"The List", as I've started to ominously refer to it as, keeps on growing and I've had to implement a two out and one in approach to it so that it doesn't continue to grow at such an alarming rate!
That's what happens when you get two people who are passionate about food together!
So far we have managed to cross off Seventeen in Notting Hill Gate and by going to the Jamie Oliver 10 years at Fifteen street party we managed to knock off Barbecoa (until we can afford the real deal).
We are booked into Shrimpy's for dinner next Saturday and this Saturday considering our options. Lots of fun times to be had!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Photoshoot
Just a very small preview of the wonderful photo shoot I did with Joanne Corburn. Can't wait to show you more.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Belle... eats?
Hello lovely blog. It has once again been a very long time, even though I promised it wouldn't. I have had a very busy few months finishing up my college portfolio, working like a (slightly) busy beaver and enjoying living in London, which is so damn exciting right now. And I'm only talking about the food.
I think its easy to forget how lucky we are to live in such an amazingly diverse city where you can dine out every night on a completely different kind of cuisine and never get bored. Especially when you're constantly being bombarded by deals from boring, homogeneous chain restaurants begging for business. This year I've been trying to make more of an effort to get out of my comfort zone in all aspects of my life, including where I eat. I do understand that some times its all too easy to give in to another night at Nandos because at least you know what you're getting instead of spending money on food that could turn out to be worse but I am so bored to tears that my friend Harriet and I have come up with "The List". The list is essentially every place we want to go and eat in London but have either not gotten around to it or not been able to afford it. Its ever growing, it started off as being three or four restaurants a few weeks ago and this is it currently:
Arbutus - Frith Street, Soho
Ida - Kilburn Lane, Queens Park
I think its easy to forget how lucky we are to live in such an amazingly diverse city where you can dine out every night on a completely different kind of cuisine and never get bored. Especially when you're constantly being bombarded by deals from boring, homogeneous chain restaurants begging for business. This year I've been trying to make more of an effort to get out of my comfort zone in all aspects of my life, including where I eat. I do understand that some times its all too easy to give in to another night at Nandos because at least you know what you're getting instead of spending money on food that could turn out to be worse but I am so bored to tears that my friend Harriet and I have come up with "The List". The list is essentially every place we want to go and eat in London but have either not gotten around to it or not been able to afford it. Its ever growing, it started off as being three or four restaurants a few weeks ago and this is it currently:
Arbutus - Frith Street, Soho
Ida - Kilburn Lane, Queens Park
Mishkins - Covent Garden
Dock kitchen - Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington
Polpetto - Soho
Dishoom - St Martins Lane
Meat Market - Covent Garden Piazza
La Gavroche -
Barbecoa - New Change, St Pauls
Nobu - Park Lane
Burger and lobster - Mayfair
Big Easy - Kings Road
Pomelo- Kensal Rise
Cinnamon Soho - Kingly Street
Lucky Chip - Seabright Arms, off Hackney Road
Hawksmoor - Seven Dials
10 Greek St - Soho
Pitt cue - Newburgh Street, Carnaby
Ceviche - Frith St
Tramshed - Rivington St, Shoreditch
La Bodega Negra - Moor St, Soho
Slide Bar - lucky chip in soho - opening soon
Princi - Wardour St, Soho
Villaindry - Great Portland St
Santo - Portobello Road
Shrimpys - Kings Cross
Bistrotque - Bethnal Green
Ottolenghi - Notting Hill
Jamie Oliver's 15 - Old Street
Spit and Roast - Eat Street/Street Feast
Mother Flipper - East Street/Street Feast
I am going through a phase where I hear about a place I want to eat every day and don't do anything about it so the plan is that my friend and I try and eat at two of these places a month, or if its a particularly expensive place just once, and I'll write about them here.
Neither of us are restaurant critics, we are just two women in our twenties who know what we like and want to experience new culinary marvels. As you can see from the list the places we want to visit are varied and in different areas of London, both street food and stuffy institutes that I've only ever dreamt of affording. I am by no means a food snob, some of the best food I've eaten recently has been while stood on the street with a beer in one hand and a slice of pizza or a burger in the other.
At the moment there are 31 places on this list, I have eaten at 1 of them already (The Big Easy), so this should take around 18 months!
Here we go!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Birthday Cake!
Just a few things today!
A few months ago I made something I was pretty proud of and didn't blog about it at the time so here it is. Omar is pretty much my partner in crime when it comes to baking, there have been many days when we have been stuck in my kitchen for hours on end experimenting and he is usually the one that needs to talk me down off that ledge you often find yourself on when you've been baking for 8 hours straight and nothing is working as it should! Needless to say he has picked up some favourites over the years and I wanted to include some of them in his birthday cake and this was the result!
I used the amazing 'Say it with Cake' moulds from Silicone Moulds as the inspiration for this cake and to make the letters which are each made in a different kind of cake along with cupcakes in the same flavour!
O - this is a chocolate cake, covered is decadent chocolate ganache and topped with fresh raspberries. I love this combination in cake and think raspberries make the best decorations. For the cupcakes I included a cream cheese frosting, topped with a raspberry and drizzled with the ganache.
M - this is pumpkin cake, which is definitely Omar's favourite! The recipe is adapted from one found a long time ago in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The cake is topped with a smooth and creamy Mascarpone frosting by Martha Stewart.
A - this is a cake I made because of "The Help", a book that makes you incredibly hungry throughout reading it and one that Omar and I both loved last year so this is based on Minnie's Caramel Cake. The recipe for which I took from Scrumpdillyicious and it worked really well. It is essentially a vanilla cake filled with pecans and topped with a sweet caramel frosting.
R - finally this is a regular vanilla cake topped with purple cream cheese frosting and rainbow sprinkles, because, well why not?
All in all I am really pleased with the way this looks! There was lots of work that went into the cake and I really like the mismatch look to it. The moulds had their moments of being really fiddly but I think practice is definitely the key to getting them right1.
Lastly a few blogs I love...
Firstly is my good friend Heidi's blog 'Lolita & Me'. Heidi is incredibly passionate about all things fashion and creative, with weekly "Craft Sundays" and "Fashion Friday's" the blog is varied and inspiring, especially if like me you're always looking for new projects to keep you busy! I really love where Heidi is going with this blog and always look forward to reading about what she's been up to. She also kindly wrote about Belle Bakes in her Craft Sunday a few weeks ago which was lovely of her.
The second is the Patchwork Cookbook which is an on going project by Jasmine Baba. I've known Jasmine for years and as the little sister to my best friend she has been a willing (or sometimes less than willing) Guinea pig for many of my baking adventures (and certainly someone of my misadventures) and its really nice to see her stretching her baking skill and writing about it. Using a mixture of recipes she's grown up with and new ones she's discovering all the time, the regularity of her baking is putting me to shame at the moment and I enjoy reading about all the new things she's discovering. So follow her on tumblr!
A few months ago I made something I was pretty proud of and didn't blog about it at the time so here it is. Omar is pretty much my partner in crime when it comes to baking, there have been many days when we have been stuck in my kitchen for hours on end experimenting and he is usually the one that needs to talk me down off that ledge you often find yourself on when you've been baking for 8 hours straight and nothing is working as it should! Needless to say he has picked up some favourites over the years and I wanted to include some of them in his birthday cake and this was the result!
O - this is a chocolate cake, covered is decadent chocolate ganache and topped with fresh raspberries. I love this combination in cake and think raspberries make the best decorations. For the cupcakes I included a cream cheese frosting, topped with a raspberry and drizzled with the ganache.
M - this is pumpkin cake, which is definitely Omar's favourite! The recipe is adapted from one found a long time ago in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The cake is topped with a smooth and creamy Mascarpone frosting by Martha Stewart.
A - this is a cake I made because of "The Help", a book that makes you incredibly hungry throughout reading it and one that Omar and I both loved last year so this is based on Minnie's Caramel Cake. The recipe for which I took from Scrumpdillyicious and it worked really well. It is essentially a vanilla cake filled with pecans and topped with a sweet caramel frosting.
R - finally this is a regular vanilla cake topped with purple cream cheese frosting and rainbow sprinkles, because, well why not?
All in all I am really pleased with the way this looks! There was lots of work that went into the cake and I really like the mismatch look to it. The moulds had their moments of being really fiddly but I think practice is definitely the key to getting them right1.
Lastly a few blogs I love...
Firstly is my good friend Heidi's blog 'Lolita & Me'. Heidi is incredibly passionate about all things fashion and creative, with weekly "Craft Sundays" and "Fashion Friday's" the blog is varied and inspiring, especially if like me you're always looking for new projects to keep you busy! I really love where Heidi is going with this blog and always look forward to reading about what she's been up to. She also kindly wrote about Belle Bakes in her Craft Sunday a few weeks ago which was lovely of her.
The second is the Patchwork Cookbook which is an on going project by Jasmine Baba. I've known Jasmine for years and as the little sister to my best friend she has been a willing (or sometimes less than willing) Guinea pig for many of my baking adventures (and certainly someone of my misadventures) and its really nice to see her stretching her baking skill and writing about it. Using a mixture of recipes she's grown up with and new ones she's discovering all the time, the regularity of her baking is putting me to shame at the moment and I enjoy reading about all the new things she's discovering. So follow her on tumblr!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
British Pie Week
Hello lovely people, this week is British Pie Week which coincides with me attempting to be a good little blogger and start writing in this wonderful little white box more often.
I have had a recipe for a chocolate pie in my head every since I read 'The Help' last October and even more so after seeing the film (no jokes about poo please!). The entire book/film makes you crave Southern food, I want some good fried chicken and caramel cake too!Anyway, back to my pie, I came across this recipe by Lee Ann Fleming and decided to try it for a friends birthday this weekend.
Its probably one of the easiest pies I've ever made and really cheap to put together if you want something quick and simple and don't have much time. There's no ridiculous chilling times over night and its turns out really well. Although I have to say, allowing the pie a night in the fridge does give the filling a chase to smooth out into a lovely rich custard.
I think the perfect topping for a pie like this isn't just boring old whipped cream but a fantastic Mascarpone Frosting like this one by Martha Stewart, maybe laced with some fresh raspberries?
Enjoy your pies this week! I think I'm going to try and head to The Lily Vanilli Bakery on Sunday and see what she has to offer to celebrate this week!
I have had a recipe for a chocolate pie in my head every since I read 'The Help' last October and even more so after seeing the film (no jokes about poo please!). The entire book/film makes you crave Southern food, I want some good fried chicken and caramel cake too!Anyway, back to my pie, I came across this recipe by Lee Ann Fleming and decided to try it for a friends birthday this weekend.
Its probably one of the easiest pies I've ever made and really cheap to put together if you want something quick and simple and don't have much time. There's no ridiculous chilling times over night and its turns out really well. Although I have to say, allowing the pie a night in the fridge does give the filling a chase to smooth out into a lovely rich custard.
I think the perfect topping for a pie like this isn't just boring old whipped cream but a fantastic Mascarpone Frosting like this one by Martha Stewart, maybe laced with some fresh raspberries?
Enjoy your pies this week! I think I'm going to try and head to The Lily Vanilli Bakery on Sunday and see what she has to offer to celebrate this week!
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