One Mile Away

“It seemed so tragic that people would kill each other over a postcode” – Penny Woolcock

Les Misérables

I've adored Les Misérables since I was part of the stage crew of my high school's utterly epic production in 2009. It was the first production that really grabbed a hold of me and wouldn't let go. Every rehearsal and each performance gave me goosebumps, and I credit that experience as the main reason my heart races - without fail - every time I go to the theatre and why it now takes pretty spectacular acting to distract me from soaking up all aspects of the set (I'll never forget being witness to the inner workings of a moving barricade and helping untangle Enjolras - and his giant red flag - from the barricade in the pitch black and in total silence). As a result I can't just watch a play: I automatically follow how the set moves, how props are transported on and off and always keep a keen eye out for stage crew with cans. I'd seen plays before and been part of the stage crew for years prior to 2009, but it was Les Mis that made me unequivocally love the theatre.

Marshmallow Cupcakes

Here’s yet another recipe that I made ages ago but have only just got round to blogging. I hadn’t made cupcakes for quite a while, so after flicking through The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and finding a recently opened packet of marshmallows from my mum’s secret stash of sweets I decided upon Marshmallow Cupcakes. They’re a lot fiddlier than I anticipated, but seemed to work okay. I doubt I’ll be making them again quite like this, but I’ll put the recipe I used below and make sure to comment on the bits I wasn’t too keen on.

#QOTD

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Kauwboy

As a Barbican Young Programmer, today I had a training day at the BFI Southbank with my fellow programmers. We had talks on programming the London Film Festival from Michael Hayden (Festival Programmer, LFF) and Justin Johnson (Family Programmer, LFF); programming your own film festival from the BFI FILMCLUB team (a little irrelevant as it was really aimed at primary / young secondary school students…); and programming a children’s film festival from members of the programming and marketing teams at Cinemagic (Belfast Children’s Film Festival). This is one of the things I love about this programme at the Barbican: we’re getting to meet and talk to people who actually review / programme / certify films, and I’ve never met so many people who are all so utterly enthusiastic about their jobs! Clearly this “non-glamorous” side of the film industry isn’t so bad afterall…

At the end of the day we rushed into NFT2 to watch Kauwboy, a film being shown in the LFF and that is due to be shown at the Barbican’s Framed Film Festival in November. I’m involved in Framed so I’ll be blogging about it a lot in November, and I can already say with confidence that it’s going to be amazing! It’s aimed primarily at young people, with the films targeting audiences from 4-roughly 18 years of age; however it can definitely be enjoyed by everyone. At the moment notable features have to be Kauwboy and One Mile Away (which I have a half-finished blog post written that I will complete and post asap!). I’ll blog further details nearer the time, but I expect to hear from you all about the films you came to see and what you thought of them!

“Take good care of a jackdaw and you’ll have a friend for life.”

BFI Screen Talk with Marion Cotillard

It was just by sheer luck that I logged into Twitter on Friday when the BFI tweeted that a limited number of tickets had become available for a Screen Talk with Marion Cotillard on the 14th October, as part of the London Film Festival. Prior to this, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to attend the festival in any way and would have to content myself to watching the entire event unfold over the Internet from the comfort of my room. Well, I’m all about the Impulse Buy these days and within minutes I’d bought myself a ticket and smugly watched as the event sold out.

The Pudding Club

On the first Monday of every month, Willington Hall in Cheshire hosts its very own Pudding Club. My mum and her friends are devoted fans and whenever I’m home from university I’ll make sure to schedule at least one visit in. If you’re based in Cheshire, love desserts and are partial to beautiful scenery then this is the perfect lunchtime treat for you.

"Skyfall" - Adele

I have goosebumps.

Butterfly Cakes

These are definitely a childhood favourite. I can distinctly remember they were a key feature of many a birthday party as they looked so at home amongst cocktail sausages, triangles of ham sandwiches and dubious flavoured crisps your mum assured you were ready salted (but they never were…). The simple butterfly cake is super easy and super cute, and the perfect way to use up left over buttercream or frosting from another recipe.

Les Misérables

Giddy. Christmas needs to hurry up.

Let Them Eat Cake, Cake

One of the many things I love about Lorraine Pascale is the fact that she interacts with fans all the time, particularly on Twitter. Lots of other people have realised how amazing her recipes are and regularly post pictures of their creations, a selection of which Lorraine retweets to her followers. Over the weeks there had been one specific cake that stood out as a firm crowd pleaser: a chocolate dream covered in immaculate rows of Malteasers: may I introduce the Let Them Eat Cake, Cake. What an invention. It’s super easy to make and looks incredible: even if you have limited skills in the baking arena you can easily pull this off. If you persevere and take your time with the decoration it provides a professional finish that will fool people into thinking you bought it from a bakery.

Doorstop Vanilla Cheesecake

Before I go any further: DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE CALORIES INVOLVED IN THIS CHEESECAKE. It will not only scare you into never attempting to make it and will definitely scare you out of eating any of it. Just don’t think about it. Promise?

Lorraine Pascale’s new series, Fast, Fresh and Easy Food has started on BBC2, Tuesdays at 8pm, and I’ve been hooked. The editing is beautiful, her recipes are simple to follow, and I have massive respect for someone who can run round a kitchen in a crisp white t-shirt and look immaculate (I don’t care if she changes it a billion times during filming, I’m going to pretend it’s the same one). Her enthusiasm is infectious, and having seen the first few episodes I was very keen to buy the book.

Flicking through the pages though provided a slight dilemma: where to start? Since I hadn’t made a cheesecake this summer, it only felt appropriate to give Lorraine’s Doorstop Vanilla Cheesecake a go. Be warned, this is a mammoth of a cheesecake that really deserves its own postcode.

Blueberry and Soured Cream Loaf

From having no blueberries to having them taking over the fridge, I decided to use them again but this time in a Blueberry and Soured Cream Loaf. This was particularly good as the soured cream ensured the loaf remained fluffy and moist for days after it was baked. The blueberries sank to the bottom half of the loaf (which is nothing to panic about if that happens to you) and they looked amazing: really vibrant and made for a good photograph! This is definitely recommended if you like blueberries and you like cake: if so, then get on it!

Blueberry Muffins

I’ve made many variations of muffins, but for some reason never the classic blueberry. This summer I’ve thrown away so many tubs of blueberries as I’ve always started out with good intentions and never got round to actually using them, so after 10 weeks I decided enough was enough. Time to take the bull by the horns – so to speak! – and tackle for once and for all.

Pistachio Brownies

I really like making brownies, and given that I had some pistachios left over from the whoopie pies I thought I’d give a recipe for Pistachio Brownies a try. My first attempts at brownies a couple of years ago just ended up like really dry chocolate cakes, but recently I’ve somehow managed to transform them into rich, gooey brownies that are slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and squidgy in the middle. No idea how I’ve done that, but I’ll go with it! This one worked well, so instead of sharing my usual recipe I thought I’d share this one as the pistachios were a really successful addition.