Monday 30 August 2010

making macarons - some more


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I'd found these amazing photos of macarons, and indeed the macarons in progress, from fellow Flickr user Fanni. Fortunately she was kind enough to let me share her beautiful images and also gave me some top tips for future macaron baking. Although I'd planned this earlier in the week it seems particularly prescient as I had a go at making peanut butter and salted caramel macarons yesterday and they failed miserably. I think this has a lot to do with the thickness of each individual macaron as you can see below....
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Improvised piping bags - the mixtures are such pretty colours.

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Piped out - you can see the trick is that they are very thinly piped - the ones I made were far to thick and tall which resulted in the tops rising but the underneath not cooking, and the whole thing being hollow.

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After, and risen with the little step.

Fanni is also a fantastically talented graphic designer and her portfolio can be found here. She's a fellow twitterer and can be found at http://twitter.com/fubumedia.

Sunday 29 August 2010

cake britain

I am clearly a dreadful cake blogger as I had no idea that Cake Britain was taking part until after the penultimate day of this 3 day long cake'n'art extravanganza had closed. The concept was artists using cake as a visual medium and was conviently sponsored by Tate and Lyle - after all those cakes require a lot of sugar...

The Sunday was intended to be a gluttonous riot of cake eating commencing at midday. By the time I arrived at 2.30 all that was left was crumbs (everywhere, even the floor) so I took some pictures of the devastation.

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More information on the artists behind the event here, and some 'before' piccies on Emma Ferguson's blog.

Saturday 28 August 2010

fancy friday


Apologies for the lack of a fancy Friday last week, and of posts in general, I've been super busy with work and unfortunately had to go to the funeral of Mr LROC's Grandfather last week - still, I'm hoping to come back in strength for the bank holiday weekend and have just received the excellent news via the Evening Standard that not only is Harvey Nichols introducing a pop-up tea'n'cakes affair but there is also planned to be a London restaurant dedicated to desserts. What perfect madness is that?

This week's fancy friday explores the wonderfuly visual world of gig posters - something in the UK which we rarely get to see. It's all 'Festival Republic presents this...' and 'Mean Fiddler' etc so feast your eyes on these beauts.

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Don't you wish every night out was as beautifully designed?

This also gives you a little bit of an insight into what I'm listening to at the moment....

You can find all of these at Gig Posters, before I looked at their site I had no idea there were so many bands with vagina in their name!


Monday 16 August 2010

zoo lates


When I heard that London Zoo was hosting a series of late night parties I thought to myself - can it get any better, mega fun times and cute creatures? However in reality it was a nice Friday evening and rather like any other zoo opening - that said I did see a little bit of leaping and pouncing from the now quite grown up lion cubs. It also rained a lot - which is where we discovered that otters like umbrellas - especially orange ones...

I'll leave you with some pics of the cute fuzzies...
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Sunday 15 August 2010

galvin la chapelle

I'd heard about Galvin La Chapelle when it first opened, probably about 6 to 8 months ago. I read Giles Coren's review in the Times and knew it was where he planned to hold his wedding reception (and what a venue), I'd read the reviews in the Evening Standard, and as I always do, filed it away as a neighbourhood must-visit, saved up for a proverbial rainy day.


The Galvin brothers have expanded their mini empire into the East by opening both La Chapelle and Cafe a Vin on Spital Square and other than, of course, the delicious food on offer, the cinematic surroundings of the main restaurant which is housed in a three story high former chapel are the main attraction. Although it was too dark to take any pictures, and I also didn't want to spoil the ambiance by studiously snapping away it's a truly amazing interior. Round tables with crisp white linen, high ceilings with huge modern chandeliers - a kind of 21st century take on the monastic, white orchids and low lighting. It feels discreet and cozy, and for a week night, felt surprisingly low on the braying banker quotient that I had been worried about.




The service started the minute I booked the table, or to be more accurate the minute I tweeted about it. Although I didn't include any of the @s or hashes (I don't have this on my Mac keyboard - anyone else have this issue too?) I got a reply asking if I had any special requests - you don't get that at Pizza Express. The service continued all our way to the hostess, who apologised that Sarah Galvin couldn't be there to greet us in person. I mean wtf - she isn't omnipresent and deserves a night off! I was excited enough to be there.

We went through to the bar to order drinks, but our table was ready before we knew it. I ordered a Strawberry Royale, Mr LROC went for a whiskey, and then the serious business of choosing food began. The menu is concise and tight, with a vegetarian option for each course, several fish options and a focus on good quality meat. Descriptions are flavoured with French, but anglicised enough to seem modern and not pretentious. The wine list is also extremely detailed, bottles from L'Ermitage in France are on offer for a princely sum, but the sommelier helped us choose a French wine in our slightly more pauper-esque budget and lovely it was too.

To start I chose the Dorset Crab lasagne with veloute of girolle mushrooms, and he opted for the mediterrean vegetables and goats cheese salad. When the crab lasagne arrived it was divine, tangy, seafoody, light and perfectly complemented by the creamy mushrooms.

I went veggie for my mains, opting for the gnocchi with seasonal vegetables, and him going for something that might have been either duck or beef, but turned out to be beef. I think the gnocchi was the best I ever tasted, light and potato-y, the salty mix of broad beans and other summer loveliness was perfect. I hear that Mr LROC thought his duck/beef was cooked to perfection too.

For dessert (obviously the most important part of any meal, but sometimes an after thought) I chose the chocolate and apricot souffle, whilst delicious it could have been tangier, richer, a little bit more melty inside. It was complemented by the proposed desert wine - which was sparkling and not too sweet. The two were a perfect match.

Although we didn't try it, the cheese selection looked phenomenal, the cart passing up by looking increasingly more tempting each time.

The bill for two came to £135 including service (I asked the hostess, and was told that they do get the tips that come from the service charge) - this was for one two course and one three course dinner, pre dinner cocktails, wine, a glass of dessert wine and one coffee. And for such a fantastic evening not a high price at all.




Saturday 14 August 2010

vintage boudoir at julia boggio studios

A while back I mentioned that I was trying to stay off the cakes for a little surprise I had planned for Mr LROC, well, as you can see from the detailed descriptions of what I've chowed and quaffed the diet failed a little. I also failed to keep the plan a surprise and told him on a night out - whoopsie! However, none of that mattered on Thursday 12th when my Vintage Boudoir shoot with the multi-talented Julia Boggio came around.

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I originally came across her photography when planning my own wedding, and though by that time I had already booked a photographer I saw the relatively new concept of vintage boudoir on her site and knew I had to book it for some point in the future. When I saw that Kat from RocknRoll bride had her own shoot then I knew I needed it in my life. Although i'd planned to give the images to my husband in an album as an anniversary pressie, they would be fantastic as a confidence boost, wall art or just the chance to say 'Hell yes, I'm hot', which I have to confess was one of the other key reasons I decided to go for it. I wanted to have one of her fab prints or acrylics up on the wall to remind me not to worry on those days when I feel fat, or my hair just won't behave.

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And so armed with some key props - the minnie mouse style polka dot shoes from Miss Selfridge pictured below; and my Agent Provocateur heart shaped nipple tassles I arrived at her Wimbledon studios ready for the shoot. Costumes and props are fully provided, but feel clients are free to bring along whatever they like (within reason!) for the shoot as well.

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Although I was initially nervous - what if I look fat, argh I should have dieted etc - I needn't have been. I was handed a glass of prosecco as the fabulous Kaz Fernando began to do my make up and hair. After 90 minutes I was completely stunned by the transformation - I was a proper pin-up girl complete with a Bettie Page style rolled fringe. I looked amazing if I do say so myself.

After that it was into wardrobe - I was given a pair of fully fashioned nylon stockings and my first outfit, for what would be five or six costume changes. I had selected a couple of shots I liked from the site and suggested another pose based on a Gil Elvgren pin up I'd seen which Julia was happy to try and replicate. She had also proposed a couple of other looks that would work well.

I felt a little bit like a star during the shoot itself, as well as the very precise direction from Julia, Kaz would run over and fix my hair or make up if it fell out of place, and what I saw on the back of the camera's LCD screen was already looking fab.

I had an amazing afternoon, and travelled home with my hair still rolled and my false lashes on ready for the evening. I don't think I've ever felt so spoilt, and I can't wait to see the edited images in a few weeks time. I honestly think every girl should give it a go a some point - the images can be as modest or saucy as you like and it's a guaranteed confidence boost. Emerging from the studio into the rainy streets of South West London was a bit of a downer, but I knew I had a fantastic evening planned, and hair and make up already taken care of!

The shoot cost £455 and albums, frames, wall acrylics etc are all priced individually.

Give the studio a ring on 020 7042 9777 and speak to the lovely Sonja to get booked in.



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