Review: Dinner at River Cottage Canteen

Winchester seems to have a vast number of new restaurants popping up left-right and centre; Cote, Rick Stein and Wagamamas are all set to move in. The most recent, opening just last week in Abbey Gardens, is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen.

 

Having been invited to eat at The Cottage for a pre-opening dry-run, I was very excited to see what they’d done to a building that I’d seen stand empty and unused for so long.

Upon arrival we were met at the door by charming waiting staff who escorted us to the perfect table overlooking the predominance of the restaurant. What was in danger of being a very cold building has been draped in the most beautiful rope lights that show bare filament glowing yellow; the light and candles bounce off white walls and creates an atmosphere of warmth and happiness which is only accentuated by smiley, chatty staff who are happy to advise and suggest dishes. 

Our waiter, Henry, was friendly, happy and knew everything that he should have. His personal recommendations were useful throughout the night and made the whole experience more personable.  It was really nice to go to a nice event but there be an undeniable chilled-out feeling; no one was stressing out or panicking or hovering. 

The menu was larger than expected seven dishes to start, seven for mains, three sharing boards and the choice of six side dishes. Unfortunately (for me) I don’t eat fish and the menu was quite fish heavy, but for anyone else I imagine having the choice was wonderful – everything I saw coming out of the kitchen, including Fish, looked wonderfully presented and very generously portioned. I had the beef brisket which was delightful and still so wonderfully pink in the middle and James has the Wild Boar Chop which needs a steak knife but is beautifully cooked none the less.

 On a wall near our table was a little chalk board which sported the local produce companies – it was nice to know, really nice actually, that people care where their food is coming from. If anyone has seen Hugh’s River Cottage television show, you’ll know how hot he is on local and responsible sourcing. Brimfield’s vegetables is just one of the companies that River Cottage is sourcing produce from – Brimfield’s sell all different kinds of fruits and vegetables as well as a vast variety of bread and eggs (sourced locally and ethically) and have set up shop in Kingsworthy, so not far at all! 

Other flavours and food stuffs that seemed quite popular throughout the River Cottage night were pumpkins and squashes; peppering the menu with autumnal flavours as well as apple and elderflower flavourings stocking up the bar in their own Apple & Elderflower Champagne, Apple Mojitos and more. 

Whilst on the subject of the bar, I’d like to jump-up-and-down praising River Cottage for sourcing local ale too; not just local ale but Saxon Bronze - a local ale made by one man entirely on his own.  Steve used to work for the Flower Pots Brewery in Cheriton that has given us Gooden’s Gold, Perridge Pale and more. Now, he works on his own at his King Alfred’s Brewery in Winall, Winchester brewing his ales less than two miles away from River Cottage.  His Saxon Bronze is so popular that he sometimes struggles to keep up with the demand, other times he has enough spare time to whip up some of his Winchester Pale Ale which is equally as well received. 

Dessert was probably my favourite part of the night – I don’t often eat desserts, but when I do I like to choose carefully. Spoilt for choice at River Cottage we shared the Lavender Pannacotta that came with autumn raspberries, wood sorrel and vanilla shortbread AND we also had some salted caramel ice cream on the side. Salted Caramel by Jude’s Ice Cream is also a cleverly sourced product – Jude’s is from Winchester and there are currently six magnificent flavours. For a company started by one man, who named his company after his wife, they’ve done miraculously! The pannacotta was perfect; again the portioning was huge (I am NOT complaining) and we could only just finish. The lavender flavour was just right and was far from the overwhelming soapy taste you can sometimes get. 

Overall, I had a wonderful time. The guests all seemed happy and excited to see what was in store for them and that’s one of the nicest things – locals being excited about local business that use local produce.  Would I go back? For sure, I’ve already booked a table for my Graduation day so my parents and grandmother can enjoy it too. My Nan’s very opinionated so we’ll see what she makes of it!

So, to everyone at River Cottage especially Henry, Becky and Mark – thank you for a wonderful night. We’ll be back soon and we’re telling everyone how great you are.

How To - Best Bloody Mary's Ever.

How to make the best Bloody Mary you’ll ever have. 

So, everyone knows that a good Bloody Mary is the perfect way to slide into an evening session or maybe even a cheeky pick me up in the afternoon. Either way, there are do’s-and-don’ts.

This is the way I’ve been taught to make a Bloody Mary, with my own preferences thrown in too.

You will need to acquire the following;

-          One bottle of the regular, normal old tomato juice. Britvic or Schweppes is fine, Big Tom is not. Big Tom is already spiced so you don’t really want to use that one if you’re into tailoring your own drink. Also, if you use Big Tom it will make everything I’m about to say entirely irrelevant.

-          A double, or  50ml’s, of regular vodka. Smirnoff,  Absolut ...whatever floats your boat.

-          A ‘little’ splash of Tabasco sauce.

-          A generous splash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

-          A sprinkle of Celery Salt, which you can by in the spice section of most full-size supermarkets. By full-size, I mean not a Tesco Metro. You need a proper big boy supermarket.

-          Ice

-          Lemon slice.

-          Celery stick (if you want)

1.       Combine all ingredients except juice and lemon into your glass. Stir.

2.       Pour half of your juice into your glass. Stir.

3.       Fill your glass with juice, stir and add in your lemon.

4.       Slide your celery stick in as an edible-stirer.

5.       Enjoy.

For those who don’t want ice in their juice, try this version. This is the version I make at the bar, or if I’m not being lazy. Me? Lazy? Ahem.

1.    Pour ice, vodka, celery salt, Lea & Perrins and Tabasco into a pint glass.

2.   Pour mixture into another pint glass, and then back again into the original. 

3.   Pour half of your tomato juice into the mixture (still in a pint glass).

4.   Repeat step two.

5.   Add remaining tomato juice.

6.    Repeat step two.

7.    Strain and serve into a half-pint glass, garnish with celery and or lemon.  Your Bloody Mary will be chilled from the ice in the pint glasses and will not have dissolving cubes floating about in it.

8.     Enjoy.

If you would prefer a Virgin Mary, simply follow steps 1 through 8, but don’t add the Vodka at the start. Et voila – the perfect brunch juice drink for your friends on Saturday morning.

If you'd like more recipes for cocktails and things of the like, BBC Online has some good ones, or if you want something a little sexier and daring try out the cocktails on Esquire, who are doing awesome Whiskey Cocktails for Fall at the moment. (which is Autumn to us Brits.) 

Hope you have enjoyed this how-to. I’ve quite enjoyed making it, so maybe there’ll be more of this kind of thing going on. Let me know if you do like this, if you don’t, if you like Bloody Mary’s, if you don’t. Yadda yadda yadda.

It's Okay not to be O.K

It’s in sadness that the internet has been flooded with tributes, posts and comments regarding the untimely loss of Robin Williams; comedy genius and, according to family, friends and cast mates, the nicest man you’d ever meet.

Once someone has killed themselves, it is easy to look back and say you always knew it would happen – the sentiment of ‘always being able to see the sadness around their eyes’ comes far too easily to people who don’t know what else to say. The truth is, unless you followed Robin William’s life closely, you probably didn’t have any inkling that this would be the path he’d take; neither did I.

According to press, and to me it sounds quite likely, Kate Middleton had various counselling sessions before her announcement that she would be joining the Royal Family – a set of strict events that has been put in place to prevent situations like Princess Diana happening again. Whilst pregnant with Prince William, Diana is said to have thrown herself not only down the stairs but also into a glass cabinet before taking further actions to end her life. (Diana did not successfully commit suicide; however she was killed in a car accident in France, August 1997. This incident is surrounded in speculation, controversy and conspiracy but a large percentage of people choose to believe the accident was just that; an accident.) From the outside looking in, it would seem Kate Middleton has adjusted well to life as a Royal and is blossoming into her role as mother to Prince George, born July 2013. However, who is to know what happens behind closed doors; the Robin Williams case illustrates that we don’t.

Certain celebrities have been more open with their depression diagnoses; Demi Lovato, Winona Ryder and Eminem are just to name a few. Lovato sought treatment for Bipolar Disorder, Bulimia and Drug Addiction in October 2010 and has since become a Mental Health advocate, raising awareness of depression and sober living.  Winona Ryder is said to have spiraled into depression after her break-up with actor Johnny Depp, falling asleep with cigarettes lit and setting herself on fire gave her the mindset to seek treatment. 

For more information on mental illness, please have a read of the following links, and don’t be afraid to ask anyone questions –

Mind Charity
http://www.mind.org.uk/

The Mental Health Foundation
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

Rethink Mental Illness
http://www.rethink.org/

This post isn’t meant to be a list of suicidal celebrities and what they’re doing now, it’s meant to be the reassurance that all these once suicidal people are now doing things – they’ve come through it, and most importantly I think they’ve accepted that it’s okay to not be okay. 

I’ll say it again, because I know we all struggle to hear it sometimes. 

It’s okay to not be okay. 

To all my friends that I don’t ask enough - how are you? I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to realise that sometimes that’s all you need. If you have friends you haven’t spoken to in a while – just ask them how they’re doing. Sometimes it’s nice to know that someone’s thinking of you even if it’s just fleeting. I don’t want to be on your mind all the time, just for a minute when you see something that reminds me of you. 

When I get sad, and just because I do it doesn’t mean I’m depressed (people are allowed down days), I try to think about the Hugh Grant quote from Love, Actually. I’m sure you know the one I mean, but I’ll put it in anyway because it’s a nice read. 

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinions are starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”

If you are sad, and I haven’t noticed, I am sorry. Find someone who you love or who loves you and feel special - because you are, any of you; all of you. I don’t want this post to be gushy and awkward, I just think it’s important that people understand that even in the darkest moments there will always be someone who loves you – even if it is just me.  

Being sad does not make you weird; we all get sad. Sometimes I have days where I can stub my toe ,or run out of coffee, and cry for hours. People of the world, please make sure your friends know that you love them even if it takes extra time out of your day; I can guarantee that it’ll do you good too – good deeds make everyone feel good. 

Want someone to talk to?
Samaritans UK - 08457 909090 (All)
Calm: 0800 585858 (Men, aged 18-35)
HopeLine UK – 0800 068 4141 (Young People, in general)
Me: LTBrookman@gmail.com (Anyone and everyone.) 

For those on the ledge, please realise suicide is final. No second chances, no negotiations, no plea bargains. You are worth more than that. I believe in you.

First Writing Job Post-Uni - PANIC.

When I was a child I yearned to be an actress; stage, screen – you name it. And after much performance training and long ballet classes, as well as GCSE’s and a BTEC in Performing Arts I decided I wasn’t as competitive as the profession needed me to be (however, I do still belt out the Musical Theatre classics in the shower).  Acting and musicals were my childhood; my grandma and I used to spend Saturdays (and her pension) visiting West End Musicals and I still have a giant box of programs collected over the years. My adolescence was spent performing in college shows and enjoying Amateur Dramatics with Second To None Theatre Company, based in Kent, but when I came to University that all changed.

At Winchester University, I never took a dance class, I never joined the Performing Arts society – I started writing, editing and writing and editing, and writing and editing. It’s only now that I’ve realised, post-degree, that the writing-world is very similar to that of the acting/performance world. Everyone thinks they can do it, very few can. I am still yet to know if I can do the writing thing. However, I did take on my first freelance job last week. Not something I’d planned to do, but enjoyable and beneficial nonetheless.

A friend, Simon, runs a Television Studio company and he’s putting on an event in Boston this September. His PA is currently on holiday, and his ‘people’ surprised him by asking for their Health & Safety document, complete with schedule and risk assessment, three weeks too early. This is where I came in, Simon is a friend of a friend, and our mutual friend Cassi suggested me to help him out.

With no previous Health & Safety knowledge, I was incredibly dubious and nervous to even agree to help – I just didn’t want to let either Cassi or Simon down. However, I turned up eager and ready to work. A semi-stressful day and a half later and the work was finished and I was really happy with the work I’d put into the document.

Even though Health & Safety isn’t something that I want to do, and it’s not as ‘creative’ as I’d like to be writing, I am eternally grateful for the experience (and the pay, believe me!).  I am also so glad that there were people around who thought that I could do it, even when I thought I couldn’t.  Who am I to be writing about Health & Safety? I am perpetually smashing things and I’m always peppered by black and blue bruises. A bull in a china shop comes to mind, actually. A bull in a china shop, whilst copywriting. 

So, although it’s not my writing-world ‘big-break’ it’s certainly a step in the right direction. It’s inspired me to get on with my own stuff; to blog more regularly, to read more, to learn more – all so I have more to offer, more knowledge, more opinions and more practise under my belt. If something is true of both acting and writing worlds it’s that if you have a spare moment; practise. Practise doesn’t always make perfect, but it makes better than the time before. That’s pretty much all I can offer at this stage in the game, that I am better at life than I was yesterday, and here’s hoping that that’s good enough.

I’ve copied in some useful websites and things that keep me inspired and interested just because I know how shit it is to be ‘stuck’.

Ideas Tap is a completely free website that lists job opportunities, information and inspirational videos and articles to keep things fresh in your mind.

You The Designer is an awesome, slightly more visual, creative inspiration space that provides ideas on typography, graphic design as well as downloadable freebies.

And last, for today, Pinterest. Be it with interior design, quotes, fashion or recipes this website is awash with bright ideas and creative inspirations that keep me awake for hours when I really should be sleeping.

Lust for Learning.

Learning should never stop. I believe that with my whole heart. Just because you’re done with school (be it college, or a degree, or an MA or whatever...) I don’t think you should stop learning. I don’t think you should WANT to stop learning. If there comes a day where you don’t want to learn anymore – there’s a problem. I hope there isn’t a day that I don’t want to learn anything else, because that might mean that I think I know everything or that I know enough – I will never know enough.

Anyone who doesn’t understand, I sort of feel sorry for. Not in a mean way, I just think it might be quiet lonely to never want to know anything else about anything. I like that I get hungry to learn things; it’s a good thing. I’m sure there are people out there in the world, or even the near vicinity, who think that I’m a swot, or a bit nerdy, or just all-around lame but I honestly don’t care. Because one day, I will be able to hold my own in most conversations and feel confident about what I have learned and the opinions that I have formed from my own research and learning.

Recently, I have read two books that have taught me so much about areas that I could never have studied in a dedicated institution (school, college, university) because they aren’t part of the faculty that I put myself into by choosing to study what I did at University. I am so grateful for the fact that I find these books engaging and useful because, on a rather cliché note, I will be a better/more rounded person for reading them and exploring many other subjects that I haven’t studied.

THE SKELETON CUPBOARD: The Making of a Clinical Psychologist . (Prof. Tanya Byron)

“The Skeleton Cupboard is Professor Tanya Byron's account of her years of training as a clinical psychologist, when trainees find themselves in the toughest placements of their careers. Through the eyes of her naive and inexperienced younger self, Tanya shares remarkable stories inspired by the people she had the privilege to treat. Gripping, poignant and full of daring black humour, this book reveals the frightening and challenging induction faced by all mental health staff and highlights their incredible commitment to their patients.”

Featuring emotionally harrowing passages on child abuse, dealings with a physically abusive and psychotic patient, treating an older German-Jewish patient (who survived Auschwitz) now suffering from dementia who believes that in every shower she takes she is being exterminated. As well as exploring the lives of drug dependant patients, the fluctuations of T-Cells of HIV positive patients, and lastly a stand-out section on a young girl suffering from a malicious eating disorder.

Whilst all the above combined doesn’t sound like such a cheery book to read, it’s worth it. There are light moments; happiness within families brought closer together, congratulations on various remissions from disease and what seems to be an everlasting stream of hope for a better future running throughout.

Because Professor Tanya Byron is so academically decorated it makes reading the book very easy and enjoyable; believable, real and emotive. Whilst giving details of treatment procedures, the book also provides insight into the lives of various medical professionals that we as outsiders couldn’t ever fathom.

For someone who already had interest in the psychological world, I would majorly recommend this book. For someone who has no interest in the psychological world, I would recommend the book purely to learn about the human race and their feats.

DO NO HARM: Stories of life, death and brain surgery. (Dr. Henry Marsh, CBE and FRCS.)

I’m only a third or so through this book, but I’m already hooked. The chapters are split into medical diagnoses for example; Pineocytoma, Aneurysm, Haemangioblastoma etc and reading through the Aneurysm passage – I genuinely believe I could clip an Aneurysm if needed. Obviously, literally, I couldn’t but in theory I could.

"What is it like to be a brain surgeon?

How does it feel to hold someone's life in your hands, to cut into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason?

How do you live with the consequences of performing a potentially life-saving operation when it all goes wrong?

In neurosurgery, more than in any other branch of medicine, the doctor's oath to 'do no harm' holds a bitter irony. Operations on the brain carry grave risks. Every day, Henry Marsh must make agonising decisions, often in the face of great urgency and uncertainty.

If you believe that brain surgery is a precise and exquisite craft, practised by calm and detached surgeons, this gripping, brutally honest account will make you think again. With astonishing compassion and candour, one of the country's leading neurosurgeons reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets and the moments of black humour that characterise a brain surgeon's life.

DO NO HARM is an unforgettable insight into the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital. Above all, it is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life's most difficult decisions."

The book illustrates the neuroses that brain surgeons themselves go through – the tension and pressure of holding a scalpel to the section of the brain that controls motor function; you could rid someone of their basic motor skills. Holding a scalpel to the temporal or frontal lobes? You rid someone of everything that makes them who they are and wipe away their memories as quick as condensation on your bathroom mirror.

 I don’t know if I could cope under the pressure of holding peoples’ lives in my hands – or worse than that, if you don’t actually end up killing someone, you could just remove their ability to move or talk or see or hear and surely that’s a fate worse than death – being an alive being trapped in a coffin of a lifeless body; unable to interact with the people you love.

Because I’m not quite finished with this book yet I can’t give it a definitive review but I get the feeling I will enjoy it and benefit from it as much as I did from Tanya Byron’s book. Henry Marsh became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1984, which is home in London and plays host to the fabulous Huntarian Museum which I visited with my boyfriend earlier on this year.  The museum holds a vast collection of weird and wonderful things and if you too have an obsession with the morbid and medical, I would absolutely recommend taking a trip when you’re next in London.

Overall, these are just two examples of books I have read this year that I have learned amazing things from. Of course I could just read all of the information online, but when people like Tanya Byron and Henry Marsh bother to make the information readily accessible and enjoyable – why not take advantage?

I will always yearn for more knowledge and to learn about things and I think you should too. Learn Russian. Learn the phonetic alphabet. Something. Anything. J

Another Baking Blog - Macarons with Jols!

When you’re life is stressing you out, I have found that baking helps. Creating something that you have complete control over makes a nice change to living constantly in the whirlwind of landlords, banks, bosses and other pains in the ass. 

So it’s Friday, the last day before the heaving weekend shifts in the bar and I decided to rope in a friend, trained pastry chef don’t you  know, and have a go at Macarons. Having been introduced to Macarons at Lauduree in Harrods by my boyfriend (also trained Chef) my heart was sold. Give me Salted Caramel, Orange Blossom, Rose or Violet macarons and my day is made – hell, my week is made. 

However because I’d practically forced Jols to make macarons with me, I  pretty much let her choose flavours. Eventually we went with dark chocolate and raspberry and then dark chocolate and coconut. The left over dark chocolate from someone’s birthday seemed to be a recurrent theme in our recipes.

With my head spinning in the differences between italian and french meringue, plus likes of The Meringue GirlsCookbook and all the fabulous flavours and colourings, I had done my research and I was raring to go.  

Unfortunately, we fell at the first hurdle. We’d run out of sugar. 

A (semi) quick trip to Sainsburies and a Starbucks coffee later – we’re back in the kitchen. First up were the macarons that were meant to be black. Black and red we thought, how decadent and daring. Our black turned out to be more grey-ish, but it still looked pretty good with the red sprinkles on top. 

Those grey-ish macarons became our fresh raspberry and dark chocolate macarons. 

Next up, we let little Max (Jols’ son) sprinkle on some decimated Coconut and we created our next masterpiece – toasted coconut and dark chocolate. 

Only then did we get to big for our boots and attempt lemon macarons. Sadly, after a small oven malfunction, our pretty pale lemon mixture turned into grilled cheese when someone (naming no names) put the grill on, rather than the oven.

So, no lemon macarons but plenty of raspberry, coconut and dark chocolate ones.

And some homemade marshmallow to boot - keeping the little one happy.

Overall, I think we did good and we had nothing but good reviews. 

Hopefully you guys think they look as good as they tasted.