ScandiOriental

We went to Liverpool today. Although I have Views on spending money on new things, we'd been given some vouchers and money for Christmas. Gifts don't count. I know this sounds like a cop out, but we don't get gifts often.

I came away with a small leather bag with a long strap I can wear across my front. I'm over rifling through a cavernous changing bag desperately trying to locate my phone/purse/keys. Add this to the lovely silver hoop earrings I got from Etsy (see below), and Christmas 2012 has been good to me.

Joe got his tree (as mentioned yesterday). And they kindly let us have it for £12.50 - that's a 50% discount - as it was the last one. So, thanks Utility!

I'm currently salivating over reading The Kitchen Diaries 2 by the wonderful Nigel Slater, and Scandilicious by Signe Johansen. I've always been a fan of all things Scandi - fashion, design, food, culture - long before it became trendy. The cuisine is similar in many ways to the Polish cooking I grew up with. 

We also came home with lots of healthy food to start 2013. The rich, creamy, decadent festive stuff has all gone and I took some Scandi inspiration and bought rye bread and fish. And according to Nigel Slater, our wok is rubbish. I have to agree. It's just too thick. Add this to the fact that we cook using an electric hob and the stir fries we make all too often end up stewy and soggy as opposed to crunchy. 

So I followed his advice and bought an authentic, cheap behemoth of a wok from a Chinese supermarket (along with some very tasty oyster sauce and a jar of tamarind paste). I suspect there'll be a whole lot of stir-frying going on in our kitchen throughout January...