EAT ME DRINK ME SUNDAYS, EALING

I've got some exciting news for you West Londoners - there's a new food market coming to town, and I'm pretty happy about it! I live in between Chiswick, Acton and Ealing. In the nearby area we have 2 food markets at the weekends - there's Ealing Farmers Market which happens on Saturdays from 9-1pm and then Chiswick Farmer's Market on Sundays from 10-2pm. Both are nice, but both are quite some distance from a tube station and the Ealing one in particular finishes way too early for me to get there regularly. By the time I've got up, ready and out the house on a Saturday morning I'm lucky to make it for closing time.

So when I heard about a new Ealing food market, that's going to be championing local producers, I wanted to find out more. Eat Me Drink Me has started a regular street food gathering Food Truck Friday in Ealing Broadway shopping centre. Sadly I work full time so won't be able to go along to the Friday events. However, Eat Me Drink Me are also launching a Sunday market in front of Ealing Town Hall. Eat Me Drink Me Sundays will take place every 3rd Sunday of the month, from 10am - 3pm, with traders selling both hot, ready to eat food, and others selling produce. The perfect place to go to pick up weekly ingredients plus something scrumptious for Sunday brunch.

Food truck traders at this Sundays market include Mama's Jerk - who make THE best jerk chicken and are already a firm favourite of mine; Ruperts Street - a vegan stall serving fresh and bright food; Margo & Rita - Mexican food in the form of burritos and tacos and lots of hot sauces; Guasacaca - a new one to me that I definitely want to try out, they serve Venezuelan street food, pockets of slow cooked meat topped with their special avocado sauce; Churros Garcia - Spanish inspired deep fried batter with thick hot chocolate for dipping; and finally, something to wake you up, local coffee house Monkshood will be there to top up everyone's caffeine levels.

Providing the fresh produce will be Ealing butchers Hook & Cleaver - pick up your Sunday roast, choosing from free-range Norfolk chickens, free-range & GM free Plantation pork, free-range grass-fed West-Country lamb, dry-aged Aberdeen Angus beef or cuts from rare breeds, including Salt Marsh lamb and Gloucester Old-Spot pork; Flavours of Spain - selling cured meats, olive oil and Spanish cheeses; Charlie's Fruit Bowl - another local store who'll be pitching a gazebo for the day, selling all the fruit and veg you could possibly need; Mags Petite Fleur - providing flowers to make your house look and smell beautiful; Cheeky Chutneys - sauces and spices galore, to perk up any homemade curry; and last but not least, Ruben's Bakehouse; who'll have artisan sourdough, pastries, brownies and more.

I can't wait to try out this new market, and will definitely be reporting back to let you know how their first event goes. If you come on Sunday, then look out for me and come and say hi. I'll have my camera round my neck, a burrito in one hand, coffee in the other, and arms full of shopping bags!!

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MY #TASTEOFTRAVEL



What do you look for when you book a holiday? Is it sun, snow or sand? Do you like to be by the sea or in the countryside? Activities or beach loungers? For me, it's pretty much all about the food. Though I don't necessarily book holidays based on the local restaurants I would never book a holiday that involved visiting somewhere that didn't have good local produce. Because where there's good produce, then there's definitely good food, and you don't need a fancy, Michelin restaurant to eat it in. All you need is the basics - locally sourced, fresh food and you're on to a winner. Celebrity Cruises do just this (and a bit of the fancy stuff too!), and have teamed up with Great British Chefs to create delicious monthly recipes and ideas. Celebrity Cruises were voted Ocean Cruise Line of the Year in the 2014 Food and Travel Awards. They've asked bloggers to put together a menu of the 3 best courses they've eaten while travelling, and whilst I've been to some amazing places in my life, it's actually the fresh, basic food I've eaten while travelling in Southern Europe that's really got my tummy rumbling. So here's my dream travel menu, which due to so much time spent by the coast involves quite a lot of fish and seafood, which I thought was apt for a cruise based menu...

Starters - I've chosen 2 starters that I've loved eating on my travels. Both were in Spain - the first in a swanky, modern restaurant in Seville where we had delicious octopus and Parma ham, so simple, yet done perfectly.  

 

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LONDON'S FINEST with VIVI IN STILE - WIN FREE DRINKS!

A few months ago I read an article in a London magazine about a new style guide app that had just launched. I promptly downloaded it, won a competition through the app to go to an outdoor rooftop cinema (which I was actually unable to make) and forgot all about it, until last week. I have a habit of downloading lots of new, exciting apps, only for them to fill up my screen, get filed away in folders and for me not to look at them again. So I had a bit of a clear out, and rediscovered this brilliant app.

The app is easy to use, super stylish, and if you follow its advice, you're in for a great night at some of your local city's finest eateries and bars. Click here to download the app for free and see for yourself. It currently covers London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool.

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BAKE SALE - SATURDAY 9th FEB at THE VIBE BAR

This Saturday coming I will be selling cakes, sweets and treats at the brilliant Jumble and Pearls vintage fair, at The Vibe Bar on Brick Lane. I will be there from 11-6 on Saturday 9th February, so do come along if you're in the area, and say hi! There are over 15 stalls, selling vintage ladies clothes, men's ethical clothing, jewellery and much, much more.

I will be selling - banana cakes, blue baked cheesecake, berry cheesecake, ninja bread men, salted caramel peanut brownies, fruit and chocolate brownie slabs, pecan choccy bites, coconut ice, salted chocolate truffles, caramel flapjacks, and heart shaped shortbreads.

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