First Outing

I am happy to report that the snow has finally melted! It was a long time coming, too.  I was beginning to think it would be here all winter. We are very happy to be seeing green again.

But while there was snow on the ground, we took our first sight-seeing trip in England. We had big plans! It was Matthew’s first four-day weekend since being stationed here so we were going to take full advantage.

On the itinerary was Windsor Castle, “official residency of Her Majesty;” and then Stonehenge, “perhaps the most famous prehistoric monument in the world.” We were very excited. We had our GPS set for the destinations in the order they occurred on the route. We were going to get up early to make sure we had time for everything (because both sites closed by 4:30 p.m. and none opened before 9 a.m.)

Now let me start off by explaining that both of these sites are a good distance away from where we are. Windsor is about 100 miles away and Stonehenge is 162 miles.  And on top of the distance, there was still quite a lot of snow on the ground and it was bitterly cold and wet that weekend.

Needless to say, we only made it to Windsor Castle.

First, we got a tad bit lost (we went round the same giant roundabout three times, and took the wrong exit the first time round, before we figured out which exit we needed). Then we spent about an hour looking for parking (I’ll get to that in a minute). Then we had to hike a good ways uphill from where we parked to get to the castle entrance.

But we didn’t let any of that get us down. We loved every minute of the castle. Just to see that kind of history was enough for me. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take pictures inside the castle. But we took loads outside!

We also ate at a local pub, Royal Oak, while we were in Windsor. It was very classy and the staff was nice. Matthew and I had the traditional British “Fish and Chips” with mash peas (a first for me.) After all, “when in Rome…”

When we left Windsor Castle, and as we were walking through the village back to the car, everyone had to go to the bathroom of course. So we took a detour through a shopping centre down the hill from the castle. We walked through an open area of several cafes and coffee shops. Naturally, Matthew and I couldn’t resist.

I had my first “Cream Tea” there and it was a real eye-opener. This is basically a large cup of tea (or large Americano, as was my case) with a Cornish Scone served with jam and clotted cream. Clotted cream is amazing. Why don’t we have it in the States?? I cannot even describe the flavour. You’ll just have to try it.

 

The café was so quaint. The kind you see in the movies that is out in the open, couches and tables, people bustling by. I loved it. And the pigeons just come right up to you.

I was throwing crumbs to this little guy, much to the offense of the Brits sitting next to me, talking overly loud about how “unsanitary” it is to feed the pigeons as they watched me. Oh well.

Oh,yeah. About the Parking. I hate to keep comparing Britain to America, but it’s just impossible to overlook this one. There is NO parking anywhere in England. America definitely takes the cake on this one. To say that the parking here is “ridiculous” would be the understatement of the century. People literally park right out in the roads (yes, on the teeny-tiny English roads they will just pop a squat.) This is not only annoying to the people trying to drive down these roads, but it is also dangerous for those people’s cars. Drivers will knock your side-view mirror off and just keep going! Not to mention, when you park in the middle of the road like that, you also have to somehow step out of your vehicle into the middle of the road.

In the case of Windsor Castle, there were several pay-to-park lots in the village. This is relatively convenient (and yet, pricey) when you are going to view an attraction. But what about just going to a store or pub? Forget about it. You are parking way down the street somewhere on the road and walking. There are a few exceptions to this and that is usually the superstores or chains, like Sainsbury’s and such, that do have car parks (that’s British for “parking lot”) at the store. Just like Walmart or Kroger in the States, only a tad smaller.

Stay tuned for more stories and outings pictures!

It Gets Better...Right?

It’s been very hard trying to enjoy being in England. With all the military red tape we have been going through since we’ve been here, we have a bad taste in our mouths. My husband commented that, as exotic as it sounds to receive PCS orders to an overseas base, the military drains the excitement once you get there with all of their regulations, stipulations, complications, and a whole bunch of other “tions;” plus their general unhelpfulness with all the matters you have to attend to because of it (“it” being the military).

We continue to try and make the best of things. The thing we are most disgruntled about at the moment is our housing situation. We have been in temporary housing for three weeks now and are desperate to have a “Home Sweet Home.” We have been missing that since October. Also, we found out this week that our “Household Goods” shipment (i.e. the “big stuff,”) has made it into the country and has received the OK from Customs. Hopefully we will have a place to put it soon! We really miss our stuff…

One of the hardest things for me has been the fact that we are in a foreign country (one that I have been desperate to visit since I decided on a bachelor’s in English Lit), and we haven’t been able to get out and explore much. At first, the problem was driving. We were afraid of driving on the British roads and in a British car. (Driving on the right side of the car really messes with your depth perception and spacial judgement! And, the UK has much stricter driving laws. You can get a ticket for driving while drinking a coffee…what?!)

But now that we have overcome that hurdle, we have another obstacle preventing us from exploring our new residence: snow. Ironically, our taxi driver from the airport told us that it hardly ever snows in England and that, this year, they were having an unusually warm winter. Well…our arrival must have upset the balance of things because it has snowed several times since we have been here and has been bitterly cold! And, the icing on the cake, it hasn’t gotten warm enough to melt any of the snow that has fallen.

At first the snow was nice. It was the dry, fluffy kind that makes perfect snowballs and snowmen (and women!) Not the kind of wet, icy snow that makes everything slippery and dangerous, which is what we got in the southern US, where we are from.  

 

This was us on the first day of snow.

This is on the seventh day of snow…from the window in our room in Temporary Lodging, stuck. We are just sick of looking at it.

 

My son, who would brag to people back in the states, saying “I’m moving to England! It snows everyday in England!” (Not sure where he got that idea from, but the point is: he was excited about the snow!) But on the fifth day of having snow in England, he asked, all exhausted and whiny, “When is the snow going to go away?”

Surely. Surely. It will get better…right?

First Impressions

We have now been in England a week and so far…we are not impressed. I know one week isn’t long enough to give it a good go but this has just been a bad week. Not a single thing has gone right, or even gone smoothly or easily, for us since we arrived.

It’s not entirely England’s fault though. In fact, very little of our disappointments have to do with England itself. It’s the military we are put out with. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

There are some things that we have already discovered that we miss about the US. The first thing is the sun! Being from the south, where the sun is ever present (and hot), we love sunshine. But we have only seen the sun on two occasions since we have been here and it lasted probably a total of three hours combined. I noticed the funniest thing about the weather here just as we were flying into London last Saturday. While we were still at “cruising altitude,” I could not only see the sun, but it was brilliantly bright! However, as soon as we began to descend to land, we dropped below an immense dividing line of clouds that completely blocked the sun. It was like a whole other world up there above the clouds!

What really isn’t fair is how the clouds block out the sun and its glorious warmth during the day, while the nights are crystal clear with almost never a cloud in sight.

Another thing we miss is good, reliable internet. Now I cannot speak for all of England; I have heard that you can get good internet here. But where we are, which is “in the country” as everyone keeps reminding us, you cannot get good internet, which is just ridiculous for the technological age we live in and the dependency we have on it.

 Thirdly, we miss good cell phone service. We just got cells on Wednesday and already we can tell that the service here is not comparable to that in America (specifically, with our previous carrier AT&T). By "service," I mean coverage area. Again, everyone keeps saying this is the result of living in the country. But even “in the country,” you can still get a decent signal where I am from. But, I will say this for the carrier we signed with: they have reasonable prices on their plans (not something you will get in America, unless you get a “go” phone) and you practically get your phone for free, depending on the plan you go with.

Now let’s talk about the military side of things.

There really is just too much to say here so I’ll give you the run down. On my husband’s first day of in-processing, someone took him to get a rental car and just dropped him there…with no instructions on how to drive a right-handed car or how to drive on the left side of the road. Not only was that dangerous to all the other drivers on the road, but it was also just plain disappointing on their part. They are supposed to take care of their own.

But he survived. And he is doing fairly well with driving, he usually only hits one or two curbs. Me on the other hand…Well first I had to wait to drive until just yesterday because the rental we had was a stick. I can’t drive a stick. Don’t have the coordination. So when my hubbie bought his car this weekend (that is an automatic), we took it out for a drive and I got to practice.

I did ok until I got into a very busy (and cramped) town and clipped someone’s side-view mirror. I decided I had enough practice after that and I’ll leave the driving to my hubbie for now. But anyway…

Since we have been here, we have received very little direction on how to get settled in. There has been very little communication or instruction from the military (who dictates how and where and when we do get settled.) This is very frustrating for a family that has been in this transition period for months now and is ready to get settled!

My husband was given several checklists of things to get done for his job and his new station. But they haven’t given him any direction as to when he has to get it all done, when he is supposed to report to work regularly, etc. We feel like we have been left to “fly by the seat of our pants,” so to speak. When all we want to do is get back to a routine.

Needless to say, we are all still feeling that “No rest for the weary” sentiment from my last post. Fingers crossed things will start looking up by next post!

Ode to Autumn

Ode to Autumn

Two really big items on our moving check-list were checked off this week: my husband received his official orders and our passports arrived! Next we have to apply for Visas and Tourist Passports (yes, we have to get TWO!)

With the Autumn Equinox this Saturday, I decided to dedicate today's post to Fall and share with y'all some of my favorite things about this season. Fall is my favorite time of year. It is so much more romantic than Spring, I think. It is the beginning of "cuddling weather," cozy nights by the fire, hot cocoa, and sweaters. (And football!)The air is so crisp and smells so fresh! The beautiful bright reds, oranges, and yellows make me happy. And the food of fall just warms your tummy as well as your heart.

Two of my favorite foods of Fall are Pumpkin Bread and Starbucks' Salted Caramel Mocha. When I first tried this drink, I fell head-over-heels immediately! Salted Caramel? What a genius idea! So when I ran across this Pumpkin Bread with Salted Caramel Drizzled Pumpkin Buttercream by Jessica, over at A Kitchen Addiction, I nearly fell out of my chair. A recipe that combines two of my favorite fall flavors? Oh, yes, please. 

So here are the ingredients:

• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C granulated sugar substitute
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/4 C pumpkin puree

Now, first let me admit that I did change a few of these items in my version. I didn't have any canola oil. I only buy vegetable and olive oils, so I substituted with vegetable oil.

Also, I don't like sugar substitutes. For some strange reason, they always leave a bad after taste in my mouth. So for the "1/4 c granulated sugar substitute," I used regular granulated sugar. It worked just fine. However, I will note that the sugar substitute Jessica uses makes this recipe much healthier.

Finally, I didn't have any plain yogurt in the fridge. All I had was vanilla-flavored yogurt, so that is what I used. Again, it worked just fine. Using the plain yogurt would probably help make the other flavors of the bread stand out better.

Ok, the directions. First, preheat your oven to 325f. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.

Then whisk together the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well-combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, using an electric or stand mixer, beat eggs until creamy. Beat in brown sugar and sugar substitute on medium speed for one minute. Add in vanilla, yogurt and oil. Beat until well-combined. Add flour mixture and pumpkin, beat until just combined. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Spread batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire rack.

I love that she uses low-fat yogurt in this bread. It is good for you and takes out some of the fat! This bread turned out to be so fabulously moist and full of flavor! 

Alright, so next it needs some frosting. Jessica includes a lovely Pumpkin Buttercream frosting recipe on her blog. I have always like cream cheese frostings so I used Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting. And then topped it with Jessica's Salted Caramel Drizzle (which, by the way, I could make a whole batch of and eat by the spoonful. Yum.)

Caramel Drizzle:

• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp salt                  

In a small saucepan, stir together brown sugar and water. Dissolve sugar over medium-high heat. Continue heating until caramel turns dark brown and starts to boil, making sure to stir constantly to avoid burning. Add butter and salt. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Continue stirring for another 1-2 minutes to cool the caramel somewhat before drizzling over the top of the frosting

Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't that caramel drizzle make your mouth water?

 Needless to say, this loaf didn't last long. This is a recipe I will be making again and again! (By the way, it is an excellent breakfast food. Perfect with coffee.)

 Now what goes better with a hot cup of coffee and a sweet treat? A good book, of course. Or poem. And what better one than this by the brilliant John Keats reflecting the beauty of Autumn in England.

To Autumn by John Keats

Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
They hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while they hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music, too-
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from the hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Check back soon for my next try at a British recipe: a full English breakfast! Sounds yummy, right??

Sweet Relief

Quote of the Day: "He covers the sky with clouds; He supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills." Psalm 147:8

This time of year, with the weather we have been having, our move to England cannot get here soon enough! We have had 100+ degree weather for 14 days and 26 days with no rain. Unlike the UK, who, according to The Weather Channel, has been having much more tolerable weather (temperatures in the 60s and 70s and plenty of rain. I'm so jealous!)

For the past three days, the weather has teased and taunted us with heat relief, but just wouldn't give it to us. It has been cloudy. It has been humid (extremely). It has thundered and sprinkled. On the first day that we were teased with rain, the storm clouds went all around us but we didn't get a drop. Even though it was "cooler" that day (93 degrees, because it was cloudy), it was incredibly humid so you hardly noticed the temperature difference. The next day, it was the same temperature and cloudy sky, and even some parts of the state, including towns not 20 miles from my home got a few short showers. It skipped us. But today, finally, we got rain!

The kids have even been looking for rain. It's a pretty desperate situation when children even want it to rain. They wanted it to rain so badly before the 4th of July so that they could do fireworks. Better late than never!
It thundered and lightninged and poured for all of ten minutes.  But we are so happy it finally rained! (Now, if you walk outside, it feels like a sauna!)

Rain always puts me in a "cold weather mood." And I love cold weather. (Which is great since I'm moving to a very cold and wet place, right?) It makes me want to get into pajamas, brew some hot chocolate, and cuddle under a soft blanket with my honey. As soon as the thunder clapped, it was as if my comfy sweat pants were calling my name. And comfort food seemed to be the perfect dinner menu so I decided to make good ol' Southern Red Beans and Cornbread with Fried Squash.

Now with this Southern Comfort Food, we had to have dessert. I had some plums that were on the verge of going bad so they inspired the perfect Southern dessert: cobbler!

I used this recipe from my favorite "go-to" website for recipes. I tweaked it a little by substituting 5 of the peaches for plums and adding a pie crust layer for the bottom of the cobbler (using my grandma's pie crust recipe, one of my most treasured possessions). I also added almonds to the crumble on top. My hubby, Matthew, likes nuts in his desserts.

I am like most people and want vanilla ice cream with my cobbler. I came across a recipe for homemade ice cream in this month's Women's Day magazine. This recipe is perfect because it does not require an ice cream maker (which I do not have, but hope to remedy that soon.) And it was so easy! Only three ingredients. Three simple steps. And it tastes divine.

I will say this about the ice cream, though: it does not melt into liquid like regular, churned ice cream. When it begins to melt, it takes on a texture more like whipped cream or Cool Whip instead of turning to liquid. Apart from that, it was the perfect substitute and I can't image an easier way to make ice cream.