Stepping out into the city

So we went into Cardiff city centre this morning, the first time since lockdown, albeit for a short while.

I needed to get a new pair of walking shoes, the ones I had since 2005 - yes, really 2005 finally gave way.  We also saw this awesome piece of My Cymru My Shirt graffiti art in the centre of Cardiff making the rounds on social media, that it gave us another reason to go into Cardiff.  I'd love to have sought out the others dotted around the city, but the streets were getting busy. The artwork is based on actual people living in Wales and is an attempt to acknowledge and celebrate Wales multiculturalism. 

It was not easy navigating the first time with a 3 month puppy, who was most excellent by the way and got so many admiring glances and compliments.  I was quite nervous, especially going into the shops. Then breathing with my face mask on blurred my specs with steam, making looking at products and items tiring and uncomfortable, that i just rushed, grabbed what i came for and got out.  I must say, its not an experience i wish to revisit in a hurry, so thank goodness clothes shopping is not my thing. But i do miss going to the food market and foodie shops and browsing, but i can wait and make do with comfort and easy homely and comfort food for now. 

The atmosphere in Cardiff was a bit sombre too, as the Welsh Dragons - Wales are out of the Euro 2020. Had we come into Cardiff yesterday - Saturday - Wales vs Denmark, the pre-match atmosphere would have been more jovial. Not so much today.  

Anyway, here's my puppy all tangled in Welsh bunting, he's a bit of a trouble maker.

Simple Broad Beans, Gnocchi and Mint Salad

It's been an interesting week with lots happening around me as I found myself in Cardiff this week where Extinction Rebellion were in the city protesting again climate change and climate emergency . 

These are just a handful of pictures, I managed to snap with my smart phone. 

Castle Street is one of the busiest streets in Cardiff and it was a change from seeing it traffic free. 

The broad beans have been gracing the dinner table the last two weeks.  We have been eating them simply, briefly blanched in simmering water, drained and then tossed in a little seasoned extra virgin oil.

Work has been keeping me busy, so I am not going to apologise for using shop brought gnocchi here.  There have been days when I have just wanted to put something quick on the table for supper and this was on one of those evenings.   I don't even have a recipe to share here either, as I eye-balled the ingredients and tweaked the flavours to taste, namely mint and lemon.  I will admit though I did somewhat find shelling the broad beans a little therapeutic and satisfying.

It made for s nice light meal and one we could have sat out and ate in the garden, but no - we plonked ourselves in front of the TV to watch the Channel 4 News. 

I am sharing this Simple Broad Bean, Gnocchi and Mint Salad with Eat Your Greens which I co-host with the Veg Hog, this month it is my turn; and Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen

Some Festive Eats over Christmas

I hope my readers had a good Christmas break.  I had a good one and I must confess I am pleased as I am still on my holidays, I don't go back until after the New Year.  

So with some time on my hands, I thought I would share some homemade festive eats.

A very simple and easy recipe for pinwheels made to look like a Christmas tree.  These are green wraps filled with hummus, strips of yellow, orange and red peppers, rocket and spring onions.  

Vegan sausage roll bites in two flavours: apricot and yellow pepper; the other was beetroot and horseradish served with Smoked Paprika Ketchup.

Black chickpea and sweet potato frittata bites.

As well as the homemade chocolate 'salami', I made another festive bookmarked recipe from the Green Gourmet Giraffe, this time for Gingerbread Cookies.  This was also actually an excuse to play with my box of eclectic cookie cutters.   

Jurassic Kingdom Comes to Cardiff Bute Park

Last weekend, we went into the city of Cardiff for a bit of shopping, but as usual we were there early and many of the shops were not open, so we decided to have a mooch about in Bute Park - dubbed as the green heart of the city.  

Well what an interesting sight we stumbled upon.

We learned very quickly that Jurassic Kingdom had taken over Cardiff Park  as one of its five stops in the UK.

Jurassic Kingdom is an outdoor educational touring  experience for people of all ages to explore green spaces and encounter more than 30 life size epic animatronic dinosaurs from a 85 foot long Diplodocus, to Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex in the most unexpected of green spaces.

It was pretty cool, in fact very cool to see the workers putting them together like a  jigsaw.  We were also very lucky to be able to get up quite close and personal and touch some of them.  

Here are some photographs we took.  If you find youself in Cardiff between Saturday August 11th to Monday 27 August 2018 - you note these awesome dinosaurs are now behind barricades, understandably why - you don't want them to escape and cause havoc in Cardiff Bute Park. 

The Great Brick Lego Safari in Cardiff

I've mentioned before that every so often I will go into the city of Cardiff, sometimes for window shopping or sometimes for pleasure, but last month I found myself in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay. 

As I turned the corner I was surprised to see the Mermaid Quay had become a temporary home to 12 life size wild animals made from Lego courtesy of Bright Bricks.  

Its the second time that Bright Bricks Great Brick Safari has been on display in Wales and you cannot help, but be impressed.  

The detail on the lion is quite amazing. If you look closely next to the lion there is a cub.

Life size African elephant which stands 2.5 metres high.

Viva Porthcawl Elvis Festival

Even though I had a busy week at work and was looking forward to a low action chilled weekend, we had already unknowingly made plans for the weekend and there was no lazing around.

First there was Saturday: there was the annual Elvis Festival in Porthcawl and then Sunday I wanted to go the first Vegan Welsh Festival in Cardiff. 

A few years ago we were excited to find out about the Elvis Festival in Porthcawl.  Apparently it the world largest Elvis festival.  Its now in its 12th year and of course, D as an Elvis Presley fan just had to attend (and for those of you curious, no there was no Elvis quiff).  

For those of you who have not heard it this event, every September thousands of Elvis Presley fans and impersonators mostly from around the U.K descend upon the Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl in South Wales. During the annual Elvis Festival Porthcawl gets dubbed at Porth Vegas!

Here is when we went to the Elvis Festival in 2014. And here are some selected photographs from Saturday. 

Books and Bookshops in Hay-On-Wye

Yesterday we went to Hay-on-Wye, world famous for its books and bookshops. 

Quote from Dr Who

Here are a handful of photographs from yesterday, except for the one below, which I took that a year ago when it was raining and perhaps the reason I did not write much about it on my blog as photographs were lacking, not this time though.  

Murder and Mayhem

Reading Zone Only

Small Business's need You

  

Merthyr and Pant Station

We went to the Welsh town called Merthyr Tydfil yesterday.

We stumbled upon the Chilli Festival.  I wish it wasn't so early, as I did not have an appetite and as much as I love my chillies even my eyes were not ready for feasting.  

Also I didn't have my camera with me, so am sharing some pictures from last year when we walked through the High Street.  Maybe next year I will be organised and make more of a day of it in Merthyr Tydfil's Chilli Festival. 

That day, we went a little further and visited The Brecon Mountain Railway which ran from Pant Station near Merthyr which is featured in the top picture (bottom left).

Here are some photographs from that day.

Cardiff Indoor Antique and Flea Market

A few weeks ago, instead of going into the City of Cardiff for a day out, we decided to track down its Indoor Flea Market.  

After a couple of wrong turns on the industrial estate, we found it.  Under its massive roofed building the market hosts over 60 eclectic stores.  Each stall is unique, selling goods ranging from antiques, retro, recycled, second hand, upcycled, and vintage goods.  Here are a selection of some the wierd and wonderful that caught my eye.

Coal Mining Mosaic at Crumlin, South Wales

About a year or so back, D and myself made a U-Turn when we caught a glimmer of radiant colours from the road.  We parked up and discovered this Coal Mining Mosaic in a little place called Crumlin in South Wales.  We took loads of photographs on the day and then went off on our merry way.

Crumlin Mosaic

Recently, on our way somewhere or other, we decided to park up and check the Coal Mining Mosaic again.  Sadly I noted parts of it were vandalised.  Some of the mosaic tiles had been pulled out deliberately and therefore damaged and destroyed.  I though I would share some of the photographs we had taken a year or so ago.   

Crumlin Mosaic

The mosaic depicts aspects of the mining industry.  Mining was one of the town's main industries. 

Crumlin Mosaic

Close up the details are fantastic and cover most aspects of mining

Caerleon

This is a follow on from yesterdays blog post. 

These picture were taken a couple of years back when we visited an area of Newport called Caerleon. I thought it would be a shame not to share them with my readers. 

Five Welsh Castles and a Handsome Dragon

I am looking forward to my  holidays, however when the time comes we won't be venturing far.  

Home-made Welsh Dragon Pastry Crust

So I am dreaming of dragons and castles.

Did you know that Wales has more castles per square than any other county in the world, apparently it is so.   Over the years, we have visited our fair share of fantastic castles in Wales, Wales really is a land of legends, so this Friday I am sharing five.

Harlech Castle  -  where I was most most free. I  met my now husband in the seaside town of Harlech, so I will always have a fondness for the place. 

Meet Dewi - The Welsh Dragon guarding Harlech castle in the background.

Caerphilly Castle

Conwy Castle in the background.

Amazing Fungi and Kale Covered Barley with Green Mushrooms

Some of you may remember that last Summer, I went to the National Botanic of Wales.  I promised to share some pictures from the Fungi Mushroom, but never did.  I had forgotten about it until recently when I made a recipe with mushrooms.  

So here goes.  Let me me warn you though there will be an intermission, interrupted with a mushroom recipe and then we continue onto some of  the Fungi Exhibits.

I absolutely loved the collection of hand stitched textile exhibits, all showcasing a mushroom and each one unique and carefully crafted. 

Blackening Waxcap

If you click on the image, you will see a number of others.  Each one different, exquisite and stunning in its own way. 

Fungi Saviour of the Planet- the Mycosphere!

Okay here comes the recipe: Kale Covered Barley with Green Mushrooms.  Some of you will know that barley is being used in place of rice in risotto style dishes.  The first time I ever came across Barley Risotto was in The Millennium Cookbook (1998) by Eric Tucker.  I've made Barlotto as it is pretentiously known a few times, but this is not a Barlotto.  

Its a simple recipe, I cooked the barley until it was tender, drained it and set it aside.  I sauteed one onion and a little garlic, until nicely soft then stirred in 100g chopped mushrooms. Once the mushrooms begun to soften, I stirred in the barley along with four tablespoons of cooked pureed kale and cooked for a few minutes. The mushrooms don't look so green in this photo, but I assure you the mushrooms had sponged up the kale colours. It wasn't the most satisfying meal I have ever had, but I sure felt healthy eating it. You could try enhancing it further with some feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives. 

Back to the Amazing Fungi exhibits.

Fungus The Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs