Autumn Fashion Rebellion

I think we are in for a long winter :( It is only October and there is snow up north and getting noticeably chilly near us. I refused to succumb to the dark autumn  trends of oxblood and brown and chose to fight autumn blues with lots of bright colour. Here are some of my favourite finds in recent weeks. See below for full details and where to shop.

1. Black Cashmere Jumper: This is a fabulous Lands End find. I never shopped at Land's End as I assumed it catered to an older generation. However, I found some great buys whilst on a trip with the MIL to their outlet in Oakham. This jumper is 100% cashmere and was down from £85 to £19!!

2. Bunny Flats: Alexa and other celebrities have made the Charlotte Olympia Kitty Flats very popular. I love them but could not imagine spending over £400 on a cat-faced shoe. I squealed with delight when ASOS launched their Little Miss Ballet Flats for a tiny fraction of that price. Use the discount code MEGA10 or HELP10 and get an additional 10% off all items at ASOS.

3. Yellow Leggings: I love Uniqlo for their comfortable and quality clothing and also for their great designer collaborations. I could live in these happy coloured leggings which were a steal at £14. Sign up and you will get a £5 off voucher.

4. Joules Moredale Jacket: I've been eyeing these Joules beauties for a while and finally succumbed. I justified it as a long term investment. Use voucher code GHK15PP to get 15% off plus free delivery.

5. Orla Kiely Bag: This lovely printed bag was one of many many charity shop treasures. It cost about £7 and is from the Orla Kiely for Autograph collection. I've seen similar ones on eBay for a bit more.

6. Jazzy Iphone cover: This was a great find from the brand Les Tai Tai. It cost me less than £20 with vouchers and looks good even after a whole year.

If you need pointers on where to shop for Autumn gear or if you would like me to find you a discount code, please shout. Keep warm. Ann x

Brevas con Arequipe: Colombian Caramel Stuffed Figs

Not so long ago I'd expressed a desire to cook a recipe from a different part of the world every month. This was of course inspired by some food travel blogs I'd come across thanks to a couple of friends. I started off with Brazil although it felt like it might as well have been South India. I then moved on to Cuba, Tunisia and Afghanistan, in no particular order. What I cook does not follow a strict list but merely depends on what I've got in the kitchen on an inspired day. A few weeks ago I cooked for some friends and decided to do a three course Colombian meal. This was dessert. I must admit that I heavily relied on a fantastic Colombian food blog, My Colombian Recipes. I used local recipes or substitutes where I could as the editor of the blog clearly had access to Colombian style ingredients.

Ingredients:

12 Figs

4 tbsp maple syrup ( the original recipe recommends panela)

1 tbsp lime juice

2 litres whole milk

500g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 Cinnamon sticks

Method:

Caremel/toffee sauce:
This takes absolutely hours and so its worth preparing first or overnight. Heat the whole milk and sugar in a pan. Add the baking powder and cinnamon stick and continue to simmer for about 3 hours ( sometimes longer) until the sauce starts thickening and it looks toffee coloured. Remove the cinnamon stick and continue to simmer until it reaches a thick caramel like consistency.

Figs:
Slice the figs as shown in the photos and soak in water for a couple of hours. In a saucepan cook the figs in water. Add 4 tbsp maple syrup, lime juice and a Cinnamon stick. Once the figs have softened ( about 60 mins of simmering), drain and set aside.

To serve, warm the figs in an oven and then stuff the figs with toffee sauce and serve with ice cream. Its a shame I forgot to take photos of the final product with ice cream. The photos below are a good indication of what the figs and caramel sauce look like though.

Enjoy cooking. Ann x