Not all Book Festival events this weekend are taking place by the bandstand in Queen’s Park: the Lexi Cinema kicks off this year’s event of literary wit and wisdom on Friday evening with Jessica Hynes introducing her choice of favourite adaptation, The Remains of the Day…

By Lauren Rayner

Nominated for eight Oscars, this 1994 film was adapted from the Booker Prize-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro: in it, head butler’s (Anthony Hopkins) immutable world of decorum in post-WWI Britain is disturbed by the arrival of a new housekeeper (Emma Thompson). The possibility of romance, plus his master’s sympathy with the Nazi cause, challenge his unquestioning dedication. Its themes of misplaced loyalty, dignity, pride, wasted lives and unrequited love are all dealt with gentle good humour, highlighting the poignance of the tragedy.  Julian Fellowes, eat your heart out.

Actor and  award-winning screenwriter, local star Jessica Hynes is perhaps best known for the British sitcom Spaced starring Simon Pegg. Her appreciation of The Remains of the Day is certain to be multi-dimensional. She is hot-footing it back from a day’s filming to introduce the film, and will host a Q&A session afterwards…

The film starts at 8.15pm and tickets can be purchased in advance from www.thelexicinema.co.uk

Buy advance £15 weekend ticket for the Queen’s Park Book Festival before they run out too: www.qpark.org.uk/bookfestival

The  New Windows on Willesden Green project has been hailed a triumph. You may have noticed that derelict block at the end of Queens Parade in Willesden Green has recently been magicked into a parade of pop-up shops… 

Well, here is a window into one of the events coming up there…

View Larger Map

So, thanks to DJ slash personal trainer slash SEO guru, Kev in Ibiza, we’re back after our hack attack. But we’re a little deflated…

Phishers* got into our backend (sounds most uncomfortable, right?) and to those of you who aren’t up your geek-speak it basically means Park Life was hacked. After two years of tireless blogging, our original host rejected us and we had to fork out for new cyber platforms which then also picked up on some illegal activity and blocked us. Which meant more moolah for more online charges and, most crucially, lots of TLC from SEO surgeon, the mighty Kev in Ibiza – Park Life’s original WordPress midwife.

Kevsta – you’re my hero. A massive thank you to SEO Ibiza (the guv’nor of search engine optimisation if you ever need anyone). Anyway, after just over a month in a sickbed, we’re up again, but taking it a little easy. Park Life is created strictly without any funding, so it really kind of busts your vibe when these things happen.

Park Life’s blog, Facebook page and Twitter account is still here to enhance the lives of all in our neighbourhood – but remember we’re not a business ourselves and we can’t cover everything and everyone, as much as we try celebrate the great and the good. We’re not a free marketing service for local businesses and we do appreciate a little love back too! So do keep in touch via Facebook and Twitter – one day we’ll get the darned forum working wonderfully. Huge thanks for all your patience and support. Big love comin’ atcha, North-West London.

*As Wikipedia puts it: Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information (and sometimes, indirectly, money) such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social websites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting public blah blah blah… Basically it means pesky robots in foreign lands tried to take advantage of us.

Sometimes bad things happen to good websites.

Park Life got hacked but our return is nigh. 

Meanwhile, find us on Facebook and on Twitter

Park Life is a not-for-profit blog for the communities of Kensal Rise and Queen’s Park.

Hidden treasure CC’s cake shop on Lonsdale Road holds a variety of cooking classes for adults and kids alike. Everything from cake-decorating, pasta-making, bread-making, and sushi-making is taught in the cosy café. I enlist a troupe of sushi-suave friends and head along to a sushi-making class to see what we can learn.

I owned a set of bamboo sushi mats once. I used them as placemats. I thought they gave my flat a Zen-style ambiance. I even bought one of those mini sand Zen gardens to complement them (remember those, from the feng shui era?). It was only after a more knowledgeable friend came over for dinner, picked up one of the mats and said, “You know you’re meant to roll sushi with these, right?” that I realised my error. I tucked the sushi mats in the recesses of the pantry, never to be seen again.

Rachel (right) shows us how it's done

So I clearly held high expectations of myself, turning up to a sushi-making class at CC’s last Thursday. The intimate class is run by Le Cordon Bleu trained chef and cooking instructor Rachel Davies, creator of Rachel’s Kitchen.

The first lesson is maki, the typical cylindrical seaweed rolls. “The shiny side of the seaweed is the presentation side,” Rachel says, and we place this face-down on our mats. Rachel has pre-prepared the rice (and enough of it to feed a small army), and we spread this over the seaweed.

“The trick is to keep moving your fingers around like ants,” Rachel explains, holding up a neat example. I look down at my mat, where clumps of rice are smudged unevenly over the seaweed. There is more rice on my apron than anywhere else.

On a roll: after a failed first attempt, I start to get the hang of this rolling thing

Next, we add the filling. I must admit that with anything that requires any sort of stuffing activity, I tend to overdo it. Let’s put it down to an inability to assess spatial volume. Or greediness. Either way, it’s so enticing to pile all those healthy ingredients on top of each other that it’s easy to forget that you actually have to roll the thing up.

My first attempt, the seaweed splits and the filling bursts out from all sides. Let’s just put that one aside, shall we? Second time around, I’ve learnt my lesson. The maki rolls up smoothly and I slice it into little pieces. Perfection, if I do say so myself.

Just in time too, as it’s time to move on. Next up: inside-out rolls, which sound like a feat of culinary engineering. Not so, I realise as I expertly flip my rice-coated seaweed and line it with succulent strips of fresh salmon. Actually, this is becoming quite simple.

Maki-ng me hungry. Our efforts are piling up.

By the time we’ve learnt to roll hand rolls (the larger, deceivingly tricky conical rolls), and nigiri (slabs of salmon or tuna draped over expertly-formed parcels of rice), we’re practically professionals. And the two giant platters of sushi we’re preparing are growing to towering proportions.

CC’s owner and cookbook author Carol Charlton pours us each a glass of sake and we all tuck in. There is so much sushi, we pack two boxes to take home with us and leave enough for Rachel, Carol and the pastry chef Sam Cudjoe, who prepares delightful little meringues for our dessert.

Just one of the three platters of sushi we've prepared

We depart with our boxes, our newfound sushi skills, and our bamboo mats. Well, I think smugly, I know what to do with these now.

Sushi making classes are held regularly at CC’s and cost £28 per person. See www.ccscakeshop.co.uk for more details.

Upcoming classes include:

Easter egg making for kids – Sunday 25^th March 4.30pm, £20

Focaccia and brioche breads – Thursday 22^nd March 7pm, £25

Pasta making class – Thursday 29^th March 7pm, £25

To book text name and class to Carol on 07710 423 541 or email hello@ccscakeshop.co.uk.

Taste the Detox Kitchen tomorrow at Kensal Flea at the Paradise and chat to them about their delicious, seasonal and nutritious detox diet programmes direct to your door.

My name is Juliet. And I’m an addict. Since experiencing this delicious delivery service I have been in danger of becoming a detoxaholic. Thankfully Doron’s punchy flat whites at Minkie’s and the thought of a full English Breakfast at the Tabernacle keep me in check.

I’ve never been good at dieting – all that will power, pre-planning what you’re going to eat and abstinence. I’m impulsive and I’m greedy. And every single one of my Hampsteads is a super-sweet one.

So when gorgeous Kensal Greener Sheena Skinner suggested I tried out her nutritious food delivery service she’s created with her lovely chef friend Lily, I pounced at the chance. All your vitamins and supplements, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon bite, supper and dessert landing on your doorstep every morning in one wham-bam-here-you-are-ma’am. Nice. The truth is I only wished I was an actual celebrity and could use their service every week. (Super models, pop stars, actresses – you name it, they’re on it – but I wouldn’t be so indiscreet to tell you who… Maybe try and find the lovely Sheena on Saturday at Kensal Flea to prize that info out of her over a freshly squeezed juice.)

EXCLUSIVE OFFER They are kindly offering Park Life readers 10% discount until May. Use this code when booking through their website and get a chunk shaved off your bill (and your waistline!) ’12TDHEG12′.

sample menu

Shot of the day: wheatgrass
Breakfast: porridge with berries and oat milk
Snack: melon, apple and celery juice and a pot of walnuts
Lunch: prawn, aubergine and lentil bake
Snack: hummous and crudités
Dinner: sweet potato and zingy beetroot salad
Snack: cinnamon baked apples and raisins

Yum. Nutrious, low-calory, superhealthy and DELICIOUS. Who knew detoxing could be so satisfying?

The Detox Kitchen delivers daily to most Central, West and South West London postcodes from £29.99. (07967 301 754; detoxkitchen.co.uk)

We needed a charity shop in our ‘hood: there is the wonderful Samaritans on Walm Lane in Willesden but nothing on the high streets of the Kensals or Queen’s Park. So we’re chuffed to steer you to PS Charity Shop at 18 Chamberlayne Road: not just as a place for a bargain but somewhere to drop off nice clothes you no longer need – all for a great cause…

Peaceful Solutions is part of registered charity the Centre for Peaceful Solutions, a service that provides mediation and conflict resolution in communities. So what more worthy a cause? All profits are re-invested in community mediation projects – and what London neighbourhood doesn’t need that?

Vintage treasure hunters heading to Kensal Flea this Saturday, look out for the balloons outside the shop here too and pop in. Kensal Flea is at the Paradise but it’s all about bringing our community together – sorry if that sounds like a load of sanctimonious guff – and reminding each other of all the great makers, sellers and jolly lovely do-gooding superheroes we have in our midst. When we popped in we spotted this Fenn Wright Manson dress for only £10…

Want to become a volunteer? Watch this video.

Happy shopping.

Come along today and snap away at Kensal Flea! The person to take the best picture will win £150 Paradise vouchers… We’ll let you be the judge!

Email us your photos at Park_Life@me.com
Tweet your pics @ParkLifeBlog #KensalFlea
Facebook them and share on Park Life’s page
Instagram tag them #KensalFlea

Here are  some of my pictures from previous Fleas – we can’t wait to see yours. We will post and credit the best ones on the blog and on Pinterest…

Rebel Bakery and Contact the Elderly’s pop-up tea room are at Kensal Flea this Saturday at the Paradise, the fifth of our charity-loving boutique fleamarkets.

Hosting a Contact the Elderly party is always a special afternoon.

Especially when the marvellous Rebel Bakery has delivered some cakes made especially for the occasion.

Having octogenarians fill your sitting room with their tales from yesteryear is great for everyone’s spirit.

For us, it is always a reminder that we don’t spend nearly enough – if any – time with people on the greyer end of the generation spectrum. And how wonderful it is when we do.

Contact the Elderly is a charity that helps people provide a great afternoon for lonely older folks, which rewards party hosts, drivers, and all our families with an edifying experience and memories of our own to cherish.

Just read this previous Park Life post about Rona, a dear young-at-heart friend we’ve made from hosting these parties.

Mrs Youssef and Mona

HOST A PARTY:

If you think you could help make a real difference to the lives of older people who are otherwise isolated from family and friends, do check out the Contact the Elderly website. Perhaps you could host a tea party once or twice a year, or commit one Sunday afternoon a month to drive an elderly guest to a party?

Lemon, strawberry and pistachio cakes

Or, do you know any lonely elderly people who you think might enjoy attending the parties?

Let them know that there’s always room for another guest on the sofa. And an extra slice of cake.

Those Dolls are coming back to 72 Chamberlayne Road, NW10 16–20 May. Cocktails available in the Absinthe Parlour 4pm–10pm.

Yessiree, Kensal Rise will have that sexy louche lounge for cocktails and hip purveyor of retro homewares and vintage designer labels again… where that slightly suspect-looking British Legion club was between the Diner and Scarlet and Violet.

We do love a sociable drinkerie in the Rise. And as these Kensal Flea-ers can attest we have a penchant for vintage. Savvy second-hand peddler the Broken Down Doll will have her hand-picked treasures from London, Paris and beyond. An Irish and Texan sartorialist pair of ladies are behind this very chic way to shop.

Honorary doll this time round will be fashion designer Helen Cody. ‘We love Helen’s talent for making vintage inspiration feel elegant and present with her stunning creations. We will be showcasing her as yet unseen collection, which explores the history of garment-making and construction. It contains unique, bespoke items, each one hand- finished with vintage details such as hand-dyed silk linings, Victorian embellishments, hand-loomed French lace, crystals, buttons, ribbons and beading,’ the Dolls tell us.

Yup, we’ll drink to that.