Pearly Harvest Festival Parade

We stopped to watch the Pearly Kings and Queens gathering at the Guildhall before their Harvest Festival parade. We kept our eyes peeled for the Walthamstow Pearly but failed to spot them.

Sigh...'tis Autumn.

E17 Pop Up Dim Sum Class

I attended Will Wong's fab Dim Sum class at the Rose & Crown today.

We learnt how to pleat, pinch and fold Har Gow, Chui Chow Fun Gwor in dough skins made from scratch. (In truth Will had indulged us & conscientiously done most of the prep, weighing the dry ingredients for the dough and chopping up the constituent ingredients for the fillings, which meant we had more time to spend on the fun tasks). We also learnt to wrap open top Sui Mai.

Once steamed we washed down those little parcels of delicious goodness with a glass of bubbly. Thanks Will.

I can't wait to try out the vegetarian recipes and practise my pleating skills.

My pretties:

Har Gow

Chui Chow Fun Gwor

Ta-ra, am just orf home to train the KP, er um... Suzy.

Dragons and Damsels

We attended the Natural History Museum's 'Science Uncovered' event.

We got to see Archie the giant squid in the spirit collection. We learnt of the existence of Bryozoa. Most importantly we have set ourselves a wager of an ice cream for the first to spot Broad-bodied Chaser, Southern Hawker and Emperor dragonflies on our walks in in 2015.

New England Sugar Pie

Not a spot on Mrs. Mulch's baby; we're ashamed to admit that we've been negligent in our duties to nurture our New England Sugar Pies. We planted them in pots and our holiday away meant that they were not properly fed and watered. We do hope though, that these gourds ripen enough for us to make a little Halloween treat.

Blackhorse Market

We made a quick visit to the very first Blackhorse Market at the Blackhorse Workshops. We're very excited by the opportunities these workshops offer and are looking forward to a future stone carving workshop.

We'll definitely be dropping in for a regular Wood Street Coffee fix. Brunch anyone?

City Harvest Festival, Capel Manor

A busy day today. We also attended the City Harvest Festival at Capel Manor, this event showcases London's City farms and community gardens.

"It's a veritable vegetable paradise!" A scrumptious harvest display by Capel Manor College. We admired the Sunrise Bumblebee Tomatoes and wondered how they would taste.

We were enchanted by the miniature farms and allotments ...

... and the Buff Orpington beauties.

We took time to walk around the gardens.

We stopped to admire the waterlilies in in the Koi Pond and the Japanese Rock Garden.

Sunday Pickings

Lunchtime snack

We've been growing mung bean sprouts indoors to try out the 'Sprouted Beans with Garlic, Lemon and Cumin, Funguyela mug nu shaak' from Meera Sodha's 'Made in India'. It's a winner.

Food for Foggy Days

It is always a lottery digging up the tatties and this year these Red Dukes were a damp squib. Oh well, enough for a pot of minestrone. Truth be told, another note for next year's To Do List, we ought to pull our socks up and put a bit more effort into feeding and earthing up.

Another of all time favourites we use Marcella Hazan's 'Minestrone alla Romagnola' recipe.

Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Festival

Sweet Apple Pie

C'est le Weekend.

For the pastry I used Dan Lepard's soft crust recipe.

Cool Cukes

We didn't get around to growing salads this year or for that matter, pickling gherkins. We'll have to start drawing up a To Do List for next year.

Housekeeping

I ventured to the bottom of the garden today to clean out the birdhouse ready for winter roosting and of course ♥ next year's blue tit brood ♥. If you're a little squeamish look away now.

A resident frog was also out and about.

It is a good thing to empty out the old nest materials, brush out the detritus and flush with boiling water. I encounter maggots and the like; not pleasant but at least we're giving next year's chicks a head start on the mites and parasites. It is important to wait until August to do this.