Food, Days Out and Travel stories from Brighton, London and the Rest of the World

Wednesday

Some Super Super Craft action this Saturday 29 March and a Fairy Tale Fair in April

~ Etsy Craftivists ~
This Saturday 29th March 2014 from 11am - 6pm crafters curated by Brighton's Fairy Tale Fair will set up camp in the window of Super Super.


Super Super, 7 Kings Road, Brighton is located on the seafront between the Queen's and Thistle hotels (near Pool Valley) and is a super friendly creative hub.  On Saturday the window will be taken over by some Brighton creative sorts for some LIVE craft action.


There will be a line up of 14 Brighton Etsy members where every hour, two new people will take their place in the window to make something, ending with at least 14 pieces of work.


summer fair 2013
Each piece will be raffled with the profits going to the local disability led arts organisation Carousel.


summer fair 2013
The crafts will be on display at Super super as part of their window display for the WHOLE of April.  The theme will be around Etsy's brand colours of blue and orange, so we're unlikely to miss it.


summer fair 2013
Raffle tickets will be on sale until the end of April with tickets available at the upcoming BTN Etsy talk at the Old Market, Hove 7th April.


Then on Saturday 12th April 2014, the Brighton Fairy Tale Fair will be taking place again between 10.30am – 4pm, free entry.


Head to Patcham Methodist Church, Ladies Mile Road, Patcham, Brighton for some handmade crafts, jewellery, Easter gifts, craft workshops, vintage tearoom and face painting.

summer fair 2013

~ Brighton Fairy Tale Fair 12 April 2014 ~
If you are unfamiliar with the Fairy Tale Fair, it is a whimsical themed craft fair that takes place in Brighton.

The fair comprises of around 35 stalls selling a range of handmade crafts.  These include gifts, jewellery, knitted items, cute characters, cushions, cards, prints, accessories, vintage style items, hair pieces, bags, decorations, beads and much more.  There will also be face painting, and Alice in Wonderland themed cakes, Easter treats with tea and coffee served on vintage china.  From past experience the items are very appealing with a good range from some very talented people.


Click on The Fairy Tale Fair to find out more about this craft fair and the organiser / talented jewellery maker behind it, Claire Montgomery. 
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Saturday

Unity Studio and School - Creating a holistic community with yoga, reiki and dance

Rosie Davis, Writer and Photographer shares her impressions of a studio in Brighton, where you can learn as well receive treatments designed to promote healing and improve overall wellbeing.

~ Unity yoga, Brighton ~
Unity studio and school creates a peaceful and relaxing space away from the hustle and bustle of Lewes Road.  

When I first arrived at the purple facade of Unity I was instantly drawn in, there was something very different about it compared to the other buildings and vibe around me.  Opening the lilac coloured door, my first impression was ‘where am I?’.  Taking my first step into the studio I became oblivious to the fact that I had just stepped off Lewes Road.  The mixture of wooden floorboards, white ceilings, purple accessories and floor to ceiling mirrors made it instantly comfortable and homely.  Inside a safe haven emerged where yoga, dance and holistic practices were being taught with teachers and students attracted from Brighton and beyond.

Unity Studio, Brighton
Unity Studio and School offers a range of holistic courses, classes and treatments and was founded 15 years ago by Sevanti.  The school has an international following, which has led to the opening of a dedicated studio in 2012.  

Passionate about dance and yoga Sevanti explains, "I wanted to create a studio which feels nourishing, homely and welcoming. I have added plants, buddhas and attractive furnishings with a warm colour scheme to allow people to feel they are stepping into somewhere special and sacred.  I have created a peaceful space outside in the sunny courtyard garden for summer, and light the fire inside for winter days and nights.  My vision is for the studio to be inclusive of the whole community, I want everyone to feel welcome here".

For Sevanti it all began with Yoga Teacher Training back in 1996, after which she moved into healing and related bodywork. The next step for Sevanti was to become a Reiki Master, where she then fused her teaching and therapies to form her established company.  Her enthusiasm for her chosen path has guided her to establish diplomas in Yoga Teacher Training, Holistic Massage (MTI), Unity Partner Yoga ™ Teacher Training and Reiki.

Unity Studio class
Invited to the studio to take photographs of the Holistic Massage Diploma (MTI) and act as a guinea pig for the students this gave me a privileged insight into Unity Studio.  The massage diploma, like the other courses are limited to 10 spaces enabling Sevanti to give the best teaching possible.  I found myself alternating between taking photographs and receiving massages from some of the students.  Sevanti demonstrated first and then the students followed, with Sevanti observing and offering advice and help as needed.  Other workshops relate to holistic massage, Reiki treatment and Unity Partner Yoga™, a beautiful and connecting form of Yoga that is choreographed and in particular, is very close to Sevanti's heart.

The next training course at Unity will be Reiki Level 1, taught over two days, for £175.  Reiki Level 1 covers the history and background of Reiki, anatomy and physiology; as well as aura, chakras, healing on oneself and others.  Unity also runs daily classes taught by experienced teachers.  There are classes in Hatha Yoga, Vajrasati Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Pregnancy Yoga, along with an affordable holistic and cranio-sacral clinic.

I left the studio with ruffled hair, a fragrant smell of grapeseed oil and a big smile on my face.  Accessible by bus, car (there’s free parking two streets down), bike or a gentle stroll.  This is a place where you can become part of something healing, meet like-minded people, with a selection of classes and where you can take your interest in yoga or holistic treatments to a deeper level.

Next training and workshops:
Reiki Level 1-30th April and 1st May at Unity, Brighton
Unity Partner Yoga™ Workshop-4th May at Yotopia in London
Unity Partner Yoga™ Workshop-6th June at Unity, Brighton
Unity Day Retreat-29th June at Whitecliffs Café, Saltdean

To find out more information about the studio and school visit being-in-unity.com or call on 01273 778400.

Rosie tweets @RosieDavisred
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Friday

New Farm Shop opens today at Brighton garden centre by the racecourse

 ~ Wessex Mill, French Bread Flour and
Scone Mix ~ 
Today saw the opening of a brand new Brighton Farm shop, celebrating local, small producers, organic and fresh produce, this is a foodie heaven worth heading up the hill to check out. 

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Sunday

Broadway Baby gives us the heads up on this year's Brighton Fringe

~ Thief by Liam Rudden ~
  Having just launched a brand new website I thought it a great opportunity to catch up with Pete Shaw at Broadway Baby, find out what they've been up to and get a few tips for this year's Brighton Fringe 2014.

First, a bit of background about you Pete and Broadway Baby.  How long has it been going, why and where is Broadway Baby going next? 

The history of the site goes back to 1996 in a very different form.  Originally launched as a site for actors to publish their CVs online for free, I'd written all sorts of code to link credits with shows so it would grow organically into a sort-of IMDB for theatre.  To be honest, there wasn't massive take-up for this service, but when I started adding reviews to the site in 2004 the game changed.  Ten years on Broadway Baby has become the largest reviewer at both the Edinburgh and Brighton festivals and we've just started to expand into the USA and Broadway.

Which have been the funniest, quirkiest and best performances that you've ever seen and why?

I guess my favourites are the ones that surprise me; the unexpected delights.  I once saw a USA school production of Les Miserables which I was fully expecting to hate, but which totally blew me away - helped a great deal by the fact they ambitiously had 70 in the cast, and could actually sing.  Then there was the first time I saw Lights! Camera! Improvise!, which after an endless list of improv shows I wasn't looking forward to, but the ingenious concept of the show still marks it out as one of my favourites of the genre.  There have been less successful shows, such as one physical theatre piece performed by a man a bit too mature to carry off the graceful veil dancing that his show mostly consisted of whilst wearing little more than a smile. It was when he went off stage and announced the second half would involve audience participation I made my exit. Having scanned the room and realised there were only three of us, I figured the odds were not looking good.
Worbey and Farrell

Which five performances are you interested in seeing / looking forward to this year and why?

One show I know I'm going to enjoy is Worbey and Farrell.  Their prestigious talent on the piano is juxtaposed with their marvellous self-effacing comedy.  

I'm a sucker for a Sondheim musical, so good to see Company on at the Brighton Little Theatre.  It's one of the composer's best works, and I really hope they can do it justice.

Another musical that is on my must-see list is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, playing at the New Venture Theatre this year.  If you've not seen it before and if you like a ballsy show with heart, it's a good option.  For good value I'd recommend The Big Bite-Size Late Breakfast, a collection of 10-minute plays.  They pack a lot in.
The Big Bite-Size Late Breakfast
For a bit of late night filth, EastEnd Cabaret at Komedia are a safe bet.  Raucous songs served up by diva Bernadette Byrne and half-moustachioed musician Victor Victoria.  Yes, pure filth, but I love it.

For theatre I'm intrigued by Liam Rudden's new show Thief.  Rudden's a playwright that has delivered in spades in his previous productions, so I have high hopes.

What else are you looking forward to?

Glad to see the return of the Spiegeltent to Brighton. It adds a real sense of the festival actually happening when you see that on Old Steine.

Any tips?

As with any fringe festival, my biggest tip is to take risks.  Buy a ticket to a show because you like the poster, or the description made you smile, or just because it's on in the venue you're having a coffee in next. Take risks because the people creating the shows are taking risks.  Sometimes the show doesn't pull it off, but fringe ticket prices are affordable enough for you to forgive them and try another.
East End Cabaret -
Bernadette Byrne and Victor Victoria

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Slow Food makes a real easy and tasty apple tray bake

~ Truly divine easy apple tray bake ~
  Got some apples on the turn?  Butter ready for the bin?  Buy some eggs and chuck it in a tray bake instead.  For this recipe I used three (slightly wrinkled) apples, peeled, roughly chopped and put in a pan with a dash of water.  Add a sprinkling of cinnamon powder and a grating of nutmeg and let it simmer for a while (about five minutes).

Measure out 200g of castor sugar, add 250g of butter and combine.  Add three eggs, 200g of eikorn flour, a heaped teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract (not essence) and the apple mix, then combine again (I used an electric hand held mixer).

That's it, you're done!  Pour it into a long, shallow dish, covered with grease proof paper and put in the oven.

My oven is fan-assisted and is super quick, so this apple tray bake took about 30 minutes at about 180.  Leave it ten minutes to cool and then get stuck in.  It tastes divine.

Ingredients:

200g of peeled, chopped apple (about three)
dash of cinnamon powder
a little grated nutmeg

200g sugar
250g butter
200g einkorn flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

~ ingredients for a Slow Food apple tray bake ~

apples with a drop of water, a dash of cinnamon
and a little grated nutmeg



combine butter and sugar

add three biodynamic, organic orchard eggs

einkorn flour, one of Slow Food UK's forgotten foods

pour into dish

take out after about 30 mins

Easy apple tray bake

If you're not an apple fan and chocolate's more your bag, then check out this scrumptious best ever brownie recipe.
Or for a pretty yummy dessert to end a meal with friends, check out the sis' raspberry and peach trifle.
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