Colombian Ajiaco Soup

One of my favorite Colombia dishes is a traditional soup, Ajiaco.  A very popular dish in the capital Bogotá, it's a hearty dish usually served with rice & avocado on the side.  An average batch of Ajiaco will serve between 8 to 10 people so you'll have plenty left over to freeze & save for another day.  It's the perfect comfort food for those lazy days.  This is so easy to make & tastes amazing.  Here's my recipe below on how to make this great soup.

2 litres water
4 chicken breasts
5 lbs Creole potatoes
5 lbs Maris Piper potatoes
5 lbs Royal Blue potatoes
1 arracach
3 corn on the cob
125g capers
2 chicken stock cubes
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh guasca

To serve:
2 avocados
250g rice
200g cream

1. peel the potatoes & arracacha, then cut into thick slices.  Arracacha is a root vegetable found in South America, if you can not fine one a parsnip will work just as good.
2. Cut each corn on the cob into three pieces.
3. Finely chop the guasca.  This is a herb found in South America but coriander will work if you can not get this.
4. Fill a pan with 2 litres of cold water.  Add the corn on the cob pieces along with the chicken breasts whole.  Bring to the boil & cook for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the chicken from the pan & leave to rest.
6. Add all the potaotes, arracacha & guasca to the pan, boil for 40 minutes.
7. Add the stock cubes, salt & capers.  Stir together.
8. Shred the chicken & serve on top of the soup in a bowl with a generous splash of cream.
9. Serve with rice & thick slices of avocado.

DIY Channel Flower Vase

I've been getting very inspired lately by DIY videos on YouTube & I just love the amount of ideas I come away with from watching YouTubers.  One DIY I'm seeing a lot of right now are tutorials on how to make DIY Channel vases and I just love them!  They really add a nice, elegant touch to any room, particularly bedrooms.  Plus, it's a great way to liven up a boring old vase and make it a little more interesting.  So I decided to have a go and make one myself.

Here's how I made it; to make a Channel flower vase you will need; a square vase which can be any size but I chose a small one because I want to put it on my bed side table, some clear sticky back plastic, a template of the Channel No 5 logo, scissors & some flowers (artificial or real - the choice is yours!).

First, I found a Channel No 5 template on Pinterest, click here for the link to the template I used.

Next, I printed the logo & cut it to fit one side of the vase.  I added some sticky back plastic to the front of the logo, cutting around the edges leaving a boarder of sticky back plastic (see picture below).

Once I'd cut round the logo I was ready to stick it to the vase and voilá, you have a chic Channel vase.  For some finishing touches, I added some clear glass marbles to the bottom of the vase & of course, no vase is complete without flowers so I added some.

I think this looks so chic & stylish and really adds a bit of glamour to your home.  I really enjoyed making it & I encourage you to have a go too!!!