Favourite Things - May

Welcome back to another edition of favourite things. I love to have a moment of reflection of all that was positive in the last month - especially during lock down. If you are reading this, I encourage you to jot down just 5 things that made you smile in May. As always, none of these items are sponsored, just my own recommendations!

Ice Pops/Popsicles/Ice Lollies/Ice Blocks

I forget what you call them in the U.K.... Owing to the wonderful weather we had all month long (thank you weather gods), I swung into a bit of a habit of getting ice lollies every few days from the "Offy". In NZ we call them dairies. It's fair to say I never expected this experience to be a lesson in the English Language. Anyway, my favourite ice lolly that I found was this one pictured from Lickalix. Only made from fruit, but tasted so creamy and chocolatey. Definitely recommended.

Maize Blaze

Maize Blaze is a Colombian food restaurant in Hackney Wick. All the food is 100% gluten free, and extremely delicious. They cater to vegans as well. Pictured right is the 'Guacatarian' Arepa, which is a corn bread filled with beans, fried plantain, avocado, cabbage and pickled red onions. They are currently offering click and collect, as well as. being available on Deliveroo and UberEats. We live close so we picked it up ourselves and sat in the park. Definitely recommend the Brie Poppers, deep-fried brie covered in sweet chilli sauce.

Home-made Riceballs

This month I really craved teriyaki chicken rice balls and I soon realised that these weren't really that common outside of New Zealand. Not even in Japan! Regardless, they are so good that I made my own recipe. There is a teriyaki sauce recipe include that can be used for anything as well.

Sunsets

Haven't we just had some lovely evening. This photo was taken looking into Victoria Park when it was still closed after 4pm. I doubt I will ever see it empty like this again. Going for evening walks is a wonderful way to disconnect from social media and reconnect to nature. Something that I find is very important.

Last Day of Work

This one is happy/sad. Unfortunately, I was made redundant at my work due to coronavirus and my role becoming unnecessary. Which is absolutely fair enough, I was a receptionist/office manager and there wasn't much for me to do once we were w working from home. However, I had a wonderful last day, and if I'm being honest, I'm excited to look for a new job, and spend the meantime working on my blog. Here's one of the several photos I took in my empty office when I had to go in and pick up my things.

Little Moons Mochi

I finally found a place close to my house to buy these from. If you've never tried them before, they are little balls of icecream which is surrounded in mochi (pounded rice). Little moons has loads of flavours like chocolate, coconut yuzu, strawberry, vanilla, mango etc, but I have a soft spot for matcha, which is obvious if you look at my recipes! You can get these at Tescos, Ocado, Wholefoods, As Nature Intended, and many other places. The only problem is getting them home before they melt.

Platters

Who doesn't love a platter? On my last day of work, some colleagues sent me a box of gluten free goodies which I popped on to a platter with some cheeses and vegetables. A glass of red wine in hand. Just perfect. *Chef hand kiss gesture*

Beyond Burger

My local Tesco's just started selling Beyond Burgers, so I thought I would finally try one. Recently, I have been trying to eat less meat but finding gluten free vegan options can be a little tricky, as many meat replacements are made from wheat (boo!). Beyond Burger were definitely the best meat replacement patties I've ever had, hands down. The only downside is that they are pretty pricey at £5 for 2 patties.

13th - Documentary on Netflix

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States, through the lens of scholars, activists and politicians and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality and the criminalization of African Americans being a form of modern slavery. This documentary is available on Netflix, and I would highly recommend viewing this as well as Slavery By Another Name, King In The Wilderness, and American Son. Also please follow this link to be led to other Anti-Racisms resources on the goodgoodgood website adapted from the google doc by Sarah Sophie Flicker & Alyssa Klein.

Thank you for reading this month's Favourite Things.