the Londots in Oxford, pt. I

This past weekend, Brad & Sara came to spend a couple of days with us in Oxford.  They flew in from Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, so Fi & I took them straight to the Bookbinders.  Then, after a few pints, we all headed back upstairs for some dinner.  Fi whipped up a delicious eggplant pasta, & we broke out the gateleg table for the occasion:

That's just how we do on Victor St.  Saturday morning everybody rose nice & early, & after some coffee & pastries from Maison Blanc, we hit the road for some sightseeing.

The first destination on our list was the Bodleian, which is the main research library for the University of Oxford.

Then on to the Radcliffe Camera.

From there, Fi led us onward to Merton, where she did her MPhil.

Here we are inside Merton's chapel

Around the way some students had set up a croquet course

Here's the happy couple, parents-to-be!

Another of Merton's quads, another story

Members-only access to the garden

A brief stop for a lesson on the postal system

Then to the Cherwell for some punting.

The Bridge of Sighs

At this point in our day, we'd gone far too long without a stop in the pub, so we stopped into the King's Arms for a bit of refreshment.

Revitalized, we pushed onward to Magdalen College

Here in Magdalen's Chapel

Magdalen's got a beautiful courtyard

A poem by C.S. Lewis, who was a fellow of Magdalen for 30 years in the early 20th century.

 Magdalen's dining hall

The Halkin

This past Sunday we convened with the rest of Fi's family in London to celebrate Kirsten's birthday by going to tea.  For a change, the ladies booked a new place this year, a pop-up tea room in a hotel called the Halkin. William Curley, a famous chocolatier, curated the menu, so I had high hopes for the patisserie.

As usual, I felt a bit guilty about taking pictures in that sort of environment, so the typical take-what-you-can-get qualifier applies to these.  I did manage to get a shot of Kirsten & her sisters as she opened some gifts.

The rest is to do with food, though.  A man's gotta have priorities, even if those are tea, scones, & cakes.  Here's the menu:

I had darjeeling silver needle.

At last, the desserts.

That's all, folks.  Happy birthday, Kirsten!

Dinner at Balliol

Last night Fi & I attended an Oxford University alumni dinner at Balliol College.  It was hosted by the department of English, so Fi made the guest-list, & she was kind enough to bring me along as arm candy.  For fear of seeming the tourist, I didn't take any pictures except this one:

It was a nice dinner, though.  The first course was seared tuna, the second was duck with with girolles, & the dessert an orange panna cotta with a lemon madeleine.  Yum.  Afterward, we repaired to the nearby King's Arms, where Fi refused to pose for a picture.

the Pub

A few weekends back Fi & I were in Oxford with no plans, so we decided to try out a new pub called the Anchor. 

It's a bit of a hike up Kingston Rd, so somewhat off the beaten path for us, but the Anchor was worth seeing, if only for novelty's sake.

It's always nice to spend an afternoon in the pub. 

Pie goes on for ever

Sunday past Fi & I finally got a chance to use my new pie equipment.  Here's a snapshot of our delicious dinner, a spinach & ricotta recipe from my Pieminister cookbook!

Check out the four & twenty blackbirds!

I love pie.  So much.

University of Oxford Botanic Garden

The weather in Oxford on Sunday of this past weekend couldn't have been much better, so Fi & I took advantage by strolling around town for a spell. Temps were mildly warm, the sun was out, & more people seemed to be about the city, enjoying the first hint of spring.

In Oxford, even the graveyards are beautiful.  The cherry trees are in bloom as well.

Our eventual destination was the Botanic Garden, which we'd heard was pretty nice.  Here's a batch of photos I took while inside:

The Botanic Gardens had a pretty wide variety of stuff, both in greenhouses and outdoors.

 There were plenty of flowers to try photographing up close.  I didn't take down any of their names.

Children of the Lone Star State will recognize this one, though:

All walks end up in the pub.  It's the rules.

Potato Gnocchi

Two weeks back Fi & I came into possession of a giant sack of taters.  Generally speaking, we don't eat many potatoes, so our repertory of tried & true ways of cooking & eating them isn't exactly vast.  Beyond roast potatoes & baked potatoes, & maybe the occasional skillet of home-fries, neither of us has much experience.  Needless to say, it wasn't long before we found ourselves with a bucketload of on-the-verge-of-sprouting spuds & no way to deal with them.  Fi, ever the resourceful one in a time of crisis, suggested we try to make some gnocchi.

The gnocchi recipe (ours came from Martha Stewart's Cooking School) is pretty similar to pasta from scratch, the only real difference being the addition of riced potatoes to the flour & egg. After the dough's together, it's simply a matter of rolling it out & cutting the little bite-sized pillows of starchy goodness.

That process is pretty labor-intensive.  Each piece is individually shaped, & by the time I'd finished rolling the last one off the fork, I was definitely bored.  From start to finish, the dish (including a simple tomato sauce) took just shy of 2 hours to prepare.  Not exactly fast food, I know, but the gnocchi were really, really delicious & made for a light, but satisfying alternative to traditional pasta. I'd definitely recommend if you've got the time.