Happy New Year

HNY one and all! I wanted to take a few minutes to share some of my favourite moments from the past year as I am extremely grateful for how much my life has changed in just 365 days. 

Georgie's Top 2014 Moments

• Visiting River Cottage for their Pig in a Day course and staying at the very nice Deer Park Inn
• Experiencing Austin, Texas and SXSW
• Being offered a job at the end of the graduate programme - better yet, being offered a job that I very much wanted
• Finally feeling like part of something and feeling like I am making a difference at work
• Working with some amazing people who make me feel like I can do anything
• Crosstown Doughnuts
• Reintroducing an old friend into my life who makes every day a little bit better
• Meeting Felicity Cloake and taking part in her Food Writing Masterclass
• Eating at The British Larder and Duck and Waffle
• Sausagefest.
• Getting drunk with my mum at a very posh restaurant.
• Finally feeling sure of who I am and what I like - then sticking to it!
• Getting my new tattoo with my BFFL
• Seeing Slash and Myles Kennedy then staying up to the wee hours to play GTA5 with three of the best people ever.
• Too many whiskies.
• Creating something and successfully launching it out into the world! 
• Moving into our new flat and finally having more than one room.
• Sheen Living.
• Chinnabons.
• Coffee.

Taste of London 2014

I went to Taste of London last week. For those who aren't familiar, Taste is a restaurant festival showcasing some of London's most exciting places to eat. Each restaurant has 3 or 4 showstopping dishes on the menu for you to try. Plus lots of bars, foodie stalls and giveaways!

I did spend most of my time wandering around completely wide eyed but I managed to snap a few pics to share with you.

Starting with Meatliquor. You know I love Meat Liquor, and Meat Market and Meat Mission. All the Meat boys endeavors. We had Cheeseburger Sliders and Monkey Fingers (buffalo chicken strips) - juicy, moreish and meaty.

 

From Plum and Spilt Milk, I had an Elderflower and Berry Jelly with Clotted Cream. I'm not normally a jelly fan, but this was fantasticly fresh, fruit and indulgent.

We had fresh Strawberry ice cream Gordon Ramsey's Maze, covered in popping candy! Almost looks too good to eat.

Next up was Italian fare from L'Anima. They were shaving huge truffles everywhere! 

I tried the Burrata (my favourite cheese at the moment) with pomodoro and anchovies. I was a little disappointed by this one - the cold tomato sauce left a little to be desired.

 

 

There were lots of chefs to fangirl over. Here are some that I took photos of :) 

 

Thomasina Miers

Michel Roux Jr.

 

 

Gizzi Erskine

We also saw Monica Galetti and Valentine Warner. I was grinning like an idiot with excitement.

Time for a VIP champagne break with Laurent Perrier and a free promotional recipe book. 

Next onto my newest obsession - Duck and Waffle. I had Barbecue Crispy Pigs Ears. They were so tasty, but I couldn't eat the entire bag. Luckily I saved it and we shared them later in front of the telly. It was very romantic.

 Now for my absolute favourite thing I ate. A creation by Andre Garrett. This was a Peanut Butter Parfait with Chocolate Mousse and Meringue Topping and a secret core of salted caramel. Heaven.

 

We finished off our summer excursion with a cocktail. I had the French Spring Punch, which tasted like an alcoholic lemonade. Perfectly refreshing in the summer sun.

Tasting Texas

Back in March, I flew to Austin, Texas to attend SXSW 2014. Without blabbering on too much, I wanted to share with you some of my culinary exploits that I experienced while I was in the US.

Day One - Waiting for a transfer in Philadelphia, I began feeding my iced tea addiction. 

Our first meal in Austin, after nearly 24 hours without a proper meal. We visited Iron Works Barbecue.

Beef Ribs were had, along with Beef Brisket. Everything is served with a slice of white bread. 

A visit to the Flagship Wholefoods got me very excited and I bought a ticket for the Kombucha train. Kombucha is lightly effervescent fermented drink of sweetened black tea made with live bacteria and yeast. This concoction was particularly tasty due to the incredible flavour combination of Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Ginger, Sea Salt and Agave.

The next morning we started our day with a good cup of Tazo English Breakfast Tea. Yes I did go and find tea on my first day in the US. But to accompany we had deliciously sticky and sickly cinnamon buns (or chinnabons as they were soon to be renamed). Indulgence at it's best.

Our film badges did come with some perks. At a screening of TNT's The Last Ship, we were given free drinks, 'candy' and Bluetooth Speakers! Wonka Sweetarts were my top candy discovery of the trip. They are like eating dextrose tablets. Hyperness ensued.

I have a confession. Until this trip I had never really eaten Fried Chicken. So I'm extremely glad that my first experience was at Gus'. This was one of the food highlights of our trip. The chicken was moist and flavourful, the crust was crispy and moreish, the coleslaw was something particularly special and we all got to keep our soda cups! 

Rob and I had a more sophisticated lunch at La Condesa - my personal favourite restaurant in Austin. It was beautiful, fresh and the food was heavenly.

I had an Alma Blanca cocktail which was habanero-infused siembra azul blanco tequila, ginger liqueur, agave nectar, pineapple juice, fresh corn, hoja de hierba santa and a hisbiscus-rose-infused salt rim. It was almost too beautiful to drink but it was the best cocktail I have ever tasted. So intricate and delightful.

For lunch we had Tortas (mexican sandwiches). I had the Pambazo, which was homemade chorizo, black bean puree, mexican crema, cotija, baby romaine, avocado, duck fat-braised potatoes and a guajillo-tomato salsa.The potatoes were the unusual aspect yet highlight of this dish with the homemade chorizo adding an incredible richness. 

Brunch at the Moonshine Diner was a must. A ferocious bloody mary to start...

Followed by Gumbo - something that I was very excited to actually try whilst in the States as we have only made it ourselves at home before. Trying real andouille sausage was a treat.