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Halloween
Halloween often leaves me in a bit of a quandary. I’m never entirely sure what I should be doing. I’m a little mature for trick or treating, but I still like to take part in celebrations in some way. I like getting into the spooky “spirit” – no pun intended. So this year I have made a conscious effort to search out my perfect Halloween night.
Many of the cities around the country are holding ghost walks or tours, which delve into the murky past of some of Britain’s oldest and supposedly haunted areas. I love a good ghoulish story so I was heartened to find that so many events are happening. Here are some of my favourites.
The Trial of Dr. Knox (from the Burke and Hare story) at Hotel du Vin Edinburgh .
Malloween at the Liverpool Malmaison, complete with monstrous munchies and creepy cocktails.
The Clink Prison, London, is Britian’s oldest prison and was a place of torture and suffering. Tour it if you dare.
Witching hour at Oxford Castle, home to a 900 year old crypt and a curse.
And if you’re slightly more faint of heart or have children in tow, the Halloween Disco and Ghost Tour for kids in Edinburgh may be more your thing? And if you’re anywhere near Cambridge, pop into Hotel du Vin for some pumpkin cheesecake with cinnamon ice cream. The staff have a pumpkin carving contest between themselves and all the pumpkins will be displayed in the library and lit at night.
Perhaps you prefer to stay indoors and scare yourself with a movie.
Here are my top 5 films and top 5 dishes to get you into that Halloween state of mind.
Films
- Halloween – setting the precedent for many horror films that followed. Still makes you shiver with the feeling that you’re being watched.
- Nightmare on Elm Street – Making the comfort of sleep horrifying
- The birds – maybe that’s where my fear of pigeons comes from!
- Final Destination series – turning every day happenings into terrifying events.
- Stephen King’s IT – Clowns. Need I say more?
Dishes
- Pumpkin soup. After spending hours carving out a pumpkin, the least you can do with it is make a superb soup for those chilly nights.
- Spicy batwings. Chicken wings with a twist.
- Apple pie. All those bobbed apples have to go somewhere, right?
- Spaghetti. A worm inspired pasta main – not for the faint hearted.
- Risotto. A maggot like dish can easily be created here.
Do you agree? What’s your favourite scary movie and what will you be eating while watching it?
Whatever you choose to do, whether it’s dressing up as a pumpkin and dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, or hiding in darkened room with a scary film, be sure to have a stupendously spooky time.
The Adventures of a Mushroom Forager
Bistro du Vin is officially open.
The party’s over, the service truly begins.
What an evening. London turned out in force to support the bistro opening night. Bloggers, celebrities, media londonistas, top chefs. The roll call on the culinary side is as follows – Michel Roux Jr, Stuart Gillies, Pierre Kauffman – all seemed impressed and stayed a while to witness the artistry and graft of Keith Shearer and his boys working the live kitchen.
On entering guests were treated to an exclusive Marmalade vodka infused martini or a cool iced tea infused with Millers gin. The food stations and our prized pewter top were brimming with shellfish and cuts of steak. The Josper Grill well and truly fired up filled the kitchen space with an amazing smokey aroma. Meanwhile in the live butchery, Eric from La Cave de Fromage hosted a majestic display of his finest cheeses, which proved to be immensely popular to say the least. Music was provided by Mario and his jazz quartet. The drink flowed. The food flowed. All there were more than served with the simple taste of “du Vin”.
The “by the glass” dispenser proved to be a complete smash. Busy all night. The music continued with Universal signed artist Jonathan Jeremiah, who provided a rousing uplifting set of songs from his album. And a thoroughly nice guy too. Downstairs in the the “Whisky Snuggle” the Scotch Malt Whisky Society held a night long tasting. I think I caught him at one point describing a whisky as the Angelina Jolie of whiskys – our kind of guy.
The whisky, the wine, the food continued to flow. At one point the outside became an alfresco cigar venue. Good times. Eventually the coats were taken from the vintage lockers and some of us headed off to our London beds (although some are still believed to be still there.
A massive thank you to all who attended. Keep the faith and see you in Soho in June for the second.
Thanks to Eat Out for such a swift review too.
Williams Chase Vodka special Edition for Bistro opening
Exclusive Marmalade vodka from Williams Chase
Just been to deepest Hereford to meet the new vodka world champions Chase vodka. Their potato vodka, distilled with the irrevereance you’d expect from a tea drinking nation has been crowned the best vodka in the world. We love Chase. We love their forward thinking, devil may care lack of pretention when it comes to distillation. Today we sampled Bovril flavoured infusions that tasted amazing. As an exclusive they’re distillng a marmalade vodka for the opening of the bistro.Got to tell you it tasted very drinkable on its own. Throw in a few ice cubes and you’re ready. Great company and we’re incredibly proud to be associated with the Chase team.
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