Chermoula Marniated Potatoes and Asparagus & Fruit and Yogurt Ice Lollies

Spring is finally here and with it a whole range of refreshing seasonal fruits and veg which shouldn’t be missed! For those of you who are sick to death of a veg box full of cabbage, this is your season. So hands on the web to search for those hassle-free but special tasting recipes that will turn a quick nibble into an exotic Mediterranean feast! Good examples of what’s likely to enter your fridge within the next few weeks are; asparagus, broccoli, spinach, new potatoes, artichokes, apricots, avocados, mango and pineapples. As we all know, during spring time, Bristol is buzzing with social life so the last thing you want is to be at home slaving away with your apron on. Keep it simple! Keep it quick!
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Is swimming the most efficient exercise possible? It’s one of those pub trivia questions that divide groups of friends as they rage at the madness of each other’s stupidity. Swimming’s advocates will argue that the sport uses every muscle in the body when done properly, efficiently exercising every limb together, while opponent’s will disagree, claiming that the water only makes it ‘feel’ efficient and that in fact the purest and therefore most efficient form of exercise is walking. The debate rages on but either way, something we can all agree on is the swimming is bloody good fun.

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I have long wanted to pay a visit to Casamia in Westbury Village and their appearance in last autumn’s Gordon’s Best Restaurant competition on Channel 4 hastened my booking. No doubt their new found fame will have had phones ringing off the hook, so I got in before the competition made booking impossible. It still meant two months of waiting, but it was well worth it.
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Local Band Profile

Over the past few years, Bristol has been home to an underground country music scene which has been accidentally nurtured by a group of friends and musicians looking for a place to hide amongst the concrete and steel of the city. You may have noticed names such as Jon E. Vistic, Emily Breeze and The Hinkley Veltones appearing on gig posters together. Another name may have been Howlin’ Lord. Whilst almost certainly once the runt of this litter, H’L ambitions are beginning to be realised. Through hard work and sheer bloody mindedness he has put together a live show and band that echoes Neil Young’s Crazy Horse or The Band, at 3am in the Big Pink. His last release, The Blackheart Sessions, in name, references the studio in Easton that he and the previously mentioned Vistic and Breeze shared. Sharing recording space, band members and whiskey.

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From its gorge-side balconies to its wine-cellar eateries to its picturesque waterside restaurants, Bristol has good food to offer. When it comes to fast food, however, Bristol is pretty bad, more or less because all fast food is bad. ‘But no,’ dubious chicken sandwich lovers will retort, ‘fast food is good because it’s bad!’ And for those whom kebabs are the best company for vodka and Red Bull will add in protest that there’s nothing a fancy salad can do better than a kebab at 2am after stumbling out of a nightclub. Perhaps it’s they way in which fast food speaks to out hungry-for-calories genetic history that makes it so desirable.

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Thriller Live is essentially a Michael Jackson concert through his back catalog of work spanning a staggering  4 decades, a real must for any fan!  This musical anthology begins with Jackson’s early years as a child, beautifully sang by child sensation Tyler McLean who belts out the early Jackson Five classics, along with his ‘brothers’ , with a voice both fragile and powerful the resemblance was astounding.

Shying away from a tribute act the vocals are provided by six very different singers who all bring a certain magic to  to show. For me, much as all the singers were fantastic and of course worth mention for their talent, Ian Pitter, Nathan James, Dwayne Wint, it was Samantha Johnson, who combines attitude with a powerhouse voice to some of Jackson’s best loved tracks from my era, that stole  the latter part of the show for me. The choreography and costume bring the show to life, and paints a picture of the changing time as the decades and music roll on

It is a great night out, full of fabulous hits played to by a very talented band and with great high octane  dance moves, a supremely talented cast and great visual effects, a must for all Jackson Fans

Spring 2009 saw Phil Haughton sow his first seeds at Wood Barn Farm, a certified organic farm overlooking the picturesque Chew Valley Lake in north Somerset. Since then it has grown from 11 acres to 22 and provided some of the produce for a box scheme which reaches 300 customers in the Bristol area, trading as part of Haughton’s Better Food Company.

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I can’t wait for the moment when I pack my duvet parka under the bed, yeeha! Because this spring sees some seriously lovely trends hit the shops, from electric dreams to The Great Gatsby. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan, Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is set to hit our screens this year. Red hot 1920s lips and dark silver beaded and sequinned waterfall tops and dresses inspired the runways; see Halston Heritage, Galliano and Marchesa. Perfect for floating through spring weddings and summer nights.
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You’ll not be too surprised to learn that Old Market, the area of Bristol just off the city centre behind Cabot Circus and St Pauls, used to be a thriving…er…market. Historically it was situated right beside Bristol Castle with traders selling wares there as early as the 12th century before it grew up to become the first suburb outside of the castle walls. Right up to the early 20th century, Old Market was a focus for much of Bristol’s commerce, retail and business and Victorian photos show its wide streets awash with trams, carts and people, all bustling back and forth in pursuit of a quick buck. That was then.
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