For our Christmas lunch this year, we kept it local and nipped round the corner to the pop up restaurant at Islington Barn on Upper Street (PipsDish)behind Toast. All hay bales, gingham tablecloths, crooning music and farm shop. We feasted on a fabulous chicken and pearl barley broth, topped with a creamy dollop of caper and lemon rind mayonaise. Completely delicious.
For pudding we had a squidgy, sticky slab of carrot cake and black coffee. Simple but effective. The barn is the inspiration of cookery writer Philip Dundas, whose charmingly illustrated book Cooking without Recipes has caused a stir in the kitchen this Christmas.
Get into the Christmas spirit..
1. Brave the cold and take a bracing walk to gather holly and ivy to make a wreath. Wrap it round a circle of florists' wire, decorate with baubles and hang on the front door.
2. Light a lantern and go carol singing down your street to raise money for a local charity.
3. Fill the house with seasonal scents and make a pomander. Take an orange, stick it with cloves and tie it up with pretty ribbon.
4. Wrap up warm and set off on a winter scavenger hunt for animal tracks, pine cones, berries, seed heads and different coloured leaves.
5. Make some star shaped biscuits to hang on the tree. Make a hole in them for the ribbon before they are baked.
For our Christmas lunch this year, we kept it local and nipped round the corner to the pop up restaurant at Islington Barn on Upper Street (PipsDish)behind Toast. All hay bales, gingham tablecloths, crooning music and farm shop. We feasted on a fabulous chicken and pearl barley broth, topped with a creamy dollop of caper and lemon rind mayonaise. Completely delicious. 
For pudding we had a squidgy, sticky slab of carrot cake and black coffee. Simple but effective. The barn is the inspiration of cookery writer Philip Dundas, whose charmingly illustrated book Cooking without Recipes has caused a stir in the kitchen this Christmas. 
