"london" news and stories

At the end of a long night out, most people are pretty hungry, especially if drinking and dancing have been involved. Fast food is one quick and easy option, while a number of restaurants stay open until the wee hours of the morning to accommodate night owl clients. A new ice cream company (so new that they don't have a website yet!) called Scoop wants the nightclub set to think of ice cream, and not fast food, when they're out late at night. Their ice cream truck was designed "to rekindle the childhood excitement of chasing down the ice cream man."

Unfortunately, we don't have any reports of what flavors this particular "ice cream man" is offering, although we suspect it won't be those ice cream-like popsicles with frozen gumballs stuck to them that seem to be so popular with kids when they find an ice cream truck. To check them out for yourself, you'll have to find the truck. The Scoop truck can currently be seen cruising through London's East End late in the evenings, but the company will probably really hit it off this summer, when they are scheduled to have a number of vans at English music festivals this year.

[via popgadget]

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If you haven't heard by now, there has been a lot of controversy in the fashion world about extremely thin models lately. Some shows have banned girls from the catwalks if their BMI is too low and other designers are refusing to use them to show their collections. In an effort to aid those poor, overly thin models on their quest to bulk back up and get back to strutting their stuff on the runway, the trendy Bumpkin restaurant in Notting Hill in London is offering free food to them. Any model with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of less than 18 - which would be the BMI for a 5'8" woman weighing 120-lbs - can get all the free food that they want. The manager recommends the hearty charter pie, which contains leeks, chicken and bacon and is "enough to keep you warm and energized all day."

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Easy meal prep is hot right now. By this, I am referring to the make-and-freeze dinner businesses that are thriving all across the US. With names like Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, My Girlfriend's Kitchen, Supper Thyme USA, What's for Dinner and Dinner by Design, all appeal to the "busy family demographic, where people want to have home cooked meals but don't necessarily feel that they have the time to do it themselves. These businesses offer kitchens with lots of partially assembled meals and ingredients that you can put together in combinations that your family will like. Typically, meals are prepared for a week or two in advance and everything can be frozen. Heating instructions (and any other cooking suggestions, if needed, are included.

The trend is so popular that it is starting to spread out of the US. In London, a chain called Dinners Made is springing up and gaining popularity with those who are looking for food to make in advance and freeze, and also with those who want to entertain and don't have time (or perhaps the ability) to cook everything from scratch without some assistance. Using Dinners Made means that the recipes are included, prep is done and cleanup is taken care of, as they are at every similar easy meal prep shop. Combining the convenience of working in the store with below-restaurant prices, a flexible menu and fresh ingredients, it's not hard to see why the idea is spreading so rapidly.

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The "road to the palace of wisdom" may be paved with excess, but that doesn't mean you have to wake in the gutter feeling like complete scum. Just scummy. On that rare occasion that you overdo it on the booze and end up with what is medically known as veisalgia, you have to take pre-emptive measures in order to be at least intellectually presentable the next morning.

• Before walking or getting a ride home from the party/bar/friend's start drinking water. Alcohol is diuretic and you need all the water you can handle at this point.
• Upon arrival home, continue to down water while you cook something light. Don't get fancy with flambes. These recipes are from The Sunday London Times and I have made several variations of the simple Spinach Pasta. I went heavy on the garlic and drank tons of water. Plus, you can always take a peek at some of our other favorites for the "morning after."

I say this as someone who used to drink a lot. I don't anymore, but maximizing water hydration (even while drinking), and eating pasta before crashing seemed to help. However, there are a lot of factors that lead to a hangover; you pay to party, body and mind.

Also on Slashfood:
Hangover helper, help her hangover
Best meals for the "morning after"
Soon dooboo jjigae...oh my!

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High heat during the summer brings fresh okra, and the Tribune adds it, along with shrimp, to a late summer menu. Speaking of shrimp, Wolfgang Puck adds shrimp as a twist to the classic BLT. Heirloom cooking makes a crustless asparagus quiche.

Shop for Triscuit's cracked pepper and olive oil crackers, the CIA's Master's Collection of kitchen tools, and the Cutie Pie Kit from HomeMade Pizza Co. for kids. At the bookstore, Jay Weinstein's book, The Ethical Gourmet gets a review, and kids go wild for Brit teen chef, Sam Stern, whose first book is Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook.

If a teen sensation is too young, then read through the feature on London's Borough Market.

Just in time for back-to-school, childhood obesity is looking to get a spanking as schools go full-force with an extreme food makeover.

In drinks, vodka gets infused with a market basket of fruits. If that's too strong, mix up wine for sangrias, sprtizers, and wine coolers.