Cocktails & Monday Mornings; The Link.

Cocktails are dangerous because they taste delicious, so you drink with enthusiasm. This equals unexpectedly horrific hangovers. Due to this, your entire weekend is a blur...and then it's Monday morning. Bo****ks.

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro



The lovely Anna Goode

Don't be silly not me, Anna (pictured to the right).

My good friend and yummy Greek mummy Anna Goode, will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2012, with sister Maria Goldby, to raise money for The Rainbow Trust.

The Rainbow Trust Children's charity, (based in Leatherhead, surrey) provide emotional and practical support for families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. Their support workers join families in their own homes, and are able to provide much needed practical support, 24 hours a day from diagnosis, through to treatment and even bereavement.

Message from Anna, "My main reason for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is to help the Rainbow Trust, who were so good to my niece Elise during her short life suffering from Leukemia."

Anna needs as much support as she can get to raise the £3000 plus, needed to fund the climb.

Me & the girls, supporting the cause.

To date, Anna has raised £1,272 through her recent fundraiser, which was enjoyed by all (including me and my pals pictured to the right).

To learn more about Elise, Anna's reason for climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, please follow below link
http://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk/about_us/media_centre/family_stories/family_pages/Goldby_family

CALLING FOR SUPPORT from YOU all, if you think you can help through corporate donation/local businesses please contact me via my twitter account @AlanaCrisci, alternatively if you wish to donate online please follow this link http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=goodetrekking&isTeam=true

Rainbow Trust rely almost entirely on voluntary donations, and through the generosity of their supporters. At present this enables them to support 1000 families per year.

For more information on The Rainbow Trust Please visit http://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk/

Thank you on behalf of Anna and her family.

Review numero dos, Cinnamon Club.

Cinnamon Club offers a refreshing menu of modern Indian haute cuisine. Its location at the heart of Westminster, means it's a great place to spot leading politicians (if politician spotting is your thing).

For the historians in you ALL, the restaurant itself is set in the beautiful grade II listed building, formally known as Westminster Library; providing an exquisite backdrop for the perfect lunch or dinner.

The Cinnamon Club is also committed to using local produce, in combination with old Indian recipes and ideas, which have evolved into a colorful selection of modern dishes and flavours. Do not let the Western style presentation fool you, its dishes are a truly masterful example of authentic Indian cuisine.

The menu at Cinnamon Club is simple but sophisticated, using simple ingredients with highly technical cooking, to produce great quality Indian food.

To start, why not try a grilled half of lobster with garlic and pepper butter? Then maybe Hyderabadi saddle of lamb with sesame and tamarind sauce, accompanied by black lentils and tandoor roasted aubergine? That's actually an order.

Set courses will cost you £22 pp, while mains will cost between £11-£29 pp, a good price for one of the only Indian restaurants providing this level of dining in London (I say 'one of' because I'm going to visit Cafe Spice Namaste very soon, after having been invited by the lovely Pervin Todiwala whom I recently met at The Clink Charity Fundraiser).

If Cinnamon Club sounds like the kind of place you like to try please feel free to utilize my concise but highly useful location deets as seen below.

Buon Appetito!

Address: Old Westminster Library, 30-32 Great Smith Street SW1P 3BU. Nearest tubes: St James's Park or Westminster.

Recommendation numero uno: Hawksmoor, Seven Dials.

Hawksmoor- Seven Dials, is something a little different. Located in London’s ever cultured Covent Garden, the Hawksmoor debatably serves amongst other things, the tastiest steak in London. 

 

Although it lacks in interior glamour, its beauty lies in the robust menu, and the historical nostalgia, as the site itself is set in the basement of what was once, a brewery.

 

The layout is welcoming, with a much less ‘modern’ feel than other leading restaurants, but an abundance of charm, warmth and glorious smells of hearty food.

 

A variety of menu’s are served at this New York style restaurant, but it has a lunch menu to rival even the most established of restaurants.

 

To start why not try the Hand dived king scallop with champ, or perhaps Cumbrae Rock Oysters with Hawksmoor sausages.

 

Now for the main, if like me you’ll opt for steak, why not try the fillet with a stilton Hollandaise sauce. Or if you prefer a less meaty more 'American' main, the Lamb chops with creamed spinach and macaroni cheese?

 

If you have room for dessert, what about their popular Chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream or perhaps the Raspberry trifle, or both? 

 

I think you may be rolling out of this place.

 

A set (but somewhat restrictive) meal at the Hawksmoor with cost you around £20pp however, a typical meal for two, with wine and service will cost you approx £120.

 

Address: 11 Langley Street, London WC2H 9JG Nearest Tube : Covent Garden

I have an announcement to make...

I'm on Twitter, Follow me www.twitter.com/alanacrisci or seach alana lucia crisci.

If you follow my blogs, why not follow my updates too. Who knows what they could contain, really, who the hell knows.

Alana

I love Christmas, but that has nothing to do with Christ.

Just a few days to go and unlike alot of you I am cool, calm and collected. Christmas shopping CHECK, Festive plans CHECK, New Year changes (at work, at home in head) CHECK, All future plans to save the world noted CHECK,  Bank balance low, Bugger.

Wellllllll, can’t have it all.

It’s Christmas, but neither ‘Christ’ or ‘mas’ play a particularly important role in this for me. I mean, I know it’s original purpose was in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ, giver of love and all things holy; but I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for divinity in my old age.

I was Christened a Catholic and I listened to Nonna’s stories of heaven and hell, of good and evil and I even learned the lords’ prayer. But I am a pessimist when it comes to religion and religious celebrations, lost in-between coverage of perverted priests, and the undeniable contradictions and manipulations ( This is not exclusive to Catholicism, either.) Admittedly, in my limited knowledge of Jesus and his teachings, I gather that all he really wanted was for people to act with integrity, honesty and courage. Which in theory, guides us all along the 'right' paths through life, always leading us to love. For this I respect HIM. Although I will save THAT conversation for another day.

Ultimately, I do not celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, and until a 'few' years ago all I cared about was presents under the tree, however un-palatable that may be for some - I am no charlatan.

Instead, I like many, choose to focus instead on Christmas as a time of giving; a time to share love and happiness with those we hold closest to our hearts. We give to those who have little, and spend time in nostalgic banter with family and friends, stuffing our faces and listening to naff christmas songs.

In our family, as with most things, food is of the essence; and it is not restricted to Turkey with stuffing. There is pasta e vongole, baccalà, insalata di baccalà, zeppole, then there’s roasted chestnuts, panetone, beef, chicken, lamb, stuffed peppers etc (not necessarily in this order) Rarely ever a turkey in sight actually.

Ah, Christmas. Don’t you love it? I must assume you’re nodding your heads in agreement.

I'm looking forward to strolling through London tonight on my walk home, lights glittering, people busily last minute shopping, and carol singers wailling along the snow-kissed streets.

Lets eat, drink and be merry…(or at least eat and drink.)

Merry Christmas (without the Christ or mass) x

Good Day vs Bad Day ft pigeon poo

After a somewhat blurry week filled with cancelled trains and snow, I wake feeling fresh and ready to go. And then I looked in the mirror.

Bad hair day, YES just what I wanted. Urgh.

After the initial shock of my bird-nest head, and a few hair pins later, I head out relatively un-phased.

Running down the stairs... (Queue annoying act number one.) *I let go of my phone*  My poor blackberry is going to die, or worse, get scratched. My battered phone finally stops at the bottom of the stairs, right on top of a chewing gum blob. Double urgh. WHY did I do that and WHY did someone spit out their gum on a carpet, despicable.

Hacked off, and dressed like the Michelin Man (bar my kitten heals) I pre-empt a bad day. My first step was actually a skid, by the way.

I arrive at the station, two minutes too late. My train has left, of course. Standing, waiting, freezing my face off I start to day dream.

Pigeons. They are everywhere. I stare at them, eyes glazed over in a feezing daze, feeling very sorry for their tiny round bodies, perched on the slim branches of the tree. A few of them try to perch on a ledge of the platform, but it’s been wired off, poor sods.

Then I visualize one of them flying over me and pooing on me (I’m sorry there’s no nice way of saying that.) “Imagine!” I sigh to myself.

PLOP.

My head is still tilted up mid daydream, and my eyes are still glazed over.

*Moment of realisation* Oh my f***ing god…are you SERIOUS?!

I reluctantly look down at my right arm. PIGEON POO! I actually have bird poo on my arm. Did I just make that happen, on some telepathic level? I just had this coat dry cleaned. RAGE.  Triple urgh.

Definitely a bad day. Definitely annoyed. Definitely have to get a seat on train.

Lunch was nice, dim sum always puts a smile on my face. Not unlike being in a sweet shop really, so many food choices + so much time = happy Alana.

On my way back to work I get a call regarding a visit to a “winter wonderland”. Ice skating, circus shows, hog roast, and hot chocolate. OK, slowly but surely, today is getting better.

THEN I remember my Nonni are back from Italia and I’m going to see them after work, *HUGE SMILE*. Short term gains involve Italian cakes, gifts and loads of cheese. Long term gains involve Nonna’s cooking, ‘C’è posto per te’, (for those not in-the-know this is an epic show on Italian telly) loads of Sunday dinners aka my weight in pasta, cheese and salami and much, much more.

Things look up, momentarily.

Then I get a message. My partner in food-related-crime at the office, who is not mildly as proper as her name may suggest (Charlotte Middlehurst) is leaving.

Charlotte is half Portuguese and half English. She's a crazy hybrid like me, and I love her. I love her for introducing me to decent sushi, (e.g. not Wasabi or Yo Sushi) for her quirky manner, and because she gets it. And more surprisingly, she gets me. (To your right is a picture she sent me today, it made my morning, and this is why I love her.)

Alas she is leaving me, she’s going to Shanghi. On the upside, she’ll be writing for Timeout magazine. Genius. Whilst I am exited for her, I am heartbroken, but perk up as I realise I have yet another pal to visit abroad.

Shanghi, Sri Lanka, Australia and Malawi to name but a few. Imagine how much I will get to see, do and eat.

B.L.E.S.S.E.D

I arrive at the grandparents, after my Nonno jumped out from behind the door at me like a playful kid and Nonna had shouted at me for being on a diet (I am not.)  I am greeted with bags upon bags of food; Cheeses, salami, porcini mushrooms, chocolates...you name it, I had it.

After a couple of hours of village updates and general ramblings like, "You look skinny" and "Do you want to eat, yes come on", I Buckle and stop a little longer to eat some gorgonzola and prociutto, with a big hunk of freah bread. Once the pasta is prepared and ready-to-go in an oven friendly dish, I'm cheerfully packed off back to my little flat, down the road from my big fat family.

Emosh day. Watch this space, and my waistline.