The Pudding Pantry, Nottingham

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The Pudding Pantry, 27-29 Trinity Square, Nottingham, NG1 4AF 


The Pudding Pantry opened earlier this year and is run by 3 friends who all have a passion for desserts and coffee. It is located in the Trinity Square area of Nottingham City Centre and funnily enough is across from a gym! You may think this is a good or a bad thing, I personally think it is genius. They have a small outside seating area and also a open hatch to order and collect through instead of going into the store. All of their cakes are baked fresh and are constantly changing. Cinnamon Apple Doughnuts with a Maple Glaze, Bacon Brownies and Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies are just a few of the items that have been on offer since opening.
I ordered a Latte whilst we pondered over what to order from the menu.
Their menu features a small selection of items for Lunch such as sandwiches and soup, plus a kids option and also pizza. However, as soon as you open the menu the first page is a the listings of homemade pancakes with toppings and delicious milkshakes.
I went for the Homemade Pancakes with Salted Caramel sauce. Oh my that sauce was like the middle of a soft Worther's Original sweet, people in the UK will understand this but I am not sure if these are worldwide. The pancakes were light and fluffy however, I could tell they were pre-made in store before ordering as they were not warm at all. I still managed to eat them all with just one bite left as it was just a little too much for me though. 
The restaurant is decorated in pastel colours with a kind of rustic cafe feel. There are comfy settees, chairs with tables and booth type seating with all of the woodwork made by a contact of the owners and all of the colours and branding of the company designed and created by their graphics designer friend. Overall, the vibe is very relaxed and perfect for the young, student scene of Nottingham. I can imagine this to be very successful now that term has started again and I may have to return to try one of their homemade cakes!

Let me know if you have been here or are thinking of trying it xx

Recipe #5: Cinnamon and Date Breakfast Smoothie

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I've been wanting to experiment with some smoothie recipes lately as I have had a blender in my cupboard for a year collecting dust. I have a pretty cheap blender that has a jug with a handle as the container so it all gets blended in the cup you can drink out of and take away with you. Perfect for breakfast when you might be in a rush out the door. I love cinnamon and now it is getting a little colder and Autumn is upon us I thought it would be the perfect ingredient in a smoothie to start the day. This recipe can be adapted so easily so if you want more or little of anything you can change it to your own taste or dietary requirements, such as changing milk for almond milk - which would be yummy in this! Or maybe add some protein powder for a boost.

Ingredients
1 Small Chopped Banana
3 Chopped Medjool Dates
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup or 310ml Milk (I used semi-skimmed but use any)
1/2 cup or 50g Uncooked Oats 

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Serve in your favourite glass or jar.


Erm, that's it! Let me know if you try this or a version of this xx

Autumn Is Here, My Favourite Time Of Year

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The leaves are changing from bright green to the most amazing shades of orange, red and yellow. This is my favourite time of the year. Don't get me wrong I love the sun and I would rather be hot than cold but there is something that changes around this time of year that makes me love Autumn and Winter and everything seems to get better.

Fashion

Oh the warm clothes. I feel like in summer I can throw on any old shorts and top and not care too much. In Autumn I wear different styles of shoes, gorgeous jumpers and knitted dresses. The bags get bigger, all the new season style comes out and everyone looks amazing. Did I hear shopping trip?

Makeup

From barely there soft summer makeup to hello dark lip. Makeup gets darker, heavier and once again everyone is putting in a little more effort to look better. My makeup collection is taking a turn and more risks are about to be had with plum lips and cranberry eyeshadows.

Life

For me Autumn means going back to school, college or university. This Autumn is my last one to do this as I am going into my third and final year of my degree. For pretty much the past 16 years summer has ended and the early mornings start once again as I had back to study. This also means early morning trips to Starbucks where I ditch the Iced Coffee for Vanilla and Pumpkin Spiced Lattes - large of course. Now I'm an 'adult' Autumn also means finishing university and going for dinner or drinks with friends and gossiping talking about our day. Oh and who can forget the build up to, wait for it, Christmas! All the lights and German markets! It makes me giddy just thinking about it.

Autumn and Winter has always been my time of year where I feel everyone is happier, we are all getting cosy in our warm clothes and houses and it really does give me a confidence boost.

Let me know what you love about Autumn and what you're excited for this year xx

My First Time At Bill's, Nottingham

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Bill's Nottingham, 15 Queen Street, NG1 2BL (0115) 9413753 

If you haven't heard of Bill's, it is a chain of restaurants that originally started as a small grocery store in East Sussex. After a flood ruined the store Bill re-opened the shop and added a cafe. It was a huge success and the rest is history. 
Bill's has recently opened a restaurant in Nottingham and I recently went with my boyfriend for lunch. The building that the restaurant is in used to be a bank but you would never know. From what I have seen the chain decorate all of their restaurants with a relaxed and quirky decor that shows off their own selection of purchasable goods such as aprons and kettles, but more of this later.
They are open from morning until late evening and pride themselves on serving food "Breakfast to Bedtime, and everything in between." Everything is on the menu from Pancakes with Syrup to Fish Finger Sandwiches and Scones to Steak. There is definitely something for everyone, no matter what time of day.
To start things off I ordered their Iced Coffee - not the best I've had and I suspect it had some kind of powder added, but it was drinkable so I was happy.
 As we were there for lunch we didn't get any starters and went straight for the main. I had a Halloumi and Hummus 'burger' with Skinny Fries. 
This was some good food right there. It has baby gem lettuce, roasted peppers, grilled halloumi, hummus, sweet chilli and yoghurt. Oh my gosh it was so tastey! It tasted so fresh and the halloumi was not rubbery at all, with a healthy portion of hummus on the bottom I was in heaven (I probably could have eaten two).
I saved myself from the second and headed for the dessert menu. It is a small menu however, they also have a selection of baked goods if you don't see anything you fancy. I ordered the Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam. These were some of the best scones I have eaten and were worth the wait the have them hot straight out of the oven. They were buttery and filling and I only ended up eating one, yes I ordered these just for me hehe! The boyfriend agreed though that they were good scones.
As I mentioned before they sell their own selection of goods in their restaurants to take home. On the tables with the cutlery and napkins you will find a brown paper bag with a small pencil in it. Open out this bag and you will find a checklist on the back - this is where you can tick what you want, using the small pencil, and have the waitress bring you your items. They sell anything to go from jams, chutneys and sweets to beer, aprons and truffles. We didn't order anything but I couldn't help to take a picture of some of their selection.
Overall, we very much enjoyed our first experience of Bill's and would be happy to return.

Let me know if you have ever been to Bill's and what you thought! xx

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