My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

The world is a busy place so sometimes it's nice to slow things down and catch up with the important people in your life Every month or two I get together with my closest friends and have a girls night in.  Going out is great, I love going to restaurants, to the theatre, to the movies but sometimes being out socially doesn't give us a lot of time to catch up fully on what's going on in everyone's lives. So we will do things like; Have Afternoon Tea A 'formal' meal A buffet with board games This Saturday we had decided on a Games Night, so this is how I prepare; Generally cleaning my house  Setting the table  Preparing the food  - baking cakes, cooking pastry etc.   As we use the evening to catch up and relax I tend not to cook a formal meal, I create more of a buffet that we can snack on throughout the night as we talk.   I love cooking and baking so this gives me a chance to try out new recipes and relax in my kitchen I make sure I

In life we are bombarded with images and sales pitches on things we should want, aspire to have, save up for or buy immediately. Sometimes it's nice to take a step back from all this and just appreciate what we have and find ways to enjoy life that do not add to financial stress etc. Anyway, I was thinking about the things in life that mean the most, I enjoy the most or simply make me feel safe, comfortable, confident, and a lot of them are just simple things.   So I guess there's some truth in simple things can mean the most. Here are my top five simple things; 1. Going for a walk with my dog Hero Hero is my baby, he's an amazingly intuitive dog, he's loving, he's cuddly, he's soft and he's always by my side.  He's also infuriating when it comes to the ten minutes before his walk time - oh I swear he doesn't need a watch he can tell the time and he has an unhealthy interest in cushions - which somehow always end up in my garden. I oft

I've been seeing and reading a lot of things lately about Hygge, which I've heard described as the feeling or mood created by taking genuine pleasure in the simple things in life.   There's  pictures of cosy knits, warm drinks, soft materials, books and baking. I think the concept of Hygge is a beautiful one from what I've read so far, it's something I plan to read more on in the coming months. From what I gather I think a lot of us have higgle in our lives maybe we just don't realise that that is what it is.   I can look back over things my grandparents used to do, like sitting together of an evening reading their books in front of the fire and eating freshly baked cakes or treats.  They just enjoyed those quiet moments together and if they were stressed it wasn't something I ever saw, I saw the quiet relaxed moments and maybe that's what Hygge was for them. Anyway, I was looking at the pictures of some of the beautiful cakes and biscuits and star

I love comfort food; it makes you feel all warm inside.  Once of the meals I love to make as comfort food is hearty rustic lasagne.   Originally I learned to make this when I was around ten or eleven, I had a bit of an obsession with Italian food so I started to experiment.  Over the years I've tweaked, changed and adapted my recipe.   This version was partly inspired by the brilliant Mary Berry and uses wraps as a pasta substitute and partly by my mindset of trying to eat as many vegetables as I can.  Hopefully you'll enjoy!  Ingredients to make four servings  Mince 500g (steak mince at 5% Fat)  Olive oil (1tbsp)    Two medium Red Onions    2 Carrots    Frozen garden Peas    Mushrooms (Button or chestnut)  Broccoli    Green Beans    Tomatoes  Beef stock (1 cube)    Worcestershire Sauce (to taste)   Sugar tsp.    Tomato Passata 500g  1 cup Water    Fresh Basil  Mediterranean Wraps    Grated Cheese    Red Wine    Garlic Step 1  I st