Exploring Borough Market

Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL

Over the years, I've visited London more times than I can count, yet never ventured to the south bank where Borough Market resides. And perhaps a bustling Saturday morning in April wasn't the best time to change that.

When you turn the corner towards where the main market is hosted, you will 100% make the face Harry Potter made when he first saw Diagon Alley (you know the one) because it is overwhelmingly mesmerizing (even though there aren't any magical artifacts to be found...that I know of). The place is so full of life that you can almost taste the buzz in the atmosphere. Not to mention the fact that you're immediately surrounded by people from all walks of life, from busy no-nonsense Londoners out on their morning grocery run to tourists from all over the world sampling the culinary and cultural delights on offer.

There's so much going on that you almost don't know where to look as you're swept along with the sea of people past pungent cheese stands, organic fruit and veg grocers, cured meat of every variety, exotic fish caught fresh that day, artisan bread and pastries that look too good to eat, every kind of beverage (alcohol and otherwise), and so much more.

It's the kind of place where you're never sure what you might find, and that's part of its charm. I'll definitely be going back soon, if only to try out another fresh acai juice.

~ Eleanor xo

The London Coffee Festival 2016

Or as I decided to call it, "The Glastonbury of coffee". Seriously, who knew so many people digged coffee enough to visit a festival dedicated to it? Not me, that's for sure. We actually had to queue around the block before we were allowed inside and it became evident pretty quickly that we'd need to have our elbows at the ready.

The festival itself was held inside The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane (which explains why we were surrounded by so many obnoxious hipsters the whole time). 

The choice of venue was great; I really liked that the organisers had clearly thought about the kind of vibe they wanted, using both floors, splitting the stands into themed sections, letting live music play out and really using the space and style the rooms offered. 

The one downside was that the place was absolutely heaving and with limited space, it was difficult at times to actually a) move anywhere and b) get close enough to a stand to try out products or chat with the event staff.

There was a whole variety of stands to be seen; coffee from various parts of the globe (some of it doing good for humanity at the same time), monstrous coffee machines at eye-watering prices, dairy substitutes, coffee syrups, espresso martinis, hot chocolate (Hotel Chocolat officially owns my heart), old school roasteries, frozen yogurt, flavoured waters, baked goods (just look at those cakes!), juices, even a section for tea! As well as a whole load more *phew*.

Although I had a great time at the Monin counter, having a lengthy chat with the guys at the stand about my love of syrups and getting recommendations on which to try out next (and where to get the one-litre bottles at a discount), it was actually the vast array of dairy substitutes on offer that really took my interest. 

I really enjoyed trying out different types of almond milk (the one I tried from The Pressery has to be my favourite), coconut milk (the latte from the Alpro counter was all kinds of amazing) and a bunch of others that I wouldn't have even considered ordinarily. 

At the risk of sounding like a pompous a-hole, using 'milk' from nuts really does add something extra to your coffee. Especially when it's a creamy coconut flavour.

Although the tickets give you a four hour slot, it took about an hour or so for us to see what we wanted and to take it all in. The festival itself was a fun experience, and something a little different, though I now have a humongously burnt tongue from sampling all the steaming hot coffee. Booo.
~ Eleanor xo

The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

Easter Weekend Scenes

When your daily FitBit step count goes down and your pre-10am chocolate consumption goes up, it can only mean one thing: it's Easter! Also, rain. By the gallon.

I love Easter, I always have. So many great memories from my childhood centre around this time of year and I can't help but feel positive and upbeat. Even now, while the rain hammers down outside, I've still got my positive pants on. This is my first Easter break with a full-time job, which means I'm now part of the mass revelling in a much anticipated four-day bank holiday weekend, as opposed to two/three whole blissful weeks off from education. Still, I'm really digging it. Despite the seemingly never-ending downpour.

This weekend has been about indulging in the sweeter things (to put it mildly), enjoying the simplicity of how happy seeing a bright blue can make you (especially after Storm Katie attempts to uproot everything), and planning for the upcoming weeks. Also, lots of productive blog post writing and photo taking. Hooray for me.

Good Friday dawned as, to coin a much-loved British phrase, a gloriously sunny day. Spring was well and truly in the air and it was the perfect antidote to the hectic last couple of weeks. 

I drank large cups of coffee, basked in the sunlight and caught up with my favourite TV shows of the moment before deciding that the afternoon would be the perfect time to learn how to grate lemon zest (spoiler alert: it's much harder than it looks #lemonjuiceEVERYWHERE) by baking up some lemon drizzle slices. Because as we all know, I’m basically Mary Berry. I also took the opportunity to try out courgetti for the first time; I liked it, but it’ll never quite be pasta *deep sigh*.

Saturday rolled around and the heavens opened. Of course, this being our natural habitat, we were undeterred and headed out as planned to a newly discovered Farm Shop not far from our house. I love discovering new places; especially those that include fresh, organic and free range produce (because I’m both a middle class wannabee and about ninety years old). We picked up some delicious looking meats, honey, sauces and some bantam eggs in preparation for some mighty meals to come.

We also stopped for a little nose around the farm itself, where (in between laughing at how strange geese are) I clocked a beautiful barn conversion that doubles up as the farm’s B&B during the summer months. Just look at it. This is why #Goals was created.

After a quick coffee break at Le Starbucks (I seriously can’t get enough of these vanilla bean macchiatos), we headed towards home to cook up an immense fish pie dish for dinner because apparently it’s tradition to eat fish at Easter. What ever the reason, I am on board.

Easter Sunday dawned with a bright blue sky which meant I was able to slip on my Ugg boots and hot-foot it to my car in time to retrieve the Easter eggs I’d bought as a surprise for my parents. (I had to disclaim that the chocolate had been sitting in my car since the previous Monday so if they were melted and/or broken, I was not liable...).

Instead of chocolate eggs for breakfast, we poached a few of the bantam eggs we'd found at the farm shop the previous day and toasted up some sourdough bread to serve them on. The morning was going blissfully well and pleasantly slowly until the rain began to fall once again. After an obligatory lunch of roast lamb (I opted instead for roast chicken as lamb is the one meat I can’t stomach), we settled down for a cosy afternoon session on the sofa (me blog post writing, my parents detective show watching) while the storm well and truly hammered outside. It was a welcome change to not suffer from Sunday night blues, but instead indulge in a two-hour documentary about the queen. Wait, how old am I again…

I think the world and its wife woke up on Easter Monday thanks to the battering of Storm Katie. Luckily the majority of our garden was left intact (apart from the roof lining on top of our summer house which was ripped and half missing – we later spotted this in a heap at the bottom of our neighbours garden #SozMate. Meaning my parent's first, and rather unexpected, task of the day was to hit up Wickes, buy some replacement lining and somehow attempt to fix the thing, all while the wind continued to whip pretty ferociously. I enjoyed watching the events unfold from the warmth of the living room with a frothy latte in hand).

Eventually the sun re-emerged and the ‘I’ve got to go back to work tomorrow’ blues were momentarily silenced. I took the opportunity to prepare for the week ahead as best I could, then curled up with my new favourite magazine, a bar (or two) of Easter chocolate and a homemade berry smoothie.

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Unsurprisingly, the majority of events this weekend revolved around the weather. That's just how British I am. Sorry about that.

~ Eleanor xo