Gift Guide: Cocktails, Beer and Wine, oh my!

As I mentioned last week, I'm going to be doing my gift guides a little differently this year. By nature a planner, I really enjoy having a good think about what to gift and for me the months of October and November are a fun season of thinking about presents and planning what to give. Add in all the fun that I had at various 'Christmas in July' events earlier in the year and I am just full to bursting with inspiration!

Rather than doing gifts guides for him, or gifts guides for her, this year I'm arranging my guides around themes, so the lists will address a certain interest, area or passion. Each post has an accompanying Pinterest board too, so I can keep adding great finds as I come to them! I hope these prove useful and that you might find an item or two that works for you.

Today's gift guide? Is for the people who know their Merlot from their Malbec, the budding mixologists, and the beer fans - I know I have a few of these on my Christmas list! Of course a great choice is drink itself (I'm crossing my fingers for some Tanqueray 10), but I've looked mainly at accessories and additions.

This 'cheers' sign (£24, West Elm) would look fabulous is any home bar - love the gold tinge of the brass! I love being gifted unusual spirits and mixers to develop cocktails - how delicious does this Blackberry Gin (£22.50, The Ely Gin Company on Not On The High Street) sound? Also on Not On The High Street, how fab are these drink-inspired teatowels (£31, Hey Holla) - a very chic way to keep things neat and tidy!

These cocktail-inspired soaps (£6, John Lewis) would be a lovely stocking filler or a hostess gift - I've actually bought one of these for a friend already and can confirm they smell amazing! For a beautiful wine rack, look no further than this beauty (£30, Habitat) - I love the pretty honeycomb design.

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #11

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, and I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week. Let's go!

1. Holidays right on the horizon!

From months to weeks to days, our holiday has finally come right into view. I can't wait to explore New York and Boston, revisit Toronto, and go back to the play-area-for-grown-ups that is Vegas! Beautiful hotels, so much to see, catching up with friends and amazing food are all on the menu, and I can't wait. Our dear friend Shona is kitty- and house-sittign for us too, so there are no worries on that front (the trio love Aunty Shona!).

There's a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Rosé in the fridge chilling all ready for Friday evening!

2. Theatrical fun

Between Pride and Prejudice and Vanities last week, I'm in a very theatrical spot right now! I must get some tickets arranges for the last few months of the year. We'll definitely try to catch some theatre in New York too. Hamilton's a non-starter (resale tickets only, and they are all about £1000 for a pair), so we've gone for the next best thing and are preparing to laugh our socks off at Spamilton instead. We'll definitely try the ticket lottery while we are in town too, although with odds of 10,000/1 it will be the most foolhardy gambling of the whole trip!

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #8

Joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week, albeit a little later than usual! Here are my ten happy things from the last week and the present time :) 

1. Books, books, books

Come on autumn, I want to get cosy...

Always. Whether it's a great proof from a publisher (thanks, guys), or a new biography I just treated myself to, there's always time for books!

2. Discovering Kikki K

Yeah, I bought colour in postcards. They look so fun!

I can't believe it took me so long!

3. Trying. Failing. Learning

I've tried out for a few things in the last few weeks...and been unsuccessful. Not proper face-plant, wow-you're-rubbish unsuccessful, more you-are-okay-good-maybe-even-great, but not good enough. As someone who spent a lot of my teens and twenties feeling perpetually not enough and/or too much, I've been quite pleased with how I've handled the disappointments, in a reflecyive, mature and proactive way - even if a good one-tenth of me wanted to collapse on a sofa with some ice cream! Hence, happy.

4. Manchester

There may have been afternoon naps on the schedule. There was also an amazing deep bath with bubble jets - I went to Lush to buy a bath bomb to celebrate the latter fact!

Up high!

How beautiful are these Hawksmoor menus? Divine.

Love the bar at Cloud 23...and the drinks they serve, too.

Matthew and I took a lovely trip up north for our anniversary last week and it was great to have some time together to relax and spend a little time together, with good food, culture and cocktails aplenty. We stayed in a lovely room at the Hilton, with great views over the city and the comfiest bed. It was also handy to be in the same building as the brilliant Cloud 23, where we enjoyed many a cocktail. We had lunch on our actual anniversary at Hawksmoor, which was a triumph, as you'd expect!

5. Exploring Chinese food with Charlie

I believe Dancing With Pandas was the sequel to Dancing With Wolves...

Totes mature

So. Much. Great. Food.

Yeah, we went there.

On Saturday the lovely Charlie was invited along to the London Chinese Food Festival, and she very kindly invited me along as her plus-one. It was great fun to catch up, take selfies with people dressed as pandas, and eat some cracking food.

6. Thinking about teaching

I've mentioned here before that while I'm enjoying this season of career meandering, I am missing teaching too. Especially right now, when I'd usually be setting up my new classroom, labelling books, working on curriculum and getting ready for the new intake. As much as I'm loving trying other things, I can feel my vocation calling. One thing is helping a lot though when it comes to distracting me...

7. Holiday excitement!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! So ready for a nice long holiday and some adventures! I've been doing lots of research on the hotels we've chosen (the Library Hotel, the Boxer, the InterContinental and the Aria) in the four cities we are visiting and I'm just getting more excited by the moment!

8. Cocktails with gorgeous bloggers....

So good catching up with these lovelies!

Perfect cocktails and bubbles

On Thursday I met the lovely Emma and Angie at Forest on the Roof atop Selfridges and loved catching up with them both over cocktails and skinny champagne. Love a good catch up!

9. ....and brunch with other gorgeous bloggers!

Yesterday I got to have brunch/lunch with several of my Bangarang cuties, and also got to visit Dishoom for the first time too (I drank oh-so-much chai). Katy, Charlie, Erica, Jasmin, AJ and Charley, I adored seeing you all!

10. Fry-cat

Even when I'm feeling a little blue, a good snuggly cuddle with my purrful little black cat never fails to lift the spirits! Fry may not be able to miaow particularly well, but man he can purr like a pro!

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London, Food, Drink: Victory Mansion

I love going out for dinner or cocktails. In a city as big as London we are utterly spoiled with the sheer number of places available for meals and drinks. Whatever your desire, whatever you budget, the city will have something for you. As I enjoy writing about food and cocktails, both as a consumer and as a creator, I'm lucky enough to get invited along to events where I get to try different places.

One such place is Victory Mansion, in Stoke Newington. Stokey is having a prolonged moment, and much like Walthamstow, Peckham and my own dear Leyton, it feels pretty darned up and coming right now. Victory Mansion (named for the block of flats in Orwell's 1984, lit fans) is on Stoke Newington High Street, where new shops and venues seem to be popping up quite frequently. It's a cracking wee bar serving some really vivid, unusual cocktails, and the whole place has literary undertones - from the name to the parquet around the bar (taken from a former home of Lewis Carroll) to the many cocktail options with their bookish inspirations.

It really is a handbook of remedies, elixirs and aphrodisiacs. There are a lot of cocktails to choose from! The rather angry fellow above is The Dr Gonzo - full of rum and fruit flavours, it packs quite the punch.

The Robinson Curacao is spicy and fiery (of our group Chris drank most of these - too hot for my tame palate!).

This little delight is The Great Quacksby, and yes, those are tiny yellow ducks atop the candyfloss cloud!With vodka, aperol and ginger ale, this was tangy and refreshing.

My favourite of the night was the sweet Very Hungry Manzanilla - how could I resist this sweet fellow? With rum, manzanilla, sage, mint and lime flavours, this was a cool and tangy drink, with a gorgeously fresh bouquet.

Alongside the drinks we had a range of small plates to sample. Above were my favourite choices. The sourdough toast with beef tomato and homemade harissa was gorgeous, and as for the artichokes with aoili, I could have eaten a whole plate of them! Much like the cocktails, the food was innovative and well-presented, with some real imagination thrown in too.

If you're going to be in Stoke Newington, I'd recommend Victory Mansion, whether for a quick bite to eat or a night on the cocktails. A great little place.




Disclaimer: I was kindly hosted by the team at Victory Mansion in exchange for a fair review. All opinions, typos, and inabilities to drink spicy cocktails are my own. Thank you so much to the team for hosting me!

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #7

Joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week! Here are my ten happy things from the last week and the present time :)

1.  Fun meetings and fun mail!

Treats from The Body Shop

Poppet cosy in her new bed!

Whether it's exciting new proofs, sweet cards from friends, beauty goodies or treats for the cats, it's been a lovely week for fun things arriving in the post. I've had a few fun meetings to discuss future projects too - I'm excited for what the autumn may bring!


2. Walking around the city.

The Gherkin peeking up over Bishopsgate in the City

Hello, not-so-little bird!

The balmy temps in the low to mid twenties have been great for taking in the sights of town on foot. I'm so excited to do more and more walking as autumn sweeps in.

3. Celebrating Afternoon Tea Week on the river.

Views of the City from London Bridge Pier

What a gorgeous way to take your tea, am I right?

On Wednesday I was invited along by Thames Clippers to join them for a cream tea on the river. I'll be writing a full review soon, but wanted to include it here as it was definitely a highlight of the week! Beautiful views, a splash of bubbles, and some lovely bloggers to meet is a super combination.

4. Instagram.

I am getting really into my instagram at the moment. I set myself a target of 1,000 followers by Christmas and if I keep up the work I think I might make it. If you like pictures of London, travel, food and home, you can find me over there @cmclaire.

5. The Great British Beer Festival!

A sunny day for a pint or several!

Matthew and I popped over on Friday afternoon to take in a little of this year's Great British Beer Festival - such a fab celebration of all things brewed. Olympia was looking beaut in the sunshine!

6. Catching up with friends, and scheduling even more catch ups in the weeks to come!

The diary had a healthy amount of catch ups with some of my favourite folk in the next few weeks and I'm super excited about it!

7. Time away.

Tomorrow is our second anniversary (time flies), and we are celebrating with a couple of days up in Manchester. Life has been manic recently, so a little pampering and relaxation is very much in order! While we are there we'll be doing lots of planning for the big trip next month too - we are so excited to visit New York and Boston for the first time and to revisit Toronto and Las Vegas!

8. Ctrl + Alt + Delete

A few posts ago I shared a Q & A with Emma Packer, the writer and performer of Ctrl+Alt+Delete, currently running at the Camden People's Theatre. On Tuesday I went along to see the show and was so impressed - her performance was raw, energetic and whip-smart. If you're free tonight or tomorrow I'd encourage you to pop along - I'll be watching to see what Emma does next!

9. Cocktails and canapes at the Victory Mansion.

Toasted sourdough topped with beef tomatoes and homemade harissa, and artichoke hearts with aoili? Yes please.

So many inventive and unusual cocktails.

On Thursday I headed over to the Victory Mansion in Stoke Newington for an evening of cocktails and canapes. Again, full review soon, but I had a fab evening in eclectic and beautiful surroundings, and loved catching up with a few blogger pals such as Sheepa, Erin and Jasiminne, as well as meeting some new cool bloggers!

10. Hygge.

How gorgeous is this cover? *heart eyes emojis for days*

As ever, the reading compulsion is strong in this one! I find the whole idea of hygge, the Danish mode of contentment, calm and present-ness, fascinating, so this gorgeous little book from Penguin, on the Penguin Life imprint, is very much up my street. Come on autumn, I'm feeling inspired.... Full review to follow!

So that's my current happies. How about you?

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London: Bottle Apostle, East Village, Stratford

I've written before about how much I love living in East London, and about all the cute spots that are cropping up in the East Village as that area of Stratford grows and develops (you can read my review of Tina We Salute You, one of those businesses, here). There are more and more places opening each months, including shops, restaurants, beauty salons and cafes.  And....a cracking wine and spirits shop. 

Matthew and I both love wine and beer, so a great shop with a decent selection of both is always going to be on our radar.  We popped down to check Bottle Apostle out earlier this month and loved it, I think it will be a firm favourite when we want new wines for dinner parties; interesting, quirky craft beers, and spirits for new cocktail creations.

The selection of wines is really stellar - as well as old favourites there are intresting selections from Austria, Portugal, Brazil...

Look at the colours of the liqueurs on that top shelf - that Violette one with its gorgeous purple hue is firmly on my wishlist.

There's a lovely long table for sitting and sipping, and wondrous Enomatic machines where you can try a sample glass or two before you buy.  I loved this space - I may take my laptop there one Friday and do some writing as it's as lovely as any cafe!

Wine, glorious wine.

There are always events advertised. Clearly 'Holy Cheese Mountain' is firmly on my to-do list, and 'Mums of East Village' sounds like the Real Housewives spinoff we are all waiting for.

There are lots of great beers as well - Matthew had to buy one called 'Spreadsheet Ninja' for the name alone.

I'm so happy that Bottle Apostle have opened a store at this side of town (they also have shops in Clapham, Crouch End, Primrose Hill and Victoria Park Village), and am looking forward to popping back often for wine, beer and cocktail making supplies.

Where do you buy alcoholic delights?

Bottle Apostle,
Unit 7.2, 3-4 West Park Walk, East Village
London
E20 1DH

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Food: My Citrus Fizz Cocktail

Last week I introduced you all to my yummy Cherries & Berries cocktail (and the Toffee Apple)...and this week I have another drink to share with you all - my Citrus Fizz!  I love, love, love drinks that use fresh-squeezed citrus flavours.  The tangy sweetness is a real fave of mine.

The citrus fizz is a quick and simple drink (seriously, so simple).  If you were having a party it's the ideal sort of drink to mix up ahead of time for your guests.  Enjoy!

Citrus Fizz

Ingredients

Lemon
Lime
Gin
Appletiser

Method (for two cocktails - double, triple, or multiply up according to how many drinks you require) 

1. Juice one lemon and one lime.  Add this juice to a small jug.

2. Add 50mls of gin to the jug, stir well.

3. Take two champagne flutes, and decant half of your mixed juices and gin into each flute.

4. Top up your flutes with chilled Appletiser.

So easy, right?

Cheers!

Disclaimer, baby: Appletiser paid for my ingredients in order to make a cocktail for them.  I ended up devising three, so will share the 'extra' two here!

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Food: My Cherries and Berries Cocktail

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by the lovely folks at Appletiser to concoct a cocktail using their product, to be featured on their website.  I had great fun mixing, slicing, concocting and perfecting....and ended up with three delicious drinks, rather than the specified one.

Ah.

So, I wrote up the 'Toffee Apple' and sent that over to the team helping Appletiser, and though I'd share the other two here in the fullness of time.  I adore making new cocktails and it's high time I started sharing more of my creations here - it's not just soups and cakes chez Roper!  This fruity drink is a real delight and I've made it several times since my first concoction - it would also be very easy to create a mocktail by omitting the alcoholic elements, leaving you with a delicious fruity cup!

Cherries and Berries

Ingredients

Fresh raspberries

Fresh strawberries

Cocktail cherries (optional)

Strawberry puree (I used this version)

Chambord

Absolut Cherrys* vodka 

Appletiser

*(the brand name has it as Cherrys, I haven't mangled a plural!)

Method (for one cocktail, multiply as necessary for your crowd)

1. Take a medium sized tumbler or glass.  After washing your fruit, add four raspberries and one strawberry, quartered, to the glass.  If you're using cocktail cherries (I did because M loves them), add those too.

2. Add enough strawberry puree to the glass to cover the fruit.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of Chambord.

4. Pour in 25ml of the cherry vodka.

5. Top up the glass to the rim with Appletiser, stir and serve.

Such a fruity, refreshing cocktail - it's fast become a house favourite!

Disclaimer, baby: Appletiser paid for my ingredients in order to make a cocktail for them.  I ended up devising three, so will share the 'extra' two here!

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