Dorking, Food, Photographs

I have recently been struggling with accepting that I have to commute 1.5hrs on a good day, every day to London to a job that I broadly love, from a town that I broadly love too. ‘Wasting’ 3hrs of my life every day on a train was beginning to be a pain, particularly in [...]

One of the advantages of living in a lovely sleepy town is that not a lot happens. Some might say that’s a bad thing, but I get my kicks when I’m in London.
Two news items that caught my eye recently were these:
‘Dorking restaurant manager risks life to stop death plunge‘
Clearly an incredibly selfless act [...]

Homemade icecream has always been something I’d like to do. We’ve made sorbet before using the plums from a garden tree, but it didn’t involve any churning, so it had the wrong texture.
This week we’ve added to our Major portfolio and now have the ice-cream maker and the multi-mill for grinding coffee beans, spices [...]

I am a bit of a beading fan and today was time for some indulgence at the Bead Fair held at Dorking Halls. I strolled over there and nabbed some photographs to show you - a veritable feast for the eyes (and the wallet):

I picked up some bargains for a couple of projects I [...]

Mint Crisp MacroOriginally uploaded by Yppop

I got in trouble with the husband for spending time taking photographs of this carefully engineering chocolate bar, instead of checking into a hotel in Hobart.
Isn’t it well designed? Shame about the lame chocolate around the blue tubes of minty crispness…

Weetabix are different in Australia
Originally uploaded by Yppop

These brekkie blocks were not quite the same as at home and were made from bigger flakes and had the tendancy to go soggy faster. But still it was good to see something familar on the other side of the planet.

Coffee Swirl that didn’t taste of coffee
Originally uploaded by Yppop

From the slice of Australian life that we saw, it would seem that bakeries are beating the recession. There seemed to be proportionally fewer chain stores over their compared to the UK. Certainly each town has an independent bakery or several and they are [...]

Fruit Pavlova
Originally uploaded by Yppop

This really is just a reminder to myself to remember to make a pavlova. It was so light, it almost seemed healthy…yeah right!

Chocolate Brownie in Max Brenner, Manly, nr Sydney
Originally uploaded by Yppop

In reading the generally lame Australia Rough Guide book, we did come across a trend that doesn’t seem to have caught on in the UK…yet. Chocolate Cafes.
Max Brenner looks like its done Australia and a bit of Asia and is now working on conquering [...]

Polseden Lacey Tulips
Originally uploaded by Yppop

Another pretty pic from Polesden, with my new 18-200mm lens.