The days leading up to January's dalliance with February are bitterly cold and daylight is scarce. All in all it is a bleak affair and for me there is only one cure - Comfort food. Mac and cheese, steamed puddings and crumble. Apple, pear and ginger crumble. Preferably with a scoop of Mackies ice cream.

This weekend the stress of arranging renovations and moving house was all too much so I broke out my lovely new Le Creuset pan, a kind gift from Idealo and baked crumble.




4 large cox apples, peeled and cut in half
4 pears, peeled and cut in half
2 lumps of stem ginger in syrup, finely grated
75g light brown sugar 50ml Apple juice
100g spelt flour
100g plain flour
115g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
100g demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Place the apples, pears, ginger, light brown sugar and apple juice in a pan and heat gently for 5 minutes. Cook until the fruit is tender.

In a bowl, mix together the two types of flour and rub in the butter with your finger tips, once it resembles breadcrumbs stir in demerara sugar to make the topping.

Put the apples and pears into a baking dish (in this case I left them in the pan) and scatter over the crumble topping mixture. Sprinkle over a little extra sugar for added crunch and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is crumbly and golden.

It is often the case that the most sought after treasures are found in unexpected places. Last week I was browsing in Primark for some sensible, renovation-appropriate attire when I saw a white lace sleeve poking out from behind a mass of asymmetric dresses. When I finally unearthed it from a tangle of hangers and held it up to the light I found that it was perfect in every way. Very simple cotton lace with buttons running up the centre of the back. The only downside was the size - three sizes bigger than I wear but I added it to my pile none the less. When I finally made it to the changing room with slightly aching arms, I was very pleased to find that despite the size tag it was a very nice fit. Just a little over-sized but all the better for it. I practically ran to the till.








I was pretty sure that my luck had hit a peak for the day so off home home I went, walking through the New Town and past all the antique shops, which is where my second discover of the day was to be found. Nestled in a window of a wee shop just by the Botanic Gardens, amongst tea sets and antique sewing books was the smallest leather suitcase I have ever seen. I nearly didn't but I knew I to make it mine or I would always regret it. I bought it with the intention of storing bits and pieces but with the help of a borrowed strap I think it makes a nice little bag. Albeit a rather unpractical one, just enough room for life's essentials - rose lip balm, a little card envelope, my phone and reading material in the form of Company Magazine. Their new size magazine fits with not a millimetre to spare which might just be fate because... Just as I was leaving the antique shop, with my new suitcase wrapped in tissue paper I received an email for none other than Company Magazine informing me that Wayward Daughter has been nominated for two Company Style Blogger Awards.

Best 'We Love Vintage' Blog and Best Blog for Highstreet Lovers as well as in the over all category. It's tough competition and I'm up against some of my favourite blogs but if you like Wayward Daughter, you can vote here. Voting is open until February 11th, you can vote as many times as you like and there is also an option to win £250 New Look Vouchers. Thank you for reading! x

Some may have wondered why everything suddenly went quiet on the Wayward Daughter (the frocks, not the blog) front, I've even received a couple of emails asking if I'll restock the shop anytime soon. The answer is yes, I will and the reason everything has gone silent is because I've been so busy. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you might have seen a few quick shots of these dresses but if not, these were part of a collection that I designed especially for Audrey Grace Boutique in Jackson, Mississippi. Jaclyn, the owner of the store asked me to create a number of bespoke pieces for the boutique but these four are my favourites.





They are made in Liberty Tana Lawn and the beautiful illustrations were part of a lookbook that Jaclyn commissioned Caitlin Shearer to put together. Caitlin just so happens to be one of my favourite artists so it was an extreme pleasure to see her take on my work. In all she worked on almost twenty illustrations of Wayward Daughter, each one completely capturing the aesthetic while only working with my (extremely basic) digital sketches. The girl is a genius!

For now I'm working on a few new pieces for the shop,one of which you can see on WD's Facebook page. As well as for Audrey Grace Boutique in New York but if you are interested in any of these designs or a custom order, feel free to email and we can discuss it further - shop@waywarddaughter.com *Edit: These designs will not be stocked in the shop and will only be available for custom orders.

Merry Christmas and a delightful new year! I hope that you are enjoying the festive period and have been suitably spoiled. I have have spent most of Christmas happily occupied in the kitchen, baking a mountain of cake and making Christmas dinner for my family. It was so much fun but now my focus is on the new year and all the exciting projects that it is going to bring. Which means it is time to get organised! I'm usually hopeless when it come to buying a diary and end up hunting for one in the sales but this year is an exception. I saw this sweet diary from frankie back in the summer and instantly snapped up one for myself and one for a WD reader.






If you haven't picked out a diary yet or you just love this one as much as I do, simply leave a comment including your email address and this darling could be yours. If you would like a second entry, you can tweet about the competition including my username @caitharri and the tag #WD2012. Entry will close on Wednesday 4th. Edit: The competition is now closed.

If you haven't already heard of Boticca, it is a online boutique selling exquisite accessories from all over the world crafted by independent designers. They have a vast collection of interesting pieces to suit any budget but my favourites have to be by UK based Cabinet, who made the spitfire necklace as well as USA based STNTN who lovely handcraft vintage style ties. I certainly wouldn't be sad to find one of these lovelies in my stocking on Christmas morning. Take note, Santa!