I’d love to wear the cardigans over original vintage dresses.

Click on the images below to go to each item:

Accessories: You really can’t have too many pretty handbags and those shoes would go so well with dresses.

Click on the images below to go to each item:

Since I started work on this post, even more items have been added to the sale including lots of things I’ve had my eye on for ages. You can view the entire sale on the Cath Kidston website.

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Last year I discovered Joanie Clothing for the first time. Since then I have picked up a few of their lovely dresses. When they offered to send me another one to try I obviously jumped at the chance. I’d had my eye on this lovely striped shirt dress for ages, so had to give it a try. I am always drawn to bright colours and I love all the clashing, contrasting shades in this one.

One of my favourite things about this dress is the arm length. If like me, you sometimes like to keep your arms hidden, then this is a great choice. I was also impressed that the arms weren’t too tight either, so the dress is really comfortable to move around in.

In general the fit and style of the dress is great, I had to add a safety pin at the bust, which I do with most shirt dresses. I’m quite busty so to get a great fit everywhere else the bust can gape a little. Having said that the dress didn’t feel at all tight across my chest, so this wasn’t a big problem for me at all.

Another thing I liked about the dress, was that the body isn’t too short and the dress’s waist sits very well on me. I love the belt that comes with it too. Its quite a strong one and should last well.

The dress is made from a light soft polyester and the skirt is lined. It’s a very comfortable dress to wear in warmer weather and I found the dress quite cool and breathable.

I went for my usual size 14, which was absolutely fine on me. They do run ever so slightly on the small side, so if you’re unsure make sure you take a look at the size guide first.

I’ve worn my dress with my favourite yellow shoes from Miss L Fire, an H&M hair flower and some vintage Avon Colour Go Round bangles from the 70s.

I’ve fallen in love with so many dresses from the Joanie website, these three are next on my wishlist. They would all be perfect for summer holidays and sunny weekends.

Mermaid Sun Dress — Stripe Sleeveless Dress — Frill Sundress

Find the full range of dresses on the Joanie Clothing website.

*Thank you to Joanie Clothing for sending me this dress for the purposes of review. All opinions as always are my own. 

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Today’s recipe is one that I’ve baked numerous times. It’s based on a recipe I found from the 1930s. Although these look a bit like chocolate muffins, they have a completely different texture. They are much more like a dense brownie than a traditional muffin or cupcake.

These are great at lunchtime with a big mug of tea and keep well in a cake tin.

You will need: For 12 cakes.

225g Flour

1 tspn baking powder

170g caster sugar

A little milk

40g cocoa powder

115g Butter

1 egg

A few drops of vanilla essence

How to Make:

Preheat oven to 220ºC Line a cake tray with 12 fairy cake cases.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa together.

Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar and mix well.

Add the beaten egg to the mixture with a few drops of vanilla.

Mix to a stiff consistency adding a little milk as required.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the cake cases.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Place on a wire rack and dust with caster sugar.

As always please let me know if you try this recipe. I really enjoyed seeing the pics of your rock cakes! As always I have some new recipes in the latest issue of Vintage Life magazine, which you can buy here.

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A couple of weeks ago, Cath Kidston launched yet another gorgeous Disney Colab. This time classic Cath Prints were revamped with a lovely 101 Dalmations theme. Having bought dresses from the last two collections I knew I had to pick one up this time too.

Luckily for me, this is the first time they’ve done a preview launch in a few stores. So to avoid hours of online frustration trying to get the dress into my basket, I headed to the Piccadilly store and stood in a queue for an hour to get my dress.

The whole shopping experience was pretty stress free. It was a lovely sunny day and the queue was organised really well. There were friendly CK staff chatting to people in the queue and it was a really nice atmosphere. When the store re-opened at 7pm we were let in a few at a time and staff were on hand to make sure everyone got everything they wanted. I left with this dress, a bookbag and a mug. I also got a bonus canvas tote bag for spending over £40, which was a really nice touch.

Obviously I absolutely love the print of this dress, the colour and design are really cute. However I was even more in love with the Townhouse print, so I was a little disappointed that they didn’t do it as a dress, as it would have been perfect.

A few people have mentioned being a bit disappointed by the material of the dress. When I first went into the shop, I was too. The dress is 100% polyester and at first I was really sad that it wasn’t cotton or viscose. I’ve not come across another CK dress in this material before and it actually felt very cheap. However my mind completely changed when I put the dress on. When you’re wearing it the material drapes really beautifully and the lighter fabric works very well with the pleats. The dress is very comfortable to wear and not at all sweaty, so don’t be put off!

Fit wise, I always go for a 14 in Cath Kidston and this fit really well. As usual I found it a little short in the body, but I was much more pleased with the skirt length on this, than any of my other Cath dresses.

Price-wise this was not a cheap one, at £80 it is a bit of a splurge for a simple dress. But all my Cath Kidston dresses have lasted for years and always washed well, so I always treat them as an investment. I also rarely buy anything expensive, so I will treat myself to something I really want every now and then

I am really looking forward to finding out what the next Disney collaboration will be. One day I’m hoping for a Lady and the Tramp or a Mary Poppins print. That would be amazing! What Disney film would you like to see Cath Kidston work her magic on next?

Find the full 101 Dalmations range on the Cath Kidston website.

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