TrendLife Food

Dining al fresco in the park on a red plaid sheet with a basket full of fresh French bagels, jam, a selection of cheeses and a few glasses of vino: The simple pleasures! PICNIC is an original hand drawn and silkscreen printed illustration by Mengsel which for me encapsulates the joys of English summers.

The sun has got his hat on hip, hip, hip, hooray!

I have already seen a mind boggling number of short and flip flopped clad sun lovers roaming around the streets of London. So I imagine they are all off to bathe in the rays in a quaint pub with a pitcher of Pimms and this has prompted me to plan some after work drinks. It's how we do it in Britain, we just become far more pro-active after a bit of vitamin D.

So on my list is some fun and retro straws like these from Dotcomgiftshop, a bright shaker and some quirky glasses, both Drinkstuff. My drink of choice is a refreshing Elderflower and Cucumber Collins.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp chopped  cucumber, plus extra to garnish

• 1 tbsp elderflower cordial

• 35ml London gin (naturally)

• 25ml apple juice

Preparation method

1. Place the cucumber and elderflower cordial into a cocktail shaker and crush.

2. Add the gin, apple juice and a handful of ice and shake hard.

3. Pour the cocktail into a martini glass and garnish with a slice of cucumber.

Leeds is laying out a smorgasbord of tasty bites for foodies of the north in their festival from 25th - 27th May. Enjoy a whole host of events and offers from Create, as part of the Leeds Loves Food festival this year. Catch their talented chefs live on stage at the Theatre Kitchen at 4pm on Saturday 26th May, or why not book onto the'Create Loves Food Quiz' for a morning of foodie fun? You can also find out how to make the perfect Yorkshire afternoon tea or pick up a signed copy of Brian Turners lastest recipe book. For a full list of events and times head on over to the festivals site:

http://www.leedslovesfood.com

It may be rainy and grey but we have some news that may make you smile: it's National Chocolate Chip Day! Hoorah! Have all those childhood memories come flooding back yet?

So first a fun fact and then a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe to mark the occasion.

Chocolate chips were invented in 1933 when Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. 

Simple but perfect chocolate chip cookies:

 Ingredients:

• 350g of flour

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 225g butter

• 175g caster sugar

• 175g brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 eggs

• 350g chocolate chips

   

  Let's Bake:

  Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

  In a bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.

  In a second bowl, mix the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the eggs. Slowly beat in the flour mixture & then stir in the star of the show, the chocolate chips!

  Halve the dough and roll them into sausages. Cut them into 2cm thick slices and place on a baking tray. Let everyone know they were lovingly made by your fair hands by stamping each cookie with the "Home Made" stamp from GettingPersonal.co.uk.

  Leave plenty of space inbetween the cookies as they will expand when they cook.

  Bake for 9-11 minutes.

  Devour with a glass of cold milk!

   

OR if you're feeling lazy and indulgent you could use Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix from Prezzybox. It makes chocolate cookies with creamy Belgian milk and white chocolate chips, making this product a dream for any chocoholic. 

Yesterday my friend Amy turned up at my door ready for one of my home cooked meals; and instead of producing the socially acceptable offering of wine, a tub of bubbling goo was place under my nose. "It's Herman" she explained without explaining anything.

Once inside I was told I had to look after Herman and was promptly handed an A4 set of instructions.

"Hello, my name is Herman." It begins.

"I am a sourdough cake. I'm supposed to sit on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on. You CANNOT put me in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling, I am dead."

Well he (can it be nominated a gender?) is undemanding but very serious. Day four and nine are feeding days but other than that he/it only needs a brisk stir once a day and on day ten I can make, what I am assured will be, a tasty cake. But not before I divide it up into four parts and pass on three quarters of the mixture to friends.

"He's the cake that keeps on giving!" Amy exclaimed.

Needless to say I'm dubious, and slightly irritated that I ate without wine that night, but I am going to give it a go and update after 10 days with a cake review.

Gone are the days where you would have to wait 3 months just to attempt to book a reservation for a restaurant; but it's still all about the wait. New restaurants are shunning the traditional reservation bookings for a first come first served attitude. So if you are desperate to try this round up of restaurants be prepared to do the British proud by queuing quietly and not complaining.

Meat Liquor:

This restaurants heritage comes from a pop up burger van "Meat Wagon" which popped up nationwide last year. Now comfortably nestled behind Oxford Circus this american diner is anything but your average burger. It's a slice of the true New York with unfussy, half finished decor and straight to the point menu. Burgers served on paper are the right balance of quality beef and sugared buns ladened with the guilty pleasures of pickles and cheese. Stick to the hilariously explicit cocktail list and watch the barman hack of ice from one large block. The queue can be like that of the lower east side on Black Friday: dont expect to be able to cut in or you'll be shamefully sent to the back of the queue.

Pitt Cue Co:

Similar to Meat Liquor it had humble beginnings as a mobile food van on South Bank. Now a twitter sensation and celebrity chef favourite Pitt Cue Co has settled down in Soho. It's website proclaims "No Reservations We are not trying to be cool but sadly there are only 30 seats and we just can't think of a better and fairer system than first come, first served. Here you'll get the best of south America with slow cooked, pulled meats served with slaws or sticky, sweet barbecue ribs. To wash it all down try one of the Whiskey cocktails which have enough spice to compliment the food and conjur images of the deep south's bars.

Franco Manca:

Once described to me by an Italian as "the best pizza I have ever had, including pizza's made in Italy." Quite a statement I'm sure you'll agree. Currently with three restaurants (Brixton, Chiswick and Westfield Stratford) the demand for this sourdough pizza is not slowing. Queuing is half the fun, especially at the Brixton restaurant which is housed in the Market and split in two. The menu is simple and centered around only six pizza choices, of which all are fantastic and cater to all tastes. To drink there's beer, wine and soft drinks but I recommend the home made lemonade and an espresso to finish. The cheap price and lively atmosphere makes it perfect for a quick catch up.

This weekend 40 bakers will descend on Brixton Market to battle it out to be branded best bake. The event is being judged by local businesses and celebs Victor Scalzo from Patisserie Valerie and Levi Roots. The event starts at 10 so you can buy the fares but the winner won't be announced until 1. To top off the event they will have swing dances throughout the day too. What a wonderful throw back for a saturday morn.

The deep and rich aroma of roasted beans can rouse you out of the deepest slumbers and help shake off the cloudiness of late afternoon energy dips. But gone are the days of thinking coffee as simply a necessity, an ever day occurrence lumbered in with the washing up and commuting; coffee has fast risen to become known as the daily luxury. With connoisseur worthy coffee shops springing up all over the country, we are all firmly coffee appreciators now and have begun experimenting with drip methods, antipodean influences and pressure brewing. If you’re looking to widen your horizons, chase your next caffeine hit or discover new methods then we’ll see you down at the London Coffee Festival. If you can’t make it there are lots of events going on for Coffee Week (April 23-29) and it’s all in aid of Project Waterfall.

All things retro are back. They are affordable, fun and bring back those fuzzy warm memories of our youth. Nothing does this more for me than Jelly. It costs nothing, has a million colourways and flavours and is very fun to make. These fantastic jelly moulds from British designer Lydia Leith are perfect for the Queen's Jubilee. Make Queen's head shaped jellies for your street party. The mould makes a 2 Litre jelly and my suggestion would be a very patriotic strawberry or bluberry. Sure to feed a good few mouths at a street party and have you the talk of the town (in a good way).

All this sunshine and unexpected heat has me lusting over bright and bold colours. These colanders from The Contemporary Home are the perfect colour punch for the kitchen. Perfect for draining veg or pasta when you're only cooking for 1, or even as a funky way to serve vegetables to guests at a dinner party, allowing each guest their own personal portion to be served alongside their main dish. Much more sophisticated than a free-for-all with big serving dishes and it means that no-one has to feel greedy for snaffling the last spoonful of peas! Available in 5 bright and bold colours, allowing you to remain true to your colour scheme or mix and match for an eclectic look.