[photo credit: BBC Food]

You didn’t think I’d ignore it entirely did you?! Admittedly, I’ve not been that caught up in all the royal wedding hullabaloo but that doesn’t stop me loving (unabashedly) the idea of a proper Royal Wedding Party. If you happen to be planning a last minute celebration, here are some decor and food ideas that might just (royally) tickle your fancy.

1. Design Editor has all the down-loadable paper goods you can imagine for decorating a British/Royal themed party. 2.  BBC Food of course has a several possible Royal Wedding recipes to choose from but here are some of my faves. Cucumber sandwiches! 3. Sausage rolls are so quintessentially British and so delicious. Check out my recipe for mini sausage rolls (so cute!) here. 4. Lord, I think I’m dribbling all over myself. Traditional scones with clotted cream and jam. Absolute favourite. 5. If you’re going to bake a cake, make it a Victoria Sponge. 6. For something more dainty, I’d recommend these strawberry and cream cupcakes. 7. And last but not least, don’t forget to kick things off with some Pimm’s Punch. Cheers!

We had these as part of what turned into a six and a half hour brunch with a couple of our friends. You’ll hear what we served them with below (we also had those oven baked parsnip and carrot fries on the side) so maybe you can imagine how all that food plus a competitive number of mimosas turned into a whole day of amazing brunch awesomeness. More again soon please!

I spied this recipe on Rachel Manley’s blog. Rachel’s a food editor for the BBC Food website in the UK, and aside from her day job and blog also hosts pop up brunches/dinners in the heart of Brixton. Basically, let’s be friends, can we?

There are so many recipes on her site I’ve bookmarked but these pancakes immediately jumped out to me, reminding me of the arepas we made a while back. They sounded perfect for brunch as you can easily re-heat them in the oven (noone wants to be chained to their oven while friends are having fun in the next room!)

We served them with lots of crispy bacon, creamy avocado slices, farmer’s cheese, sour cream to dollop on top, and soft, runny poached eggs. Piling some of everything onto a fork created what can only be described as a perfect mouthful of food. Yes, I said perfect. Hope you’ve got friends coming over this weekend!

Sweetcorn Fritters
adapted from What Rachel Ate

makes 18 pancakes, serve 3-4 per person

Ingredients

• 1 can sweetcorn, drained
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 6 green onions, chopped
• small handful cilantro
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3.5 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

1. Blend the sweetcorn, chillies, garlic, spring onions and cilantro until finely chopped (don’t go overboard though, you don’t want a purée), then add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. If it seems really dry, add a little milk.
2. Heat about one tablespoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan until hot and fry tablespoonfuls of the batter for 2 minutes on each side. Once you’ve flipped the pancakes over, press them down a little with your spatula to keep them thin and crisp.
3. Remove them from the pan and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper while you cook the rest of the pancakes.

Note: We actually made these gluten-free, and simply swapped the all-purpose flour for Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour.

It surprises me how many people are perplexed by parsnips in America. Those sweet, earthy root vegetables are looked upon with quizzical eyes more often than you’d think. The reason this surprises me is that ‘roasted parsnips’ are to me synonymous with ‘sunday roast dinner’, something that I ate practically every week for years and years growing up.

I actually disliked parsnips for many years, much to my sister’s satisfaction. I think she cried inside a little when I finally discovered a taste for them.

All you need to know about parsnips (if you don’t already) is that they are an easy and delicious addition to your typical pan of roasted veggies. This dish would be great on its own or lovely aside a roast dinner. I made them for brunch this weekend as a side dish.

Paring them with carrots looks pretty and – duh – adds more deliciousness. All you need is some oil and sea salt and you’re away! Add an easy dipping sauce, like the one below, and your guests will be pleased as punch.

Baked Carrot and Parsnip Oven Fries

Ingredients

• a big bunch of carrots and parsnips, washed, trimmed (be sure to peel the parsnips or they likely will take forever to crisp up – carrots can crisp up with their skins still on and I think they look nicer that way)
• vegetable oil
• sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Cut each carrot  and parsnip in half lengthwise (parsnips can be tough so hopefully you’ve got a sturdy knife on hand!). Toss all the veggies in a bowl with a couple of big glugs of oil.
3. Arrange the carrots and parsnips cut side down in a single layer on a baking sheet (avoid Silpats as you won’t get that delicious browning) and sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Bake for 30 minutes or until carrots and parsnips are golden brown where they touch the pan.
4. Serve with chipotle aioli dipping sauce.

Chipotle Aioli Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Whisk mayonnaise with garlic, lime juice, and chipotle chili powder to taste. Season with salt and pepper; chill until ready to serve.