Country Escape: PART ONE

Just look at that view. There's nothing like lush green grass, rolling fields and being surrounded by wildlife to make me feel really happy. 

As much as I love Newcastle and living in such a vibrant, busy city, my heart longs for my own farmhouse in the country. I love the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside as weird as that might be. I love the smell of the hay from hay bales, the smell of the grass and the fresh air. Nothing beats the sight of endless open spaces and boxing hares, snuffling hedgehogs and gently grazing sheep. So when a friend of mine asked me if I would dog sit her two lovely labradors Gus and Cinders at their farm for the weekend, I couldn't wait to get my wellies on and play farmer's wife. 

Bringing with me best friend Emily along for the ride, we said goodbye to Newcastle and headed for a small village called Felton near Morpeth. 

Gus and Cinders were pretty pleased to see us and it wasn't long before we settled ourselves into Julie's beautiful farmhouse. 

Since I was the only one out of the two of us who is from up North, I felt duty bound to show Emily just how gorgeous Northumberland is. Bundling the two big labradors into the back of my car, our first stop was Druridge Bay which looked picture perfect in the afternoon sun.

It was lovely to see the dogs enjoy themselves and run freely on the beach. Thankfully the weather stayed nice too so we didn't mind getting wet as we walked along the seafront in our wellies. 

After a good frolic on the beach and the obligatory 'write your name in the sand' photo, we bundled the smelly, wet dogs back into my car and headed for a drink at the beautiful Northumberland Arms. The pub overlooks the picturesque River Coquet and we couldn't resist stopping to say hello to the ducks before going inside. 

The pub was just the right kind of busy for us to take a seat by the fire, grab a drink and have a chat while the dogs lay by our feet. The interior was beautifully decorated and the food smelled amazing. We promised we'd come back for Sunday lunch another time!

Once we were back home we fired up the AGA (or Emily did) and made ourselves a feast. Playing the perfect farmer's wife I set the table for tea before we all piled into the sitting room to watch a dvd, eat chocolate and chatter until the early hours. 

With the dogs snuggled in their basket, we headed upstairs to bed, but it wasn't long before a certain someone decided he didn't want to sleep downstairs and hopped into bed with us. Being used to my two little bichons, I don't mind sharing my bed, but I have to say Gus took up a lot more room than expected! 

After a brilliant first day, I couldn't wait to show Emily more of Northumberland tomorrow.

Stay tuned for part two to see what we got up to! 

Happy Birthday to my blog and I!

Prosecco and Pie is one year old this March!

It doesn't seem like a year ago that I took my first steps into the seemingly-scary blogging world, clueless about blogging platforms, coding and SEO, not least of all building the courage to share my ramblings with the world. The truth is, my blog was born out of a love of writing, talking/meeting new people and of course, two lovely little things called prosecco and pie. My blog is an online summary of what I do in my daily life, getting together with my friends and family, eating, drinking and enjoying life. 

I've met some amazing people, built brilliant friendships and learnt a lot from other bloggers over the past year. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read my blog, whether you're a regular reader or a silent lurker checking back now and then to see what's new. You've not only inspired me to continue doing what I do best, but helped me build an amazing career out of this experience and long may that continue. Hopefully I've inspired you to visit some amazing places across the North East too. Our region is certainly spoilt for choice and I'm not done yet!

From one birthday celebration to another; I turned 23 on the 23rd of February and thought I'd share a few photos with you. Happy Birthday to my little blog and I. 

How better to start the day than with freshly baked cupcakes? 

Before being spoilt with gorgeous gifts and popping open a few bottles of prosecco with the girls... 

Next we headed to one of my favourite places - SIX at the Baltic. Where better to get dressed up and enjoy a few cocktails with the people you love? After slurping a few dirty daiquiris, fallen angels and breakfast @ Tiffany's we tottered back along the Quayside to meet a few more friends at Babucho and beyond to MSA. 

I spent my birthday surrounded by my gorgeous family, taking the dogs for a walk on the beach before coming home to a Sunday roast and this genius creation - a homemade profiterole tower with profiterole shaped candles and chocolate sauce made by my mam. Yes, it was as delicious as it looks, mmm! 

Profiterole towers are way better than birthday cakes. 

Welcome To Sausageville

As the first round of Restaurant Week 2014 dawned, it was clear that this year brought plenty of choices of where to spend your hard-earned cash. Having spent most of my mine in LA however, this meant I had to be extra scrupulous and choose wisely (damn it).

Although there are plenty of 'established' restaurants we'd like to try, the girls and I agreed that we wanted to try somewhere new, help boost a new, local business y'know, so it was decided that we would try wonderfully-named Sausage Emporium.

How better to banish those January blues than with your best friends, a bottle of wine and a plate of sausage and mash?

Despite it's simple sausage-only concept, I was pleased to see that the menu is so much more than 'sausage and mash'. With starters such as pulled pork with avocado and lime salsa, twice baked cheese souffle and oxtail wraps, there was plenty to keep us interested.

My pulled pork starter was more than generous in size and I thought the chipotle chilli ketchup on the side added some extra zing. Having helped myself to a bit of everyone else's starter too, I can confirm the twice baked cheese souffle was a light and fluffy cheesy delight, as was the 'gamey' tasting oxtail wrap.

Let there be wine!

The Sausage Emporium lives under Arch 6 of Westgate Road just a short walk from Central Station, so it's super easy to get to. The decor inside was cool and casual - we felt like we were sitting in a trendy tube station where we were sitting which was fun. The restaurant has two floors, an open kitchen and cosy booths downstairs, while upstairs houses a kitsch-inspired collection of mismatched, multi-coloured tables and chairs.

Happily, even the most discerning sausage-lover had plenty to choose from for their mains. We all tried to order something different: the sizzling thai sausage stuffed with lime, coriander and coconut, a traditional pork in cider sausage with creamy mash option and a veggie sausage of beetroot, lentil and mushroom served with crushed garlic new potatoes, spring onion and cabbage.

Ashamedly I didn't take any photos of our mains because I was completely distracted by this little cutie...

Hannah is the restaurant's five year old mascot and she just wanders round looking adorable while you eat, occasionally popping back downstairs to her basket to snooze. Naturally I was in love. 

Our main meals were really good, the sausages were fat and juicy, the mash creamy and delicious. My only niggle was the gravy. Although served in a cute little teapot topped with a crochet tea cosy, I would have liked it to have been thicker and meatier. 

If you're unfamiliar with the Restaurant Week rules then basically you can choose from two courses for £10, or three for £15. The better critics among us (ahem, Michelle and I) were the only ones who went for three courses, everyone else was too full to manage more. I was really looking forward to a decadent chocolate melt in the middle souffle, but sadly the other diners had beaten me to it, so I opted for the palate-cleansing lemon posset instead, while Michelle ordered a gargantuan slice of blueberry cheesecake.

It was half 10 by the time we said goodbye to Hannah the sausage dog, drained the last of our wine and headed out into the blustery January wind. We thoroughly enjoyed our night of sausage innuendos, good food and lots of laughs - thank you Sausage Emporium for your lovely food, laidback atmosphere and for letting me befriend your little dog. We'll be back!

**In case you didn't know, Restaurant Week has been extended for another week! So get yourselves down to the Sausage Emporium and tell me what you think at @chloeditorial

My American Dream

There's nothing like a holiday somewhere sunny and gorgeous to blow the cobwebs away is there!?

You might have seen from my twitter that I was lucky enough to spend the festive season in Los Angeles. Not only was I going to be in LA for New Year's Eve (and escaping the wintry North East weather), we were also there to celebrate an amazing achievement in our friends' lives... 

Jamie, or Sermstyle as he's better known in the music industry, has recently been snapped up by Atlantic/Warner records as a music producer, and while we were in LA his first big single Timber featuring Pitbull and Ke$ha became the first number 1 of 2014 in America and the UK!! We had an amazing time over there so I thought I'd share a few pictures with you!

We stayed in a beautiful house in the Hollywood Hills which was just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of LA. After managing to stay awake for over 24 hours, we soon set out to explore Hollywood and infamous Walk of Fame. 

After rubbing shoulders with the stars we headed to the beautiful Venice Beach and wandered along the Boardwalk towards Santa Monica taking in the sights.

After all that exercise it was definitely time for a quick pit stop before getting dolled up for the end of the year!!

A little birdie told us we HAD to try In-N-Out burgers, and well, need I say more...

After a few glasses of champagne on our twinkly roof terrace we headed to the Hollywood Improv, a local comedy club where the other half was super excited to see his hero Joe Rogan perform. I have to admit I had a really good time, although the jet lag was definitely starting to kick in and I flopped straight into bed when we got home (some party animal I am eh?) 

The next day we made the most of the gorgeous weather and drove to Malibu where we decided to spy on celebrity's houses, lounge on the beach, make the most of the sun and sleep off our hangovers - best New Year's Day ever!

 And I got to see pelicans!!

I could get used to spending January in the sea...

Not a day went by without us hitting the road and discovering something new. Some of my favourite highlights were definitely Huntington Beach where I saw dolphins (!), the super cool Venice Beach, Griffith Park Observatory, Universal Studios and of course Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills where I might have dipped into my overdraft bought myself a little present and found my spiritual home!

Watching the sun go down at Huntington Beach

Our trip to LA was amazing and I can't believe Jamie and Ashleigh still get to be there! I don't know what 2014 holds, but what a way to kick it off!

Happy New Year!

Pssst, in case you haven't heard the UK's biggest song right now, check it out and support some local talent!