Bangkok in photos

Just a short post today. Having a great time in Bangkok. Loving the beautiful food even though my kosher-ish diet (no shellfish or pork) is restricting me somewhat. The variety and freshness of the produce amazes me - I have been to Thailand a number of times yet am still seeing things I have never seen before. Check out the vegetables below!

I also had an amazing foot massage today and it felt amazing. If only there were time for such indulgences at home. How are we spending the days? We are just walking around, chilling out and relaxing. Mostly, I love these smiley people. In Thailand you see people who are really below the poverty line. Street vendors, taxi drivers, all struggling to make ends meet. Yet they are happy and smiley and always eager to help. It gives a new meaning to the word perspective - a perfect display of perseverance and gratitude. There is so much to learn from them.

Here are some photos, now that I have a cable...

Fried sea bass in a sweet honey sauce. Stunning.

Spicy fish paste with vegetables I have never seen before.


Tonight's dinner
Foggy Bangkok skyline

Local fruit stall.
Hotel swimming pool = heaven
Tom Yum soup - lemongrass broth with coconut milk and steamed sea bass. 
Interior of one of the restaurants we ate in - so different from home but so delicious
Eddie!
A tired me on the first night here
Rose apples - look how beautiful. They are fragrant and not-to-sweet apples. Yum.e an

Bangkok

These past few days have sped by so fast... I have been on an advocacy course and have run a million errands, all before going on holiday with my Dad to Thailand. And now I'm here!

Dad 'discovered' Thailand long before it was a trendy tourist destination. He has been coming here for years. His love affair with Thailand began when he was young and trying to make ends meet as a diamond dealer. Let me tell you, it's a tough life. Anyway, at that time he met his friend Eddie. They have been friends for 40 years! It's amazing. Dad gave Eddie his first order, and whilst they are certainly no longer business buddies they are loyal friends. They watched each other raise families (Eddie is married to Moon, and they have four children, who are now grown up). Eddie is the softest spoken, loveliest man who emanates an aura of calm and faith. He is Buddhist and this shines through I think. He has a thirst for life (and food, don't get me started on the food). What wouldn't Eddie do for someone he loves? The sky is the limit. He is just so so good to us. He takes us everywhere, shares his new restaurant discoveries, bends over backwards to give us a good time. A precious friend - there aren't people like that anymore, who are happy to go out of their way for you. 

My trips with Dad to Bangkok are always a great time together. Dad comes alive in the hectic mess of it all - he loves discovering new places to eat, the trolleys of food on the streets, the fact that it is less developed than Europe. It reminds him of growing up in Jerusalem, I think, as it was then. The authenticity. I often think that he could quite happily live here. 

We got here yesterday afternoon and immediately went to our hotel, the Shangri-La. It's beautiful! And around the corner there is a department store for locals. The brands tend to be inexpensive and the whole thing is authentic. We love that. We always start out our trips here. I buy the toiletries I couldn't be bothered to carry and we stock up on soft drinks and snacks for the room. Here's something that irritates me. This is Thailand. A coke can costs 13 baht (about 20p/25-30cents). How can the hotel justify charging £3 ($5) for one can? We refuse!

Then we went to one of our favourite restaurants in the market. The food is so so good, so fresh. Dad had crab and octopus and I had steamed fish and vegetables. The restaurants here are so different from back home! Messy, they are brimming with clutter and they look dilapidated. But the food! Hues of lemongrass and wild mushrooms, tom yum paste and charcoaled egg friend rice. Love. Tomorrow I will buy a camera cable and share photos with you. 

But now it is 4.30 in the morning. I am jet-lagged and can't sleep. So here I am, blogging, with a cup of mango tea and exotic fruit by my side. Don't you just love the beginning of a holiday? All the excitement ahead of you? It's nice to have a moment to basque in that. Can't wait for breakfast!

Dark chocolate-espresso cookies

These cookies are something I came up with in France when I wanted to make cookie bags for colleagues. They are a very dark chocolate biscuit, for real dark chocolate lovers (70% +). In my opinion there is a time for retro sweets, cupcakes with sweet frosting, cake pops, and there is a time when only a true dark chocolate fix will do. These are for those times.

Tomorrow night I will be having dinner with Ryan, Gavin and Mauritz. After dinner we will go to Ryan and Mauritz's new flat on Finchley Road, sip some wine and chatter. Now, Gavin and Mauritz appreciate the finer things in life, and when I was last over they treated me to some beautiful dark chocolate. I wanted to give them something to celebrate the move, and these popped into my mind. They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and brimming with an intense chocolate flavour. They are just the thing.

Recipe

200g dark coffee chocolate, melted (Lindt - or if not then add 4tbsp instant coffee)
125g unsalted butter
185g soft brown sugar
1 egg
185g flour
40g unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (180 C). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy with electric mixer
2. add egg and beat until just combined
3. add melted chocolate
4. Sift in flour and cocoa, mi with mixer for 5 minutes
5. shape dough into 1 1/4 inch rounds. (you can flatten these, but I prefer them ball shaped)
6. Bake for 6-7 minutes
7. Do not move immediately as they will most likely fall apart - wait a minute or two before transferring to wire rack.
8. Drizzle with chocolate icing and/just with icing sugar for an extra touch of sweetness (optional).

Wanted: the perfect peanut butter biscuit

It's quite strange: I hate peanuts, can tolerate but don't love peanut butter, but LOVE peanut butter biscuits. I discovered this when I made Heather's Santa surprise cookies for my colleagues over Christmas. It was love at first bite. I can't get enough of those cookies (even though I prefer to omit the Snickers surprise). The problem? I'm not a patient baker. This is because I often bake at night, and I don't have two hours to let the dough cool in the fridge. Therefore, ever since, I have tried to find an equally good recipe. I tried one from a cookbook I received as a gift and it was honestly the worst recipe ever. The cookies turned out like salty rocks. Then I tried Dorie Greenspan's cookies. They were good, but didn't have the soft centre that Heather's cookies have. So the floor is open to you: what is your favourite peanut butter biscuit recipe?

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Dorie Greenspan: Peanut Butter Criss Crosses
makes about 40 cookies.

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
pinch of nutmeg (I threw in some cinnamon too)

Wet Ingredients:
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup of peanut butter (I used Smooth)
1 cup of light brown sugar
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of salted peanuts (I left these out.)

Extra 1/2 cup of sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or cooking spray. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Using a handmixer, beat the butter on medium speed in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to fully incorporate the sugar and eggs.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappears.

Mix in chopped peanuts if you are using them.

our the 1/2 cup of rolling sugar into a small bowl. Working with a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms into balls and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. (My hands are rather warm, so the dough got really sticky when I was making cookie dough balls so cooling my dough in the fridge for a little bit helped to make the dough easier to work with. ) Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them.

To make the criss crosses, use a fork and press down on top of the sugar crusted cookies.
Bake for about 12 minutes. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and somewhat soft. Mine puffed up alot, but then deflated once cooled. Let the cookies sit on a wire rack to cool down.


Dorie Greenspan pb cookies


pretty but disappointing peanut butter biscuits

Just sayin' - a perfect weekend

My friend Paul wrote me this message in one our inter-firm email marathons:

'Btw your blog needs to be updated so badly ;) Just saying... :)'

And I know, believe me, I know. I am literally about two months behind.

This past weekend was such a wonderful one. The sun shone throughout the two days, it was hot, and London is so so beautiful in the summer. The trees are a myriad of colours, from green to red, blossoms are in bloom and the city just comes alive. You know how much I love Paris, but for me Paris doesn't come alive in summer the way that London does. Few cities can rival London's open spaces, which are to be found everywhere. This weekend I felt so lucky to live in this great city (this spur of appreciation is a rarity, as normally I moan and moan about the expense and inefficiency of everything).

I spent the weekend with all of my favourite people and it was wonderful.

Kenwood House

On Saturday Marc, Ryan and I went to Kenwood House. For the Jane Austen enthusiasts out there (and I know you are out there), Mansfield Park was filmed here. Kenwood House is a beautiful 18th Century residence, owned by the National Trust. It looks onto Hampstead Heath, a preserved park area, and also has a wonderful collection of art by artists such as Greuze and Rembrandt. It is such a treat to have Kenwood so close by. It is literally a 10 minute drive from my house. On a sunny day, I would venture to say that there are few more beautiful places to be.

It was so fun to see Ryan and hear of his plans (Ryan always has exciting plans). This summer I hope to visit him in Utah. I'm excited at the prospect of meeting his family, seeing the great Mormon temple and understanding more about Ryan's background. Ryan's family lives in Glenwood but also owns a cabin and Ry and I want to go there and write. One of the reasons I have been finding it so hard to write recently is just that there appears to be no time and no space. And, let's face it, this is hardly literature. So it would be an amazing privilege to have that time and space with one of my favourite people in a place that I have long wanted to visit. Ry is thinking of moving to Seattle for a while, so I hope that I can help him with the move whilst I am there.


Kenwood House
Kenwood Grounds - does it get better than this? Don't you want to swan around in gowns pretending to be in Pride and Prejudice?


Posing with the Penny Farthing
A Penny Farthing! How cool!
Ry and Marc hogging the jar of homemade peanut cookies...


Me at Kenwood

Dinner at Cinnamon Club

Then, for dinner, Marc and I went to a wonderful London restaurant, an institution really, called the Cinnamon Club. This is in Westminster, right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and is where a lot of politicians lunch. This restaurant is a converted library, and you can see beautiful shelves of books on the balcony that surrounds the room. This is undoubtedly one of the best meals that I have ever eaten. I love Indian food, but often find it greasy and heavy. Here everything was light but full of flavour. I had marinated chicken to start with and a beautiful fish dish for my main meal. The best part? London restaurants (on the expensive side) are participating in a scheme called 'London Restaurant Week' (don't ask me why - it lasts longer than a week). In order to fill places out, these restaurants reserve a small number of tables for the promotion: A three course meal and half a bottle of wine for £25! This is incredible as in this restaurant a main meal alone costs £30. If you are ever in London I really couldn't recommend this place more highly. What a treat it was!


Sunday at the V&A with the girls

On Sunday the girls and I went to the Hats! exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was so fun to see so many interesting hats spanning many ages by famous designers and worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker. We even got to try some hats on - always a good girlie time. I am a huge hat lover and have quite a collection, so I was in heaven. The V&A also has a lovely garden and courtyard, so after the exhibition we were able to sit outside in the glorious sunshine and it was just a wonderful - blissful - time. I hadn't seen one of the girls, Lucy, since university and I was so happy to have everyone together again. These days we are all so busy and live in such different places, what with people living abroad or going on secondment - and it's so nice when we can manage to get together. I love my girls!

A perfect weekend!

A beautiful mobile in the V&A.


The girls sitting out on the V&A lawn. From left to right: Miriam, me, Kate and Lauren.




Lauren and me being silly and trying on hats at the Hats! exhibition

Book Club?

So I happen to think that I have some of the best blogging friends around. People I admire, whose opinions always interest me, who inspire me with their hobbies and interests and lives. I want to share more thoughts and ideas with all of you.

What do you say we form a book club?

Emily (of Overdue) and I discussed the idea of an online book club together and it is going forward! I have been lax about doing things, but I'm excited to get going now!

The books that have been suggested so far are the following:

1. The Book Thief;
2. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day;
3. The RoadSmall Island; and
4. Love in a Cold Climate.

Feel free to put forward others, as well as any ideas you might have for the club (including a name). Sadly we won't be able to share cheese, biscuits and cake, but a different blogger can 'host' each time and who knows, we may snychronsie recipes or post pictures! In any case, it will be so fun to share ideas and motivate each other.

The power of books to transport us to other places, to inspire and entertain us, to comfort and teach, is incalculable. But how much greater is the joy when it is shared! I know that when reading a good book I always have the urge to grab the person nearest to me and read a portion out loud.

So please join us.

Now a little related personal history...

In high school, where I discovered my love of books and reading, a most wise and special teacher, Mrs Bourke, started something called 'Literary Society'. I don't even remember how often it met, but I remember that the first book we read was 'The Reader'. We would discuss our ideas and the aim was to learn to think critically in preparation for admission to university. Mrs Bourke is the person who first had faith in my academic abilities. One day - it must have been close to the end of term - she asked each of us what we wanted to study at university. She nodded supportively at everyone's choices, until I announced that I wanted to study law. She just didn't think it was for me. I replied by saying that that was fine, but I thought she should tell me what she thought I should study instead. She said that she would think about it, and think about it she did. A few days later she told me that I should study English 'somewhere like Oxford'. Were it not for her I would never have contemplated either. The thought hadn't entered my head. Mrs Bourke's faith stemmed not from anything I wrote but from the passion with which I discussed ideas in books. So I suppose that the idea of a book club strikes a special chord with me. See you there!

A humble Passover

Passover for me is synonymous with Israel, my birthplace. I go every year, almost without fail. We would visit my grandmother, my Safta, in Jerusalem, and she would prepare fragrant pilaf rice in the Buchari (Sephardic) tradition.

Sadly my Safta has now passed away, and with her the tradition of spending Passover in Israel is slowly fading. But as old traditions die out new ones are created, and I discovered to my delight this year that I could prepare a Seder myself without too much fuss. This had always seemed like a formidable task but I was pleasantly surprised to find out just how wrong I was.

This year, Ima came over from Israel to celebrate with us in London, and we also had some Italian guests over. They aren't Jewish and aren't familiar with Jewish culture - they must have thought we were crazy not eating bread, singing neverending songs, starting to eat so late and most crucially not eating the beautiful baked goods they had kindly schlepped all the way from Italy. But they joined in with such spirit and sang with all their heart - it was really touching.

Passover brings with it a familiar 'argument' in my family: Dad wants to read as little of the Haggadah as possible so that we can eat promptly and Ima wants to read the whole Haggadah and sings the songs very loudly indeed. In the end each is exasperated with the other. This little comic routine repeats itself every year and, don't tell them, I find it very entertaining!

I actually really love the story of Passover and find the message so meaningful: that we should put ourselves in the shoes of the Jews who escaped Egypt. I love the importance placed on passing the story onto our children. I am proud that mine is a faith that encourages questions and debate, and that is essentially what Passover is all about. Even the songs and prayers are phrased as rhetorical questions.

Our Seder was casual because everyone was too busy to cook a huge meal. But Ima made her legendary chicken soup (replete with matzo balls), an Israeli salad, I made harosset, Moroccan chicken, rice and roast vegetables and dessert. Dessert was a meringue with rhubarb compote and berries. There aren't many Kosher for passover dessert options of which I'm aware (I've seen meringue desserts pop up all over the place this week!) but I was fond of this dessert. Basically, put rhubarb in almost anything and I am sold!

I hope you all had a lovely Passover/Easter!











This egg is amazing! It is HUGE. Look at the makeup counters in the background for an idea of the scale! It costs £500!!!