A LITTLE LUSCIOUSNESS 2014 - 2015

What a year it's been! As 2014 comes to an end I've been thinking about what I've been up to with my blog and food adventures. First of all a quick apology to those of you who read my blog for recipes - I've been eating out at so many amazing restaurants recently, and putting a lot of recipes I've come up with into my book (that I'm still writing), that I've hardly posted any recipes here at all in the past few months. So please bear with me as I will be redressing the restaurant review/recipe balance on here in the New Year...

The other thing I've been looking back on is my pop up restaurants. This time last year I'd done 4 events - 2 public pop ups and 2 private pop ups for a hen do and a birthday party. Now I've done a total of 13 public pop ups, and 12 private catering gigs, including a 3 course dinner for 60 people, and a vegetarian Thai feast for a hen do. I also had the pleasure of designing the food menu for a private party put on by MoneySuperMarket, which I'll be blogging about in the new year. I've had some great feedback from my events, and I've had some lovely reviews of my pop ups from the following bloggers and writers:

Eat, Travel, Live / Heroine in Heels / Cocktails and Caroline / The Chiswick Herald / Chiswick Mum

I am continuing with my pop ups in 2015, and already have 2 dates in the diary - the 24th January, which there's still a couple of tickets left for, and Saturday 14th March, when I'm doing a pop up as part of the Nose to Tail fortnight, using less common cuts of meat to prepare the following menu:

Welcome cocktail

 

Chicken & duck liver pate topped with madeira jelly, duck hearts, raisin puree & homemade bread

 

Oxtail and ox cheek stew, leeks, wild garlic & flageolet beans, purple sprouting broccoli and parsnip puree

 

Lemon posset with rhubarb jam and shortbread biscuits

 

Montgomery cheeseboard, homemade chutney, seeded crackers

                                                                                

COFFEE and HERBAL TEAS: Served with homemade chocolates

 

Tickets have started selling for the March event already (!?) but there are still plenty available here. I'm also looking to do a pop up in February so check Grub Club for details on that soon. I'll be doing a pop up once a month to start the year and will possibly increase them as the year goes on. Of course, all this is only possible because of the wonderful people at Grub Club who help and support me every step of the way, as well as making it easy for you guys to get tickets for my events. I might even venture into the world of Afternoon Tea in a more central location than my West London home, but of course, I'll post details here about those if/when they happen.

 

Here are a few photos from some of my most recent pop ups and private catering events so you can see what it's all about....

 

Welcome raspberry, vodka and prosecco cocktail from early Autumn:

 

 
The calm before the storm, table laid and guests arriving:
 

 

Prep for my October event - browned meat; veggie pie filling; cauliflower before puree-ing; homemade bread:

Pescetarian Thai feast - tom yum soup; cucumber salad; radish and spring onion salad; spinach, lime and peanut bites: 

 
December's pop up - kedgeree arancine balls with curried mayo and quail's eggs; cider pot roast guinea fowl, yorkies, pomegranate carrots, celeriac puree and leek gratin; passion fruit possets; the aftermath:

And a Halloween cat cake I made for a bake sale at work - tasted nicer than it looks - gluten free chocolate and whisky cake with salted caramel icing and white chocolate bones:

 

 

So what else is next..? I'm hoping to do even more writing this year. I've started writing for a new food review site called Try This For, and I'll be blogging on behalf of a magazine in the New Year - I can't say more than that at the moment but as soon as it happens I'll let you know.

 

Thank you to everyone who's read my blog and to all the guests who've come to my pop ups and booked me for catering gigs - none of this would've happened without you. I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and an even better New Year! And I hope to see some of you at an A Little Lusciousness pop up soon!!

 

Rosie xx