Paul cont...
A lovely box of macaroons is the perfect gift to bring to a dinner party. Forget the flowers, these amazing little packages of deliciousness are better than flowers which will only turn brown as they they sit all by their lonesome on your coffee table while you are at work.

The ingredients: almonds, egg whites and sugar - simple is always best.

From East Sheen to Claridges to Randall & Aubin
Early afternoon drinks at Claridges...the bar was ok, it is your average posh hotel bar, the julep drink was a bit too strong but the hot chocolate was perfectly choco-liscious. There were bottles of champane and wine on the menu for £4,000-£12,000+ now if you are spending that much on wine/champagne surely you are too rich and hopefully you are supporting tonnes of charities in third world countries, non? (I hope so!)

Anyhow...the best part about the Claridges experience is the grand, art deco staircase in the lobby and the ladies room which brought you to another era - absolutely beautiful - the staff are also quintessentially polite and make you feel at home.
Dinner was at the wonderful fish restaurant in Soho called Randall and Aubin, we had the cutest waiter - Roberto who was superb and recommended the best starter and Argentinian wine - he took very good care of us and was so cute!

Starters - scallops with a caper and garlic sauce. Mains - I had the crab salad and DJ had the langoustines which were fab - but so small - I am used to big fat lobsters from The Lobster Trap - like Dorothy said, 'Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore...'

The gay friendly establishment had the best looking waiters and they played classic Madonna which made the meal and atmosphere even better. Of course, my handsome dinner partner got lots of stares from the men ! Thx for din din DJ.

I was spoiled Saturday & Sunday evening with some fine food and drink....what a lovely weekend - my kitchen did not see me at all :)

Happy Diwali Or as my nephew says, Happy Dee-wally!
Deepika's Diwali party extravaganza was filled with fun, laughter, fireworks and Bollywood dancing in her living room.

Now it wasn't fireworks like her brother in law did last year in India, those are illegal in the UK and probably only used at Olympic ceremonies (they were enormous! And we set them off on a rooftop terrace with no bucket of water or anything to protect us if any of them went awry! He also thought as I was a guest, that I should be the one to light them with a teeny match - as you can imagine I gave him a big thanks but NO thanks) it was fireworks from the surrounding neighbors in St. Johns Wood. Perhaps Paul McCartney was having a little Diwali party in his garden...

The Indian food was also slightly unlike her mother's feast in Delhi... Mexican fajitas were served, she is into the Mexican fajita thing lately! She served Indian street mix (Bombay mix) in newspaper - as it is served in India, made the chick pea dish in the pic which she described as, 'chick peas with Indian stuff' and some Indian potato balls (not sure what they were called).

The cookies on the top of the tiered tray (see pic) are Indian sweets (but she didn't make those) she did bake the chocolate ones on the second tier which aren't Indian :)

It was a great Diwali celebration and I teased her all night about how great her mother's food was last year compared to her hybrid-Mexican-British-Indian one this year. But that's what friends are for right?

The wine was flowing, the Bollywood music going, Nab was putting beautiful bindi designs on our foreheads and there was a great mix of people so it didn't really matter in the end...
Happy Diwali and Happy New Year

;)

All the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men...

Rexi saw the Queen in the flesh during the time of the Saudi King's visit. They had a large banquet that evening - most likely a state dinner. I wonder what they ate???

Apparently the Queen eats corn flakes for breakfast - just like my gran! Her official butcher is in our neighbourhood, located on Clifton Road -they are called Cobb of Knightsbridge.
And the original Queen Elizabeth, the one Cate Blanchett plays in that fantastic movie, apparently had for breakfast - ale, beer, wine & bread with a pottage(soup) of mutton or beef. Maybe that is why she remained the virgin queen!

Here is video of the Queen's horses getting their daily exercise in my neighborhood. This is what I saw the day I arrived back in the Vale. Loved it.

Paul 's ultimate sandwichPavot Jambon Cru - it is sold at the lovely French bakery Paul, which opened up several shops around London in the past few years. The poppy seed baguette is superb - I am such a fan of poppy seed I can't get enough of it. It is a perfect sandwich for lunch as the jambon cru (prosciutto/parma ham) is lovely and the tomato and lettuce make it a perfect.

Paul has been around since 1889 and is still family run. The shop and tea room are lovely, you feel like you have been transported across the Channel for brief moment. A lot of the staff are French so you do get that je ne sais quois, Parisian feeling....

I love the wording on their website - some of their "ephemerals" of the moment

• Bread with figs
• Bread with chestnuts

The others "ephemerals"*

• Bread with hazelnuts
• Country-style bread with apricots
• PAUL bread with cheese

*available according to the season and available only for a short time

More Tiroler Hut
I am not going to add much more description as it is best to go there and experience it yourself. You must go to enjoy the authentic German food, the entertainment, ambiance and vibe of the place.

A few more pics below.

Lovely cabbage rolls...(I need to figure out how to take photos indoors when there is low lighting)Traditional and yummy apple strudel...

LJ dancing with Ricardo...

Joseph and the ladies...

CB and the Austrian beer...

And the pink ride home...love this car!

The Hut!It was a truly entertaining night at the Tiroler Hut on Saturday! I can't recall the food experience much (I know we ordered weinerschnitzel, cabbage rolls, bread dumplings and apfel strudel) but what I do recall vividly is the laughing, singing and the entertainment by the owner, Joseph in his lederhosen (see pic) and by his Italian friend Ricardo who is British-Chinese. Ricardo, if that is even his real name, sang O Sole Mio in Italian. It was too funny for words! We had a great time and will definitely have to try and get another booking soon.

Will write more and post more pics too. Am trying to get the cow bell performance on video uploaded.

C'est raclette oui ou non?

Raclette is a specialty that comes from France/Switzerland. At Borough Market they sell raclette (see pics)and for £5 you get a plate of potatoes with the melted milky traditional cheese on top -served with a gherkin (pickle) or two.

I went to a few parties where raclette was served and at these parties the cheese was ladled over cured and cooked meats - like ham, chicken, beef, fish along with all types of vegetables like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and more... in addition to roasted potatoes.

At work on Friday, British members of the team were baffled at the cost and desire for raclette as they argued, 'Isn't it just jacket potato and cheese?' which is standard British fare that you can get on any corner for £2 for double the portion. I never thought of it that way and laughed...I actually agree and think that stall is puling a fast one on visitors. It is essentially baked potatoes (cut up into cubes) and cheese.

At least they scrape the cheese from the large traditional cheese wheel. To scrape is where the word raclette comes from...but they give you nothing else?! The guy even sells olives on the side. Maybe a piece of crusty bread would be nice? For £5 that is a lot to pay for a French version of jacket potatoes and cheese, non?

Am sure the French man who wears his fancy apron and speaks in his French accent is scratching or scraping his head all the way to the bank in wonder how people would pay that much for some cheese and potatoes!

Pic of a traditional raclette spread.

You are what you eat Spotted Gillian McKeith the 'diet doctor' the other day at Hays Galleria on the South Bank. She was with these beefy boys doing a quiz to randoms walking by asking them which takeaway lunch they thought had the most fat & calories. She wrote the enormously popular book - You Are What You Eat.

It looked like standard bad British lunch fare - mayonnaise-y salads from Tesco, cheap sandwiches from the supermarkets and the only healthy option was a soup with a bread roll.

Will write more on this later on today.... thought I would post the pics for some eye candy for those who like the muscle-y hot, gym bod - I wonder what they eat to get like that?

T.G.I.F!

Italian ride - vegetarian meal
Whizzing through the streets of London on the back of a Vespa is something that I didn't think I would ever be able to do after a serious car accident but...hypnotherapy works. Last night I loved my ride on the back of BJ's Vespa, mind you - pre-boarding I was fearful and sick with the thought of breaking my neck (again) so from 5pm onwards I felt a little bit weak and green. But fears are made to be overcome, non?

Once BJ (from Shoot Experience fame) gave me the spare helmet and I was comfortable on the back of the bike I was fine; although I was probably clenching the leather straps a little too tight! It was a beautiful night zipping across London Bridge with all the lights around St.Paul's cathedral through Covent Garden and then finally to Soho. BJ was expertly maneuvering through buses and taxis and pedestrians with a few little squeals from me but I managed to not scold him for some moves that I thought were a bit dangereuse... as Bubbles from Little Britain would say ;)

Apart from clinching onto the leather straps with all my might - I was smiling and the wind blowing in my face was refreshing. At the end of our journey I was happy to get off and to our lovely vegetarian restaurant on Lexington Street. It would've been appropriate if we went to an Italian trattoria due to the Euro feeling I was having on the iconic Italian Vespa but he introduced me to a little hidden gem called Mildred's that was perfect. It is a place that I have walked by several times. It was packed with diners and people waiting for a table - we had to queue for half an hour but it was worth it.

We both ordered the veggie burgers and home cut fries and an apple crumble pudding with custard. The veggie burgers were made with courgettes (zucchini) and sweet potato and were perfectly juicy and delicious! The pudding was also fresh with a combination of apples and wild berries. Next time I am going to try the Malaysian coconut curry.

At Mildred's, the atmosphere is cosy, the food superb, the staff super friendly so definitely a place to go to again. BJ had the 'best' San Miguel beer ever (he hadn't had a drink for a week so that is prob why he was gushing at how good it was) and we also had organic lemonade with lemon juice from Sicilian lemons.

Check out their menu and get there for some great veggie food.

What to do with half a bag of almost rotten carrots?

Like Clara says, 'it's just wrong to let things go to waste,' but.... she believes that to be true with Guiness Beer but doesn't eat leftovers?! Go figure.

Anyhow thinking about her words I decided to make something with the half bag of almost rotten carrots in the fridge. What to do? Nothing too fancy, threw them in a pot with boiling water a whole onion and a few potatoes and some garlic and voila some soup for the chillier nights that are approaching. I added an organic stock cube and lots of chili pepper and salt and ground black pepper. Once it was a little cool, I threw it in the blender and voila I will have soup for dinner the next few nights -although I am out each evening for the next few nights so those carrots may have been cooked in vain :)


And read on Wiki yesterday that almost 70% of Sicilans and descendants from the Mediterranean are lactose intolerant (LI) in comaprison with 5-10% percent of northern Europeans and Americans. All of this new LI info is fascinating.

Come to think of it I never saw my grandparents drinking milk or having cereal...I think my grandfather drank goats milk while he was making his cheese on the farm but that may be it...will have to check with the aunties and uncles about their milk consumption. Giovanna - does your mother drink milk?


x

Gerry at the market



Gerry is a natural born performer - he comes from a circus family and entertains us at work with his circus routines. He is always 'clowning' around as it is in his nature - he is a former clown and he and his dad ran the great Cottle circus and now Wookey Hole. Here he is eating his favourite olives from Borough Market - they are stuffed with garlic and he is entertaining as usual, some of his lines are classic and can make you spit that olive out into oblivion as you laugh so hard.

He is standing in front of Applebee's where I got my Cajun fish wrap on Friday and where we all had our lovely garlic prawn wrap the Friday before....mmmmm....can't wait til Friday again!

Pumpkin pound per pound
The difference: Canada vs UK

With three days left until Halloween these are my observations.

UK

• I have had no Halloween invites nor have I heard of a fabulous Halloween party that I should attend in full costume - I am going to a gig Wed night with work and doubt any of the musicians will be in costume

• I have not seen any pumpkins in any doorways or any type of Halloween decoration -unless you count the lone, orange pumpkin candle I have on our lounge table

• If you do want to buy a pumpkin, they are probably only sold for the expat American community, you will pay through the nose - at £1 a kg, thoughts of having pumpkins strewn along the stairs and on the porch may be quashed as it could end up costing you a pretty penny. The BBC reports that due to such a terrible summer pumpkins are in shorter supply as they are not ready yet so some people will have green-y orange pumpkins.

• Am positive that we will not get one trick or treater - we haven't even bought a bowl of candy!

I think Halloween is not so big in the UK because a) it is considered an 'American' thing and b) the Brits are always throwing 'fancy dress' (costume) parties - they happen a lot and it is great fun to get the chance to dress up in silly, flamboyant, outrageous or sexy outfits all year long -not just on Halloween.
CANADA

• I have heard of several parties and lots of talk of what people are going to wear and where they are going to get their costume from

• When I left T.O. in October there were already several houses with elaborate scary decorations, inflatable ghosts and goblins and bats hanging from trees

• Trick or treaters will be out everywhere and am sure friends and family will give out bags of candy and see a vast array of cute kids costumes

• Several friends have been to pumpkin patches to pick their own pumpkins and am sure the prices for pumpkins in Canada are not outrageously expensive - can anyone tell me how much they paid?

Am going to check the Time Out to see if there are any Halloween parties - fingers crossed some American contact lets me know of a great house party to slink away to after work on Wed! Must remember to bring some ad hoc costume ideas to work...

Mammoth at MonmouthThis is the mammoth queue to get a coffee at Monmouth Coffee. Saturdays at Borough Market are total madness and even during yesterday's lunch hour I had to wait in a smaller queue to try out the legendary coffee. When you order they make the coffee right in front of you drip-style (see pic). A regular filter coffee costs £2.00 ($4.20CDN) which I thought was a bit expensive. But one must never do the conversion when in London or elese you would only eat discounted bread and butter when visiting.

Monmouth started roasting and selling coffee in 1978 at its first location in Covent Garden (the old flower market). They source beans and form relationships with growers in South America, Central America, Asia & the Pacific and Africa. Their builds relationships to ensure sustainability and fair trade from their partners so perhaps that explains the quality and price of the coffee. Also for the sweet tooths, they serve cakes and sweets from Paul which is another of my favourite French bakeries in London.

I must admit I wasn't impressed by the coffee probably becaues I took it black with sugar. Since I have been dairy free I have not taken to the black style of coffee or really enjoyed coffee that much; I think I just loved the combination of coffee and milky goodness.

Monmouth only use whole milk which could explain their popularity...all in all an interesting place to visit but until they use lactose free milk I will have to only listen to Diana's squeals of delight in regards to her visits to Monmouth.

Celebrity Chef James Martin Dishy looking and good in the kitchen the pics above show the cuteness. We are working with James Martin - celebrity chef on a new project with Alliance & Leicester bank where he mentors kids who are not going to university but going to pursue a career straight out of middle school - like being a chef!

He likes fast cars, expensive watches, has a cute dog and does Saturday Kitchen - a program on the BBC. Cute! He was even on the UK version of Dancing with the Stars - a man you would like to bring home to Momma!! Well at least I know Momma Dolce would love him - she loves Dancing with the Stars.

Also, need to check out his latest cookbook entitled, Sweet Baby James -much better than the Disney title from yesterday!

p.s. went to Monmouth Coffee today - Diana I was disappointed - probably because I couldn't have milk in it! I tried to sip it all day and re-heat it in the microwave but I just couldn't finish it... such a shame as if it were a frothy latte it would've been gone in a minute. Unfortunately they only use whole milk with all their coffees. I am going to now be a Mrs. Lio and moan about the lack of lactose free options - stay tuned.

Worst cookbook title ever

Thanks for sending me this Ben!
Disney's cookbook entitled, Cooking with Pooh is not going to be on the list for my cookbook...

:)

Streaky BaconThe bacon we eat in North America is called streaky bacon here in the UK. See the tray of streaky bacon that is in the back of the shot. I think the name they give it is funny!

The Brits do not really eat streaky bacon much they eat larger slices of bacon which is shown in the tray on the right. Borough Market is open again tomorrow so will try and get there for some Monmouth coffee and some more pics!

Pistachios for breakfastSince I have cut out all dairy from my diet (I now feel 100% better) I am still unsure of what to eat in the mornings. I absolutely loved cereals and yoghurt and muesli and lots of milk so now am a bit stuck. Am trying to have fruit juice and fruit in the morning but sometimes I need a little more. I am having toast and jam, sometimes granola bars but today I had a bag of pistachios.

I know it is odd but that was the only thing in the kitchen this morning. I ate the unsalted Marks and Spencer brand ones which were great. I then Googled what they are exactly and found out that the pistachio is the name of the tree and we eat the seed of the pistachio fruit. Did you know that –it is a fruit seed not a nut.

The reason why the Diabs were always eating nuts like pistachios are that the trees are native to the middle east, namely Iran and Afghanistan but the US –mainly California is now the second largest producer and exporter of the tree’s seed. I guess we call it a nut to make life easier and because it looks like a nut. Unlike olives which need to be cracked by hand, the pistachio shell cracks itself when the fruit ripens, apparently you can hear the pop.

Just some interesting food for thought today – I was unaware of any of these facts but they say, you learn something new every day!

Purple clothes, drinks and more...

Sorry readers it has been a hectic week and not much time at home or near the computer to post, I actually have a job now?! It does truly interfere with my spare time though... :)

Worked on the Girls Aloud private gig at Sketch on Conduit Street last week (their website is quite cool). It was an event to launch the new purple Samsung F210 phone and it was purple power all night! The girls looked fab in their purple outfits and the venue was set up to be a mini concert venue - great job Olivia! There were purple cocktails and lovely canapes passed around but unfortunately the life of a PR gal is not to sip cocktails and eat the food but to work the event.

So will have to wait for pics of the food and get the recipes for some of the lovely purple signature cocktails that were created. Other food related bits about the day are during media interviews the girly group were housed at the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair and journalists awaited their turn to interview the girls in the hotel's lobby bar - The Polo Bar. I recall eating some lovely crisps -hand cooked sweet potato chips, small salty biscuits and other cocktail-y nibbles that were great. Again no time for pics but you can imagine what a swanky hotel bar would bring out. The Polo Bar's menu online also looks delicious - need to find an expense account to take me there for a grand lunch!

I did have dinner at Sketch a while back and can't remember what the food actually tasted like but the atmosphere is like no other, especially the toilets which remind you of Mork and Mindy's egg shaped space vehicle.

Will post more pics and some info on the purple themed cocktails if anyone of the team stopped and actually drank one! By the time I was ready for a glass of champers the bar was dry.

Dans le Noir?Eating in the dark with blind waiters serving you. Is that something you would enjoy? I think it may be quite an experience, although Rexi said she heard people come out of that place with food all down their top ;)

The restaurant Dans Le Noir (which means ‘in the dark’ for those non-frenchies) opened last year in London after their first restaurant has had a few successful years in Paris. Since you are in complete darkness your other senses are heightened. I am curious to see if you will enjoy this experience or find it frustrating as the first time you eat in total darkness am sure there is a lot of learning our brain needs to do in order to memorise where forks, knives and glasses are and also to get used to eating dinner but in total darkness. Some say that enjoyment of a meal is enhanced by the sight of it – the colors and presentation also prepare the brain for the meal. Am definitely intrigued…

Founded in 2004, Dans Le Noir started in Paris with the support of their leading institution for blind people – the Paul Guinot Foundation. Their website says that they are the largest institution creating awareness of disability in France (am not sure where that statement comes from or how it is quantified?) But I agree it does bring great awareness to every day folk.

Will check out Dans Le Noir soon and report back. May try and eat dinner tonight in the dark to give it a test run. Not sure my dinner guest will like it though.

Pineapple and zucchini cake
An odd combo when you think about it - but it works well. Will post the recipe when Susie sends it along. Thanks Susie for bringing it over - it was delicious and I could almost eat the whole loaf!

xo

Ahh Borough MarketThis was my lunch on Friday. The wrap came from Borough Market which is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. Located near London Bridge on the south bank, the market is a wonderful experience. You can get great fresh fruit and veg, fresh meats, fish, cheeses and chutneys along with other items like flowers, food related gifts and more...

I didn't get the name of the fish shop we went to but they had a queue out the door. The shop sells fresh fish at the front and on Friday's, in the back, they cook up and make two types of wraps for customers. The one above is a garlic prawn wrap (prawn=shrimps for the Canuckers) and the second one is a cajun white fish wrap. Mmmm. For £4 and £5 respectively you can get a decent serving of fish wrapped in salad with some fish sauce. It was divine and so fresh - I shall return next Friday for lunch again - this time stopping at Monmouth's coffee as per Diana's recommendation.

Our office smelled like garlic prawn as about four of us ordered the special - next week we will have more recruits as a few other staff were curious as to what smelled so good - am sure some were prob grossed out by the fish and garlic smell too ; )

This aint no brown turkey!
Pic of Zia Grazia's Butterball and hungry Steve. The brand Butterball has been around forever and I think they must soak their turkeys in water and butter as they always seem to be so juicy for such large birds. A regular turkey from the butcher shop is usually dry and needing lots of cranberry sauce and gravy but the Butterballs seem to need none of this.

Maybe their secret is this... they sell a 'special breed of broad-breasted white feather turkey.' (from their website) So our beloved Thanksgiving turkey is not really brown? But instead white like a swan? We draw, sketch and make them from crafty materials from kindergarten up and paint them brown our whole lives?! V.odd, non?. I want to see this white feathered turkey now.

You can subscribe to the turkey lovers e-newsletter from the site if you want to keep 'abreast' on turkey talk! :)

The Feeder This is the great British feeder. Marks and Sparks a.ka. Marks and Spencer feeds millions of people in the UK with their better than average food products. The chain used to be in Canada but closed down several years due to the fact that they only sold ugly granny sweaters, old lady chocolates and sensible shoes. In recent years there was a massive re-vamp and now the stores that were saved from the cull, sell food, cooler clothes, nicer shoes and great things for your home.

The prices at Marks (as ppl. call it for shortform) are a little higher than average but their selection and taste is better than some of the grocery stores. They have a great organics range and some great nibbles like hummus, olives and other tapas-style foods for when you are having a posh dinner party.
It is a popular place to get breakfast, lunch and dinner...and I have frequented the feeder a lot this week. Will need to do a proper grocery shop and start cooking.
Note to Alex - I will be cooking!

Served at the PalaceI was invited to watch the changing of the guard and have post event drinks at Buckingham Palace last week but unfortunately I could not attend (What would I have worn to that anyway?! All my hats are page boy caps). The report back was that it was a lovely day and the crew got to drink Moscow Mules afterwards with some of the officers. Don't ask how or why I refused an invite to the palace :)

The crew were served Moscow Mules in traditional copper mugs. The Moscow Mule is a highball drink - highball means that it is a drink with a base of alcohol and mixed with a larger percentage of a non-alcoholic beverage (coke, juice, tonic). The mule is made with vodka, ginger beer, lime and Angostura bitters (bitters are made with herbs and citrus dissolved in alcohol with a mix of spices blended -bitters are used for flavoring of cocktails)

Can you tell I am back in the UK-the alcohol posts will be flowing in!? Hopefully another invite to the palace will come along again. Thanks DJ for the info - next time take pics!



;)

Torta di mandorla
Do you like almonds...this it the type of cake you can get in Sicily. Torta di mandorla - almond cake - this was one of many cakes served at my cousin's wedding. I am going to try and dig up the recipe for you! Hope you all are full from your thanksgiving meals and remembered to be thankful for all the little things in life.

Gobble Gobble
It is Canadian thanksgiving tomorrow. You should always be thankful for all the goodness that you have but this weekend you can do that and eat turkey at the same time. We should always celebrate the abundance of food and good fortune that we have. Enjoy turkey weekend!


:)