I have an exciting new Kenwood kitchen tool. It makes mixing and blending things lots of fun, though I’m not convinced I’ve fully mastered it yet (see pictorial evidence).

My shortbread that did not taste like shortbread. Recipe to follow when I’ve actually mastered it..

We strolled down to Clerkenwell to catch the opening day of the Clerkenwell Design Festival on Tuesday after work. In a whirlwind of disorganisaton the official map and wristband were safety stored in my house rather than to hand, so we resorted to prodding mobile map apps, which is a tricky thing when the Clerkenwell venues are spread across the design sector of London in a charmingly slapdash but hard-to-google sort of way.

The buildings are beautiful, so we stumbled around cooing at these until the familiar pink of Clerkenwell popped into view. I ended up in the same open brick building as last time – a large derelict building I love. I’ve managed to take incredibly similar photos to last year’s which goes to show some un-evolving taste (I preferred bits of last year’s layout and the orangey hues of how everything was lit (perhaps, if anything, this years looked a little more green-focused), though this year there were some cool screens with water droplets screens and everything started going a little more digital.

Poly Light – Scene

In the depths of sofa designs, this cardboard world stood cheerfully at the end.

Anglepoise were also making a comeback – stood in a big bunch together – though I’ll forever prefer their lovely angular 60s variations.

But the highlight of the trip? Seeing QR thrown about in wild abandon. I scanned the first one I spotted on the floor, booming “Isn’t this quaint!” as I did so. Granted it took me to the website of the people who’d made the floor’s QR code, which wasn’t the most .. engaging user experience. Sadly it put me off scanning the QR codes inside the show itself. I savagely regret this now – who knows what media-rich delights could have been lurking behind the red glow of a quick scan.

If you work nearby, pop in during lunch as today’s the last day. Make sure you see this gorgeous birdhouse below that I missed, which is lovely. And scan every QR code you see, just in case someone’s managed to do something absolutely thrilling. We can dream.

I’m not aware of whether the news has reached you yet, but these shoes are mice.

Aren’t they jolly? I think they quite permit running about making squeaking noises at everyone you meet.

N.b. they may be mice, but my feet are not convinced they find them nice.

The roof of our building is very good. It is not so much the roof itself, which consists of wooden planks and pot plants (many of which can be found quite elsewhere around the world), but more the eight floors underneath it which propell it some way into the London skyline.

The roof of the Mindshare building has had to recent exposure in The Apprentice which has led to some dizzying fame. You can catch it in episode two, looking suspiciously like it is made out of orange Lego on the sides, with two orange men (builder suits rather than fake tan) on the top of it. It is right behind Centre Point, which is rather nice. Breaking news tells me that Google will be moving in too. And it’s dubbed ‘Medialand’.

It is such a great roof that Ellie Goulding came along to serenade it, although this may have pertained mostly to the opening of the bar with alcohol. Nevertheless, the roof basked in this semi-royal visit.

With such fame, my original blog post about sitting up on the roof one lunch time has fallen by the wayside. In summary, one day I knitted my jumper, tanned my ankles and reflected how nice it is to be able to see the London Eye, and lots of other tiny buildings from there and took some photos. Here they are:

My views are not representative of my employer’s. My employer may hate the roof, but I suspect not.

As with most baking, baking bread conjures up images of spotless surfaces save for a dab of white flour and a rolling pin, and more recently, bread machines that hum overnight. The reality in my hands is less pristine. During university, my first and only attempt at making sophisticated bread – by which I mean bread with peppers in – involved a crunchy outcome that didn’t make me want to put the time in again.

Luckily my memory is kind, and has turned this three year old memory of ‘let’s not do that again’ into ‘gosh, that was jolly wasn’t it?’

I was excited when I came across this bagel recipe whilst hunting out new and interesting things to cook. This was very well and good because they turned out absolutely fantastic. And I like that you boil them. It’s all rather silly and they taste great – even if they do look like a five year old’s made them. We’ll call that charm for now.

Find the New York Style Bagel recipe via SophisticatedGourmet.com, who is a disgustingly talented teen chef type.

I’ve saved the recipe here for my own peace of mind.