Relaxing half term

Hey peeps, I hope you are all well and staying warm (how cold did it get yesterday???)

This week I have been on half term, and it has been fab as I have caught up with friends, spent time sorting things out at home etc. I have taken some random photos, so here goes:

Yes, I know I am about 2 months too late, but I made some chocolate peppermint bark! It was super easy, and so pretty too.

I melted 200g dark chocolate, stirred in 1 tsp peppermint extract, and spread it thinly on some baking paper. Then I melted a little white chocolate (80g I think), poured that over the top, and sprinkled on 2 crushed candy canes. I didn’t have to leave it too long to set (as it was so thin) and then I chopped it up with a sharp knife.

So pretty, and it went down rather well with my friends too.

I also made an orange and almond cake for a meet up (but there was some left over for me to enjoy another day).

Although it did not taste very orangey to me, compared to when I have made it before. Maybe the oranges were not as ripe or something?

I was sent some popcorn from Lord Poppington’s (fantastic name) to try- we shared the sweet and salty last night and it was lovely- soft popcorn, like you would get if you popped it yourself, and not covered in a crunchy tooth-destroying coating like a lot of the sweet ones are. I look forward to sampling the other flavours.

I have also been drinking lots of tea.

The Twinings everyday tea is a nice black tea, and not too strong (not a builders tea).

This morning I tried some of the black tea with echinacea (10%)- it had a rather fruity delicate fragrance, and I really liked the flavour. I can’t quite put my finger on what it reminds me of, but it is more gentle than a normal black tea. I don’t drink that much plain black tea any more- I love Earl Grey, or something with another flavour in there, and this tea was great because it was not too strong, and had a hint of something else. It is probably not something I would have chosen to buy had I seen it in the shops, so I am really glad I have tried it.

The tea went very well with some lovely pancakes (made with peanut and wholegrain spelt flour- my fave combination)- I needed these after my run this morning.

I have not done that much exercise this week (compared to other weeks off where I would be out walking more, and running further too), as I felt I needed to recover from the half marathon, but I have kept up most of my usual routine. I went to Body pump on Thursday, and kept the same weights, but that turned out to be a bad idea, as I struggled for some of it. I had been out for lunch so I did think I would be full of energy, but then afterwards I realised that for one, I missed last week due to being at work, and then the rule of thumb with running is one day recovery per mile run, so I won’t be back to normal for another week. My legs found the squats and lunges especially tough, but that is no surprise really. This morning I went on a 6 mile run- that will be my longest of the week, and actually it was OK. I quite like that distance as I can run that before breakfast, so I don’t have to wait around for ages (and then delay going out)- although after 5 miles I suddenly got awful hunger pangs and actually felt really sick.

I have also been using my new oven (hooray, we finally got around to having it installed after our old one packed up before Christmas) to make some Red Nose day cookies, but I think I shall save them for a separate post!

Have a lovely weekend! What will you be up to?