La Duree macarons

I was introduced to this exquisite Parisian bakery by a French friend. Their speciality is the macaron (not to be confused with the English style coconut macaroon) which comes in a dazzling assortment of colours and flavours. Each little bite-size macaron is perfectly crispy on the outside with a squidgy sticky centre. Their outlet in Harrods and their tiny gilded cafe in Burlington Arcade are well worth a visit. at £7 per 100g, I may be developing an expensive habit!

Spring is here

So this weekend it finally felt like spring had arrived in Walthamstow. The daffodils that I had planted with the Friends of Lloyd park on a freezing muddy day in November were in full bloom, dazzling yellow in the sunshine. On saturday Kirsten came down for a girlie day out in London. She is looking beautiful and radiant at 5months pregnant. First off we hit Harrods - I hadn't been for a couple of years and we spent a while wandering around the chaotic yet amazing food halls before our usual trip around the designer shoe section. I bought a bag of macarons from LaDuree and we headed over to Hyde Park with Dominique to sit by the serpentine and soak up the sun. Just a couple of short weeks previously I had been the only person in sight by the boat house, but not today - people were flocking in from all directions and the greass was full of groups sitting around. The rest of our day was equally fab - cupcakes in Covent Garden, then a trip to selfridges for Kirsten to buy the Dior flip-flops she had been admiring in Harrods earlier. Watching the new Twilight DVD back at mine in the evening rounded off the day quite nicely!