tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533719406600737092024-03-13T11:01:07.846-07:00What Lucy Ate NextWhat Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-27165801957260922292012-10-09T12:15:00.000-07:002012-10-09T12:15:50.497-07:00Spanish Figs, with Serrano Ham and Blue Cheese<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just a ver</span></em><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">y quick one. As I think I might have mentioned
(!!) I spent an idyllic few weeks in Spain in August for my sister’s wedding
followed by a much needed holiday. My parents have a house in the Sierra de
Gredos region which is a beautiful and remote part of Spain just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a couple of hours from Madrid. This is the
sort of place you come to get away from the stresses of the city and just
chill. The land used to be a proper working farm and we still have a lovely little
veg patch, lots of cherry trees and figs. The cherries over, we were pretty
happy to just have our fill of the figs that were bursting from the trees when
we were needing an energy boost after all that sun bathing!</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A totally inspired idea was that of figs, Serrano ham and blue
cheese which we had for lunch one day with a big salad that was made from just
picked lettuce, onions and tomatoes.</span></em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTifmkV1htAtX96h844bmivBAukIchyphenhyphenPgR0pJVjvAuu8uAbs2Kc0d4wXGHk8-zggqmTOWrvMr9FFPuALHNS-8a1hOStDKe88kbntSpM3zE-UERtSjnbrUihfQ3iP5gm8OiUc7GLvOKbQN4/s1600/blog+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTifmkV1htAtX96h844bmivBAukIchyphenhyphenPgR0pJVjvAuu8uAbs2Kc0d4wXGHk8-zggqmTOWrvMr9FFPuALHNS-8a1hOStDKe88kbntSpM3zE-UERtSjnbrUihfQ3iP5gm8OiUc7GLvOKbQN4/s640/blog+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<strong><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Figs, stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in Serrano ham</span></em></strong></div>
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>As many ripe figs as you think you’ll eat (2 per
person is good for a starter)</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>A lump of blue cheese, something quite soft and
crumbly is good</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Thinly sliced Serrano ham, a slice per fig</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Runny honey for drizzling</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Pepper to season</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s really not necessary to be prescriptive with this, but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here are some general steps to follow:</span></em></div>
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>1.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees</span></span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>2.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Evenly
place the fig flat side down on a baking tray and split them open with a cross.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>3.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Once
you’ve opened up the figs, stuff them with as much or little blue cheese as you
like, but be careful not to overfill them as they can get quite messy.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>4.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Wrap
each fig with a slice of Serrano ham and place on the tray and season. The
cheese and ham are pretty salty so pepper should be fine.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>5.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Once
all the figs are done, drizzle with a little honey and cook in the oven for
about 10 minutes, until the ham is starting to crisp slightly and the cheese is
melted.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>6.</strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Eat quickly, when warm!</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now that Autumn is really in full swing, this is a nice way to bring back the taste of summer...</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you (like me) think that being in a stunning house in the middle of breathtaking scenery is a proper holiday then you can check out my parent house here, which is available for rentals: </span></em><a href="http://www.lahaciendadegredos.com/"><em><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">www.lahaciendadegredos.com</span></em></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br />
What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-61764469327041288852012-09-22T01:44:00.000-07:002012-09-22T01:44:45.963-07:00Autumn Days<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>How is it here already??? It’s bloody September and soon
it’ll be October (see they taught me well at school), and I’m trying to come
terms with the fact that our poor excuse for a British summer is over for
another year. </em></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>So there I was mooning after the sunshine and sat on a
Eurostar with no wifi and I decided to take a little look through some old
photos of last autumn. Photos that made me realise there are actually some good
things about autumn as well. Please see below:</em></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Wrapping up warm</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>After the summer sun has finally vanished, there’s something
quite satisfying about having to get back into your thermals. Last November Ben
borrowed his dad’s incredible AC Ace and took me to Tom Kerridge’s 2 Michelin
starred pub, the Hand and Flower in Marlow. A beautiful day, incredible meal
and a very good reason to dig out the woollies. </em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></em></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></em></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2pORifvEz5bo8QvnhNF4MPAVd8Gb7BAswA04ruvonAUnwLdjhphr1tFTlAaw4cTt3kTyCzAmcNkfDTrEC-Annzf3w8HP0Cd1bcLFxhPu3Pl4ggEHEzrsMvU1vvdA8wdxiRSAOsWTHpVK/s1600/Hand+%2526+Flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2pORifvEz5bo8QvnhNF4MPAVd8Gb7BAswA04ruvonAUnwLdjhphr1tFTlAaw4cTt3kTyCzAmcNkfDTrEC-Annzf3w8HP0Cd1bcLFxhPu3Pl4ggEHEzrsMvU1vvdA8wdxiRSAOsWTHpVK/s640/Hand+%2526+Flowers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em></em></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP2qLeumGrsTtudVbiXu9yAASd6jRHNAou9mYpK-4TpYaAOtejNvfaqqbFiLGcRJP5DVsiCy_3NdSbR1V9bzxGi9GqfCCjBrYaQFhNLYfS5VVr0Jz2SgOhNLbdIBGK2xwjQli4Qj_aAmB/s1600/Hand+&+Flowers+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidP2qLeumGrsTtudVbiXu9yAASd6jRHNAou9mYpK-4TpYaAOtejNvfaqqbFiLGcRJP5DVsiCy_3NdSbR1V9bzxGi9GqfCCjBrYaQFhNLYfS5VVr0Jz2SgOhNLbdIBGK2xwjQli4Qj_aAmB/s640/Hand+&+Flowers+1.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Beautiful light</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I’m not much of a photographer but I can’t help but notice
that the light in autumn is just beautiful. Long walks around London are one of
my favourite pastimes and I think that these snaps epitomize a sunny autumn day
in West London.</em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwGXHhbI_uBHruRHKPKX-WZR3_DkfZE8V9IZQuGSEQGd2ZHbPzjF7jnlislDyIawH-hI1Ub2NLMs7KwJ3Ro5i5-Lq1J862Tt5zl0uyQhpAPwW4QgfSzCfeXhTQd9q-kWZmLABGdhdZeNj/s1600/Havelock+Tavern+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwGXHhbI_uBHruRHKPKX-WZR3_DkfZE8V9IZQuGSEQGd2ZHbPzjF7jnlislDyIawH-hI1Ub2NLMs7KwJ3Ro5i5-Lq1J862Tt5zl0uyQhpAPwW4QgfSzCfeXhTQd9q-kWZmLABGdhdZeNj/s640/Havelock+Tavern+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Food</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Big, hearty meals are suddenly all you ever feel like
eating. Stews, casseroles, cooked breakfasts all start creeping back into my
diet. Ben and I usually like to try and take a day off in November just to
chill out in London, get some early Christmas shopping done and eat, eat, eat.
Last year this started with a hangover and a big hearty breakfast....</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>So, three things to be happy about for now. Plus there’s one
other thing that is kinda making me think that the frost and pants weather is
worth it; as of Monday, October 1<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>st</sup>, I will be officially training
to be a chef. Amazing. I’ve been saving every penny I can for the past year to
get myself in a position where I’m able to do this and, fingers crossed, it’s
all just about to pay off!</span></em></span></span> </span></div>
What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-85142218840635853912012-09-13T13:05:00.000-07:002012-09-13T13:05:12.909-07:00Summer Update<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Boy oh boy! It has been one hell of a summer and I have been none stop busy and completely unable to think straight, let alone get around to paying attention to my poor, lonely blog. Why so busy? WELL, I bought my first flat, I celebrated a birthday in the South of France, I joined the photo shoot for my mates’ new album cover, I danced the nights away at latitude festival, I planned and partied at my sister’s hen, I helped my lovely friends with the launch of their online boutique, my sister got married, I made the cake (!),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I joined in the London Olympic party spirit with gusto, I got to see blur (twice) and my sister got married again at our house in Spain...See what I mean?!</span></em><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s been amazing but a bit of whirlwind, so here is a brief update in pictures:</span></em></div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First off, the flat. After months of waiting, my sister and I finally completed on the flat of our dreams in Brixton. It’s a stunner and we are the happiest little ladies in the whole of South West London. Yes, it still needs a lot of attention and new furniture<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but it has such beautiful light and space and, after years of renting, we finally have a home to call our own. Hoorah!</span></em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pxNJMimapwR6908SzprV6k0f0VTu815fsH3dkkV6-zVlscBACQc3jC1OztPElSO5Nr1QF4NCJJJx9FrxVXt8yx1u52uCENBGATCUjQ2VrlRlWVUAvIIHkliYASosR7eIVCS4QHnN0q2C/s1600/brixton.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pxNJMimapwR6908SzprV6k0f0VTu815fsH3dkkV6-zVlscBACQc3jC1OztPElSO5Nr1QF4NCJJJx9FrxVXt8yx1u52uCENBGATCUjQ2VrlRlWVUAvIIHkliYASosR7eIVCS4QHnN0q2C/s640/brixton.png.jpg" width="435" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0s18CanJYAIPRtRF0fR2jDGcd8Lv_-A5pjvy3j3Z1IetkPLueTey4xfIUKk0cKfbynJS3mggvU8ZrUrvRV7opdfz6uQM10T045wbN_Hli6-FcHeF8VBOPqcXe6CicXgoZbYeZh9b6qB9/s1600/Summer+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My good buddy Alyshia took a few of us to her hotel in Cap Ferrat in the South of France to celebrate her birthday. Wow! The generosity her family showed us was beyond anything we could’ve expected and I don’t think any of us will be forgetting their yacht in a hurry...</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yxOqfMMtuwlWDx_MreN77rtmTGhfpZoF8S8FsA3i8NBsdY19-n-xc61kkdgaBjrNzgICHo1SC50TSkyenzCCfIbXsfApq1h0xGpUT0VBLQZfFRf1KA7QgIRMt9v20XiotsNMLmXoKaFY/s1600/France+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yxOqfMMtuwlWDx_MreN77rtmTGhfpZoF8S8FsA3i8NBsdY19-n-xc61kkdgaBjrNzgICHo1SC50TSkyenzCCfIbXsfApq1h0xGpUT0VBLQZfFRf1KA7QgIRMt9v20XiotsNMLmXoKaFY/s400/France+8.jpg" width="298" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ttDu_frhAJvAiYFjUBPFYFgCAsaCM5_IQ-_w7pRGkXPsBivO161fsrkEKSxsLsNC6S5xH29tC9EeEXrTIjUur3ii_NFJ9XfKzcRdjK_aQuC-G2z7uqQUVLhRl3z131-CAba7QKE9ckMd/s1600/France+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ttDu_frhAJvAiYFjUBPFYFgCAsaCM5_IQ-_w7pRGkXPsBivO161fsrkEKSxsLsNC6S5xH29tC9EeEXrTIjUur3ii_NFJ9XfKzcRdjK_aQuC-G2z7uqQUVLhRl3z131-CAba7QKE9ckMd/s400/France+6.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYzbUMpL6O_BheydoAExfjCcFf83Xx3wMAJolhaWZ8ESgXYtM0ftzMML30QTzwF_NaNtRAw7HBp2EloVQKpLNvW2RLrWWOr_dd00xa7mkZzKb-SpKbs_C4lvxrrNy__BzvDscdZa2gKwU/s1600/France+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYzbUMpL6O_BheydoAExfjCcFf83Xx3wMAJolhaWZ8ESgXYtM0ftzMML30QTzwF_NaNtRAw7HBp2EloVQKpLNvW2RLrWWOr_dd00xa7mkZzKb-SpKbs_C4lvxrrNy__BzvDscdZa2gKwU/s640/France+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I just happened to grow up with a few of the lovely and talented guys from Mumford & Sons so, when they needed a few pals to help them take pictures for their new album cover, I was delighted to help. The day ended in a food fight and I was digging food out of my bra for hours after, but oh what fun. I’m so tiny and blurred, I thought I’d give you a helping hand in spotting me...</span></em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVxQ03pt2kpsW4rkVB-qPUD7x-TwRG_vcCLOFY6RL78NiDAbsT3fLMk-NTigsP4vl8T4BwiBnRJs1aXq_2sM13Yhyphenhyphen8PpbIx0aWzbFDEtt_b1-NUDLq8-emCfijebXfGfWcIydzyU4fgNw/s1600/mumford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVxQ03pt2kpsW4rkVB-qPUD7x-TwRG_vcCLOFY6RL78NiDAbsT3fLMk-NTigsP4vl8T4BwiBnRJs1aXq_2sM13Yhyphenhyphen8PpbIx0aWzbFDEtt_b1-NUDLq8-emCfijebXfGfWcIydzyU4fgNw/s1600/mumford.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div align="center"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LATITUDE. My friend Neil was running the hilarious comedy shed for Monster Comedy and we used it as a base for the whole weekend. When we weren’t laughing our heads off, we were watching some cracking music. It was also pretty cool to run into Brittany from the Alabama Shakes whilst treating myself to a late night noodle feast.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKD9L0rvxCx9yuk87sSaHbqossyNwUOBoGPTjn4Vdkt4LD4jKb5AyXwRuTsGcIgdYpcX2OT6W7GXmATv7IWM1FJTGWp_fi_9kutdhyphenhyphenMGe4_y6UdVfOzSf0c337qk7F7p92tklt6A4IVG2/s1600/latitude+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKD9L0rvxCx9yuk87sSaHbqossyNwUOBoGPTjn4Vdkt4LD4jKb5AyXwRuTsGcIgdYpcX2OT6W7GXmATv7IWM1FJTGWp_fi_9kutdhyphenhyphenMGe4_y6UdVfOzSf0c337qk7F7p92tklt6A4IVG2/s640/latitude+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT32DWWvizE-2YDjhXT76Wtkn90GajFioUezVI-1WGzlPQoUH7Y-2z0gVgHAD1G-8hidjdGNwhTkoTCq4b6L-2M_XYWheYwnvzYq3sGD8DEHQzUpkYBia9cdYvUz_qnJxcQfpHJ5Z3ZWBc/s1600/latitude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT32DWWvizE-2YDjhXT76Wtkn90GajFioUezVI-1WGzlPQoUH7Y-2z0gVgHAD1G-8hidjdGNwhTkoTCq4b6L-2M_XYWheYwnvzYq3sGD8DEHQzUpkYBia9cdYvUz_qnJxcQfpHJ5Z3ZWBc/s640/latitude.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiXJzDcmlP_NfoUjWxF3QtQq4Bn3nAHiTPC6ZE1xAzynjILUBDab9Eu0r8mTSUYE_geYa1VZmssAnUPrvYXFGXHBz1KCbOiqP_zusmWlmNUpIl626KZeKRefM905YzcMdhgQ28st4j8ct/s1600/latitude+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiXJzDcmlP_NfoUjWxF3QtQq4Bn3nAHiTPC6ZE1xAzynjILUBDab9Eu0r8mTSUYE_geYa1VZmssAnUPrvYXFGXHBz1KCbOiqP_zusmWlmNUpIl626KZeKRefM905YzcMdhgQ28st4j8ct/s640/latitude+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I planned a pretty awesome hen party for my sister Mary with a few of her wonderful friends and a couple of other sisters. A blast from start to finish with a suitably whopping great hangover the next day</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7ITvw-MEK5Q0WL0Q2FxKFQ45ftKpCd2yjxHkv2VFJcTFyfGl8z7rp_IHRBgjp2yCN0IT7ENcIN5ynIHc2uOZug9hNcmmLLzIz1biYvfh7YKJyTZ0WwK5cg6vs7LiN9p5EBTZHvD7kew0/s1600/hen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7ITvw-MEK5Q0WL0Q2FxKFQ45ftKpCd2yjxHkv2VFJcTFyfGl8z7rp_IHRBgjp2yCN0IT7ENcIN5ynIHc2uOZug9hNcmmLLzIz1biYvfh7YKJyTZ0WwK5cg6vs7LiN9p5EBTZHvD7kew0/s640/hen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsgo-Ca6ULI8RLwBVlAc8A_ufcfPkGFJlOCq8s3NNyKwu890sDH1oxISsCNORbZoihE73y7FkWgOxGopPxUviQs_xZ7hPH_9ozdsdoRCsDAM9yaOHQ7trXVfJZLNOGtYE9TbCNT2N0e7T/s1600/hen+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7jU79vT7hep0__djSmqCxu_4_Kn52RzvragSKC08OFLZnzPOgCCBN1Sf9mvj5MnsqspRvEcalwCAVjd7vqelQxPiEzVMaXtAiUYnjuZDeYjqq2HuIlnVu20DYtJVeUZyqA1Xfazk_dgS/s1600/hen+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">My gorgeous friends Rachel and Lucy launched an online accessories boutique and, oh wow, it is really something special. They asked me to a bit of modelling (in the loosest sense of the word) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I was lucky enough to get a preview of all their wonderfully cool and quirky stock. LOVE indeed. Looky looky at the beauties on my feet, hands, neck...check it out! <a href="http://www.fromlondonwithlove.com/"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>www.fromlondonwithlove.com</em></span></a></span></span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></em> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieGY-cBddYBQnISZVTfCtplw05LDobheXSRqCj5tAuTjXza1OdzZrq8D6ICTe_Q9GphilpkJZFJ7JOp443eWSu86q-M_i5Ysfb2EaiigENrDJk4vYX7R7ohyphenhyphenRG0E5Kg-vTSa1sXvqJEEd/s1600/London+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieGY-cBddYBQnISZVTfCtplw05LDobheXSRqCj5tAuTjXza1OdzZrq8D6ICTe_Q9GphilpkJZFJ7JOp443eWSu86q-M_i5Ysfb2EaiigENrDJk4vYX7R7ohyphenhyphenRG0E5Kg-vTSa1sXvqJEEd/s640/London+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHs-dzJ5ebIxjp-k5WBBRo_czQq0N7LOhyphenhyphen7iJZGzMcGOnhv-1Ltnw6KWJQjzu2gWrougTK-7ZU5bhlCkM_P1PywTEwTYheQb9Yh9Oc0xB2ReBV-tFnPqoTau_1A86-sTVITThNFwTWvhjM/s1600/London+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHs-dzJ5ebIxjp-k5WBBRo_czQq0N7LOhyphenhyphen7iJZGzMcGOnhv-1Ltnw6KWJQjzu2gWrougTK-7ZU5bhlCkM_P1PywTEwTYheQb9Yh9Oc0xB2ReBV-tFnPqoTau_1A86-sTVITThNFwTWvhjM/s400/London+5.jpg" width="267" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Klb7xtoYzkknKZHo7li6i5mTHMBN5xaqMX8f_h2a1vvf1U5ZodWp_utf9wNTRqF_cQ9WWfHqcbuf2ELlh0je1ewm8Y4BCrVK_ZxklKTx8dTbkDlcimAOzTt_nGEaCIyslv74YJboQ9_D/s1600/London+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Klb7xtoYzkknKZHo7li6i5mTHMBN5xaqMX8f_h2a1vvf1U5ZodWp_utf9wNTRqF_cQ9WWfHqcbuf2ELlh0je1ewm8Y4BCrVK_ZxklKTx8dTbkDlcimAOzTt_nGEaCIyslv74YJboQ9_D/s400/London+3.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZXO9KrwEsPwah01I7zRDPAbJ3Pk0hUZUN5Xl4UmFWFfO4RKrhxKyZs_5KT1o1IhPAbR5rqDFQw9dG2HBj0DXEQuhtY333xCDyYqR8L6vJvkPUx68u2-SVrVs7VpyNbKH5_AUIG8tSG9n/s1600/London+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZXO9KrwEsPwah01I7zRDPAbJ3Pk0hUZUN5Xl4UmFWFfO4RKrhxKyZs_5KT1o1IhPAbR5rqDFQw9dG2HBj0DXEQuhtY333xCDyYqR8L6vJvkPUx68u2-SVrVs7VpyNbKH5_AUIG8tSG9n/s640/London+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"></div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My bootiful sister Mary got married to the wonderful Nick from our house in Wimbledon. All five of us sisters were back together as my biggest one Katie came back from Hong Kong for the big day. It was so special and the happiest of days</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lCg-P3E6WMMZ-H9KcrAypWX2OrvkkIHredYe1n0EgJYgH8yrfymtP0nJ2qpXr3tQ5DggUy4riHokUoVFG73Tl5FaehrU7nVFwrrop8RAQkAGavmt-mjh2b7GV46J_IZTTRi87WzsiyeJ/s1600/Wedding+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lCg-P3E6WMMZ-H9KcrAypWX2OrvkkIHredYe1n0EgJYgH8yrfymtP0nJ2qpXr3tQ5DggUy4riHokUoVFG73Tl5FaehrU7nVFwrrop8RAQkAGavmt-mjh2b7GV46J_IZTTRi87WzsiyeJ/s640/Wedding+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjus2iFui-iE8w6y_8AyhO3piSNLzGYcI2QYiPrIkHprQiO-_PTKKqlLRq2mGWMl7K3t85lamuroHM9gXzO2pIojUm3jq7tFIy7nfdGN1WPdwDo2Z4lJUCIJ011EzOlGeuAYvkpDD9o6YiH/s1600/Wedding+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjus2iFui-iE8w6y_8AyhO3piSNLzGYcI2QYiPrIkHprQiO-_PTKKqlLRq2mGWMl7K3t85lamuroHM9gXzO2pIojUm3jq7tFIy7nfdGN1WPdwDo2Z4lJUCIJ011EzOlGeuAYvkpDD9o6YiH/s640/Wedding+3.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Aaaand, I made the cake...</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YW9RajzHRdn4RqNZiRKZ0n37TMlHyLq-4s6iCRzeWqi95v4iafme5hmtOOQI-jHxcupyriZMg9b9oEwwgpfH4GKHYVHQy6zF6wXhwfWop5QTBj-VmCX7lM3iuFWqbfd8Ryfb1Y8zts1t/s1600/Cake+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YW9RajzHRdn4RqNZiRKZ0n37TMlHyLq-4s6iCRzeWqi95v4iafme5hmtOOQI-jHxcupyriZMg9b9oEwwgpfH4GKHYVHQy6zF6wXhwfWop5QTBj-VmCX7lM3iuFWqbfd8Ryfb1Y8zts1t/s640/Cake+4.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGknKa56F2UU-7eeUx9AEHlikqZhnSwkUtVgIQTSl74UDCwssK4K3GB90KJXb81c84E1rRN9yzXY7J03tQFuGTl_zZJf8tbnaqIox_bexhJd3he97Vy16RJtopEemfrBbj48oWIbZUFhDm/s1600/Cake+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGknKa56F2UU-7eeUx9AEHlikqZhnSwkUtVgIQTSl74UDCwssK4K3GB90KJXb81c84E1rRN9yzXY7J03tQFuGTl_zZJf8tbnaqIox_bexhJd3he97Vy16RJtopEemfrBbj48oWIbZUFhDm/s640/Cake+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Olympics came to London and I totally surprised myself at how much I loved it. I didn’t have any tickets but that didn’t stop me!</span></span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkd3uTP1t4B6_27Oo2iqJVOrxKHG7dTIuDiEYD2NOw8hm5JOQSykLlw6S0r9A8JG32nWUxiLQteo7L-C5X7cPK9XvldDih4J6lzWCNyHIaZAqnySzSTS0e6nEyhD46fDDqwLORuIVLVUzU/s1600/Summer+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkd3uTP1t4B6_27Oo2iqJVOrxKHG7dTIuDiEYD2NOw8hm5JOQSykLlw6S0r9A8JG32nWUxiLQteo7L-C5X7cPK9XvldDih4J6lzWCNyHIaZAqnySzSTS0e6nEyhD46fDDqwLORuIVLVUzU/s640/Summer+1.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuhSuo7fkjEsZokHsruIh31otAaQT-CY3uGiQQf9ZJQthvlMQPNv7mvAICN3aDmnS_gBg50x1HAkvQtX9yPyoqoOcFvBxGkIAHyfD719DQxX9azVH7YIaYYWw9jon2YDdmIWMpgqe9_ed/s1600/Summer+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuhSuo7fkjEsZokHsruIh31otAaQT-CY3uGiQQf9ZJQthvlMQPNv7mvAICN3aDmnS_gBg50x1HAkvQtX9yPyoqoOcFvBxGkIAHyfD719DQxX9azVH7YIaYYWw9jon2YDdmIWMpgqe9_ed/s640/Summer+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"></div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My sisters and I all had tickets to see the incredible blur at the end of the Olympics, but, GET THIS, my clever friend Mei managed to also wangle two tickets to a last minute blur gig at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. That’s a capacity of 350 people. As you can imagine it was incredible, yes we nearly died and I may have broken a few ribs but to see blur with 350 people one week and 80,000 the next. </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></em> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGQ-HxxEVo7XWJZhbe1xvcRtcPlG2nTtYbt6As9r7s_gJM6y5SFrWdNheATkutTE4upz8gZ-EWQQygoROF47CJUpRxRKQwQmexd1RfbQoky1xG8RHDaonUGOVj6DofEjWCTIdu-XunOnJ/s1600/Blur+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGQ-HxxEVo7XWJZhbe1xvcRtcPlG2nTtYbt6As9r7s_gJM6y5SFrWdNheATkutTE4upz8gZ-EWQQygoROF47CJUpRxRKQwQmexd1RfbQoky1xG8RHDaonUGOVj6DofEjWCTIdu-XunOnJ/s400/Blur+1.jpg" width="271" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq90nPHwDd1TAX6k5AkDBlb2ikFtni4IB1gnC-fR21rv-w94cw2MjxOI_J_eFeSrq-VMSerR89ot9pq49VaBihVVGvn5a7haL86j9XAFslAJHQ2ilBysa2w53gDdn3REbri43tdu99ZlFy/s1600/Blur+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq90nPHwDd1TAX6k5AkDBlb2ikFtni4IB1gnC-fR21rv-w94cw2MjxOI_J_eFeSrq-VMSerR89ot9pq49VaBihVVGvn5a7haL86j9XAFslAJHQ2ilBysa2w53gDdn3REbri43tdu99ZlFy/s400/Blur+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">SO close!</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">And then so far...</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></em> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0LNFUtmH-gELodvT1bHZYBdHtEngYhwTXfn0g4qpFCNsO7PU0opDwXokmM5uWJGccxMgPO6DicoEQkefQW2_Hth7hDyNtIJiPJ5Vl2ff_SWW4ABxlRsFJ-uoLRCQi6ko8IsDemCSCiG2/s1600/Blur+Summer+Sun+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0LNFUtmH-gELodvT1bHZYBdHtEngYhwTXfn0g4qpFCNsO7PU0opDwXokmM5uWJGccxMgPO6DicoEQkefQW2_Hth7hDyNtIJiPJ5Vl2ff_SWW4ABxlRsFJ-uoLRCQi6ko8IsDemCSCiG2/s640/Blur+Summer+Sun+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My sister always wanted to get married at our house in Spain but, for admin reasons, this wasn’t really possible so she ended up having a second beautiful ceremony in the mountains followed by a big ol’ fiesta. I cried like a baby, I danced like a loca lady and I scoffed tapas and paella to my heart’s content. </span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0RMQtnIKkZ8tDraFCIie8M3K461cwdgZVh6I_uBjF_N409NcJNUY_FBtYeDqaR8FNbY3BuR6T9LGpaHlhmRNmqzUSmGdDsCJwDuGbSUMcKkYhkMNCrN81-uZZSWmT3GojzkhkAxTUIr9/s1600/spain+wedding+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0RMQtnIKkZ8tDraFCIie8M3K461cwdgZVh6I_uBjF_N409NcJNUY_FBtYeDqaR8FNbY3BuR6T9LGpaHlhmRNmqzUSmGdDsCJwDuGbSUMcKkYhkMNCrN81-uZZSWmT3GojzkhkAxTUIr9/s640/spain+wedding+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua94FAeknkiIjc-H0Lceyn7DUG6pO8-Yle3wS2-x_Qr2BHyhIgFL6k_R0lIhvc9T3MrgYZXncLCSDhOrnoAs3lA_M02142WRycEMfNZEZJn4ZufwNs0yY2FFWfBTH6Wvw4prIVIb8kd_m/s1600/spain+wedding+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua94FAeknkiIjc-H0Lceyn7DUG6pO8-Yle3wS2-x_Qr2BHyhIgFL6k_R0lIhvc9T3MrgYZXncLCSDhOrnoAs3lA_M02142WRycEMfNZEZJn4ZufwNs0yY2FFWfBTH6Wvw4prIVIb8kd_m/s640/spain+wedding+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></em> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And finally I got the time to relax for a week by the pool with some of my very bestest friends at my parents Spanish abode. Mmmmm loverly!</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOzg-L1p-fQ2tPbt5OFUfx-41_EDVxkKusTZ8GfEoBmyeN4_veFh_mYVOkxgEwcKLKY5Vr-E1ASSswbtZw5vWESZ7_QjK58Trzpl4I4ItRn62Q2QykkF4i5Atts2YtrLq97izJf21E5CN/s1600/spain+hol+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOzg-L1p-fQ2tPbt5OFUfx-41_EDVxkKusTZ8GfEoBmyeN4_veFh_mYVOkxgEwcKLKY5Vr-E1ASSswbtZw5vWESZ7_QjK58Trzpl4I4ItRn62Q2QykkF4i5Atts2YtrLq97izJf21E5CN/s640/spain+hol+1.png" width="640" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiac-6vUPjbc1FEc7fqnpYoqQy2-j6U6-gVjzdM-BecKGgXOVRxWcEu7AfRxXbHwzz7cigiBiXpXpTum2sfQLndkiGr80-NSiInJvrmrllPd08uCYli2NK4QeuEEs2Ana6ayfh-n2MP5a7/s1600/spain+hol+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiac-6vUPjbc1FEc7fqnpYoqQy2-j6U6-gVjzdM-BecKGgXOVRxWcEu7AfRxXbHwzz7cigiBiXpXpTum2sfQLndkiGr80-NSiInJvrmrllPd08uCYli2NK4QeuEEs2Ana6ayfh-n2MP5a7/s640/spain+hol+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;"> </div><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So what now? Well exciting times are up ahead as well, but that’s a story for another day .</span></em></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-34676993945393242592012-05-28T14:38:00.002-07:002012-05-28T14:42:14.438-07:00Stowells Light Wine<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I’m the youngest of five sisters who went to an all girls’ school so I think I’m quite good at understanding what women want! SO, when I saw a new low calorie wine was available, I thought it was my selfless duty to try it out and see how it tasted...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What with this being a sort of experiment as to whether the low calorie stuff will ever be a realistic replacement to the kind we all know and love, I thought it would be best to recruit an impartial panel of judges.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;"><strong>The Panel</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORQG2RygFI8lTfzF_6VFXbk2BnJqyht5_dqyybZ0MPPBf88x9JdxdCrfSt_YqU0aJzCEW4LLNw1kHraeBaDRy5bMdq01T5BOrTxD3aNG09_oVosjiANUA2668tnQ6K_gvMYu1UekLiIrX/s1600/The+Panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORQG2RygFI8lTfzF_6VFXbk2BnJqyht5_dqyybZ0MPPBf88x9JdxdCrfSt_YqU0aJzCEW4LLNw1kHraeBaDRy5bMdq01T5BOrTxD3aNG09_oVosjiANUA2668tnQ6K_gvMYu1UekLiIrX/s640/The+Panel.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;">The Wine</span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYlDRkW9-qDpgZ0wHAyzqRRlTaXK0ptFOuFYtwrRANEsi_dqIsp4At9sb2eAuJPnS7Gw-5hu7dE_4GoXGRt2VEtFP2q3D9aP9j-s1ODyesgCizJDGCWsE_cv9GVjOHF-j9nuwPxzv6D3V/s1600/The+Wine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYlDRkW9-qDpgZ0wHAyzqRRlTaXK0ptFOuFYtwrRANEsi_dqIsp4At9sb2eAuJPnS7Gw-5hu7dE_4GoXGRt2VEtFP2q3D9aP9j-s1ODyesgCizJDGCWsE_cv9GVjOHF-j9nuwPxzv6D3V/s640/The+Wine.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBK0ckgDBbxkYSwr7-Ks1lEmgHDSSWBES0gnG51clc5HznGzBZOy3OKpBaqp87SQEjYBadwBm3-P11C8n_279e-W6zlr-D6XvXrC0sAYimsCUZUaw2bojpXceKQ8xOBnlFcUDEJUs49ZQ/s1600/The+Wine+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBK0ckgDBbxkYSwr7-Ks1lEmgHDSSWBES0gnG51clc5HznGzBZOy3OKpBaqp87SQEjYBadwBm3-P11C8n_279e-W6zlr-D6XvXrC0sAYimsCUZUaw2bojpXceKQ8xOBnlFcUDEJUs49ZQ/s640/The+Wine+4.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LUIrNFe_f7TPWF-MCks1wYaKpKl3SjSmGk9OaQViDapanZeqNQUIXcnx1rFve3LlU0HcHxVi0pwz7Jtk54PGLdasKZbj0AL-TtDOLI9R8BhLTuxN9IEKDd5u945b4Nh51zDgsz2euyFL/s1600/The+Wine+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LUIrNFe_f7TPWF-MCks1wYaKpKl3SjSmGk9OaQViDapanZeqNQUIXcnx1rFve3LlU0HcHxVi0pwz7Jtk54PGLdasKZbj0AL-TtDOLI9R8BhLTuxN9IEKDd5u945b4Nh51zDgsz2euyFL/s640/The+Wine+2.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Scores</span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrch5POc2bmIvPABiTuOXyE5bPusCa2uMFB6gO0tU6LHCbsaj19-O0hmqLX3y_5piGGDuWqtp-hvDkJ-UrHh2oHgdfqmSsiHum3jEJk3N1C6VlfaF-JAKefT4jJ1VUmfb_ABC_Y591Nmf/s1600/the+Wine+Scores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrch5POc2bmIvPABiTuOXyE5bPusCa2uMFB6gO0tU6LHCbsaj19-O0hmqLX3y_5piGGDuWqtp-hvDkJ-UrHh2oHgdfqmSsiHum3jEJk3N1C6VlfaF-JAKefT4jJ1VUmfb_ABC_Y591Nmf/s640/the+Wine+Scores.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">6/10: Georgia - "The wine was definitely drinkable (it tasted of cranberries!) but a little sweet to have a lot of it. I think if I were to vary it with some normal rosé or white then it would be an excellent guilt-free treat. "<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">5/10: Jennie - "I'm pretty undecided. I like the idea of it and would probably drink it again, but I don't think I care enough about the calories to pass up on a good wine for this..."<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">9/10: Melissa - "It doesn't taste 100% the same as normal wine, but it's still very drinkable. For so few calories it definitely appeals over normal wine!"<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">9/10: Hellie - "Fruity and elegant, the perfect Sunday night tipple."<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">8/10: Kirstie - "It was really quite tasty, much more so than I imagined - and great as I am really into running so still being able to enjoy wine is a real plus...Deliiiicious"<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">7/10: Jess - "Nice fruity flavour, suitable for a summer’s afternoon due to the low alcohol content. Slightly on the sweet side for my tastes."<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">3/10: Millie - "It tastes like adult Ribena. Not the wine for me!"<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">And me...</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #403152; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">7/10 - I like the idea more than I love the wine itself. As well as the calories, the alcohol content is lower so it is kind of perfect for a summer afternoon in the sunshine. Put it like this...I'm not going to pass up a great bottle of wine for Stowells Light version but I definitely think I would buy it again. I would recommend trying it because those who liked it, really liked it! It's love/hate, but if you're a lover, think of all those calories you could be saving, eh?!<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
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</div><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-19432195250397104652012-05-15T13:05:00.000-07:002012-05-15T13:05:57.915-07:00Sunny Lunch in Kensal Rise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2AjOhq9J0N08Ge8TUvgPA9Kz-I2bYVpOjGRCsK2J6emUINEcL2uBoDsAWhSDCUtJ7L1vSLIfZ7jND8gdPmWRcyckGrphaG_oNcov4SaDHB_UKCoNP19eSj24ThyphenhyphenD9z2qNJIMhdkFU7li/s1600/sun+in+kensal+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2AjOhq9J0N08Ge8TUvgPA9Kz-I2bYVpOjGRCsK2J6emUINEcL2uBoDsAWhSDCUtJ7L1vSLIfZ7jND8gdPmWRcyckGrphaG_oNcov4SaDHB_UKCoNP19eSj24ThyphenhyphenD9z2qNJIMhdkFU7li/s640/sun+in+kensal+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I </span>hate to be one of those people who only talks about the weather, but I can’t help looking out of my window at the intense hail storm and dreaming back to two days ago when I was helping my sister and her fiancé with a spot of gardening and having lunch out in the sunshine. Having had horrible, grey and rainy skies for weeks, we spent the whole weekend moseying around outside and just enjoying life for a bit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It might have been a little premature of us (being that it was pretty chilly when the clouds came out), but we just couldn’t resist eating outside, having a delicious lunch with lots of treats from l’Angolo deli in Kensal Rise. If you’re ever in the College Road area, you must go in and get some of their humous. My sister’s vegetarian fiancé swears it’s the best he’s had...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkY2rqXkpgzqN9pbv1uhJ20BODecMQh_SiLa1Xc9U4oo_0AdXVqyQ2o9HvTkAWb2ENuXfguzOU088ZG8KL0P_D9Wn87xzdS-Rdas6yUUdIubxrLX5NJI-jeJ_IBK1EEC-xMdS2xwLzJKG/s1600/sun+in+kensal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkY2rqXkpgzqN9pbv1uhJ20BODecMQh_SiLa1Xc9U4oo_0AdXVqyQ2o9HvTkAWb2ENuXfguzOU088ZG8KL0P_D9Wn87xzdS-Rdas6yUUdIubxrLX5NJI-jeJ_IBK1EEC-xMdS2xwLzJKG/s640/sun+in+kensal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKveWQmGu0U0RR3r_Hkdi0DmR0xDV6lJ-_zbCi5pAdLAIu1nhSW02NbYtZt7y-h21S8czRkFHsZr2gawca7lC-9q58xkwR181Cs6aj4f4pvfDNcW-3XFC-SFLx-0CBOc1uiyXL7f6gh9x/s1600/daisy+chain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKveWQmGu0U0RR3r_Hkdi0DmR0xDV6lJ-_zbCi5pAdLAIu1nhSW02NbYtZt7y-h21S8czRkFHsZr2gawca7lC-9q58xkwR181Cs6aj4f4pvfDNcW-3XFC-SFLx-0CBOc1uiyXL7f6gh9x/s640/daisy+chain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-48701071235889739142012-05-09T07:06:00.003-07:002012-05-10T03:30:55.304-07:00When Lucy met Graham Coxon<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A couple of weeks ago a very exciting thing happened to me.
Yup, the title of the post probably gave it away...I got to meet one of my all
time heroes, Graham Coxon!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">This was literally the highlight of my year so far so please
excuse my ‘I think I’m going to explode with happiness’ face in this picture. I
think we can see that I was just a little more excited by the whole situation
than Graham.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDe4tsvVfRPUuvsNLtvAH9cnq1Lcd9O2LeJA9loOBNRhWSees7aNe9sA54sxI7y0ygGC_Ziy9QcyxxCOfZmfDBKwNs6lSIaqYy7t81V0p9x0m49XwxTcV4QS_WFfpVUDeQwOtq0mGHu8Wc/s1600/gcc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDe4tsvVfRPUuvsNLtvAH9cnq1Lcd9O2LeJA9loOBNRhWSees7aNe9sA54sxI7y0ygGC_Ziy9QcyxxCOfZmfDBKwNs6lSIaqYy7t81V0p9x0m49XwxTcV4QS_WFfpVUDeQwOtq0mGHu8Wc/s400/gcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I had a million questions to ask him, but when it came down
to it, I was just way too nervous and there was a whole room of people
listening to me talk which made me feel
like a right wally. Bar all the obvious questions about the music, I was really
hoping I could grill him about some foody things and maybe even get a good
restaurant recommendation out of him.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
Well this wasn’t to be (because I bottled it) but I thought
you fellow Coxon / food fans may like to know what this wonderful rockstar has
in his dressing room:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Mini chocolate bars (Maltesers, Milky Ways...)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A big fruit selection</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Peanuts</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Crisps</span></div>
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Bread/ toast</span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Yup, that’s it. At least that’s all I could see
without snooping too obviously. If only I’d known, I could have won him over
with some delicious, homemade treats. What a wasted opportunity...</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-62471550399107174892012-04-29T12:24:00.001-07:002012-05-01T12:48:21.759-07:00Valentine Warner at Pizza Express: a pizza masterclass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvQMIBETOHPOtuQh_Xj02ft-GDyhU2H2pbv9ko_UQ1RVZH9Gu1vfOZ6r5hzr4mESlZrP4dyo_wSO7NU0bLeyyJ8yEL_flSSfR8vEH1L6la-2rsFVJs-FQbFqzruy5uf3YG7Con_mKpApV/s1600/PE_Bloggers012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvQMIBETOHPOtuQh_Xj02ft-GDyhU2H2pbv9ko_UQ1RVZH9Gu1vfOZ6r5hzr4mESlZrP4dyo_wSO7NU0bLeyyJ8yEL_flSSfR8vEH1L6la-2rsFVJs-FQbFqzruy5uf3YG7Con_mKpApV/s640/PE_Bloggers012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">On Tuesday evening food bloggers from around London assembled
in the downstairs private room at Pizza Express, Holborn. We had been invited
to sample Valentine Warner’s two new pizzas for the chain and have the man himself
show us how to make them. Well, I didn’t have to be asked twice! I have a huge
soft spot for Pizza Express because it’s always a reliable, reasonably priced, good
feed (and they quite often have some sort of deal going). I was there like a
shot. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So it turns out that Valentine is no stranger to Pizza
Express, having worked as a waiter for them several years ago, but how things have
now changed! Having offered to produce a new pizza for their menu, Pizza
Express granted him creative control over two guest pizzas, the Puttanesca and
the Fennel and Salami, which he
developed with their chefs. The former was Valentine’s take on the pasta sauce
and a nod to the fact that in Italy pizzas don’t always need to be covered in
cheese, the latter, an indulgence in his long standing love of fennel.</span></div>
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</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">First up, the Fennel and Salami. The pizza features the basic
passata and mozzarella with <span lang="EN">fennel
salami from Trealy Farm, along with a generous sprinkling of fennel seeds and a
restrained helping of chilli flakes. Once cooked, the pizza is topped with
rocket and sliced fresh fennel which have been tossed in a lemon dressing.</span><span lang="EN"> </span>His passion for the ingredients and his enthusiasm for the
pizza he had created was apparent and it really came across in the flavours. I
LOVE fennel anyway so this was always going to be a winner with me, but the
addition of the fennel and rocket salad with
lemon oil made it taste incredibly light and fresh. This pizza isn’t going to
be for you if you’re not into fennel, (they even had Trealy Farm create a more intensely
flavoured fennel salami specifically for Pizza Express as it was felt the flavour
needed to be stronger), but I would urge you try it next time you’re there if
you fancy something new because that pizza is gooood!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Next was the Puttanesca,
which Valentine himself describes as being a “grown up” pizza. Based on the
pasta sauce of the same name, it packs a real punch with salty <span lang="EN">anchovies, capers, green and black olives, along with
the fresh red chillies, lemon oil, lemon zest and garlic oil and finished with
fresh oregano after it’s been cooked. These flavours are comparatively mellow
in a pasta dish, but generously piled on a pizza it’s pretty intense. Intense
in a good way, but I’m not sure I could make my way through a whole one. For me
it’s a sharer pizza or the kind of pizza that you would want to get if you were
having “one for the table”; essentially what happens when one pizza per person
is just not enough! </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Valentine’s
right, the lack of cheese on the Puttanesca and the strength of the flavours,
do make it more of a grown up pizza but it’s still good and worth him taking
the risk of being scoffed at by a few purist italians who find the idea of turning
a pasta dish into a pizza a bit of a joke. In a way it’s obvious that it would
work because those classic flavours blend so well together and even though they’re
strong, they aren’t battling with each other.
Valentine insisted on a higher quality of olives than usually found in
Pizza Express to be used on this pizza and it makes a difference. For both the
Puttanesca and the fennel and Salami, the attention to details and the impact
of flavours makes them both worthy of taking a place on the trusty old Pizza
Express menu.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It helps that
Valentine Warner is friendly and incredibly likeable but the proof of the pizza
is in the eating and I definitely think these are going to be big hits for
Pizza Express. Me, I have a date with a Fennel and Salami pizza lined up for
next week...</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My partners in crime for the night were The London Pizza Bloggers and if you are ever
looking for a great pizza in London I would highly recommend them; essentially just a couple of greedy pizza lovers who are making it their mission to
sniff out the best pizza joints in London. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.thelondonpizzablog.com/">www.thelondonpizzablog.com</a></span></span></div>
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</div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-277523757251169522012-03-15T16:59:00.004-07:002012-05-01T12:50:40.048-07:00Pierre Herme Macaron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MyNy_EPuZRTxGqNMnzUD5PPZ1oL8OJCTuO6K32PAh_dNlk26LrYCjuCVjeQgeUxHq5N8mqUmMu-eXEj7gmEKvW5XbzDcGUo8WsVmgCzkRJti4h2afG93nAgg-vqEwvA-E6UlAzfn1KOe/s1600/PH+varied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MyNy_EPuZRTxGqNMnzUD5PPZ1oL8OJCTuO6K32PAh_dNlk26LrYCjuCVjeQgeUxHq5N8mqUmMu-eXEj7gmEKvW5XbzDcGUo8WsVmgCzkRJti4h2afG93nAgg-vqEwvA-E6UlAzfn1KOe/s640/PH+varied.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Every now and then you come across something that kind of changes your life as you know it. For me, one of these moments occurred in the summer of 2009 when I was offered my first macaron; a Laduree creation that had me reeling! Since then I have always tried to keep the macaron in my life, indulging whenever I have the opportunity. They are so sugary and rich (but they don’t come cheap), so they will always be an indulgence item, but boy are they worth it!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I always thought of Laduree as the pinnacle of macaron craftsmanship, that is until Christmas, when I was giving a gorgeous looking box stuffed with macarons of the most amazing colours and flavours. They were from Pierre Herme, the French patisserie chef who has mastered the creation of weird, wonderful and beautiful macarons.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I have visited their store on Lowndes Street only a couple of times since then because I find it practically impossible to resist the urge of buying a big box, but a sudden urge for macarons (plus a need to buy a present for Ben’s mum) sent me there the other day and I was once again reminded of its greatness.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Let’s put his in perspective, this place made not one BUT TWO sweet macaroons with foie gras at Christmas! Yup, they really push the boat out with the flavours and it honestly works. Having poked my nose in last weekend, my attention was caught by a gorgeous bright red and green macaroon, which they told me was their special Mother’s Day creation. Believe me, I can think of no better place to get a treat for your mum! The Mother’s Day macaron is Pistachio and Raspberry compote and fits in just perfectly with a big, mixed, box of macarons (as I found out when I was eating a box of them later in front of the TV). The store always has some of the classic macaron flavours, but mixes them up with something a little more interesting such as, Green Tea, Chanterelle Mushroom & Lemon. It’s good.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">So, if you are thinking that Pierre Herme’s boutique might just merit a visit, it’s worth noting that they are running their Macaron Day on Tuesday 20<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> March, too late for Mother’s Day but still a great way of welcoming the first day of spring on Wednesday 21<sup>st</sup>...If you need an excuse.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Walking home with my valuable macaron!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For one day only on Macaron Day, Pierre Herme will be stocking a staggering 25 flavour of macarons, including their foie gras variety(!), in what they call a “taste retrospective”. The event is held in aid of Ambitious about Autism and with the tag line “1 Donation, 1 Macaron” and with a percentage of all sales on the day to be donated to Ambitious about Autism, you can’t go far wrong. You can find out more here: </span></span><a href="http://www.pierreherme.com/media/catalog/product/JDM-UK.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">www.pierreherme.com/media/catalog/product/JDM-UK.pdf</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Now, I have made macarons on a few occasions with varying degrees of success. One thing is for sure though, I certainly can’t make them as neat as I’d like! I always like to try out different flavours and my latest batch of lemon and pistachio ones certainly went down well, it’s just a shame I didn’t think about the colour composition before I started as my greens and yellows all look a bit samey. A nice chocolately brown and pink would’ve brought them to life quite nicely...something to think about for the future, but for now here’s my macaron recipe very heavily influenced my Eric Lanlards from Home Bake, which I have found to be the best:</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ingedients:</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For basic macaron mixture:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">100g ground almonds</span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">100g icing sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">90g egg whites (from 3 large eggs)</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">100g<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Sift the icing sugar and almonds together in a bowl.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites on a fast speed with an electric whisk. When this starts to thicken, gradually add the caster sugar until it forms stiff peaks.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, along with your chosen colouring and flavouring with a large metal spoon.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees Centigrade. Lay baking parchment on large backing trays and using a wide, plain nozzle, pipe out discs of mixture approximately 3cm round. Leave these to dry a little for 5-10 minutes.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, making sure that they don’t start to brown.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>As soon as they come out of the oven, it’s a great tip to lift the baking parchment and pur some very cold water onto the tray. This makes it much easier to remove the discs from the parchment with a spatula.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>When they are cool, sandwich together with your choice of filling.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For my lemon and pistachio macarons you will need the following:</span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Lemon:</span></strong></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 drops of lemon essence for flavouring</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A few drops of yellow food colouring to achieve your desired depth of colour</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Good quality, shop bought lemon curd for the filling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="color: #20124d;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pistachio:</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For the main mixture, substitute 20g of the almons with raw pistachio nuts and blitz them up into a fine powder (so 80g ground almond and 20g whizzed up pistachios)</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A few drops of green food colouring</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pistachio Ganache<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for the filling, as below:</span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ingredients</span></strong></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">100ml single cream </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">40g unsalted pistachios (smashed up into small chunks)</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">40g caster sugar </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 tablespoon caster sugar </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 egg yolks </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">20g butter, softened </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A few drops of green or black food colouring</span> </span></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For the pistachio ganache: </span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat then add the pistachios, sugar and caster sugar. Bring to the boil, then add the eggs and cook and turn down, making sure it does not boil but is on the point of boiling. Remove from heat, stir in the softened butter and food colouring, then refrigerate</span>.</span><br />
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</div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-51175546278515670752012-02-22T13:48:00.000-08:002012-02-22T13:48:17.722-08:00Rick Steins Fish & Chips, Padstow<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"> <strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Battered Oysters</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGel16pLyLWf_mZsgG43tgUuTvViHg8Ar7e-h4Nj0tKroYk1VeHPY3aCvIEET7adYthttFx3jdz10Gx8tzHU4UjZ5XmST7lXGuAcTHCeaJrsx82JD2mCzKRuKv45maGDDAYEmsONb5Gjo/s1600/IMGP5137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGel16pLyLWf_mZsgG43tgUuTvViHg8Ar7e-h4Nj0tKroYk1VeHPY3aCvIEET7adYthttFx3jdz10Gx8tzHU4UjZ5XmST7lXGuAcTHCeaJrsx82JD2mCzKRuKv45maGDDAYEmsONb5Gjo/s400/IMGP5137.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Last weekend I took a much needed couple of days and headed down to Cornwall with my sister (Alice) and our boyfriends (Ben, George) in tow. The plan: to eat, drink, walk and generally look after ourselves very well until we felt we could face London again.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgqYcCv9ZGR2_oNsVAeJ7W1q0jUQtqAZWG6VOwdzSg_Og8LrUvHgCl2SRcoqGnWRu7mEiX5g6auxJFVrUIRHngj7UG5_LxkRXVUykY2U47hyIriCzTD5O_5aqhmdL3JOuvYzBjqvCIjXv/s1600/IMGP5061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgqYcCv9ZGR2_oNsVAeJ7W1q0jUQtqAZWG6VOwdzSg_Og8LrUvHgCl2SRcoqGnWRu7mEiX5g6auxJFVrUIRHngj7UG5_LxkRXVUykY2U47hyIriCzTD5O_5aqhmdL3JOuvYzBjqvCIjXv/s400/IMGP5061.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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We were staying in George's bungalow in St Austell; a perfect little place to dump stuff during the day's activities and really settle into in the evenings. Very cosy with about 50 electric heaters blaring! Several evenings the pineapple rum made an appearance; it is delicious with ice after dinner (or whenever you fancy it really, I wouldn’t want to be too prescriptive!).<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Well we certainly did look after ourselves and we pretty much ate ourselves to a standstill most days and yet, after two solid days of gluttony, we still managed to get completely over excited about getting ourselves down to Rick Stein's Fish & Chips for Sunday lunch.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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We were queuing for about 30 minutes in the cold because (as you can imagine) the restaurant is pretty popular with visitors to Padstow. You can’t book at Stein’s Fish & Chips, which is really as it should be at a chippy. The prices are also pretty standard for fish and chips, but the taste is definitely better than most. I won’t say the BEST, that honour belongs to The Victoria Inn in Penzance, but I’ll save that for another day...</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The restaurant was bright, simple and comfortable, with big scrubbed wooden tables which you will share with other people unless you are in a larger group. It’s table service without the frills, but essentially it was efficient and friendly and luckily the food appeared pretty pronto. We warmed up with a glass of wine, whilst the boys drank beer name after Rick Stein’s dog, Chalky.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC57vd9e4fxUH9RuzWJ9P1tTmOcYCKW49dGyEc_8pxEfojifuCSmZVjWDlkrgoJxW8y5zJSJSZxtZJtGeANdWFmvFEX47C8twa6g1OXi5kLVQZYKF5dlLq0aHElREZof7zeCE5fXtUzu1b/s1600/IMGP5141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC57vd9e4fxUH9RuzWJ9P1tTmOcYCKW49dGyEc_8pxEfojifuCSmZVjWDlkrgoJxW8y5zJSJSZxtZJtGeANdWFmvFEX47C8twa6g1OXi5kLVQZYKF5dlLq0aHElREZof7zeCE5fXtUzu1b/s400/IMGP5141.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Just because we couldn’t wait for our mains, and because we were intrigued, we ordered a couple of battered oysters a piece to get started. Ordinarily I'm pretty “take it or leave it” about oysters but these were really amazing. I could’ve easily just eaten a huge plateful of them for my lunch and couldn’t stop myself from asking the chef how he did them on my way out. The restaurant was just winding down and although the kitchen was closing, the very friendly David took me behind the scenes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to show me how they were done; I was making mental notes like a mad thing hoping mine might be half as good!</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAV0V2TgqZQDsD6QClSaLhDAtjymMUcoTJHk9LsWADrM0vjFaFM-sPASw4oWy5lP4No0iotcHlua4oeU8936iUT4Yfs2TWSvt7Hv_GTC1e8XEHOQugJUzy67xAGe00XQ7EKy-eTs1C4YcB/s1600/IMGP5145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAV0V2TgqZQDsD6QClSaLhDAtjymMUcoTJHk9LsWADrM0vjFaFM-sPASw4oWy5lP4No0iotcHlua4oeU8936iUT4Yfs2TWSvt7Hv_GTC1e8XEHOQugJUzy67xAGe00XQ7EKy-eTs1C4YcB/s400/IMGP5145.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Obviously I intended to try these at home but, as I was buying my oysters at Whole Foods, I realised I had no idea how to shuck an oyster. My advice: if you’re going to try this at home then ask your friendly fishmonger for a quick tutorial. Martin at Whole Foods was very obliging and I even got a free oyster to taste out of it! Honestly though, I would have had no clue if it hadn’t been for my mini lesson. I actually had an oyster shucking knife at home (an unused present), but you absolutely need one so if you don’t have one then you must get one. They were selling them at Whole Foods for £11.99 which I reckon isn’t too bad.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Here’s my take on those oysters and I urge you to try it. A bit fiddly (and there’s obviously the need to be careful with sizzling hot oil), but it’s worth the effort.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mKac2Ga7GAQgPFGSVVy1BEJrHhyphenhyphendMKc6Hlysk10x9kETxVpq3zFpCW6du7b1UxgwmUi_i3Gx8Dgj2-5kSW0TBBlGuiKUnl3ansVMxOfcWB7P7cnw2nZ6PrJygw026-0o-AnvliiKXjZN/s1600/IMGP5136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mKac2Ga7GAQgPFGSVVy1BEJrHhyphenhyphendMKc6Hlysk10x9kETxVpq3zFpCW6du7b1UxgwmUi_i3Gx8Dgj2-5kSW0TBBlGuiKUnl3ansVMxOfcWB7P7cnw2nZ6PrJygw026-0o-AnvliiKXjZN/s400/IMGP5136.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh5nBtJnHaw0yk_gFNVgfLgV49tXRNgZSfNeCfXhPZ8HvkAOwQXJnopvLfXnjt85JbXhPnHTnA4gQcqXIuxvonw8fbHPLDwm_ZK0UUjQqar5XGCv5cLCd-gjOkcpxVsApDNla8TXhsvf1/s1600/IMGP5154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh5nBtJnHaw0yk_gFNVgfLgV49tXRNgZSfNeCfXhPZ8HvkAOwQXJnopvLfXnjt85JbXhPnHTnA4gQcqXIuxvonw8fbHPLDwm_ZK0UUjQqar5XGCv5cLCd-gjOkcpxVsApDNla8TXhsvf1/s400/IMGP5154.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><u><strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Bill<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">:</span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£50.80</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></strong></u></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">8 battered oysters <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£1.45 each</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3 scampi & chips <span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>£8.50 each</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 cod & chips <span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>£9.50</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 mush peas<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>£1.15 each</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 Tartare Sauce<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>95p each</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><u><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Ingredients:<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></strong></span></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">8 oysters</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For the batter:</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1oz plain flour</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">½ tsp cornflour</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">50ml cold sparkling water</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">300-500ml vegetable oil, for deep frying</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Salt & pepper</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.</span>Add the dry ingredients for the batter into a bowl and whisk in the sparkling water. Season with salt and pepper.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Schuck the oysters, making sure they are cleanly separated from the shell. Discard the flat side of the shell and keep the rounded side for serving.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Heat the oil for frying in a heavy bottomed saucepan (or fire up your deep fat fryer if you have one).</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>When the oil is sizzling hot, lay an oyster shell on a slotted spoon and lower into the oil to kill on the pesky bacteria.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Set the shell to one side and dip your first oyster in the batter so that it’s well coated. Drop into the oil for about 45 seconds and watch it crisp up and brown!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Scoop the oyster out with the slotted spoon and repeat.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Serve the oysters in their shells with wedges of lemon.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Eat them quickly whilst their hot!!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><u><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Total Cost of Ingredients:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>99p an oyst<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">er</span></strong></span></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">(ingredients for the batter were already in my cupboard)</span></span></span></div><div align="center"></div></span></span></span>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-61645140699977930052012-01-23T13:13:00.001-08:002012-05-15T11:58:15.358-07:00Mark's bar & Polpo Campari Bar<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A couple of Saturdays ago, Ben and I spent the afternoon wandering around the sales on Oxford Street and looking for bargains and returning unwanted Christmas presents. Pretty stressful, not particularly successful and to be honest, by about 4.30pm we were ready for something stronger than a coffee to warm us up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We made our may over to Hix in Soho, which has a lovely cosy cocktail bar downstairs called Mark’s Bar. We’ve been there before but never when we’ve been in such need of some warmth and a little pick me up. I basically was too tired and cold to look beyond the first thing on the menu: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guy's Punch (served hot or cold), </i>well that was me sold, I went for hot, obviously.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UmypwU66n62LShzrqX0XnUWa0ICPypimRrImVXxAWUag44PSxKtgTJfUGduTNv5ojL-FRiI9lLqE49fTsYDQdrajKkjliBFPQU5bYV1l98qthSyVTSqBzQ_FKYKeTgl_V_LDaXW062HH/s1600/Mark%2527s+Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UmypwU66n62LShzrqX0XnUWa0ICPypimRrImVXxAWUag44PSxKtgTJfUGduTNv5ojL-FRiI9lLqE49fTsYDQdrajKkjliBFPQU5bYV1l98qthSyVTSqBzQ_FKYKeTgl_V_LDaXW062HH/s640/Mark%2527s+Bar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark's Bar</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Much as I love Mark’s Bar, the prices prevent it from being somewhere I can stay for too many drinks (unless someone else is paying!), but I wasn’t quite ready to step out of my fuzzy haze. Luckily, just around the corner from Hix is another lovely restaurant, Polpo. Ben and I had eaten at Polpo at the end of November last year and I had noticed then, a sign pointing to a Campari bar. The Campari bar is tucked downstairs just by the loos. We hadn’t had time to go that night but I had poked my head around the door to see a tiny room packed to the rafters with people who looked like they were having a whale of a time. Just my kind of thing. Polpo is the kind of restaurant that serves lots of delicious food for pretty reasonable prices, and I was banking on the Campari bar following the same formula, which I was delighted to find that it does.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Campari bar opens at 5.30pm, Ben and I got there at about 5.45pm and if you like sitting down then I suggest you get there early as well because there were no tables left by 6pm. Bear in mind there are only about five tables to start off with! We got chatting to the bar man, Kevin, a friendly South African who seemed able to cope quite well with being the only guy serving there, even when Campari heavy. If you like that bitter Campari taste then you will love them; if not then there are a few other choices available too. Ben and I tried as many of the cocktails that we could and Kevin told us a bit about them; my Cynar Gin Fizz was great. I’d never tried Cynar before, but I’d like to again; Kevin tells me it’s an Italian aperitif made from various herbs and plants, predominantly artichoke. We ate a few of the snacky bites that they do as well and it was all pretty delicious and certainly gave us the courage we needed to face the cold again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The Bill</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><strong>Mark’s Bar:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£20.18</strong></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 Guy’s Punch</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 Cider</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 Parsnip crisps</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><strong>Polpo Campari Bar:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£29.50</strong></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ne goni Sbagliato</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Americano Cocktail</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Grissini</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Chopped Liver Toasts</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sidecar</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Cynar Gin Fizz</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I am a massive cocktail fan but pretty rubbish at making them for myself so I’m not going to insult people who have actually mastered the art by trying to recreate a cocktail recipe. There was one thing that really caught my imagination though; all those flavour infused spirits at Mark’s Bar. This appears to me to be something I can really experiment with and I’m going to start by copying them with the tried and tested brandy and pineapple infused El Dorado rum. The only thing is, as this is an experiment, I’m definitely not going to ruin a good bottle of El Dorado rum. Sainsbury’s will just have to do...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Ingredients:</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">70cl bottle of dark rum</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2x Large Pineapples</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Brandy to taste</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Peel the pineapples and slice. Lay the slices into an airtight glass container. I used a jar with a capacity of about 1.5 litres.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>One the jar is filled nearly to the top with pineapple, pour the entire bottle of rum in.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Add about two tablespoons of brandy. This can be altered to your tastes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Seal the air tight jar or container and refrigerate for 10 days to two weeks.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Open and enjoy! You can try different spirits and lots of flavour combinations, so get experimenting.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Total Cost of Ingredients:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£13.49</span></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Almost the same price as my Guy’s Punch..,.bargain!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMfiQNS7AjeEHNXZ9Wmkb_9J1vbEl7-6eouxCWfqx1qxFdEnId5Rr8srCX76za45PeVBDau1TEO4RTRxUduYcT2n1OmeGbfeZS-Hx2z5-etQR0ife7dbk2y46khVUJJax5j2Agi38N2g0/s1600/219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMfiQNS7AjeEHNXZ9Wmkb_9J1vbEl7-6eouxCWfqx1qxFdEnId5Rr8srCX76za45PeVBDau1TEO4RTRxUduYcT2n1OmeGbfeZS-Hx2z5-etQR0ife7dbk2y46khVUJJax5j2Agi38N2g0/s400/219.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIYIAMdFtBsQmLrC7kgI9oNC_dFm5CpiL16S4twIBaX762QMO_CyrWEGU9Im9CbEN5G5uIo7hyphenhyphenP1tQtVEKBTHO78zN1a9nP1Txz0MPg-hRitoSU-tE4KY6u1Qd3Hw4NrmhsSSsYM3wVHm/s1600/Pineapple+Infused+Rum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIYIAMdFtBsQmLrC7kgI9oNC_dFm5CpiL16S4twIBaX762QMO_CyrWEGU9Im9CbEN5G5uIo7hyphenhyphenP1tQtVEKBTHO78zN1a9nP1Txz0MPg-hRitoSU-tE4KY6u1Qd3Hw4NrmhsSSsYM3wVHm/s400/Pineapple+Infused+Rum.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-19490490241287219622012-01-09T14:25:00.000-08:002012-01-23T12:09:31.219-08:00Happy New Year!!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sbI-Lm8SdgosSeKAo-m-yusDtV0tuXGNzVP4H9WG5R-rlRgm3o3TwUa7zUOEY7Z71o-IAVJIJw0b6YrMgMj6VKUbtfA8oIFWPJQxygHDF_24GrLFq_LKuc8eSlCZHXdoQrx7qBfHVLEO/s1600/Happy-New-Year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sbI-Lm8SdgosSeKAo-m-yusDtV0tuXGNzVP4H9WG5R-rlRgm3o3TwUa7zUOEY7Z71o-IAVJIJw0b6YrMgMj6VKUbtfA8oIFWPJQxygHDF_24GrLFq_LKuc8eSlCZHXdoQrx7qBfHVLEO/s400/Happy-New-Year.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So, December seems to have come and gone pretty quickly in a haze of work and food and work and food and work, oh...and booze. Having rung in the New Year with my nearest and dearest with a very fun filled party, I suddenly seem to have woken up from my stupor of over indulgence and it’s already 9th January 2012</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> (!!!); I really can’t remember how that happened. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span> </div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJxLS-cpz9Deer2EIMqZctplkC1VqytObQ3r77xBEaI143KG5CeX20Xv4eqPPAyL19OW6mSj1vCvUixbFWjbzMOLVcQCC0UeedzToMxwaSy25EL_md-spL4qCWSaKPhi9x5F7-iXuRLEP/s1600/160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJxLS-cpz9Deer2EIMqZctplkC1VqytObQ3r77xBEaI143KG5CeX20Xv4eqPPAyL19OW6mSj1vCvUixbFWjbzMOLVcQCC0UeedzToMxwaSy25EL_md-spL4qCWSaKPhi9x5F7-iXuRLEP/s400/160.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating New Year with my big sis</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span> <br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I suppose I’ve been a bit slow off the mark, but I’ve started thinking about New Year’s resolutions and all those many things that I want to achieve this year. I’ve got to be honest, it’s pretty daunting and I’m tempted to climb back into my food and wine fuzz but instead I’m going to try and tackle things head on. The thing is, we always have the potential to do something special but I suppose New Year just opens your eyes to the possibilities a bit more. Perhaps, it's as simple as assessing our lives and deciding that that thing we have always wanted to do, might just be possible; as Tom Hardy’s character in Inception says:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><em><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a </span></span></em></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><em><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">little bigger, darling.”</span></span></em></span></span></b></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;">A bit cheesy perhaps, but a bit of positive thinking never did a gal any harm. Watch this space...</span></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-77888902802705317142011-11-17T02:22:00.001-08:002012-05-15T11:59:28.732-07:00HAPPY BIRTHDAY HELLIE!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-qDa74hnE1SEE8429T1JSJWkEAHrhJEW0uevLD1a14X7sfhjSGMSQmyZ5YDoYy9JHMLf3h0L60vlJtIDybes5JegJNIXksQKTqVb74ozogJ2DNWngEh89ahc5b3T_OpQ08Ck7ssKXUrm/s1600/591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-qDa74hnE1SEE8429T1JSJWkEAHrhJEW0uevLD1a14X7sfhjSGMSQmyZ5YDoYy9JHMLf3h0L60vlJtIDybes5JegJNIXksQKTqVb74ozogJ2DNWngEh89ahc5b3T_OpQ08Ck7ssKXUrm/s640/591.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">On Sunday one of my best friends in the whole world turned 25 and I was too busy working at Masterchef Live to go to lunch with her or even just give her a big birthday hug...quite a feat considering I live with the girl!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I tried to make her forget what a bad friend I am by making her a cake, and I’m thinking it might have sort of worked. The inspiration for this cake came from the front cover of the beautiful Miette cookbook. They are a bakery based in San Francisco which, by the looks of things, I would love. Sadly I have no immediate plans (or funds) to jet off to The Land of Opportunity, so this is about as close as I can get for now. You can check out the website of this gorgeous bakery here - <strong><u>www.miette.com</u></strong></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 339.75pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">On a more selfish note, not only was it very naughty of me to miss the celebrations, but I was also a bit miffed as they went to the, supposedly, very cool SEVEN in Brixton Market. I will have to investigate this place in due course...</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I must also take this opportunity now to say that another of my lovely friends and housemates, Jess, also turned 25 last week. Here are the beautiful birthday girls at SEVEN...</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBM505dXtA-CDbGSpDBDfDDhK7qJ2mwTrgb83IHn-JFYtYpaqzwplJQ9c5QusXk1K4N4P-UyybMYEN1sd2QXZ-6UBop59ZOfsfYQaYkuZobhORPWzr0kghWHq-avNZQa1mBEi53X9NEHzH/s1600/SEVEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBM505dXtA-CDbGSpDBDfDDhK7qJ2mwTrgb83IHn-JFYtYpaqzwplJQ9c5QusXk1K4N4P-UyybMYEN1sd2QXZ-6UBop59ZOfsfYQaYkuZobhORPWzr0kghWHq-avNZQa1mBEi53X9NEHzH/s640/SEVEN.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEddXVDtl_glpcr2LXDc5Sxk162TNtCSls0nNaD1R13qLWwUHS8d4pMCfH5PK5-rZDEJZ4yThOlS-IlXYQW1s0vwTs0e9i6u-SMI-KEt_4QfRqnv1bNnN1Lcm9Qt6RwZZ9dfZeg178wZJe/s1600/577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEddXVDtl_glpcr2LXDc5Sxk162TNtCSls0nNaD1R13qLWwUHS8d4pMCfH5PK5-rZDEJZ4yThOlS-IlXYQW1s0vwTs0e9i6u-SMI-KEt_4QfRqnv1bNnN1Lcm9Qt6RwZZ9dfZeg178wZJe/s640/577.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ1jDwkkViAKvhVB-UBp2PIhdHbgbZZntzTHzpom_9ViPqawJYw0QxpQlX34LRIm_I7qKffZuCSH-xYiICYbZVd0m-xpzasRXJsA_ZN7nIwNL-b_Lm2AHh11vd5nJaxMYSVYb3ZOIUlvP/s1600/572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ1jDwkkViAKvhVB-UBp2PIhdHbgbZZntzTHzpom_9ViPqawJYw0QxpQlX34LRIm_I7qKffZuCSH-xYiICYbZVd0m-xpzasRXJsA_ZN7nIwNL-b_Lm2AHh11vd5nJaxMYSVYb3ZOIUlvP/s640/572.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center"></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-90602894169391651672011-11-03T14:50:00.000-07:002011-11-03T14:52:41.141-07:00Zanzibar<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Pilau Rice</strong></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjll4j7Dnxh3CgZdVYug4AXWbOUPh03f1ek_NGGOc-ta68TXHd0QJwMhIzQhO6sibt3woX8rwWxVypmw7waGqisFDjLwpHVeqJHXctpU7hr3CXpEWqvhrY40bPAYlYGlC296COQK_Hs4JGi/s1600/IMGP4379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjll4j7Dnxh3CgZdVYug4AXWbOUPh03f1ek_NGGOc-ta68TXHd0QJwMhIzQhO6sibt3woX8rwWxVypmw7waGqisFDjLwpHVeqJHXctpU7hr3CXpEWqvhrY40bPAYlYGlC296COQK_Hs4JGi/s400/IMGP4379.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywCON2cdvRxgyKGwsaT6n1hcS2tBy7oXNKrqn835_yJJh_khXx58tKq-bTuoVsmqG9jwjsC7V_wD37wws6EY7QndsKnjbhID0fJbZdrdkDSqx1HPxZ09hiBX-pRr2r6Tjkof36CCCpOSr/s1600/P1020188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywCON2cdvRxgyKGwsaT6n1hcS2tBy7oXNKrqn835_yJJh_khXx58tKq-bTuoVsmqG9jwjsC7V_wD37wws6EY7QndsKnjbhID0fJbZdrdkDSqx1HPxZ09hiBX-pRr2r6Tjkof36CCCpOSr/s400/P1020188.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz5rpoxgYNqzbQjWBeBGxVxCpc6_hbSQ8trwixVZW47UkUZeKUZIlmIyflWcjQGpAQkZTeWuaPhg23fbmBN0oEaNy4g8WbcyA7jx-AV5B-Fvm0enzfkk-5m9ocAInqPZCTtxyQ5wUNAiE/s1600/IMGP4360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz5rpoxgYNqzbQjWBeBGxVxCpc6_hbSQ8trwixVZW47UkUZeKUZIlmIyflWcjQGpAQkZTeWuaPhg23fbmBN0oEaNy4g8WbcyA7jx-AV5B-Fvm0enzfkk-5m9ocAInqPZCTtxyQ5wUNAiE/s400/IMGP4360.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When the Autumn starts closing in and you have to start taking your woolies out of storage, there are two realistic options: 1. Embrace the cold and hope that your winter coat won’t have been attacked by the moths, or 2. Pack your bags and head off somewhere hot to try and put off the inevitable for as long as possible. I chose the latter and I write this having just returned from Zanzibar.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Zanzibar is a stunning island just off the coast from (but still part of) Tanzania. As promised in the guide books, it was hot, fascinating and absolutely beautiful. Being a small island with a vast amo9unt of fishing boats and access to a pretty impressive array of marine life, we ate nothing but fish for two weeks and I was in heaven. Zanzibar is known as “The Spice Island”, and the flavours in the food rarely disappointed. We even visited a spice farm to see where and how everything grows; that was a particularly interesting and smelly (in a good way) day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I won’t bore you / show off about all of the amazing things that I ate whilst I holidayed, but I did want to share just a little recipe that was taught to me by a local lady in her own home. Ben, my holidaying partner, and I stayed in a lovely little guesthouse in Paje where they offered a “traditional Swahili cookery course” for 10,000 Tanzanian shillings, which is about £3.50. Bargain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This was not some big tourist operation, this was just the initiative of the owner of our guesthouse to try and encourage tourists to contribute more to the local community. This made it all the more special as we walked to one of the local villages and were welcomed into a private home, complete with visiting relatives, little children everywhere and very suspect loo!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We chose to cook spiced pilau rice with chicken, a local favourite that is eaten on special occasions. This I have not yet tried to recreate at home but I will faithfully tell you what our “instructor” showed us. Please note, she cooked in quantities that would feed a small army and these are what I relate to you now:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NvhgfspxgRQGcIrsT3X0YAnHft9Los67V6E2JxHatS9rQsu8BYETqM4x7oBzHN6XkYipXnbyZqvLkAb0nxzo93q5AJEAfj_hvE5w0hoIKeDJXcKO327h_kbgaKvpPmGONG4k67qiz2_9/s320/IMGP4380.JPG" width="213" /> <img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgY3Qpfo_VNCji1SOVqJ0B0Y3sQiduoMUdIDFvVu89PpUomygF3Hh8-7CK61h6z7vB8ksY82tQXX3qoxVPCB4MjNj0grjW7vFGfqHxhl3pnqWaRzB24jBGNNjg1rv90NJS5RJ9G75V8Sd/s320/IMGP4385.JPG" width="213" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ingredients: </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1 bag of white rice (I’d hazard a guess she used about 2 lbs)</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3 medium white potatoes</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3 red onions, finely sliced</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 small bulb garlic</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 small handfuls of cardamom pods</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 small handful of green pepper corns</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3 small handfuls of cumin seeds</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">600 ml good chicken stock</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Some pre cooked chicken, ideally from a small roasted chicken</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 ½ litres cold water</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Coarse salt</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Vegetable oil for frying</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1. Peel the cloves of garlic and in a pestle and mortar (or food processor) blend the garlic with a little of the onion and some salt.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2. Heat around 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a very large saucepan and add the sliced onions. When these are soft, add the garlic paste and stir.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">3. In the pestle and mortar, grind the cardamom pods with the cinnamon and add to the onions and garlic. Stir, and continue to fry on a medium heat.</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">4. Cube the potatoes into largeish chunks, add to the pan and stir. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5. Fry the mixture for a minute or two as you stir and then add the chicken stock. Stir well and then add all of the water and bring to the boil.</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">6. When the water has just started to boil, wash the rice and add to the pan and allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes (or as long as it takes) until the rice is soft and the water is almost completely gone. Of course, add more water if necessary.</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: auto auto 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">7. Add the cooked chicken to the rice, stir, cover the dish and place in a low oven (about 150 degrees) for 30 minutes. She used an “Indian Oven” by surrounding the pan with red hot coals which gradually cooled.</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">8. Remove the pan from the oven and serve with a fresh side salad. We had sliced carrot, tomato and onion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROXloHwr0OVXGqYeyf0QufkxeWljJSXQLvHY5HMbxVIcl1DmrVRZWiKLQgAaQUJZbGeeTYVdsvw0iDNs3Z1lFtP5bgnKc38PFj_RocecrArPEHDQLDV4rQe1H4h6YSvXA3Z-aEGiuRTlF/s1600/IMGP4391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROXloHwr0OVXGqYeyf0QufkxeWljJSXQLvHY5HMbxVIcl1DmrVRZWiKLQgAaQUJZbGeeTYVdsvw0iDNs3Z1lFtP5bgnKc38PFj_RocecrArPEHDQLDV4rQe1H4h6YSvXA3Z-aEGiuRTlF/s400/IMGP4391.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Indian Oven in all its glory!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="267" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdC-wNoI1phXBjHLp2lX50twNS0oviPupXtf5TgnuYNQZeFYO8CBd0S3mTQjFFnGWjP3yhbW0dR4uhoTOptuWLsS2qCc_3pMQP7-pWa4yjOgxyWjzrdxp2TD8FIObz8ReMoUpjUIts7sHC/s400/IMGP4399.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A full Lucy tries to decide the best way to roll home...</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NvhgfspxgRQGcIrsT3X0YAnHft9Los67V6E2JxHatS9rQsu8BYETqM4x7oBzHN6XkYipXnbyZqvLkAb0nxzo93q5AJEAfj_hvE5w0hoIKeDJXcKO327h_kbgaKvpPmGONG4k67qiz2_9/s1600/IMGP4380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgY3Qpfo_VNCji1SOVqJ0B0Y3sQiduoMUdIDFvVu89PpUomygF3Hh8-7CK61h6z7vB8ksY82tQXX3qoxVPCB4MjNj0grjW7vFGfqHxhl3pnqWaRzB24jBGNNjg1rv90NJS5RJ9G75V8Sd/s1600/IMGP4385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-72323578330406421182011-10-17T13:11:00.000-07:002011-10-17T13:32:43.045-07:00Namaaste Kitchen, Camden<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.namaastekitchen.co.uk/"><strong>www.namaastekitchen.co.uk</strong></a></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;">Lamb Chops with Papaya and Ginger Spiced Marinade</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXAxTspUMS0t_kaM8Dyyr1t2egCE12yDWa1KLW04ARuVGLRo2QHiQPbSDbMMWCbGKsvDnx6EzgnHFXDitQwF4r_qFW0fPb8Xcw4lv0DpdMPGzmubj2tZnakWJgNyGkm9mVuuOGd5ncnO5/s1600/lamb+chops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXAxTspUMS0t_kaM8Dyyr1t2egCE12yDWa1KLW04ARuVGLRo2QHiQPbSDbMMWCbGKsvDnx6EzgnHFXDitQwF4r_qFW0fPb8Xcw4lv0DpdMPGzmubj2tZnakWJgNyGkm9mVuuOGd5ncnO5/s1600/lamb+chops.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Every now and then I really need a bit of spice in my life and at these times I try and get myself down to an Indian restaurant sharpish! I pretty much have the same things every time, a nice chicken Rogan Josh, and it tends to hit the spot quite nicely. But, since visiting India in 2009, I realised quite quickly that there is a lot more to Indian food than just curries and in fact that most restaurants in India don’t serve the staples that sit on the menus in Indian takeaways across the UK. I obviously generalise hugely, and this was made very apparent to me when I went to Namaaste Kitchen a couple of weeks ago with a friend and was delighted to see a broad menu that offered much more interesting Indian food than just curries. (Quick side note: Although it does do takeaways, the restaurant is buzzy and fun and the staff are so friendly and helpful that I would recommend sitting down if possible!)</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Luckily, although we took ages to decide what to get, we were given some popadoms and sauces to eat whilst we mulled over the menu. I always appreciate a freebie so thought it was worth mentioning! My friend, still finding it too hard to decide what he wanted to eat, asked the waiter to recommend some dishes and he was certainly not disappointed when his food came because the jumbo Tandoori prawns he had for a starter were delicious. He went on to have a Lamb Biryani but that was sort of blurred out for me because I was simultaneously eating some of the best lamb chops I have ever had in my life. It said that they were tender on the menu, but the chops were SO tender that I had a hard time believing they were chops! They were also marinated beautifully in “fresh ginger paste, raw papaya & selected herbs and spices”, which complimented the flavour of the lamb perfectly. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We went on to have some perfectly nice puddings but, as I think you can guess, the thing that really stood out for me was the lamb chops, simply because I have made lamb chops hundreds of times and never, ever have they tasted quite as good as those I had at Namaaste Kitchen. My dad, the world’s foremost lamb chop fanatic, would have been mightily impressed with these chops and although I have tried to recreate them for him, he is under strict instruction to get himself to Namaaste Kitchen and try them first hand. Honestly, my recipe (below) does not do them justice, but hopefully it will provide you with some inspiration on how to tart up this old favourite…</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Ingredients: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">2 large lamb chops</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">½ papaya, cubed</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">2cm ginger, grated</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">1 tsp garam masala</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">½ tsp ground cumin </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">½ tsp hot chilli powder</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Salt and freshly ground pepper</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Ground nut oil for frying</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">1. Cube the papaya half and pour into a medium oven proof dish.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">2. Grate the ginger into the bowl and mash with a fork.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">3. Add the cumin, chilli powder, garam masala, salt and pepper and mix.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">4. Add the chops, cover and chill for an hour.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Heat up a little oil in a large frying pan until very hot and cook the lamps chops for about 3 minutes on each side, until brown.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">6. Return the chops to the dish and make sure that they are well covered with the papaya and ginger paste.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">7. Place the dish in the oven for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes and ensuring they are well covered by the marinade.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">8. Remove from the oven and serve with a side dish of your choice. I would recommend steamed English greens and mange tout for a light meal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The chops should be really tender and packed with flavour and the remaining marinade can be used as a delicious sauce. I also used the other half of the papaya to make a spicy chutney to go on the side, by adding a little water, 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, a little finely chopped ginger, salt pepper and chilli powder to taste and cooking for around 20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>minutes on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>low heat. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Total cost of ingredients: £7.75 (I already had the spices and oil)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">This should serve 1-2 people depending on how hungry you are.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.2pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Finally I do apologise that this isn’t the most attractive dish...sometimes you just have to accept that a chop will never sit neatly on a plate! Regard the picture above (made at the reestaurant) and I think you'll understand why, aesthetically, mine doesn't quite live up to expectations.</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFhOT-wZCbGFvVl5xmtKUUsVj6Sa-nFcQhukcuBxeUVcEvLOeUGOGV6vO7oPAoBjhy70tUyt1UhVB0HQCjQGcYcGRIcCCk3ZSKvw5O78viKNT1H23TiYEVFuA92laZDrzh7gZ3Y1gVnoq/s1600/105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFhOT-wZCbGFvVl5xmtKUUsVj6Sa-nFcQhukcuBxeUVcEvLOeUGOGV6vO7oPAoBjhy70tUyt1UhVB0HQCjQGcYcGRIcCCk3ZSKvw5O78viKNT1H23TiYEVFuA92laZDrzh7gZ3Y1gVnoq/s320/105.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMJKk5T1wHlH3UGJI4U0lt1CinDTiBa-yOvMoGzSJ-C6O46y9wEveEi-V9sxbgR708g77csZqu3W__EqfbGmy7iKUyb_YVkAuvzKPQI4TetewELnqEutVp622n8Yvv07EXb9MBvx8oAR9/s1600/106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMJKk5T1wHlH3UGJI4U0lt1CinDTiBa-yOvMoGzSJ-C6O46y9wEveEi-V9sxbgR708g77csZqu3W__EqfbGmy7iKUyb_YVkAuvzKPQI4TetewELnqEutVp622n8Yvv07EXb9MBvx8oAR9/s320/106.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-30637795140243625712011-09-08T16:42:00.000-07:002011-11-08T12:55:31.518-08:00The Ship Inn, Porthleven<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><a href="http://www.theshipinncornwall.co.uk/"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">www.theshipinncornwall.co.uk</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDqktwSx0eHGGyhneZmNWi0WM8nsJI7HBRhasAcjos2MCu8hj3ffTRJwY_-WmH31TYI9QSHN7krKdIEgrFS7Ab9ZzpCk4ciOY6TpeeDbBanBYobuy31Vk8zi2AOXY7fp4ZRj8KwKP9LSw/s1600/IMG_0616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="height: 313px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 238px;"><img border="0" height="400" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDqktwSx0eHGGyhneZmNWi0WM8nsJI7HBRhasAcjos2MCu8hj3ffTRJwY_-WmH31TYI9QSHN7krKdIEgrFS7Ab9ZzpCk4ciOY6TpeeDbBanBYobuy31Vk8zi2AOXY7fp4ZRj8KwKP9LSw/s400/IMG_0616.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Crab Thermidor</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I have just returned from a long weekend in Cornwall with my family, to the same place we have been going for 20 years. It never seems to change and I can still muster (almost) the same level of excitement about jumping into the ice cold sea as I did when I was seven! It is absolutely my favourite place in the world and, as ever, it broke my heart to leave (check out the picture below and I think you'll unnderstand what I mean!). This year though, I plan to bring the best bits back with me and in this case the number one best bit was the crab thermidor that I had at The Ship Inn in Porthleven.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We always walk the five miles to Porthleven from our house to make up for the fact that we are going to be truly glutinous at the other end! Although the menu at The Ship is quite broad, for us Pedders, there are only two choices; crab thermidor or crab an prawn mornay.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Having made a mental note to self that I had had the mornay last year, I decided to “branch out” and get the thermidor this year. Both are delicious and almost impossible to choose between, but the thermidor was so packed with fresh Cornish crab and the sauce was so mild and creamy, that I certainly didn’t regret my choice which is quite something for me as I am prone to suffer from extreme food envy! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I know that a big part of the flavour in these dishes comes from the fact that the crab is barely out of the sea, but you can buy good quality crab at the fish counter in supermarkets nowadays and I really think that the only thing to snap me out of my holiday blues is to have a bash at this thermidor and dream myself back there...</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWoBH_D-1NXEJQrGhKSP0v35otnFVAtfmnQrSSvfM9skXYTWAcraM401t1pdNKK3TMo2EQ1u7OvROKTr6P802j_nhcXhizCAtU8SUlwGoW-WuuR8Sr9bElnbmLL5eOJ5Ck7hL8q-iPhjY/s1600/Blog+-+The+Ship+Inn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWoBH_D-1NXEJQrGhKSP0v35otnFVAtfmnQrSSvfM9skXYTWAcraM401t1pdNKK3TMo2EQ1u7OvROKTr6P802j_nhcXhizCAtU8SUlwGoW-WuuR8Sr9bElnbmLL5eOJ5Ck7hL8q-iPhjY/s400/Blog+-+The+Ship+Inn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2BgRrUr2Zy-tRFvdbptBd7H17oDEzzvU8tNV7q_BgJ4AsjvbM0KkHRfh-Qsi-mbHa8IkW8X0SNsSCPZ2YeLF9r5FSAYDTO60J0Dgr0X4hyphenhyphenxkMEnK-khUMP8XH8ZN-kCjK9TyphpM_TaN/s1600/IMG_0600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2BgRrUr2Zy-tRFvdbptBd7H17oDEzzvU8tNV7q_BgJ4AsjvbM0KkHRfh-Qsi-mbHa8IkW8X0SNsSCPZ2YeLF9r5FSAYDTO60J0Dgr0X4hyphenhyphenxkMEnK-khUMP8XH8ZN-kCjK9TyphpM_TaN/s400/IMG_0600.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ingredients:</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">500g white crab meat</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Knob of butter</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/shallot"><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">shallot</span></span></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">, finely chopped</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">55ml </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/white_wine"><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">white wine</span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">100ml single cream </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">50ml water</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1teaspoon whole grain mustard</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2tablespoons chopped </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/parsley"><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">parsley</span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2teaspoons lemon juice </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Grated cheese (something mild like gruyere or edam)</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Salt and freshly ground </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/black_pepper"><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">black pepper</span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ol style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0f243e; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For the sauce, put the butter in a pan, add the shallots and cook until softened. Add the wine, water and single cream and bring to the boil. Reduce by approximately half. </span></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0f243e; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Add the mustard, herbs, lemon juice and seasoning and stir.</span></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0f243e; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pre-heat the grill.</span></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: #0f243e; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Put the crab meat in an oven proof dish so that it covers the bottom and there is a healthy layer. Spoon the sauce over the crab meat and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Place the dish under the grill until the cheese is golden brown.</span></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: #0f243e; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.</span></span></span></li>
</ol><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2T7lTH4__QZt2qcP3Ee7axt5LOdg0MkO5zi8DAaurHHwUxiOELRPUtuZlUNfgSS8OwIOxB7b1dJ6FnvLkYxqsV_FysR1CRpOg2N0zr1-dyTdOOmxzF84Vn_PjQAZ7cXcjkhAd50Np_ox/s1600/P1050588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2T7lTH4__QZt2qcP3Ee7axt5LOdg0MkO5zi8DAaurHHwUxiOELRPUtuZlUNfgSS8OwIOxB7b1dJ6FnvLkYxqsV_FysR1CRpOg2N0zr1-dyTdOOmxzF84Vn_PjQAZ7cXcjkhAd50Np_ox/s320/P1050588.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ5J0pTxaH7POIdzgfzLsJSYQvrDDbiAxmGgeRQNgqbKRiPUPxdKI1oLcrBGUe1xsQypqiGVGos5snRuzE2x2NhuOXKy0a4maL833ndil2AbILlYhaNqJRT-xjlE61zqCpMJ3kVLCcttd/s1600/P1050593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ5J0pTxaH7POIdzgfzLsJSYQvrDDbiAxmGgeRQNgqbKRiPUPxdKI1oLcrBGUe1xsQypqiGVGos5snRuzE2x2NhuOXKy0a4maL833ndil2AbILlYhaNqJRT-xjlE61zqCpMJ3kVLCcttd/s320/P1050593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-91794732918772585472011-08-25T15:24:00.000-07:002011-08-25T15:42:03.776-07:00Petersham Nurseries, Richmond<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.petershamnurseries.com/"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">www.petershamnurseries.com</span></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;">Roast Chicken & Radicchio Salad in Yogurt Dressing</span></strong></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;"></span></strong> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <img border="0" height="213" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz5Y8JQTOgGnJpK7OxaJYFMUAW_N65gJo2eNVgGuHpoFoJhX8OMSaQx-SgBykGVlRniDANlxIds7rwKNuKM7HkM05Hr_Cqe3m-R5kC0GQJX_JEsz8stLd9-ioGYuS0uBzzUfvWMOIcxpVn/s320/Petersham+Nurseries+1.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Part 1: A Nice Summery Salad...</strong> </span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Friday was a lovely day. It was warm, summery and the day before the weekend, but most importantly it was my day off. Not just a day of holiday either but a bonus day; a day in lieu. Sometimes working overtime really does pay off!</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I had persuaded my mum to go with me to Petersham Nurseries for coffee and a cake as I had heard such good things about it and really thought I better go and see what the fuss was about. By the time we had arrived though, it was very nearly one o’clock and it seemed a shame to just have cake when it was so clearly lunch time! For matters of time and budget we opted for the tearoom over the café, which serves up seasonal light lunches of salads, quiches and charcuterie. We sat in their conservatory / greenhouse on carefully chosen mismatched chairs and tables, which offers a very laid back and attractive dining room. The tearoom is self service and the selection on the menu is limited but, as we discovered later, this really doesn’t matter when everything tastes so good! We opted for a three different salads for £12.95; chicken with radicchio in a yogurt and cumin dressing, grilled aubergine and tomatoes and yellow and green courgettes in a very garlicky dressing. My mum’s only adventurous difference was to swap the courgettes for tomato and mozzarella.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">If anything should be said about this lunch of ours, it is this: good quality ingredients can make even the simplest things taste good. The mozzarella was like no mozzarella I have had for a very long time (if ever). The vegetables were so bursting with flavour that it was somehow OK to have a salad of just two different coloured courgettes. I can only imagine that the veggies are grown on site and I would urge people to go to Petersham Nurseries, if only to understand the importance of good quality produce!</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeP1ElnFRkCz94js6JvaXqpYtb2lekLymOTjqcfP0Cge2Rnh7CISRGeqc-Zwsrw4NKQax2_KPfiUo4i7FtXuOJrH1Y1RkL4XERZxfMy1KTjKQRTWJy8O-C1dGmKzhgqvvaklkqDgw1x7C-/s1600/Petersham+Nurseries+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeP1ElnFRkCz94js6JvaXqpYtb2lekLymOTjqcfP0Cge2Rnh7CISRGeqc-Zwsrw4NKQax2_KPfiUo4i7FtXuOJrH1Y1RkL4XERZxfMy1KTjKQRTWJy8O-C1dGmKzhgqvvaklkqDgw1x7C-/s320/Petersham+Nurseries+8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_cmxktR1zZiZNQfi_mogzzacgbp1Urw2DNL5v6OOGTSmwpmMJw2rdcfQm0nOIuvS7WYPOJfxyltKLfv8DPmk6YJJoQM7_8S8s8PFgo5GhiwkRTQj3rDfFhftph5JIGNTzneIknmVgNaj/s1600/Petersham+Nurseries+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_cmxktR1zZiZNQfi_mogzzacgbp1Urw2DNL5v6OOGTSmwpmMJw2rdcfQm0nOIuvS7WYPOJfxyltKLfv8DPmk6YJJoQM7_8S8s8PFgo5GhiwkRTQj3rDfFhftph5JIGNTzneIknmVgNaj/s320/Petersham+Nurseries+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I suppose the stand out dish was the chicken and radicchio salad. Slightly more complex in its makeup, this was the only one of the salads to be served separately as a main course in its own right. Both my mum and I said that we would love to try and make it again and both of us have tried, with varying degrees of success (!). We have struggled a bit with the recipe(How is the yogurt so thin yet not obviously thinned out by anything? and, How can we avoid this just being a bit like Coronation Chicken? but most importantly, Where do I find radicchio??), but finally I have a recipe that I am happy with, although not pretending it is</span></span><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> nearly as good as theirs, and I present it to you now. <span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As I was completely unable to find radicchio, I have used crunchy little gem lettuce and red chicory so that I still have the lovely colour of the red against the creamy yogurt dressing. If you don’t like the bitter taste of chicory, then shredded red cabbage will do just as well</span></span>:</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "serif";"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Courier New;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ingredients: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 small roasted chicken</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">200g natural yogurt (not fat free)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 little gem lettuces - torn</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3 red chicory or half a small red cabbage – shredded</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 tablespoons semi-skimmed milk</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 tablespoons olive oil</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 – 2 tablespoons chopped mint</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 teaspoons cumin</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Roast the chicken as per the instructions and leave to cool. Once cooled, remove all the meat from the chicken and tear or chop this into bite size pieces.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Pour the yogurt into a large bowl. Whisk as you slowly add the olive oil and then the milk until the yogurt is thinned and rich.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Add the cumin, mint and salad leaves and mix.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Add the chicken and mix until everything is combined and covered in the yogurt dressing.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Serve with bread and extra salad leaves if desired.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Total cost of ingredients: £10.40 (I already had cumin and olive oil)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This should serve 4-6 people which I think makes it quite a bargain!</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByJj7D5xMReT3RJSDxICZE8XntYzun20HhFbhDNd8G9rtRvYp8l3fw-Hyp2KRwIXnI5b7roHnVrayHHzdr9N3lGcUC6gZCNNYVNs_TSDmb-6hn_p0WisvhRtjXoySHRPkorTaDiD6a12F/s1600/Chicken+Salad+PN+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByJj7D5xMReT3RJSDxICZE8XntYzun20HhFbhDNd8G9rtRvYp8l3fw-Hyp2KRwIXnI5b7roHnVrayHHzdr9N3lGcUC6gZCNNYVNs_TSDmb-6hn_p0WisvhRtjXoySHRPkorTaDiD6a12F/s320/Chicken+Salad+PN+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5KplCcWsfnG_j2Y5D4oRPKc2wU2QksU1c2-flAvL8xIgKtMf78TY9uX4MuWKgTYRk-TuutsTegiB51dkLE7Nizavem44E0ijQ-XPfG1PYVURb5_TCHaWxqJMUAutpcdO1brmVH9X4zbF/s1600/Chicken+Salad+PN+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5KplCcWsfnG_j2Y5D4oRPKc2wU2QksU1c2-flAvL8xIgKtMf78TY9uX4MuWKgTYRk-TuutsTegiB51dkLE7Nizavem44E0ijQ-XPfG1PYVURb5_TCHaWxqJMUAutpcdO1brmVH9X4zbF/s320/Chicken+Salad+PN+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-72764386795346018832011-08-17T04:48:00.000-07:002011-08-25T15:39:40.686-07:00Madsen, South Kensington<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><a href="http://www.madsenrestaurant.com/"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">www.madsenrestaurant.com</span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Roll Mop Herrings & Dill Potatoes</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A couple of weeks <span style="color: #20124d;">ago</span> we (me and Ben) went to Madsen for supper, a lovely little restaurant in South Kensington that serves up a mix of “modern Nordic dishes” as well as some of those old Scandinavian favourites. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant either but Ben was adamant that we try something new, having just interviewed Tom Kevill-Davies (The Hungry Cyclist) and discussed how he had just sampled cuisines from A-Z in restaurants around London. Madsen was his Danish addition and it happened to be just around the corner from Ben’s office, so along we went. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Having been looking forward to something a bit different, I ended up choosing an old favourite; thick bacon with creamy parsley sauce. I haven’t had this since I was little girl and I couldn’t resist it! Although delicious, it doesn’t really fit in with my plan of trying new and exciting things so I’m going to gloss over that and talk about my starter instead; rollmop herrings with dill potatoes. I’d never had rollmops before but I certainly have since! The starter was delicious and if my recreation is even a fraction as good then I will be very happy:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ingredients:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">6 – 8 large new potatoes</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2 heaped tablespoons crème fraiche</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 heaped teaspoon English mustard</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1 teaspoon lemon juice</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Healthy bunch of chopped dill</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">250g or a small jar of rollmop herrings (3-4 per person)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Watercress</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Handful of finely sliced radishes</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Dried cranberries</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Salt and freshly ground black pepper</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Scrub the new potatoes and cook until soft. </span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Drain the potatoes, allow them to cool and then neatly cube to about 1 ½ cm width</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Mix the potatoes, crème fraiche, mustard, dill and lemon juice in a bowl until the potatoes are entirely covered. Season with salt and pepper.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Heat some vegetable oil (about a cm deep) in a pan and when very hot, add a handful of dried cranberries. Fry for a couple of minutes and then lift out and place on kitchen roll to get rid of the excess oil.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>The presentation is down to you. I like to make a bed of watercress, pile the potato salad in the middle and heap with 3 to 4 pieces of rollmop. Top with the radish and cranberries and finish with a grind of black pepper and sprinkle of chopped dill.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Total Cost of Ingredients:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>£7.46</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEica6CPJC_aVdd45jMtMn-Xo4-V2oWz1YnFZxAgDG3lBGwtxfUKNl7j41-wHXvRjbXo45VZ150XNhl1au4fDDOmd1a8EjQA_EilfgWtg1yblZZ0c_mSzHtt06nIcJ7fqwuXD5ugWWiE-D9L/s1600/Rollmop+Herrings+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEica6CPJC_aVdd45jMtMn-Xo4-V2oWz1YnFZxAgDG3lBGwtxfUKNl7j41-wHXvRjbXo45VZ150XNhl1au4fDDOmd1a8EjQA_EilfgWtg1yblZZ0c_mSzHtt06nIcJ7fqwuXD5ugWWiE-D9L/s320/Rollmop+Herrings+2.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPkGSEWb4rDa0UlEQ2pFHuYErqGEM0t-qsy6zqeyMobdPdxmyIVe1MiRVg2eAezCMe4YdAqk3Ah1Ib2Bs0c8scFBYqQ3dZpBHVeoungwLIpZrBcVCQ3Sn0NUnCOJm2Z3ZgV8OJhZej7YA/s1600/Rollmop+Herrings+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPkGSEWb4rDa0UlEQ2pFHuYErqGEM0t-qsy6zqeyMobdPdxmyIVe1MiRVg2eAezCMe4YdAqk3Ah1Ib2Bs0c8scFBYqQ3dZpBHVeoungwLIpZrBcVCQ3Sn0NUnCOJm2Z3ZgV8OJhZej7YA/s320/Rollmop+Herrings+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This should serve two people for a light meal; I hope you enjoy! The cranberries are sweet and chewy and contrast the creamy, sharp potatoes and the bitter watercress very nicely. The herrings hold their own amongst these flavours and, to my mind, the whole thing is really quite nice!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">If you want to read more of The Hungry Cyclist’s inspiring words, you can visit him at: </span><a href="http://www.thehungrycyclist.com/blog"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">www.thehungrycyclist.com/blog</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953371940660073709.post-9138108173415399482011-07-24T05:31:00.000-07:002011-11-08T12:46:48.789-08:00And so we begin...<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI29-20bv0PsJDNBw7-4mGBXSHf5LAsTsUvvHg3mn7Gaad-qObQC15cMOUmkTnx1Sjkd2DBGu_3OuZ-v51LNeG2ef34cPd_b9rg62BTW5YQOMfjUrFBI7cnrhHh26QsJV4ah_o56pkTgQ/s1600/Blog+-+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI29-20bv0PsJDNBw7-4mGBXSHf5LAsTsUvvHg3mn7Gaad-qObQC15cMOUmkTnx1Sjkd2DBGu_3OuZ-v51LNeG2ef34cPd_b9rg62BTW5YQOMfjUrFBI7cnrhHh26QsJV4ah_o56pkTgQ/s400/Blog+-+Me.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Batang", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Iskoola Pota";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My name is Lucy Pedder and I’m 24 years old. I am London born and bred and currently reside in Hammersmith with three wonderful friends. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Iskoola Pota";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I come from a family of five daughters and two greedy dogs and food has always been a huge part of my life. I love cooking it and I love eating it and, living in London, I have the opportunity to try all kinds of foods just by stepping out of my front door. Lucky me!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Batang", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Iskoola Pota";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So, what I want to do is simple. I will be sampling the delights of London’s finest restaurants, food markets, kebab shops, bars, dining rooms...and reporting back to whoever is interested. Then, for those of you who don’t have the means to get to said restaurants, food markets etc. I am going to try and recreate the best of what I ate in my little kitchen. Bearing in mind I will be on a bit of a tight budget(!), my recipes will always aim to be no more than £10 a head, which means that there is no excuse for you people not to give them a go! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Batang", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Iskoola Pota";"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I suppose that pretty much sums it all up from me and anyway, all this talk is making me hungry, I think I’ll just go down the road for a bite of lunch...</span></span></span></div>What Lucy Ate Next...http://www.blogger.com/profile/07319291446696281427noreply@blogger.com0