The Cronut at Dominique Ansel Bakery London

I've finally tasted the world famous Cronut, the creation of Chef Dominique Ansel who was also named the World’s Best Pastry Chef of 2017. The croissant-donut hybrid was launched in May 2013, went viral and was deemed one of the best inventions of the year by TIME Magazine.

Each month, there is one flavour of the Cronut. For January, the flavor is Date & Butterscotch, so the pastry is filled with a homemade date ganache and creamy butterscotch ganache. Check out the DAB website for the flavour of the month and other menu items. 

The Dominique Ansel Bakery London opened in September 2016. The closest tube station is Victoria. So it's convenient if you're taking a coach trip from Victoria Coach station, seeing Hamilton, going to Gatwick from Victoria station or visiting Buckingham Palace.

I'd read there were massive queues and the cronut sells out. On a cold wintery Sunday at 4pm, they still had cronuts and we waited less than 10 minutes. 

What's my verdict on the cronut? It would probably be more mind blowing in the morning just after coming out of the oven. The butterscotch ganache oozed out each time I cut into it. The ganache was lovely and light. The pastry itself didn't really wow me though. 

Would I go back to the bakery again? Sure! I'd love to try the watermelon self serve in the summer. Keep in mind however, it is a pretty pricey outing going to DAB. You pay more to eat-in so get it takeaway if you want to save a bit. 

DAB began in NYC. There are bakeries in London, LA and Tokyo.  When Ansel is in London, he's 'exploring the breadth of restaurants the city has to offer,' he says in an interview with Business Insider. You know ansel's cronut is worthy of trying because there's copycats and variations, but whether they surpass the original remains to be seen. 

Can 2019 be the year we beat mental health?

Our knowledge and understanding about mental health continues to improve with more open discussions around the subject.

It is the growing crisis of our modern world as we become more extreme in our hobbies, beliefs and ideas.

We live so much in our heads and no longer balance our time with healthy physical pursuits like walking, playing and exercising. Just think how much time is at a desk, in front of the tv, on your smart phone, playing computer games or drinking / eating.

We need more reminders to be kind to ourselves, to remember that our health is important - both physically and mentally.

I've included a link to the Metro newspaper's 13 Mental Health Resolutions.

Two other interesting articles I just came across is about shrinking brains and anxiety in a recent study written in the Daily Mail. This led me to read up on how to increase your brain size. Interestingly, many of these are already recommended for depression and anxiety. 

Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2019!

A stranger's child hit me

This afternoon in the supermarket, a stranger's child hit me in the stomach. I cried out in shock and pain.

The child was around 3 or 4 years old as she was sturdy on her feet but not that big. I had been browsing the vegetable aisle of an upmarket city supermarket mid week during the day. It was in a business area that is not usually frequented by mothers with young children.

The mother called her child to her. She did not acknowledge what her child did or reprimand her behaviour or insist on an apology. Perhaps she didn't see it. Or she was embarassed.

I hesitated. Should I confront the mother? Do I cause a scene. Typically, everyone around us ignored it in the usual English way and carried on.

I wondered what is the right response here. Certainly children should not be permitted to behave in this way. The incident bothered me all the way home.

Has our society and parenting standards resulted in little monsters and hooligans? What would have happened if my hot chocolate had been knocked out of my hand and burnt the child? What if my response had been to push or slap her back?

I thought about a television series that I had seen called The Slap. A parent disciplines another person's child at a family bbq. The consequences include a lawsuit, a breakdown of relationships and a questioning of what is good parenting.

I'm home and now feeling a little angry at the child, the mother and myself. So I turned to my friend Google.

It seems aggression in children is not an unusual phenomenon. Typically it occurs in the park or playground with other children being the victim. Another common trait seems to be children hitting their parents. When it has involved an adult, it is clear that the adult is breaking the law if they smack, slap or hit a child back.

Whatever the child's reason for striking a stranger, whether it be attention, behavioural issues or poor parenting, I do think parents have a responsibility here. Anyone who is physically harmed should have some recourse.

After reading numerous different websites, I did sympathise with parents tired of reprimanding their children. Young children are exhausting. I have been around many of them, though none as brazen or violent as this. I don't believe in a nanny state, but I do believe parents need to respect others when they take children out into public spaces. If they do not teach their children what is appropriate and manage aggression, it is not the job of teachers and society to pick up the slack.

One woman jokingly (or not) writes online about how she is grateful to strangers who verbally reprimand her child for her. While it is somewhat humorous, it is also sad that it has come to this.

It makes me wonder about the world we have become and the life we are living. Why are we too tired to do our jobs? Why do we no longer take seriously the trend in both child and adult behaviour - the lack of respect for others, kindness and consideration.

If I polled friends with kids and those without, I expect their responses to be quite different. Some would be more outraged than others. There are some who would consider the child's actions unacceptable. There are others who might be more understanding. For some reason, I think that 30 or 100 years ago, this sort of thing wouldn't happen.

Then I think this is not a big deal. It doesn't matter. This isn't really my problem.