Neutral Schmeutral

I am so over neutrals. Pale nails, nude dresses, magnolia walls. No sireee. What we need is COLOUR and lots of it. I have been working on a  project for a client and it involves lots and lots of colours. Which is awesome as I basically spend the day on pinterest looking at pretty pictures.


 So far I have learnt 3 things.

1. Humans can see 2.2 million different colours.

2. Staring at technicolour moodboards all day, genuinely makes you happier.

3. Acid Pink is NOT girly. It's awesome.

Madrid

Around this time last year we went to Madrid for a long weekend to see family. 

I wish we were there now. London is too cold, too grey. And on a day to day basis I do not see enough sky. Or squid. 

Definitely not enough squid. 

{Pics by me}

Aubergine Curry

I am not going to make a habit of posting recipes or pictures of food BUT a friend asked me for this and as I was writing it out, I thought I might as well share.

At home this was my all time favourite dinner and it was simply called Aubergine Curry (big on creative writing, my lot). It is actually based on the much more romantically named Lake palace hotel's aubergine cooked in pickling style by Madhur Jaffrey, but over the years we've all tinkered with it a bit.

It turns out different every time, equally delicious but different, so I am never too fussy about measurements. 

It also freezes and keeps really well so it's still a pretty popular staple in our kitchen too.

Ingredients for four. 

One smallish (normal) aubergine per person

A tin of chopped tomatoes 

An inch cube of fresh ginger

Four large garlic cloves

Tbsp water

1 Tsp fennel seeds

1 Tsp coriander seeds

1 Tsp kalonji seeds (black onion)

1Tbsp ground coriander

1/4 Tbsp tumeric

1/4 Tbsp cayenne pepper

1/2 Tbsp sea salt

Table spoon of  veg oil for frying spices

Extra veg oil for brushing aubergine slices

1.

Slice your aubergines into generous 1 cm rounds. Brush them with a little vegetable oil, lay them on a baking tray and bake in a medium oven until they are cooked through and the skin is curling.

2. 

While your aubergines are cooking, finely chop your ginger and garlic, then add them to a pestle and mortar/mixer with a Tbsp of water and bash up till you have a watery paste.

3. 

Heat up a decent size frying pan (everything will end up in it) and add a Tbsp of oil until it's hot. Then toast your three spice seeds (coriander, fennel and kalonji) until they release their scent. 

4.

Add your tin of chopped tomatoes, the ginger/garlic mix and the ground spices. Give it a good stir, add a little extra water you want the sauce to go a bit further and then let it simmer away for 15 minutes or so.

5.

When it's got a bit sticky and everything has cooked together, chop up your cooked aubergines into smaller pieces and mix in gently.

6. 

Cook for another 10 minutes of so and you're done. Serve with rice or flat bread. It also goes really well with white fish like cod if you fancy a bit of protein (who doesn't?).

{Aubergine by Tartelette.}

A lot in a box

It's raining outside and work is, well hard work. My life is in boxes and I ran out of clean clothes about a week ago.

But then this little bit of green popped up on screen and suddenly I am feeling MUCH perkier.

Allotinabox has everything you need to grow your very own veg patch INSIDE. (At least, I hope it is - I just ordered one and the only outside space I have is near some scary bins).

Which is marvelous for people like me who already live in a box.

They come complete with a selection of British Seeds and everything you need to grow them, along with this here blog that is full of tips and info.

To be honest I'm more excited by the unbelievably lovely packaging and design of the site (which was how I found them). But that might to do with the fact the last plant I tried to keep alive was taken off me by a concerned relative. Apparently you can love (read - water) something too much?

Happy Thursday folks.

Rosette making

In my wine soaked euphoria at the prospect of the royal nuptials, I made a whole load of rosettes for our work tea party. I put up a few pics and a couple of people asked for the template, namely the very lovely, A Bookish Space.

Sorry it's the weensiest bit late.

Though still plenty of time before Harry takes Pippa up the aisle.

Download the supersimplehandrdrawn instructions here

And the template here

Knobs

Happy days! I have finally moved into my half of a quarter of a flat and it's all very exciting I must say.

Precisely 39 seconds after I officially became a *homeowner* I got a little bored of talking about dimensions and council tax and started looking for things to put in said new home.

Like these delightful knobs from Anthropologie.

Now, the old, non home-owning, Cate would have made a crass joke at this point, but I have decided to put aside such childish folly and instead bask in the magnificence of their lovely knobbiness.