Mum on the Run

Have you heard of the new champagne and hotdog restaurant opening later this month on Charlotte Street in London?

Bubbledog will be the first venture by James Knappett, who has previously worked for the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Rene Redzepi from ’The World’s Best restaurant‘ Noma in Copenhagen.

On the menu will be choices, such as  a BLT dog wrapped in bacon served up with truffle mayonnaise and a Jose dog with guacamole, sour cream, salsa and jalapeños. There will also be a regularly changing chef’s special for £6.

Bubbledog will be strictly walk-in only, but there will be a reservation only Kitchen Table, which can host up to 19 people, seated directly around the kitchen.

I have a feeling this place will cause a bit of a stir when it opens…

Yesterday I heard the news that Viajante headed by the extremely talented now Michelin-starred chef Nuno Mendes had been chosen as the 80th best restaurant in the world.

I couldn’t be happier for Nuno, whom I had the pleasure of getting to know when my husband hired him as the head chef for his new venture, Bacchus,what now feels like a long time ago.

We lived in Shoreditch and my husband wanted to open a restaurant where people could come and enjoy fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere. When he told people about his idea of “Fine Dining in Trainers” there were many who laughed at his face.

However, if my husband gets something in his head, he usually goes ahead and does it! And so Bacchus opened in October 2006. There were still many sceptical people who thought that a fine dining restaurant on Hoxton Street wouldn’t work, but many also disagreed. Bacchus, and Nuno, received many amazing reviews and mentions in places like the The Observer , Evening Standard and BBC News.

Since Bacchus, Nuno has set up the hugely successful Loft Project before starting at Viajante. It’s so great to see that his hard work has paid off.

There! Just thought I’d share some love today…

When my husband told me about two years ago that he had found us a beautiful house in Olney, I (obviously) Googled it straight away. The first things that came up were lots of links about the village being world famous for the original pancake race.

I’m not so sure about the world famous, but the town does get extremely busy each year when it’s time for the race that has been taking place since 1445! And apparently it became international five years later when the town of Liberal in Kansas, USA, started the custom. To this date, the two places compete annually and prizes and exchanged.

The women taking part in the 415 yard race have to be over 18 years old and live in Olney. They also must wear the traditional costume of the housewife, including a skirt, apron and scarf and carry a frying pan containing a pancake.

Despite a lot of people saying I should, I didn’t take part in the race. I’m so ridiculously competitive that it wouldn’t have been pretty… I’m also convinced I look insane when I’m running! Maybe next year…

http://www.olneyonline.com/Pancake-Race-History

I’m pretty lucky as I haven’t got a massive sweet tooth. (All you chocoholics out there hate me now…) I hardly ever eat cakes, biscuits, sweets or chocolates. However, I admit that I love ice cream, but rarely buy it home, as I know I can easily demolish a litre in one go!

All and all, I’m generally pretty healthy when it comes to food. I like to cook from scratch and genuinely like most fruit&veg. However, anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that my portion sizes are big. And by big I mean huge. I can also have big meals within hours of each other.

We went to a family event  a few weeks ago, where I had a bowl of tomato soup, a hot dog and a jacket potato with tuna and cheese. Two hours later when we got home, my husband walked into the kitchen to find me heating up a plateful of left over chilli con carne!

This post is going to turn into an essay unless I quickly get to the point I’m trying to make, which is this: I eat a lot. But even I have managed to (yet again) seriously overdo it at Christmas.

My husband has been cooking such amazing foods that it’s impossible to stop eating until it has all gone. For example, I helped myself for three servings of the turkey, ham and leek pie that he made for lunch on boxing day, and was dipping into the turkey risotto at 10pm the night before. And last night? Since being really good and going for a run, I stuffed my face with cheese, Doritos, sweets and chocolate. No need for that, surely?

I’m all for indulging every now and then and not constantly being too strict about your diet, but the 5lbs I’ve put on in a week make me feel like a pig.

I know I’ll be able to lose them pretty quick once I start regular running again and pack the over eating in, but I feel a massive January detox coming on!

Who’s with me?

…which means Merry Christmas in Finnish.

Christmas Eve is the main day to celebrate where I’m from, as you know if you read my post about Santa a few days ago.

I’ve been in the UK for 12 years now, but I’m lucky to have a British husband, who happily mixes the two countries’ traditions. If we are not spending the holidays in Finland with my family, like this year, me and the kids get a delicious traditional Finnish Christmas dinner cooked for us on the 24th.

The kids are now in bed with a  belly full of gammon – and will no doubt wake up at a ridiculous hour because of all the excitement – and mummy and daddy have been busy getting everything ready for the morning.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!