New Year in London is a big deal – just not for me! I usually stay home and don’t do much but I was busy nonetheless. I popped out to the pub around 7pm and chose a pizza – my first one from there – to take away. They took a long time to make it so I was suspicious. I kept remembering how fast the pizzas were made in Torino so what were they doing back there?
The pub has been taken over by a local craft beer company
I decided to go the whole way and make it a junk food night so also went to buy some wings and fries. Another long wait and second thoughts later, I arrived home with pizza, five chicken wings and fries. None of it was worth eating but at least I wasn’t hungry after picking at it. I’ll never learn that these things are rarely worth trying! I watched the fireworks on TV and some out of the window and fell into bed. Happy New Year!
On January 2nd I had tickets for a ballet. It was meant to be a surprise for Krish but he wasn’t in the mood so I asked my friend Juliet if she was up to coming and she said yes. But first I was going to take myself out for lunch and then wander around a bit at Angel, which might be pretty at Christmas.
I wanted to try the BunBunBun newly opened location in Dalston so allowed plenty of time to get there and eat and set off again.
BunBunBun, Dalston – a spare settingBun Cha, my lunch
I ordered the Bún chả Hà Ná»™i –‘Served as it is served in Hanoi [grilled lemongrass pork, mini grilled pork patties in a meat broth with a crispy spring roll]. sounded intriguing. and it was.’ My whole review is here! I’ll go back and try something else soon to see if the rest of the menu measures up. I’d love to do a foodie trip to Vietnam. Continue reading “New Year and the ballet”
There are two enduring memories of going to the west end at Christmas as a child and teenager. The beautiful windows, especially at Selfridges, and the magic of Liberty at Christmas. I’d have saved some money and off I’d go. I remember nothing of the window displays now other than they were beautiful, and so many of them. I’d always feel I could go window shopping on Oxford Street and not care if I bought a thing. The looking was even better than buying – since it was unlimited. Then Liberty always felt like a hidden treasure. Even today I know people who aren’t sure where it is or say they haven’t seen it.
This year I hadn’t made it down to the west end, ‘up west’ as they say. I made a plan to get there before the lights were turned off and I knew I couldn’t see it all in one trip. So I planned two. Part one would take me from Covent Garden to Chinatown, Soho, Regent Street, and Oxford Street. Part two would take me to Piccadilly, Bond Street, then New Bond Street, and up to Selfridges. Even then I wouldn’t see it all. No Trafalgar Square, no Marylebone…but that’s OK.
I don’t think I went to Covent Garden when I was younger. If I did, I don’t remember it. At any rate, it would have been a wholesale market and not that interesting to me. Now I know it really well and, although I put it low on my list because of the crowds of tourists, there are some things I do like about it and some shops you can’t find anywhere else – it is where the most concentrated collection of shoe shops is, so yes I do go sometimes. This time it was about the shops and the lights and the little inside courtyards I wanted to see.
At Seven Dials, and not quite dark enough to appreciate the lightsCovent Garden Market HallInside the Hall is the Apple MarketI loved the mistletoe lights…and these large silver baublesBut the throngs of people make it a lot less magical..so it’s nice when you step outside a bit and see there’s magic after all
A nice dry day for Christmas. Lots for me to do. Luckily, I’d wrapped Krish’s presents the night before. Christmas rituals – Christmas lights, Christmas candles, Christmas music.
The crazy thing was that, along with the two wrapped presents for Krish under the tree – OK, the poinsettia – there were four wrapped presents for me. This is actually the first time this has ever happened. He really has found the Christmas spirit, at least for this year!
Presents!
Then I made eggnog as a surprise. Krish yearns for it every year.
I belong to three Facebook pages for Canadians. Two for London, one for the UK. Eggnog is a huge topic at Christmas, how everyone misses it, where can you buy it, if only there were eggnog… In a blog I read regularly, I found a recipe and decided to give it a go. It’s made with whole creamy milk, double cream, sugar, egg yolks, and nutmeg. I nailed it! It tastes perfect. A big hit!
First try at eggnog – nailed it!
And I made stuffing and cranberry rolls instead of sausage rolls this year. Sounds odd but stuffing in the UK isn’t the bread affair it is in Canada. It’s mostly sausage meat, with herbs and onions. Some ready-to-cook stuffing topped with freshly made cranberry sauce and sealed all around. I actually really liked this. Lighter and less salty than a sausage roll. New favourite!
My presents were: Three books, and two espresso cups so I can start using my moka now – have been hesitating on that! The books were typical Krish choice – To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Unfinished Palazzo, and The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici. I’ve started on the introduction to the second.
My Christmas booksEspresso cups
For Krish this year I wanted to focus on memories – the egg nog is part of that. Then I got him a clockwork toy from Bazar Bonino in Torino, and a large box of meccano, which I saw advertised on the local neighbourhood site. All three were a really big success but I knew the meccano would shock and delight him – he was dumbfounded. I hope he makes something with it. I’ll never be able to top this gift.
German clockwork toyBox of meccano
We watched a lot of romantic Christmas movies. Silly ones. Krish was in charge of cooking. We had pork pie, some leftover quiche, and raw veggies for lunch and for dinner, a steak with mashed potatoes and some red cabbage. Food bulletin done. No photos of the plate before we started!
Time for a rest
Boxing Day has been mostly quieter. I’ve done some organising and some catching up on this and that. And now we’re making the late Christmas dinner between us. Stay tuned.
Dinner is done and Christmas proper is over for another year.
Traditional Chrismas dinner – roasted potatoes, turkey, stuffing, brussel sprouts, with gravy, cranberry sauce and picklesMince pie, vanilla cream, cuppa tea!And we’re done
Every year there’s a feeling that Christmas isn’t really coming. It’s not in the air. ‘It doesn’t feel like Christmas,’ we hear. And no, it actually doesn’t. Krish says it’s the lack of snow but I don’t believe it’s that. I think it’s the loss of the magic we imagine belongs the season, remembered from when we were children and Christmas was all about laughter and presents. I was thinking tonight about coal fires. Suddenly I remembered putting the coal into the fireplace and lighting the newspaper below it and the smell as it caught fire.
I don’t remember but I’m sure I’m sure there were wished-for presents since we would write a letter to Father Christmas and burn it on the fire. The smoke and sparks would go up the chimney and from to the North Pole. This was surely true since very year at least one of those presents would show up. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It’s been very rainy and windy. The days are short and it’s dark some time after 3pm.
No sign of Christmas in the Little Local. Where are the decorations?It’s 3:45 and The Narrow Way is dark and wet. This shop sounds a bit extraordinary Lisa and i went to Palm Vaults and there was a tiny hint of Christmas in this Cannelle
And all along Dalston Lane, can you see Christmas?
But we were heading into the Winter Solstice, For quite a few years I’ve been part of a Flickr group that celebrates each Equinox and Solstice with a day of photos from wherever its members live. I’ve missed a few but not too many. I knew this solstice I wasn’t planning anything very special until we were invited over to Krish’s friend Rosie’s flat for ‘mince pies and tea. Christmas at last? Continue reading “Then comes Solstice”
London has a very moderate climate. In the summer there may be a short burst of heat that’s surprising and stifling. There’s no air conditioning, indoors is as oppressive as outside, and things seem a bit surreal. The winters are mild, rarely reaching zero, and a few flakes of snow are magical, even if they don’t amount to anything.
For a few years the papers have promised ‘the worst winter ever’ – more empty promises. However, this Wednesday I woke up to a real blanket of snow. They had been calling it the Beast from the East. Beast? Well, it was definitely more than a few flakes but by Toronto standards this was slightly more than kittenish. However, the snow did keep falling, traffic was barely moving, trains didn’t run, airports were closed or chaotic – it was a Snow Day in London.
The Canadians in UK and London on Facebook had a great time making fun of the British, although they did appreciate that this country has nothing in place to deal with what would be considered quite ordinary in Canada.
It was all a good bit of fun.
I started my Bump Buddies mentor course on that first Snow Day. It was crazy getting to the place. The classroom was freezing and many of the attendees brought their children, whose schools were closed. The course is OK. Those two days we did soft subjects – Listening and Communications Skills, and Choices and Values. We start at 10am and work till noon, at which time lunch arrives. After lunch we work again until 2:30pm and then go home.
Most Londoners weren’t dressed for the weatherOur healthy vegetarian lunch at Bump Buddies training
On Wednesday night I had reserved a table at Hawksmoor Spitalfields. It was a bitter evening and, after a day at the training, I was tempted to call it off. But we bundled up and carried on.
I’ve wanted to eat there for some time but the prices are high and I’m not really into steak houses. However, Hawksmoor was having a soft launch period after renovating – Fifty percent off and I was lucky to get in under the wire. We had great service and the food was fantastic.
We chose three starters – Potted beef & bacon with Yorkshires & onion gravy, Bone marrow with onions, and Ash-baked beetroot with pickled fennel, horseradish & hazelnuts. I absolutely loved the potted beef option and could have this by itself for lunch easily! The marrow was very nice with the onions being a nice sweet contrast to the savoury, creamy marrow. The beetroot was lovely, so refreshing and like the one I’d had at Blacklock last year.
Starters at Hawksmoor – I’d go back at full price
We shared one main – Herb fed chicken – it was a lovely balance of flavours but I thought it a tiny bit dry. Still delicious, though. We also got sides – Dripping fries, Buttered English greens, and the Doddington Caesar salad. The fries were a nod to Krish. they were delicious but not special and not many of them. The greens were perfectly cooked. The salad was much bigger than I had expected and I was feeling very full but I did enjoy the presentation and taste very much.
Yes, we were almost bursting but did share a Burnt Butter ice cream scoop. This was a fantastic choice – not too much of it, not too sweet and intensely buttery and delicious. I couldn’t fault anything I ate. Beautiful!
