i love brighton

i spent saturday and sunday in brighton.
i cannot even begin to express my love for it.
this is how it went down:
bus. tube. train.
veggie breaky from brighton bystander ... at a not-so-breakfast-y hour. coffee.
stroll along the waterfront. my first pebble beach! amazing sunset.
walk along brighton pier. pimms and lemonade. chocolate waffles!
pad thai and a mai tai at street thai.
sleep.
wandering around the lanes and lots of colourful streets.
delicious pancakes with berries and maple syrup at inside out cafe. coffee.
checking out the brighton dome and royal pavilion. museum and art gallery.
pearl jasmine tea at the naked tea and coffee company.
stroll past the town hall.
more wandering. cute flower shop. shopping at the lanes gallery - the coolest store ever!
mozzarella, tomato and pesto toastie at ella's yummy delights. more coffee.
train. tube. bus. home.


oh, and yes, i do realise i ate a lot. but hey, that's what weekends away are for, right?!

the jam tree

one night this week i caught up with some girlfriends at the jam tree in kensington. it was so good to hang out with some fellow aussies - i seriously almost forgot that i was in london! good company, pimms and lemonade, ciders, pork belly, beef burgers and yummy peppermint tea. i couldn't really ask for much else! ps. you can see in the fourth photo that the pub has a bunch of board games and books. how cool is that?!


and on a totally unrelated note, check out how pretty the moon looked when i was heading home!

three things ...

three things putting a smile on my dial this week:
knitting
the weather being nice enough for me to wear my favourite shoes
counting down the days til rudi arrives (although i took this photo yesterday so it's actually down to only eight days now!)

aussie pride!

so gotye's "somebody that i used to know" has been number one in the uk charts for four weeks in a row now. yes, they're a little (read: around eight months) behind the times. but it means i get my aussie music fix all the time. and that makes me one very happy chappy.

irish soda bread

irish soda bread. 
it is pretty damned delicious.
and easy peasy to make.
but the best bit?
it is sooooo versatile.
like there is actually no way any could possibly go to waste.


case in point:
i initially made it to have with these amazing lentils ...

and then i had it for lunch with mayo and a balsamic tomato and spring onion salad ...

and then just with jam for a snack.

what can i say?! i'm kinda keen on irish soda bread!


anyway, here's the recipe:
ingredients
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 heaped tsp cream of tartar
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp plain yoghurt
225g plain white flour
450g wholemeal flour
400ml milk
method
1. add salt, sugar, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda to the plain white flour. sift into a large mixing bowl.
2. add wholemeal flour and mix thoroughly with a round-ended knife, using a lifting motion to aerate the mixture.
3. combine the milk and yoghurt in a jug.
4. make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the milk mixture, mixing until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean. you may have to add a little more milk if it doesn't combine completely.
5. knead into a ball, put into a greased loaf tin and cut a cross into the top of the loaf.
6. bake at 200°C for 45 minutes.

weekend in manchester

i spent the weekend in manchester.
apart from a small, slightly frightening incident which involved a taxi driver not exactly taking me where i needed to go, it was really good! and exactly what i needed.
obviously i didn't get to see a whole lot in two days (especially after my ridiculously long sleep in!), but the craft and design centre in the northern quarter was definitely my favourite bit. and the lancashire cheese and onion chutney pizza that i had for lunch at the oak st. cafe was soooooo delicious! and hey, good food makes me happy!
ps. how cute is the balloon dog?!?!