My Favourite Brownie!

Gareth James Chocolatier Café is well established in Tynemouth but you could easily walk past this quaint little chocolatier if you weren't in the know (although you will have no excuse now!). It has a funny lime green and purple colour scheme on the inside but this is barely noticeable once you smell the chocolate and see the selection of various luxurious chocolate products lined up. The vibe is hard to ascertain as it is very small and could be a cosy retreat depending on the time and day you visit. My friend and I visited on Sunday afternoon which was really busy but we managed to bag a seat and settle ourselves.

Gareth James’ is situated on the main street in Tynemouth so it is a nice place to people (and dog) watch as well as relax in the plush seats in the friendly bustle of the café. I was also pleasantly surprised to notice that the prices on the menu were exceptionally reasonable and not what I expected from a place in Tynemouth with my drink and cake coming to just over £4.00.

We ordered a brownie and carrot cake to share along with hot drinks. One bite out of the rich brownie is enough to take you to a chocolate heaven where you are floating down a melted chocolate river on a little chocolate lilo. It is almost fudge like in consistency. It is honestly the best brownie I have ever had. The carrot cake is also the best carrot cake I have ever had. Although this may not seem very appetising, the carrot cake seems like a raw food recipe. It is so packed with carrot (yes a carrot cake with actual carrot - very rare I find!) and walnuts. I can’t stress enough about how amazingly good the cakes and brownies are at Gareth James’. The other most delightful and thoughtful things is that the waitress had cut each cake in half as she knew we were sharing which I thought was a really nice touch and not something you would find a lot of places taking the time to do.

The hot chocolate I asked for was warm in temperature and was just right in terms of bitterness and sweetness and a good accompaniment to the cakes as it wasn’t sickly sweet.  

Overall, I would say that Gareth James’ was a little gem of a café and I would definitely go back to try other cakes and brownies as well as some of the individual chocolates that were displayed. I especially would like to try the Newcastle Brown Ale chocolate! I will definitely be going back to Gareth James’ on a regular basis! 
 

Gareth James Chocolatier

12 Front St

Tynemouth
0191 257 7799

 

Gareth James' Gingerbread Christmas Display

Selection of individual chocolates

Story of the Eye

I read a book called 'Story of the Eye' by Georges Bataille over ten years ago now but this book made a big impression on me. I was studying at Art College at this time and I made quite a few artworks which incorporated the themes from the book. The story is baffling and obsence and really shocks you even from the first page.

This book demonstrates the links between death, conception, love, lust, violence, death and sadness by using an image of a white spherical object as the common denominator. This object may be a plate, an eyeball, milk, an egg, a testicle, etc.

I would not necessarily recommend that everyone rush out and reaf this book because it deals with highly controversial material and there is a lot of explicit sexual content but the book raises philosopical questions about the connection between sex and death and the idea of pornography. This book is definitely gorey and perverse but it is also extremely interesting and opens up a bizarre and strange world - one which the reader may never have experienced and may not experience again. Whatever you think about this book, because it is an real opinion divider, you will certainly never forget it.

The book reminds me of such films as Lars von Trier's 'Antichrist' and 'Nympomaniac' and also a little of 'Jamon Jamon' by Bigas Luna. 'Story of the Eye' has influenced artists like Bjork and the band Of Montreal in their song 'The Past is a Grotesque Animal'.

Bjork - Venus as a Boy

Double Review! Northumberland Hussar Pub & Angel Olsen: Burn Your Fire For No Witness

I recently had a lovely evening out with my friend, noise musician, Dominic Dixon to the Northumberland Hussar for food and then to my first gig in a long long time!  

The Northumberland Hussar is offers a really good choice of pub grub including and array of amazing sounding pizzas and burgers and a really good selection for vegetarians which is really unusual for a pub. I had a pizza with egg, spinach, mozzerella and mushrooms. Dom had a falafel burger with chunky chips on the side. Everything was delicious and I was really please with the prices too. The staff were also friendly and I loved the ethos of this pub. It is not part of a chain and claims to never want to be. I just felt like I would really want to support this place in the future and go back as often as I can. I would so much rather go to an independent establishment than support the likes of Wetherspoons or Lloyds.
 

Pizza from Northumberland Hussar

Now for the gig...
 

The support act was Rodrigo Amarante who offered up a kind of sleepy lullaby music that you might fall adrift to, the perfect intro to Angel Olsen who bursts on stage and goes straight into a lively opening song. It’s a bit like eating a massive Sunday dinner, falling asleep in front of a blazing fire and then jumping out into biting winter cold air for a blustery bicycle ride.

 

Angel Olsen embodies the essence of a romantic burning soulful singer. She is sometimes so intensely looking at a faraway point that I feel like I might burst out laughing with the seriousness of it all. I guess Angel feels the same way herself as she sings,”I heard my mother thinking me right back into my birth/ I laughed so loud inside myself it all began to hurt” from ‘White Fire’

Angel’s music, lyrics and sound are spell bindingly poetic but quietly controlled, reminding me of a young Cat Power. He leaves me feeling like a heartbroken teen busily scratching away mine and his initials on the front of my dog eared math book. Angel sings with defiance and it is refreshing to see a strong woman who shows her weaknesses so freely, her voice often rising from a whimsy whisper to a stark shout.

One of the stand out songs was an interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” which Angel sang with rawness and vulnerability that only someone who has been through such loss and heartbreak can re-imagine with any authenticity

Project: Upcycling Ikea Tarva Chest of 5 Drawers

Over the past few months I've been trying my hand at a bit of upcycling.  I thought it would be pretty easy just to give this chest of drawers a few licks of paint but it has taken waay longer than I expected!

BEFORE

AFTER

If you fancy giving this a go yourself then here's is a handy rundown of how I got this chest from plain and boring to interesting and unique:

1) Make the drawers as per Ikea instructions - a feat in itself! 
2) Give the whole chest a light sanding so the primer/varish has something to adhese to.
3) I started by painting all the wood stain parts first so this included the main body of the chest and all of the drawers, although I only used wood varnish on the front of two of the drawers. I just used a cheap oak wood stain varnish from Wilkinsons and I gave each area 3 coats. I think next time I would like to try using a wood stain wax as this might be less messy.

4) Next I used a white primer on the front of the remaining three drawers. The reason this process takes so long is because you have to wait a few days days each time you add a new coat of varnish or paint!

5) I used a pale green varnish on the front of two drawers. In the name of keeping this upcycle as budget as possible I just used paint I had left over from painting the front door. Although the paint I used is meant for external surfaces I really don't think it matters too much plus I don't really want to buy lots of new tubs of paint as our flat doesn't have loads of storage space. I think the best thing is to try and use what you have and ad lib if you can!

6) A little experiment for the last drawer front - which I actually don't recommend but fortunately it just about did the job! I decided to add a colour to some white varnish I already had so I bought some Plasti-Kote enamel paint (which I will be using in a future project) and added a few dots into the varnish. Unfortunately, this made the varnish very delicate and a strange texture.
7) Lastly, the fun part is adding colourful and fun drawer handles! I got mine from These Please.

I also upcycled two Ikea Tarva beside tables to match:  

My Top 10 Books

Portable Library

 
This is a post about my top 10 favourite books. There is not really a definitive reason for why I think they are good.  My liking them has nothing to do with how technically well written they are or whether or not they are popular or ground breaking. I just like these books because I can see everything in them and feel everything the characters feel.  I don't want to give too much away just in case you haven't read these novels so I am not going to give a description of what happens in the books but only say why they are in my top ten.

In no particular order:

1. The Stranger by Albert Camus
This book is comes across as quite eerie, like when you watch a film and you are waiting for something to happen, because the character is seems strange and indifferent. In reality though I think this man is someone who prefers to think about the world as a whole instead of the small world he lives in. He does not act the way his society expect him to act - he does not mourn and questions religion. This is a great book because it encourages you to think and question the things we are told or inherantly believe as a country or culture. I also really like the descriptions in the book for example the character stares at the walls in his cell and depicts all the little details of it.

2. Post Office by Charles Bukowski
This book is so easy to read and yet it is very profound in the most unexpected way. You may think this is just about some stupid drunk man but this drunk man happens to be sensitive, witty, clever, caring, funny and passionate. I love how you can despise a lot of the disgusting things he says and does and yet in the next paragraph he suddenly bcomes the moral backbone in the situation or shows his inner vunerable self.  It is like when you are in a shop and they have terrible music on but then they play one amazing song and you just feel love and happiness. This is Charles Bukowski. Also, if you have ever been a Postal worker as I have then you will appreciate this book.

3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami 
Murakami has written lots of great, amazing books that I love but this one is a bit different. It shows who he is as a person and writer. I think it is always great to get an insight into who people are especially if they are creative. I also like this book because I used to run a lot and this book really describes the pain and pleasure of running and how you might want to give up but the urge to run is too great to stop. Murakami reads with such ease and has brilliant descriptions about when he runs during different seasons and in different locations.

4. The Woman in the Dunes by Kobe Abe
I only read this novel recently but I can't stop thinking about it so that is usually a good sign that it's going to stay with me. This book really gets inside you because of the subject matter. The man in the novel thinks he is a free man but when he gets trapped in a sand pit by villagers who need him to help with the work of keeping the sand from consuming the village. The man is desperate to be free from the pit but as he starts to question his so-called freedom on the outside he wonders what being free actually is. The other great but uncomforatble aspect of this novel is the physical effects of the sand - it is everywhere, all around him, in every crease and crevice of his body, in his mouth, eyes, food and water.

5. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This might just be my all time favourite novel. I fell in love with the character Levin who is a good and kind man and who thinks about all the things there is to think about in life. He thinks a lot about nature and the human struggle. This is an intricate story but it is written in such a way that you read it as if you were doing something quite simple like opening a letter except it is the most wonderful and beautiful letter you have ever been sent.

6. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Another novel that I have only read recently but it struck such a chord in me that I cannot leave it out of this list. This is a story about Charlie who undergoes a special operation to increase his intellect. The book is written as a series of progression reports gradually going from very badly written and naive to become reports of great insight. This novel is so sad and funny and clever and poignant. It also raises interesting questions about how possible it is to have both knowledge and happiness.

7. Siddartha by Hermann Hesse
Siddartha is the story of life and how we are continually learning and trying to gain peace and happiness. I feel like anyone could relate to this novel.  It takes the reader from a period of striving vainly for enlightment to lavish excess, love, material pleasures then to the search for a simple, spiritual life. Siddartha expereinces every side of life and these experiences are what make him wise and content.

8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
I read this book right before Anna Karenina not knowing that the books are linked. This link may be why I cannot have one in my top ten list without the other! This is the strange story of a Terez who falls in love with a man who cannot stay faithful to her and has many affairs. Terez is my favourite character in this book and I love her gentle nature and love of reading. The main reason this book is on my list however is because of the philosophical questions raised over the human spirit and the idea of eternal recurrence. 

9. Hunger by Knut Hamson
Hunger is such a bittersweet book. It is about a man dying of starvation which sounds pretty depressing! But this novel goes from laugh out loud funny to bizarre to melancoly in the space of a few pages. It is one of the most simple yet heartfelt books I have read.

10. Naive.Super by Erlend Loe
Last one! This list has been more difficult than I thought and I've probably missed loads of great books out. Naive.Super is not a well known book but it is definitely worth finding. It is the story of a disillusioned man and his journey to some kind acceptance of his life. The main character tries meditating with repetative activities such throwing a ball against a wall and becomes interested in scientific theories and he also befriends a small boy who lives next door. This is another really simple story but it just makes your soul feel good.

Well, that's my top ten - I hope you liked this post! I would love to hear what you think about these books and my top ten choices or if you have any recommendations for me?

Borscht

 Yum! I made some delicious, hearty, healthy and very earthy Russian Borscht soup yesterday.

Borscht

Here is my simple and quick recipe:

Ingredients

2 or 3 fresh beetroots, washed and peeled and chopped into small cubes

2 or 3 potatoes, sliced into cubes

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, grated
2 of fingers of celery, diced

½ head of cabbage, thinly sliced

1 can kidney beans including the juice

2 bay leaves

1 litre of beef stock

Large squirt of tomato sauce

One squirt of lemon juice

Pinch of ground pepper

Now to make the soup:

1. Fill a large soup pot with 500ml of boiling water and a pinch of salt.  Add the chopped beetroots and simmer for 15 minutes or until par cooked. Add the chopped potatoes and sliced cabbage and continue to cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.
2. In the meantime, add a large dash of cooking oil to a frying pan and saute the grated carrots, chopped onion and diced celery until they are soft, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce towards the end of the cooking time.
3. Add the beef stock, lemon juice, pepper, bay leaves and can of kidney beans to the soup pot.
4. Add sauteed carrots, onion and celery mix.
5. Simmer for a further 5 - 10 minutes, until kidney beans and cabbage have softened.
6. Serve with a large dollop of sour cream and warm,crusty bread.

Optional extras or things to try - I always think it is nice to try new things with a standard recipe especially if you make it a lot and want to try a new twist!

• A warm boiled egg, quartered and added to the top of the borscht.
• A splash of cider vinegar and half a teaspoon of honey at the end of the cooking process for a sweet and sour flavour
• Use chicken stock instead of beef stock for a more mellow flavour
• Blend the soup for a smooth texture and a more child friendly version.
• Add dill to the soup - this is a traditional addition in Poland.

New Home

My boyfriend (Tom) and I have been in our new home for almost one year now and I have lots of DIY tips and cool ideas for decorating on a budget!

For this first post, I will just mention a few little items I've bought to make our flat look a bit more unusual and quirky. I love looking on sites such as Etsy and Folksy for cute additions but I also love going to the weekend market at the Tynemouth metro station.

First thing I bought was a really cute knitted cover for our kitchen clock which can be bought from Baban Cat on Etsy. It didn't cost much but it really adds a cosy feel to this cheap clock.

Knitted Clock Cover

Another really affordable item which is ideal for new home owners is the Vittsjo shelving unit from Ikea.  Here is ours, which was a present from Tom's parents, in our living room.

Vittsjo from Ikea

I have filled the shelf with cute little jars from John Lewis and Orla Kiely, a Ben de Lisi fruit bowl, Ikea boxes, Ikea vases, books and plants!