I’m back from a wonderful, if slightly different, Christmas break by the English seaside. Quality time with Andrew’s family, long walks and delicious meals made up my holiday. Actually I’ve been home since Monday, only the vast amount of food I’ve recently consumed, the abundance of restaurants in my neighbourhood and The Matrix trilogy on TV have all been keeping me from posting here. Read more…
This Christmas will be a bit different for my family. My sister and I are both staying in the UK for the holidays, Hilary with her boyfriend’s family, and me with mine. Though some customs will be gladly put aside for a year (think airport queues, jet lag and the stress of tying to visit every single friend and family member in one short week), we wanted to keep certain holiday traditions alive, including the annual making of our Christmas Stollen. We figured that this German sweet bread could just as easily be made here as in our parents’ house, so got to work setting a baking date, gathering ingredients and trying to extract the recipe from our parents. Read more…
I’m sitting here with a much-deserved cup of tea, recovering from a very busy day.
Up by 8:45, I was out buying coffee and croissants by 9:45, and over at my sister‘s by 10:30. Today we tag-teamed our Christmas Stollen, an annual sisterly tradition for the past four or five years. If you’ve ever made Stollen before, you’ll know that it can be quite an undertaking. Luckily, between all the mixings, kneadings and risings, I managed to find time to nip out to the market, too. Read more…
In the wee hours of this morning, a simultaneously mundane and exciting event occurred where I love. Mundane to a Canuck like me, but exciting to millions of Londoners who rarely witness such an event. Yup, it snowed. It was just past midnight when Andrew arrived home from a work party; I was asleep, but he saw fit to wake me, knowing that I’d love the sight of huge, fluffy snowflakes being blown horizontally through the village streets by ferocious winds. Read more…
Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t like dumplings? Is that even possible? I’m not trying to be obtuse, honest- I just can’t imagine that there’s a human on this earth who doesn’t grow weak at the knees at the thought of those bite-sized morsels of deliciousness. As you can probably deduce, I love dumplings. All kinds- Chinese, Thai, Polish, British. When I was growing up, I looked forward to my family’s Dim Sum Boxing Day tradition almost as much as I looked forward to Christmas (possibly more). Read more…
What can I say? I was in an artistic mood this morning- hence the lovely framing job I’ve done here. I admit I’m one leek shy of a picture, but I don’t think it takes too much away. Read more…
Can you believe that Christmas is a mere 15 days away? I’ll admit- despite the passing of time and my best efforts, I’m not feeling all that Christmassy this year. For the first time in my 26 years, I’ll be spending Christmas away from my family, traveling instead to the English coast to be with my boyfriend’s. Though I’m looking forward to experiencing Andrew’s traditions, it does feel a bit anticlimactic to be spending the holiday season in England. Read more…
I was whipping up a batch of these last week (a much-needed treat after a particularly grueling couple days), when I realised that despite all the sweet things I’ve written about here- all the cookies, cakes, tarts and other treats- that I’ve never shared this go-to brownie recipe before. If I’m honest, brownies aren’t my favourite indulgence- Andrew is the chocolate fiend in this household. But if I’m gonna have them, they’ve got to be good. Read more…
I’m writing this rather late in the day, post-dinner and pre-bedtime. This morning’s trip to the farmer’s market seems like years ago; since then I’ve been busy catching up with family, sewing, running errands and (of course) cooking. Luckily, I brought home a delicious haul, one that will hopefully keep me going for the next week. Read more…
I always like Sunday lunch to be an event. Even if it’s just Andrew and me, I tend not to turn to leftovers at this particular time of the week. Instead, it’s a time for experimenting with new recipes, often elaborate multi-step ventures. For lack of a better word, I like my Sunday midday meal to be “fancy”. Read more…