Personally, I don’t really care for supporting pro teams and all that. I just don’t see the point in getting all worked up and taking pride in something that realistically has nothing to do with me. Fair play to those who do get involved in all the fuss. I can’t deny that the atmosphere of a football mach is both exhilarating and fun, and it wouldn’t be possible without the support and participation of fans.

It’s just not really my thing. I wouldn’t even know where to begin choosing a team to support. An ex once playful told me that because I was his missus I was automatically a supporter of his team. So I took a minor interest in Tottenham Hotspurs. After we broke up the team was a bit tainted for me so I tried supporting Man United because my best friend supports them. I’d be lying if I said I actually cared who won the Premier League though.

Lately I have been getting little more into the whole spectator side of football. Britain’s love for the underdog seems to have worn off on me. I remember watching highlights of QPR’s wins against top of the league teams Liverpool and Arsenal. I did feel a glimmer of pleasure. My fantasy football attempt at the beginning of the season was a complete failure though. Knowing absolutely nothing about how it works, I thought if I chose the players who most other people were picking I’d be sure to have a winning team. Surely it’d be a breeze, right? Uh, no.

Anyway, here’s a funny photo I took a few years at the only UK football match I’ve ever been too. Tottenham v. Liverpool.

I’ve been browsing through the book recently and I think I could probably spend the next month ingesting all of its interesting data and drooling over the beautiful designs. One particular infographic that caught my attention was the Dangers of Death. It’s a comparison of the many different ways to die and based on your chances of actually dying from it. Apparently there’s a 1 in 3 chance of dying from heart disease. That fact alone is enough to make me consider taking out life insurance.

The data gets a bit sketchy when it claims you have more of a chance of dying from an asteroid impact than you do lightning. Still, it’s good to know that I only have a 1 in 35,000,000 chance of dying from blogging because I was beginning to worry.

It’s a gorgeous, light green vegetable that grows in a natural fractal pattern. It was so lovely to look at that I almost didn’t want to eat it, but I wouldn’t dare let it go to waste. I had absolutely no idea what to do with the thing, even chopping it up felt like deciphering a puzzle. Luckily the lad came with a recipe. I’m going to be really lazy and just copy and paste it from the Abel & Cole website, but you can find the original here.

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Paprika

• 1 medium-large romanesco (or any cauli, about 750-800g), trimmed
• 2 lemons
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp hot smoky paprika
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/Gas 7. Cut the cauliflower into medium florets and rinse, leaving some of the water clinging to the florets.
2. Put them in a large roasting tray, squeeze over the juice from one of the lemons, trickle over the olive oil, add the paprika and some salt and pepper and toss the whole lot together.
3. Cut the remaining lemon into 6 segments and scatter these in the tray. Roast for 25-30 mins, turning once, until the florets are slightly caramelised at the edges.
4. Squeeze the juice from the roasted lemon segments over the roasted cauliflower and serve at once, scattered with a little flaky sea salt.

I really enjoyed the taste of the cauliflower (which reminded me a lot of my favourite veg, broccoli), but I can’t say I was a big fan of the lemon/paprika mixture. Some bites were nice, but others had me making the lemon face. I’m not conscious of ever having had paprika before so I couldn’t distinguish whether it was that or the lemon that was way too intense, but either way it wasn’t pleasant. That’s just my opinion though, and one to be taken with a grain of salt. My palate ranges from chocolate to bland. My friend really liked the dish, so I’m sure other people will too.

The same night I also made…. GRASSHOPPER PIE!

It’s taken me a week to eat the whole thing. I was hoping my mates would help me tackle the monster, but they only managed 3 slices between them. Hmm… that could be saying something. Anyway, in lieu of the actual recipe, here is an artsy fartsy photo of my delicious pie ;-)

Last Wednesday when I came into work I spied a familiar looking box with my name on it sat in reception. I grabbed the box and hurried upstairs to get a peak at what was inside. My 8 year old self would be horrified to hear how excited I was about a box a vegetables. It was almost like Christmas… the not knowing what you’re getting, the smile on my face as I walked proudly down the hall to my desk, everyone around me looking over my shoulders to see what was inside as I “unboxed” the veg… Or not really… But still I did enjoy the surprise.

My box contained broccoli, fennel, potatoes, flat beans, leeks, and purple carrots. Which is a pretty good turn out. Considering how fussy I am, I’ll eat everything in the box with the exception of fennel, which I didn’t find out till I tried it. I’d never had fennel before so my manager made me fennel and orange salad. I’m not a fan of anything that tastes like aniseed/black liquorice, but for anyone who is this is definitely a recipe to try. So here you go…

Fennel and Orange Salad

Thinly slice up some fennel. Thinly slice up some orange. Add some olive oil. Add some salt & pepper.

Fanny’s your aunt.

Last Christmas was the best one I’ve ever had. Before that my family members hadn’t exactly been getting along with each other for a few years, and Christmases tended to be full of arguments and disappointment. I think the real low point was when my mother had given both myself and my sister a travel sized bottle of hand sanitizer as her only Christmas gift. It was bad times! We’re past that now, and everyone’s in a good place and getting along. I don’t even care about the gifts I just can’t wait to spend quality time with the fam!

I’ve already got a nice day out planned for the 2nd day I’m back. A few friends, my sister, and I are all going ice skating at Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Then we’re going out for a nice dinner somewhere. Later we’ll go and see my friends’ band play at TT The Bears. Other things I’m hoping will happen are: Going for breakfast at the Lighthouse Cafe, eating lots of my mother’s chicken cutlets, getting to see as many friends as possible, and SNOW! Last year when I was home we had a snowstorm just a few days before my flight home. It was awesome. There’s nothing better than waking up to snow. Have a look at the view from my house last year:

The first one we came upon was selling lots of traditional middle eastern foods and treats in these lovely wooden bowls (bottom middle and right photos). I really wanted to buy some of their hummus, which looked very yummy, but didn’t think I’d finish at home it before it went off so I settled for a chicken shwarama. I wouldn’t recommend it though. Admittedly, my tastes are very bland, but even this was too bland for me. Plus the chicken was very fatty as well.

One stall was selling these incredible looking baked goods (top left photo). I couldn’t resist buying a red velvet whoopie pie and a white chocolate and raspberry brownie. The whoopie pie last about 30 secs. The brownie was so rich it took a couple of days of sporadic munching before it was finished. Despite the photo, I didn’t get a macaroon. Although thinking about it, I probably should have. I’ve never actually tried one, but they looked so pretty sitting there all vibrant and lined up that I thought it’d make a great picture. I’ll have to go back soon and get one to try.

I also ended up buying a nice wholegrain loaf and some strawberry extra jam from two other stalls. Everything was delicious (when I got it home and ate it of course). There were a few more stalls which I didn’t purchase from, but would definitely be worth checking out. As far as I can remember, you can find cheese, beer, oils, curds, burgers, and a few more other things that are escaping my memory at the moment. It’s definitely worth going down there for a visit. The atmosphere was great and there was quite a bit of choice for a relatively small market. I’ll have to take a trip down there when I next have some free time and get some more bread, yummmm :)

The recipe I used was from the Hummingbird Bakery book, and it is beyond delicious. I wish I could take credit for it’s awesomeness, but really all I did was follow instructions. The book says you can either place the cake tin in a water bath or grease the tin to stop the cake from cracking. I tried the water bath method previously and it was a lot of hassle, so for the first cake I made I just greased the tin hoping it would work. This was a BIG mistake. The cheesecake cracked massively. It looked like the Grand Canyon. Luckily, it had the cream topping or it would have looked really awful.

For the second cheesecake, I sucked it up and went for the water bath again. The cake was really moist. I’m not sure if it was meant to be like that, but the first one I ever made was too and it still tasted amazing. I did have a slight issue with the cream topping though. I over-whipped the double cream and it made the topping look slightly grainy instead of smooth. It’s purely an aesthetic problem, but I’m a perfectionist so I’m a little annoyed.

Anyway, here’s a photo of the finished product (mind the poor lighting!)

Can’t wait to eat it later today!

Apologies for not posting the recipe, but I’m not exactly sure if I’m allowed to. I’m going to look into it and if I’m not breaking any copyright laws then I will.

Because I was there for the Sun & Bass Festival, I didn’t really get to do much sightseeing… too many late nights spent dancing till early morning hours, and lots and lots of quality beach time. Still, I thought the beaches were gorgeous, the food was delicious, and everyone I met (locals and festival goers) were all so friendly. The big culinary hits for me were the pizzas and raviolis. If you know me personally you know how much I LOVE these two types of food, so I was literally in heaven. I don’t think I’ve ever in my life consumed so much of both in one week. Hopefully, I won’t ever again because I did come back with a not so sexy holiday tummy.

I didn’t take many pictures while I was out there. I tend to get too wrapped up in whatever I’m experiencing and just don’t even think to record it. However, I did make a point to get some shots of the beach and the beautiful sunrise. Have a look:

For about two weeks after I got back all I could think about was “Why don’t I live in Italy???” With the lovely weather in London this week, the sting of leaving such a beautiful island is wearing off a bit, but I know winter is just around the corner. I am enjoying autumn at the moment though. There’s something about the light and the smells and the cool breezes around this time of year that bring about very positive feelings for me. I think it’s because it reminds me of how I felt as a child at the start of the school year. For me, it always evokes this sense of a new start, the potential for change, and opportunity. Here’s hoping for some positive change this autumn… It’s very much needed!