Movember Bop

I can hardly believe that November is already coming to an end. This month has been crazy busy and full of studying and Saturdays lost to lectures. As many people know, November is a month for prostate cancer awareness. Men all around the globe grow out their moustaches in honour of this event - thus dubbing it "Movember". Roehampton threw a bop on the last Friday in November to round up the month. They sold stick-on moustaches for all of the ladies and boys who failed to grow a worthy moustache for 50p. Jessica and I decided we needed to go support all of the Movember haters-of-prostate-cancer. We bought stick-on moustaches, and danced until...well until we didn't want to dance any more.  Props to Mark, the only guy I know who actually grew a decent moustache, rocked it for the entire month, and raised money for prostate cancer research!

Thanksgiving at Roehampton

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. Many of my new foreign friends have asked me to explain what Thanksgiving is all about, having only experienced it through movies. I tell them, Thanksgiving is about being thankful for all of the things that you have; family, friends, life, freedom, etc. This year I am away from my family on Thanksgiving for the first time. I thought I'd find myself feeling sad and nostalgic, but instead I found myself quite happy and, appropriately, thankful. This year I am thankful for my family's support, the opportunities that life has given me, my amazing friends, the air in my lungs, and immense potential of my future.

Bringing Thanksgiving to England was something that Jessica and I discussed in one of our very first conversations, three months ago. It seemed so distant back then, and this week it was suddenly upon us. All of a sudden there was so much to do and not enough time. We had no idea the hiccups that we would face along the way. We conquered them with grace, if I do say so myself. Here is a very abbreviated, fast-forwarded recounting of the past few days.

Early in the week we began the hunt for all things Thanksgiving. Luckily, we had noticed a few things missing from grocery stores weeks ago and Jessica's mother was able to bring them from America (canned pumpkin for example). We underestimated, however, the extreme differences a few essential grocery items. For example, British grocery stores do not regularly stock: pre-made pie crust, graham cracker pie crust (or graham crackers, for that matter), pre made vegetable/chicken stock, stuffing bread cubes, and CoolWhip (or a British equivalent). After frantically running from store-to-store all day on Wednesday, almost all of the necessary ingredients had been rounded up or substituted.

I spent Wednesday night in the kitchen baking pies. I made my own mock-graham cracker pie crust with ginger snaps, as they were the closest thing I could find. I converted all of the ounce measurements on my recipes into millilitres. Cream cheese pie was easy enough (thank goodness for Jessica's sweetened condensed milk) and quickly went into the fridge to chill. The apple pie, however, proved more difficult. I was left to make my own pie crust (which I have never done before) and to peel and slice apples with crappy, dull, small knives. Luckily I had Patrick, who is an excellent sous chef/slave dishwasher. Couldn't have done it without him! After 3 hours in the kitchen, both pies were done and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thursday morning Jessica, Dawn, and I headed to Putney to pick up the pre-cooked turkeys from Marks & Spencer (a local, fancy grocery store). I bought vegetable stock cubes (in lieu of ready-made vegetable stock) as well. Imagine our shock when the friendly M&S boys brought down 3 stuffed,  garnished, and uncooked turkeys from the refrigerator upstairs. Once panic subsided, we smiled in the face of a challenge and quickly rushed home to get the birds in the oven. This was my first attempt at roasting a turkey. I was worried, but had a tiny voice in the back of my mind telling me it was possible. I spent the afternoon babysitting the turkey and attempting to study.

At long last it was time for the feast. We were able to use a large lecture room in the main building here at Whitelands. We pushed all of the tables together to make one long table that reminded me of a Whos-Down-in-Whoville-esque feast. Lots of people brought lots of different kinds of food. Somehow it fell upon me to carve the turkeys. Sadly, I think I butchered them quite horribly but my attempt might make my family proud. We all sat down and, after a short welcome speech from Jess, we ate. The room was suddenly quiet as everyone dug in.

Of the 30+ people who came, only about 10 had ever experienced a Thanksgiving before. The newcomers were delighted with all of the different types of food. With so many happy friends around it felt strangely like home. We feasted and socialised for about 3 hours, cleaned up, and then happily fell into food comas. What a fantastic Thanksgiving!

English...

Since being here in England I have discovered that, although we technically speak the same language, the Brits and I can't always communicate effectively. I have often scratched my head and wondered where it all went wrong. This morning I was enlightened by a video on Jessica's Facebook page. I feel compelled to share it will all of my American friends and family, and others who read this blog. It's history!...with PICTURES! It's a bit fast-paced, so put down whatever it is you're doing and devote 10 minutes of your life to learning about the language you speak. Enjoy!

Create Light Inspire

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi said it best, but nonetheless:

Momma Gagnon Comes to London

Yesterday I was lucky enough to share the day with Jessica and her mother, who arrived on Friday and will be staying here in London with her until Sunday. We are all excited to have a  mother duck around to keep us all in check. Jess was kind enough to share her mother with me all day yesterday as we explored central. It was a very busy day full of sightseeing, good food, and exciting, first-time encounters. Allow me to recount.

We got an early start and headed into the city via the London Overground (tube closures across all of the good parts of the city made getting around in the usual way impossible). Overground travels is fun though, and lets you see more of the city AND ride backwards like in a roller coaster! Once arriving in Waterloo, it was a short walk to the back end of the London Eye (a place I had never even though of going) where a wonderful little market was happening. The "Tea and Coffee Festival" was setting up shop, and since the restaurant we had chosen for lunch was not yet opened, we decided to wander through the market.  Independent makers of coffees, teas, cakes, cookies, fudges, and other sweet deliciousness had gathered here to sell their goods. It was cold, and the temptation to buy everything warm and sweet was high.  We resisted temptation, promising a particular baker that we'd be back after lunch, and headed towards the London Eye.

All along the river, Christmas themed shops were set up selling a variety of knickknacks. Wooden ties, candies, leather purses, glass figurines, artwork, and the list goes on and on. The regular street performers and pedlars were there as well. One guy, with an interesting hairdo of tightly twisted mohawk-like spikes down the middle of his head, was my favourite. I dub him the Bubble Man. It's not hard to guess why. He was there with huge buckets of soapy water, and two different bubble-making contraptions. I have decided that if I fail here at Roehampton, this will be my future job. Kids and adults loved him and stood watching in amazement for long periods of time before tossing spare change into a red bucket which was filling fast. I'm willing to be that this guy hauled in more money than any of the other performers, and his craft brought genuine joy to those watching. I took some pictures and videos. If my dream to become a bubble woman is not fulfilled, I will at the very least create this contraption and amuse myself in the lawn outside my dorm.

We lunched on dim sum at a place called Ping Pong. It was delicious! It was the first time I have had dim sum in years. We didn't take any pictures of the spread of food. I guess we were just too hungry to think of photographs and instead dove headfirst into delicious dumplings of various fillings. YUM! We all must have saved a small pocket of our stomachs for the cakes in the market outside. We returned to the same baker we had chatted with earlier, and purchased sweets to wash down the dim sum. "Super moist" carrot cake for me, green tea white chocolate cupcake for Jess, and an espresso brownie for Momma Gagnon. We people watched as we ate, then headed out for more adventure.

We walked across the Westminster bridge toward Parliament and Westminster Abbey. After taking loads of pictures, we headed on to Green Park where we found something I had never seen unclose before. A pelican had found his way out of the designated wildlife area of Green Park and was pacing frantically along a park path. We took some pictures and videos of him. I marvelled at his size, and then we moved on feeling a bit sad that we couldn't help the poor guy back over the fence to safety and his friends. We soon found ourselves wandering down Oxford Street, shopping and enjoying the Christmas lights and music. Nearly out of energy, we headed back to Putney for dinner at Putney Pies! Scrumptious pies all around and dessert too! What an awesome day!

Thanks, Jess and Momma Gagnon, for a fun filled day, good food, and great memories.

Borough Market

My restlessness struck again. I woke up this morning feeling the need to be in the city again, so off we went to walk along the South Bank and check out Borough Market. Another bus ride to Putney and a long haul on the District tube line right to the Tower of London. It was another sunny, relatively warm day (high of 13), perfect for walking around the city. We wandered around the Tower, took some pictures of Tower Bridge from the North Bank, then walked across toward the market.

I really enjoy the walk from Tower Bridge to Borough Market. This path along the river is called "The Queen's Walk", so I guess that's another thing Her Majesty and I have in common (on top of love of Earl Grey and Corgis).  We snapped more pictures of the Bridge and of the financial district on the South Side. I don't much care for modern architecture, but the financial district's skyline is quite nice. After a slight detour (hunting for a lost Oyster Card) we made it to the Market right before sunset.

Having visited this market last summer with The Moms, I knew what to expect. Food stalls with fresh produce, butchers, cheese wheels bigger than your head, fruit you can smell before you can see, cakes/pies/sweets that make your mouth water and your tummy growl...et cetera, et cetera.  It's really just a typical farmer's market, but  it's the location of Borough Market that I love. It's somewhat hidden, tucked away under a bridge and therefore frequented only by regulars or lost tourists. The stalls are warmly lit with hanging open bulbs, adding to the ambiance and painting the whole market in a hazy fog that makes it seem even more special.

I blame this dizzying lighting and the sweet smells of happiness for my (irresponsible) purchase of a slice of tempting lemon cheesecake and personal pork & apple pie to reheat for dinner sometime soon. These delicacies were reasonably priced, which made it even harder to resist.  Mostly though, they were hunger-driven impulse buys. After wandering around the market a bit more, Patrick followed his nose to a delicious (£6) pork/applesauce/spices sandwich. The pork loin was cooked to perfection, and wonderfully complemented by the apple sauce (I know because I stole a few bites). Hunger staved (for a short while anyway), we decided to walk across London Bridge to catch the tube home. It was another wonderful day in my wonderful, favourite city.

See?





The Sun setting behind Tower Bridge.

 The financial district skyline (North Side)

Tower Bridge from the South Bank

A mosaic of old school London Skyline (circa 14th century)

         Happy Borough Market Shoppers     Cakes, pies, and other sinful things

Produce and other goodies

Beautiful flowers

A German Meal

Chef Philipp cooked a real, authentic German meal for us on Wednesday night. He put on his chef hat and apron (not really) and got dirty in the kitchen for hours just to say thank you to those of us who have been helping him with his school work. Good food, good friends, great night.

This was my first experience with authentic, homemade German food. It was delicious! The bountiful meal consisted of schnitzel (of course), mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, chips (french fries), and chicken chilli. We had assorted wines for drink and a scrumptious strawberry-cheese dessert made with sweetened strawberries and Quark cheese. The closest thing I can put it to is a tangy mascarpone cheese with strawberries mixed in.  It was mildly sweet and light, a perfect end to a delicious meal. Fantastic! I am now very much looking forward to our trip to Germany in April.

If I'm going to continue to be rewarded for my help with food, I'll help you all day, every day Philipp!

This post is dedicated to the wonderful Chef Philipp, who filled my tummy up with yummies and continues to fill my world up with fun times and laughter.

Chef Philipp hard at work.

Sous-Chef Sarah peeling loads of potatoes.

Frying the schnitzel.

Not-so-serious Chef Philipp.

Second helping of schnitzel (complete with a friend egg), chicken, and potatoes.
(I swear I ate veggies the first time around.)

Pepijn setting the table and finishing the mash.

Thanks to Jessica for the photos!