Small batch vanilla bean marshmallows for your hot chocolate

Vanilla is my favourite spice. Forget thinking of it as timid and beige–forget it, alright? It’s beautiful, dark, full, and rich, and should be respected. Marshmallows bear this perfume wonderfully. These ones have a fluffy egg white base, which means they melt slowly and perfectly into a mug of hot chocolate. There are a bunch of ways to make … Continue reading →

Salted golden caramel sauce + ginger hot chocolate

My favourite salted caramel sauce, made with a goodly amount of golden syrup, and my second-favourite hot chocolate, the sort actually made from scratch. I’ll be straight with you: my favourite hot chocolate is a powder mix and I make it in a microwave. I sincerely love it, not just the associated nostalgia. Now, I … Continue reading →

Lemon Honey Ginger Drink

This is the drink I make for my loved ones when they are ill. Undoubtedly there are other much more healthful drinks to brew, and I don’t think I brew this in the most efficient manner anyway, but I think part of its restorative properties come from the fact that you’re being cared for (or … Continue reading →

Around Snacks Never Relax: Milo, Latin, Ursula Le Guin

I thought I might make a category of posts which actually fulfils the tagline of this blog, ‘Around snacks never relax’. I am pretty sure many cultures the world over enjoy eating little morsels of food in between mealtimes; in Thai, snacking as a food category is called ‘อาหารว่าง’ (ahaan waang), literally food + vacant/available/free, … Continue reading →

The Fields Beneath – coffee and other worthy local edibles in Kentish Town

Today the Kentishtowner has a new and quite rightly positive review up of my new local, so I thought I would be hip and current by piggybacking on their post. During September I was very curious about the goings-on in the empty shop space next to Kentish Town West. There was a large sign behind … Continue reading →

Nitro Ice Cream and Monmouth Coffee at Chin Chin Laboratorists

Being a part of the Lolita fashion scene in London has encouraged me to nurture several things in life: a lack of shame, good friends, and quite particular tastes. I’m not so active in the actual frillying-up now, but I still retain an affection for consuming the strange and the sweet. Over the past year … Continue reading →

Christmas Spiced Fruit Punch (non-alcoholic)

I don’t really drink.  Putting my festive lashmina on won’t be my primary concern during the holiday season. Instead, I’m often the person who takes care of soused friends at parties. This is not because I am a warm and nurturing person: it’s simply because I will usually be sober and it’s all part of … Continue reading →

London Fog (Earl Grey Tea Latte)

This is one of the best things that has happened to me this year: the discovery of the London Fog. It’s an evocatively named and elegant latte made with bergamot-scented Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup. My discovery was made by way of a tasteful and tea-loving Canadian friend who described this drink … Continue reading →