TOP 5: Eggy breakfasts.

I went out for brunch yesterday, and sat next to a friend who ordered the most delicious-looking croque madame (like a croque monsieur but with an egg on top). Consequently, I’ve been thinking about eggs:

1. My lazy version of an omelette: Chuck everything in the pan and wait.

2. Softish egg with fried tomatoes and smoked salmon.

3. ‘Little Fry-up’, a painting by Ansel Krut in the Saatchi Gallery.

4. Soft boiled egg in a fluoro cup.

5. The croque madame that inspired this post. Yum.

Is it just me, or is TOP 5 turning into a food blog? Ha.

TOP 5: Kitchens.

I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. It has bright yellow walls which multiply the sunshine, and it’s full of ingredients for making baked goods.

1. Reaching for the bottom shelf (the top shelf’s only got crackers).

2. Sadly, this is not my kitchen.

3. Nothing like a bit of retro glamour before breakfast.

4. My doodle to the lyrics of Regina Spektor’s song.

5. My kitchen before thanksgiving dinner. (there was enough time for posing.)

COLLECTIVE 5: In the kitchen.

Hello! COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly project involving readers’ photos. Anyone can join in! The rules, as well as next week’s COLLECTIVE 5 theme, can be found over here.

Here are this week’s photos:

1. The Magic Bowl. By Abi Lucy.

2. Load of Balls. By Katy Barnard.

3. In the French Château. By Eva Butkovicova.

4. An Unnatural Coloured Baking Picture. By Claire Harrop.

5. A Greek Man’s View of the Kitchen. By Nikos Zarb.

Click here if you’d like to join in next week! Come on, don’t be scared!


TOP 5: Soup.

‘Tis the season to be  jolly warmed up from the inside.

2. Ingredients: squash, onion, carrot, potatoes. Season, boil and blitz.

2. Seen at London’s foodie Mecca: Borough market.

3. My favourite: prawn dumpling soup from Gerrard’s Corner.

4. A sunny, soupy lunch.

5. (I’d already eaten the chicken slices. Oops.)

 

TOP 5: Baking.

I enjoy baking cakes as much as I enjoy eating them. I often round up a couple of friends and, together, we make an impressive mess in the kitchen. Other times, I bake alone late at night or early in the morning, just because I find it calming. There is no doubt:  Baking times are good times.

1. That time we improvised a mango polenta cake recipe.

2. That time we bought fresh bagels which we smelt from a mile away.

3.That time we got creative with the flour.

4. That time I made a giant batch of vanilla cupcakes on a Saturday morning.

5. That time I bought too many sweet potatoes and baked them into muffins.

TOP 5: Fishy eats.

Fruits of the sea, oh yes.

1. Smoked trout Nicoise.

2. I don’t like oysters.

3. Grilled sardines with panzanella.

4. A luxurious breakfast.

5. A sublime paella.

p.s. COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly photo project involving your photos. Click here to join in.

TOP 5: Fresh.

I like vintage clothes, but I don’t want vintage food.

1. Borough Market beauties.

2. This seems like a dodgy deal to me.

3. Crisp Greek basil (in a decidedly un-fresh tin).

4. Strawberries.

5. Strawberry steak.

p.s. COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly photo project involving your photos. Click here to join in.

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TOP 5: Frosting.

Dear Frosting, You are very beautiful. Let’s stay together forever. Love always, Helena.

1. Rosewater icing, made by my own fair hands. I AM SO PROUD.

2. Deleriously creamy domes of frosting, at Borough Market.

3. Oreo, Caramel, Cream Cheese and Strawberry. From Raoul’s Deli.

4. Delicate buttercream with crystallised petals, at the Haymarket Hotel.

5. And finally, one for the minimalists out there.

Psst! Click here to join COLLECTIVE 5, a weekly project involving YOUR photos!

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TOP 5: English eats.

In no particular order:

helena-maratheftis-english-eats-11. A good pie and a hunk o’ good cheese. (These were at Spitalfields market.)

helena-maratheftis-english-eats-52. A cup of tea and a sit down. Slice of cake, optional.

helena-maratheftis-english-eats-23. A fry up. of course.

helena-maratheftis-english-eats-44. Where else in the world would pet-shop mice be fed Yorkshire puddings?

helena-maratheftis-english-eats-35. Tea cakes, bramley apple pies and bakewell tarts (the supermarket version).

TOP 5: Veggies.

In no particular order:

helena-maratheftis-veggies-11. The cross-section of a cucumber.

helena-maratheftis-veggies-41. Butternut squash on a bed of cous cous.

helena-maratheftis-veggies-53. A great big slab of carrot cake.

helena-maratheftis-veggies-34. My boyfriend wrapped my birthday gifts in empty chip packets.

helena-maratheftis-veggies-2

4. A sinkful of beetroot.

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