pound cake

I made this a few days ago for a dinner club I recently joined. The theme was "Colors of the Rainbow" and we were each assigned a color. Mine was blue. Hmm... blueberries? I decided to make this pound cake that I remember being soooo good -with a blueberry compote on top.

for the cake:

3 sticks (339 grams) softened butter

8 ounces softened cream cheese

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 Tb vanilla

1 tsp almond

3 cups flour

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Mix in the vanilla and almond. Slowly pour in the flour and mix until just incorporated, being careful not to over-mix. Pour batter into greased or buttered angel food pan (or Bundt pan or loaf pans 2/3 full). Put in a cold oven and bake at 275 for 1 1/2 hours. Ovens vary, so check for doneness with a toothpick or knife. (My oven took almost 2 hours.) Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and gently turn over onto serving plate.

for the blueberry compote:

(from peacemeals junior league of houston cookbook)

3 Tb water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 cups blueberries

In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, lemon juice and 1 cup of the blueberries. Simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup of blueberries and simmer for an additional 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and serve warm or at room temperature.

*This recipe also called for 1 Tb of fresh chopped basil when removed from the heat. I didn't use any, but I'm sure it would be good.

Slice the pound cake and spoon sauce on top. But the cake is perfect by itself, too!

Thanks Mrs. Goth for the recipe :)

enjoy!

joy's apple crisp

Last Sunday, we were so kindly invited to the Sonjus' house for lunch after church since we are new to town. Joy and David have a precious little girl Ellie who is Ivy's same age- born 2 weeks apart! They are here from upstate New York while David is earning a doctorate in Theology. She had a whole feast of homemade soups, salad with homemade vinaigrette (which I also want the recipe for) and bread straight from the farmers' market. Such sweet hospitality! Last, but not least, she brought out a huge, bubbling, delicious apple crisp. YUM. The whole house smelled like Fall.

{this picture doesn't do it justice, since i only made an individual size portion, but trust me it's good.}

RECIPE:

(tweaked to what I had on hand)

1. Fill a 9x13 (or any baking dish) with peeled, sliced apples.

2. For the topping, mix together ingredients:

--1 cup brown sugar
--1 cup oats

--1/2 cup flour

--1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

--1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

3. Stir in 6 Tb melted butter. Mix in well.

4. Sprinkle topping generously on the apples.

5. Bake at 375 (191 C) for 40-45 minutes until browned and bubbling.

Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or straight from the dish!

ten things

1. I'm sick.
2. My baby is sick.
3. It's wet and cold outside.
4. Our stroller was stolen last night.
5. I don't know what to make for dinner tonight.
6. My husband is up to his beautiful eyes in work to do.
7. Me and Ivy are left to fend for ourselves - aka wipe each other's noses.
8. I'm too tired to include a picture with this post so it's going to be plain and boring.
9. Whatever to all of the above because WE HAVE INTERNET!
10. Life is good.

Happy weekend everyone!

playgroups & ponytails

Tuesday mornings around here mean work for Kevin and play for us (kind of like all the other days around here). Kevin goes to class, and Ivy and I go to a playgroup. One of the nice things about living in this tiny, university town is that there are lots of wives and children of other grad students. And, since we’re all kind of in the same boat over here, it tends to be a very social and understanding community. What a blessing. So- there’s a different playgroup almost every day of the week. Tuesday’s group happens to be the “Butterflies” that meets at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, about an 8 minute stroll. I’ll try and take a picture next time because all of the churches here are so beautiful.

Bathed, fed, dressed & ready to go!

After her nap, I tried to put her hair up in a ponytail – haha it cracked me up! It was definitely a stretch and was gone in 2 minutes – but fun while it lasted!

i spy...

apples in our neighbor's garden!


we were recently informed that the old man next door passed away, and that we should feel free to eat his fruit. kinda strange, but... ok.

yum.

a little walk/a mother's quick lament

Ivy hates to stroll. She always has. I started at an early age, and have tried all types of strollers. It’s no use. Every now and then I can bribe her with bottles and toys and snacks and will get a good 5 minutes, but I can never count on it. It’s really too bad. Seriously, too bad. I’ve been a little envious here when I see another “mum” strolling her big baby in a “pushchair”. Oh how I wish it were that easy for me! Can you imagine all the places we could go? And how quickly we could get around?

But of course I would rather have my Ivy- and all that makes her her- than any big, stroller-happy Scottish baby any day. And even though her learning to walk certainly hasn’t helped the situation, since she now wants to explore on her own two feet, it has been so fun watching her waddle around in her boots. I promise you, she takes on a whole new personality when she has those things on.

So we compromise. (Don’t judge me). I let her walk some, she let’s me stroll some, and somehow, by the grace of God, it always works out.

PS- Why are the babies here so big?
PPS- I don’t think any of them can walk yet. ;)

spicy pumpkin seeds

I made a pot of soup yesterday
It wasn’t very good.
I read the recipe all the way
And followed it as I should.

I chopped fresh ginger, squash and garlic too
And boiled it nice and hot
But by the time that it was through
It didn’t hit the spot.

Oh well, I said. And threw it out
I didn’t save one drop
Cause we all know that soup is about
The stuff that goes on top!

from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh lime juice

toss ingredients together and bake on a rimmed pan for 10 minutes at 350 until puffed and browned. is meant to be sprinkled over butternut squash soup, if you can find a good recipe! but delicious just for snacking too :)

enjoy!

ivy + phone

dear grandma,

guess what? i found the phone!

i'll be callin ya.

love,

your bug

ps. tell pheebs hey.

st. andrews

specifically, here:
3 Howard Place
St. Andrews, Fife
Scotland KY16 9HL

We’ve had an incredible first week, and might even say we already feel at home (though our flat is certainly not indicative of that). This whole transition – finding a flat, parting with family, overseas flights, time changes with Ivy, figuring out stroller rain covers, currency changes, Kevin starting class, etc. – could potentially be a nightmare, but, by the grace of God, has truly been a smooth and even sweet process (a few deep breaths and loads of chocolate are mandatory).

Really, it has been a blessing and we are grateful for the prayers. What a faithful God we serve. We have already met wonderful friends (from Texas and with a little girl!) and may have found a home church. It’s been an exhausting but exciting week and we’re looking forward to whatever comes our way! (especially internet in our flat).

london: part 4

i can't believe our last day is already here and practically gone! it's a little sad for this trip to be over, but also pretty exciting to finally get started on our next chapter. we'll be in st andrews tomorrow!

so for our last day, we took ivy to kensington gardens one last time to feed the ducks and swans, and watch all the dogs. i hope she never grows out of her sweetness towards animals and children. it's precious.

brady offered to watch ivy during her nap so kevin and i could wander around london alone! woohoo! we decided to go to fortnum & mason in picadilly circus. it was such a cool place and we had a great time. lunch, ice cream, shopping and chocolates. a fine afternoon, indeed :)

chocolate heaven! we ordered a tiny box filled with a dozen bite-sized chocolates. it cost an arm and a leg but i bet it'll be worth it :)

the cute boxes you can choose from/ tower of truffles!

the hall was decked with halloween treats.

and ice cream was had at the parlour (mint chocolate chip for me- shout out to syd!) thanks to kathryn's recommendation.

and on that sweet note, this trip and the london blogging series are officially over.

wish us well on our way to scotland!

london: part 3

our friend brady is here spending a few days with us on his way home to texas from the sudan. we hadn't seen him since ivy was a week old, so it's been nice getting to catch up. we also had the pleasure of meeting, and hosting for a night, his girlfriend tal who lives in brighton. so it's been a full house! (ivy got booted to the kitchen to sleep, poor thing. ha)

anyway, we strolled through portabello road in notting hill which was fun. there were lots of outside markets with fresh foods and colorful antiques all up and down the street. we stopped for mexican food at taqueria, per gwyneth paltrow's recommendation via http://www.goop.com/. they had delicious chips, salsa and guacamole so we were all happy campers.

that night we had dinner at tom's kitchen which i've heard about somewhere- and we happen to be staying just a 10 minute walk away. i had the fish & chips and it was probably the best i've had. (although i haven't had much!).


****************
saturday, we did some housekeeping and just hung around the flat most of the day. i've had some funny moments with the washing/drying machine - yes, it's all in one. it took 24 hours for our clothes to dry (in the machine), mainly because sometimes when you press the "dry" button, it washes them again. sigh.

for dinner we picked up pizza from the restaurant we live right above. we actually went searching for Made in Italy (another goop find) and it was closed down- little did we know we live right above the new location! and it was really good.


***************
today, we attended holy trinity brompton church which tal told us about.
it was a beautiful morning.

ivy loved the nursery and even received "biscuits" - so you know she was happy.

after church, we strolled around looking for a lunch spot and happened upon harrods! we couldn't have picked a better spot: cheeseburgers, chicken tenders and french fries at mo's diner. yum!! the pet shop department was on the same floor, so we took ivy to look at the (£1000) cats and dogs.

strolling around london/in the hallway leading to the pet stores. she wanted to pet each one and wave hi. sweet child.


brady, tal, ivy & me in the food halls:


that's all for now! cheerio!

london: part 2

our past few days have been filled with lots of fun things. we decided to keep things pretty low key, and live more like locals rather than tourists during our time here in london, and it has worked out really well, especially with a yearling in tow. trying to visit museums, tour around, eat at fancy restaurants... that's just not gonna happen. plus, kevin and i have both been to london a few times before and seen the sights already. our neighborhood in chelsea has proven to be a lovely area full of everything we need - groceries, restaurants, parks etc. we've enjoyed strolling around and exploring...

{these pictures are not in chronological order. sorry, i'm too tired at the moment to rearrange!}

ivy's room:

it is down the hall from our room, down a few steps.

day trip to oxford!

cab ride to the bus stop:

one of ivy's favorite games is to get the cap back on the water bottle.

she's become quite good.

waiting for the oxford tube at the bus stop:

another favorite game is to collect anything (in this case, leaves), gather them all in one hand, and give them to someone. then take them all back. and repeat.

university college: the oldest of the 38 colleges that make up oxford university. i had the privilege of studying here through SMU with my friends emily and brooke in the summer of 2004. it was such a treat to come back and see this lovely place. i didn't think i'd ever be back again, much less with a little girl in my arms! (see us?)

a mandatory stop at Ben's Cookies in the Covered Market:

oh, how i've missed these. i can't believe i bought just one.

Radcliffe Square: the heart of Oxford, and simply a pit stop (diaper change) for Ivy.

ps- is changing your baby in public illegal? i'm pretty sure beaumont's okay with it, but what if it's a super old, cool city - is that more illegal?

ivy also liked playing in the children's section at blackwell's (a famous bookstore) while kevin meandered around the town...

i didn't take many pictures in oxford, but we had a wonderful afternoon!

back in london...

window shopping before dinner:

ivy spotted some stuffed animals.

dinner at Bar Asia:

we were refused service at the first Indian restaurant we wanted to eat at (that we had read about and heard was good) because they didn't have highchairs or "any room for strollers", even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. i think it's the rudest i'd ever been treated in that kind of situation. so we kept walking and passed anothe Indian restaurant with outside seating (huge bonus with a babe) and ended up having the best evening (and MEAL yum).

Kensington Gardens:

we picked up some food and had lunch in the park with the ducks and dogs. ivy was in heaven. i think she said hi to each one.

dinner at The River Cafe:

this landmark restaurant is located on the Thames River and has a nice patch of grass to hang out in while you wait for your table.

the end.

ps. my feet hurt.