My little French BBQ and Quibelle

I am about to head off to the south of France for 3 months to learn about Wine and the French language- very exciting! So I had a little leaving BBQ at my house- French themed of course. 

Sarah, one of my most favourite people in the world was there and she is responsible for the following photos of the lunch I prepared for my lovely friends. She is also responsible for the delicious biscotti and the recipe of the peach quinoa! You can find these recipes on her fabulous blog, Quibelle: http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/ and the links to the recipes are below. I highly recommend you check out her blog, she has put together a lovely collection of fashion, food, interior design and many other things to keep you scrolling until you reach the end! 

For my French themed BBQ, I made Turkey and courgette burgers, Halloumi and Mediterranean vegetable skewers, a Peach Quinoa salad, Greek Tzatziki and a healthy Potato salad (recipe below). 

For a treat afterwards I made some chocolate and pistachio biscuits (recipe in a previous blog post of mine) and a fruit salad, and my friend Fee bought a fabulous Tarte au Citron that she had made and then the biscotti from Sarah!

Halloumi and Mediterranean Vegetable skewer Recipe:

(makes about 25 skewers)

- 2 Courgettes

- 1 Large Aubergine

- 3 Peppers, yellow or red

- 2 Red onions

- 3 very large Mushrooms

- 2 Packets of Halloumi

To make:

- Simply chop all of the ingredients in to similar sized chunks and thread on to some bamboo skewers

- Then either BBQ them or grill them for about 10/15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the Halloumi is nice and crispy around the edges!

Peach Quinoa recipe from Quibelle:

 http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/nectarine-cucumber-and-basil-quinoa.html

Biscotti recipe from Quibelle: http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cranberry-and-almond-biscotti.html

A selection of delicious treats! And a salad of strawberries, nectarines and blueberries

My French themed patio with red, white and blue bunting!

The lovely Flo and I dressed up in obligatory French stripes! 

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My Great Gatsby style birthday dinner!

 I have just celebrated my 22nd birthday, and this year I decided to have a little girly dinner party with my closest friends! I am also rather obsessed with the Great Gatsby and the 20s, after having read Scott Fitzgerald's book last summer and deciding that I was really born in the wrong decade! And with Baz Lurman's recent film- which was wonderfully arty and mesmerising. So a Great Gatsby theme it was!

I started the morning with my family and these cupcakes which I had made using a Mary Berry recipe (you can always trust her to produce the goods!). Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the process, but here is the recipe: http://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/mary-berrys-lemon-cupcakes. I  made 2 flavours, Vanilla and Lemon, and I added some lemon curd/ Strawberry jam in to the middle of my cupcakes to jazz them up a little. 

Mmmmm  pretty cupcakes!

Here is my Great Gatsby style dining table, and below are my lovely guests!

Here is me in my Gatsby attire!

 I just had to share this picture of these enormous fresh pastries that I enjoyed the morning after my birthday on Fathers day! They are from a local farm shop, where you buy them frozen and then unthaw them over night in a warm place and then in the morning they are HUGE and ready to pop in the oven for 15-20mins! Yummy!

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