Gravey and Rice

Pancakes

2008-03-02T13:05:00.005Z

I love pancakes. Back home, in the states, it's a simple process. Bisquick, milk, etc. But, while you can get bisquick here, I find it comes in very small boxes and is expensive. So, I stopped bothering our first year here. Making biscuits from scratch was easy enough, but eventually I stopped making pancakes because I simply couldn't find a good recipe for them that started with plain flour.

Eventually, very late 2007, I discovered a delicious recipe, right under my nose, from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook that I've had since 2003. The recipe itself is for Buttermilk Pancakes, but if like me Buttermilk is not readily available for you, or comes at a premium, it gives a "pancakes" substitution. Since we love pancakes, I triple the recipe to get about 25, which sometimes is still not enough. (The baby had 5 this morning, himself!) Try it, it's wonderful- the pancakes puff up perfectly and taste amazing. It's a shame that american style syrup is also unavailable here.

Pancakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk (I sour it first, with 1 T. lemon juice)
2 Tbsp. cooking oil

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and set aside. Combine the egg, milk and oil. Add egg mix all at once to flour mixture and stir just until moistened, should be lumpy.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, greased skillet or griddle, cook over medium heat about 2 minutes, flipping when they have bubbly surfaces and edges are dry. Serve warm

You can put anything on pancakes, I go for the traditional butter and syrup, but our breakfast table is usually covered with sugar,syrup,jam, lemon juice,marmalade, whipped cream, cinnamon bannanas, blueberries, strawberries and even golden syrup on pancake day.

Yum!

Butterscotch Bark Cake

2008-01-19T20:38:00.000Z

Another family favorite, my mother made this during the holidays when I was young. Oddly enough, I never liked it much then, but at some point it became yummy and I added it to my own repertoire. Unfortunately you can't get butterscotch chips readily in England, so I had to order mine from a lovely little company called Skyco which brings in great American and Canadian products, at a price! But the customer service and quick delivery is worth it every time.

Anyway, I ordered the chips, received them, poured them in the jar and promptly forgot about them with everything else going on! So, no butterscotch bark cake for Christmas. I finally got around to making this cake today, though!

Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, it's not very labor intensive and is actually quite fun to put together. The frosting is optional, really the cake is great without it. I find it too sweet with the icing sugar so I've been trying to adapt it.

Butterscotch Bark Cake
Cake

1 1/2 c.boiling water

1 c. quick oats

6oz. pkg. butterscotch morsels (or substitue toffee pieces)

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. shortening

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped nuts (not the human variety, optional)

Frosting>/u>

1/4 c. milk

2 tbsp. butter

1/8 tsp. salt

1-2 tsp. milk

6oz. chocolate chips

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar (icing sugar)

Combine boiling water and quick oats, let stand

Melt butterscotch over hot water, set aside

Combine in bowl sugar,brown sugar and shortening- beat well. Beat in eggs, blend in oats mixture and melted butterscotch

Sift together and blend in flour, baking soda,salt,cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in raisins and nuts

Pour into 13x9" glass baking dish,bake at 350' for 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, for frosting combine the 1/4c. milk,butter and salt in small saucepan. Bring just to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until chips melt, blend in powdered sugar gradually stir in milk until becomes soft, spreading consistency.

Remove cake from oven, cool 15-20 minutes- spread with frosting, pull fork tines through frosting in wavy lines to create bark look

What's for Dinner-Rice ala Lavre'

2007-12-29T20:22:00.000Z

Another childhood staple was Rice ala Lavre' (though not sure on the spelling.

I love this dish because it is simple to make, which is great when you've had a busy day and three children running around!

Rice Ala Lavre'

What you need

Rice, or egg noodles if you prefer (that's tagliatele for our British cousins)
500-800 oz ground turkey or mince beef
2-3 onions depending on size, peeled and chopped
14.5oz can cream of mushroom soup
approx. 1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the chopped onions into a skillet with the, defrosted, meat. Cook on medium heat until meat is brown and the onions are golden and soft. Drain if necessary, and put back into skillet, add mushroom soup and simmer for a few minutes. Add sour cream, parika and seasoning. Stir until combined. Serve over cooked rice or noodles with some french bread or biscuits (American biscuits not British cookies!)

While very simple to make, it is admittedly a bit lacking in nutritional value. Serve with green veg, cottage cheese or applesauce, or finely chop some carrots and add them to the dish with the onions. Color and nutrition! Yum!

About 45 minutes start to finish- Serves about 6 with the large quantity of meat.... enjoy

Chocolate Pie

2007-11-11T23:49:00.001Z

One Keebler chocolate cookie crust
Two 4 serving boxes of Jell-O chocolate Pudding
1 pint milk
1 can whipped cream

Whisk pudding and milk for two minutes. Pour into crust and refrigerate 3 hours. Lick the whisk.

When set, slice one large piece, cover with whipped cream and eat. Repeat.

Does that count as baking?

Snickerdoodles

2006-12-15T13:18:00.000Z

A silly name for a cookie you might think, as loosely translated it's German for Crinkly Noodles. But given the way the tops of the cookies turn crinkly in the oven, the cinnamon sugar coating splitting into furrows and cracks, it's probably a pretty apt name after all.

My sister first introduced me to these yummy cookies when her high school class had made some and she brought home the recipe. Mom tried her hand at them, and we were hooked. I actually havent had them in years and was thrilled to find a recipe in my Baking Illustrated book. I decided they'd be a perfect Christmas Cookie. Easy to make and they taste great. I was really excited to make them, but ended up having a bit of trouble. Instead of these perfectly formed, puffy in the middle soft, chewy cookies, the majority of them spread during baking and were crispy, not chewy. I figure that problem is easily solved by refrigerating the dough for a few minutes, and making sure they arent to close together. The last batch came out better, when I only put about 6 cookies on the tray, they looked more the way they were supposed to and were more chewy. After cooling though, some of them became hard, while others stayed soft and chewy. I'll have to keep experimenting to see if I can get them right. (Hooray- an excuse to keep making cookies!) Despite the little spots of trouble, all the cookies were delicious.

I gave most of them to my daughter to take to school for her Christmas Party, but popped the rest in the freezer. When I'm in the mood for one I just take one out of the bag and enjoy it straightaway. Out of the freezer they are crisp and cool and refreshing- yum!

Snickerdoodles
Baking Illustrated
Makes about 30

2 1/4 c. Flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. butter (1 1/2 sticks (American)) softened but cool
1/4 cup veg shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar + 3 tbsp for coating
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon cinnamon for coating

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower- middle positions and heat oven to 400f. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt together in a med. bowl and set aside.

3. Cream butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar at medium speed until combined, 1- 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

4. Add they dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combines, about 30 seconds.

5. Mix the 3 tbsp sugar and cinnamon in shallow bowl. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar and place them on the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

6. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the centers are soft and puffy 9- 11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front ot back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let cook on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them with a wide metal spatula to wire rack.

In other news- I caught a Nigella Lawson Christmas Show the other night and what can I say? I'm totally hooked. Hopefully I can pick up her "How to be a Domestic Goddess" book in the new year. Lord, she's gorgeous, too isn't she? Not sure whether to love her or hate her!

Well, Happy Christmas Baking folks!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2006-12-12T11:26:00.000Z

Ok, this week I'm getting a start on my holiday baking with Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, which I was really craving. The recipe was quite a bit different from what I'm used to- which isnt to surprising since the book is full of altered recipes. Usually I'm happy with that but in this case- I just wasnt willing to ditch the cinnamon from my oatmeal raisin cookies. A suggestion was to drop 1/2 cup of sugar for a not as sweet cookie, I didnt want to try this without actually making the cookies first- but now that I've tried them with the whole 2 cups of sugar I definetly recommend using only 1/2 or 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Baking Illustrated

1 1/2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/4 tsp. fresh nutmeg (I used 1/2 tsp. cinnamon)
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 c. raisins (op.)

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions and preheat oven to 350, Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder,nutmeg (or cinn.), and salt together in med. bowl.

3. Either by hand or with electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter sugar mix with a wooden spoon, stir in oats and raisins.

5. Working with a generous 2 tbsp. of dough at a time, roll the dough into 2inch balls. Place the balls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart.

6. Bake until edges turn golden brown, about 22-25 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets front to back and top to bottom about halfway through. Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 30 minutes. (If you can wait that long!)

Enjoy. These were delicious, even if they were just a bit to sweet.

Thanksgiving

2006-11-14T09:38:00.001Z

It was difficult for me to decide that I was actually going to DO Thanksgiving this year. Last year I felt like my British inlaws just didn't get it, and I pushed myself to hard and ended up messing up one dish (burned Sweet Potatoes) and not having time to complete 3 others. The kitchen was trashed, instead of a proper Thanksgiving, everyone just ate and then converged on my kitchen to wash up, and then left. Needless to say I was in tears, dissappointed and homesick.

But, I'm American and Thanksgiving is part of my identity- it would be, in a way, wrong to skip it, Besides I don't want my kids to lose this part of their heritage, the American part- and Thanksgiving is apart of that. So, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and suck it up to try again. The only thing missing this year will be the British inlaws.

My menu is this:

Butternut Squash Soup
Herbed Roast Turkey
Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
Mom's Vegetable Medley
Roasted Glazed Parsnips and Carrots
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes w/ Leeks and Chives
Crescent Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Pie

Last year I did Cauliflower soup as a starter which was delicious and well received, but this year I'd like something a bit more seasonal- so I'm trying the Butternut Squash Soup innstead...Fingers crossed!

Also this year I'm going to take it slowly, do things one at a time, and try to make a few dishes the day before and just add the finishing touches on the actual day. One struggle will be keeping the kitchen clean, I can clean as I go when I'm making small dishes or things I've made a hundred times before. But when preparing a big meal, I tend to use every dish in the house, and things stack up quick!

My Mom's Vegetable Medley

A Thanksgiving and Christmas staple in my house- I hated it growing up, it was only a few years ago that I sucked it up and tried it again, only to discover it was DELICIOUS. Just goes to show...

1 16oz. pkg. frozen Broccoli and Cauliflower (or fresh- whatever)
1 lg. onion chopped
4 tbsp butter or marg.
1 can cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups croutons

1. Thaw veg and saute w/ onions in 3 tbsp. butter, about 3 minutes. Add soup and sour cream, mix well. Add 1 cup croutons, mix.

2. Pour into buttered 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish (or whatever you have thats big enough) Heat remaining croutons in 1 tbsp. butter, until coated and sprinkle over the casserole.

3. Bake at 350f (250c, gas 5) about 30 min. or until bubbly.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chicken Cacciatore

2006-11-02T20:35:00.000Z

For dinner tonight I decided to try a new recipe for Chicken Cacciatore, courtesy of the folks over at CooksIllustrated.com, a fantastic website.

This recipes differs quite a bit from my moms recipe from her old Panasonic cookbook, the recipe bible in my house growing up. That recipe used 3 different kinds of chopped tomatoes and canned mushrooms. It was always slightly sweet and always delicious.

This new recipe called for Red Wine, Portabello mushrooms and only one can of chopped tomatoes.

I don't get on with red wine in my cooking very well, though so far I have only made a gravy with it, the red wine turned it purply and created a very strong, unpleasant taste, thus far noone has liked it. So, I'm wary of cooking with red wine.

First I browned the Chicken thighs in about 3 tablespoons oil. This worked very well, 5 minutes on each side, with a very minimal amount of sticking. When it came time to peel the cooked skins off the chicken, they came right off, no problem.

I sauteed the onion and mushroom in a bit more oil then it specified, as I normally use a bit more oil. In this case it seemed to be a mistake as the oil didn't cook away and when I should have had nicely browned veggies with just a smidge of oil left, I had sopping wet veg in a pool of oil. I drained them the best I could and when I added the flour, gave it a bit longer to cook, but that didnt seem to help.

Upon adding the wine the whole mixture just turned gloppy and purple... Adding the chicken broth seemed to help slightly, and again when I added another 1/2 cup of water.

After 45 minutes of simmering it smelled delicious, and the terrible wine order that I experienced with the gravey was not present.

That evening I was able to try some, I made some spaghetti and mixed it all together. I was actually quite surprised by how good it is. It wasn't delicious, and I didnt want any more. But it WAS good. I split the leftovers with the baby for lunch the next day, and we both quite enjoyed it. His was pureed, of course.

Will definetly make this again, but I may experiment a bit with it....

8 bone in chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion , chopped
6 ounces portobello mushroom caps (about 3 medium), wiped clean and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 medium cloves garlic , minced
1 1/2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 piece Parmesan cheese rind (2 inches, about 1 ounce), optional
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage leaves

If you can get hold of a Parmesan cheese rind, it adds lavish flavor to the sauce.

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes. Add four chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook, not moving them until skin is crisp and well browned, about 5 minutes; using tongs, flip chicken and brown on second side, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer browned chicken to large plate; brown remaining chicken thighs, transfer to plate, and set aside.

2. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Add onion, mushrooms, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; sauté over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until moisture evaporates and vegetables begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, remove and discard skin from browned chicken thighs. Add garlic to pot and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add wine, scraping pot bottom with wooden spoon to loosen brown bits. Stir in stock, tomatoes, thyme, cheese rind (if using), 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit salt if using cheese rind), and pepper to taste. Submerge chicken pieces in liquid and bring to boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 45 minutes, turning chicken pieces with tongs halfway through cooking. Discard cheese rind, stir in sage, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, and serve

Been awhile...

2006-11-01T20:52:00.000Z

Well, it's been ages since I've posted anything here. I admit that. I have to say that somewhere around week 2 after moving into the new house, I made a bitchin' Peach Crisp. It was warm, it was peachy, it was sweet and crispy. It was SO good, I spent a hour blogging about it and I even posted the recipe. Only to click "publish" and have it DISA-BLOODY-PEAR on me. GONE. Nowhere to be found.

So, since then I've been a bit bitter and pissed off and havent blogged about the yummy pineapple upside down cake, the oh so good Pear Crisp, or the Bananna Orange bread, etc.

But, all thats behind me now, and I'm back. Settled in, and finally able to find stuff in the kitchen without threatening various children with blunt objects.

I've been doing some cleaning up, removing bad links (Oh, Very Good Things- you are missed) and adding a Technorati profile, etc. And I'll soon start posting about my baking again.

My aim is to include pictures of everything I bake, and the recipe, and to post at least 3 times a week!

So, if anyone still bothers to check out my blog- thanks and I'm back!

2006-10-23T19:22:00.000+01:00

Technorati Profile

Baking Day..

2006-09-09T16:48:00.000+01:00

Well, we're moving in a week so I'm spending the day baking, just to use up some of the things in the kitchen that may not travel well. So, far we've done 4 loaves of Bannana Bread. Next is Blueberry muffins, then brownies, then a chocolate cream cake. Which will use up the bars of chocolate in the cupboard. I also need to do something with the strawberries, but I'm not sure what...

Any ideas? Pics later! Maybe!

Ah...baking

2006-08-10T18:32:00.000+01:00

Well, I have been baking, just not doing much blogging. Three kids, a job, a husband and a...erm...messy house will do that to you. So, what have I made latley? Well, a couple of recipes from my new baking illustrated book! Which I'm finding to be SO much fun. I love reading about the different techniques they've tried and what worked and what maybe was not so good.

First, I made Blueberry muffins. Which I've never made from scratch before. First problem- my muffin pan is not a proper muffin pan. If I'm correct it is some sort of fairy cake pan, which are just small, muffin shaped cakes here in Britain. Of, course I've never really used the thing so it didn't occur to me that there would be a problem. Using paper muffin cups, it wasn't to bad, though since the pan is very shallow, the muffins were really pretty flat, though they held their shape better. But, I decided to try the second batch without the muffin cups. Well, these werent terrible, but they spread quite a bit so overall looked like funky squat little pancakes...

As the muffins cooled I melted some butter over the stove and combine some cinnamon and sugar. Then I dipped the muffin tops into the butter and rolled them in the cinnamon sugar- a tip suggested by the cookbook.

The muffins weren't that great right out of the oven, they were still to hot and wet to really be enjoyable, and tasted awfully rich. Especially with the cinnamon sugar topping. With a whole heaping tablespoon of baking soda, I had worried about a possible aftertaste, but couldnt detect anything. I added some chopped strawberries as well, just because we love strawberries. They were good, but I think contributed a bit to the wetness of the muffin. I was all set to mark the muffins as a failure, but ended up taking some to work with me. Toward the end of the night I wandered into the staff room and picked up the last muffin. The room temperature muffins tasted great. Absolutley delicious. I was really shocked by this turn of events and as soon as I got home, tried another one to be sure- fantastic. As my husband hates all things cinnamon or blueberry he missed out on these, but the kids were eager guinea pigs and declared them a hit. I can't wait to make them again! Pictures and recipe coming soon...

Strawberry Buckle!

2006-08-03T11:06:00.000+01:00

Well, I really liked the idea of the Raspberry Buckle, but the real thing didn't live up to the expectation. So, I thought I'd try again with strawberries. Yum. Love strawberries. This time I also went out and bought a new ceramic rectangular baking dish. Hooray! A new baking dish and strawberries! This was going to be great.

The batter is really simple to make; it only took a few minutes. Then I halved a half pint of strawberries and layered them on top. This is where I went wrong. Strawberries are of course a heavier berry. So, instead of the batter rising up and nicely encasing the berries; they simply sank to the bottom. Damn. But, I imagine that can be easily remedied in the future by quartering the strawberries instead and scattering them over the top.

The dish only takes about 20 minutes to bake. So, I did some washing up and played with the baby while I waited. About halfway through I did notice the top becomning overly brown, so I covered it with some tin foil. Great stuff, tin foil. (Aluminum, HA!) I was really really pleased with how it came out, lovely and puffy and nicely brown- I couldn't wait to dig in! Now, the one thing I loved about the rasberry buckle, was the cream I had whipped up to go with it. With a bit of powdered sugar, it was the perefect accompaniment. I couldnt have the strawberry buckle without the cream! I've started using double cream for whipping, as opposed to "whipping" cream. And I find it much easier to work with. It doesnt take as long to whip, and it's much fuller and creamier. I think it tastes much better. So, we had to have some of that...

Right well, I think this dessert is just about done. Time to serve it up and eat! My new giant plastic spatula came in handy here. I was able to lift out each piece easily, without worrying about scratching the pan, or breaking the pieces. Lovely.

Time to eat! And a truly delicious dessert! Thanks, Martha.

Does My Blog Look Good In This

2006-08-01T17:50:00.000+01:00

Well, I gathered all my courage and entered my carrot cake into the most recent DMBLGIT competition. I never really entertained the notion that I might win, but I was happy with the picture itself and I was really excited to be apart of it. I think all the pictures were really good, and all the dishes looked absolutley scrumptious!

Congratulations to all the winners!

I will enter again this month, but I have no idea what though- one thing- it's going to have to be pretty good to beat them this time around! Good thing I have those new cookbooks!

Tacos

2006-07-31T08:51:00.000+01:00

Tacos are such a lovely and simple meal. Putting everything together can be time consuming, but it's so easy and you get a delicious meal. Tacos seem to be becoming more popular here in Britain, and it was the first "American" meal I introduced to my husband that he really became enamored with.

Tacos were pretty much a mainstay growing up, right along with meatloaf, I can remember having them pretty regularly. But , they were always pretty plain. My mom would dry cook the tortillas in the frying pan. The meat and taco sauce would be cooked in the microwave, and we'd grate some cheddar cheese, and chop some lettuce and tomatoes to go with it. Occasionally we'd have salsa. That was it. Still good, though.

Anyway, around here the sauce and meat is cooked on the stove, the tortillas are fried in oil, and along with the lettuce, cheese and tomato- we always have salsa and sour cream. I've added refried beans and Mexican Rice as great side dishes, but they always end up getting spooned into the tortillas with everything else!
My son and husband can easily devour 5, while Livvy usually chooses 1 or 2 hard tacos. They are definetly a favorite!

Hooray!

2006-07-29T10:33:00.000+01:00

They came! I ordered two books last week from Amazon and, finally, they came! These are books that have been recommended by other food blogs and I think they are fantastic. I couldnt get enough of Baking Illustrated last night and can't wait to try the bananna bread recipe, and was really excited to see a good Irish Soad bread recipe (I love Irish Soda Bread!) Plus there is tons of great information and tips. I feel like I'm cheating, as they go into so much detail, telling you exactly what they tried and what worked the best- of course I could still try different things, but might as well just use their recipe! lol

Williams Sonoma Essentials of Baking looks like it has loads of great recipes, and great information as well. I can't wait to get rid of the kids and bury my head in it for awhile. And, of course- I can't wait to get started baking!

My first recipe books devoted soley to baking! I'm so excited!

Raspberry Buckle

2006-07-27T08:28:00.000+01:00

I don't like raspberries, but the horde is ok with them. So, when I learned that the local garden centre had PYO raspberries ripe and ready it struck me as the perfect way to entertain the kids for a while. I figured I could try my hand at a raspberry pie. Unfortunatley I've had trouble finding shortening here, so a pie crust would be hard to make. I stumbled across a Raspberry Buckle recipe from Martha Stewart
and decided it would be a good alternative.

First to collect the raspberries. I admit I may have been a bit picky, telling the kids to pick only the plumpest, only the reddest raspberries. No mushy ones, none with any green on them. Which meant after half an hour they had only filled up half their punnets. Oops. Time to relax the rules a bit. Soon, we had two full punnets at £3.96 a kg. Time to go!

After we got home, Olivia pulled the stalks out for me, discarding any "yucky" ones as she went. This is a lovely and simple recipe. I made it after I came home from work last night. First things first, to let the butter come to room temp. I ate a tuna sandwhich while I waited. Then to cream the butter and sugar together, add the eggs and beat. Then in another bowl I stirred together flour, baking powder and salt, then mixed it all together. The recipe says to use an oval or square dish, I of course only have round ones. I buttered my dish, poured the batter in, and then spread the raspberries on top. Then into the oven for the required 45-50 minutes. Now, using a round dish meant that the batter was more concentrated. After 45 minutes I checked it and it was brown, but not quite done. I covered it and gave it another 10-15 minutes.

I'm not sure I liked how it came out, certainly not like the one in the picture! It was nice and puffy on the edges, with a lovely golden brown color. But the center had fallen in, and was a dark brown. Well, looks arent everything, right? Besides it was my first time- so I gave myself a break. My husband seemed to like it. (I don't think he really likes anything I bake...) I tried it and it really enjoyed the cake part, but I hated the raspberries, alot. Hmm.

This morning the horde descended and I whipped up some cream, with a bit of powdered sugar to sweeten it and served up raspberry buckle for breakfast. They ate every bite and asked for more, right after telling me how much they loved it. Since I hated it, it was nice to hear that it actually is pretty good. But, I think next time I'm going to use strawberries instead. You just can't beat strawberries.

I think it's difficult to work with an ingredient that you don't like, as obviously it's hard to tell how you've done. But, I will use raspberries again as this time they've had a good reception. Perhaps I can make a half strawberry/ half raspberry buckle...

Looking Forward To:

2006-07-20T10:46:00.000+01:00

Chili Fiesta 5&6 August Chichester I don't branch out in my cooking very often, probably as I've never really been exposed to different tastes or textures. So, I'm looking forward to learning alot about chilis and what to do with them and how to grow them in my garden!

Totally Tomato Show 9&10 September Chichester This will be great as I've just started growing my own tomatoes. They're doing great and I'm having a lot of fun with it. It will be fun to get some growing tips and usage ideas!

Apple Affair 4&5 October Chichester While I don't really like apples right out of the bowl, I think they are fabulous to cook with and I love to try my hand at different apple recipes. Hopefully I'll get some great new ideas and tips at this show!

More Info for these shows

Also coming up is the Salisbury Food and Drink Fair on August 28 and 29th. Which looks like fun and a chance to pick up some things I can't usually get in my local Tesco or Sainsburys.

And the Souths preeminent food show the Emsworth Food Festival. 8-10th Spetember Emsworth. I'll be sending off for tickets to various demonstrations they'll be having soon. These includes local restauranteurs showing off their cuisine and plenty of wine tasting that I'll probably pass on. We went last year and had a great time trying different types of food and seeing all the different ways to prepare dishes. This year I'll have more of an interest since I've started this blog and have decided to really branch out in my cooking. I can't wait! Good thing Chichester is right up the road from Emsworth so, I wont have to miss that tomato show!

There are other great food happenings the rest of the year, but most are well away from my area. You can check them out here, though- if you're interested!

What shows are you headed to this summer/autumn? What are some good shows I should keep an eye out for? (Here and in the states)

buttermilk vs. sour milk

2006-07-17T12:23:00.000+01:00

Which is better? Does it matter? My BH&G cook book suggests sour milk as a buttermilk substitute. (1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar and enough milk to make 1 cup, left to sit for 5 minutes.) It is quick and seems to work fine. And as I don't know that my local grocery store would even carry buttermilk; it's a welcome substitution.

But, is it really the same? Is there something about buttermilk that would make things even better than just sour milk? Any ideas or comments about this? I really want to know if I'm doing my baking a disservice by using sour milk.

The leftover heebie-jeebies...

2006-07-11T14:44:00.000+01:00

I've always had them- the leftover heebie jeebies. If it's been cooked before, and partaken of, then I don't want nuthin' to do with it. (Except Thanksgiving Turkey, of course.) So, I am therefore presented with a bit of a conundrum. What do I do with the leftover mashed potatoes? That last remaining hunk of meatloaf? The 2 helpings of pasta I wasn't in the mood for? I can't with a clear concsience just throw everything out, yet I know full well that once it gets stuffed into some tupperware and shoved to thje back of the fridge, that particular food item will never see the light of day again.

Growing up my father used to just grab everything out of the fridge and I swear, just mix it together. He could do anything with leftovers, and in my eye, not all of it appetizing (sorry, dad!) Which I think has contributed to my phobia, now.

My logistics problem with leftovers is that with a family of 4 solid eaters to feed, there isn't enough leftovers to go around. And usually not enough for 4 separate meals, either. I don't touch most things anyway. The kids and husband can't warm their lunches up, and I don't think cold congealy meat loaf will hit the spot quite the same as it did the previous night when it was hot and had a spoonful of mashed potatoes next to it.

So, I suppose when I clean out the fridge, I will continue to pull out moldy mashed potatoes, pasta that appears to be growing legs, and bits of chicken that have gone slightly blue and make you wish you had lost your sense of smell in a freak accident years before. But, at least when I throw all of it out I won't feel so guilty, because by that point it is no longer perfectly good food and the starving children in Africa would have no part of it.

There is always more we can do to help the hungry, please click here
to do something small.

Don't forget the flour....

2006-07-03T09:12:00.000+01:00

I feel like I'm learning so much since I more or less threw myself into baking. Last night I learned that when greasing my cake pans, I really shouldn't forget the flour. As my cakes came out wet on the bottom, and pretty much came out of the pans in clumps. Oops. I think adding flour to the pan would have at least kept the bottom of the cake dryer and in one piece.

However, I did not let it get me down. I cut up the chocolate cake (same recipe as below) in bite size pieces, arranged them on a plate and drizzled them with ganache (chocolate icing). They taste lovely, and I'm reminded alot of brownies.

I think perhaps I've found a perfect brownie recipe. Lovely and moist, choclately inside, but not "fudgey", with a lovely crispy exterior. Next time I think I'll use the recipe in a 13 x9" pan, and instead of the ganache, just sprinkle powdered sugar on the top. Brownies. Yum.

Had I not made the mistake with the flour, I never would have realized what great brownies this recipe will make!

Birthday Cake...

2006-06-29T10:14:00.000+01:00

It occured to me Monday evening that perhaps an Orange Sponge Cake, while looking heavenly, was not really a traditional candles and ice cream type of birthday cake. And since my Vegan SIL wasn't coming to the party after all, I could scrap the vegan chocolate cake, that frankly, looked like to much work for this particular mother of three with a house that desperatley needed to be cleaned before cake making could commence.

I needed something simple. After a disastrous attempt at making a chocolate cake 4 years ago, in which the recipe called only for cocoa and the cake came out awful, I have shied away completley from making chocolate cakes. It was only, a few years later, after tasting a bakery bought choc. cake and bakery bought swiss roll thast tasted exactly the same as that first ill fated cake of mine- that I realized it hadn't been my fault! So, I gathered up the courage to try again. This recipe looked like just the right one to try my hand at. (From: cacaoweb )

Ingredients
8 oz (225 g) dark semisweet chocolate (40-50% cocoa)
2/3 cup (140 g) butter
1 cup (210 g) sugar
4 eggs
4 heaped tablespoons (1 dl) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoon baking powder or 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons sour cream

Ingredients for frosting

2/3 cup (1.6 dl) heavy cream or whipping cream
9 oz (260 g) semisweet chocolate (40-50% cocoa)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
Line a circular 10 inch (25 cm) cake tin (3 inches tall) with greaseproof or other non-stick paper and grease the tin. (Please note that the cake will rise to 3 inches and collapse somewhat when cooled. If your cake tin is less than 10 inches wide and 3 inches tall we recommend that you use two cake tins.)
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water.
Beat the eggs with sugar, mix with flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract.
Slowly fold in the melted butter and chocolate and the sour cream.
Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 50 minutes.
Cool the cake. Remove the crusted surface on the top of the cake, and cut in half, horizontally.
Frosting

Heat 2/3 cup (1.6 dl) of heavy cream or whipping cream in a sauce pan.
Remove from heat, add 9 oz (260 g) of finely chopped dark semisweet chocolate, stir until smooth, and let it cool until in thickens.
Use one 1/3 of the frosting between the two layers, 1/3 on top, and the rest around the cake. Put the cake into the fridge for one hour or more to harden the frosting.
This cake should have room temperature when served.

It was so easy to make this cake, I was able to wrap presents and make tortilla dough at the same time. I used two 9inch cake pans and baked them for about 25 minutes. What I didn't like was that when I checked the cakes, while the knife came out clean, the middle of the cakes looked very dark and wet. So, I decided they just needed a few more minutes. It was only later, I realized they looked that way because they had burned! Hard to tell with chocolate cake isn't it? *sigh*

I cut off the burnt edges and manged to peel off the burnt bits on the tops. The frosting was still a bit liquidy, and while it worried me at first, it turned out to make it easier to frost the layers, after I doctored them. The sides were harder to frost but I managed, and after putting the cake in the fridge for half an hour the frosting hardened nicely, and made refrosting the sides a breeze!

This cake was moist and delicious, and even my MIL ( who I think sometimes just eats my baking out of politeness-too different from English baking-) even my MIL had two slices. I was so happy. Everyone loved it and there is only one piece left... and trust me- it is taking every ounce of will power to save that last piece for my husband!

Try it- it's delicious!

Carrots and Bananas

2006-06-24T09:53:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, sorry! I never did end up making the brioche, turned out to be to much bloody work! I moved on to cakes instead- I never was one to stick with any one thing for long.

Thursday I finally had a chance to make a Carrot Cake! DH doesnt like carrot cake, and probably not a good idea to eat most of it myself (as the kids wouldnt be allowed to much) So, I made it for someone at work's birthday! I was a bit unsure about shredding carrots, thinking it would be just as much fun as shredding potatoes, cold, wet and messy! And it was, but they came out ok, not mush. So, I was pleased. It was simple to make, and came out lovely. I made a cream cheese frosting for it, (of course) that tasted just divine. The cake was a very big hit with the vets and the nurses too.
I had some frosting left over, so yesterday I decided to make a bannana cake I've had my eye on. Again, very easy to make, though alot like my bannana bread recipe, which I wasn't expecting. For some reason I was thinking it would be like a pineapple upside down cake, with the whole fruit actually on the bottom or something. But, no the bannanas were mashed and mixed in with the flour mixture. And I had a feeling this was just going to be bannana bread, but in a cake pan, with frosting! I decided to whip up a new batch of cream cheese frosting, and with the leftovers from Thursday I had enough for about 2 cakes. Great- I could make another cake with it!

The bannana cake came out peaked in the middle, very lopsided. I'm not sure why- as I don't normally have that problem with my cakes. I set it out to cool and decided just to slice the top off the layers so they'd be level and frost better. But, time got away from me and I only had time to put together a meatloaf for DH before it was time to go to work. I had Miss. O bring in the cakes and put them on the counter, with the intention of working on them when I got home, or today. My mistake was I didn't tell my mother in law, who was babysitting. Oops. When I cam home from work I was greeted with a cake. Two lopsided layers, the top absolutley teetering there, with the whole thing just drowning in frosting....

Ah, she means well. And when you scraped off most of the frosting, the cake tasted pretty good, albeit a bit to much like bannana bread for my liking- you don't frost bannana bread- you eat it warm, with melted butter!

Anyway- for the kids birthday dinner on Wednesday I'm doing an Orange Sponge Cake and a Vegan Chocolate Cake w/ Strawchoc frosting! Check back!

English Muffin Bread!

2006-06-11T13:46:00.000+01:00

Well, I have been craving "English" muffins for ages, but you just can't find them in England. (typical, right?) So, when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it out!

So, how did it go? One word sums it up- EASY. This bread is delicious and wonderfully simple to make! It tastes just like English Muffins, but SO much softer- but I might have preferred it with a bit more sugar- just a tad sweeter. I might try that next time.

3 cups of bread flour, 2 packets of active dry yeast and 1/4 tsp. of baking soda into a bowl. Let it sit while you warm up 2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of water, 1 tbsp. of sugar and a tsp. of salt in a saucepan. When it's warm, dump it in the flour mixture and stir it together with 3 more cups of flour.

What do you do then? Well, simple- divide it in half into two (greased) loaf pans, and set it in a warm place to rise, about 40 minutes. (Mine rose itself right out of the pan and down the sides!) Then, pop it into the oven at 190c for about 25 minutes.

That's it! Spread some butter over a warm slice and enjoy. It's delicious. Try it, it is yummy!!!

(Did I mention how good it is?) I'll post a picture later....

As I get more and more into batking bread, I'm starting to like the recipes I see better and better, and decided that instead of just the monthly challenge of making bread, I'm going to go whole hog and make most of the bread recipes in my book- (only excepting those that require a bread machine!) next week will be Brioche, then Cinnamon Rolls!

Next week I'm going to start my July challenge a bit early, by attempting to make a Lemon Cake for Fathers Day. Wish me luck!

Oatmeal Bread!

2006-06-09T15:55:00.000+01:00

Bloggers Back! Finally!, I've been trying to post all week!

Ok, well finally made the oatmeal bread. Think it was actually Tuesday before I got around to making the bread, and that was in fits and starts! No pictures, unless I go home and take one of the half gone loaf... I might!

Ok, well after a busy morning I got started about 2:00; I followed the directions, substituting 2 cups of oats for the 2 cups of wheat flour called for. A suggestion from a fellow expat was to use a little plain flour to replace a little of the bread flour, so I used 2 cups oatmeal, 31/2 cups white bread flour, and 1 cup plain flour. I warmed about 1 1/2 cups water 1/3 cup brown sugar, 3 tbsp. butter over the stove and mixed that in with oat anf flour mixture. This was a very heavy dough, and I was worried about it from the start.

After I had kneaded the additional four in (the 3 1/2 cups white flour) I rolled it into a ball, into the bowl and put it in the airing cupboard while I got ready for work. After I left for work I realized I had left the dough in the cupboard! (mommy brain- again!) so a quick call to my MIL (who was babysitting) sorted that out.

When I got home I was all ready to finish it up and eat it! But, I discovered- it hadn't risen! Or if it had, it was very little. Oh, noooooooooo! I was so crushed! Well, ok. What to do? Throw it out, cry and vow never to do it again? Tempting, but no- I said screw it, and decided to bake it anyway and see how it came out. I'm glad I did. After one hour and an episode of Lost later- I had Oatmeal bread!

Now, I was still unsure. The bread was really heavy, not very brown, and I just couldnt be sure of the consistency. I tried it and it seemed...hmmm. Good. My husband tried it, and said it was.. "very oaty". *sigh* What the hell does that mean, anyway? I think he liked it initially but he hasn't had anymore....

Well, I let the second loaf cook a bit longer and it didnt have the same, to heavy taste to it. And as I sat eating this warm slice of oatmeal bread spread with melted butter, it occured to me "this would be awesome with sugar and cinnamon...." So, I spread the next slice with butter, added a bit of sugar, sprinkled on some cinnamon, spread it around with a knife and popped it in the oven for a minute. This was one of the most heavenly things I have ever tastes. Absolutley sinful! YUM! DH doesnt like cinnamon so he really missed out.

Despite being a bit worrying this bread came out great- probably not much good for sandwiches but with some melted butter, or some sugar-cinnamon- it's delicious. The kids love it, and I love it. Will definetly be making it again. I can see it as a Christmas morning sort of thing. It's that good. Yum!

Tomorrow I am doing a Lemon Cake for Fathers Day and I was going to try Foccacia this Sunday, but think I'd rather do an English Muffin loaf instead. I've always liked english muffins. So, check back for an update this weekend!

Enjoy the warm weekend all you UKers....

procrastination

2006-06-05T07:38:00.000+01:00

Well, on Saturday we went up to Essex to go to our nephews 1st birthday party. We didn't leave until 10:00 and it took at least 2 hours to get home, and we didn't get to bed until about 2.

So, I slept in yesterday and didn't roll out of bed until 10. Then to Tesco for some shopping, then make lunch and then we took the kids out for a walk and a picnic. By the time we got home I was shattered, (pushing a stroller up a steep hill will do that to you... ) and was barely up to making dinner.

I kept meaning to make the bread, but I just couldnt get myself to do it, it was just the sheer amount of time, It's at least a 3 hour investment and I just wanted to go to bed. But I ended up flicking through my recipe book, trying to find a cake to make for the kids birthdays, and watching Big Brother and Resident Evil.

Following the bad horror movie, my DH and I discussed what we do if we were faced with zombies invading our house. I'd shoot everyone and then myself to keep them from being chewed on and then turned into the walking, brain eating dead. My DH would let the zombies have us, because "then we could still be together, because we'd only be, you know, half dead."

After that there was no way I was going to stay up by myself and bake bread.

So, once I get the children off to school in an hour- bread baking will commence. I've decided that since only the kids eat wheat bread, I'd probably have to much left over- so I'm going to make a hearty oatmeal bread instead! MMMM. We'll see what happens!

Bread!

2006-05-29T11:43:00.000+01:00

Well, I can scarcely believe it- but I did it! I baked my first homemade loaves of bread- and they came out awesome!

I got a late start Sunday. I got very little sleep Saturday night and the kitchen was still a mess. The baby was in a mood as well... So, all in all I didn't get started until about 3:00. First things first I spooned some flour and yeast in a bowl and set it aside. I don't bother measuring out flour anymore, I know how many spoonfuls make a cup so I just go with that. In this case I wondered if not being exact would make a difference, but I went ahead and did it anyway. I put the flour and yeast aside and went to work on the rest of the ingredients. I whipped up some buttermilk, cut a tablespoon of butter off the stick and tossed some sugar and salt into a saucepan. After the milk was ready I added it to the saucepan and warmed it up over high heat. Olivia did the stirring. When the butter had started to melt and it was nice and warm I took it off the burner and added it to the flour and yeast and mixed it all together. After it had formed a dough I dumped it on the cutting board and started to knead in the rest of the flour (about 3 cups).

We kneaded it for about 8-10 minutes. A bit longer than it calls for, but I was having trouble getting the flour worked in so the dough wasnt sticky. I think maybe I used a bit to much flour or kneaded it to long, because it developed flaps that I couldnt smooth out or work back into the dough.

I rolled the dough into a relatively smooth ball (those darn dough flaps!) and put it in a large bowl, covered with a tea towel. Into the oven it went, with another bowl full of half boiling half cold water underneath it. After the specified 35 odd minutes it had doubled in size (Yey!). One hurdle crossed. I was so excited I was practically jumping up and down!

Next to divide it in a half and put it in the pans. I only have 1 loaf pan so I used a round pan for one loaf. It was getting to be dinner time, so I put them in the oven for a bit but then moved them to the airing cupboard to finish the second rising (about as close as we come to religion in this house...) and started dinner. I wasnt sure about this move, but the airing cupboard is always nice and warm so I figured it would be ok. And, yes, I checked them again when dinner was ready and they had doubled again! Yes! Now, to bake.

While we enjoyed our dinner outside for the first time this year, the bread baked. I checked it with about 5 minutes left. It was nice and brown and sounded hollow, but when we tried it, it was still a bit yeasty and wet. I put it back in for another 5 odd minutes and it came out perfect. I can't describe the taste other than to say it's delicious. I've never had homebaked bread before and I just couldn't believe the difference!

I don't like plain bread as a rule, mostly I toast all the bread I use. But, this was amazing! I just couldnt help cutting myself a thick piece and spreading it with butter.

Now, I have this vision of homebaking all of our bread and not wasting money on that mass produced stuff anymore. Not sure how practical that is though, considering one of the loaves I baked last night is gone already! And I don't think the other will last the day!!

A very special thank you to fellow expat and baking expert Michelle for her tips and answering my questions about baking bread and also bread baker, Elise owner Cherri for her tips!Next week I attempt whole wheat bread! Wish me luck! :P I won't post the bread recipes here as they are so long, but if you want one, just let me know!

Monthly Challenge- June

2006-05-28T09:03:00.000+01:00

OK, with the new direction of the blog I'm also starting a monthly challenge. Something new for me to try my hand at each month.

For June my challenge is bread. As I don't own a bread machine, I will be attempting to make bread completley by hand (including mixing). I have never made bread before- the closest I've come is biscuits, which is quite different.

Each Sunday I will be baking a different type of bread. Starting with plain old white bread, today.

I'm using my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for all bread recipes this month. I'll be making White Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Focaccia, French Bread, and Brioche.

Check back tomorrow for an update and pictures of my first bread baking experience!

New direction....

2006-05-26T12:13:00.000+01:00

I've decided I want to really immerse myself in learning how to cook and bake. I can cook and bake, already. I'm looking really to expand my abilities and knowledge. So, I'm going to take this blog in a new direction, where it will be devoted comepletley to cooking/baking. It will include my monthly challenges, pictures, recipes, blow by blows, links to other great blogs, etc.

I've also decided to start a new blog called Orange Snail to chronicle, basically, my life as a 24 year old American, wife and mother to three learning to live in Southern England. This will talk about my job (receptionist at a vet. surgery referall practice), my kids and husband, and my experiences. This blog will also feature pictures, links, stories and hopefully some funny and compelling writing.

I hope you have the chance to enjoy one, or both, blogs regularly and I welcome you to comment on anything that draws your interest! Thanks for stopping by!

Euthanasia

2006-05-25T10:15:00.000+01:00

A woman and her daughter (about 13) brought their dog in last night. (I work in a vet referral practice) They brought in their sweet, lovely German Shepherd thinking he was being seen about a possible total hip replacement. It turns out that it's not Busters hip after all, it's his brain. Apparently his brain is no longer communicating with his rear. Meaning he is slowly losing all function in his lower end. Nothing can be done to stop or reverse the damage and while it can be slowed with medication, sometime soon Buster will need to be put to sleep.

As I sat at my desk, trying not to listen, the young girl came out into the lobby and sat down in a chair. When I looked over I could see she had been crying. I felt so bad for her.

A few minutes later, the office door opened and everyone came out. Buster was lead into the waiting room and he lay down in front of the desk. The girl sat on the floor with him and just stroked his head. I went over and sat with them, stroking Busters head while he licked my hands (" He's always been licky", she told me.) I asked how long she had had the dog. 11+ years, she said, longer than could remember. He had always been there.

I told her about the cat my mother got when I was only a few months old. Pepper, her name was. Pepper had always been around, and I loved her. "Were you sad when she...?" she trailed off and it took me a second to understand what she meant. "Yes, very." "Were you there when it happened?" she asked. "No." "Do you wish you had been?" "Yes, very much." I wanted to say more, but just didnt have the words for the this young girl who was going to lose her dog soon. My boss called me then, so I just stood up and gave her a smile.

I really hope, if given the option- she decides to be there at the end. How sad for our pets, friends to have to die alone. Without the people they loved so much around them. How sad for us, to know they died alone, when we are already feeling such grief.

And I hope she gets through this ok.

One Year

2006-05-23T14:07:00.000+01:00

Happy Anniversary, kids.

Today marks our first full year in England, with daddy. I want you to know how proud I am, how proud we are, of you. This has been a year full of many different things that we've had to adjust to.

Both of you have done so well coping with all these changes. Devon, you have made friends and your teachers are so happy with you and the progress you've made. You read so well. You have learned to control yourself better and not to run away or get violent when you get upset at school. You've learned to play English football, and Cricket and Rugby as well! You've learned about history and the environment. You went camping for the first time, and had so much fun! Do you remember building sand castles on the beach with Livvy and dad? And the jellyfish we saw? The first time you went in the sea? How about the time we all visted that beautiful castle and went into all the rooms, remember the walls covered in swords that you were so fascinated with? We've done some amazing things this past year. Devon I'm so proud of the boy you are. The way you've accepted daddy as part of our family, even if you do butt heads. The way you understand that you are different, and even though it's hard to be different sometimes, you are proud of it, while taking in so many parts of the English culture we live in now. Devon, you will always be American- but you will also be English, too. You don't have to choose. Be yourself and you will always be right. We love you and we'll always be here for you. Congratulations on growing so much and being such an amazing kid.

Olivia- I know you don't remember life in America, much. But, in the whole year we have been here we have watched you become this wonderful, sweet little girl. You are beautiful and strong and smart. Those are amazing qualities to have. This last year has been full of new things! Like Devon, you went camping for the first time. Do you remember when Mommy buried you in the sand? How about when we saw the seals in the sea? Do you remember your birthday party last year? When we went through the big maze and saw all the monkies? You and Devon loved the rope swing that daddy found, and playing french cricket in the park! You have started school and have learned how to read and do math! You have made so many lovely friends and learned so much! Congratulations, Olivia on being five, and learning so many new things.

Both of you have such a wonderful Daddy who loves you so much and would do anything for you. And a Mommy who is more and more proud of you each and every day. We know that there have been hard times and that occasionally we have all needed a good cry. But we have made it through the hardest part. We are a family. And we will laugh and cry together for a very very long time. And we will always be together. The FIVE of us!!!! And one day you will be able to take little Rafe back to America and teach him all about the place where you were born. And then you will come home, to England.

We love you both. So much. Happy Anniversary.

Love mommy and daddy

Baking

2006-05-18T19:30:00.000+01:00

Lemon Bars. Lovely and yellow, sweet and tangy. Perfect for spring. A disaster for the kitchen!

The crust was nice and easy, a change from the crusts I've been making latley- which require cutting in 6 oz. of butter. Nope, today all I had to do was cream the butter and sugar together- add the flour and a bit of salt, roll it into a ball then press into the pan! Easy and it was so beautiful to look at! LOL I put it in the fridge to chill for a few minutes and moved on to the tricky part- the filling.

*sigh* This was tricky because, I needed to start getting ready for work, and my 2 month old baby, Rafe, had just woken up. And when he wakes up, he eats. Thats just how it works. And instead of feeding him, mommy was cracking eggs and putting lemons in the microwave! So, well, there I was rocking the bouncy chair with one foot, Radio 4 all the way up (he likes radio 4), squeezing burning hot lemons into a bowl with one hand, and digging out the seeds with the other.

They werent finished by the time I needed to leave for work, which was a bit dissapointing as i wanted to bring some in for the vets and nurses there. But I left David in charge and he pulled them out of the stove a few minutes after I left. I'm not sure I'm happy with them. They look nice, especially with the smattering of powdered sugar on top. But the bars themselves are a bit to much like a lemon curd for me. I think I'd prefer them to be like a cake, nice and soft or chewy. But, then I suppose they wouldnt be lemon bars anymore would they?

Well, everyone else seemed happy with them, I sent the kids off to school with a surprise lemon bar in their lunch boxes and I'll bring in a bunch to the office today, and see how they fare.

I've always been kind of weird about lemon bars, I think maybe they taste better in my mind than they ever do in real life. I'll probably give them a miss from here on out.

Later- Well, took them into the office and everyone loved them. Perhaps I sold myself a bit short. Maybe I'll make some for Dh's nephews birthday party next week and see what the family thinks.

Remembering what's important...

2006-05-15T12:57:00.000+01:00

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by everything that comes with everyday life, don't we? And perhaps we forget the things are that are so important. That's happened to me alot lately. In a week it'll be my one year anniversary of moving to the UK to be with my husband. And I can honestly say that this has been the single most hardest year of my life, and I think it always will be. The ups and downs have been constant, with the ups being over the moon and the downs being hell and back. Our relationship has been put under the worst of strain, with a stubborn and pigheaded 8 year old that we love so much, a new baby, and dire money problems. Not to mention the cultural differences and age gap (I am 17 years younger than my husband). These things have weighed so heavily on me and I tend to blame myself for the troubles and for "ruining" DH's life. The other day, after a difficult conversation with my husband, I told him, while choking back sobs, that I would save some money and take the kids and leave.

This wasn't meant as a threat, it wasn't said in anger, and DH had done nothing wrong. It was simply me feeling that there wasn't an end in sight, that we couldnt continue like this and maybe by leaving I would be giving him his life back. It was then that he took me into his arms and told me that he wouldn't let me go back to the states. He would contest custody of all 3 kids and demand constant visitation if he had too.

This reminded me of the day a year and a half ago when my husband took my hands, looked me straight in the eye with tears in his and promised to have and to hold, for better and for worse until death do us part.

How could I have forgotten that? How could I have forgotten my own vows to him? Isnt that the most important thing? How could I have doubted his commitment to our relationship? And how could I be so quick to jump ship? I love him. For better or for worse.

I love you, David. And I'm sorry. I won't forget those important things again.

Back!

2006-05-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

Well, I know it's been awhile since I've updated- but I'm here now. It's been such a busy month!

My mother was here for two weeks in April! It was nice to see her again, and not have the same issues that we had when I still lived at home. It was much easier to enjoy her. David and I tried to take her to lots of places, but it turned out to be difficult as, after a 700 quid bill from the car mechanic- we were broke. But, I think she enjoyed herself.

For Easter the kids had an egg hunt at my inlaws! They had such a great time, and I think my inlaws really enjoyed it, too. (I don't think they've done anything like it before) I made my bunny cake, like usual, and it came out good. Dee (my MIL) made her famous cherry cake, which is delicious, and sent us home with the rest of it, which we enjoyed one sunday morning over a game of Monopoly. (Which Devon won, despite a plethora of cheating on mine and daddy's part...)

After mom left, I began the job hunt in earnest and found something really quick! I came across an advert for a receptionist position at a vet referral clinic. I applied for it, and got it, and started last Monday. I picked it up really quick, and so far am really enjoying it, and the interaction with all the different dogs! I'm still telling people about the huge St. Bernard we had in Friday. At 20 hours a week, it's firmly part time, but still not enough to pull us out of our money pit- so I'm looking for something else as well. A librarian position for 10 hours a week (making quite a lot for what it is) has opened up and I'm going to apply for it as well. I don't want to be away from Rafe for 6 hours a day, but... *sigh* there isn't much choice really...

Baby Rafe is doing so well, and has started smiling at us! He is so sweet.

I've taken up baking in earnest and my new specialty is coconut lemon bars, which I make pretty often, in an effort to perfect them. I'm also still making banana bread, though I'm getting a bit sick of it. Over on this blog
is a lovely recipe for orange scones which I think I'll try my hand at. My inlaws would like them I'm sure, so they'll make the perfect guniea pigs!

How to entertain and stimulate your 3 week old baby at 4:30 in the morning

2006-04-07T11:42:00.000+01:00

So, you've dragged yourself out of bed 3:45am and spent the last 40 minutes gazing longingly at your pillow while feeding the baby. He's done now, you've changed his diaper and laid him down and put the blanket over him and kissed him good night and...and.. he's not alseep. Nope. He's bright eyed and bushy tailed and looking at you with a "Look, mom I'm finally awake after 3 weeks! Play with me!" expression.

This happened to me this morning, and instead of following my heart and saying to hell with it and turning off the light and crawling back into bed... I did the right thing and tried my best to stimulate and entertain little Rafe. Here is a list of things I came up with in my bid to help his little brain grow.

- narrating my next chess move in an ongoing game with my husband. This worked delighfully until I realised I couldn't make that master checkmate as "Wait, is that his King or his queen? If that's his queen I'm screwed- if thats his King, I win... Shit. Which one is the queen, baby? Any ideas?" At this point he gave me a look that clearly said "You are a moron. Put me back in my basket." (Hey, it's been MONTHS since weve played chess, BTW)

- next we had a lovely time accusing daddy of heinous crimes as he slept, and then laughing when he snored.

- discussing the pros and cons of putting makeup on daddy's face as he slept.

- chewing on all exposed parts of baby's body and proclaiming them good enough to eat.

- abusing said baby by laughing at him when he desperatley starts sucking on your bottom lip when you give him kisses.

After all this little Rafe rewards me by acting like he's fallen asleep only to let out a heart wrenching cry as soon as I've hit the pillow. Haha. Isn't he cute? After I've fed him again he will again drift off, this time giving me 15 minutes of sleep before crying again. At this point daddy get's up with him and I mentally apologise for accusing him of faking sleep just to get out of entertaining the baby earlier. Then I go back to sleep, comforted in the knowledge that now daddy will have to entertain him. *

**- No, daddy did not have to entertain him, not 5 minutes after being cradled in the crook of daddy's arm, he was fast asleep. I swear they both hate me.

Flea: Green Poop

2006-03-30T16:38:00.000+01:00

Flea: Green Poop

What I'm reading today. It's good to have variety. Even if it is in your newborn baby's diaper.

Revelation.

2006-03-30T14:12:00.000+01:00

It occured to me yesterday, after the opening notes of "Keep the Faith" reduced me to a giddy 13 year old and I sang along at top volume the whole way home, that I will always be a Bon Jovi girl.

My husband has, of course, filed for divorce.

A few of my favorite things

2006-03-27T10:09:00.000+01:00

On this cold, wet and windy day I've been thinking of some of my favorite things...

- Arizona Spring time when the temp. is rarely above 75 and the breeze is gentle and the sun is still like a warm blanket and not yet the scalding horror it will be in July.

- Tesco's Pineapple and Coconut Juice. Originally 50p when we discovered it 2 weeks ago, now that we buy like 6 cartons a week it's jumped to 64p. Bastards.

- Tesco's Butter and Toffee Cookies. Originally I wasn't impressed, but while DH was out yesterday I had a nibble of one of his and couldn't put it down. YUMMY. I can't wait to go out for conditioner today, so I have an excuse to get MORE COOKIES!

- Red Grapes dipped in strawberry yogurt. Nothing better.

- Apple Turnovers with Cream. Oh, god. Yum. So far I think Heidi's has the best ones, but Sainsburys arent to bad either.

- My new son's head. It smells and tastes delicious. I swear I might take a nibble out of his ear at some point.

- A hot bath- with one of those fizzy things in it. Ahh...yeah.

- The way the light looks first thing in the morning. Clear or overcast, it always has an amazing quality to it that just makes me so grateful to be alive and to be here.

- Dooce

- The Expats

Oh, and my coccyx hurts. No word why though. Goodbye luxury of sitting down and standing up- you served me well.

Happy Mothers Day!

2006-03-26T23:39:00.000+01:00

For mothers day my husband got me a bag of skittles and a package of dark chocolate kit kat, after I had mentioned how I was craving sweets since the baby was born. LOL. I love him.

Here is a picture of him taken yesterday at the local Rugby Club, the members of which presented my husband with an engraved pewter tankard and a bottle of champagne to celebrate little ones birth. Awesome people! My wonderful husband is a photographer, by the way.

For mothers day I also got a lovely painting of a flower and a little paper box with two candies in it from my 5 year old daughter. She made the flower using potatoes and my husband said it looked very "Jackson Pollack". I loved it.

My poor son said he had forgot his gift at school, so I guess I have something else to look forward to, tomorrow! Yey!

Putting lansinoh on after feeding The Littlest Emperor, and it helps alot! Now, if I just had a cream to relieve the latching on agony, and the burning that sears up the left side of my body when he's finished. Take what I can get though, I suppose.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. Hope it was lovely!

Today he woke up

2006-03-26T12:26:00.000+01:00

I've been growing concerned about the amount of time The Littlest Emperor spends sleeping. Since he was born he has slept at least 22 hours a day, with the other 2 spent feeding and even then he's half asleep. Apparently most newborns sleep about 16 hours a day, so I felt that maybe he was taking it to the extreme.

Well, today he woke up! After his 10:00 feeding he was alert and awake and quiet for half an hour! He looked around and I cuddled him and kissed him and threatened to eat him all up because he smelled so good. He even held his head up and looked around. And then he went to daddy for a little bit and they made faces at each other.

He became fussy and started to cry when he got tired, but he fell asleep on my shoulder, and I didnt have to feed him again! I am so happy and excited!

But, I guess it means he's getting bigger, and once they start they don't stop. I don't want him to get bigger! I want him to stay my little newborn baby for awhile longer.

Why don't WE get to choose when they grow? Wouldn't it be great? We could fast forward and rewind their developmental milestones as we see fit. Three year old throwing a tantrum in the frozen food section? Fast forward to school age, and she won't even be there! Sixteen year old getting a little to free spirited? Rewind to when he was that precious little baby who just curled up and slept in your arms all day.

Like TIVO for parenthood. I like it.

10,000 Babies

2006-03-25T00:50:00.000Z

While describing to her brother exactly how fat he would become if he really did eat 10,000 taco's, it occured to my 5 yr. old daughter...

"Hey! Mommy isn't fat anymore!"

...

"Well, not that fat"

...

"Since the baby's come."

...

"what...?!"

Cause for celebration

2006-03-23T12:40:00.000Z

He's asleep. Now, some of you may be thinking "No big deal- that's all they do at that age!" And you are right. My new son is not suffering from insomnia. But what you don't realize is that for Daddy, little Oi needs only a pat on the back and a quick swivel in the computer chair before he's out like a light. For Mommy, ha HA, going to sleep involves 45 minutes of abject torture. The first 30 are simple enough- he latches onto my boob and starts to feed. I assume the fetal position over him and desperatley try not to cry out or squeeze him to hard as he slowly and methodically sucks my soul out through my nipple.

It's the next 15 that are hard. Because after he's finished eating he is alert for about 5 minutes before it's time to go back to sleep. And that means more of the soul sucking. And for 15 minutes he follows the same procedure- latch on, suck (ow) suck (tears) suck (cry out, try not to rip nipple out of mouth) drift off (dear god, thank you), release (please don't wake up...), startle awake (no, no, no) , repeat. Until he has fallen asleep. Truly asleep. God forbid I've forgotten the little emperors pillow- because if he's not on his pillow, you will not be able to move him without waking him up, and then the vicious circle continues.

But not for daddy- oh no. Pat, pat, swivel and everything is zen. Even without the pillow. Daddy can move our baby even if he is NOT on his pillow. *sigh*

So, now you you understand why last night I was in tears knowing David would be at work today. And why I am celebrating now. I got the baby to go to asleep. Laying on my chest! Like daddy does! And when I moved him, he stayed asleep! No crying! No soul sucking! He's asleep, on his pillow! For an hour now!

Ha!

"Breastfeeding is Best!!!!"

2006-03-22T23:08:00.000Z

Now, I agree with that statement- wholeheartedly, I do. But, I'm just a little perturbed at the sheer amount of propaganda that goes along with it. Now, on one hand it's a good thing. The midwives and doctors, the NHS- they're all on board with it. Which means perhaps big business doesnt have a grip on everything after all. After all, the more mothers that can be strongarmed into breastfeeding, the less profit the formula companies are making.

But here's where I start getting a bit peeved. From day one of pregnancy the soon to be mum is assaulted with literature on breastfeeding. Pamphlets, fliers, posters you name it. At her birth class she will spend an hour hearing all the great things about breastfeeding, while the negatives are smoothly glossed over and formula feeding is easily demonized. At the end of the class, however she will be told it's "her choice". Yeah.

But all during these 9 months of constant exposure to how wonderful breastfeeding is and how baby will surely get sick and perish if it's formula fed- noone ever actually asks the woman how she feels, what she wants or what her concerns are. Does that same midwife who is so dedicated to breastfeeding ever once break out a doll and actually show the woman HOW to breastfeed? Where is the video showing how to get baby to latch on properly? And after baby is born- does the midwife spend an intense 20 minutes with mum and baby showing them what to do?

It seems that after all this- when baby is actually born and mum is expected to do her duty, she is left out in the cold. It doesnt take long for this well meaning mother, who was so ready and excited to breastfeed her child, to realize that it isn't quite as natural as they like to make it out. That the slogan "at first it was hard, but after a little help...." is anything but realistic. As she sits hunched over her nursing baby, quietly sobbing because it feels as if her nipple is slowly being ripped off, the midwives bustle around her. When she tearfully begs for help, they tell her to "aim the nipple at the roof of baby's mouth", and are off again. When the pain has morphed into an intense burning that engulfs the nipple, and races up the breast into her arm and she again begs for help she is told "baby is latching on fine- it's swallowing, hopefully the pain will go eventually".

This mother is left alone with a poor baby who only wants to eat and has no idea of the pain it's causing. She is left in tears from the pain, wracked with guilt as she dreads the next feeding and can't help wishing she could avoid it. Knowing that if she doesnt breastfeed she is certainly doing her child a grave injustice as it will cause allergies, obesity and disease later in life. Knowing she can't even express and bottlefeed as it will cause "nipple confusion".

She is left feeling guilty and wracked with pain as she trys to do nothing but what's "best" for her child.

Perhaps our midwives aren't as comitted to breastfeeding, and the health of mum and baby as they like to make themselves out to be.

Perhaps the breastfeeding mission has gone a bit to far, when the mothers who are persuaded to nurse are not even given the support and help that they've been promised, that they need. When they are left feeling guilty, alone and in excruciating pain.

He's here!

2006-03-20T09:08:00.000Z

Thursday March 16, 2006 12:35 am 8lbs. 4oz

Our little baby "Oi". An absolute angel. The last few days have been hell, but more on my part as I go through the recovery process and learn how to breastfeed. (You wouldnt think something so natural would be so blindingly hard and painful). So far he mostly just sleeps and eats, though he's getting more and more alert each day. We took a long walk yesterday to enjoy the sun and he was awake for most of it.

As far as my recovery goes, again it's been hell. Honestly. I've had two other children and I don't remember it being anything even close to this. I was up and about right away, and not in any pain. I guess I'm just older now, or something. It'll pass soon, I hope.

We havent agreed on a name for him yet- so for now he's just little "Oi" and the family has lots of suggestions. Like "Oswald" and "Albert" and... well, you get the idea.

The children enjoy him immensly and I think Daddy is still getting used to all the crying. He's amazing though and I couldnt ask for a better man. :D

Bagel....

2006-03-12T09:00:00.000Z

It's not my fault. I fully blame these
people. If they didn't post such threads I wouldnt get engrossed in them and forget about the bagel I have under the broiler.

But, don't worry- they didnt go to waste. After smothering them in cream cheese, the kids were none the wiser....

An interesting read and some great music

2006-03-11T10:52:00.000Z

James Blunt- you either love him or you hate him. I'm firmly in the love him camp. But as great as his album is, and as impressive his military record- he may not be as "beautiful" as thought...

An interesting blog points to Blunt as dishonest, bigheaded and selfish. Even more interesting than the story itself is that, apparently some of Blunts royalites have been frozen until it can be sorted out, though I couldnt find anything to substantiate that. Could be someone at Warner isn't happy with the Golden Boy...?

You can read about it here

Couldn't find any mention of it on Blunt's website, here

And if you don't read the entire blog- at least check out the music the guy claims he made with Blunt

"Cry"

"Really Want You"
-Not on Back to Bedlam-

Things I love about my husband #364

2006-03-10T16:12:00.000Z

He cuts my initials into the potatoes before dropping them in the boiling water. Is that love, or what?

The joy of family

2006-03-07T04:31:00.000Z

Before I moved over here last May, I had a nasty falling out with my siblings.

See, I was apparently a nasty, horrible person for getting married to a fantastic man and moving the kids to England, away from everything they knew. My brother called to inform me he was angry that he hadn't met my husband on either of his two trips to see me, because as my older brother he is supposed to "approve of my husband", whatever. (by the way- During my husbands last trip, when I called to invite siblings out to dinner to meet him, it was made clear to me that my brother wasn't speaking to me and wanted nothing to do with me.) It was during that phone call that my brother actually slagged off my 7 year old son, his beloved nephew, telling me how much better behaved his daughter was and how he never had any problems with her and how I must be doing something really wrong for my son to be having all the problems he was.

My sister called me to rant and rave about how horrible I was, how I was taking her niece and newphew away from her and how could I take them away from their only family? This conversation was made particularly pleasant when she called me a bitch and told me I had ruined everyones lives and she couldnt wait for me to be gone. My sister, who I have always had a lets say rocky relationship with and who I only spoke to once in a blue moon, usually to arrange birthday party times and holiday stuff. I had ruined her life. Wow, I must be GOOD, I hadn't even been trying.

The day we got married, my parents and kids were the only ones there. A couple of days later my sister called my mother and told her how offended and angry they were that I hadnt invited them. What? Had she forgotten that she hated my guts and that I had ruined all their lives? Suddenly she wanted to be there when I got married? Was she NUTS?

Our last night in the states my parents took my kids over to my siblings for a going away party. I sent over big bags of candy for my nieces and cards for my brother and sister. I stayed at home. The kids werent even given so much as a card. We left the next day and I havent looked back.

10 months on and I havent received so much as an email from my brother or sister. They didnt even bother to send my kids birthday cards, and Christmas came and went without so much as a word. I sent both my nieces cards and birthday gifts, and I sent Christmas gifts to my nieces and brother and sister. We even sent a get well card to my sister after a recent operation. No word if she even got it. Late last year my sister suddenly decided that she might come visit with my mom in April. She had all but bought the tickets when I heard about this from my mom. Boy, think she realized how conveinant it is to have a sister living abroad? I think my mother must have made my displeasure clear, though as my sister apparently decided to spend the money elsewhere.

Apparently my kids arent quite so beloved as I was led to believe. Any mention of their Aunt and Uncle is now met with a puzzled look until they remember who they are. On Christmas my daughter had no desire to talk to them on the phone, preferring instead to go to bed. My son had a very short conversation with them, and only because he's not 5 and I can make him speak to his family back home.

Ah, family. Over rated, I think.

"Mummy loves her baby Giraffe"

2006-02-24T09:37:00.000Z

We have a lovely jungle theme for baby's room. With lots of adorable orange giraffes and cute little sayings like "Mummy loves her baby giraffe!" I was so happy with the room as it looks adorable.

On Tuesday we had our last ultrasound, and found out the baby is fine and weighs 7lbs. 4oz. We also found out that baby has super long legs, practically off the charts! That was all well and good until this morning as daddy was leaving. He kissed my bump goodbye and said "were having a giraffe-bye bye little giraffe" and to me "Mummy loves her baby giraffe"

*sigh* And now I go and rip out the jungle theme and start over with Winnie the Pooh. Men.

How to waste time and alienate your family....

2006-02-21T09:52:00.000Z

The Sand Game

My husband played this for about 5 hours the other day! Yesterday I sat down in front of the computer to look at the bank account- but ended up picking up the game he had left- I looked up what felt like 10 minutes later only to find I had been sitting there for an HOUR.

It's just fascinating. My god.

For something that is still fun and addictive but won't have you playing until your hair has gone gray and spiders have started nesting in it, try The Google Game

I'm feeling a bit better about being rejected. It's still something I'd rather not think about it though, so I've been trying to distract myself with baby preparations. Of course at 3am, when a baby has crammed itself into your diaphragm and is slowly crushing your lungs into nothingness, eventually your thoughts have to turn to something, and in my case it's the future. We're barely making ends meet now, and me going to school was the door to fixing that long term. Now what are we going to do? After the baby is born I'm going to find some part time work, maybe that will be enough. I doubt it. Well, whatever- I'll always have the sand game to distract me. That is until they shut the internet service off....

facing facts and the great big black hole of life, not as expected.

2006-02-13T11:40:00.001Z

I've always wanted to get a degree in literature and to go onto teach or write or work in editing. I guess, maybe it was a dream. Either way, after dropping out of high school, having 2 kids, going back for my GED and passing with flying colors, a failed attempt at a MLT degree and finally getting married and moving overseas it seemed like the right time to actually do what I had wanted to do for so long.

It took me months to get the courage up, and in that time my husband and I had many midnight conversations in which I confided in him how scared I was, how unsure I was I could do it, how I didn't know if it was the right thing, and him supporting me and comforting me the whole way. After deciding that we were together 100% about it, I started to fill out the application to apply to a big University about 30 miles from us. I struggled mostly with my personal statement, but when I finally finished I was more or less pleased with it.

Four weeks on from when I submitted my application, I have been informed that it was rejected. I will not be going to back to school.

I was crushed, and still am. I try to keep a good face on for my husband but I just can't help crying when I think about it. I wanted this so so so much. Now, it seems I waited to long, or maybe I'm not nearly as bright and capable as I thought I was.

I think it'll be a while before I can really accept it and understand it, but I know that this was it. I won't be trying again.

I have to come to terms with the fact that I'll never do anything more than take care of the kids and the house, and maybe work some horrible part time job once in awhile. I feel like something has been ripped away from me. It never occured to me that I wouldn't ever go back to school and accomplish this and have that career that I wanted. It was always just a matter of the time being right.

I feel really lost right now, my confidence is shattered and I just don't have any idea where to go from here. Being a mother and a wife is great, but for it to be the only thing? The epitomy of my existence? To never have anything outside of making dinner and vaccuming and taking the kids to school?

I feel like I've been sucked into a great big black hole.

My new favorite website

2006-02-04T13:25:00.000Z

I LOVE this site. Granted, $10 for 6 rubberbands is a bit, um, shall we say eccentric? But, window shopping never hurt. While you're there check out the bamboo steamer basket, the paper flowers paper or how about the $45 vase brush?

Anyway, a very cool site that changes it's stock every few months and goes for the type of things you'll never find on the high street. Kind of like Tchibo, but- yeah- much cooler.

Toilet Aquarium

2006-02-03T11:39:00.000Z

I'm still not sure what to make of this.

Isn't there something intrinsically creepy about keeping fish in your toilet tank? And if you're a man, how do you cope with 50 little fishy eyes watching you pee? Hmm. Perhaps we could train them to hold up score cards each time our male significant others finish? Or even attach little thought bubbles to each fish that read "Wipe the seat!" "For god sake- use toilet paper" "WASH that penis!!!"

What do you think?

Mummy, Duddy and potatoes

2006-01-27T11:24:00.000Z

I told my husband last night that if he teaches our child to call me "Mummy" than he should be prepared to go through the next 20 years as "Duddy".

This morning I found potatoes in our garden, ones we had completley given up on! They're absolutley perfect too! I can't wait to try them! My garden now includes such culinary delights as Parsley and Potatoes. At what point can I stop going grocery shopping and just feed the family on these two items alone?

Hmmm...

2006-01-24T11:50:00.000Z

If everytime my husband gets mad at me, he goes and does the dishes- then is it wrong to deliberatley try and make him mad?

8 months!

2006-01-23T12:25:00.000Z

Woo Hoo! Today is my 8 month anniversary of moving to the UK. Wow. How fast it's gone.

This special occasion has been marked by the realization that I love cream. There just is nothing like it in the states and I'm starting to see that well, *sigh, it hurts to say this* it's better than Cool Whip. Blasphemy, I know. I'm sorry.

As well as the fact that today I unconciously replaced "trash can" with the British word "bin" and "floor" with "ground". Lord, soon I'll find myself talking in a strangely Dick Van Dyke-esque Cockney accent and referring to everyone I meet as "mate".

*sob* I don't want to be assimilated! But, they can never take away my "zee"! ZEE,ZEE,ZEE HAHAHA!!!

Sorry. Really, though. I love living here. It is a beautiful country, and I've been so welcomed by the people here. I feel at home. It's been an at times rocky 8 months, but I havent regretted it once, and every day it gets better. It makes me so happy to wake up each morning and walk outside and see the woods right across the street, the trees swaying in the breeze, to hear the birds calling, and to feel this incredible chill that just goes through your whole body and makes you feel so invigorated. It's amazing. I love seeing the kids laugh as they run across the big fields, or come up close and personal with sheep, or cows or just spot a squirrel running across the street.

I really love this country and I couldnt be luckier to live in this beautiful place, with an amazing husband, and my two happy well adjusted kids. I couldnt be happier to have made it this far and I'm looking forward to what the next 8 months hold and I'm thrilled to be bringing a child into this beautiful world. Hooray for 8 months!

Birth Lights

2006-01-14T11:02:00.000Z

I love these! Can't wait to get a couple for the baby's room and ours!

http://www.birthwithsol.com/index.html

Seeing these made me realize how bright the lights in our house really are- it would be really nice to have a few of these for the birth.

I can't believe I'm going to have this baby here at home!

Whiling away the hours...

2006-01-09T10:50:00.000Z

Some interesting reading today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

I suppose it's not the done thing to admit, but I like reading what A list celebrities have to say- so the blogs of John Cusack and Alec Baldwin as well as various other actors and politicians are enlightening.

And if you haven't had your daily dose of Political Satire via Jon Stewart yet, or like me- don't get Comedy Central as one of Britain's 4 viewable terrestrial channels, here's that link, too. Enjoy! http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml

I'm off to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

And so it begins...

2006-01-07T13:59:00.000Z

The landlord decided to come over tomorrow to inspect the house before we renew our lease for another year. My husband of course saw no reason why this would be a problem two weeks after Christmas and agreed that yes, that'd be a great time- while you're at it why don't you come over at 9 AM? Who tells their landlord that Sunday at 9am two weeks after Christmas would be a great time to come and inspect the house? Someone who isn't 6 months pregnant and won't be responsible for cleaning the entire house and taking down all the bloody decorations, that's who.

So, it's no wonder that on Saturday at 2 pm, only half the kitchen is clean, the hallway is clean but full of boxes of ornaments and other decorations, the upstairs is a disaster zone, and the living room has an undecorated brownish green 6ft pine tree in the corner and bits of bubble wrap, tissue paper and pine needles strewn all over.

I have effectively decided that tomorrow I'm going to be deathly ill and spending the day in bed. And if the landlord still wants to come over- he can take down the garland and vaccuum up the pine needles while he's here.

Welcome

2006-01-07T13:15:00.000Z

Welcome to my blog. My name is Erin, I live in Southern England with my husband and 2 kids. I'm originally from Phoenix, Arizona and have been here 8 months. I'm currently pregnant with our 3rd, due in late March.

Like most blogs- I'll probably use this space to talk about everyday events and musings, and my life here in the UK, and how it differs from the states. Enjoy.

Please be aware that all posts are posted using UK time which is approx. 5 hours ahead of EST.