July 1st, 2011
The Adventures of Wilky Way
I have no idea what this is or where it’s come from, but I’m absolutely loving it – everything about it is adorable.
The little green character even looks a bit like me. (it doesn’t).
April 11th, 2011
Coffee vs tea
I love tea. Not in the same way that mums like tea – you know, the slightly obsessive ‘it’s been five minutes, shall we have another cuppa’ type way – but in more of a ‘yeah, why not, go on, I’ll have a cup’ type way.
I’m basically one of those annoying people in the office who never thinks about tea, and therefore never offers to make the tea, but is still quite happy to have a cup if someone else is making.
Thanks to my imperious sweet tooth I like my tea with two sugars. I also dislike coffee. It’s bitter. Even the choca-mocha-doodahs that everyone tells me to try are not enough for my sugar loving self.
As a result I think it’s important to maintain a supportive cheerleader relationship with tea – it needs our backing. It’s not necessarily cool, but it possesses an elegance that coffee can’t muster. Coffee is tea’s boorish American cousin who’s always a little bit over-excited and vulgar.
Considering all of the above I felt pretty chuffed when I saw this infographic on tea vs coffee. It outlines some fun facts, health statistics and even caffeine levels. There’s no clear winner necessarily, but in my view tea definitely comes out on top.
Whether you prefer Coffee Bars or Tea Shops, whether you like yours leafy or beany, this is well worth a look. Just so that you can see I’m blatantly right.
March 15th, 2011
Bi Winning by Big Tasty
My very clever fella has hooked up with the ever genius Mr. Lewis to form Big Tasty. This is their first track, Bi Winning, created ‘after a visit to ASDA then feasting on McDonalds, Czech lager, fruity cocktails and of course massive amounts of the drug they call Charlie Sheen’.
Sampling a few of Mr. Sheen’s killer quotes, it’s a pretty big tune. I know I’m biased, but I think it’s great – I’m sure Charlie would approve.
March 4th, 2011
Brass Monki customised trainers
I haven’t blogged for a really long time. I acknowledge this and am moving on, okay? The matter is finished, I’m sorry, lets put the past behind us.
In fact, let me distract you with these superfly, kickass trainers.
Ooooh, look, pretty colours…
All designs are by Daniel Reese of Brass Monki
November 26th, 2010
Wilky Cooks: chicken, sweet potato and coconut curry with palak paneer
So I’ve been working hard on my cooking skills recently, and have tried a lot of new recipes that I’m looking forward to sharing. I’ll start with my latest though, which, in celebration of National Curry Week (yes, there’s a National Curry Week!) was a chicken and sweet potato coconut curry with a side dish of palak paneer. It was pretty delicious, and not TOO hard to make – except for the fact that I’m a bit rubbish with timings so ended up doing a pretty decent headless chicken impression towards the end.
Excuse my photography skills, plus I’m not too skilled at plating up, so it’s not the most beautiful dish you’ll have ever seen, but YUM! I LOVE Indian food and managed to throw this all together so that it actually tasted good. Plus this made more than enough for the two of us for two days on the trot, so I got to put my feet up and revel in my achievements while my creation was heated up the next day.
I actually made the cheese for the paneer the day before, because I was thinking ahead. I never normally do the planning in advance thing, but I’m pretty sure you can get away with doing this all in one evening. The recipes were from a few different sources, which I’ve included here, and despite a rather vague palak paneer recipe, it all worked pretty well. The spinach did taste like it was missing something, but then I didn’t do the ghee thing at the end, so that probably explains it!
So cheese is really complicated to make, right? WRONG! It’s so super duper easy even I managed it just fine. And it has TWO ingredients:
Ingredients:
2.5 litre Milk
11/2tsp vinegar or 1/2tsp lemon juice or citric acid
Directions
1) Boil the milk in a pan.
2) When it’s boiling add lemon juice or vinegar or citric acid which ever you are using, while stirring.
3) If citric acid is being used, dissolve it in 2-tbsp water before adding.
4) When milk curdles full turn off the gas and keep aside for 5 minutes.
5) Pour it on to a cotton/muslin cloth and tie it with a tight knot.
6) When all the water is drained from the paneer shape it into a rectangular block. (I didn’t bother doing this so mine was more of a ‘splat’ shape)
7) Now place the cloth under heavy weight for 2-3 hours before using it.
See? Couldn’t be simpler…
So, once this was ready I was able to use it for my side dish:
Ingredients:
500gms Fresh Palak (Saag) (Spinach!)
100gms Paneer (I used all I had)
2 Onions
Grated Ginger (I used a chunk of about 2 inches)
Garlic paste (I used a couple of tsp)
5-6 tbsp oil
1 tsp pure ghee
Garam masala to taste (No idea how much I used)
Red chili powder to taste (Just a weeny sprinkle, but I wish I’d used more)
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt To Taste
Directions:
1) Clean and wash palak (spinach) nicely.
2) Boil the spinach in water and cool it. (pleasantly vague here, I think I boiled it for about 5 – 7 minutes until it was pretty soggy looking)
3) Now mash it in a mixer.
4) Heat oil in a kadai (dunno what this is, I used a wok). Add ginger-garlic paste and stir-fry for a minute.
5) Now add onions and fry till golden brown.
6) Add all spices except red chili powder.
7) Now add the spinach and little water if needed and cook for 4-5 minutes.
Cut paneer into pieces (Paneer can be fried to golden brown in a seperate pan or can be used as it is). (I didn’t do this, but again wish I had, it would have been a bit nicer I think)
9) Add Paneer pieces to the gravy and cook until done.
10) Take out in a bowl.
11) Just before serving, heat pure ghee in a small pan.
12) Hold the pan over bowl, add chili powder and immediately pour on the indian palak paneer. (I completely ignored both of these steps, but think it would have been better if I’d bothered)
13) Caution: Don’t allow chili powder to burn .
So, that was my nice, but not as nice as it could have been, Palak Paneer.
Now for the crowning glory of my dish, the really delicious and creamy curry. I stuck to this pretty much to the book, but the curry was a teeny bit watery for my taste, so I simmered it for another 10 minutes or so until I got the thicker consistency that I prefer.
Chicken, sweet potato and coconut curry
Ingredients:
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp mild curry paste
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
4 tbsp red split lentils
300ml chicken stock
400ml can coconut milk
175g frozen peas
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or wok, stir in the curry paste and fry for 1 minute.
2. Add the chicken, sweet potatoes and lentils and stir to coat in the paste
3. Pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Tip in the peas, bring back to the boil and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes.
5. Season to taste before serving.
November 25th, 2010
Bristol Staycation Part 2
We took a stroll along the waterfront, heading towards our hotel in the centre of Bristol. Despite being stuffed from all our delicious Moroccan food we thought we’d stop at a little doughnut stall to share ONE doughnut. However, once the jolly nice chap who worked at the stall offered us the opportunity to jump in and make the doughnuts ourselves, well, suddenly we found ourselves scoffing down about 8 of the delightful little buggers. Fun AND delicious.
Not only this, but the lovely doughnut chap (who disappeared before we got the chance to take his name) then gave us some lovely tips on what to do with the rest of our afternoon.
So, following his directions, we strolled further along the water until we reached The Apple Cider Bar, delightfully situated on a boat. Jumping aboard we enjoyed some warming mulled cider with a relaxing read of a newspaper.
Being the charmer that he is, the lovely bf booked us into the Second Floor Restaurant and Bar at Harvey Nichols for a romantic anniversary dinner. I’d really recommend it as a stop if you ever get the chance. The retro gold interiors was reminiscent of a Bond villain’s lair and the service and food were impeccable. Enjoyed the cocktail bar afterwards too!
After what may have been one mojito too many we made our way back to the hotel, which was the brand new Radisson Blu Hotel, Bristol. Despite being the tallest building on the waterfront and a slight eyesore, it made for a lovely stay. It wasn’t packed with charm or character – in fact, it’s a very business-y hotel – but the views from our 8th floor room were amazing, and the brekkie in the morning was fab.
November 19th, 2010
Bristol Staycation Part 1
I never make the time to holiday in the UK. Not even for long weekends. I get so embedded in my beloved hometown that I have to be pretty much shoe-horned out of the city to visit friends or family.
So as an anniversary treat for my lovely BF I whisked us up to Bristol for a weekend retreat to catch up on some couple time and maybe see a little more of what Britain has to offer.
What a lovely city! The laid back student feel and the constant blend of old and new architecture works beautifully to create a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere, and helped us to feel right at home straight away. I cleverly managed to leave my camera at home, so unfortunately we were forced to rely on the iPhone’s camera to document our weekend away. Slighty fuzzy and dark, but you get the gist.
Despite the gray skies and chilly weather we managed to pack tons into one day of wandering. We began with a stroll around the stunning Cathedral, before wandering up Park Street to the City Museum, where the fascinating Ancient Egypt exhibit kept us warm and enthralled and we both had the chance to poke at a few dinosaur bones.
A stroll back towards the river took us down the Christmas Steps, and to the adorable ‘Shop’ vintage store – a community run not-for-profit enterprise, where everything on sale was pre-90s and the interior decor was just gorgeous.
A detour down a side-street suddenly brought us to the incredible St. Nicholas’ Market. Wow! I couldn’t believe what we’d found – a huge sprawling mass of stall after stall selling anything and everything; from lamps to jewellery, t-shirts to fossils it had it all.
But the absolute best bit was the food market. Double wow. Seeing as it was starting to get dangerously past lunchtime (I get unfathomably grumpy if I surpass the healthy hunger levels) it seemed we had hit the jackpot. Particularly when we noticed a couple of spare seats in the gorgeous little Moroccan cafe. I would highly recommend eating here if you ever get a chance. Slow cooked lamb tagine with vegetables and cous cous, with some toasty hot tea. Just incredible!
October 13th, 2010
Straight outta Kemptown…
Once again my talented friends (two of the masterminds behind Hardboiled Wonderland plus the Rosy Cheeked Viking) have produced another cracking track – this time a tongue-in-cheek rap about their beloved Kemp Town.
So here they are J.J.R with ‘Straight Outta Kemptown’
J.J.R – Straight Outta Kemptown by Mr Lewis Mixes
October 11th, 2010
I met the walrus
John Lennon would have been 70 this month, and this short interview by Jerry Levitan seems a fitting memorial.
In 1969, at the age of 14, Levitan snuck into Lennon’s hotel room on Toronto with a recorder and asked the revolutionary performer a few questions. This video uses drawings by James Braithwaite and digital illustrations by Alex Kurina to beautifully illustrate Lennon’s words and the meaning behind them.
August 31st, 2010
I wish I were Big…
So you know the film Big – where a 12 year-old wishes to be a grown-up and wakes up as a 30 year-old Tom Hanks. Funny how 30 really doesn’t seem that old any more…
Well it was a favourite film for me, as it was for many people of my generation. Who DIDN’T want a giant trampoline in their front room, or the chance to play chopsticks on a massive floor piano?
But one thing I had never even IMAGINED possible was the possibility of owning myself the weird, creepy, but oh-so-iconographic Zoltan machine. Oh how wrong I was.
At www.zoltarmachine.com you can order, and event customise, your very own fortune telling wizard-in-a-glass-box.
Depending on your required size, shipping one of these bad boys over from the US should cost you in excess of £4,500, but wouldn’t it be worth it??
The first wish I’d make would be to be so stinking rich that I could afford to buy Zoltar Machines for all my friends. Just imagine what hilarious scrapes we’d all get ourselves into….
