Recipe: Baked Apple a la Stowmarkate

I love baked apples. My mom always makes them in the oven, like my grandma did. That seems to take forever, though, and use a lot of energy for one little apple. 

So, my ingredients:

An apple (This one was a Bramley, but any cooker/eater will do. Sharper is better.)

Raisins

Cinnamon

Sugar

Butter

Your handy-dandy microwave

First, wash & core the apple. Don't worry about missing the middle a little bit, as long as you get most of the core out. Put the apple in a microwave-safe bowl (not on a plate...learned the hard way).

Then, fill the hole with raisins. I don't really measure, and it doesn't matter if they're stuck together - they'll be all nice and gooey when you're done.

On top of the raisins, sprinkle some cinnamon and a little bit of sugar. I only add sugar if the apple is a cooking apple - if it's an eater, you should be fine. Then add a small pat of butter on top, smooshing it down with the raisins as much as possible.

Microwave on high for about 2 1/2 minutes, but keep an eye on it. After about a minute and a half, the apple insides should start bubbling out through the top of the apple. I usually try and wait until quite a bit of apple has come out of the top - it stays in the bowl and makes a really yummy sauce mixed with the cinnamon and butter.

See? The raisins get cooked by the applesauce and the cinnamon and sugar get all mixed in as well. Careful, though - it's hot when it comes out of the microwave, and the apple innards stay hot for quite a while. Enjoy!

dark and light

It's starting to feel properly wintry. I've been wearing my new LLBean down jacket to work, with a hat and gloves (especially on the days when I have to walk to the train station), and today was the Owl Sweater's first outing. Of course, because it's insanely warm, I didn't wear a real jacket with it. Mmmm owl sweater.

It's also now starting to get dark around 3:30. Twilight hits around then, and it's seriously dark a few minutes after 4. This was a picture I took on a bike ride over the summer. All the fields are ploughed and muddy now - the golden wheat has long been harvested.

Here is the sm. boy, with my current quilt-in-progress. It has now been sandwiched and quilted (with blue polka-dotted flannel backing), and the binding has been sewn to the front. I think I need about another 2 1/2 hours of hand-sewing the binding to the back and I'll be all done! Oh, and in case you were wondering, the binding is ORANGE. Like, really, really orange. It all looks rather awesome. You can't see from this picture, but the squares reading as black are actually brown with orange and blue swirls on them. A few Amy Butlers, an Ikea (the green critters), the last scrap of the sheep print from PurlSoho, a tiny piece of leftover Liberty, and some really fun Michael Miller Groovy Guitars.

I also have a small announcement to make: I think I might be a yarn snob. I stumbled upon a new yarn store today, which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty. I eagerly hopped into the store, to discover that it was ALL acrylic. No, wait, there was one very small rack of exceedingly scratchy 100% wool. Who knits with this stuff? And why? When there's so much amazing yarn out there? Shudder.

One more appeal to the interwebs - in last month's Martha Stewart Living they featured several entryway coat racks. I LOVE this one, but it's there and I'm here.

I can't find anything even vaguely similar over here - they're all either really twee or really industrial. Suggestions, Brits?

looking up?

So this is where we've been lately. I'm not sure what exactly Husband is looking at in this picture (neighbor's mast, perhaps), but I like it. I like the flat, cold, English autumn light, too. Kanga is now all tucked in for the winter. There are a few more miscellaneous things that need attending to, but wind, rain, frost, and general weather are now no longer a worry. Phew.

I've had a rather disappointing fit of Being Slow With Books lately - it took me almost a month (a month!) to plough through the second Inkheart book, Inkspell. I enjoyed it, but it just seemed to put me to sleep when I tried to read it in the evenings, and not hold my interest during the day. I'll give it a bit before I read the next one.

I'm in the middle of the second of the Hunger Games books, and really enjoying it. It's zipping along, just like the first one. It's a perfect tucked-under-the-blankets book. I'm having a small bout of wishing I could read and sew/knit at the same time, as I have a quilt to bind (by hand) and I don't really feel like watching TV - I'd rather be reading. Any tips, let me know!

Vacation roundup, part 2

I had visited Newport several times, and been past the mansions, but I'd never been inside. My parents won two mansion tickets in a raffle, which I put to very good use. I loved The Breakers - I thought the audio guide was extremely interesting and well-narrated, and the visit flowed really well. It was fascinating, if a little overwhelming. I also visited Chateau Sur Mer, which featured the World's Crankiest Tour Guide (who was also a little bit repetitive). It was interesting, but not quite as OTT as The Breakers. I was there on a glorious autumn day, as you can see from the picture.

This was me, on the first day (jet-lagged) with my birthday buddy Snoopy (the dog), and our new tote bags. The Roo bag currently has 2 Leathermans (Leathermen?), a pair of pliers, and a boat towel in it. We'll be sailors yet!

This was my foodie-porn shot from the night before A & P's wedding. That would be seafood chowder. A spoon-supporting seafood chowdah from Maine. Ayuh. (And, my goodness, was it good!)

Second foodie pic: Me (obv) and Mario Batali at the NYBG. He's there, really. Right in the middle of the picture, on the stage, wearing orange shorts. You might have to click on it to make it bigger...

This is one of my faves from the whole trip - g. and me at the Bronx Zoo. That would be g, the owner of the blue dress. She's SO cute and smart and generally awesome. Also, hanging out with her and her mom (my bf from high school) meant that we got to go to the children's zoo. ACE! I'm applying for President of the g Fan Club. I might have to settle for President of the European Division - she's pretty popular!

And you're now at the end of the vacation roundup - back to the baking/knitting/sailing/bell ringing madness!

Recursive StowmarKate

I don't think I'm going to tear a hole in the space-time continuum, but one never knows. This picture was taken at Starlite Diner in New Rochelle (also known as "Mike's," if you're my dad). It's me! And my blog! And the diner! So now, to hopefully not shred the space-time continuum...drumroll...it's a picture on the blog of a picture of the blog (which has a picture of Mike) at Mike's. Phew. Still there? Great!

Unsurprisingly, I didn't spend my full 10 days on the eastern seaboard at Mike's. I hit up (in order): New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachussetts, New Hampshire (didn't stop in NH), Maine, back to NH, MA and RI, back through CT, more NY, some New Jersey, back to NY, and home. I think I need a vacation from my vacation.

Between all the driving, my mom and I had a few really fun days in RI, mostly biking around and doing what my dad always refers to as "girl stuff." Mostly eating and riding bikes, with a few small shopping excursions. Clothes are so much cheaper on the other side of the Atlantic. And since it was so nice out, I put my toe in the water in Bristol Harbor. I have officially been in the water on both sides of the Atlantic this year. Lucky me!

And no trip to New England would be complete without the Lobstah. YUM.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, I hit the ripe old age of 29 today. Ack. After a brief interlude last spring where I had completely convinced myself that I was 27, going on 28, I've been happily 28 for a while. But 29 is nestling rather close to 30. Alarmingly so.

In any case, James did a beach cleanup with the Sea Scouts two weeks ago, and they had a few prize draws for participants. He won two tickets in the cleanup-sponsors' box (that would be BT, then), for today's match against Leeds. As you can see, the BT box is not too shabby - we were field level, right on the halfway line.

The players were thisclose and it was a great game. The TractorBoys managed 2 (!) goals against their bitter rivals, there was lots of good singing, we had a good group in the box, and the away fans were entertainingly rowdy, but not alarmingly so. We may have to go to more games....although something tells me it won't be in a box next time!

Thanks to BT, to the Sea Sprouts, and to our host today. And especially to James (and to his "other" family, who were generous enough to offer me the extra ticket)!

A small break from the sick bay

My second "Little Sister's Dress" is finished, as of this past weekend! This picture isn't exactly true to colour - the dress is more of a raspberry colour. It's the 3-6 month size, knitted for a work friend's daughter. When I made Gabi's dress, my work buddy loved it so much that I promised her that if she had a girl, I'd make her one. And here it is! I started it in August, not too long after Ellie was born. I can't wait to see her in it! The buttons were crowd-sourced at Halfpenny Home - I had the beginnings of the dress and I think we had every single button in the store out on the table at some point. I think they're perfect - thanks guys!

I came down with some kind of tummy bug this week, and have spent the last 2 days mostly napping, with a little bit of reading. I finished Inkheart last week - I found it was slow to get going but the last 50 pages really whizzed along. I've reserved the second one at the library, so I guess I did enjoy it!

I've had the Hunger Games on my booklist since I read about all the excitement that the final book in the trilogy received when it came out. It reminded me a little bit of The Host, and was definitely an enjoyable romp. When I finished it, I had my first moment of wishing I had a Kindle, simply so I could download the second book and get started right away. I did the next best (and much cheaper) thing, instead, which was to join the queue at the library. It should arrive in a week or two, anyway.

And now, my unhappy tummy and I are going (back) to bed.

Wandrings in Woodbridge

We headed to Woodbridge yesterday to check out the Farmer's Market. We had a few logistical issues (mostly parking-related), and ended up missing the market. However, we found this sign, and were very happily sidetracked!

They had a really good group of vendors - the vintage stalls had very well-curated displays (rather than the frequently spotted heap of "crap from my attic"), and the handmade textiles were awesome. Here is the bunting, looking rather jolly.

And more bunting, over on the right. Yes, bunting necklaces. I may or may not have been able to resist...you'll have to ask the Birthday Fairy next week.

Then we wandered over to the Tide Mill, where the sky was looking rather autumnal, I thought.

We had an exceedingly tasty lunch at The Waterfront Cafe. We've walked past it a hundred times but never been in. We'll definitely be going back! John had a really delicious venison hot pot, while I had a dressed crab from their deli. It would be fab to head over there on a really wintry afternoon and tuck into a hearty stew while watching the weather roll in. Brr!

Review: Aeropress coffee maker

John and I used to work in the same building. No longer. While I miss seeing him randomly throughout the day, my coffee situation has improved dramatically. We had a coffee machine in my office that we shared, making a pot in the morning and drinking it over the course of a few hours. After he left, though, I quickly realised that it was time for a new solution. The minimum quantity was 5 cups, which is WAY too much coffee for me to drink without serious ill-effects.

After much thought, I sent the coffee machine with John to his new office (where it is has been welcomed with open arms). No coffee in my office, however, was not a sustainable option. Yes, we have a coffee machine, but it spits out evil little plastic cups of evil coffee, and there's no non-milk option. And it's all powdered. Shudder.

I asked Teh Interwebs, and came to the conclusion that I needed to buy myself an Aeropress. Bizarrely, it was invented by the same dude who invented the Aerobie (you know, that orange frisbee thingy). The website trumpets the awesomeness of the Aeropress, and I was worried about the hype. Shouldn't have been - it's awesome. Super-easy to clean, and makes great coffee.

Gone, with the wind.

My dad sent me a scan of an old picture (circa 1983, New Rochelle, NY). Grandpa, me (in matching red hats, obv.), Mom and Dad. I don't really remember learning to sail - I just always knew. Probably because most of my early memories are of sailing - tethered to the boat by a short line tied to my lifejacket. If my brother and I were to have ever fallen overboard (we didn't), we would have just bobbed along beside the boat until my parents hauled us back in.

So after many years of sailing with my parents, sailing lasers, bluejays and sunfish at various camps, teaching sailing at Lochearn for two years, and missing sailing when not on the water, John and I finally found "our" boat. She's a 19 foot Squib, built in the late 1960s, and is in need of some minor TLC but is otherwise awesome. We're a little biased, but we think she's beautiful. Her name is Kanga (after the Winnie the Pooh character), and her tender (the little dinghy behind) is known as Roo. Can't rename a boat - it's unlucky - so it's a good thing we think the name is really funny.

We are, indeed, gone with the wind.

I finally finished Margaret Mitchell's novel - it took me nearly a month. Phew. I'm really glad I stuck with it - the last 200 pages were really good, and needed the first 800 (I know, right?) to set them up. On to shorter books for a little while, I think.

A suggestion for my hydrangea

Dear hydrangea plant,

I love you very much. You are very sweet and green in the back yard. However, despite my best efforts, you refuse to flower. At all. I've added a picture below, from Helmingham Hall (not far away, so it's not the climate), of the general direction you should be aiming in.

Thanks.

Love,

 Kate

P.S. I think Grandma has been making jam and not telling us. Mmmmmm best jam in the world....

Frankly, my dear...

I'm still plodding through Gone With The Wind. I'm a little over half way through, and I'm not finding either Rhett or Scarlett to be particularly compelling. Maybe it's my biased Yankee upbringing? Who knows. I'm definitely going to attempt to finish it, but at this point, I can't really see why it has become such a classic.

In other literary news, my Google Reader told me today that the newest instalment of Alexander McCall Smith's Corduroy Mansions will be along shortly. Sweet!

Late August Bank Holiday Weekend

Funny English people. Americans have Memorial Day and Labor Day. The English: June Bank Holiday and Late August Bank Holiday. Descriptive, I guess.

In the true tradition of the August Bank Holiday, it was chilly and breezy, with intermittent showers. John caught me splashing in a puddle. Some things never change!

He also caught some rather intrepid sailors, outside of Levington. Brrr.

 I caught a few silhouetted masts.

And a big, blowsy dahlia. I love the colours. Pink and yellow? Why, yes, I think I will!

I really like this one, too. Especially the little purple & yellow flower photobombing at the bottom left.

I think I'm on a Big Book kick - I went from The Magician's Apprentice (700+pp) to Gone With The Wind (clocks in at 1000-ish). Zoinks. So far, I like GWTW. Scarlett has just met Rhett for the first time (I don't think that's a spoiler, do you?) and I'm interested to see where the next 850 pages go.

Look what I found

I was in London for work this week, meeting up with some suppliers over from New York. I ended up on the 8pm train back out to the sticks, but before I got on the train, I stopped in WHSmith for some reading material. (I'd finished The Magician's Apprentice, by Trudi Canavan, on the way down, definitely recommend it.)

And what did I find? A copy of this month's Real Simple. WOOT! And not just a randomly lurking copy, either. Do you see that? Down at the bottom left?

Here, let me show you. It has a £ price printed on it. None of this silly overstickered price business. I couldn't find a subscription card in it, though, which was a little sad. Glad to know that I'm no longer beholden to random transatlantic visitors importing single copies for me!

I went horse riding

This is Chloe. She lives near Durham (and is my sister-in-law's). She was nice enough to let me ride her last weekend. Very sweet, although became slightly devious when she clocked that I am Not A Confident Horsewoman. I did manage not to fall off, and we even cantered (at the same time)! WOOT!

Summer cooking

It's Travis' birthday this week. No choice but to make a chocolate cake, then. James helped a lot, which was good. The ganache split a little bit, but not spectacularly badly. Cake tasted awesome, though.

After letting it gather rather more dust than is probably healthy, John and James discovered how fabulous the George Foreman Grill is at making panini. English supermarkets have relatively recently started selling "panini bread," which are basically little flat-ish rectangular loaves that fit nicely in the grill. The current favorite combo (which I highly recommend) is ham, cheddar, and jalapenos. Here's mine from yesterday. YUM.

I'm also the proud owner of a very awesome new mug. The only improvement would be if the spanners were knitting needles.

Blue & green baby quilt

I read Roger Deakin's Waterlog last week - it finally came in at the library. I thought it was a little slow getting started, but I really loved it. I really miss swimming outside (Lake Fairlee, do you hear me?), especially in non-chlorinated places. And cold ones, like the Messalonskee Lake in June - brrrr! We managed to catch the Alice Roberts BBC4 programme on Wild Swimming, which was inspired by Deakin's book. Where's my BBC film crew to follow me around, huh? StowmarKate, the TV series. Anyone? Harumph.

I've finally had a chance to take a picture of the finished baby quilt that's about to wing its way to New York. It's Halfpenny Home natural cotton with stacked charms from my Moda Verna jelly roll. I used up most of the greens and blues (and all of the browns for the binding). I love it - I hope it likes its new home!

I joined the zillions of people reading The Help, and loved it. I've even reserved Gone With the Wind (which, somehow, I've never read) from the library. It had the potential to veer into melodrama at a few points, but managed to stay on the right side of the line as far as I was concerned.

Possessed?

I checked the Booker prize-winning Possession out of the library - I'd enjoyed The Children's Book, but this had been billed as AS Byatt's best. I found it pretty heavy going, and after reading a few reviews on Amazon, decided to give up around the 100 page mark. People seemed to either love it or hate it, and as I was well along the "hate it" route, it's gone back to the library. No hard feelings. Both the lovers and the haters singled out as impressive the fact that Byatt has managed the spectacular feat of inventing 2 complete bodies of work for 2 fictional poets. Well, that's lovely, and very clever and whiz-bang, but for Pete's sake, give me a good story while you're showing me how spectacularly brilliant you are. Harumph.

Before I started my long, hard slog through the first hundred pages of Possession, I read the final Magic Thief book: Found. It was a good ending to the trilogy, and I'd definitely recommend it to the What Do I Read After Harry Potter set.

Bell-ringing news has been rather thin on the ground around here. I've been marching along through the methods, and we rang a Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Minor last weekend. I'd been having trouble remembering the work at a "single," and when I looked back at my Method Ringer's Companion, I found a tip from Steve Coleman that not only made me remember it, but made me giggle a little each time. He said to think of the single as a "thrilling handbrake turn," which cracked me up when I read it. And then, of course, the composition that Lesley called had me making said handbrake turn every time it was called. John thinks I've lost my marbles. Thrilling!

The quilt picture? It's a sneak-peek. It's been washed and is now drying but it's rainy and miserable outside, so no pictures today!

New books!

I'm now the proud new owner of the stack of books below. Unbridled luxury, methinks. And no, we're not suddenly going vegan, but it had great reviews and I'm always on the lookout for meat- and dairy-light recipes.

That's enough blogging - I'm off to do some reading!

Review: The Lacuna

It was my turn to pick the book for our latest book group selection, and I'd been looking forward to the latest Barbara Kingsolver novel for quite a while. I hadn't gotten around to reading it on my own, so I suggested it to the group. I felt pretty nifty because the day after we reserved our 5 copies of The Lacuna at the library, the book won this year's Orange Prize for Fiction. ::Pats self on back::

In any event, we managed to get three copies before the hordes descended, which we're sharing. I finished the book last night, and was strongly reminded of why I like Kingsolver's writing so much. She's not page-turningly cinematic like Steig Larsson or Stephenie Meyer, but she weaves a well constructed, engaging story. She's also very good at switching narrators, which she also used successfully in The Poisonwood Bible.

The story is set in the US and Mexico from about the 1900s up to the 1950s. Her descriptions are extremely vivid, the characters are endearing (and flawed). It's historical fiction, where the protagonist is dropped into a setting with historical figures. There were a few surprises along the way, which I won't spoil by elaborating further. The first half did, however, expand my repertoire of Spanish swear words quite significantly.

Review: Up In The Air, SuperSize Me, Star Trek

We've watched several movies lately. John and I took advantage of the £1 for 1 week awesomeness on the DVDs at the Stowmarket Library to watch Star Trek again. We both loved it as much as we had in the theatre. Plenty of action interspersed with some Actual Dialogue and a little bit of kissing. Really, what more could you want? I've seen maybe one Next Generation episode, and John has an alarmingly complete knowledge of the original series. It didn't matter - we both thought it was great (although I'm sure I missed all kinds of inside jokes). Leonard Nimoy stole the show, and had some great one-liners.

Despite the fact that they've cut down the hours at the Stowmarket Blockbuster, we managed to grab a copy of Up In The Air. I can't say that I think it was as amazing as everyone seems to think it is - John barely got through it and I thought George Clooney was playing the same aloof character that I seem to always catch him in. Oh well. Not funny at all, either, despite having "comedy" emblazoned on the front. Maybe we just didn't get it?

Then we watched Super Size Me (which I'd never seen) with James. The box said it was a "12", which should have been fine. There was no nudity but there were a few descriptions of what happens to Morgan Spurlock's love life as a result of all the fat/salt/sugar that he's eating, which were a little graphic for our semi-resident 12-year-old. And his dad and stepmom. Ahem.

In any case, he's announced that McD's is now "horrible", which I imagine will pass. However, I can't see him ever being tempted to over-indulge. Yummy. I'll happily admit that I do not feel guilty about my once-a-year McD's egg mcmuffin at JFK airport. When Edward and I were in high school (and I was playing on the tennis team and he was on the rugby team), we had McDonalds probably more than we should have - maybe once a week for a while. It doesn't seem to have done us any harm, although we WERE both running several miles a day.

As it's now definitely summer (and we're having an unseasonably English but very much appreciated warm summery stretch of weather), I'm on to iced coffee on weekend mornings. I know I'm supposed to make the coffee stronger before I ice it, but John doesn't like iced coffee, so I just use the regular stuff out of the pot. Mmmm....coffee....

I've started in on yet another baby quilt. This one uses most of the blues and greens from my Moda Verna jelly roll, and was inspired by this stacked coins quilt and this one. I've also used more of the off-white linen-y material from Halfpenny Home that I used in this quilt. Pictures soon!

Afternoon in Bury

We had an extremely successful afternoon in Bury yesterday. The original plan had been to go to Cambridge for the afternoon, but the thought of sitting in a hot train (or driving) for an hour each way was too much for me.

I tried on one dress in Debenhams on a whim - I have a wedding to go to in October in Maine (could be 65 and sunny, could be snowing!), and I needed a dress. Somehow, the last one on the rack was not only 50% off, but my size, exactly what I was looking for, and fit like it was made for me. SWEET! It's strapless, hazy-gray with silvery embroidery on it. It's a little below knee-length in the front with a mini-train in the back. I've scoured the Debenhams website and there's nothing. Oh well. Hopefully the weather won't be such that I have to accessorise with snow boots and mittens.

I bought some bobbins at the "open on Sunday because I had to come in and do paperwork and figured I may as well sell a few things while I'm here" sewing shop, along with a zipper. I also picked up the June issue of British Patchwork and Quilting and was spectacularly disappointed. Maybe I'm a flickr snob (I know I'm a grammar snob), but the pictures were dark and grainy, the writing was typo-riddled, and the featured projects were...um...interesting. It did make me want to visit the Seattle Quilt Company the next time I'm in Aberdeen. No, the Seattle Quilt Company is not in Seattle, it's in Scotland. Ahem. In any event, lesson learned.

After we got home, we walked down to Blockbuster to rent a movie - we ended up with Up In The Air. John thought it was cringe-worthy, predictable, and depressing. I enjoyed it but agree with him about the depressing part. It was definitely entertaining, though, although we both thought the "comedy" pitch on the box was rather misleading. Anyway, not a bad movie.

Blast from the past

Baby quilt no. 2 is now with momma-to-be, who was announced that it was the best thing ever and was going on the crib tonight all ready for the baby. I nearly caused early labour yesterday by accidentally sneaking up on her at work - she didn't realise I was behind her until I spoke, and she jumped about 6 feet in the air. I figured the quilt might make up for it, so I gave it to her early.

I was inspired by some Take 5 quilts that I found on the interwebs, this one in particular. I dispensed with the sashing, though. The colours look a little washed out here, but the red and blue are picked up across all the fabrics. The cream one was part of my goodies from a few weeks ago from Halfpenny Home. I think the red might be a touch overwhelming, but I was trying not to make it too girly, since I don't know what she's having.

We went with the choir peeps last Saturday up to Burghley House and Stamford to have a day out, give a concert, and have a BBQ. Having been to Burghley quite a bit as a kid, I remembered parts of it, but they've added a lot of garden features and visitor facilities. We missed being able to see the formal garden (not open to the public), but thought the house was interesting. Look at all those chimneys!

Out in the sculpture garden (where there were some very cool and some extremely weird sculptures), I found this glorious rose. It smelled good, too.

Our concert went really well - we sang some Tallis and Byrd along with the obligatory Britten. I somehow was the only person who volunteered for a solo in the Britten Te Deum (in C), so there I was, singing my little socks off and channeling my inner English Choirboy. My parents and I thought it was exceedingly odd that my little brother had been an actual English Choirboy singing a similar solo in a very similar church about 15 miles away, 18 years previously. It was all a blast from the past being in Stamford anyway - the school I used to go to was between the church and the hotel where our BBQ was, so we walked past the front doors several times.