Leek and Potato Soup

Our Riverford organic veggie box was full of leeks this week and I had lots of potatoes  leftover from last week.  I don't know why, but I never really cook with potatoes.  I like eating them, but I guess I always feel like they're not healthy.  But the potatoes have been accumulating so I desperately needed to get rid of them.

I found this simple recipe in Deborah Madison's book, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  Gawd, I feel like her PR rep.  Have I made anything not from this book lately?  Well, I really like it!  It's just chock full of simple recipes without a bunch of pretentious ingredients.

This soup is very simple, and clean, but hearty enough for a good winter meal.

Ingredients

• 3 large or 6 medium leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
• 1.5 pounds potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 7 cups of water
• salt

Chop your leeks and set them in a bowl of water.  Meanwhile, quarter your potatoes lengthwise and thinly slice them.  

In a large (really large - we didn't have one big enough so I had to use two) pot melt the butter and then add the leeks and potatoes, cooking covered over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Add 7 cups of water and 1.5 tsp salt to the pot and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are falling apart, about half an hour.  Use a potato masher to break the potatoes apart and give the soup a thicker texture.  

I added a spoonful of capers just for a little extra bite and served with fresh whole wheat bread.  Enjoy!

Dining Room Archeology

I kinda lied to you yesterday.  I haven't actually been snuggling my puppy all week.  I mean I have done a lot of that, but I've actually been doing tons of work on our dining room.  Since we decided to move I've really kicked it into gear. (And by "it" I mean my a**)

At the begining of the week I took the wallpaper down using this handy dandy wallpaper steamer.  Oh what a joy of a DIY task this was!  All I had to do was press it against the wall and the wall paper would just peel off ever so nicely.  The steam created a nice little sauna effect so it was almost like getting a facial AND getting work done at the same time!  But it did create little pools of tobacco colored water because until recently this room has endured about 50 years of chain smoking - kinda nasty.  But I loved stripping back the wallpaper and discovering what laid underneath, I thought to myself, "This must be what an archeologist feels like!"  If I would have known how simple it was I would have taken off the tar stained paper ages ago and maybe the house would've stopped smelling like old people and cigarettes!

Next I had to take the Styrofoam off the ceiling, but luckily there were no hidden chimneys like last time.  This DIY task sucks big time.  It made my shoulders sore and my knuckles raw.  Thank God there is no more Styrofoam left in the house now.

After playing room archeologist all week I unveiled a hideous pea-green ceiling, with yellow trimmed walls.  Nick's mum has been staying with us this week and she said the white painted bits used to be filled with wall paper.

Dear God,

Thank you for not making me live through this era of completely vile design.  

These color choices make me want to vomit a little.

That doesn't seem good for a dining room.

Cheers!

Kelly

House Arrest

Heidi is on house arrest till she gets all her puppy shots.  It's been two weeks since her first set and we have to wait another week before her second set.  And we are getting bored.... really bored.  All we do is snuggle all day.

Look at me in my sweat pants!  We need to get out!  We are going...

Please just one walk?  Just down the street?  Just an itty bitty one... for mental health's sake.  Would that make me a bad dog-parent? Will she really get parvo and die?

Cirque Du Soleil and A Gutter

For my birthday the husband bought me tickets to go see Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai, which we went to see last night.  This isn't the first time he's done this - for my 21st birthday he flew us to Vegas and we saw Ka.  Yes, I know he's a winner.  I've been a huge fan of Cirque Du Soleil since my parents took us to see O in Vegas on a family vacation and last nights show certainly did not disappoint.

Since the set was designed for touring purposes, it was clearly not as elaborate as the sets done in Vegas - but I suppose that's to be expected.  However, the performers, the music, the lighting, the props, and the costumes were all at the top of their game.  Everything about Cirque Du Soleil is just so stunning, it leaves you feeling like a small child.  It's as if you are experiencing colors and sounds for the very first time.

If that isn't enough, the performers are breathtaking.  Simply watching them was giving me small jolts of adrenaline.  I particularly liked one scene where they did a take on that super fun childhood game, "The Airplane."  You know where someone much bigger than you lies on their back, feet straight in the air.  They place their feet on your belly and raise you into the air so you feel like your flying.  Well imagine that, with back flips and twists and a bunch of other indescribable craziness.

Oh how I love Cirque Du Soleil!

We had such a splendid time, and after the show on our way home we were strolling through Hyde Park, along the lake, talking about how perfect life was at that very moment.  Everything just seems to be coming together for us.

Now I like technology, I really do, but I don't like my husband's obsession with his GPS.  He requires it at all times.   And in the middle of our romantic walk through the park he decided he needed to know exactly where we were.  (We're in the park honey, duh).  So he reaches into his pocket, and fumbles for his cell phone... and he drops it.  We watched in slow motion as it bounces three times and slowly but surely rolls straight into a gutter...

 I thought this was hilarious.  Nick looked as if he'd just lost a loved one.  We could see it glowing under the sewage water.  It was so close yet so far...  Then Nick managed to open the gutter, and it seemed just out of reach.

It was emitting a dull glow and my husband thought it was calling out to him, "Please don't leave me here in the gutter! I've been a good phone.  Please..."  Ever the hero, Nick removes his watch, wedding ring, coat and suit jacket and reaches into the depths of our local sewage system in one last attempt to retrieve his beloved phone.

Ahh... but even his long skinny arms can't get to it.  So he puts his jacket and coat back on, and we walk away as the glow from his dear phone starts to fade and it reaches it's death drowning amidst sewage.

Styrofoam Ceilings and Hidden Chimneys

Maybe I am a glass-half-empty kinda girl - OK I'm definitely a glass-half-empty kinda girl, but I believe that you have to take the good with the bad.  In this case, the good is we are moving!  The bad - we are moving a lot sooner than we anticipated and we have a lot of work to do to prepare this house for renting.  And by we I mean me because I'm unemployed and highly skilled at all things DIY, non?

Well the other day I was taking down this Styrofoam ceiling that was put up maybe 50 years ago to add insulation to the house.  It has to be taken down now, because of renting regulations that claim it is a fire hazard. Safety first people!

So I put my Martha Stewart DIY home decorator extraordinaire hat on and I get busy, as Kelly Leighs often do.  The problem is, Martha makes home improvement look so easy.  But its just so not easy.  I mean I'm stripping this shit off the ceiling, my arm is dying, and all of a sudden, my scraper hits a hard spot.  I keep at it and what do I reveal....

An old chimney!!

They'd covered the hole with what appears to me to be a small paper plate - and had they bothered to remove the ashes?  Of course not!  When I knocked that little plate out of place I gave myself an ash shower!  I looked like a damn chimney sweep.  I feel like these things just don't happen to Martha.

I guess thats why my Dad made me watch This Old House all the time growing up.  He had the show preprogrammed on the TV so the channel would switch whenever it was on.  Sooooo annoying.  He insisted that the information would come in handy one day.  Can't say I remember how do anything from the show, but I will admit Norm gave me much more realistic expectations for home improvement projects.  They never go according to plan!

Our Secret is Revealed!

I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats wondering what the big announcement is!

WE'RE MOVING!

Good-Bye 72 Ladysmith!

Nick got hired for a great job in Sheffield, which is in the northern part of England.  I'm ever so excited!  Living in London has been quite an experience, and I've enjoyed exploring the city, and getting to know it - but it just never felt quite like home.  We live on the outskirts of London, and our neighbors are mostly immigrants and do not speak much English.  I've attempted to introduce myself to them, but its never gone too well.  For example, I said "Hi I'm Kelly!" and the woman next door said, "That's OK."  Ugh....? Oh well.  It's also a bit of a rough neighborhood.

So we are going to live in a nice, middle class, English speaking, neighborhood.  I hope I make friends with our neighbors and can even ask things like, "Can I borrow a cup of sugar please?"  

And soon enough we'll be proud owners of our very first home!  We're currently living in Nick's family home, which is nice and rent free, but I'm ecstatic to be moving out of here and into something we can really put our stamp on and make our own.  Buying our first home is a huge step for us and I feel like such an adult... of course I asked my real estate expert of a father for plenty of advice and I think we're ready to rock!  Thanks Dooda!

Studying My History

They say we should study history because it repeats itself.  Well I think history is pretty boring.  But I'm a bit self-centered and I've noticed something about my own personal history.  Every three years I have a really amazing year.  When I was 11 I got my first dog.  When I was 14 I was in the 8th grade and we ruled the school!!!  When I was 17 I was on a rowing team and made great friends, and I had a car (aka Big Dirty) and I wasn't scared I was going to die every time I got behind the wheel like I was at 16.  At 17 I was also not too worried about college yet, or anything besides rowing really.  When I was 20 I spent the year studying abroad in Australia, and life is good in Australia - no explanation necessary.  Now I'm 23... the year has just begun but it is looking so very promising!

But most things look promising when you have a new puppy!

Even if she has decided that the little herb garden I planted, which was once used extensively for cooking, is the best place to play, sit, pee, poo, and do other doggy naughtiness.

We have a big garden judging by London standards, and plenty of room for her to play soccer.....

Or grab sticks...

But that little herb garden is her favorite spot.  There are a few positives about that though - she IS going potty outside, and she smells like lavender.  MMmmmmmmm.....

Heidi is only one positive thing about 2010 so far.. but we have a very exciting new development in the works which could put my 23rd year of existence into the top of the charts, and of course fullfill my prediction of an amazing year!  But it's still a bit of a secret... details to come soon!

Apple - Pear Chutney with Goat Cheese on Toasts

I made this Apple-Pear chutney the other day since we got a bunch of apples in our Riverford order.  The recipe is from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and once again Ms. Madison has not let us down.  Though this time, unlike my last failure, I managed to pair it with something that would be a success - goat cheese and toast.

Apple-Pear Chutney

Ingredients

• 3 apples
• 2 pears
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 3 inch cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves
• 10 peppercorns
• Several slices of ginger

Peel and thinly slice the apples and pears.  Add all the other ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Stew each fruit separately in the syrup until they're fully cooked and transparent, about 15 minutes.  Then pour everything into a jar, and voila - chutney!  I used an old Bonne Mamman jar because I'm just so eco-chic!

I actually only made half the recipe because I didn't have enough honey on hand, but I wish I'd made more!  The vinegar really sweetens up in the cooking process, but it still lends the chutney an edge that will allow it to swing both ways - sweet or savory.  

I cut little rounds of whole wheat bread and smeared goat cheese on them and then added a spoonful of the chutney.  I think they looked pretty cute and tasted lovely.  A perfect little appetizer - I'm practicing for my future dinner parties.  Do you think they're classy lookin?

Heidi's First Week

I have something to admit.  When we decided to get a puppy I was worried.  Would it be possible for me to love any dog as much as my best friend, Maddy?  If you don't know, she is the best dog in the world.  She's a little chubby and lot of love, and she has always been there for me... even during my awkward tween phase when I'd come home crying because some jerkwad boy said I looked like a gummy bear.  Maddy would sit there with me, loving me unconditionally and begging for a piece of my special comfort food - the butter burrito.  (butter in a soft tortilla - the jerkwad did have a point... I seemed to eat my feelings a lot).

But luckily we made it through that phase and we continued to be BFFs, she was even the ring bearer in my wedding!  I couldn't have ever asked for a better dog and I wish she could come live with us in London, but she is a nati kind of girl!

But here I am with a new dog in my life, and all my fears of loving her as much as Maddy have completely subsided.  She is just too stinking cute to not love.

And she's very smart.  We've already taught her how to sit, lay down, come, stay, and go to her crate - which, despite people telling us it is cruel to keep her in, she absolutely loves.  Oh, and did I mention she only peed in the house once today?! Potty training success is just within reach!

She also loves to sit on your lap, which is pretty adorable, but since she's going to grow up to be about 80 pounds or so, we're trying to break that habit.  But sometimes we give in...

OK, OK, a lot of times we give in.  I'll tell you what though - is there anything cuter than a boy and his dog?  One piece of advice my mom gave me when I was younger and we were walking Maddy was, "Make sure you find a man who treats his dog right, then you know he'll treat you right."  Mom, I think I found a winner.

Avenue Q - Totally Underrated!

When Cecilia was here last week I wanted to take her to the best tourist attractions and ensure she had a spectacular visit to London, as any good hostess would.  Since she is in her last year at college, and I'm currently unemployed, we needed to get the best bang for our buck... eh... punch for our pound?

A lot of the tourist activities in London are just plain tourist traps.  They'll frisk you like a very good pick pocket, and you'll leave the city feeling robbed of all your money and a little of your dignity.  I try to skip these traps, especially because many things are free here - but man, the things that aren't free will sure cost you.

There is one touristy thing I always recommend though, and that is going to the theater.  There are tons of shows in London, and Leicester Square is host to plenty of half price ticket booths.  This is an ideal place to pick up tickets the same day or a few days before a show, especially if you're not super picky.  

Like a good hostess, I told Cecilia that she could pick the show.  Of course, I didn't actually mean this, because I'd already seen most the ones I wanted to see.  So she went through the gauntlet of shows and I kept saying, "seen it."  That is until she said Avenue Q.  I hadn't seen this one, nor had I heard anything about it, except for all the advertisements which said it was "pant-wettingly funny".  I had wanted to see it for awhile, mostly because of it's self-proclaimed hilarity, but I was kind of embarassed by this because the show is done with Muppets.  

So we went to my favorite half-price booth and we managed to score tickets for a mere £15 each.  

Then when we arrived at the show the next day, they upgraded our seats!  Little did we know we were about to enjoy the most hilarious piece of Muppet theater ever...

Imagine if you will, the genius that is The Labyrinth, combined with Sesame Street, only this show addresses adult topics.  I felt I could particularly relate to the main character, who felt so sure that he would do very well after his graduation, however, he soon finds out that his BA in English is pretty much useless.  There was a bunch of musical numbers that really got the audience going such as, "It's OK if you're Gay" - done by two male muppets whose relationship resembles that of Bert and Ernie.  This show certainly wasn't afraid of adressing taboo topics, however, by doing it with hand puppets, statements that would generally be offensive were transformed into words of true comic genius.  For example, the Avenue Q crew comes to the realization that "everyone's a little bit racist" and of course they burst into a song that addresses this fact.  If the idea of puppets discussing politically incorrect topics appeals to you, then you really must see this show. 

There is one downside to this show - I found myself getting pretty perturbed at my fellow audience members.  They kept laughing!  I mean, what good is a comedy if you can't hear the next joke because everyone is laughing too hard?  Don't answer that. 

The moral of the story is - never be embarrassed of your love of Muppets and when given the opportunity go see Avenue Q!

Pumpkin Patties with Goat Cheese on Mixed Greens

OK, OK, I know I cook pumpkin A LOT... but bear with me for awhile here.  I only have one left after this recipe.  And before we know it spring will be here and squash will be out of season, out of sight, and I'll have to start cooking food that maybe you'll appreciate more than pumpkin.  However, until that time comes I am going to shove this pumpkin recipe down your throat in hopes that maybe someone out there will decide to make something pumpkin inspired (that isn't dessert) and will fall in love with this winter vegetable in the same way I have.  

Without further ado, I bring you my very own recipe for Pumpkin Patties!

Ingredients

• half a medium sized pumpkin, rind cut off, and grated (with food processor unless you're working on your guns in the new year)
• 4 apples, 2 grated and 2 chopped
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp all spice

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  Form them into hamburger sized patties.  In a pan, melt a bit of butter and heat your patty until it's golden on both sides.  You'll be able to fit four or five in at once.  At this point, you may want to place your patties on a baking sheet and put them into the oven to keep warm while you finish cooking the rest of them.  It should make about 15 patties - hooray for left overs!

Place patties on a bed of mixed greens, sprinkle with goat cheese and toasted pine nuts, and dress with a simple balsamic vinaigrette.  And thank me, because I think this is on your diet plan.

Carrot + Ginger Soup

So how bout those new years resolutions?  Still going strong?  Yeahhhhhhhhhhh.  You may recall one of mine was eating healthy... man that can sure be a real drag.  I made some carrot soup tonight though.  So I thought maybe you'd like the recipe too - in case you're also trying to eat healthy.  It's pretty filling, and it has that clean feeling.

I got this recipe from Riverford, they deliver us organic groceries.  You may have noticed we've been eating a lot of carrots lately, that's because they're in season now.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
• salt and pepper
• 1 liter of stock
• 6 medium carrots
• 2 tbsp parsley
• natural yogurt to serve

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and sautee the onion with garlic, mustard powder, ginger, and season with salt and pepper until the onion is tender.  After this add a few tablespoons of stock, and then add your carrots.  Pour in the rest of your stock, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 40 minutes.  (I actually didn't use stock, I used a veggie stock cube and just added water where it called for stock).  Then puree the soup until it's smooth.  At this point you can add some parsley and yogurt to serve, but we didn't have any.

 It's tasty but not brag to your friends delicious.  It would probably benefit from a few more spices.  But, what the heck, it's good enough for a new years resolution dinner.

Heidi Comes Home

Wow yesterday was such an adventure!  We went all the way up to Sheffield to pick up our new dog-daughter, Heidi.  Sheffield isn't really that close to London, and public transportation was the only way we could get there and back.  If you can avoid it, taking a puppy on a train really isn't a good time and I would not recommend it!  We picked Heidi up around 2:30 and she said good-bye to her old family and hello to us, who promptly shoved her into a pet carrier, which she's never been in before, carried her away from her remaining bros and sisters, then brought her outside where it was freezing!  Cruel and unusual punishment?  Heidi sure seemed to think so!  She was screaming bloody murder about the whole ordeal.  I have never heard a puppy protest so much.  I mean she howled, yelped and whined for a good twenty minutes on the train platform.  Needless to say we were getting dirty looks.  But Nick and I are big fans of Cesar Millan, and we were trying very hard to listen to his advice and not comfort her.

Of course, this meant we were chastised as evil puppy parents by other passengers on the train.  "Aren't you going to let her out, I can't bear to hear her cry!" "You're taking her all the way to London?  I hope you let her out of the cage on the way.  Do you even have a garden?!"  Yes biznatch, mind your own business - we have a garden and we're not abusing her!  Ok, I didn't actually respond like that, but jeez, I can't even imagine how annoying it must be to raise children if people have so many opinions on puppy parenting!

Glamor shots?

She actually calmed down and slept quite a bit on the train journeys.  It was when we got off the train and we carried her around outside she got wound up again.  I tried to take her out of her crate between trains to use the potty, as some...well meaning people suggested - but she was terrified!  I pulled her out and set her down on the ground and she sat there, tail between her legs, shaking and looking like there was no hope left in the world.

Even the walk home was traumatizing because for some reason everyone was setting off fireworks!  Talk about one very freaked out little puppy.  But we finally managed to get her home and I am pleased to say I don't think she has any permanent scars from her ordeal.  She seemed a bit spooked by the garden at first, probably because of the fireworks, and we had a lot of trouble getting her to go potty outside, but shes calmed down a lot now and much to our delight is getting the hang of this potty training thing.

She has also conquered her fear of the ever-so-frightening... step into the kitchen!  One small step for a puppy, one giant leap for dog-kind.  I hope you like the pictures of her. I had a tough time getting her to sit still!

Camden Market

Today my dear friend Cecilia and I spent the day at Camden Market.  It's Monday, and even though it's not the busiest day at the market, and not all the stalls were open it was really an ideal day.  Last time I went there were tons of hipsters cramming the stalls and it was difficult to see everything the market had to offer.  Today it was almost like we had the place to ourselves and it was perfect!

We started off wandering the stalls....

And stumbled across these headbands... I was definitely eying up the blue one on the right, but I was once told I look silly in headbands so I held out for something better.

We moved on to well edited vintage shops and I tried on the cutest blue dress... unfortunately my hips were a bit too wide for it.  But Cecilia looked charming in a red beret!

And the trendy vintage shop assistant recommended a little veggie burger stand for us to go to for lunch.  The Ha Ha Veggie Bar.

Yum!  I love me some good street food.  I got the Halloumi Special.  It was de-lish!

After lunch we had a ton of luck finding amazing hats.  I've been looking for the perfect hat to start my hat collection.  And this pink turban number just screamed, "You can't leave Camden without me!"  And for a mere £10 it was all mine.  I haven't taken it off all day.

Then we discovered the true gem of Camden, Cyber Dogs.  What is a cyber dog?  I'm not really sure.

But between these giant C3PO's was a world of fashion the likes I have never seen.  If you can imagine where The Jetsons would shop... if they were on acid and went to raves - it would be this store.  We weren't allowed to take pictures of this outlandish clothing, but I managed to snag this one of Cecilia before a man, with what can only be described as a 3-way mohawk dyed neon yellow and orange, started yelling at me.  If you must know, the hat reads, "Jesus Raves".

I had so much fun shopping in Camden with Cecilia! There is really such a variety of things to explore here, and great people watching.  Even though it seems a bit touristy, this is definitely a tourist activity I would highly recommend.  And anywhere I can buy such awesome hats is alright with me!

The DeCourcy Hotel is Open for Business!

Ladies and Gentlemen, family, friends, and couch surfers, you will be pleased to know that work on the DeCourcy guest room is finally finished!

I don't think you can fully appreciate this charming London room until you see the state of utter disarray it was in a few months ago....

Please note the unpainted cupboards.  Nick had them built just before the first time I came to London, he meant to paint them before I arrived.  That was five years ago.

Those gray spots in the upper right hand corner are big holes from where Nick mounted a massive TV so he could game from bed *cough* loser *cough*.  The TV was taken off the wall and the holes were filled and sanded.

And for the piece de resistance... Nick's bright orange ceiling!  Slowly being painted away by yours truly! Six coats of paint later it was actually white.

And look at it now!

This charming outer London bedroom can be yours for just... well free if we like you.  It boasts crisp white cupboards.  Freshly painted and looking stunning after 3 coats of paint.

A ceiling that is no longer likely to blind you with the fire of a thousand suns.

A comfy wicker chair for that English Victorian elegance we know you're looking for.  Just perfect for reading a book and having a spot of tea.

An entertainment system complete with VCR and a plethora of local television channels (and by plethora I mean five).

And if there's two of you traveling there is also a pull out mattress underneath the bed.  It's ideal for slumber parties!  However, it's on limited offer because this single bed will soon be replaced with a double.  It may migrate to Nick's study, but that is yet to be determined.

Well, that concludes our tour.  Please call/facebook/email to inquire about availability.  I am very pleased to announce that we will be having our first guest staying with us as of tomorrow!  So you can't come tomorrow.  But as of the 15th the room is empty, just waiting for another weary traveler.  We love visitors so don't be shy!

Carrots Make a Comeback

After the carrot salad disaster I last posted, I thought I should post something in which carrots really shine.  To be honest, in the best of times I'm not really a fan of carrots.  As a kid I never had a problem with brussel sprouts or broccoli, but carrots.. yuck.  They made me want to vom.  How do you even swallow a raw carrot?  I mean its so difficult because it never reaches a point of mushy swallow-ability.  I only ever took carrots out of the fridge if I was attempting to catch baby bunnies with them in the back yard.  Yes I was that kid.  (Note : These attempts almost always failed, with the exception of once when the bunnies were too young to even move - I don't think their mom was very happy about me playing with them though.  oops...)  

Anyways enough of that.  I discovered the other day that carrots can actually taste good!  The problem is no one knows how to cook them, except maybe Jesse Ziff Cool, because I got this recipe for Honey-Glazed Carrots from her cookbook, Simply Organic.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 leek (sliced)
• 1 pound carrots (sliced)
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Slice up your leeks and carrots.  I peeled mine because they were really dirty.

Then melt the butter over medium high heat.  Add the leek and cook until its tender.  Then add the carrots and cook until they're lightly browned, about 2 minutes or so.  Then just throw in the rest of the ingredients... Apple juice, honey, cinnamon, cumin mint and salt.  

Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer it for about 15 minutes - until the carrots are soft.  You should probably remove the cinnamon stick at this point too.  Unless you want to eat it.  Then you'll have a tasty little pile of carrots and you can say to yourself, "Oh my!  How healthy I am!"

And you can eat them and if I'm not mistaken, you'll actually enjoy them!  They're as perfect as carrots could possibly be.  They're tender, and they're sweet like honey, with a bit of tartness from the apple juice.  All of the ingredients are mingling perfectly and the spices just give it a little extra va-va-va-voom to keep you going back for more.  

Infact, they're kinda like this music video, a tantalizing collaboration from Mariah, Mase, and Diddy.