THE LIGHTROOM

You know those days when it's really bright and you accidentally look at the sun, and it leaves this really bright glare on everything you look at for a few minutes afterwards? Do you like it? 

I do. I don't know why, and I'm pretty certain it's bad for the old eyes, but I love the way you see things a bit differently, and realising that your eyes can quite easily help your brain to play tricks on you. Well, if you want the ultimate eye-brain-mind-screw then head down to the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery. The exhibition is pretty fun and interactive but the highlight is the colour room at the end... I won't spoil it... there's more to it than standing in coloured rooms. 

Actually there isn't really. But it's about what happens with the brain and the eyes when you  move from one to another, and it's something magical which ended up with around half an hour walking round and round and round, until I felt I needed to leave in case my eyes fell from the front of my head. 

Just go. It's ace. 

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POSH BAKED BEANS

I thought March was supposed to be full of daffodils and lambs gamboling, but for some reason, March in London feels like - well, like December to be honest. So rather than a salad full of the new leaves of the season, I wanted a hearty snack that would warm me up from the inside. Enter.... POSH BAKED BEANS. 

They're not really baked beans at all. There's not a minute of baking involved, and they're not your usual Heinz either, but they are deliciously moreish. 

WHAT YOU NEED:
- 1 tin of Cannelloni beans
- 150g chopped pancetta
- 100ml of tomato passata
- chipotle ketchup, chilli powder, paprika and a dash of Worcester Sauce 

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Pop your beans in a bowl, and into the microwave to heat through for 3 minutes. While that's happening, fry off the pancetta in a pan until the fat renders (this is when it starts to go a little brown on the outside and crispy on the edges). Add in your beans, the tomato passata and as much of the chilli powder and paprika as your palette prefers. Add a big old dollop of chipotle ketchup and a dash of Worcester Sauce. Cook it all off for a couple more minutes until it's piping hot and serve with a side of buttered crusty french bread. Et Voila!

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[NOT QUITE] PANCAKE DAY

I know pancake day was last month kids, but I missed it. I was at work until the small hours. At my desk, probably writing some kind of powerpoint - I can't quite remember - all I do know is that I wasn't at home chowing down on fluffy puffs of joy with lashings of lemon or drizzles of syrup.

So this morning when I looked in the fridge and realised that I had blueberries to use, and I had an egg - I decided to make today my pancake day. I hereby declare any day to be pancake day!

They are ridiculously easy to make. I've adapted the recipe slightly as I like them a little thicker than most normal recipes make, so I use a bit less milk, and have found with a bit of tinkering that this is the best recipe... 

WHAT YOU NEED:
- 135g of plain flour 
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 150ml milk 
- Blueberries (as many as you like!) 

WHAT TO DO:
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Make a little well in the middle and crack in the egg and start whisking. As you're doing that, pour in the milk until you have a smooth batter. Pop it in the fridge for about ten minutes (I find this helps them stay round when I pour into the pan, but I have no idea why!). To cook, heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and add two tablespoons of batter and a handful of blueberries... when they start to bubble, flip 'em over! Repeat until full. 

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CALIFORNIA DREAMING

It's been a bit of cold weekend down in Laaandan town hasn't it? I've had my parents staying this weekend and in between a visit to the worlds best cinema (The Electric in Notting Hill in case you wondered) and a jaunt to Greenwich for the Ansel Adams exhibition - I managed to update them on my tiny jaunt to the US of A last week. 

Less about the Seattle part which was all work and the play was all work too - in case you're wondering it was the reveal of a brand new videogame... and if you're into videogames then consider it your 'Destiny' (and ahem, if you're into videogames then that will/should make sense to you, if it doesn't pop it into any search engine)... this was mainly planes, hotels, a game studio, some sunshine and some serious fog... 

Bellevue Sunset

And the weather when I woke up

From the makers of.... 

But if that's sort of boring then let's skip onto the holiday part - the California part where I got to spend a lucky 48 hours with my brother, his wife and the most adorable nephew in the world. It consisted of a trip to the beach to watch the surfers and mess around in the sand, a lot of pork (the pulled kind and some serious ribs), pancakes for breakfast, and lunchtime in wine country which resulted in a few bottles of tipsily purchased bottles for home...

All that sunshine was topped off with a looooooong flight where I hop, skipped and jumped off the plane and into the office for a mammoth day fuelled only by caffeine. And the rest of the week I've been recovering! 

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