Weekly Update!

Fish, Steak Pizza & Prosecco!

On Monday Mo came to mine and cooked a really nice bit of salmon with veg and potatoes for tea, makes a change for it to be so healthy! Tuesday I had fish again, but at the Country Club, this time it was sea bass with crab and cauliflower salad and asparagus and was amazing as per usual. On Wednesday Tasha came to mine and I made a spaghetti bolognese and we booked the hotel for our holiday - so excited!

I babysat on Thursday and then on Friday went out to Manchester for a meal and drinks (see previous post). Yesterday I got up early and drove Mum and I to Leeds to see Jasmine as a belated Mother's Day present. We bought her a ticket to the theatre to see Pygmalion, and went to Ask in Headingley for lunch beforehand. We got the mixed Panzerottini (filled dough balls) and a sharing platter of meat, cheese and bread as a starter, and then for main I had the most amazing pizza type thing that was a rosemary and sea salt flat bread topped with steak, rocket, tomatoes and grana pardano. It was absolutely huge, and tasted phenomenal, the waitress recommended it and I'm glad I trusted her judgement!

We were really full, and pushed for time afterwards so skipped dessert and went straight to watch the play, which was really good (see next week's post), and then I drove back home and quickly got ready for a night out! Emily and Natasha came to mine for predrinks, and then we met my friend Amanda in Manchester and went to Neighbourhood. It was a really fun night, we were on the prosecco and the music was awesome, we stayed so late and got free shots! 

Today I felt pretty ropey, I'd stayed at my parents so was in bed until lunchtime, then had a bacon and egg sandwich and was given a lift home. Mo came round and we've just had a much needed Chinese, though it took nearly an hour and a half to arrive, not the best on a hangover!

New Tastes...

Ask, Headingley

Last Thursday, I went to Ask whilst visiting my sister Jasmine in Leeds. We had been given £30 in vouchers by our mum to spend there, which rather than meaning we got a free meal, just meant that we both splashed out with 3 courses and paid what we would have done for 1!

We ordered a bottle of the house white wine between us (my last drink for a month!) and got two starters to share - the new pepperoni filled Panzerottini (dough balls) with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, and battered calamari, a family fave. Both were piping hot, really good sized portions and perfect for sharing.

We both opted for seafood pasta for main; mine was one of the specials - angel hair pasta with king prawns topped with crispy ham in a light lemon, garlic, chilli and tomato dressing, and Jasmine had the ravioli stuffed with crayfish, crab, salmon and ricotta in a creamy tomato sauce. Mine was nice, but I prefer sauces that are a bit more substancial and the dressing made the meal feel more like a warm pasta salad. I loved that it was with angel hair pasta though, as it is one of my favourite varieties. Trying Jasmine's I understood why she has gets it every time she comes to Ask, as it was amazing, stuffed full of seafood and the sauce was deliciously creamy and indulgent.

We both still had room for dessert (just!), so I got an almond, plum and pistachio tart with vanilla ice cream, which was sort of an Italian twist on a traditional English bakewell, and Jasmine went with simple lemon tart with creme fraiche, a great palate cleanser with a bit of zing.

The bill altogether with a tip came to £65 - a bit pricey for a high street chain Italian in my opinion, but the food and service were very good, and we did both have a lot to eat! At least we had our Tesco vouchers to knock half off.

Weekly Update!

Food, Food & More Food!

This week was half term, so I've had a busy one filled with fun activities and lots of yummy food! Monday was a restful one as Aum had a busy weekend, we just chilled out at home and didn't do very much. On Tuesday we took two of his friends to the Trafford Centre to play Laser Quest and for some lunch. We bumped into two more of his classmates whilst we were there so all went to Zizzi together, which was lovely. I had the Calzone Pollo Spinaci, which was filled with chicken, spinach, mushroom, thyme and bacon in a mozzarella and bechamel sauce topped with ham, it was worth the 1500 calories!! 

We still ate at the country club in the evening, but as I had such a mammoth lunch I opted for a small plate - deep fried duck egg with cauliflower mousseline, caviar and micro herbs. It was a really good combo - the egg was gorgeous and runny and the cauliflower mousseline had a surprisingly strong flavour which went well with the caviar. On Wednesday we ate at Cafe Gourmand before travelling to Pontefract where Aum was staying with his grandparents for a couple of days. I had simple scrambled eggs on a wholemeal bagel, followed with an amazing honeycomb cheesecake, it had lumps of Crunchie, Malteasers and Daim in it. In the evening I was pretty tired from my drive, so watched the Brits and made some white chocolate 'cookies' that turned out like rock cakes!

On Thursday I had a lie in before doing a gym class, and then I travelled to Leeds to see Jasmine to break up my trip to collect Aum the following day. We went out for dinner at Ask (see next week's post) thanks to Mum as she gave us some vouchers, and then watched the first Hunger Games as I'd never seen it before. I picked up Aum on Friday at 2pm, and finished as soon as I'd dropped him at home.

That evening I popped to see Mum and then went for dinner at the country club with Tasha, Emily and Smeed. Em and I got two lots of sushi - the dragon roll which I have had before, and the Country Club Roll which is 'Hot black sesame reverse roll with tuna, barbecue unagi, baked scallop and prawn delight'. We got the broccoli and asparagus as a side, and I was stuffed afterwards!

Yesterday I did an awesome yoga class and then went to Ikea with Mum in the afternoon, and in the evening a few of us went to James and Kelly's for drinks and nibbles. I have given up alcohol for a month, so was very good and stuck to soft drinks - and still made it to 1.30am!

Today I had a surprise treat from Mo, so we got ready and set off at 3pm. Turned out we were going for afternoon tea at Harvey Nichols which was very nice! We had finger sandwiches on the bottom layer (cucumber and cream cheese, salmon, prawn mayonnaise, ham and mustard, and beef and horseradish) big raisin scones with jam and clotted cream in the middle, and then a selection of mini pastries on the top. It varies from day to day, but we got pear and apple crumble, a belgian vanilla slice, a purple macaroon and a chocolate truffle. There was so much we had to take a goody bag home with us, and finished it this evening after a yummy roast pork joint. Such a calorific week!

Traveller's Tales...

Scarborough

After I finished work on Saturday, Hana drove me, Abi and Tasha to Scarborough to see Lydia at university. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there, so once we arrived we quickly got changed and went out for dinner at Ask. I had three courses as I was feeling particularly hungry! I had sea salt and rosemary bread with olive tapenade for a starter, followed by crayfish, crab and prawn ravioli and finally a plum and almond tart served with vanilla ice cream. We shared a bottle of prosecco and a bottle of wine, and with a tip mine came to £30.50 which I thought was reasonable.

Afterwards we walked to a place called Blue Lounge (after being nearly run over by a man on a mobility scooter and being flashed at by a guy in a window!) where we had a drink and a dance. The DJ was really bad at mixing songs though, and it got really busy and sweaty, so we moved on after an hour or so. We went next door to a place called The Barbican, that reminded me of a mixture of a Wetherspoons and a Revs. We got a fishbowl for £8 and sat down as we were all feeling pretty tired. We headed back to Lydia's at around 1.30am as we all just wanted to sleep!

The following day we got up and ready to go and explore the town. We drove to North Bay and had fish and chips at a cafe overlooking the castle which was lovely. Afterwards we went for a paddle in the sea and walked along the beach. We then drove to South Bay, which was a bit more touristy (rock, amusement arcades and donkeys rides etc!) and we had ice creams and made sandcastles. The weather was really nice, we were very lucky!


After a while we decided to head back to Lydia's so stopped at Tesco to get some drinks and magazines. There was a little park at the end of her road so we sat and chilled out there for a while before setting off for home at five. We were home by 7.10pm, but then I had a magazine article to research and write, so it was a rather late night for me!