2010 Festival of British Roots

All in all, things went pretty well. On Friday the weather wasn’t very cooperative (and neither were the guys who had been asked to set up Councillor Dent Coad’s stall in Golborne Road). Nevertheless, the folks from Fenmarc distributed free spuds to all our costers, and free samples of baked potatoes and carrot coriander soup to passersby. Ruth, Zeenat, Peter, and a couple of helpers from Sustain whipped up a few batches of winter root veg stew, every last bit of which was gobbled up by local shopkeepers, traders, and members of the public. As alluded to, the least successful part of the day (though hardly a flop by any means) was the Councillor's parsnip soup stall, which wound up being two folding tables borrowed from a nearby furniture shop. As there was no frame from which to suspend a tarp, the Councillor, her soup, and a pile of bumf were pelted with rain, sleet, hail, and snow during the course of her two-hour appearance. Fortunately, a vat of piping hot and extremely delicious homemade parsnip soup helped us ward off our chills. 

The weather was greatly improved on Saturday, with sun and reasonably mild temperatures lasting into the early afternoon. Once again, about 40 quarts of winter root veg stew were prepared and given away - this time by Ruth, Peter, and myself. The three of us also served as Aaron Craze’s sous chefs, prepping ingredients for his dishes. I also doubled as a runner, picking up ingredients from market stallholders and neighborhood shops (and supplies from home - like the stick blender we plugged in at Adam’s veg stall next door—to puree Aaron’s jerusalem artichoke soup).

Over the two days, we were visited by a journalist from the fruit & veg trade press, a couple of Councillors (including the cabinet member for my business group), a chef interested in helping out with future events, a television producer from Market Kitchen (who just stumbled upon us), and possibly by someone from the BBC’s food magazines (though if she came, she didn’t identify herself). The mood was generally positive among traders and the public, and everyone who took part seemed to feel that the event was a resounding success. Next time I’d love to get better advance publicity, some news coverage on the day/s, and at least one school group.

Local sources included:

The Spice Shop donated herbs, seasonings and chillies used in the winter root veg stew and Aaron's purple sprouting broccoli, jerusalem artichoke soup, and roasted parsnips.

Ceramica Blue lent us aprons.

Oddbins gave us a good discount on dry white wine that Aaron used for cooking his soup.

Mr. Christian’s, where I bought creme fraiche, truffle oil, and vegetable stock cubes.

Portobello Wholefoods, where I bought butter and almond flakes.

Market stalls, where I bought garlic, extra virgin olive oil and vegetarian feta cheese.

I was given lemons and fresh thyme by market stallholders.

I bought chickpeas at Garcia.

I bought tomato puree and chopped tomatoes at the original Cash & Carry in Golborne Road.

I bought chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, olive oil, and lowfat natural yogurt from Tesco.

Back to my roots

Zoiks! Tonight (after refreshing my food hygiene qualifications earlier this week) I’m helping my local ward Councillor prepare around 20 liters of parsnip soup (that’s a lot), and tomorrow the whole dog & pony show will either happen... or it won’t: two 3x3 meter marquees (that I have to set up - anybody know how?), a whole bunch of kitchen equipment (that gets delivered tomorrow morning - I have no idea whether it’s going to be what we actually need), a giant to-do list, and a whole posse of people to manage... Yup, that’s right: it’s the first-ever Festival of British Roots in Portobello and Golborne Road markets! And why make it simple by repeating everything on Saturday? Nooooooo, we’ll be hosting a semi-celebrity chef who will hopefully be doing cooking demos (still waiting to hear what he intends to prepare so that I can make sure ingredients are ready) and book signings. Did the book shop order enough stock? Is anyone going to come? Tune in next week to find out!

King Cakes

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

About a week ago I went into Lisboa Patisserie and asked when they were going to start making king cakes (these colorful cakes that are only made at Christmastime). The guy behind the counter looked puzzled, so I said, “you know, those colorful cakes that you only make at Christmastime,” and he said, “oh, you mean Bolo Rei?” I replied in the affirmative and he informed me of the 2008 Bolo Rei production schedule. Then as I was on my way out he shouted, “OH! King cake! Bolo Rei! I get it! I never heard that before...”

Merry Christmas!

Originally uploaded by geatchy.

I got dinged for not blogging today... So that will be my New Year’s resolution for 2009, and why not get an early start?
I’ve actually got quite a bit to blog about, and not all of it will necessarily be here. I set up a separate blog for writing about urban stuff ages ago, and even wrote a couple of entries for it (which I never actually posted). And on top of (or perhaps overlapping) that, I’ve been working on something which might wind up being called either “Love Golborne” or “Discover Golborne.”
I will keep you posted!

SNOW DAY

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

This is probably it for 2007. At least poor Olive got to experience a bit of winter magic before I trundled her off to the vet for her little snip-snip this morning.

Not why we live here

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

This is just at the end of Golborne Road, between the Trellick Tower and the Grand Union Canal. Isn't it sooo quaint? Nowadays what they need are Uzi surrender bins. Rhyming slogan, anyone?

Cheese

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Corn, schmaltz, schlock, whatever. It was pretty. By the way, this was taken from our back deck, and the Trellick Tower is in the lower left.

Kitty cart?

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

It occurred to me that LB could use this little circus wagon I spotted on Goloborne Road to take Mr. Poops for walks.

R.I.P. Alice Jackson - II

This picture was taken in October 2005 by Lauren Barr at 6B Penzance Place.


This picture was taken by me on July 2nd of this year on our terrace at 97 Golborne Road during one of this summer's many heatwaves. It might be the most recent photo of Alice.

Back to normal

Well, at least for the time-being. The weather has turned weathery again. Today it was hot, cold, muggy, drizzly, grey, sunny, blustery, calm, and rainy. I went out to get some milk & juice (had to go all the way to Notting Hill Gate to the M&S Simply Food because it's Sunday and all the closer Sainsburys and Tescos close between 4 & 6). Then—because we needed window cleaner and ironing water—I walked to the Holland Park Tesco Express, which is open 'til 11 every day (that neighborhood is full of people who are used to convenience: Americans with generous expat packages). It was a crap shoot as to whether they'd have what I needed and I lost. Then, waiting for the bus back to Notting Hill Gate, I was caught in a torrential downpour. Holland Park Avenue turned into class 5 whitewater rapids. I switched from the 148 to the 52 and rescued a French family who are spending 2 weeks on our street at number 70. They got here three days ago and know how to walk here, but not where to get off the bus (because where are road connects to the main bus route it's not called Golborne, but Chesterton). An artist, a journalist, and their youngest daughter house-swapping for their place in the south of France.

No hat, no reflection, no pee.

So last night Steven & I decided to actually go to our local Indian takeaway. Because it was supposed to be air conditioned. It wasn't. But it was full, which is highly unusual. There was a large table of large ladies, one of whom — Sally — was celebrating her birthday. They seemed like they all came from one of the nearby housing estates (glamorous name they use here for the projects) to enjoy a special night out. At another table was a black (well, they're not African American here, are they?) family, and I think it might have been the little girl's birthday too. Very jealous of her ice cream dessert in a little paper cylinder with a plastic toucan head. When they left their table was taken by a couple of "blokes" who sat diagonally from each other. At first I thought they were expecting the wives or girlfriends. Nope. Steven says if I read "Watching the English" I'll understand. In any case it's feeling very diverse. We get seated next to a table of three white dudes. As soon as we settle in, I notice that the guy closest to me is talking about the film industry. He's got an irish accent. He's Gabriel Byrne.

Art out of life

Livingroom view

Happy New Year!

Well, what else should I call my first post of '06?

This winter it snowed a few times:
That's LB's wreath

For New Year's Eve we went to Brighton with Suzette. It was drizzly and blustery, but very pretty. Unfortunately most of the photos zapped off my "device." Grrrrrr!
Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
Suzette & Steven

Kooky art students being mysterious, I think... I spotted these flyers as I was walking from home to the Westbourne Park tube station:

Up For Air!

So I've got a couple weeks with only a pile of research to do, two papers to write, and a million books to read -- a breather! Quick update: Steven and I are settling in to our new pad, which is in the shadow of the Trellick Tower, right across the street from Stella McCartney Ltd. at ninety-seven Golborne road in London. Our post code is W ten (space) five NL. Home phone (with a functioning answering machine!) is (dialling from the US) zero one one, four four, 203 (brand new exchange for London) 235 double-0 19 (I'm not typing out the numbers so as to avoid being "scrubbed" and then getting junk mail & calls)... Anyhow, no photos just yet, as the iBook has died once again. This time it's actually good news, because instead of replacing the logic board (whatever that is) for the umpteenth time, Apple is replacing the tired old 30 gig G3 with a brand new 40 gig G4! Supposedly it'll be in on Friday, but this being England, I'm not holding my breath. If our BT Broadband connection at home actually works (which supposedly it will tomorrow), I'll try to post some pics this weekend. Cheerio 'til then! xoxo