I'm BACK! Not bigger (still rocking at 5'1) but better for sure. It's been nice to step back for a bit and refocus and I think I've got the breather I needed for more balance round these digital parts.

But I haven't been eating delivery pizza (the horror) or foraging out of cornflake packets in the larder whilst away (I may, may have eaten Nutella straight out the jar). Here's what I've been up to this month in pictures:

1. Typical. I won a Twitter competition the day after I stated my break. Thanks to my Twitter buddies who let me know I'd won and to Shine for the amazing new cut!
2. I'm collaborating with the fabulous Style Memos blog to give you a series of Brighton Lux Lunches because we all deserve a bit of a treat.
3. My Elderflower cordial recipe (without citric acid) at this time of year is massively popular, number 1 on Google in fact! But this year I made rocketfuel my first batch of Elderflower Champagne. I'm praying it's not going to explode on me.
4. Amazing. I ate Italian food in Brighton! And I loved it. More soon.
5. One of the best meals I had this month was at Curryleaf Cafe. So good I went back for lunch and dinner.
6. I cooked a lot. This batch of ricotta gnocchi using actual Sorrento lemons was a highlight.
7. My review copy of Antonio Carluccio's Pasta book arrived which I'm very excited to be diving into.
8. I took Mr GF to Burger Brothers which reminded me it's the best burger in Brighton hands down. THERE I SAID IT.
9. I attended a really interesting (and rather decadent) oyster day at English's, one of Brighton's oldest restaurants. I'm sharing this corker with you soon.
10. My family came over from Italy (the first time in 30 odd years) and brought me some goodies like bread from the village bakery, a caciocavallo cheese and some local torrone.
11. I've been playing with a few new OXO Good Grips products and have created a few new recipes, plus I've got a fantastic competition coming up too. 
12. Vacation time and I got a temporary new kitchen to play with. It had bling sparkly worktops and Plumen lights. Sadly one of those awful ceramic electric hobs as well though. The lovely outside cooking area made up for it!
13. These are some prized, DOP protected yellow figs filled with pistachio cream and covered in chocolate from a new Italian online retailer I'll be writing about.

As for this blog, I've decided to be far more choosy about what to post about. Although I'll continue sharing my own discoveries, and I already turn down a lot of things I've been invited to or sent to review, I'm going to be even more select. The night I found myself being blindfolded and fed dire food as part of a PR event was the cold, hard slap in the face I needed. Time is precious.

Instead, I will be focusing on what I am passionate about, firstly the best of the best of dining in Brighton. I'm more at home in a decent, quality restaurants than I ever will be following the fads, gimmicks and fast foods. Only if it is truly exceptional, different or particularly interesting I'll let you know, otherwise you can go find sandwiches and cronutadoodledoos all by yourselves I'm sure.

I'll also be getting back in the kitchen creating recipes. Whilst I do like to be cooked for, I like to create and craft as well. My appetite for learning is back and really I think you can only appreciate food by honing those skills, knowing the techniques and how food gets to your plate.

There are quite a lot of posts I have ready to dispatch in the next few weeks but going forward, there will be less posts but more quality.