It's my birthday and I'll eat what I want to ♪

Happy Monday!

Can you guess that one of my NY resolutions was to try to be more optimistic, it isn't going quite so well.. I still hate Mondays.

Although if I'm being truthful I doubt that's ever going to change, that and my equal distaste for mornings in general.

On a happier but undoubtedly relevant note I recently came across this amazing alarm clock called the Barisieur and before you start thinking I'm crazy to get excited over a clock, this is no ordinary clock but one that wakes you up with freshly brewed coffee. Ingenious, right? It's definitely on my birthday wish list.

And with that smooth transition, lets talk about birthdays!

I feel like as I've been getting older my excitement for my yearly milestones has pretty much diminished but one thing that I still love is other people's birthdays. Especially for family, when I can put on my birthday fairy hat (or I should I say wings?) and do the whole shebang, in other words present buying, wrapping, balloons, flowers, of course the food and most importantly the cake!

My little brother's birthday is coming up later this month and I was flicking through my photo gallery for some inspo, then I had a light bulb moment, why not compile some of my favourites into a blog post. Enjoy!

Birthday Brunch ♡

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day and the perfect opportunity to load up on delicious sugars (I'm being sarcastic, but its your bday and calories don't count).  
The above pictures are from my sister's surprise breakfast spread, the menu was as follows:

• mini cakes - red velvet, carrot & white chocolate and strawberry, dark chocolate
• pancakes 
• doughnuts
• hot cross buns
• pain au chocolat 
• waffles
• hot cocoa, orange juice, tea

Here's some pictures from my birthday brunch, we had a chocolate gateau (not actually consumed at breakfast time btw), fruit, croissants, sugar waffles and copious amounts of tea for yours truly. 

Birthday Lunch ♡

The best birthday lunch in my opinion is a good roast, chicken can be flavoured with an array of spices and slow cooked in the oven - easy and very flavoursome (watch this space, recipe coming soon iA!). 
Vegetables such as sweet potato, broccoli and peppers can also be roasted with lemon, garlic, herbs and olive oil and flavour pay-off is great. One a side note, don't roast dinners just look so pretty? and they make your house warm and smell amazing, ticking all the boxes. 

Birthday Spread ♡

A compilation of birthday feasts past! The top one is actually a mother's day picnic surprise that we did, but it was very close to my mum's birthday so it still counts.
As for the food, some notable mentions include, a prettily decorated veg pasty, a burger bar, potato fritters, a cheese board, samosas, home-made macarons, fruit arrangements, salads and my peaches & cream cupcakes.

Birthday Cake ♡

I mean it kind-of a necessity right? And above you'll see a couple of Q's Kitchen creations. 
I have a standard sponge that I usually use and then I decorate as I wish, although fresh fruit, cream and chocolate decorations are a common occurrence.  

And that concludes our little birthday food adventure! I hope you've enjoyed looking at the pictures & let me know in the comments of any recipes that I should upload on the blog. 

Have a great rest of the week.
Q x