le gavroche

I love food. Its pretty evident in the number of posts so far. As mentioned I and the other half will eat anything and anywhere as long as it is good. It was my birthday recently and as a treat I was taken to Le Gavroche website. You have to book months in advance (3 at least) as it is so busy. This probably is not helped by the fact that the patron chef, Michel Roux Jr, is on TV a lot especially with Masterchef.

I don't want to bore you with the history ( find out more here ) of the place but it has a long and established one in London.  It is somewhere where I have always wanted to eat. 

Anyway the restaurant has 2 Michelin stars so there was high expectations. We decided to go for the dinner taster menu which comprised of 8 courses and cost 100 pounds. It is steep but at the end of the menu and having enjoyed every course it was well worth it as the quality was so high. The cheeseboard alone was like the shop display of Neal's Yard Dairy. So much cheese, so little space left in the tum (for the record I love cheese).

We even got to meet Michel Roux Jr ourselves and he came to chat with us after our meal. This alone made my birthday. 

Le Gavroche also does a reasonably priced 3 course lunch for 52 pounds but again if you can get the booking its worth it. 

Course 7 or 8. Dessert. 

liz earle cleanse and polish

I love this stuff. I have been using this for many years and it is just the best. Prior to this discovery I used cleansing wipes which were very drying on the skin. You know, the feeling when your face feels really tight and stripped of its natural oils. I had heard lots about this product via customer reviews mainly from the beauty media world (just google Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish to see what I mean). Find her website here. This stuff takes everything off your face including waterproof mascara in one easy moisturising step. The cream is thickish and you put this on your face and then you clean it off with hot water and the linen cloth that comes with the cleanser.


I purchase mine always from her flagship store in London at the Duke of York Square near Sloane Square. The main reason is because if you purchase anything from her main store you always get a complimentary travel size item. These travel sizes in there own right are around 5 pounds so its a good deal and the samples are indeed great for when you go away. Her other outlet where you can purchase is John Lewis.

I also use her moisturiser which is also very good. I like her products as she uses natural ingredients. I highly recommend this skincare range and I have already have got 3 fellow female colleagues using the product.

yorkshire parkin

Yorkshire parkin is basically a ginger cake but is milder than the Jamaican kind. This cake is the easiest to make and only takes 10 minutes to weigh, mix and get the combined ingredients in the oven....this is only because I have made this cake so many times and know the recipe really well :).

This is the cake straight out of the oven.

We normally have it just with tea but we served it with ice cream above as it was a good contrast with the warm cake straight from the oven.

When the cake is completely cooled a sticky layer forms on the cake due to the golden syrup. In my opinion the stickiness makes the cake even more of a winner.

Ingredients:

225g/8oz self raising  flour

110g/4oz caster sugar

1 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 egg

200ml/7fl oz milk

55g/2oz butter

110g/4oz golden syrup



Method:

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Line a 22cm/8in tin.

Sieve the flour, sugar, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.

In a small pan gently heat the butter and syrup until melted.

Beat the egg into the milk.

Gradually pour the butter and syrup into the flour and stir. The mixture will be thick.

Pour in the egg and milk and stir until smooth and pour into the lined tin.

Bake for 45min or until golden brown

mimi berry

I have been on the look out for some leather pouches for my bag. I usually carry around my daily essentials in my bag, like all girls, but I don't like things floating around in my bag.

After some time searching I found these pouches from Mimi Berry website. They were the right price, size and are handmade. Mimi Berry used to have a really quirky shop that used to be on Cheshire Street off Brick Lane. I have been in and had a look around en route to the Beyond Retro vintage clothes warehouse. Unfortunately, this shop has now closed and she now has a showroom near Bethnal Green.

So these are the pouches that I picked.

The top one is called Alice and is in the colour grape. The pouch is much more deeper in colour than the photo shows and looks good with the gold zips. The purse below is called the Dotty Penny in Taupe. I bought the last one as it was in the sale and I believe is no longer available.

You can fit a lot in these pouches. Below is what I carry in the purple one.

I could probably fit more in but the above is all I need. 

The taupe dotty pouch is to carry my phone and my keys as they are a nightmare to find in my bag sometimes. This pouch will also double up as a mini clutch as and when I need it.

I have to say that these pouches are really well made and the leather is soft and gorgeous. Mimi Berry is having a sample sale soon and definitely plan on going to grab some bargains.

tokyo diner

Met the OH (other half) in Covent Garden yesterday after work. A little incident whilst washing a delicate cardigan the night before and an uncouth drying technique = ruined cardigan. So went to get a new one. We were lucky we found a replacement half price in the sale so to celebrate the saving we went to get some Japanese food in Chinatown.  There are not many Japanese places in Chinatown compared to the Chinese choices as you would expect but I have always walked past Toyko Diner and wanted to try. Once sat down and looking through the menu I realised there was no Japanese people eating there which in my view means the food isn’t that good. I ordered the Katsu Curry and OH ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box.

Katsu Curry (Pork)

Chicken teriyaki bento box

Not feeling optimistic, I actually found the Katsu Curry quite good though I have had better. Its better than the Katsu served at Wagamama which is weird shade of yellow. The Bento box, in my opinion was lacking in some oomph. I just felt everything looked a bit sad in their individual compartments. Again I have had better and at £16 it was not worth the money. The Katsu curry by the way was £10.60.

I would go back for the curry if I needed a quick eat but with the Baozi Inn and Leung's (which are both great) round the corner I don’t know how likely this would be…but at least I know it’s an option.

peanut butter and chocolate cookies

Tried the oven for the first time last night. To be honest I prefer the old oven because it heated up quicker but alas I guess I have to get used to the new one.

I made peanut butter and chocolate cookies last night. I always use the same recipe from The Hummingbird Cook Book because quite frankly these cookies can’t be beaten in my opinion. They are crunchy but chewy in the middle plus I make them extra large too.  If I require chocolate in recipes in most cases I will always use Cadburys’ Daily Milk Chocolate chopped up. In terms of the peanut butter I prefer a chunky version for the added texture and crunch.

Do you like my jam jar glasses? They are actually old jam jars that indeed make great glasses. I discovered this tip when I was visiting friends in America over 10 years ago and my friends used jam jars all the time!

This is the recipe. They always turn out good.

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar
200g light soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
240g peanut butter
340g plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons bicarb.
1/2 teaspoon salt
75g dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 170c/325f/gas 3. Grease and line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper.

2. Mix the butter and 2 types of sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Turn the mixer down to low, and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract.

3. Then add the dry ingredients, flour, bicarb and salt, and mix until the dough is smooth. Stir in the chocolate until it's evenly mixed.

4. Arrange on a baking tray in balls with gaps between as these cookies spread. Bake for 10 minutes, or just until they start to turn golden at the edges and cracked in the middle. If they feel soft in the middle, still take them out, as they continue cooking after being taken out of the oven and this makes them perfect and chewy after they've cooled.

5. Enjoy with a glass of milk.

byron burgers

The new oven was fitted today and you would think we would use it straight away but instead we went out for dinner. The other half and I love eating out and trying new places.  We are not fussy where we go, from Michelin star to local cafe, as long as the food is good.

Tonight we went to Bryron Burgers website in Angel. A fairly new gourmet burger chain, I wanted to see if it could beat the burgers at our favourite place Hache website. The objective for the founder was to replicate the burgers he had experienced on a trip to America. I wanted to see if he had achieved this.

The other reason why I wanted to pay a visit was of the interesting decor. Each of Bryron's establishments have a different theme, probably with the message to say to customers that 'we are unique'.

New but "old" decor

I have to say the decor was more impressive than the food. we didn't want to make comparisons with Hache but in this case we had to to judge it properly. In a nutshell though Byron burgers are cheaper with the meal below costing £22 (2 burgers, 3 sides) but we agreed we would have paid the extra for a hache burger.

I have to say I was disappointed but I find that "cool" eating establishments in must cases don't deliver on the food.  

charity begins at the supermarket

On my way home from work if I need to grab some groceries I go to Sainsbury's in Camden Town. Its one of the biggest supermarkets around these parts and its more importantly convenient. Monday is the worst night to go as everyone is restocking after the weekend but it was my turn to cook the evening meal so off I went.

After picking up the things I wanted I noticed these bags by the designer Matthew Williamson for sale. More information on them here. I did read about them a few weeks ago but I thought unless I wasn't there on the day there was no way I would be able to get my hands on one. 

They come in the colours coral, teal and khaki. I picked the coral one after much deliberation as its the most summery.

So if you want to do your bit for charity I think this is one of the most stylish ways to do it. The bags cost £5 and available at participating stores. I am going to use it as my swim bag as its so roomy.

felty things

When I was a kid, I used to make things out of cereal boxes, washing up bottles etc....  A real crafter, I tried my hand at knitting, cross stitch, quilting,embroidery to name but a few. Nowadays, I find it harder to find the time but on a recent trip to Foyles on Charing Cross Road, whilst the other half was in the cookery section, I went to amerce myself in the craft books. 

As a result I bought these two books:

 

 

You can easily get them from Amazon. 

Funnily enough I haven't made anything from these books yet but they did give me the inspiration to design and make things below. I don't know what they are really just things you can hang in a room for decoration. They were made for colleagues at work who have had a baby recently or are just about to have baby. 

 The Unisex Owl and the Baby Girl Owl

 Rockets and Stars for a Boy

They look more complicated than what they are to make. Cut pieces of felt from simple patterns of your own making and stitch them together with some toy stuffing in between. Easy.