Tonight I finished off the last stages in my vegan Gingerbread Ice Cream. It is nice and peppery at the end.

With that ticked off the list I want to tell you about a surprise date Anthony took me on one day – the wonderful exhibition that is George Moore Menswear 99, Myddleton Road, in Bowes Park. It is a menswear store that is no longer open for business. As I stood in the doorway I could hear the radio on upstairs from the owner (Brian, son of George) who still lives there.

What appears to be a “normal” store at first glance, actually is a normal store that has been left to rot, covered in mildew in exactly the same position as Brian Moore left it the day he decided to stop trading.

There is a short but nice piece of audio online here at Bowes and Bounds with history of the store, wartime underwear on rations and other interest notes.

In Lisbon, Anthony and I visited Cantinho Lusitano for dinner one night. Of all the places we visited, Cantinho Lusitano was definitely our favourite. I think it is classed as being in the Bairro Alto area of Lisbon it is a small place run by a husband and wife. The menu is loads of smallish dishes meant to be shared around the table. I loved this – “Azeitão” Cheese . Warm and runny! But the stand out dish was ”Pica-Pau” (Strips of Beef with Special Sauce and Fried Sweet Potatoes)  which has turned into Anthony’s “signature dish”.

“Pica-Pau”

Ingredients (serves 2)
500g steak, sliced into this strips
As many cloves of garlic as you can stand
1 red pepper, sliced
3-4 tbs sweet Portuguese mustard (cheaper the better) or Dijon maybe. Not a hot one.
1 bottle of lager (Super Bok for example)
20g butter

Heat a pan, add a bit of oil and fry the steak so it is browned.
Take the steak out of the pan and set aside.
Add everything else to the pan EXCEPT the butter. Let it simmer and reduce a bit.
Add the butter and let it melt through.
Add the steak back.
It’s ready.

The fried sweet potatoes were like fries made from yam. Anthony and I roast parsnips tonight. Yummy yummy. Of course – real fries, a loaf of bread, roast potato and other variations on a high carbohydrate theme.

We learnt the recipe from the chief who came out to talk to us at our table. I got to ask loads of questions about traditional bakeware – for all your specialist baking needs go to Pollux which is almost as good as some of the Paris shops – or how to make a Molotoff – or why so many Portuguese desserts are made from egg (because apparently at the convents and monasteries where a lot of the desserts originate, egg white was used to iron and starch the outfits  and the yolks got turned into nata), who the rated local chefs are etc etc. It was so interesting and the food was really delicious well cooked home food. Really a highlight.

Cantinho Lusitano
Rua dos Prazeres, 52
1200-355 Lisboa
Telephone: 21 806 51 85

Calling anyone who ever sticks their nose into second hand shops!

I have been collecting the Alfred Meakin Dinner set since 1999 and I bought my first part set for £60 from the shop that was French’s Dairy on Rugby Street before they moved to Brighton and the Jewellers moved in. Phew. Long sentence. Sorry.

I had just been rehoused from the homeless persons unit, had some money for essential furnishings (carpet, curtains, chairs etc) so I bought an iMac and a vintage Alfred Meakin Ironstone Pimpernel dinner set.

Fast forward about 5 years and my (now ex) husband smashed the oval platter to the set. It was on that day that the eBay search began to replace it and a really vintage china habit with a very strong grip started. I have since replaced the plate, bought a Nespresso machine and developed the habit of using the multiple sugar bowls as “rumplestiltskins” (don’t ask me why) as coffee bowls. I think Puyo Puyo and Eva started the habit.

Fast forward about another seven years SOMEONE BROKE A SUGAR BOWL and I am looking for another one to replace it. It looks like the coffee cup above but without the handle.

I really love this Alfred Meakin Pimpernel pattern because it reminds me of The Magic Roundabout that I watched as a kid. I consider this to be appropriate for breakfast or lunch. It is a bit too jolly for dinner – even if it is sofa supper.

A bit of a melty picture of a very delicious vegan ice cream (with Meakin and Broadhurst china and a three ribboned bow tie from Japan in the background)

Rosemary Ice cream

INGREDIENTS (and you will need an ice cream maker)

3 tbs arrowroot powder
300ml soya milk
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Smidge of green colouring (or not)
250ml soya cream
150g castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Put the arrowroot in a little glass. Tip 50ml of the soya milk on the arrowroot and mix til combined.
Using a hand whizz or food processor, blitz the rosemary leaves with the remaining 250ml soya milk until smooth.
In a saucepan, heat up the rosemary milk, colouring if you decide to use it, soya cream and castor sugar until just boiling.
Take saucepan off the heat and mix in the milk and arrowroot to the pan. It should become obviously thicker.
Add the vanilla and stir for a little longer.
Leave somewhere to cool down, and then refridgerate for 3-4 hours so it is chilled.
Following your ice cream makers instructions,  churn the mix until you have rosemary ice cream.

(Non vegans and anti soya people, use your favourite ice cream recipe but just blitz the rosemary with the cows milk before starting out on your recipe.)

And this is what Hobart was up to:

What can I say?!

Nothing, because I think The GA said it all with this witty sticker he must have put on the back at some point…

Friends with Jonathan Ross. Who knew?!

Also in my cassette box was this, which I think might be a little less embarrassing as everyone is already over pretending they have been into Italo and Hi-NRG liek forrrrevahhh already:

Well, I am surprise more of these aren’t on YouTube! Or maybe not. My friend Judith stole this from the Woolworth’s .99P sale bin.

I quite fancy listening to this  (cassette player any one?!) In the meantime, lets all enjoy this smoking dog jockey on the cover.

Last cassette I played loads but have no clue what it even sounds like now is this:

If anyone can speak Chinese and find any of this on YouTube, I would be most grateful. Until that moment arrives, lets re-familiarise ourselves with an old favourite of mine (introduced to me by The Brain from Nantes)Wong Chi Wai – I’ve Waited til I’m Crazy

Hobart’s 3rd birthday cake. She growled at everyone, hissed, hated the cake and scratched the woman who made her this plate, drawing blood:

This was a little something we made for Hobart’s birthday that didn’t come out til everyone else had left… A cheeky bit of crème caramel, flavoured with cardamom my absolute favourite (on a Domino plate.)

Cardamom Crème Caramel / Crème Renversée / Pudim de Leite

Caramel
140g caster sugar
60ml water

Cardamom Crème / Crème Renversée / Pudim de Leite
160g  caster sugar
500 ml milk
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teasp ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 140C.
Combine 140gm sugar and 60ml water in a saucepan over medium heat, stir to dissolve sugar, then don’t even think about stirring it again.
Cook over medium-high heat until caramel. It should be JUST the colour of the caramel in the picture above.
Pour into your mould – metal, ceramic or glass would best. I have a Portuguese mould with a lid – it is about 15cm-diameter and 1.2 litre-capacity ovenproof dish.
Carefully swirl so caramel coats base and sides and stand until cool. Watch yourself. It is HOT.

Meanwhile, whisk milk, eggs, yolk, vanilla, cardamom and remaining sugar in a bowl until combined.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then strain through a sieve into the caramel lined dish. (If you don’t have a sieve, don’t fret about it.)
Cover your dish pretty tightly with tin foil.
Place dish into a roasting pan, pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up outside of dish, and bake until set.
It will take about 1.5 – 2 hours and will still have a light wobble in the middle.
Remove dish from pan, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled – about 2-3 hours.
Carefully invert crème caramel onto a plate (I might need a careful shake) and serve.

And I think that one gets a BOOYAH.

These pictures are all taken of African people in masquerade outfits by photographer Phyllis Galembo. They are published in a brilliant book that I got in the mail today form Amazon called Maske. Galembo has published a number of books documenting different types of “fancy dress” in different cultures – like Halloween Costumes for example. Again, a number of dream outfits for me in there.

In other news we will be back to “normal” in Booyah Towers shortly, there will be more cake and less fashion as it is Hobart’s birthday month and there is a little party on Sunday afternoon for her so of course she will be having well documented birthday cake treats that she isn’t allowed to eat and perhaps some she can.

P.S. It is the G.A.’s birthday tomorrow. If anyone feels like disappearing into the night pissed off, lonely, looking to drink a bottle of whiskey and crawling home barely able to speak and yet some how the next day manage to laugh it all off with some crazy story, the 28th April is definitely the day to do it. :)

Yep.

My personal favourite is the oversized “peasants” costume.