Hygge Nook

Interflora Design Service

I'm quite a fan of sending flowers, especially to my grandparents, but I do sometimes struggle with do I want to send another miniature rose bush or lily? Lately I've branched out (do excuse the pun) to send holly, olive or orange trees which have all been well received.

So when Interflora got in touch to tell me they wanted to send me a bouquet based on my blog design I was fairly intrigued. The idea behind their Bouquets Designed to Order service is that they take five key elements from the sender (recipient, occasion, style, colours and budget) and use them to create a bespoke piece.

 

I can firmly say: spot on! The lilies and pink roses perfectly emulate the pink and yellow design of the site; the purple and green elements with little red buds and green berries really play to the occasionally quirky content. The basket is reusable and super cute (I can hardly wait to use it as a picnic basket next summer). To top it if off the crocheted cakes are adorable and if you look closely you'll see a box of milk chocolate flowers peeking between the stems at the back.

 

I've had somewhat of an upsetting week so this bouquet has thoroughly boosted the spirits. Which is exactly what flowers are supposed to do, no?

If you recognise any of the flowers, especially that mad purple and green cluster on the right, would you let me know what they are please? Naming flora and fauna is not one of my strong points.

Diced herby parmentier potatoes

 

Fed up of par-boiling for roast potatoes? Bored of arm strain when bashing the mash? Let me introduce you to diced potatoes - or parmentier if we're being fancy. These little potato cuties are now staples for Sunday dinner in my house thanks to their simplicity and tastiness.

Here's how to make them:

1.Pre-heat over to 180-200 degrees. Get six good sized potatoes, wash and peel

2. Pat dry, chop into rough cubes and put in a baking dish

3. Add a good glug of oil - I use vegetable rather than olive oil as it has a lower boiling point

 

4. Add a generous spoonful of a herb of your choice - I like to combine minced garlic and mint or rosemary and thyme, parsley and basil - and with a pair of spoons gently toss the potatoes until they are covered

5. Put in the oven for approx 30 mins, give them a shake halfway -cooking time will vary according to your oven, but you want them to look browned and on the tipping point to crispy.

No boiling, no mashing, barely any waiting, good eating. Yum.

Nigella's molten chocolate babycakes

 
I find some of the best things in life start with a bowl of chocolate.

When my daughter spotted this recipe on the Nigella app that I'm now so found of, she was adamant. We had to make them. Preferably. Right. Now. Well, we had to wait a few days until I'd bought the ingredients but my, was it worth the wait.

Let's just say these...

 

quickly became these...

 

and they didn't last very long at all...

 

Birthday cupcake tower

S turned six recently. A momentous occasion as she's now closer to 10 than zero. How it seems like only yesterday she was wearing pink velour trousers with feet or piglet rompers. I was stumped for a birthday cake this year so we thought we'd shake things up a bit with a cupcake tower. Then I remembered that I didn't have a cupcake stand as some of you might remember me tweeting last weekend. One emergency dash to Homebase later and I had a pretty stand for a mere fiver.

It was promptly stuffed with strawberry cupcake cones, mississippi mud pie and cookies'n'cream cupcakes with a cute little mini cake perched on top for the candles.

Of course what did all the little girls want a slice of? Yes, the miniature cake.

You can find me tweeting here.

Business cards

When I've mentioned this blog to other people, I've usually ended up scrawling the web address on the back of one of my business cards - not so great! I decided to take the plunge and get some new ones printed up (especially as I had a 50% off voucher). I thought I'd have some fun with these so I've used the logo on the front and had the rear of the cards printed up in pale pink. These will be so much nicer to hand out at events!

 

Nigella Quick Collection iPod app

This month is just whipping by, isn't it? A real blink and you'll miss it month. I'm checking in briefly to mention the iPod app of the title. Some Saturday morning browsing in bed saw me snap up the app (£4.99) which is a compilation of recipes from Nigella's books, a few new ones and some videos for a nice interactive feel. It's easy to use and there really are some yummy dishes. I am a big fan of Nigella, especially her later books which contain recipes that I actually use, don't feel intimated by and don't require day-long trips to obscure Mongolian delicatessens in search of single ingredients as per some cookery books.

My favourite new breakfast dish is the doughnut toast. It's incredibly simple to make, probably not so great on the hips, and jaw-achingly sweet so I added a few chopped strawberries once it was on the plate just to add some relief from the sweetness. The kids loved it and my other half asked if I could make it every day, so not only was it a hit but one that I hope will become a weekend staple.

I managed to grab a single snap before I devoured it. And then went back for seconds.

 

Fresh blackberries

 

There really is nothing nicer than fresh fruit. And I mean really fresh fruit, picked minutes ago from one's own garden. Here's the dish full of blackberries my children and I have just plucked. It will probably be made into an apple and blackberry crumble, served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Said crumble would have been made yesterday if my darling three-year-old boy had not been caught moments after he had tipped an equal sized dish straight into the bin. Gah!

Cool getaways - romany caravans, campervans and more

There was a time when the humble caravan was synonymous with tacky and naff. That time was probably the decade that style forgot. Yes, the eighties. But the tide is very, very slowly turning. I was browsing the latest Coast in the supermarket this week and they had a great spread from the book My Cool Caravan which showed a splendid collection of, well, cool caravans that really couldn't have been any more different from the stereotype.

Part of this about face in caravan style is that they are often cheaper than holiday homes and, in some cases, portable. Yes, small is a given, but static ones can be pretty big and it's not like they would be your primary home. They might even be in a better location than a lot of holiday or second homes.

There are all sorts of other portable or semi-portable accomodation. You could, for example, stay in...

 
A Romany caravan in the Brecon Beacons - there's something rather romantic about staying in this beauty.

In my cuttings folder, I have a picture of a fabulous house with a mini romany caravan in the garden. Can you imagine? How delightful! I must scan it to show you.

 
How about an authentic tipi in Cornwall? More majestic than a tent, but a bit more basic than a caravan, these 18 foot high cotton canvas tipis can be found in woodland around a spring-fed lake for boating and cooking is by campfire. Tipis sleep up to six and you can check them out at Cornish Tipi Holidays.

 
Continuing on the glamping theme are yurts. I've heard of yurts being set up in gardens as extra family space and furnished with thick blankets, floor cushions and lanterns for a more luxurious stay away. I'm not overly fond of the idea of camping, but I think I could do yurting or tipiing quite happily. Try these yurts out in the heart of Devon. Find this one at Yurt Camp.

 
How about a camper van? Someone on my road has a fabulous lilac campervan in tiptop condition, just like this one. I'd love to know where they take it. Campers are a lot easier to move around with caravans and are ideal for festivals and roaming the country. This one seats, and sleeps, four, crochet blanket absolutely, thoroughly, obligatory.

Rent Betty (above in blue) from Snail Trail who are based 35 miles north of London. Hire includes retro fittings, a week's insurance and AA cover, campsite electricity hook-up, gas hob, mini fridge and independent heating system.

And all these fabulous, fun vacation accomodations, lead me right back to... caravans. Whether you have a portable one that you hitch up and move around the country or a static one in a beauty spot, there is so much you can do to it to change the image. Ditch the beige exterior, whip up brand spanking new covers for the upholstery, get pretty melamine kitchenware and invest in quality duvets and bedlinens for the bedrooms to make the perfect getaway year after year.

Do you have a caravan or a semi-portable escape like the ones above? If you'd like to share a mini tour, drop me a line at camilla[AT]hyggenook[DOT]com. 

What are your rules?

Rules may be made to be broken, but sometimes they can be a good thing. I've just been reading the latest Lonny issue, and taken note of the homeowners' house rules, which, of course, made me think about my own rules. It's taken me a long time to get to grips with what I love in home decor, and a long time to get purchasing decisions right. I've made plenty of errors over the eleven years I've been a householder, and spent a lot of time dithering over whether I really want this or spend a lot of money on that. Perhaps if I asked myself what my rules are, it would be easier.

 
Every time I see something in my home, I want to love it. I want to be so glad that I bought it. I want to think 'wow! That looks so great.' So, I tend to wait until I have an emotional response about something. I don't want to just pick up a lamp just because I need a lamp. I want to search and wait and finally grab that lamp because I think it's curvy base is awesome, that the colour is just the shade I wanted and that the shade is perfect. I want to know that I'll love anything I buy for a long time because not only does not that make the purchase's longevity green-friendly but it means I'll enjoy both using it and having it in my home.

 
Big ticket items (sofa, dining table, bed) are the basis of your home. They're the items that are going to stay for a long time. However, their look can be updated time and time again by playing with the colours and textures that surround them. You can do a lot with cushions, throws and new bed linens. You can create warmth and cosiness for Autumn/Winter, freshness and joy for Spring/Summer. You can change your look from ultra feminine to art deco in a pinch. Most of all you can keep all your little accessories and switch them in and out, adding to them year on year.

 
Don't think to yourself' 'I can't have that because it costs too much/ it's too stylish for me/ no one else will like it.' The thing about dressing your home, is dressing it for yourself. It's not a window set for a department store, it's your home, it's about making a visual feast for your eyes because you are the one living with it. If it costs a lot, you may well haev to save for it. Invest in it and have it for years and years and eventually, that item will have cost a lot less than the cut-price piece that you didn't really want but settled for.

 
This is so important, especially in a family home like mine. British houses are typically built without storage. We rarely have built-in closets. Often the only storage is a bit of space under the stairs, if it hasn't been turned into a half-bathroom. Think about what you need and how you'll use it. Do you need lots of bookcases, cupboards, open shelving, sliding doors? And importantly, do you need to store that stuff or should you be recycling, removing and regifting?

 
Short term fixes often turn in to long term unwanted items. Sometimes you need a 'place holder' item and that's fine, but keep in your mind what you are ultimately aiming for. Similarly, you might need short term items, like when a baby arrives. Instead of picking up new, can you borrow that cot or basket and recycle to someone else when you're done? It saves you and them cash and avoids buying furniture you won't need for long. Longevity is also a cost issue. Short term items cost more simply because they don't last as long. Conversely, a pricier item that lasts for years ends up costing you less. (Try it and see: take a short term item in your home and a similar long term item. Divide the number by the approximate number of days you've had it. How much did that work out too?)

What are your rules for buying for your home?

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