New York minute #2

Apart from the sheer buzz and energy of the place, eating is a primary reason for us to stay on the Lower East Side when we come to New York. There are some seriously good bars and restaurants to eat at here. You already know about Schiller's Liquor Bar where we ate and drank on our first night. On Friday, we dined at wd-50 on Clinton Street. To start off with, I had eggs benedict (photo above) and M ordered hanger tartare with smoked almonds, banana and hibiscus. Then I ordered the scallops with pine needle udon, grapefruit dashi and Chinese broccoli. M ordered the duck breast, Worcestershire spaetzle, parsley root and mustard greens. For desserts, I devoured the sake sorbet with licorice and Bartlett pear, and M chowed down on the soft chocolate with peppermint ice cream, black cardamom and toffee. Everything was exquisitely fresh and light and perfectly portioned.

On Saturday, we dined at The Stanton Social on Stanton Street, which encourages diners to share several small dishes. So we chose: Stone-ground blue corn crabcake corn dogs; lobster paella cakes with chorizo and artichoke salad; grilled cheese slider with Cheddar, house-cured jalapeño bacon, fried green tomato and lemon aioli; Rhode Island-style lobster roll; butternut squash and sweet potato ravioli with vanilla brown butter and candied pecans; charred squid lettuce wraps with spicy papaya kimchi, miso mayo and jalapeño-soy; grilled hanger steak with a smoked paprika crust, caramelized onions, potato and chive tater tots and Spanish bravas sauce; and finally roasted beets with lavender honey and goat cheese. Once again the food was achingly fresh and delicious. On a Saturday night in LES, the place was heaving so the atmosphere was terrific.

And on Sunday night, we ate at Freemans, which is at the end of Freeman Alley off Rivington Street. Surrounded by taxidermy on the walls and immersed in candlelight, we started with hot artichoke dip with crisp bread, and shrimp and grits with bacon, shallots and green pepper puree. For our main dishes, M chose a stew of Colorado lamb with butternut squash and grit cake, and I chose a Hudson Valley duck breast with local mustard greens and a Concord grape reduction. I couldn't resist a dessert of sweet potato pie and buttermilk ice cream. M had his first sour mash. The place was heaving and it was a lot of fun.

Aside from eating on the LES, we ate a lovely lunch on Saturday at the Austro-German Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue. We always eat here when we come to New York because the food is excellent, the atmosphere is lovely and the cafe is close to the Met. The long queue to get in was worth it for the bratwurst mit sauerkraut and röstkartoffeln (roasted sausage with Riesling sauerkraut and roasted potatoes) that we ate. For dessert, M ordered sachertorte (Viennese dark chocolate cake with house-made apricot confiture) and I ordered milchrahmstrudel (Quark cheese strudel with vanilla sauce).

Beforehand, we had explored the new American wing at The Metropolitan Museum and saw Robert Frank's The Americans exhibition there (photo above). As always, the photos were amazing. I loved the way he focused in on people to describe a larger event - such as close-ups of politicians' faces or an orator at a political rally rather than the crowds at the rally itself; or close-ups of a few attendees at a funeral rather than a typical funeral scene such as a casket being carried or lowered surrounded by mourners. I was most intrigued to learn that Frank was friends with Beats such as Kerouac and Ginsburg, and to later "alternative figures" such as Sam Shepard and Patti Smith.

Afterwards, we visited The New York Public Library (photo above). M and I have both been blessed by opportunities to study in some wonderful libraries - the Bodleian in Oxford, the British Library in London and the reading room of the British Museum also in London. But none have been open to the general public. So it was a real pleasure to see the beautiful NYPL building.

The rest of Saturday was spent shopping along Fifth Avenue, culminating in a visit to toy shop FAO Schwarz where we bought Little Planet a couple of Charlie and Lola stuffed dolls and several books from Barefoot Books (photo left) - I love this publishing company because their books are very colourful and bold and also multicultural. Incidentally, both Barefoot and Charlie/Lola are British companies/brands.

On Sunday, we visited the Witney Museum of American Art, which disappointed us with its meagre collection. I wanted to see more Edward Hoppers, more Winslow Homers, more Franz Klines and Andy Warhols and Jasper Johns... more of everything.

Afterwards, we stopped off for coffee and pastries in a lovely independent cafe on Lexington called Corrado Bread & Pastry. And then we browsed the big stores Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman and Macy's (the latter of which disappointed - it was so rundown).

Then we became real tourists and climbed up to the top of the Empire State Building. What a view - we giggled and took photos and tried to identify buildings and our hotel. We felt like kids! I can't wait to take Little Planet up there one day (photo above). And then we came back to the LES for diner in Freemans, but I've already mentioned that.

More soon...

A New York minute #1

It's 4.45pm and we're back in our hotel to catch our breath before dinner. M's having a bath and I'm reading Sarah Napthali's exquisite book Buddhism For Mothers Of Young Children - Becoming A Mindful Parent.



We've just come back from 5th Avenue, where M bought some shirts from Brooks Brothers. Before that, we were on Bleeker Street having lunch with a friend from university who usually teaches at Harvard but is doing a year's research at NYU so is now living in the West Village. And before that, we were walking The High Line from Chelsea to the Meat Packing District - a 1.45-mile section of elevated freight railroad which has been redesigned and planted as a green and verdant parkway (photos above).


We've also seen some very good art shows today - Jeff Wall's pseudo-documentary photographs (photo above) at the Marian Goodman Gallery (staged images of a couple eating fries out of a paper bag, people lining up at pawn shop booths, a man siphoning fuel from a car, a man throwing knives at a garage wall, and more); Daido Moriyama-trained Keizo Kitajima's portraits of people on New York streets or in dive bars off the US Army base in Okinawa and of Tokyo drag queens, to name but a few, at the Amador Gallery; and Edward Burtysky's monumental photos of oil tankers, oil refineries, oil fields and other stark landscapes such as quarries and even an LA freeway interchange (photo below).


We'd arrived in NYC on Wednesday night. After we'd checked into the Hotel On Rivington, we headed to the excellent Schiller's Liquor Bar for steak and fries and beer. This is my fourth trip to New York, M's seventh and our third trip here together as a couple. Each time together, we have stayed at the Hotel On Rivington. It goes without saying that we love this city and if we ever had the choice to live and work outside of London, then it would be here in NYC. And we particularly love staying on the Lower East Side - this part of town has the same buzz and energy as London's Shoreditch or Hoxton, with a little bit of Brixton thrown in.

Yesterday, we walked through SoHo, shopping for clothes at Vince (where I bought some amazing quality knitwear as it had turned cold and rainy in NYC and I had arrived unprepared!), Thom Browne, and Odin which sells clothes from US designers (M bought a very cool, grey woolen Woolrich jacket designed by Daiki Suzuki - again, he was as unprepared as I was for the sudden downturn in the weather). We also stocked up on books and magazines at McNally Jackson on Mott Street, where purchases included two children's picture books based in NYC for Little Planet: Good Night New York City by Adam Gamble and Joe Veno, and Subway (right) by Anastasia Suen and Karen Katz - two very colourful and sweet books that I can't wait to read to my daughter when we get back home next week.

Food is a very important part of our trip. Before we arrived here, we'd pored over magazines such as Time Out New York, New Yorker and New York as well as guidebooks and the internet. We stopped off for very good coffee and raspberry thumbprint cookies at Ground Support on West Broadway, chilling out and people watching from a repurposed cedar wood bench and table. The cafe reminded me of my favourite London cafe Fernandez & Wells.

We knew we wanted to eat at Keste Pizzeria on Bleeker Street. We met up with one of my childhood friends for dinner there and we were blown away. This truly is terrific pizza and I want to eat there now for every meal! My friend was born and brought up in London but now works as a business development manager in NYC. He lives in Manhattan and loves it. It was good seeing him after so long. Earlier on in the day, we'd lunched at La Esquina Taqueria and Cafe in Nolita where we ate delicious Mexican food - sopa de tortilla (soup of shredded chicken, tomato, onion, ancho chile, cotija cheese and lime), huevos rancheros (a little too much sauce on this dish), and carne enchilada (soft corn tortillas with char-grilled adobo rubbed pork, grilled pineapple, onion, cilantro, salsa verde and lime).

After lunch we took a tour of two restored homes of two Eastern European Jewish families who lived in a tenement building at 97 Orchard Street at the turn of the 20th century. The tour was operated by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and was incredibly detailed for just one hour. I highly recommend it.

And what did Little Planet do yesterday at home in London? Her two Grans are looking after her. They give us regular updates via texts, emails and calls. My baby is doing absolutely fine. Yesterday she was visited by a little 8 month old friend who lay on the floor while Little Planet stroked her hair, brought her endless toys and cooed "Baby, baby, baby!" Obviously my little baby is no longer a baby herself at 16 months but a little girl :-)

Of course I miss her terribly. M and I talk about her constantly as we stroll New York's streets. But this trip is so good for our marital soul. Each year, I think, we will go abroad just the two of us and let Little Planet enjoy quality time with her Grandmothers.

Life 2.0

My weekend began on Friday evening at 7pm. I had just put Little Planet to bed and had now settled down on the sofa with a novel (The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz). I love the hour or two of silence that descends between putting my daughter to bed and my husband returning home from work.

A couple of hours later and M came home bearing assorted pizzas from Princi which we ate with salad in front of the TV. We watched our recording of steamy, brooding vampire drama True Blood. Apart from the football, I can't remember the last time we watched TV in real time. We record everything - TV 2.0.

My Saturday began at 6.30am. I was wide awake, lying in bed, my mind racing with work thoughts while my husband and daughter were still fast asleep. A little later, everyone was up and while M and Little Planet ate their breakfast, I headed into town to get my hair done at Aveda in Holborn, central London. I was very annoyed, actually I was mad, at the Tube driver for ruining my attempt to read my book in peace by making endless announcements. The wonderful head massage I received at the salon, though, soon calmed me down.

I ate a stodgy vegetarian brunch at Neal's Yard Salad Bar - not the best vegetarian food I've eaten, though the soya banana milk shake was delicious. I bought Indian and Colombian coffee beans from the Monmouth Coffee Company in Covent Garden. Then I watched Pixar's new movie Up in glorious 3D in the Covent Garden Odeon. I found the film very poignant and I loved it though I wondered whether it was really suitable for some children. One boy - perhaps 6 years old - in the audience said loudly, "It's very sad, isn't it?" Another boy of a similar age was whimpering, "I'm scared Daddy, when will it finish." I admit that I cried a fair bit, but then again I am a big softie.

After the movie, I popped into Borders bookshop on Charing Cross Road to buy Parents and Real Simple magazines. Queuing up to pay, I couldn't resist being tempted by a bright yellow Mr Happy umbrella for Little Planet (photo top). Then off to Muji on Tottenham Court Road to buy candles, soap refills and notebooks. I took a bus up Oxford Street to Selfridges where I bought a DKNY grey cardigan and a John Smedley black cardigan for myself for colder weather. Finally, I ended up in John Lewis where I bought Mini A Ture lilac trousers for Little Planet, a bath mat, a mattress protector, a grey lambswool throw for one of our couches, plus cheeses, fruit and snacks from the Food Hall. Though I work in central London (off Oxford Street, in fact), I rarely have time to pop out and shop on this scale aside from weekends and days off.

Laden down with bags, I caught a cab home and spent the rest of the afternoon with Little Planet, M and my mother-in-law who is staying at our house for a week and a half to look after Little Planet when M and I go away to New York this Wednesday - our first holiday in two years!

Dinner was pan-fried cod with a hazelnut and caper crust, accompanied by sauteed potatoes and a salad of spring onions and tomatoes from our garden. Did I mention in a previous post that M's home cooking is one of my "best things in life"? One of my "worst things in life" (post to come) is washing up afterwards!

Sunday began, as all weekend mornings begin in the Planethalder household, with a big family cuddle in our huge, super-kingsized bed. Our weekend morning ritual is this: Little Planet wakes up and shouts out from her bedroom. One of us brings her into our room and changes her nappy whilst one of us goes downstairs to warm her milk and make coffee. Then one of us feeds her her milk in our bedroom whilst the other snuggles back into the bed. After her milk the three of us end up snuggling in our bed with the CBeebies channel on. It's a lovely routine.

Later, after breakfast, my mother-in-law and I took Little Planet to get her (fourth) haircut then we took her to visit her auntie and uncle who live nearby. M stayed at home to chill out in peace (though he also cleaned and hoovered the house, good man!). Little Planet snacked on almond croissants with us, plus blueberries and strawberries. Then I took her home for lunch. She hates being strapped into her buggy so she screamed most of the way - I tried to distract her with leaves and keys, which worked for a while. Her frustration with being in the buggy makes going out with her quite difficult, but we persevere as we have to go out. It's all a phase, so won't last. But it does stress me out hearing her getting so mad. Oh well.

On a positive note, for the first time ever she properly strung two meaningful words together - her Dad was walking out of the bedroom and she waved and said, very clearly, "Bye bye Daddy!" Mind you, she was saying "Off we go!" a couple of months ago when she was 13 months. New words she's said this week include, "blueberry" and "finished" (when she shows us her empty plate).

She ate a good lunch of pasta and tomato sauce, and then she went down for her nap. In the afternoon, my mum and dad came to visit, so Little Planet was in her element with her two Grandmums and her Granddad all showering her with attention. I had to work though, for a few hours, upstairs as I have a big presentation in Paris tomorrow (fortunately the trip can be done in a day so I will be back tomorrow night). M also had to work for an hour.

And now it's the evening. M made Little Planet a stew of sweetcorn and tomatoes, which went down well. He'll be roasting a chicken for our dinner. Then we'll settle in to chat, read the weekend papers, do a little packing, and watch some TV.

Another weekend over, but I am not sad because in two days' time we will be off to New York (have I mentioned that to you?!)!!

Best things in life...

• When my daughter chuckles to herself at something she's doing or thinking
• My husband's home cooking
• Being immersed so deeply into a project that I lose track of time
• Anticipating a holiday - as satisfying often as the holiday itself!
• Coming out into daylight after watching a matinee movie in the cinema
• The Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota - an hypnotic environment redolent with so many fond memories for me
• Hot, buttery mash potatoes
• Marmite on white buttered toast (always has to be butter)
• An empty hour or three with a good book or the weekend newspapers
• My mother's embrace - so comforting when I'm upset
• The sound of silence
• Very loud rock music
• Bach's cello concertos - the only music that has brought me to tears with its beauty
• All Stars or Converse sneakers - the best things for my feet
• Trashy rom-com movies - my guilt pleasure
• British weather - I truly love the unpredictability of it
• A Sunday movie on DVD - I am really looking forward to the day Little Planet can curl up on the sofa and watch a movie with me
• Living in London - every day here is an adventure and I can't imagine living anywhere else in Britain
• Spontaneous hugs from my husband or daughter
• DKNY t-shirts
• John Smedley cardigans
• Nicole Farhi jumpers
• American Apparel baby clothes - bold colours and well made
• Standing out in the garden at night when the world is hushed and breathing in the fresh chill air and looking at the stars
• Freshly roasted Monmouth coffee
• Napping
• Dancing with my daughter
• A foot massage from my husband
• Snuggling... into my husband, into my baby, into a duvet
• Being pregnant - I loved my hair, my skin, my body, feeling her move about inside me, the nesting, the dreaming... I felt so powerfully feminine
• Pottering at home
  

So many more things, but this is it for now...

Adult tantrums

Ever since I hit puberty, I have been blessed not to be cursed by my monthly periods. Yes, I have suffered a few cramps, a few spots and low level mood swings, but overall... nothing unbearable or dramatic. And certainly, over time even these low-level cramps and mood swings have disappeared.

So it was a shock to all when my temper turned exceedingly foul this weekend. Even my daughter and her constant babbling - usually so endearing (well, most of the time) turned me into a black-hearted witch. I was so irritable, all weekend; I couldn't stop moaning; and it got so bad that I even voiced the taboo phrase, "I wish I had never had a baby!".

Now, I am naturally quite quick-tempered. But I am also quick to calm down. I am going through a stressful pitching process at work. But again, what's not stressful about my job. I have a few medical worries too. But, these are part of my life now. I have a toddler who is expressing her independence. But she's a toddler and it's all part of normal development.

Despite my black mood, we managed to have a good(-ish) weekend. We walked down Marylebone High Street - buying winter clothes for Little Planet from Bonpoint, books from Daunt's, meat from The Ginger Pig and vegetables and cheese from La Fromagerie. We then walked down to Piccadilly and saw Subodh Gupta's amazing sculptures at the Hauser & Wirth gallery (all photos).

We ate some really good meals: on Saturday, rare fillet steaks and greens stir-fried with garlic; and tonight M is making Nigel Slater's pork chops with apples and cider. We saw my mum.

And we spent alot of time playing with Little Planet. Well, M did... I was in too dark a mood to do anything other than work (on a work presentation), lie prostrate on the couch and generally grumble and whinge like a toddler. Even my own toddler was better behaved than me this weekend.

I hope I snap out of this soon.

Make believe

Little Planet treated us to a lie in on Saturday, so we decided to treat ourselves and head into central London for brunch. We went to Carluccio's in the Brunswick and ate toast with fig jam, croissants and panetone which Little Planet particularly loved. She enjoyed a run around the place too, confidently chasing pigeons and tentatively edging towards and away from dogs.

We took her to the fountains in Russell Square, which amazed her. Then we headed into Covent Garden to buy coffee beans and a ceramic filter from Monmouth Coffee, wine from Oddbins, toiletries from Kiehl's, and assorted cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy. Before heading home for lunch, we let Little Planet loose in the children's department of Foyles, where she enjoyed playing peekaboo with some 7- or 8-year old girls who were reading there. Inevitably we bought her some books, including Floella Benjamin's My Two Grannies - an utterly charming and funny picture book about a little girl and her two grannies - one from the Caribbean and one from Yorkshire.

It looks like that, at 15 months, Little Planet has gone down from two naps to one nap a day, after lunch, for around an hour and a half. So she was awake the entire time we were out in central London. Back at home, we fed her a lunch of pasta with cauliflower cheese followed by apple, then we put her down for her post-lunch nap. M and I also managed to have a nap! We woke her at 3 and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing and reading in the garden as the weather was so glorious. We also managed to do two loads of laundry.

After Little Planet went to bed, M made us pork chops with apple and horseradish sauce, accompanied by red cabbage and apple, and roasted cauliflower. I'm on the verge of a cold so I retired early to bed at 10pm and read Time Out's guide to New York. Just two and a half weeks to go!!!

Sunday - today - began at our usual time of 7am. After giving Little Planet her milk, M went out for a jog and I dusted and hoovered the entire house while Little Planet pottered about from room to room. She has discovered make believe play. She walks up and down the kitchen having long rambling conversations on her toy phone, concluding each call with "Okay, bye!". She also stirs food in her plastic saucepan with a wooden spoon and then feeds her dolly. She feeds her dolly a plastic bottle of milk. She tries to put socks and shoes on her dolly. She pretends to garden with her plastic gardening set. It's so delightful to watch. I am looking forward to alot of tea parties in the near future.

She ate her toast sitting on the back garden step while I hung out some washing which M had put on before he'd gone jogging. When M returned, he made us all scrambled eggs on toast. Then we went to the park. Lunch for Little Planet was red pesto pasta and peas, followed by peaches. M baked bread and washed down the kitchen floor and then Little Planet went down for her nap. Our lunch was freshly baked bread - still warm from the oven - and cheese. When Little Planet woke up, we washed her hair. We keep this to once a week because Little Planet gets hysterical having her hair washed. She hates it so much and I dread having to wash it.

My mum came to visit so the rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with her and sitting in the garden en famille. My mum's been busy with Durga puja here in London, but she still found time to make M and I some lamb and plum curry as well as some cauliflower curry. We'll eat them tomorrow night. We are all happy because my mum is bringing my dad permanently to London this week. He's got a place in a new care home just a few minutes from my mum's house.

My mum left for another puja. She's not particularly religious, but likes attending for the sociable aspects. We put Little Planet to bed and now I am roasting chicken thighs and legs with squash, red onions, sage leaves and whole garlic cloves for our dinner tonight. M will slow-cook some potatoes and spinach from our garden. We'll finish off with some homemade blueberry and apple crumble and Cornish ice cream.

Looking forward to it.

Sweating patience

It is an understatement to say that patience is not my strong point. But with M not home until 9pm tonight, I thought I would test my patience by attempting a borlotti bean and pancetta risotto. I've never cooked a risotto before.

At work today, in between a conference in the morning and back-to-back meetings in the afternoon, I dreamed of serenely chopping onions, celery and garlic, and sweating them on a gentle heat until they softened almost into a mush. I imagined myself flicking through the weekend papers in between stirs. I actually thought the activity of making risotto would be a calm, even meditative affair.

The reality isn't too far off. I've been reading the newspapers in between stirs. But, but, but I am anxious all the time, repeatedly returning to the stove to check nothing is browning too much or too fast. And I still haven't got round to the "slowly adding chicken stock" bit, which will, no doubt, test my patience further.

In short, I am already bored and wish I had decided on a stir fry instead.

These feet were made for walking

Little Planet had her first ever fitting for shoes on Saturday. We took her to John Lewis on Oxford Street and they measured her as size 4.5, width E. We bought her some red and tan Start-rite Dinky Tots (photo above) and some pink and plum Clarks Dizi Days (photo below). She looked so cute and grown up stomping around the children's department. She also looked very pleased with herself.
That afternoon, both her Grandmas came over to our house. We all spent the afternoon enjoying the warm and sunny weather in the garden. M's sister and her boyfriend also popped round later and, after Little Planet went to bed, we all ate roasted sea bream followed by blueberry clafoutis for dinner in celebration of both my mother-in-law's and sister-in-law's birthday.

Sunday morning was spent in the park - an expedition which has become so much more fun and enjoyable for M and I now that Little Planet is walking. She particularly enjoyed chasing after the pigeons!

Her vocabulary is growing by the day. New words she's been saying in the last week have included "keys", "shoes", "tractor", "cheese" and "wow". And when she sees her bedtime book Goldilocks, she says "Goldy"! She is quite the little communicator at 15 months. She also enjoys singing (not the words, but the tunes) - "Ba ba black sheep", "Row, row, row your boat" and the theme tune to "In the night garden". And I am teaching her David Bowie's "Starman" when she is in the bath, which she is beginning to pick up the tune to while we play with her bath toy star. She is also taking a great interest in dressing herself. She tries to put her socks on, as well as her bib and she also tries to put her arms inside the sleeves of her baby-gro or jacket.

After lunch, I left M baking bread and Little Planet having an afternoon nap and went with my mother-in-law and mum to the cinema to watch Julie & Julia, about the food blogger Julie Powell and food writer Julia Child (photo above). The movie has received such bad reviews, but I was thoroughly charmed by it. It was utterly uncomplicated and simple and didn't pretend to be anything other than a feel-good movie. Perfect Sunday matinee fodder. Though I admit, I'd have happily watched the movie had it been solely about the effervescent Julia Child but not if it had been about the self-absorbed Julie Powell. And of course, the entire movie was unadulterated food porn! I am itching to try out Julia Child's recipe for beef bourguignon.

And then back home for a roast chicken dinner, the leftovers of which I am now making into spinach and chicken curry with new potatoes for tonight's dinner. M is on his way home and I am very hungry.

Precious times

I had the day off work yesterday. I went with M to drop Little Planet off at daycare and then we headed to the Fleet River Bakery in Holborn for breakfast. M had a pain au chocolat and coffee; I had a cheese and ham croissant, and pear juice. Though highly rated amongst reviewers, I am less enamoured by this rustic, homely Holborn cafe. The cakes and bread always seem dry; they never offer to heat up my savoury croissants or sandwiches; and the service overall seems remote.

M went off to work and I walked through Covent Garden, Chinatown and Soho. I like walking through here before 10am, whilst the stores are not yet open and the delivery men are still unloading their wares.

I saw two good art shows at the Haunch of Venison: a collective show of Enrico Castellani, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and Günther Uecker and then the monochromatic watercolours of Uwe Wittwer. If you're stuck in Piccadilly with a full bladder or with a baby with a full nappy then I highly recommend this gallery's toilets - very nice and clean and, most importantly, usually empty. I also saw the Keith Arnatt photography exhibition at Karsten Schubert on Lower John Street.

I had hoped to see the latest Abstract America exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery off Sloane Square but it was closed for a private function. I didn't feel like window shopping along the King's Road so I headed to Paddington to catch a train to Oxford.

There, I ate a disappointingly stodgy lunch (too many potatoes) at the stuffy Nosebag cafe opposite the Oxford Union. I then wandered past the Bodleian library and the Radcliffe Camera, and through the still delightful Covered Market (photos above and below).

I studied in Oxford and I adore wandering around its pretty streets. For me, those streets resonate with history, and the scent of academia is so palpable it still makes me shiver with pleasure. I admit I am totally “rose-tinted glasses” about my alma mater. I had no negative experiences studying in that high-pressured environment. As much as I am energised by my career in advertising, I never felt more at home or more at peace than when I was immersed in pure academic research. What I dislike about academia is the teaching and the pressure to “publish or perish” and so I left it aside as a career option.

However, my memories of Oxford are tainted by the fact that I became quite ill while I was there. I recovered, but every other year, I have a checkup with an oncologist at the Churchill Hospital. Everything is usually fine, but still I get quite emotional in Oxford. In fact, I still get emotional whenever cancer is mentioned on TV, in movies, in real life. The last time I had a check up, Little Planet wasn't yet born. I am married, I have a daughter, and I feel like I have so much more to lose nowadays. It doesn't bear thinking about really.

So I was relieved to leave Oxford and overjoyed to return to London yesterday evening, to kiss my husband and hold my little girl tightly before putting her to bed.

Life is so, so precious that it hurts. But the fact that it is precious can produce pure joy too. Thank goodness.

Catching up

Last weekend, we didn't do much but chill at home, which is always lovely. Little Planet has a busy time with her childminders during the week, with lots of activities and general hustle and bustle, so we thought it would make a change for her to have a quiet weekend with us. One of her grandmothers was staying with us that weekend, which made it extra special for both. On Sunday, I left Little Planet, Grandma and M at home and travelled to St Albans where some of my old Oxford University friends were gathering for lunch and a catch up. Most of them are also working parents: two work for the UK government and the other works in Tanzania for UNESCO. Between us, we have four children. I love it how time moves on and we move along with it. We're proper grown-ups - my, oh my.

During the week, M and I also caught up with another Oxford friend. The three of us did our PhDs together and now we have baby daughters of the same age. This friend lives in Arizona where she lectures; her partner is a photographer. She has just accepted a prestigious job at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. She's currently in London doing research in the British Museum, so the three of us lunched at Korean restaurant Bi-Won on Coptic Street, where we ate deliciously spicy and moreish dolsot bim bim bap.

Also during the week, I joined colleagues for lunch at the cafe in Liberty as one of them was leaving for maternity leave with her second child. The food was very nice. I drank elderflower presse and ate a salad of baby spinach, poached egg and black pudding, followed by lemon tarte.

Some dinners I cooked this week included minestrone soup with savoy cabbage, cabbage curry, and curried paneer with tomatoes and peas.

Yesterday, M, Little Planet and I went into central London. Little Planet enjoys going on the Tube - we take her out of her buggy and she sits on her own seat or stands between our legs looking at everyone and trying to make them smile. We walked through Covent Garden to Foyles bookshop, where Little Planet explored the entire children's section for half an hour or so. M also bought a book by photographer-artist Gregory Crewdson.

We had to pop into my office just off Oxford Street to change Little Planet's nappy! We went over to Postcard Teas to stock up on a variety of Indian, Chinese and Japanese tea leaves as M loves proper tea. Then we walked down Bond Street to the White Cube in Mason's Yard to see the latest exhibition by Zhang Huan (photos above). Huan uses incense ash from Buddhist temples to create ethereal and transformative images. Here's a link to a previous exhibition of his work I've written about (in a lot more detail as those were the days "before child"!).

Before heading home, we picked up some delicate Japanese sweets ("wagashi") made from peaches and red beans from Minamoto Kitchoan on Piccadilly.

Back at home, we gave Little Planet her lunch of pasta with green pesto and some peas, and a dessert of fresh strawberries. She played a little and then we put her down for her nap. Nowadays, when we lay her down in her cot to sleep, she always waves and says "Bye bye". It is so sweet and it takes alot of willpower for us not to scoop her back out for another cuddle.

While she slept, M and I lunched on thick slabs of dark rye bread with cream cheese mixed with caraway seeds, plus some gherkins and also some radishes fresh from our own garden which were delightful dipped lightly with sea salt (photo above).

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the garden as the weather was gloriously sunny and hot. M prepared crab cakes for the evening meal while Little Planet played with her various plastic toys in the garden and rolled around on the lawn. She loves lying on her back, looking up at the sky and waving "Bye bye" at the aeroplanes and birds, so was doing this a lot. Her evening meal was green bean and beef stew followed by more fresh strawberries. Then it was her night time bath, bottle, book and bed routine.

For dinner, M and I ate his homemade crab cakes topped with homemade tartare sauce and accompanied by a salad of spinach, rocket, watercress and avocado (photo above). We ended the night watching a quirky and fun movie from Japan called Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers, which I had bought from JP Books in Piccadilly a few weeks back.

Today is Sunday and the weather has been cooler and more overcast. M took Little Planet to the park while I went with my mum to run some errands. M returned from the park and fed Little Planet dal and rice and put her to bed for a nap. Then my mum came back home with me. She bought with her containers of boal fish and green mango curry plus a mixed vegetable curry with shim, okra, sweet potato and lal sag. M and I will eat it for dinner tomorrow night after work. I love my mum's cooking!

We spent the rest of the day in the house... reading, playing, chatting. M made bread. We did laundry, cleaned the house a bit, did a little bit of ironing.

Now Little Planet is in bed. I'm blogging this post while M is cooking a recipe we saw on the BBC's Economy Gastronomy programme last week: Seared squid, chorizo and chickpea puree. He'll serve it with panfried smashed potatoes from Gourmet magazine. For dessert, we will have New York cheesecake which M made yesterday from the American Regional Cooking cookbook, topped with blueberry and maple sauce.

We've also started a list of things we want to do in NYC next month.

I am so sad the weekend is already over.

Three-day weekend

This weekend was a long one for those of us who live in Britain as Monday was a public holiday. On Saturday, we walked from Farringdon over Blackfriar's Bridge, along the South Bank in the glorious sunshine, and to the National Theatre complex, where Little Planet enjoyed clambering over the giant-sized AstroTurf three-piece suite.

We stopped for blueberry muffins and coffee in Benugo in the BFI, where Little Planet enjoyed clambering over the sofas. She is climbing over everything nowadays and is constantly on the move. We crossed the Thames at Embankment and walked through Trafalgar Square. By this time it was 11.30am and Little Planet had fallen asleep.

From Arigato in Soho we bought pickled umeboshi plums, fresh shiso leaves and yuzu concentrate. We picked up wine from Oddbins on Wardour Street, passionfruit cheesecake and strawberry flan from Princi, Kiehl's products from Liberty whose facade we noticed had been covered with floral Liberty print wallpaper. We then went to The Photographers' Gallery to see André Kertész's utterly absorbing photos of people reading (photo top). And then home.

At Princi we had also picked up some ham and cheese quiche and some green olive bread sticks, so back at home we ate these for lunch along with a spinach and rocket salad. Then we read in the garden and played with Little Planet in her Wendy house and tunnel. M did some DIY in our bathroom. After Little Planet went to bed, M grilled some mackerel and served it with wilted fresh spinach with a black sesame seed dressing.

On Sunday, M went to my mum's house to collect boxes of my books. I stayed at home with Little Planet. We played in the garden - in her tunnel and Wendy house. I also took her shopping to our local butchers (pork belly ribs) and greengrocers (five big bunches of spinach). My mum came back with M and then spent the rest of the day with us - playing with Little Planet and chatting with me while M worked upstairs in the study.

After Little Planet's bedtime, we dined on roasted pork belly ribs with macaroni cheese and wilted spinach with loads of garlic. Dessert was Cornish vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. We then ended the night watching episodes from the first season of The Office (original UK version), which they were showing on TV. So funny, so droll. Brilliant!

Monday began with a hoover and clean of the house then out to the shops with Little Planet. I left M and Little Planet and took the bus into central London. I usually take the Tube as it's faster, but this morning I relished the chance to sit down at leisure and relax into a longer journey, free to think about anything or nothing, with no interruptions or distractions.

I ate lunch at Abeno near the British Museum. I had pork om-soba (fried soba noodles wrapped in a light omelette and decorated with Japaneses mayo, ketchup and okonomiyaki sauce). I also had agedashi tofu with bonito fish flakes and grated ginger. All this eating to a fantastic 1970s soundtrack of Talking Heads and David Bowie. Abeno has very good taste in music!

I walked through Soho and picked up some organic soya sauce, black and white roasted sesame seeds, firm tofu and a bag of kimchi from Arigato - all ingredients needed for a variety of dinners we will make this week for ourselves. I picked up a US parenting magazine (Parents) from Borders. And then I watched the movie Moon at the cinema on Panton Street. The movie is directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones and stars Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey. It was superlative: visually arresting and emotionally taut. An existential tour de force that I would love to see again.

I came home to Little Planet and M playing in the garden. M had managed to have a client conference call during her afternoon nap (he had arranged the call to coincide with her usual nap time; otherwise I would have stayed at home to look after her). He'd also done some cleaning (the bathroom) and baked some bread (wholemeal rye bread plus pizza bases). After Little Planet's bedtime, M made pizzas for our dinner - anchovies, mozzarella, freshly made tomato sauce and basil from our garden.

As much as I enjoy my work, I am sad that the long weekend is over.

Malaysian beef rendang

I cooked beef rendang on Sunday and we ate it for dinner the next night. Like all curries, the rendang really benefited from having "rested" for a day before eating as the flavours were particularly intense.

Serves 2-4 (depending on appetite and number of other courses!)

Process the following ingredients in a food processor:

• 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2.5 inches ginger, coarsely chopped
• 1 stick of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
• 8 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric
• 0.5 teaspoon coriander powder
• 0.5 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons of red chilli flakes or 3 red chillies, diced

Then add this spice mixture to a heavy bottomed saucepan and fry. After a few minutes add:
1.5lb diced stewing steak

Fry until the meat is lightly browned and coated with the spice mixture then stir in the following:

• Grated flesh of half a coconut
• 165ml coconut milk
• A little water so mixture does not dry during simmering
• Salt to taste

Bring the mixture to the boil then simmer for 1.5-2 hours on low. Serve with rice.

Sorry, no photos. I need to get back into taking photos of anything other than my daughter ;-)

Busy doing nothing

This is perhaps the shortest weekend post I've ever written, for all we did this weekend was buy fruit, vegetables, fish and meat from our local grocer, butcher and fishmonger; make bread; visit the park; roast a chicken; bake some sea bream; make a chocolate raspberry clafoutis; cook beef rendang; and spend alot of time reading and playing in the garden. We didn't even clean the house! The weather here in London was superb and we simply wanted to enjoy a chilled two days at home. Wonderful.

Delicious

It's been a long time since I've recorded a recipe on this blog. Last night, I cooked two dishes for our dinner. One was a sour aubergine and tomato curry and the other was a simple lightly-spiced cauliflower dish.

For the cauliflower curry, I gently fried half an onion with 1 inch of fresh ginger (finely diced) and 3 cloves of garlic (diced). When the onions were golden, I added 1 teaspoon of black onion seeds, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, a pinch of red chilli flakes and half a teaspoon of ground turmeric. I gently fried the mixture on a low heat for a few minutes and then added the florets of a whole cauliflower. I ensured all the ingredients were well mixed, then added half a cup of water. I brought the dish to a boil then turned down the heat to a simmer, with lid on, for 15-20 minutes. Salt to taste, of course.

For the soured aubergines and tomatoes, I had already roasted the vegetables on Sunday and left in the fridge - five aubergines and three large tomatoes. Tonight, I roughly chopped the mixture and left to drain in a colander. Then I fried half an onion with an inch of finely chopped ginger and 4 diced cloves of garlic. Once the onion mixture had turned golden, I added a teaspoon each of fennel seeds, ground ginger, whole cumin, turmeric and red chilli flakes, plus a generous pinch of asafoetida. I stirred the mixture well and fried for a few minutes. Then I added the aubergines and tomatoes and cooked the mixture for a good 15 minutes, letting all the flavours infuse. I added a little water so the mixture did not stick. Finally, I added 2 teaspoons of tamarind paste and left to cook for a further. Salt to taste.

It was all very tasty (as a Leo, modesty is not my strong point!).

Eating, teething and pruning

Since she was born, we've settled Little Planet into a conventional 7am-7pm routine because it suits us. M and I are both early birds. Even before our daughter was born, morning lie ins rarely went beyond 9am, no matter how late we went to bed. We also have to get up at 6.30am every week day for work, so 7pm bedtimes are a must for Little Planet if she is to get a good quota of night time sleep for her age.

People often remark on how much M and I manage to pack into a day, but aside from personality, much of it is to do with the fact that we start our day so early! So making a hair appointment for 9am on a Saturday morning isn't unusual for me, especially now I am a mother. To Aveda in Holborn I went and spent two hours being pampered whilst M and Little Planet relaxed at home.

Afterwards, I picked up two bags of whole beans - Indonesian and Indian - from the Monmouth Coffee Company in Covent Garden, and soap and a black top from Muji. Then I caught a bite of lunch at the Portuguese-Brazilian cafe Canela off the Seven Dials. I had an oven-baked dish of salt cod cooked with potatoes, onions, herbs and cream and accompanied by a leaf salad with a simple citrus dressing. My drink was a freshly squeezed lemonade and my dessert, of course, was a Brazilian creme caramel.

Then I detoured north to John Lewis on Oxford Street to pick up a plastic dinner set for Little Planet decorated with pirates and pirate ships (a plate, a bowl and a cup) then walked south down Regent's Street to Piccadilly where I bought Gourmet, New Yorker and Time Out New York magazines from Waterstone's. This is forward planning for our holiday to NYC in the Autumn - just getting a feel for the things we want to do and the places we want to see.

Back at home, I played with M and Little Planet in the garden. After her bed time, M and I ate roast chicken and steamed broccoli for dinner.

On Sunday, my mum came early to our house to play with Little Planet. Then I took my mum out for the day into Central London. It was my parents' wedding anniversary on Saturday. My father is ill and has been in a care home back in East Anglia for the last year. I've not really written about this on my blog because it has been a painful experience for all, but we are all getting used to it now. Now that my mother has moved to London to be nearer her granddaughter, she is in the process of transferring my father down to a care home near her new house. It means that we should be able to celebrate Christmas together as a complete family again. It means my parents will be able to celebrate their wedding anniversary next year together. But this year, my mum was alone in London and so I wanted to make sure she wasn't too sad and lonely.

I treated her to a cab ride into town where we spent a few hours wandering around the Indian garden, the South-east Asian room and the Garden And Cosmos exhibition at the British Museum (photo above). Then we went for lunch at South Indian restaurant Malabar Junction. My favourite South Indian restaurant is any of the Rasa restaurants, but I like the laid back, genteel, old-fashioned atmosphere of Malabar. It's not trying to be trendy and it suits my mother's personality perfectly.

We started with parippu vada (split Bengal gram mashed with red chilli, curry leaves, ginger and onions and made into patties) and aubergine slice fry (with chickpea batter). Then we had mains of Kerala mutton curry (lamb pieces cooked with turmeric, coriander, chillies and black pepper), meen manga puli (white fish with green mango cooked with fenugreek, onions, tamarind, curry leaves and coconut milk), and Malabar kichadi (beetroot with curry leaves and grated coconut).

Back at home, my mum enjoyed playing with Little Planet for the rest of the afternoon in the garden. After Little Planet had gone to bed and my mother had returned home, M cooked us macaroni cheese with bacon and spinach. Dessert was homemade apple flan. No, I did not refuse dinner; yes, I am a glutton.

Poor Little Planet had an incredibly restless night last night due to intense nappy rash brought on by teething her molars. She woke up every two hours. She's always been such a good sleeper since her 12th week... we can count on one hand, in fact, the number of restless nights she has had in her 14 months. So last night was difficult for her and for us. We didn't really know what to do but we finally managed to settle her at 2am with lots of cuddles and a little bit of Calpol. She fell fast asleep eventually, but of course, M and I slept fitfully until morning as we kept waiting for her to wake up again. I hope tonight is a better night for her.

Today, M had the day off to oversee some tree pruning work. We have two very tall and overgrown trees at the back of our garden which, apparently, are obstructing one of our neighbour's satellite reception. We chortled when we heard this, but in fairness it must be annoying for them and the trees are too big. So today the tree surgeons were very busy. M was busy also: we have four bookshelves in our living room but more books mean we needed more shelf space. So we ordered two more bookshelves and M put them up today while the tree surgeons were at work: one more in our living room and another on our upstairs landing. My favourite form of interior decoration is books, books and more books, so I love the way our home looks and feels now.

Random notes from the week

• For Monday night's dinner, I made a cauliflower dish spiced with onion seeds, red chilli flakes, cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, onions and turmeric. I also made a lamb curry with sweet potatoes, peas (leftover from Little Planet's dinner!), chickpeas, onion, garlic, ginger, red chilli flakes, ground cumin, ground coriander and turmeric.
  
  
• Little Planet is flat out refusing to be spoon fed now. She also resists us handing her food. All her food is now finger food that she can pick up by herself from her high-chair tray or plate - little sandwiches, cheese sticks, toast, pitta bread with hummus, pasta shells with a coating of sauce such as pesto, broccoli florets, slices of peaches, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, dry cereal, peas, sweetcorn, omelette strips or scrambled eggs - anything she can pick up herself, basically. She is our independent little girl; but it could also be related to teething. Who knows? I've been a mum for 14 months and I've finally learned that there is little point in analysing her behaviour too much as everything is a phase.
  
  
• Little Planet is also adamant that walking on her knees is infinitely preferable to walking on her two feet. She doesn't seem to mind that she looks a "right Charlie" swinging her arms and stomping around on her knees. She even prefers it to crawling now. And she is forever climbing onto and over things, over and over again. She loves our bed - particularly clambering over the pillows so she is standing up against the headboard and then diving face first flat onto the bed again... over and over and over again.
  
  
• Little Planet is so dexterous with her hands. She can screw open and close plastic bottles of water, she will eat rice grain by grain, she will pick up the tiniest thread or speck off the floor, she will put the lids back on her bottles of milk when she's finished drinking, she can place wooden sticks precisely into narrow holes... endless things she can do with her tiny fingers and hands.
  
  
• On Tuesday morning, M and I breakfasted at Carluccio's in the Brunswick in Bloomsbury before work - M had toast and croissants with butter and jam and I had the eggs Benedict.
  
  
• On Tuesday night, M left work much earlier than his usual time to put Little Planet to bed so that I could go out and entertain my clients. I took them to the Mortimer's Grill just off Oxford Street in "Noho" - good food (handcut chips and sausages), good beer (Italian) and good conversation (travel, religion, psychology, art... not the type of conversations I usually have with clients; these are very interesting people and I enjoy doing business with them).
  
  
• On the bus home, at around 9pm, there was a Chinese baby screaming his head off. Several people on the bus didn't hide their displeasure at this (as a mum, I just tuned it out). But then his parents started to play him some Chinese pop music on their mobile phone. The baby instantly fell silent. Very few people on the bus could keep a straight face. It was just too cute.
  
  
• On Wednesday, I had lunch with a few other new(-ish) mums at work. Our babies are all over 12 months now and it's funny how the topic of conversation has shifted away from baby sleeping patterns to baby feeding habits. Soon it will be all about tantrums and toilet training, I suspect.
  
  
• Other key topics of conversation amongst us new mums at my work were how we manage our daily routines (working, spending time with our babies, looking after our homes) and how we can be promoted whilst working part-time (not a key issue for me as I work full-time, but a real concern for the other mums I work with who all work part-time).
  
  
• On Thursday, my mother-in-law put Little Planet to bed so M and I could meet up after work. The two of us walked down to the National Portrait Gallery to see two excellent exhibitions: the BP Portrait Award and Francis Alys' Fabiola (photo above). Then we took a cab to Mayfair and had cocktails in Claridges and then a top notch (though a tad salty for me) dinner at Indian restaurant Benares where the fish dishes in particular were superlative . This was a belated celebratory meal to mark my birthday on the 3rd August. The cocktails were strong, the food very nice and the cab ride home much needed. Thank you M for the lovely evening.
  
  
• And now it's Friday - yippee! Despite all the socialising and going out I've been doing this week, I've been very busy at work with endless meetings and project kick-offs. Tonight I have quite bad indigestion because I was rushing around so much today and bolting down my food. But it's 7.20pm now, I've put Little Planet to bed and M is on his way home with some nice food goodies for our dinner no doubt.

Lazing around

We did little this weekend, apart from lazing around all day long. On Saturday, we breakfasted at Carluccio's at the Brunswick and then played with Little Planet in the children's park near Russell Square Coram's Fields. We shopped at Waitrose and then spent the afternoon at home, playing in the house and the garden with Little Planet. Her Gran also arrived. Dinner was rib eye steak and salad.

On Sunday, M, Little Planet and her Gran went off to the park for the morning leaving me blissfully home alone for a few hours: I sat in the garden and read the papers from cover to cover. It was so quiet; it was wonderful. My mum arrived in the afternoon and the two Grans played with their granddaughter in the garden while M and I pottered around doing things around the house. We also booked our holilday to New York in October - hurrah! Dinner was oven-baked sea bream and salad.

And that was it. Today, M and I returned to work, and tried to ease back into our familiar routine, though it is terribly hard having to get up at 6.30am again.

A week off, part 2

M spent Wednesday shopping in central London. He went to Liberty, Jil Sander, Foyles, House of Fraser and the Sony Centre on Tottenham Court Road where he bought me a small Sony Bravia TV for our bedroom as a birthday gift. He lunched at So Sushi in Soho.

Meanwhile, Little Planet and I spent the day with my mum - first at her house and then at mine. For dinner that evening, I made Goan king prawn curry with cumin and coriander powders, turmeric, garlic, ginger, shallots, green cardamoms, red chillies, coconut milk and tamarind paste. It was tangy, sharp and hot - just as I like it.

Thursday began with bacon butties and then we went to the local council offices to replenish our stash of parking permits. We went to the park where Little Planet played in the swings and the sandpit. Then I went alone into central London while M looked after Little Planet for the day.

After the park, M took her to the local shops and then home for lunch. He spent the afternoon playing with her, sorting out the study, made sourdough bread and New York-style mini cheesecakes, plus beef stew with potatoes and green beans for Little Planet.

I went to the Brunswick at Russell Square, where I sat outside at Carluccio's and lunched on pork escalope wrapped in Parma ham and sage and served with sauteed potatoes and garlicky spinach, plus freshly-squeezed lemonade. I was in no hurry and my lunch was long as I also enjoyed people-watching - lots of parents (mainly mums) and their babies, toddlers and children at the Brunswick.

I popped into Gap Kids for red, grey, navy and dark brown little socks for Little P, then headed down into the Renoir Cinema to watch Claire Denis' latest 35 Shots Of Rum (photo above). The film depicts the close bond between a train-driving widower and his adolescent daughter living in a rundown suburb of Paris - a bond that is complicated by the affection and attraction of two neighbours: a young man for the girl and a middle aged woman for the father. The movie is beautiful and subtle and I'd love to see it again.

I walked over to Oxford Street to buy footwear from Office (Havaianas flip flops, Converse sneakers and Keds sneakers) and blouses and wool cardigans from Gap. Then it started to pour down with rain. I returned home in time for Little Planet's bath and bedtime. For dinner, M made Maryland crab cakes with spring onions from our garden. He also made some tartare sauce to go with the crab cakes. Dessert was his delicious cheesecakes.

And today, Friday, is technically the last day of our week off. We spent the morning getting Little Planet's hair cut - her third. The first two times she had her hair cut, she was perfectly calm. But this time, she was a little more nervous and had to be distracted a lot more. It's definitely her age: she's a lot more aware and can anticipate things now, and she's also a lot more assertive.

Her assertiveness and growing independence is now showing itself in her eating. The past two days she has resolutely refused to be spoon fed - clamping her teeth shut tightly, shaking her head, and raging "Na! Na! Na!" Poor M made her beef stew yesterday but because it is a little sloppy, it can only be eaten with a spoon - which Little Planet cannot do for herself yet and so can only be spoon fed. Ditto her cauliflower and cheese dinner tonight. But as soon as we gave her plates of toast with Philadelphia cheese, sliced peaches and little chunks of cheese that she could feed entirely by herself... well, then she ate everything. It's frustrating for us as parents, but on the other hand this is terrific in terms of her development.

Anyway, we did a bit of shopping after her haircut while she napped in her buggy and then came home. We spent the rest of the afternoon thoroughly cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, hoovering and dusting the entire house, and M changed some of our curtain rails and re-hung the curtains. I also had a work conference call with my French client for an hour.

Little Planet is asleep now (it's 7.30pm) and there's sea bream in the oven which M will serve with a samphire and asparagus salad. Then fresh papaya, blueberries, peaches and oranges for dessert.

I am sad our week at home is over - it's been very relaxing. Never, in our entire adult lives, have we ever taken holiday and stayed at home - a "stay-cation". M and I are going to New York later this year, but this time we wanted to chill out with our daughter and enjoy home and enjoy London a) because we both work long hours and needed full-on quality time as a family and b) because we've both travelled quite a bit for work this year and simply didn't fancy it.

By the way, Little Planet turned 14 months today xxx

A week off, part 1

Both M and I have taken a week off this week to do nothing but chill out together as a family at or close to home. Our week began on Saturday with a trip to the Jeff Koons exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. From his paintings of Popeye and Olive Oyl, to his inflatable toy sculptures cast in aluminium (photo above) - I found the work banal, kitsch, fun and interesting.

Afterwards, we let Little Planet loose in the ethereal, mirrored Pavilion, where she enjoyed watching the other children and looking at her own reflection. She chats to and laughs at her reflection in the mirror at home and the other night when she was crying out in anger over something or the other, she crawled around M to look at herself in the mirror as she was howling! Nowadays, she loves flicking through our album of her photos and also laughs when she recognises her two Grans in the photos.

The three of us relaxed in Hyde Park for a while and then we wandered over to the Whole Foods Market in Kensington to stock up on cheeses, wine, steak and cold meats. We spent the afternoon in our garden at home, then after Little Planet had gone to bed, we sat down to a meal of aged fillet steaks and a salad with sesame seed dressing.

Sunday morning was spent outside in our garden, where Little Planet played, I read and played, and M planted beds and pruned shrubs. Little Planet enjoyed helping her daddy weed, particularly putting the weeds into the bucket. She will be her daddy's good little helper as she gets older, just as I always loved helping my dad in the garden when I was a child.

Sunday afternoon was spent playing with Little Planet in the sandpit of our local park. Dinner for M and I was boiled chicken with leeks and homemade aioli plus lightly stir-fried endives with blue cheese shavings.

Monday was my birthday and so, for me, began with a long lie in! Later, my mum arrived and took us all out for a big Turkish lunch. Little Planet ate pitta dipped with hummus and was completely preoccupied watching all the waiters whizz by, while the adults tucked into pizza-like pide, hearty minced lamb kebabs and three varieties of salad.

We spent the rest of the day at home, playing with Little Planet and laughing at her antics: she can't stop walking, or more correctly marching, around the house just on her two little knees - it's hilarious! And she chatters non-stop to us and to herself. In the evening, after her bedtime, we ate risotto with peas and mint fresh from our own garden. Dessert was the birthday cake my mum had bought for me.

Today we went into central London again. We visited the Korean Cultural Centre near Charing Cross, which we have always been meaning to visit. Our daughter looks like a little Manga doll and predictably she caused a little stir there among the staff. Lots of Asians from the Far East find her cartoonishly cute with her short dark fringe, her big eyes, her long lashes, her rosebud lips and her pale skin.

Then we crossed the river to the Hayward Gallery where we wandered through the Walking in My Mind exhibition that explores the inner workings of artists' imaginations through dramatic, large-scale installation art. We peered into Yoshimoto Nara's art hut and gazed, voyeuristically, at his Dylan music collection, his reference books, his Polaroids and his sketches (Little Planet went "Quack quack" when she spied a toy duck on one of his shelves); we wandered through Thomas Hirschhorn's womb-like cave and tunnels made of parcel tape; we let Little Planet loose into the hallucinogenic pink and white polka dot room of Yayoi Kusama (photo above); and we meandered dreamily through the spectral tunnels of stretched black threads by Chiharu Shiota (photo below). The whole exhibition was hypnotic and we will return very soon no doubt.

We relaxed with coffees and cakes at the BFI's Benugo bar and cafe. I've always loved this place because it has so many comfy, soft sofas and armchairs and never seems too busy. To begin with, Little Planet got very excited clambering across the sofa we were sat on and staring and babbling at the other people there, but then she sank back into it like us and settled in to happily munch away at her blueberry and raspberry rice cake.

Little Planet fell asleep in her buggy as we headed back towards Leicester Square and M took her home for her lunch. I stayed on in town and lunched alone at Mitsukoshi on Regent's Street. I had the Mitsukoshi bento box, which consisted of tuna and salmon sashimi, a simmered vegetable dish, mixed tempura, rice, miso soup, pickles and mixed fruit. The place was packed entirely with Japanese people. This is fast becoming my favourite Japanese place to lunch at. As I was eating I was also working my way through work emails on my iPhone. Then I bought two Japanese movies from the basement JP Books - Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers and Memories Of Matsuko.

Afterwards, I watched the funny and cringe-worthy Bruno movie at the Apollo, then headed to Covent Garden to pick up some wine from Oddbins and some coffee beans from the Monmouth Coffee Company. Then back to home, where M and Little Planet had spent a nice afternoon together pottering (M sorting out the study and cooking berry clafoutis; Little Planet doing what she does best - playing and clambering all over her dad).

And now she is in bed and M is making pies with chicken, porcini mushrooms, bacon and sage and thyme leaves from our garden.

Tomorrow M will spend the day generally pottering around the house and then, perhaps, seeing some exhibitions and doing some shopping in central London. I will spend the day with my daughter and my mum. But I'll leave the next portion of our week off for another post (and my Twitter feed).