CURRENT: LOVES

1. Ramen weather. For me soup isn't soup unless it's a delicately spiced broth full of noodles, fresh veggies, a serious injection of chilli and garnished with a soft boiled egg. Basically it's cold so naturally I've been making all the ramen. The recent sticky pork ramen you see above was my official acceptance that summer is over. Time to bring out the slow cooker.
2. Eat Pray Love. Ok so I'm the biggest cliche known to wo(man). But that book is simply the best thing for bringing yourself out of a funk. And it's got that kind of spiritual but still slightly sardonic take on life that I love so much. Just started reading it for the third time...
3. Jigsaws. We are all about the jigsaws in this house. Ava is currently obsessed and we've been doing one together most nights before bed. It's the ultimate relaxant. Even if I am getting kinda sick of doing Disney characters.
4. Spanish food. I'm still in the throws of a holiday comedown so I have been cooking up a Spanish feast at home to help me relive those Marbella days including a chorizo & red onion tortilla that fed me for days, some hot and spicy gambas pil pil and a pretty tasty chicken and chorizo paella. Viva Espana indeed.
5. Pumpkin carving. Not something I can add to the list of 'things Dawn is good at'. But Ava & I picked one up at the supermarket the other night and got busy gutting. The result is pretty lame. But I'm kinda proud. And he sits smugly on the fireplace glowing his weird pumpkin smile at me every evening...
6. Calvin & Taylor. It's totally normal to strike up random conversations with strangers at train stations about how Taylor & Calvin's love story has reignited by belief in fairy tales right? Please get married guys. For me.
7. BRGR. The new branch of the burger chain has opened up just along the road from me and I tested it out last week. So tasty. So cheap. So gonna be in there every Friday night after work/nursery. Because who cooks fish fingers on a Friday? The answer is not me.
8. Oban. Or a random hotel down a 2 mile single road track after a 3 hour drive into the middle of nowhere. But what a special couple of nights away we had to celebrate by mama turning the big 60. Oban was another 45 minutes away but we ventured in on the Saturday to see the seals at The Sea Life Centre and then eat crab and drink prosecco by the harbour. With an obligatory visit to the Oban chocolate shop thrown in for good measure...
9. Breakfast Scottish style. Want to know the first thing we did after we returned from holidaying in Spain? Got ourselves to the nearest port-a-cabin come greasy spoon come burger van for a proper Scottish style breakfast. Bacon, potato scone & a runny egg on a crispy roll with just a squidge of ketchup. This tastes as good as skinny feels. Believe me.
10. Freckles. Which the Spanish sun tempted out but have now all but disappeared. Gutted.