Linked in: Spring Cleaning Tips

Posted in Linked In by A Spoonful of Style

There is a theme to this week’s Linked In post: Spring Cleaning. I don’t know about you, but each year when March rolls around I start thinking about decluttering, reorganising and cleaning up both the house and the garden. I have to confess that this week I have not accomplished much, in fact I have even been struggling to do the everyday tasks like cleaning the kitchen and keeping up with the washing (with five people there is a lot of washing!). Obviously I have my excuses at the ready: I have been working more hours than normal and also we took delivery of a new tumble dryer this week, which didn’t fit through the door to the laundry room so I couldn’t do any washing for two days. Ever the optimist, I’m determined to get on top of things next week so here is a bit on inspiration from around the web to help me (and you) do just that!

1. Find some tips on how to make a spring cleaning checklist

2. The starting date for this challenge to purge five items a day from your home may have passed but it is not too late to join in

3. Here is how to clean and still be kind to the environment

4. Need some help? Here are some tips to get the kids involved with the cleaning

5. Spring is also a good time for a digital declutter

6. Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be confined to the inside of your house: here are some tips for sprucing up your garden

7. Ever get the feeling that however much cleaning you do, it is never done? This article shows you how to look at cleaning as a practice not a project

26Mar2014

Recipe: Casper’s Super Gooey Yummy Chocolate Cake

Posted in Food & Recipes by A Spoonful of Style

I made this cake for the annual Mother’s Day tea party at Casper’s Beaver Scouts group this afternoon. It is such a lovely occasion; the boys are all dressed in their uniforms and look so proud as they show their mums to the tables and ask if they want tea or coffee, milk (skimmed or semi skimmed), sugar (how many) and what type of cake – lots of questions for a seven-year-old to remember! Casper did very well, especially as he had not only me to attend to but also his brother and sister who were both eager to get stuck into all the lovely cakes. At the end, all the mums were presented with a small bunch of daffodils and a homemade card with a picture of their son inside. So sweet!

Personally I’m not a big fan of chocolate cake but ask Casper what his favourite thing in the world is and I guarantee that he will say ‘chocolate’. So you can imagine his delight when I suggested that we make this gooey chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge topping AND Smarties for the tea party!

Gooey Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

100 g melted butter
2 eggs
230 g caster sugar
100 g flour 40 40 g cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
A generous handful of chopped Daim

topping:
100 ml double cream
40 g caster sugar
50 ml golden syrup
50 g dark chocolate
50 g butter
Smarties, mini marshmallows or other sweets

Turn the oven to 175 degrees. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the melted butter and finally the eggs and combine thoroughly. Stir in the Daim pieces and pour the batter into a prepared loose bottomed cake tin.

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the tin. The cake should not be completely set in the middle. Let it cool down completely before you make the fudge topping.

Topping:

Combine all the ingredients for the topping, apart from the butter, in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 15 minutes until it thickens (make sure it doesn’t burn!). Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the butter until you get a smooth fudge mixture. Spread the topping over the cake and let it cool slightly. Scatter Smarties, mini marshmallows or other sweets over before the topping sets completely. Put the cake in the fridge, ideally overnight, before serving.

21Mar2014

Five on Friday

Posted in Five on Friday by A Spoonful of Style

Happy Friday! I know I say this every week but hasn’t the time just flown by? I had a midweek meeting up in town and somehow spending three days instead of four working at my desk, made the week seem much shorter. For starters, I hardly had time to take any pictures but here is a quick recap of what I managed to pull together for the weekly Friday post.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have already seen this picture of my eldest son, taken on our trip to the woods last weekend, but I love it so much I wanted to share it again. I find it hard to believe that he will turn 11 this year but I’m also deeply proud of the kindhearted, sensitive yet fun loving young man he is turning into.

This week’s clearout at my parents’ house unearthed this little gem which I wore to my high school prom at the age of 16 or 17. I remember I wanted to wear it with my Dr Martens (or DMs as we called them) but my mum persuaded me to go for more traditional black pumps (probably a good thing! Sometimes mum really does know best.). The dress then accompanied me to university where I wore it to quite a few college balls but after I graduated it was stowed away at my parents’ house and forgotten about .

I bought the dress from the now defunct Hyper Hyper, a huge retail space populated with stalls run by independent young designers, on Kensington High Street in London. At the time it was my favourite shopping haunt along with the slightly seedier Kensington Market across the road. I haven’t been to High Street Ken for ages – is it still the go-to place for teenagers who consider themselves a cut above the identikit chains?

This is definitely a piece that I want to hold onto for Clemmie although I have to admit that it has seen better days. Despite having a dry clean label pinned to it, it shows signs of having had a few drinks spilled over it and it’s slightly faded around the edges.

Fingers crossed, we are finally booking our summer holiday this weekend. The pictures are from our holiday in Mallorca two years ago. We had such a great time and the kids still talk about it but sadly we won’t be going back there this year. I can’t imagine not going to Sweden in the summer holidays and, with building work planned for later this year, our budget doesn’t stretch to two trips abroad.

I’m not a huge fan of self help books but I was intrigued by this one when I read an interview with the author in Red Magazine. Gabrielle Bernstein promises to help time-starved readers clear stress and find peace using practical in-the-moment tools. Definitely sounds like something I could do with!

It’s a good thing that I didn’t succumb to the temptation to put away all the winter clothes at the first sign of spring. In the last couple of days the temperature has plummeted by several degrees and today I actually wore gloves on the school run. But yesterday was the official start of spring so I decided to celebrate by ignoring the cold snap and buying some beautiful tulips (and turning the heating up!)

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! X

19Mar2014

If you go down to the woods today…

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

I’m a city girl at heart and although we live in a village on the outskirts of London, I love that the city centre is only a 30 minute train ride away. But despite my affection for urban living I do sometimes get a yearning for wide open spaces. Now that the weather is better, we have all (especially the children) been craving fresh air, trees to climb, trails to explore and hills to roll down. Luckily, we also have on our doorstep some of the finest countryside the south east of England has to offer. So on Sunday morning we set off early to beat the crowds and drove up to Box Hill in Surrey where we spent a good couple of hours enjoying the great outdoors. We all had a fabulous time and, best of all, come Sunday night the kids were so exhausted they were out like a light at 8pm!

14Mar2014

Five on Friday

Posted in Five on Friday by A Spoonful of Style

{Clear blue skies and pretty blossoms made me smile despite the runny nose and sore throat}

I sat down to write this post and suddenly realised just how tired I am. The weekend really couldn’t come at a better time and for once the diary is quite empty so hopefully we can fit in some proper family time. I’ve been battling a horrible cold all week so it will be great to get a chance to recharge the batteries and just chill out at home. On the plus side we have had some fabulous weather – isn’t it lovely to reach for the sunglasses rather than the umbrella before heading out the door?

{I’ve been trying to stay healthy and boost my immune system with a daily dose of Spirulina. The boys have dubbed it ‘alien juice’ because of the green colour! I have to admit it does taste pretty awful and is just about bearable mixed into orange juice or a smoothie. But if it keeps the cold symptoms at bay it is definitely worth it.}

{I promised Casper that I would include a picture of him dressed as a Viking for his class assembly this week. He did really well, remembering all his lines and the words to the all the songs, and there were quite a few. Strange to think that his next assembly will be the leavers one, before he and his classmates move onto the junior school.}

{My ballerina pumps had their first outing this week. These are from H&M (last year) and so comfy but I need to buy some more – in black, silver and maybe pink.}

{Despite feeling like death warmed up I made it to my rescheduled hair appointment this week. I had a good couple of inches taken off the ends – as I use hair straighteners every day without fail (I know, slap on the wrist for me..), my hair was quite damaged. I love the shorter length though and the lighter colour. I’ve only been to this hairdresser a couple of times but she’s definitely a keeper! Incidentally, while I was there I read an article which argued that taking selfies is good for your self esteem. Not sure I agree with that, it took me about 20 attempts to get one that I was vaguely happy with and I don’t think I’m exceptionally vain.}

Happy Friday everyone! Mine was made even better by the fact that my husband brought me flowers when he came home from work. That doesn’t happen every week, believe me! X

12Mar2014

Linked In

Posted in Linked In by A Spoonful of Style

Happy Wednesday everyone! Hard to believe that we are already halfway through the working week. I have had one of those (very rare) productive mornings where I managed to get loads done without being distracted by the Internet (Facebook is the worst – I can easily waste half an hour on there without even realising – although I’m a lot better now that I’ve deleted the App from my phone) or the pile of glossy interior magazines currently residing on the kitchen table. So far I’ve written an article for work, put all the washing away, hoovered upstairs and ordered a pair of new football boots from Cameron (Rather scarily his feet are now just one size smaller than mine.) I still have half an hour until I have to collect Clemmie from preschool so plenty of time to share some of my best finds from around the web this week.

1. Now that the children are a bit older I would love to start travelling a bit more. I found this list of 100 places to visit before you die and there are plenty of places on there that I have yet to visit.

2. We all have different food tastes in our household but one thing that we all love is a good bowl of pasta. Here are 25 best pasta recipes to try.

3. Tips on how to write the perfect thank you note – and even better if it is written on this gorgeous Smythson stationery

4. The secret of a happy marriage is apparently to tell your partner you love them ten times a week and go on at least three dates a month. Does dinner a deux at home count? Otherwise the babysitting bill could start piling up…

5. This is one that I really need at the moment as I’m trying to sort through all the stuff from my parents’ house as well as old and outgrown clothes, toys etc. I don’t consider myself to be a hoarder but sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to keep and what to throw out or sell. How to edit your wardrobe and avoid stuffocation

6. Finally, here is a collection of Fashion Quotes to inspire and amuse.

Still 15 minutes to go so I’m off to sit in the garden with my coffee and one of those tempting magazines. Have a great Wednesday. X

9Mar2014

The Weekend in Pictures

Posted in Family Life by A Spoonful of Style

{I went for a walk on Saturday morning and snapped these lovely daffodils}

Isn’t it amazing what a difference a bit of sunshine can make? We have had glorious weather this weekend and somehow everything seems so much easier when the sun is out, everyone is happier (including the normally grumpy drivers in London!) and even food seems to taste better when it is eaten outside, underneath bright blue skies. I wonder if it’s just because nice weather is such a rarity on these shores. I’d love to know – if you’re lucky enough to live in sunnier climes, does it still boost your mood or do you just get used to it?

{The outdoor furniture could do with a good clean but it was blissful to sit outside with a cup of coffee and a magazine, listening to the birds chirping in the trees and the children arguing over the football (oh well you can’t have it all!)}

{Lady in blue: Me up in town this morning wearing my blue pumps from New Look (bought five years ago), a white and blue scarf (bought in Sweden), knitted jacket by Odd Molly, jeans by Paige Denim and sunglasses from Oliver Peoples}

{We try to go up to the Swedish Church in Marylebone twice a month so the children can go to Sunday school and practice their language skills. Afterwards, there is always coffee and plenty of cakes – during Lent they serve traditional Swedish semla (cakes flavoured with cardamom and filled with almond paste and cream) – sooo yummy!}

{It looks like it will be the perfect week to fit in a few power walks and trips to the park. No doubt the rain will return at some point so I intend to make the most of it!}

Now the kids are all in bed, the washing up is done, my blog post is written and I think we have time to squeeze in a couple of episodes of House of Cards. We’ve almost watched all of the second series so have to find another one soon…

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend. X

7Mar2014

Five on Friday

Posted in Five on Friday by A Spoonful of Style

{Some of you may remember that I was lusting after the Narsissist eye palette by Nars a few weeks ago. Alas it was not to be – I had planned to buy it with my Space NK vouchers but as the eye palette was exclusive to Selfridges here in the UK, I didn’t feel I could justify the £55. So instead I bought the Narsissist cheek palette which was stocked by Space NK and comes with a blusher, highlighter and bronzer.}

{I’m loving my coffee table books at the moment. They make great home accents and I like to flick through them for inspiration. My most recent additions are the Alexa Chung book ‘It’ and a beautiful Chanel book filled with images to drool over.}

The best laid plans as they say…

This week hasn’t turned out quite how I wanted. On Monday Casper came home with a sore ear and he hasn’t been back at school all week. We went to the doctor who diagnosed a viral ear infection so antibiotics wouldn’t help, all we can do is try and reduce the pain with Nurofen and Calpol. It’s not too bad during the day but at night it is very painful as the fluid in ear builds up and he has trouble sleeping. So pretty much everything has been cancelled this week – from playdates and after school activities to my hair appointment and lunch date. While I hate to see him suffer, it has been really nice having him at home. With three children it’s not always easy to find one-to-one time, especially with the boys as they are at school all day. He has had to amuse himself with Lego and the iPad while I’ve been working but we have also had time for nice chats, board games and baking.

Hopefully his ear will improve as we head into weekend. The weather is set to be lovely – with temperatures of 17 degrees forecast for Sunday! – so I’m looking forward to sitting out in the garden with a cup of coffee to soak up some rays.

Hope you have a fab weekend! X

{The clear-out at my parents’ house continues and this week I saved a silk clutch, that my dad bought in Japan for my mum in the late 70s, from going off to the charity shop. It’s not my usual style but I think it will look good with a cream summer dress or just jeans and a simple tee, with gold heels and jewellery.}

{Cameron looked great in his Sherlock Holmes costume for World Book Day yesterday and I’m happy to report that my Burberry returned home unscathed.}

{It’s been a busy week but I managed to take a few minutes out to read the interview with SJP in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar. And of course, you can’t have a proper break without coffee and chocolate biscuits!}

6Mar2014

World Book Day – My Recommendations

Posted in Daily Musings by A Spoonful of Style

As anyone with school age children will no doubt be aware, today is World Book Day. My eldest scooted off to school this morning dressed as Sherlock Holmes in my old Burberry mac (under strict instructions not to leave it behind on the football pitch at break time!) as well as a deerstalker hat, pipe and magnifying glass hastily ordered from Amazon on Express Delivery a couple of days ago.

As a working (albeit part time) and blogging mum of three, I haven’t got much time to read books and when I do get a chance to pick one up I usually go for lighter stuff that you can dip in and out of without losing the thread. I have vowed that I will immerse myself in the classics when the kids are older and I can actually read more than a few pages without being interrupted. Like most people, I read quite a few of them at school but some, like Anna Karenina and Atonement for instance, are still on my list and there are others that I think I would enjoy rereading without having to analyse the content in an essay.

Anyway, I had a hunt around the house this morning (as we only have two bookshelves it didn’t take long!) and for what it’s worth, here are my recommendations for a good read.

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

This was the most recent book I read. Set in the 1920s it tells the story of Cora Carlisle who has been hired to act as the chaperone for a 15-year-old Louise Brook as they journey from Kansas to New York city. It soon becomes clear that Cora is hiding secrets of her own, including the real reason why she longs to visit New York so much…

Front Row by Jerry Oppenheimer

If you’re into fashion, Vogue powerhouse Anna Wintour hardly needs an introduction. However, while everyone is familiar with her sleek bob and huge sunglasses, the woman behind them remains an enigma. Based on scores of interviews, this unauthorised biography chronicles Anna’s climb to the top of the magazine world exposing how she artfully reinvented herself along the way.

Elvis has left the building by Tania Kindersley

I read this book when it was first published in 2001 and as I picked it off the shelf today I decided that it is definitely due a re-read. Weaved around the art world, it’s a funny and poignant story about a heartbroken girl coming to terms with the end of a nine year relationship and gradually taking her revenge.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This is probably the book that I most associate with my teenage years. I studied Sylvia Plath at school and was fascinated by both her poetry and personal life. First published in 1963, the book is as relevant today as it was then, and provides a haunting insight into the reality of mental illness.

Faithfull by Marianne Faithfull and David Dalton

A memoir by the original rock chick which recounts her days in the swinging 60s including her much publicised relationship with Mick Jagger, her descent into heroin addiction and subsequent recovery. A brutally honest autobiography, the book also serves as a captivating cultural history of London’s music scene.

28Feb2014

Five on Friday

Posted in Five on Friday by A Spoonful of Style

I went on a spending spree at Space NK and used up the vouchers I got for Christmas and my birthday last autumn. Love that shop! I will do a separate post on the things I bought next week.

I started putting together a kitchen inspiration folder ahead of our planned renovation later this year. Between that and my Pinterest board I don’t think I’ll be stuck for ideas.

This jewellery tree was on sale for only £10 in a local boutique. Having some of my favourite pieces on display on top of my dresser will hopefully encourage me to accessorize more.

Honestly, I am not a shopaholic but I had forgotten about these Unisa boots that I bought just before Christmas. Now that I’ve found them, I can’t stop wearing them as they are so comfortable. They remind me of my favourite pair of boots that I had at school.

I’m also somewhat obsessed with my Star sweater from Hunky Dory (another Sale buy) – accessorized here with my ten-year-old son’s beanie, which I keep stealing – much to his embarrassment I should add (I just tell him it’s pay back for all those toddler tantrums he used to throw in the middle of the supermarket to embarrass me!)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope the weekend is all you want it to be – and more! X

A Spoonful of Style

A fashion & lifestyle blog | Because Style Matters

Tag Archives: Family

Linked in: Spring Cleaning Tips

Recipe: Casper’s Super Gooey Yummy Chocolate Cake

Five on Friday

If you go down to the woods today…

Five on Friday

Linked In

The Weekend in Pictures

Five on Friday

World Book Day – My Recommendations

Five on Friday

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