The Happy on Hypatia Avenue No. 1
I don't write here very often any more, having spread myself rather thin with Londonist, resuming critical writing and a handful of other (offline) projects, but what I came to realise when I checked the last post I put here was that I'm not writing as much here because... because... because I'm having such a good time elsewhere. At the theatre, galleries, more theatre, weird live shows in strange places, at weddings, at launch parties, at monthly Londonist socials and smaller ones for select persons in the team, my family gatherings, my husband's family gatherings, spending time with new friends and catching up with old ones, gardening for the first time in my life and sprucing up the homestead with my beloved so that when we have a rare night in together we can wander around the flat saying to each other "It's so nice here!"
BUT these are exactly the kind of things I want to document and share on The Avenue; I want to be able to look back on all these good times and re-live them, remind myself if I have a bad day that there are things to love in the world and that I can be happy, if I just remember how. Practically, rather than confine myself to a linear, chronological catalogue, I thought I would pick certain recurring things that always cheer me up and incidentally reveal a little about myself so that I can write and record and ruminate all in one spot.
And so to the first of The Happy on Hypatia Avenue: pie!
Anything wrapped in pastry, served with mashed potatoes, gravy and peas will put a smile on my face. I love each and every pie:
stodgy pork pies with the layer of jelly between pastry and meat
mince pies at Christmas
lemon meringue pie (but I've yet to find a really decent one that doesn't have lurid fluorescent yellow lemon filling that could melt lead if left out of the fridge too long...)
apple pie with lots of cinnamon but nothing on the side - I don't like to pollute the pureness of the pie withice cream or cream or custard
Cornish pasties with lots of vegetables stuffed inside
And most recently added to my repertoire of great pies is the Olym-pie by Square Pie, which I tried for the sake of Londonist and the Olympics. It's politics wrapped in pastry - and it's very good. I like this company enormously, you can buy unbaked pies to have at home or stick in the freezer until you need another fix.
Pictures show, from top: handshaped steak pie with mushy peas at Concrete next to the Hayward gallery; pie (minced beef) with mashed potato and parsley sauce aka liquor at G Kelly's, a genuine East End pie and mash shop (big bowl of jellied eels just out of shot); the Olym-pie in three stages of deliciousness.
More to come in this series of The Happy - yes, more!
