White Chocolate Macaroons

You'll need:
150g (or 1 cup) white chocolate
200g (or 2 cups) dessicated coconut
2 free range eggs, separated
3/4 cup caster sugar
Rice paper sheets, cut into 4's

Make em:

Beat egg whites to semi stiff peaks, add yolks and then sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
Chop the chocolate in a mini processor so you have chunks of different size and add to the egg mix with the coconut. Fold together until completely combined.
Lay rice paper squares on a baking tray and use a small ice cream scoop to place even blobs of mix on each paper square. Flatten a little with damp fingers.
Bake in a preheated 160'C (fan) oven (I turned mine round halfway through to colour evenly) for 15mins. Move to a wire rack to cool, then trim the rice paper round the macaroons. Shove into face before anyone else sees you've made them, cos then you'll have to share.

I got the idea for this recipe from the 4 ingredients cookbook, but added the rice paper.

A Tart For Tea (or lunch, or whatever)

Ok, so I've blogged a quick tart recipe before, but that was ages ago and this one was too lush not to share.

Dead quick n easy to make and a right little treat for your taste buds. The best bit is you can change up the ingredients to fit what you've got in your fridge/cupboards. Perfecto.

The Stuff:
1 sheet of ready made puff pastry
Some kind of tomato sauce (or pesto)
Roasted peppers from a jar
Half a small red onion thinly sliced
Small piece of chorizo thinly sliced
A few sun dried tomatoes
A small wedge of Brie
Sprig of rosemary finely chopped

What to do:
First score your pastry like in the pic. Slap it on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Next spoon on your sauce and spread thinly. Then just chuck on the other ingredients, and a bit of seasoning and bosh it in the oven at 180'C for about 20 mins depending on your oven (until browned and puffy and gorgeous). Cut it up (a pizza wheel is best for this job) and devour.

Pamper Break

So, last week I had the absolute pleasure of having a little spa stay with my friend Amanda at The Rowhill Grange and Utopia Spa, in Wilmington Kent.

I've done a few spa days in my time but never done an 'overnighter' before. Let me tell you, they are the best thing ever!

Rowhill Grange ( @Rowhill_Grange) is a fabulous hotel, it was only a short drive in the car from my friend's house in Brockley, and driving up the long driveway surrounded by fields and general green stuff, it was very easy to think you were much farther away from London.

We fully expected to get lost on the way so set out so early that we arrived an hour before our checkout time. We parked up (after driving the wrong way round the car park and squeezing the car down what we later found out was a footpath!oops!) and dragged our stuff up to the reception and were welcomed into a lovely building by friendly staff who found out that our room was already ready for us so allowed us to check in right away.

The room was lovely, with the squishiest marshmallow bed and a shower that frankly, I wanted to rip out of the wall and take home with me.
We unpacked, sat around a bit (cos we were ridiculously hungover from the night before's unacceptably excessive drinking sesh) and then made our way over to check out the spa. And this ladies and gents is the best way to get over a hangover. Phones aren't allowed in the actual spa, so I couldn't get any of my own photos, but for once I'd found a spa that actually lives up to the gallery of photos on it's website. Upstairs is a pool where there were two guys who were clearly trying to outswim eachother, so we left them to it and stayed down by the therapy pool. This is indeed therapy. There's various little splishy splashy gizmos in the pool for relaxing/massaging/soaking your cares and troubles away, a jacuzzi, a steam room and a sauna. Plus, plenty of chairs for lazing around and reading your book etc...

We had dinner in the RG restaurant that night, they cook an amazing steak! And breakfast the next morning was continental, plus a choice from the hot breakfast menu. We each had a 25 min back massage, which was bliss, and then the rest of the day to spend in the spa. We could've used the gym and exercise classes whilst we were there, but we didn't.

All in all it was a bloody relaxing break in a lovely place and I would definitely go again (hopefully soon). The deal we had was called 'the overnight revivers' which is £139 per person, and the deal is still available on their website. Go!