A very social week

K-Bear, Matt (known as Cookie to precisely no one) and Yuddi at the send-off

Whew! This week has been crazy, and it's not over yet! We've had houseguests, a boys' trip to the cinema (I was invited, but took advantage of an empty house to have some quality girl alone time), and a damn fine birthday party/goodbye party for the lovely Yuddi, who is moving to Germany for a year today. Bon voyage, Yuddi!

Tonight, The Boy and I are off to a Malaysian Curry Festival by Liverpool Street. We get free curry, and all we have to do is give the dishes marks out of 10. Such a chore!

On the cooking front, I've got chickpeas soaking in the kitchen to make hummous tomorrow, using this recipe. I occasionally get serious hummous cravings, and drive The Boy mad until I find one that satisfies my tastebuds, so here's hoping that this one hits the spot!

Tea with Fergus, or why I love my friends

I had the most decadent day on Friday! I spent the morning watching an old BBC adaptation of Wives and Daughters, then tootled over to West Hampstead to have tea with my friend Fergus.

Fergus isn't one to do things by halves. This was the table when I arrived:

(That's homemade cherry cake, along with still warm scones)

And that was before we got on to the green tea, the shisha or the G&Ts whilst watching Beautiful People... I had to send The Boy a text saying, "I am a terrible slattern, I am drinking gin and not making fish pie".

I also had the opportunity to admire the tapestry he has been working on for months. He embroidered funny things that have been said by him and his best friend and flatmate Tristan over the years, in all the languages they speak. I spent ages looking at it, every time I glanced over I spotted something new

(I love the 'People like us don't use mugs' in the bottom left corner)

Several hours later, I wobbled home and proceeded to rustle up Nigella's fish pie from How to Eat. I find that in all of her recipes, there's always one error. This time it was the amount of liquid needed to make the sauce, but after I subbed and tweaked, it was very tasty.

All in all, a perfect start to the weekend. 

Weekend and Friday pic

It's been a wonderful end to a nigglesome week.

Today I met Michael, friend and former colleague (he's one of the amazing curators behind this exhibition), for coffee at Loafing by Victoria Park. As we drank our (very tasty) flat whites, he used his gingerbread man to tell me about Francois Ravaillac, the fanatic who assassinated Henri IV of France. The picture you see above is of the torture he experienced before his execution (quartering, with the sugar cubes doubling as hot coals). It was hilarious, seeing such a mild mannered chap breaking up his gingerbread man with glee. The looks we got from other customers as they overheard snippets of the conversation!

On the subject of Henri IV, I recommended one of my favourite films, La Reine Margot. Have you seen it? It's indescribably beautiful, and Isabelle Adjani, who plays Margot, is stunning.

And so to the weekend! What are your plans? I'm helping my friend Heaths shop for furniture tomorrow, and there will be some more anniversary celebrations with The Boy at some point - probably Malaysian food at Makan by Portobello Market, unpretentious, cheap and seriously tasty (it's one of my favourite secret spots for food!)

Have a great weekend, all!

Supper last night

The idea, at breakfast - something healthy and full of vegetables

The reality - post-hospital

Wenchy McWench does not have malaria, or anything worse, just a nasty chest infection. Poor chicken, she had seven vials (she insists it was pints) of blood taken, and is now crammed full of antibiotics that make her sick. The only thing that cheered her up was the rather yummy doctor who talked us through her results. I get the feeling that he was just glad to be talking to someone young and friendly...

Care package

There are times I'm very grateful that I work part time. I can be there to provide support to others when they need it. Time is the one luxury I can give sometimes.

A good friend, Wenchy McWench (obviously not her real name, but she answers to it!) was taken into hospital a few hours ago with breathing difficulties. She's just come back from a month's digging in Belize, so her concern is that it's something nasty. I'm putting together a waiting room package, as many issues of Vogue I can find, a pack of cards, a drawing pad for doodles (she's forever mocking my total lack of drawing skills, and requests doodles just to make her laugh), and a big bottle of water. That should do it, right?

Oh, and cash. Nothing worse than being stuck opposite a vending machine for hours on end with no change.

The people I love are the wonders of my world

free 'group' hugs
Originally uploaded by kalandrakas

I am so lucky to have the friends I do.

One of those wonderful people goes by the name 'Lovely Jo'. We met when we were doing our A-Levels, and she has been a constant source of delight since.

Some things you should know about Lovely Jo:
- When she was 16, she cooked a fish pie in the microwave for so long, that when she dropped it on taking it out, it bounced.
- She came down to London for my 21st birthday party, just to help me make brownies. And only told me that she is allergic to nuts after she'd stirred them into the mix, because it was "your cake".
- One afternoon, when she was having a rubbish time, she got the train down from Birmingham, and we walked round and round Leicester Square in the rain, scoring massive amounts of free chocolate from the teams promoting the second Bridget Jones film.

Today I learned that Lovely Jo marries her very own Boy next summer, the first of my secular friends to do so. Lovely Jo, I'm so very very happy for you.