Wowee, We're in Cosmo Bride!

If you haven't realised, I am very over excited about this fact and needed to let it out on my blog. Before you ask, yes I have cleared the shelves of WH Smiths, oh and the little corner news agent next to my tube stop. However, I cannot take all the blame; Samuel went into said little news agent on two separate occasions during the same day, and according to Samuel, the vendor gave him a very funny look (I suppose this is to expected when a man buys two copies of a women's bridal magazine). To save embarrassment Samuel declared to the vendor, "I'm in it!". To which the vendor replied, "are you modeling?". This made Samuel very excited, and not only did I have to hear all about it, but I also had to road test some of his model poses (the word turn off comes to mind)...I informed Samuel that news agent vendors were not the most discerning model scouts unfortunately.

Since obtaining the very first copy, I have been ordered by my father to secure at least 6 unopened copies. Consequently, plans have been set in place to store these 6 unopened copies in fire proof boxes ready for our grandchildren (not really!). Speaking of my father; when I rang him to share our Cosmo news, his first question was "Is there a picture of me in it?". "Uh no, why would there be?" was my response. Perhaps he thought he should win the Father of the Bride style awards.

Onto the magazine! Here are some photos I took of my copy, hope you can read it. If you click on the pictures they will enlarge, and once enlarged you can click on some of them again to make them even bigger.

If you fancy indulging in more of our wedding photos (as if you haven't you already) then here is a link to a slideshow of a selection of photos our photographer Anna Rosell put together http://www.annarosell.com/#/w-featured-destination/

A big thanks to Anna for getting us featured and for the lovely words she wrote on her blog! If you want to see her blog feature of the magazine spread (looks a lot better than mine!) head over to her blog http://www.annarosell.com/blog/

In case you can't resist stealing my style....I don't think so!

Okay so instead of a recipe today I thought it might be fun to share some easy cooking tips I have picked up along the way. They may seem a bit obvious but these kind of tips really helped me when I was learning. So I'll start with meat and we'll see how we get on.

Cooking Tips for the Homey and Domestic Type Part 1: Meat

• When browning meat of any kind; if you want to get great colour, do it in batches and never crowd the pan. If you put too much in at once, the pan loses heat and the meat will never colour properly.
• Before roasting any meat, dab it dry with paper towels/kitchen roll or the skin will not crisp or colour.
• Before roasting bring all meat to room temperature first or your cooking times will be off.
• To get the juiciest roast chickens, never over cook. Easier said than done! I find for 1.7 Kg chicken 1hr 10 min is perfect. Check the chicken around this time by poking it in the thickest part (between the leg and body) to see if the juices run clear. If they are slightly pink, don't despair. Still take it out (as long as it's not really bloody), cover loosely with foil and let it rest for around 15 minutes. This should finish it off so it's perfect. This brings me to my next point...
• Always, always let your meat rest. It is SOOO important. Whether you have fried a steak or roasted a leg of lamb, leave to rest for around 15 minutes or more. When you take meat straight off the heat, all the juices are near the surface and if you cut straight away they will just ooze out leaving it dry. Resting allows the juices to run back into the meat keeping it moist (I hate that word).
• When carving poultry such as chicken, turkey or duck it makes life so much easier to first pull of the thighs and legs and set aside. Then cut along the side of the back bone on either side (down the middle of the bird) to remove each breast (do one at a time). Following this, slice across the breast into even strips. Rip up the leg and thigh meat and don't forget the wings. You will find this so much easier than trying to carve slices off the the actual bird.

I am going to stop now as this is starting to sound like something out of a horror film...please still cook meat.

Feel free to leave a comment and have a lovely week!

xx