The last of the wild garlic pesto...

Today's shoes...

Veg box cooking part two...

Well, obviously I've cooked other things apart from the things I've posted photos of! But here's tonight's cookery experiment - wild garlic pesto. I had it with spaghetti and asparagus and it was really lovely!

Marathon effort...

Our two marathon runners, Scott and Damian. And my chocolate and cherry cake displayed in a delightful Arv Brollop!

Baking on sunny afternoon...

I'm going to my friend Lan's marathon day party tomorrow (go Scott and Damian!) and I'm making a couple of cakes to bring along. The flat smells lovely!

These shoes...

These shoes have been in my wardrobe for years. I mean years! I've worn them out once, to a friend's birthday party three or four years ago, and they ripped my feet to shreds. To the extent that I had to walk barefoot through Holborn station and go to Sainsbury's, hoping beyond hope that there'd be a magazine with free flip-flops (thankfully there was). But I decided to put them on again, and with tights (yes, I made the mistake of not wearing tights with them last time) they're actually quite comfortable. So I think I'm going to give them a second chance and see whether I can wear them more often!

The Veg Box Diaries

Project 365 photos from this week to come, I promise!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd start an occasional series about Things From My Veg Box. I had my first organic veg box delivered on Tuesday, and it was very exciting! I decided to go with Riverford, firstly because they're based in Devon, where the majority of their produce is grown, and I always like to support Westcountry farmers. And secondly, although you can't substitute items in their veg boxes like you can with some other companies, their 'Seasons' box seemed to suit me down to the ground so I didn't think that'd be a problem anyway. It doesn't include potatoes, which is good because I very rarely eat potatoes, and I loved the idea of getting seasonal produce.

In my first box, I got:

Five leeks (UK)
A large cauliflower (UK)
Two heads of purple sprouting broccoli (UK)
A bunch of spring onions (UK)
Six carrots (UK)
A large punnet of chestnut mushrooms (UK)
A bunch of asparagus (Spain)
A bag of wild garlic (UK)

I was very impressed with that! The box is £12.45 (delivery is free) and when you consider that all the veg is organic, and it all comes in larger quantities than you'd get in the supermarket, I think it's going to work out cheaper than my usual Tesco veg shop. Mushrooms, leeks and broccoli are staple veg for me anyway, I usually pick up a bunch of asparagus if it's on offer, and I quite often buy cauliflower and spring onions. And I was very excited about the wild garlic! Last night I began my veg box cooking adventures by making a pasta sauce with some of the wild garlic, some pine nuts and some light cream cheese. I had it with wholewheat spaghetti and it was gorgeous! I also included the last bit of non-organic supermarket veg in my fridge - the remains of the broccoli I'd bought at the weekend.

I think tonight's supper will be paneer and cauliflower curry - the cauliflower came with tons of leaves still attached (as they ought to!) and I think I might throw some of those into the curry as well. And I think the asparagus might form part of a Friday night treat. Possibly involving cheese. Can't wait!

Veg box cooking part one...

My fridge has never been this full!

Hoorah for veg boxes!

Book Fair...

The London Book Fair - three days when I'm very glad that I work in Editorial and not Rights!

Lovely!

Tesco had some half-price daffodils on Friday, so I got a couple of bunches. They were all buds when I bought them, so it was a lovely surprise when they started blooming and turned out to be extra pretty!

Spring day out!

A few photos from my lovely day out - I bought macarons from Ladurée, wandered around Hyde Park (including taking my tights off and splashing around in the Diana memorial fountain!) and soaked up the beautiful sunshine!

The Importance of Punctuation...

I know there's an obesity (sorry, 'unhealthy weight') epidemic, but really...

Is that Icelandic volcanic ash I spy?

Yep, there's a lot of ash about...

I live close to the Heathrow flight path...it's very spooky without any planes!

My favourite mug...

...and in it is the latest rose syrup experiment. Rose and cardamom hot chocolate. Oh my goodness it's amazing!

Rosy pink...

In the supermarket earlier I spotted this bottle of rose syrup. Isn't the label fabulous! And it was only about £1.60, so I thought why not - I'd never tried it before but I immediately started thinking about all the yummy things I could do with it...



...starting with cakes! They have a bit of syrup in the cake mix itself, so they're an incredible pink colour inside, and then there's more rose syrup in the icing. But they're not overpowering - they've got a really lovely subtle rose flavour.

Spring has sprung!

Got home this afternoon and discovered that the trees on my road are all in blossom. It's gorgeous, and it just completes the beautiful spring weekend we've had!

Human table football...

Amazing! Yes, I am wearing my refereeing kit. And yes, I am in goal...

Hen party!

This is my party bag (haven't had a party bag for YEARS!) from my friend Katie's hen weekend!

A truly rubbish photo!

This is what happens when you stagger out of a restaurant at gone 11pm and think 'Oh bugger, I haven't taken a photo today - I'll take a quick snap of Soho...'

Tube Stations of My Life...

...an occasional series. Part one: Acton Town.

Easter chicks!

Lovely Easter chicks in Easter grass (which is a tradition in Finland). And the last Easter-related post, I promise!

Basil!

This is our very old dog, Basil, on a sunny Easter Sunday!

Simnel cake...

This is my mum's amazing simnel cake - note that we've used Mini Eggs instead of marzipan disciples, as we're not actually religious!

A Good Friday rainbow...

The weather wasn't exactly brilliant for most of the Easter weekend, but we did get this lovely rainbow!

Easter daffs...