Sluttishly Savoury: Lizbeth's Home-made Scotch Eggs

I love to cook. No word of a lie. However, I also like to be cooked for. In recent weeks our intrepid Editor Ms Siany and I have had deep and meaningful discussions about the ever-controversial Scotch Egg.

On Sian's recent trip to Brighton, we had quite the debate about this strange and unusual foodstuff. I said eww (to the ASDA Value variety), whilst lovely Sian disagreed most fervently.

The end result? I say home-made; Sian says shop bought.

All good stuff, and the proper fodder of a pub conversation.

Later that week, I was with my deliciously Slut-like friend, Ms Lizbeth, and she offered to make me a home-made Scotch Egg. WOWZER! How splendid. How utterly marvellous. What a wonderful excuse to show Sian up and prove that home-made is best. Win - win.

Needless to say, the eggs were amazing. And the recipe worth sharing. So here it is.

You'll need:

• half a dozen eggs. 4 for the scotch eggs, 2 beaten and in a bowl
• 6 decent quality sausages
• flour
• breadcrumbs ( Lizbeth used about 8 slices of white bread and had more than enough)
• oil for frying

Make it:

• Boil eggs for for 7 mins until hard boiled. Allow to cool, then crack and peel off the shell.
• Use scissors to cut the skins off of the sausages. Mush them all together in a bowl and then split into four portions of sausage meat.
• Spread the portion of sausage meat into a flat oval shape in the palm of your hand, large enough to encompass the egg.
• Place the egg in the middle and wrap the sausage meat around the egg.
• When the egg is completely sealed, roll in flour, then roll in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs until evenly covered.
• Fill about one third of a saucepan with oil and heat until simmering. Do not let it get to boiling!
• Fry for about 8 mins turning every couple of mins until whole egg is golden brown. Put on some kitchen towel to cool a little and soak up some of the oil.
• Enjoy.

Tea Rules The World

Yep, the second Takae Mizutani product in as many weeks. I honestly took ages deciding between this absolutely precious Tea Rules The World tea set and the sloth tea helper. In the end, the cute little sloth won so I wrote about him first. But let's be frank about this, there was no way I could ignore a sugar bowl shaped like a crown-wearing lion. Or a unicorn creamer with a shiny horn.

There's just too much cuteness here.

They're not just cute, though. These li'l guys are based on the animals on our British coat of arms. So they're historical and cute. And pricey at £42.50 for the set. But forget that for a second and just look at the helpful unicorn.

Anchor's Away with Bubblegum Vegas

As I think, by now, we are all well aware I have a slight obsession with all things nautical. From tiles to stationary and not forgetting cute tees, if it features an anchor then its a pretty sure bet I'm going to be crushing on it. So it should come as little surprise that I am currently super smitten with this gorgeous Anchor Necklace from Bubblegum Vegas. It costs £13 and is available in two colourways with gold or silver chain.

Cocktail Hour: Ivy Gimlet Royal

Between those disdainful wine labels imploring you to drink responsibly, the gradually rising number on my birthday cards and the derision on the face of my Monday morning barista, I've noticed my 3am stop outs in the pursuit of the perfect martini are being increasingly frowned upon by society. Imagine my unbridled joy when I received a message asking whether I'd like to contribute a cocktail recipe to the Sluttery cannon. That sort of thing isn't just a message, its an opportunity, a license for week long 'academic' bar research and a 'get out of jail free' card for all its gin associated debauchery.

After an industrial packet of paracetamol, several travel cards and three compound hangovers I'd like to thank Danger of Death (a ridiculously cute speakeasy bar underneath Brick Lane's Super Pizza) for reminding me of the East Room classic the Ivy Gimlet Royal.

In terms of a light but deliciously gin laden drink that goes down so quickly you'll wonder where your legs have gone, It doesn't get much better than a marriage of gin, lime, champagne and mint. Not to mention its an ideal way of impressing friends with a cheap bottle of bubbles and a few extra ingredients. Actually, If there was a drink that could fill you with decadence and sunshine regardless of the grey clouds or month on the calendar, this would be it. Without further ado:

You'll need:

• 1oz of lime juice
• 1 tsp of sugar (a little more if you have sweeter teeth)
• 2oz of gin
• A few leaves of torn mint reserving one to garnish
• Prossecco or champagne to top up

Shake it:

• Shake the lime juice and sugar 
• Add sugar until the balance suits your taste, your looking for that perfect sweet/sour balance
• Add 2oz of gin and your torn mint, then shake with ice 
• Strain into a martini glass and top up with the chilled sparkling wine
• Drop the mint leaf on top and prepare your face for a smile.

Letts Drinking Notes: Taste it before you add the champagne and you have a Gimblet, substitute the lime juice and sugar for cordial (2/3 oz) and you have a Gimlet.

This wonderful cocktail was by Nick Smith. You should follow him (and flatter him) on Twitter. Head over to That Pig Ate for more of his cocktail adventures. With a plush toy pig.

Lucky and Rocky: a desk's best friend

My least favourite time of a working day is 3pm: lunch is over and done with, still a couple of hours before hometime. It's always when I feel most like slumping and am at my least inspired. Anything that can get me over that hump is going to be my new best friend. Here's where I think Lucky and Rocky could step in: some stylish stationery that also happens to be shaped like man's best friend. If dog shaped stationery isn't going to brighten your day, I think it's probably time to get a new job.

Are you feeling Lucky? This little fella will safely hold onto your sticky notes for you, and a few pens or pencils too. You'll even get a pad of sticky notes thrown in for the price so you won't have to bother fetching them yourself.

And here's the loyal and hardworking Rocky. An allround multi-tasker: cover his nose with paperclips, pins in his back and pens in head. It would sound like some form of animal cruelty if he didn't look so happy about it all.

Both cost £12.95 from Lifestylebazaar. A small price to pay to get you over the 3pm blues.

Sluttishly Sweet: Apple, Maple and Walnut Crumble

Unlike most people, I am quite happy to be saying goodbye to summer. Hot sunny days simply do not hold as much appeal to me as the long dark autumn nights that are just begging you to curl up on the sofa in front of a nice warm fire. This may have a lot to do with my enduring love of warming winter soups, stew and dumplings served with hot buttery mash and puddings drowning in custard.

The humble crumble is one of my very favourite puddings, it is quick and easy to make and the possibilities are, quite frankly, endless. Last year I was all about the apple and pear crumble but this year I have decided to throw some nuts into the mix. And some maple syrup, because it is one of my favourite flavours and goes so well with the apple and walnut. Feel free to experiment with the amount of cinnamon and maple syrup, depending on your personal preference.

Serve with some real proper homemade custard, a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or a nice dollop of double cream. Perfect comfort food.

Apple, Maple and Walnut Crumble

(Serves 8 good sized portions)

You will need:

For the filling

• 1kg cooking apples
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 100ml maple syrup
• 100g walnuts, halved

For the crumble

• 75g chilled butter, cubed
• 175g self raising flour
• 110g demerara sugar
• 110g walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make it!

1. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C/GM4. Lightly grease a deep, ovenproof dish. I tend to use my trusty ol' pyrex casserole dish.

2. Peel, core and chop your apples into medium size chunks or slices. Then toss them in a bowl with the cinnamon and maple syrup, ensuring all the apple is nicely coated. Pour into your baking dish.

3. Throw all your crumble ingredients, bar the walnuts, into a bowl and rub together until they resemble fine breadcrumbs and then add the finely chopped walnuts and stir through. Alternatively throw the whole lot in a food processor, and blend together using the pulse button. If you use a food processor you can chuck your walnuts in without having to finely chop them first too.

4. Pour the crumble mix over the apples, ensure that it is evenly spread and covers the apples completely. Get right into those corners!

5. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, your apples should be soft and your crumble golden brown. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, if you don't then you will probably burn your mouth. You have been warned.

Design Porn: Mawi x Disney

It's tough being a grown-up. Wearing polka dot prom dresses to work are frowned on, but, if you're anything like me, you're still paying off all those pints of snakebite in the Purple Turtle and can't always splash out on your preferred ladygoods from Whistles and Mawi. Whistles are yet to introduce a bargain bucket line schilling chiffon dresses for a tenner each, but Mawi have heard my cry and brought out a whole range of bling inspired (a bit unlikely, I know) by Disney.

When I first heard they were doing a range together, I thought: there is no way this will be pretty. Perhaps that's an overhang from growing up with a typically Seventies feminist mum who barred the name of Disney from the house on the grounds that ol' Walt had some fairly fruity views. And yet...and yet... I love it all. This orb locket necklace with crystal Minnie Mouse ears! It's just so cute. Shame that even Mawi's diffusion range is still very pricey, at £110 for gold plating and Swarovski crystal.

Just as well that these pearl stud earrings are more reasonable at £34, and have a pleasing touch of the tack about them, like something that Del Boy would sell as 'classy' out the back of his van. What do you think? Mickey-'mazin' or m(h)ouse of horrors?