Ice cream and Roses

There are a wealth of things that bring a smile to my face, but two of the most comforting for me are Ice cream and a big bunch of old fashioned sweet smelling roses, instant Summer in a vase and tub. My roses have done particularly well this year, perhaps it's the rain or the severe pruning I gave them last Autumn! Thankfully they've provided me with bunches in vases for the last couple months and they're still blooming well and cheering up the passersby.

Ice cream, I can eat in any form and at any time; sundaes, cones, out of a tub. When I was a child a Sundae was the ultimate treat, a real indulgence and a reward for being a good girl. I challenge anyone anywhere in the world, not to be a lover of ice cream. I simply can't understand those that claim not to eat it. 

Ice cream recipes first appeared in 18th-century England and America. The first recipe for ice cream to be published was in 1718 in a recipe book Mrs.Mary Eales's Receipts, she was the Confectioner to her Majesty Queen Anne and here it is:

'Take Tin Ice-Pots, fill them with any Sort of Cream you like, either plain or sweeten’d, or Fruit in it; shut your Pots very close; to six Pots you must allow eighteen or twenty Pound of Ice, breaking the Ice very small; there will be some great Pieces, which lay at the Bottom and Top: You must have a Pail, and lay some Straw at the Bottom; then lay in your Ice, and put in amongst it a Pound of Bay-Salt; set in your Pots of Cream, and 93 lay Ice and Salt between every Pot, that they may not touch; but the Ice must lie round them on every Side; lay a good deal of Ice on the Top, cover the Pail with Straw, set it in a Cellar where no Sun or Light comes, it will be froze in four Hours, but it may stand longer; then take it out just as you use it; hold it in your Hand and it will slip out. When you wou’d freeze any Sort of Fruit, either Cherries, Rasberries, Currants, or Strawberries, fill your Tin-Pots with the Fruit, but as hollow as you can; put to them Lemmonade, made with Spring-Water and Lemmon-Juice sweeten’d; put enough in the Pots to make the Fruit hang together, and put them in Ice as you do Cream.' (from Wikipedia)

For the last couple of nights my husband and I have regaled in Heston Blumenthal's Ice creams for Waitrose. I have to admit I rather feared the Savoury mustard flavour, so opted instead for the salted caramel popcorn and the chocolate and rosemary. Oh my goodness, both are quite extraordinary! My favourite was the chocolate. I don't normally enjoy chocolate ice cream, strange I know as I do love the stuff, think it's because of memories of cheap tubs of chocolate flavoured ice cream at parties when I was a child. I always did purport to have a rather sophisticated palette! Anyway, Heston's chocolate ice cream was velvety, not too sweet with a perfect hint of rosemary infusing the smooth richness of the dark chocolate. If you want to experience Blumenthal's rather unique take on ice cream, I urge you to rush down to your nearest Waitrose and buy buy buy - it's on a special offer at the moment too, £1.87 for a small tub of pure pleasure!

Bishop's Park memories

There's nothing like a trip to the park to cheer you up when you have a rather over excited toddler in tow. In Fulham we're blessed with some great green spaces that accommodate hundreds of yummy mummies, Nannies, childminders and children day in day out. Four of the local parks received the Green Flag a couple of weeks ago. My nearest one, Bishops Park is undergoing a £7 million restoration at the moment with a whopping £3.6 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund/BIG thank you very much to them! The original Urban beach in the park (as shown in the Council's photo below), the ornamental lake and a picturesque bridge leading to the original picnic area are all being restored to their former glory. They're building 3 major play areas and are restoring the wonderful Fulham Palace Grounds. The Fulham Palace moat, also thought to be the oldest moat in Britain will be partially excavated after it was sadly filled in in 1921. It's a exciting development for us locals and I can't wait for it to be finished in the Autumn.

The photo below I took last Autumn whilst out on a walk with Matilda, the light was so beautiful fighting though the mist and the trees.

Bishops Park was opened in 1860, the land was donated by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners on the condition it would be maintained as a public recreation ground, the park was extended in 1894 opening again in 1900 with Pryors Bank and it's gardens, next to Putney Bridge, now immersed in the Park. Fulham Palace's Gardens are considered to be one of the most important Botanical Gardens in the UK with exotic species such as tulip, walnut, maple and cork oak trees. The most impressive tree for me is the 500 year old Evergreen oak opposite the palace itself, I used to love to take my revision books there when I was at school. In my early teens I flirted with the idea of becoming an artist so I'd take my watercolours and paint for hours. I still have those paintings somewhere, I must dig them out.


Now my little girl loves nothing better than being allowed to roam free there, she runs around the lawn, under the trees, goes exploring in the bushes desperately trying to catch the squirrels.  Children happily share their toys and footballs, mummys hang out under the tress having coffee and picnics. It's perfectly idyllic for London, you look around and you can't see any other buildings, only the faint sound of the traffic lets you know that you're in the centre of town

Bishops Park holds many warm memories for me, it's where I used to swim in the lake, rode my bicycle, played in the giant sandpit, hung out as a teenager on the swings, listened to Billy Bragg in concert, watched the Boat race and finally, had the best ice creams from the ice cream van. It's always been very much a part of my life, sunbathing in the summer and going to see the fireworks on Bonfire night.  It's lovely for me to able to pass that heritage on to my little girl who clearly loves it as much as I do.

A hopeful Londoner...

This morning it was a relief to turn on Cbeebies, the images of our London on fire with people's homes and businesses that have taken years to build, being mindlessly destroyed has left me speechless. One can find a million and one reasons for the destruction that has been taking place for the last 3 days, but actually what we need to do now is learn from this and move on to restore our beautiful city, both physically and psychologically.

The tenacity and spirit of the people was demonstrated today when whole communities across London and the other cities affected came together to help clean up, over 600 people just in Clapham. Working and pulling together in the face of trouble is what makes us who we are. In our busy, hectic lives we do forget our neighbours, community spirit isn't so easy to uphold in the big metropolis, but now when it's been most needed people have come together to help the victims and to restore faith to the rest of us. We need to focus on the good that needs to come out of such devastation. Keep safe everyone and I just hope this madness comes to an end quickly and peacefully.




http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2011/aug/09/london-riots-aftermath-day-4#/?picture=377724743&index=0

A wholesome Sunday morning at Columbia Road Flower Market...

One of my all time favourite Sunday activities is a trip to the colourful, lively and generally feel good Columbia Road. Having a toddler now makes for no lie ins so we were up and ready to go by 9am. First off we went to our local cafe for breakfast. I had Eggs Benedict, the husband had a full English and Matilda a blueberry muffin.

Once we'd refuelled we hit the road over to the East End, I just love driving through London town on a quiet Sunday morning, no traffic, no crowds, when you can fully appreciate the beauty of the city. London isn't as obviously beautiful as say Prague or Paris but it has a happening, energetic and experimental vibe. I love it and am very proud to be a Londoner.

Columbia Road, which was originally a pathway for sheep to the slaughterhouses of Smithfields, has been around in various guises since the 1860's, it was built by the heiress and philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts. Though her market has now been knocked down the terraced shops still stand, of which I think she'd be proud. They are some of the most fascinating and unique independent shops in London. From Angela Flanders' perfume emporium to Treacle Cakes to Bob & Blossom and the little alleyways that lead to Courtyards full of stalls and cafes, it seems that every nook and cranny is filled with buying opportunities! Personally I now prefer the shopping in Columbia Road to Spitalfields, which has become ever so slightly commercialised.

The market itself is awash with Eastend characters, colour, blissful perfumes and together with all the food stalls and street entertainers it is the perfect endroit to make yourself feel better, but also for the little ones it's great free fun. Matilda loved smelling the flowers as she went by the stalls, she was fascinated by the music, the hustle and bustle of the market traders and the streams of people walking past, a lot of them stopping to say hello to her.

 These guys were particularly jolly entertaining a huge crowd before them. We found it hard to drag Matilda away from them as she danced around in her pram.

And where else would you see a group of Pearly Queens?! Fabulous fun!

We came away armed with Perennials for the garden - '2 for a fiver', a big bunch of white hydrangeas, a bag of bagels, a couple of penguin classics for our growing collection and a beautiful old Nursery rhymes book for Matilda. We were a very satisfied family yesterday, nothing like good old fashioned Eastend entertainment!

A perfect wet Summer Sunday afternoon...

Yes, it's an unsual sight the husband cooking dinner, he's trying out yesterday's Ottolenghi recipe in the Guardian, Chicken Sorito. He doesn't often cook but when he does, it actually tastes remarkably good. He needs more confidence which is why I've decided from now on he'll be responsible for Sunday dinner.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/05/chicken-sofrito-smoked-corn-recipes

And the more usual view from the window whilst I relax with the Good Food Channel and Style magazine.



Happy rainy Sunday everyone!

One happy...

There was one person who was happy that Mummy was turning 40! Any excuse to eat cake...