I spent my NYE on a frosty, windswept Norfolk beach with Tristan, sparklers and a little log fire to keep my toes warm, which is my idea of heaven. I’m feeling quite contemplative at the moment and quite reflective, so while I’m at it, here are some of my highlights of 2014:
- Creating and sharing some awesome recipes here, such as my blueberry welsh cakes, summer strawberry pie and wholemeal, rye and fennel bread. It’s a lot of work (more than you’d think, trust me!) but totally worth it all.
- Having brilliant adventures with people I love the most. Visiting Sweden twice: once to photograph the amazing boathouse wedding of Johan and Maja (two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet) on the Stockholm archipelago island of Finnhamn, and then again to have an autumnal break and tour the coffee shops and bakeries by rental bike with our friends Jem and Kate. I also had a mini Parisian adventure, celebrating my mum’s 60th birthday amongst the narrow, historic winding streets of Le Marais district. My top Parisian highlights were the vegan noms of Le Pottager du Marais where I tried vegan cheese for the first time ever, visiting inspirational jam shop Le Chambre Aux Confiture, and the silky smooth caramels and delicious Paris Brest pastry of Jacques Genin.
- My soundtracks of the year are definitely the Arcade Fire album The Suburbs (I know it came out in 2010, but 2014 was the year that I embraced it), Morning Phase by Beck, Summer 3D by Westkust, and Innerworld by Electric Youth. My favourite song of the year has to be Party Talk by Craft Spells, which never fails to make me happy on the darkest of wet and windy days.
So I fondly wave farewell to 2014 and welcome 2015 with open arms, where I’m looking forward to collaborating more and working on some new projects here on the blog.
Wishing you a very Happy and prosperous New Year for 2015.
mountainbakery.co.uk 