A Sneak Preview...

I received this lovely parcel from my wonderfully talented friend Anne yesterday. For the past few weeks she's been beavering away making our wedding invitations and they're all done now. I'm so, so happy with them. Thank you so much Anne! Don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipients but there are a few clues in there.

Bulghur, Cannellini & Rocket Salad

I seem to be making loads of salads at the moment. I really enjoy them and they're great for leftovers which is pretty convenient when you want to make the most of the long summer evenings. I can't find a link to the recipe online but it's from the authors of the Post Punk Kitchen blog and they have lots of other fantastic recipes online so here's a link to their site anyway.

Lindy Graduation

I went to the last of my 12 weeks Lindy Hop foundation course last night. It was actually a little bit emotional as it's been so much fun to see the same group of people every week & so great to watch everyone improve. Our teachers Caron & Steve are the sweetest, sweetest people & even gave us a mini graduation ceremony at the end of the class. Caron mysteriously disappeared for a while then came back with all our certificates freshly made up. We rounded off the class with the Bunny Hop, a 1950s party dance. Haven't giggled so much in ages. If you live in London & fancy giving Lindy Hop a try I definitely recommend their course. No-one will look after you better.

Panzanella

The only bad thing about Paradise Gardens was having to come home sooner than I'd have liked. Early Monday shift = no fun on sunday nights : (
Still, I got to make some nice Italian bread salad. This was Donna Klein's recipe from her book 'The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen'. It made a lovely, light summer meal. Think I'll make this one again.

Paradise Gardens

Had a really lovely afternoon with Ben & Lorraine at the Paradise Gardens festival in Victoria Park this Sunday. It was a huge, free event with complete with Lindy Hop, live music, stalls and a fantastic funfair.


Blimey, those swings went pretty fast.


Feeling a little dizzy.


No, you're not hallucinating & neither was I. That's a giant, papier mache Pearly Queen. What can I say.

Idle Pleasures

This is my bedside reading at the moment. Wonderful for remembering all the simple, pleasurable stuff that doesn't cost a penny like watching clouds, doodling and taking a bath. It's also inspired me to start my own list. So far I've got:

- dunking biscuits
- people watching (especially from the top deck of the bus)
- folding blankets
- but above all... daydreaming (Boredom? Don't believe in it!)

Please feel free to add to the list. I've found it's a really good exercise for getting out of a grump.

Happy Birthday Paul

Someone was 37 last week so we went out with Paul's parents to Wahaca for some Mexican food and a couple of drinks to celebrate.

Lindy Picnic

We went to a Lindy Hop picnic in Regents Park last weekend.


Our picnic basket / rucksack got a long awaited outing & we got to sit around in the sun getting slowly sozzled on rose with great tunes & lovely company.


Big thanks to Cara for the pictures.


It was a lovely, lovely afternoon & we were very sad to pack up & go home.

Broad Bean & Red Pepper Salad

When I got home from a hard day at the library yesterday this was waiting for me with a cold glass of wine. How lucky am I! Paul found the recipe on the BBC food website. It makes a lovely summer meal with some bread.

Bookselling Tales of Joy & Woe

Having worked as a Bookseller for almost eleven years I was really tickled when I heard about this blog through bloggersphere friend Tracey. It's about the highs & lows of working in Bookselling with all of its fun & maddening lunatics. Enjoy!

Turkish Kisir

I'm at home today trying to avoid tube strike hell & making some kisir, a Turkish bulgar wheat salad. It's one of Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes from the Guardian. Here's the link.


I wanted to make this because I had some last Friday when we went to the fabulous Mangal II in Dalston with Shaun & Frances. The food there was exceptional. If you like Turkish food check it out.

Boogie Back, Shorty George

There's been some exciting news in my Lindy world this week. After three months of gentle persuading, Paul finally agreed to go to a class with me. Yey! A new cycle of classes began at Wild Times this week & Paul very valiantly agreed to come along if I'd accompany him. He only needed one fortifying shot to steady his nerves at a nearby polish vodka bar beforehand & did really, really great as I knew he would. Well done Paul!

It was a pretty scary day for me too as Anne & I went to our first intermediate Lindy Hop class. Can't believe we've been learning for three months now & have finished the beginners course. At my Wednesday night class last week we finished learning the Shim Sham with the final & notoriously difficult move, the shorty George. Have a look here for a great clip of Rita Hayworth & Fred Astaire executing it with style, and here for some footage of Shorty George himself with his partner Big Bea. You'll see how they got their names. Enjoy...

Vegan Ice Cream

Although it's possible to buy really good vegan ice cream (Swedish Glace is expecially tasty) I couldn't resist picking this up when I saw it in Foyles yesterday. The recipes have some really interesting flavour combinations. Along with the usual vanilla & chocolate there's a lavender & mint recipe & lots, lots more. I also came across this 'Vegan Ice Cream Paradise' blog which is entirely devoted to making vegan ice cream. Can't wait to have a go now.

Sock Stress

I've been a very slovenly sock knitter lately. I started a new pair with some beautiful DK merino Cherry Tree Hill yarn that I picked up at last year's Knitting & Stitching Show. It was all going swimmingly until I came to the heel. This'll teach me to start knitting something before reading the pattern through. It's completely foxed me. I'm supposed to use DSTK & DSTP, two stitches that I've no idea how to do. The fact that they're explained in the pattern is no help at all. I've taken the pattern along to the knitting problem clinic that is the Imperial College weekly knitting group and it's got everyone there flummoxed too. What to do?

Paul's Quinoa Tabouleh

Now that so many of my week nights are taken up with Lindy Hop classes Paul has been getting his chef's hat on more often & producing lots of lovely vegan food for us to eat. Last week we ate this yummy tabouleh salad that he made. Quinoa is fab. It's the only non-animal foodstuff that is a complete protein all by itself. Usually I get my protein pretty easily by combining beans or pulses with grains (eg. beans on toast, lentils with rice etc) but clever quinoa is like vegan prorein magic and it's delicious too.

Hi Nayelli

Please join me in welcoming this gorgeous creature to the world. Our lovely friends in Portland, Terri & Dan are now proud parents of pictured little girl, Nayelli Kendall Pratt. She weighed in at 7lb 4oz. Is that heavy or light? I never know. More importantly, I hear that Mum & baby are doing fine (hopefully Dad is too). Well done Tezza!

Veganizing Nigel's Pasta

A couple of summers ago we were growing our own cherry tomatoes from our balcony. They needed a lot of careful attention: feeding, watering & shoot nipping but once the plants had started to fruit there was no stopping them. So much so that I had to scratch my head a bit to think of different ways of using up the bounty. A Nigel Slater recipe for orrechiette with a cherry tomato sauce became a bit of a summer staple for us as it used up a whole punnet's worth & tasted delicious. No tomatoes on the balcony this year but we do have Salvino's, a lovely Italian grocery shop right on our doorstep, currently selling huge boxes of delicious cherry tomatoes. Time to get to work veganizing this recipe:


Nigel's Veganized Cherry Tomato Pasta

approx 500g cherry tomatoes
3 or 4 cloves of garlic (sliced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
fresh basil
2 or 3 tablespoons of vegan single cream (sojade brand is especially good)
2 tablespoons of vegan parmesan
black pepper
200g pasta

Put the pasta on to boil. Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet with the garlic slices tucked in between them. Drizzle with olive oil & sea salt & grill on a high heat till the tomatoes are starting to blacken & release their juices. Drain the pasta & leave in a colander while you tip the tomatoes & their garlicky juices into the hot pasta pan. Use a potato masher to squash them (be careful of the hot juices). Tip in the basil, vegan cream, parmesan & black pepper & stir to combine & wilt the basil. Stir in the pasta & serves straight away.
(serves two)