Weekly Love: Week 121

Let’s talk about cookbooks. I was excited by the news that my favourite GBBO contestant from last year Ruby Tandoh has her first book called Crumb coming out in September. I’ve tried a few bakes from her blog and they were delicious. This reminded me that you’ve all been asking what books I got for Christmas that you can expect to hear about this year, so I thought I’d leave you with a little list: John Whaite Bakes (I was not a massive fan on the show, but when I met him in September I decided to go look up some of his recipes, which made me want his book), The Kitchen Diaries (volumes 1 & 2, please don’t judge that I have not read them yet!), Melt (the ice cream from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium was one of the best things I ate last year), Tiny Food Party (Spoon Fork Bacon is one of my favourite food blogs, books from blogs are usually my favourites), How To Eat by Nigella Lawson (because I feel I ought to read the book that made Nigella Nigella) and Rick Stein’s India (because I’ve really got into Indian cooking, and his recipes usually are flawless).

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1. That epic cookbook collection. The only ones I’ve made it through so far are Tiny Food Party which I plan to share with you soon, and The Kitchen Diaries Volume 1 which is already changing the way I instinctively cook. | 2. The flowers outside Liberty’s on Tuesday were pretty, pink and made me excited for Spring. | 3. Wandering around my home city of Canterbury last Sunday putting the finishing touches to a travel guide for an American website that should be live soon, I’ll be sure to share it with you. This is the upper facade of The Beaney museum and library on the High Street. One mistake people make when visiting Canterbury is they don’t look up enough and miss things like this! | 4. Making sweet pastry from John Whaite Bakes. I’m usually terrible at pastry and intimidated by it, so because these came out so well, kudos to the brilliant recipe! | 5. It is so much easier to eat a healthy weekend breakfast at my desk when Blood Oranges are in season. | 6. An interesting, yet delicious fusion of French and Italian in the form of a tomato, mozzarella and pesto quiche from No Name Shop French deli in Sandwich.

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As you have probably noticed if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, I spend an awful lot of time at Borough Market. Yes I have been writing my ‘Borough Market Challenge’ column, but I have also been working on a little something for the Borough Market website which has turned out to be my favourite freelance project to date. Check out the Borough Market blog today to read about about why I love shopping at the market, about some of my favourite recent discoveries there, and for the above recipe for a Kale, Blood Orange and Mozzarella Salad I made for the market. I’ve been pretty obsessed with these stunning jewel like fruits since they came into season, and the mozzarella from Neal’s Yard Dairy has become another recent obsession; it is some of the creamiest and sharpest I have ever tasted.  

What have you been enjoying this week, and what do you have planned for the weekend? Weather and Overground closures allowing (or control rooms being filled with concrete, so glad I was not planning on taking the Victoria Line last night!) I’m looking forward to trying out one of the brunch places I’ve had my eye on in Hoxton, before hitting up Columbia Road Flower Market for the first time; because of the two above reasons (the closures and the weather, not blunders caused by civil engineers!) I still have not made it over! 

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