Let's Make Christmas at Fabulous Fortnums!

On Friday I took part in an inspiring and fabulous food blogger's event at the iconic London shop Fortnum & Mason . It has been in Piccadilly since 1707, is the official grocer to the Royal household and is still a magical place to visit at any time - but particularly at Christmas, when the decorations are especially amazing and totally OTT...

this one is a view of the stairwell - I took it from the fourth floor....

The afternoon was organised by this wonderful woman...

Vanessa Kimbell . You may remember that I went to the launch of her recipe book, Prepped, back in June. She has ignited a campaign, via her blog and Twitter, to make this Christmas a largely handmade one...a wonderful idea in these difficult financial times - but not just for that reason. There is something so special about receiving a gift that someone you love has taken the time & trouble to make just for you! You can read all about (& join in with!) Vanessa's idea, and the details behind Friday's event on her blog.
I was quite apprehensive when I arrived at 3pm...making my way up the stairs to the top floor and trying to spot my fellow bloggers! I knew that a couple of people I'd met before would probably be going but, apart from that, the afternoon was largely an unknown quantity! We were each given a number for our entries/gifts and went into the beautiful private room that was ours for the next 3 hours. There were four tables for the different categories of presents...so I headed to place my offering amongst the others on the (heaving) baking one! Then time to get a cup of tea...
The Fortnum's colours are duck egg blue, gold & white....gorgeous. And the table set with goodies looked beautiful too...

love the silver sugar tongs...

the proper tea urns...

I avoided the chocolate and had my first mince pie of the season!
It was wonderful to find and chat with fellow tweeters & bloggers (we all wore labels with our Twitter & blog names) and get to know more about them....quite an experience! I also spent time looking at what everyone else had brought with them. The standard was incredibly high, and I found the level of creativity and effort involved quite moving...

I brought a little box of Clove Shortbread Snowflakes...

(I'll post the recipe nearer to Christmas) and Toasted Pecan Salted Caramel Brownie Cups (which I forgot to photograph...they were decorated with a gilded pecan & gold edible glitter!) I wrapped it all in cellophane and tied with seasonal ribbons..

When I saw the other entries, I knew that I wouldn't win - but I'm proud to say that I made it to the judge's tasting table!!
Ah, the judge. The fantabulous baker du jour - Dan Lepard. Author of one of my favourite new books on all things baking (reviewed a few posts back) Short & Sweet. Columnist and expert. Probably the highlight of the day was meeting and (later) chatting to Dan. He took the judging process extremely seriously and it all took quite some time...

But finally, the categories were judged and the prizes awarded. Many congratulations to the very worthy winners:
Urvashi for her Blackberry Curd
Jayne for her Damson Slivovitz
Snejana for her Mincemeat Pops and finally....
Claire who won not only best baked goods for her amaretti biscuits....but also Best in Show!! Many congratulations to her...I don't think I've ever seen anyone so shocked and delighted at winning!

Afterwards, several of us headed off for a well-earned glass of wine and more chatter...and some great gossip!
 I stayed in London overnight and after a quick breakfast yesterday morning at my local Nordic Bakery...

I headed off into the warm sunshine to do a little Christmas shopping. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the Christmas windows at Liberty...

always stunning!
Many thanks to Vanessa for arranging such a wonderful time for us all....I have the feeling that it's the first of many as it was so successful! But in the meantime, why not think about making at least some of your gifts this year? It can be nervewracking, but it's also fabulous fun...

Wishing you a wonderful week....mine is all set to be extra, extra special! More soon....xx

Perfectly Prepped...

On Friday, I was invited to a book launch in London. This, in itself, was exciting. It meant getting up extra early to bake my morning orders...coming home to dress in a manner befitting (what is that exactly?? I later felt that I should have worn something pink...I'll explain why in a while!) and catching the 10am train into town. We British often, for some reason, call London 'town'!

After staying on various trains for as long as possible, due to a quite magnificent rainstorm (I did take an umbrella, but it was small...), losing my beloved pocket street directory and wandering in a circle for 40 minutes (!) I finally arrived at the beautiful venue, the Knightsbridge branch of chocolate emporium Rococo . I've only been to the (much smaller) Marylebone store....this was large and open, decorated beautifully with displays of gorgeously wrapped chocolates & had a small cafe area at the back of the shop. I knew that I was heading in the right direction when I saw a selection of fabulous cakes, together with stacks of the new book, arranged on tables near the stairs! Once again, I had the strange but wonderful experience of meeting people that I felt I knew well from their blogs...but had never actually spoken to! I was greeted so warmly by everyone, that I immediately lost any residual shyness and plunged straight in to chatting and eating some of the amazing cakes!
The biggest thrill was finally meeting the author, Vanessa Kimbell. She is one of those people that are, truly, larger than life...her personality lit up the room as she embraced and welcomed us all and the happiness & pride in her achievement glowed from her like a beacon!
'Prepped' is her first cookbook, and it will, I hope and predict, not be the last! You can read all about the journey from concept to finished book on her blog, here ,which was started as she had the idea to write & publish the book within a year, and is full of interesting tips and anecdotes on the pleasures and pitfalls of embarking on such a daunting challenge!
It's concept is that, like a professional chef, the home cook can save time, energy and often money by thinking ahead and 'prepping' a few key ingredients in advance. She cleverly links recipes, which are grouped into chapters by flavour. While most of the recipes are simple enough to be attempted by anyone, the tastes created are deceptively complex and delicious...plenty of new twists to keep experienced cooks as happy as the comparative novice.
When Vanessa was writing her recipes, she cleverly recruited an army of 'real people' to test them...mainly other food bloggers... who called themselves the 'Prepperati'! They all wore something pink to the launch, and it was wonderful to see these people, who in many instances had never met, squeal with delight as they recognised each other and launched immediately into exchanging their experiences of the testing process!
Sustained by delicious coffee, eating slices of Cardamom & Rose Victoria Sponge and Chocolate Chili Cupcakes and chatting into the afternoon about food and writing....pure bliss! As I stepped out into the now bright, warm sunshine, I felt so happy and honoured to be part of this wonderful creative world...
I've already made the Lavender and Lemon Cake from the book...and as this morning is wet and chilly, I may just bake that divine Cardamom Sponge too...

Hoping your weekend is wonderful xo

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