snow joke!

oh the weather outside is frightful!

the snow is piling up and the airports are closing down. our flight today was cancelled... pray we make it out tomorrow!!

the view from our back window this morning:

view from our front door/ howard place

it is actually really beautiful... just in a as-long-as-we-make-it-home sorda way.

christmas twins

our friends matt & lexi think ivy & cindy lou who are twins.... and i think emily said the same thing a long time ago! matt & lexi emailed us this pic - too funny!

fa la la la la

There's been so many wonderful Christmas music concerts around the town the past week. I love it! It's so fun being able to walk out our door, down the street, and into a beautiful old church with others, young and old, students and families - all gathered to sing and celebrate.

Last Sunday, Handel's Messiah was performed by the St. Andrews Chamber Choir at Holy Trinity Church. That's just a must-hear every Christmas so I was thankful to get to attend and in such a beautiful setting!

Then, last night the St. Andrews Chorus (featuring yours truly, my friend Kendall and about 100 other St. Andrews citizens) performed Faure's Rancine de Jean Racine, the world premiere of Paul Mealor's Stabet Mater, and Hayden's Nelson Mass. We've had rehearsals every Friday evening this semester and it's been so fun getting to be a part of a choir again. Our neighbors watched Ivy so Kevin could come... I'll go ahead and speak for him and say it was the musical highlight of the season :) The storied walls of Younger Hall could scarcely hold the applause! haha.

{St. Andrews Chorus December 11, 2010}

And tonight, some of our friends watched Ivy and let Kevin & I attend a Carol Service at Holy Trinity Church and it was so beautiful! I wish I had pictures of the inside to show you all.... just envision a huge, stain-glassed chapel with massive columns and a gigantic Christmas tree all lit up at the end of a long, dramatic central aisle. We sang some traditional carols with an enormous organ. Glorious! But all of the melodies were different which was a little disappointing when you want to hear the familiar tunes. Oh well. We'll get that in Texas :)

Music is such a gift from the Lord, especially during the Christmas season. I'm glad it's not over yet!

found one!

(Holy Trinity Church St. Andrews, image from google}

chocolate pots de crème

for only the serious chocolate lovers!!

this sounds french and fancy (and it is!) but it's the simplest dessert i've ever made. i had it a few weeks ago at the old course hotel and wanted to try it out at home. they served it with chocolate biscotti which was really good, but there are endless toppings you could do: toasted coconut, peppermint pieces, chocolate shavings, toasted nuts, chocolate chips, etc. this would be fun for a dinner party because you can make them in advance and keep them in the fridge and each guest gets their own little glass. it's kind of like a sophisticated pudding :) but these are rich and dense, so a little goes a long way!

from junior league of houston's peacemeals:

8 ounces chopped semisweet or dark chocolate

2 T sugar

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1 t vanilla

whipped cream + toppings

1. Slowly melt chocolate in medium saucepan.

2. Whisk in sugar and cream, continue cooking for 1 minute, and remove from heat.

3. In separate small bowl, whisk the yolks.

4. Add a little melted chocolate to the yolks to temper. Then, stir in the yolk/chocolate mixture into the saucepan.

5. Stir in the vanilla.

That's it!

Pour into little glasses (any will do.... even an assortment of different ones would be pretty) and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Top with whipped cream and whatever your heart desires. Serve chilled.

enjoy!

a very special happy birthday to nana!

we love you!

the joys of baking in the UK

i like baking... i do. it's one of the little things that makes a house a home. but i was intimidated after the big move to start up again in my little kitchen because everything is so different here! for instance...

1. there are so many different types of sugars, and they go by different names such as royal icing sugar (instead of confectioner's sugar).

2. the eggs just sit out on the shelf -room temp. is that weird/sanitary?

3. baking soda = bicarbonate of soda. that's not a big deal, but still different!

4. ok. this is the hardest thing to get used to... butter does not come in sticks!! and it is not measured in tablespoons! it is marked off every 50 grams (if you're lucky). so when a recipe calls for "2 sticks of butter" you have to translate that to grams. 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 113 grams. so 113 x 2 = 226 and one block is 250 grams. i finally got it down (thanks to kendall)! woohoo!

muffin tray vs bun tray. i accidentally bought a bun tray (i was ordering from a catalogue so it was hard to see the difference) - i started laughing when i received my purchase! it is so shallow, there's no way you could make muffins or cupcakes in it. i'd never heard of a bun tray (have you??) so i was easily thrown off. it sits, very lonely, in my bottom cabinet, totally untouched. what on earth would i make in it? buns? what does that even mean?

the itty bitty oven. well, it's really not that bad. it's actually a double oven but i'm pretty sure the bottom one doesn't work. anyway, it's in celcius! that's a problem! i've learned that 350 = 180c so i can kinda judge everything else from there.

there are so many other little things that make me laugh (and cry) like no chocolate chips, hershey kisses, peppermints... however, the local store does have betty crocker cake mixes that taste exactly the same so that's nice to have on hand!

ok well for some reason i thought this post would be interesting but now i'm thinking maybe it's only interesting to me... haha. oh well, i'll post it for record-keeping's sake...

the end!

and now... please join me in singing:

happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear craaaaig

happy birthday to you!!!

vidalia honey vinaigrette

salad dressings are practically non-existent over here, so you're kinda left to your own creativity in that department. my friend stocks up on starter packets when she's in the states which i'd never heard of but her salads always turn out so good! i'll have to bring some back after christmas. until then... i've made this one a few times and we've really liked it. making your own vinaigrette is something i probably would've never thought to do, but i've enjoyed it. let me know if you've ever made your own or have a good recipe! i'd love to try it!

click here for recipe.

note: there aren't vidalia onions in this region, so i just use a plain white one, and add a pinch of sugar.

recipe & image from southern living october 2010

ps. sorry for this healthy post in december. how disappointing! i'll make up for it with a chocolate one very soon. i think you'll like it!

a proper date was had

at rufflets country house. the grounds were snow-covered and the fires were roaring.

romantic and charming, indeed!

happy anniversary to us!! :)

happy december!

my very favorite month has come around once again.

welcome back, december. so glad you're here!!!

season's greetings from our tiny winter wonderland to yours!

weekend in oxford

buying chocolates in the covered market

shout out to trev & kathryn!

hotel room fun

hotel postcard

we had a nice little weekend away in oxford while kevin attended a conference. kinda. maybe if you forget about how we missed our flight there (from traffic) and our flight back was cancelled from snow (we ended up in glasgow) and maybe forget that it was below freezing and kevin was gone all day (ya know, at the conference) then maybe it was a nice time!

just kidding...kinda. there were definitely fun moments and i'm glad we went. i liked our hotel (that always makes a difference) and we had lots of great meals. i didn't take many pictures because my fingers were frozen. so - i'll just list some of the highlights!

--ben's cookies of course, one for each day. words can't describe.

--purchasing jeans at the gap (made me feel at home + i left mine in tx)

--the best onion rings ever at gourmet burger kitchen

--great meals at jamie oliver's restaurant and jee's!

--attending trev and kathryn's church on sunday evening

--having a panini at the place i used to go to during the summer of 2004, sofie de france- yum!

--getting properly fitted for running shoes, craig would've appreciated that

--hot chocolate & palmiers at maison blanc (thanks kathryn)

--coming home to SNOW piled thick in st andrews!

things i would've liked to do:

--made our flight

--had a proper tea at the randolph

--had a meal at the old parsonage

--seen trev and kathryn's flat

--had a nanny

--eat more ben's

the end.

happy thanksgiving!

dear family,
we woke up this morning to snow in our garden!! we threw on our boots and let ivy play around in her first little flurry. i'm thankful for mornings like this, and for kevin's classes being cancelled today because his prof is sick. and for sweet american friends here we are going to celebrate with. but mostly, we are so thankful for all of you - even if we are 5000 miles away.

we love and miss y'all.

eat lots for us!

love

kevin, chaiss & ivy

sweet potato soup

i love soup!
y'all may already know that by now.
this one is brought to us from my friend joy again and it's fantastic. all the different ingredients combine to make such an interesting flavor. it's autumn in a bowl. i think this would be better as a starter rather than a main, but that's just a personal preference. there's a lot of peelin' and choppin' going on here, but don't be intimidated. it's really not that bad, and it's worth it!

1. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large pot over med-high heat.
2. Stir in: 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
3. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add: 1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
5. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low. Cover and simmer about 15-20 minutes, until veggies are tender.
6. Puree in a blender and garnish with parsley & paprika.

ENJOY!

ruins of st. andrews cathedral

a few days ago, ivy and i strolled all the way down north street (about 15 minutes) to the cathedral ruins. but let's back up, folks - we actually strolled. it was amazing! let's just have a moment of silence of appreciation.

ok.

it was a cold but sunny day, and this is a great area to let her run around in, very respectfully of course. i kind of forget to explore around and take advantage of all the cool areas by me - but i'm determined to make more of an effort because it's worth it... and it's literally around the corner.

can you see the bird at the top-left? ivy did of course!

more info: here

thanks nana for the jacket! :)

will & kate

there's been a lot of hullaballoo around the town this past week about the engagement of prince william to kate middleton since they met as students here at the university of st. andrews. it's like there's a collective pride in being a part of the engagement of the century! i've seen posters around congratulating them and our pastor even prayed for them during church this morning. come to find out, prince william lived right across the street from our flat for his first two years, (then moved to a farmhouse with his friends further from town for his remaining years at university.) interesting, huh?

i think she's gorgeous here. i can't imagine what it would feel like wearing the late princess diana's ring!

vienna: part 2

Schönbrunn Palace

front of the palace -setting up the huge christmas tree!

palace grounds (this probably has a name but i don't know it)

palace from the back

palace gardens

we walked through the palace gardens down the path to the vienna zoo (or tiergarten, as they say) which happens to be the oldest zoo in the world- founded in 1752! ivy of course absolutely loved it. it was fun watching her make the different animal noises. i think her favorite was the seals.

our last night, we had dinner at the legendary cafe mozart, which was also right around the corner from our hotel. i loved this place! it was fancy but casual at the same time, with a great menu and cozy feel. loved it loved it. i had the pumpkin soup which was so delicious and the quiche lorraine. all really good. ivy had her first little bite of lamb :) make the stop if you're ever in vienna!

the end.

in other news.....