Sunday 16 December 2012

Gastronomical Delight


Wow.  What a weekend.  I think our bellies are going to need a rest.  Either that or we performed some good stretching exercises to prepare for the upcoming holiday season.

On Saturday night, we had a wonderful evening with our neighbors Jo and Tom (shown above) and their boys Max and Leo.


Here are the boys ready to dig in.  (Nicole was at a friend's birthday party/sleepover.)  For the Americans out there, those are "Christmas crackers" on the table (wiki link).   You pull it from both ends and it pops.  There's a small toy, a joke and a paper hat inside (typically).  It's a big hit for the kids.


The picture simply does not do Jo's feast justice.  What an outstanding meal.  I can't imagine preparing so many things and having them ready at the same time.  Well done, Jo!  We had pork loin, sausages, dressing, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, red cabbage, regular cabbage and gravy.  (Now you see what I mean!).  Not to mention smoked salmon starters and a homemade apple crumb cake/pie/tart with cream.  Unbelievable.  They had to roll us out the door at the end of the night.

 The boys were "sleeping" during the after dinner movie but the two older ones were simply playing 'possum.  (Heard that phrase, UK friends?).


Given that this is our last weekend here before Christmas, I wanted to have a traditional Christmas carvery.  I tried to get into the Coopers Arms last year but let it wait too long.  This year I booked it a few weeks in advance.  Fortunately, it wasn't until 2:15 on Sunday.  I didn't eat until then (nor did I need to).

The Coopers Arms is located in the small village of Weston on Trent about 15 minutes south of Derby.   Feels like a different world but nothing is really that far away.  They have a pond for people to fish in and some picnic tables for warmer times.

You can see we had our second weekend in a row with nice weather.  It's odd here when the skies are clear and the sun is out during this time of year because the sun never gets all that high.  It pretty much just at eye-blinding level.

As you know, we are approaching the shortest day of the year.  Believe me, it's quite short.  Today sunrise was 8:13 and sunset was 3:50 (!) though there's a little twilight on either side of that.  We've been in the dark going/coming to work for some time now.  Ready to start the upswing!


It was about this time that we went to a carvery last year (see earlier post).  You tell the waitress what you are having and then you go get in the carvery queue to tell them what you are having.  They put the meat, roasted potatoes and Yorkshire pudding on your plate and then you top it off with more potatoes and vege.  You certainly don't leave hungry.


A tried something new:  a lamb shank.  I've had plenty of lamb here in the UK as it is quite good, but I don't think I've had a shank, certainly not a whole one.  It was fine, but I think I prefer the meatier bits of the leg.  This resembled a turkey drumstick in texture though not taste.

It was all good, though it couldn't complete with Jo's spread from the night before.



And to top it all off, other neighbors of ours, Trev and Mandy, had the 3 families from our cul-de-sac over for "drinks" later in the evening.  The drinks also came with loads of delicious finger food and "puddings" (desserts).  I think I was still digesting lunch but I found a little room.

Here's Nicole and the 6 dwarfs (okay not really, but all the boys are younger than she).  We let her scoot back to the house while the rest of use continued to enjoy the food, drink and company.


Trev is a real hoot.  He set up a competition/game that involved winding a string tied to a spoon around a "peg" (clothespin).  All the kids had a go and then the adults as well.  It's always the simple things.   Good times.  Thanks for having us!

Not to be completely out done, I did keep to the food theme and tried another "15-minute" recipe from Jamie Oliver's book.  This one was Thai Chicken Laska.  The chicken was [George Foreman] grilled with honey, lime and sesame.  The "laska" was noodles in a squash and coconut milk sauce with a fairly complex seasoning concoction as well.  Not bad, but not outstanding either.  I'll probably keep the chicken dish in mind though.

Well, I've either made you hungry or full.  Hope you've enjoyed it.

I'll be taking a few weeks off from the blog.  We'll be heading back to the States to visit family over Christmas.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Sunday 9 December 2012

Lincoln Christmas Market 2012

Greetings, Blog Fans.  On Saturday, we made a return trip to Lincoln for the annual Christmas market.  As with last year, we were joined by the Seppanens though this time sans Lori as she was making her way back to Indianapolis for a business trip.  See last year's post here.


Lincoln is about 75 minutes from Derby.  There's a convenient park-and-ride setup for the event since there isn't much parking in town.  Lincoln is known for its castle, Cathedral and being in possession of one of the 4 copies of the Magna Carta.

It was a cool, crisp but fortunately sunny day.  After meeting up, we walked to the far side of the market by the cathedral.  In fact, we ended up walking completely around the cathedral to follow the one-way system that they had.  As a result, I was able to snap a few photos.


Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549).


another view with a statue of Tennyson in the foreground (Tennyson was born in Lincolnshire)

and one more as we continued around


 here's a better vantage point (taken from the web)


We enjoyed our time at the marked despite the crowds.  We picked up some gifts and things for ourselves.  It makes for a longish (or at least tiring) day but we all enjoyed it.  Some areas were more packed than others.  Here, we are shuffling towards the food court and castle entrance.


castle entrance


As an aside, you often find some pretty neat "pub" signs, particularly the Marston pubs.  How did they come up with this name?  Is this where the condemned stayed?  or their family?  or it's all made up?  Not much repeat business to count on if that's the case . . .


obvious connection for this pub


I tried to surreptitiously take a few photos in a vintage sign shop.  They are actually paper reproductions stuck on some "genuine Welsh" slate.  I bought one last year but didn't this year but I did want to catch these for my greyhound friends (we used to have 3).  Sorry for the poor quality/shadow -- I was trying to be quick! 


 and another


Now to the random section.  Brilliant rainbow on Sunday after picking up Nicole from a sleepover near Etwall.  I also saw 100+ Santa Clauses running at the Markeaton Park fun run.  Quite a sight, but unfortunately no camera or opportunity (driving on the A38).


Finally, my string of Jamie Oliver 15-minute successes continued.  This was Chorizo Carbonara and was relatively easy to make and tasty.  Another winner.  I'm trying another new one later this week as well.

Have a good week everyone.

Sunday 2 December 2012

Birmingham

Birmingham?  Why would we want to go to Birmingham?  It's not exactly a tourist hot spot though it is the 2nd largest city in Britain.  We usually have only 2 reasons to go to Birmingham.  The first is the airport.  We flown out of BHX for most of our European adventures (the closer East Midlands airport is more limited). 

The other reason?  For the Korean Food.  This is the closest we've found for a decent Korean food store so Kuk treks down every couple of months to stock up on supplies.  I started looking into tourist sites in Birmingham to see if there were any decent options, particularly for the bleak winter months.  Well, the Korean cupboard was bare, so we decided to make a day (mostly) out of it.


Birmingham is about an hour away along the A38.  Earlier in the week, 17 miles of this major road was closed due to flooding.  Everything is fairly saturated and when we get solid, heavy rain for a few days, it's more than the system (and rivers) can bear.



The first (and only tourist) stop was this cozy corner.  This is the site of the only surviving "Back to Back" housing establishment from the Victorian age.

Back to Backs is run by the National Trust which meant it was free for us (card-carrying members).  A booking/reservation was required though since it is only available via guided tour.


Back to Backs were narrow houses, only 1 room deep, built back-to-back into a communal courtyard.   Most had 2 small bedrooms, a common room on the ground floor, and a cellar.  Some opened to the courtyard and others to the street side.  The small alley shown above is what we walked through from the street to get into the courtyard

The back to backs were Birmingham's answer to the booming population of the 1800s.  [The population increased by 22% from 1841 to 1851.]  They weren't particularly well built and were almost always built for renters rather than owner-occupied (most of the land was actually owned by very wealthy families evidently).  Some were lived in and some were for businesses.  Court 15, which was completed in 1831, is all that remains.  The houses were condemned in 1965 though some of the street facing ones remained open as businesses.

The Birmingham Conservation Trust and now the National Trust have restored a few of houses and take one through on a guided tour.  The tour spans different eras to which the houses have been restored:  1830's, 1870's and 1930's.

Here's a shot of one side of the courtyard which happens to be decorated for Christmas.  The laundry is hung out, knickers and all.


Here's the other side of the courtyard.  The bathtub sits under one window (the 1870's house on the inside).  Milk bottles are outside the 1930's house along with a wash basin.

Our tour group was only 8 so we were half of it (not all are shown in the photo).  Margaret, our intrepid and knowledgeable guide, was wonderful.  It was a real treat to hear about the different eras on how the common man lived as opposed to a manor estate.  She did a good job interacting with the group including the kids.

Note its all of about 1C (33F) at this time.  Pretty cold.  We were ready to head inside!

No photos inside though I was allowed to take this one of Alex on the bed with some toys in the 1870s house.  Quarters were quite cramped with multiple kids to a bed (sometimes 4).  It was mentioned that there really wasn't enough room for everyone so people hung about outside as long as they could.

In the 1830s it was light by tallow (animal fat) candles and no running water.  In the 1870s, still no running water, but they did have some gas lamps (including some piped gas).  In the 1930s, there was electricity and running water but still largely coal heating.

Average life expectancy in the mid 1800s was 24 years though I am sure that was somewhat skewed by the infant mortality rate.  People started work at age 8 and worked an average of 60 hours/week.

There were 3 "privies" (toilets) for 11 families.  Yikes.  The earlier time period was still a bench and a pot.  The pot would hopefully get emptied by the night soil man (nice), but even that wasn't necessarily every night.  You can imagine the fragrant environment.   It was also mentioned how dark it was, candle droppings were everywhere, rats/mice and old newspapers for toilet paper.  Yes, kids, be thankful for being born now.


It was mentioned that the area is now close to "China Town" so we thought we given Chinese a try for lunch.  This place was recommended by saying "a lot of people like it", the food is hot/fresh and cheap.  Hmm.  We don't normally do buffets.  Perhaps this would be different/special?

Nope.  We might as well have been in Indianapolis and the Chinese Food Trough.  I should have known better.  Oh well, we got filled up at least.

To throw salt on our wounds, we passed a nice, simple Korean restaurant on the way back to the car.  Rats.


For completeness, here's our ultimate destination.  We stocked up and headed for home.

We might venture into some other Birmingham sites later.  Glad we did Back to Backs on this trip.  It was a real treat.

Continuing on the food theme, I had another crack at a Jamie Oliver "15 Minute" meal.  This one was smoked salmon on a homemade Yorkshire pudding.   I was pretty proud of myself with this one.  It turned out well though the salmon is awfully strong -- perhaps not our thing for an entree/main.

 with a side of "grilled" asparagus (on my new George Foreman indoor electric grill)


 fancier yet -- beets, cress and basil salad w/ a honey balsamic glaze


Last year, we bought a cheap and cheerful "Christmas in a Bag" tree.  Well, we realized that we lost a key piece to the tree (base) so we were stuck.  Nicole and I went out a bought our own live, potted "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree".  It's evidently slightly bigger than our in-a-bag tree as the lights don't quite make it!  We'll have to get some more.  Trying to get a little Christmas spirit going without breaking the bank since none of this will be coming back home with us.

One more note:  we had the opportunity to visit a relatively new ex-pat family on Saturday.  Thanks to the Kisers for having us over for a great meal and a very enjoyable evening.

Hope everyone has a good week.  Thanks for reading.

Sunday 25 November 2012

Good Friends, Good Food


I'm back.  I took last week off as we didn't have a "blogworthy" weekend.  We took it easy, ran some errands and chauffeured the kids around.   We did see our first movie in some time:  Skyfall.  We enjoyed it.  It was neat to watch a James Bond movie in England.  We also enjoyed the scenery shots of London and Scotland of places that we have been.

No tourist activities again this week but we have had some good times.

On Saturday, we went to one of the better (best?) restaurants in Derby:  Darley's.  We shared the evening with our good friends Andrea and Derek (see photo above).  What a fantastic night.  The food and service were great and the evening flew by.   I had the pheasant with cranberry stuffing (fancy lad Thanksgiving meal, if you will).  Andrea had a nice steak and Kuk and Derek enjoyed the sea bass.  The starters and desserts were fantastic too.  The flavors were complex and well balanced.  Highly recommended.

On Sunday, we had a delayed Thanksgiving celebration of sorts.  Thanksgiving here, as you might expect, is quite underwhelming as it is of course, not a holiday here.  Quite a few folks at work asked if I was going to take the day off.  Why bother?  It's not the same with everyone else not having the day off (and family across the ocean).  I'll save those vacation days for better weather anyway.

Fortunately, my buddy Jay organized a rebel (ex-pat) dinner at another favorite of ours, the Bull's Head in Repton.  There were close to 30 of us including kids and spouses.  We were there for 4.5 hours and had a good time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.  The food was good as was the service.  Well done, Jay!

Continuing of the food theme, I've been getting tired of the same-old meals every night so I bought a new cookbook and tried it out.  It's a Jamie Oliver book -- he's pretty big here.  The book is "15 Minute Meals".


My first 15 minute meal took 60 minutes.  :-)  Hopefully I can get my times down.  It helps to have someone come over and cut everything up for you, I imagine.  At any rate, it turned out well even if the photo above is a little, uh, brown.  The meal was "Beef Kofta Curry".  Very tasty.  The kids even liked it too.

My second meal was quite different:  smoked haddock frittata (eggs).  It was good though a little unusual to have on a regular basis.  This one was shorter, maybe 30-45 minutes.

I did have the fancy side salad to go with it as well (watercress, apples, walnuts, chives, Emmental cheese w/ olive oil).  So far, so good.  I'll have to try some more recipes and let you know.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We are on to the Christmas stretch now.  Have a good week everyone.


Sunday 11 November 2012

Nicole goes to Gibraltar

 Hi Everyone.  Special Bonus blog post this week.  Prior to our London adventures, Nicole's school Netball team took a trip to Gibraltar and she's done a guest post below.

Netball is a form a basketball that is popular for girls in the UK and the rest of the Crown. 

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean.  From what I gather, it's a lot more British than Spanish but just happens to be located in a sunny climate near Spain.

And now on to Nicole . . .

(Photo taken by Mr. Connell)

As a part of the netball team, 8 people from my year, 8 from the year above, and 3 sixth formers (11th and 12th grade in the U.S.) got to go to Gibraltar.  It’s a British Colony in the most southern part of Spain.  We went to play netball but also got to do a lot of fun things too.



  


Gibraltar is known for the Gibraltar Rock, and is also home to many Barbary Apes.  We got to take a tour  around Gibraltar and up to the top of the Rock.



Another thing Gibraltar is known for is its airport.  Its runway crosses one of the main streets, so everytime a plane lands, they have to close the road until the runway is clear.  It is also known as the most dangerous airport in Europe, but not because of the runway.  It’s dangerous because of strong crosswinds affecting Gibraltar because of the Rock.  We, fortunately, flew into Malaga and bussed over.

 


Another view from on the top of the Rock.  This is Victoria Stadium where we played our two netball matches.




When we came back from the tour we were very excited to find some monkeys very close up on the balcony of our hotel room.  We were told not to leave anything on the balcony because the monkeys would take anything they could get their hands on.



 Another monkey picture




(Taken by Mr. Connell)

We played our first match outside against a team called Blue Fusion.  We had been told that they were very aggressive and took their sport very seriously.  But most of us were pleasantly surprised that most of the girls were really nice.  Our first match we lost 5-11 but it  was still a lot of fun.  I'm not in this particular photo but I did play in this match. 





The next day we got to go on a dolphin trip.  We saw a ton of common dolphins (also called hourglass dolphins).  They got really close to the boat and from the front,  we could see them swimming under the boat too.





Another dolphin jumping out of the water



(Taken by Mr. Connell)

That night we had another match against a different team.  This game we beat them, winning 22-6!




(Taken by Mr. Connell)

So overall it was a really fun trip and I was really glad I got to go.  We all became really close and had a lot of fun.


--Nicole