Baking Across the Pond

Living in England gives lots of opportunities for talking about differences between England and the United States.  When you're "separated by a common language" there are always similarities and differences, sometimes very minute ones, to discuss.  A funny minute one we discovered in recent months came when talking to a friend about a splashback she wanted to install in her kitchen.  "You mean a backsplash?" I asked.  We laughed a lot over that one because it seems so characteristic, just gotta be a little bit different, just enough to throw you off a bit.

Cooking offers a chance for new vocabulary and a learning curve, using a "fan oven" instead of electric, heating things up on the "hob" instead of the "stove."  Most of the time it seems we just use the same words differently.  For instance, the southern American use of casserole would probably be called a bake here in North Yorkshire.

Last Easter we had our church over for lunch, and I made a Pound Cake for dessert.  I didn't realize until I did that the Bundt pan and bundt cake were not as common on this side of the ocean.  At my Christmas time meeting with my Book Club, I rediscovered that fact when one of the ladies brought up seeing a bundt cake made on a cooking show and how she really wanted to try one.  I told her I would bring one to our next meeting, and I settled on this Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake, mostly because I had all of the ingredients on hand.  Instant pudding mix is harder to find on this side of the pond, but I happened to have some in the pantry.  This cake comes highly recommended by my book club.  That buttery, cinnamon sugar filling is amazing.  I didn't get a picture of the finished product, so check out the original post for all the delicious details, and go forth and make bundt cakes!

A Little Bit of Everything

This weekend was just plain fun and chock-full of good things.  I spent a lot of time with my mixer and rolling pin.  

Some of our college students invited us to watch the season premiere of Doctor Who, and I wanted to make something special because sometimes I get really into parties, and it's fun to create.  I think KJ was a little skeptical when I showed him the picture of the cake I wanted to emulate. My cake looks decidedly amateurish compared to the professional, but she had written such a good tutorial on how to put the cake together I thought it was worth a try.  I learned a lot of "cake-decorating things" so it was worth it.  

I did, however, forget to put handles on my TARDIS, so you can't actually get inside and go anywhere.

It's bigger on the inside of course.

You could also say it's smaller on the outside.

The tutorial had me make an entire recipe of marshmallow fondant, but all that it was needed for was the windows, so while KJ and the kids kept tearing off pieces to eat I rolled some out to lay across my second layer of cake.  That was the easiest icing job ever, and KJ likes the marshmallow fondant so much he'd be happy if I never used traditional frosting again. I happened upon the candy glasses and bow ties at Target, and I thought they made a good ode to Doctors 10 and 11.

Our fun night out was sponsored by the Kizziah family who kept our kids, making all kinds of fun memories.  We took some pictures for them to put on a prayer card yesterday evening before church. I don't know if I should share any of the pictures they want to use yet, so I'll settle for an underexposed shot.  I think the properly exposed shots turned out really well.  Maybe this is what their prayer card might look like if they were going to a more dangerous area. 

I've been rocking this kid in this chair like this for almost 5 years.  It's our special spot, so I asked KJ to take a picture last night.  James said, "This can be me and your passport picture."  I think it's the perfect shot for a government document, don't you?

Shall we have tea?

Most people associate the British with drinking tea, ourselves included.  But this past trip, actually being in the homes of English people we got to experience first hand the ritual of tea-drinking.

I read something in a book once about how it was something the English did when they didn't know what else to do, and our hostess while we were there brought up that very thing.  "You can always make a cup of tea."  No matter the situation, the crisis, the problem, you put the kettle on.  You sit down and figure it out over a hot cup of tea.  

Our host said he probably drank 8 cups a day.  You start the day with a cup, a mid-morning cup, a cup with lunch, after lunch, afternoon, dinner, at the close of day.  It really is a ritual.  It's calming.  It's a nice way to slow down in the middle of a hectic day.  And it's kind of an easy habit to pick up, though we're far from 8 cups a day.

This is the fourth Sunday in a row I'm missing the Sunday service at church. We were gone, I had nursery duty, Ella was sick, and now James is sick.  I treated myself to a slow start to the day that made me smile.

We also picked up the habit of topping off the top quarter of our cup with milk, something I never thought I would do, but I now love the creaminess of it.  It makes it even more of a treat.  This is actually a re-creation of an amazing chai I had in Paris.  Adding milk made it just right.

When it's brewing it smells like Christmas:  ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg.  Sweeten and add milk, and it's not a bad way to start another day home with a sick baby.  Not too bad at all.

"In everything give thanks..."

Happy birthday, Big Daddy!

We've got several family birthdays this week, all of which got celebrated a little bit early to take advantage of family being in town, but we were happy to get to celebrate with Big Daddy twice.

I hope he doesn't mind that I just announced his age to the world via his cake candles. I usually save the candles from the kids' cakes, so Ella's 5th and 6th birthdays worked out perfectly.

Incidentally, if anyone needs a good buttercream frosting recipe, I used this recipe for James' and Ella's cakes last year, and it is so good.  I used dark chocolate cocoa for this batch since KJ's dad is a dark chocolate fan.

Big Daddy shared his celebration with Haddon, whose first birthday is coming up in just four days.  We had a good night together, celebrating the birthday boys.  Don't be sad, there will be lots of pictures of Haddon to come.

Big Daddy told us he wanted a surprise party at Cici's for his birthday, so we were happy to oblige him today.  I'm not sure how much of a surprise it was, but we are thankful for KJ's dad and getting to celebrate with the best "pizza value," as KJ says.

Dinner Party

Sunday afternoon I planned an impromptu dinner party for last night, to celebrate college graduations, new jobs, new jobs in other countries, and I always look forward to trying new recipes.  Last night was dinner party heaven because every new thing I tried was lovely and delicious, so I thought I should share the love.

We'll start with The Pioneer Woman's two contributions:  Homemade Lemonade and Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake.

I don't have a juicer, so I squeezed 24 lemons by hand yesterday, then weeded out all the seeds.  It made my trash can and my hands smell like summer, and it was perfect and delicious.  I filled up a big serving vat and gave no other drink options. :)

I think this cake speaks for itself.  Homemade whipped cream, from scratch chocolate cake, strawberries...and don't forget the Nutella.  It was seriously good and pretty to look at, too.  You could just make one layer if you don't want lots of leftovers.

I also followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest for the "perfect baked potato."  I thought it delivered.  I used our sea salt we brought back from Normandy, and the insides were fluffy and perfect as promised.

I also used our French salt on steaks that my lovely husband grilled to perfection.  The only downside of the evening was when a falling steak knife grazed KJ's hand, resulting in a rather bloody end to dinner.  I got out the fancy steak knives we received as wedding gifts, and since they've only been used around 5 times in nine years they're pretty sharp.  I think he'll recover fully, though.

The picture of James above reminded me of our favorite line from last night.  After a trip to the bathroom, James walked out with only his underwear and announced, "My pants are invisible!"  I for one didn't see them again for the duration of the evening.

New Year, New Recipes

This post got pushed back by my bout with the flu, but at the beginning of the year I was trying to step out of my comfort zone and try some new recipes, be "fearless in the kitchen" as Cynthia Coppersmith likes to say.  

A couple of years ago I stole a Rachael Ray cookbook during a game of Dirty Santa, and I had yet to really look through it, so I chose it for my inspiration during the first week of January.  As I was flipping through the "30-Minute Meals" what did I see?  Grilled Chicken Shawarma.

Maybe you were like me and went to the theater last May to see the Avengers, and at the end laughed at them around the table eating Shawarma, wondering what it was they were eating exactly.  Since the end of a day of parenting can kind of feel like you've been fighting to save the world, KJ and I celebrated with Shawarma one night, and it was DELICIOUS.  

Here's a link to the recipe, and you can even watch a 3-minute video of Rachael Ray preparing it.  It was awesome on the toasted pita bread, but I had seconds without the bread.  Peppers and onions and chicken = YUM.

A Recipe for your Friday

Hello, little group of people that check in on the Pughs.  I never intended to neglect posting this week; it just kind of happened.  I've been blogging in the morning, and I think Tuesday I didn't feel inspired to write anything, and then Wednesday I tried to be really disciplined and prioritize teaching Ella before anything else, which I did, and it was great!  But then I just got busy being disciplined, and I was trying not to piddle at the computer that day so...

Thursday is KJ's day off, so a lot of time is spent with him, and I went to Wal-Mart, and then I was making his special request supper, and made some phone calls...I was also trying to go through a few photo shoots I've done recently.  I still have quite a bit of work to do in that department.  

As a special Friday treat I thought I'd share the recipe for KJ's favorite chicken ever.  I'm going to have to start making this more frequently.

"This was the first dish you ever made that

I fell in love with."

- KJ Pugh -

This recipe came out of a book of appetizer recipes, and I made it the first year we were married.  I'm not really sure why I first decided to try it, but I'm thinking it was in part for the same reason I could make it on the fly last night:  all the ingredients are probably in your pantry.  And it really is super-good.  I didn't feel like dealing with skewers and cutting chicken breasts (SO hard to do.  I recommend cutting them while still slightly frozen.), so I just poured the marinade on top of chicken breasts and let them marinate in the refrigerator, then baked the chicken on 375 for about 40 minutes.  KJ ate two of them, and that's saying a lot for him.  

So, fire away!  It's scrumptious and doesn't really need a dipping sauce.    

Roll-Out Sugar Cookies

I made some melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies on Sunday, and I wanted to share the recipe I used because it took me a while to find a good roll-out sugar cookie recipe.  Two Christmases in a row I got really excited about making and decorating Christmas cookies with Ella, followed a recipe for sugar cookies from the back of the bag of sugar, I think, and had epic fails both times.  I was disappointed in not making the memory with Ella and not understanding what went wrong.  I didn't know roll-out cookie dough was different than just dropping the cookies on the sheet.

Looking back, I think, Why didn't you search the internet for a recipe? or Why didn't you buy some dough for rolling out at the store?  I think I may have tried the store thing once, and it didn't work for me either...I'm a slow-learner.  

One success I did have was with a packaged mix that told you what different ingredients you needed to add to be able to roll out the dough, but if you're looking for all from scratch...here you go!

This dough was soft and looked and felt like Pla-Doh, especially after I added the food coloring.  Oh, and where did I get this fine recipe?  It was on the back of the package of fall cookie cutters I purchased.  Thank you, Wilton.  They were deee-licious.

P.S.  Don't even think about substituting the butter for margarine.  I am learning that there is absolutely nothing like unsalted butter for baking.   

Pinterest and Me

I was a little late entering the world of Pinterest.  I heard people talking about it for over a year before I joined, and it took me a while to understand how useful and fun it could be.  I have especially enjoyed it since getting an iPod touch this past May.  It makes looking at pins less overwhelming when I see them one at a time, and I feel like it's really useful having a bazillion resources at my fingertips where I can find them when needed.  

Here are a few things I've done so far:

I turned a cheap Wal-Mart frame into a chalkboard.  I am not a very crafty person, but this seemed easy enough.  I started small and bought a 5x7 frame just in case I messed it up, though. I took the glass out and spraypainted one side with chalkboard paint, and Wa-la!  Mini chalkboard.  My original plan was to paint the wooden frame red, but I haven't done that yet.

I made cake batter truffles.  Mine didn't look as pretty because the directions were unclear about mixing the sprinkles in with the melted almond bark.  I had a feeling I shouldn't, but I did.  But the taste was divine, and I think sprinkles are always fun.  I made these for a gathering around the 4th of July.

My first thought as to why my picture didn't look very good was, "Maybe it's the lighting."  Then that made me laugh because that's an oft-repeated line in the Haunted House episode of The Andy Griffith Show.  It applies to photography, too.  (An Andy Griffith post may be coming your way soon.)

I made these yummy sandwiches for a Wednesday night dinner. I actually only got a bite of KJ's, but they were good.  I've made a version of these before but never with the mustard sauce.  My mom usually poured butter over hers (which of course tastes amazing).  I used cheddar cheese instead of Swiss because I had cheddar on hand, and I was trying to be economical.  I'm also not sure how I feel about putting the sauce on top, because it looked pretty messy to eat.

I made this faux Chicken Pot Pie for dinner last week.  I was actually kind of disappointed in it, but there are a few things I think would have made it better.  I might try it again if I were making these adjustments.  I wouldn't add water (unnecessary with a bag of frozen vegetables), and I wouldn't cover it with foil during the first 15 minutes of cooking (mine wasn't hot enough).

Yes, I stood on my counter like a dedicated food blogger to get you this picture.  Do food bloggers stand on counters?

I did this workout Monday afternoon.  It just might not have been a very good idea.  I was trying to challenge myself, and lung and heart wise I did it, but my knees have been achy ever since. 180 jumping jacks?  What was I thinking?  Over 100 squats?  Yes, I've had two knee surgeries, and sometimes I forget it.  They're feeling a little bit better now, though.  I asked the Lord for mercy on my poor 30-year-old knees.  

I've been taking on this project.  This is just a really good idea and so helpful.  I like having someone else give me a list of things to do, versus coming up with my own plan (sometimes).  I'm on the third day of cleaning out.  This list just provides a nice little impetus to clean out and throw out.  It feels good. 

So that's some of the stuff I've been doing.  What's your latest Pinterest project?

Thanksgiving This-and-That

One Thanksgiving when I was in college my mom made this AMAZING pumpkin pie that I really loved.  I started making it anytime I went to a festive celebration in November or December, and at my sister-in-law's request, I'm going to share it today.  Here you are, Katie!  :)  

I really like it because it's a cold pie made with pudding and Cool Whip, and who doesn't love that?

Click HERE to download the recipe card.

I was thrilled when stores started carrying the extra large pie crust.  You really need it for this recipe because it makes a lot filling.  But whatever is left over you can just enjoy with a spoon.  You should make sure it turned out all right, after all.

On another Thanksgiving note, have you read this book?  I love it.  It really is an amazing story.  I bought it on Black Friday last year and read it to Ella the other night.  She came home with her first Indian headdress and book with pictures of pilgrims and Indians.  It was fun to share this story of God's providence with her.  

Every once in a great while,

the hand of God is easy to see,

and for a brief moment,

fairy tales and history are the 

same thing.  This story is about

one of those times.

-from Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas

And on one more Thanksgiving note, if your local Dairy Queen carries the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, you should totally check that out. 

Birthdays

After being such a regular blogger while KJ was away, it feels strange to have gone so many days without posting something.  The reasons I have not been writing lately are twofold.  The good news is that I've been hanging out with my husband at night after the children are in bed, and that has been fun.  I'm very glad to have him home.  There have been no more lonely nights blogging away by myself.  The bad news is that since KJ has been home James has been waking up in the night again.  We think he is just being stubborn and crazy and that the only way to fix it is to let him cry it out and know that he is not getting picked up.  I think KJ has spent more nights on the sofa than in our bed since he's been home, letting me sleep while he comforted James periodically.  A couple of nights after he got home I woke up slightly out of a dream-filled sleep and gasped in horror because someone was in my bed.  After 2 weeks of being alone it scared me to death for half a second before I realized it was KJ.  So, please pray for James and us as we lose sleep.  We are both physically tired, and I am emotionally tired of trying to figure out if he is hungry or has a genuine need or if he is just being  a stinker.


In other news, summer is filled with birthdays in our family.  My brother, Josh, celebrated his 27th birthday on Sunday.  I was going to try to write a post about him yesterday, but I was interrupted by a baby who didn't want to take his nap, so suffice it to say, I really love my brother!  I am so proud of him and the man he has become and is becoming.  He is funny, tender, faithful, generous, and loving, and I hope he has a wonderful year.

Josh and his lovely wife, Nicole

Yesterday was KJ's mom's birthday, and we celebrated with lunch at our house with the Kizziah family.  Both Katie and I are so thankful for the ways Mama T. helps us through this stage of mothering small children by encouraging us to savor each moment and giving us breaks by keeping our children for us.  We love you, T!

I tried a new panini recipe yesterday, and it was great!  It was an easy panini to make for a party.

Roast Beef Panini Sandwiches

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

2 packages (8 ounces each) pre-baked pizza crusts (6 inches)

1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

1 cup French Fried Onions

5 ounces sliced deli roast beef

2 ounces sliced provolone or mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Combine mayonnaise, basil and garlic in small bowl.  Spread on pizza crusts.

2.  Layer spinach, Fried Onions, roast beef and cheese on two pizza  crusts, dividing evenly.  Cover with remaining two pizza crusts, spread side down.

3.  Place sandwiches on baking sheet.  Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until sandwiches are toasted and cheese is melted.  To serve, cut each sandwich in half.

I used 2-12 inch pizza crusts because I didn't see any 6-inch ones at the store and just baked it on a pizza pan.  I used the whole wheat pizza crust, but I'm sure the sandwich would be good with other seasoned crusts, too.  Enjoy!

Recipe from Favorite Brand Name Italian Cooking