Hello lovely people! What did you get up to over the Easter break? I managed to work my way through a lot of my suggested Easter ideas / activities which I mentioned in my last post ... so thought I'd do a little Easter weekend summary.
Cheeky brunch
I was a complete cliché and ordered avocado with poached eggs and smoked salmon. Too good. Although I don't understand how I can usually devour a full English breakfast without any problems at all and then when faced with a smaller - and healthier - plate of food, hit a wall. I ate through this proverbial wall (I can't stand wasted food!) but did spend the next few hours feeling about six months pregnant. But a long (7 mile) walk in the woods (see below) soon sorted that out!
Day trips
Earlier this week we took a trip to the V&A Museum. It wasn't the sunniest of days, so was a good day to be holed up inside. I could quite literally spend all day there. You walk in and see all the nude sculptures and busts on the ground floor. Some of them pretty sassy. I loved the intricate designs on the ceramics and glass (the iridescents being my favourites!) and all the mind-blowing masonry. Particularly the Roman pillar, originally 38 metres tall, but cut into sections to fit inside the museum, but even so, barely fitting. And don't get me started on the four poster bed with the dragons - I love the idea of dragons watching over you as you sleep! We didn't eat at the V&A this time as nobody got time for those sorts of queues. But South Ken is brilliant for food, so there are plenty of other options just paces away from any of the museums there. We opted for PQ as their chorizo quiche and freshly squeezed apple, melon and pineapple juice are to die for.
Walk in the woods
On the one day that we were guaranteed a rain free day, a trip to the woods was in order. I'd heard plenty of good things about Highgate Woods and being just a few minutes walk from Highgate station, was easy enough to get to. I kind of emulated my "walk in the woods" look from this post with tan boots, jeans and a light sweater. I'd say Highgate Woods is good for those who don't like to walk miles on end, and is perfectly suited to children thanks to the playing fields and playground. However the woods may feel quite small if you're like me and prefer to cover more ground (we ended up walking the circuit several times). It's also worth noting that when exiting the station, you walk up an extremely steep hill which isn't very wheelchair / pushchair friendly. It's definitely doable, but be prepared - I was knackered before we'd even got to the woods, but it was worth the climb! Nearing the end of our walk in the woods, I got told off for swearing by a middle aged woman ("there are children present!") but in fairness 1) her dog was viscous and jumped at us out of nowhere, so it was a natural reaction to swear! 2) her "child" was about 13. I'm sure he knows worse. The c word at the very least.
Easter cupcakes
Blessed with the sun this Easter weekend, we decided to venture into town to spend some time in Primrose Hill - otherwise known as the most beautiful place on Earth. I'd seen on Primrose Bakery's website that they were doing some pretty tasty looking Easter cupcakes for the Bank Holiday weekend. So that was The Quest. We rocked up at the bakery but none of the Easter cupcakes mentioned online were there. Sad times. So we stocked up on cakes topped with mini eggs, one especially colourful and sparkly one with a fluffy chick on top, and some mini cupcakes for later. Annoyingly the mini egg cakes weren't sponge - they were crispy cakes topped with lots of icing - and were too sickly sweet to eat. But Mr Chick made for a very tasty cake instead (Mr Chick survived and is currently sitting in our Easter flowers in the lounge). We sat and ate our cakes on Primrose Hill, cooing at two of the most beautiful huskies being walked, and watched a huge group of people run an egg and spoon race. Not to mention the excellent views into London, product of a wonderfully clear and sunny day.
Easter baking, cooking and gaming
My family brought me a macaron baking kit back from France which I took a punt on. I didn't photograph the result though as they were pretty shocking! Macarons are meant to be all smooth and glossy, but these ones had so many air bubbles in them. They were fine on the first day, but the day after they'd lost their crunch and were all soggy and messy. Still tasty enough (that ganache in the middle being the real MVP) but so awfully soggy you couldn't eat them without the aid of a spoon. So going forward, I won't be cheating with kits - I'll just make from scratch. Yes, a lot more efforty and time-consuming, but obviously worth it in the long run! I had better luck with my seafood paella. I made way too much, but it made the first day back at work pretty special (leftovers are the best!). Other than that, there was lots of glorious downtime. Including playing old family favourites like Frustration and Scrabble. I didn't exactly wear the items from my "baking, crafting and gaming" look from this post here, but admittedly I have ordered the kitty shirt since! ;) I didn't receive any Easter eggs this year, but that's ok. I explicitly asked for no Easter eggs this year because as funny as it sounds, I'm kinda of over chocolate. I think I ate so much over Christmas that the relationship chocolate and I have has been a little.... tainted ever since. Don't get me wrong, I'm still the biggest chocoholic there is. I just need to break myself in again... gradually!
What have you been up to lately?
Cheeky brunch
I was a complete cliché and ordered avocado with poached eggs and smoked salmon. Too good. Although I don't understand how I can usually devour a full English breakfast without any problems at all and then when faced with a smaller - and healthier - plate of food, hit a wall. I ate through this proverbial wall (I can't stand wasted food!) but did spend the next few hours feeling about six months pregnant. But a long (7 mile) walk in the woods (see below) soon sorted that out!
Day trips
Earlier this week we took a trip to the V&A Museum. It wasn't the sunniest of days, so was a good day to be holed up inside. I could quite literally spend all day there. You walk in and see all the nude sculptures and busts on the ground floor. Some of them pretty sassy. I loved the intricate designs on the ceramics and glass (the iridescents being my favourites!) and all the mind-blowing masonry. Particularly the Roman pillar, originally 38 metres tall, but cut into sections to fit inside the museum, but even so, barely fitting. And don't get me started on the four poster bed with the dragons - I love the idea of dragons watching over you as you sleep! We didn't eat at the V&A this time as nobody got time for those sorts of queues. But South Ken is brilliant for food, so there are plenty of other options just paces away from any of the museums there. We opted for PQ as their chorizo quiche and freshly squeezed apple, melon and pineapple juice are to die for.
Walk in the woods
On the one day that we were guaranteed a rain free day, a trip to the woods was in order. I'd heard plenty of good things about Highgate Woods and being just a few minutes walk from Highgate station, was easy enough to get to. I kind of emulated my "walk in the woods" look from this post with tan boots, jeans and a light sweater. I'd say Highgate Woods is good for those who don't like to walk miles on end, and is perfectly suited to children thanks to the playing fields and playground. However the woods may feel quite small if you're like me and prefer to cover more ground (we ended up walking the circuit several times). It's also worth noting that when exiting the station, you walk up an extremely steep hill which isn't very wheelchair / pushchair friendly. It's definitely doable, but be prepared - I was knackered before we'd even got to the woods, but it was worth the climb! Nearing the end of our walk in the woods, I got told off for swearing by a middle aged woman ("there are children present!") but in fairness 1) her dog was viscous and jumped at us out of nowhere, so it was a natural reaction to swear! 2) her "child" was about 13. I'm sure he knows worse. The c word at the very least.
Easter cupcakes
Blessed with the sun this Easter weekend, we decided to venture into town to spend some time in Primrose Hill - otherwise known as the most beautiful place on Earth. I'd seen on Primrose Bakery's website that they were doing some pretty tasty looking Easter cupcakes for the Bank Holiday weekend. So that was The Quest. We rocked up at the bakery but none of the Easter cupcakes mentioned online were there. Sad times. So we stocked up on cakes topped with mini eggs, one especially colourful and sparkly one with a fluffy chick on top, and some mini cupcakes for later. Annoyingly the mini egg cakes weren't sponge - they were crispy cakes topped with lots of icing - and were too sickly sweet to eat. But Mr Chick made for a very tasty cake instead (Mr Chick survived and is currently sitting in our Easter flowers in the lounge). We sat and ate our cakes on Primrose Hill, cooing at two of the most beautiful huskies being walked, and watched a huge group of people run an egg and spoon race. Not to mention the excellent views into London, product of a wonderfully clear and sunny day.
Easter baking, cooking and gaming
My family brought me a macaron baking kit back from France which I took a punt on. I didn't photograph the result though as they were pretty shocking! Macarons are meant to be all smooth and glossy, but these ones had so many air bubbles in them. They were fine on the first day, but the day after they'd lost their crunch and were all soggy and messy. Still tasty enough (that ganache in the middle being the real MVP) but so awfully soggy you couldn't eat them without the aid of a spoon. So going forward, I won't be cheating with kits - I'll just make from scratch. Yes, a lot more efforty and time-consuming, but obviously worth it in the long run! I had better luck with my seafood paella. I made way too much, but it made the first day back at work pretty special (leftovers are the best!). Other than that, there was lots of glorious downtime. Including playing old family favourites like Frustration and Scrabble. I didn't exactly wear the items from my "baking, crafting and gaming" look from this post here, but admittedly I have ordered the kitty shirt since! ;) I didn't receive any Easter eggs this year, but that's ok. I explicitly asked for no Easter eggs this year because as funny as it sounds, I'm kinda of over chocolate. I think I ate so much over Christmas that the relationship chocolate and I have has been a little.... tainted ever since. Don't get me wrong, I'm still the biggest chocoholic there is. I just need to break myself in again... gradually!
What have you been up to lately?
Ah I haven't been to the V&A museaum for ages, this post has reminded me to make a date of it. And holla about those queues, girl. The last time I went all I wanted was a latte from the little shop and I waited about 25 minutes!! But in fairness, dayum it was a good latte haha.
ReplyDeleteKatie.
xx La Coco Noire
The little shop outside in the courtyard? I hear that! I went back later in the day to grab one and by then they were closing up shop! :( sad times x
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