Every time I get off the tube at Notting Hill Gate, I pass Recipease. When we were living in Notting Hill, that happened ALOT.

At first, I didn't pay much attention, then I looked at it some and chalked it up to be a kitchen goods store.

For my birthday this year though, I learned the truth of Recipease. It is partly a kitchen goods store, but even more so, it's Jamie Oliver's store that hosts cooking lessons! Paul surprised me with a voucher for a class and once I found out the real secret of it, I couldn't wait to give it a shot.

They offer lessons in all kinds of things. Steaks, street food, kids lessons, but I decided upon homemade pasta. I love pasta and Italian food, so I figured it was the perfect time to figure out how to make it at home.



The day of the class, Paul and I had a mad dash to the shop (I may have been sick and napping away through my alarm!) but we made it just in time to wash up and don our aprons. They put a maximum on the attendees to ensure there are enough work stations and that the teacher can ensure you're learning what you're doing.

We were going to be making a few different types of stuffed pasta - this one focused only on the pasta, not the sauce, although they do have another class that teaches both.  We were making ravioli, tortellini and bow-tie pasta. The instructor started off by explaining it all to us and I was amazed at how easy it was! Flour and egg, voila, you have pasta dough!

Next comes the hard part - we rolled out the dough, then fed it through the pasta press several times, each time tightening up the rolls, to make sure we got it as thin and compact as we could. Once we had our strips, we set about cutting them up into the right size and there was even a fancy cutter that helped get those cute serrated edges you see on ravioli.

After we've got our perfect cut-outs, we set to filling them with ricotta, spinach and lemon. Not too full, or they fall apart in the cooking, and then we squish up the edges to seal them up.

As we drop the pasta in water (just a quick 2-3 minutes until they rise to the surface), we also start on our sauce. Simply butter, lemon and mint to give us a rich, if not too unhealthy, topping for our pasta.

So after 1 hour (mostly due to our learning than the length of the task) and we were done, kicking up our feet with a glass of wine and a plate of our delicious creations.


Despite the simplicity of it, I haven't quite yet tried this at home since I don't have a pasta roller, but perhaps I'll find one in my stocking for Christmas?!

While food trucks seem to be gaining popularity in the US (they even had a food truck park in Fort Worth when I was visited), the 'mobile' food market in London remains thoroughly in the hands of the markets. We have visited Portobello Market countless times (let's call it familiarity not laziness), I've checked out the market at Southwark and around Brick Lane. Despite this, I always recommend Borough Market first to visiting friends and family. Each time, people would come back with rave reviews, further cementing its spot at the top of the list of markets to visit. Yet, I myself had never visited it!

I'll blame it on the size of London and the public transit - if it's not a direct shot on the tube or bus for me, I may be less likely to visit. Again, laziness and I have so many things to visit that fall into one of these two categories or even WALKING distance from my flat. Portobello Road, Kensington Gardens, Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, British Library, British Museum, the list goes on and on.

Then, one day I was going a scavenger hunt through the City of London, which included a pit stop in the Borough Market. It was the end of the day, the market was beginning to shut down and yet, I saw enough to want to come back for more.

So, a few Saturday's later and my lazy self became a little less lazy and trekked across to the market South of the Thames.

I didn't have anything in mind other than finding something to eat for lunch. After I walked up, I knew I wouldn't walk away hungry. There is something for everyone - from the true market goods like cheeses, wines and breads, to food that's prepared like pies, thai food, Turkish food, brauts and lots of sweets.

We wandered by stall after stall, our eyes bigger than our stomachs. Paul ended up with a curry and I of course chose my favorite British food, a pie, with a chocolate tart & macaroon to satisfy our dessert cravings.

Not only is it a great market, it's just another great example of London's history and how Londoners have worked to keep their city great (or even perhaps a little weird just like back in Austin, TX). Food trading can be traced back to 1014, where locals brought fresh produce to trade. And it's still got many of those people today, which locally made cheeses or vegetables. In 1755, the market was threatened when it was closed because of the congestion caused by traffic around the market. Luckily for us, local residents bought up land and re-opened the market.

Like any good market, it's an eat and walk experience. Be prepared to eat on your feet, or take it home with you. We opted for the former and strolled around more, planning our next meal when we venture out to the South side of the Thames - which I'm sure will be sooner rather than later!

One of the best things I have done for myself in London has been to get involved in a lot of different organisations and activities. From the UK Texas Exes to the Junior League of London, these have been fantastic ways for me to get involved in the community and make some friends in the process.

In addition to all the volunteering I get access to through the Junior League, we also have great events on the side to help raise money for our philanthropic activities. We had one of our first fundraisers of the fall a few weekends ago and it was just up my alley! Wine tasting at the Stafford Hotel, with a selection of 5 wines especially selected by their Master Sommelier.

 The wine wasn't the only thing that made it special; the event was held in their amazing wine cellars in the basement of the hotel. The cellars were built more than 350 years ago in the 17th century by a Lord under the basement of his stables.

Since they have been built, the cellars have also served as a hiding space for soldiers during WWII when London was under siege. They have a special section of the cellar dedicated to this history, with memorabilia and trinkets left behind from the soldiers who stayed there.

The cellar is home to more than 6,000 bottles selected by the Master Sommelier, meaning there is something for just about everyone.

After our wine, we popped up to the American Bar at the hotel. The trinkets in the wine cellars are nothing in comparison to the bar. It started with a traveler living a gift of a small totem pole from his travels, and has morphed into just about anything and everything be left as gifts, from sports caps, to toy planes, to undergarments (one of the more recent additions according to our waiter)! The restaurant/bar is cosy, we sat at a small sofa and chairs, and for dinner, they brought us a cushion to eat off our laps. It felt like an old time home, welcoming us with good food, and drinks of course.

With more visitors in town, we continued our quest to find the perfect tea in London. Each visitor we have this year will be sampling tea in a new locale for us; partly for their enjoyment, but mostly for ours. I enjoy trying out different specialties and teas at each place we visit, taking in the atmosphere each place offers and most of all, relaxing without distractions with family and friends .

As I've scheduled more tea times, I have come to find that I'm not the only one on this mission. There is a Tea Guild that sets out to pick the best tea places throughout the UK. Like secret shoppers, judges go to each establishment to rate them on things like decor, knowledge of tea, efficiency, and more.

And much to my delight, I found that we had booked a tea time at what was chosen by the Tea Guild as London's Top Afternoon Tea in 2013 - The Goring Hotel.

So, on the last day of the weekend, we found ourselves at the Goring for tea time.

The room itself was quite lovely - wooden panels, inviting chairs and couches, and a little sun room, with seats outside as well, which I can imagine are widely used during beautiful summer days.

My grandmother getting ready for the tea and the beautiful place settings. Each tea saucer had the cameo of Goring under where the cut sits

Because it was my cousin's birthday, we decided to go for the Champagne Tea in celebration. In addition to the champagne, they brought out what was perhaps my favorite thing of the whole tea. We each had a plate full of sliced strawberries, drizzled in cream. They were the perfect complement to the champagne.

The strawberry mountain, topped with a fresh drizzle of cream

Finally, came the main attraction - the tea. I had the Goring's Afternoon Blend, while others sampled the Fortum & Mason Royal Blend and a Darjeeling tea. The food was the standard fare - egg salad sandwiches, chicken salad, although they did have a goat cheese and roasted pepper sandwich was new to me and very delicious. I stuffed myself so full of scones, I ALMOST skipped having any of the chocolatey goodness at the end, but I found a little bit of room for a macaroon and some type of chocolate cake.

Our eats - you get a great look at the clotted cream here. So soft, it looks like ice cream

Our food tray again. We definitely got a second tray of scones once we finished the first

So we sat, talked, followed the rules of no electronics (minus these pictures), replenished our scones and tea, and enjoyed the afternoon. While the service we experienced was not very attentive, especially compared to the service we had at The Brown Hotel, I can still see why it ranks up there among the top tea places in London. Now, only 20 more tea establishments to visit to make sure we've visited all the Award of Excellence Winners for London.

Part of my "resolutions" for 2013 were to get out to try new eats and places around London. Besides wanting to try them, I had this fear of people coming to visit and my only suggestion being Pizza Express (which is still delicious!).

So, over the last few weeks, we have tried to get out and about on the town to eat.

The places we've tried include:

1. Taqueria (Notting Hill) - as I mentioned before, we're on a quest to find the best Mexican food in London. I fell in love with the Choriqueso tacos here. Plus they serve black beans with the crumbly white cheese on top, mmmmmm.

2. The Booking Office (Kings Cross/St Pancras) - this is a bar, but I'm sure they serve food, that's located in St. Pancras Station. The best part about this is the atmosphere - high, arched, brick ceilings and the old wood work give it a great ambiance. Added bonus - it's right above the Eurorail entrance, so perfect to grab a quick drink before popping over to Paris!



3. The Windsor Castle (Notting Hill) - not the REAL castle, you must preface this with pub when putting it into Google maps. This is an old pub in Notting Hill, dating back to around the 1860's. Beware - if you go on a weekend for dinner, be prepared to wait and you'll need to be the shark waiting by the bar for someone to hop up. The wait was worth it though. It feels like a true British pub, tiny doors and all (see below picture borrowed online), and the food is pretty good to boot.



4. Byron's (All over) -  this burger place does happen to be a chain, but no wonder its popular. The burgers were delicious, as were the courgette fries (or zucchini fries for us Americans). Apparently the milkshakes are delicious as well, but self control prevailed on this trip!

5. The Pelican (Notting Hill) - this is another local pub that I walk by often with the dog or on the way to Portabello road. We finally popped in last week and it was pretty good. I had the baked stinson cheese (some kind of British blue cheese) and shepherd's pie which was good as well.  Plus, we all know I love British pubs where I can get cider on tap.

Anyone have any London must-try restaurants?