It's working!

Today I found the first signs of veggies (other than leaves) in my garden!  The courgette plants (zucchini) are starting to produce courgettes and we have a couple of snap pea pods. Yay!

Glad to know that I'm actually doing something right.

Love & miss you,

Aubs, Luke & Luther

My First Garden

This year, I decided it was time to plant my first garden.  Because we rent our house, I didn't think I could dig up the lawn, so I opted for things that I could grow in containers.  I figured I could give it a shot and see how things went.  

So - one Saturday in April, I hopped on the bus and then another bus to go to the large garden centre south of the city.  I probably should have done a bit more research before I got there to see what grows well in England and in containers.  But time didn't allow for that and so I wandered in hopes that the vegetables would 'speak' to me and provide me with some inspiration.  

I eventually decided to stick with plants rather than starting from seeds.  Since it's just Luke and me - I didn't think that I'd need the number of plants that would come from a packet of seeds.  And I tried to think about vegetables that I thought Luke would eat.  That narrowed down my choices a bit - but not too much.

I knew that tomatoes were definitely going to be a significant part of the garden.  You can't get anything better than a fresh from the garden tomato.  When I was small, my grandad grew so many tomato plants that he'd set up plywood and sawhorses in the basement for the tomatoes to wait until it was time to can them.  I'm pretty sure that I ate my weight in tomatoes each summer.  I always swiped the small ones because I thought no one would notice.  But the canker sores that eventually developed definitely gave me away.  I'm pretty sure Grandad didn't mind.  The hard part was deciding on the varietals.  There are so many!  I ended up with a couple in an attempt to diversify for success.  We'll see how it goes.

Courgettes (also known as zucchini) also made the top of the list.  I picked up a couple green and a yellow.  I also planted a cucumber - but it has unfortunately not survived.  I may try to pick up another if I can find one closer to home.

The other veg to make it into the garden are snap peas, garlic, red and yellow bell peppers, a hot pepper and spinach.  I also purchased a few herbs - basil, coriander (cilantro) and chives.  I don't really ever use chives - but it looked fun.

Because the spinach was already little plants when I transferred it into the container, it was the first to be ready for harvest.  We went away to Germany towards the end of April and I was sure that I'd be able to harvest spinach when we got home.  Instead I came home to find out that my spinach had already been harvested - by slugs!  And this first time gardener was not happy.  I have since been warring with the slugs.  Not sure who is winning yet but there are definitely four casualties dehydrating today.  Take that slugs!

So, after about a week, I was finally able to harvest some of my spinach.  There is definitely a sense of accomplishment that comes from eating something that you helped to grow.  I'm now able to harvest every couple of days and I use the spinach for salads or in my omelets.  I'm still finding some leaves that have been eaten, but it's not near as bad.

And other than the cucumber, everything is thriving.  The yellow squash had a bit of a rough start, but he's starting to fill out now.

I had to stake the beans a little over a week ago because they've started to wrap around each other and today I did the tomatoes.  And both are starting to flower which I'm pretty sure is a good sign.  

The peppers are still pretty small, but I think they just need some more time.  And lots of sun.  

And the courgettes are starting to require more space and are getting ready to flower as well.

I also bought two Gerbera Daisies.  The slugs have been taking their toll on these as well, but they're starting to make a comeback.

And I think the Luther-man enjoys the garden as much as I do.

Especially when Daddy scratches his head just right.

Not sure how long it will take before I will be able to harvest anything other than spinach - but I'll be sure to post about it here - in due course.

Love you & miss you,

Aubs, Luke & Luther

Luke's 30th Birthday

On Friday (16 May), Luke turned 30.  A couple years ago for my 30^th, Luke and our friends the Garners and Phillips threw me a very classy 30^th birthday party with cocktail attire and lots of sparkling wine.  So I decided to return the favour and throw a party to celebrate Luke. 

First up was to design an invitation.  Fortunately one of our friends is a graphic designer so I passed along my ideas and he produced the most amazing invitation ever!  It was exactly what I wanted and set the tone for the party.  Luke’s favourite whisky is the Old Pulteney 17.  He will tell you it’s like drinking silk.  So – I pulled images from the web of the OP17 bottle and this is our invitation.

Graphic design by Peter Gurry - www.gurrydesign.com 

Once the invites were ordered, I turned my focus to planning.  Planning a party in the US is so easy – jump in your car, drive to Target, buy what you need – DONE!  For the most part anyway.  What you don’t find at Target, you get at the stores next door.  This is not the case in the UK. 

We don’t have a car so shopping involved taking the bus into Cambridge and then walking between stores.  Not such a bad thing, until you start making purchases and you have to carry them from store to store because can’t put in them in the boot (trunk) of your car.  This definitely limits how much you buy on each outing – and means that shopping will involve a number of outings.  It is also much harder to find things here than it is at home.  However, I definitely lucked out when it came to the glassware and struck gold at Tesco (our version of Wal-Mart) and found high ball glasses in the clearance aisle, pitchers that weren’t £5 ($8) each and champagne flutes for a good price. 

I spent the Saturday before his birthday walking all around Cambridge making purchases all over town and actually fulfilling most of my list.  The only things I had to order online were fairy lights for the back garden (yard) from Ebay and plates and forks from Amazon.  (I about had a panic attack because the plates and forks hadn’t been delivered to the house by the day of the party.  I had also ordered some face wash and received a note that it needed to be picked up from the distribution centre because we were not in to sign for it.  We stopped by the centre on Saturday and as I stood in line, I realized that the slip was for two items.  Royal Mail had attempted to deliver it and it was waiting for me.  My day got so much better once that issue was resolved.)

Without Luke knowing, I contacted his cousin Morgan who has become an expert at making bow ties.  She was kind enough to make bow ties for Luke, Luther and Theo.  All three looked extremely handsome. 

So dashing!

Our good friends JT and Bethany Turner who live in Edinburgh came down for the weekend and it was great to have their help as we prepped for the party.  They’re amazing friends and we really miss living in the same city as them. 

I think we had about 30 people come to the party – which was perfect.  We had just enough cake.  And by the end of the night most of the food was gone.  And it ended up being a beautiful evening.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather during an English spring.  AMAZING! 

Thanks to everyone who was able to celebrate with us.  We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends here in Cambridge. 

Now to find excuses to host more parties and use all my stuff…..

Whisky Line-Up:

Old Pulteney 12

Auchentoshan Springwood

The Glenlivet Master Distillers Reserve

And Sparkling Wine and Sparkling Juice for the non-whisky drinkers

Menu:

Spicy Sausage Rolls

Veggies and Humus

Bruschetta

Cheese and Crackers

Raspberry Jalapeno Black Bean Dip

Fruit Salad

Melon, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Skewers

Birthday Cake:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Love you & miss you,
Aubs, Luke & Luther

Cooking in the UK - Breakfast Casserole

After going home for Christmas, some friends of our brought their dog back to Edinburgh with them.  We've been getting the dogs together for long walks to play and burn some energy.  Last weekend Luke had to work so he didn't get to join us.  This weekend we planned an outing to the west side of the city and invited our friends over for brunch before our adventure.  Unfortunately Bethany hurt herself Friday night and wasn't able to join us so we're still working to find a time when all 6 of us can go explore.  Luckily there are so many places to explore that eventually we should be able to do that.

Anyway - as I was deciding what to make for brunch I thought back to this awesome breakfast casserole that our friend Megan introduced to us.  It's your typical breakfast casserole with eggs, sausage or bacon and eggs.  Should be no problem, right?  Wrong!

I am most thankful for my iPhone when I am at the grocery store.  I always have to Google substitutes or UK equivalents or what things are called by the Brits.  Yesterday I had to Google both Swiss cheese and frozen hash browns.  

Luckily Swiss cheese was easy.  Apparently Swiss cheese is actually an American version of Swiss Emmental cheese.  Done.

Hash browns were not so easy.  There is a section about 6 feet long of frozen potatoes but the only hash browns are shaped like triangles.  Not exactly what I needed for my casserole.  So I did the Google and learned that I could boil potatoes and then shred them to make my own.  And that's what I did.  

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I was rushing and my hands were all covered in potato while I was trying to take the picture.

It was a success!!!  The casserole tasted great and it was probably actually better for us because the potatoes were fresh.

So that's my second adventures in cooking story for you.  Moral of the story is - always keep your smart phone handy and give yourself some extra time in case you have to substitute.  

Here's the recipe so that you can enjoy the awesomeness that is this breakfast dish.

Cheesy Amish Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sliced bacon, diced (or 1 pound sausage because I'm not a big fan of the bacon here)

1 sweet onion, chopped

4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed (or 4 cups freshly made shredded potatoes)

9 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese 

1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir bacon and onion until bacon is evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer bacon and onion to a large bowl. Stir in potatoes, eggs, Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and Swiss cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until eggs are set and cheese is melted, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Love you & miss you!

Aubs, Luke & Luther

My New Hobby....Knitting

When I was a junior in college, my roommate Abby knitted all the time.  And so, I asked her to teach me.  I bought a few skeins of yard and attempted to make something worth wearing.  And my first project was successful.  I made myself a scarf; out of two different colours in fact.  There were a few mistakes along the way, but overall it turned out pretty well.  I haven't worn it a lot (because you don't really need heavy scarves in North Carolina) but I still have it.  See. 

But after Abby moved out, I lost my desire to knit.  I did attempt to make a hat once but I think I unravelled it 2 or 3 times because I never liked how it turned out.  In hopes that I would one day knit again, I held on to my yarn until we starting purging to prepare for the move.  Then I sold it along with a bunch of other string to a friend's roommate for a very reasonable price. 

Fast forward to Edinburgh - where everyone knits.  At our first Whisky Society meeting I met Meghan.  Her husband just finished his PhD and is doing a post doctorate at New College.  During the meeting - while the boys spoke nerd - she worked on knitting a sweater.  As I continued to meet other New College (female) students and wives I realised that not only is it a very popular hobby but it is also very practical when you live this far north.  (I have yet to meet a male knitter but my goal is to create one in my own house.)  So I set out with my friend Erin to find some needles and yarn. 

Erin hosts a 'Knitting Club' occasionally so in late October I (re)learned how to knit and started working on a scarf for Luke.  Unfortunately I neglected to adjust the pattern I was basing the scarf on to the size of the yarn and needles and had to unravel and start over, twice.  In the end I went with a simple knit stitch until I had something long enough for him to wear.  I added a few stitches in there along the way and then tried to take them back out so there's a section of the scarf that is a little wider than the rest, but when it's wrapped around his neck you can't even tell. 

While I was home in November, I told my aunt (dad's sister) that I was making a scarf for Luke and she got super excited.  Apparently she and my grandmother used to knit and she still had all her needles.  Unfortunately she's lost a lot of her motor control due to a series of small strokes that happened a long time ago so knitting is no longer an option for her.  Fortunately for me, she found the needles and passed them on to me.  And there is a TON of them!  She also took me to JoAnn's and bought me some yarn and a pattern book which was really sweet of her. 

So since I've been back from the US, I've been working on dishcloths.  I know, I know - they're totally not that exciting, but they're completely practical and I'll send some home as late Christmas presents.  But it's been really good because I've gotten to practice stitches, learn new stitches and learn how to follow patterns.  And the ones I've finished are really quite pretty.  (I show them off to anyone who comes over to our flat.) 

I have a whole list of things that I want to make for myself but I don't think I'll get them all accomplished by the end of winter.  So hopefully I'll be fully stocked for next winter and will still actually want the same things next year.   

Love you & miss you! 

Aubs, Luke and Luther 

The Other Half of Life Across the Pond.....Mundane Daily Tasks.....Cooking

Taco Soup is one of our favorite fall/winter meals.  It's easy to make, tastes amazing and there's always leftovers.  And it was definitely included in the recipe box I brought with us.

After my very first shopping trip in Edinburgh, I knew that my recipe was going to have to be adjusted because not quite everything I needed graced the shelves at the grocery store.  So we started hunting and improvising.

For this soup, you need a couple different types of beans, canned tomatoes, green chilies, Rotel, taco seasoning and Ranch dressing seasoning.  Sounds easy enough to find, right?  WRONG!

In order to gather all of the types of beans the recipe actually calls for, I have to go to 2-3 different stores.  Kidney beans I can find pretty much anywhere but black beans and pinto beans are a different story.  So far here's where I've been able to find them.

• Black beans: Sainsbury or Real Foods
• Pinto beans: ASDA

Luckily the Sainsbury and Real Foods are within walking distance, but ASDA is nowhere close.  So, in order to use pinto beans in the soup I have to make sure that they're added to my delivery order whenever I have one - which usually coincides with when Luther needs food (because no one wants to carry that much dog food home when someone will bring it to your front door).

Tomatoes are easy - Rotel not so much.  I did find Rotel at the hispanic grocer, but it costs about £1.50 per can which is a bit out of my price range.  Luckily I was able to find whole green chilies in a jar at Sainsbury so I throw in an extra can of tomatoes and cut up enough green chilies to make one of them Rotel and then more to equal a can of diced green chilies.

Taco seasoning - done.  Ranch dressing mix - no good.  Again, I found this at the hispanic grocer but it was more expensive than the Rotel so I asked my mom to include some in her first care package to me. So we double up on the taco seasoning for now.

The recipe for this amazing meal is below and I would definitely recommend trying it.  You can substitute and make changes to meet your needs.  If you recycle, which I hope you do, you're bin will be full after making it.  Just remember to rinse your cans.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we do.  And thanks Mom for passing it along to me.

Taco Soup

1½ pounds ground beef, browned and drained

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can chili beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 cans corn, drained

1 can chopped green chiles

1 onion chopped

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix

2 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot or crockpot, mix all ingredients together and simmer at least 2 hours. Serve with corn chips and grated cheese.

Love you & miss you!

Aubs, Luke and Luther

Job......Check!!!!

That's right.....I got a job!  I won't start working for another 3-4 weeks due to the background and reference checks that have to be done, but I have a job.

Everyone we've talked to has told us that you will either find a job really fast (if you're one of the lucky few) or it will take a long time to find a job.  I seem to be grouped in with the "lucky few" category and I couldn't be more thrilled.  If you read my last job related post you know that I was actually offered a job in early October but turned it down.  Right now I am SOOOOOOO glad that I did.

Last Wednesday I received a call from one of my recruitment agency contacts.  Jill, the person who had originally connected me with the agency, actually called the agency to see if I was available.  From what I can tell, a lot of positions in the UK are temporary contracts - 6 months or so.  Jill's team had decided not to renew the contract of a team member that will be up at the end of November and were looking for someone to fill the vacancy.

Because they hadn't officially gotten the new position approved or determine the exact details of the role with HR, Jill wanted to see if I could come in for a informal meeting with her and a colleague just to find out whether or not I would be interested in the position.  Luckily, because it was informal, I was able to wear jeans and boots to the meeting because it was one of those typical Scottish days and I was pretty wet by the time I made it to the building.

We met for 20-25 minutes and just chatted about what the role looks like today, what they want the role to look like going forward and whether or not I would be interested.  I told them I was.  They said they'd get back to me soon to let me know what was next.

They met with the department head the next day to give her their opinion and on Friday I received the offer.  I didn't even have to go in for a formal interview!  How awesome is that since it is on the top of my "Things I Hate to Do" list?

I'll be working for Standard Life Insurance Company so I believe the company will be similar to Principal in some ways.  I'm not sure exactly what my team does but I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly.  Oh - and I'll be in an admin/PA role.

Since it's November and the month of giving thanks, here are the things I am thankful for about the job:

1. My position is a 6 month fixed term contract which means that I will be working directly for the company (rather than as a contractor) and will have access to benefits.  I'm not sure what benefits I'll need as a US citizen so I've got some research to do.  
2. Work weeks are 35 hours here so I'll probably never want to have to go back to work in the States.  And I can use flex time to adjust my hours if needed.  
3. Luke and I will be able to walk together in the mornings and evenings.  I'll just "drop him off" on my way since the building is about a 10 minute walk past where he turns off to school.  
4. I'll start earning Pounds.  From everything we've been told, getting onto the Pound system is great because when you go back to the States - you're rich!  Too bad it doesn't work the other way around.  (crappy dollar)

So for the next 3-4 weeks, Luther and I will be spending a lot of time together enjoying the last of our "holiday".  Although this week I will be doing a lot of audiobook proofing - my other job - which will be the topic of a separate blog.

Love you & miss you,

Aubs, Luke & Luther

Hair Donation #3

If you've known me for very long, you know that I have twice before chopped my hair to donate - once to Locks of Love and once to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  The first time was in 2005 and was super successful in that it helped me snag my husband.  I did it again in 2009 and again today.  I've been letting it grow for 3 years, with a few cuts here and there, but it is definitely the longest it has ever been.  I'll be donating my hair to the Little Princess Trust who will use it to make wigs for kids who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments.  Here are a few before and after pictures from today.  

Little Princess Trust requires 7 inches of hair.  My ponytail is on a sheet of A4 paper that is just under 12 inches long.  I cut off a foot of hair!

Hopefully I'll be able to replicate Jose's finished product when I have to do this on my own tomorrow.

And as of today, I'll start growing it out again to donate a few years from now.  If you have long hair you should definitely jump on this bandwagon.  It's easy, doesn't cost anything (other than postage) and it grows back.

And I'd love to hear what you think.

Love you & miss you,
Aubs

P.S.  Sorry for the poor quality pics.  Self photos in the mirror are not my forte.

P.P.S.  Is it weird that I prefer pictures of myself when taken in a mirror?  Other pictures always look backwards to me, but this is how I see myself everyday!

The Other Half of Life Across the Pond.....Mundane Daily Tasks.....Laundry

Unfortunately, while it does still feel like I'm on holiday because I have not yet started working, we are still forced to attend to the everyday, mundane tasks of daily living while we're living here.  That did not change.  So when we're not off visiting castles, I "get" to keep up with laundry and other household chores.

Doing laundry here is a bit different than doing laundry at home.  In Raleigh, I could pretty much get all of our laundry done in a day, maybe two, except for letting a few of our shirts and pants air dry.  If I was efficient and actually folded clothes as they came out of the dryer, everything would be put away and I'd have empty laundry hampers at the end of the day.

Here we have a washing machine but no dryer.  Everything has to air dry.  And depending on your flat and the weather, it could take a few days for it all to dry.  It was a rude awakening when I did my first load of laundry and found that out.  Fortunately, and due to some dampness in our flat, we elected to buy a dehumidifier that helps clothes dry much more quickly.  Although I've made the executive decision to allow the clothes to dry for a day or so on their own and then turn on the dehumidifier to finish the process.  (Energy costs are very high in the UK so I'm trying to conserve when I can.)

The short one came with the flat - I bought a second so that I could do two loads in a day instead of just one.

Our new best friend - the dehumidifier.

And, not only is the washing machine quite a bit smaller than mine at home, but it takes about a hour and a half to go through one cycle verses the 30 minutes it took at home.  What is that thing doing to my clothes?  Or what is my washing machine in Raleigh NOT doing to my clothes?  Not sure which is the better question.

Our washing machine is in the kitchen - cleverly camouflaged to look like a cabinet.

So needless to say - there will NEVER be a time when our laundry baskets are empty here.  Instead I do a load or two every few days in an attempt to keep up with it.  And a lot of strategic planning has to be done to make sure that if there is something specific I need (e.g. pants [aka - underwear]) that I do laundry before the last pair is in use.  Fortunately we haven't had this dilemma yet.

It also helps that because of my slight OCD tendencies, I like to separate clothes as they go so I can easily tell what loads need to be done.  It's okay to make fun of my 4 laundry hampers.  But I know you're secretly jealous of my genius.  Now if only I could get Brandie to construct my flipping hamper (patent not pending but don't steal my idea!)

What do I miss the most though?  Soft clothes.  Towels especially.  Because everything air dries, it's also a bit crunchy when you put it on/use it.  Obviously you could iron everything to loosen it up before wearing, but who likes to iron that much (other than Aunt Benja)?  I do know people who iron their pants (see reference above) but I have not yet become one of those people.

I sometimes ask myself if I'll take any of these cultural differences home with me to the US when the time comes and I go back and forth with this one.  But in the end I'm sure the dryer will make a smooth transition back into my life.  Because - really - who doesn't love a clean, fluffy, soft, warm towel to wrap up in?

Love you & miss you,
Aubs, Luke and Luther