Christmas has come and gone so quick - it was lovely having some of my family celebrating together here, but most of our loved ones had their white Christmas in Lithuania. They sent us lovely greeting cards, and the best part is that we received a whole lot of photos from my cousin. These pictures sent us right back to that one very hot weekend in beautiful Lithuania. Lovely.
My cousin got married on a beach, and it was so hot that I think everyone were wishing they wore a bikini or shorts.
Wish I was on a beach right now!
I already did a post about Digbeth Dining Club, but there is something else and very special arranged for the two weekends before Christmas. It's called Digmas. Digbeth Christmas, get it?
It's a pop up event with great street food, warming cocktails, vintage clothing, jewellery, art, music, and everything else you need for a different day out in Birmingham. My mum and I visited it on Sunday, but it's on next weekend too, so don't miss out and get yourselves down there, you can thank me later.
Mulled wine and boozy warm cocktails (I'm sure they have some sort of healing qualities), are served at the bar.
One of the main reasons I had to be here on Sunday, was Original Patty Men (follow them here) and their Krispy Kreme Patty - yes, a juicy burger, crispy bacon and melting cheese in a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Look at it.
Let's just say, I wish I could have this burger every day. And I'm extremely sad for everyone who hadn't tried it, but I'm sure we will see more of this filthy goodness from Original Patty Men next year!
Digmas is on next Saturday and Sunday in Gibb street, from 12pm until late. Follow Digbeth Dining Club for updates.
I've been seeing lots of great gift wrapping ideas on Pinterest recently, and I'll be honest, I like wrapping presents for others as much as unwrapping mine. Here are my favourite ones:
All of these are easy to do, don't cost much and I just love the pop of neon colours. As weird as it sounds, the deep neon pink stickers/washi tape/gift tags are impossible to find in UK (I found lots of pink, but its not as bright as I want).
So I had to move on and do something different, and this is what I came up with.
All I needed was brown kraft paper, washi tape and string - you can make every present look different by trying out a range of patterns and colours.
Tomorrow is the first day of December, which reminds you that time flies - next few weeks will be filled with festive drinks, work do's and cozy evenings with a big duvet and heating on full blast (I read somewhere, this December might be one of the coldest in years). Sooo... I suggest you to sort out the presents for your loved ones now, and then relax knowing you don't have to rush through packed stores and worry about deliveries not turning up in time for Christmas.
Stores and magazines have brilliant gift guides, which can give you some idea of what to get for family and friends. For those who need more inspiration, here's my list of gifts that don't break the bank and would make your loved ones happy. I didn't categorise them into groups like 'for parents', 'for boyfriend', etc., it's more of a bundle of things, which you can look at, and hopefully spot something, important person in your life would love.
Let's see what we have here...
1. Beautiful kitchen towel from Etsy, (£8.30).
2. Tasty tea bundle, including spiced winter red tea, chai tea and chocolate flake tea, from Teapigs, (£10).
3. Whiskey dictionary print from Bouf, (£9).
4. Butter London nail polish in The Black Knight, from Selfridges, (£12).
5. An album frame from Urban Outfitters, (£12).
6. Carhartt Cable Beanie from Asos, (£35).
7. Beautiful hair ties from Anthropologie, (£20).
8. Jamie Oliver herb growing set from Debenhams, (£14 normally, £11.20 now with 20% discount).
9. Little Norway spruce Christmas tree from Not On The High Street, (£10).
10. Shore Leave dip dye tee from Urban Outfitters, (£22).
11. Mulled wine mugs and spices from John Lewis, (£15).
12. Hand knitted bobble hat from Urban Outfitters, (£24).
13. Art print from Rockett St George, (£14).
14. Set of 4 measuring cups from Not On The High Street, (£18.95).
15. Zodiac coin purse from Anthropologie, (£18).
I could go on and on, but this post would get way too long... I hope you found inspiration here and have an idea a of what you're going to surprise your friends and family with.
My only advice, don't leave it 'til too late!
Birmingham has something really exciting and fresh on the scene. Digbeth Dining Club brings the best 'street food', paired with great music - the atmosphere is completely different from anything else in Brum at the moment.
I spent Friday evening gorging on beautiful pizzas from Pizza Monkey, and fresh tastes of Caribbean food from Soupremes Soulfood.
Polina and I
shared two pizzas and a curry goat, which was a clear winner for me -
tender meat, fluffy rice, and the spiciness was just right... Pizzas
were flavoursome, crispy and chewy in the right places, my favourite was
a Simple Monkey - a classic combo of melting mozzarella, fresh basil
and tomatoes.
Lakosa, Augustus Gloop and Dr Love played some chilled out hip hop, dub, house and garage, which added to the atmosphere of this unique venue.
I can't recommend DDC enough, it's definitely a place to be on a Friday evening for those who enjoy great quality, locally sourced food, a few drinks and chilled out tunes.
Digbeth Dining Club is on every Friday (they will have a break in January) at Spotlight, they open at 5pm for drinks and serve food from 6pm to 11pm or until it sells out, (I did miss out on jerk chicken, as it was gone before I knew it). Follow these guys on Twitter for updates on what's to come next Friday.
'Tis the season to be jolly, and 'tis also the time for the German Christmas Market to come back to Birmingham and set their little wooden shops all over the town. Dark cold evenings are much better spent in the market - warm mulled wine, huge glasses of unfiltered German beer and sausages, what's better than that?
As good as it sounds, sometimes leaving your warm house to enjoy a glass of mulled wine and a German munch in freezing cold doesn't sound very appealing. Well, with this recipe for mulled wine, you can make your home feel like your very own warm and cozy German Market (however, I have to tell you, it won't be the same without the singing moose).
You will need:
a bottle of red wine - not the cheapest, but doesn't have to be the best stuff either,
150ml spiced rum,
250ml cranberry juice,
2 tbsp honey,
3 tbsp brown sugar,
2 clementines,
half an orange, sliced
peel of 1 lime,
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp of vanilla sugar,
8 cloves,
a cinnamon stick,
a pinch of nutmeg,
a pinch of allspice.
Peel the clementine with a sharp knife or a peeler, chuck it in a deep saucepan, and squeeze the juice from your clementines. Now add everything else apart from wine and rum.
Let it all simmer until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and leave it for a few minutes - the spices and fruity peels will mingle together releasing beautiful flavours into the syrup.
Now turn the heat down and add the wine and rum (adding the alcohol at the end means you won't burn off the alcohol).
Heat it on low until warm, and don't forget to try it for yourself, you might prefer it sweeter/fruitier/stronger - add whatever you feel it needs. Look at you making your own mulled wine!
Serve
your wine in mugs if you want a real 'German Market' feel, or in
glasses/jars - I ladled mine into sugar rimmed jars. Enjoy these bad
boys on a comfy sofa or in your bed, while watching newest episodes of
'Dexter' and 'Walking Dead'.
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