Review: Field Day 2015

I love a music festival. I have been to a whole bunch of them over the years and totally don't think I'm too old to go camping at one in the future. Unfortunately, most of my friends seem to be over the whole camping-no-showering thing, so Field Day is the perfect compromise - it's a great festival with interesting acts, and there's no camping required. It runs over a two-day weekend, but we went on the Saturday.

Our day started at Mile End station, following the crowds walking to Victoria Park. Festivals like this are always ideal at this point of the day, it's before the crowds are too big and there are no queues for either the bars or the toilets. After picking up our tickets from the We Got Tickets desk and having our bags thoroughly searched we were in, and we headed over to the Shacklewell Arms tent to catch Tei Shi. She was great - really seemed happy to be there and got the crowd going. After that we wandered over to the Village Fete area, where my boyfriend got involved in a Tug of War. His side didn't win so, defeated, we headed off for a restorative snack. I spotted the Bleecker St. burger van, so we made our orders and waited for our burgers - as it was still early in the day the wait was no more than 5 minutes. I walked past the van later in the day and the queue was enormous so I'm glad we went for one of these when we did. Obviously, I am super in to a burger (the burger crawl we went on will attest to this) but I hadn't had a Bleecker St. one before - I wasn't disappointed. They have a pop-up on the Southbank this summer so I'm definitely going to visit again in the not-too-distant future.

After that we headed back to the Shacklewell Arms to see Jagaraa. Our group was split on them - I enjoyed them but someone else said that they didn't interact with the crowd enough. Worth a listen on spotify though. After a quick toilet-break for me (I went while the others were watching Stealing Sheep and there was NO QUEUE) and then a sit down with some beer (craft ale) for them and red wine for me, we wandered to the Crack Magazine area to see Owen Pallett. He was GREAT - much better than we had thought and a real highlight of the whole day. Definitely one to have a look out for as his whole show was really enjoyable.

Time for another food stop after that, and I spotted the Good and Proper Tea Co. van. I had a iced tea of autumn darjeeling mixed with elderflower which was amazing, and a crumpet with smoked salmon and cream cheese. This is the type of festival Field Day is - loads of interesting food and drink choices that suit all tastes. Needless to say we all greatly appreciated the tea break.

Over to the main stage (Eat Your Own Ears) for Kindness, and then back to Shacklewell for Tune-yArds - I was pretty under-awed for them so went for another wee, only this time had to queue for about 20 minutes. By this point in the day the site was pretty full, so queues for everything were getting ridiculous and the amount of rubbish on the floor was even more so. It was definitely a shame to see paper plates and cups on the floor after seeing so many people using bins earlier in the day.

After that it was time for tea. We had originally decided on wood-fired pizza, but these were cooked to order and with a queue already in place we were told it would be at least a 30 minute wait. Instead we went for Spit and Roast fried chicken - which also had a queue but by this point everything did sooo... This is another one that has been on my food-van to-do list so I was pretty pumped to see them there. Needless to say the chicken was delicious and I would definitely go again.

We then headed back to the Shacklewell Arms for Chet Faker - awesome - and FKA Twigs - super awesome. Chet Faker was great, he has a few singalong songs that everyone knew so people were really enjoying it. When the tent started to empty after he finished I rushed to the front to get into position for FKA Twigs who is one my current faves and I love love love. Of course, she was great. Her whole thing is about her stage persona, her outfits and movements are all so carefully thought-out that you can't help but get swept up in it all. It was the first time I had seen her live and I adored it.I would say though, I was so near the front I was really able to appreciate it, and I'm not sure whether my experience would have been the same if I had been at the back unable to see what was happening on-stage.

To round our evening off we headed back to the main stage to watch the end of Caribou. We all had a nice dance although the music at this stage could definitely have been louder - this is something I've seen a few comments about on twitter but then we were watching Caribou from quite far back so maybe that was our problem.

Field Day is a great festival - there's a great mix of acts and stages (we didn't even touch the sides) and there are loads of awesome food and drink choices. It's the perfect way to get that festival feeling without actually having to go without showering, and I will definitely be there again.

Simple Summer BBQ Recipes

Last weekend was my annual summer party. I have a bbq every year and invite everyone I know, and then proceed to freak out about everything that could go wrong for the two weeks beforehand (examples: rain appearing, people turning up once the food has gone cold, running out of beer...)

Over the years I have made various different food and drinks, some simple and some complicated, but I think this year I generally got it right. I vetoed certain dishes that have been popular in the past because they're just not right for an outdoor event that will last throughout the day - I always used to make Sophie Dahl's guacamole but it just doesn't look that appetising after an hour in the sun. So this year I tried to keep the things I made in advance super simple - there were of course also the various burgers ad sausages that are a bit of a staple (a lot of which are now in my freezer) - but here are the (super, super) simple things I dished up...

* Lime and Honey Chicken Thighs

Literally one of the easiest prep-in-advance dishes ever. For 800g of chicken you will need one large lime and 4 tablespoons of honey, as well as a bit of sea salt and black pepper. You just need to chuck it all in a pan - in the order of half a lime, all the honey, the other half the lime - cover in tin foil and leave to marinade for a couple of hours (as long as you can, really) and then just chuck it onto the fire!

* Pork and Mango Skewers

For 400g of diced pork shoulder you will probably need one large mango. Rub your pork in olive oil, wholegrain mustard and crème fraîche (I went for an equal amount of both the mustard and cream, and kept adding until I thought they were suitably covered), and then once this is done cut your mango up into similar-sized pieces. I bought some small skewers (rather than those super long ones that always seem too big when the moment comes) and put 3 bits of each on each one. I did start to run out of mango before I did pork (which is definitely the better option!) towards the end and started to cut down to just two bits of mango, so try and get the largest one you can find.

* Feta Cheese and Pomegranate Salad

This is a salad I usually chuck together when I'm stuck for inspiration as it's delicious and easy and goes with pretty much everything. You need sweet gem lettuce, a big old chunk of feta, cucumber and pomegranate seeds. I usually add avocado as well but swapped it this time for some salmon that we cooked on the barbecue before most people arrived.

* Mint and Lime Sparkling Water

I like to make one non-alcoholic drink for things like this as there is always at least a couple people who will be driving and it's nice to make people think you've made an effort for them. This is one of the simplest ones I've made and is so inoffensive it generally works for all occasions (it also works when used as a mixer for vodka and white rum, which is always handy towards the end of the evening!). Cut a lime in half, and squeeze the juice of one half into a jug of sparkling water. Cut the other half into segments and chuck those in, along with as many mint leaves as you can be bothered with. Mix it all up and, for good measure, chuck in the lime shell from the half you squeezed (you could always add a bit of lime cordial if you're that way inclined). Very summery and refreshing.

Weekending - Stratford-upon-Avon

I recently spent a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon on a hen do, and although some of the bits and pieces we did were quite hen-specific other parts were definite must-dos for anyone visiting this lovely town for a couple of days. Here are some of my highlights.

* There are lots of choices for places to stay, ranging from budget guest houses to boutique hotels. As there were a few of us though we decided to rent a cottage for the weekend, and settled on the Unicorn Barns. The house was lovely and perfect for our group - the rooms (especially the communal areas) were lovely and spacious and the kitchen was fully-equipped with all the cooking utensils we would need. The house was about a 20-minute walk away from the centre of town which was really nice as well, it meant we really felt we were away from the centre of town in a relaxed setting. However, the communication from the owners beforehand was frustratingly slow and I'm now having problems getting our deposit back so do bear this in mind if you go down this route.

* Stratford-upon-Avon is well-known for it's cultural history, and this shouldn't go ignored when visiting. Our hen was keen on afternoon tea, so we did a river cruise with Bancroft Cruisers which included prosecco, tea and scones, as well as an informal guided tour of the area. This was perfect for us - our guide was the right balance of amusing and informative, and they were more than happy to accommodate any requests we had when booking. This is excellent value for money, and comes highly recommended from me. Post-cruising we continued our exploration on foot - stopping at the RSC (mainly in the gift shop) and also the church Shakespeare is buried in.

* In pretty much every area in the world you can find something a bit more unique to do if you search [google] enough. I wanted to find a museum that was a bit different to the norm for our trip, and found the perfect one in the form of The MAD Museum. We were't entirely sure what to expect before we visited as I couldn't get the website to load properly, however we needn't have worried as this was a fun and fascinating way to spend our time. With things that would enthral both kids and adults, this is placed firmly at the top of my list of recommendations.

* As popular as Stratford-upon-Avon is, it should go without saying that there are multiple dining and drinking options. We only ate out once during our trip (as we used Benson's Catering one night who were great - all the food tasted fab and they even washed up afterwards!) and chose The One Elm to do this. Everyone enjoyed their meals and it was very reasonably priced so I would visit again - even if one of our (two) waitresses seemed super grumpy!

* And finally, shopping. It seemed to me that Stratford-upon-Avon had just the right mix of high street shops and independent ones, with a few of us making some purchases during our visit...!

We were so lucky with the weather when we visited as it was generally really hot and sunny, and this really made the weekend just that little bit more special and it really seemed the ideal place for the hen do. I'd never visited the town before so I'm really glad that I now have, and also know a few places to visit again if I return!

Baby Shower

Last Summer I arranged my first every baby shower (not for a baby of mine, I hasten to add!) Although it may seem crazy to think it now, last summer was a really hot one - and mumma-to-be was already suffering with the sweaty weather, so I decided to have a relatively low-key gathering with just a few close friends rather than having a big-deal garden party or something similar.

Wanting to keep it a traditional affair a couple of us made some cakes (I went for a Victoria Sponge and a chocolate tray bake), and we paired this with strawberries, cream and scones. I'd heard a rumour that pregnant ladies don't like to drink alcohol, so I made two different alcohol-free drinks...

* fizzy water, mint leaves, two squeezed limes and as many lime wedges as your jug will allow

* blended peaches (with the syrupy peach juice that comes in the tin) with white grape and peach juice, plus some squeezed / chopped strawberries

Paperchase do a very cute range of baby shower bits and pieces - straws, bunting and cake decorators - which we paired with all the appropriately-coloured plates, napkins and cups. We all bought the baby a present, as well as chipped in to get mum some vouchers for her favourite spa.

Most of the day was spent chatting, but I thought it would be best to have something to play in case the chat slowed down as the afternoon wore on, so I created a game of musical baby bingo! There are a few websites that can generate bingo cards for you with whatever you want them to say, and whatever size you want (I went with 9x9), so I created a spotify playlist of 36 songs with 'baby' in the title and then got the cards made up! It worked brilliantly well, and once the game was over it also made an awesome playlist to soundtrack the rest of the afternoon.

The day was a great success, and a lovely way to spend a summer's afternoon.