Spellbound #2

Well would you look at what's come around again! Yes! Another edition of Spellbound! Lucky old you. (Or young, I aim to appeal to a wide demographic #relatable.)

Spellbound #2, www.imogenmolly.co.uk
Kenwood | Whittard of Chelsea | Sweet William hot chocolate mugTabasco

1. Kenwood
This is nothing new. I have been a long-term luster-after of Kenwood things for a very, very long time now. And - hurrah! - having recently had a birthday, and with Christmas a mere 73 sleeps away at the time of writing, I have now made the transition from luster-after to proud owner of a Kenwood kitchen machine! Their website is one to keep an eye on, as they tend to have REALLY EXCELLENT sales - my beautiful ('limited edition' too, no less) appliance was a steal with a whopping 40% off, making it perfect for a joint birthday-Christmas addition to my life. It came with various extra bits and pieces (food processor, high-speed fancy schmancy blender), all of which I have used almost every single day I'm in Edinburgh. To say I'm enamoured with it would be an understatement.

2. Indonesia
Again, nothing new here. Ever itchy-footed and wanderlusting, Indonesia has been pretty high on my 'to visit' list for quite some time now, and I can't see that changing. Nothing particularly insightful here; just me wanting to scratch off yet another place on my scratch map and get one teeeeny bit closer to seeing the whole entire world.

3. Blondilox
This one is new! Blondilox is a local Edinburgh-based brand started by Laura of @iamblondilox, who now has a website where you can customise and buy your very own bag of a Blondilox porridge blend. She very kindly stocked me up with a cinnamon, maca powder and coconut flake blend which I cooked with Oatly oat milk and enjoyed very much indeed! 'Twas ideal breakfast fuel for my moving-back-to-York day. (P.S. if you have some and want to insta your tasty creation, her hashtag is #blondiloxyourbowl.)

4. hot chocolate
YEP, IT'S HOT CHOCOLATE SEASON AGAIN. My current amore is not just any old hot choc, though - I'm currently completely obsessed with Whittard of Chelsea's peanut butter hot chocolate (limited edition, so snap it up pronto!) made with Oatly milk. It's amazing. I've already entered Whittard's competition to win another of their hot chocolates. (So many to work my way through oh GOSH OH GOSH.)
Perfect hot choc: fill your mug up to a smidge below the top with oat milk, then pour into a pan and start heating (on lowish); spoon three heaped teaspoons of the hot choc powder into your mug, and add a wee splash of cold oat milk; stir (vigorously, you gotta earn this drink) to combine the powder with the milk, then continue stirring gently whilst pouring in the (now heated through) milk from the pan; enjoy immediately but savour every sip.
(P.S. How nice is the mug in the collage?! I found it randomly when searching for an image for hot chocolate, and instantly recognised it as a Sweet William design - I still treasure my commemorative royal wedding Sweet William mug (29th April 2011, in case any of you had forgotten/weren't quite as ridiculously excited as me).)

5. Peter's Yard/Söderberg
To my everlasting delight, there is an abundance of Peter's Yard and Söderberg cafés in Edinburgh - six, to be precise. Owned by the same people, these Swedish eateries are little slices of quiet Scandi indulgence in a bustling, lively, always on-the-go city. Besides doing an incredible kladdkaka that inspired me to create my own, they're fab for lunches (humoungous sourdough pizza by the slice, anyone?) with scrummy veggie options and the most extensive range of delectable sweet treats to round it all off. I am a Big Fan.

6. Tabasco
I don't have a lot to say here, besides the fact that Tabasco is the best and most wonderful way to add spice to any dish. It's also incredible in hot chocolate - for a lightly spiced and even more warming version of this perfect winter drink, just add a drop or two and stir it in. (By all means use chilli powder if that's all you have, but it will sink and won't dissolve so you'll be left with gritty chilli-powder mouthfuls at the end of your (until that point, very tasty) beverage.)

7. Rome2rio
Going somewhere? Want to find out the cheapest/quickest/most interesting route? Then make Rome2rio your first destination. Using Skyscanner's flight finder in conjunction with their own info for all the other bits of your journey, planning adventures couldn't be easier. I genuinely don't know what I'd do if Rome2rio hadn't been created - I've never used anything else to help organise my wanderlust into actual trips. (It's also definitely one of the most-used of my 'favourites' bookmarks, probably after Google and Blogger...)

8. Kaliyoga
In case you haven't seen my post all about the week I spent on a Kaliyoga retreat in Spain this summer, and in case I haven't raved about it enough to you in person (lucky you) then I am choosing now to reiterate how great it was and just how much I loved it. Go read the post now (please)! (If you click where I linked it, it'll open in a new tab so you can finish reading this one first (aren't I helpful (yes))).

9. fruit-infused water
Every so often, I get really into drinking fruity water, and then I just kind of... forget. At the moment, I'm drinking a lot of lemon-infused *hot* water, since I can actually feel my insides getting colder when I have cold things. (Anyone else drink freezy cold water and instantly feel their tubes getting chilly?..) It's not a pleasant sensation, and with a radiator that only functions when it's in the mood, I can't afford to make myself any colder than usual. So hot drinks, it is.

10. freshly ground nutmeg
OOOOOOH, a new discovery for me spice-wise. Nutmeg on its own has always been a favourite of mine (cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with maybe chilli omg what better combination could there possibly be) but I always had to add loads of it in order to get a decent kick of flavour. After my week at Colstoun Cookery School earlier this year, where we ground/grated fresh nutmeg from whole, I duly went on the hunt for whole nutmeg. It's just as easy to source as ground nutmeg (aka really easy, it's right there with all the other spices) and the flavour you get with it is so much more intense. If you like nutmeg (or if you've never tried it! it's real good) then I highly suggest you get yourself some. Plus, while ground nutmeg will go off and lose its potency, whole seeds keep indefinitely. Win win win.


And so concludes Spellbound numero dos. Hope you liked!

Also, my Instagram (@imogenfin) keeps fluctuating around 666 followers, so if you felt like giving a follow to lift me away from that, then that would be most excellent!

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