Christmas!

So I'm back in the US now. After the initial shock of the amount of water in the toilet bowl at the airport, it's been a smooth transition back into American society. Oh, plus there was a tiny moment of fear today as I thought my mom was pulling into the wrong lane of traffic.

Yesterday was Christmas. In contrast to last year, there was heat and other people around. Let's call this an 'upgrade'. Due to the time change times, I was first up at 4am, thinking it was 5am due to the inaccurate guest room clock, then decided to go back to sleep for a few hours. So I was up bright and early for presents. Which is always exciting. Wooo. Then we had some lovely cinnamon pullapart, eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Sometime in the mid-day time range it started to snow. This was again very exciting. And just in time to make guest arrival a bit more interesting! Everyone made it okay. Then I made approximately 28 cocktails for folks and then ate some brie. A while later there was dinner, then I took a nap, then there were more presents and dessert. Then more sleeping!

Oh, and then there are the alleged 'kittens'. Edgar, I'm pretty sure, is the world's largest cat. But he's also the world's softest cat and is pretty but slow. Lizzie is not as big, but is still evil and the size of a regular cat. And pretty. I have taken many photographs of both the Christmas events and the giant cats. They can be found on Picasa. As can photos of my dinner at harlem a few weeks ago!

Merry Christmas

so wanted to wish everyone a merry christmas! i hope you (the hemphills) enjoy the mince pies - single cream i think is like pouring cream its the kind that you pour rather than spoon!

so didnt really know what to write and margo suggested to say what an anglo xmas involves - well in my family as im sure everyone differs!

so my mum wasnt going to do stockings this year but my 22 year old brother insisted that we have them and he normally still wakes up at like 4am to open them! i found out the other day actually that when he was little he connected his stocking to his bed though a banger from inside a cracker...basically meaning that when someone ('santa') picked up the stocking there was a small band which waked him up!!! i thought this was genius! anyways yeah stockings usually involve really stupid things that are of no use but fun on the day to open - like chocolate money! we then usually have a present opening session (1 each to keep my brother happy!) and the lunch prep is started. this involves getting a little stove thing out as the arga is not powerful enough to keep its heat for everything that gets cooked:
1 turkey/vegie option for my mum
3 kinds of stuffing
peas
carrots
roast potatoes
pigs in blankets (small saussage rapped in bacon)
small sausages
bread sauce
cranberry sauce
bacon rolls
gravy
brussel sprouts
other vegies - normally parsnips

these are combined with wine and crackers!

so thats cooked and normally eat around 1.30pm and pudding is xmas pudding with brandy butter and ice cream.

then its the queens christmas message which is broadcast at 3pm on all channels - well my dad insists on watching it i cant say im the biggest fan, but its one of those things that when you watch it its actually quite interesting!

next in the post xmas walk with the dogs that have xmas decorations...usually just round westbourne but youll have no idea what that is...then when we get home its present opening time. then its normally a film that mums bought....like a family thing like love actually/gladiator no idea what it will be this year/if theres a good tv show on like the only fools and horses xmas special.

then its bed - not really any more room for food but there is plenty of turkey for the next week!

26th is boxing day. this usually involves heading down to the sailing club where my dad brother and I take part in the boxing day rowing race which involves 360 degree turns/rowing backwards etc. my bro and i have done it together for the last couple of years and normally end up last and my dad usually wins it - most annoying! then its just home for more turkey and relaxing times. i think we are also heading over to my cousins in bognor.

thats enough from me...merry christmas!!!

hope you all have a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!

EAT.

Amongst the gazillion places you can buy a normal, quick lunch in this city, one stands like a beacon of light: EAT. While you can partially attribute this glow to the starch white interior, especially visible when it starts to get dark, it has much more to do with what goes on inside.

I started going to eat regularly a little over a month ago when the weather started to turn cold and the concept of soup before lunch sounded like an overwhelmingly good idea. Both Eat and Pret a Manger have hot soups available, and Tesco down the road has cold soups you can buy and heat up yourself. So on my first attempt at lunch soup I ended up first poking my head into eat to see if I liked what they had on offer. They had a smoky bacon and lentil, which I got with a chunk of wheat bread. It was the most delicious soup I'd ever eaten. The next soup I had there was of a southeast Asian variety and unfortunately had a high percentage of mushrooms, but was tasty otherwise. That was followed by Moroccan root vegetable, chili con carne and chicken pot pie. By this time I was checking the weekly soup menu on Mondays to see what would be the best day of the week to go (I try to take my lunch most days). Today they have smoky bacon and lentil, so it is indeed my eat soup day for the week!

The trickiest part of the ordeal is the actual ordering of the soup. Everyday they have two soups, one termed 'simple' and the other 'bold'. Smoky bacon and lentil is a simple (basically chunkless). I stick with ordering the name of the soup, while the people behind the counter refer to them as simple or bold. So a couple weeks ago when trying to order a big bowl of smoky lentil, I nearly ended up with two soups: a big 'bold' and the lentil. There was a long discussion but it was eventually sorted out and I just ended up with my big 'simple' so to speak. And eat soup day is one of the highlights of my week. Along with starbucks coffee day, which is again limited to once a week. It just so happens that today is both!

Speaking of today, it is also my last day in the office this year. After getting a transport assessment I did out in the mail yesterday right before lunch, I haven't had anything to do. So I'm slowly trying to gather knowledge on the history of the British monarchy and all their offspring via the best source for these things, wikipedia. Keeps you entertained for hours, I tell ya.

And I've got some tesco's finest mince meat pies ready to come back to the states with me! Get those taste buds ready folks! Mmmm. Raisins and goo.

Soul Food

Last night was the little 'Southampton' people Christmas dinner. With this in mind, what could be more festive than going to a restaurant called Harlem that served soul food? Nothing I tell you, nothing!

In my ongoing effort of metropolitan exploration, we went to the Bayswater neighborhood, sort of east of Notting Hill proper. So basically it was a walk trip from work. Lucky for me I missed the turn on the way, so had to walk extra far in bitter, bitter cold with high winds blowing in my face while carrying a bag of heavy baked goods. It was not pleasant!

Before dinner we went for drinks at a pub that came in second place when deciding where to hold my work group's Christmas thingy, so I was curious to check it out. It was expensive and eerily quiet, but pleasantly warm! I was complimented by the barmaid for my ability to properly pronounce San Miguel, which is apparently difficult for Americans (she was Hispanic but had lived in LA). Anyways...

I was really excited at the prospect of a corn fritter appetizers. Like, really excited. It's why I want to go to there in the first place. They were really good. And came with a leafy salad. For my entree I briefly considered the Cobb salad but decided I could probably get a much cheaper, better one when back in the homeland next week. So attempting to roll with the soul food idea, I got ribs. I think it's maybe the third time I've ever ordered ribs. They came with coleslaw and 3 onion rings. It was pleasant. Elsewhere on the table there was chicken and ribs aplenty, collard greens and steak fries. All in all a tasty food representation and not a dissapointing rendition of the concept of American food in general.

The restaurant was small dark and woody. Below the restaurant there was a tiny little bar with a dj and a dance floor. Oh, and when I went down to use the restroom the light was out in the stairs so it was a bit spooky. And I also had plenty of opportunity to play with the settings on my camera again. The above photo is actually of a mirror reflection. I like to think it makes a bit ethereal, but really it's just out of focus.

Cream of Tartar

The day after the Christmas party, commonly called 'Saturday', I had few missions. Mission number one was to procure baking and cooking ingredients, mission two was to clean up an apartment that had basically been empty all week before dinner guests arrived.

My first trip was to my local kitchen shop, where I had gotten a meat thermometer for Thanksgiving. Miracle of miracles, they had colored sugar. Not just colored sugar, but a big thing of festive colored sugar, a green/red combo. I was like, yesssss, and then I saw the price and was like, nooooooo! So £7 later, I had my snickerdoodle ready sugar imported from American. I also sniffed around for a 13"x9" baking dish, but they only had ones that were fancy and cost £20. I have my limits.

The next trip was a quest to big Sainsburys at Earl's Court/Gloucester Road. I figured it was my best chance for cream of tartar. We had a long shopping list, as we needed stuff for dinner as well as all my baking requirements. All items were miraculously found, from light bulbs and drain cleaner to thyme and toffee fudge ice cream topper, until only one item remained... the freaking cream of tartar. I had spent considerable amounts of time in the baking aisle, stocking up on flour and sugar, but had failed to see any. After gathering everything else I went back and kept looking, by this time a bit grumpy. Having failed to find the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda before, I figured if cream of tartar was there, they would all be together. In the second miracle of miracles of the day, I finally found it, on the top shelf above a case otherwise full of flour. They are tricky. So for £1.03, I have procurred a many years supply of cream of tarter.

I spent the afternoon making a double batch of snickerdoodles and cleaning. The holiday sugar supply worked out absolutely perfectly with the amount of snickerdoodles. And on Sunday I made raspberry bars and carmelitas in my new pan (oh, they had a pyrex at Sainsburys for £6 that I picked up). I also candied a few more pecans. Everything seemed to turn out okay, so I was very pleased! All thanks to my cream of tartar, of course.

The company party

My company Christmas party was on Friday night. It tactfully began at 7pm, when the work day ended at 5:30. So after work, those attending basically all spread out to a number of pubs either at Notting Hill or Gloucester Road. This went on for slightly over an hour before the masses headed towards the hotel.

After the coat check, there were 'welcoming' drinks outside the main room. So basically there were waiters walking around with trays carrying glasses of wine, orange juice, and beer. Then they had a meal with fancy table service (where if you went to pour yourself some more water, someone rushed up and poured it for you). I was a little sad as the starter was salmon, and I don't like salmon. The entree was turkey with gravy, carrots and brussel sprouts. And a sausage wrapped with bacon. It was alright. I ate it. Dessert was Christmas pudding, which I was excited to try because it kind of looked like chocolate. Alas, it's not chocolate. It's like, raisin. And I wasn't a fan. Perhaps it's an acquired taste. Or it just wasn't a very good example. Who knows. They also brought out some mince pies to go with the coffee. Again, raisin and rather unpleasant. Although I'm still intending to bring some back to stuff down the throats of others. Oh, and there was wine on the table for drinking.

Around this time there were speeches that I couldn't really hear. So I didn't really listen. I might also mention that whilst I spent the before party time with the other folks from development, I sat with Adrian's team at the meal. It was a bit crazy, but I feel like it can't hurt to talk to new people at those things. Anyways, after the speeches I made a run for the door. This is apparently the time of night that everyone a) starts paying for their own drinks and b) people 'let their hair down'. So basically, that's when all the stuff would have happened that I get to hear about tomorrow.

Umm. I don't really know what else to say about said party. Many people were going for what seemed to be the explicit purpose of getting quite trashed and dancing around with their coworkers. That seems a bit sad, really. Oh, and there were lots of little party hats on the table. See above photo. Speaking of which, I have added some additional photos to picasa! A bit random, but perhaps mildly interesting.

Hertford and the Failure of Whole Foods

Yesterday at lunch I went on yet another Whole Foods quest. I find I have come to rely on Whole Foods as a source of items with perhaps an American slant, which was my mission yesterday. As a key component of my plan to make festive snickerdoodles over the weekend, I needed colored sugar and cream of tartare. Having recalled seeing colored sugar there before, I figured it was a safe bet. But noooooo. They did have colored sugar, mind you, but it was £4 for a little tiny thing and they didn't have the right colors. They had a light green, orange, pink, and yellow. Not useful if you need kelly green and red! On top of that, the little dye kit was £16. There comes a point where you decide your snickerdoodles don't need to be festive and they can roll in normal cinnamon sugar.

For the second ingredient I wasn't sure if it fell under the category of a spice, like cinnamon, or if it lived with the baking ingredients, like baking powder. Luckily it's one and the same aisle at Whole Foods. Despite about ten minutes of searching, I was unsuccessful again. They have about 24 kinds of flour, 1000 types of salt, and 27 varieties of pepper, but no cream of tartare. Things are not looking bright on the festive snickerdoodle front. While I know they don't have colored sugar at my nearby Sainsburys Central (aka, 'small with no bakery or meat counter, but bigger than a convenience store), tomorrow I shall go on a quest towards the full-size Sainsburys at Gloucester Road. If I fail there, I can always up my other options with more readily available ingredients.

In other yesterday news, in the afternoon I got sent on a mission to get a 'contract of common ground' signed in Hertford, located in Hertfordshire (they are that clever, it's like Oklahoma City, Oklahoma). This involved taking the Central Line to Oxford Circus, then the Victoria line to Highbury & Islington, getting off and walking around really confused until I realised it indeed was not Finsbury Park, taking the Victoria line one station further to Finsbury Park, buying a ticket like a good non-fare evader, taking a short-haul overground train about 12 stops to Hertford North, walking in unpleasant freezing cold surroundings for about 15 minutes to the council, staying there for about 2 minutes and then doing the whole thing in reverse. It took 3 hours and 45 minutes. I got to the office 15 minutes after quiting time to drop off the contracts and pick up my newly acquired parchment paper and pecans so I wouldn't have to take them to the Christmas party tonight.

And in response to a comment made by someone generically calling themselves 'dad', public transport is the default mode for business trips around here. There are no staff vehicles available for use, and everyone take the tube and train to reach their destinations, perhaps with the occasional cab. Oh, and you can walk or take a bus. This is probably a combination of destinations lacking parking, people not being willing to drive, complicated road systems, the ability to do work while travelling by train, and the company being 'green'. I guess if we keep telling everyone else how to travel by sustainable modes we should practice what we preach, even if it does take ages to get places! Although with traffic around here I'm not sure how much a difference it would make!