Twilight Zone

Viperfish

When I was small nature programs were one of my favourite things to watch. every Sunday afternoon I would tune in to whatever animal-related show was on. My favourites were those presented by David Attenborough, there is something about his manner and soothing tone of voice which means that to this day I could happily listen to him for hours. Coming accros the book for the BBC series 'Blue Planet', which looked at life in oceans accross the globe, brought all of these memories flooding back. The program was a joy to watch aesthetically and though it did not have the emotional pull of some of the more 'cuddly' wildlife shows it was fascinating

My favourite episode was the one focusing on the Deep Sea, featuring animals that live below 200m where there is little or no light. They look so alien and exist in such inhospitable climates that it is hard to believe that are not the product of a sci-fi writer's imagination. In fact one species 'Cystisoma' was an inspiration for the creature in the 1979 film 'Alien'.

 

Many designers took inspiration from under the sea in their S/S '12 collections. Most of these took a lighter tone, with seafoam hues and bright corals, fishy prints, drapes and sparkling scales.

Weekend Wanderings

Because of work and family commitments the time that I get to spend with my boyfriend is quite limited this holiday and so whenever we have a full day to spend together we want to make the most of it while neither of us is too tired from a long day at work. On Saturday we got up early (for a weekend - neither of us are morning people!) to run some errands, the sun was shining so I decided to give this lime green skirt that I picked up in the Motel sample sale it's first outing. However five minutes after leaving the door I had to run back to the flat to put on a slip as the wind was meaning it was a constant battle to avoid showing the whole of London my underwear!

SKIRT Motel - VEST Tesco - CARDIGAN Uniqulo - EARRINGS Gilda's Tryst

Once I was more suitably attired I headed out again to spend the afternoon wandering round Soho, Oxford St and Mayfair. I finally told the other half about this blog (I still feel very self concious about this activity) his first question? Do I bitch about him on there. I then persuaded him to take some outfit photos to me which led to me prancing around moronically in an alleyway. I was having too much fun for most of the photos to be flattering, my face scrunches up in a very unfortunate manner when I laugh, but a few were salvagable.
After, staggering home to snuggle on the sofa with the deliciously trashy Bond film 'You Only Live Twice' before braving the rain to catch up with friends.

There were some nice 60's clothing moments in the film, however (clearly thanks to Mr Bond's sexual powers) I couldn't find many stills of women wearing more than a bikini!

Kopapa

Crispy soft-shell crab and ham hock, pickled carrot, lychee, cucumber and peanut dressing (artist's impression)

I've been meaning to visit Kopapa since it opened a year or so back to positive reviews from food blogs. It went on the backburner until November when I started working at Gilda's Tryst across the road but it's taken me another 6 or so months to finally check it out.

The place has become quite well known for its brunch offerings but yesterday I was there for dinner. I shut up the shop at seven and headed across the road to meet my friends. Despite the early hour there was already a nice buzz in the simply decorated room, lined on one side by a well stocked bar, and the few tables outside were filled as the evening was quite balmy.

The menu is broken up into bar snacks, sharing platters, small and large plates. We decided to get a selection of tapas-style small plates to share. We started with the lamb ribs which were wonderful; floppy strips of unctously fatty meat in a deliciously savoury pomegranate sauce with sour cream that I enthusiastically mopped up with the bread we had ordered. A note here about the olives we got to go with the bread; plump with a sprinkling of aniseed-y caraway seeds - I can imagine happily munching my way through a bowl of these at the bar.

By this time my already high expectations were ramped up further and I had the burden on my shoulders of having recommended the venue so the rest of the dishes had to deliver.

Out came a procession of lovely looking dishes. Miso English asparagus with fennel salad was a disappointment for me as asparagus is one of my favourite things this time of year and I found these (few!) spears to be uninspiring and watery, the miso sauce was in itself very pleasant with a lovely foamy texture but entirely overpowered the delicate greens while the heap of sliced fennel felt like an afterthought.  Warm individual potato, pepper, caramelised onion, spinach and feta tortilla with black olive dressing was enjoyable and hearty but quite unmemorable for me. The Spring rolls of slow roasted duck, Sichuan pepper, feta and guindilla chillies, tamarind aioli  were stuffed with soft duck and the wrapping had a nice crunch, the sauce had a nice zingy acidity but again I found it a bit harsh for the roll's filling The absolute stand out dish for me was the  Crispy soft-shell crab and ham hock, pickled carrot, lychee, cucumber and peanut dressing, the two sections of crab legs had beautiful sweet flesh but it was the salad beneath that was the real star for me. There was a flavour to it that I couldn't quite put my finger on when eating which must have been the pickled carrot and lychee. With crispy bacon, peanuts and more sweet nuggets of crab bathed in a zesty, slightly sour sauce I couldn't get enough of it. It is perfect for summer and a generous portion so on a hot day I can imagine this sufficing as a light lunch. Both of dining partners weren't too enamoured with it so I quite happily polished off the whole plate.

Overall Kopapa makes a great place for a relaxed dinner with friends. Not all of the dishes we tried were  spectacular but there were enough good ones to make me want to go back. The bill for three of us for five small plates, bread, olives and a carafe of wine came to about seventy pounds and we felt quite full from this as the majority of the plates are a decent size. Not bargain of the month but that is something one often finds with tapas-style meals and it's worth it to be able to try a great variety of foods without having to steal it off people's plates!

Raspberry Crush

JACKET Chemistry - VEST Topshop - TROUSERS Zara - SHOES Russel&Bromley - EARRINGS Gilda's Tryst - SUNGLASSES Asos

Summertime. Light lunches. Bright colours. Fresh fruit with cream.

I wore this outfit to lunch at the Farmer's club, we ate on the terrace overlooking the Thames and enjoying the sunshine. I love wide legged trousers, they feel so elegant but don't wear them that much as I feel they generally need heels. Today I decided 'sod it' I'll wear them anyway clashing them with a lime green blazer to amp up the summer feel. Excuse the perturbed look, I was only able to get this one photo as we were in a hurry afterwards.

Home-made raspberry froyo with fresh berries and liquor

Ellen Svinhufvud Almond Cake

I've never been so glad to have decided to keep a physical recipie file as when I came to make this cake earlier in the week. I made it a couple of years ago but had not tried again since as although it is not difficult it is sinfully rick and does require a bit of a time commitment to assemble. It came to mind again when I was thinking of something to bake for my father's birthday, he is on a low-carb diet so the traditional sponge was out. I went to the recipie folder on my laptop and could I find it? No. Printed recipies? Also no. I had already set my heart on making this recipie so began a google quest with permutations of 'Finland, court, cake, almond, egg white, cream, coffee etc...' just as I was ready to give up hope I had one last look in the file - and there it was, the pages had just been stuck together with the remenants of my last attempt at it.

So what do you get with this cake that I spent so long (unnessicarily) searching for? Its namesake is the wife of the third president of Finland who would serve this at her coffee evenings over a hundred years ago. It is a decadent combination of layers resembling giant macaroons sandwitched with whipped butter and cream flavoured iwth coffee and more ground almond and then coated in toasted flaked almonds. A small piece is enough to satisfy and it has a lovely chewiness to it from the slow cooked merangue layers. It is also a great gluten free option as it has no flour in it or for those who want something to satisfy a macaroon lover without having to baby dozens of neat little shells.

The recipie that I used (although I'm sure I found it on a different blog) is from here, however it isn't particularly clear and I had to use a bit of guess work as to what was needed basedon my experience making macaroons so I have expanded on it a bit to make it easier to follow.