The Sneaky Magpie

Archive | April, 2011

29 April, 2011

A visit to Petersham Nurseries

Last week, taking advantage of the amazing summer weather, a friend and I went to Petersham Nurseries. It is the closest gardening center (if I dare to call it that!) to my new abode and I couldn’t be happier about it.

We had a long walk around the premises admiring all the flowers.

Flower arrangement inspiration.

Then we settled for a very tasty lunch of barley and farro salad with a super herb-y dressing.

Admired the rosemary and lavender, I would love some of this in my garden.

An old bath looks like a fantastic flower bed.

These flower pots are on my wish list now.

Wisteria will be climbing on my garden wall next year.

I also did a spot of shopping – verbena and lemon thyme.

23 April, 2011

Easter 2011

After the great success of last year’s Easter we decided to repeat it. This time it took place in our garden with more people and the weather was spectacular.

I was in charge of a potato salad and cheesecake. Everyone else brought some very tasty dishes and everything was home made from bread through mayonnaise to pate.

The table setting was very simple, actually it was more of a buffet with blankets scattered on the grass. A white sheet served as a table cloth, I made some flower pots in the old jam jars and to remind everyone that it was Easter I peppered the table with felt bunnies.

And the food…

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

18 April, 2011

Dandelion jam

The River Cottage gang inspired me to try this jam recipe. I am surrounded by those yellow beauties but most of them grow along the A3 and I don’t fancy petrol infused jam so I went for a stroll in Wimbledon Common. I needed 100 heads, it started very well with 50 heads in one spot but then as I progressed into the woods they became more and more scarce. I decided I only needed 70, the rest would be easily picked in my own garden. I was about to finish my loop when I came across a lot of the flowers and my jam making looked more promising.

Last Christmas my mother-in-law got me a jam making set and a recipe book, I was very eager to try it all out.

Dandelion doesn’t have enough pectin to set on its own so the first step is to make a stock. This included an over ripe pear, a couple of oranges, a lemon, an apple, some grapes and half of the dandelion petals. It simmered for about an hour and then got strained. What you end up with is yellowy cloudy liquid.

Then you add 750g of sugar and cook it till it starts to set. Add rest of the petals and cook bit more. It was bit too sweet for my liking but don’t judge the taste when the jam is hot. I think next time I would reduce the amount of sugar by 100-150g.

The jam is definitely an interesting one and it looks beautiful. What I am really looking forward to later this year is all the brambles the Common has got to offer!

16 April, 2011

Progress on the bathroom

Our bathroom is the most finished room by far, what it needs now are the right accessories and I just did another push on it. I must stress that windows and doors in the whole house are still to be repaired, we are waiting for good summer weather though.

The original bathroom was full on Art Deco, at first we loved it but when we looked closer it was too much, it was also not hygienic and with our baby that was a major problem. The walls were crumbling, there was no heating and it had the craziest accessories ever – a toilet roll holder and a tower rail, both with ashtrays.

So we got a couple of builders and six days later we were very happy owners of a brand new, sparkling clean bathroom.

Before.

After.

Before.

After.

We decided on a very simple look with the lovely metro wall tiles and Victorian floor tiles. This lamp shade traveled with us from our home in Amsterdam, it completes the look perfectly.

The baby bath will be gone soon to live in the nursery and serve as a toy storage. I love multifunctional things!

These two jars were bought at Liberty, originally meant for the kitchen but rather useless with flimsy clips to keep them shut (one lost during the house move made them even more annoying). They have a very pretty ornament at the front but impossible to photograph. I was very happy to make use of them in the bathroom. A traditional soap dish and shaving set also arrived from Amsterdam and the toothbrush glass is a drinking glass purchased at Labour&Wait.

At the moment I am looking for the perfect towels, something to sit neatly on the very skinny heater.

Few more things and the look will be complete. Obviously I need some of those to create the right relaxation mood.

14 April, 2011

by The Sneaky Magpie
in Books, Fashion, Film, Food, Gardening
Comments ( 5 )

Nowadays I …

- read very little, especially books which is unfortunate but I don’t get much time to do it. it’s easier to read short magazine articles or blogs. I have been reading The Rector’s Daughter for weeks!

- watch a lot of drama, The Crimson Petal and the White on BBC is as good as the book, Romola Garai is excellent as Sugar but I am having trouble with Chris O’Dowd as William Rackham, unfortunately I cannot get the image of Roy out of my head!

- watch a lot of films, I really loved Somewhere, Cleo was a mini version of Sofia

- bake cookies, American style, peanut butter and chocolate chip are my faves

- don’t knit, it demands time and concentration, knitting is left to Freddie’s great grandma

- go out to lunches and stay in for dinners

- shop online, The Outnet being my top destination, this lovely jacket is the latest addition from their 80% off sale

- dream about the day when I can cycle again

- plan my garden

- enjoy my time with this little creature, every minute is precious, he grows so fast

13 April, 2011

The daily bread

We used to bake our own sourdough bread, that was before we bought the house and pre baby. The priorities changed and we are only starting the Sunday ritual again.

I love proper bread and wouldn’t settle for a pre-sliced flavourless kind. I still want the proper stuff that doesn’t get mouldy but dries into a hard rock.

Few months ago my vegetable delivery company, Riverford, announced that they found a nearby bakery that meets their standards and are going to sell bread as well. I ordered a small sourdough loaf and the bread was amazing. I quickly upgraded to the large loaf which lasts us a week. The bakery is called Bertinet.

Breastfeeding makes me crave chocolate so this is my preferred second breakfast (you supposedly burn 500 extra calories by doing it!).

Other bread bakers that make an excellent loaf are Gail’s and Le Pain Quotidien. There is a number of smaller local bakeries too but I find the two above to be the best at sourdough making.

Where are your favorite bakeries? I am eager to go and check them out.

12 April, 2011

Labouring and waiting

My last week’s trip to the east End resulted in visiting Labour and Wait, I went there with a strict shopping list and I stuck to it. It didn’t stop me from making a brand new wish list for my garden and home though.

The gardening is taking over all my free time. My kitchen is a proper nursery now with flowers, veggies and herbs growing like crazy. Every morning I take them outside to soak up the sun, water them, and in the evening they are back inside for the night.

It’s so satisfying to watch everything grow, especially from seeds, magic happens and some plants grow so fast you can see changes throughout the day.

Beans are the most exciting things ever, they grow so fast and are very pretty. Within a week you can have a healthy looking plant that’s ready to go into the ground. The above are borlotti beans, I have also broad beans, peas and dwarf beans.

Hubby is very busy building the fence so I started digging the ground myself – very satisfying. I prepared a couple of beds and the borlotti beans went in this weekend.

I really need to make a list of what’s been planted, I sow different things in each bed so the beans have Swiss chard, purple sprouting broccoli and rocket as neighbours. Corn is sharing with cavolo nero, mint and dill.

Peas are surrounded by onions, parsley and carrots.

And one of the most eclectic beds is a home to two varieties of radish, purple carrots, beetroots, parsnips and spinach. The labels came in handy as I am loosing track of things.

There is still so much work to do and so many plants to get. This week my three varieties of rhubarb are arriving, peonies look beyond happy – these two are my favorite things to grow. The back of the garden is getting cleared, there are some raspberry and blackberry bushes already there but I am planning to have gooseberries and currants too. I am also contemplating what trees to get, I can fit in a couple of smaller ones – perhaps plums or cherries and hazelnut.

Our kitchen has a staircase leading to the garden, it is an ideal ledge to grow herbs and geraniums. I have almost all the herbs going, I am missing lemon thyme, lemon verbena, basil and oregano (oregano is the only failure so far, I tried to grow it twice from seeds to no avail).

All this work is so enjoyable and relaxing, I cannot wait for the first crops.

9 April, 2011

My very own blossom

At last our apple tree has blossomed and what a wonderful blossom it is!

I got a branch home.

And used jam jars (I collect for summer preserves) as vases. I am pretty pleased with the result.

8 April, 2011

A day in Kingston

A friend and I met up in Kingston, my new nearest town. I did a spot of shopping in one of my favorite baby shops – Polarn O. Pyret. Kingston is perfect for shopping, especially if you want to avoid Oxford Street, it’s got most of the high street, upmarket boutiques and beauty, department stores including John Lewis, interior shops including Heals, cheap shops and practical shops. It even has got an Apple store. It’s a small shopping heaven. No tourists and none of the central London shopping crowd. The town center is rather charming with lots of mock Tudor town houses and a market. It has got plenty of cafes, cake shops and restaurants.

We visited Jamie’s Italian which is wonderful. On a weekday there is no problem with getting a table – during weekend the queues are insane. They don’t take bookings unless you are arriving with a large party.

I decided to go against my usual choice in any Italian place which is pasta. I went for one of those wonderful salads I always stare at in Jamie’s cookbooks or in his shows, the sort of salad that have amazing ingredients hard to come by. It was a bresoala and roasted beetroot with various greens and mini pink basil and it was huge. And of course delicious.

My friend went for a wild truffle tagliatelle which was as good, the sauce was rich and the fresh made pasta cooked to perfection.

The prices are very wallet friendly and I must say it is better than Fifteen. I will be visiting more often.

Then we strolled down the Thames and soaked up the sun. Freddie insisted on being out of the pram as the boats were beyond exciting and he was only lucky my friend was up for the job.

6 April, 2011

Back in East End

It seems we have fast forwarded to summer. Today was a hot day and I haven’t seen such confused outfits for a very long time: wellies and a coat, big puffy jacket and sheep skin boots and many more.

Young Frederick and I got ready to visit the East End for the first time together. We picked up hubby from his office, grabbed our friend and headed to Redchurch Street. The chances of getting an outside table at The Albion were slim so we went a bit further down to Franze & Evans for delicious selection of salads and some incredible desserts:

A chocolate fondant

A lemon eclair with pistachios

A brownie

Afterward I went for some gardening supplies to Labour & Wait. I stuck to my shopping list however I have got a new one already after seeing some new goodies in the shop.

I also popped into the newly opened A.P.C. store and tried these shorts. It was a bit of a challenge with a sleeping baby in a sling. In the end I decided I couldn’t make a judgement so I passed.