" and drink very good tea out of a thin Worcester cup of a colour somewhere between apricot and pink..."

So today, lovely people, I have a few indulgent recipes. I've had ever such a busy week, my assignments are starting to rear their heads, I've handed in essays, been wined, dined, and a disaster in the kitchen and am generally winding up the end of the academic year in sleep deprived style!! I have five tests and an exam coming up soon - so forgive me if posts slow down (again...oops...) Anyway! Thursday saw me hosting a movie night with some gorgeous friends, and, ever the opportunist, I spotted the chance to experiment with popcorn. Now, this was a mixed bag, I must say, as the first sachet of popcorn set fire to the microwave (shhhh!), and the second two needed maximum attention whilst popping but otherwise behaved themselves. To cut my prattling short, we would have had buttered popcorn, chocolate and chilli popcorn and Nigella Lawson's "party" popcorn, but in the end, the buttered popcorn became more of an acrid mess that spent its night on my kitchen windowsill, cooling down.

You need:

(cheat's version)
popcorn, in sachets, microwaved. And/or, set fire to.

or (virtuous cooks' version)
two handfuls of popcorn kernels per recipe,
wok oil

Place oil and kernels in a pan over a high heat. Put the lid on and hold on tight - once popcorn has slowed down its popping to roughly two seconds between pops, remove from heat. Don't remove the lid during popping though, unless you want to lose an eye in a very ignominious fashion.
For chocolate chilli popcorn:
popped corn
250g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
sprinkling of chilli flakes
Melt your chocolate (in microwave or otherwise), and stir in your double cream. Tip both chocolate and popcorn into a large bowl and then mix with your hands - I promise there is no other way of doing this, you just have to get messy. Once popcorn is coated in chocolate cream mixture, shake in your chilli flakes and mix again. It's a gorgeous combination of flavours and the chilli gives the chocolate a subtle kick, and the cream prevents the chocolate from solidifying and sticking together in clumps. It was gorgeously addictive, although I recommend you supply your guests with napkins as it makes for messy eating - and your friends might think that you work better as a serviette instead.
For "party" popcorn, hence referred to as spiced popcorn:
lashings of parika, cumin, cinnamon
2 teaspoons fine salt (unless popcorn is already salted, in which case, skip this step)
2-4 teaspoons caster sugar depending on preference.

This is perhaps more inspired by Nigella's party popcorn than derived from it, as she does over complicate it with things like melted butter, and so forth, but the flavours are gorgeous and the marriage or sweet and salted flavours with the spices is a rather more-ish combination! It doesn't take a genius to work out, to be honest, just shake everything over the popcorn in bowl and mix thoroughly (again, your paws are best for this one).

I've always had trouble with just salted or sweet popcorn being a little bit boring - so here you have the above two variations, tried and tested by a fussy bunch. The proof was in the clean bowls I had at the end of the night.

My next recipe for you is a breakfast indulgence, perfect for Sunday mornings in bed. I will confess to scoffing it this morning for breakfast but I think it makes an excellent comfort food regardless of the time of day.

You need:
4 slices of soft white bread (although I used walnut loaf as it was to hand)
two handfuls of blueberries
1 very ripe banana - smushes better
shakings of cinnamon
2 tsp golden syrup
butter
double cream

In a bowl, mash your blueberries and banana with sprinklings of cinnamon and the golden syrup and then spread the mixture onto one slice of bread. Squish down with the other slice of bread to form a sandwich and then fry in the butter until golden. Repeat. Drizzle with double cream and then scoff. Blueberries and bananas are pretty much a match made in heaven, the golden syrup and the subtle warmth of the cinnamon sweeten them slightly, and the mushy filling inside the hot, crispy bread is simply gorgeous. Do try this one. I was grinning like a fool whilst I ate it! It's actually a variation of a previous French Toast recipe, just a little pared down for quick cooking.

I hope you all have lovely lazy Sundays.
Love,
Eloise xxx