Summer Moods 3 - Alfresco

One of the things I love about Summer in the UK is the length of the evenings. OK so we're often dodging rain showers and wishing it would be a bit warmer, but when those perfect, golden-warm summer evenings happen they are amazing. I love living and eating outside as much as possible on those long, long days. Like the typical Brit, the first signs of sunshine and warmth and I put shorts on and get out in the garden. We've had a few memorable evenings already with friends making the most of the long days, listening to music, chatting and eating. So the next of our Summer mood boards is in homage to all things alfresco - the perfect things to make a long summer evening eating outside even better. There's 15% off all the items featured and selection of matching bits on our site.

1. Acrylic jugs and glasses
2. Funky bird candles
3. Metal trays
4. A selection of melamine and ceramics by Rice
5. Colourful string lights
6. Andrea Letterie banner
7. Paper covered candle holders
8. Paper lanterns

Rice DK Autumn Preview Near Malmo, Sweden

Design with a social conscience seems to go hand in hand with Denmark, so when our favourite Danish design brand Rice asked us to visit to preview their Autumn Winter 2014 collection we jumped at the chance. As a small independent business we were really proud to find out that we are now one of the biggest independent stockists of Rice in the UK, a brand which we love promoting as it was always set up to be ethical. Rice are one of the smallest companies ever to be certified by "Social Accountability 8000", which is an international standard stricter than Fair Trade.

One of the things we particularly love about Rice is their bold use of colour. Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau, who started the company, is a colour fanatic and the company found a beautiful farmhouse just over the border in Sweden to display their new season's stock in. The farmhouse was spacious with white washed walls and rustic wooden tables - a neutral background which really made the colours zing. The team of stylists at Rice work so hard to make these events look beautiful and inspiring - great for us to pinch ideas for display in our shop and for our on-line photos.

Colourful Ceramics by Rice DK

An exciting decisions for us is that we're planning on taking on many more of the beautiful ceramics Rice produce. No other brand we know can combine both sophistication and fun so successfully - it's one of the great things about Rice. The soft organic shapes of their ceramics and beautiful colour combinations sit wonderfully with their quirky egg cups, mixed in with pieces of patterned melamine and crazy jugs of flowers. If eating and entertaining is theatre then the stage Rice presents is lush, opulent and populated with exotic creatures.

We love Rice Toy Baskets

One of the products we really love by Rice is their toy baskets - they're tactile and natural, made in a small village in Madagascar where the toy baskets now provide steady work and income for most of the families. Typically bright and bold, the new designs now fold flat for easy storage when not in use. As Fig1 is based in Bristol, home to the largest international balloon fiesta in the world, we're particularly keen on the new Hot Air Balloon design!

The Danes love entertaining, whether it is a few people or a party and the new collection is certainly ready for any knees-up. Of course, each season Rice introduce new patterns of melamine and this year is no exception, with both floral and geometric designs coming in for the party season. But we're also loving the disposable Martini glasses and the fabulous, bold and bright paper decorations. To be honest, we think it is all as suitable for a summer party as a winter one, but then, when isn't it a good time to have your friends around, eat, chat and entertain?

Easter Afternoon Tea

Ceramic Cake Plate by Rice

My sister had a habit of keeping her Easter eggs for months until the chocolate had lost it's sheen and started to go white by being left on the window ledge. She'd eat a small and controlled amount each day. Mine went by the time we got to the end of Easter day and I felt queasy from the sugar overload, but at least it didn't go off. Time may pass but I've never learnt much in the way of self control, so although I love baking, I like to have people to ply with the finished product else I'll only eat it all myself. With the longer days and bank holiday weekends, Easter seems the perfect time to have people over for tea, occasionally leading to G and T. Here are a couple of Easter afternoon tea recipes - one sweet, one savoury - both perfect for sharing.

Easter biscuits are traditional particularly in the West Country where we are based. An alternative serving suggestion might be with a picnic involving lashings of cider and a door stop of cheddar cheese.

Cheese scones

100g butter

400g self raising flour

75g cheese (mature cheddar or half mature cheddar half parmesan for some extra kick)

250ml milk

3/4 level teaspoon cayenne pepper

Crumb together the butter, flour and cayenne with your finger tips until well combined. Mix in the cheese.

Add the milk and bring together into a soft dough with your fingertips. I usually try and use one hand whilst pouring in the milk with the other as you may need a little more or less depending.

Lightly flour the surface and roll out to 2-3 cm thick. Cut out the scones with a 2.5 inch / 6cm cutter. If you want a glossy finish on the scones you can brush milk over the top with a pastry brush.  

Place on a lightly greased tray and bake for 12-15 minutes at 220 degrees centigrade. Makes around 15 scones.

Easter Biscuits

100g butter

75g caster sugar plus extra for decorating

1 egg
200g plain white flour
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

50g currants
15g chopped mixed peel

15-30ml of brandy or milk

Cream together the butter and caster sugar with an electric whisk or a wooden spoon if you want arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Keep going until the colour starts to lighten and they are a little fluffy. Separate the egg and whisk in the yolk. Whisk up the white a bit and set aside with a pastry brush at the ready.

Sift and fold in the flour and spices, then stir in the fruit.

Mix in the brandy or milk (I'd recommend the brandy). I usually use the finger tips of one hand whilst pouring with the other so I can feel when the mix becomes wet enough to be a workable dough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to about 5mm thick and cut out the biscuits with a fluted cutter - I used quite a small one although traditionally Easter biscuits are fairly large.

Bake on a lightly greased tray at 200 degrees for 10 minutes then take them out of the oven and brush over the egg white and lightly sprinkle with caster sugar. I found it helps to do a few biscuits at a time so the egg doesn't set from the warmth before you get the sugar on there. You also want to be careful not to brush the egg on too thickly.

Finally, return to the oven for 5 more minutes then remove and cool on a wire rack. 

Tray, Jug and Ceramic Two-tone Cup by Rice

Pull the Other One, Petula

I know Petula says that when we're low and life is making you lonely we can pop off down town, but sometimes it is all just too much effort. Usually rushed off my feet, I find I often fill the quiet time with friends,  family and entertaining.  Well not last night,  I tell you.  I've been under the weather all week, my partner is away so it was me, some magazines, a fire and a film for the evening.  I couldn't even muster to wander to the shops in slippers and dressing gown and so made my favourite stote cupboard supper - putanesca - and served it in this bowl by Rice to cheer me up and stop me feeling too ill.

For those not in the know,  Putanesca sauce is a tomato sauce (onions, garlic, tomatoes ... the usual base), sometimes with canned tuna or other fish, flavoured with finely diced salted anchovies, chopped capers, olives and a touch of chilli. Powerful stuff.

Welcome to Autumn

The last of the tomatoes and beans are available from the allotment and garden still at the moment, but the skins are becoming a little tough on the tomatoes. My big sister invented this smoked haddock and tomato stew one year when we were all supposed to be dieting, but although it is an extremely healthy meal, it feels anything but a diet food with it's warm, rich flavours. I love this smoky stew as a welcome to Autumn – using up some of the harvest time produce, the smoky flavours hark forward to bonfires and fireworks. Pretty simple and one of those dishes you can chuck different things in, basically it is a fresh tomato soup in which you poach some smoked haddock chunks.

Basic Quantities for Ingredients (vary as available):

15 ripe tomatoes; 2 medium onions; 2 cloves garlic; 1 stick celery; 1tsp smoked sweet paprika; 1 cup stock; 0.5 tsp cayene pepper; handful of green beans; 300g smoked haddock; 1/2 a can of chickpeas to serve 4.

As with a lot of dishes, I start with finely chopped onions and garlic, which I sweat down in olive oil until they are soft. I then like to add a teaspoon of smoked paprika to bring out the smokiness and a teaspoon of ground cayenne for a bit of a kick. I then add finely chopped tomatoes (I rarely bother skinning them – it is a rustic dish and seems a waste of time if you are chopping them anyway). I add stock, wine or water depending on what I have in the fridge – I often add some very finely diced celery too as it is a good flavour enhancer. I cook it down for half an hour adding water as necessary to make it the consistency I fancy. A good long time cooking brings out the sugars in the tomatoes even if I do have to keep adding water Ten minutes before I want to serve, I add half a can of chickpeas and some green beans, then for the final 5 minutes, cubed smoked haddock to cook through.

If you've got potatoes going over, you could add those instead of the chickpeas, or add leek or carrot earlier in the cooking, but the basic idea of a smoky tomato and fish stew makes one of the best welcomes to Autumn, and I find myself regularly coming back to it at this time of year.

Picture features:

Ceramic two-tone Portugese tableware by Rice of Denmark

Backgroud: Copper lidded storage jar by House Doctor

Foreground: Acacia Wood chopping board by House Doctor

Coffee Ceremony

It may be that the act of drinking tea has a longer and more complex history of ceremony attached to it, but my morning cup of coffee is definitely the one I take time over most. Tea I have on the hoof like fuel, rushing around Fig1 HQ or the shop, up and down to the store room, a cup of tea is often carried with me, regularly left half finished in favour of a new cup or just plain forgotten by the computer. Tea is a simple affair for me - dunk a "brew bag", as my little sister calls it, in a cup of hot water; wring it out well (I like the tea strong); and a tiny splash of milk; and proceed to scald your mouth with it.

Coffee, on the other hand, I like to savour. The smell of coffee has always seemed magical. Since long before I drank the drink, the smell of it grinding in the restaurants we had when growing up would tantalize me and I maybe myself persevere with drinking it until the bitter taste seamed like nectar. I often drink it as espresso, and I use an old fashioned stove top espresso maker and always warm the cup. I enjoy the time it takes to make. But I vary the way I make it by mood: sometimes a splash of sugar as a real pic-me-up, sometimes neat, dark and black, sometimes with a little extra hot water, or sometimes with hot frothed milk.

However I drink it, I like to take time making it, choosing the right mug or cup, and then finding a spot to drink it away from the computer screen and the telephone - just 10 minutes of concentrating on self indulgence. And for extra indulgence, I have just helped myself to some of these two-tone ceramic mugs from the shop for Fig1 HQ. Well, they do seem to be made for our kitchen.

Portuguese ceramics by Rice

Making Pesto...

I love keeping pesto made in the fridge at this time of year. Our local green grocers does large bunches of basil at a really good price at this time of the year. I make a big bunch of it up into pesto and then use it on tomatoes (which I like to keep out of the fridge so they are really tasty), fresh pasta with sautéed courgettes or with just to dress up shop bought hummus and lunchtime sandwiches.

If I have time I get the pestle and mortar out to make it as bruising the basil leaves in that gives it more flavour, but if not I simply chuck the basil in the blender with a couple of cloves of garlic and chop it find, then add about the same weight of grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts, together with a good slug of olive oil. Blend again but leave a bit of texture, then jar it up with a layer of olive oil on top to preserve it.

Photo credits

Mango wood chair and chopping board by House Doctor. The chairs we only ordered for fig1 HQ but we can order them in. Copper lidded jars by House Doctor as well - we love the copper and mango wood combination - pretty much my inspiration for the fig1 kitchen at the moment. The bowl the tomatoes are in is a favourite from Rice - I keep going on about the retro two tone colour combination of these jars, but I've hidden the inside in these picture a little!

Hot dressed salads

The quality of veg at this time of year always gets us inspired in the fig1.co.uk kitchen. I always keep a quantity of salad dressing made up in the fridge ready for going over whatever ingredients I can find. And peas and beans are some of my favourite ingredients - I've been dressing them hot with potatoes and some chopped tomato. You don't have to eat it hot even but if it is dressed while the beans or peas are still hot they really soak up the flavour.

The mint on the balcony seems to be in full flow today so I have chopped some mint and parsley up, shelled some peas (a fair few of which I ate whilst shelling them) and boiled a bag of Charlotte potatoes. Whilst they are on the go I've finely diced a couple of tomatoes and a shallot, added the herbs and some balsamic and olive oil dressing I already had made up. When the spuds are nearly cooked I'll add the peas in, then once they are finished I'll drain them add them hot into the bowl. I have to nip out later, but this will be ready to eat with some pan fried fish when I get back.

Sometimes I like to add some chopped olives, capers, piquant peppers or whatever else I have in jars in the fridge for extra flavour - a particularly good way of making this kind of thing nice and tasty in the winter when the tomatoes aren't so good and the peas are frozen. 

Hints and tips

• Give the potatoes a good shake in the colander when draining them - I hate it when you find the potatoes are still full of water as you tip them into the dressing! 
• Don't be tempted to rinse the spuds when you drain them - they will cool right down and won't absorb the flavour
• To make a really good dressing, I always properly crush some garlic and add a good spoon of Dijon mustard. Then either some balsamic or wine vinegar. Depending on what you choose you may also need some sugar, but taste it as you go. Then as you whisk, little by little, add about 4 times as much olive oil as vinegar. If you do this slowly and whisk enough you get a thick, goopy emulsion rather than a layer of oil and a layer of vinegar. It might need some practice but I prefer dressing like that and I usually use an electric whisk and wear an apron if I'm doing it - hence I then make lots and keep it in a jar in the fridge so I don't have to do it all the time!

Pictures

Today we were using the two tone Portuguese tableware by Rice to cook with - it's the joy of having your own shop - you can own a lot of different crockery. This new range from Rice is really colourful and quirky, it gives a little extra pleasure to eating. Plus Rice are bringing out some new designs soon!