Blog | Clare Lydon

Great British Bake Off: Who Will Win?

October 22, 2013

Flour, eggs, sugar, lard? Check. Two giddy presenters, one Dame Of Cakes and one Berk Of Bread? Check. Three nimble-fingered contestants? Check, checkety check! We’ve been counting down for weeks and now the moment has arrived: the final of the Great British Bake Off is happening today and I for one am beside myself with creamy, puffy excitement. Will Frances create an alternate universe from blueberry & liquorice icing for her showstopper? Will Kimberley pipe with ice-cool precision to scoop the prize? And will Ruby hold the saffron & make it to the end without cracking up and dissolving into a pool of gloop? I’d say all three are possible…

Continue reading » “Great British Bake Off: Who Will Win?”

Ten Reasons You Know You’re Getting Old…

October 21, 2013

Getting old isn’t just an age thing – I know people who were born 41 and have been waiting all their lives to catch up. Also just so you know, I regularly stay out past 1am without even a flicker of terror… Continue reading » “Ten Reasons You Know You’re Getting Old…”

Five Things I Learnt This Week

October 19, 2013

A lot can happen in seven days as Craig David rightly informed us. Here’s what I’ve learnt in my limited universe in between watching Homes Under The Hammer and eating plastic cheese… Continue reading » “Five Things I Learnt This Week”

Nespresso vs Big Cup Little Cup

October 18, 2013

Everybody knows I love my Nespresso machine like my own child: I stroke it daily. A while back, Nestle’s patent for its Nespresso coffee capsules expired and a court ruled that it should stop being so greedy and let other companies manufacture them too. Cambridge-based Big Cup Little Cup did just that so I decided to try them. So would their pods taste of coffee? Would they enhance my Coffee Lifestyle ™? More importantly, would they look as pretty sat next to my machine? Let’s find out…

Continue reading » “Nespresso vs Big Cup Little Cup”

England vs Poland: Brazil Beckons…

October 15, 2013

So after nine fretful games it all comes down to tonight: England vs Poland at Wembley stadium and the chance for the lads to crack out their best samba routines next summer at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The last time we needed a win to qualify I was at the game – England vs Croatia in 2007 with Euro 2008 beckoning. The rain tipped down in great galloping buckets, Scott Carson had a night to forget, Steve McClaren introduced us to his big brolly and his England team fell at the final hurdle into a damp, depressing heap. Lightning can’t strike twice though, right? Well, at least it’s not forecast for rain… Continue reading » “England vs Poland: Brazil Beckons…”

London Cocktail Week: Shaken Not Stirred

October 11, 2013

What better way to follow up my ill-advised juice diet than with London Cocktail Week? It’s still juice but now with added zing! Seven shakin’ days where you get to hop around the capital’s participating bars drinking their signature cut-price cocktails – I didn’t need a second invitation. So on Wednesday I cleared my schedule, wrote ‘drinking posh drinks’ in big red letters on my calendar, strapped on my LCW wristband and got ready to slurp… Continue reading » “London Cocktail Week: Shaken Not Stirred”

Reboot: The 3-Day Juice Diet

October 8, 2013

This week, I decided to turn into a glossy magazine article and try out a 3-day juice diet – I’d seen it on the telly where a bloke did it for 60 days and lost a shedload of weight. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a truck of weight to lose but I am hopelessly addicted to weight loss shows and was curious to see if this one worked. How hard could it be? I think you might already know the answer… Continue reading » “Reboot: The 3-Day Juice Diet”

The Return Of Bridget Jones

October 3, 2013

Strictly speaking, I was never Bridget Jones. For instance, I’ve never owned a pair of sucky-in pants and looking back at photos of me in the mid-90s it might have been wise. I’ve also never pined after a lawyer, never slid down a fireman’s pole (fnar), never dosed up on self-help books, never had a bonkers mother. But there were (are) parts of me that are a teeny bit Bridget and always will be, which is why I’m more than a tad excited by her imminent return – as well as being thrilled that the insipidly wet Mr Darcy has carked it… Continue reading » “The Return Of Bridget Jones”

This Birthday, I’m Mostly a Libran

October 1, 2013

If you’re a keen reader of my blog – and a big hello if you are – you’ll know that this year, my birthday wasn’t a happy one. I was struck down with what turns out to be a viral inner ear infection comically called labyrinthitis (or the David Bowie film disease as my mate christened it). This meant I had to throw all my birthday plans out the window and instead, sit upright because every time I lay down, moved my head or went to walk anywhere, I felt nauseous and the world span. The upside of this is that my birthday was suspended and will now take place when I’m feeling better in October, so this year, I get to try out having a proper autumnal birthday and being a Libran… Continue reading » “This Birthday, I’m Mostly a Libran”

A Woman Alone In A Bar? Shocking…

September 29, 2013

On Saturday, I went to watch the London derby of Spurs vs Chelsea in a bar – and since I could drum up no interest from anyone else I was with, I went alone. Apparently this is still a shocking turn of events for some men whose eyes seemed to spin in their sockets at the sight of a woman solo in a pub, even though I checked my calendar and we are indeed living in the year 2013… Continue reading » “A Woman Alone In A Bar? Shocking…”