It works fairly well – it ticks and chimes and comes with a wind-up key, but has stopped a few times already so may need to see a clock repairs person. The details on the wooden frame and clock face are charming and I’m always partial to a good typeface or number shape. It was marked up for £18.99 but the assistant seemed excited that I had a liking for old things (maybe she’s spotted me in there multiple times before) and so said I could have it for £12. I couldn’t resist it’s charms, nor a discounted price!

March’s coffee from Has Bean is Plantanillo Maragogype Washed from Guatemala. It’s quite a hard one to get right, but when you do it’s lovely. The outstanding feature of this coffee, when brewed well, is its sweetness. I have a sweet tooth so this suits me down to the ground, but others might find it a little too sweet. A big thumbs up from me though for this coffee, and hats off to Stuardo Coto Markus, the estate owner.

A few things to mention about this coffee. First off, Tim Anderson, recent winner of Masterchef, tweeted Has Bean to say he was struggling to get the best out of it and asked for advice. Has Bean replied suggesting that he should simply use more of it. If in doubt I suppose, just stick more coffee into the cafetiere/filter, but in this case the taste really is improved by using more coffee than normal.

Secondly I found that this coffee quickly deteriorates after grinding. The best coffee connoisseurs will tell me that I should drink immediately after grinding, but I usually keep a little pot of ground beans on the go for a few days.

The final thing to mention about this coffee is that the beans are huge. Apparently this doesn’t seem to influence the taste but it’s an interesting characteristic nonetheless.

Matt @matthew_emery

I’m pretty excited to share this book review post with you. When I read the title and saw the bright typographic cover, I was immediately keen to read it – ‘Material World, The Modern Craft Bible’ is a new book by crafter, journalist and editor Perri Lewis. A girl who has always made stuff like myself, Perri has now fully immersed herself into the London craft scene and in turn, absorbed all the latest trends to showcase nicely into this colourful book.

Her attitude to crafting is a lot like mine, and also very much like my style of cooking – ‘I like to think of this as the Jamie Oliver approach to craft. Whack in a bit extra of what you fancy, cut back on the elements you don’t like, or don’t have handy…’
This approach may sound like it has the potential to turn out a little haphazard and into a less-than-perfect end result but I’ve always found this the most creative and organic way of making things, and as Perri says ‘…so long as what you end up with is perfect for you…’

‘Material World’ focuses on 15 craft techniques and contains masterclass advice and case studies from professional crafters like Philip Tracey, Lara Bohinc and Emma Bridgewater to name but a few. These different techniques encourage you to create your own individual projects rather than following a set pattern which brings with it huge freedom and inspiration to pick up old techniques or learn brand new ones. It highlights common problems faced, how to resolve them, and also goes through the step-by-step basics using simple illustration.
The design and layout of the book is bright and clean and I’m especially partial to a bit of illustrated, patterned and stitched lettering. Unlike any craft book I’ve read before, this is one that I would happily buy for friends or family, but who may not have done any crafting before. It provides such a depth and range of ideas that I can’t imagine anyone not feeling motivated to create something amazing after reading it.

£18.99, original paperpack, Virgin Books
This is not a sponsored or paid review. Perri simply sent me the book to review and I was more than happy to write about it for her.

January’s coffee was Colombia El Meridiano. According to Has Bean’s website it’s their current top-seller, although that might have something to do with the fact that it’s this month’s subscriber’s coffee…

The coffee comes in bean form so that it retains its freshness for longer. Opening a fresh pack of coffee is one of the great joys in life as the smell wafts out, and beans smell even fresher than ground coffee. Colombia El Meridiano smells and tastes full bodied but not too rich. It’s the kind of coffee that works great as a morning cuppa or as a perfect afternoon pick-me-up. In fact I enjoyed it most on those cold January afternoons. And it’s very moreish, maybe because it’s quite sweet.

The notes provided by Has Bean on the front of the pack state:

“In the cup its it retains the jammyness but is more doughnut like than jammy dodger of the decaf version. Its like a toned down version cleaner, but less volume”

Which to be honest sounds like nonsense to me (as well as being grammatically poor). However a quick look on the Has Bean website gives some much more useful information including grading sweetness, acidity, balance, aftertaste etc (as well as ‘mouthfeel’ – no, I don’t know what that is either). The website also reveals the origin of the coffee. In this case the coffee is a specially selected micro lot of coffee from the Tolima region of Colombia. It comes from a small growers cooperative with only 58 members, and that this lot was made by 16 of them. The knowledge of exactly where my coffee has come from (including the names of the cooperative members!) really adds to the experience.

So that’s it for January. The bag lasted 3 weeks so I’ll have to find something else to drink until February’s pack arrives. I’m switching to a bag of Ethiopean coffee that a friend brought back from a work’s trip over there. If you’re interested to know what that’s like, it’s heavy and very smoky.

A detailed and interesting guide to Thirties fashion, this is an essential handbook for vintage collectors and anyone interested in fashion or cultural history. With its silk tea-dresses, tailored suits and draped furs, Fashion Sourcebook – 1930s reveals the incredible elegance of this era’s fashions. The feminine yet practical silhouettes, figure-hugging eveningwear, and the dawn of high-quality off-the-peg garments that characterize 1930s fashion are all included in this sourcebook of inspiration.

Vintage clothing has become immensely popular and this book shows the glamour and sophistication of the 1930s. It also documents the season-by-season fashions of this decade with a vast selection of over 600 original photographs, sketches and prints. I particularly loved the images of the boldly designed graphic advertisements and softly lit Hollywood styled black and white photographs. The beautifully cut, elegant and sophisticated evening gowns would make any woman fall in love with fashion in feminine figure hugging styles in new fabrics, colours and shapes.

The editors are Charlotte Fiell – a leading design historian who has written numerous bestselling books on all aspects of design, from industrial products to graphic communications. She studied at the British Institute in Florence and at Camberwell College of Arts, London, where she received a BA (Hons) in the History of Drawing and Printmaking with Material Science. She later trained at Sotheby’s Institute, also in London.
Also, Emmanuelle Dirix is a highly regarded fashion historian, who has an MA in Design History from the University of Brighton. She works as a freelance curator specializing in fashion history and theory, and also lectures at various universities including London College of Fashion, Central Saint Martins, The Royal College of Art and the Antwerp Fashion Academy. She has also contributed to various exhibitions.

All images taken from 1930s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook, published in hardback by Goodman Fiell, 22nd November 2012, £30.00

As well as ordering two zingy gin and vodka based cocktails to try, my friend ordered pan-seared scallops with pancetta salad for her main and I ordered the smoked salmon, capers, cucumber and watercress sandwich with chips. Both meals were deliciously fresh and presented well. The chips were a hit! When looking at the menu beforehand, we simply couldn’t resist trying the lemongrass creme brulee dessert which came with chilli flecked biscuits. The kick of spice went perfectly with the mild creaminess of the brulee. I’ve no doubt The Lost & Found will become a popular independent eating and drinking place in Birmingham once open, especially with such a varied fresh menu, decent prices and in such a stylish setting.

The Glynne Arms in Hawarden is owned by the same family that owns brilliant homewares company Pedlars, whose products and style I’ve liked for ages. I knew that the interior would therefore be well-done, stylish and relaxed, and it certainly was. The walls were painted cool greens and greys and dotted with screen printed typographic framed posters, industrial vintage metal lamps hung from the ceilings, and Welsh tapestry patterned fabric cushions were on the benches in the bar. Aside from all this, it was the food that really made it all worth blogging about. I ordered…

Starter: Soused mackerel with a fennel and carrot salad and saffron mayonnaise

Main: Gnocchi with sweet potato, chestnut mushrooms, broccoli, parmesan and basil pesto

Dessert: Blackberry mouse sandwiched between a shortbread biscuit and apple crumble topped with blackberry icecream

Each meal was presented beautifully, the mains arrived on hot plates and it all tasted great. We were expecting good gastro pub style grub but were actually given nearer fine dining for decent pub prices. The staff also were pleasant and service was quick. Overall a fantastic evening’s dining experience and we really hope to go again.

I loved the use of colours, the patterns underneath the black stitched work, and the way the fragile illustrative lines made beautiful shadows on the wall. See the exhibition at the Emporium Gallery until November 3rd.

250g peeled and grated carrots (I cheated and used my food processor to blitz the carrots – they ended up quite fine in texture but it saved me some time!)

180ml vegetable oil

175g unrefined caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

60g natural yogurt

300g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees / gas 3 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with baking cases. Put the grated carrots, vegetable oil, caster sugar and the eggs into a mixing bowl and stir everything together. Stir in the vanilla extract and the yogurt and mix again. In a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger into the mixture and stir until just incorporated.

Fill the cake cases, leaving about 2cm at the top for the muffins to rise, decorate the tops with a couple of pumpkin seeds and bake the cakes for about 15-20 minutes until they are springy to the touch and golden. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the tin for 5 mins before transferring them to a cooling rack. The cakes will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days but they are so delicious eaten slightly warm on the day that they are unlikely to last that long!

‘The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric’ by Laurie Wisbrun would be super useful, as I’ve recently ventured into designing prints for fabric and I’m sure this would inspire and offer helpful tips.

‘Fleamarket Chic: The Thrifty Way to Create a Stylish Home’ by Liz Bauwens has been in my Amazon Wish List for ages – finding thrifty or second-hand ways of bringing personality and style into my own home is so much more fun than buying new, and saves money!

The book to accompany the upcoming TV series ‘Kirstie’s Vintage Home’ I have my eye on in huge anticipation. If the series is as good as I think it might be, then this book will be a must have!

Finally ‘Lorraine Pascale’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Food’ – I probably have far too many cook books already but I really enjoyed Lorraine’s easy, tasty recipes from this series. Perfect for lazy evening dinners to show-stopping desserts.

I’m going to be launching new monthly ‘Book Club’ posts beginning in January so if you have a craft/art/design/vintage/interiors book that you’d like me to review, please email hello@onesugarplease.co.uk and I’ll get back to you.