Sticky situation

Came upon this man cleaning gum off the pavement one morning outside the South Kensington Tube station on my way to work.


I liked it that the machine is called "Mr Gummy."

Boxing Day hunt, Broadway

In which the Boxing Day Hunt in Broadway is observed. The video begins with a man collecting "money for the hounds" in a bucket. It continues with a second man collecting "money for the air ambulance" in a bucket. The hounds come next, followed by the hunters, their children and some cyclists.

Christmas in Broadway

I was served this delicious meal on Christmas at lunchtime.


I was unable to eat all of it because I got too full. I don't remember having pigs in blankets before.

Around Barming, Kent

Brits can skate too

Skaters on the rink outside Somerset House in London.

Stay tuned for delayed Parisian blog

Electric Christmas party

The Christmas party had a Soviet Union theme. There was a lot of speculation over it among the 3,500 partygoers, many of whom recalled the tension between the West and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

When questioned about the theme, a waiter said simply: "All the Christmas parties this year have a Russian theme."

Click for a slideshow

London lights

Click London lights to see a slideshow.

It's all too beautiful . . .

Christmas pompom

This is the pompom I made at a craft party in Islington.

Apres pork, cucumber salad

After making Hollowlegs' Braised Pork Belly & Cucumber Salad recipe, which I wrote about in my previous post, I made this cucumber salad.

My version of the salad ended up fiery hot because of the amount of pepper I added and because I had a smallish cucumber.

However, it was still tasty and I enjoyed the hot-and-sour zing to it.

I made a bit of a mistake when I was buying the ingredients for the salad so I didn't have rice vinegar, yellow bean paste or Sichuan pepper. I used Shaoxing rice wine and Chinese five spice as substitutes.

I would definitely make it again, but use either a bigger cucumber or half the amount of pepper.

I ate it with the pork leftovers.

Principles of pork

It turns out that pork is available in different cuts in England than those found in Canada. After eavesdropping on a Twitter conversation about pork, I decided I would cook some. I was fortunate that one of the eavesdroppees, Hollowlegs, sent me a link to her recipe for braised pork belly: Braised Pork Belly & Cucumber Salad

I set out to the grocery store far too late in the day and the pork belly slices were sold out. However, I was able to get most of the rest of the ingredients for the braised pork and the cucumber salad. The clerk at Waitrose seemed quite concerned that they didn't have yellow bean paste.

I had to buy measuring spoons and a garlic crusher as well as the food ingredients. When I returned home, I informed Hollowlegs that I had purchased thin-cut pork loin steaks instead of pork belly slices.

She advised me to marinate and stir fry instead of braising.

I couldn't cut the pork up into small pieces because the knives in my hotel flat are dull and useless. There was quite a bit of fat on the meat and I wanted to remove it.

I decided I would marinate the pork (as Hollowlegs had suggested) in the soy sauce and Chinese five spice. Then I fried the pieces (in a frying pan, due to the fact that there is no wok in my kitchen) until they were cooked enough so I could cut the fat off.

I then fried the garlic and ginger in a saucepan. I added a bit of cornflour dissolved in cold water. Hollowlegs had suggested a ratio of about 1 tbsp cornflour to 1 tbsp water.

I then scooped the partially cooked pork from the frying pan and put it into the saucepan. I put the lid on the saucepan and let it simmer on low heat while I nuked a box of Waitrose's fragrant rice (three minutes).

I took a picture so I could show my Twitter friends.

It tastes a lot better than it looks because of the sauce and spices used.

I will make the salad tomorrow.

Leicester Square sign

Sounds of London

More travels with Mum

Excursion tale . . . We set out to tour London in beautiful sunny weather.


Walked past Buckingham Palace and by coincidence caught the guards doing their thing.


Walked along Rotten Row, which is where people ride horses.


Remarked how London is a city of rules. Almost everywhere one would want to lock a bicycle is off limits, unlike in Paris or Toronto.



Took a tour boat to Greenwich.





The entrance to Greenwich.


My Mum worked here after the war when she was in the Wrens.


She served meals to the officers in this hall. She came out through this door.


The tables were set up differently back in those days. They were in long rows, not on a diagonal.




In the floor of the chapel.



Mum lived in this building. Her bed was in a long room behind the two shaded windows.



We had lunch in the Yacht Pub down this lane. A terribly long wait. We had to complain and threaten to leave before they brought us our food.



An interesting art installation on the wall.


We crossed to the Isle of Dogs through the tunnel under the Thames. There was a great mass of people rushing through. One young woman actually shoved past my mother and almost pushed her over! Mum said that when she lived there, it was usually quite empty.


A view of Greenwich from the Isle of Dogs.


Another view of Greenwich.

Perspective

I think mice are rather nice;
Their tails are long, their faces small;
They haven't any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house at night;
They nibble things they shouldn't touch,
and, no one seems to like them much,
but, I think mice are rather nice.

Rose Fyleman

Retracing Mum's routes

These are some London congestion charge "Cs" painted on the road. I took pictures as we roamed a route familiar to my mother who used to live and work in London.








My mother used to work for Bill Linnit, a theatre producer, in this building. The Linnits moved to the flat from Barton Street around the corner.

This was once the home of Lawrence of Arabia.


John Gielgud lived at the end of Barton in the house with the green door.


Number 11 is where my mother worked for the Linnits before they moved around the corner. She had a bedroom at the back of the house.


Lord Reith also lived on Barton Street, which is behind the Dean's Yard at Westminster Cathedral.


As we wandered, we encountered these signs.



Big Ben with the London Eye in the background.


Whitehall protest.