Baking bread is one of my favourite things to do at the weekend, and I got up early yesterday to make one of my favourites – focaccia. It’s really one of the easiest and most impressive types of bread to make, and one I turn to again and again, to take to dinner parties or just enjoy at home.

There’s two recipes that I love – this River Cottage one, and this one from food blog, Lottie and Doof. I couldn’t decide which to go for, so ended up combining the two – following the River Cottage recipe (which is slightly simpler), then adding sugar to the mix and topping, and replacing olives with black grapes.

It was a good move. Seriously good, in fact I should have doubled the recipe because it’s almost gone. An amazing combo of sweet and salty, it’s equally delicious with cheese and chilled glass of white wine, or alone with a mug of tea. Yum. OK, I’ll stop gushing now, just go make it. You won’t regret it.

Grape and rosemary focaccia

Adapted from River Cottage Handbook No.3: Bread by Daniel Stevens

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 5g powdered yeast
• 10g fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 325ml warm water
• About 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for coating

To finish

• A generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• A sprinkle of flaky sea salt
• A sprinkle of sugar (demerara works well)
• A couple of rosemary sprigs, leaves stripped and finely chopped
• A couple of handfuls of seedless black grapes

To knead by hand: mix the flour, yeast, salt and water in a bowl to form a sticky dough. Add the oil,  mix it in, then turn the dough out on to a clean work surface. Knead until smooth and silky, about 10 minutes.

Or, to use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water to the mixer bowl. Mix on a low speed until evenly combined, then add the oil and leave to knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and silky.

Shape the dough into a round and coat with a little extra oil. Leave to rise in a clean bow, covered with a plastic bag. When it has doubled in size, tip it on to a clean work surface and press into a rough rectangle. Place in a lightly oiled shallow baking tray, measuring about 26 x 36cm. Press the dough in with your fingers, right into the corners. Now leave to rise, covered, for about half an hour.

Preheat your oven to 250°C/Gas Mark 10, or as high as it will go. When the bread looks puffed up and airy, use your finger tips to poke deep holes across the whole surface, almost to the bottom, and distribute grapes in the holes. Drizzle the top generously (but not swimmingly), and sprinkle with salt, sugar and rosemary. Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to about 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 10 minutes – keep an eye on the colour, you want a nice golden brown.

Focaccia is best eaten warm, but not hot; leave to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving, or leave to cool completely.

So, do you love cookbooks as much as me? I try to keep my obsession in check with a modest collection of six, which I added to recently with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Notes from my kitchen table. I’ve always liked Gwyn – she’s an inspiring and talented woman and I enjoy her lifestyle blog Goop – so I’ve struggled to get my head around why so many people dislike her. It’s strange that she and her blog are the subject of so much contempt, and I can only put it down to jealously that someone seemingly so nice can also act, sing, dance, speak Spanish, cook and write about food, practice yoga, all while raising a family and looking amazingly hot. OK, so she seems to have it all, but that’s surely no reason to hate someone? Anyway, back to the book. I guess I bought it out of curiosity. I enjoy the flavoursome, simple and no-fuss recipes on Goop and wanted to see what else Paltrow had up her sleeve. The book is beautifully produced with lots of pictures (I haven’t got time for a cookbook without gorgeous photos!) and is firmly focused on family. Gwyneth fondly recalls life with her late father Bruce and how the two learned to cook together; she puts her passion for food and eating down to him, and is eager to involve her own children in kitchen life too. As you’d probably expect, the book revolves around wholesome healthy eating but a balanced approach that includes delicious meals like fish tacos (pictured above) and goodies like fudgy chocolate brownies, rather than any of the macrobiotic nonsense she has long been associated with. It won’t set the cookbook world on fire, but then I don’t think it intends to. If your cookbook collection is lacking in the basics area, such as recipes for stocks, soups and salad dressings for example, or you’re looking for easy accessible recipes with pretty short ingredient lists, it’s definitely worth a look. It focuses on simple ideas that work equally well for entertaining friends or busy weekday meals.

For me, it has a real American vibe, with recipes such as corn chowder, lobster rolls, pancakes and burgers. The sandwich and burger section is great though – particularly as we enter BBQ season – and I’m planning to try the tuna and ginger burgers (pictured above) at the weekend. I’ll definitely be trying out some of the delicious-sounding frittatas too, as well as the crispy potato and garlic cake (pictured below), and hot fudge sauce.

Overall, I’d say there’s a place for it in your kitchen if you’re in need of simple meals that aren’t particularly unique or exotic, but if you’re after more unusual addition to your cookbook collection, you could find it a little samey and uninspiring.

Photo credit

Over at Design*Sponge, textile artist Ashley Helvey says she prefers the Chemex to a French press because it “filters out unwanted sediment and impurities and happens to look really nice.” Always one for style and function, I was intrigued find out more.

Without going into too much detail (there seems to be loads about it) the Chemex coffee maker was invented in 1941 by German chemist, Dr Peter Schlumbohm. It is now considered a classic design: the Chemix has been selected as one of the 100 best designed products of modern times and has permanent home in the New York Museum of Modern Art.

The design is based on the basic chemistry of filtration using laboratory glassware – creating a simple and elegant vessel that makes a mean cup of coffee too. You simply pop a filter in, fill with your favourite ground coffee, pour in boiling water and wait. It comes with or without the wooden collar and leather tie, but I definitely like it with, and certainly see why it has such design status. It’s a beauty isn’t it?

They don’t appear to be that easy to come buy in the UK, yet I’ve tracked them down to online stories Hasbean and Muazo, where we can get our hands on one for around £30. Think this could be my next kitchen purchase. Do you have a Chemex? Is it as good as it sounds? I’d love to hear more.

Pinterest is such a great source of inspiration as it throws up ideas I probably wouldn’t think of to search for on a recipe site or food blog, but which suddenly I’m pinning away thinking “i must do this!” And to be honest, pretty much anything Katie posts on her blog makes me want to immediately get cooking due to her delicious recipes and stunning photographs and styling – and I’m excited to hear she has a book deal.

So these are a selection of the goodies I hope to try very soon – notice the mix of healthy and devilishly calorific, oh well – life’s all about balance right?! Have a great weekend whatever you’re up to.

Mushroom and bacon spaghetti with basil, white wine and cream sauce – What Katie Ate

Moroccan Quinoa Salad – Green Kitchen Stories

Raspberry Tiramisu – Sophistimom

Herb pizza sticks – Glutenfreepizza.com (although I’d try this with homemade dough)

The best chocolate mousse of your life – Cafe Fernando

Chicken apple bacon salad - Food 52

Anzac cookies - What Katie Ate

Fried bocconcini with spicy tomato sauce – The Curvy Carrot (trying to think a way around deep frying these, but not sure yet)

I had a lovely girlie day on Portobello Road yesterday; people watching, browsing the market and tucking into tea and cake at my new favourite cafe come bakery – Gail’s. I had the most amazing brownie, and brought home a loaf of San Francisco sour dough – probably the nicest bread I’ve ever had, and we’ve already polished off the lot! Seriously good and I suggest checking out one of Gail’s bakeries if you get chance.

Pics 2 & 3: Gail’s

If I owned my own place and it had a staircase, I would definitely consider this fantastic idea. It’s the contrast of the glittery mosaic mirrors with the dark rustic wood that works so well here – what a great way to spruce up an often neglected area. What do you reckon? Too cool, too much?

via Red Online.

One such source of inspiration is Berlin based lifestyle/interiors site Freunde von Freunden. Holly at Decor8 tipped off readers yesterday about this great site and I soon became absorbed in the beautiful photography, stunning interiors and interviews (some are in English) with some of Berlin’s most creative talent. As Holly points out, some compare Freunde von Freunden to the The Selby, although it feels quite different and I agree. Here are some of my favourite images from my first visit to the site, I’ll definitely be back soon.

Stunning colour palette. I long for floors like these. One day…

Rustic yet elegant table setting. Delicious.

Malin Elmlid

Simple and striking display.

Too much too love. Mirror, feathers, metal teal chair, yes please. I spotted one of these wooden display boxes in an antiques store last week…what were they used to store, maybe thimbles?

Sarah Illenberger

Hello lovely lampshade. I’ve been on the hunt for some fancy vintage servers like these, that are too nice to save for special occasions and give a little glam to everyday.

Julia Heuse

But back to home, do you remember that old dresser we scored before Christmas? Well we finished the makeover and its now serving its purpose as a great little TV cabinet.

It had a few coats of Dulux Potters Clay and we found the stunning glass drawer pulls down the road at Blackbrook Antiques Village (thanks for the pics Johanna). That place is full of crazy stuff – I had my eye on the life-size bronze stag that you can just about spot below.

I think it’s nice to splash out on the occasional piece of art, but I’m all for finding inexpensive or free things to create an effective wall display or vignette. They can be temporary and ever-changing too, while you wait for the perfect piece to present itself. Here are three of my favourite thrifty finds at the moment.

1. Feather mask
By far my favourite thing right now, feather masks are just so fabulous for adding a bit of theatrical drama. I adore how the natural feathers are brought to life in the mask and particularly love the colours in this beauty – a snip at a mere £2.95 from eBay. What’s not to love?

Feather mask: eBay

2. Old family photo

I’m not one for loads of family photos dotted around the place – in fact it can often look a little messy and cluttered – but I do like the odd old photo, particularly in black and white like this one of my mum and dad on their wedding day in 1971. There’s a certain something amazing about old photos that we just don’t get with digital photography, with all it’s sharp focus and vivid colour capabilities.

Displaying a grainy old personal photo is a great way to add interest to a living space, and it doesn’t have to be big. I’ve tucked this little 6×4 into the corner of a larger picture frame, but it would work equally well attached to the wall as a part of a larger grouping. And the best bit? It’s completely free! That’s if your parents or other relatives don’t mind giving you an old snap, otherwise pop to a photo lab to get a copy.

3. Wallpaper sample

If like me, you’ve fallen in love with some fabulous designer wallpaper but lose breath at the thought of the sky-high price tag, ordering a sample and displaying it in (or out) of a frame is a nice, budget-friendly alternative to inject a bit of style for (almost) free. I say almost because the eye below is a cut from sample of Fornasetti Tema e Variazioni wallpaper I ordered for £1 from Cole and Son. The samples are pretty small, but are a good size for framing or using in a craft project.

So there’s some of my current favourite styling ideas. I’m thinking of making Thrifty Finds a regular weekly post to share ideas, what do you think? Let me know if you’d like to see more!