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This year marks the 21st anniversary of my oldest friendship. *sniff* She’s getting married this year as well so 2016 is going to be extra special. With such a long and lasting allegiance and practically knowing a person inside out, birthdays are a struggle (and her birthday is coming up next month). What do you get someone who’s grown out of bath stuff and perfume?
The answer could be a personalised gift from IJustLoveIt.co.uk. This site is specifically geared towards customising gifts for all ages, tastes and occasions not just with names but messages, and the selection goes beyond the humble coffee mug with quirky things like LED wall lights, rustic kitchenware, scented candles, chocolates, engraved jewellery and more.
To learn more about I Just Love it, I was invited to the Italian cookery school, La Cucina Caldesi, tucked behind Marylebone High Street to learn how to make my very own personalised pizza along with a team of other hungry bloggers. An authentic Italian pizza with a class led by an Italian chef, Stefano Borella.
Let me tell you something, La Cucina Caldesi is a little pizza (geddit?) heaven. The warmth and vibe of this place is enough to get anybody’s creative juices flowing and if you are ever looking for hen party ideas, birthdays or a work team building activity, a session with Stefano at the helm is absolutely brilliant. I am going to sing Stefano’s praises because this man is passionate about cooking without the ego, arrogance and intimidation. He also likes loves anchovies.
It transpires that it takes skill to make a pizza. We were fortunate to have the dough prepared in advance and the toppings laid out to dip into but the rest required attention from how much tomato base sauce to spread on the base to squeezing the moisture out of the mozzarella cheese (so the pizza doesn’t end up soggy ), before expertly sliding the finished pizza onto a Pizza-Bread Oven Peel (which looks like a spade).
Knowing I was going to have this pizza to myself, I went to town on mine and opted for anchovies, olives and rocket leaves with buffalo mozzarella, and I have to say I was chuffed (and relieved) with the results because sliding the pizza onto that spade was almost touch-and-go.
You may have caught footage of the class in a recent vlog but if not, here it is:
I left the class with a belly full of carbs and a selection of personalised gifts from I Just Love It including a rather apt pizza plate, a tasting spoon with my name engraved on it, a cushion cover and some pencils. It’s given me a few ideas of what to get for my friend with possibly a sneaky wedding gift thrown in as well.
With gifts to suit all budgets and free delivery if you order three or more items, the craftsmanship and quality of the products on offer is nothing short of superb. I might be able to dine out on the I Just Love It presents on quite a few friends and family for some time yet actually…
I also felt inspired from Stefano’s class and dusted off my pasta making machine to make home-made lasagne. It was worth the hard slog on kneading the pasta dough – fresh definitely wins over shop-bought. Leanne felt compelled to do something similar and made Slut’s spaghetti (or Pasta Alla Puttanesca) the following week.
If you’re on the hunt for a special gift, have a look at the vast choices I Just Love It has to offer.
What a cutesie event, and such a lovely idea too 🙂
Sophie x
Hey Sophie, it was a lot of fun and the best one I’ve been to in a long while. I’d love to return to the cookery school to learn something else. x