Viking Tea Party

Everyone's Doing It

Pinning. Pinterest. Love.

I kind of want to do a weekly Pinterest thing. Maybe my top five favorite pins of the week or a pin that I've actually tried. But I'm not one for following through so it's still a "kind of want to" for sure.

Tonight I tried out something from my Crockpot Love board, though, and oh did I love it. It's impossible to find good Mexican food around here and it was one of my very favorite things to eat back in Ohio. The Mexican food here is either a little too sweet or they throw something strange like eggplant into the salsa. We went to Salisbury's Mexican restaurant on my birthday two years ago but walked out when I read that each meal came with a side of fries not tortilla chips. Being seven months pregnant or so, I knew that was a meal that would have ended in emotional, disappointed tears.

We're new to this crockpot thing. I had oen in the states but pretty much only used it for making this one cheese dip (Velveeta, salsa, cream and pimentos...I think that's all that went into it and it's delicious). I'm determined to use it for meals here, though. We had potatoes, onions, cream of mushroom soup and pork chops last week and it was good but not spectacular. Chicken tacos, though, with three simple ingredients...delicious! I used Chocolate Therapy's recipe. Salsa, chicken breasts and taco seasoning on high for four hours. I could go on for days about how good this was. Recently I've been rating good meals as food that makes me want to roll around on the floor. Why good food suddenly makes me want to behave like a dog, I have NO idea but this was definitely a floor roller.*

Anyway, it's so good that there's only a tiny bit left...

Just enough to pile on top of baked potatoes with sour cream and cheese for dinner tomorrow!

Next time I'm going to try making my own taco shells like this but I'm going to give it a bit of tang with a suggestion from my cousin and rub them down with lime, sea salt and fresh chopped coriander. I couldn't be bothered with that tonight. Nor could I be bothered to take a photo of the tacos themselves. I just wanted to eat some decent Mexican food and this will certainly tide me over until we make it again! 

*I do not actually roll around on the floor in delight. I just really feel like it.

 

Cravings

I think this is a great time to talk about pregnancy cravings.  Not only did I happen to take a photo of my de-licious lunch but we also just finished watching Julie & Julia.  Perfect!

But first Matt and I want to thank you for all of your wonderful baby comments!  We couldn't be happier or more excited.  My due date is November 2nd but we have our fingers crossed for the 8th which would mean our little acorn would be born on the second anniversary of the day Matt and I met.  I'm not going to get my hopes up too much but...it would be nice.  

Thankfully, I haven't had any food aversions.  A couple of smells have sent me away from the kitchen table to the couch where I had to settle for a bowl of Honey Cheerios but, as soon as I got something in my tummy, I was able to, um, stomach the smell and be sociable. 

I have had a few cravings, though.   I'd kill for a cake from elé Cale Company.  A white cake with buttercream frosting.  Heaven.  For now, a Victoria Sponge cake kind of hits the spot...but not really.  I also discovered, as my parents and Matt tucked in to several pints at several pubs over the past couple of weeks, that I love the smell of beer.  I have no desire to drink it but it smells better now than it did before I was pregnant (which, in most cases, really isn't saying much).  

The big one, though, is red meat.  I could eat a cheeseburger every day and never tire of it.  So today, while we were out wandering the city center, I suggested that we stop at the butcher shop Mom and I had scoped out a few days ago.  Not only did the mince look better than what we buy at the grocery but it was quite a bit cheaper, too, and there were fresh rolls to be bought at the bakery right across the street.  Again, perfect!

Neither of us normally eat a lot of red meat or any other meat for that matter, really.  It's only recently that we've started occasionally buying chicken breasts for BBQ chicken pizza or roasting a whole chicken instead of using Quorn in dishes and that's mostly because I kind of like to have the real thing every once in awhile.  Matt, I think, really could do without and while he isn't the strict vegetarian when he was younger, I still have to say that he's really been a hero about this whole red meat thing. 

Even though he's really, really not a fan of butcher shops he did go in today and not only bought the hamburger I'd been craving but also some fresh bacon and four thin steak fillets for steak sandwiches.

Drool.  A steak sandwich?  That sounded even better than a cheeseburger!  And I'm not really a steak fan at all.  I think I can just about count the times I've had steak - always a tiny fillet Mignon - on one hand and most of those times the company I was working for was picking up the tab.   Suddenly the idea of a steak sandwich - on fresh rolls bought across the street - sounded fantastic.

Behold.  My lunch.  The steak sandwich.  With loads of caramelized onions, mustard and ketchup.

 

Yum.  I seriously could have cried (although, obviously, a lot of things bring me to the brink of tears these days) when I finished it - it was that good.  Thankfully, there are two more steaks in the fridge.  Oh, and the mince that will most likely make a fine cheeseburger lunch tomorrow while Matt is at work.  

For now, though, since I'm typing this in bed with a napping husband and both cats, I think I might partake in another of my favorite things that comes along with being pregnant...a little snooze....

A Few of My Favorite Things

Matt made this for me when I wasn't feeling well the other day and it's my new favorite drink: Twinnings Chamomile Honey and Vanilla* tea with two teaspoons of honey, the juice of half a lemon and one lump of brown sugar.  It's doubly good when served in a cute Cath Kidston mug as is the one I'm drinking right now.  :)

 

I think we've just about reached the end of clementine season which makes me a little sad but we've certainly eaten lots this year.  Perfectly sweet, easy to peel and those little sections are so freaking cute.  And you get the added bonus of having this song stuck your head all day long. 

Catherine sent me the recipe for Anzac biscuits the other day because it contains another of my favorite things: golden syrup.  Sadly, I didn't get around to making them until last night.  Why "sadly"?  Had I made them the day she sent the email (I even bought coconut that night at the grocery so I had good intentions) they would have been in my life a few days earlier.  They're that good. 

*for aesthetic reasons I used another brand of chamomile - the Twinnings comes in plain white bags with no tea tag which would make this look like it was just an empty mug sitting next to a lemon

Not For Those With a Weak Disposition

I have a lot of things to post but haven't been able to take photos yet so instead you get this...

STRANGE THINGS MY DAD ATE

WHILE IN CHINA LAST WEEK

Let's start simple.  Calamari may not be strange with a capital S but the presentation is kinda gross and I have no idea what that white stuff is it's, um, swimming in.

More calamari.  This time in gelatin with sea worms.  Yuck.

Conch.  I think this is actually very visually appealing.

Snails.  No, thanks.

This is my favorite - fried baby sea snakes! 

Now I know someone is going to tell me that they either love baby sea snakes or that calamari in gelatin is deeeee-licious....

Have It Your Way

Can I have a number one, large, with cheese and everything but onion and tomato with a diet Coke, please?

I was kind of picky when it came to fast food restaurants even when I lived in the states - Wendy's, Burger King and the occasional Taco Bell - but hadn't had any since I moved to Salisbury.  Out of the corner of my eye, I would peer into the windows of Burger King as we walked by, wondering if it would be as different as, say, the Doritos I keep harping on about (odd but edible).  I was afraid to try it - searching for something familiar, only to be disappointed.  Recently, though, I'd started thinking a little more seriously about giving it a try and when we woke up late on Monday and had a huge list of things to do in town, I suggested that we have a BK burger and fries for lunch.

It's pretty much the same except that mayonnaise is a little different here and there was a lot of it so I'll hold the mayo next time.  Ketchup is sweeter, too, but I'm used to that.  It felt really good to eat something that was almost familiar and, strangely, I loved the feel of that universal wax cup in my hand.  I love fountain diet Cokes and missed them since also hadn't had one of those since I got here.  All in all I think it was the best trip to BK ever.  Also, though, the most expensive as the cost converts to about eleven dollars for my meal alone.  Hard to think of BK as a treat but it's not eleven-dollar-once-a- week good, that's for sure.  

After lunch Matt and I walked over to Waterstone's because I wanted to see if they had a copy of Virginia Woolfe's Selected Diaries in stock (they didn't).  As we were browsing I heard an older gentleman at the counter asking about Patrick O'Brian - author of the Master and Commander series and Matt's favorite - which I thought was really funny since we had just had a long conversation about his books over lunch.  I wondered if Matt had heard and, sure enough, when I wandered over that way, there was the gentleman, a bookseller and Matt.  It turns out the man had recently lost his wife and a friend and recommended the series to him as a way to way to occupy his mind and deal with the grief.  I stayed out of the way but as the man walked to the cash register with the first book I heard him exclaim, "How amazing!  That chap knew all about them!"  It was really touching and I hope he's enjoying the book.

Ce n'est pas un macaron.

I made macaroons for the first time today. Or rather, I attempted to make macaroons for the first time today.  First, though, check this out - even grocery store eggs are chicken feather fresh around here. 

Anyway, back to the macaroons.  These do not look like your average macaroons, that's for sure.  After piping them onto the baking parchment you're supposed to smooth them with a little water and your fingertips and I think I didn't use quite enough water.  I can see spots that are smooth and macaroon-like on a few of them and I'll bet that was due to freshly wet fingers so, next time, more water.   My chocolate macaroons look more like Hobnobs (which I tried for the first time yesterday and love).

(The above tea cup is my favorite of all the thrifted cups and saucers we used for my wedding reception)

Honestly, I've never had a macaroon so I really can't say whether or not these taste right - are macaroons supposed to taste like a chewy almond?  I used a recipe from the most recent issue of Good Food but also found an identical recipe (sans cocoa) online so I'm assuming they do.  I like the idea of more sugar, less almond left by the first commenter on that article and might give that a go next time.  My ground almonds were also a bit coarse so I'll take the suggestion of "whizzing" them down as well. 

I also think lots of filling is the key to a good chocolate macaroon because everything is better with more chocolate.  This recipe is from a section on low fat chocolate treats (ahem, isn't that an oxymoron?) so they skimped on the amount of chocolate filling - 50 grams of chocolate makes about enough to fill five cookies (especially if if you're going to make them look like the macaroons in their photo), not a dozen.  I liked the strange chewy texture of them, though, so I'm looking forward to making another batch maybe with strawberry jam and some red food coloring this time...mmmmm....  

A New Favorite: Baked Eggs

I've been thinking a lot about eggs and cream ever since I saw the link to this Apartment Therapy baked egg article last week.  I love eggs any way you make them. In another life - the one I live that graces the pages of Country Living magazine - I have a backyard full of scratching chickens and fresh eggs every day (and, as if the chickens don't occupy enough of my time, I'm now thinking about beekeeping). 

Anyway, thanks to that whole getting married business, we actually own ramekins and I decided that tonight, while Matt - who is also known as The Husband Who Dislikes Eggs - was at work, I would use them for the very first time (being used as salsa dishes doesn't count) and try making baked eggs.

Because we had a couple of stray slices left from the weekend, I decided to go all out and add bacon in with my layer of shredded cheddar.  British bacon is completely different from American bacon and, while this is full of a different kind of wonderful flavor and I wouldn't turn it down, I do miss miss scrawny, crispy bacon from back home.  

 

Two eggs, a few dollops of single cream and some more cheese and then baked in the oven in the closest thing I have to a bain marie - a glass pie plate.  

 

After 25 minutes I thought things still looked a little too runny and gave it another five which was a mistake because that baked the yolks all the way through but...wow, I could eat this everyday!  Creamy and cheesy with just a little salt from the bacon...fantastic. 

 

Considering how much bread and butter and other wonderful things I consume on a ridiculous daily basis, though, this should really be confined to weekend mornings...thank goodness there's one of those less than 48 hours away!  

This Week's Menu: Fresh Grilled Veggies

Some fresh veggies from my mother-in-law's garden.  A green pepper, an aubergine and, here in the UK, that frightening vegetable on the right is called a swede.  I figured we had to have it in the US but I wasn't sure what we would call it.  Obviously I've never seen nor eaten a rutabaga.  The UK wins in the eggplant department by calling an eggplant something as pretty as an aubergine but how often do you get to say a fun word like rutabaga?