Our fourth wedding anniversary

It was our fourth wedding anniversary last week. I know I know, I can't believe it's been four years either. 

Our anniversary fell on a Thursday which meant we didn't do much to celebrate on the day itself. However, we still opened our cards and presents and indulged in a few cranberry and white chocolate welshcakes from Fabulous Welshcakes.

The themes for fourth wedding anniversary gifts are fruit, flowers or linen, depending on which version you read. Neil and I don't stick to the themes too rigidly, but sometimes they can provide a spark of inspiration.

I had some lovely gifts from Neil, as always!

Beautiful flowers and a Mickey and Minnie Disney Traditions figurine. We got engaged in Walt Disney World five years ago so I love the sentiment behind this figurine. 

Cute Winnie the Pooh pyjamas which I've been coveting from Asda for ages. I'm a little disappointed that it's still too hot to wear long pyjamas to bed. 

Neil also bought a little floral charm for me from Amazon which fits perfectly on my Pandora bracelets. It's very pretty but didn't photograph well, so it couldn't be featured in the blog post! 

I got home from work on the day of our anniversary to discover that Jessie had very thoughtfully bought us a card. She'd also written a lovely message in it, although her handwriting looks suspiciously similar to Neil's. I still find big events and anniversaries a little difficult after the events of two years ago, so this gesture meant the world to me. 

We wanted to make sure we celebrated our fourth anniversary in style, so we went to Llanerch Vineyard for our celebratory meal last Saturday evening. It was a beautiful day which made the tranquil surroundings even more spectacular. 

We went the whole hog and had three courses (obviously), and everything tasted just as good as it looks in the mouth-watering photos below...  

Asparagus, black garlic emulsion, and a beer and charcoal polenta coated poached egg.

Sirloin steak with confit'd banana shallot, mushroom ketchup, crispy capers, smoked pancetta and truffle salted chips. 

Strawberry and pistachio meringue with clotted cream and vanilla ice cream. 

After finishing our meal and walking back to the car via some lovely views, we went home to Jessie and shared a bottle of wine to finish off the evening. Well, Neil and I shared a bottle of wine. Jessie had a dental stick and some chicken. 

I can't quite believe that another wedding anniversary has been and gone! We're now wondering how we should celebrate our fifth anniversary next year... watch this space. 

My birthday celebrations

Another year, another birthday... I seriously can't believe it's June already. At the risk of sounding like a carbon copy of everyone else, where on earth has this year gone?

My birthday fell on a dreaded Monday this year so I decided to do most of my celebrating the weekend before. The week leading up to my birthday weekend was pretty dull weather-wise, but the sun came out just in time!

We took Jessie for a long walk on Saturday afternoon then went to Etc for an early dinner. Although I've only been to Etc a couple of times, it's quickly becoming one of my favourite restaurants for special occasions.

The sun was still blazing when I was getting ready so I decided to wear one of my brightest outfits to make the most of it.

When you take a look at what I ate and drank on Saturday evening, it's easy to see why Etc has become a firm favourite...

Lavender Fizz - a gin cocktail 

Sweet potato confit, crispy chorizo and sage 

Cauli-meflower (chargrilled cauliflower steak, spiced red lentil dhal, tempura purple sprouting broccoli, caramelised grapes and curry oil)

Etc Berry Mess 

Banana Daiquiri 

'That all looks amazing!' I hear you say (hopefully). And you'd be absolutely right. 

On the Sunday, we took Jessie for another long walk then drove to Joe's Ice Cream on Wellfield Road for the first time in years. I'd never dream of ordering a tub of plain vanilla anywhere else, but I can't resist Joe's vanilla ice cream. It tasted just as good as we remembered, if not better. 

As always, the weekend flew by and it was business as usual on Monday. I had 5 meetings so it was a long day in work, but I had lots of lovely birthday wishes and a couple of cards from my colleagues. I also brought doughnuts and cookies in to the office, and it would have been very rude of me not to sample a few for myself as the birthday girl.

I opened my presents from Neil (and Jessie!) when I got home from work, then we went to Romeo's by the Sea for a quiet meal. We were home by 8:30pm and finished off the evening by sitting down to watch an episode of Homeland, our new series of choice.

Thank you to everyone for your lovely gifts, cards and messages. I had lots of pink and Disney-themed presents and cards as always, and I'll continue to post lots of my gifts on Instagram over the next few weeks.

I'll leave you with one happy thought... 200 days to go until Christmas Day. You're welcome!

Restaurant Review: Moksh

If you've read my last blog post, you'll know that I had one of my three monthly check ups at the hospital last Friday. We always make an effort to go to a special restaurant in the evening after these check ups, and this time we decided to try somewhere brand new based on lots of positive recommendations from various friends - Moksh in Cardiff Bay.

We booked our table for 7pm and it was pretty quiet when we arrived. We'd already decided that we'd spoil ourselves and go for a three course meal as the starters and desserts sounded just as amazing as the main courses. I also treated myself to a glass of Prosecco as it was technically a celebratory meal, and it wasn't much more expensive than a soft drink!

I was torn between quite a few starters, but I finally decided on the Chicken James a la Indiana with CO2 Essence. What on earth is CO2 essence, I hear you ask? I wondered exactly the same thing... 

Don't ask me about the science behind it, but the waitress poured water into the container above and it erupted into an impressive steam show which smelt of cinnamon. I am quite easily impressed, but I thought this was a great spectacle. The food itself was really good, and was a deceptively large portion for a starter. There's half a naan bread hiding underneath all that chicken and sauce!

For my main meal, I decided to go for chicken again and ordered the A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Spherification). It came with rice which meant I didn't have to worry about side orders, and it sounded very intriguing. 

It was completely different to what I was expecting, but it looked absolutely amazing. The spheres were visually impressive and full of fruity flavour, and the chicken was beautifully flavoured too. Oh, and there was LOADS of it. It also came with a chilli Cantonese inspired sauce which was a little spicy, but not overly so. The sauce meant that the meal wasn't too dry and 'samey' and was the perfect accompaniment. 

We also ordered a garlic and coriander buttered naan to share which was really tasty. It was quite thin which suited me fine as I didn't have room for a big wedge of naan bread on this occasion!  

Although we were very full after our main course, we heroically decided to go ahead with our original plan of ordering desserts as they sounded so unique and unlike anything we'd ever had elsewhere. I went for the Arabian Nights dessert which came with pistachio mousse, curry ice cream, dates meringue, gold dusted sweet hummus macaroon, edible sand and the magic lamp. 

There aren't many things I love more than an instagrammable dessert. The magic lamp was similar to CO2 essence I had with my starter, but even more aesthetically pleasing as the steam came out of the spout and tiny little holes on the lid to give a bit of a mystical effect, The pistachio mousse was probably my favourite element of this dessert, closely followed by the macaroon and the meringue. The curry ice cream didn't do it for me unfortunately as I didn't think the combination of flavours worked very well. However, I've heard others raving about it so it's just down to personal taste. 

The service was quite slow when the restaurant got busier towards the end of the evening, but the staff were all polite and we weren't in a rush so we didn't mind. The restaurant is quite small and doesn't feel overly crowded, and I loved it that everything was colour coordinated (orange, in case you were wondering). This was one of our more expensive meals in the UK at £78 but, considering the quality and quantity of the food and the special atmosphere, as well as the unique nature of the experience, we thought it was worth it.  

I also appreciated the opportunity to get dressed up and to put some make up on... I've been struggling lately and hadn't made an effort with my make up on for about a month, so it was nice to spend some time getting ready for a nice occasion! 

Have you ever been to Moksh? What did you think? 

Restaurant review: Kaspa's

Kaspa's is a dessert restaurant which has two branches in Cardiff - one in the city centre and one on Roath's City Road. At first glance, the restaurant and its retro branding might not look very enticing or impressive. I promise you that first impressions are incorrect in this instance!

I'd been determined to visit Kaspa's as soon as I could after seeing lots of mouth-watering photos on Instagram. I decided to take the opportunity to go for the first time when two of my university friends came to visit as the three of us have a mutual love of food in common. We went for a late lunch at Cafe Citta before relaxing with a few cocktails, then we walked over to Kaspa's just before 9pm.

The city centre restaurant looks tiny and cramped at first glance but, as you're led to one of the many booths at the back, it becomes clear that it's a very long and narrow restaurant with plenty of seating areas. So don't let the gaggle of people hanging around by the door put you off - they'll either be waiting for their takeaway dessert or ogling the display cabinet!

The menu is massive. MASSIVE. You can choose anything from sundaes to waffles to cheesecakes to milkshakes to crepes, with a whole host of side and swap orders to give you even more choice. I decided fairly early on to narrow my options down to the Waffles section just for my own sanity. I figured that I could have a sundae or a cheesecake anywhere, but I've never had a particularly good waffle outside of America.

I eventually decided on the Strawberry Shortcake Waffle... in the meantime, I saw lots of waffles being delivered to other tables and realised what size they were! It's worth noting that, for an extra 99p, there was an option to choose your own flavour of ice cream to go with your waffle rather than Kaspa's standard vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. However, I had a sneaky suspicion that I wouldn't be able to finish the whole waffle, let alone tackle the ice cream, so I didn't go the whole hog this time.

My dessert arrived in no time at all...

Look how amazing it was! This beauty was made up of strawberries, crushed digestive biscuits and white chocolate sauce and it was absolutely heavenly. I couldn't finish the whole waffle as it was so big, but I made sure I ate all the strawberries and the crushed digestive biscuits as they were so delicious. Although I'm not usually a fan of excessive white chocolate, this sauce was really tasty without being sickly and helped to break up the texture of the waffle. As predicted, I didn't even touch the ice cream!

My dessert was £5.95 which I thought was pretty reasonable considering its colossal size, and they definitely didn't skimp on the toppings. You'll generally pay around £5 for a dessert in a chain restaurant and this was much bigger than anything I've ever eaten in one of those (thankfully - imagine trying to eat one of these immediately after a big meal!).

Just one piece of advice... I can eat a LOT, and I couldn't finish this even though I'd eaten my lunch 4 hours earlier. I wouldn't recommend going to Kaspa's straight after a big meal - save it for when you're really hungry or for a few hours after you've eaten.

Have you been to Kaspa's? What did you think? I can't wait to go back!

My 30th birthday weekend

It was my birthday last weekend... I turned 30! Don't you just love it when your birthday falls on a Saturday? I enjoyed a whole weekend of lovely activities so I thought I'd blog about what I got up to.

My Friday evening started well when I got home from the gym and found Neil baking a summer fruits cake. An excellent start to every weekend! It was a total surprise so I found the whole thing very exciting.

We continued our weekend of indulgence later that evening with a couple of glasses of wine in the sunshine while we waited for dinner to cook (hence the R2D2 kitchen timer). I love sitting out in the garden on a quiet evening... it makes me feel relaxed, which is often a difficult feeling for me to achieve.

We tried Tesco Finest's 'two dine for £10' deal for the first time on Friday night and decided on potato wedges, beef and pulled pork pizza with salsa verde, and mango and passionfruit torte. All three options were amazing! 

I woke up early on Saturday morning to squeal excitedly and to open all my presents and cards. 30 or not, I'm like a child when it comes to my birthday. I'm planning to write a separate post on my fantastic presents so I'll save all those photos and descriptions for a later date. Taking the perfect photos of all my gifts before finding a home for them is definitely a #bloggerproblem and took me a good half an hour!

When I went downstairs later that morning after getting ready, Neil had a surprise waiting for me in the kitchen... our very own afternoon tea! He'd gone to loads of effort and made cheese & tomato and ham & mustard sandwiches, as well as the star feature of the homemade summer fruits cake. 

After eating the delicious sandwiches, scones and cake and drinking our fruity green tea, we hopped on a bus to Cardiff Bay for the afternoon. Cardiff Bay is one of my favourite local places to visit, particularly on a sunny day. We wandered around for a couple of hours to take in the sights, and I had a very decadent hot chocolate in Cadwaladers! 

We sat in the garden for half an hour after getting back from the bay, then I went to get ready for my surprise birthday evening meal. I decided to wear my Christmas sale dress from New Look for the first time, along with a couple of my new jewellery pieces (more on those in my upcoming 'birthday haul' post). 

I was very pleased when Neil drove me to Miller and Carter as it's one of my favourite restaurants and always feels like a special treat. We ordered the bread sharer to start then I had a tasty fillet steak with all the trimmings, washed down with a glass of Prosecco. Top marks! 

Neil had yet another surprise planned for me on Sunday afternoon... Llanerch Vineyard for Sunday lunch! The weather was beautiful so we were able to walk around the vineyard and soak up some sun after our massive meal. I had the butternut squash and ginger soup to start, roast sirloin for my main, and lemon posset for dessert. It's fair to say that the whole lot was spectacular and I can't wait until our next visit. We sat in the conservatory section of the restaurant, right next to the window, so we enjoyed a nice view with our lunch!

After we got back from Llanerch Vineyard, my in-laws came around for an hour to sit in the garden as it was such a sunny evening. It was lovely to relax in the sun and chat for a while about what we'd all been up to over the weekend. After they'd left, we finished off our day with a stunning evening walk to Penarth Pier. The beautiful views and the tranquil experience encouraged us to go for evening walks more often! 

I feel so fortunate to have had such a great birthday weekend (good planning, Neil), and I'm looking forward to going to visit my parents and friends in West Wales next week for part two of my 30th birthday celebrations. You definitely haven't seen the end of my birthday blog posts... watch this space! 

My new ice cream maker

Neil bought me an ice cream maker for Christmas and I think it's the best thing since... well, since actual ice cream. It can be used to make frozen yoghurt and sorbet as well as ice cream, and it's really easy to use. After making my first ever ice cream and realising with alarm how much cream (both single and double) goes into it, we bought a skinny ice cream maker recipe book and have consequently developed a slight obsession with making frozen yoghurt.

My latest ice cream maker creation is my blueberry and vanilla frozen yoghurt which was AMAZING. I thought I'd quickly talk you through the ingredients and the process just in case you ever have the urge to make this delight yourselves. I highly recommend it!


Ingredients
200g blueberries
400g low fat natural yoghurt
50g 'half spoon' sugar
1tsp vanilla extract


Firstly, you need to stew the blueberries and the sugar for around 15 minutes. I used a little mini saucepan with a lid (I love my little mini saucepan) and ended up with this lovely concoction. You can blend the blueberries into a smooth puree if you prefer, but I wanted some blueberry chunks in my finished product.

Secondly, you need to add the natural yoghurt and vanilla extract to your blueberry mixture. 

You need to make sure that the yoghurt has been chilled in the fridge beforehand as this will help with the freezing process, so don't take it out of the fridge until you're ready to add it to the blueberries. 

I'm sure you can guess the next step... mix it all together! Make sure the mixture is mixed really thoroughly so that the blueberries are distributed evenly throughout. You'll then need to cover and chill the mixture for at least half an hour. Making ice cream and frozen yoghurt involves a lot of chilling, for obvious reasons.

Once the mixture has been chilled, it's time to add it to the ice cream maker and intently watch it churning for the next twenty minutes. Don't worry, you don't actually have to watch it intently... I just can't help myself. You can leave it to churn for longer than twenty minutes if you don't think the mix has thickened enough after this time, but most mixtures should be pretty frozen after twenty minutes. Once you're satisfied, transfer your mixture to a container then store in the freezer for a few hours to finish the freezing process. 

Ta-dah! I made a rookie error with this particular frozen yoghurt... I only froze the inner bowl from the ice cream maker for three hours before making the yoghurt, and it should ideally be frozen for at least eight hours. 'Oh, it won't matter', I said to myself confidently before embarking on my frozen yoghurt project. I can now confirm that it did matter a little bit. It meant that the mixture didn't really freeze at all during the churning process as the inner bowl wasn't cold enough, so it was still quite runny when we tried it a few hours later. However, it was absolutely delicious and the addition of the chunky blueberries made it even better. 

I've also used the ice cream maker to make strawberry frozen yoghurt and pecan and maple syrup ice cream which you can see on my Instagram page. 

Has anyone else got an ice cream maker? Do you have any recipes to share? 

Restaurant review: The Captain's Wife

The Captain's Wife is more of a pub than a restaurant, but I didn't want to disrupt the title of my series! Just humour me...

We visited The Captain's Wife back in November to celebrate our three month wedding anniversary. I'd never been there before but I'd heard lots of good things (particularly about their portion sizes) so I was pretty excited. We decided a few hours before lunchtime that we'd like to give it a go, so we simply went online and booked a table there and then. Hassle-free!

The Captain's Wife is situated in a little village a mile or so from our house so I'm not sure why we've never thought to visit it before. It was a gloriously sunny day which really showed off the restaurant's beautiful surroundings, and I could have stood outside taking photos for hours. However, I love my food too much for this to be a realistic possibility. Ever.

I'd been yearning for a roast dinner for weeks so I opted for their Sunday roast with turkey. This was my first roast dinner since the wedding so my levels of anticipation were very high, and I was absolutely famished (as usual). We didn't have to wait too long for our food even though the restaurant was fairly busy, and the dinner was rather impressive when it arrived...

I was lovingly gazing at the parsnips and roast potatoes so I didn't even notice that there were no vegetables on my plate. They came along in a separate dish which I then added topsy-turvily to my plate, but I made sure I took the 'before' picture as my presentation skills aren't very good when it comes to food!

It was a proper mountain of food but I valiantly ate every morsel, as I'm sure you'd expect from me by now. The roast potatoes were particularly good, as well as the yorkshire pudding. Parsnips are my favourite vegetable in the world so I heartily enjoyed those too. You just can't beat a massive roast dinner!

You'd have thought we couldn't even consider ordering dessert after eating this lot... you thought wrong. I ordered the peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake without thinking twice as the description in the menu was simply salivating. 

Our desserts did take a while to appear from the kitchen but I didn't mind too much when I saw mine. Just look at that sugary chocolatey pile of goodness! I took a photo halfway through to show all the different layers... so tasty. There was a huge layer of cream on the top and a generous helping of chocolate sauce around the edges, as well as a beautiful chocolate base. I'm not even a huge fan of peanut butter when it comes out of a jar, but the layer of peanut butter on the top and the cheesecake mixture itself were just amazing. I (obviously) ate every bit of this course too. 

Needless to say, we'll definitely be back in The Captain's Wife soon. The location is perfect for us and the food was so reasonable considering the sheer volume of it. It was also exquisite! The atmosphere was very homely and family-friendly, and it was just a lovely experience all round with friendly staff and beautiful views from the rustic windows. It also has a seating area outside if you fancied a drink in the sun. This place is just perfect for anniversary meals, birthday occasions or just a normal sunny Sunday. Or a rainy Sunday, but your external photos won't look so nice!  

Have you ever been to The Captain's Wife? Did you also manage two courses...? Let me know what you thought!