S.O.S - Save Our Salad!

Sadly, I definitely do not have "green fingers." Fed up of splashing out a couple of quid every time I want a sprinkle of chives or a hit of basil, I tried and tried to grow my own. In a kit with eight different varieties, all died, except one - my chilli plant survived! I'm still waiting for actual chillies to chop up into my curries, but with a little love and care they shot up to twice their size!

So over Easter I took my plants home to my mum's house and re-potted them into eight different plant pots. But now their lives are on the line as the recent heat wave has turned their leaves brown and it is definitely touch and go for the chilli!

So back in Cardiff and thinking it was all over for the chilli, I was in Tesco and picked up a product from their Windowsill Vegetable Collection for around £2.50. I decided this would be my last attempt at growing anything for a while - I just can't take the disappointment! I chose a baby leaf salad from a variety of herbs, vegetables and flowers. It is designed to grow in the plastic container with a clear lid, until the shoots appear and you then dispose of the lid. Once big enough you can re-pot it, or in some cases plant outside.

Now with only a few weeks left in my flat until I move, I thought it would grow nicely in time to repot it at home in Anglesey. However, it grew a lot quicker than I expected. And may I note here that it has survived! Hurrah! Now I really think it needs re-potting or I don't think it will grow any larger to actual salad leaf proportions.

Although I find this quite problematic, I live in a first floor flat, so buying a bag of compost for one windowsill pot is ridiculously out of the question. Also apparently, is going to a garden centre and hoping they sell compost by the pot (which I found out, they don't!). So my only option is to go to the park at the dead of night to borrow a small amount of dirt and hope no one shouts at me! Ermmm, maybe not?!?

New home needed for baby leaf salad!

Charitable donations of compost to save possibly my only green-fingered success, please comment below. Thank you :)

Scarlet strawberries - Best of British!

It's finally that time of year again, when we can pick up British strawberries and not the much less superior and tasteless foreign versions we get in the darker months. Sorry but it's true, the strawberries you get in the supermarkets in the winter are awful, but we still buy them, longing for a bit of red sparkle on our morning cornflakes all  year around! I too did this, until until very recently when I swapped foreign strawbs for blackberries and dried fruit and like a hibernating squirrel, I stocked up on nuts and seeds as breakfast toppings instead.

But now the time has come to laze in the park with a punnet of luscious strawberries, or lounge away an evening on the sofa dipping them into a tub of creme fraiche or more indulgently some clotted cream. Happy days. Long live the summer.

Roddas Clotted Cream, homemade chocolate brownie and
truly British strawberries - heaven!

Why not try picking your own? Or how about a pineberry? Or a spinach and strawberry salad?

Boozy summer dessert
Add two shot glasses of Pimms to a bowl of strawberries. Pop in some mint leaves and a tablespoon of sugar and give a gentle stir together. Leave to mull for a couple of hours at room temp before serving.

Serving suggestion: eat in the sunshine!

Classy Cherries at Harrods
During my recent work experience at delicious. magazine and Waitrose Kitchen magazine, I had a wide range of different tasks: from photocopying (no making tea though surprisingly!) to writing actual copy! 

One of the things that I will remember for a long time is that finding food for a magazine to cook and photograph is not always as simple as it sounds. Magazines are produced several months in advance so sometimes the food of choice is not in season. "How can this be a problem?"... I hear you cry, "In an age where food is imported and exported to all corners of the globe?"

Well cherries, peaches and apricots were nowhere to be in seen in London at the beginning of April. Trust me, my stylish yet affordable boots if they could, would tell you they feel like they've walked the entire length of London! Harrods at one point I hear were asking £350/kg! How ridiculous, that's about £9 per cherry! However, last year they were half the price and flew off the shelves and there were harsh words between the Knightsbridge store and Tesco.



A month later and Tesco are slashing their fruit prices



Now June is nearly upon us and all of the supermarkets have their hands on both cherries and strawberries. Although the British strawberries are the best, foreign cherries feel really forced. The latest ones I bought were Spanish and I found them very hit and miss. However, the competition is steep as no cherries will ever taste better to me than ones bought from a greengrocer in the sunshine and eaten on the side of the road straight from the bag, like I experienced last year in Turkey.

Nothing can top greengrocers on holiday!

Kilo restaurant

Lunch on the go or gourmet dining: pay for how much you eat with an inspiring idea from Brazil.

Pick 'n' mix from 30+ salads, choosing a little from here and a little from there, but don't pay by the plate, pay by the weight. This reduces food waist and surely in the long term obesity problems too.

How long until we see this system in the UK?

Check out the video on BBC news.

Borough Market, London

The market is split into different sections

While on work experience with two food magazines in London, I found myself in foodie heaven when asked to pick up some items from Borough Market in SE1.

I strolled round with an almond croissant, soaking up the early morning atmosphere. It was very relaxed and at 10am stalls were still in the middle of setting up, but it was easy to imagine hoards of people in a couple of hours time: buying their weekly goods and escaping on their lunch breaks to eat fresh and local.

From fishmongers' stalls beautifully adorned with shells and pearls, to a Spanish trader who's smell of cheese and chirozo sent me straight back to childhood holidays. Most of the stalls were set permanently into the market with grey stone displays which seemed to grow out of the floor. Set underneath a railway bridge a couple of stalls were hidden under dark, arched stone cavities - which gave off the feeling of shopping back in time of Sweeny Todd and like.

Here are some photos I snapped, unfortunately with my camera phone as I was not expecting such a foodie-feast for the eyes, so they are not the best quality I'm afraid. But I hope they illustrate some of the points I made, but the only way to experience it properly is to get down there yourself next time you are in London.

The market it open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, find it here.

Under this archway since 1875

A fantastic setting under railway viaducts by the river

Casually walk down streets with a
mid morning snack

Kitch signs keeping the historic feel

All the food you can think of

Setting up for the day

 

Friendly feel, no regimented
supermarket in sight




Clearly signposted with clever marketing



Just shipped in?

Fruit stalls use old fashioned ideas for displays - a truly vintage feel

Fishmongers set in stone