Good coffee is one of life’s pleasures!
16th Nov: A snowy scene in Oxford Street
(via life-in-photos)
14th Nov: Putting things in Perspective
Following what is hopefully some good news today, I celebrated by roasting some parsnips with my dinner, gorging on homemade cheesecake and making a cappuccino with my coffee machine. Tomorrow, cocktails. I know how to live!
“We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand….and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late.”
Marie Beynon Ray
12th Nov: Berry Bakes #3 Lemon Cheesecake
Last week I made enough biscuits to feed the five thousand. So, unsurprisingly I had a few left over. Rather than having biscuits for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was crying out to be made into a cheesecake base. Step forward Mary Berry’s lemon cheesecake.
This recipe was so easy to do. If you need to expend some energy/anger I would totally recommend smashing up rock hard ginger biscuits. I’m surprised I still have a worktop. The zesting and squeezing of three large lemons was a little less welcome, as it has a sneaky way of hunting down any tiny cuts on your hand. Apart from this, you just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Now, the recipe was not clear whether this should be done by machine or hand. Being so muscle-bound (?!?) I opted for hand. I had to guess when the consistency looked about right and then added it to my biscuit and butter base. Then it got sent to the fridge for chilling….and here it is…ta-da!
It did suffer from a bit of a soggy bottom, so maybe the base needed baking for a bit. However, soggy bottom aside, Mary Berry’s flavours did not disappoint.
Posted with Blogsy11th Nov: Remembrance Sunday
Wanstead held it’s own Remembrance Day service in the Garden of Remembrance under a sparkling blue sky today. Standing next to a man proudly displaying his medals reminded me why we should all be so proud of our country and the men and women who have fought for us.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
From Laurence Binyon’s poem For the Fallen
10th Nov: “If it moves, we smoke it”
Happiness today was in the form of BBQ cow, pig, chicken and fish at Bodean’s 10th birthday party, Buttstock. I wasn’t too sure about the name to be honest, it sounded like we were off to some sordid leather-clad affair. Instead we were entertained by the likes of ‘Sicknote Steve’ - see what they did there - and a Bourbon bar. The queues were ridiculous, as was the Bourbon bar running out of Bourbon (!), but once your plate was piled high with BBQ delights you kind of forgot that. I’m not sure what happened to a group of my friends who stumbled off into the night following a Bourbon fuelled frenzy. I was far too excited about my new cowboy hat!
"Now it’s a party"
- The Wisdom of Whitfield: 6th Nov
5th Nov: Murraymints the too-good-to-hurry mints
Who would have guessed the humble Murray Mint had the power to de-stress my day. Having not eaten them in over 15 years, it brought back memories of day trips up to London with my dad and a time when there were clunky mechanical vending machines down in the tube stations. Happy times!
4th Nov: Return of the Red Eye
Ah Sundays. I can’t think of anything better than going out for brunch followed by a bit of pottering around London. Brunch was consumed at 80s cult film turned madly popular eating establishment, The Breakfast Club. Be prepared to queue, but once you’re in it offers delights such as ‘When Halloumi met Salad’ and ‘Ham so eggsited’. Oh how we laughed. I opted for dull old smoked salmon and scrambled eggs accompanied by the best smoothie I have ever had. ‘Return of the Red Eye’ if you’re interested. Ahem. They serve a pretty decent coffee too. When accompanied by a story that starts with “I got attacked by a hornbill…”, you’re in for a good morning. Go. It’s rather fun.
