Hi, yes still eating, cooking and making a mess of the kitchen

It seems this blog has turned into a "oncermonther", around the 25-29th mark I come on here and suddenly realise 4-5 weeks have gone by and I haven't shown any food porn!

Well I just have to change that this week somehow, have a look at my camera and come back to this space.

In the meantime have a look at this for a little Italian feasty we did a few weeks back

The "burning" question !

I often look up the nutritional content of foods , mainly to see what the Vitamin levels are. Did you realise that Papaya has double the vitamin c content of an orange ? What I also found interesting in my searches was the nutritional information on a food types Inflammation rating (IF) documented by Monica Reinagel at Inflammation factor. It appears it is responsible for our many ills.

As if I don't worry enough about eating my raw fruits and veg, I now have this to get me oesophagus in a twist about as I may be eating the WRONG fruits and veg!! I realised I eat quite a lot of high sugar fruits ,grapes, strawberries, plums and more , but checking them on the chart , they have fairly medium IF ratings, phew , not so bad then , but not the best!

So what should I be eating more of then?

Well it seems from this list , as the IF rating is in the positives , I need to be eating more crucifers ,raw carrots , cantaloupe, errr jalapeno peppers (yer I was surprised about that one too and need to have another look into it!) and of course spinach, (which I LOVE in salads) oh and I can continue to eat me beloved strawberries too!

I will be looking at her book The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan for more ideas and how it will work in my lifestyle in the new year. Hehehe , he the mans will have a fit , as every year Im onto some other guru, (it was Gillian McKeith 2yrs back and the year before this Superfoods by Steven Pratt) or a food plan to try and kick boost me a way from noshing on crisps and ice cream!

Has anyone tried this diet plan, have they found it beneficial , or are you a newbie on the IF rating like me?

Nope dont dig the partridge!

The minute I cut into the skin and saw the teeny ball bearing which was the shot that deceased this mini bird , that was it , I had to stop eating. I really was not enjoying the nutmeg cabbage either. I did have a picture of the offending article, (he the mans I apologise for my criticising), but it just looked nasteeeee and it seems to have disapeared also , strange? Is he hiding evidence may be! Its so strange how a taste can conjure up a feeling of such dislike in the mouth and nasal passage! It had such promise in the packaging , this teeny interesting little thing, so full of tasty hope , but it was not meant to be! Anyone want the one I have left in the freezer?

I reckon he the mans is allowed a small percentage of experimental disasters, I certainly have in my time; watery cauliflower cheese , sunken cakes , over alcoholised stews, over cooked rock hard mini wall tiles biscuits and more!

My success in August , was a lovely breast of duck in sichuan spices. I was very reluctant to cook it as its not an easy dish to do , as you have to be patient and render the fat of really slowly by cooking on a low light skin side down and I was determined to make sure it was medium rare too , so quite a tall order I gave myself!!! He the mans was due home late and I just had to try. After a lot of shouting and panicking to no one in particular, it came together. You would think I was creating some intricate gourmet dish with the way I was flapping around! It was in fact very simple in the end! I wilted some pak choy and then after I then de glazed the frying pan with soy sauce , rice wine and a little sugar poured this over the dish.













Another dish Id forgotten about , but was very savoury and flavoursome , was a Bruschetta dish created by he the mans with fresh grilled sardines on toasted Bruschetta bread , served with a wonderful tomato compote made with a mixture of mini santini tomato's, capers , onions , balsamic vinegar , parsley , lemon, garlic & seasoning all shallow fried together with olive oil.













Tonight's meal is another experimentation, whilst it doesn't sound to good , it smells amazing. He the mans has coated lamb chops with ciabatta breadcrumbs , mixed herbs and garlic salt. There is also a whole butternut squash being roasted in Cinnamon, honey & olive oil and seasoning. It should in all intents and purposes be good to eat, who knows , Ill find out in 5 minutes and let you know!!!!!!

A teeny catch up

Its been a few weeks since Ive been on and September so far has been really quiet on the food front having had my eldest start reception. Food lately has been a means to an end I'm afraid. Also having lovely end of summer bugs has also put a stop to much culinary want!!!!

Im pooped by the evening, which is one of my main blog writing times apart from Sundays , but its kids party season right now , so Im hardly in to write! I think the effects of the long summer holidays came after, a bit like when you get ill as soon as a plane takes off for holidays!

The last lovely meal out was our anniversary meal at Clos Maggiore , but there is however some random photos of bits and pieces that he the mans has been making here and there.

At the beginning of Sept , we spent a few days with our friends in Yorkshire, my gal pal of the lovely blog Mee Crafty.

We had a lovely afternoon in our hotel grounds , The Solberge Hall, drinking coffee and eating cake and the kids enjoyed running around the walled kitchen gardens. They had some great courgette specimens on show!

I had a need for a major choc fix and ordered this little pretty creation , although it looked good, it was a bit sickly sweet after a few mouthfuls!!!

He the mans at the end of August had a thing about potted shrimp and loads of little pots of butter kept on turning up in the fridge! I'm not hugely enamoured with them though. I don't know what it is , possibly all that melted re-congealed butter may be and I think Ive decided Im really not a fan of nutmeg !!!! I know Im not really selling them am I.

Tonight is he the mans first foray into the cooking of partridge roasted with a Parma ham wrap and served with sauted cabbage with garlic butter and nutmeg . I will report back on my findings soon!!! So far I'm not so sure on the smell around here and there seems to be no sign of a gravy, to me that's tantamount to food suicide, (I just dont enjoy dry meat )! Instead of game chips hes done a game fried bread to lay it all on. I cant say I'm excited! I shouldn't be so ungrateful , but sometimes the experiments don't work!

J'adore Clos Maggiore

ohhhh what a lovely weekend we had for our anniversary a couple of weekends back. A wonderfully smart evening at Clos Maggiore followed by a night at One Aldwych In Covent Garden. I was allowed to leave the nest much earlier than he the mans and headed up to Covent Garden on the overground and underground, (which I like as I get to read for a solid 40minutes with no interruptions), for a wander around mid afternoon. It was bliss: sun , shopping and no kiddlies hands!! Don't get me wrong I love my girlie's and missed them , but Im with them morning , noon and night , sometimes with no adult contact for days except the shopkeeper up the road! This has been one long long long summer break , at nearly 8 weeks!!! There is however nothing like freedom!!!

I felt very glamorous in my new dress for the evening and quite relaxed and calm after my afternoon alone , as I checked in to the hotel around 3:30 and had some time to read a magazine laying on the bed and watched some TV, (can you believe it was supernanny, see even without them I'm still thinking of them!). He the mans then joined me for a drink up the road at The Waldorf in the Homage bar at a little table on the street noshing some little snacks & people watching all the giggly girly groups leaving the theatre after an early showing of Dirty Dancing ! . We then headed back for a swim in our own hotels indoor pool and a sit in the sauna , ahhhhhhhhhhh heavenly!

I have to say that Clos was one of the most elegant and romantic restaurants I have ever eaten in. Ive never felt the need to return anywere Ive eaten before , but this place has to be tried again for sure. It has a wonderful cosy , quirky and stylish atmosphere , with its cut hedge walls and arches, (I kid you not) . Its back conservatory were we sat is filled with blossom trees and makes you feel like your sitting in a little wonderland!

Image care of sqauremeal

We unfortunately had to wait nearly half an hour for our table , which was a little bit of shame , but the upside was being offered a lovely glass of pink champagne on the house and my favourite; some tapenade with bread sticks, all served in these lovely little teeny copper pans! All partaken in a lovely little dark and cosy sitting area at the front of the restaurant. The staff were very apologetic and kept on making sure we were OK and that we didn't have long to wait.

Eventually we were shown to a lovely table as requested at the back in the conservatory. We chose the lavish six course Tasting menu as it seemed to have a lovely selection and we thought well, it is for a special occasion . Its also a great way to try a variety of the restaurant dishes in miniature!

Id never had pigeon before but as the 1st starter it was melt in the mouth and a wonderful combination, all sweet , savoury and salty. The teeny fried egg was a cute touch and matched the quirkiness of the place perfectly!

The second starter of scallops was also very delicious and savoury , with a ridiculously healthy fluo green watercress puree.

He the mans wasn't so keen on the taste and texture of the lobster dish as small squares of black , green and white pasta sat in the bisque base which had a slightly smokey flavour to it. I would have liked some more bisque in mine , sans the pasta, as it was so velvety and moreish! The nice touch is that it is poured into your bowl at the table from one of those little copper pans.


At this point he the mans was getting a bit touchy about me snapping away and not just enjoying , so alas I have no picture of the duck dish. It was however very delicious. The duck was perfectly cooked , the deep dark unctuous sauce not to sweet and the treacle marinated skin a lovely touch . I loved the little grapefruit cake on the side , he the mans detests the stuff so I had a little extra! It helped balance the sweetness of the meat and sauce with its sour acidic taste. This is one of my favourite types of evening dishes.

I also have no picture of the cheese plate , but we had a small taste of about three -four soft and hard cheeses from around europe including ; a hard cheese comte from France, a soft cheese
Robiola Pineta from Italy and Isle of Mull Cheddar , all with a lovely small block of quince jelly which Id love to find to have at home. This was served with the most enormous basket of lovely whole wheat , seedy and black and brown biscuits and breads, but we were so so full by then , only the cheese could be eaten!!

Unfortunately , due to the late dinner start we had to rush the dessert of mini opera cake and espresso ice cream , which was a shame as it was gorgeous, melt in the mouth and decadent. Guess what I had on mine?????

Yep I finally got my birthday plate with candle !!!





This is what he the mans one looked like before being devoured.


The Happy Birthday was a bit of an oversight by the restaurant , as it was our anniversary , nevertheless we thought it quite funny due to the boxwood birthday omission and didn't say anything, as the staff there were so attentive, thoughtful and efficient . We were literally running out of the restaurant at this point , to a shocked maitre de face , I think he thought we were upset with the meal ! My sister and her mans were also in central London for the evening for their anniversary dinner at Apsley , a gorgeous modern Italian restaurant at The Lanesborough ( I see another contender for a review )and had planned to meet us for drinks at our Hotel at 11ish. It was now heading for 11:45 , and a bit like Cinders the night was nearly over.



We finished the night off with drinks , (mine was a watermelon and lychee virgin cocktail which was very fresh and aromatic ) and nibbles in the lounge at One Aldwych.

The next morning , we didn't fancy breakfast at the hotel , as it seemed all a bit to formal and serious , so we made the most of being alone and drove over to Clerkenwell , initially the idea was too try a brunch at The Zetter hotel, but when we got there we just didn't fancy the rather overpriced and fussy menu and noticed everyone walking to The Modern Pantry behind the hotel .

What a lovely surprise find ; cool relaxing decor of grey panelled walls , white and copper elements , friendly staff and a very well priced comforting menu (empty Zetter take note!). A winner all round and a very civilised end to a wonderful weekend reading newspapers and reminiscing about pre kiddy life!

It HAS to be done again next year , sighhhhhhhhhh!