Batter up

Today is pancake day in the UK or as we refer to it in the US, Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) is traditionally celebrated with a lot of booze, bright plastic beads and a little bit of nudity. The British are so civilized; getting wild and gluttonous with their pancakes!

The mister and I celebrated this evening with a paleo friendly version, sweet potato pancakes and bacon. The pancakes were delicious and once I drizzled a little maple syrup over them, they tasted exactly the same as regular pancakes.

In another life, back in my young carefree days of 2007, I was in Brazil for Carnival. Salvador was an amazing place to be for Carnival. The whole city shuts down for the entire week. Everyone celebrates, everywhere. It was an incredible experience, one I wish I could have again. I did a bit of blogging during my South American adventure (you can read about Carnival here) but ultimately gave it up because it was so time consuming to go to an internet cafe and write. How different it would be now with iphones and wifi everywhere..

Here are just 2 snaps from Carnival. Because of the crowds and 100% chance that you'd get pick pocketed, I rarely had a camera with me.  

A drumming school practising in the lead up to Carnival. 

The view of a bloco passing by. A bloco is a sectioned off area behind a float or semi-truck that's carrying the entertainer. Everyone in orange is in the bloco. 

Ember Yard and Mojo

It's no secret I am a big Ben Wishaw fan. I first saw him in The Hour (I still can't get over the fact that they only made 2 seasons) and last year we saw him and Dame Judi Dench in Peter and Alice (which was a strange and slightly disjointed play but amazing acting nonetheless).

When I saw Ben Wishaw was back in the West End, this time in a play called Mojo, I immediately snapped up some tickets. I unfortunately went for the nosebleed, restricted view seats and spent the whole play leaning so far forward I thought I might fall into the row in front of me. Like Peter and Alice, Mojo was dark and little bizarre but the acting was superb. Mojo also had Rupert Grint (from Harry Potter) Brendan Coyle (from Downton Abby) and Colin Morgan (from Merlin) in it. Like I said, great acting.

Before we headed into the show we grabbed a quick dinner at Ember Yard. I cannot begin to describe how good the meat was at Ember Yard. The chorizo skewers were so good we ate 2 and then ordered 2 more. Ember Yard is a hop skip and a jump away from my office and every time I walk by at lunch time it always looks so buzzing - definitely going to book myself in for a charcuterie course sometime soon.

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Burger tour

Now that I've moved offices to Oxford Street I really feel like I work in London. Working in Farringdon obviously felt like London, especially when I crossed Blackfriars bridge every night and saw St. Paul's in all it's glory, but being in the heart of Soho is different. For one thing, one of my friends at work and I decided we were going to try all the burger joints within easy reach of the office. (He's actually started a burger blog which you can follow here.)

We started with BRGR and then last week we went to Patty and Bun. P&B was the best burger I've ever had, ever. Yep, it was that freaking good. And the most genius part was that we didn't even have to wait in the enormous line, we pre-ordered!

Separate to my lunch time burger tour, my friend Jack organised a burger tour through London last weekend. The tour stopped at 8 different burger joints in 4 days. I could never eat a burger for lunch and dinner (unless I was drunk and/or really hungover), so the mister and I just joined for Friday dinner. The venue was Hache, which I had never even heard of until I got the burger tour facebook invite.

The burger and chips were good but nothing really to write home about. We all got different toppings, I got the Sicilian which has buffalo mozzarella cheese and parma ham, and everyone agreed the toppings were difficult to taste and didn't really add anything to the burger. Not a bad burger but it was no Patty and Bun.

Any burger places in London you would definitely recommend?

Afternoon Tea at the Wolseley

For my 30th birthday my dear friend Emma got me tea for 2 at The Wolseley. What a fabulous present. Last summer was so busy that I never got around to booking it and then I forgot about it until the voucher resurfaced from a pile of mail a few weeks ago.

The mister and I have never been to proper tea together so it was fun to do this together. It always amazes me how much the mister and I have to talk about considering we already talk so much of the day. Over tea we discussed everything from America's lack on coverage of international news to business strategy to our lack of decoration in our bedroom. Never a dull conversation!

After waaay too many sweet treats we decided to take a stroll through Green Park and down to Hype Park Corner. Sunday was overcast and brisk but still nice to get out and walk after so much food. We stumbled upon a New Zealand memorial which I think tickled the mister as he took pictures of it and posted it on Facebook, which he never does!

House of Cards

It's back, arguably the best show on...the internet. The mister and I have made it to episode 4 and it's taken ALL my will power to not binge watch it this weekend. The season opener was something else and I was so shocked by it I asked the mister to check and make sure there were no Frank Underwood's under the bed before we went to sleep. I can't wait to finish the season!

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saturday morning treats

The sun was shining again today and we decided to treat ourselves to a few pastries to kick off the weekend. Yummy!

Sunny Sundays

After a horrific wind storm on Friday night, we've had 2 beautifully sunny days this weekend. This morning, the sun was so bright, it was beaming in through our blackout curtains, that I got up earlier than normal and still felt really rested. The mister and I decided to head out to Gail's for a coffee and pastry and take advantage of the weather. Gail's just opened in Barnes a few weeks ago and it could not be a more welcome addition. I remember when Gail's was just a small chain with about half a dozen stores and now there are 16 across London. We took our pastries across to the pond and sat out in the sun for nearly an hour, just eating and chatting.

look at all those cakes and treats!

I will try every single loaf. 

Almond croissant.  

The pond is lacking quiet a bit of foliage but look at that sun! 

Of course we also walked away from Gail's with a loaf of sweet potato and goat's cheese bread to have with dinner. (I just could not resist!!) I had picked up some fresh Jerusalem artichokes on Saturday morning and was planning on making Jerusalem artichoke soup from James Marsden's, Do Ahead Dinners, and the bread seemed like a perfect add on. And boy was I right.

soon to be roasted red onion

The soup would have been a lot better if I'd used fresh chicken stock I think - a lesson learned for next time. The good news is I have a huge chunk of bread left over for lunch tomorrow. Win.

Happy Valentine's day!

The mister and I had a great evening at Kensington Roof Gardens on Monday watching The Goonies and celebrating Valentine's day. I hadn't seen The Goonies in years and had forgotten so many bits that it was almost like seeing it for the first time. They just don't make movies like that any more.

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And of course Valentine's wouldn't be complete without a little baking. I whipped up a batch of sugar cookies last night. Most of them came into work with me today but I'll save a few for the mister and I to enjoy this evening. 

Hope you have a fab Valentine's day!

London Rollergirls

Last Saturday some girlfriends and I celebrated our dear friend's engagement at....the roller derby!! Definitely not a traditional bridal shower but fabulous nonetheless. This was everyone's first time to the roller derby. After we all picked up the rules, it was so fun to watch and cheer on the girls.

After 2 action packed games we headed back to Tooting for some dinner at Graveney & Meadow and then some cocktails and dancing at Tram and Social.

Dinner was tapas and delicious. We literally ordered one of everything off the menu! It's not often you can say you've tried everything at a restaurant. The dancing was a bit less successful. I love to let loose on the dance floor but this crowd was so young! I mean early 20's young. I just felt so old and out of place. Still a great night with some great ladies.

What are you doing for Valentine's day?

Do you have any plans for Valentine's day? Last year the mister and I went to the Royal Observatory, which was so much fun and actually quite romantic! This year we're going to celebrate a bit early with dinner and and a roof top movie (The Goonies!!) at Kensington Roof Gardens. I hope the weather holds out for us!

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Podcasts I love

Do you listen to a lot of podcasts? I have a few standbys that I listen to a lot and others that I just dip in and out of. I find them really relaxing, entertaining and in some cases a very easy way to keep up with current events.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - American current events in the form of a game show!
Pop Culture Happy Hour - These are exactly the types of conversations I have with my friends and the mister
A History  of the World in 100 Objects - A little heavy but fascinating nonetheless
Savage Lovecast - Throw back guilty pleasure from my days as a Seattleite
Science Friday - Sometimes a little dry but a good one to dip in and out every now and again
How Stuff Works - This is a gem of a podcast and always so interesting
And of course the ultimate podcast, This American Life. Always brilliant, inspiring and able to capture my attention for the full hour.

This weekend in food

It was another delicious weekend and in an effort to shave off some of the guilt from over-eating, I absolutely killed it at the gym on Saturday and can still barely make it up and down the stairs.

I kicked off the weekend a little early on Thursday with a trip to BRGR. It's not the greatest picture but see how the brioche bun is glistening - man it was good. And A&W Rootbeer, oh how I miss you!!

On Saturday, after checking out Inside Llewyn Davis at the Olympic, we tried out a new (to us) pub restaurant, The Victoria, in Sheen. The pub is really adorable and set in a quiet residential neighborhood but the service and food just weren't quite right. My starter, Lamb Kafta, was really good, but my main, Ox cheek, was so tough I couldn't really eat it. Coupled with the fact that everything came out at lightening speed, there wasn't even an illusion that any of it was prepared after we ordered. 

And on Sunday I hobbled my way to Columbia Road in East London for afternoon tea at Cake Hole with Vale. I always love our afternoon teas together. Always the right amount of girly chat/therapy I need!

And to top it all off, the mister made some incredible granola!

chilled out weekend

Since Thanksgiving (and maybe even before) things have been go go go around here! I'm definitely not complaining but this last weekend we didn't have much going on and I relished being at home, having time to bake, read and chill out.

Dinner with some girlfriends at Yalla Yalla

fresh brussel sprouts

scrambled eggs, apple and pork sausage, brussel sprouts on rye toast. I was full for hours - a great breakfast!

Saturday was fairy sunny and mostly dry, so I took the opportunity to take a jog in Richmond Park. It felt great to workout outside and breathe some fresh air.

A less healthy, Sunday breakfast. This was a remake of a brunch I made several months ago when I had some girlfriends over. That brown mush is french toast that didn't come out as good this time. I did make another batch of blackberry butter which was delish.

And some homemade madelines for good measure.