Oh Yes! Yoko Bedding from John Lewis

I love the look of patchwork bedspreads but sometimes, let's be honest, it's not that practical to have many snuggly blankets and such on your bed. Like during the summer. Or if you share a bed with someone who objects to lots of blankets and pillows [which is what possibly happens in my house].

That's where the 'Yoko' bedding range from John Lewis comes in. You get the look of a patchwork bedspread but in the convenience of a duvet cover. Or you could just get the pillow cases and have a plain coloured cover if you think the duvet cover would be a bit much. It manages to look summery and snuggly which, given how cold it feels at the moment, is no bad thing indeed.

Yoko bedding range from John Lewis. Prices start at £12 for the pillowcase and from £50 for the duvet cover

Sluttishly Savoury: Merguez Burgers

Merguez Burgers, or Murgers as I like to call them, are based on the classic north African Merguez sausage. It's much easier to shape meat into a patty than to shove it into a sausageskin though, and I'm all about the easyness for week night suppers.

Merguez sausages are typically made from beef or lamb and are packed with spice. Serve them with golden toasted pittas and minty yoghurt, or a heap of baba ghanoush topped with shredded coriander, or just with a simple fresh salad.

Sumac can be tricky to find, but it's available in Waitrose (by Bart spices) or online. You can always skip it if you can't find any, although I like the tart citrussy hit it gives. Don't skimp on the harissa, though. This sweet chilli paste gives my murgers their kick. I really like Belazu's rose harissa, but any sort will do.

Ideally you'll have a pestle and mortar to grind the spices. Not only is it more authentic, but it also helps to release any tension you have simmering as you pound the living daylights out of the ingredients.

Merguez Burgers (makes 4-6)

You'll need:

• 500g lamb mince
• 1tsp fennel seeds
• 2tsp cumin seeds
• 2tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1tbsp harissa paste
• 1tsp ground sumac (optional)
• 2tsp paprika
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg

Make it!

• First toast the fennel and cumin seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat. Toss them around a bit. Don't let them burn.
• Meanwhile, bash the garlic and salt into a paste in the pestle and mortar.
• Once the fennel and cumin is fragrant and toasty, add it to the garlic mix and grind it into a paste.
• Mix the paste, plus the harissa, sumac, paprika and cinnamon into the lamb until it's evenly distributed.
• Mix in the egg.
• Form the mixture into balls with your hands and put onto a baking tray. Squash them down to form discs.
• Put the burgers into the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking.
• To cook, preheat up the grill and cook them for 15-18 minutes, flipping them halfway through the cooking time.

Ask the Sluts: What toys did you play with as a kid?

We've been a little bit nostalgic around these parts recently. It's Kat's fault. One mention of My Little Ponies and we're reminiscing well into another bottle of wine. But what toys did the Domestic Sluts play with when they were little? Here's a little peek into our childhood.

Siany: I only had one My Little Pony. I had Bowtie and I loved him so. He was more special because I only had one. I bought a little vintage one on eBay for £3.65 a couple of years ago, and now he sits above my bed.

Kat: My brother and I were obsessed with Playmobil and Lego. Our parents gave us each a piece of plywood which we painted and used as our countries. Mine had a long, grey road (for convertibles) a huge blue splodge of a pool for holidays and endless fields for showjumping competitions and Good Living. I was big on the ponies. My childhood friend Olivia had 120 My Little Ponies and gave me a new one each birthday. I was so overcome by how cool that girl was that I named my new teddy bear after her. I don’t have the ponies or the Lego with me anymore, but I’ve still got Olivia!

Carrie: For me, it had to be my ViewMaster. I'm pretty sure I spent most of 1989 seeing the world almost exclusively through that thing. My favourites were the He-Man and Littlest Hobo series of pictures; although for the life of me I can't think why! I was utterly delighted to take my kids to Jamie Oliver's restaurant here in Brighton recently, only for their menus to come in ViewMaster-form. Genius!

Frances: I had a fantastic Lundby dolls house. They were a Swedish company who made fabulous modern looking dolls houses - in fact if they made them grown-up size, it would probably be my dream home. I was very enthusiastic about decorating but at that age my design aesthetic hadn't fully reached its potential - I covered all the 70s style Scandinavian wallpaper with ornate Victoriana designs and tore out the amazing red and pine kitchen and replaced it with some chintzy furniture instead. It's still stored away, waiting to be passed on if I ever have a kid. I'm hoping they'll have a bit more advanced taste in decor than I had.

Michelle: My very favourite toy was a Wonder Woman doll who came complete with a whole briefcase full of superhero gadgets. Unfortunately my Wonder Woman obsession resulted in a far amount of bruising, both to my body and my ego, due to an excessive amount of spinning in a vain attempt to emulate my heroine.

Sara: I had a spoon that I used to take to the local sandpit every Sunday and dig endless holes. I loved that spoon. Shortly after that I became far more materialistic and demanded a My Little Pony Dream Castle, which was an absolute travesty of pink plastic. It was like Barbara Cartland had exploded. I adored it.

Sel: My absolute favourite toys were my She-Ra dolls. It seemed like I dragged my poor mum around every toy shop in the country trying to get every single one - plus all the sidekicks like Swift Wind. I even got her secret hideaway called Crystal Falls which helped make the best Christmas ever. There was just one that eluded me though and although I can't remember which it was now, it still annoys me! But thanks Mum for managing to find all the others!

Alex E: I was also a My Little Pony girl. There was only one word for it. Obsessed. Good old Cherries Jubilee and I had so many adventures. And any story I wrote at school invariably featured a unicorn, a pegasus and me. I also had a brief flirtation with Sylvanian Families, but in the end I always came back to my luridly coloured equine pals.

Flickr image from huldero's photostream.

Artistic artefacts

Sometimes the most exciting bit of a visit to the museum is the run around the shop at the end. I do work for one of those shops at the end so I am slightly biased but I especially enjoy seeing how they've used the artist's work to inspire new products - hopefully producing something a bit more interesting than endless mousemats and key rings. There's some great exhibitions on at the moment, with the great shops at the end to match.

Tate Liverpool are currently hosting an exhibition on Magritte, giving them a great reason to stock all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like Donna Wilson cloud cushions and Jeeves and Wooster bowler hat lamps. My favourite is this bowler hat bag. Surreal but nice, it's £10.

I can't wait to visit the Tracey Emin show at the Hayward Gallery. She's currently selling a small range of homewares at Selfridges. Tracey tends to divide opinion, so you'll probably have to be a bit careful about the recipient but perhaps this I Love Him mug could go down well with a loved one? It costs £10.

The Robin and Lucienne Day exhibition at Pallant House finishes at the end of week, so rush and see it if you can - it's full of 50s and 60s fabulousness. Their shop includes this Night and Day tea towel, using a genuine Lucienne Day design from 1954. Proof that a good owl never dates, it costs £16.

If this all inspires you to a bit more creative, take a look at the Masterpieces pattern which those clever people at Better Living Through Design found yesterday. Place the pattern against your wall, hammer through where marked, and follow the numbers to thread up an image - take a look at the version of Girl with a Pearl Earring above. Just 9.90 euros to help create your very own work of art.

Cocktail Hour: The Airmail

While I was gallivanting around West London at the weekend, I found myself drinking cocktails in Trailer Happiness on Portobello Road. They're a cool bar (with one of the friendliest and most on the ball waitresses I've met in London - do ask for Alba if you're in there) and they're known for their rum cocktails.

When I spied the Airmail on the menu, I wasn't entirely sure that rum and champagne would make friends in the same glass. Still, it's a billion page menu and I was thirsty, so I ordered it in a rush. Luckily, it tasted wonderful. They've mixed honey into the drink, which works a treat. It turns the drink a lush, golden colour and takes the edge off the rum so it's very easy to drink. And I wanted to make my own.

You'll need:

• 50ml dark rum
• 10ml runny honey
• 10ml lime juice
• Champagne

Shake it!

Shake the rum, honey and lime in a cocktail shaker, pour into a champagne flute and then top up with your bubbles. Drink seven, get plasticine all over the table in the bar and sing happy birthday very, very loudly. Probably.

Flickr image from Pink Sherbet Photography's photostream.

Sale in the spotlight: Anthropologie fashion

The summer sales are now upon us and the shops are awash with bargains to be snapped up. The summer sales are so much less stressful than the Christmas sales, and seem to sell things you'd actually want, rather than rejected sequinned party frocks. Those stores you fantasise over suddenly become a bit more affordable. A prime example is Anthropologie - so pretty but so pricey. Their sale has just started and is full of the fun and feminine pieces that they are known for.

This emerging leaves dress has a great retro look and is suitable for smart-ish summer wear. The price is£39.95. A snip compared to its original price of £118.

Beautiful though these Odonata culottes are, I couldn't be persuaded to part with £58 for a pair of swishy shorts - even if they are covered with a lovely dragonfly print. Now they are reduced to £39.95, and we're almost there. I'm hoping for another tenner off, and then would definitely be mine (just don't buy them all before I get there).

I love a good vintage floral design, so I really like the print on this Finding Roses. Take a look at the back, and there's a gorgeous bow detail there too. I'm not entirely convinced by the shape so I'd like to try it on before spending my £39.95 (it was £68). More confident ladies should buy it now.

And finally, a classic cotton dress, the aptly titled Besotted dress. The simple design is made special by the detail of the bows on the shoulder. It costs £59.95, down from its original price of £118, and, somewhat unsurprisingly at this price, it looks like it is being snapped up from the shelves. At time of writing, it was just left in size 8s. If that will fit, I advise you invest now - it'll see you through many more summers in style.

Kat's Dream Librarian Fetish Party Housewarming

I'm currently dallying with the idea of buying a flat. I'm clearly bad at this, as rather than focusing on the things like stamp duty, estate agents and chains which are currently filling my life with unadulterated horror, I am daydreaming out of the Foxton's car window and planning the beautiful, tasteful, boozy housewarming I will throw when the hideous practicality nightmare is over.


I need these. I need these desperately. Because, while my dream flat will of course be equipped with its own library and library stair ladder, I will need some immediate bookery to provide whimsy and inspiration without recourse to unpacking seven giant boxes of books. And these beautiful Shakespearean paper garlands (handmade, naturally) are it.

These garlands have been handmade from an unwanted volume of Shakespearean plays. This is the foie gras of literary decorations.

These, according to Etsy's weird currency converter, are £17.83 and are made by the utterly wonderful Bookity, a Reading-based store who sell on Etsy and Folksy. They make so much beautiful, book-inspired goodies that I could wallow around all day just planning how to turn my mythical flat into even more of a librarian's fetish party. I'd serve drinks with titles based entirely on bad puns: A Sidecar Named Desire. The Woman In Black Velvet. Cosmopolitan Little Indians.

I don't have the flat yet. But when I do...