Weekend Review: Jim Smallman

Anyone who's a Leicester City fan, or lives within a five mile radius of the city's centre, is likely to have had a pretty unusual weekend of celebrations. So we're please that today's Weekend Review comes from a lifetime supporter - the multi-talented Jim Smallman...

What do you do for work?

I'm a stand up comedian, writer, voiceover artist, podcaster and wrestling promoter. Which is a bit of an odd mix.

How do you juggle your day?

I'm not entirely sure, if I'm honest! I'm away from home a lot, which means that I try and organise my time so I can spend as long at home as I can to be with my wife (who is six months pregnant). My biggest challege isn't organising my time, it's trying to keep my travel down to a minimum. I rend to drive around 1,000 miles a week.

What's been your proudest career moment so far?

I wrote and performed a piece for Radio 4 last year that was very different to what my stand-up usually is, and pretty far removed from what people tend to expect from a working class, heavily tattooed man with a shaven head. The reaction I got to that was wonderful, from all kinds of different people. I love being on stage and making people laugh, but that's something you get instant gratification from. This was something that I didn't know would work, and will remain on the internet for years to come. There's a link to it HERE if you fancy a listen.

And your biggest achievement outside of work?

Being a dad. As mentioned before, my wife is pregnant and I can't wait to be a father again; my daughter lives in Leicester and is nearly 13. Despite never living with her, we've got a brilliant relationship and seeing her blossom into a brilliant young adult is just awesome. We get on very well, although she is clearly the adult in the relationship. I'm looking forward to seeing her be a big sister from August onwards.

Where do you call home?

Leicester was my home until three and a half years ago, before I moved to North Wales. I'm unusual in my line of work as I've never moved to London (but I still spend a lot of time there). Leicester will always be where I'm from, but I love living in Wales.

When is your weekend?

I don't really have one. Some weeks I might have Monday and Tuesday off, but that's when I tend to get my writing done, one of my podcasts recorded and have voiceover work come my way. It's certainly a bit of a pain arranging a trip to Ikea, that's for sure.

How did you spend this weekend?

On Saturday I had a complicated day, because I had a wedding to go to, plus a gig to do - and more importantly, I had to find a way of watching Leicester City lift the Premier League trophy around all of that. The wedding was in a village of North Wales and one of my wife's best friends. I'm grateful that my wife let me leave early to get to work and see my football team to be crowned champions (although I sense that she is feeling relief that I might be quiet about it for a bit now). The wedding ceremony was wonderful, although I was a little bit distracted by the llamas in the field next to the church.

After the photo, I drove twenty miles to a coffee shop that I know has decent wifi and had the strange experience of crying whilst watching Andrea Bocelli sing at the King Power Stadium on my iPad. I must have looked a state as one of the staff in there gave me a free slice of chocolate cake. Then 20 minutes into the game - with the score at 1-0 - I headed to Manchester for my gig, arriving really early so I could watch the second half of the game and enjoy the trophy presentation. The staff at the Frog and Bucket (which is a wonderful club on Oldham Street) let me log into the wifi there and brought be a burger. Then I cried again as Wes Morgan and Claudio Ranieri lifted the trophy, before composing myself and entertaining 180 people. I even mentioned my football allegiance and got a big cheer.

Because I was only working in Manchester this week, I managed to wake up in my own bed on Sunday morning, before popping to the shops to do a big shop and get everything I needed to cook a roast for the evening (my wife was working during the day). As it was an actual, proper day off before a crazy week (I'm off to London, Lausanne, Zurich, Geneva, Peterborough, London again and Manchester this week from Tuesday to Sunday)  I was incredibly lazy, watching re-runs of Leicester's title celebrations and playing on my Xbox.

How typical was it for you?

I'll be honest, it's not a weekend that I ever though I'd see from a football point of view! I'm usually away from home for the weekend; it's always nice to be working in Manchester or Liverpool so I can stay a home rather than in a hotel. Having Sunday off is always nice, but I've usually got one deadline or another that means I end up working.

What was your highlight of  last week?

Sorry for the football answer, but on Monday Leicester won the league thanks to the Chelsea vs Tottenham result, so that was obviously a day that will live in my memory forever. Then on Tuesday I got a train from Crewe to London to talk on the radio about the football. Exactly seven years before, I was watching Leicester play Crewe in League One. I thought that was a very strange coincidence.

Your ideal Sunday menu...

Ideally, I'd spend Sunday with my wife and daughter, and invite mine and my wife's families over for lunch. Family is super important; I'm lucky that my dad and sister are brilliant, but also that I get on really well my excellent in-laws.

Breakfast: I can't ever eat much in the morning. If I was up super early, decent granola always makes me happy. Up a bit later (I am prone to a lie-in) then it's beans on toast done my way. Chunky granary bread, lots of butter, a thin layer of Marmite on the toast, then beans, then some cheese.

Lunch: I only like beef or chicken when I cook a roast (and I love cooking, so I'd insist) but I can only really cook chicken. So your usual roast dinner with chicken, Yorkshire puddings and the like. Plus lots of potatoes for me (my wife doesn't eat them, so we rarely have them in the house) and tons of vegetables. The older I get, the more I love vegetables. And some kind of cheesecake. Ideally one involving peanut butter.

Dinner: I struggle to eat three full meals a day since I started dieting a few years ago, so I'd probably have more vegetables and some tuna. It's not all healthy though, because I'd remind myself of Sunday nights when I was a kid (after my bath, watching Bullseye) and fill up on biscuits (they are usually banned in our house).

What's in your fridge?

I've just been shopping, so at the minute lots of bags of microwavable mixed vegetables, yoghurts, fruit juice, cooked chicken and cans of Dr Pepper Zero (which I'm a bit addicted to). And far too may condiments.

QUICK FIRE: What's your favourite...

Book: 'Girlfriend in a Coma' by Douglas Coupland

Film: 'Dawn of the Dead' (the original 1978 version)

Album: 'Come On Die Young' by Mogwai

Sport: Football (sadly wrestling isn't a real sport)

Museum: The Imperial War Museum in London. I go there at least twice a year. See also, The Tate Modern.

Board game: Scrabble

Tattoo: Either one of my tattoos that my wife has matching version of, or the Hello Kitty that my daughter designed for me when she was little.

How can people follow what you do and get in contact?

I'm @jimsmallman on Twitter and Instagram. My website is jimsmallman.com, Facebook is facebook.com/jimsmallmancomedian, my wrestling company is progresswrestling.com and my football blog is thefootballneutral.com.

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Celebrating Leicester

It's been quite a week for our hometown. Against all odds (5000 to 1 at the beginning of the season in fact) LCFC were crowned Premier League Champions this weekend. In honour of their final match and receiving the Premier League trophy yesterday there was quite a party happening across the city. We headed down to King Power stadium with cake to join in the festivities. This weekend has really confirmed what we've known for a long time. Leicester is an amazing place often overlooked in the past, but no longer! We've never been more  proud of our city.  You can read a little more about Filbert Fox the cake over on Elle's blog, and we have a special weekend review from a huge Leicester city supporter coming up tomorrow...

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Travel: Positano

This time last year, five friends flew out of rainy London to spend five days enjoying the beautiful town of Positano, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

I’m starting this post in fairytale style, because that’s sort of how it felt – full of stunning scenery, lovely sunshine and completely stress free.

I’d say the holiday could pretty much be divided into – eating, climbing steps, messing about on/in the sea, reading, playing cards, absorbing sunrays.

We stayed in a large AirBnB apartment with a seaview veranda, which was pretty close to everything we needed and was owned by an Italian guy who sounded more British than us!

I wanted to share a few photos with you, as well as a few recommendations for things to do an eat – my only regret of the whole holiday was not thinking ahead and hiring a vintage Fiat 500.

DO…

• Hire a pedalo: When we looked back over the holiday, all agreed a big highlight was the hour we spent on the pedalo we hired from an old guy on Spiaggia del Fornillo – it was equal mix sunbathing, taking the slide into the sea, and (perhaps a little cruelly) pedalling away at speed from whoever had just entered the water!

• Take a boat to Bagni d’Arienzo: For just 8 euros a small boat will take you to and from this private beach, just 5 minutes along the coast, and you’ll secure a sun bed for the day. That’s if the boat doesn’t break down! We ended up taking a water taxi – and pretty much had the beach to ourselves as a result. Sunshine + a good book + cocktails delivered to your sunbed + dips in the sea = bliss. When the skies turned grey, we decided to walk back – and earn our afternoon pizza!

• Use your legs: Part of Positano’s beauty, is the way the buildings all stack up on each other over the beaches – but this also means lots of steps wherever you go. The locals must all have the most incredibly toned legs. Putting in a little effort to walk to places was definitely worth it though – for example Spiaggia del Fornillo had a much prettier and less crowded beach than the main Spaggia Grande – and the walk to it was a visual joy

• Meet the locals: On our last night, walking back from dinner, we were attracted by loud music and followed our ears to what seemed to be a party in a hotel car park. A party which seemed to be almost exclusively made up of Italians, who were handing out endless trays of food which seemingly appeared from nowhere. Feeling intrigued but a little like gatecrashers, it was great when the woman manning the drinks table called me over and offered us all a beer, for free – explaining that this was the town’s mayoral election party but of course we were welcome to join in. So we did – even having a dance to the upbeat band (who played our favourite song – see below!) and applauding the candidate, even though we had no idea what he was saying!

EAT…

Food probably took up 90% of our time – when we weren’t actually eating it, we were thinking about it

And we were so enthusiastic about getting tucked into piles of silky pasta and scoops of creamy gelato… that I barely took any photos of our culinary adventures!

So, in text, here’s our foodie highlights…

• Casa e Bottega: (pictured above) a homeware store and organic cafe in one, we had breakfast here on our first morning (my fruit, granola and yoghurt was so light and fresh, and I heard satisfied grumbles from those who opted for poached eggs and spinach) I went back for lunch one afternoon when the others were off elsewhere and had the most amazing salad – smoked mozerella, courgetti, sundried tomatoes, yum
• Da Vincenzo: recommended by the owner of the apartment we stayed in, we ate here on our first evening and were in no way disappointed. The complimentary mini, deep-fried goats cheese calzone we were given was described by more than one of the party as ‘the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth’.
• Ristorante Saraceno d’Oro: we ate here twice, not only for the incredible food (a place to get great pizza) but for the brilliant atmosphere. We sat outside both evenings and were treated to super friendly service plus the bonus of being entertained by the lively Balkanic Jazz band – we perhaps got a little overexcited when they sang our song of the holiday Tu Vuo Fa L’Americano (you might know it from the film version of The Talented Mr Ripley!)

PS. The catalyst for us taking the holiday was built around our friend Matt Horan being booked to shoot a wedding there – you can see his stunning photos HERE!

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Weekend Review: Sarah Coleman

The weekend is what you make of it - there's endless opportunities whether you're at work or play. Today's Weekend Review comes from the talented Sarah J Coleman - who lives in Leicestershire but whose illustrations have been published throughout the world.

What do you do for work?

I am an illustrator and lettering artist, who goes by the name of Inkymole.

What do you love most about your work?

It's very varied and I never know what's coming next. I love pens, pencils, paper, stationary and colours, so using them every day is extremely pleasing!

What's been you proudest career moment so far?

There have been several! The show my partner and I put on in 2006, called If a Girl Writes of the World - a collection of work rooted in the words of writer, rapper and artist Sage Francis. We'd been fans for a long time and his words are incredibly visual, very rich and writhing with imagery. We opened it at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, before Brick Lane became too expensive to exhibit in, then a few months later took it to Manhattan where again we secured a massive downtown site for a fraction of what you'd pay now! Then it went to Rhode Island, home of Sage Francis himself - and I'm proud to say he not only flew to the UK to open the original show, he opened the next two as well. The show led to some significant and long-lasting opportunities and friendships.

Another one was getting the cover of US Playboy, one would be my covers for Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman and another would be my work for the Robert Burns Museum. There are a few - maybe I'm easily pleased!

What's your passion outside work?

I suppose there isn't really an "outside work". My partner and I are always working on something and whether that's music related, chocolate related, show related or something else, we've always found it difficult to work out where the humans stop and the "work" starts.

We do weight training - love the gym - work on our cars (it's getting into show season now), we have always had music coursing through our veins and we love eating. Oh yes, we love eating. And films, but we don't watch enough. We also love to read, but again don't really do enough of that!

When is your weekend?

It depends what projects are on! It might not be a weekend, sometimes it can be three days in the week - or none at all.

How did you spend the last Saturday and Sunday?

We went to the gym twice. We saw off a mate who was leaving his job. I did some work and caught up on a bit of paperwork.

We looked at potential carpets and we had a meeting about the sofa we're having built to fit our strange and wonderful top-floor living room (it's not as posh as it sounds, it's just that our house is upside down!)

I drove to Rickards' Farm, about 10 miles away and got a box of organic veg. Talked to my sister in Blackpool who's just had a baby, then Leigh went out and saw a mate - while I had a quiet night to myself with a sea  mud face mask, some drawing work and Demolition Man on iTunes!

How typical was it for you?

Very typical in that it was different from all the others! The only consistent thing week to week is the gym. We always go Saturday and Sunday and have got into a habit of building everything else round it, and the protein shakes that follow, ha ha!

What would your dream long weekend away?

Not keen on the phrase "dream" as I always reckon that makes it seem like you could never achieve it. I love visiting my sister in Blackpool - it's so ornery up there, chilly, gusty, robustly cheerful and very northern. Leigh and I have found ourselves in London of a weekend killing time which is excellent; "no agenda".

I think going somewhere not so far away that the travelling ruins us, with plentiful vegan food to choose from, knowing no clients are after me and being with Leigh, just about describes it.

What is your ideal Sunday menu?

THE REAL SUNDAY MENU

We tend to only eat two meals at weekends, and it usually looks like this...

Breakfast: Organic deluxe muesli - a special mix from Leicester Wholefoods - mixed with cocoa nibs from Cocoa Amore, dried apricots, pumpkin seeds, soaked almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and Udo's oil, with soya or oat milk. I have less muesli and chuck in a Weetabix and a handful of cornfalkes - a sort of 'can't make my mind up' cereal bowl. Leigh has mint tea and I have Brew Tea Company's loose decaf in a pot.

Dinner: Something we've cooked. On Sunday I made a dinner with homemade red onion gravy, roast red potatoes, carrots, white sprouting broccoli and roasted tofu.

THE IDEAL SUNDAY MENU

It's all happening in New York. We have left SO much money behind restaurant tills there...

Breakfast: Avocados on toast, tofu scrambles, hash browns, free coffee, pancakes with maple at Earth Matters in Manhattan. Sadly it closed down about a year ago, so it is only a wonderful memory now!

Lunch: Sacred Chow, near Washington Square. Anything from their menu, but it must include a stout ice cream floater.

Dinner: Either a full-on fake-meat hog-like session at Red Panda, where the vegan meats as so lifelike you have to check everything twice to make sure you haven't wandered into the wrong place (I don't even like meat, but I like whatever they make this stuff from). Or something more ladylike at Mogador, East Village - fresh hummus and bread with olives, really good Turkish coffee, and more bread with olive oil.

I'd like to be eating all of these meals with Leigh and my family, including the new babe who'd probably enjoy all the lights and sparkle!

What's in your fridge?

Gherkins, two jars of Indian lime pickle, oat milk, soya milk, unmayonnaise, sprouted mung beans, "cheese" (including fake parmesan which is really good - and I never liked real parmesan!), tofu, tofu wieners (kind of hot dog things), Udo's Oil, Vitalite, half a lemon, cocoa butter, organic face cream, a bottle a Cava (gift from a client), vinegar, ketchup, brown sauce, soya and oat cream for puds, Booja Booja ice cream in the freezer section with peas and pies, greens, kale and purple sprouting broccoli in the salad section.

What are you currently listening to, when you draw?

It's quite varied - early in the morning I do BBC Radio 1, switching to 6Music, then Rinse FM or some albums or mixes we've found online. Today from 1pm, I will be diving into a massive archive of rave and jungle mixes that have been unearthed recently and put online - who knows what they'll be like!

How can people see more of your work and get in contact?

At inkymole.com - I can be emailed at sarah@inkymole.com or you can always tweet me @inkymole - alternatively I like hanging around instagram, find me @inkstagram.ink

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Recipe: Labneh

I'm never more excited about a weekend than when there is the prospect of a food festival, and this weekend sees the return of what is quite possibly my favourite of all local foodie events. The Melton Mowbray artisan cheese fair. With 61 artisan cheesemakers and over 300 varieties of cheese on sale Its the largest event of it's kind in the uk. Cheese is a bit of a passion in our household and there is some preparation undertaken in advance of this momentous occasion, a strict spending budget needs to be set (To then be ignored!) But most importantly the fridge needs to be cleared to make way for our cheese hoard. This year however we were a little over excited and found ourselves in the preceding week with no cheese. This doesn't happen very often in my house and does induce a certain amount of panic, but fortunately I have an emergency recipe up my sleeve. 

Labneh holds it's origins in the middle east and is created by straining the whey from greek yoghurt. This results in a creamy tangy cheese, texturally it's almost akin to cream cheese but has so much more flavour. Cheesemaking can seem a daunting and highly technical pursuit but this recipe is really very simple, all you need is 2 ingredients, one of which is in fact optional. You also need just a little patience, but the end result is well worth it.

You will need:

• 500g full fat greek yoghurt
• A good pinch of salt, around half a tsp (optional)
• a cheese cloth or jay cloth for straining
• a wooden spoon and a measuring jug 

Place the yoghurt and salt together in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Transfer the yoghurt mix into the cheese cloth. Tie up the four corners of the cloth knotting them tightly around the wooden spoon then place the cloth, with spoon attached into the measuring jug, using the wooden spoon to suspend the cloth so the bottom of the straining cheese is a few cm away from the base of the jug. Adjust the tightness of the knotted cheese cloth as necessary to achieve this.

Place the jug into the fridge and allow to strain for 18 to 24 hours, the longer the cheese is left the firmer it will become, go for less time for a creamier texture.

The strained liquid can be used instead of water in the making of a loaf of bread, it will add a creaminess to the finished loaf and create a firmer crust.

Labneh makes an amazing addition to a meze style platter, simply place it into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil. I like mine generously slathered over a nice slice of bread, preferably sourdough, and perhaps just a sprinkle of Dukkah just to keep with the middle Eastern theme.

If you are visiting the Melton Mowbray cheese fair this weekend have a great time and hope to see you there!

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Weekend Review: Matthew Cook

The weekend is what you make of it - there's endless opportunities whether you're at work or play - and we love hearing how you spend yours. Here's the third of our Weekend Reviews, from Matthew Cook, collector of beautiful vintage artefacts and baker of amazing cakes. 

What do you do for work?

I'm currently having a "gap year" from my career, I work on the service counters at Waitrose.

What is your passion outside work?

Only one?? My cat, Thomas, takes up a lot of time. I also love cooking - or more correctly, I love baking. I love being outdoors, in the sun, on my bike, in the garden or at an antiques fair. I love blue and white, and ceramics, and paper and linens... oh, and string and tags!

What is your mantra for collecting items, what do you specifically  look for in an object for it to be added to your collection?

I was trained largely by the Conrans, so "Plain, Simple and Useful" plus a touch of William Morris - "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I sometimes fail on both counts but I do prefer the simpler, less ornate and things with purpose.

When is your weekend?

I am usually off work Thursday and Friday, but often work short days in the week too. This allows me to get the boring stuff, such as ironing and food shopping, out of the way on those days so my "weekend" can be just for fun.

How did you spend last weekend?

I spent last weekend waking up the garden. Some new herbs, rosemary, thyme, marjoram and sage plus old terracotta pots rescued from my parents compost heap. Then there was trellis to fix ready for sweet peas and the flagstones to scrub. After all that I needed something warm and comforting for supper, so I made cauliflower cheese with mashed potatoes. I always keep some biscuits and a cake on the go for treats at work. Last week it was a moist almond loaf cake with dried cherries soaked in brandy plus a batch of really crumbly hazelnut cookies. I do the shopping for my parents and look after their house and garden too, so there was plenty of pruning and two large lawns to mow, very badly! The first proper cut of the year, next time I'll have to be more careful and keep the lines straight.

How Typical was it for you?

I do some of those things most weekends, but it depends on the weather, sometimes it's just baking and a DVD after doing the routine essentials of life.

What are you currently reading?

I have a very short attention span, so trying to read anything too taxing takes forever! I've enjoyed a few John Harvey novels, based locally and methodical Police procedural. I'm on the final one now. I like to dip into Nigel Slater too, "The Kitchen Diaries" I have all three. Sometimes he makes me feel guilty for not being seasonal enough but theres usually a good idea or two in there too!

Are you sweet or savoury?

Sweet. As long as cheese can be counted as sweet?!

Do you have a signature recipe?

The almond cake is a trusted favourite. It's based on an almond tart from Donna Hay, but I hate making pastry, so I just make it without. It always comes out delicious no matter what you add.

What's in your fridge?

Organic unsalted butter, always, usually Rachel's Dairy. Organic apple juice for my muesli, a cauliflower from the nice ladies on Newark Market (they grow them themselves, they are always 60p and sometimes they are so large that one lasts me all week!) Olives, Kaltback cheese and a bottle of fino sherry. A little jar of rose harissa, oranges and lemons, various types of goats cheese and a bottle of champagne - well, you've got to be prepared!

Tell us about your ideal Sunday menu...

Breakfast: Little fluffy pancakes with tiny blueberries and ricotta, drizzled with runny honey, a big pot of rich, but not bitter coffee. This would be with Thomas the cat, I don't do chat in the mornings!

Lunch: Sourdough bread with figs and goats cheese, toasted under the grill. Honey, walnuts, plenty of salt and pepper and some olive oil, with slices of avocado and a tasty tomato on the side, followed by a coffee ice cream lolly - all in the sun of course. My ex-employer and very good friend Priscilla Carluccio would be an ideal guest. She could be trusted to bring a bottle of wine and, like me, she relishes a snooze in the sun after lunch. We'd enjoy the food and not have to make too much polite conversation.

Dinner: Mushroom risotto with a watercress salad and some crispy slices of ciabatta, a glass or two of spicy red wine and a little cup of chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. Nigel Slater would be an interesting dinner guest, lots of stories to tell i'm sure. Or one of my cheffy friends from London. Or perhaps one person from each of my previous places of work, you'd need a very large table though!

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