Trick or Treat!

I have been so wrapped up in class and interning that I hadn't really realized that fall had crept in until it fell into my lap this morning. Halloween is always one of my favorite holidays, not because of the silly costumes or the candy or the parties - though those are all good too. I love Halloween because it means fall has most likely settled in and started to take its effects: changes in the leaves, the temperature, the light...

In honor of the holiday and the coming of fall, I wanted to take a trip to a pumpkin patch I had heard of on one of my favorite sites for ideas on things to do: Time Out London. The patch was at an old estate named Osterley House which is conveniently accessible by tube on the Picadilly line. To get there, take a West bound tube towards Heathrow and get off at Osterley. Exit the Osterley stop. Turn right, and follow the signs toward Osterley Park. You can't miss it.

The entrance to the property takes you down a long wooded driveway. Cows and horses graze in the pastures that line either side of the path, and the air is cool and clean. It smells of earth and fallen leaves. About halfway down, on the right side, there's a small flower and vegetable market where products that are grown on the farm are sold.

Continuing along the pathway brings you to a beautiful pond full of geese, swans and other waterfowl.

While beautiful trees line the south side of the pond, to the north, the trees open up onto a pristine lawn. The neo-classical mansion Osterley house sits regally above the plush green. 

Front

Back

To the right of the house is a beautiful little garden. Well, I'm sure its beautiful in spring and summer when things are flourishing and flowering in it. Today though, the leaves were the stars. Everything was on fire - a garden of phoenixes blazing in vibrant death. 

 When I finally came to the pumpkin patch, it had clearly been picked over and wasn't even worth a photo shot, but not to worry. I found some gorgeous pumpkins to satisfy my holiday craving framing the door to the garden greenhouse. 

Mission accomplished, I made my way home making sure to stop and buy a pumpkin of my own from the farm market. All in all, a lovely Halloween treat. 

To continue my Halloween festivities, I decided to go home and roast some pumpkin seeds. Inspired by a recipe from one of my new favorite blogs, The Passionate Cook, I set out to make some pumpkin magic. 

First, I followed The Passionate Cook's recipe ... loosely. 

I started with 100 grams of pumpkin seeds. Her recipe calls for unhulled seeds, but I could only fined the hulled version in Sainsbury's which turned out just fine. 

I dumped the seeds in a mixing bowl, melted some butter - just enough to coat the seeds but not drown them - and poured the butter over the seeds and stirred making sure that they were all evenly coated. 

Next, I threw in some sea salt to taste, I recommend at least two big pinches, and shook some Garam Masala on top - also to taste. I mixed this all together and then put the seeds on a baking sheet and into the oven at 150C (about 300F) for 40 minutes or so - until the seeds were crisp. 

Once the seeds were good and roasted, I removed them from the oven and mixed in one clove of chopped garlic. 

Serve warm or let cool completely and store in a glass jar for later snacking!

These savory seeds turned out great, but then I wanted to get a little creative. Some of my favorite fall flavors include cinnamon, chocolate and brown sugar. I thought I might throw these flavors in with some of my extra seeds. 

Following the same loose recipe as above, I mixed two batches of seeds with a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Next, I melted some dark chocolate and sprinkled it over half of the brown sugar and cinnamon seeds. 

Finally, I took the remaining 100 grams of pumpkin seeds, which were still plain, and completely covered them in chocolate. **Note - when you take the chocolate seeds out of the oven, be sure to let them cool completely before trying to move them from the baking sheet otherwise they loose some of their chocolate coating**

I put all three of these roasted seed recipes in the oven separately each for about 40 minutes on 150C.

Viola! I ended up with four lovely batches of roasted pumpkin seeds to share with my flat mates, and a very festive Halloween day. 

A Trip to Oz

Today, I ventured to Brixton Village one of London's many hidden gems. The market sits, surprisingly enough, at the Brixton Tube stop - the very most southern stop of the Victoria line - and was quite easy to get to. After glancing at the tube map, I feared it would take ages and ages to reach the Brixton stop, but in actuality it was a quite painless 20 minutes max journey. To get to the market, after exiting the Brixton station, turn right and continue down the sidewalk until reaching Arcade rode. Here, make another right. Almost immediately, store fronts and stalls will begin to pop up. The Caribbean music that blares from almost all of them lets you know you've found the place. Toto, we're not in Kensington anymore!
Keep walking towards the sound of the music, and soon, on the left-hand side of the street, there will be a big blue archway that announces Brixton Village. Duck under this archway and find yourself in another world. Don't mind the smell of fish coming from the fresh fish stall close to the entrance. Check it out if you're brave enough! Welcome to Brixton Village, formerly known as Granville Arcade.

Brixton Village is located in a 1930's arcade market also known as Granville Arcade. It's a fantastic open space with great vaulted ceilings and soft lighting. By 2009, the market was falling into disarray, and Space Makers Agency, a group which helps to restore communities, swept in. Space Makers Agency has worked tirelessly to restore the area by bringing local businesses to the arcade - shops, restaurants, live music, galleries etc. They started by restoring 20 store fronts and inviting local businesses to use the space rent free for 3 months. Today, 18 of the original 20 shops have signed permanent leases.

I stopped in at this great resale shop called Rejuvenate. As the sign suggests, there really is a little bit of something for everyone in here: clothes, shoes, jewelry, nick nacks, and the owner was absolutely adorable. 

Along with a gaggle of fascinatingly fantastic shops and stalls, there was also plenty of food to go around such as The Cornercopia, Etta's Seafood Kitchen, Federation Coffee, and even a crepe place decked out in paper skeletons and papel picado in celebration of Halloween. 

Federation coffee - apparently London's best coffee - looked fantastic, but it was pretty packed, so I kept looking. 

I decided on Columbian restaurant El Rancho de Lalo. Like all the other restaurants in Brixton Village, it was tiny and packed. As I settled myself at my table for one, I took in my surroundings. The smells coming out of the kitchen literally inches from my table were mouth watering, and I noticed that not a single person in the place was speaking english. This was particularly promising as I've just about had it with English cooking. I decided to order the Arepa con Carne and a Corona. I was expecting something in sandwich form, but when my order was up, this is what they put in front of me!

The 'carne' part was absolutely fantastic - perfectly grilled, melt in my mouth, fajita curled my toes. The corn meal pancake part was pretty good too, but a little mealy and charred for my taste. I would have preferred a little fluff to my corn meal, but I suppose that's the nature of the thing.  

After my lunch, I wandered through the more typical market part of Brixton Market... pop up stalls full of junk to buy at whole sale prices: soap, batteries, paper towels; scarves; fake bags; jewelry; and lots and lots of meat - ick!

Click to read more about Brixton Village.

A Photo Tour of my Weekend in Ireland

Last weekend, on another very early rainy morning, my friends and I set out for a weekend in Ireland. This time, there was no promise of warm sun, but we held our heads high and carried on. The promise of  good bear, and lots of it, as our motivator... and perhaps the hopes of seeing a leprechaun. 

In Dublin, the only thing open before 11:00 AM on a saturday is a pub. Go figure. So, being hungry and up for an adventure, we ducked into O'Shea's and ordered a full Irish breakfast each. I ate the whole thing. Please, don't tell me what either of the 'puddings' are. Yes, I'm a glutton, but don't worry, I paid for my sins later with terrible heartburn and a slight taste of sausage in my mouth all day.

On our 3 hour walking tour of Dublin, we saw many interesting sights. My favorite was Irish justice: she is not blind, may not save violence for a last resort, looks down on her people judgmentally and her scales aren't always even! 

The only part of the Dublin Castle that actually looks like a castle. This was part of the original castle built in the 13th century as the major hub of British rule in Ireland. Today it is still used largely for government affairs. 

The back of the castle.... no comment

Christ Church Cathedral - a church that dates back to the Viking period in Dublin. My favorite part about it though was the story that goes with it. While I didn't go inside, in the crypt there are the mummified remains of a cat and a rat - the original Tom and Jerry. The rat, searching for safe haven from the cat who was chasing him, decided to run up one of the organ pipes, and the cat followed. Unfortunately, the both got stuck, and there they stayed until someone discovered them when trying to fix the organ many years later! 

Trinity College in Dublin. 

Of course, no trip to Dublin would be complete with out a visit to the Guinness Storehouse. 

At the Guinness Gravity Bar

The next day, some of us decided to take a bus tour through Wicklow County. This is Guinness Lake named both for its dark color...

... and because the guy who owns all this property (see his house - that tiny what spec on the right side of the photo) is a member of the Guinness family. 

Our next stop on the tour was Glendalough. 

At Glendalough, there used to be a monastery. Now it is just a little town with some beautiful hiking trails. 

Finally, we went to the Avoca Handweavers shop. 

Then, it was back to Dublin and back to London. A lovely weekend getaway. 

A Funny Little Fall Sort of Feeling

On Sunday, I woke up with a twitchy, itchy, squirmy kind of tingle.

By Monday, this funny little tingle had progressed to a sneaky sort of longing for hot chocolate and a fire place, or at least a cozy throw and a good corner for reading.

On Tuesday, I wanted to bake pies: Apple Pies, Pecan Pies, Pumpkin Pies!

On Wednesday, I wanted to stomp in piles of fallen leaves and to hear that satisfyingly crisp crunch a fall leaf makes when you step on it it just so.

On Thursday, all I could think about was mulled apple cider.

On Friday, I couldn't take it anymore, so... I went looking for Fall!

In Sloan Square... some of the only changing leaves I could find. 

A beautiful evening fall sky over Tower Bridge. 

A perfectly pink sunset in Chelesea. 

And after finding fall in Chelsea, I found a bit of winter too!

Christmas lights on Harrods.

Window displays... good, but not quite Saxs

Pretty Christmas lights

My favorite time of year is fast approaching!