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Monday 3 June 2013

Life: A Great Weekend



I had such a great weekend, especially where food was concerned. I went for dinner on Friday at the Wild Food Cafe in Neal's Yard with my friend Frankie. I met Frankie at a house party last year and then, due to lots of shared interests - food, yoga, Jonathan Creek(!) which all become apparent on Facebook, we decided to go for dinner. Stupidly, I forgot my phone so these photos are courtesy of Frankie (thank you).
Wild Food Cafe living pizza and burger
The Wild Food Cafe specialises in making fresh vegetarian and vegan food; perfect if you've had a week of excess. Because it was a Friday, we started with a raw chocolate and rum cocktail which needless to say was absolutely delicious - like a really boozy milkshake.  I then had a 'living pizza' for my main which was more like an open sandwich but very fresh and tasty all the same; it was topped with a goji berry marinara. Frankie had a shitake mushroom burger which she enjoyed lots too. Our waitress was pretty slow - she completely forgot about our mains. When we mentioned our order an hour after we sat down, it was almost like she couldn't remember even taking it which we found quite odd. It was lovely sunny evening, and the cafe has a really laid back vibe so we stayed for hours chatting away. In terms of pricing, the Wild Food Cafe is pretty reasonable - £5 for our cocktail and approximately £10 for a main. We wanted dessert as well, but most of the options had gone already so we went to Brasserie Zedel on Picadilly, an old favourite. We shared a carafe of wine and had a tangy lemon tart each. I think this was justified by our really heathy dinner, maybe??

Brasserie Zedel lemon tart
Martin and I fancied a big brunch on Saturday morning, so I rustled up a Jamie Oliver 15 minute meals recipe - sweetcorn pancakes with maple syrup, pancetta, tomatoes and avocado. I couldn't face the chili so I left that out together with the coriander. It was such a great brunch recipe and pretty healthy too - we enjoyed them so much that we ate the whole lot between us even though the recipe is supposed to feed 4.


Our dinner was ridiculous. I've been on the hunt for edamame for what feels like ages and really can't get it from our local big Sainsbury's or Asda. Finally I found them in Wholefoods, but there must be a cheaper way of doing it? Does any one know where I can buy them from?


I boiled them for 3 minutes and sprinkled on some Maldon salt which I finally decided to buy. The reason I say our dinner was ridiculous is because it was just a couple of items thrown together: namely edamame, sweet potato and a whole roast chicken from Sainsbury's.

We ate the whole chicken!
A polite serving
I know it looks so silly, but we loved it. We finished our meal with a limited edition Collective coconut and papaya yoghurt. I love the Collective yoghurts - their passionfruit flavour is my favourite. I really liked the coconut one too, but I would have preferred it without the pieces of desssicated coconut, I don't really like chewing on it. Martin says I'm silly and that I should just swallow it without chewing.

I had to stop Martin eating the whole pot in one go - it's not cheap!
We then went to my friend Abby's house party. It was very drunken and I woke up feeling terrible. I blame mixing white wine, red wine, raspberry sours (Lucy, I blame you!) and vodka. Still, a great night, definitely helped by the cheeky MacDonald's at 2am.

The dress I wore to Ab's party - Asos last season
Martin and I, feeling worse for wear, popped into Putney on Sunday. I bought a gorgeous smelling frangipane reed diffuser from Next. It smells divine and happily cost £7 which isn't too bad for reed diffusers.

Next - reed diffuser £7
I also bought a pair of converse. I've been meaning to for ages. I do so much walking in London and I'm destroying my feet in ankle boots so thought it was about time I was sensible and worse some flat foot wear.


Finally, our fab weekend was topped off with an impromptu game of Articulate with my friend Pip and her friend Dan. I flippin' love Articulate.


What's your favourite board game? Did you have a good weekend? What did you get up to?


4 comments:

  1. You can buy frozen edamame in chinatown! I've been looking for them for ages as well and finally found some there last week. I find myself reaching for them whenever I want a snack.

    Your blog is looking amazing Hazel, keep it up!

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    1. Amaaaaazing. Can't tell you how grateful I am for the tip! Literally been looking for them for months and months. They're so quick, tasty and healthy.

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  2. I've just spotted this, my first blog comment!!! I've since been back to Neal's yard but went to the juice bar instead. I got a kale, spinach and broccoli concoction..... it didn't taste great to be honest but my "nutrition halo" was definitely shining brightly. Have you tried any of these green juices?

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    1. Wow that sounds incredibly healthy - not sure I could cope with all three in the same juice! I've heard a lot about green smoothies. I think they're just normal smoothies with a handful of spinach thrown in so I might find them more manageable. Hope you have a great birthday meal!

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