Buying a house 101: Things to look out for during a house viewing

I thought I'd introduce a little house buying series on the blog for those who are looking to buy. I seem to have reached that age where my friends are starting to look after finally managing to save a hefty deposit. We were amongst the first and now I look back there's so much I would do differently but you only learn don't you?

First up is house viewings. You're finally in the position to buy and start organising some house viewings. But it is so overwhelming! I felt like I wasn't quite old enough to go and felt completely out of my depth. But here are some questions you should ask and things you need to look out for.

1. The chances are you'll go to your first house viewing during the day. The area will be the least busy it ever will be in the middle of the day thanks to children being at school and adults are work. To really get a feel for an area you have to see it at night too. I'd recommend driving round in the dark if you can.

2. Always check the shower pressure. You do not want to find out it's a bit pants after you move in.

3. Some areas sometimes have rubbish 4g so make sure you check your phone to see how the signal is.

4. Open windows. We didn't open any windows and one of ours was broken when we moved in. Lesson learned!

5. Parking can be an absolute nightmare where I live so we made sure to drive by at different times of day to see how the parking was. You don't always want to have to park round the corner and have to get a bus to your front door!

6. Make sure you open the cupboard doors in the kitchen. We moved in thinking we could wait a few years before we replaced the kitchen. But, on moving day we realised the kitchen was in a terrible state with mould inside. We could have found this out on the viewing day if we thought to check!

7.  Be sure to give the bathroom a quick once over to ensure you can't see any obvious mould.

8. If you know someone in the construction industry then we sure to bring them with you on the second viewing. They will help to make sure it looks structurally ok. My dad spotted things on the roof that I never even thought to look at!

9. Drive around the back if you can. We saw a beautiful house and my dad suggested we take a drive around the back to look at the garden and it was then we realised the next door neighbour had no fence, broken glass, terrible overgrown grass and didn't not look like a neighbour we would want to live next too!

10. Ask questions about the boiler. These are very expensive to replace and if you buy the house you'll have to factor in the cost if it's old. Our boiler was 20 years old and we're currently saving up for one!

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Restaurant review: Bao, Fitzrovia, central London

Last week Elodie came over to London for a little holiday before her Korean trip so we decided that needed celebrating. Where else could be better than Bao? We opted for the Fitzrovia branch as you could book. It's never about queuing to eat when you've got nearly a whole year of gossip to catch up on!

Specialising in sharing plates, Bao is famous for its steamed buns and serving Taiwanese-style dishes. The menu offers five different types of Bao to choose from. I tried the black cod and confit pork. Both were delicious but the black cod was on a whole other level. I can't quite put into words just how amazing it was and I can't wait to visit again to have it! I then opted to try the beef cheek and tendon nuggets. Served in a portion of two, they were incredibly moreish. The others tried the chilli langoustines with a fried bao, aubergine with minced tofu and mapo sauce and bone marrow rice served with pickles and egg yolk. Having tried a mouthful of each, I can confirm that that the bone marrow rice is a must order if you visit.

I waited a while to try Bao and it was worth the wait. It's not cheap by any means and you do have to order quite a few dishes to feel full. This can work out to be to be expensive. They recommend three dishes each but I found this wasn't really enough. I'd recommend about four dishes each and a side with one of the bigger dishes to share. Although not everyone will be as greedy as me! Service was a little slow but the wait staff were pretty friendly so it balances out. Bao is a great place to go if you don't mind splashing out - the food is certainly delicious!

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What I've been cooking #4: John Whaite Bakes at Home

Another cookbook review. And another baking book. Last time I vowed to use a savoury cookbook but once again got sucked in by the gorgeous cakes in John Waites Bakes at Home. John Whaite won GBBO in 2012 and this is his second cookbook. I follow his Twitter and Instagram so when I spotted this book in a charity shop I picked it up for a couple of quid. It's full of both savoury and sweet bakes and I'd say it was a book for the slightly more adventurous. I'd been stuck in a bit of a rut with only baking simple things like carrot cake, banana loaf and lemon drizzle. All delicious but nothing ground-breaking. I fancied pushing myself a bit and this book was just the ticket.

Mojito cake
I baked this for my mum's birthday and slightly changed the recipe to include both lemons and limes because that was what I had to use it. It tasted exactly like a mojito and was absolutely delicious. At first I was a bit annoyed at the presentation as it didn't quite come out how I wanted it to. But the more I look at at, I actually feel quite proud. It was out of comfort zone and I'd pushed my baking skills quite hard for this cake. I made the lime curd from scratch and made the infused mint & rum filling. I vowed to really try new things this year in baking and feel like this was me keeping my promise. I'd definitely make this again.

Rhubarb, white chocolate and thyme traybake
Rhubarb was a fruit I'd never tried before and traybakes are my jam so this was always going to be made. It was very simple and took hardly any time at all. I loved the contrast of the gooey white chocolate with the tart rhubarb flavour. It went down an absolute treat at work with everyone declaring it was the best bake I'd make yet! Definitely a recipe that I'd rustle up again. It was fun to be a bit more adventurous with ingredients.

Giant jam tart
It always makes me nervous when I attempt a recipe and it doesn't have a picture. I've eaten enough jam tarts in my life to know what one looks like but still no pictures fills me with dread. This was extremely simple and used ready-made pastry - a god-send! It was my first time making jam, I was supposed to use both raspberries and blueberries but alas, my raspberries were rotten. A day before the best before date! I stupidly didn't reduce the sugar so the jam was extremely sweet. Note for the future!

Chocolate and pistachio torte
This was my first time attempting a torte. I'm not a huge chocolate fan but my boyfriend is so I always end up backing a type of chocolate dessert at home. This was a bit more of a faff than I originally thought it would be. But it was simple enough. I'm not sure my version really tastes like a torte but my friend commented that it tasted a bit like a brownie. Which I'll take! After all, who doesn't love a giant brownie? My chocolate drizzling leaves a lot to be desired but that helps to add to the rustic, homemade feel right?

Loaded Mac and cheese
Mac and Cheese is one of my last day on earth meals. If I knew I only had one day left then I would scoff this until I felt sick. So far Jamie Oliver's version is my favourite but I'm always keen to try new  versions of the dish. After skimming through the ingredients list I knew I had to make this. It looked like pure indulgence and perfect for a Sunday dinner. I was right! Three types of cheese made this absolutely heavenly and I adored the added veg of asparagus, mushrooms and spring onions. I think John may have push Mr Oliver from the top spot!

If you want to see more of my cookbook reviews, just click the tab on the right hand side of this blog.

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