Pizza at home

I'm from New York. Therefore, I like pizza. However, Stowmarket does not have a good pizza delivery place.

John took it upon himself to make me feel "at home" very early on after I moved to the UK. One of the first things he made was pizza. Which I liked, but didn't think it tasted exactly right. After lots of trial and error (I know, such a chore!) and yummy homemade pizzas, John discovered that the trick is to use "00" flour. And turn the oven up to max. And use pizza stones. And not overload the pizzas with toppings.

Success!

He makes the dough 24 hours ahead and lets it rest & ferment and bubble.

Then he kneads/rolls it out at the last minute.

And then I got distracted by the toppings and the eating and didn't take any more pictures!

Old Married Couple

John and I had our 3-year anniversary yesterday. I still have moments of "we've been married for HOW long?"

Pasta a la John

John made dinner tonight. What a guy. And it was such a tasty recipe that I have to post it here.

Pasta a la John (a riff on Pasta Carbonara)


olive oil
butter (this is not a low-fat recipe)
bacon (we used smoked English bacon)
small tomatoes
mushrooms, sliced
garlic, sliced
creme fraiche
mild chili powder
black pepper

Put the pasta water on to boil. Chop the bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic.

Once the water is boiling, start the pasta. At this point, add the olive oil and butter to the pan, with some chili powder and ground black pepper. Once you can smell the chili powder, add the bacon. Stir it around for a minute or two, then add the garlic. Once the garlic starts to soften, add the mushrooms and tomatoes, and a little of the pasta water. Simmer gently.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it. Add a spoonful of creme fraiche to the simmering sauce, stir, and simmer briefly. Stir the pasta in and enjoy!

It was REALLY good - he can make it again whenever he wants!

Happy V-Day!

It's hard to believe that 5 years ago tonight I was shouting "CUNT!" from the Colby rooftops (in the Vagina Monologues). It is an amazing show and we had a cast of some of the strongest women I know. It's in the top 5 most amazing things I've ever done, and I'll never forget it.

This morning, John woke me up with some cards, and this one had me chuckling all day:
And on the inside, instead of the sappy message, he wrote, "My ordinary wife didn't get a Valentines card!". I'm the special wife...teehee! I love it - I've been chuckling about it all day. He also gave me a brand new shiny 'collector's edition' DVD of Ratatouille. So why am I sitting here blogging? Good question...it's movie time!

My personal chef

The hubby is on vacation this week (I'm off next week and the week after) and he's been cooking every night. We also have the small boy, so John's been making reasonably adventurous stuff but nothing too crazy. Monday night - a glorious chickpea curry from *scratch* - not even the curry paste that I use. He mixed all the spices and started from there. It was SO good. Last night we had roasted veggies with penne, and tonight he made paella. I could get used to having a house-husband! I think tomorrow he's making veggie chili and has planned some extravagant potato-bake thing for Friday. Mmm.

I've been having some transportation adventures this week, as our car was out of commission for a few days (it's back as of this afternoon). As the Brits will know, the weather here has been absolutely appalling - gray, cold and rainy. Ugh. So getting up at 5:30 to walk to the 7:08 train (in the rain) and then walk up-hill for half an hour (still raining) in Bury hasn't exactly been my favourite thing. Then more rainy walks back in the other direction, although at least once I get home I can take a hot shower and put on my fleece pants (YES, in August) and a hoodie. Brrrr. Fred & George (the duck slippers) have been getting a lot of use this summer - they're usually in the closet from May through September.

Woah, I've nearly made it 'til 10pm - I've been in bed at 9 all week. ::yawn:: Ok, I'm not going to be a hero. At least I've only got 2 more days of the train (and house-husband is DRIVING me to the station tomorrow morning - what decadence)!

not newlyweds anymore

John and I have been married for a year. A whole year. Sometimes it feels like it's been about 10 minutes, other times I can't even imagine that there was a time before I knew him.

I'm Pasta Caring

Haha...that was punny.

Oh, and I have to post this joke...my Mom and I think it's hysterical. Fair warning: mom's come up with a theory that there's a gene on her side of the family that makes us more susceptible to puns than the average bear...this one will reliably keep us in stitches for a solid five minutes.

There was a king who lived on an island in the tropics. There were other kings on this island, and they were always feuding.

This king lived in a castle made of grass, made from the reeds and rushes found on the island.

In one of the battles with another king, this king stole one of his prize thrones and brought it home to his castle, where he put it up in the attic for safe keeping.

This throne happened to be made of stone, and was very large and heavy. That night, when the king was asleep, the throne fell through the roof of his bedroom, landed on him, killed him instantly, and destroyed the castle.

The moral of the story?

People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones!

Oh, the mirth!

Update: Mom and Dad have posted some more puns in the comments - they're fantastic!

Ok, back to the pasta. I was off sick yesterday with a sore throat, and then went in to the office today. Whatever I had has gotten worse, and I was feeling pretty zonked by the end of the day. John was a model hubby and cooked some fantastic spaghetti sauce with zucchini and mushrooms. He sauteed the garlic in hot olive oil at the beginning, which gave it a really nice hint of smokiness.

I think I'll keep him. :)

Brownie Points

I have the best husband in the world. I'd mentioned to him that I was feeling a little homesick last week - I think the darkness was really getting to me. So what did he do?


BROWNIES!! 2 boxes of American Betty Crocker brownie mix, to be exact. It turns out that the wife of one of the guys he works with goes to the US Airforce Base a lot, and can buy 'merican' food there. And so John asked him to buy 2 boxes for me. And they arrived today. Whattaguy!

I'm going to make one box this weekend and ration the other for when I'm feeling homesick again.

Oh, and I took the photo in the 'photo studio' (two pieces of black card, one taped to the wall) in our office at lunch break. I'm so high-tech.