This past week has been cold...really cold! And rainy, very rainy, but only sporadically. As a southern Californian, London weather seems to me to be hyperactive. It can't decide what it wants to be, it's always changing its mind. And it is never happy with being what it is for very long. Yesterday, Ryan and I were out on a walk to the beautiful area of Stoke Newington to visit their farmer's market and the overgrown Victorian wonderland of Abney Park Cemetery (pictured right) when the cloudy sky opened up and spewed down violent rain and hail! We took shelter in a nearby doorway and two minutes later, the rain evaporated, the hail dissolved, and the sun came out with blue skies and puffy romantic clouds!! London Lesson #7: The weather in London is neither predictable nor steadfast.
*Please note the paradox of this lesson: as a southern Californian, the slightest weather variations within a single day is a novel and exciting idea to me. I'm sure no one from New York, Chicago, or Switzerland would ever call London weather unpredictable or exciting.*
One advantage of such fickle weather--never long periods of either rain or sunshine--is that it encourages spontaneity and a balance of activity. This morning the sky was a clear, turquoise blue; Ryan and I looked at each other and knew an outdoor adventure was about to be born: "let's go to the Bloomsbury Festival!" Every October the Bloomsbury Festival comes to the parks and museums in Bloomsbury, enlivening the area with music, food, crafts, and art installations. We toured Dickens' house for free, drank mulled wine, listened to world music, perused art stalls, pinned paper doves to an arbor, watched improvising dancing troops, and explored weird and fun art installations in various squares.
Here I am in an art installation by some architecture students: a wooden chair swing in a tree in Brunswick Square (notice the swinging couch behind me!). The Festival was quirky, lively, creative, and fun! Most importantly, we had some amazing Creole Gumbo with corn fritters! Mmm! And just as we were starting to get too cold, the sky quietly opened and gently rained a beautiful shower, backlit by the setting sun. The rain was falling so softly it looked like snowflakes! We knew it was time to go home. At home we revived ourselves with tea and chunks of bread pudding and got some serious studying done.
London Lesson #8: Maximize sunny spells with explorations into the quirky offerings of London and keep enough bread pudding on hand to get you through the cloudy study hours spent inside.
Here's a typical English Bread Pudding recipe: dense, rich, filled with dried fruit, and delicious!
Bread Pudding
8 oz stale wheat or white bread
10 fl oz of milk
2 oz (4 Tbsp.)butter, melted
3 oz brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp mixed spice (mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves)
zest of one lemon
8 oz mixed dried fruit (raisins, currants, sultanas, candied dried fruit, cranberries, whatever is in the cupboard! I think dates would be delicious in here, but I didn't have any, will try next time!)
Break up stale bread into 1 inch pieces and let soak in milk for 30 minutes. (I mushed the milk and bread together with my hands, as the bread was not fully immersed in milk. I also added a bit more milk to make sure the bread was thoroughly coated.) After 30 minutes, vigorously mix the soaked bread with a fork to ensure there are no more lumps. (It will look like a gross gruel.) Add the brown sugar, egg, melted butter, spices, and lemon zest and mix with the fork until thoroughly combined. Add the dried fruit and stir to combine. Spread the batter into a buttered 6x8 pan or loaf pan. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until bread pudding is firm and tester comes out clean. If you use a smaller pan (which makes a taller pudding), you may need to bake longer, up to one hour. Enjoy hot with ice cream! Also hearty enough to eat for breakfast! Yum!
Note: For that special occasion, soak the dried fruit in brandy for 30 minutes prior to adding to batter. Mmm!
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