A savoury cake for a change.

This week we have been cooking some scrumptious

Smoked Mackerel & Sweet Potato Fishcakes! 

 

The sun was out on Tuesday so we searched for a recipe that wasn't too heavy and would leave us still feeling fresh.. this certainly answered the brief.

The original recipe we found was Smoked Mackerel & Horseradish Fishcakes but never ones to follow a recipe word for word, we mixed it up slightly. 

SMOKED MACKEREL & 

SWEET POTATO FISHCAKES

[Makes 3 large or 4 medium]

250g sweet potato

1 & 1/2 tbsp horseradish

250g peppered smoked mackerel (we actually didn't have enough mackerel so topped it up with Salmon)

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Some plain flour

1 egg, beaten

100g breadcrumbs

Oil for frying (we used Chinese stir-fry oil which added amazing ginger flavours)

We followed pretty much the same method as the BBC Food recipe with one slight change, when cooking the potatoes we used the microwave instead. It is really simple and quick to do; peel and cut the potato as usual, then place them in a microwaveable bowl with half a lemon and cover with cling film. Cook for around 6 minutes or until they are soft enough to mash. We also chilled our 'cakes' before adding the breadcrumbs..

To keep with our fresh summer vibe we served our fishcakes with a delicious crunchy salad and a wedge of lemon. The salad had chilled cooked broccoli, avocado, cherry tomatoes, mixed leaves and half a pomegranate and was coated in a splash of balsamic and olive oil.

 

Having substituted half the amount of mackerel for salmon, and not being entirely convinced that the two flavours would work together, we were pleasantly surprised by how well these fishcakes came out. We think the sweet potato was the winning ingredient as it really balanced the hot horseradish, while also adding a more creamy texture than the standard white potato. We would however, recommend using the full 250g of peppered smoked mackerel as we think would improve the flavour even more. 

This Cooking Tuesday dish was one we certainly didn't want to end. Perfect for a sunny evening with a glass of chilled crisp white wine.

Folded Square

How often are you pleasantly surprise by something that comes through the post anymore? Online shopping is convenient and quick but companies rarely take the time to consider their packaging and presentation. So yesterday, when we received an order from Folded Square we couldn't help but smile and take the time out to say thank you.

 

We had been searching the internet for some black origami paper, when we came across Folded Square 'Environmentally friendly Origami paper and modelling kits'. What more could we ask for, they are eco and very reasonably priced! A mere 2 days later our order arrived....

A welcome note

Beautifully simplistic packaging

                  

                   And inside...

..look at all those colours!

Opening the package was both exciting and enjoyable with two little extras thrown in that we hadn't been expecting. There was a little card from the FS team that had instructions on how to make an origami hat and boat, and a separately packaged set of assorted coloured Origami papers complete with folding instructions to create a Waddling Penguin (ours is bright blue and looks lovely on our desk). Then we opened the beautifully crafted box containing our origami papers to reveal a stunning array of colour.

Wait.. colours? HELP! We thought we had ordered 200 sheets of black Origami paper! Oh no.

We had already decided that we would email the team directly to say how delighted we had been with our purchase, only now we had to add on that we had ticked the wrong button and ask what our options for swapping the order were. Only a few hours after sending our email we got a reply telling us how they had already send us out a new set; we couldn't believe it! It had been a while since we had such a quick and helpful email response from a company. And what's more the new set arrived the very next day!

In their email they said "we pride ourselves on customer service" and so you should Folded Square! We highly recommend this company should you ever need origami papers or modelling kits. A little kindness goes a long way in this world and it certainly made us smile.

So a big thank you from Anna & Kate to all the team at Folded Square, we hope you are having a great day :) and...

Happy folding everyone!

Cannt Skinny Cubs

Yes, the Cubs are back! 

This is an event that is close to AKcreates' heart. A year ago we went along to the evening after finding out about it through Cannt, a festival held in London to showcase and reward the best creative talent whilst the big wigs swan off to schmooze and sun themselves at Cannes Lions. Not knowing what to expect we showed up to the Skinny Cubs launch night for the 48hr competition brief and it turned out to be an invaluable experience plus bagged us an internship to boot (see earlier blog post). It is a great opportunity to meet like minded, creative people, to share tips on breaking into the industry and to get stuck into an exciting brief. There is a plethora of Snr Creatives, ECD and CDs around to answer questions, teach the Do's & Don'ts of the advertising world, give book crits or to just have a casual beer with. Cannt Skinny Cubs comes highly recommended, we will be attending so feel free to say Hi, we are the girls with the moustaches below! This years event will take place on Monday 18th June so hurry, times running out reserve your space here, you don't want to miss out. 

The Hairy Ape

               

     

Last week we went on a field trip to Southwark Playhouse in London Bridge. A friend had recommended a play called The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill, which was presented by Cartwright Productions and Creature of London (a lovely advertising agency we have recently been in to visit). 

The play, set in 1922, explores the oppressed working class alongside the inherent human need to belong. The main character Yank (Bill Ward), is a brutish laborer who commands the fiery pit of a cruise liner. He and his fellow stokers are true working class men with a love of steel. They are visited by the daughter of a wealthy business man who, upon seeing Yank, screams "filthy beast" at him, before running back to her upper class world. This encounter causes Yank to have a crisis of identity and when the ship docks, he set out to the streets of Manhattan on a quest to find where he belongs.

Southwark Playhouse's main auditorium held a cross shaped stage with the cast impressively, and successfully, performing to an audience on all four sides. With only a small cast, their change from the unrestrained working class to the controlling rich was well executed. And the intimate setting and dark lighting created an atmosphere that, topped with Ward's forceful and intense performance, made for a very exciting and enthralling evening. The play came to a dramatic conclusion with growls and howls pervading the darkness; enough to leave anyone unsettled.

Time Out gave the play 4/5 (5/5 reader rating) but a few reviews we have seen have commented on and criticised Yank's sometimes muffled speech. We felt that although inaudible at times this only enhanced Ward's performance. Intentional or otherwise, it added another element to the beast-like character he was trying to emulate. Our verdict 4/5, a powerful 90 minutes packed full of raw energy.

        

AK Biscuits!

So we popped into this über cool kitchen wear shop called Whisk and came across an alphabet wall of cookie cutters. We grabbed the A and the K thinking they will definitely come in handy on our next Cooking Tuesday as we had a too-easy-to-be-true biscuit recipe that was waiting to be put to the test! Amazingly enough it did what it said on the tin and turned out to be the easiest recipe to date. With basically no manual labour and hardly any ingredients, all of which goes straight into a food processor to be whizzed to a dough, the hard work is done for you so you can sit back, relax and in our case squeeze in a brain storm or two!









Lemon Biscuits
Makes 20-30
300g flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3x lemon zest, juice of one
125g soft light brown sugar
125g caster sugar
170g butter, melted


Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4, mix all the dry ingredients with 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add the melted butter, lemon zest and juice and mix until you have a dough. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins before rolling into 20-30 balls. Place the biscuits on greased trays and bake for 10-12 mins, or until golden.


Even though they came out looking more like the bubble writing one used to do as a kid. They were crispy, lemony and delicious, went down a storm with family and friends and are going to feature again at a birthday party coming up on the weekend. 
Serving suggestion: with a lovely hot cuppa of course!


                          

A Time for Tai Chi

Tai Chi in the morning? Don't mind if we do.

A while ago a good friend, Jacqui, told us of a 6 week course of free Tai Chi classes being held every Wednesday morning at Somerset House's beautiful Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court. Having always been intrigued by Tai Chi and because we love learning new skills (especially for free), we decided to pop along and give it a go.

After dragging ourselves out of bed for the 8.45 am (!) start we gathered with the other 30 ish people who like us had wanted to try out the Chinese Martial Art. The stunning surroundings of Somerset House's open-air courtyard, with the glorious morning sun glowing down on us, was the perfect setting. There were 5 instructors, one at the front taking the class and the others were dotted within the eager pupils. The class was 45 minutes in length with a very well planned lesson. We learnt lots of varied movements from within the different areas of Tai Chi. A personal favourite was the 'happy move' which incorporated deep breathing (like most of the moves) and a controlled wide arm movement that opened up the chest and could be felt all the way down through the body. Doing this movement 3 times each morning will surely make us ready for anything life throws at us!

It was especially great to see such a variety of people there. There were both men and women, young and old, clear novices (like us) and the odd person who seemed in their own rhythmic trance. People were there in their 'gym class' clothes, everyday outfits and even a couple in full suits enjoying a relaxing 45 minutes before starting their working day.

And what a perfect way to start the day (especially when the sun is out)! It definitely comes recommended by us. Life can be so stressful nowadays, especially the fast-paced, hard working industry we have decided to throw ourselves into. It is so important that you STOP, take time out and concentrate on yourself, your body, your breathing, your every slight movement.


Here are a couple of photos from our second class when the sun came out to shine down on us again..

And the overall verdict? It was fantastic! We hope to find a local club so we can continue to learn Tai Chi and take some time out to concentrate on us.

The classes were taken by Lishi who combine techniques from Yoga, Tai Chi and Kung Fu. This is what they say about themselves on the website:

'At the core of Lishi is good physical alignment, breathing and energy (Qi) work. All the movements and dances can be done slowly (Yin) or faster (Yang). It's about getting loads of energy and using it to get your life on track, where you want it.'

As a side note if you have a second we also suggest you check out what else is on at Somerset House this summer. It is a great venue that supports a varied selection of arts and culture.

Cooking Tuesday Returns

Yes we've been cooking again. Well we never stopped, we just haven't had the chance to blog about it. But back in the swing of London life again we thought it was time to start up Cooking Tuesday again (properly).

What was on the menu this week?
Spring Vegetable Risotto & 'Oh So Lemon' Cupcakes


The Spring Vegetable Risotto was a recipe we saw on ITV's morning show, Lorraine. She had James Tanner in her kitchen cooking this 'tasty veggie risotto using lots of seasonal vegetables'. We have cooked (and eaten) a few risottos before, in fact one of our first Cooking Tuesday recipes was a Seafood and Feta Risotto, but we're going to go out on a limb and say that this was one of the most delicious. A bold statement from AK, so why not try it yourself and tell us your verdict. You can find the recipe and even a video of James cooking it on Lorraine's website.

The main ingredients are asparagus, courgette, peas, mascarpone, lemon and mint and they work beautifully together. The highlights for us was a pea puree in the base (as well as whole peas) and the additions of fresh mint. Both were something we had not used before in a risotto and what we believe helped make it so yummy! It was not the easiest of recipes but well worth that bit of extra effort if you are cooking a special summer dinner for friends or family.

With half a tub of mascarpone left after the risotto we searched the internet for a recipe to use it up but one that we also already the rest of the ingredients for too. Sadly the ONLY one we could find were for some lemon cupcakes.. what a shame (ha!). Conveniently it was a friends birthday gathering the following afternoon so we knew they wouldn't go to waist.

The recipe called for lemon in the sponge, then a lemon drizzle over the top before adding a lemon and mascarpone icing... now that, even for us lemon lovers, is a lot of lemon and hence their new name 'Oh so Lemon Cupcakes'. Personally we believe it might be a little OTT on the lemon and if making again we might change the icing recipe or leave out the lemon in the sponge. Saying that they did taste scrumptious and were gobbled down at the party so if you are a lemon lover they are a perfect treat for you!

Clerkenwell Design Week

Last week we set off to The City to get some inspiration. Sadly we had to miss Clerkenwell Design Week last year due to other commitments, so when we saw it was that time of year again we jumped at the free entry wristbands. We thought it would be a great opportunity to get straight back into the London design scene and see what has been happening over the last 4 months.

A&K's Beasty Boys tribute pose 

This is a man carving a car. He was going to be there
a while, impressive stuff though!

          

             We especially like this little nod to the Queen's Jubilee.

After looking around the first of the three big venues, which held lots of smaller stalls, we went off to a Meet the Artist talk with the world-renowned typographer, designer and letterpress practitioner Alan Kitching. The talk was held at Milliken a textile manufacture, and was also being used as a Private View of Alan's new work. 

Alan Kitching (left)

We were lucky enough at our university (London College of Communication) to have one of the largest collections of letterpress machines and type, so we have dabbled in letterpress before. It is a very intricate, methodic and time consuming process with, when done as well as Alan Kitching, absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing pieces. No two prints are ever the same, making it a very exciting media to work with.

Interviewed by a journalist who had recently done a piece him, Alan gave an interesting introduction to his work and career. He had just completed a piece commissioned by Milliken for their anniversary (see below right). He told of his struggle when deciding what to do for the print and then his breakthrough and process of working. And 'Inspired/Inspiring' was definitely how we felt leaving the talk. This is what  Clerkenwell Design Week is all about for us.. finding talented people and learning from them.

                        

Talking of talented people we 'bumped' into two very good friends while walking around Clerkenwell deciding what venue to visit next. Tim and Chris are the founders of a new company called AJOTO who create 'beautiful tools for everyday journeys' (more on that another time). Anna studied her art foundation with Tim and both had heard that another friend from their foundation, Don Herd, was at CDW showcasing his new business venture, Room-9. We went along to check out their stall and found some beautifully crafted light designs. It was great to catch up with old friends and learn how they are really pushing to follow their dreams.

                           

With the sun now fully shining down on Clerkenwell we joined Tim and Chris for a cheeky drink in a beer garden before stumbling across a quirky 3 way ping pong table (that got quite competitive and was a lot of fun!). We looked around a few more venues and stalls before settling outside another pub to enjoy a bit of live music put on for the festival. Overall it was a very inspiring and enjoyable day out and just what we needed to remind us what an amazing and exciting city we have returned to. This summer is going to be great....

 

Enjoying a beer (or two) in the sun with the AJOTO boys.