Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

After my success with the crusty round country loaf, I thought I'd challenge myself and attempt to bake a whole wheat loaf. I should preface this by saying that I tend to eat whole wheat bread in my day-to-day life. Always endeavoring to maintain a healthy diet -- although I do indulge and treat myself every so often -- my normal diet consists of whole wheat carbohydrates. This includes bread, rice, and pasta.  Keeping this in mind, and still feeling exhilarated from my recent adventures in bread baking, I thought I'd attempt Buzzfeed's "Amazing Home Made Bread" recipe . I'm sorry to report that this recipe did not go quite as well as my round country loaf. If you go to Buzzfeed's website, they produce a beautiful looking fluffy whole wheat loaf, while mine was very dense -- also rock like. My read had a grainy texture -- made me think of a 12 grain country loaf.  I'm not really sure why my loaf turned out different from Buzzfeed's. I ...

Over the past month, I have been binge-watching "The Great British Bake Off." I know that I'm probably late to the game, but hey, I got there in the end. Like many people who watch the show, I am OBSESSED. I am consistently excited by the recipes and challenges completed in each episode, but I'm especially impressed by the skill of the bakers. I've always loved to bake, but these guys REALLY love to bake -- and they're exceptionally good it! (For the most part...)  Anyway, this post isn't about "The Great British Bake-Off" -- although if anyone wants to chat about it, I'm always game! No, this post if about how I was inspired to challenge myself after watching many episodes of "The Great British Bake-Off."  For years, I've always wanted to bake my own bread, but was too intimidated to do so. For some reason, the idea of using yeast and having to let it sit and double in size and such really intimidated me. In retrospec...

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys are well and have been enjoying lots of yummy foods. The past year has been very hectic for me, and thus, I let the blog slide a bit, but I'm trying to make more of an effort to post more often. To celebrate my return to my blog, I've given it a bit of a makeover. New layout, new color scheme, and even a new name. I'm no longer a student, so I thought it was time to change aspects of the blog that referred to my student status. Even though I've changed the blog a bit, it's still me and the posts will still be mainly food related. Hope you guys will stay tuned and let me know what you think! Cheers, Gourmet Foodie --- formally loves to cook, m.d. (Cookie Monster from Cafe Lalo, NYC)

Before visiting Kensington Palace, I took my parents to The Ivy: Chelsea Gardens for a lovely brunch. As fairly frequent visitors to London, we have our favorite places, but I thought that it would be nice, on this trip, to try some different places.  I'll be completely honest -- the only reason I knew of this restaurant was from my instagram account. A few days earlier, I was on my instagram and saw that Anthropologie (I'm a massive fan of this store) had posted a really stunning photograph of a restaurant, whose whole front was covered with flowers. As soon as I saw that photo and learned that the restaurant was in London, I knew I had to visit. Although the really colorful and magnificent outside of this restaurant is a show-stopping experience, the interior is also quite nice. I found it to be very elegant, with earthy tones and garden-like furniture. It was almost like eating inside a very posh greenhouse. The breakfast menu has a wide range of dish...

A few months ago, I checked out Ottolenghi in North London. This very trendy Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant has been recommended to me by a few people, so I was very curious to check it out.  The restaurant isn't super big, but it's fairly long and narrow. The dining room is communal sitting for the most part, while the front of the restaurant it more cafe style and you can buy the mouthwatering confection in the window. I came here with my parents and from the moment we walked in, I felt like this might not be their scene.... The decor and the furniture was just a little too modern and trendy, if that makes sense. Heck, even I wasn't crazy about it. It almost felt like I had traveled back to the 1970s. Groovy, man. The front of the restaurant and then dining room in the back Yum yum! Ottolenghi's dishes are very much tapas style plates and the flavor inspirations are a mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. The menu is divided in half ...

Since coming back to London in mid-July, I've been doing my best to see as much of London (and the surrounding areas) as possible before I return to the US permanently at the end of August. There is so much to see, but with my time limited, I decided to focus on things I'd never seen/visited before. When coming up with places to visit, I consulted Buzzfeed.com, which has many lists of places to see in and around around, as well as trip adviser. One location that kept popping up was London's "Little Venice."  A bit of history (taken from Wikipedia): - Little Venice is comparatively recent name for Parts of Paddington and Maida Vale, in the City of Westminster, which had been referred to as London's "Venice" for a century before the "little" became current. The name was in frequent use by the latter half of the 20th century.  - The origins and coinage of the name are disputed. One story goes that it originated with the poet Rober...