Sense and Sensibility

Hello All,

I know, I know, I’m overdue it seems as always with my blog!  But I sit here now, ready to update it!  I’ve started my new job, been at it for already a week now…it’s not that bad, just a bit dull at times, but this is only temporary!  Hopefully soon I’ll be embarking on some different projects.  But to be honest, I really don’t mind going to work.  Trust me, I’ve had several jobs where I DREAD going to them, and this is not one of them.  I treat the job that I have now with a lot of respect.

Anyways, getting to what I love doing–being in the kitchen!  I realized as I walked down the baking aisle the other day, that it’s my most favorite aisle of the whole grocery store!  I love looking at all the different kinds of spices for sale, or the different types of flour on sale…I’m surrounded by pie fillings, marshmallows, and chocolate chips!  In the baking aisle, how can life be unhappy? Ha.

This weekend I baked Sweet Potato cookies, which turned out more like mini-scones, which I thought were interesting.  As my mom put it, they’d be great with coffee or tea!  I’m on the fence about them however, as to whether or not I’d make them again…Hmm….I also baked my grandfather a surprise!  It was my Saturday baking project–a Black Forest Cake! Mmmm…I’d never made one before, and I knew that I wanted to make one that was small and yet enough to enjoy for a while.  So in a loaf pan it was!  The original recipe called for 2 8 inch pans, and I halved the recipe, and it fit perfectly in my loaf tin!  Success!  Sadly, I do not have any pictures of my delicious and beautiful two-layered baking wonder, but it remains in my memory, alas.

My grandfather was so cute–he called me to tell me how much he LOVED my cake!  And how he was going to enjoy it each night for several nights to come!   Ah, that was just so cute!  I put a lot of love into that cake, as I do with anything that comes out of my kitchen or made by my hands.  In addition to writing, it’s one of the ways I know best to express myself.

Ok, now for some pictures!  Yes, some much needed pictures!

Portobello mushroom burger with spicy chipotle sweet potato fries!

My blanket in its finished form!

My new casserole dish in lime green!

Frankster at large

Grr! Give me my purple ball!

Quite possibly the world’s most perfect Jcrew outfit!

Ready for my first day of work!

My most fabulous green shoes, bought for me by my BF

Oh it’s hot…

It’s been a hot day here in CO.  I find myself constantly surrounded by beverages, although that goes for most of the year.  Although it’s been hot lately, last month was one of the wettest months here on record, something like 236% above average!  I kind of like to think that we’re nearly half way through the month….far fetched thinking I know, but I suppose you can understand my logic if you’ve read my previous post.

I know it doesn’t bear repeating, but I probably won’t be talking about food nearly as much as I used to for a while…I’ve discovered that my BF inspires me to cook and bake and without him, I don’t feel passionate about it.  I have however baked once or twice since I’ve been back in the States.  Today for instance, I baked Banana Oatmeal Cookies and they were delicious!  Kind of like a little piece of banana bread in cookie form…Mmmm…..Yeah, I know it was something like 97 degrees outside today, but I felt like baking despite the hot temperatures.  I apparently also feel inspired during the hotter months to make afghans!   Ha.  I’m nearly done with crocheting my blanket–I’m just finishing up those hanging threads and giving it the finishing touches.  I’ll be so happy with my handiwork when it’s all finished.  I know it’ll definitely be an heirloom one day.

Not much else going on while I wait to hear more news about my job, which will hopefully be starting soon!  I hope to know more this week….fingers crossed!  Until then, it gives me an excuse to enjoy what time I have in the kitchen and devoted to my blanket!  I’ll be sure to post a picture of my blanket when it’s all done!  I’ve also found that I enjoy watching all the Harry Potter movies lately too….and reading the Twilight series too!  I certainly never run out of things I’d like to do while not working, that’s for sure!  I’ve always got a stack of stuff from the library like magazines and books/Cd’s to look at in addition to all the books I have already that I’d like to get around to reading.  I find I read mostly at night, which thankfully hasn’t been playing itself out in my dreams or anything.

Can I also say on a different note, how much I miss England and of course my boyfriend?  I miss them both..I miss all of my English TV programming, my little pieces of nature, my little way of life there, getting to see my boyfriend each and every day, getting to spend so much blissful time in the kitchen, going to the market, even grocery store shopping, which I hate doing here in the States…..I miss watching funny episodes of ‘Top Gear’ or ‘The Apprentice’ when it was getting good…and giving me a reason to look forward to Wednesdays after work….getting to see the ocean is another thing I miss, ok, technically it isn’t an ‘ocean’ per say, since it’s a channel, but you know what I mean.  I miss my favorite pine tree filled neighborhood near the beach.  Ahh..I just miss so much of it–all of those millions of little things that made up my daily life….I can picture it all now…it was all so different to my life now here.  It’s as if my time in England was truly another life time and I can only hope that I always remember every last bit of it.  Of course, I’m dying to go back for long visits…..to savor it all over again.

Well I’m happy to report that I have been in the kitchen lately…see pics below for the goodness both foodie and non-foodie!

Apricot Pork Chops

My new dog statue!

Frankie!! my friend’s dog

Shrimp, grape and rice salad

Berry Boy Bait

Road to nowhere sure is pretty

Sunflower time

Beautiful little lake

My BBQ’d portobello mushroom burger with pesto mayonnaise. I also had a few spicy chipotle sweet potato fries!

Welcome to July!!!

Yes, I’m happy that it’s July, because that means I’m one month closer to being together again with my beloved BF.  Yes!  I must admit, I don’t take advantage of the glorious sunshine we have at the moment…..I find that I stay inside most of the time because it’s too hot out there.  And yet when it’s winter, I will have to stay inside, which I don’t care for.

But anyways, I think it’s time to roll out some pictures both foodie and non-foodie related.  So here they are!

Savaggio’s the best sandwich shop in Boulder!

My French Dip Au Jus Sandwich

My BF’s tasty Reuben Sandwich! I tried a bite, and it was good!

Juicy Lucy’s in Cherry Creek North

My BF’s first ever corndog! We went to the drive-in movie theater

My BF’s breakfast: Biscuits and gravy

Poudre Canyon and pretty flower

The bridge over the river

Tiff and G at the top of Pikes Peak Mountain!

Crazy seeing snow in June!

The Cog Railway train

A pretty waterfall on the way back down the mountain

Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Colorado Springs

The teepee top, taken by G

Victoria sponge cake I made from scratch

An Italian dinner feast at home

My zucchini pie! In the end, it was easy to make once prepped.

Nothing better than a Super Dog, a ball game, and your BF

Rain rain, go away!

Ugh, it’s an unpleasantly rainy day here in England today–cold and rainy, the kind that makes you want to stay inside all day.  We haven’t had good weather or a spot of sunshine in some two weeks here.  I’m dreaming of a Spanish villa somewhere in the sunshine….I’m tired of being cold.  I’m also starting to wonder how people do indeed put up with the weather on this island for so long!  I can see why sitting inside drinking tea and making up for the weather’s miserable existence by eating tons of cakes and cookies is the norm here.  

Although I must say, despite the gloomy weather today, three things excite me: one, it’s FRIDAY, always a good thing even when you’re not working, two, I FINALLY managed to find some polenta at the grocery store, something I’ve been trying to find for a while now (I’ve been wanting to make this: Sweet Breakfast Polenta), and thirdly, I just received a gift from Coldplay in my inbox: a free download of a live album they put together just for their fans!  Sweet!  

Oh and I went to the Dorchester Market during the week and scored some greatness as usual!  I came home with a weaving loom for only £1, a way cool ring made out of sea shell, and some dried fruit for a cake for really cheap.  I’d never taken a train by myself before even though I’ve been living here for over a year now, and it was my first adventure on the rails!  Thankfully it was uneventful and I made it home without any transportation mishaps.  Oh, and I also bought some rhubarb since it’s now in season, and made this for tea the other day:  Sour Cream Rhubarb Squares. They were indeed deliciously moist with a faint hint of rhubarb.  I made some in a muffin tin and the rest of it I made in a loaf tin and froze for later.  

Tomorrow night for dinner I’m trying my hand at Apricot Pork Chops with Jersey Royal potatoes and I’m making my first ever Shoo-fly Pie!  I bought a Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook ages ago at my local library and came across the recipe today, so I’m going to make it.  It will also be my first time making a pie or even working with molasses!  So here we go!  Wish me luck!  

Brrr!!! I’m really cold right now!  I think I’m going to make a tea loaf now…my new thing is to make baked goods and then freeze them for later use/enjoyment.  With only three of us in the house, it’s kind of hard to eat everything up within the week, even though believe me, I’m trying my best!  So by freezing it, it lasts longer and we can have things available for tea in only a couple of hour’s notice.

The oven’s back in town!

Well I’m glad to report that the oven is back in action!  Yes!  So naturally, I’ve been hoarding a couple of recipes over the past week that involve the use of an oven.  So on Saturday, I was in the kitchen for a good part of the day.  I made a gluten free chocolate cake, some deliciously rich chocolate cookies, and even tried my hand at roasting chickpeas for a crunchy snack.  

It was indeed topped off as a food filled weekend when I went to the Christchurch Food and Wine Festival with my BF’s mom.  Oh it was a glorious couple of hours filled with tasting different kinds of olives, to munching on strawberries from France, and yes, even speaking French with the vendors!  I guess I still remember some French after all! Ha ha.  There was so much to take in and see and do and eat!  I bought some locally made biscotti from the New Forest, Italian corn and rice couscous, French forest honey, dried apples covered in cinnamon, Italian cookies, and a German sausage for my lunch!  My BF’s mom bought lots of goodies too for all of us to try–green olives stuffed with lemon, pâté, Italian cheese, and even a calzone.  It’s the season for asparagus and rhubarb right now, so we picked up a bunch of asparagus for some soup for tomorrow night’s dinner.  Tonight’s dinner will be some Sicilian stuffed rice balls and a ham and cheese calzone with a salad.  My BF’s mom grows various salad greens in her garden out back, so we’ll be picking our own salad for dinner.  You can’t get any fresher or more local than that!  Delicious!

There is something so inspiring and engaging about going to food festivals/markets like these.  I like seeing some fresh produce or fish and then thinking of a great meal to make with them.  I like meeting the people that are the faces behind the product and knowing that I’m supporting the local guys.   

Here’s some pictures I took at the market/festival with my mobile camera phone:

Smell yummy

Can a vegetable be any more pretty?

Delicious

Mmm…bagels

Woof

Mmm..tasty

Sugar Nuts n’ Such

Well today I’m making this: Sugar Nuts . Beforehand, I made a batch of raspberry cream cheese swirl brownies (yes, using a package mix that was lying around!  gasp!) that refused to come out of the pan nicely so now they are all crumbled on a dinner plate.  I think they’ll have to go along side some vanilla ice cream or except defeat and remain ugly but still edible.  And while I take breaks between my nut stirring activity for the next hour, I’m thinking about life.  Then again, I feel that I’m doing that a lot these days.  I guess I’m just annoyed at how if you’re not working in American culture, you’re viewed as not being productive, something that is just so unthinkable in our culture.  That irks me.  Yeah ok, I don’t work currently, but does that mean that what I do is less important or meaningful than someone who does?  Just something to think about…

Ah, I don’t know why it just hit me, but I’d love to work in a bakery.  No, I wouldn’t like those early morning starting hours (having to be at work at 4:30AM thanks to working at a coffee shop wasn’t my idea of fun after a few years) but there’s something I’d love about having the radio on and working with something so natural and pure as bread.  I’m not talking fancy pastry shop work, I’m just talking making honest to goodness bread.  I think it’s good that people are starting to get back to basics given our current economic climate.  We should be appreciating things made and baked at home.  Hey, even if you’re using Bisquick, that’s a start–atleast you’re in the kitchen making something! I’m telling you, there’s nothing better than making something yourself!  

Cooking and baking teach you how to be creative, have self confidence, and best of all, you get to enjoy the outcome! If not, there’s always that frozen pizza that you should always have on hand in case culinary disaster strikes or the nearest pizza delivery on speed dial.

*My post continued one day later……*

Today is one of the most rainy and grey days we’ve had here in a long time….it makes you want to sit next to the radiator and read a book.  Atleast today it’s raining vertically rather than the usual horizontal direction typical of English rain.  I do wonder if England could ever run out of rain?  Ha.  I’m trying to keep myself warm by watching the UKTV food channel and thinking about what type of tea to have. I also have some udon noodles laying around that I’d like to have for lunch. Being that it’s yucky outside today, I will probably also whip up something comforting in the kitchen as well as crochet something with some amazing yarn I bought at the local haberdashery shop over the weekend….Can I just say that I had a great weekend? I always love paying a visit to my haberdashery shop and scoring some awesome yarn and I even picked up a few neat looking buttons. I also took a long walk in the English countryside with my BF. You can see my pics from the weekend below:

Havin’ tea in a 16th century building–notice the original beams above me. Also notice my new handmade scarf! Cool, very cool.

This was my view during tea time. Amazing.

Came across this on our walk

Ah so green

Make a wish! Pic taken by my BF

Also forgot to mention that my picture of Salisbury Cathedral got included in the latest edition of Schmap!  See it here

Some winners and some pictures

As I’ve been in the kitchen quite a lot recently, I thought I’d pass along some recipes that have turned out as delicious success stories as well as some pics I’ve taken lately while out and about with my camera phone.

Ok, first some Vegan Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies.  These took a bit of time to put together, but nothing too difficult by any means and the results were yummy.  Thanks to MAC & CHEESE, I got the recipe here

Here’s my picture of the finished product:

Tower of cookies

My next recent success comes from the gang at Martha Stewart.  I bought the Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook (you can buy/look at the cookbook here) atleast a year ago and have only recently started using recipes from it.  I made their Tortilla and Black Bean Pie, and since I’m not a fan of black beans, I substituted pinto beans instead.  I also used an ale as my beer choice.  You can find the recipe on page 236 of the cookbook or online here

My BF loved this dish and I thought it was both original and economical. We will certainly be making this again as we both loved the flavors of it too!

 

Dinner last night

 

For the side dish, we made Spanish Rice and an excellent recipe for it can be found at Simply Recipes, an excellent food blog/website that I’ve been using for quite some time now.  Elise’s Spanish Rice recipe is again not only economical in this day and age, but also very delicious!  I’ll never go back to using pre-made packages of it when it’s so much better and healthier for me to just make it myself.  You can find the recipe here. Add some sour cream and salsa on the side, and you’ve got yourself an excellent meal that’ll easily feed 4 adults for very little money.  

And now, some more foodie photos taken with my camera phone:

 

Wee Willie Winkies Sausages

Stagg Chili-a taste of the American West

Bread stall at the market–where I get my beloved spelt rolls!

Food portion of the market–notice the selection of cakes and jams

Chelsea Bun from the market, eaten on the way home

Tower of cookies

Dinner last night

And since I can’t seem to get rid of the tortilla pie or vegan cookies pictures in this section, you get to see them again!  I’m still new to blogging, so bear with me–think of it as doubling your photographic viewing pleasure. Ha ha.

Trop pensées, too many thoughts…

Today is one of those days in my life where I feel blessed to be doing what I’m doing right now.  How many people do you know get to divulge themselves on the things that they’re most passionate about?  Not only do I get to listen to classical/opera music, I get to bake homemade vanilla bean and almond biscotti at the same time!  And might I add, they were a total success in my opinion!  Deliciousness!

Yes, my passion for food is what’s making me turn into a mondo pot belly, but I’m learning and discovering more about life these past months than I have in a very long time.  I’m spending more time in the kitchen than ever, something I know that my grandma (you know who you are! 😉 ) would be glad to know.   🙂  

I’m also discovering time and time again those little things that make me glad I’m here and not just because it allows me to be with the man I love, which is a HUGE plus.  I get to discover those little stolen moments in the morning on my way to the weekly market–the cool calm and quiet of the neighborhood, the crispness in the air, the smell of the sweet morning dew, the sounds of the birds…  

I love getting lost at the market–it’s all about the people and the great finds.  When was the last time you actually met the person who’s mushrooms you’re buying at the store?  Who can you ask about how to store them or what’s a great recipe to make with them?  You can’t do that at the grocery store, you can only do that at the market.  

Here’s some random pics I’ve taken lately, some of which are items I’ve bought at the market: 

My new hair-do

The chocolate lady bug on my Easter dinner plate

The delicious chocolate pots we had at Easter

Beautiful flower in the garden

Pretty ponies

The Bisquick Quiche I made this week

Getting up close and personal with the quiche

A beautiful tulip

I love the sense of motion in this photo

The vanilla bean/almond biscotti I made

Cute little birdie in the kitchen

Damson (wild plum) jam I bought at the market

The 1940’s silver earrings I bought at the market today

My beautiful ring from the market–made of glass

A neat zip up shopping bag, also from the market

 

At the market I love the…

sights: tea towels, piles of hams, old wellies, flowers, pineapples, bags of oranges, unusual scarves, WW II memorabilia, breads, antiques, bric-a-brac

the smells: mushrooms from the mushroom guy, fresh bread, cheese, fish

the people: the jam guy, people who bring their dogs to wander through the stalls with them, the butcher trying to sell his best deals on pork cutlets, the lady you bought your jewelry from, the little old ladies who come to look at shoes or push their tartan shopping trollies around.  

I love that you can buy things that are locally made and produced at great prices.  I also love the fact that I can buy something like a piece of jewelry, that are very one of a kind and unique because they are often antiques, it makes me feel as if I can hold onto a piece of history and preserve it for future generations.  

I know that I’ll be gutted when it comes time to leave here and I won’t be able to visit my beloved market anymore, but I try to push that from my mind.  There are so many things about England that I will miss and have become accustomed to while living here, but again, I try to not think about how much I will eventually miss it all because my soul will ache. 

I feel like I’m at that point in my life where everything is a giant puzzle and I’m trying my best to shift everything into place so that I can eventually be or do or have all that I’ve wanted in life.  I think adding to my life’s confusion at the moment is my lack of a clear career path, because being an American, it’s all about the career path.  When I went to school, aka university, I studied what I am passionate about–French.  I didn’t choose to put myself through hours and years of language and literature because I thought it’d make me millions, but I did it because in the end, it made my soul happy.  Somehow this passion of mine is supposed to translate itself into a stable and viable career that makes me a small fortune.  

I don’t want to be one of those people who just works a string of jobs just because it’s all about staying afloat and making money.  I want to work at a job that means something, that is in line with my passions in life, and I’m starting to wonder if a such thing exists for me–for both passion and career to align themselves together.  Had I gone with a degree that was more clear  cut, like education or chemistry, than perhaps my career path wouldn’t present itself as such a mystery.  Who knows, maybe in 5 years time I’ll be having kids anyways and this whole career fulfillment issue won’t be such a problem or rather, a mystery.

I also feel like I’m one of those people who’s not very good at growing up…it’s awkward for me a lot of the time.  What does being an adult actually mean?  Yeah I can pay bills on time or set up a savings account, but does that actually make me an adult?  Is it my age?  Is it just some kind of feeling that you stumble upon as you go along?   Doesn’t life come with an instruction manual?  No?  Oh…. 

Spring Waters and History in Bath

Hello All!  It’s now Easter weekend, so that means that I get to spend a little time with my BF and his family as everyone has time off for Easter here.  Yesterday my BF and I visited Bath for the first time, well it was the first time for me, and not my BF, but it’d been a while since he’d taken in the sights.  It took us about 2.5 hours to get there from here but it wasn’t bad at all on the train.  

At first, I didn’t know what to make of Bath.  All of the buildings are of the Georgian style and of the same color stone.  We had a walk around town first before deciding to visit the Roman baths.  It’s just amazing to think that the Romans utilized steam rooms and mineral baths all those years ago!  One thing I learned on my tour was that they used the hot mineral water not only for medicinal and hygienic purposes but also for worship.  It was just cool to step on the same stones that the Romans had used and built thousands of years ago.  

After all that touring and looking and picture taking, my BF and I decided to have lunch.  There’s only one place, us being the foodies that we both are, wanted to go:  Jamie’s Italian.  I use a lot of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks when looking for inspiration or a new recipe to try out for dinner, so you could say that I’m a fan.  Once we were finally seated as we had to wait a while to get into this popular restaurant, we decided to get the “World’s Best Olives” and the Meat Antipasti for starters, the Chopped Buffalo Steak Hamburger for our mains, and an order of Rosemary Salt Chips with a Humble Salad for sides.  The Buffalo Hamburger was one of the BEST hamburgers I have had in a looooooooong time!!!!!  I mean, it was so good!  The kind of hamburger that doesn’t make you feel embarrassed about enjoying every bite of it no matter how messy.  It came complete with homemade mayo, a grilled bun, and parma ham that was crispy!  It was heaven between two buns.  

The only not so glorious highlight of the day was when I was walking along the cobblestone street looking at all of the shops and boutiques on the other side of the road and stepped in a huge puddle.  That was lovely.  But thinking back to all I’d done in the day and the delicious hamburger I had had, made that big puddle misstep worth it.  Here are some pics from my lovely time in Bath:

Overlooking the river

Local Bakery

Looking down the river

Bath Abbey

Part of the pediment from the Sulis Minerva temple

Stone mosaics from the floors

Main bath

My feet on Roman ground, where Romans once stood

Now that’s a butcher!

Jamie’s Italian restaurant

THE hamburger!

Georgian architecture at its finest

Spring has sprung! Atleast for now.

It’s been a fabulously spring and sunshine filled weekend here in Britain.  I think I’ve nearly got a sunburn coming on! Gasp!  I’ve been sitting outside in the gloriously overdue sunshine this whole weekend.  My BF’s sister and her BF came down for the weekend to celebrate my BF’s dad’s birthday.  We had a deliciously traditional South African braai (BBQ) for dinner last night.  Man oh man was it delicious!  I worked my little bum off in the kitchen helping BF’s mom get everything ready for the big meal.  We had Boerewors (South African sausage), marinated steak (must get the recipe for delicious marinade), chicken kebabs, green salad with avocado, homemade corn biscuits (I made them–my little piece of the US–thanks Bisquick! Ha), grilled asparagus, and twice baked potatoes.  Whew a whole spread of good and delicious food!  I honestly feel as if I’ve put on 10 pounds just this weekend!  

This morning we had a scottle braai breakfast—we cooked our entire breakfast on the braai (BBQ).  It was so good!  We had bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and even bananas all cooked on the curved scottle surface.  Mmm….it was very tasty. I also sliced up some lardy cake, which is an English specialty that I bought at the market.  I also tried lemon curd for the first time ever and boy am I in heaven!!  I’m sooo hooked!  It’s like a deliciously creamy lemon spread that you have on toast or scones.  

So after all of this food eating yummyness, I have been spending the day as I said lounging in the sun and reading the Sunday Times newspaper.  The weather this upcoming week is supposed to be rainy and colder……..blech.  Rainy weather doesn’t inspire me to take walks…..it makes me want to stay under the duvet and drink tea.  Anyways, on with my foodie and nature photos from a lovely weekend of food and sunshine.  I snapped some pics with my BF’s Canon 350D.  It blows my Sony Cybershot away!  As always, to make the photo larger, just click on it.  Enjoy!

Beautiful

Green sticks

More pretty daffodils

Love this one

In the kitchen

Flower power

Bee…bzz!

Pretty daffodils

White flower

Lardy Cake

Breakfast meats on the scottle braai

Tomatoes, bananas, and mushrooms on the scottle braai

Finished product