Wow, we woke up late today - 10am! That's unusual for us. Guess we needed the rest. Anyway, we hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and have recovered from the inevitable Thanksgiving Day food coma. While we missed out on the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, we thoroughly enjoyed an excellent takeaway curry from one of our favorite Indian restaurants in Cambridge. Now, before you start thinking "curry is just not Thanksgiving fare," perhaps you should consider the following:
1. It involves Indians.
2. India was a British colony too (far more important than America; the 'jewel in the Empire's crown' if you will).
3. Having lived in Britain, we can assure you that the pilgrims would have totally served takeaway curry (or more likely, ready-made meals from Sainsburys/Tesco) at the first Thanksgiving if they had access to it at the time.
4. Most importantly, it's how we spent our first Thanksgiving in a 'new' land.
Of course no Thanksgiving meal would have been complete without dessert. However, gulab jamun was [cruelly] not available for takeaway. As a result, we had something a bit more traditional. Our last veggie box included a lovely, intelligent sweet potato (Brit English: yam) that magically transformed itself into a delicious adaptation of this recipe Will's mom shared with us [last fall].
That being said, let's move on to the weekend. Specifically, weekend breakfast. Though we did not suffer the food coma, after cinnamon rolls last weekend and curry on Thanksgiving, we were in the mood for something a bit lighter and healthier for breakfast (oh yeah and easier to make too). 
We'd never made granola before, but found it to be quite simple. The basic granola components (oats, syrups, nuts and dried fruits) are suited to customization which allowed us to play around according to our tastes, the seasons, etc. Since Thanksgiving is over and it is now officially acceptable to listen to Christmas music, decorate the tree, and engage in other Christmas-related activities, we're calling this particular mixture of spices and flavors 'Holiday Granola' (and by 'we" you should know by know that we mean Jackie). It still needs some tweaking, but it was tasty nonetheless.
Our Holiday Granola
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 tbsp vegetable oil (we use grapeseed; canola is good too)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean split open and seeds scraped out
Put the honey, maple syrup, orange juice and zest, oil, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then stop heat and let sit, covered for 30 minutes to infuse.
Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Prepare baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together remaining ingredients (except for dried cranberries). Pour liquid mixture over dry and mix well.
Spread granola on baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes. After taking out, let cool completely, then add dried cranberries.
Makes 2-4 servings. Enjoy with milk or yogurt. Add fresh berries too if you'd like.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
SMB: Granola
Monday, November 24, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
SMB: Cinnamon Rolls & Company!
Our friend Michael is visiting from Bath this weekend. Apparently, the promise of cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning helped him decide whether to book his train to Cambridge for Friday night or Saturday afternoon. We hope they lived up to the hype, especially since we (and by 'we', we mean Jackie) had never before made them from scratch. We prepared the rolls on Friday night (it helped that Michael's train wasn't arriving until 10pm, so we were going to be up late anyway), so that we would be able to pop them in the oven as soon as we woke up. The past few Saturdays we have found ourselves rising after 9am, having to make breakfast and not finishing our meal until after 11am, so preparing the cinnamon rolls the night before worked marvelously. In fact, it's not yet 11am and Will and Michael have already taken off to visit the Engineering Department and the Fitzwilliam Museum, and I (Jackie) will shortly commence my LSAT studying for the day.
But right now it's all about the cinnamon rolls and their deliciousness.
Cinnamon rolls or cinnamon buns do not appear to be very common here. The UK has several sweet roll and bun varieties, notably Chelsea Buns or Bath Buns, most of which are made with Lyle's Golden Syrup and sultanas rather than icing, cinnamon-sugar and nuts and eaten at tea, not breakfast. This lack of cinnamon rolls/buns is probably due to the fact that breakfast pastries and such are more of a continental thing.; the traditional 'full English' breakfast consists of various fried and hearty items, but nothing sweet. Furthermore, cinnamon rolls specifically are Swedish in origin, which explains why they can be found fairly easily in the US (lots of Swedish immigrants), but not in Britain (not a lot of Swedish immigrants).
Hence to satisfy any cinnamon roll/bun craving, we have had to learn how to make our own. So "we" did.
Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
2x 7g sachets dried yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup milk
125g/8.5 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
4 cups plain all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Filling
80g/5.5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Icing
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp tsp vanilla
For the dough
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
Place milk, cubed butter in a small saucepan and heat until butter is melted.
Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Add sugar and stir to combine.
Make a well in the center and add the eggs, and milk and yeast mixtures.
Stir until a smooth dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes, working in extra flour if dough is too sticky.
Place the dough into a large lightly floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep the bowl in a warm area and allow to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. The dough should have doubled in size.
Punch the dough down and on a floured surface roll into a large rectangle.
Brush generously with melted butter, reserving some for later, and sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
Roll the dough up, to make a log.
With the seam-side down, cut the roll into 1 inch thick slices and place on baking trays 1.5 cm apart.
Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining butter.
Cover loosely and leave to rise until doubled again.*
To bake, preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Bake rolls for 15-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes then drizzle with icing.
For the icing
Dissolve icing sugar in warm water and add vanilla in a mixing bowl.*
Stir until smooth. Add extra water if the icing is too thick to drizzle.
*Notes*
1. You can obviously add chopped nuts or chopped dried fruit etc to your cinnamon rolls if you want. To do this, add the nuts/fruit to the dough in the last 2 minutes of the initial kneading.
2. After the cut rolls had doubled, we put the baking trays in the fridge overnight. There didn't seem to be too much deflation in the morning, and it made making the Saturday morning part of SMB much quicker.
3. I also made orange flavored icing for our cinnamon rolls. Growing up, my family used to buy the Pillsbury/THWACK! Tube cinnamon rolls, and the ones with orange icing were always my favorite. To make orange flavored icing, add the zest of 1/2 an orange and a little bit of orange juice to the icing mixture.
4. It's probably pretty clear to you right now that I do most of the cooking, particularly the baking. So what does Will do? Well, if I cook, then he washes the dishes (and vice versa). See?
Monday, November 17, 2008
Whoa, It's Already Mid-November?!
It's hard to believe that it's already mid-November; this month is flying! Being busy, of course, seems to make time pass quicker than it would otherwise. And have we been busy.
The first week in November, our friend and former neighbour, Melina, returned to Cambridge from Germany to deliver a pre- grad hall lecture at our college. Her lecture, titled 'Amazing Mazes', concerned work that she has done so far for her PhD in American Literary Studies. It was a fascinating lecture (perhaps a bit over Will's head, but that's because he didn't spend 2 summers at creative writing camp like Jackie), and we had fun providing moral support, as well as catching up with Melina over dinners at hall and home. We greatly enjoyed Melina's visit and look forward to hopefully being able to visit her and Sebastian in Hamburg in the coming year (particularly after transportation issues forced us to cancel our previously scheduled trip to visit them in Geneva. Sad).
Melina + Will represent. Melina spent time in ATL so she knows how to be gangsta. Word. 
Jackie + Melina in the MCRThat same week, Jackie also began a part-time temporary job with the university. Although her work as a data entry temp is not particularly stimulating, she enjoys the friendly and fun working environment, and is thankful for the opportunity to earn some money while continuing her LSAT preparation (3 more weeks!). She will be working in this role until we depart for our trip to the US in December.
Will too has been busy working, not only on his PhD project, but also supervising first year undergraduates! It is his first real experience teaching, and he enjoys it immensely. Of course, it helps that his students are the best of the best and come to supervisions prepared and ready to work. ;o)
Last week, we had a meeting with the vicar of our church to see where we might become more involved and help out. With 100 members of the congregation leaving this month to augment another church in Cambridge, there are many opportunities to serve. We have not yet made a decision, though we are debating between leading a small group like we did at university or (and parents, you will find this entertaining) working with the children on Sunday mornings. Yes, that's right children. Considering that neither of us has much experience with, uh, children (Jackie has babysat 3x, Will never. Neither of us has changed a diaper) it would be very interesting (but hey, wouldn't it be better to practice with someone else's kids before having your own?).
To top things off, Will's officemate Oscar invited us last week to attend a formal swap at his college, St Catherine's. It was our first time dining at another Cambridge college and experiencing the different setting, hall rituals, and cuisine was fun. We also had the best dessert we've eaten at a formal hall yet: dark chocolate mousse cake with raspberry and fresh whipped cream. After a year+ of lemon syllabub and pistachio affogato at our formal halls, it was incredible to taste something so delicious from a college kitchen. Overall, we had a lovely evening with Oscar at St Catz.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
SMB: Banana Bread
Banana Bread
Adapted from Jackie's Mom's recipe.
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
6 tbsp olive oil
1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2 very ripe medium bananas)
1 egg plus 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts*
Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.
Grease and flour 9x5 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add 6 tbsp olive oil and mix until resembles crumbs. Stir in mashed bananas, egg + 1 tbsp water & 1 tbsp oil until just blended.
Add walnuts and fold batter. If mixture seems a bit dry, add a bit of milk.
Scrape batter into loaf pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle extra cinnamon on top.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.
Makes one 9x5 loaf.
*Notes*
1. You might be wondering "what changed?" from my mom's original recipe. Umm...a lot. It's not that I don't like the original (in fact, I love it! Maybe a bit too much), it's just that I wanted to play around and try to make it a bit healthier. Especially considering that I couldn't do a half recipe which is what I usually do for SMB (surprise! Bet you thought we were eating family-sized servings of muffins, biscuits, and breakfast cookies. Nope, just Will + Jackie sized) because I couldn't find a suitable "half" for the 9x5 loaf pan. So if the two of us are going to be eating an entire loaf of banana bread over the coming days, it needs to be healthier. Ok, so what did I change?
- Used 1/4 cup less flour. The original recipe called for 1 3/4 cup flour. I was worried about the bread being too dry because I only had 1 banana (we had eaten the rest before I decided to make banana bread) hence the flour lessening, but I think I would use less flour anyway.
-Halved sugar. The original recipe called for 2/3 cup sugar; I used 1/3 cup. With the bananas providing so much natural sweetness, I didn't see the need. Plus I think our palate has changed somewhat since moving to England; we're not too keen on super sweet foods. In the future, I will probably sub out even more sugar with applesauce (and then, subsequently, probably add that 1/4 flour back in....confused yet?).
+Added cinnamon. Also makes up for using less sugar.
s Substituted 6 tbsp olive oil for 1/2 cup butter/shortening.
s Substituted 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp water for 1 additional egg. The original recipe called for 2 eggs. Subbing both eggs in the future would probably work out fine, though the bread might be a bit more crumbly.
2. Suggested variations: chopped nuts, coarsely chopped or dried fruits, chocolate chips, orange zest. Add 1/3 cup buttermilk for super moist banana bread.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Because the UK has too many good stories to keep to ourselves
If Will had brought his camera phone to the ORS Reception last spring, this is the photo he would have taken.
This week: Happy 60th Birthday Prince Charles! + Other headlines from across the pond
Charles celebrates 60th birthday
Wonky fruit!
The last days of paradise
A real update is coming soon. We promise. November has been busy.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Remembrance Sunday
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae,
Canadian Expeditionary Force, World War I
Saturday, November 8, 2008
SMB: Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies
Cookies for breakfast?!? Yes, cookies for breakfast. Now that we're adults, and in charge of our own lives, we can eat whatever we want for breakfast. Even cookies. Hah!
To be fair, though, these morning glory cookies (a cookie-based variation on the morning glory muffin) are probably as healthy (if not more so) as numerous other things one eats for breakfast (i.e. bacon + eggs, chocolate frosted sugar bombs cereal, coffee...etc). So really, if you think about it, eating cookies for breakfast is not as rebellious -or unhealthy- an act as first thought.
Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies
3/4 unsalted butter*
1 cup soft brown sugar*
1/4 cup sugar*
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp water (or 1 egg)
3/4 cup plain all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc)
1/2 cup sultanas/raisins
1/4 cup crystallised ginger, chopped
1/4 cup dried fruit, chopped
Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, all spice, and ground ginger in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and . Blend well.
Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture.
Add the oats, nuts, and dried fruit. Mix until well combined.
Scoop out onto prepared baking sheets, spacing about 5cm/2 in apart.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, less if cookies are smaller. When cookies are done, remove baking sheet from oven and let cool 5 minutes.
Transfer cookies to cooling rack and let cool further.
Makes 16 large cookies.
*Notes*
1. Ok, I ( Jackie) used olive oil instead of butter to make the cookies healthier (I often do this). Somewhere around 4-5 tbsp (I think). I tend to play it by ear when it comes to baking substitutions (maybe not the best idea, but it always turns out fine). I plan on continuing to re-tool this recipe, so at some point there will be a solid measurement here.
2. I used all the sugar recommended this time, but found the cookies to be a tad sweet for the morning with all the dried fruit added. In the future, I plan on using less/substituting the sugar with...something. Watch this space.
3. This is a great cleaning out the cupboards recipe. For example: I needed to use up the rest my crystallised ginger (whose "use by date" was the other day), hence why it appears in the recipe. You could easily swap it for some other dried fruit or nuts that have been living in your pantry for far too long.
4. Really, the main point here is to share that we ate cookies for breakfast (and you could too...).
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Happy Guy Fawkes Day//Bonfire Night!
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I can think of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
It's Election Day!
Unless you’ve been lucky enough to be living under a rock—or, perhaps, in Europe—then you are most distinctly aware that today is Election Day in the United States. All the hype of the past two years has been leading inexorably (and excruciatingly) up to this day. What have we seen? What have we learned? While the media has tried (and, to a large measure, succeeded) to convince the general public that there is grand historical significance to this election, it has proven to be little more than the negativity circus that we have become accustomed to in our advertising and marketing fuelled age.
Mercifully, we Americans abroad have been spared a large amount of the campaign ads; unless we’ve been watching football. Instead, we have been educated on how closely followed and interested a large number of Europeans are in the American elections. Suffice to say, there has been more coverage on the BBC of the American elections than there has been of any manoeuvring in Parliament. It also goes without saying that the majority of Europeans are for Barack Obama, regardless of what they know about him or not. We’ve continued to learn about how Europeans see politics and how much this contrasts with American politics. In America (unless we’re Unionists or ignorant) we vote for the individual. In Europe, however, it is the party that is elected. Hence, most Europeans support Barack Obama not because he is eloquent or educated, but because he represents the opposition, the Democrats. Similarly, most do not like John McCain because he is a Republican. In our “shrinking world” it is the simple miscommunications or communication disconnects like these that get lost in the ever-accelerating and increasing mix of ideas of the Internet. Will these be addressed by our generation?
While it would be foolish to speak about how historical an election this is or is not, it is historical in a personal perspective. For the first time in his life, Will voted. The joke is that it took him leaving the country to finally get the motivation to vote. In seriousness, not having to deal with all the circus surrounding the campaigns (which Will disagrees with on principle) made it easier to make a decision and to educate oneself. Jackie voted absentee, as well; just another joy of being an expatriate. So while all of you are being inundated with exit polls and “educated punditry,” just remember: we aren’t.
We hope that you have been able to make a carefully considered, objective, and reasonably passion-free decision and that you have exercised your democratic responsibility responsibly. We also pray that whoever is elected will live out the oath of office with all the seriousness and servitude that it demands; remembering that they are to preserve, protect, and—above all other things—defend, not the nation, but the Constitution. One must, logically and inevitably, lead to the other.
And no, we’re not telling you who we voted for.
Monday, November 3, 2008
On Comments
We love comments. So, please, if you are reading the blog, do leave us some. If you're not quite sure how to comment, here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
Step 1. Click on 'Postcards' link below post.
Step 2. Type your comment in the comment box.
Step 3. Select what identity you will "Comment As". If you have a Google account, then provide your Google name. If you do not have a Google account, select "Anonymous" and just let us know in the comment who you are.
Step 4. Click "Post Comment".
Voila! Done. Comment away!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Saturday Morning Breakfast: Southern Style Biscuits
Mornin' y'all!
In honor of a most important college football game taking place this afternoon (evening for us), we've gone Southern for today's Saturday Morning Breakfast. Although, considering that Will will be cheering for one side and Jackie will be cheering for the other, perhaps it would have been better to continue with our normal breakfast routine this morning... Hmmm... Nonetheless, here's the recipe.
Southern Style Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick/8 tbsp butter, cold
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
Preheat the oven to 232C/450F
Mix dry ingredients together
Cut butter into pieces and work into dry mixture with hands until it resembles crumbs
Add the liquid, mixing until a little loose and sticky
Pour dough out onto floured surface. Knead for 1 minute. Dough should be smooth and no longer wet.
Shape dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning and folding it in half every few whacks. Repeat for 2-3 minutes.
Roll out dough until its 1/4 inch thick, then fold in half.
Use a round cutter (we use a glass) to cut out biscuits from dough.
Place on a greased baking sheet close together (so they rise up, not out).
Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Makes 10-12 biscuits.
Enjoy!
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