As much as cooking is my therapy, my family and I love eating out too. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Cherry Duck Harbourside Bistro in Bristol for dinner. Nestled on a cobbled street onto the edge of the River Avon, a popular restaurant area, the restaurant is attractively lit with floor to…
This week I reunited with my friend Jess at Street Feast London's latest summer pop-up feastival at Battersea Power Station. The little riverside venue is free entry before 6pm (£5 after or you can book tickets in advance online) and if you fancy an outdoor film they've paired up with Everyman cinema too, plus there…
My lasting memory of the end of the summer will be my trip to Budapest with my friends Abi, Annie and Beanie. Doing the usual quick tripadvisor search when in free wifi areas, we found some gems and chanced over some others too. Hanoi Pho - We stumbled across this restaurant as we were turned away…
Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks in London, a few emerging names that people have been raving about so I thought I'd check out the hype. DubPlates - Attempting to find some shelter in the rain at Notting Hill carnival, my friends and I indulged in a pretty good smoked jerk chicken…
Recently I met my friends Julia and Molly out in Amsterdam for a mini-break (from the strenuous life of blogging, though with the purpose of seeking out new material...). It took quite a bit of tripadvisor research, plus Molly's expertise to navigate to the good meals, though I have to admit I wasn't the best…
Anyone realised all my GBBO bakes are coloured brown and gold? No? Ok good, because here's one more. A simple sponge topped with butter icing. I generally just beat some butter (controversially salted) and keep adding icing sugar until it ceases tasting buttery and loses the yellow colour. Then a dash of milk if you…
I hadn't baked a bundt cake before and was nervous of it sticking to the tin as I usually like to line tins generously with baking paper and then ice right angles and curves in (shh don't tell Paul and Mary). But the bundt is all about angles, there's nowhere to hide. Now I know:…
So this is a semi-semifreddo because it's not quite a traditional, Sicilian, made with custard, nougat affair but it has the same Viennetta(minus the chocolate)-type texture. I took the recipe from the BBC Good Food website and substituted the raspberries for blueberries, and limoncello for kirsch. This is possibly the easiest method ever, no cooking required,…
This is a Valentine Warner 'What to eat now S/S' recipe. He is great and his website is really jam-packed, from spotify playlists to cook along to, to the mother of seasonal calendars. If you like making your own pesto then try this sauce. Romesco seems way more substantial than red pesto because half of…
Yes I've been eating out a lot but last week took my friend Carrie and I on an unexpected, very short tour of Tuscany, so we had to eat out some more. The places we visited in Pisa weren't so spectacular for what Italy has to offer and I didn't notice their names. The gelato and…
Lesson 1: Macerate your strawberries. Lesson 2 should be along the lines of learn how to edit better so the following ‘before and after’ shots from two cameras looks nicer than below. Steep a punnet of strawberries in a spoonful of sugar and you’ve got a dozen more ways to use them, with a more…
I love marshmallows. I love all the foods I blog about but marshmallows are what I order several packs of when my parents go to Sri Lanka, they're a bit hit and miss there now but the supermarket ones used to be so light and fluffy and in lovely pastel shades, unlike the dense pink…
I know I keep mentioning Glastonbury, but I couldn't help but try and recreate this Nuts café dish. There's always the risk that what you'll make won't live up to the dish you've tasted, generally it's nice in it's own way but not the same, which is good enough to satisfy a craving for the…
With this, my 50th post I'm feeding you with the exciting and terrifying news that I'll be staying in cookery school for the rest of the year! Last month, just before starting school I sought out inspiration by dining at the masterchef pop-up restaurant at the Bluefin 11th floor in Southwark. Little did I know…
Am I bored of Bake Off? Just a little tired, so I thought I'd give you this unusual review post of some recipes from a best-selling cookbook. With the recent success of Ottolenghi's works and Middle Eastern food experiencing more and more popularity in the UK, I thought I'd buy my first cookbook in a long…
It seems that everyone that comes to dinner at our house has had this cake, it's dense and intensely chocolatey. It's the go-to chocolate dessert for guests, so with godparents and family friends visiting last week I whipped another one up. The recipe is from the River Café (scroll down on the link) which I cut…
At the end of March The Introverted Chilli turned 1, yipee! So to celebrate I met with some friends (and fans) for cake and cocktails. Pitcher & Piano in Richmond kept the drinks flowing and my friend Annie and I prepped goodie bags for people to take home, stuffed with microwave ready popcorn and meringue…
The long awaited Spain post that I keep referring to is finally here, excuse the photography as it was mainly taken by hungry me on my phone. So a few weeks ago I went on a little celebratory, end-of-job (/retirement) holiday. I started by visiting my friend Georgie in Switzerland. Switzerland is totally underrated for…
Here's a restaurant by the makers of Gaucho that with luck will evolve into a good chain to visit, at least Abi, Annie and I can hope. The first CAU (Carne Argentina Unica) was opened in Amsterdam, it has a fusion menu but specialises in Argentinian steak. Over the past few years the chain has been…
For introverts, being a therapist can sometimes be as draining as it is rewarding. Here are some tips on how to thrive as an introverted therapist.
