Today’s Post
It is nearing the end of summer, which is just crazy. It feels like June was yesterday! I know it’s something we say with every season that passes, but time just seems to go so fast these days. Nonetheless, definitely looking forward to the delicious cinnamon recipes and cozy vibes of autumn, as we do every year. We haven’t shared a “Five Things We Have Been Loving This Week” post since last month, so we thought it was about time we told you about some fun experiences we’ve had lately. This week’s list includes a Michelin-star dinner, some homemade dessert, and some new products!
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Emma’s Favorites
1. A special occasion fancy dinner!
It was my (Emma’s) 25th birthday this month, and one of my boyfriend’s gifts to me was a dinner at a beautiful Michelin-star restaurant in Birmingham. Even having been to a Michelin-star restaurant once before (in Denmark), it was hard to know what to expect! I sometimes worry that I don’t have refined enough taste for such fancy restaurants, but honestly, if you love food then it’s an experience you have to try.
This restaurant, called Opheem, serves fine dining Indian food, so it incorporates flavors and cooking techniques from all over India. We had the 10-course tasting menu and a wine pairing, and wow – it was a lot of food! Our favorite dishes included poached cod in a delicious broth, potatoes prepared five ways topped with puffed rice and chives, and an absolutely unbelievable cardamom canelé for dessert.
2. Homemade crisp/crumble with leftover fruit
It’s not often I find myself with a lot of leftover fruit, but it does happen every once in a while! Recently, I realized I had a huge stalk of rhubarb that had to be used up and some nectarines that weren’t very good raw, so I wanted to cook them into some sort of dessert. I also always have apples on hand. That resulted in one of my classic crisp/crumble desserts (whichever term you prefer) that is just a wonderful way to use whatever you have on hand in the kitchen to create something delicious.
Here is the basic recipe:
- Coat chopped up fruit (1 big stalk of rhubarb, 2 nectarines, 1 apple) in 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp flour, a bit of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
- Add juice from a lemon if you aren’t using rhubarb – rhubarb is already very sour so I omitted the lemon!
- Then, make your topping by combining 5 crushed up digestives (or graham crackers), 3 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp oats, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
- Melt 3 tbsp of butter or coconut oil and mix into the dry ingredients.
- Pour this on top of the fruit in a baking dish and bake at 180C (355F) for about 30 minutes.
3. My new print
One of the greatest struggles of moving to a new country is that you often can’t bring everything with you! So, while I had built up a small print collection during my college years in the US, it wasn’t something I chose to prioritize bringing with me when I moved to the UK nearly 2 years ago. Recently, as I was moving into a new apartment, I noticed that there wasn’t anything of mine to hang on the walls. I had to change that and ended up ordering this print from Etsy. I absolutely love it because it’s perfect for the kitchen and reminds me of Denmark! The same shop on Etsy also has lots of other cool food-related prints, so definitely check it out if you like this print.
Sofie’s Favorites
4. Exploring Austin
As you may or may not know, I (Sofie) moved to Austin last month. It’s been an exciting time exploring a new city, even if the temperatures have been at record highs for (almost) the whole time we’ve been here! We’ve been to a lot of new restaurants and bars. We really loved La Holly, a great tequila/mezcal spot! We didn’t try their food but their drinks were amazing. We’ve also eaten so many great tacos since moving here, and I can’t remember everywhere we’ve been, but one restaurant we enjoyed was Licha’s Cantina. I’m sure I’ll find more places to recommend in the future. And once temperatures cool down a little bit, I’m looking forward to trying out more outdoor activities. If you do have any Austin recommendations, please leave a comment below!
5. Dog Toys
If you are on TikTok and get any sort of dog content, you may be familiar with this toy – lamb chop! There’s something about this toy that every dog loves. Our dog Bowie is no exception! It’s quite often the one toy he chooses to bring with him to bed at night. While he does eventually remove the squeakers, it lasts a surprisingly long time. We’ve still gone through about five of them so far 😂The other day we got him the jumbo version, and it’s hilarious to see him walking around with it! We had to include it on this list. If you have a dog and you’re interested in the toy, here’s a link to the regular sized version*, and the jumbo version*!
Thanks for Reading
Thanks for reading our list – we hope you enjoyed! As always if you have anything you’ve been enjoying that you would like to share, leave a comment below!
