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.