• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Maison Cupcake by Sarah Trivuncic - masthead logo 2026

Maison Cupcake

Home Cooking and Baking by Sarah Trivuncic

  • About Sarah Trivuncic
    • As Seen
  • Recipes
    • Baking and Desserts
    • Family Meals
    • French-Inspired Recipes
    • Shared Plates and Snacks
  • France
  • Journal
  • Contact

Postcard from Walthamstow Marshes

January 23, 2010 by Sarah Trivuncic 6 Comments

Postcard from… is my series of Saturday mini-posts. Today’s postcard is from a bird hide in Tottenham Marshes, part of the Lee Valley Park which borders the 2012 London Olympics site.
Selfridges food hall, the Designer’s Guild Warehouse Sale, St Tropez; there are many places I’d rather be than sat in a bird hide and more still that I’d rather be than Tottenham, North East London.  So the two together are hardly my usual form of entertainment.
Nevertheless, I can see the appeal of a wooden shed to sit in. I just wish it was a pink beach hut decorated with cute Cath Kidston accessories in Tankerton instead of a dusty shack with a big letterbox cut out of it.
We came here, in the depths of winter, to entertain my grandparents (not the Grandma Kitty side) a few short months before Ted’s arrival.  My grandfather and his second wife who has been my new grandmother since I was around six years old are both ardent birdwatchers and they had come to visit.  We’d marched them around Walthamstow Village, looked at stuffed animal displays in Epping Forest visitor’s centre and admired Blackheath Farmer’s Market. Now we needed something else to amuse them on the Sunday afternoon.
My aunt (on the Grandma Kitty side) who lives near by and also likes pointing binoculars at our feathered friends suggested a visit to the nature reserve at Tottenham Marshes down the road.  It was just the ticket and we passed a pleasant couple of hours ambling from one wooden hut to another peering into the distance at birds and… more birds.
I’m sure my companions would have been equally unmoved by a tour around the china and glass department of John Lewis so with that in mind, don’t judge me too harshly when I say the best bit was the flask of hot chocolate and the jaffa cakes.  I got a bit bored once we’d finished those and started daydreaming about these geese above being nicely browned, upside down and on a roasting rack.

Filed Under: Legacy content

About Sarah Trivuncic

Sarah Trivuncic has published recipes, restaurant and travel reviews on Maison Cupcake since 2009. She lives in Walthamstow, East London with her husband and teenager.
Read More/Contact

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heavenly Housewife says

    January 23, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    I am totally with you on the Selfridges food hall daaaahling, divine!

    Reply
  2. Rambling Tart says

    January 24, 2010 at 3:05 am

    Oh, you make me laugh. 🙂 The hot chocolate sounds lovely! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says

    January 24, 2010 at 2:23 pm

    Hehe you know what? Hot Chocolate and Jaffa cakes would probably be my favourite part too lol

    Reply
  4. BonjourRomance says

    January 24, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    Bonjour Sarah,
    Love your mini posts, you have a great sense of humour!
    Enjoy your Sunday evening!

    Reply
  5. Kitchen Butterfly says

    January 25, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    Oh Sarah….I knew we connected on more than just the food level…..JAFFA Cakes are my thing!!!!!!!! Big time! I'm now going to have to make them :-0

    Reply
  6. Jeanne @ Cooksister says

    January 26, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    LOL – lots of people checking out the geese in Norfolk too, which is where I was over the weekend (although not in a hide!)

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Seasonal Favourites

Nutella Semolina Meringue Pudding in an oval shaped red casserole dish, on a red gingham cloth

Chocolate Semolina Pudding – My Grandma’s Greatest Dessert Ever!

Chocolate semolina pudding was always my favourite dessert. Whenever my grandmother telephoned me, … [Read ...] about Chocolate Semolina Pudding – My Grandma’s Greatest Dessert Ever!

Five Ingredient Fish Pie Family Food Hack - you won't believe how easy this fish pie is to make from a quick five minute assembly of several frozen food products - an easy time saving idea for family meal planning that will leave you hands free whilst you help with the kids homework!

Fish Pie with Freezer Ingredients

Fish pie that's easy to assemble with just five ingredients. This family favourite recipe will leave … [Read ...] about Fish Pie with Freezer Ingredients

Mint Chocolate Puddings with After Eight - served in glass ramekins set inside larger white dish. A spoon is dipped into the gooey melting centre.

Mint Chocolate Puddings with After Eight

Who doesn't like to feel a little gooey inside? These mint chocolate puddings of loveliness would … [Read ...] about Mint Chocolate Puddings with After Eight

Latest

Spicy Pork Pancakes with Rhubarb Recipe

Spicy Pork Pancakes With Rhubarb

This delicious savoury mince filling tastes fantastic in Spicy Pork Pancakes with Rhubarb. This … [Read More...] about Spicy Pork Pancakes With Rhubarb

Casserole dish of richly coloured leftover lamb curry with mushrooms.

Leftover Lamb Curry with Mushrooms

Using up cooked meat and vegetables to make leftover lamb curry comes naturally to us. This is a … [Read More...] about Leftover Lamb Curry with Mushrooms

Cold Chicken Noodle Salad

Cold Chicken Noodle Salad

Using up cold meat in a chicken noodle salad is a quick light lunch using various ingredients from … [Read More...] about Cold Chicken Noodle Salad

Footer

About & Contact

I’m Sarah, a recipe writer sharing thrifty everyday dinners with a touch of French inspiration. I founded Maison Cupcake in 2009 and love creating dishes that are affordable, comforting and achievable. Thanks for visiting!

About Sarah | Contact | Privacy | Disclosure

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Threads
  • YouTube

My Book

Bake Me I'm Yours Sweet Bitesize Bakes by Sarah Trivuncic front cover

Find Recipes

Popular Categories

French-Inspired Recipes
Baking & Desserts
Family Meals
Shared Plates & Snacks

Copyright © 2026 · SARAH TRIVUNCIC · All rights reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}