surrey docks city farm

December 7, 2011

You might not expect to find a working farm smack bang in the middle of London but that’s exactly where Surrey Docks City Farm is, right on the banks of the river Thames.

We walked for about two miles from my sister’s flat, along the Thames path til we found this gem. A farm! With animals! In London! Consider us charmed.

I loved learning that the herds and flocks are farmed with specific attention to animal welfare – they look happy as larry, running amok in spacious enclosures.

Our primary reason for being there, however, was not to ooh and ahh at goats and donkeys and cute Shetland ponies. Rather it was to eat lunch.

Cafe Frizzante is a modest, completely lovely little cafe on the farm that serves the most spot-on full English breakfast (free range, farm fried eggs, char-grilled English back bacon, char-grilled English sausages, sautéed champignon mushrooms, roasted vine tomatoes with oregano, and buttered granary toast). Bloody hell it was good.

They also have a ‘blackboard menu’ of specials, that change weekly, which on our visit included this spectacular sweet potato, goat’s cheese, and fennel tart, and the heartiest vegetable soup. Rumour has it their roasts are epic too.

We hugely recommend a visit if you live in London or are planning a trip – it would be a wonderful place to take kidlets too!

p.s. the farm relies on donations to keep running. If you want to donate to them, you can do so here.


borough market, london

December 5, 2011

Borough Market is one of my favourite places to go in London. It can be pretty intensely busy but if you get there early enough you have the run of the land to wander stall to stall trying samples of everything imaginable.

From olive oils, hummus, jams, mustard, olives, and cheeses (we fell head over heels for a Caerphilly [Wales represent!] and so bought it for our awesome hosts since we couldn’t bring it home), to Turkish Delight, bread, quiches, and chocolates. It’s basically a food lovers heaven.

As well as green grocers, fish mongers, butchers, and artisan traders, there’s also an incredible selection of food vendors selling things like curries, hot sandwiches, and pies.

We bought an amazing hot dog from Boston Sausage and a haloumi veggie burger from The Veggie Table which we raved about for days afterwards. I’d also highly recommend Pie Minister (best name ever?) whose selection is epic (they have locations in other parts of the country too!).

I’m just still kind of sad I didn’t get my face around one of those pork pies. I mean look at them!


scenes from england and wales

December 2, 2011

My lovelies, we just got back from two weeks spent in England and Wales, where I’m from. It was an absolute whirlwind, as always, but amazing fun.

Our first night was spent in a pub on the Thames overlooking Tower Bridge, eating bangers and mash, drinking beer and cider, and feeling absolutely giddy to be home.

We spent the next couple of days in my home town of Reading, with two of my favourite people ever, eating fish finger sandwiches and visiting my old haunts.

In Wales we got to see my parents’ new home and revisit Porthcawl where I spent many a childhood day rock climbing the coast and eating fish and chips. Pretty awesome to be able to show it all to Dan. We also got to visit gorgeous Brecon and wander the town eating Welsh cakes, exploring the cathedral and loving all the Welsh accents. If only I could pronounce my own name the way they do…

Once back in London we spent lots of wonderful time with my sister, staying at her flat as a base and adventuring from there. There was time spent with old friends in cafes and bookshops; walks along the Thames; a visit to Borough Market and so much delicious food that – good god – it was lucky we were walking so dang much or we might have popped at any given moment.

On a Thursday afternoon we had lunch at NOPI which was a complete dream. What an inventive, delicious menu! We shared five plates including roasted cauliflower with ricotta, golden raisins, capers; winter coleslaw; seared prawns with fennel, white oregano, and feta; roasted beef sirloin with almonds, spinach and pecorino sardo; and slow cooked pork belly, coco bean cassoulet and salsa verde. Yeah.

We loved every single dish although the prawns and beef sirloin really stole my heart (as did our server, who brought us extra bread to sop up the juice from the prawn dish. Genius). And I didn’t take a single picture, too busy was I making sure I enjoyed every last second.

Then there was last Sunday when over thirty of us descended on a pub in central London for nine hours of catching up, drinking beer, and eating lovely roast dinners. Waves of friends came and went, which could have been slightly overwhelming but instead was just awesome, awesome fun.

Now we’re back in Minnesota and…winter has arrived. We were spoiled with mild weather and sunny days in the UK and yesterday we woke up to snow and some proper chilly weather. It’s hunker-down time.


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