Nada - Too Much Hype?

Last night my family and I went to Nada, in downtown Cincinnati for dinner.  I was pretty excited as I have only heard good things about this trendy little place.  The decor was bright oranges and reds - really fun and exciting.  My sister, Lizzie, and I got there first and we started off with some drinks.  I had the fuzzy margarita which had peach puree in it - it was quite delicious.  Lizzie had a non-alcoholic pink grapefruit margarita which was also tasty.  They brought us some chips, salsa, and guacamole to munch on while we were waiting for everyone else.  The chips were salty and fresh and the guacamole was chunky, with the perfect touch of citrus.  It was so good we went through two rounds before everyone managed to get there and we ordered appetizers.

For starters the meat eaters ordered the Nada sliders and the ceviche.  According to Lizzie, the ceviche was presented well in a martini glass, and it was fruity and citrusy.  Lizzie also says, "the sliders had a nice golden buttery bun with a good kick of spice."  I had the mexican mac and cheese, which was served in a cute little pot.  The mac and cheese was super creamy and had poblano peppers mixed in which I found very innovative and really brought the whole flavor medley up a few notches.  It was my fave dish of the evening.

After the great drinks, delish chips and guac, and starters I had high hopes for my main dish.  There was only really one vegetarian main on the menu, the vegetarian soft tacos, so that's what I got.  The tacos came and were stuffed with a puree of black beans, mushrooms, and cheese.  And there's not much else I can say about them.  I felt completely let down.  Nothing tasted bad, but for a classy mexican restaurant the flavors were extremely bland.  I know that some chefs don't feel that inspired by vegetarian food - but why bother putting something on your menu that doesn't live up to every other item your producing?  It seemed the chef put no effort whatsoever into that dish - there was nothing creative or exciting about it.  To be perfectly honest, I can get better soft tacos at Chipotle for less than half the price.

The bottom line : What's Nada got to offer for us vegetarians?  Notta!

Fondue Party 2009

My family's fondue party tradition started when I was pretty young.  My mom would usually invite the neighbors around for a small, intimate gathering sometime around Christmas.  However, they started happening less regularly and my sister and I decided that we loved fondue parties so much that we needed to make sure they kept happening.  We had our first non-parent organized party last year and it was a big hit, so we planned another for this year.  We chose to have it at my sisters house, and wanted it to have a "Classy to Trashy" theme.  Meaning we planned on starting off with good food and drinks and maybe get slightly intoxicated as the night went on.

Because of my mad housewifing skills, I took care of most the food items, while my sister (who has more college drinking skills than me) took care of the beverage items.

We used two of my vodka infusions jars from the wedding to make mixed drinks in.  One was a pomegranate vodka drink made with pomegranate liquor, vodka, pomegranate juice and 7 up.  I thought this tasted a bit like medicine, but it was empty by the end of the night.  The other was filled with vodka, cinnamon sticks, and apples and left to soak overnight - we then topped it up with apple cider the next day.  This was certainly my drink of choice for the evening.

Judging by the inebriated state of many individuals at the party... these were a BIG hit.

I also made and decorated Christmas sugar cookies (I used the recipe for sugar cookies from the Joy of Cooking).  Quite festive - wouldn't you say?

I figured we needed something that was kinda healthy / green to really complete the food options so I made Christmas Guacamole.  I used two bags of avacados, about a handful of red grapes (cut into quarters), one lemon, and one pomegranate.  This was super tasty...

The main event was the Fondue of course, and for this I used eight pounds of cheese, mostly emental and some other cheaper swisses.  I basically followed the Joy of Cooking recipe for this too.  For the wine I used a big bottle of Yellow Tail and we added some of my great uncles homemade kirsch.  Fondue is pretty much fool proof, and this one didn't disappoint.

Here are some classy people enjoying the fruits of my labor...

My sister was pretty confused about the effort I put into the food, she kept saying she didn't think I realized what kind of party this was going to be.  I soon understood what she meant because not long after this picture was taken the night took a quick turn for trashy.  Let's just say it was a lot more drunken college shenanigans and shot taking than Martha Stewart-esque cultured and well organized dinner party.

Personally, I may or may not have ended up at Ramundo's Pizzeria around 3:30 am with no ride home.  It's also possible I ate 3 slices (but who's counting) of pizza while walking home in the sleeting rain with my husband and a boy who may have been carrying a large metal pot stolen from my sisters kitchen to be used as a barf bucket.  I can honestly say the night ended a bit more trashy than I anticipated.  Was it a success?  I'll let you be the judge.

A Day At Findlay Market

Since I'm in Cincinnati now I've been doing all sorts of nati-type things.  You know like eating a large variety of regional food, trolling large suburban malls, and bonding with the fam.  My sisters and I are planning a fondue party for Saturday night so my Aunt Suzy offered to take me to Findlay Market to stock up on cheese.  (More on the fondue party later)

I'm ashamed to say it, but I've never actually been to Findlay before this visit.  For those of you who are not Cincinnatians, Findlay Market is a food market in Over-the-Rhine, and according to wikipedia is Ohio's "oldest, continuously operated public market."

Suzy is definitely a good Findlay Market tour guide so I'll let you know where she went to stock up.  One of our first stops was a sausage stall, Kroeger and Sons Sausage.  This stall had a huge variety of weiners - all shapes and sizes - but mostly German.  Now of course I don't eat this stuff, but if I did it would look pretty enticing.  See.....

Man, talk about a sausage fest!

Next up was Colonel De Ray's spices.  Apparently he, "takes the common and makes it uncommon."  And he sure had a wide range of spices.  My mom instructed me to pick up herbs de provence and south western spice for her, but when I asked for southwestern spice they asked me which type.  Apparently they have 3 different kinds!  So of course I called my mom and told her asssistant to interrupt her meeting due to this "life and death situation."  She needed Debbies Southwestern spice - CRISIS AVERTED!

Last but not least we went got to the big cheese, literally.  I mean I bought over 8 pounds of cheese.  The woman behind the counter at Silverglades was very helpful, and we came up with an assortment of mostly emmental, and some other baby swiss cheeses (which mostly help to cut the cost - fondue isn't cheap!)

We finished off the day with two tasty crepes and some good conversation.  Findlay Market is such a neat little Cincinnati treasure I'm shocked I haven't been sooner.

Christmas Shopping in London

On Saturday Nick and I went into London to buy a few Christmas presents before flying to the good old US of A.  Despite the fact that there were a million people on Oxford street and we could barely move, we ended up having lots of fun.

We walked down the other side of the street then I normally do, and wow what a difference switching sides can make.  Here are some of the amazing Christmas lights I missed last time...

We also stumbled across this funny little christmas market.  They had booths selling all sorts of little things.  I'm not really sure what the theme was because everything seemed so random... there were wooden ties, and jewelry, head bands, and wind mobiles.

My favorite was the hat booth.  I have this secret wish that someday I will have a very extensive hat collection and when people come to my house for fancy dinner parties they'll sit around the table wearing various hats.  This one was our favorite...

Of course a market is useless without food, and there was plenty of it.  Williams-Sonoma makes an ebelskiver pan, which is probably my favorite totally unnecessary but super cool kitchen item.  Basically it's a pan with small wells that you pour batter and filling into, making super delicious stuffed pancakes.  Needless to say I was super excited when we came across the most massive ebelskiver pan I'd ever seen.

Obviously I had to see if they were as good as homemade, so I ordered a batch.  I guess because they were doing them for so many people they didn't bother to fill them since this would take longer, but they topped mine with cherries.  Unfortunately, it was a cold day and the cherries were cold, so that took away from the delicious warm goodness that they had the potential to be.

Then Nick decided he needed a massive hot dog.

I think he liked it!  What a fun little Christmas market!

Today is My Birthday

It's the Birthday curse.  I have seriously disliked my Birthday since the age of 11.  On my 11th birthday I got pretty angry at my little sister, Lizzie, for something, I can't remember what now, but I was so angry at the time I punched her.  She was only 5 or 6 and I socked her pretty hard so my mom grounded me.  I'm sure I deserved to be grounded, but at the time I thought this was totally unfair.  I thought on my birthday I could do no wrong.  I'm not even sure I did actually get grounded, because my parents were never really good at the grounding follow through.  But they did tell me I was grounded and it probably lasted 2 hours max.  But that day I decided birthdays sucked.

As a kid I also hated what I like to call the "double whammy".  The double whammy occurs when your birthday is near Christmas (or perhaps Hanukkah if your Jewish).  I'm sure all you Christmas babies can relate to this one.  A double whammy involves you getting one present for two occasions.  On the card of the gift there will probably be a message that reads something along the lines of, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!"  Um hello they are two different gift giving occasions requiring two separate presents for my spoiled brat self.  It's not like your killing two birds with one stone here.

When I got to highschool I hated them because of this silly tradition at St. Ursula, my all girls Catholic high school.  On someone's birthday all their friends would get them a balloon and tie it to their back pack.  The popular girls looked like that French kid at the end of The Red Balloon (check out this picture if you don't know what I'm referring to).  Anyways, while I had plenty of friends in high school and I did have balloons I always felt self-conscience about the number of balloons I had... lets just say I wasn't in any danger of floating away.  Then on my 16th birthday I got a package just the right size to hold car keys.  My parents joked that maybe there were car keys inside.  As I opened it I envisaged the car my parents must have bought me sitting in the drive-way.  In the box... just a key chain.  I blame the fact that I went to school with girls who actually got cars for their birthdays for my lofty assumptions, but I was definitely shattered about that stupid key chain - like seriously what good is a key chain if you have no CAR KEYS for it?

I hated my birthdays in college for the simple reason that they always occurred during finals week.  No one including myself ever had time to celebrate them.

That brings me to this year's birthday.  Today is my first day of unemployment since starting my job.  I'm not sure whether I technically quit or was let go, but I'm currently jobless.  I took the job based on the hours they told me I'd need to work, and during my interview discussed with them that I'd need to get the tube both to and from work (important because the tube runs silly hours).  Anyways, they now want me to work past the time I could get the last train home.  Since I'm unwilling to take the hour and a half journey home transferring between 3 sketchy buses when I would leave work at 1 am or later they said I can't work there anymore. I'm pretty appalled at the way they have treated me and other employees, and this just epitomizes the poor management they've been doing since the beginning.  But I guess I'm better off without them.

On a positive note, I'll have more time to look for a real grown up person job, and until I find one I'm back to being a housewife.  I'm sure you can expect some baked goods posts in the next couple days since I'll be eating my feelings.
 

Back in Action with Pumpkin Gnocchi

Hello Friends.  I feel like it's been ages since I've posted but it's really only been 3 days.  I'm sure that is a long time for those of you who lust after vegetarian recipes and quirky London tidbits.  What have I been doing?  Well the truth is mostly just working.  Nick and I have been really bad at playing house lately which means our house is in the college dorm state and we spend most our days off remedying that fact and doing DIY.  (pictures will come when we finish!)  Anyways... I wonder when we'll really be adults and be able to keep our house in a state of mature cleanliness and not university student mess.  When does this change happen?

I have two days off in a row though (which hasn't been happening much lately) so that means I am house wifing hardcore.  You know this is almost an extreme sport.  I mean I'm carrying 3 loads of laundry up and down the stairs while hopping over various obstacles, doing the dishes while listening to Britney Spears only to find out our dishwasher is broke... (but I fixed it don't worry) lugging a vacuum that weighs 100 pounds because it was probably purchased back in the 1920s or so, painting our guest room so it no longer has a bright orange ceiling (Nick has GREAT taste) then of course the main event - making dinner in perfect time for the husband man's arrival home. Whew!

So here it is Pan Fried Pumpkin Gnocchi... which I stole entirely from Steamy Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour sifted, and extra for dusting
• 3 Tbsp butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 sprigs fresh sage

First off, preheat your oven to 150 C or 300 F.  Combine 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1/2 cup parmesan, egg yolk, tsp of lemon zest, 1/2 tsp salt, and half of your sifted flour in a large bowl.  Mix until ingredients just come together.  Then lightly flour your counter, dump the mixture onto the counter, and mix the remaining flour in.  Knead for a minute or so.

Then cut into four equal parts, and roll each into a log, about an inch in diameter.

Then use a knife to slice these into bite size pieces.

In a large pan, heat one tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.  When this is hot, add your gnocchi to the pan, cooking for a minute or two on each side until golden brown.  You'll probably have to do 3 or 4 batches so when they're brown place on a baking sheet and pop em into the oven to keep warm.

When all the gnocchi is cooked, discard butter and clean pan with a paper towel.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil to your pan  and put it back on the heat.  When hot, add sage and cook for a few minutes until it's nice and crispy and smells delish!  You can remove the sage at this point or keep it in - depending on whether you like fried sage or not.  Then add 2 tbsp balsamic and whisk for a minute over low heat.  Pour this over your gnocchi and serve.

This is a pretty good dish and is easy to make, even though it looks pretty fancy.  I accidentally used salted butter and I think this added too much salt so I would be sure to use unsalted next time.  I really appreciated the crunchy outside and soft fluffy inside, as well as the bite the balsamic adds.  Something did taste a little too bitter though - perhaps I put in too much zest.  Oh and they say this recipe serves four - maybe we're just lardy but we ate the whole thing between two of us in one sitting.  Fattys.

Dress to Impress

Have you ever heard the saying, "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have"?  I'm sure this phrase or something similar has been uttered to you by self-appointed role models throughout your life - you know, the teacher and parent crowd.  This type of advice usually goes in one ear and out the other (to use another parental phrase) - that is until you experience it.

The restaurant/hotel I'm working at has literally just opened, which means everything is in some type of state of organized chaos.  For example, a few days ago we were issued uniforms.  The waitress uniform was grey pants, a white shirt, and an apron.  Typical waitress attire.  I was wearing this uniform for two days, until the General Manager of the hotel came up to me and told me this wasn't actually my uniform.  Since I am a floor supervisor, I have a supervising outfit.  The GM helped me find a suit jacket, however, the only one left was two sizes too big.  Also, we have to wear our hair pulled back.  This results in me looking like a butch mature bird in a baggy power suit.  You know the look, like Hillary Clinton....

Nonetheless, I must admit I am absolutely amazed at the difference the suit has made in the way my colleagues treat me.  Since wearing the suit, people come up to me, asking me for directions and advice.  This definitely wasn't happening in my waitress uniform - they were more likely to boss me around than listen to anything I had to say.  While I've heard many times that dressing in a certain way can influence how people act towards you, I have never experienced the change so strongly.  Now I am a believer in the power suit.  You know, while everyone was making jokes about Senator Clinton's pantsuit uniform, she was probably the one laughing the hardest because she knew the secret of success.  You don't see skinny bitches in miniskirts and push up bras running for president after all.  

Christmas Lights on Oxford Street

Oxford Street is London's equivalent of Chicago's Michigan Avenue.  Long straight road of consumer's paradise.  In November, Oxford Street lit up with millions of tiny lights - ready and glowing for the Christmas season.  While I've always loved Christmas lights,  I think that November is too early to get into the Christmas spirit.  But today is December 1st!  Wooo Hoooo!  Christmas is upon us!  Enjoy my pictures of Oxford Street all decked out.

There are dozens of christmas light umbrellas hanging over the middle of the street.  I guess that's because in the winter it rains all the bloody time.

Sometimes the lights go out... must be a Grinch looming nearby...

All the stores have Christmasy window displays too!  Selfridge's usually has my favorite everything, and they definitely take the cake on window displays this year.  They are all fairy tale themed.  This one is little red riding hood.  I don't think she's realized that wolf is eying her up like a rare piece of sirloin yet.... sneaky little bastard.

This one is Snow White - except they replaced the dwarfs with well dressed children all in Stella McCartney's kid's line.  Oh Britain you are so politically correct.

Well that's all the Christmas decorations for now.  I think this is going to be a very festive fun filled month!  Only two weeks until we fly to Cincinnati for the holidays and I think we'll be cooking, baking, and partying up a storm.  I can't wait!

Kale with Apple and Onion, and Lime Butternut Squash

For the past two days at work they've been providing us with free pizza and french fries.  While every now and then I love pizza, this isn't my usual choice of food, and having it for two days running definitely made me crave a few good veggies.  I got home early tonight and whipped these two dishes up for dinner.

Lime Butternut Squash
Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash, a little over a pound
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Peel the squash, cut length wise and scoop out the seeds, then slice across to form 1/2 inch thick pieces.  Throw into a roasting pan.

Add in one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon of butter, and two teaspoons of lime juice.  Pop into the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring half way through.

Meanwhile, there's plenty of time for cooking something else, in my case Kale with Apple and Onion.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound of kale tough stems removed
• one small white onion 
• two cooking apples
• 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup water

Chop your onion into 1/4 inch wedges, and saute in a medium sized pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat until the onion is golden brown.  Add your apples, chopped into wedges, as well as the garam masala to the onions.  Cook until the apples are tender and then add your kale.  To this add 1/4 cup of water and simmer until kale is tender.

Here are the two dishes side by side.  A healthy menage of sweet and tart flavors.

The butternut squash got nice and crispy on the outside, while the inside stayed soft and the lime added a bit of bite.  The kale dish also played on the same flavors because of the sweetness from the onions and tart of the apples.  Both dishes are healthy and tasty, though Nick found the kale a bit chewy.  I think this is a good meal to whip up when you need something easy and healthy.

What Thanksgiving is Like in England

The truth is most people in England have no idea today is Thanksgiving, unless of course they're Americans living here.  So today everyone carried on like it was any other day.  Nick and I looked into going out to eat, as a few restaurants cater to us Americans and are serving Thanksgiving feasts, but unfortunately most offers seemed like a lot of money for a lot of Turkey, and not much else.  Obviously, I wouldn't want to pay for dead turkey, as the slaughter of so many birds is really not one of the things I feel thankful for today.  Sorry had to throw that in there.

I got up for work today at 6:30, and after a chaotic day I got home around 7.  Though my thoughts were wandering to pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes all day long, and in an ambitious moment I actually spent £10 yesterday on canned pumpkin (Selfridges is the only place that stocks it - I'm thankful for that) I was too exhausted to go nuts on a Thanksgiving smorgasbord.  Thankfully, Nick premeditated my Thanksgiving laziness and bought some pumpkin stuffed ravioli on the way home.  He also made me mashed potatoes, which were slightly sweet, cheesy, and fabulous.

This was as far as our feast went in London...

But I am very thankful to have a great husband who makes me a pseudo thanksgiving meal!  It's not exactly the spread that I'm used to seeing on Thanksgiving, but I appreciated it nonetheless.  I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and has something to be thankful for today.

Romanesco : The Alien Vegetable

Well that's what everyone says anyways.  When you look up romanesco online everyone says its alien.  It does look pretty funny don't you think?  I've never seen or heard of it before, but we got it in our Riverford Organic Veggie Box on Friday.  That's the great thing about this box program - its full of surprises and it introduces me to things I'd never even think about buying.

Unfortunately with Romanesco, judging by the amount of recipes using it as an ingredient, lots of people are scared to try it.  However, it tastes much more familiar than it looks - like a cross between cauliflower and broccoli.  To be honest the taste is almost disappointing.  I wanted it to taste as spectacular as it looked.  No such luck though.  It does taste good, if your not setting insurmountable standards for this little green veggie.

I started off using a recipe from Jamie Oliver - but it was pretty bland so I won't bother posting it.  Here's my recipe all doctored up!

Pasta with Romanesco and Spicy Tomato Sauce  

Ingredients

• 200 grams pasta - I used conchiglie
• 1 head of Romanesco cut into florets 
• 2 cloves garlic finely sliced
• Handful of Parmesan cheese
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 good pinch of chili flakes

Boil your pasta according to instructions and set aside.  In a wok or large pan, on low heat, add enough E.V.O.O. (ha I'm so Rachel Ray!) to coat the bottom of your pan.  Add garlic and chili flakes.  When the garlic is tender add your romanesco and heat it for about 2 minutes.  

Add salt and pepper, a dash of water and two tablespoons of tomato paste to the pan.  When the alien veggie is nice and tender add the pasta and Parmesan and heat through.  

  

This is a pretty decent weeknight meal.  Quick and easy to make.  Nothing you'd write home about, but a good way to try out this new crazy vegetable.  

Thoughts on the NHS

I'm really not into politics, but since health care reform is a major issue in America right now, and since living here I've used the NHS (National Health Service) - I thought it would be interesting to explain my experiences and what the American healthcare system has the potential to turn into.

As many of you know, my less than graceful husband toppled over on a run a week before our wedding (around July 10th) and did a serious number on his ankle.  The next day he was recommended to an orthopedic ankle specialist by a family friend.  He was able to have X-rays taken and reviewed within an hour and the doctor determined his ankle wasn't broken.  She wanted to do an MRI because of the extreme bruising and swelling, but since we were leaving for England in a week, she said there was no point because there wasn't enough time to treat him.  She advised him to get an MRI when we returned to England.

When we got back to England I accompanied him to the GP and found it to be completely disgusting.  The waiting room was smelly, overcrowded, the walls were cracked and dirty, covered with falling down posters.  My favorite poster is the one that tells you not to abuse the staff... I'm pretty sure posters like these are only necessary if the staff is doing a pretty bad job.  We had to wait ages and there were no good magazines to read.  Highlights anyone?  The receptionist called Nick and we went upstairs to an equally not sterile looking room.  This was a bit weird because the doctor's office was actually in the room - like a desk with a computer and covered in papers, and there was one of those patient bed things in the corner with used paper lining, behind what looked like a hideous floral shower curtain.

The doctor asked Nick what the problem was, but didn't bother to look at his ankle, or the CDs with the X-rays the American doctor had given him.  He said he'd schedule him an MRI, which he got on Nov. 2nd.  This means it took about 3 months to get an MRI.  I'm clearly not a doctor, but it seems to me in the 3 months he's waited, if anything was wrong his ankle would have attempted to heal itself... so it's potentially healed itself improperly which could cause him a lot of problems in the future.

The MRI was sent to his doctor's office, who called our house and asked Nick to schedule an appointment with them.  This is an indication that something is wrong, since the NHS wouldn't bother telling him to come in if everything was OK.  However, when he called to schedule an appointment, he couldn't get one.  You can only call to make an appointment 48 hours in advance, and since its so crowded, he has been unable to schedule anything.  The verdict is still out as to when he'll actually get an appointment.

Meanwhile, I called the doctors office on Friday to make an appointment for my prescription to be reviewed on my day off, Monday.   They said they had no appointments available.  This is a problem because my prescription is about to run out.  Nick's mum said if I showed up when they open at 9 then they might be able to fit me in - I'd just have to wait around and hope for the best.  So I went at 9 and after standing in a long line I finally spoke to the receptionist explaining my situation.  I told her I was sorry I didn't have an appointment and that I'd called on Friday to make one, and she said, "I know.  This place is terrible!"  In the end she was somehow able to schedule me an appointment for 4:30 today.  So I get to spend my day off visiting the doctor for a routine check up not once, but twice!

Another anecdote Nick's mum shared with me is her friend got knee replacement surgery this week.  He was completely crippled because of his bad knee, and went to the NHS.  They said they couldn't do anything about it till February, so he opted to go with private healthcare.  This cost him £12,000.  I know American insurance policies can be pretty dodgy, but my understanding of it here is most people don't have health insurance because they rely on the NHS.  But what do you do when you need healthcare and can't get it because the government run system is poorly managed and inefficient?  You have to go to private practices and pay for your treatments completely out of pocket.  

I must admit the positive thing about the NHS is it's free.  There are no co-pays and my prescription which cost me $45 a month in America is totally free here - though I think sometimes a small fee (£6 or so) must be paid for some medications.

While I completely understand the need for healthcare reform in America, I sincerely hope I never see American healthcare turning into a mirror image of the NHS.  Personally, I think the main problem with the NHS is it creates no incentives for doctors to run their practices well.  You're stuck with the doctor you have whether you like it or not - so you have no ability to bring your business elsewhere if you're not happy with their services.  They'll get paid via your tax dollars either way.  Also, because England is such a friendly nation, and will let anyone immigrate here, myself included, the systems set up cannot cope with the vast numbers of people.  I've also noticed that in England, if you say you have any small ailments (stomach ache, head ache, common cold) people will tell you to "Go to the doctor."  I think this is because it is free, so why not.  But when everyone shows up for silly things like stomach aches - it's no wonder the system is over run.

America has great, innovative doctors who have incentives to pioneer new treatments and procedures.  I think government healthcare does not challenge doctors to perform at their best.  Most Americans I've spoken to about our healthcare system say they'd like to see the equivalent of the NHS in the US, but is this really what you want to see in America?

My First Week of Work in England

I haven't posted much on here recently because I've been really busy working at my new job.  It's actually a lot cooler than I thought it would be.  The restaurant is in a brand new hotel, and they are trying to go for a cool, sexy, glamorous sort of vibe.  They're hoping to get all sorts of fancy people and we might even have paparazzi out front ready to take photos of all the famous celebs as they walk out the door.  I'm not sure if thats more of a fantasy or is actually likely to happen but we'll see.  I guess the owner is friends with some of the football (soccer) teams out here so we'll probably see some footballers, of course I wouldn't know any of them... unless it was Beckham but he's American now isn't he?

This week has been intense training.  The first couple days were a bit boring as they made us do all sorts of icebreakers, which I've never been a fan of, and they talked a lot about company policies, health and safety, communication, etc etc.

However, as the week progressed we've been doing training on lots of different drinks.  First off, we did vodka tasting.  We tasted about five different types of vodka - which sounded fun, but swirling vodka around my mouth at 9 am isn't really the way I prefer to start my day.  I was generally perplexed as people described the flavor of different vodkas, saying they tasted of vanilla, or citrus.  I felt like they all tasted and smelled like variations of nail polish remover in fancy bottles.  And seriously who swishes straight vodka around their mouth to enjoy the taste?  I'm a fan of knocking 'em back - quick and dirty style.  However, I did learn that my favorite vodka we tasted was Belvedere.  We did similar tastings with rum, bourbon, and whiskey.

In the afternoon, we had a tea expert come in and teach us all about teas.  I really enjoyed this part.  The restaurant apparently has one of the best tea lists in London, and they're serving the tea in the cutest little tea pots ever.  They're completely clear glass, and they're only big enough for one cup of tea.  There is a strainer in the spout so loose leaf teas float around the pot and looks really pretty.  One of the teas even blossoms into a flower when you add the hot water - how cool is that?  They taught me all about the different types and flavors of tea.

The following day we went to this coffee academy type of place to learn about coffee.  This Italian, Dolce and Gabana wearing woman who is a world expert on coffee taught us how to make the perfect cup on one of those fancy schmancy machines.

After that they sent us to a brewery.  We got really lost on the way, but when we managed to find it we got a lesson on beer and they gave us a tour of the factory.  It was really neat to see the brewery, even though I'm not a huge fan of beer.  After the tour we did a beer tasting, and I felt like they definitely converted me on the beer front.  The majority of beers I've consumed have come from kegs at college parties, so this may have a lot to do with my dislike of beers.  I learned a lot about the brewing process here and I really liked their raspberry beer.  We also tasted a chocolate beer, that I thought I would love, but surprisingly I really didn't like at all.  After the beer tasting, they gave us a coupon to go to a local pub and drink for free. So that was a fun night out.

On Saturday we went over service, which is mostly common knowledge, and in the afternoon we had a wine tasting.  I've done a wine tasting with my friend, Sarah, when she came to visit us in London, at Vinopolis, which was a lot of fun, but I didn't feel like I learned anything there.  This wine tasting was extensive and our teacher was great.  We tasted about 30 wines and are expected to be able to pair them with foods and describe them.  Since it was a Saturday night they told us to swallow, instead of being proper and spitting.  Needless to say by the end of it we were all pretty happily drunk.

Now I just have to memorize all of this information.  There's a lot to learn but its interesting at least.  We'll be opening in a week so I need to look like I know what I'm talking about by then.  Overall, I think that this will be a fun place to work for awhile and I'm excited for the opening.  I wish I could put up pictures of everything, but I didn't really want my employer to know about my blog, so I didn't take any.  That's also the reason I haven't included more detailed information about the companies I visited for training or the name of the restaurant.  I was really impressed by a lot of them so if you're interested let me know and I'll tell you secretly!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Mousse and Chocolate Ganache

WARNING - If you are on a diet, or even thinking about going on a diet you should not read this post.  The following recipe is calorie laden and may contribute multiple inches to your thighs and gut area.  If you suffer from poor will power, turn back now before this becomes a problem.

OK, glad I cleared that up.  Today is Nick's birthday!  He is at the ripe old age of 27.  Even though we are married this is actually the first birthday I have ever spent with him.  So needless to say I pulled out all the stops. No corners were cut, and calories were left to enrich the cupcakes in full force.  I used whole milk, cream and butter.  Nick requested something chocolately and fruity, and I found a fabulous looking recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes - there's even a video showing how to make them.  I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, except they used jumbo sized cupcake tins, and we only had regular sized ones.  Also, it took me a lot longer than the 9 minutes the woman in the video took to whip them up.  While these cupcakes look intimidating, they actually weren't difficult at all - just a bit time consuming.  Give yourself a good 3 hours if you plan on making them.


Ingredients


Cupcake Batter


Dry Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 8 oz (2 sticks butter) room temperature

Wet Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 6 oz whole milk
• 2 oz corn syrup (aka golden syrup in England)
• 1 tbsp vanilla

Chocolate Ganache

• 6 oz semisweet chocolate
• 6 oz heavy cream

Raspberry Mousse

• 1 cup raspberry jam (note: The recipe suggests you can make jam from scratch, but because the last time I attempted to make jam I completely failed and ended up with blistered fingers, I opted to just buy jam.  I used Bonne Maman Raspberry Jam and it worked like a charm)
• 12 oz cold heavy cream

Garnishes

• Fresh raspberries
• powdered sugar

How to Make Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.

Start off by sifting 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 cup cocoa powder, into a large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together 4 large eggs, 6 oz whole milk, 2 oz corn syrup, and 1 tbsp vanilla.

In the bowl of dry ingredients, add 2 sticks of butter, and 1/2 the wet ingredients.  With an electric mixer, beat  ingredients slowly and increase to medium, beating for four minutes.  Next add 1/2 of the remaining wet ingredients, and beat on medium for two minutes.  Then add the last of the wet ingredients, beating for an additional 2 minutes.

Line your cupcake pan with paper liners (these really help to hold it together in the end) and fill with batter.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, ours took exactly 27.

Meanwhile, while your cupcakes are baking, make your raspberry mousse.  In a cold bowl (apparently this helps, I don't know why but I stuck mine in the freezer for a little bit) pour 12 oz heavy cream and beat into whipped cream.  Fold in one cup of raspberry jam.  Be careful not to over mix.

To make the chocolate ganache, boil water in a pot, and place a bowl on top of pot, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.  Add 6 oz heavy cream and 6 oz semisweet chocolate to the bowl, and heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring to mix it all together.

At this point, your cupcakes will probably be done.   Once they're cooled cut a circular opening into the cupcake - I used a shot glass to make the hole, and then scooped it out with a teaspoon.

Next, add a heaping teaspoon of chocolate ganache into the opening.  Then add 2 raspberries (make sure you put the ugly ones on the inside) and a big spoonful of the raspberry mousse.  Place the caps back on top, drizzling with ganache, and placing a raspberry on top.  Sift a bit of powdered sugar on top to make it look pretty and you're done!

You know, I'm not one to brag, but these were seriously the best cupcakes I have ever tasted.  The raspberry filling is to die for, and provides a perfect tangy contrast to the bitter dark chocolate. Nick really liked them!

And so did his gorgeous colleagues, Jenny and Jenny!

Do yourself a favor and make these ASAP.  If you make them for someone, they'll love you forever, guaranteed.

Happy 27th Birthday Nick!  

Trois Bananes Jaunes

When I was 14 I went to France with my Aunt Suzy and her family.  In order to prepare me for my trip to France, my mom hired a french tutor.  She was a nice lady but I was being forced to learn french (aka study) over summer, which meant I really didn't try in these classes too much.  When I finally left for France surprisingly the only phrase I seemed to have picked up during these tutoring sessions was "trois banane jaunes" french for "three yellow bananas". In case you were wondering, I can't really think of a reason this phrase would ever be useful in France.  Unless entertaining your English-speaking French relatives with stories of your mother's failed attempts at providing you with a French education.  Money well spent mom!

However, if you have trois bananes jaunes lying around your house then you might want to make some banana bread with them.

Ingredients

• trois bananes jaunes
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.  In a large bowl, mash your bananas, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Put the dough in a greased loaf pan and pop it in the oven for 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

This banana bread is really easy to make, which is its strong suit.  It tasted good but for some reason it kept falling apart when I sliced it.  Oh well, Bon Appetit!

Yesterday I Got A Job

Yes it's true.  Kelly Leigh is currently employed.  On Thursday I was doing my usual applying to jobs that I felt I was qualified for and maybe could perhaps learn something from when on a whim and with a bit of desperation I thought, "maybe I should just apply for a waitressing job."  I was clearly having no luck with any jobs that were at all related to my degree.  So I went online and sent my resume to the first waitressing job I saw and continued writing cover letters for more science based jobs.  A few hours later, I get a call from a guy who says they'd like to interview me for the waitressing position the next day.  After I got over my initial shock (I was taken aback by the fact anyone actually wanted to interview me)  I agreed to meet them and went to my interview Friday morning.

I have to admit, I wasn't exactly pleased about getting the interview.  As the daughter of a caterer I've been asked countless times if I want to work in the food industry.  My answer has aways been "No."  The longer I worked and saw people who worked there for years the more strongly I was convinced this was not what I wanted to do with my life - I wanted to be on the other end.  I wanted to be catered for, not doing the catering.  I refer to my mom's staff over 35 as "lifers." Lifers have been, and most likely will be, in the restaurant business for life.  Most of them are unhappy in their job, and usually feel they're over qualified.  The reason people continue to work there is because they get stuck.  I never wanted to get stuck.

So when I went to my interview on Friday I didn't exactly go in with a strong desire to get the job.  I didn't try to answer questions correctly, but I did answer them honestly.  I didn't talk myself up at all.  I told them this wasn't a job I wanted to be doing, but I didn't mind doing it for the time being.  I even told them I'd be going home for awhile to visit my family.  The interview lasted an hour.

After it was over, I was on my way to the station and my cell phone started ringing.  They asked me to come back.  So I turned around and walked back.  Surprisingly, they offered me the job and a promotion.  I went in for a waitressing position, but they want me as a floor manager.  So now I am employed as floor manager.

I'm unsure how I feel about this.  On one hand, I have a job, which means financially we are in a pretty good position and I'll be able to meet people and be mentally stimulated.  On the other hand, I feel I am in grave danger of becoming a lifer.  I'm also aware that I won't be able to see Nick as often because our hours are going to be completely different.  I guess the thing I find most irritating is that I've been working in the restaurant industry since grade school, and after graduating with a science degree with honors, the only place I am qualified to work is in a restaurant.  Thank you Loyola University Chicago for providing me with such a useful degree.

My Veggie Burger is Bleeding!!!!!

Ok its not really bleeding, but it is pink and juicy.  All things a burger should be, if it has meat in it.  But this, my friend, is a pink and juicy veggie burger that you can really sink your teeth into.  Behold, "Best-Ever Veggie Burgers from Northstar Cafe".  I made a few alterations, if only because I was having a difficult day in the kitchen - I was out of a few things, forgot a few things and I was pretty much burning everything.  Even so these turned out really good, though they were a bit time consuming.  I was worried they might be too sweet because of the beets, but they weren't.  They were just plain delicious.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 white onion, diced small
• 1 pound of beets, diced small
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 can black beans, mashed with a fork
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, minced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Start by dicing your onions and beets.  Maybe I'm not that good with a knife but dicing beets was a pain - just so you know.  Next add a bit of olive oil to a pot over medium heat, and throw in your onions, cooking them until they're soft.  Add your beets to this pot, covering it and cooking it until tender.  While this is happening throw your rice in a pot and boil it.  Basmati rice only takes 12 minutes so that's easy.  The beets take awhile to get tender - make sure you stir it every so often so they don't burn.  I got lazy and burnt mine a bit.  The recipe calls for 3-4 cloves of garlic at this point, however, I forgot to add garlic.  Silly me.  Then Deglaze your pan with 2 tbsp cider vinegar.

Combine your mashed beans, rice, and beets in a large bowl.  Add juice from half a lemon, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp mint, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp thyme, 2 tbsp flour, and salt and pepper to taste.  (Note : I forgot to add flour at first, and they totally fell apart when I tried to cook them!)

Next heat a skillet over high heat, and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Form the mixture into small patties and place in pan.

It'll take about two minutes on each side.  After you flip it you may want to add some cheese so it'll get all gooey and melty.

Put it between two slices of bread, or preferably a bun if you have one.

Be ready for a veggie burger taste explosion in your mouth because this is not your average meat substitute.

Stitch 'n' Bitch London Part 2 : The Stitching Bit

Tonight I went to my first Stitch and Bitch London meeting in the Royal Festival Hall.  I found a large group of knitters in the lobby and promptly sat down next to a few girls.  I asked one girl if she knew how to knit and if she would teach me.  She looked confused, but agreed to do so.  I later found out that this was her first time at stitch and bitch, although she had been knitting since she was seven.  After awhile I noticed that there was a group of "learners" sitting directly behind me being taught by what seemed to be someone who was a regular.  Oops. Leave it to me to force randos to teach me how to knit. Oh well.  My teacher for the evening was a very friendly and nice girl who was knitting gloves into an anime character for her friends birthday present this weekend.  I feel this speaks wonders to the type of girl she is.  Because of the configuration of the chairs I ended up mostly speaking to her, and another woman, who seemed to be a couple years older than me and much more professional looking.  The other woman was working on a baby sweater, maybe, she wasn't really sure yet what it was going to turn into.

After I'd started to get the hang of this knitting thing and they could stop instructing me, their conversation turned quickly to their love of all things knitted - no passion for all things knitted.  I've never really known any hardcore knitters before but I was really surprised by how enthusiastic they were about yarn, needles, knitting patterns, and the stress relief that comes from mindless knitting.  Um... I don't mean to be rude but I thought we were supposed to be bitching?  I don't know much about knitting related things so I must admit I found it difficult to chime in during parts of the conversation.  Though this was probably for the better because it allowed me to focus on my pretty mangled looking beginnings of a scarf.

Overall the girls were very encouraging and helpful.  As I looked around, I saw a wide range of women from all ages and all walks of life.  Surprisingly, I also saw quite a few men.  Unsurprisingly, they weren't exactly manly men if you know what I mean.  One older man, wearing cut off jean shorts far shorter than anything I own, and a senior citizen by his own admission (he's been enjoying free rides on the tube because of it) spoke to us briefly about his love of the knit.   Also, I was very impressed by one mature bird's (this is my new phrase for all women over 50) black and hot pink sweater she was knitting.  It had all sorts of patterns on it and her fingers moved so quickly just whipping it together like it was nothing.  I definitely enjoyed the characters here and everyone seemed to be genuinely interested in helping eachother with their knitted goods.

While Stitch and Bitch was a comfortable and friendly atmosphere, I'm just not sure I share such a passion for knitting, and admittedly I found it a bit boring at times.  Perhaps this is just because it was my first time, and maybe I need to give it a few more chances before I really get into it.  At the very least I am pleased with myself for taking proactive steps towards establishing my own social circle here, because lets face it - moving to a new city is tough, and showing up somewhere with no familiar faces takes some courage, for me anyways.  Anyways, I hope to get a purple scarf out of the whole ordeal.

Make Your Own Hummus

Most people I know love hummus.  In fact, it was even featured on Stuff White People Like, because apparently all white people like hummus.  I, for one, am a white person who loves hummus. Go figure.  I also know that most people do not make their own hummus, they buy it already made in the grocery store.  I seriously don't know why everyone does this because making your own hummus is so easy and a lot more economical.  I make hummus all the time and I haven't posted it before because hummus recipes are a dime a dozen and mine isn't original at all.  But I thought maybe people who are out there wasting their hard earned money on hummus never thought to look up the recipe for it so maybe by posting this I will inspire them to go ahead and make it themselves.  So here is my hummus recipe for all you hummus lovers out there.

Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lemon (I like it really lemony, but you may want to use a bit less if your not such a citrus fan)
• 1 can of chick peas aka garbanzo beans
• 1 1/2 tbsp tahini
• 2 cloves garlic (pressed)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for garnish if you're so inclined)
• A pinch of paprika (optional)
• 3 tbsp water 

All you have to do is throw everything into a food processor and hit the go button until its the right consistency.  I'd say that looks about right.  If you like it thicker, add less water.  If its too thick, add more water.  Simple.

Scoop it out and put it in a bowl.  Sprinkle with extra paprika and a bit of olive oil, for presentation of course!

Wasn't that easy?  Serve it with some warm pita bread, or if you're feeling super healthy opt for carrots.  Delicious!  

Stitch 'n' Bitch London Part 1 - Mostly Bitching

You may have noticed on my List of Things to Do that go to a Stitch 'n' Bitch night is number 7.  If you haven't heard of Stitch and Bitch, basically they are knitting groups, at which you can do your fair share of bitching, while you're stitching.  Stitch and Bitch London holds these meetings at various cool locations throughout central London, and they teach you how to knit for free!  How cool is that?  Well, if you ask me thats super cool because most things in London are EXPENSIVE.  And since I am in need of meeting people and making new friends I thought this would be great and they must be friendly people if they're willing to share their mad knitting skills with low lifes like me for no moolah.  All I have to do is show up with knitting needles and yarn.

I try to create mini adventures to keep myself entertained around here.  Nick is in the Holy Land doing business (not with God though) so that means I'm extra bored.  So today I went to Loop, a shop for all things knitting.  This place isn't even remotely close to where we live but it looked cute and it was a good excuse to go to a new part of London.

So I take the tube to the Angel stop on the Northern Line and I head off on my way.  I'm supposed to walk North towards this one street.  Ok sounds easy enough, except the street is DIRECTLY across from the station.  How I'm supposed to walk towards it, unless I'm crossing the street which clearly isn't what google intended, is beyond me.  So I willy nilly pick a direction and start walking.  Google says its supposed to be a 16 minute walk.  I walk for awhile and I feel like I am not going in the right direction because the street seems way more windy then it looks on the map.  However, London doesn't believe in well placed street signs.  They may or may not be posted at the corners.  Also they're not like street signs like in America, they're posted on the sides of buildings making them much more difficult to spot.  So I kept walking until I actually found a street sign and learned I wasn't even on the street I was supposed to be on and I was supposed to be walking in a straight line.  Good one.

Can I just say I want a fancy shmancy phone with GPS?  My darling husband (who has lived in London his entire life I might add) uses one all the time, and he gave me his piece of crap really old nokia which is useless for people like me who have no sense of direction.

Anyways.... I turned around and hiked for a half an hour in the other direction and finally found the shop.

It was cute, as expected, and the shop keeper was a friendly Canadian who married an English guy too.  She said she's been here for 20 years, I assumed she liked it, but she said she didn't and warned me not to have babies or else I'd be stuck here too.  Thankfully, that is most definitely not on the agenda and I will continue with my prega-phobia.

Anyways she told me to pick out some yarn, and then she got the appropriate needles for the yarn.  Apparently the yarn you use corresponds to your needles - who knew?   She gave me rainbow colored ones.    Do you like my purple yarn?

I'll be attending my first stitch and bitch session tomorrow night at the Royal Festival Hall and I'll let you all know how the stitching goes, as I'm sure you've noticed the bitching part will not be a problem.