Sailing then and now

Then:

And now:

Aaaaand we're back

Whirlwind US trip (90% Rhode Island, 8% upstate NY, 2% NYC metro).

This is Harry the Dog. No, he doesn't drink gin, he just likes to chew on plastic bottles.

August food

We had the boy for 2 weeks. We ate a TON of fruit (the strawberries this year have been amazing and just keep coming)!

John made cinnamon-raisin bread, which was demolished in short order:

With butter.

And James and I went to Cambridge (John was sailing, and my iPhone needed a Genius), and had some dumplings at Zonghua Traditional Snacks. Yumsters.

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

The Boy making Ultimate Chocolate Cake for granddad's birthday.

Family Dinner!

I've been reading Gluten Free Girl for a few years now. I have no gluten issues (I'm only allergic to eleventy-seven other things), but I love her writing, her photography, her sense of humour, and her recipes. I love that she bakes and cooks by weight, which means that I can use her recipes with "normal" flour.

And I love her love stories. Not just with her husband, who she clearly adores. But with her daughter. With her friends. With her home, Vashon Island. And with her food.

Her new cookbook, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day, comes out in the US today. I'm not sure when the UK release date is, but it's on Amazon.co.uk already. For those of you not in the UK, you can buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound.

And to celebrate the release of the new cookbook, she's not doing a blog tour or anything. She has, however, asked us to blog about our experiences with family dinners, as that's what inspired her and her husband to create their new book.

I had family dinners as a kid and as a teenager. They were generally on Saturday or Sunday nights (depending on who was in or out), and frequently featured steak, sauteed mushrooms, and mashed potatoes. Sometimes even Potato Buds (to John's horror). Sorry, Mom, secret's out. There were always tealights (my dad loves tealights), and usually Prairie Home Companion (not my favourite...) in the background on NPR.

Since we only have the stepson every other weekend, and there are only the three of us, there was never any thought of kid-dinner and grownup-dinner. From very shortly after I met him, when he was about 7, he ate what we ate, albeit in smaller portions or without whatever substance was currently deemed "fizzy."

We cook a lot. We like to eat.

We make veggie chili, and the boys eat it with rice while I eat it with cornbread (too American, they say).

We tend to eat meat-light- a lot of our favourite recipes are veggie ones. If we're having steak fajitas, it's one small steak, divided between three. Bacon is a seasoning. Chorizo & kale pasta is one of our faves.

Once, I made toad in the hole.

We make homemade pizza all the time. For whatever reason, the photos aren't cooperating.

We made meatballs in honour of my friend's mom when she passed away, and sparked a global meatball supper on what would have been her birthday. 

And then, there's always Julia. And her mushrooms.

Which go in to the famous and endlessly delicious Boeuf Bourguignon.

We love to cook because we love to eat, but it's more than that. We love to sit down as a family and talk about the food, talk about our days, tell fart jokes (we DO have a teenager, after all), and eat. The only differences now, from 7 years ago? I'm a better cook, which helps. Teenager now gets the biggest portion (and pronounces himself hungry shortly afterwards).

We'll stay with the family dinners, thanks.

Spontaneous London Adventure (epic Geek Day Out)

Fair warning: we three are Geeks. Serious Geeks. So this day out might not appeal to everyone. Teehee. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

We braved the snow this weekend for a day out in London, suggested at the last minute by the Husband. Stowmarket was having rail upgrade works, so we drove to Ipswich to catch the train from there. Because the tickets weren't as expensive as we had anticipated (but were still eye-watering), due to some jiggery-pokery with two sets of singles between Ipswich and Manningtree, and an offer running on tickets from Manningtree that included a day travelcard (yes!), we upgraded to first class. No, we didn't win the lottery. Husband was reading the railway mags, the Boy is reading It's Not Rocket Science, while I'm plodding through The Magicians. 

::Capsule-review & mini-rant starts::

It started strong and has faded somewhat. I'm nearly done, so I'll finish it, but unless something very exciting happens I'm not going to either recommend it or read any more Lev Grosmann. I was vaguely irritated from the beginning with the main character's obsession with "Fillory," an extremely thinly-veiled Narnia. As far as I'm concerned, get the rights and refer to actual Narnia, or don't bother. Or make Fillory different enough that I don't keep picturing scenes that C.S. Lewis (who is a better writer, thankyouverymuch) created so brilliantly. Ah. I'm not the only one.

::Capsule-review & mini-rant ends::

Anyway. We visited an extremely crowded British Museum, where John and the Horus appeared to be having a fascinating discussion. I think there was nobody else paying any attention to the Horus because he decides who gets to see him and who doesn't. We're some of the lucky few, obviously.

We headed over to Chinatown, stopping at Forbidden Planet and the Orc's Nest on the way. Obviously.

Then, thanks to TripAdvisor, we hit Joy King Lau, for dim sum. The steamed pork buns were the best I've ever had. (Sorry, Nom Wah, you're a close second.) We made a suitable mess on the table.

We walked up to Oxford Street, where we stopped at the local Games Workshop, Muji, and Cloth House to admire the fabric.

We then hopped back on the tube to head down to Waterloo, where we went to Ian Allan, a specialist railway and transport book and model shop.

Added to the list of oh-my-gosh-there's-a-market-for-that? These cab-ride DVDs of railway journeys across the UK.

Shut up.

I even found the one for my commute. However, I felt no need to buy it, since I ride the damn train all the time. Who buys these? Do they make some popcorn, grab some beers, and plop down on the couch with their friends? Do they secretly watch them when nobody else is home? Do you buy ones for routes you know? Routes you don't? Routes you wish you knew? Do you buy them for trainless friends?

Please, feel free to explain (or guess) in the comments. Also, there were several browsers full of these. Different brands filming the same routes, different routes, and a whole section of the same general idea, but for busses and bus routes instead. I understand not.

Then, since we were relatively close by, we went to the Tate Modern to make fun of the "art." Ok, so maybe we're uncultured philistines (see above non-comprehension of filmed railway journeys). Or something. It was truly, truly, crap.

This was the least-crap of all the crap. At least whoever the artist was had some skill with his or her jigsaw, and the planks made nice shadows.

At this point, we were tired, cold, and hungry. We trooped across the Millennium bridge, hopped on the Central Line at St Paul's, and subsided in front of warm, savoury bowls of Pho. Back on the train, through some snow on the A14, and into bed by 10.

Phew. An excellent day out was had by all.

Things my grandmother made

Boeuf bourguinon.

Carrots braised in butter.

Lots of other Julia recipes.

Fantastic omelettes.

Beautiful, classic dresses.

This cross-stitch, with our birthdays, the initials of the women in our family, and a note to me. 

She passed away a few months after I moved to the UK, 7 years ago. I still miss her (but can channel her when I make boeuf bourguignon).

Sunday Cooking

It's Mothering Sunday here, so we had the in-laws over for lunch. We slow-roast a chicken using this recipe, and served it with mashed potatoes and Julia's braised carrots. Oh, butter, I love you. I went slightly off-piste and added some herbes de Provence to the braising liquid. Yum.

I also made apple and raspberry crumble. Not my finest effort, but redeemed by custard. It looked pretty, though!

Four Mornings in Maine

Did you ever read One Morning In Maine? It was one of my favorites growing up. I love Maine - the people are unbelievably nice, it's beautiful, and it's COLD! (I also spent an extremely happy 4 years at Colby). So when my Mom's planned ski trip was cancelled at the last minute, she asked if I wanted to join her for a weekend at Sunday River. Um, YES PLEASE!

I...er...dropped everything and hopped on a plane to NY. The following morning, we hit the road for Bethel. We found B.T.'s Smokehouse in Sturbridge, MA, on tripadvisor, as we were zooming up the Mass Pike. Oh, yum. I love the motto, below. The pulled pork was amazing (so much so that we had to stop on our way back down from Maine for a second lunch and to pick up dinner for my dad)! Thanks, B.T.!

The sign reads: 

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, rib in one hand, beer in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO WHAT A RIDE."

And then, snow. We arrived on Friday night, then woke up to snow on Saturday morning. It snowed all day and night Saturday, and all day Sunday. Fresh powder!

Our ski-and-stay package included our lift tickets and a daily clinic - our first day, we ended up as the only two in our lesson, and had a blast. I hadn't skied in 8 years, but it appears to be like riding a bike. Woot. The second day was even better - I was the only one in my lesson group (my mom stuck with the "light blue" group while I headed to "dark blue," and I had a super-intense lesson. I only wiped out once, and I am no longer afraid of bumps. Sweet!

Monday morning was a bit more crowded (it was NH school vacation week so EVERYONE had come up for the week to ski), and the lesson was a bit "meh," but the weather was absolutely stunning. Clear blue skies, temps in the 30s, and fresh powder? Why, yes, I think I will.

Here we are in the "oh dear, my ski jacket makes me look like a donut" picture at the top of North Peak.

And on the chairlift.

See that? Lift ticket says "Find your happy place." Thanks, Sunday River, we did! (And thanks Mom & Dad for the amazing last-minute vacation!) I am an extremely lucky person.

Wintry Weekend in the North

We're spending the weekend with family near Durham, and having a proper Winter Weekend in the Countryside. Many adventures have ensued.

I rode Benjamin, the fell pony (we mostly agreed on speed and direction, and I didn't fall off, so I'm considering it a success). Cantering was NOT going to happen, according to Ben. Fair enough.

We went on a wintry walk with two naughty labradors. (One pictured below, between naughty moments.)

We saw nice rolling hills and dry stone walls.

We wore green wellies to match our green jackets.

We found a snowy mini pinecone.

We found a wintry forest with sun behind it.

And found a micro-climate road with sun, trees and blue sky. Shut UP. Blue sky. Really. I had to take its picture to prove that it does, in fact, exist.

Meet Harry!

My parents have adopted a puppy - they've had him for a few months and he's hilariously funny.

His favorite things:

-my parents

-John

-tea towels

-underwear and socks

-cheerios

-kleenex (preferably used)

-stinky rawhide chew things

-napping on your lap

-standing on the seat of a chair with his paws over the back

-the vacuum cleaner

He doesn't like:

-being put in his crate with the door closed

-neighbors coming and going

-being left by himself

My dad is famous

My dad is one of the Barrington harbormasters (in Barrington, RI), and was interviewed by a journalist from the Providence Journal. Yay dad!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

My dad gave me a love of sailing (which we have been doing all weekend - hello, RYA keelboat level 2!)

And a love of photography. The sunset in Stowmarket on Friday night as we were walking home:

Thanks, Dad!!

Recipe: Grandma's onion vinaigrette

I've always loved artichokes. (Sadly, John is not a fan). My family likes them too, so we had them fairly often during the summers when I was growing up. I've since found out a few things. 

First, a lot of people have never eaten an artichoke and have no idea what to do with it.

Second, nobody else that I've ever met has eaten them with anything other than melted butter. Except my family. Who eats them with my grandmother's onion vinaigrette. YUM.

My mom used to make this in her older-than-I-am Tupperware quick-shake, and we would eat what most people would consider to be excessive amounts of vinaigrette with our artichokes.

Oh, and there's a secret ingredient which most people are scandalised by. I've looked around the web and I can't find many similar recipes!

Recipe: Grandma's onion vinaigrette (for artichokes)

Makes enough for one artichoke, if you're like me...

Ingredients:

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs vinegar (cider, white wine, or red wine)

1 tbs ketchup

Mix until emulsified, and enjoy.

British Larder and Aldeburgh

After reading that Cambridge blogger Lazy Giraffe drives an hour and a half all the way to Woodbridge from Cambridge to eat at The British Larder, it was added to my must-try list.

When my Mom (whose birthday is today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!) suggested a trip to the coast, I suggested this as an optimal lunch spot on the way. I was a little worried that it would be super-crowded on a Saturday lunchtime, but it was merely reasonably busy.

I ordered the pork tasting platter, below. Pork terrine, a pork & pickle salad thingy (in the little pot), homemade coleslaw, homemade piccalilli, the Best Scotch Egg Ever, a sausage roll, a mini-meatloaf, some exceedingly delicious bread, and a spring-greens salad. The scotch egg and the butter both had cracked pepper and just the right amount of sea salt on them. The whole thing was rather unbelievably delicious. I washed it down with some Broadside, obviously.

My mom had the ploughmans' lunch, which had cheese twists, homemade pickle, a boiled egg, really excellent ham, and a wedge of cheese, along with a sausage roll, bread, piccalilli, and salad like mine.

We really enjoyed ourselves and will be going back. If you're in the neighborhood (or even if you're not), I highly recommend it.

On our way to Aldeburgh, we stopped at Snape Maltings. The sky was rather dramatic (it had stopped raining, briefly)

We found out later that John had been sailing in the mega-rainstorm in this picture. Boy, was he wet:

A yellow tractor on Aldeburgh beach:

And a good rock.

Conversation before reaching this particular rock, as follows.

Kate (walking on Aldeburgh beach, home to about 100 zillion rocks) : Mom, keep your eye out and let me know if you find a good rock.

Mom: Um, what?!

Five minutes later

Kate: Aha! This is a great rock! (Crouches down to photograph above rock)

Mom: (Shakes head)

C'mon, you can't say that isn't a great rock!