Been baking

With more wintery weather around, its baking time. It was scones on Friday for a work morning tea. Today it has been lamb and mint pasties (pictured with roast veg). Is it still a pastie if it's square? What a delight. Pudding is in the oven and the timer is about to ping - off for apple crumble...

The sky is falling down

You could be forgiven for thinking this with the amount of rain we have had. Very persistent indeed. Lots of puddle jumping on the way to work and squelching round with wet feet. This morning we had had it all - strong winds, pouring rain and even a bit of hail and some thunder and lightening (not my favourite) just for good measure. This might be me paddling to work on Monday at this rate.

3 stars

Michelin stars that is. Having watched loads of cookery shows giving a glimpse into the Michelin world, I wanted to see what 3 stars really meant. I have been to Michelin restaurants before but wanted to see what sets apart those few at the top. Made a booking at Gordon Ramsay's. The protocol means you need to call 2 months to the day in advance and try your luck. Having secured a booking and studied the menu online, I was very excited.


Unfortunately my fellow diner had not been well for a few days. He soldiered on and made it to the restaurant though. We couldn't cancel and pay a fee and not have tried any of the food. By the time we were there, he was not well and not keen to even order anything for fear it might make him worse. I had to sneakily eat his pre dinner treats (am not complaining about that though). We did make it through the entree and main but had to escape after that. No michelin dessert for me unfortunately. I really wished I could have stayed. I thoroughly enjoyed what I had. As said companion didn't think he could get home without being ill, we couldn't get on the tube or jump in a cab, so we started to walk. We ended up crossing London - west to east - 10km (6-ish miles) in the rain and at a not very quick pace, but we made it. With heels on I could barely walk by the end. I have 6 enormous blisters, I certainly have some souvenirs of the evening!


My menu

Pre dinner we were presented with potato tuile and a cone with an avocado and prawn filling. A tasty start and the cone was a bit of fun - hadn't expected something like that.

Next up there was the amuse bouche - a raviolo with jacket potato consomme. A bit too strong a flavour for me but the super finely diced veg in there were impressive.

The bread was particularly good - perhaps the best I have ever had. Crispy crust and yet it crumbled away effortlessly. Mmmm

For my starter I had pan fried sea scallops served with leek and pancetta ballottine, sage gnocchi and caper beurre noisette. A bigger portion than I had expected but very tasty indeed. Already quite full by this stage.

I couldn't pass up a meat option for the main course - aged Casterbridge beef fillet with fondant potato, ox cheeks, bone marrow braised root vegetables and red wine jus. This was divine. The meat was so tender. All of the accompaniments were wonderful too. Every element was delicious and flavoursome.

The dining area was compact and quite understated. You couldn't imagine the hustle bustle and loudness of the kitchen you expect happening in the room next door. The staff were very attentive. I don't have any pics of the food. You just have to take my word that it was all cleverly crafted in looks and flavour - a real delight for the tastebuds. 

Sesame Street at 40

The Google search page has been paying tribute to Sesame Street at 40 over the past week. I couldn't resist this t-shirt when I saw it last year. Here is Cookie Monster having a birthday cookie.

I was interested to learn from a colleague that he knew the series from when he was younger, but the characters weren't necessarily the same and had had their names converted to suit the country watching.

Cookie Monster goes by:

• Kage Monster in Denmark
• Macaron les glouton in France
• Krümelmonster in German (ie the crumb monster - particularly like this translation)
• Biskut Badshaah in India
• Monstruo de las Gelletas in Spain

I hope my internet research has got these all right. I love all the localised versions for Bert and Ernie too. I am just not sure they all suit - Ernie as Enrique, Ernesto or Edi and Bert as Bart or Hubert. Hmmm

Remember, remember...

... the 5th of November. Thursday was Guy Fawkes night. It was rather odd walking home from work amidst a sky of multi colour fire works. The extra light was welcome - it is getting very dark. I am amazed that fireworks are still so freely available in this day and age - health and safety and all of that. Walking down the street at one point a deluge of fireworks were launched from a carpark and out over my head.  Further along I had a really close call with some children firing off from a side street in my direction. Boy did that get me moving. Tonight they are all setting off fireworks again. Bang! Pop! Next week it will be back to normal. The fun is over - into the dark cold depths of winter!

Pumpkin monster

I actually wanted a pumpkin to eat but the shop only had an abundance of carving pumpkins. Here is the result. Did try turning this into a curried pumpkin soup. I am not sure what caused it to be so awful - the poor quality of the pumpkin? The excess of stock cubes? A little too much spice? Whatever it was, the pumpkin monster had struck showing it didn't approve of me turning this one into soup.

Champagne anyone?

Visited the refurbished St Pancras train station this week. Having watched a show about the building project, I discovered it has what is claimed to be the longest champagne bar at 90 odd metres. Thought I would go and have a glass. I am not normally one for champagne but it was a nice drop that went down well.

The bar runs the length of the platform where the Eurostar trains come and go. This does make for a rather noisy experience.

Pictured here is the statue titled The Meeting Place. It stands 9 metres tall. I think the artist has captured the moment so well.

Exploring the museum

Have at last got round to exploring the British Museum. What an amazing slice of history they have. I couldn't help but think that slice was a bit too big. I know it's like a zoo - sharing samples round the globe and letting everyone get a glimpse of the past - it seems here they were a bit too greedy though.

Could have spent days there, the place is so big but had to settle for a brisk walk through history: Egypt (the Rosetta stone and other sculptures and Mummies too), Greece (the Parthenon/Elgin Marbles), and Mexico for starters.

I really enjoyed looking at the pieces and their designs and patterns. Lots of pieces I would happily have around the home. Great to see they still have appeal in modern times. Pictured are a few things that caught my eye

From the Tower to the Bridge

I have been up inside Tower Bridge before but as it wasn't a planned visit I had no camera. Throught I should take the opportunity to snap a few more pics before grey winter skies become the norm again. I do love getting a look at the skyline from up high (143 feet in this case). Sadly my pic of the bridge with glistening gold tips didn't work out - battery couldn't last a second longer. Bridge is mostly wrapped up at the moment but the newly painted section that has emerged is all the better for it.

Looking eastwards... sailing down the river with Canary Wharf skyscrapers off to the top left. Note the London beach bottom left corner - anyone for some sun baking?

Looking westwards - from St Pauls on the left edge, to the Monument and round to Tower 42, Tower of London and the Gherkin...

A glimpse of the crown jewels

Having passed the Tower of London many, many times, I thought it was about time to get inside the walls. Going through the White Tower, I was impressed at the layout to guide tourists around in a logical order. Henry the VIII's armour is quite something - what a mammoth man. A great collection of jousting sticks too.

Next off to see the crown jewels. Cordons kept us in line and it was like being in the longest bank queue ever - round and round and round. Lots of video footage to start with - obviously a build up as not everyone can cram in at once to see the jewels. I had to chuckle on entering the vault to see a conveyor belt to take you past the jewels - no lingering too long here. As whole pieces, none of these works really appeal to me. Some staggering gems though and what a lot of sparkle. The sceptre with 530 carat diamond is astounding.

Back outside wandering the grounds, it is time to spot a raven. Legend says that if the ravens leave the Tower, it and the kingdom will crumble. I think the one pictured is Hugine in a hollow.

Left - White Tower. Centre - home of the jewels. Right - one of the resident ravens.