I would like to thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my previous wedding post, you all made my heart sing. I shall post part 2 in the next few days.
Now onto the Daring Bakers challenge for June which is hosted byDawn Nyman from Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard. You can view the recipes here.
Due to my lack of time these past few months this is my first Daring Kitchen challenge since April and I have been eager to get back in the swing of things...so much so that I forgot to take any photos during the challenge, so for a change this is a very photo light post!
It was nice to make a chocolate meringue base for a pavlova as I have never done so before. The challenge was easy to make and assemble, I made this from start to finish during the dismal England vs Germany game today.
My husband and I (!!!) will be diving into this pavlova for our dessert tonight and we cannot wait! I have tasted every component during the challenge and assembly and they were all very yummy. Now I need to find some further uses for the mascarpone cream drizzle as I only used a few tablespoons which has left me with 1/2 pint going spare!
Firstly I would like to say a huge THANK YOU for your being so patient with me these past few months with my lack of blogging. I truly love writing my blog and it was a shame that I was not able to post whenever I wanted to I the run up to the wedding as my spare time was limited. There has been so much that I have wanted to write about, and lots of things have passed by without any acknowledgement. However that is all about to change as on Saturday 12th June at 2pm I married the love of my life and became Mrs.Hill! I have been chomping at the bit waiting to write this post since about 3pm on the day! However it is going to be another two weeks before we get our professional photos, so I have been and am still collecting as many as possible from guests so that there are lots of photos to tell the story of the day and of course enough to bore you all stiff with!
The night before the wedding Nathan stayed at home, but in the guest room and we went to bed one minute before midnight so that it didn't count as the day of the wedding. Nathan and I really didn't want to be separated and we both slept better knowing that we were only separated by a wall than if he wasn't in the home that we have shared for the past 9 years. Nathan planned to leave at 7am so I knew that I could rouse from my slumber then. My day began with a relaxing bath overflowing with Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily bubbles. Brooke and I then travelled to the hairdressers where my hairdresser Emma (who I have been friends with since we were 4 years old) greeted us with a bottle of pink champagne and pain au chocolat! We saved the champagne for later in the day as it was only 8.30 and I was driving, but we gobbled the pain au chocolat with gusto. Being a traditional bride I wanted to have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. I had vintage jewellery so that was old, my dress was new, and my garter was baby blue, however I still needed something borrowed. Brooke was going to lend me her Tiffany & Co heart locket to sew into the petticoats of my dress, but I was worried about losing something so
precious to her and was feeling unsure. Emma came to my rescue; literally with a rescue remedy spray! So sweet and thoughtful of her and Brooke and I definitely put it to very good use. After a few hours of preening and a lot of hairspray it was time for Brooke and I to be on our merry way home. We then spent the next few hours getting ready at a lovely leisurely pace with absolutely no rushing and worrying whist listening to the dulcet tones of Michael Buble. It was then that I had my first teary moment. The song that my future husband and I would have our first dance to came on and I sang along to a verse and then the chorus winded me and took my breath away. I had already applied my makeup and I did not want to risk looking like Alice Cooper so Brooke made me focus by saying our special word for the day 'soak'. I had told Brooke on wedding eve that I wanted to soak up every single moment if the day and I did not want to look back and think oh if only I wasn't crying my eyes out at that moment or if I had done this or that. So we decided that if I was in danger of losing it or missing out on something Brooke would encourage me with 'soak'. Needless to say Brooke drowned out the gorgeous Buble with calm and positive repetitions of SOAK SOAK SOAK! Then the emotional John Lewis advert came on and that set me off too, but the soak's got me focused again.
It was then time to get dressed. I zipped my beautiful sister into her divine dress which I had secretly wanted to wear myself! Brooke then began the arduous task of lacing me into my gown. Before long Mark who is a dear friend and who I asked to give me away arrived As soon as he popped the champagne cork our photographer Natalie and her assistant Becky arrived to take a few photos. Then the doorbell chimed again with the arrival of our bouquets and Mark's buttonhole. I was rendered speechless again as the flowers were out of this world beautiful, I felt dreamy just looking at them let alone taking in their intoxicating scent.
With 40 minutes to go we went into our back garden for some photographs set against the backdrop of the breathtaking fields. I took the opportunity to pick up my little Poppy and have some photos taken with her so that we will always have a keepsake of our wedding day including Poppy that we will cherish forever.
The doorbell chimed once again, this time marking the arrival of wedding car. A glass of champagne and a squirt of rescue remedy later Brooke, Mark and I were snug as a bug inside the beautiful 1929 Model 'A' Ford Tudor Sedan whose name is Annie. The driver tooted the little horn as drove through our beautiful village, passers by and locals alike waved and oohed and ahhed as we pootled the half mile to the church.
The ceremony was at 2pm and we arrived at 1.55pm so we had a few minutes to breathe and try to stay calm and relaxed. After spending the weeks leading up to and the morning in relative calm and serenity I began to feel anxious and nervous at the gravity and importance of the ceremony. After 10 years, 4 months and 1 week of being a girlfriend and fiancé, I was about to become a wife to the man of my dreams. I felt as though my heart was overflowing with love and the weight of it almost crushed me and my knees began to buckle. However Brooke embraced me and held my hand and told me she loved me. Brooke was the tonic that I needed and Mark was a rock of strength as he held my arm in his. Then it was time. The vicar led us into the porch way and I felt faint. The organist played Wagner's Bridal March and then we turned to walk down the aisle...to be continued...
