Sunday, April 26, 2009
Pinch Me
We have had AMAZING weather this month, especially the last week and a half. This weekend was no different, and we saw two days (three if you add friday!) of full sun 65* weather! Granted it wasnt the 88* that NYC saw this weekend, and 65* isnt even that warm (if you ask me) - BUT, I will take it!!
I hit up Hyde Park on Saturday, as did several thousand other Londoners. Brian enjoyed the day playing American Football in this great weather!
We took a walk down to the canal today and enjoyed a nice cold beer (gotta love open container laws!). All in all - a great sunshine filled weekend :)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Failure
The last few times I have tried to make the fantastic, humongous choco-liscious cookies I was once famous for (ok, at least famous amongst my friends for...) - I have fell flat on my face. Actually, my cookies have fallen flat. And crispy. And burnt.
At first, I thought it was my oven (its always the ovens fault, never mine!). Its a mini oven, so surely the internal temperature must be off. I bought an internal oven thermometer to get it to a perfect 375* F. Wrong. Still didn't help.
Then I thought it was the measurements. Baking is a science. Unlike cooking where you can throw in a little of this and a little of that, you cant do that when baking otherwise it can throw the whole thing off. Maybe I had gotten a little too cocky, so I went back to measuring every ingredient exactly...including buying a food scale so that I can properly measure the butter (damn brits and their metric system!).
Wrong. Again. Still flat, still crunchy...and yet completely unbaked in the middle.
Boo. Next time I'm in the US I'm definitely bringing back some Crisco butter sticks. If I fail using those I know that it is not my destiny to be a baker. Cross your fingers...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Fortnum and Mason
Ayaka showed me a japanese tour book of London that she had brought and told me she wanted to go to a shop she had read about, and pointed to the famous\iconic department store. Leaving the men to go visit a war museum (or something of that boring nature), us ladies took off to find one of the greatest department stores in London.
Next to Harrods, Fortnum and Mason is a must-see for all things lovely and British. Their tea selection is outstanding, amazing china (that I would most certainly break if left alone in that department for longer than 30 seconds) and an adorable way-too-expensive childrens department.
And it was there that I had the pleasure of meeting this lovely little thing. Its name is Toffeecino, and I think I'm in love.
and yes, that is a baby ice cream cone that you see on the right hand side. *swoon*
Oh - and I tried on this cool hat. I think im destined to become a chef. Some day.
Neglect
I just realized that it has been almost a MONTH since I posted something on this blog.
Im ashamed.
I've been neglecting you.
Please forgive me.
Soo, heres a little recap as to what we've been up to this lovely month of April...
Our friends Dan and Ayaka came to visit us from New York. They came over Easter weekend to attend a British friends wedding and, of course, to see us. It ws so great having them here, and they definitely saw a lot of London.
On Good Friday Dan, Ayaka and Brian went to Leeds Castle for the day (which is not in Leeds, go figure, but only an hour or so away in near by Kent). Their pictures are amazing - they had a great time exploring the grounds, having afternoon tea (well, Ayaka did at least) and getting lost in a hedge maze
.We went to a local pub for Easter dinner with a couple of other American friends that have recently moved to London. I think that Sunday roast has now replaced Brunch as my favorite weekend meal. Afternoon lunch quickly became beers-and-monopoly and another local pub, and before we knew it Easter was over. I have to say, I missed not having any peeps this year. Brits dont believe in marshmallow Easter treats...only chocolate eggs.
Other than that our April has been pretty boring. The weather has been AMAZING (for the most part), and yes it shocks me to write that in all caps. But really, its been quite warm (60s aint to shabby) and there have been more sunny days than rainy. Im actually quite nervous that all of May, June and July will be rain soaked because of all of the nice weather we have been having.
Cross your fingers that isnt the case.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
St. Anton recap
We had a blast skiing all weekend, taking in the amazing views of the alps, enjoying the local food and beer - I highly recommend this place to anyone!!
pictures - warning there are a lot of them! but well worth looking at
We spent Saturday hitting the slopes. Considering it was the first time Brian and I had been skiing in a year I think we did fairly well! We started off a little easy and then decided to take the gondola to the highest peak in St. Anton (2800 meters!) and ski down as our last run of the day. Definitely was a challenge for me, but SO worth it!! Luckily there was an intermediate trail at the top for us to ski down - and we were stopping every 5 minutes to enjoy the scenery!
Sunday we decided to rent toboggans and take those down the mountain. Let me tell you - SO much fun!! Those things can really pick up speed!! I wish we had gotten more pics of us actually using the sleds, but we were having so much fun zipping down the trail, we forgot to take pics!
The hotel we stayed at was amazing, and our hostess Brigitte was wonderful. We met a lot of really nice people and had some amazing food. We cant wait to go back next winter!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Off to St. Anton
We are off to St. Anton, Austria this weekend to go skiing with a few friends.
Im sure I'll have lots of crazy stories and amazing pics to share with you once we return - so check back here next week!
Have a great weekend!
Greenwich Photos - finally!
Greenwich Pics
I hope you enjoy!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Greenwich, UK
We began wandering around the Old Royal Naval College. It was so beautiful - large imposing white stone buildings, daffodils and crocuses blooming everywhere, gilded spires...Brian even admitted that it beat the pants off of Kings Point. From there we wandered up to the National Maritime Museum grounds, which were also breathtaking. The acres of green grass and the surrounding park were a joy to see for anyone who lives in a major city. On the top of the hill is the Old Greenwich Royal Observatory, and after a short but steep hike to the top, we took in some awesome views of Greenwich and London in the far off distance.
We spent a couple of hours at the Observatory, straddling the Prime Meridian, enjoying two hemispheres at once, and then made our way back into town for some lunch. Greenwich is a super cute little town, has a kick ass market (which has a stall that sells FLAVORED COFFEE, virtually unheard of here in London) and a lot of charm. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for our trip to Greenwich, and plan on returning very soon!Blog will be updated soon with a link to our pictures, I highly recommend you check them out!
Spring has sprung here in London...well, sort of. The weather steadily gets better and then comes crashing down every few days (which is fairly typical of most seasons here, I have noticed). But the crocuses (or is it croci??) and daffodils are out - flowers just make everything better! HAPPY SPRING!
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Borough Market
We have been going to Borough Market since way back in November
when we were brand new Londoners. Basically its a huge food market on the south bank of London, very close to London Bridge. Its only open Friday mornings and Saturdays. There are tons of food stalls - selling everything from produce to cheese, bread and fresh pastas, to lamb burgers and beers from around the world. You can find pretty much everything and anything you can think of.Our favorite part (or one of them at least) of the market is a little cheese stand that sells two things - toasted cheese paninis and raclette (boiled potatoes with freshly melted cheese poured on top). Generally we start our
trip to Borough with a cheese sandwich....for breakfast...and it only gets worse from there. Brian and I love food (probably a little TOO much) and we thoroughly enjoy finding new gems in the market - one weekend it was a blueberry muffin sent from heaven, this weekend it was a Black Velvet cupcake made with Guinness and cream cheese icing. They also have a specialty beer stand, which sells unique beers from around the world - including 3 brews from Brooklyn Brewery!That being said - if you ever come to visit us and your stay involves a Saturday...expect to be taken to this little slice of heaven, called Borough Market.
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