back home

After a month and a half of busy leave-taking, I've officially gone from London and spending some time back in my home ground in Pensacola, Florida. There was plenty of good food in those last days in London, but now my world has turned and it's biscuits and gravy all around.





This morning I participated in a time-honored ritual of grits and biscuits at the Coffee Cup, Pensacola's best food landmark. The woman at the griddle said she's been there 30 years; the two old gentlemen at the table next to us have probably been meeting there every Veteran's Day - or every Tuesday - for twice that long.



The biscuits were high, light and buttery; the grits were creamy and begging for the over-easy egg. Welcome home!

On a Soup Roll 2

Okay, people in this house are on the brink of colds, so I took it as my mission to stop that nonsense in its tracks.

The Get Better Bacon Soup:

1 large red onion, large chop
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
thumb of fresh ginger, chopped
olive oil to cover and saute

salt, pepper
sage
2 dried red chili's

add water and stock to taste

simmer it for a bit

chop 1/4 rasher of bacon and pop it in

simmer it for another bit

Serve with a beautiful sunflower shaped pull apart bread from L'Epicerie deli on the corner, along with a dish of olive oil for dipping, with 4 cloves of chopped garlic sunk to the bottom of it, salt and pepper. And Whitstable Ale, the get better beer.

Feeling better already!

Soup's Ahoy!

I am on a roll with soup making, I don't mind telling you.

A couple of years ago, I worked as a cook at a conference center in Scotland, a place called Iona. It was a gorgeous setting and an amazing place, but what I really loved was the work. Along with a team of 4-5 volunteers, I churned out breakfast, lunch and dinner for up to 80 people a day. The team taught me so much about having fun with cooking and what a collaborative art it can be. But I also found my own style in the midst of the group and I love how it has stayed with me. I have a cooking sense now that I never did before, and sometimes recipes just appear in my head and I work them with a kind of natural ease that I find very delightful. Nothing complicated, mind you, but the results are sometimes just wonderful.

Take my soups lately. Very simple fresh spinach soup:
a couple of onions, some cloves of garlic, all chopped and sweating nicely in a good covering of olive oil
a bit of veggie broth mix
great handfuls of fresh spinach
enough water to cover
salt and pepper
a dab of butter to deepen the flavor
when the spinach is cooked down, blend with a stab mixer and serve with grated haloumi cheese and cracked pepper

It's so green and good you feel as strong as Popeye after a couple of bowlfuls.

Next time - the stilton and celery soup I brazenly copied - and improved - from my favorite buddhist restaurant here in London.

In honor of all things green, this pic from Cambridge last weekend.

Captain, O Captain (and Commander)

August is a month full of remembering and celebrating my foodie father, who was born in August and died in August, just shy of his 70th birthday.

One of his favorite birthdays was with his best friend (a man who also loves food and just happens to have been born on the same day in the same year as dad - they always thought that was fun) when they celebrated at the chef's table at Commander's Palace in New Orleans. The four of them, mom and dad and their friends, had a wonderful time but for dad it was a real dream come true. Check out the current menu at CP.

Even More Manly

Way back when, I wrote about Manish Water, soup from Jamaica designed to make a man outta ya.

For some reason, I seem to be on a strange roll here, leaning towards the masculine. Here is the manish breakfast, London cafe style. It was me, several men of the construction world, and a business man or two going back to their blue collar roots. The place was steamy on a cold, rainy summer's day. I read a whodunnit that would have made my dad proud - the whole breakfast was in honor of him, a working man if there ever was one, though by late in life he had reached his aspiration: to feel wealthy enough to not wear socks with his deck shoes. Hey, everybody has their thing, right? Anyway, this breakfast and this post are dedicated to Carl George Norman, Jr. a fabulous cook who nevertheless enjoyed a greasy spoon or two in his all-too-short life. August 26, 1935 - August 5, 2005. I raise a fork to ya, dad.

19.7.08 Manish Water

What is manish water, you ask?

For full details and a picture you can go here. But I'm warning you...it's graphic and no ethical vegetarians need apply.

I didn't have the manish water when we went to get some take-away from the Jamaican place on the main street near the house. As you'll read in the article, I really have no need of it. Probably tasty, but I'm not convinced. The "stew beef" and rice was very tasty indeed and although it did nothing for my libido, it was a fun food foray into a new cuisine. The only downside is that the flavor in Jamaican food often comes from lashing of MSG, which always makes me feel like I'm this close to losing control of my limbs and makes my brain wobbly as well.

The borough of Hackney in London where we live is well populated with multi-generation Jamaican immigrants. Theirs is a fascinating history, which we just learned more about at the Hackney Museum.

4.7.08 Independence from Guilt

Being American by birth, I get to participate in Independence Day even as I live an ex-pat life. You know us Americans, we're nothing if not entitled...

I declare my independence from guilt at not writing for so long. It's been a rocky road at work for these past few weeks and I simply haven't felt very sociable. I'm still eating and it still tastes good, so all is not lost. I could go for some rocky road ice cream right now, as a matter of fact.

Instead, I'll have muesli with a handful of these beautiful babies (above) from the garden. Turns out they aren't raspberries, but rather, loganberries.

The loganberry is generally thought to be derived from a cross between the European red raspberry cultivar 'Red Antwerp' and the American blackberry cultivar 'Aughinburgh'. It was accidentally created in 1880 or 1881 in Santa Cruz, California, by the American lawyer and horticulturist James Harvey Logan (1841-1928). In the 1880s, berry growers began to cross varieties to obtain better commercial varieties. Logan was unsatisfied with the existing varieties of blackberries and tried to cross two varieties of blackberries to produce a superior cultivar.
While attempting to cross two varieties of blackberries, Logan accidentally planted them next to an old variety of red raspberry, all of which flowered and fruited together.

21.6.08 last night in the garden

Last night was a time to mark the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere and what better way than a sleep-out in the postage-stamp sized garden of this London flat. Okay, I can think of plenty of better ways, involving the Arctic Circle or large pit BBQ's in the Southern US, but this was what was available and I love making something out of seemingly nothing (some of the best cooking happens that way, with just whatever is in the fridge).

Well, it rained and there were police helicopters going and going and there was a party with bad dance music but you could only hear the beat.

But on the upside, before the camp-out came the raspberry harvest! The vines in the garden are touching the ground with them and did they ever go a treat on chocolate ice cream.

And fresh mint tea.

Ah, the flavors of summer - full of light.

16.6.08 okay, too long

It's been too long since I've posted...too long for me in terms of thinking about what I'm eating. I mean, I've been thinking about it, but...

There was this wee trip to Scotland which involved a lot of carbohydrates and considerably more green in the landscape than on the plate. I loved it. Adored every last crumb of it. The steak pie from the local butcher's shop, the whisky by the fire, the scones here, there and everywhere. Yes, it was Scottish cuisine at it's crispy, crumbly, flakey best and all in the company of gorgeous new friends.

By rights there should now be some sort of juice fast going on, but I don't believe in culinary penance. Maybe I'll lay off the pain au chocolat for a little while. Maybe.

And this morning I started with half a ruby red grapefruit. That ought to balance things out...

6.6.08 before we begin

I hope this doesn't "jinx" our culinary efforts, but here's what's for dinner before we make it:

chicken marinated in fresh lime juice, tarragon and olive oil
skewered with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and capsicums

big, big, big baked (jacket) potatoes

a friend is coming for dinner who must forgo the worlds' best thing on a baked potato - butter, of course - so we're making a caramelized onion sauce with fresh dill and chopped, roasted almonds and pepitas for the topper

fresh green salad

So that's very nearly a five (vegetables) in one as well as being a delicious meal with guests (we hope). Right...off to the kitchen.

P. S. my favorite french deli on the corner, L'Epicerie, was out of pain au chocolat...as was the coffee shop across the road, Venetia's. What is the world coming to when you can't buy a pAc after 10:30 in the morning?!

2/6/08 Does this count?

Here's a theory I live by:

If you have your 5 fruit and veg a day, you can also have anything else you want because obviously the f&v cancel it out.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So the fried chicken sandwich and the chips have been fully cancelled by the cabbage, broccoli, onions, pepper and banana I had today.

Obviously.
same with the cappuccino, of course

27.5.08 why I like to cook

I like to cook because of experiences like yesterday. It was pouring rain all day and cold (thanks, Summer, for visiting us here in the UK a few weeks ago. Mind coming back?) No sense going out for food, and so began a day of culinary adventures foraging through cupboard and fridge for just the right combinations.

In the fridge and freezer:
eggs
cheese
spinach
cooked black eyed peas (yes, leftover but reconstitution renders any food "new" rather than "leftover" in my universe - the leftover hating universe)
half a purple onion
cauliflower
cooked rice
bacon

In the cupboard and on the sideboard:
tinned tomatoes
potatoes
Crystal sauce
dried coriander and cumin
limes
garlic
salt and pepper
really bad and therefore oh so good chocolate covered biscuit wheels with marshmallow cream inside

So we had a fantastic bean, spinach, onion and cheese frittata with homemade salsa.
And roasted potato wedges later to finish up the salsa.
Fried rice with bacon, cauliflower and spinach.
really bad biscuits

We even had a bottle of red wine kicking around here. Time to stock up for the next rainy day, that's for sure.

23.5.08 no such thing as a free lunch

The other night I was invited to a meal at a local mosque. The hospitality was gorgeous; the food - tandori chicken, spring rolls, rice, stewed lamb, dal - was amazing, served hot and plenty, family style at big tables. It was all free.

Except that it wasn't. The intention of the evening was to debunk some myths about Islam. Sort of a "you've heard from all the rest, now hear it from us" kind of a thing. And that was a wonderful idea. I love the openness and the transparency they were going for.

Unfortunately, the "tour" turned out to be a sermon. I've been to plenty of similar events in Christian churches that had the same feel to them: instead of sharing, it was about converting.

In the old days of Christian missionaries, there was a term for this - "rice Christians," which meant people who were converted because they were given food when they were hungry.

I wasn't that hungry the other night, I have to say, even though I'd worked right through lunch.

I did eat too much, though, which may have been why I tossed and turned with dreams that night. I dreamt that religions, so full of hope and meaning, would be united by their highest efforts and the best good, rather than a lower common denominator like what I experienced that night. Give us your best, religions of the world, and call out our best in return...and then perhaps no one will ever go hungry again.

I can dream, right?

20.5.08 the dog ate my blog

Did I really not eat for a week?
Seriously, of course not.
Imagine a hunger strike for a good cause, though. I read on the net somewhere that "Gandhi never fasted for more than 21 days." Only 21? What a comment! I've been known to go 21 minutes without food, but never without thinking about food.

In the developed, western world we have the incredible luxury of connecting food with self-expression (the eating of it, not the refusal of it, I'm talking about now).

My mom told me last night that she went to her first vegan restaurant. It wasn't her cup of tea, necessarily. I find it interesting that I think I can picture the "type" of people she dined with. There may have been a few business suits, but I bet there weren't.

The reason I haven't been writing is that my food in the past 8 days has said this: I'm disoriented and, though not depressed, decidedly blue.

next time I'm in such a funk, I'll eat only blue food to match my mood, and perhaps lift it.

this has not stopped me from having at least 1 pain au chocolat - a certain spot of sunshine in cloudy week...

12.5.08 why is 5 so easy?

Eating five fruit and veg a day is suddenly easy because I've got a fruit&veg shop one block a way. It's just a few doors down from the pain au chocolat place so pretty much as long as I allow myself to divert in that direction every so often, the F&V place gets most of my attention now.

The budget has gotten a bit out of control lately (F&V not to blame) so I set two standards today: at least 5 and all under a fiver.

carrots
broccoli
okra
tinned tomatoes
and
um
red wine (grapes AND antioxidants...)
Okay, it isn't that easy, but it's fun to try.

I did it, with a cappuccino to boot. At least I would have done if it weren't for the chocolate covered halvah near the counter at the F&V shop. How can they do that? So I was .79 over.

The second standard was at least 5 glasses of water. I think I managed nearly 8, which is better anyway. Wait, that reminds me (water is a great way to boost your mental acuity) I also had raisins on my breakfast toast with peanut butter. Beautiful little golden ones. Yippee! She shoots...she scores!

10.5.08 it was his last meal

Or hers. I'm not sure. I didn't get close enough to the little mouse in our kitchen who we discovered this morning had, well, um, taken the bait.

Okay, that's morbid and horrible.

In other news. The vegetables and fruit to pass my lips today have all been of a distinctly distorted version. Raspberry jam, and apricot jam with an actual apricot in the spoonful. On a brioche, of course. I would like to point out that wheat was once a green, growing thing - does that count?

Let's see...ice cream in Battersea park from the Mr. Whippy van so not even any cream in that let alone green stuff.

Green stuff? Wait! There was pesto on my pasta tonight. Basil must most certainly count.

And the cheese, a fantastic hard, round ball of a thing from Whole Foods, was a orange as a carrot (but not because of some weird food dye like some countries like to put in their cheddars).

A cappuccino in St. Pancras station this morning with a friend we were dropping off at the train. I won't go back for another at the restaurant we tried, but there are half a dozen more in the new and improved gateway to Paris. Which makes me think that since I'm at the station already, next time I might just go to the source and eat my crispy, buttery, chocolately wonder in the shadow of the Eiffel tower. It will be more expensive, of course.

Oh man, look at the labels. Not the healthiest day I've posted, but the sun was shining and the Buddha in the Peace Pagoda was smiling, as were we when we visited the dogs at the Battersea Home for Dogs and Cats. In other words, there was a lot of walking involved today. We probably nearly maybe broke even...

6.5.08 The Trip to Bountiful

Our friend H. brought us Bounty Ice Cream bars for snacks at a meeting today - the first in our garden as it was a lovely warm day. ice cream was perfect indeed.

It looks like I have a much more serious compatriot in this blog...also a Bounty fan on at least one occasion.

2.5.08 mamma's cookin'

It was cold and rainy. Work has been devilish this week. I just wanted comfort. As often happens in my world, it came on a plate and I was glad for it.

The sign on the window claimed it was a snack bar. So what was a roast dinner doing laid out on the side board? Where were the snacks? Why did it feel like walking into a family Sunday dinner? The woman said, "You are hungry. Come to mamma." Something like that. More gravy, is what I said. She blessed me with a bow as I paid her and said, "I hope you will come again. At night, it is Thai food." She gave me too much change but noticed her mistake before I did and I was only too happy to give it right back. Imagine the bad karma of inadvertently stealing from your surrogate lunch mother!

Once I salted the soggy cauliflower and the intriguingly tough lamb planks and the splotchy roast potato chunks, it conspired to have just enough flavor to see me through. If "mamma" had followed it up with a heavy-crusted apple pie, I would have gone for it.

It was an easy chair and a favorite quilt for the belly. And, as I said, I was glad for it. I will visit her again, but more for her Malaysian matter-of-factness and her genuine desire to feed your soul than the actual food off the stove in the corner of the front room. The broadness of her welcome and the big round white plates.

We went to another cozy place today that was equally warm and yet a polar opposite in character: a rough at the edges but nevertheless trendy whole foods place by the Shoreditch rail line. It's a grocery but also has a cafe at the back serving Monmouth coffees (yes, cappuccino) and yummy cakes under arched, warm red bricks. The kitchen is open there, too, but it's populated by fresh young things with scruffy attitude. Less likely to go back there just because the weather is cool, but maybe when I'm feeling too cool for school.

30.4.08 it was a vegetable success

so here's the count for Wednesday, the 30th, which is today by my body clock but yesterday by the clock and calendar...

okra and tomatoes - homemade and not very slimy, with plenty of Crystal sauce
rocket
apple
coconut macaroons (that counts, right?)
broccoli

and a cappuccino to keep up with it all

29.4.08 but it came in a golden package

So I called Paul yesterday and asked him to bring home cookies on his way back from a meeting that I was missing. I've just had another one of them now - chocolate covered marshmallow biscuit things. Really crap. But the package was amazing, all gold foil and shiny red letters. I am such a sucker for that kind of kitch.

In other news, I don't remember a single vegetable crossing my lips today. Hm.

Oh, I had vitamin water with blueberries and pomegranate. That counts, right?

I had a cappuccino today, first one in a while. And some fair baklava. Muesli and milk. Coffee. Lemon water. Wood oven pizza...saved enough for tomorrow (pizza is the one and only absolutely okay leftover).

28.4.08 eating humble pie

Do you ever have one of those days...the ones that even food can't save.

Well, I almost had one today. It was only a near miss because I happened to make myself a delicious baked potato and fresh rocket and mixed greens salad for dinner. The baking potato warmed the house, the salad was a plateful of spring on a cold winter-can't-let-go day outside. Sometimes grace is a simple as butter melting down the side of a golden spud.

And there is chocolate in the fridge, so all is definitely not lost.

veggie count today: the salad counts for two, I bet. An orange. A juice drink. A banana. I made it. Whew.

25.4.08 Seven Stars of a Day at Play

Number One:
Cappuccino at Monmouth Coffee

Number Two:
Cheese tasting at Neal's Yard Dairy
ARDRAHAN
Made by Mary Burns near Kanturk, Co Cork, Ireland
TYPE OF CHEESE:
Washed Rind Cows Milk Cheese
RENNET:
Vegetable Rennet
MILK:
Pasteurised Cows Milk
DESCRIPTION:
Meaty, smoky, creamy, succulent milky-sweet cheeses. The interior has a freshness and moistness while the rind, which has been washed with salt water, is savoury and pungent.

Number Three:
Half a pint at the Seven Stars pub.

Number Four:
Free samples from an Italian Deli in the Leadenhall Markets.

Number Five:
Chocolate cake at "Paul" bakery.

Number Six:
Blueberries for a quid I didn't buy at the Borough Market (why not?!)



Number Seven:
Beautiful homemade tomato pasta sauce...at home.

22.4.08 food in the balance

First, I am wondering: if one puts some lime and fresh ginger in a delicate bone china cup with flowers painted on it and pours hot water from the (tea) kettle over it, is that tea?

That was my hot toddy of choice this evening, upon returning home to a pile of stale donuts after a fresh conversation with the Yorkshire poet Simon Armitage at the Royal Society for the Arts near the Embankment.

Today was another leftovers day! Can you believe it? I can't. I simply canNot. But, we bought some fresh, flat Turkish bread (a real neighborhood staple here in Hackney) and covered it in the black beans we made the other night, topped it with cheese and grilled it like a pizza. We served it to ourselves with fresh coriander on top and humous on the side, along with cauliflower and carrots and rocket as crudite and salad. I'm getting back on the 5-a-day bandwagon and toying around with raw foods. Some people swear by entire diets of raw food...I've always craved sushi in the morning.

I had an apple for breakfast and then later in the morning broke down and had some toast with peach jam (is that 1?) and honey and butter. Man, do I love butter.

Also today was another trip to Pret, our second in a week after not having gone there at all since we've been back. It's a bit tired, really. The sandwiches - a "slim pret" (1/2 a sandwich) of chicken and avocado for me tonight - feel fresh but lack flavor. Shame. Such a great concept.

So today for my Take Five:
apple
rocket
cauliflower
carrot

and
peach jam.

21.4.08 music good enough to eat

It's leftovers again. I know, I know. I said I didn't like them...but my budget does. Spent my money on a cappuccino today instead...

Meanwhile, here's some music to go with that Crystal Louisiana hot sauce:

20.4.08 still working off last week's joys

I'm still in a happy glow after a great evening at L'Epicerie last Thursday. And since there's only rice in the fridge, I will live in the past (but not in leftover land).

19.4.08 either too full or too empty

When other bloggers take a day or three off, I wonder where their commitment lies. I mean, honestly, how hard can it be to keep up a blog?
Um.

I have dropped the ball. Rather than gazing at my navel, a much-beloved sport of mine, about why I've fallen off the blogging track, I will stay focused on my belly and what goes in it.

It's been a fabulous few days in food for me. A couple of nights ago we were celebrating with some colleagues at L'Epicerie, my favorite deli on earth and just around the corner. Our staff and friends had the place to ourselves after hours. I didn't go outside to look, so happy was I with my shaved Italian and Spanish hams and smelly cheeses, but I know what it looked like anyway because I've seen these happy little occasions from the bus window and been jealous. Glowing shop windows, the place a warm beacon against not just the cold climate but the cold disconnection of the city; friends inside laughing and lifting their glasses to this shared joy or that fond memory. Sigh. And then it was me on the inside! Yippee! I'd do that every night of the week, if I could.

The next night I nearly did. We treated friends from Oz to home cooked bangers and mash; topped off with rhubarb from the garden in a crumble. Again the windows were aglow. Lovely.

And tonight, another meal cooked here for friends. A cuban theme since we found the Crystal sauce the other day. I think that was the last day I wrote. If I were to analyze my reasons for not posting, maybe I was just letting Crystal have the last word. Maybe.

Maybe I'm just dead tired from all the gorgeous food and friends. Yep, that's it. Good night and good food tomorrow!

16.4.08 number one leftovers rule

I've said here, there and everywhere that I don't like leftovers. I don't get them. I don't like them. Oddly, I have a tendency to save things anyway, as if one morning I will wake up a new and improved, leftover loving me.

Well, there is no eureka to report, but I did enjoy a dinner tonight of things that were in the fridge because I had already cooked them yesterday.

Number One rule of leftovers is reconstitution. If you make them into something else, it's just ingredients...

So I took the ingredients: cooked spagetti, cooked macaroni, roasted garlic, and beautiful Italian salami. I put brand new, fresh, never before cooked olive oil and tossed it all together in a nice clean pan.

Therefore, new dinner.
Delicious.

And a cappuccino in Victoria Park, earlier.

15 um 16.4.08 dinner party

It was so wonderful to be in the kitchen today, with time and space to create a dinner for friends. I got so excited I kind of overdid it. While Paul made a fantastic tomato sauce for pasta, with roasted peppers, lots of garlic and fresh basil, and some beautifully sauteed onions as the base, I made a salad. I think the combination was fun - mixed greens, rocket, toasted walnuts, bacon, and roquefort cheese with pomegranate seeds - but the dressing was a bit much with the flavors of the pasta sauce. I made a vinegar and olive oil base with lime juice, shallots, dried coriander and cumin. Great on its own, though, and colorful. I also attempted a pear tart. I made a crumble crust of flour, butter, and ground walnuts. I blind baked it, then sliced pears thin and poured a reduction of honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla essence and Grand Marnier over the top before the second bake. The crust was not all I had imagined - I think I was thinking of crushed biscuits but it was just floury. Should I have added an egg? Don't know. I just made it up. Thank God for cream over the top. And dark chocolate on the side.

We used every plate in the house, and they are in there now waiting for a wash. Not going to happen tonight. Er, this morning...

14.4.08 Crystal Clearly the Best

Shopping the local small supermarkets in this very multicultural neighborhood is usually a tour of the unknown - I'd say 90% of the things on the shelves I can't even pronounce let alone imagine what it goes with or tastes like. And I love that. It adds to life as an adventure.

It was fun to come across a little familiar territory today, though. At first I only saw the fake import version (how do they get away with mock branding?). But then, there it was, the familiar white and blue label on the distinctive bottle of bright red sauce. Crystal, all the way from down home, right there waiting for me. I've been waiting for it forever - last year living in Oz I couldn't find it and life was much less spicy.

Another day at home, recuperating. It was time to pay the tax man, too. Wow. I do know how to live.

If it wasn't for Crystal, life would be dull indeed.
Also, the same store sells Ben and Jerry's. Some New Yorker's swear by chicken soup to cure the common cold; I'd go for New York Superfudge Chunk any day.

13.4.08 No revenge with this Montezuma

Because I have been sick in bed with a cold, most of the day's food was thoroughly forgettable - things like chicken bouillon and tea.

There was a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast. Justification: I'm sick. Also, I followed it up with an orange, so it balances out healthy/not so healthy.
And half a brownie for afternoon tea. Justification: I'm sick. No counterbalance. I'm sick.

In addition to a nice salad and some pretty decent canned soup in a loving effort to make it all better, a friend also gave me some real powerful medicine: orange and geranium chocolate from Montezuma's.

I'm not well...but I'm happy.

12.4.08 would you like hail with your cheese?

The four food adventurers set off across Kensington Gardens armed to the teeth with treats from Whole Foods, making a beeline for one of the big brown benches installed under the disproportionately tiny shelters by the pond. Like seasoned explorers, they had sniffed out the hut and read the signs in the weather. Let others glibly rent a green and white striped deck chair...this group had a keen sixth sense for inclement danger. And also, the sun kept going behind giant black clouds and anyone could see the rain coming...

We were just opening the crinkly clear wrap on the silk white cone of goat's cheese when the hail started. It was difficult to restrain ourselves from sharing with the unwashed, but damp and pelted, masses who huddled up next to our bench, spread as it was with this cheese and other glories. But we managed. I might have been heard to tell some kids "don't even think about having a bite of this cookie." My warning was lost in translation, should have said "biscuit." My cookie remained mine to the last crumb. Nice chocolate chips, very buttery, but not quite enough salt to be perfect.

Lost track of my intention to keep note of food costs.
Maybe I will switch intentions to keep track of heavy, starchy foods. I could seriously stand to lighten up.
And today's cappuccino was oh so very ordinary.

11.4.08 cookies galore

Yes, it's as good as the James Bond reference that came to mind...

Nearly.
P indulged my cookie situation and then some today. I stayed home beavering away (one of the world's best sayings - ask a Canadian if you aren't familiar with the terminology) at our overdue writing project and he bought me several types of cookies, including the following, described on the packet as:

Born in the Tuscan countries Cantuccini are one of the most wellknown and appreciated Italian specialities. In Florence since 1929 we have been producing this exquisite cookies in the full respect of the old recipe. Excellent also with dessert wines, coffee, cappuccino, tea, ice-cream.

Do I need to say that a) I ate too many and b) all of the grammar and punctuation above is original to the packaging and unedited by me.

They were good cookies.

We just got home from dinner with friends - gorgeous homemade pizzas with a delicate hand-shaped wholemeal crust and a beautiful fresh salad.

I shouldn't have had so many cookies earlier...could have eaten more pizza, to be sure.

9.4.08 follow the brick lane

It doesn't have the same ring to it as "follow the yellow brick road," but I do like the feeling of slipping into another world that I get whenever we go to Brick Lane for Indian. Something about the guys in suits who try to lure you into their restaurant. Are you supposed to look at the ones you are rejecting, say thanks but no thanks or see you next time. What is the etiquette here?

Going to BL was a treat because we've been so busy with work deadlines that I haven't even had time to write. I'm sure there were cappuccino's involved over the last couple of days. Made myself one at home today...not my best effort. No pain au chocolat that I can recall. But tonight we came across a well-known and fab bagel place (why is it spelled beigel?) and bought some challah bread (why is it spelled chola?) Also, why was every other customer in the place, and there were many, a short, balding, scabby older man dressed in black? Cabbies?

Elseways today I did the fast food thing, but consoled myself that for morning tea I very self-righteously bought myself an apple from the corner shop. And ate it. And only one slice of toast for breakfast. So that's good. Coffee, hot water & lemon, the usual. No cookies today. None. Not a one. Hard to go on living, really.

7.4.08 was that cider or beer

We're making our way through the polish beers at the local corner store. The ones in cans, nothing fancy. The one for a quid each. Tonight we came across one with no English on the label at all. And we think it's cider but we can't tell. Unless we absolutely positively must get drunk, we won't be trying to get to the bottom of that one.

more meat from the sausage stands at the borough
oddly dense, crumbly whole meal bread
butter and raspberry jam on top (sweet!)
lettuce with porcini olive oil
fresh cherry tomatoes
green olive oil spotted with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with black pepper
homemade cappuccino (now if I could just master pain au chocolat - none today - bad day!)
doner kebab from the local shop topped with lettuce, cabbage, onion, tomatoes and garlic sauce (Yippee!) and fries as a treat because we got the STUPID visa forms in the mail today a week before my ticket to ride expires
parmagiano reggiano

and I think some cabury's is in order. P bought so it's fruit and nut. sigh. so unimaginative and yet I do love him. he has other qualities, obviously.

6.4.08 and this and this and this, again

I am not a fan of leftovers. Even though I ate things today that I bought and started enjoying yesterday...that doesn't make them leftovers.

First of all, since it was snowing, I walked to the corner French deli and bought pain au chocolat for breakfast. What else?

but that wasn't really first...I am doing well at having hot water and lemon in the mornings as I wait for the coffee to brew
coffee with milk and homemade cappuccino with decaf a bit later...I rate my cafe pressed frothing milk pretty highly
a ginger nut or two because they were there
that spicy soup I am newly fond of making
gorgeous cherry tomatoes
crusty brown bread with sweet butter
apple slices
saffron tea
fried rice with onion and chorizo sausage
chocolate digestive

5.4.08 I ate this and this and this and this and this

this morning was dedicated to visiting the borough market and although it was a bit chilly, we arrived before the crowds and before the stall holders had sore feet. everyone was friendly and we could have made breakfast out of the samples on offer, but still opted to buy a few things. I traded my usual pain au chocolat for a chocolate eclair with proper white fluffy cream in the middle. Apparently, according to witnesses, my eyes rolled back in my head at first bite. yes, it was love.

we found
a parmagiano reggiano that was sweet and crumbly smooth at the beginning, with a bloom of saltiness for a finish
rye bread
olive oil infused with porcini mushrooms
comte cheese
several sausages
chocolate truffles
and a Monmouth coffee, a cappuccino, of course

so we had two picnics when we got home, a little of this, a little of that and more for tomorrow!

At Neal's Yard Dairy, where it was necessary to try not only the Colston Bassett stilton, but also a lovely strawberry jam, I came across an interesting looking little journal...but I can't find the link. Yet. A reason to return to Neal's Yard (like I need one).

Our best find of the day was a beautiful seasoning called Sumac, the color of maple leaves and described as "lemon of the gods." it is absolutely gorgeous and I will be cooking with it soon...

4.4.08 so busy I am hardly eating

Well, that's never true. I always make time to eat!
But it's 10:25 a.m. already and I haven't had a thing except coffee.
woe is me.

2.4.08 skip Tuesday

I dislike Mondays so much I skipped Tuesday...

I've just made the most amazing (I can say that because it was a group effort with my friend Catherine) Thai-style soup.

chicken stock
lemon grass cut in small circles
coriander rough chopped
garlic finely chopped and sliced
fresh ginger, grated
lime peel very finely chopped
small amount of oyster sauce
tiny bit of sesame oil
straw mushrooms (from a jar, marinated in sunflower oil, drained)
couple of sliced green chiles

We had it with rice - love the rice cooker! Finely chopped chorizo sausage pan fried in small amount of olive oil with sliced onions, garlic (very finely chopped), lime peel (as above) and lime juice on top of the rice. Salt, and fresh ground pepper.

The presentation included wedges of tomato and sun-ripened black olives, along with additional coriander to put in the soup to taste.

A good time was had by all! Made me forget all about the poor excuse for a cappuccino earlier in the day...

31.3.08 another day, another cappuccino

Mondays are hideous. I don't know why or how this came to be, but I don't like Mondays.

Cappuccino at Venetia's, my local, goes a long way to help appease the Monday syndrome.

More garlic bread at the Monday neighbor's meal - along with chicken and leeks, birthday cake, peas and salad. Yum.

ginger nuts and custard creams and tea with milk to make it through the afternoon.

humus, turkish bread, kettle chips, a peach and a tomato for lunch at the local organic farm (though I wish the peaches and the tomato were from there because a) they would have had flavor and b) we would be living in a totally different climate than this one!

almond croissant and cappuccino this morning...

30.3.08 We Sing, We Dance, We Dress Up

Actually, I just drink beer called Zywiec, which is the same as a fabulous looking Polish dance group in London. Maybe I should take up dancing to work off the beer...

Random wanderings through my day of food:
Having that beer now, after a small glass of Chilean wine at a meeting.
Beer goes well with Hobnobs.
More mac and cheese. One of maybe two leftovers I'll actually eat.
Sausage.
Cappuccino.
custard creams (3) why can you never eat just one?
coffee with milk
black tea infused with saffron
salad
chips, soggy with vinegar
Green & Blacks

can someone please tell me to make something from scratch and actually cook a meal, please?!

29.3.08 still but not if you count the time change...

I am so fat and happy tonight I can't even tell you. My friend C. is visiting from Canada and she makes the world's best mac and cheese. Oh, man. Cold night, cold beer, hot and cheesy stack of deliciousness on the plate. And made by a friend, no less. A perfect day.

I've also had two servings of baklava today. It is indeed the land of milk and honey.

lists keep me sane:
mac and cheese
lovely green salad (thanks, S.)
Green & Black's milk chocolate (thanks, K.)
tea with saffron!
coffee
salads from the organic shop where we helped H. build the gardens this morning (love that compost)
a raw foods bar

29.3.08 12:01 a.m.

No, I'm not eating anything right now, but I just had a lovely vietnamese meal with some friends. everything was so fresh and light that I just had to top it off with a magnum ice cream. Some guys we passed on the street going home remarked on eating ice cream in the cold, but I tell you what - it didn't melt and I could eat it leisurely and enjoy it. so there. Did I mention that I had pain au chocolat for lunch?

28.3.08 not enough chocolate

It's 9:42 in the morning and I have definitely not had enough chocolate yet. If I could wish myself a pain au chocolat right now, I certainly would.

Last night was the community meal at the Round Chapel where I work as a community worker. It's part of my job, in other words, to be involved in the meal. I got a bee in my bonnet to make a big pot of something and I found a great recipe for dal on the web. I've made it before, but never with black mustard seeds in ghee as the start to the spice mixture. What I like about dal is that it is flavorful, rich and creamy without any cream, warm and satisfying without being heavy. Perfect winter meal, perhaps? It did go over well and I have my friend Catherine to thank - we worked together in the kitchen at Iona two years ago and she happened to be flying in from Thailand yesterday. She arrived from Heathrow straight into the kitchen...nice one!

today's list so far is tiny, but I am looking for a great deal of expansion. Today is a food-as-comfort day. My feet and back hurt from cooking and serving til 10 last night; it's another grey and cold day in London town; it's Friday. Comfort, comfort, comfort.

so far:
lemon and hot water
coffee and milk
1/3 of an apple
tiny bit of muesli and milk

boring, though of course I'm grateful to wake up to food at all in world where so many have none...

26.3.08 more cobbler can't be bad

I made a quick rhubarb compote for H. tonight. She's wheat-free so I had to skip the muesli crumble topping - why does muesli need wheat flour?

lists keep me sane:from finish to start
apricot green and black's chocolate
strange winter veggie stew with ginger and lemon rice
olives
cheese
baguette
crazy peanut flips snacks
banana
tea
cappuccino
muesli and milk
coffee
lemon water

25.3.08 leftovers aren't so bad

Tonight I'm finishing up a rhubarb cobbler made from the fresh spring crop in my garden. And some homemade fried rice fried again.

I spent 2.80 on food today, and it was two items of 1.40 each. It's amazing how different the value of something can be. One lot was for an instant cappuccino at the Kew Gardens station because the cafe was so cute. Cute only goes so far. The other was for a beautiful baguette from L'Epicerie. If I were down to my last 1.40 and dying of thirst or a caffeine headache, I would still buy the bread.

listing keeps me sane:
lemon in hot water
coffee with milk and a little bit of cream
muesli and milk with the dregs of evil crunchy nut clusters
pumpkin seeds on the train
baguette
brie
gouda
dark, wrinkly olives
bad cappuccino
chocolate covered peanuts
tea
fried rice
czech budweiser
about to have rhubarb crumble and cream...

23.3.08 Sherry at Dawn

the first thing to pass my lips this morning was communion at St. Paul's at 5:45 a.m., the Easter dawn service led by the bishop of London. Not filling, but ful-filling.


and now on to the chocolate bunnies...

22.3.08 Leftovers: Pineapple

Leftovers and I don't get along. On the other hand, I love a challenge. What to do with a ziplock bag of leftover pineapple pieces and juice? Why, pineapple cake of course. Better than a pineapple hat, to eat at least.

Today, like yesterday, I didn't spend any money on food - a couple of raids on the back of the cupboard and fridge; some other food besides pineapple scored after clean-up at the community meal on Thursday.

Thanks to J and L for the dinner tonight. J made some great bean tacos with just a touch of cinnamon and L made a wonderfully garlic-rich salad with Italian flat-leaf parsley and cress. Can't get enough green. Speaking of which, here's stealing from my other blog, hackney daily photo:

21.3.08 I know I shouldn't...

I've never been one for the Christian practice of giving something up for Lent. Still, being that it is Good Friday and all, I might have showed some constraint in the indulgence department. But.

This is one of the most amazing chocolate things to have passed between my lips:



How can these chocolates be so buttery and rich without butter? Ah, coconut oil....yum. God forgive me!

20.3.08 you are who you eat with

13 things I ate today...

1. muesli
2. plain chocolate digestive biscuits
3. grapes
4. olives
5. pumpkin seeds
6. dolmadis
7. humus
8. dried mulberries
9. turkish bread
10. corn chips
11. carrots
12. banana
13. tea, coffee, wine, lemon juice in water, beer, smoothie with mineral water

It was a finger-food sort of day, culminating in a Maundy Thursday supper at a church. It was a community meal, with as much emphasis on who we were eating with as what we were eating. A warm company on a cold night.

19.3.08 What I like about London

Today's food adventure was all about what I like about London - a pub meal for lunch complete with bad service and chips and Indian at Brick Lane for dinner. With a visit to the Tate Modern stuck in the middle.

I was thinking today about paying attention to how much money I spend on food every day, in addition to what I eat. Eventually, I'd like to develop some simplicity on both fronts in order to live a bit more lightly. Well, maybe heavier in the pocketbook and lighter around the middle, as well as in my footprint on the planet.

At one time I used to parse out all the costs of food I ate per item per meal, even things I had bought at the grocery store and even down to the individual ingredients. Okay, TMI there.

Today's lunch was a work-related thing so the cost isn't direct to me. I won't count it, even though what I ordered didn't fit the simplicity principle entirely. There were three of us and we only ordered two mains, though, which is something. Right?

Breakfast:
muesli augmented with crunchy nut clusters (a recent shopping accident)
milk
coffee
lemon juice in hot water

Morning Tea:
a little fairy cake version of sticky date pudding which I had no problems bringing into the Tate Modern coffee shop in a silver plastic bag and eating with my
cappuccino
while looking out the plate glass window at a view of the Thames and St. Paul's that I could just about touch. Nice office, since that is where we had our work meeting. We made the obligatory pilgrimage to the Rothko room on the 3rd floor to let the coffee settle and clear the mind of all that scenic vista inspired brainstorming.

Lunch:
chips
part of a burger with stilton
part of a sausage and mash
part of a bruschetta
Young's bitters 1/2 a pint

Afternoon tea:
bad tea in a pub - no one to blame but myself - who orders tea in a pub?

Dinner:
after hearing Archbishop Rowan Williams speak inspiringly at Westminster Abbey
chicken korma
pappadums
lamb with pistachio sauce
rice
1/2 a garlic naan
Cobra 1/2 pint
after dinner mint

right now, 11:23 p.m.
detox tea

whew. my jaws are tired.
Cost?
12GBP for my half of the Indian food

18.3.08 not starving

No, I haven't been on a hunger strike for the last few days. In fact, on at least one of the days, I was so full I could have burst thanks to a fantastic roast at a friend's house.

But I managed to feel hungry again after a couple of days of afterglow from that great meal and today I made sticky date pudding in individual little muffin tins. Another fine use of golden syrup and absolutely perfect for the bitterly cold weather we've had for the past two days. I have nostalgia for this dish and never even had it as a kid.

Here's a great recipe I found for it. You're on your own to find two great little kids to help you cook the sauce, as I had when our friends came over for dinner and Finn, 4, and Queenie, 2.5, made sure I had just the right ratio of cream to syrup...thanks, guys!

14.3.08 Super, Not Tasty

So, here's a question: if the avocado that P. made guacamole out of tonight had no flavor, is it still a super food?

*Avocado: A superfood star no less. Providing the perfect ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrate all in one food, avocadoes are also rich in copper which will ward off stress-induced headaches at homework and exam time. Technically a fruit but treated as a vegetable, the avocado is a natural antioxidant. It contains glutathione which blocks 30 different carcinogens and, in test tube experiments, it has been shown to contain agents that can stop the AIDS virus from developing.

What is the deal with fruit and veg that has no flavor? Why are we putting up with this?

Here's a fun fact:

vegetables on sale in the UK have lost 24% of their magnesium, 27% of their iron and 46% of their calcium

If you want real food...

13.3.08 flapjack folly

I can't believe I've been back in the UK for three weeks and I haven't had made flapjack. Ah, today! Buying my first green can of Lyle's Golden Syrup and watching the beautiful amber liquid - and struggling to get a spoon through it - what joy.

To borrow from Einstein,

In the matter of physics (or flapjacks), the first lessons should contain nothing but what is experimental and interesting to see. A pretty experiment is in itself often more valuable than twenty formulae extracted from our minds.

In other food news today:
coffee with milk at home
almond croissant from L'Epicerie
cappuccino from the local organic shop
a couple of Halal snacks at the job fair for the 2012 Olympics
toast
curry from the freezer, rice
a single dolmade
Czech beer

and during our meeting at the house tonight, we'll crack into the flapjack.
sweet.

12.3.08 highbrow cheese

Not so many days ago I was writing about Neal's Yard Dairy and my adventures in cheese there. I think I know my cheeses well enough at this point to say with a fair measure of confidence that the cheese I enjoyed tonight was my favorite Stilton, the Colston Bassett. As a glass is to wine, so is the setting to cheese. When I try this one at Neal's Yard, whilst drinking in the heady smells of farmyard and stone floors and great wheels of all manner of cheese, it is bold and a real fighter, the flavors making sure they win my attention. Tonight, at the Paul Mellon Centre for the Study of British Art, the surrounds consisted of floor to ceiling books and well-scrubbed fellow alumni from my Ivy League graduate school across the pond. Swishy. Posh. Refined. The cheese had a completely different attitude, more haughty than competitive; more blue blood than farm hand. Instead of asking me to slather it on a torn piece of crusty rustic bread, it suggested, knowingly, that a bit would go nicely on that wholemeal biscuit, thanks ever so much. I would just like to say to the CB Stilton: you can take the cheese out of the country, but the country - I picture broad pastures of the greenest grass and earth you can smell with the windows rolled up - will never leave the cheese. I knew you when, CB, and I love you still.

11.3.08 Slow Puck

I've been a sucker for the Power Bar genre for a long time. Back when I was running long miles and otherwise manic about work and play and life in general, the idea of handheld meals on the go appealed to me. I'm not sure they did my insides any long-term favors, but there you go. I was happy living on three squares, or rather long and rectangulars for quite a while there. It's been some time since efficiency ruled over epicurean tendencies with me, but a recent trip to Whole Foods in Kensington saw me bedazzled with the breadth of selection in the bars collection. And I think I've found the best one, which my beautiful neighborhood deli also sells! Yippee! So...drumroll please...it is Slow Puck! check it out. I didn't know what slow fruit was, but I am a convert to this method of drying fruit "as nature intended." Today's flavor: slow fig and macadamia nut; waiting for a new day is slow pear, mulberry and brazil nut. Wow. Now that's a powerful bar. puck. thingy.

10.3.08 smells divine

It isn't that I didn't eat yesterday...in fact, we made a very nice leek and sweet potato soup and shared it with N. and H. over a short-listing session for a post we have to fill at work. No rest, but soup, for the wicked.

Tonight the house smells gorgeous as I'm cooking up onions in curry powder and coriander to stir through some plain rice along with chopped mint and lime peel finely diced. Just right for a cold and stormy night.

Maybe I'll look for a fire screen saver and we'll eat by the hearth.

8.3.08 but we earned it

Food experiences are coming so fast and thick that I can't keep up here. Skip the rest of Thursday and go right to today's! We road our bikes to the Broadway Market this morning along the canal paths. It was windy and cold...there were some hills involved...we so totally deserved this amazing treat of chocolate/butter heaven. Honestly. I'm not sure about the roast hog or the sausage and bacon roll. We bought leeks for something healthy. tomorrow.

6.3.08 Not Boring at All!

Yesterday, S's 25th, was decidedly not boring in the food department.

First stop, the best coffee shop in the known universe, Monmouth Coffee at 7 Dials.

Here's why I like Monmouth, in addition to the fact that I consistently enjoy the richest, creamiest cappucino I've ever had anywhere there:

When we find a coffee that we like, we want to know where it comes from and who grows, picks and processes it. We then look to establish a relationship with the grower and exporter of that coffee.

This month's coffee list.

Monmouth is reviewed enthusiastically by a fellow coffee lover on a cool site called WeLoveLocal.

Then it was over to Neal's Yard Dairy, for cheese tasting, drooling and spending too much money (everyone should have a "cheese" line in their household budgets).

Words cannot describe...hence the picture at the top.

This was all before 1:00 p.m. and remembering it is making me hungry. I'll have to come back and fill in more details later. Yet to come - more pain au chocolat!

5.3.08 what a bore

Well, I didn't write yesterday so I'm fudging on the date. Wish I had some fudge. Or some dates.

Anyway, how's about a straight-forward list since it was a boring food day.
muesli and milk
coffee

macaroni with olive oil, cracked pepper and salt
a little butter on top

swiss choc roll in the afternoon, as you do

popcorn for dinner

apple cake at a friend's house

polish beer
german beer

a kiwi
I love eating kiwi like a soft-boiled egg, take off the lid and dig in with a tiny spoon.
wow, nature rocks.

okay, feeling as vapid as this sounds.
off to a food adventure day so hold your breath for tonight's update...

4.3.08 today's pain au chocolat

Yep, it's going to become a habit, buying a pain au chocolat from L'Epicerie on Chatsworth Road (about a block away from the house...definitely not a safe distance). P is convinced that this is not the best p au c, but I think it's pretty darn good. We picked one up on our way to pick up the bus to the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, a fascinating place. But first I was deeply enchanted by walking along Chatsworth Road, taking big crackling bites of buttery pastry in search of the snap of chocolate somewhere within. Layers. Life is better in layers. I think I was skipping, golden flakes of heaven fluttering off me as I passed. It was a dream of city living, a moment to say, "Why London? This is why..."

Now beside my cup of Twinnings Earl Grey is a brazil nut, a bite-sized piece of Green & Black's 70% dark chocolate and a bit of candied ginger. A nice little tidbit after a tea of fresh homemade vegetable soup. I'm rather proud of my secret ingredient in the soup, another joint effort between me and P. I'll say what it is: Pastis de Marseille, an anise aperitif. Also a steeped tea of anise, lemon and fennel. It worked, giving some depth and a bit of sweetness and raising the hint of a question, "what is that flavor, I wonder..."

We had a lovely cheese from L'Epic, too. More research is required in order for me to say what it was. I lost touch with the name right after I tried it. It's a very sharp Gruyere.

cheese and chocolate, a very good day.

Leeks a Little Late

I've just come from a lovely tea with friends down the road here in Hackney. This family's hospitality is legendary and I bet if I gave you their address and you showed up on a Monday night, you'd be as welcome as a long lost cousin.
Rachel outdid herself again tonight with a yummy mac and cheese.
But the real standout item, in terms of St. David's Day back a couple of days ago, was the steamed leeks and fennel dish. Yum. Warming and just right for a cold night in nearly-spring.

Okay, so the leeks actually were trumped by desert: beautiful little fairy cakes by daughter Millie, complete with yummy, gooey chocolate surprise.
Or maybe it was the solid Mothering Sunday leftover cake from daughter Jess. Deep chocolate, cherries, nuts and marshmallows for a certain fabulous chewiness.

So a good night was had by all. And, fat and happy as we were, we pulled up the ichat and talked to a Monday night regular named Joe who has just moved to Durban, South Africa. He was happy to talk, sad to be so far away. That will become as much a feature of our dinners as the garlic bread that is always first thing on the table, piping hot.

I started the day with a strange breakky - a ham, cheese and red onion in mayonnaise salad on a dusty roll at a local cafe.
Don't you hate an overly milky cappuccino? Going back to the neighborhood favorite tomorrow, thank you very much. I think I can live without another one of those sandwiches for a while, but it was guiltily good and I have a strange feeling might find it's way into the crave category.

I wonder what the world's best garlic bread is like...
where is the garlic from
how is it chopped
is it roasted first
has it been marinated in something first
how much do you use?

what kind of bread is it on?
is is toasted first?
does it have anything in it?

what is slathered all over it - olive oil? what kind? any infusions? what about butter? what kind/brand/style/salted or sweet?

and what about bells and whistles - herbs? cheese? is it really garlic bread if there is cheese, too?

oh, the questions!

so many ways to skin a clove.

1.3.08: passionate about passionfruit

Seriously, is there anything more amazing than the passionfruit? The smell bursts with life, everything feels possible when one is eating a passionfruit.

As I did yesterday, in a beautiful fruit salad lovingly prepared by Shazz and Eleanor.
raspberries
blueberries
passionfruit
mint
orange
strawberry
apple
nectarine
with Green&Blacks dark chocolate on the side

It was perfect complement to the chicken curry Paul and I made from scratch.

While cooking it, I ate some popcorn with jerk seasoning and drank a polish beer.

I had muesli earlier in the day.

so, you see, it was all leading up to the passionfruit, nature's true pinnacle.
Sadly, no leeks for st. david's day...

Round Chapel Community Meal - well worth the price of admission

I have to tell you about my dinner last night. The rest of the day was unremarkable food-wise, especially since I didn't take time for breakfast and ate a stupid nutrigrain bar on the way to the train station. That hardly seems like eating. Should have slit my wrists instead.

Anyway, last night was my first community meal at the Round Chapel here in Hackney as the official community worker. Didn't mean I had to do much since the lovely Ben Burns is still in place while he does the handover to me and my partner Paul. Ben had arranged for some people from a local second hand children's shop called Merry-Go-Round to cook the meal and it was really lovely. Amazing what can come out of a rather dingy semi-commercial kitchen. But more ranting about food hygiene later.

There was some nice chicken
rice with spicy sauce
green salad with homemade garlic vinegarette
a lovely piece of chocolate cake

Why is some chocolate cake dark in color and some light? This was light and may actually have been chocolate banana. Hm. Funny that I couldn't tell. It was good and moist and comforting.

I eventually had lunch yesterday which was simply
toasted cheese

Not a good food day, except for dinner being nice.

I think I nibbled a few biccy's before dinner, too. I always like to eat just before I eat officially. You?

trying to add video...

somebody else likes chocolate for breakky

breakfast and pain au chocolat was a long time ago. i've made the bold claim that talking about food is nearly as good as eating it. i found someone else talking about chocolate for breakfast on "passionfruit." i must admit it crossed my mind this morning that chocolate was probably an okay thing for first thing in the morning, but maybe the butterfat in the croissant portion of the treat would have to be an occasional indulgence rather than a daily ritual. sure enough, the author of this great blog about the love of food confirms that there are other ways to keep the chocolate, drop the fat. so i lead you to this idea of hers, which sounds fab...i am so going to try it. first i have to work up the energy to cook rather than ramble up to my favorite little deli. hm, could be trouble there.

27.2.08 proper pain au chocolat

Ah, the joys of a proper french pastry...skipped everything else and went straight for the good stuff this morning.

but first, i must report on last night's pleasures!

went to a board meeting, which normally can we say yawn, but this was nice and easy, complete with
red wine
and chocolate digestive biscuits

then on to a friend's house for a nibble around 10:30 p.m.
two or three plain cashews, and a couple of chilli ones
a beer - maybe a Stella? too tired to pay attention
fresh ginger tea

okay, so this morning so far:
a good long walk followed by a warming
cappuccino
pain au chocolat

is there anything better than a neighborhood deli with actual wonderful treats? find the one in my neighborhood at l'epicerie @ 56 delicatessen

26.2.08 it's a jet lag thing

yogurt
organic muesli
coffee with milk
4:30 a.m.
it's a jet lag thing

kiwi
orange
feeling pretty righteous at this point...

oops - accidental chocolate croissant
not even a good one
drat
cappuccino
10:30 a.m. coz it was morning tea time and I was sorta hungry

oh crap
chips
hummous
wilted salad
apple juice to save the day
so that was lunch
a small square of G&B dark chocolate just because

afternoon tea:
Earl Grey with Tesco chocolate biscuits

dinner plans:
fresh spinach
roasted garlic
turkish bread
more hummous

What I wish I were eating today:
creamy brie
fresh baguette
home made vegetable soup

there's always tomorrow...