Notting Hill Carnival in London, 2011

Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe, and happens every year in London's Notting Hill (yes, the neighbourhood made famous by that movie). The last few times I've been to Notting Hill, it's been to visit it's famous Portobello Road Market. But Carnival radically transforms the place from bustling market and stately pastel homes, to a pulsing street party. 

Carnival has been around since 1964 and is an important symbol of communities coming together, and a way for Afro-Caribbean-Londoners to celebrate their heritage and culture. The very first carnival was an attempt to showcase the steel band musicians who played in the Earls Court of London every weekend. When the bands paraded through the streets of Notting Hill, they drew black residents out on to the streets, reminding them of the Caribbean homes they had left behind.

This year it was particularly important in light of the widespread riots earlier this month. London's police and government had to prove that London could pull off a large event without more riots - especially with pressure mounting with the Olympics coming to London next year. To keep everything under control, London deployed over 6,000 police officers to Notting Hill, with extra officers posted around the city. 

Potato Salad

As summer continues to wind down and the trees start to drop there leaves, it's time to panic-and-have-as-many-BBQs-as-possible. And as I've mentioned before, this summer has been a delicious learning curve of cutting vegetables just the right size so they cook perfectly on the grill, salting your eggplants for 30 minutes before grilling them, and trying new recipes for coleslaw. However this leaves out one key salad that is the stalwart of all good BBQs- potato salad.

The trick when making salads for me is making sure that all your salads are not the same. So if you have a salad with mayonnaise dressing, clearly there can't be any mayonnaise in the potato salad.  Last night we hosted yet another BBQ with a new recipe for potato salad that hit the spot.

Instead of the traditional mayonnaise/lemon/mustard/green onion combination, this time I opted for a yogurt sauce based on the idea of the cooling Indian sauce raita.

Quote of the Week

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." 
— Maya Angelou

London Day Trip to Brighton

If you are looking for a day trip from London, Brighton is the perfect destination. It only takes an hour by train, and feels like a proper small town. It is a nice respite from the big-city-seriousness that London offers, and has a variety of weird and wonderful stores and alleyways to browse - not to mention the beach!

The beach in Brighton is unlike any other one I've been to - it is rocky rather than sandy, and the water is icy cold (but some brave - or insane - souls were still swimming about in their bikinis). However on a hot summer's day the beach really can't be beat!

As you can see from the map, all of Brighton's main attractions are within easy walking distance, and the exciting bits of the downtown can be be done in a leisurely 7 hours.

Brighton is lucky because it has nice long walks and a promenade all along the shore. Additionally there are chilled out bars and fish-n-chips shops all along the water. 

Outside of the beach, Brighton also has some lovely winding streets with tiny unique shops. My favourite was Pussy Home Boutique - a shop nearly entirely devoted to Moomin Troll Kitsch and bits of nothing like "pants for a boiled egg" (an egg cup shaped like trousers). 

There are also a few key sites you shouldn't miss. 

London Travel Tips: Mastering the Tube and Bus System

Travelling in London can be pretty intimidating when you first arrive. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Arriving in Heathrow
When you arrive in Heathrow, it looks like you should take a train called the "Heathrow Express" or "Heathrow Connect". This train costs you £15 at least, versus the commuter tube which will only cost you a maximum of £7.50 to make the same exact journey. The Heathrow Express is really only worth it if you need to get somewhere really quickly - it will probably 15-30 minutes off your journey.

Instead, look for smaller signs that lead you to the "underground". This is the commuter tube, which is slower than the Heathrow Express, but goes to the exact same stations.

2. Journey Planner
Journey Planner is an excellent tool that helps you plan how to get from A to B, and tells you how long each trip will take. You can find it on the TFL (Travel for London) site: www.journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk

The planner gives you a choice to enter an address, post code, or tube station for both your departing and arriving locations. The times given are actually pretty accurate- as long as your train doesn't break down, have a signal failure, or have someone fall under the tracks (and sadly these are all fairly frequent occurences).

You can actually get a Journey Planner app for your iPhone here. This is especially useful if your train is suspended and you need to find an alternative route. However, if you aren't fancy enough to have an iPhone, the TFL staff are actually really friendly and helpful. They will let you know what buses or alternate trains you need to take.

How to Make Coleslaw: Take 2

Summer is BBQ season, and that means it's salad season.  I continue to be totally enamoured with coleslaw- although I still wouldn't touch the squidgy white store-bought kind. But homemade coleslaw is another story (See my first attempt here.. including a recipe for mango cashew slaw!).

My flatmate and I have been reading up on coleslaw recipes and coleslaw has hundreds of variations. What you need is thinly sliced crunchy fresh vegetables (mostly cabbage) in a cool, tangy sauce. 

This is the coleslaw we are having tonight:

Wedding Anticipation

As summer seems to be drawing to a close in London (although in my opinion "summer" here was just an extended spring), I am starting to look forward to going to my brother's wedding in Boston. New England has unmatched beauty in the fall with crazy-beautiful colours. Every year people make tourist-trips to "see the leaves" in New England. And maybe it's worth it...

photo: Dina Rudick/Globe staff

Plus, we might even be able to soak up some much-missed sun while we're there! 

Spanish Lentils

Lentils are fast becoming a weeknight staple in my house. Delicious, dirt cheap, and the red lentils I've been buying cook in 30 minutes - the same time it would take to make pasta and sauce anyway. I usually put my lentils in a curry or as part of a chilli stew with cornbread.  But who knew that lentils weren't just for Indian food? I'm planning to try this Rick Stein recipe shortly...

Pardina lentils with white wine, Serrano ham and pimentón
Ingredients

• 225g/8oz green-brown lentils, such as pardina
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 200g/7oz carrot, finely chopped
• 100g/3½oz thinly sliced Serrano ham, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp pimentón dulce (smoked sweet Spanish paprika)
• 2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned, chopped
• 125ml/4fl oz dry white wine
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Check over the lentils for any little stones, then rinse in cold water. Tip them into a saucepan, add enough cold water to cover them by 5cm/2in and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat
2. and leave them to simmer for about 30 minutes or until just tender but still a little al dente. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid, and set to one side.
3. Put the olive oil, garlic, onion and carrot in a wide, shallow pan over a medium heat and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and just beginning to colour. Add the Serrano ham and fry for another 5-6 minutes.
4. Stir in the pimentón, tomatoes and wine and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture cooks down into a thick sauce.
5. Stir the lentils into the sauce with 150ml/5fl oz of the reserved cooking liquid, the chopped parsley, 1½ teaspoons of salt and some pepper. Simmer for a further 5-6 minutes.