The Sneaky Magpie

I really wish for warmer weather, this morning my fingers and toes got frozen and I almost skidded on ice on Oxford Street and went against the traffic cause I was not able to take a turn. On top of this the heating in my office is broken again and I am sitting under two layers of jumpers plus a water bottle. Brrr.

But it is sunny so I should not complain too much!

This weekend was very nice.

More bread making. Sourdough rye, a much lighter rye than last week, superb crust. I am using Richard Bertinet’s book called Crust, very easy to follow and all the bread comes out amazingly well.

A quick look at Carnaby Street exhibition followed by a delicious lunch of Italian tapas at Polpo.

Afterward I was off to National Portrait Gallery to see a wonderful selection of Irving Penn’s portraits. The photographs are very striking with a fair dose of humour.

More baking was done: caramelised apple, hazelnut and almond cake accompanied by a hot beverage in my new Portmeirion cup, thank you Lisa!

The baby plants are doing very well.

I got three Elizabeth Gaskell books, it was very hard to decide which one I should read first. I recently watched BBC’s North and South so decided to start with this one. Absolutely smitten with Richard Armitage BTW. Gaskell’s writing is very engaging, realism with a bit of humour, I feel we are going to be very good friends. I am enjoying it so much I actually get up early to do a little bit of reading before work.

I also watched few films:

Up in the Air – all I can say, thank God the DVD broke half way in, it was dreadful

Where the Wild Things Are – very charming and beautiful

Paris je t’aime – a great selection of 18 shorts about Paris, each by different director and star studded. Some nicer then others but lovely to watch. Ps We booked another weekend in Paris in June, cannot wait!

Waiting for a friend in Carnaby Street I popped to Liberty to have a quick look at the new stock and absolutely fell in love with this dress by Michael van der Ham.

The shape and combination of different patterns and textures made me drool for few minutes before my friend came to drag me away.

This young Dutch designer had stints at Sophia Kokosalaki and Alexander McQueen in the past so I am not surprised that his pieces are masterfully crafted and absolutely to die for.

Ernö Goldfinger, the creator of one of London’s most iconic buildings – The Trellick Tower. A very self-confident, controversial and prolific urban modernist. And yes, the James Bond villain was called after him, this was Ian Felming’s payback for building a modernist terraced house in Hampstead. Ernö didn’t have it easy. But he did a lot for London and I really appreciate his buildings.

He was a follower of structural rationalism, creator of simple and functional spaces that worked.

Balfron Tower

Inside Balfron Tower

He designed few tower blocks like the Balfron Tower in Poplar where he actually lived and worked on improvements for his next structure. Tenants were invited for champagne and a chat about the building with Ernö and his wife, Ursula. Whatever he learned from his experience at Balfron he implemented in his next building – the Trellick Tower in North Kensington.

Trellick Tower

Ernö with kids at Trellick Tower

Trellick Tower was one of the most sophisticated tower blocks in the 60s London, it had its own nursery, doctors’ surgery, shops and Goldfinger himself had his practice there for some time. There is a great story by JG Ballard called High-Rise which is inspired by the building.

The Elephant & Castle development was another hated creation – soulless, scary and dangerous.

Elephant and Castle development

I find those buildings very interesting, light and elegant but I can understand how people hated them back then.

Ernö built his family house in Hampstead at Willow Road, now in hands of National Trust.

1-3 Willow Road

The moment I saw it I fell in love, it would be my dream to live there. He designed most of the furniture himself too as well as children toys. I have written about my visit here.

2 Willow Road

2 Willow Road

2 Willow Road

2 Willow Road

2 Willow Road

The house is very warm and almost feels familiar, there are even shelves of condiments in the kitchen (Ursula was the heiress of the Crosse and Blackwell fortune). As the Goldfingers had many friends in the art crowd there are few amazing works of art in the house.

Goldfinger was a very important post war architect, not afraid of criticism and facing tough challenges.

Ernö’s other buildings include Daily Workers HQ in Farringdon, Carr & Co offices in Birmingham, a number of shops, office buildings and schools.

Looking at post war buildings around London you can very often spot Ernö’s influence: large windows, low spaces, clean lines and easy access.

I haven’t taken part in the designer H&M collaboration craze for few years now.

This is the brief history:

Karl Lagerfeld – I lived in Amsterdam and went to check it out, the Dutch didn’t think much of designer collaborations back then so I could just pick anything in my size, I think I bought one dress which ended up on ebay few years later.

Stella McCartney – my first year in London, queuing with two best friends in Covent Garden from very early morning hours, lots of coffee runs and new friend made. Total chaos when the door opened, buying frenzy, everyone was on a massive shopping high. At some point I held a dress when a girl’s hair got tangled into the hanger, for a second I considered freeing the girl who had no idea what was attached to her head but I quickly decided that would be a waste of time and continued shopping. In a normal situation it would never happen! Anyway, I left with few items, 2 old friends and 1 new friend and went to a nearby coffee shop to try things on and calm down. The next day I returned half of the items.

Roberto Cavalli – not interested

Victor&Rolf – I just started new job so could not attend the opening, I sent a friend who bought me a gorgeous coat I am actually wearing today. I did pop in during my lunch break and managed to buy a beautiful dress which I still wear. Up to date it was the best collaboration for me.

Comme des Garcons – not my cup of tea, missed the whole thing.

And now Sonia Rykiel, I love the woman, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel is one of my favorite brands. I forgot about the underwear collection and didn’t rush to check out the clothes but when I finally made it there last week I got exactly what I was planning to buy – fabulous chunky pink and yellow bangles.

Come through the door of Gastro in Clapham’s Venn Street and you’ll completely forget you are in London. This bistro is a real treasure having managed to hire only French staff, make the decor like a Parisian restaurant and serving perfect French dishes.

Every time I have been here I feel like I am on holiday. The wine is excellent and the food delicious. Baguettes and butter are served before you get your menu and the atmosphere is brilliant with French chatter and a noisy espresso machine in the background.

The menu is classic French fair: steak frites, moules, lobster and chips with haricot beans or a salad side dish and delicious crème brûlée for dessert.

I had mussels in white wine and french fries.

My other half had steak with pepper sauce and fries.

In the past I’ve had goat’s cheese salad and calves liver with mash – it was amazing.

The chef was very happy to pose. Who said the French are moody?

We didn’t really mind the rain on our way home.

We had another go at making baguettes, we followed the same recipe as last time from Chocolate&Zucchini but replaced some of the strong bread flour with rye flour.

We ended up with four delicious baguettes and a bun. It’s such a enjoyable process and it tastes so much better than a shop bought bread. Sourdough bread will be the next thing to master.

The baking didn’t end there. I have been meaning to try another of Clotilde’s recipes – pecan mudslide cookies. I actually made pecan and hazelnut cookies, they were very rich and scrumptious. So rich I froze half of the batch.

We went for a walk and errands in Balham, we bought some more of good quality bread flour and other bits.

We visited Trinity Stores, a wonderful little deli and tea shop.

Shelves full of great products.

And produce.

Next door, also in Balham Station Road, there is a second hand book store, it’s a mess so it’s good to go there with lots of free time. I had to restrain myself from buying books as I have just ordered three Elizabeth Gaskell novels.

We decided to take a different route home and explore the neighborhood.

Back home I settled for a very large cup of tea and some cookies while reading Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey. It was a blissful afternoon.

Then I got very busy organising various cupboards in the kitchen while M built shelves to improve our storage space. The kitchen is looking very good now.

I finished the day watching Katalin Varga. A dark drama of crime and revenge.

I really cannot wait for spring, it has been raining for days and I am very fed up of getting home wet every night.

I went for a walk round the common last weekend and got very excited to see crocuses coming out. Daffodils are not that far away and I think snowdrops have been seen in the country side. This makes me happy.

On a way home we decided to visit Bowling Green Cafe which is next to our house but in over three years we never went there. Maybe we were put off by the pram mafia. But on a rainy day it was empty.

I was actually expecting an old fashioned caff but to my surprise it was a cute little cafe with proper coffee machine, selection of Clipper teas and cakes.

The decor is very cheerful with yellow walls and odd pictures.

The outdoor tables are very good alternative for my garden-less apartment.

The days are getting longer and March is few days away. I can’t wait to ditch my winter coats and boots.

It’s not the BAFTAS, not the Oscars but the Dorset Cereals Little Blog Awards I have been nominated for!

This is a blog begging for a vote.

Thank you kindly ;)

Also, please check out a great food blog for people allergic to dairy, wheat, soya, egg and yeast. The fabulous Pippa put a lot of work into coming up with some delicious recipes and works closely with one of the biggest UK supermarkets on developing Free From brand. Even though I am not allergic or intolerant to anything I will be trying a lot of them. They look amazing.

This is not an ordinary cheese and pickle baguette, this is a home-made sourdough baguette. The first successful bread we made.

A couple of weeks ago two architects moved into our office, I got talking to them and soon we discovered our mutual love of sourdough bread. It turned out that they have a 9 year old starter and make proper bread at home. I tried to make a starter last summer but failed. Later on that day they made me toast with home-made plum jam (one of them has got an allotment in High Gate) the bread was delicious, close enough to my very favorite bread from Gail’s, the jam was amazing too. I was determined to give it a go.

So to my delight the next day I was given a bit of their starter and a book to get my head around bread making. They also gave me a bunch of very good tips:

- in order to create steam in the oven for good crust, get a squirter for the oven walls and a ‘bath’ to put on a shelf

- get a stone instead of a baking sheet

- get a proofing basket

We had a go earlier this week and made pain de campagne. It was good, but it needed more salt and more kneading.

It was way better than any bread we baked before but we realised we have to keep making it till we are happy.

Yesterday we decided it was the time to make sourdough baguettes, we chose the recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini. It took about 17 hours but the baguettes turned out really well. Actually, they were amazing. It’s a really straight forward process with a lot of proofing time in between including a 12 hour rise in the fridge.

From this:

Via this:

To this:

So we are hooked. I fed my starter again and in few days time we can bake again.

I also baked some sweet buns.

M planted some herbs: basil, oregano and dill.

I sorted out the freezer.

Whenever I buy fresh herbs I only keep a small bunch in a glass with water and freeze the rest for future use. I usually toss them into sandwich bags which is not a great idea as the sizes are uneven and they spill. The solution to this are small take-away containers which will keep my herbs neatly. I even wrote names of the herbs on the boxes, I know, I am sad. Soon enough though I will have my own herb garden.

Have you seen Grey Gardens? I just saw it and I am absolutely smitten with the two batty ladies, mother and daughter of the same name Edith Bouvier Beale aka Big Edie and Little Edie.

This fascinating documentary was shot in 1975 by Albert and David Maysles in East Hamptons when they got to spend time with the Edies at the height of their eccentricity.

Grey Gardens is the name of their run down estate, they were under threat of being evicted due to the bad state of the property, they lived with lots of cats, raccoons and fleas. The house was a damp, big Eddie had a cooker on her bed, animals went to the toilet behind Edie’s portrait, the fridge was in the bedroom and they mainly ate ice cream. They were only saved by Jackie Kennedy who was Big Edie’s niece and Little Edie’s cousin, she helped to get the house sorted and kept the ladies till Big Edie’s death.

Little Edie had some sort of acting career in New York but went to take care of her old mother and 10 years later she found herself still taking care of her. Little Edie always wanted to go back to the city and acting but her mother wouldn’t let her which led to both ladies arguing a lot, Little Edie always complaining about not being married and reminding herself of all her suitors, very often getting upset. Big Edie, who was a singer, got very upset when her daughter tried to sing badly. And that’s how they lived till the death of the mother.

But they weren’t always that way. Both were real beauties and very often in the film you see them looking at pictures and remembering the past.

Big Edie.

Little Edie.

One thing that strikes the most is the wonderful yet eccentric sense of style, especially of Little Edie who despite being in her mid 50s is not afraid of showing off her legs. She is always wearing a scarf and usually dresses in tight tops and hot pants or some kind of home made skirt. She also has a wonderful brooch that is mostly pinned to her scarf.

Big Edie is usually seen in her bed but she appears once in a stunning colorful kaftan dress. Her hair is long and silver.

If you fancy getting acquainted with the ladies Channel4 is airing the documentary on Tuesday at 22.00.