The 2 best pizza toppings, guaranteed. (Spinach, asparagus & ricotta/ Parma ham & fig)

So the World Cup has kicked off (literally) with full force, and like my pal at work says, you certainly cannot beat them, so you may as well join em.

Personally, I quite like the World Cup. I never watch football and support no team really (I am one of the few lucky ladies in England who is not a football widow, Will has no favourite team) but every 4 years I like to make an exception. I think a lot of my love - well maybe that is too strong a word, let's say "contented tolerance" - of the World Cup bonanza comes from my Dad, and his clever scheme to get a house full of women not interested in sport into the world cup.

Our favourite food in New Orleans

Maybe, like me, today you'll be celebrating Pancake day aka Shrove Tuesday aka Mardi Gras by swapping your normal Tuesday night supper of salmon and veg (ok ok pasta and cheese) with a little bit of batter, lemon and sugar. Mm mm mmmm.

Or maybe you are like 2017 me, or a lucky resident of New Orleans Louisiana and you are going to spend today catching beads, drinking hurricanes and dancing in the street. Mardi Gras, NOLA: its tagline is "the greatest party on earth" and I am not gonna lie, it is pretty fun if you are ready to embrace it - and you give the drunk guy vomiting down himself on Bourbon Street a wide berth.

Christmas morning waffles

(or Boxing Day morning, or New Year's day morning, or one of those weird mornings between Christmas and New Year, as it is sort of ok to be late for work because you were having waffles for breakfast when it is the twenty something-th of December)

These waffles are a twist on one of my go to waffle recipes - A Beautiful Mess' Sour cream and caramelized banana waffles.

But I've added a teeny bit of booze to the sour cream, the left over cranberries you didn't need for your sauces and some Christmassy spices and huzzah. Christmas Waffles, perfect with a glass of bucks fizz to start off your big day.

5 ways to pimp your rice pudding in less than 5 minutes

Clockwise from top right: pumpkin spice rice pudding, chilli chocolate rice pudding, peanut caramel rice pudding, rocky road rice pudding.

Happy Sunday y'all! This week I started following Reese Witherspoon on instagram, and I think I am just gonna start addressing people as y'all now too. I find it very becoming with my Buckinghamshire accent. This week it was also World Kick Butt Day (on Thursday  according to my ban-do planner who is the authority on these sorts of things...you'll be glad to know the 29th is National Cat Day). In an attempt to kick my own butt, since Thursday I've been doing all sorts of fabulous things like meditating, exercising, dusting and experimenting with different additions to shop bought tinned rice pudding.

Peach melba salted caramel ice cream sliders

Catchy name ey?

Hope you are all having lovely weekends (and this is posted on the weekend as I don't know how much I trust my old computer's ability to schedule posts). I am off at Glastonbury festival daaaaarling, so I hope for all our sakes it is ice cream sandwich weather in the UK.

Cos yes, despite the lengthy title and pretentious use of the word "slider" this is less of a recipe and more of instructions about how to assemble a good ice cream sandwich. A really good one.