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! 

Its Kind of a Funny Story

This month, the British Film Festival is in town, and on Tuesday, I found myself the proud owner of one ticket to the movie Its Kind of a Funny Story.

I absolutely loved it!

The movie told the story of a 16 year old boy named Craig suffering from severe depression who, after a particularly close call with a suicide attempt, checks himself into a psychiatric hospital. Through a series of flashbacks and internal monologues, the audience learns about Craig's life: a kid from NYC, going to a high stress public school in The City, feeling like everyone is better than him at everything and that he is a failure at life, worrying about getting into the right college which will give him access to the right kind of life and consequently eternal happiness, trying to make his parents happy and do the right thing, cracking under the pressure. Basically, Craig's life tells the story of many a Gen Y teenager feeling overwhelmed with the high pressure lifestyle society expects from them. I for one can totally relate!

Anyway, in the hospital, one of the adult patients takes Craig under his wing. With the guidance of his new friend (and some pretty cliche sessions with a shrink), Craig is able to flourish and find himself. He learns that its ok to not want the "ideal" high power, high success lifestyle that society puts on a pedestal. He learns that its important to stand up for himself and to tell people what he needs. Perhaps most importantly, Craig learns that he has talent and that he is worth something. By the end of his stay in the hospital, Craig realizes that life is hard no matter what but its also soooooo worth it! 

Such a fantastic movie and so inspiring. A great reminder to live life and just breath. If its out in your area, go see it!

... if its not, go pick up the book!

A fantastic first ever film festival experience. 

And so it begins...

...My life in the working world.

Week two of my internship. For those who need a refresher course, I'm interning with Dow Jones in the Risk and Compliance department. My official job description read something along the lines of "This internship will focus on enhancing the information available for State Owned Companies blady blady blah. The intern should be able to research State Owned Companies yaddah yaddah yaddah."
Read: This internship relies heavily on Copy Paste skills, and the intern need only be slightly smarter than a baboon to succeed.

Clearly, there is a whole lot of grunt work that needs to be done for the Risk and Compliance team, and it turns out that I'm just the sort of free labor girl to do it! To be fair, while my task, which consists of searching for identifying codes for a list of companies and copy/pasting these codes into a massive excel spreadsheet, is quite boring, it has two major advantages. First of all, it does not require much brain power at all, so I am able to zone out and think about important stuff like where and how I should go about applying for jobs, ways I can enhance my CV to convince someone I'm worth hiring, and what I'm going to do with the rest of my life (read: what I want to make for dinner, whether or not I have showered recently and what I would do with a million dollars or a pony). Secondly, I like to use the other 45% of my brain that isn't consumed by Copy/Paste activities and day dreaming to actually think about what the point is to this mundane task my supervisors have given me. Surprisingly, its kind of interesting when you get down to it.

See, corruption and fraudulent activities like money laundering, bribery, black market activity etc are kind of a big deal, and not just because they are immoral. These activities take wealth and growth opportunities away from the legitimate sectors of a country's economy. Obviously that's bad for lots of reasons. In short, it screws up the way societies and markets work in a big way.

Where does my job factor into this? Well, in order to try and curb fraudulent activity, which is very difficult to do because of its underhand nature, there are all these laws put in place that banks have to follow when dealing with specific companies and individuals. Where do banks get the information about who these companies and individuals are? From companies like Dow Jones of course who compile large databases that list all of these risky individuals and companies. And those codes that I have to look up all day? Well, each code corresponds to a company and allows Dow Jones clients to find information on said companies more efficiently, so they can be better prepared to fight corruption. So basically, my copy/past skills are helping to save the world. Pretty cool, aye?

So that's my internship in a very very small nutshell. Better hit the hay as I've got to wake up with the roosters along with the rest of the working world tomorrow.