15 MindBlowing Pasta Salads That Will Give You Veg While You Carb Feast

The weather is great, the mood is even greater so it’s time for outdoor living and chilling or snoozing on cool grass after a quick, light pasta salad meal made with minimum effort.  Super tasty and made in a flash, pasta bowls are hard to resist no matter what you are preparing for: a garden BBQ, a picnic at the park or a light lunch outside to catch those precious rays of the sun. Pasta salads are more of a concept than an actual recipe. What you need is a handful of ingredients, normally already in your kitchen cupboards or your fridge. The key to a faultless and always tasty pasta salads is the variety and abundance of vegetables all year round and especially in the summer, when many are even tastier as they’re in season. If you’re stuck for ideas just go through your cupboards. Pick the pasta shape of your choice: from fussili to penne to spaghetti and noodles. Anything will do really. Then pick a source of protein such as leftover roast chicken, cold shredded steak, cooked hams, prawns or fish. Add an antipasti from a jar: sundried tomatoes, peppers, aubergines if you have them handy or use at least two fresh vegetables and lots of fresh herbs. Sounds easy right? Now dress to impress, give it a good toss and tuck in. Below we have collected 15 brilliant pasta salads for the best veg & carb bowl.

  1. Tortellini with pesto & broccoli

    The fresh and fragrant flavour of pesto can lift up any pasta. Grab some tortellini, cook with a few broccoli florets for a couple of minutes. You only need to toss it in a bowl with pesto, pine nuts and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Hey presto!

  2. Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

    Summer sweet corn is a great addition to any salad. Boil from fresh or crack a good old fashioned tin. Tip in some chopped avocado in slices or cubes, bacon and a mild creamy cheese. Don’t forget to spice it up with jalapeños.

  3. Ratatouille pasta salad with rocket

    We all keep some leftovers in the fridge. Pasta salads are the best way to use them. If you have made a large pot of ratatouille, use what’s left with some freshly boiled pasta and a handful of fresh rocket. That’s your five a day in a bowl.

  4. Greek pasta salad

    There is nothing better than a bit of cool, creamy, salty feta crumbles mixed with juicy cherry tomatoes and Kalamata olives. Well, wait, there is! Toss in some pasta, dress with olive oil and you’re a winner.

  5. Summer pasta salad

    Like the above salad but with extra additions for that wow factor and colour! Reds and yellows and purples and greens from peppers, red onion and zucchini add extra layers of flavour, crunchiness and depth.

  6. Balsamic Strawberry Pasta Salad

    How much do you love strawberries? We love them so much, we tried them with pasta too. It’s the strawberry balsamic vinegraitte that binds everything together beautifully.

  7. Pasta salad with pesto & prawns

    Nothing can go wrong with a classic prawn and pesto combo. Use homemade pesto for best results, fresh herbs and freshly squeezed zesty lemon. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1993/pasta-salad-with-pesto-and-prawns

  8. Creamy Cucumber Pasta Salad

    With crisp, juicy cucumber, fresh dill and sweet white onion this salad can be turned to a full meal of its own. It’s is a very refreshing summer salad, simple and satisfying.

  9. Artichokes, pepper and feta cheese

    Bright, colourful and delicious. If you love artichokes then this is the perfect pasta salad for you. Try it with butterfly pasta (farfalle). Usual partners in crime: feta cheese, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar etc. Can’t go wrong even if you try.

  10. Rustic grilled veg and rigatoni

    If you’ve fired the bbq already make some space next to your burgers. If you have an electric grill or using your good old, you will do just fine by grilling fresh vegetables for a delicious chunky pasta dish with a tangy dressing to serve as a side for your grilled meats or make a lunch out if it. Get grilling!

  11. Superfood pasta salad

    A pasta salad like no other. The key is in the dressing, soy sauce with ginger and lime. Drizzle over a handful of soya beans and green beans, a bit of carrot and any sprout you love.

  12. Feta and spinach pasta salad

    Easy as abc. Boil pasta (al dente), toss it with crumbled feta, raw baby spinach leaves and a handful of black olives for flavour and fun and dig in.

  13. Tomato, olives and basil pasta salad

    We love Jamie! And we love his healthy food campaign. Who doesn’t? This dairy free and vegetarian pasta with ripe tomatoes olives and basil smells of Italian summer. Buon appetito!

  14. Thai noodle salad

    Mouth-drooling Thai noodle salad with peanut sauce reinforced up with healthy vegetables. It’s vegan and can be gluten-free if you wish. You can make it ahead and if you’re a carnivore stack up with chicken or prawns.

  15. Chicken noodle salad

    Another Asian kitchen inspired salad, always healthy, with a spicy kick and of course packed with vegetables and soy dressing. Check the lie calorific value. Instant winner.

What amount of weed is perfect for an amateur to abstain from getting stoned?

Whenever I ask someone for what reason they despise weed, they usually say it was that one time in school when they took a fat bong tear and went berserk. When they’re done, I usually tell them how they got it all wrong by smoking too much at first. When it comes to eating cannabis in any form or shape, there is an enchantment number regarding hits and amounts, particularly for amateurs. A comment as a primary concern: You can simply smoke all the more, however, you can’t switch a high. So you should always endeavor to begin with microdoses and continue working from that point. Regardless of whether you’re smoking a joint or doing your thing from a pipe, start with one little puff as it were. Most folks, including myself, don’t get stoned at all for their first time; in which case, I just try doing it another day. Sit tight for as long as 60 minutes after you have started feeling the effect of the first puff and then, evaluate whether you’re ready to go for a second puff. The high could hit you later, so try to sit tight for the first round wear off a bit.

Related:

This is another reason why I always advise folks to stay away from edibles until the point when you acquaint yourself properly with cannabis. Your rate of utilization is considerably harder to pinpoint while devouring edibles, normally taking 45 minutes to 90 minutes to feel the impacts. The most well-known mix-up with novices is that they eat another brownie piece, for instance, after not feeling anything in the initial 20 minutes and afterward encounter a mind-boggling high at the same time. You shouldn’t try this. To furnish you with particular estimations, we’ve alluded to The Beginner’s Guide to Marijuanaby weed-delivery application Eaze. In the event that you don’t want to get high at all Smoking: High CBD items (24:1 or 16:1 CBD) Edibles: High CBD items (24:1 or 16:1 CBD) Stick to CBD-substantial items, which will bring about a smooth body high without the psychoactive impacts that accompany THC. In the event that you want to get a little high Smoking: Less than 10 percent THC Edibles: Less than 2mg THC Read the bloom marks and palatable wrappers, which express the focus levels. In the event that you want to get noticeably high Smoking: Between 10 percent and 20 percent THC Edibles: Between 2mg and 10mg THC

Related:

Most blooms extend in the vicinity of 18 and 22 percent THC, however, you can discover strains lower or higher. Be that as it may, even with a high-concentrated strain, it’s as yet conceivable to control your dosage. In the event that you want to get super high Smoking: More than 20 percent THC Edibles: More than 10mg THC Vape pens are additionally an incredible and more beneficial approach to slip into cannabis. Hmbldt’s measurements pens are especially awesome for beginner smokers since they have a planned dosage to guarantee exact and steady puffs all the time. You inhale until a light vibration indicates when it’s time to take a break. You ought to likewise consider to what extent a high can typically last. Note that this will differ according to the individual, but all things considered, a high in the wake of smoking flower endures somewhere in the range of one to three hours, while an eatable high can proceed solid for three to six hours. Since there’s no mystery to calming down rapidly other than time, always start small and work your way up the quantity.

How Much Do You Love Growing Herbs

Growing herbs have always been a special thing to me and they’ve been a piece of my life for a very long time, right from Grandma’s garden. She grew some solid assortment like bay leaf, dill, parsley and rosemary. There may have been others yet these are the ones I recollect the most. She made fresh herbs part of her everyday cooking and they made everything taste stunning. Her cooking style was a smidgen of various ingredients, simmer a bit on low heat and she’s good to go. Being an Italian woman, everything she served had a touch of salad and homemade bread on the side. I really miss her dishes. She set an extraordinary example of how to eat and appreciate genuine nourishment; and as the years went by, my craving for herbs grew too and I started experimenting with different varieties. I found out cooking was more enjoyable when herbs were on the menu and I couldn’t go a single day without them. My top choices were cilantro, parsley, oregano and thyme. I had other herbs growing around but these five are basic for quick seasonal cooking during the summer. They’re additionally simple to dry so you can store in containers and use them all round the year. At our homestead I chose to grow lemon balm, sage, tarragon, and peppermint and after a while, I started to experience a passionate feeling for their flavor and medical advantages. Now and again, I simply pick a few of the herbs and make fun things like this new herb wreath. I could exceptionally be a great farmer just tending to my herbs. The assortment of nutrition, taste and texture they offer rouse continuous learning that occupies most of my spare time. Beginning with herbs at Quail Grove was the main arrangement of raised beds we actualized. I spread from the ranch and everything grew up well except for my lemon balm. Through my time growing herbs, it occurred to me that others would also appreciate learning about them and growing them so I composed two new printables to help other people begin. They included growing perennial and annual herbs. These printables will help you learn to grow herbs without getting stressed out. Herbs are not difficult to tend to; they cherish the sun and require little care or attention. Tending to each herb is a serene procedure that expert and even new herb planters will come to appreciate. There are quite a lot to know when it comes to growing herbs so when you start attempting them; you easily get the hang of it! I do hope it will be as much fun learning to grow herbs as it has been for me. Good luck!

Classic British Foods You Must Try When Travelling to UK

A visit to the UK will not be complete without savouring the staples of British cuisine. Some British foods, like Fish and Chips or a Full English Breakfast hardly need any introduction. British gastronomy is as abundant as the country’s cultural heritage. You can find great seafood on the coast, seriously good quality meat and definitely a lot of good British ale to accompany your meal with.

  1. Full English breakfast

    No better way to start the day than a sturdy breakfast. Eggs – check, beans – check, hash brown – check and of course some crunchy bacon too. A good fry-up is all you need to layer your toasted bread with and a grand appetite should not be missing. Try to find a full English breakfast at a local, neighbourhood cafe.

  1. Fish and chips

    Fish and chips is famous across the globe for the light and crunchy coat of butter. A delicious piece of fried cod comes with a handful of freshly cooked chips and optionally with mushy peas. Try it, the British way, with a generous helping of salt and vinegar on your chips.

  2. British beef – Steak and kidney pie

    British beef has a very proud tradition. There are six classic British beef breeds that have been exported across the hemisphere and nowhere can the heifers be better fed than the rolling fields of Britain. If corned beef sandwich is the first thing the springs to mind, wait until you try it in a roast or better still in a pie. Slowly cooked diced beef and diced kidney, a generous helping of brown gravy with fried onions all cased in flaky pastry, this is what steak and kidney pie is about. This pie makes the ultimate comfort food on a cold day.

  3. Scotch eggs

    The Scotch egg was invented by Fortnum and Mason back in the days of horse-drawn carriages. It is one of the quintessential British foods that hardly need an introduction: a hardboiled egg wrapped in minced meat and a crunchy crust. This might be just the thing you are looking for to continue with a busy day out. This is the traditional version; look out for the modern ones with great new twists.

  4. Sunday roast with mint jelly and Yorkshire pudding

    There is nothing that signals better British than the Sunday roast. Pubs nowadays have exquisite menus for Sunday lunches. Look out for roast beef or roast lamb with mint jelly. These both come with Yorkshire pudding. Don’t be fooled, this pudding is no dessert but pastry puffs like no other.

  5. Bangers and mash

    There are many types of sausages to seek out for apart from classic flavours. Pork sausages with bramley apples or with leeks and chives and the long round Cumberland sausages are three special sausages worth trying out. You can have them with mash potatoes – as in bangers and mash or you can enjoy a good British sausage in toad in a hole, with flaky pastry.

  6. Cottage pie or Shepherds pie

    Cottage pie or Shepherd’s pie is one of the most homely of British foods. This pie, it is not encased in pastry like the steak and kidney pie. It simply has a scrumptious mince meat sauce, with peas and carrots and it is layered with lavish mash potatoes on top. There is a difference between cottage and Shepherd’s pie. In the first you will find beef mince whilst in the latter lamb’s mince. They are equally delicious and certainly a good call after a long day.

  7. Ploughman’s lunch

    Beer, bread, and cheese have been combined in the English diet as far as anyone can remember. For a ploughman’s lunch you only need a few ingredients at hand: a nice slice of bread some good cheddar and a fine, sharp onion pickle. This simple dish has been served to travellers at the inns for centuries. Its name however is relatively more recent. This sandwich was baptised as Ploughman’s lunch in the 1950s in an attempt to promote British cheese. It stayed on for good reason; it’s a very satisfying and filling snack to have when on the go.

  8. Afternoon tea

    No visit to the UK would be complete without afternoon tea. What is afternoon tea? Well, it is a mini-meal enjoyed in early afternoon, started back at the mid 19th century with many tea rooms operated across the country. It is however much more than a quick meal, afternoon tea is a ritual of the teapot and strainer, a separate jug of milk and tinkling spoons. Afternoon tea is quality time, a way to stop and relax. Along with your tea you will have soft sandwiches, cut in fingers, scones and clotted cream and dainty pastries. Nowadays it is often accompanied by champagne if you want to make it a little more special and is certainly a winner if you need a snack before heading to the theatre.

  9. The Food markets

    Once you have covered the basics as mentioned above, chances are you might be into something new. Head to the markets to walk among sellers of fresh produce and grab a bite on the go. In neighbourhoods the farmers markets are organised weekly and most likely you will find the array of stalls waiting for you during the weekend. If in London, there is the emblematic Borough Market at London Bridge. Chances are you will be mesmerised by the great quality British foods and you will definitely find something you have not tasted before.

4 Easy-Grow Potted Patio Herbs To Grow For The Kitchen

Are you someone that loves cooking and spicing up your meal? Then growing a couple of great pruned patio herbs may very well be in your future plans! Herbs are among a portion of the most straightforward plants to grow. With a decent fertilized soil blend and the perfect amount of watering, and they grow up in no time. What’s more, the flavor they bring to natively prepared dishes can take culinary aptitudes and taste buds higher than ever.

4 Patio Herbs Perfect For The Kitchen

Basil

No home kitchen ought to ever be without crisp basil! Basil loans its flavors to such a significant number of various styles of cooking, from Italian to Indian food, and everything in the middle. There are many assortments to look over, with sweet basil being the best decision. The leaves are superbly sweet-smelling, and relying upon the assortment, can have tastes ranging from sweet to spicy. In the event that you need to include a touch of shading, have a go at cultivating purple basil. Basil develops well in sunny and warm weather and does greatly well in pots. You can sow seeds from late-winter to pre-winter contingent upon your atmosphere. Sow a fresh pot at regular intervals to keep a lasting supply for the kitchen. The leaves are ideally superb to dry for natively spice.

Cilantro

The crisp taste of cilantro is difficult to top. Cilantro has turned into the go-to herb for a wide range of dishes. Best known initially for its utilization in salsa, cilantro can be likewise be utilized a wide range of soups, dips, to lamb and chicken as that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Cilantro fares very well in planters and pots. It grows better in more direct temperatures. As the mid-year temps warm up, move it to the shadier spots of your porch to prevent blasting. Sow at regular intervals in another pot to keep an unfaltering supply available. In the event that it begins to go to seed, put aside the pot and let it proceed. As the seed heads develop – you will have yourself a home-grown coriander!

Oregano

Oregano has probably the most unmistakable and crisp tasting leaves of any herb you will ever come across. Its taste is a stand-out amongst the others. Oregano can be planted as a perennial, so pick a huge pot that can be moved into the house or carport for a little winter insurance. It will return a seemingly endless amount incredible tasting flavors to the majority of your Italian and Greek dishes! In the event that you have a flowerbed close-by the porch – plant it there and have it flourish for a few months. Much like other kinds of herbs, there are numerous assortments of Oregano but the most popularly grown ones are the Italian and Greek assortments. They are superb for enhancing everything from natively prepared pasta to chicken sausage, soups and the sky is the limit from there.

Parsley

Parsley is the universal star of patio herbs. It can simply obviously be utilized as an embellishment, yet it additionally serves as an amazing method to season numerous servings of dishes, soups, salads and dishes. It develops best in a decent, very much depleted fertilized soil. Keep the soil wet, use LED Grow Lights and all around watered to keep leaves at their peak. Making it much more appealing, Parsley can be gathered more than once. Expel the external bits of leaves as required, and the internal segments will keep on growing for you to harvest them later. Just a single plant of parsley can be used for an entire growing season.

4 Easy-Grow Potted Patio Herbs To Grow For The Kitchen

Are you someone that loves cooking and spicing up your meal? Then growing a couple of great pruned patio herbs may very well be in your future plans! Herbs are among a portion of the most straightforward plants to grow. With a decent fertilized soil blend and the perfect amount of watering, and they grow up in no time. What’s more, the flavor they bring to natively prepared dishes can take culinary aptitudes and taste buds higher than ever.

4 Patio Herbs Perfect For The Kitchen

Basil

No home kitchen ought to ever be without crisp basil! Basil loans its flavors to such a significant number of various styles of cooking, from Italian to Indian food, and everything in the middle. There are many assortments to look over, with sweet basil being the best decision. The leaves are superbly sweet-smelling, and relying upon the assortment, can have tastes ranging from sweet to spicy. In the event that you need to include a touch of shading, have a go at cultivating purple basil. Basil develops well in sunny and warm weather and does greatly well in pots. You can sow seeds from late-winter to pre-winter contingent upon your atmosphere. Sow a fresh pot at regular intervals to keep a lasting supply for the kitchen. The leaves are ideally superb to dry for natively spice.

Cilantro

The crisp taste of cilantro is difficult to top. Cilantro has turned into the go-to herb for a wide range of dishes. Best known initially for its utilization in salsa, cilantro can be likewise be utilized a wide range of soups, dips, to lamb and chicken as that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Cilantro fares very well in planters and pots. It grows better in more direct temperatures. As the mid-year temps warm up, move it to the shadier spots of your porch to prevent blasting. Sow at regular intervals in another pot to keep an unfaltering supply available. In the event that it begins to go to seed, put aside the pot and let it proceed. As the seed heads develop – you will have yourself a home-grown coriander!

Oregano

Oregano has probably the most unmistakable and crisp tasting leaves of any herb you will ever come across. Its taste is a stand-out amongst the others. Oregano can be planted as a perennial, so pick a huge pot that can be moved into the house or carport for a little winter insurance. It will return a seemingly endless amount incredible tasting flavors to the majority of your Italian and Greek dishes! In the event that you have a flowerbed close-by the porch – plant it there and have it flourish for a few months. Much like other kinds of herbs, there are numerous assortments of Oregano but the most popularly grown ones are the Italian and Greek assortments. They are superb for enhancing everything from natively prepared pasta to chicken sausage, soups and the sky is the limit from there.

Parsley

Parsley is the universal star of patio herbs. It can simply obviously be utilized as an embellishment, yet it additionally serves as an amazing method to season numerous servings of dishes, soups, salads and dishes. It develops best in a decent, very much depleted fertilized soil. Keep the soil wet, use LED Grow Lights and all around watered to keep leaves at their peak. Making it much more appealing, Parsley can be gathered more than once. Expel the external bits of leaves as required, and the internal segments will keep on growing for you to harvest them later. Just a single plant of parsley can be used for an entire growing season.

MINDFUL TRANSDIMENSIONAL MEDITATION WITH ENERGY WORK

Soulmates Cameron and Denise combine engergies and passions on this day to invite you to Embrace your ability to find Mindfulness in this Guided Meditation and Instruction session led by 4 time Astro Projection Meditation Master, Cam Herndon, while Intuitive Empath and Certified Energy healer, HHP, Denise Devine, Works, Organizes and Calms the Energies around you. Experience the magic of two powerfully connected souls holding intent for you. In todays ever busy, Negative, EMF filled World, it’s ever inccreasingly more difficult to tap into our own natural abilities to Meditate- to find Mindfulness. So come experience our gift to you, a gift that you can take with you into your home and work-life to start integrating next level meditation practices to promote clearer thought, stress relief, stress management abilities, higher productivity and as Cam calls it, potentially reach ‘Bulletproof’ coping strategies to help keep your cup fill so that you may bless others. As deeply spiritual Professional and Natural Teachers and Healers Cam and Denise are enthusiastic about the possibility of increasing the quality of your life, and aiding in awakening and raising the vibrations of our World, one person at a time. So, whether you are interested in the spiritual aspect of this encounter or the hard science of the benifits of effectively meditating, this event is for you.
Please Note: This event will be held in a quiet, public outdoor location to enjoy the healing benefits of nature. Please bring a yoga mat, and or comfortable chair to rest on. You will want to accomplish entire relaxation, a small pillow is also okay. Dress Comfortable!

Essential Oils and your Workouts

Essential oils are for every part of your life including your workout routine, whether you do Yoga, Circuit training, Casual workouts or Marathon training. Before you workout, you want to have warm muscles and good circulation, energy, a positive and driven mental state, read more to see how they can improve your workout routine.
  • Pre Workout- Breathe blend on the chest, back of the neck, or bottom of the feet to open the airways. Warm your muscles with a mixture of Rosemary, Lavender, & Eucalyptus applied topically. Use a carrier oil if you need to dilute for skin sensitivity.
  • During Workout- Add Slim and Sassy and lemon in your water (use a metal or glass bottle) to boost metabolism and increase energy, rehydrate you and the flavor influences you to drink more water. Peppermint can be inhaled to increase alertness and help you focus. Peppermint can be rubbed onto tired muscles, pulse points and feet to increase oxygen and energize muscles.
  • Post Workout- Deep Blue or Aroma Touch are wonderfully relieving for sore muscles, and to help prevent soreness, apply before a good stretch. Lemongrass is another effective oil for providing relief of sore muscles. You can also try Helichrysum and Lavender with Epsom Salts in a bath soak.
  • Always remember to drink plenty of EXTRA water. Many essential oils are effective detoxers so drink extra water to help your body utilize them fully and to eliminate the waste that accumulates after a good workout.

Spring Treats to Look Out for in London Cafes

The sun’s out, the blossoms are blooming, and it seems we finally may have seen the last of winter. But just because the new season is here doesn’t mean you need to miss out on comfort food in London. With change in the air, now is the time to head out to a cosy café — it’s still a bit risky to venture into picnic territory. Luckily, cafés are hard at work creating innovative, tasty, fresh delights in the capital of creative food. Spring into spring with these delightful London café treats. And the best news? None of these need break the budget — the Michelin-starred restaurants can wait!

Chill Out

Now the days are warming up it’s time for your coffee to cool down. Iced coffees have come a long way from the sugary, whipped cream versions of yesteryear — not that there’s anything wrong with those if it’s your bag! Ask for a cold brew coffee and you’ll likely find yourself pleasantly surprised with a full cup of complex flavour notes designed for low-temperature drinking. Or, if you like it sweet, a granita might be more your thing. A happy medley between a sorbet and an espresso, you’ll be cooled off and pepped up all at once. Connoisseurs tell us that the flavour notes of coffee come through best in a cold brew — the best way to find out is to try for yourself!

Granovelty

This Spring granola has come to the fore in London café breakfasts, with many establishments making their own signature granola on-site. Forget dusty old oats gone soggy in milk; granola is now sophisticated and worldly, and a bowl can feature pecans, pistachios, crystallised ginger, dried fruit such as pear and mango, and sprouted oats crisped in pure maple syrup. With the addition of a high-end yoghurt (coconut kefir with Tahitian vanilla! Buffalo milk yoghurt with freeze-dried blackcurrant! Fermented nut yoghurt!), drizzles of honey, and an exotic goat or coconut milk, granola is the fast-rising star of café breakfasts for 2017. If you’re really on a health buzz, look out for unusual grains such as buckwheat that have been sprouted and then dehydrated for maximum nutritional benefit. But remember: taste comes first!

Best Served Cold

Speaking of being cool, chilled café lunches really come into their own in the changing weather of springtime. You can always go for a salad, of course, but other cold dishes offer the calming nature of comfort food without being heated. For guaranteed deliciousness try ceviche — fresh raw fish cured in lime or lemon juice and served with chilli and coriander. Cold-smoked fish, such as salmon, can also be soothing and refreshing on the palate. Even soup can be dished up cold in the form of gazpacho, a chilled tomato soup from Southern Spain, or vichyssoise, a French leek soup traditionally served froid. There are also exciting things happening in the space of raw food, so look out for experimental treats such as chilled cashew nut alfredo sauce, or avocado-based soups.

New Lamb

A true classic, new lamb never tastes better than in spring. Think gentle flavours such as fragrant mint, washed down with a glass of light red wine (Lambrusco anyone?). Many cultural cuisines honour the new spring season with a lamb dish, including the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean and France. In the United Kingdom the best lamb is always free range and as locally sourced as possible, but can also hail from Scotland, or perhaps even New Zealand. For a high-end London café Saturday lunch, look out for lamb cutlets. Served on the rare side, rosy and pink, this spring treat dish is best eaten around April or May.

Eye Candy

Feasts for the eyes as well as the tastebuds, visually appealing dishes are popping up everywhere in London. Rainbow-coloured food is a worldwide trend, encompassing bagels, marbled cakes, cocktails, and even vegetables, such as coloured cauliflowers and carrots (did you know, for example, that carrots were originally purple, and that black, white, purple, yellow, and red cultivars are available?). Or brighten your plate with edible flower garnishes such as pansies, nasturtiums and marigolds — especially right in springtime. Fancy something a little more opulent and less botanical? Eye-catching edible gold is now being scattered across brownies and popcorn and gilting biscuits, creating treats that are fanciful, luxurious, and utterly Instagrammable.

Lighten Up

One of best thing about lighter spring lunches is that they leave plenty of room for afters! In springtime, even desserts need not be heavy. Our current fave is a Genoise sponge, which is an airy, low-butter sponge cake made with cream and seasonal fruits such as apricot, rhubarb, and lychee. Treat yourself to a trifle or two.

Sunny Courtyards

Okay, so one this isn’t quite culinary, but after a long winter everyone has an appetite for sunshine. One of the best ways to enjoy London cafés in spring is to ditch the office (or bring the laptop if you must!) and find a cafe with a sunny courtyard or corner to get a dose of vitamin D. Sip on your drink (a matcha green tea, if you’ve got your finger on the beverage pulse) and soak up some rays. Many London cafés have quiet outdoor spaces full of green plants and trailing vines, just waiting to be explored. By the way, rooftops and conservatory-style areas work too.

Splash Out

Just when you think you’ve tried it all in terms of teas, juices, coffees, smoothies, and shakes, the spring season of 2017 brings more cold drinks than ever before. London cafés are now offering drinks as varied as turmeric lattes, kombucha (fermented iced tea), and quinoa milkshakes. But the trendiest (and healthiest) unusual drink prize has to go to: you guessed it, matcha. This special variety of green tea is appearing in every possible form, from matcha ice cream, to green noodles, confectionery, lattes, and mo

Why You Should Try Getting A Dinner Party Catered

A dinner party is a lovely thing. Friends, food, wine, relaxed conversation, and a chance to enjoy the good things in life. Except… you spent the whole day running around the markets trying to find tiger prawns to make that special prawn curry, you forgot to put the wine in the fridge, the candles turn out to be fake vanilla-scented, you burnt the dessert, and the mountain of dishes has completely covered ever surface in the kitchen. Sound familiar? Well, we have a great suggestion: for all the pleasure with none of the stress, it might be time to try getting a dinner party catered. Catering at home can come in a variety of forms: you may want to get a catering company to bring around a completely prepared meal, or you make want to take the option that’s super trendy in London right now: getting a private chef to create your dinner party for you. Some companies will cook in your own kitchen, while some prefer to bring pre-prepared morsels to you and your friends. If you choose well, you can enjoy the best of both worlds: restaurant quality food and no effort, with all the comfort of your own home and no over-full Tube ride home. Whatever option suits you, here are some good reasons why catering might be the way to go for your next dinner party.

  1. Relaxing is more fun when you get to actually, you know, relax.

    The idea of a dinner party usually involves a convivial evening of chat and good food and drink. Trouble is, the hosts are usually so stressed and exhausted from getting all the elements ready, that they’re too tired to actually enjoy themselves. Are you really going to enjoy the company of your friends and family when you’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day? Will you be able to be the life of the party when you need to check the chicken every ten minutes? When you care about your friends, it’s easy to get stressed about making something super tasty and delicious for them. In the process, it’s easy to become someone who is not that fun to be around any more — defeating the whole point of the dinner party! More than enjoy your food, your guests are there to enjoy you — and relaxed you will be the best company.

  2. Gastroenteritis can ruin friendships

    Ever poisoned your friends by accident? It’s pretty much the worst feeling in the world to know that someone you care about is in undercooked chicken vomiting hell, and that you’re to blame. Equally bad is if it’s a new boss or acquaintance you’re trying to impress. Murphy’s law states that even if you always cook great food, something will go wrong when you try and pull out the dinner party special. Take the risk out and get it catered!

  3. No clean up

    Ok, the food is great, the company is excellent… but then the guests go home and you’re faced with the mountain of dishes. No wonder people wait several years before hosting another dinner party! And no wonder numerous media sources have repeatedly announced “The Death of the Dinner Party.” The best way around this dilemma is to enjoy the best side effect of having a party catered: that’s right, they clean up for you. Whether you engage a catering company that whisks the plates away with them, or a private chef who politely polishes the kitchen to spotless state, you can relax with that glass of rosé, knowing that you really do have the night (and the next morning) off.

  4. Keep up with changing food trends

    Our parents may not have faced up to it yet (anyone else’s mother still making flakey puff pastry appetizers and adding canned pineapple to savoury dishes?), but food has changed in leaps and bounds since the heyday of dinner parties in the 80s and 90s. Food is now more global, fresher, more creative, tastier, and more sophisticated than ever before. And nowhere is this more true than in the humming cosmopolitan centre of London, where food cultures and food trends combine at the cutting edge of haute cuisine. That dog-eared Moosewood cookbook isn’t going to cut it when it comes to impressing your friends and colleagues. Unless you’re willing to devote considerable hours to becoming a Masterchef, the best way to keep your finger on the pulse of food is definitely to enjoy a catering company or private chef.

  5. It leaves you free to do what you do best

    Yes, catering may seem expensive at first: but just think of it as freeing you up to do what you do love and earn money from. If you don’t have to devote the rest of the week or weekend to recovering from your hectic dinner party, you’ll be free to earn money in the way that you’re good at — and your chef will get to do the same. Win win!
So if you’ve had a bad dinner party experience, or you’ve seen your friends totally stressed out trying to host a winning occasion, and you’ve thought to yourself “I’m not going to go there — it’s just not worth it!” — think again. Getting a dinner party catered has never been easier, more accessible, more delicious, or more widely accepted. Treat yourself and your friends to delicious bonding over food and drink, minus the headache and stress.