LOVES Spring Daffs In Vintage Glasses

Pottery and Quiche

Pottery class yesterday, these little expresso cups need a little extra sanding, a firing in the kiln and then a glaze with maybe duck egg blue on the outside, white on the inside, will post pictures when finished.
Love Pottery class but will I ever be this good! beautiful ceramics from Pieter Stockmans studio in Belgium.

After class Into Manchester for a quick lunch with daughter, where we watched Leap Year, lovely romantic comedy with beautiful shots of the Irish countryside.

Tonight's dinner is tofu and broccoli quiche, new potatoes and carrots, this is basic recipe, which I tried out for the first time.

recipe

ready made short crust pastry

1 onion (I normally mix 1/2 & half with finely chopped celery )
2 cloves of garlic (again I add about 4 but it is personal preference)
approx. 1lb of cooked broccoli (or veg of your choice)
1lb of tofu
3/4 cup of soya milk
40z grated soya cheese
salt & pepper with a dash of english mustard and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice


Bake pastry blind approx. 15 mins and let cool
Sweat off diced onion & garlic in a little vegetable oil until just going soft
Mix all other ingredients in a blender till smooth
Pour into cooled pastry caseand bake on a baking tray in the middle of the oven for 40 mins on 180c.

Seemed to work out well and was a big hit with the family.

So just a quick update of the goings-on here at the Window Shopping home.

R&R London Style

Hello, welcome to my first post, thought I would take the plunge and join the blogging world.

Just back from a bit of R & R in the big smoke London town, we packed a lot in one day.
Morning coffee at Caffe Concerto, Regent St, Piccadilly

A bit more wandering, can’t resist an Apple store (nice just to go in without worrying how much our poorly desk top is going to cost, or waiting for genius to sooth away a problem.)

next Anthropologie divine !!!!!!
and a browse through Liberty & Co

A short stroll though Carnaby St. I remember being so awe inspired as a child at the wonder of this road (the 60’s & 70’s fashion scene did not hit St. Helens quite like this.)

Then onto Lunch at the wonderful Mildred's


I highly recommend this restaurant, as a vegan you get used to at anything from disinterest to hostile annoyed comments like ”well what can you eat?”, “its only cheese, chicken, milk etc,” or “we can take out the ham!”

I had a scrumptious mushroom and ale pie with fluffy puff pastry, and hallelujah! crispy not soggy half cooked fat chips (you know the ones that chef’s like to force you to eat instead of well cooked crisp ones, some things don’t need improving on) and homemade mushy peas, heaven nice to eat good food outside the house that I haven't cooked myself. All this with great fast service, and meat eaters wouldn't even notice it was a vegetarian place, it’s a proper grown restaurant, yippee long way to go for lunch or dinner sadly we don’t have anything like this in Manchester.
All in all a pretty good day and we upgraded to first class on the way home, mainly to avoid slightly drunk and excited football fan.

Anyway more posts to come, so see you then.

Photo credit -
http://www.patisserieconcerto.com -/- http://www.anthropologie.com
-/- http://www.businessoffashion.com -/- http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/23/anthropologie-london-shop-opens -/- http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/tag/pulling -/- http://www.mildreds.co.uk