Recipe: Raspberry Oat Slices

Posted in Food & Recipes by A Spoonful of Style

My friend made these raspberry oat bars for a cake sale at my son’s school last month and, after tasting one, I immediately asked for the recipe. They’re super easy to make and the oaty crunchiness contrasts nicely with the gooey jam. If you use sugar free jam they’re not too sweet and make perfect lunch box treats.

Ingredients:

(makes approx 12 slices)

5 tablespoons light brown soft sugar

125g (4 1/2 oz) plain flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

a pinch of salt

100g (4 oz) porridge oats

125g (4 1/2 oz) butter, softened

250g (9 oz) good quality raspberry jam

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas mark 4. Grease one 20cm (8 inch) square cake tin and line with baking parchment.

2. Combine brown sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and porridge oats in a large bowl. Rub in the butter using your hands to form a crumbly mixture.

3. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake tin, reserving the rest for the topping. Spread the jam over the base but not quite to the edges as it will spread.

4. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top and lightly press it into the jam.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into slices.

3Nov2013

This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

Hello again! Just a quick one tonight as I’m totally exhausted after Cameron’s 10th birthday party this afternoon for 17 of his friends at a mini golf course near our house. His actual birthday is tomorrow and I’ve just finished making a cake and wrapping the presents (his main present is a bicycle but he’ll get to choose it himself so we’ve just printed out a picture of a cool bike and stuck it in a birthday card).

As I’m typing this with only one eye open, here is a quick round-up of our week:

1. Apart from today’s party, Halloween was without a doubt the highlight of our week. When we went to our local farm shop we ran into this Pumpkin Princess who kindly agreed to have her picture taken with the kids.

2. The Halloween decorations were brought down from the loft and the children immediately tried on the bat hairbands. Clemmie kept hers on for two days and even took it into bed at night.

3. On Wednesday the sun graced us with its presence and we took advantage of the crisp autumn weather with a trip to a nearby adventure park and farm.

4. It has been lovely spending every day with my boys this half term. They have tomorrow off as well but on Tuesday it’s back to school.

5. The pumpkins took pride of place on our doorstep on Thursday as we hosted a small tea party for friends before trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

6. The kids all dressed up in their scary finery.

7. Cameron’s golf themed birthday cake (no I didn’t make it, cake decorating is not a strength of mine..) went down a treat at the party today.

8. My football crazy son holding one of his favourite birthday presents.

9. It’s bonfire weekend so after the party we went to see an amazing fireworks display.

It’s now almost 11pm and high time I went to bed, I suspect the birthday boy will not let us have a lie-in tomorrow morning. Good night to you all. X

3Nov2013

#BritishBloggerSelection

Posted in Uncategorized by A Spoonful of Style

Hello! It is a lovely sunny autumn morning here in London, perfect for my son’s mini golf birthday party this afternoon. We still have loads to do (including packing 19 party bags full of sweets and little toys…Incidentally, when do they grow out of party bags? Do you still have to provide them for a 12th or 13th birthday party? I sincerely hope not..) but I just wanted to let you know about a new blogging group I’ve joined called #BritishBloggerSelection.

As I’ve said before, one of the great things about blogging for me is the sense of camaraderie and groups like these really help to foster that community spirit. It was started by Ellie over at Little Vintage Camera and if you want to join just click here. It doesn’t matter what your blog is about – fashion, cooking, lifestyle, beauty etc – you just have to be British (technically I’m Swedish but I think that after 30 years in this country I qualify..)

I really have to run now, as the clock is ticking but I also just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing your weekend plans in my previous post – I loved reading about what you’re up to. Hopefully I’ll be back later today with my ‘This Week’s Favourites’ post but until then: Have a great Sunday. X

1Nov2013

Happy Weekend!

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

Friday again! What are your plans this weekend? Do you see the weekend as a chance to get out and experience new things or do you prefer to stay at home, flop on the sofa and relax? Go out for dinner, entertain at home, catch up on chores or go to the gym (maybe even all of them and more)? Or are weekends just another working day(s) for you?

I can hardly remember weekends pre-children but they definitely used to involve going out on both Friday and Saturday night. These days I probably need a week to recover if I go out two nights in a row! If I cast my mind back ten years ago, my hazy memory also seems to recall long brunches with a cheeky Bloody Mary or two (where we actually got to read the papers instead of just snatching a quick glance at the headlines while trying to stop the kids from wrecking the place), perhaps a spot of shopping on the King’s Road or a matinee showing of a film that didn’t carry a U rating.

As it’s half term, this weekend is gloriously free of kids’ activities which means no hunting around for football boots and swimming goggles (how come they’re never in the same place from one weekend to the next?) first thing tomorrow morning. Our autumn birthday marathon is nearing the finish line, culminating in my eldest son’s tenth birthday on Monday (double figures! Or as he keeps saying to me ‘mum I’m almost a teenager now!’ 😱) so on Sunday it’s time for his party which seems to have escalated to include 19 kids…Luckily we have roped in some friends to help but I’m thinking of bringing my ear plugs…

As Cameron’s party is so close to bonfire night it is customary for us to go to a fireworks display in the evening after his party, complete with fairground rides and toffee apples for the kids and mulled wine for the adults.

Anyway, enough about me. Please share your plans or your ideal weekend – I’d love to know 🙂 And whatever you’re doing, have a good one! X

31Oct2013

Happy Halloween!

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

From all of us to all of you: A Very Happy Halloween!

So Halloween has finally arrived and the excitement is running high in our household. The pumpkins have been carved and we have finished putting up the decorations in preparation for a little tea party for six of the children’s friends which will be followed by trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

The boys have then requested a ‘scary movie’ so I think we will watch ParaNorman or Aliens in the Attic while they eat some of their sweets. If past years are anything to go by, they’ll each end up with a whole bucket full of candy so I will stash most of it away in the top cupboard to avoid complete sugar overload.

Here are some pictures of our Halloween decorations:

30Oct2013

The Beauty Edit: A Touch of Pink

Posted in Beauty by A Spoonful of Style

If you’re pale skinned like me, then a good blusher is essential to avoid looking washed out in the winter months. So let me introduce a new beauty favourite of mine: Le blush créme de Chanel in shade 64 Inspiration.

The creamy texture glides on beautifully and it’s the perfect shade of cold pink to add that ‘I just went for a walk in the park’ glow to your face. It works equally well for day and night and I can see myself using up this compact well before winter is over.

What’s your staple beauty product? Does it change with the seasons?

29Oct2013

Blonde Ambition

Posted in Beauty by A Spoonful of Style

{Two of my favourite hair products for keeping those highlights gleaming: Paul Mitchell 'Blonde'

{Two of my favourite hair products for keeping those highlights gleaming: Paul Mitchell Forever Blonde Dramatic Repair and L’Oreal Professionnel Gloss Protect System in Silver.}

Apart from a rather unfortunate encounter with a bottle of red hair dye in my late teens (my hair was a gorgeous vibrant red for two washes and then a horrible light orange hue for months), I have always been blonde. These days my natural colour is definitely at the mousy end of the spectrum, thus requiring a helping hand from either the sun (unfortunately rarely seen on these shores) or a tinfoil wielding hairdresser to restore it to the shade of blonde I was blessed with as a child.

At the moment my tresses are in dire need of some TLC. I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I haven’t visited a hairdresser since the end of July (before we went on our summer holiday..) and three months between haircuts is far too long. Part of the reason why I haven’t made that call and booked an appointment is that I just find it such a bore. I’m fine for the first hour or so, having a cup of coffee and reading magazines, but I resent having to give up the two or three hours it takes to have a full head of highlights, cut and blow dry.

But today when an email offering 50% off all colour treatments landed in my inbox, I finally took the plunge and booked an appointment for Friday. I had been toying with the idea of going slightly darker but I think I’m going to stick with my regular colour. Length-wise I’m afraid there’s nothing much to get excited about either as I like my hair to be at least shoulder length so I can tie it up and wear it wavy or straight.

I am tempted by this picture of the always perfectly coiffed Jennifer Aniston, It would mean chopping a few inches off but I suspect my hairdresser will recommend that anyway to get rid of three months of split ends…

Here are some other inspirational pictures from my Pinterest board Hairstyles:

27Oct2013

This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

Wow, two parties in one day! First the Maison Bentley Style Blog Party hosted by the fabulous Kate – such a great idea and I met some lovely bloggers. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by A Spoonful of Style – I really enjoyed spending time with you all and look forward to following your blogs.

Then, it was time for Casper’s seventh birthday bash, a swimming party for 12 of his friends at our local gym. All the kids were exhausted and high on sugar (should be an impossible combination but believe me it is not!) by the end of it so I think we can safely say it was a huge success.

I’m pretty tired now myself but feeling cosy wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa with candles lit on the mantlepiece as a big storm brews outside. So here’s just a quick recap of the week that once again went by in a flash:

1. On Tuesdays and Fridays when Clemmie doesn’t go to preschool my husband takes the boys to school so we can just chill out at home.

2. I am quickly becoming addicted to the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks and looking forward to the Gingerbread Lattes appearing on the menu in the run-up to Christmas.

3. We went shopping for Halloween costumes and Clemmie decided she would rather be a princess than a witch. Fine by me, the only problem is that the costume sheds glitter EVERYWHERE – the floor, the sofa and my clothes are covered in it.

4. This scary zombie (also known as Cameron) had a great time at his school Halloween disco.

5. A birthday party means lots more presents and an insane amount of Lego sets to build. It will keep Casper busy over half term!

6. Halloween is fast approaching and this morning we went to a nearby farm shop to get our pumpkins. We will be hosting a Halloween party for a few friends on Thursday before we go trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

Next week is half term so all the children will be at home but hopefully I should be able to find some time for blogging as well.

Have a great Sunday night. X

27Oct2013

Welcome to the Maison Bentley Style Blog Party!

Posted in Uncategorized by A Spoonful of Style

Welcome to my blog! At A Spoonful of Style you will find posts about
fashion, beauty, interior and recipes, with a healthy dose of family chaos thrown into the mix.

Please help yourself to a glass of champagne, feel free to have a look around and if you leave a comment with your blog URL I’ll be sure to check it out.

Thank you so much for stopping by and a huge thanks to party organiser extraordinaire Kate over at Maison Bentley Style.

Right, I’m off to mingle with some of the other party guests. Cheers! X

26Oct2013

Weekend Photo Challenge: OOTD and Posing :)

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

{OOTD: I’m wearing my new (ish) Odd Molly dress and keeping my Autumn resolution of not just reaching for my jeans every day.}

For once I’m actually early (OK then, on time at least) with my Weekend Photo Challenge post. We have had a quiet weekend so far (for a change) and this afternoon my husband has taken the boys off to the golf course, leaving Clemmie and I to relax at home. I have to prepare dinner in a little while but I’ve got time for a quick post. This evening I’m going to the movies with a friend to see the new Woody Allen film, Blue Jasmine. I’m not a huge fan of his but it has got good reviews so fingers crossed it will be a good film. Have any of you seen it?

The second part of this weekend’s challenge was a picture of your child posing. Well, that was easy! When it comes to our family there is no contest: my eldest son has got the posing down to a fine art: