Bathrooms and kitchens

We're repairing a paint-blister in the bathroom ceiling. It has been there for MONTHS, and bugging me every morning (and slowly growing because of the moisture from showering). We've checked - it was an issue with the initial paint job (thanks, builders!) and not a leak from above. Phew. 

I'd forgotten how dusty everything gets when you're sanding and scraping and painting. Ugh. At least it will be done. I'm SO not a DIY person - both of our parents renovated houses extensively while living in them, usually without contractors (except for really big stuff), and frequently while working full-time. 

I can't even work up the energy to paint a wall, much less replace some windows or re-tile the bathroom. I've been enthusiastically pinning kitchen tiles on Pinterest, but there will definitely be a Person Who Knows All About Tiling coming over to do the actual tile/grout/etc once we finalise the plans. Our house is the same colour as when we moved in (cream with white trim, thank you). I have decided that it's because it's bright, calming, and minimalist, and shows off our photographs, paintings, and other assorted bright accessories. Someone I know was talking about how plain white walls drive them crazy. Not me.

We were picking up a few miscellaneous things (including a snazzy new shower organiser) in Ipswich yesterday, when I spotted these at Lakeland. Too funny. Can I have one of each, please? I've checked their website and they only sell selected ones online, in sets of 4. Bah. I may have to go back to the store in person. 4 rows of 3 at £1.49 each is £17.88, which seems like kind of a lot to spend on coasters. Especially since I already have plenty. Sloe Gin Square and Ealing Broadbean? Where did they think of these? I really like Baking Street, Charing Cross Bun, Shepherds Pie, Piccalilli Circus, and Hollandaise Park, too. Oops. I guess that's only 7...out of a possible 12. But John likes Oxtail Circus. We could make it an even 8 and never need to buy coasters again. Ever.

When we got home, I roasted some cauliflower with cumin, from a Smitten Kitchen recipe. It was delicious - sweet and crunchy and cumin-y. We put some chili flakes on, too. Delish.

I served it with rice and with Mark Bittman's slow-cooked spinach with coconut milk. Needed a little more spice (and used more coconut milk than recommended because I had a bigger can, and didn't cook it for long enough because the cauliflower cooked faster than expected), but overall, a success.

See? Multi-coloured, vegan, Indian spiced yummy supper.

Unintentionally sugar-free banana muffins

James and I decided to bake the banana bread recipe from Cup of Jo, but to bake it as muffins instead. They took a really long time to cook and weren't browning very well, at which point James pointed out that we had forgotten the sugar. Oops.

They were actually really good, especially with a little bit of of butter and sugar, since, you know, there wasn't actually any sugar in the muffins.

Mmmm...cake for breakfast. 

Recipe: oatmeal cranberry cookies

We made oatmeal cranberry cookies yesterday, using Smitten Kitchen's oatmeal raisin cookies as a starter.

We left out the cinnamon, raisins and walnuts, and put unsweetened dried cranberries in, instead. Most of the bag (ahem, chef's perks).

I'm also really enjoying watching Rachel Khoo in her Little Paris Kitchen on "le BBC." I'm up to the Boeuf Bourgignon episode...we'll see how it compares to Julia!

Lentil salad

I bought myself some tulips. They were on sale because they were starting to open - I LOVE the colours.

My go-to lunch has changed recently - I randomly had a craving for lentils, so I cooked some of the wholewheat giant couscous that we received in our Swag Bag from the Delia workshop last spring, along with some pardina lentils. They both cook in simmering stock, the lentils for a few minutes longer, so I throw them in five minutes before I add the couscous. Then, I mix it all in with whatever yummies are in the fridge. Yesterday, it was canned artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and some feta.  Extremely tasty.

See, all mixed in! I've eaten it warm straight from the pan and cold as a supper a few hours later - both are great.

Now? Later? Never? Too late?

I love Joanna Goddard's blog, Cup of Jo. She always has thought-provoking posts.

This one, on the decision whether or not to have kids, completely floored me. I thought I was alone in my yes...no...right now...never...maybe? fluctuations.

Apparently not.

Disclaimer: to my friend who has just told me she's pregnant, I'm thrilled for you and I can't wait to meet the mini-you; to my friends who have kids, they're adorable and I love them and I think being Auntie Kate is the Best Thing Ever.

Ok, disclaimer finished.

I'm 30 and have been married for almost 6 years. All kinds of inappropriate people (acquaintances, hairstylists, tenuously-related family members) ask me, "So, when are you having children?!" (Close friends, fine. People whose middle names I don't know, mind your own damn beeswax, says the girl on her open-to-the-internets blog...) Some days, I'm desperate for kids. Some days, I can't bear the thought of them. Also, I have some friends-of-friends who are struggling with infertility. I can't even imagine how it feels to get the "oh my gosh you did NOT just ask me when I'm having babies" question if I were desperately trying and spending tons of money on it and failing completely. Which I'm not. But I could be. You don't know that when you ask me.

So.

I work full time. We have a small house. We have a boat. We have one (very cute) car. My parents live on another continent. I sing in a choir with a 2-hour weekly evening rehearsal, 20 miles from home. I love tower-bell ringing, also generally in 2-hour blocks, in the evenings. I love reading for hours in bed. I love lazy weekend mornings. I'm selfish. I like quilting (and spending money on quilts). I go to New York once a year (on a red-eye with a kid or with a stroller? ACK!). The schools around us are really not very good, unless you go to private school, which costs an alarmingly large percentage of my annual salary. Homeschooling, anyone? Then there's the birthday parties (a seemingly endless stream of them at a certain age), the ballet and the ice skating and the bike rides and the park and mom, my shoes are too small and I really need to have that new game and I just threw up and what's for lunch?

I always wanted kids when I was younger, you know, when I grow up. I worked as a camp counselor for years. A lot of my friends have kids (or are pregnant). I love kids. Babies are cute. I make cute clothes and quilts and shoes for them. But these are not campers. Campers go home to Mommy and Daddy at the end of the summer. Babies go back to Mommy and Daddy when they cry.

They're expensive. They smell. They take up ALL your free time. They make you depressed after you give birth and then again when you stop breast feeding, apparently. They're, um, permanent. You're responsible for them. Seriously. PERMANENT. Like, forever. I'm 30, and I still talk to my mom at least once a week. What if I have a kid that turns out to be a mass-murderer? Or, worse, a Republican (kidding)?

Am I ticking? I have no idea!

When I wasn't sure if I wanted a kindle, I asked the bloggie peeps. This feels a little bit bigger than that. I'm really, really glad that I'm not the only one.

Giants quilt, in progress.

My great-aunt has just moved to an assisted-living facility. Her new digs are pretty snazzy, having seen them. She is a HUGE New York Giants fan, so I'm making her a quilt for "her" Giants as a housewarming present.

Here's the inspiration:

And the printed-out templates (reversed this time, even thought it didn't matter because it's a solid).

And the cut-out fabric:

And the fabric on the football-field front, with red zigzag. Now to quilt (straight white walking-foot lines like yard lines, methinks), bind (in red), and send!

Special thanks to the Husband for being the quilt feet.

Spring rabbit

A spring rabbit, spotted on a pew-end at the Ladies' Guild day out. I feel like he's probably there year-round, but spotting him in spring feels rather appropriate.

I've come across a few things on the internets that shall require making:

Best Banana Bread Ever from Cup Of Jo

Handmade piping from Noodlehead

Potato Knish from Smitten Kitchen
This adorable Tova top from Film In The Fridge
Millet with mushroom and kale from Oh She Glows

I can't do them all this weekend because I'll be singing in the sold out Messiah concert, with the ever-excellent Bury Bach Choir. WOOT! SOLD OUT!

Review: The Museum Street Cafe

I went to Ipswich yesterday for a haircut, and after some window shopping (and buying Selvedge, squee!), I had lunch at the Museum Street Cafe. The stepson had recommended it on a number of occasions, but we'd never gotten around to eating there. Well, I'll definitely be back. They had a small but enthusiastic (and fresh) veggie menu, with what looked like some vegan options.

I was originally after a lentil salad, but since it was so revoltingly cold and rainy out, I went for the red onion and cheese tart. It wasn't called a tart, it was something else, but I can't remember the name. I did, however, take a picture. It was delicious - really light but also quite cheesy and sweet and sharp because of the caramelised onions. More, please!

I also finished my latest book late Friday. It was a Persephone book. That I found at the Stowmarket Library. While browsing. I know, shut up. I never find anything while browsing at the library. But there it was, in its pretty grey cover, waiting for me! Book no. 72, to be specific, House-Bound, by Winifred Peck. I got a little stuck towards the end, but otherwise enjoyed it. It's a pre-McCall-Smith satire of wartime Edinburgh (called Castleburgh in the book), with entertaining characters and a few fairly emotional moments. What? We're Scottish! We don't have emotions. Well, they seem emotional to this overly-emotional and perky American. There's one of those in the book, too. Teehee.

In springtime news, I kidnapped some forsythia from our back garden and put it in a vase in the kitchen. So yellow and springy! (John brought me some begonias, also yellow, in the background.

Random book review: Jean Auel

I've been working my way through Jean Auel's series, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear. They're a little bit repetitive, and not particularly intellectual, but I seem to find them a rather guilty pleasure. My favorite one so far was definitely The Valley of Horses, but I've enjoyed them all. If you want to just escape rather wholeheartedly into prehistoric (i.e. before Teh Internets) fiction, go nuts. If you want a high-brow thinky book, leave it. I had a geeky few weeks when Alice Roberts was doing a documentary on the evolution of humans from apes right through HomoSapiens, and she got to the part where the Neanderthals and the early Humans were living in the same areas, simultaneously. Shut up. Just like the books! 

The fourth fifth (really? I've read 4 already?) one is en route to the Stowmarket library. I'm pretending not to be excited. 

Oh, and my mom remembers reading them when they came out and were super popular, back in the dark ages (aka the 1980s).

And now, for a completely random picture of Soho, on a winter afternoon. I love New York.

Your eyeballs are your own again.

Some of you may have noticed - your eyeballs are no longer being sold. Apologies for the ads over the last few months. It just seemed like kind of a waste of time to sell your eyeballs for what amounted to about $10 over a year. All gone!

Anyway.

I've been knitting, on commission from friends at work who admired my fingerless mittens. One pair, in  burgundy (or as close as I could get)...the real colour is slightly less pink thank in the picture below.

And t'other pair. My instructions were: "Purple. And longer than yours." Indeed.

For both, I knitted some love into them. And I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to Buy More Yarn and Knit More Things For My Peeps (That They ACTUALLY Wanted).

In terms of economic viability, well, not so much. But I do have a barter commission for a cowl like mine for my Alexander Technique teacher. HOORAY! For anyone else, I'm open to commissions (you buy the wool and a contribution towards my time, I make the doohickey). No jumpers, please - they take forever!

And while this is most definitely not your last chance, this picture was too good to pass up.

Taken en route to a very excellent Ladies Guild Of Change Ringers (Eastern District) day out today.

Legos are awesome

John found this video. My brother and I used to spend hours building legos, but never did anything as cool as this.

Giant Couscous

I bought myself some yellow tulips. It was an excellent idea. Don't you agree?

We took the mother-in-law for lunch in Norwich, at Frank's Bar, again. New menu, different but equally amazing food. I had grilled aubergine over giant couscous with roasted-fennel creme fraiche. SO yummy.

I finished reading The Gift, by Alison Croggon, last week. It reminded me a bit of Eragon, but I think I liked it better. I've reserved the next one at the library, which I guess is a good indication!

Snowy Vermont

I hadn't been to Vermont since Liz's wedding, 5 years ago. Since there's...um...nothing in Cambridge, NY, where my grandmother's funeral was held, we all stayed in the teeming metropolis that is  Bennington, VT. Bennington's claim to fame is an extremely tall obelisk on the top of the tallest hill to commemorate the Battle of Bennington, which for reasons known only to itself was not actually fought in Bennington. Silly Vermonters. It wasn't even in Vermont - it was in New York! (Granted, only 10 miles away, but still.)

Anyway, Vermont's wintry weather obliged with a very pretty dusting of snow:

Here I am, pointing at the British, I think. At least, that's what the tall statue-dude (General John Stark, apparently) was doing.

And then we found a snowy, covered bridge. Since we were in Vermont, after all.

And then, the following morning, we had absolutely pristine and perfect New England scenes. The monastery (at the top of a very long and extremely steep driveway/road) was serene and beautiful.

Even the birdhouse had snow.

Before the service, we found my grandfather's grave.

My grandparents were very involved with the Monks of New Skete (monks have websites, too!) in their original location in New Canaan, CT, near my grandparents' house, and stayed in close contact with the brothers throughout their lives. The brothers and other members of the New Skete community were extremely welcoming and kind, and included us in their Sunday mass, as well as a short service afterwards. It was perfect, and Grandma would have loved it.

Baby quilts and a recipe

One of my friends from college just became a dad on Friday. Twins, even! And what do twin babies need? Quilts!

I used some of the seemingly endless Moda Verna jelly roll that I bought a few years ago (and have used in a few other quilts), and made improvised stacked-coins quilts with the same fabric in both quilts. I used off-white cotton from Halfpenny Home for the sashing, and a brown print with blue circles for the binding. I used a little bit of one of the blue strips for the corner of binding on one of the quilts, so that they'd be easy to tell apart (and because I ran out of the brown)!

The backing, which you can't see in any of these pictures, is blue polka dot flannel. Soft and warm for February babies!

I finished these just before leaving for NY, so I got to wash them and dry them in New Rochelle (we don't have a dryer at home), and deliver them in person.

LOVE!

While I was there, the then-almost-parents made a wintry salad that was so delicious that I asked for the recipe.

Barlow Salad (adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, March 2012)

Salad:

1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced

1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

3 small oranges, peeled and sectioned

large handful cilantro leaves (that's coriander, for the Brits)

large handful tamari almonds, crushed [I'd never heard of these - apparently tamari is similar to soy sauce but stronger)

zest of 1 lime

zest of 2 lemons

Dressing:

juice of 1-2 limes

juice of 3-4 lemons

1/4 cup of good olive oil

salt & cracked pepper to taste

It was delicious, and wintry, and healthy. Make it!

Nom Wah!

Nom Wah Tea Parlor was reviewed in the NYT back in April, and then featured again in June. We had intended to visit when I was in NY in September, but ended up with a larger lunch group in Chinatown than we had anticipated, and didn't think we'd get in.

As part of the trip to NY for Grandma's memorial service, my mom and I had an epic day out in NYC. We went uptown to the Frick, window-shopped on the UES, then took the 6 downtown to Chinatown. We had a little bit of trouble finding Doyers St, but eventually managed it. They're right about the fact that it seems like a forgotten corner of the city - we knew where we were going and almost missed the street!

[I flew under the radar on this trip and really didn't see anyone other than family - if I didn't see you, don't be mad at me!]

When we sat down, we noticed that everyone else had big plates of greens on their tables, and appeared to be slurping them down with gusto. We ordered a pork bun (for me, mom doesn't like them), shrimp noodle rolls, scallion pancakes, dumplings, and Chinese greens with oyster sauce. SO delicious. Only problem is that they're kinda tricky to eat, especially with chopsticks. I think next time we'll ask for them to be cut in half in the kitchen. They were fresh, hot, glossy, crunchy, and really tasty.

Oh, and we were wondering about the table manners of the gentleman over mom's left shoulder in the picture above, with his napkin tucked into his shirt. Well, we didn't wonder long. It's for the greens. They're messy. We followed suit rather quickly.

Yumsters. I'm going to have to find myself a recipe for these, and possibly for scallion pancakes.

Podcasts I love

I'm a newly hatched podcast junkie.

I love:

This American Life. The "Continental Breakup" one from a few weeks ago was excellent, and should be required listening for all global citizens.

Front Row Weekly

All Things Considered

Nerdist, specifically the episode where he interviews David Tennant

Suggestions gladly taken!

Fair warning: I like geek-slanted podcasts that I can listen to while walking to and from the train. I'm not shy about laughing out loud while walking along by myself.

Review: Bill Bryson At Home

I've read and loved several of fellow expat Bill Bryson's books. 

I bought At Home sometime in December, and promptly put it on the shelf and forgot about it. I was in the mood for some nonfiction last weekend, so I picked it up and started reading. It's a little bit repetitive, but otherwise very well written (and exhaustively researched). It's one not to read if you're embarrassed about laughing out loud on the train; thankfully, I'm not!

It's one of those books that will give you random dinner party fodder for months. You'll never look at your pillow the same way again, either.

Photo of ginger beer from Frank's Bar in Norwich, quite close to where Bryson lives. Bill, next time you're in town, check it out! The food is delicious!

Brr!

We had a snowstorm. The snow is still here (it's been freezing this week)!

What's a girl to do?

Visit the library.

And then make apple cake. (It's not showing on their website yet but it's from this month's BBC Good Food)

Knitting red things

This baby hat pattern for a Little Fair Isle hat was featured on the Purl Bee a few weeks ago. I had some leftover yarn from the mucklemitts, as well as quite a bit of pink from Ellie's dress. We went to Cambridge last Saturday, for brisket udon and a general Day Out, and the thought of 2 hours in the car with nothing to knit was a bit worrying! So I quickly printed out the pattern and cast on.

Once I started on the chart, I was getting irritated with alternating the colours, so I watched a few "continental knitting" tutorials (keeping the yarn in your left hand instead of your right), had a good long think about it, and off I went. The tension was fine and I was EXTREMELY pleased with myself.

As you can see, Katie Bear loves her new hat. Ok, it's not hers, but she had the closest head-size.

It's now blocking on the upstairs windowsill in James' bathroom.

I also finished the other mucklemitt - LOVE these. I had two work buddies ask me to make them a pair. That means I'll have to go to the yarn store for more yarn. Poor me! I may even hold off until New York and go to Purl Soho - I could knit them in the car (3 hours each way) on the way to Grandma's memorial service.

We went to the inlaws' for a cuppa last Sunday afternoon, and had scones with homemade blackcurrant-orange jam. My jam skills are poor, and they're not going to improve while the MIL keeps making such amazing jam!

Memories of my grandmother

My last remaining grandparent (my paternal grandmother) passed away after a very long illness last week. It was time - she was well into her nineties and had not been well for a long time.

Some miscellaneous memories:

-Open-faced grilled cheese with bacon and tomato at her country club (with fries and gallons of ketchup). My mom always had a salad, while Edward, Grandma and I went for the grilled cheese. Crispy bacon, cool tomatoes, and melted cheese on lightly toasted bread. And then the ketchup came in little metal pots. Oh YUM.

-Croquet in her back yard with my brother, being constantly reminded not to fall in the septic tank. I always thought it was a little odd that she kept reminding us about it. In hindsight, probably a good thing that your grandchildren avoided falling into the septic tank!

-She always had a wiffle-golf ball on the antenna of her car, to make it easy to spot in parking lots! (Years ahead of those upstarts with their mickey-mouse ears on the antennae.)

-The prism that always hung in her living room, casting a rainbow on the wall (it's now in our living room, doing the same thing).

-Going to the beach with her and "surfing" (standing on our boogie boards, mostly). And then rainbow sherbet from the snack bar.

-Our very reliable Staying At Grandma's House supper: ground beef, canned new potatoes (which I still love), and canned corn. Ok, so the cooking skipped a generation, but my brother and I thought it was excellent.

Here's an old picture my dad found, of me, Grandma, and Mom, on Sea Lark. 

And here's another one of her (same jacket, same boat, different year!) with my grandfather, who died when I was 9.

Be at peace, Grandma.