Christmas At The Westbourne

Everytime I go to The Westborne, I fall more and more in love with them the fabulous food!

I've eaten there a handful of times since I was about 15 years old visiting my auntie Kathleen and soon to be uncle Ollie and now later visiting my brother Thomas.
Saturday the 19th, I went to London to visit Thomas. Since we would be missing each other for Christmas Day, we went out for a lovely Christmas lunch at The Westborne.

During my visit we bumped into my uncle Rupert and a quick chat on the phone with my auntie Kathleen. perhaps if the Eurostar had not got 5 trains stuck in the tunnel I would have possibly been able to spend more time chating and dining in London... maybe next time.

                   

My dapper little brother

 

Me and my uncle Rupert

So, Thomas had the Pork, the skin on top was cooked crispy to perfection! It was paired with a sort of beet salad and potatoes au gratin. The taste I had was so scrumptious, but it didn't stear me from my tasty looking plate.

I had the Roasted Turkey with stuffing, with roasted vegetables, a cranberry dressing, and one of my favorites... brussel sprouts! Everything was cooked to perfection! Turkey was tender, vegies wern't over done at all and the cranberry dressing had these petite cranberrys that sort of burst. It was devine!

The atmostphere is awsome, plenty of neat photos on the wall and I love the mix and match of tables and chairs. The Christmas tree and decorations were just perfect.

The staff there is great too, always friendly and ready to serve.

 

Luan, Kaziu and I

 

 Paddy Smith, Tani and I

If the names are incorrect, let me know, I had my silly brothers help.

Thanks for a wonderful time Westbourne!

The Westbourne Website

The Westbourne Facebook

♥

Dear Jeremy and Railton,

Thank you for such a wonderful dinner the other night! It was every so lovely and the company was great! The tour of the large pool was neat even though Jeremy I think your nuts for swiming in that cold water! Thanks for the book, I'm sure on my long flight home I'll be able to catch up on my reading.

Thanks again for all your treats, Hope you have a faulous Christmas!

Lots of Love,

♥

 

The Ice Cold Hudge Swimming Pool

 

A Lovely Salad With a Fabulous Dressing

Very Large Shrimp Sauted With Chrizzo

Roasted Chicken, Roasted Sausage, Roasted Vegies... Yummy!

Also included with the meal,

Roasted Pumpkin

Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings

Mango Sorbet

Berry Sorbet

Roasted Fruit

Such A Feast!

Eating Healthy At Exki

I absolutely love, love, this place.

I wish they would open one in San Diego, it would do really well.

There are a few Exki around town, all designed with a clean feel.

They work as almost like a cafeteria, as you walk in the door to one side are perfectly placed paistries. In another section there are pre-wrapped sandwiches, salads, fruit salad, yogurt, etc... Also they prepare things such as quiches, and soups. The menu always seems to change depending on time of day or season.

Everything from Exki is always fresh and most ingredients used are organic.

Above - A lovely quiche with tomato and basil.
Below - quich, baguette sandwich, and melon with yogurt.

Website - Exki

Facebook - Exki

♥

Lemon Ricotta Cookies By Jessica

Jessica's class had a breakfast - here is her story with recipe below:

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The cookies where delicious.

We made them the night before.

Some of the ingredients that went in were; flour, butter, lemon, eggs, lemon zest, sugar, riotta chesse, etc.

We made topping out of lemon juice and zest, and powdered suger.

We took them to school the next day.

The children in the class said they were delicious!

By

With help by,

♥

 ________________________________________________

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze  - Print & Link

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 44 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookies:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.

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Yum, Yum, Yummy! 'Le Pain Du Chatelain'

Yesterday, I arrived in Brussles, Belgium. after a long flight, some terrible flight food and a nice hot shower we headed out for some fabulous Belgium brekfast.

Stephanie, Harry, Jessica and I went to 'Le Pain Du Chatelain'.

It was very wonderful!

It was quaint and the food was fresh and delicious!

Jessica had the baguette and fruit salad which entailed orange juice, apple, pear, banana, and kiwi.

I enjoyed an egg with bacon and fresh bread.

It was yum, yum, yummy!

and the best part was the fresh butter. The butter in Europe is the best! so fresh and creamy. If I could afford to ship to San Diego, I would!

Also in the front display they had some really yummy looking, fresh tarts. 

♥
With help by

How To Host A Cookie Party

How To Host A Cookie Party

1. Come up with a theme: Christmas is always a good thing.

3. Create an invitation and invite guests. We chose one on Evite but formal invitations are nice too.

  A. Be sure to include an e-mail to send recipies

  B. Include date, time, and address.

  C. Decide on how many cookies your guests should bring, Enough to enjoy at 

      the party and enough for guests to take home.

  D. Have a RSVP date, so you'll know how many guest will be there.

4. Choose your cookie recipes and have your guest email their recipes to you.

5. Print out enough copies of everyone's recipes so everyone can take home a copy. Put them each in a decorative envelope. Have them ready to hand out with guest names on front.

6. Decorate the home, Christmas lights, holiday cards, tinsel, hip-hop Santa, Christmas tree, etc...

7. Set up some tables with platters. To be able to fit a lot of platters, wrap up some boxes to raise some platters. Also use some large vases, any cookies that don't crumble can be filled inside the vase to make more room on the table.

When guests arrive:

Have them place their creations on a platter, have them write their name and cookie choice, on a label stuck to a tooth-pick, then place the tooth-pick through a cookie to show off their cookies.

Let your guests make themselves at home... offer out drinks like hot cocoa, tea, egg-nog, coffee, and lots of milk!

Play some games to keep guest entertained...

* Pick up some "Hello my name is..." labels, label them ahead of time with characters of Christmas (example Santa Clause, The Grinch, Ralphie, Scrooge...). As guest come through the front door put a label on their back, without them knowing who the character is. The point is for your guests to guess who the character is by only asking yes or no questions. Its a fun guessing game that gets your guests mingling and conversing!

* Apples to Apples is a great group game!

As guests start to leave hand them a zip-loc bag and have them pick out some cookies to share with their family, don't forget to give them the recipe packets too!

Other things you need to get before the guests arrive: Savory snacks, Drinks, Christmas music, snow man plates, napkins, zip-loc bags, etc...

Have a wonderful Cookie Exchange!

♥

Blah! I haven't been around!

I've been so busy! I haven't had a chance to blog! 

We just picked up a copy of 'Julie & Julia' on DVD.

I'm super excited to watch it again. 

Well anyways stay tuned - Next week I'm off to Belgium to spend some very needed time with my Dad, Stephanie and Jessica! I will be Dining over seas and can't wait to share with you all my favorite places over there!

xoxoxo

♥