Brunch at Brawn on Columbia Road

Last Sunday, my sister and I went to see our godfather for brunch. Our godfather, Justin, is rather good at spoiling us and even better at finding good places for food, so we knew we were in for a fun day!

We walked to Columbia Road Flower Market and were set a challenge. We each had twenty pounds and had to purchase flowers to make an arrangement each- I knew I had a short rectangular vase to fill and Lu had a tall one, so we off we went!

I battled my way through the crowds and perused the stalls. It was peony season and so they were piled high with fluffy pink blooms, along with just about every type of flower you can imagine! I umm-ed and ahhh-ed over what to pick before I noticed a stall stuffed with sweet peas in beautiful pastel colours. After a little bit of bartering, I walked away with five bunches in pale purple and white. The smell of them drifted through the air as a I walked away in search of the next element of my bouquet!

Then, I came across some rather unusual thistles. Before long, they were wrapped up in brown paper and added to my bunch.

I met Lu at the end of the stalls and after a quick pose in an art instillation, armed with our flowers (she'd gone for roses, canna lilies and normal lilies), we met Justin in Brawn, a restaurant that just has one set menu.

One of the great things about Brawn was that the kitchen was totally open and we could see everything going on as the chefs prepared our food. Before long, (as Lu and I subtly bigged up our flower choices,) a number of dishes to share left the kitchen and arrived at the table.

Look how tasty they look!

We happily tucked in as we chatted away.

Then out came the mains.

Needless to say, it didn't last long!

Once all the food had vanished, it was back to the house for some very competitive flower arranging. Now, flower arranging is definitely not something I've ever spent much time doing before and it was surprising difficult to put our vases together. But, some time later, we stood back and admired our creations.

Justin said he couldn't pick between our two bouquets, but I secretly knew mine was definitely better..!

Eventually it was time for us to leave. We'd had a lovely day with our wonderful godfather who always knows the best way to occupy us. I mean, who could ever say no to food and flowers?!

Columbia Road Flower Market and El Ganso at Broadway Market

If you were a bumblebee in London, there's probably only one place you'd want to be on a Sunday. Columbia Road. Following our little striped friends, my mother and I met up with my godfather and headed to Columbia Road flower market to have a little poke about and see if we could find any green-fingered deals. We were lucky- the sun was shining and it was surprisingly warm for October, meaning the market was in full swing!

The market is fantastic. Buskers line the road before the stalls start, filling the air with lively music. Then come the flowers. Every stall is stuffed with a myriad of colours as different beautiful flowers fight to get your attention. The displays are beautifully overwhelming and smell pretty fabulous too! As you squeeze past the other shoppers, delicious floral scents invade your nose, enticing you in.

Mum found what she wanted (two little box lollypops to guard the front door), I found a little chilli plant to brighten up my boyfriend's uni room (fingers crossed it survives!) and my godfather found some exotic redy-orange flowers I don't know the name of.

Plant hunting however is pretty hungry work and so before long, we were leaving the sights, sounds and smells of Columbia Road behind us and following my godfather to lunch.

Now, my godfather is many fabulous things, but 'foodie expert' is definitely one of my favourite qualities of his. If I want to know anything about anything vaguely foody, whether it's where to go for the best brunch to how to bake a soufflé, it's my godfather I ask. Baring this in mind, I was rather excited when he said he knew of a 'great tapas place,' El Ganso.

Well, I don't call him an 'expert' for nothing. El Ganso was fab! The little tables outside were full of people basking in the autumn sunshine, wine glasses in hand and plates piling up in front of them which I took as a good sign of what was to come.

Once seated at my godfather's favourite table, we perused the menu and picked out a number of dishes to share.

My cheese board arrived first. Cheese matures in red wine, with grapes, walnuts, quince jam and savoury biscuits. Yum.

Then the other food started piling in. All the plates were presented so beautifully but I couldn't wait to try them! The black pudding with tomato marmalade was particularly good, as was the tuna... and the salmon... and just look at the calamari!

My godfather showing Mum how to figure out Facebook

Thoroughly stuffed though I was, I of course had room for pudding. Hello lemon and poppyseed cake!

I had a wonderfully enjoyable afternoon munching my way through enough food to feed a small village for a week, but before long it was time to go home. Congratulating my godfather on his brilliant choice of restaurant, we rolled ourselves out of the door and into our car. Food, family and friends, it turns out, is the recipe for the perfect day!

Revision Season

Spring has come around and so it's that horrendous time of year again when I dust off my text books, dig out my coloured pens and wear the same pair of pyjamas for weeks on end - revision season is upon us and I've retreated to my cave.

Unfortunately, this means that over the last month (and probably for the next month) literally nothing of any interest has happened in my life. However, there have been a couple of rays of sunshine which have pierced through this gloomy time and so, in an attempt to make up for my lack of posts (sorry!), I thought I'd share with you a couple of pictures from this Easter to illustrate these highlights.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are still munching your way through all that chocolate!

Flower and Music Festival

Every year, my area's local church has a flower and music festival in order to fundraise for the church. This year, my mother and I popped along to see what was going on. The theme was 'The Celebration of Marriage' which was beautifully portrayed through various flower arrangements. These, combined with the church backdrop made for some very pretty scenes which I thought I'd share with you.

After a wander around the flowers, Mum and I headed for a quick home made cake stop while discussing which arrangements had been our favourite. Hard to choose, don't you think?

Much Hadham Open Gardens

One of the best things about living where I do is that I have access to both big, bustling cities as well as the serene British countryside. This was fantastic growing up as one moment I'd be in my town coat being whisked off to see a West End musical, the next I'd be up a tree in the middle of the forest. This weekend, my mother and I decided to go off to one of the local villages, Much Hadham, to wonder around peoples' gardens. The village was holding a charity event, where by the villages opened up their gardens and put on cream teas and music, all in the aid of St Elizabeth's. I love events like this- there's always a wonderful sense of community spirit (and who doesn't love being nosy every now and then?!). Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of the pictures I took that day.