recent Lifestyle blogs
eating our way around bergamo

eating our way around bergamo

Bergamo is a fabulous city in Lombardy, northern Italy, not too far from Milan. It's often overlooked for Milan, but don't make that mistake - you'll only regret it. With a medieval walled upper town, a cosmopolitan lower town and views across to the (often snowy...

hello december…

hello december…

And just like that, we're into the coldest and darkest part of the year. It only seems days ago that we were sweltering in the garden, throwing windows wide open, dispensing with even summer duvets and sleeping with fans whirring away next to us. Winter in Istria can...

winter is coming

winter is coming

Summer this year, seemed to last way into October. We had two lots of friends stay with us over this month, and both times, we were able to sit out in the garden and soak up the sun, as well as eat outdoors. Even into November, it's been mild - and we can evidence...

oaty apple & cinnamon crumble…

oaty apple & cinnamon crumble…

I am not a baker. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I can cook. I can follow a recipe, sometimes go a bit off-piste, and I'm definitely OK with one-pot stews and soups and casseroles. But baking. As in cakes that go in the oven - I prefer to leave these to these...

spicy food fixes

spicy food fixes

We've come a long way since we moved to Istria, in being able to satisfy our spice cravings. There's still nothing - quite - on our doorstep, as we used to have on Burton Road in West Didsbury, but compared to the early days, we're practically living on Spice Island...

bread point bakery : poreĉ

bread point bakery : poreĉ

We've missed sourdough bread since we moved to Istria. We did find it once, in a Konzum supermarket in Rovinj, but have never found it again. Italy, so far, hasn't turned it up either for us. We used to buy it from a very cute shop on Burton Rd in West Didsbury called...

one dish speedy pasta bake

one dish speedy pasta bake

This meal is definitely one of our favourite go-to recipes, especially when the nights are getting darker earlier and you just need a bit of comfort food. It's so easy and you will definitely have all of these ingredients in your cupboard and fridge, and there's...

the easiest recipe, ever…

the easiest recipe, ever…

If you are a fan of curry, then this is a perfect recipe. I found this on Instagram, and just had to give it a go as I couldn't believe that a curry - or, soup, as the recipe calls it - could be anywhere near tasty with so few ingredients. How wrong was I? It...

ikea mash soup…

ikea mash soup…

Yep, you saw that right. We really did use a packet of IKEA frozen mash in a recent soup recipe. And, believe you me, it was a bit of a game-changer. Our freezer often has a few packets of this particular brand of mash - containing apparently 82% potato - because of...

sprout and stilton cheese quiche

sprout and stilton cheese quiche

Stilton cheese and brussel sprouts, combined, to form the filling for a quiche. I mean, what's not to love? We adapted this recipe slightly - the original recipe called for the sprouts to be halved and steamed, but we wanted them to be shredded, so did things a little...