Becca Jane St Clair

Post about Neuschwanstein tomorrow!

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[Finally blogging about our trip to Germany and Austria we took in September 2010!]

Or I should say, Day .5 and Day One.

On the Sunday before we left, Tim had to work a 12-hour day shift. So, we packed the car up on Saturday afternoon – I dragged everything outside while Tim was at work, and then when he got home we spent a few hours stuffing it…and boy, do I wish I had thought to take pictures of the packed car! My friend Lou lives down near Dover, and she offered to let us spend the night at her place on Sunday so we wouldn’t lose a half day driving through England. What a lifesaver! We didn’t actually get to her house until past 10PM, and didn’t get to sleep (too busy chatting!) until around 12, but it was well worth it to get on a Ferry around 8AM. Thanks again, Lou (Lou is currently cruising in the Caribbean with our favourite band, Barenaked Ladies)!

Our plans for Monday were to drive across France, through Belgium and Luxembourg, and finally into Germany. The drive was LONG. I think when we do this again (plans are for 2012 or 2013!), we’ll be breaking the journey sooner, as Tim was really tired. Unless by then I’m driving, in which case we would be able to switch off. But we had important plans and a sort-of itinerary to follow. Plus, I booked us a room for the night in Oy-am-Mittelberg.

We took an early morning ferry, around 8AM BST. Unfortunately, we crossed into a new time zone and we actually lost an hour. I think next time, we’ll aim for a 7AM sailing, as well. I also discovered that P&O sail continuously through the night, so we could have driven down after Tim got off work, gotten on the ferry and stayed at a hotel in France and given us a jump start. Oh well. We know for the next trip. The ferry was also cold. We went outside on the open deck while the ship was leaving port in Dover and while it was docking in Calais, but then we went inside and ordered breakfast. Food on the ferry was expensive, but it was worth it – They had a breakfast deal where you got something like 6 or 7 items for a flat rate. I took a picture of Tim’s plate!

We reached Calais around 9:30AM local time, and started in on the long drive. We made a bathroom stop somewhere in France, and stopped in Belgium for Lunch. I packed things into our cigarette lighter socked powered cooler so we could have a picnic lunch and we took a decent break. Original plans were to get to our Gasthaus in plenty of time for Abendbrot (evening meal), but that wasn’t going to happen. We finally gave in and stopped around 8PM at a service plaza. Our options were an expensive authentic German meal, or Burger King. Needless to say, we opted for Burger King. No reason to break the bank on a dinner break! This also is where we learned about Frauenparkplatz.

A Frauenparkplatz is a parking space, or series of spaces, reserved for women. The spaces are a little wider than traditional spaces, which lead you to think the Germans perhaps don’t think women can park. However, these spaces were actually created for women’s safety and are located close to doors and well-lit. Personally, I think it’s a great idea…it just also has the potential for jokes!

Around this time, we also discovered one of the perks of the Germany Autobahn — Many sections have raised speed limits or even NO speed limit. At first I was afraid for Tim to be driving at 100, but then I soon realized that if he didn’t, we’d get squashed by all the other passing cars! The sections aren’t very long, or at least, driving along at 100 they don’t feel very long. It helped us to make up some time, too. Our Gasthaus had a check-in time of by 10PM and if we didn’t get there, we’d lose 80% of the room rate plus not have a place to sleep. Fortunately, I was able to call the Gasthaus from my mobile and they were willing to “wait up” for us until 11. As luck would have it, we managed to arrive right at 10PM!

We stayed at the Ratskeller. A Gasthaus I picked completely by random based on it’s location and price. I just looked at a map of where we planned to be the following day, and picked out a few towns to check that looked like they were within an hours driving distance. I picked the Ratskeller completely blind, but it turned out to be an excellent choice.

Our room was basic, but it had all the basic commodities you expect from a hotel – comfortable, clean beds, a clean WC with shower stall, a telephone, television, and as luck would have it- free WiFi. Our hosts even offered to cook a meal for us when we arrived at 10! We declined, since we had made a stop already for food. We did make the mistake of assuming there would be a kettle or coffee maker in our room though and wished we had asked for some tea. We were really tired, so we set our alarms for 8 the following morning, plugged in some of our electronics to get them charged up, pushed the beds together (we booked a double room, but it consisted of two single beds), and collapsed.

The following morning we pulled back the curtains to absolute beauty. We missed it the night before since we arrived in the dark, but Oy-am-Mittelberg is in a valley of the Bavarian Alps. It’s stunning. Most of their tourism comes from skiing in the Winter, so in the off-season it is fairly quiet. When we went down for breakfast, there was only a handful of people present.

Breakfast (Frühstück) in Bavaria consists of a continental breakfast of meats and cheeses, and then there is usually a second breakfast called Brotzeit (“Bread Time”). The Gasthaus gave us a nice spread of breads, meat, cheeses, cereal, and hard-cooked eggs. The meal also included tea, coffee, milk, and apple juice. Surprisingly, the tea wasn’t bad! Tim and I adopted the continental style breakfast for the duration of our trip, as it made Frühstück a lot easier to prepare before we headed out for the day!

We were soon on the road and on the way to our first tourist stop of the trip – Neuschwanstein Castle. We stopped a few places along the way to take some photos. I’ll try not to overwhelm you with photos, but it’s going to be hard to pick my favourites!

If you click on the photo once, it will take you to that photos page. If you click on the photo again, you will be able to view it full size. I have no idea why WordPress made it so complicated!

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I know that’s a funny title…arrived where? And I’m sure I’ll get even more funny looks when I respond with “England”, but there you have it. Last week, I realised that I am embracing the United Kingdom and even though I’ve been calling this place my home for the past year, I finally feel like I mean it.

It’s for a really stupid reason, though. No one asks me where I’m from any more. I don’t get “Are you [Canadian/American/Irish*]?” , “Where are you from?”, or “Are you enjoying your visit?” when I go out or travel. Possibly because I walk with purpose. I can navigate myself through King’s Cross, down into the tube, and across town to catch another train out of Paddington or Waterloo with little fanfare. I know where to find the pricey high street goods for less. I know which pubs are poor quality chain restaurants and which ones are genuinely good. My go-to fast food is fish and chips. I drink tea, and actually now prefer tea over coffee. My kitchen radio is set to Radio 2, except between 12 and 2 when I switch over to Radio 4 or BBC Lincs. People stop me in Lincoln, Derby, London, Leicester, etc. and ask me for directions. I walk everywhere and only consider asking Tim to drive me a mile to the co-op if it’s raining or dark.

I’m sure I’ll always have an American accent, but what sets me apart from visitors is the language I use. Yes, America and England are two countries separated by a common language** But it’s those linguistic differences that make me feel like I have arrived (Tim also says that my tone of voice is quieter and the only times he can tell I’m a Jersey Girl are if I’m on the phone with Jessy or Erin).

I remember my first trip to the UK in 1997. We were all fresh-faced high schoolers ready to visit a foreign country….and half of the group trekked to McDonald’s for Lunch. We thought the signs that said “To Let” were misspelled signs for “toilet”, and we didn’t understand the funny looks we got when we asked for the bathroom. Few of us would have been able to tell you that pants are worn under your trousers, suspenders hold up your stockings, and braces are what hold up your trousers.

We went home from that trip, full of memories and British words. Oh, we thought we were so cool if we asked a teacher if we could go to the loo. But now? I actually cringed when an American friend who has never left the country used words like loo and lorry. Tim laughed at me and told me that that was me 5, 10, 15 years ago…and he’s right. But living here, actually living here…it is what it is. It’s not always glamorous, it’s certainly not easy, but it’s my life. And I love it.

*Yes, Irish. Don’t ask me WHY, but I apparently sound Irish to some people…
**Thank you, George Bernard Shaw

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Like many Britons, our idea of a holiday abroad is packing up the car and going across the channel (via ferry, rail, or tunnel) to mainland Europe (called “the continent”). One of the first things you notice as you drive off the boat is the cars are driving on the opposite side of the road from the UK and the drivers sit on the opposite side of the car (so American drivers, it’s the same side of road and car that we’re used to). This can make for some very interesting driving on small country back roads as the passenger tells the driver “you’re too far over!”, and even more fun on the motorways – particularly if you get passed by a driver who looks over and sees the person in the “drivers seat” (left side of the car) napping or reading a book!

Europe has some regulations for driving that you must follow, including carrying appropriate safety equipment with you. You can even purchase the required items on the ferry if you have forgotten them, but most auto supply shops (like Halfords) should stock everything you need.

*The first thing you need to do is pick up a pair of headlamp beam converters. These are round stickers you stick on your headlights so that the beam of light coming from them doesn’t blind other drivers, since UK headlights point in a different direction from European cars. These stickers are removable, and you should try to remember to remove them as soon as you return from Europe. I think our car might still have the stickers on it. Ooops!

*The second requirement is to display a GB sticker on the back of your car. Most post 2001 tags include the GB symbol on them, however this does not exempt you from needing the sticker in all countries. You can purchase this as a magnet if you do not wish to have a sticker permanently on the back of your car.

*Most European countries also require a reflective vest if you will need to get out of your car on the motorway. Some countries require this only for the driver, some require it also for passengers. A good idea is to make sure you have enough vests to cover everyone in your car. There are no requirements on the colour or style of vest, only that you must have one. If you work in a profession where you need a vest, you can use that one or you can even pack along the vests you wear while cycling if you already own some.

*Another item MOST European countries require is a warning triangle if you are stopped on the motorway.

*Lastly, you also should carry a first aid kit. Not only is it a requirement, it could come in handy. If you already have a first aid kit in your car, now is the time to check it and make sure it has plenty of supplies and that the adhesive hasn’t gone off on the plasters (US: band-aids). Your first aid kit does not need to come from an auto supply shop or be specially marked for Europe. Just like the vests, you can use a first aid kit you already own.

There are also some regulations that are country-specific. For example, if we had been going to Austria between November and April, we would have needed to fit snow tyres to the car. A great website for checking the requirements for the countries you plan on visiting is The AA’s Driving Requirements by Country page.

So…we’re ready to drive our UK car in Europe, right? Wrong. You also need to call your insurance company to make sure you have European coverage. It’s best to do this at least a month before your trip to make sure you have copies of the require paperwork, but some companies can email you the documents you need to print. Make sure you carry these papers with you.

It also is a good idea (but not necessary for European travel) to contact your emergency breakdown provider (AA, RAC, etc.) and enquire about services while in Europe. Tim and I were able to get coverage for Western Europe for 14 days for about £65 from the RAC. Pricey, yes, but better than getting stuck somewhere with a broken car. The RAC services we signed up for even included a hotel stay if we needed to wait for the car to be repaired, and would pay for getting our broken car plus ourselves back to the UK if it came to that.

In addition to getting your car ready for European travel, it’s a good idea to make sure you have valid travel insurance and if you are a European resident, a valid EHIC card. An EHIC card is not a substitute for travel insurance, so it is wise to carry both. The EHIC card is free to European residents, including those of us here on spousal visas. The website states that you need to apply via post, however if your UK spouse has an EHIC card, they just need to call 0845 606 2030 and request a card for their spouse.

Oh, and don’t forget to take along your paper counterpart to your driver’s license. You probably won’t need it, but I always like to be prepared.

You also might want to pick up a road map for the countries you plan on visiting. We purchased a Michelin map from Amazon that covered Germany, Austria, BeNeLux, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. Tim already owned a map book for France, and then we also picked up a large-scale Austria map while we were in Austria, since it had on it the Austrian names for places and had some of the off the beaten path places we wanted to go.

So, we’re ready to go to the continent. Keep reading this week as I start to (finally!) write about our trip in September.

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When I first visited the UK and heard the phrase “Banoffee”, I thought it meant Banana Coffee, and was immediately turned off by the idea. Then, I found out that the -offee in the name comes from toffee. Again, I wasn’t impressed, as I do not like English Toffee. Over a year later, I discovered that what the US food industry call English Toffee is not what toffee is like in the UK. Most toffee in the UK is more closely related to caramel – I’ve even seen the words used interchangeably. This, I could get behind. I’m not a super huge fan of caramel, but I like it a lot better than English Toffee!

With Tim’s promotion, I promised him any treat he wanted. We don’t do sweet treats often unless we have guests over or on special occasions. Tim picked his all-time favourite pudding (US: desert), Banoffee Pie.

I scoured the internet and my cookbooks and came up with a recipe that is Tim-approved. Ironically, this recipe also has coffee in it!

You will need:

3-4 bananas (depends on the size. I’d start with three, but have an extra just in case)
375ml can condensed milk (or caramel)
150g digestive biscuits (about half a pack)
300ml cream (or a pack of dream topping)
75g butter (melted)
1tsp coffee (instant)
1tsp sugar (I used Splenda)
1 bar good quality chocolate
water

pie plate
vegetable peeler
zipper top bag
rolling pin
electric mixer

Time saving tips:
When you’re doing your shopping, look in the condensed milk aisle. You might see a product called Carnation Caramel Dulce de Leche. Buy this instead of a can of regular condensed milk and save a step.

Pick up a pack of Bird’s Dream Topping (they even have a no added sugar version) instead of fresh cream to save on calories and for faster whipped cream (especially if you have problems with whipping cream like I do).

Directions:

Put your mixing bowl for the whipped cream in the fridge along with your beaters (this will help your whipped cream whip better).

If you haven’t found a can of caramel, you need to make it. Boil a pot of water and put the unopened can of condensed milk in the pan. boil for 3 hours, then let the can cool before you open it.

While that’s boiling, make your crust.

Put the biscuits into a zipper top bag and go over it with a rolling pin until the biscuits are a fine powder. Pour crumbs into the bottom of your pie plate and pour over the melted butter. CAREFULLY (it will be hot!) stir until the crumbs are moist and spread over the bottom and sides of your pie dish. If it looks a little dry, add some more melted butter.

After your can is cooled (or if you bought a can of caramel), open the can carefully and spread the caramel on top of the crust mixture. If you used the boil method, put the pie in the fridge for an hour or so to let it cool before the rest of the steps. You don’t need this step if you bought a can of caramel.

Slice the bananas and layer them on top of the caramel. Add as many bananas as you’d like, saving some to garnish the top.

Next, make your whipped cream or dream topping. Once it’s fully whipped, add in the instant coffee and sugar and mix until blended. Spoon this on top of the bananas.

You can make chocolate shavings to garnish by taking your bar of chocolate and running a vegetable peeler over it or by using a cheese grater. Top with some extra banana slices.

Put the pie in the fridge for at least an hour to get it to firm up.

I made mine with a can of caramel and a packet of Bird’s Dream Topping and put the whole thing together in less than an hour.

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Testing posting using the wordpress iPod app.

In a few weeks, Tim and I will be travelling down to Brighton to stay with his friend Nick, and to help Nick and his dad out at a model engineering show. We’ll be staying at Nick’s house for 4-5 days. Without going into personal details, Nick is on some serious pain killers that leave him with no appetite. And I mean, no appetite. Tim told me that one time Nick prepared a trip itinerary and neglected to put in lunch and dinner breaks! So…we’re on our own if we want to be fed at all that weekend.

We don’t want to eat out for the entire weekend because a) that’s expensive and b) that would be unhealthy. Plus with my onion and garlic allergy it can make eating out “interesting”. This goes double for trying to buy ready meals or tinned soup!

We also have one other issue to deal with — Nick doesn’t have a stove. No oven, no hob, no grill. Just a toaster, a kettle, and a microwave. I only use our microwave for 5 things – defrosting meat at the last minute, cooking vegetables, heating up cups of cold tea, making rice, and making a quickie “baked” potato.

Lunch should be pretty easy – we’ll be at the show all day and I can make us some sandwiches in the morning to pack along. Breakfast also is pretty easy – cereal and toast. It’s making sure we have a good dinner that’s proving to be a problem for me!

We DID decide to take the car down. Originally, we were going to rail it the whole way, but then we remembered that we probably need to bring along some additional bedding, as we discovered the last time we were there that the small duvet doesn’t quite cover the both of us. This means, I could bring along the crock pot or the George Foreman grill…or even both. I might just do that, since I know I can cook with both of those, even if it’s just using the GF as a panini press.

So, with no stove…what can I cook? I don’t want to rely on tinned stuff or ready meals, but obviously I won’t be able to cook meat or anything like that. I could buy pre-cooked meat products to then heat up, or I could pre-cook some things at home and take them down in the cooler.

If I DO pre-cook meals and pack them into plastic…what meals re-heat better than others? I suppose I could pre-make pasta sauce and then do “baked” potatoes. Or do a roast and cut it up to be reheated along with some veggies? Should I do lots of pre-cooking and package things into individual homemade ready meals like I do for Tim’s Lunches? (well, he always gets leftovers)

I feel like this is worse than camp-cooking, because at least camping I had the gas camping stove.

Ideas/suggestions….please?

(for those of you who are here for things OTHER than food related posts, real posts are coming! I promise!!)

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[x-posted to LJ]

I’m married to a MOM.

Mobile Operations Manager.

This is the position Tim interviewed for on Christmas Eve. The one he was supposed to go to training for 2 weeks ago that he got dropped from for not having the proper medical level.

We really thought Tim might not get the position because his fellow interviewee (and friend) who was sent on the course with Tim and was able to go received a rejection letter on Monday, and originally they were all told that rejections weren’t going out until after the person offered the position accepted.

Funny enough, Tim’s offer letter was dated YESTERDAY. Tim thought maybe his letter was being held back because he was the second, his mum thought maybe his letter was being held back because he needed the medical first. Whatever the reason…I don’t care because he got the job!

I’m so so proud of him. This is a “temporary” position – the letter says it will start at a to be determined date and last for 6 months, so basically, 6 months from whenever he has the training I’m assuming. I don’t know all the inside workings but basically there is a manager off for medical reasons in Newark, so they have one of the Lincoln MOMs filling in for him and needed a temp MOM to fill in in Lincoln. After the 6 months, they’ll drop Tim back to his regular job (so he won’t become unemployed) — but he’ll still have all the MOM training and still be able to be used as a “step-up” or even for him to go for a MOM position elsewhere.

Boys in the panel must be thrilled – one person out for 6 months means more OT for them! 🙂

*edit to add* Tim’s explained that it could be for more than 6 months – the letter is just guaranteeing that he will get that grade pay for at LEAST 6 months.

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I’ve just partnered my blog up with Networked Blogs to facilitate cross-posting to facebook. You can go to my main blog page (http://blog.beccajanestclair.com) and click “follow this blog” on the right if you want to follow me..and please do! It looks a little lonely right now! 🙂

hopefully, Facebook won’t double post my blog posts now that I’ve added networked blogs.

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I thought I might join Organized Junkie this week and actually post my meal plan as it’s Menu Plan Monday. Thanks to some last minute plans to visit friends several nights last week, I had some things leftover that I was able to plug into different meals this week, spending only £37 online at Tesco today, and that included splurging on some 2 for £4 hot chocolate mixes and scoring loads of things on special offer, including 2 loaves of bread for £1.50 (like getting the second loaf for 25p!). At the end where it tells you what your order is, It told me my savings were over £9. Woo.

This week, Tim’s on “long weekend” – He should be going back to work on Wednesday, but he has his new medical on Wednesday, so doesn’t actually go back until Thursday. Then, he works the early meal relief turn Thursday-Saturday, followed by a 12-hour Sunday day shift. Ew.

On with the meals…

Monday (er, that was today) – We wound up with pizza, because I was feeling kind of tired
Tuesday – Chicken Tetrazzini (Modified slightly to be lower fat)
Wednesday – Vegetable Soup in the crock pot (which really comes down to toss a bag of frozen veg in it the AM with some broth and seasoning, then add pasta when we get home)
Thursday – Pork and Apple Burgers
Friday – Roast Vegetable Pasta (again, with modifications)
Saturday – Grilled Chicken salad with fresh croutons
Sunday – Lemon and Herb Crock Pot Roast Chicken (with modifications) with all the usual trimmings (Yorkies, roasted spuds, carrots, parsnips)

Of course, who knows what can happen and if I will actually stick to it this week!

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Since I’m a housewife and one of my main responsibilities is cooking for my family, I like to post the new recipes I come up with and find to help out other people who might be struggling for meal ideas, and since I also am a bit of a frugal cook, my meals are often cheaper than going out! So today, I offer several recipes by request. No photos, though.

Barbecue Chicken Wings

Buffalo wings are pretty synonymous in the US with Football, and with the Super Bowl coming up, I thought this would be a good recipe. Wings also go with pizza (in the US), so I made a batch this weekend when Tim and I were over at our friend’s house for a night of Pizza, booze, and Wii.

Buffalo wings hail from Buffalo, NY, but there are several stories and bars claiming to be “the original”. Typical buffalo wings are very spicy. My stomach doesn’t tolerate spicy food too well, so I created my own recipe that still has some kick to it.

You will need:
Chicken wings, about 2lbs
Heavy duty foil
cooking spray
disposable trays (optional, but save on mess!)

For the rub:
1/2 TBS chili powder
4 TBS paprika (if you’re daring and want them to have a kick, try smoked paprika)
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 TBS red pepper flakes (in the UK, this is called crushed red chili)
1 TBS basil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

For the sauce:
one bottle of your favourite barbecue sauce (we use HP Honey Mustard)
2 TBS Splenda or brown sugar

Preheat oven to 200C (400F).
Mix together rub ingredients on your worktop.
Line whatever you’re cooking the wings in with TWO layers of foil and spray with cooking spray.
Dip wings in rub mixture and turn, coating wings on both sides. Arrange in a single layer in your baking tray. Lightly spray tops of wings with cooking spray.
Bake for 12 minutes, turning halfway.

Mix together 1 1/2 cups of your barbecue sauce with the Splenda or sugar.
Brush wings on both sides with barbecue sauce mixture
Bake for 15 minutes, turning halfway.

Because I was taking these over to a friend’s house and I wanted them to stay warm, I used my crock pot to keep them warm and moist. I lined my crock pot with some heavy duty foil and sprayed it with cooking spray before I put the wings in. I also emptied the rest of the bottle of barbecue sauce into the bottom of the crock pot. Then, I sprinkled a little Splenda over the tops of the wings, filled the barbecue sauce bottle halfway with water, gave it a shake, and poured it over the wings. We left this on low at my friend’s house for about 6 hours and the wings were fine.

Apple and Bramble Crumble – No Added Sugar

This recipe is posted by request of the friends I made this for! The original topping recipe came from the US. I never bothered converting it to metric, instead I just grab a smallish mug and use that as my “cup”. It also helps for adjusting the recipe based on how much fruit you are using.

You will need:
3-4 large Bramley Apples, cut into chunks (or Granny Smith)
a handful or two of blackberries (more if you want)
butter (I used Stork to cut on fat content)
3/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup porridge (rolled oats)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg

zipper-top bag
casserole dish

Preheat oven to 190C. Butter the bottom and sides of your dish.
Sprinkle apple chunks and blackberries (and whatever other fruit!) in dish.
In a zipper-top large bag combine 4 desert spoonfulls of butter with the dry ingredients.
Close up the bag and squeeze to mix it all together.
Carefully open the bag and spoon topping ontop of apples/blackberries.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until topping is brown and fruit is hot.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I didn’t measure anything out for this since it all depends on how much chicken you have. I also sometimes add other spices to the coating to give the chicken nuggets a flavour. Tim is fond of having Tikka spice added to his, but I prefer adding basil and thyme to mine.

You will need:
Chicken breasts, cut up/diced into however large you want your nuggets to be
equal parts flour, breadcrumbs, and cornmeal
pepper

baking tray
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 220C (425F) and spray a baking tray with cooking spray.
combine flour, breadcrumbs, and cornmeal on your work surface. Sprinkle a little pepper on.
Roll nuggets in flour mixture, making sure nuggets are coated.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

For a crunchier coating, shallow fry the nuggets in a few centimetres of oil.

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Sorry it’s taken me a few days to get Part II up. I was caught up in a short term cold that left me in bed all day yesterday. I’m still collecting questions, and will continue to post these kinds of posts until I run out of questions.

Remember, if you’ve got a question about my experience in the UK, feel free to ask it in the comments or on facebook.

From Emma:
is there a food/meal that you’ve discovered here that you’d never heard of in the US?

Loads! Some things I had heard of through watching a British TV show or reading a book by a British author, but I had no clue what they were. Toad in the Hole, Bangers and Mash (I had no idea that Bangers were sausages, but I had an idea what the mash part was), Sausage Rolls, Fish Pie, and Scotch Eggs are a few things I can think of off the top of my head. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I’d like ANY of those foods until I tried them. Now? try to get me away from a sausage roll!

From Cathy
Has anything about living in the UK taken you by surprise or not been what you had expected?

Going to the GP, having the GP send you to the hospital for tests or to a specialist and not seeing a bill for it. It’s a really hard concept for me to get used to – I went from having to pay $60 per office visit to my GP to £0!

From Sarah:
What is the best insult you can think of in British English that a person in America would think is a compliment?

I really can’t think of any, actually. I even asked Tim if he could think of something. The only thing I can think of is the word “fanny” has a totally different meaning in the UK, but I don’t really think that works in an insult. I even tried to come up with something in cockney rhyming slang, and came up with a blank!

From Charles:
What is the difference between England and the UK?

England is part of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Great Britain itself is, however, only the countries of England, Wales, and Scotland (except during the Olympics, when Olympians from Northern Ireland can elect to compete with GB or with Ireland). I could get into a history lesson about everything, but I think that might get a bit long. There are plenty of websites and books you can take a look at, or even just look on Wikipedia. Basically, I live in England, but I also live in Great Britain and the United Kingdom. A bit like saying you live in Pennsylvania, but also the United States. Except that England is a country, not a state. My husband is an Englishman, but also can be referred to as British.

From LJ User:
Have you ever slipped into the local accent entirely not on purpose, then realized you did?

No, I can’t pull off a British accent at all. There are a few words I get told make me “sound British”, but I think that’s more to do with having learned the word here. I’ve also been mistaken for being Irish. And Canadian. I get Canadian a lot more than American. A friend told me my writing style has started to sound more British, though.

From Jes:
Becca, how about humorous cultural differences concerning food and slang?

Hmm. Well, there’s the whole chips and crisp thing. But that’s really only funny in the US if someone orders chips with their sandwich and gets crisps. Almost happened to Tim while he was visiting. There’s also a particularly naughty word in US English that is a word for sausage here, but I’m not going to use the word. “Pudding” is a generic term for dessert here, and “Tea” is what parts of the UK call the evening meal. Tea time, however, is different. And there’s also High Tea, which I’ve never had/been to.

Slang wise, I think the funniest has to be the word “rubber”. In the US, you might call a condom a “rubber”. In the UK, they use the word “rubber” for erasers!

From Michael:
Have you become a fan of any of the following music groups: Westlife, Take That, Sugababes or anyone else who just isn’t big in the U.S.?

Not a fan, no. I’ve heard of them and probably like a few songs, but not to the point where I’d go to a concert or even buy a CD. Boothby Graffoe is about the only person I can think of, but like I said in my previous entry, I don’t think he counts since I had heard of him prior to my move. Oh, John Barrowman, I suppose….but again, I’m not sure he counts.

From Nicky:
What is your favourite location in the UK and why (not including where you live)

It’s a toss-up. I love London, and always will. London was my first glance at the UK way back in 1997 which sealed the deal for me wanting to eventually live here. BUT, my favourite place to visit other than London is Northumbria. I love Beamish and have been multiple times. The castles in the north, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Hadrian’s Wall…I love it all. However, Northumbria is tied with Northern Wales. I love the mountains, the sea, the trains, and the castles there, too.

Do you understand the slang word ‘chav’? And if so do you believe you have encountered any.

Yes. I plead the fifth on that second part.

Where does the Queen live?

Officially, the Queen’s residence is Buckingham Palace. The monarchy also maintains homes at Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace, and Hillsborough Castle. The Queen herself also owns Sandringham and Balmoral Castle.

Do you need a passport to visit Scotland or Ireland?

As Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, if you have permission to visit or reside in the United Kingdom, you have permission to visit/reside in Scotland. Ireland is a bit trickier. Ireland and the United Kingdom have an agreement called the Common Travel Area. Passport holders of either country may pass through with no passport check. However, if you are not a citizen of Ireland or the United Kingdom, you would need to pass through passport control in order to legally be in either country. This catches MANY people out, since there isn’t passport control once you reach Holyhead via boat from Dublin. Dublin, however, does have immigration control. My passport contains 2 Ireland stamps from my visit in September 2009, but no stamp for the United Kingdom, as my mom and I had round trip airfare between Philadelphia and Dublin, but came to the UK to visit Tim part way through our visit. In 2008, the Border Agency issued a statement that they would put checkpoints in at places such as Holyhead, but so far they have not.

Do you find the majority of the population of the UK arrogant or ignorant?

I don’t know enough of the majority population to make a judgement like that. I know some arrogant people, and I know some ignorant people. I also know plenty of people who are neither!

From Kara:
What would you recommend as your top must see spots for someone who has never been to the area? (Both typical touristsy spots, and spots a tourist may not be aware of.)

By “in the area”, I’ll assume you mean Lincoln. If you’re visiting Lincoln, I think a trip to the Lincolnshire Life museum is in order – fantastic place to visit, lots of fun stuff to see. If Ellis Mill is running, it’s a fun place to visit, but it’s also nice to look at. Further afield, and if you like antiques, Hemswell, a former RAF base, is a great day out.

From LJ User:
What was the biggest switch you had to make moving?

Trying to pack up 30 years of my life and having to decide what was worth spending money on shipping was probably the hardest thing to do, but as far as making switches go, I think it has to be switching from imperial to metric in the kitchen. I’ve gotten much better at it in the past year, and I have a conversion chart taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet, but when I first arrived there were many wrecked dinners because I couldn’t work out the temperature properly or work out the correct amount of things. And cakes. Oh god, I ruined several cakes before I learned how to measure it and cook it in metric.

Also, although I might be the only person who doesn’t know this, how did you meet your husband?

This is a great story! No, honestly! We started talking online in 2004 in the IRC chat room #crfh (a channel for fans of the webcomic, College Roommies from Hell!!!) just as friends, as I had been dating someone else at the time. We then met in person when the group held what we refer to as “Boardie Con” (which is why sometimes Tim and I will say we met at a webcomic convention). Details are sketchy if it was in 2004 or 2005. Neither one of us can remember. I attended the con with my then-boyfriend, but got to spend a little time talking with Tim where we solidified our growing friendship. I can remember sitting with him on a couch having a conversation with him and another girl, I remember Tim gave me a bar of Cadbury’s that I saved for AGES, Tim and I sat next to each other at one of the big meals out, and we sat near each other when we all picnicked at Alki Point on the Fourth of July.

We remained friends and talked all the time in #crfh, which then changed over to chatting on MSN Messenger and then eventually he said to me “I have this program called Skype….”. Our first conversation was horribly choppy, as Tim was still on dial-up, and we agreed to try again after his upgrade to broadband. Then, Tim disappeared for a month or so and I was worried – turns out he was in the middle of his switch to broadband and had been having problems with his provider. We got back in contact and the Skype chats started…..our first conversation lasted over 8 hours and both of us began losing sleep spending so many hours talking. It also helped that at the time Tim’s union was on strike and he was at home for a solid week.

But we were friends….always friends. We exchanged Christmas gifts and talked about everything and learned everything about each other over the course of those conversations. I had been seeing someone else, who broke my heart in January 2008, just before I went on Ships and Dip III. I remember talking about Tim with my cousin, Missy, while I was visiting her before the cruise. Tim told me he would make himself available to me and even though I was online for limited times while I was visiting my cousin, I talked to Tim while I was there, and even texted him from the boat.

After I got back from the cruise, things got interesting. I was flipping TV channels one day in March of 2008 and came across one of the Harry Potter films. Tim and I decided to watch the DVD together (while talking on Skype) from the beginning. That was our “first date”. A few weeks later, I was in my pajamas and Tim said to me “have you ever gone on a date in your pajamas?”. We watched the next HP film. That was Date 2. We worked our way through the five HP DVDs, and then Tim ordered Torchwood so we would have more to watch together.

Meanwhile, I was planning a visit to the UK for the fall of 2008. Tim offered to let me stay with him for a few months and use his spare room as a homebase while I travelled around. I settled on a two month visit, and Tim made arrangements to take off work for the first three weeks of my visit so he could take me around to places….still, we were just friends.

I finally admitted my feelings for Tim in June and it took us until July to start dating. My visit was in October, and the rest is history. Two months came and went, and we didn’t want our time together to end, so we extended my visit until April 09. Tim came to visit me in July 09, and my mom and I went to the UK in September 09. Tim proposed to me on this trip and you all know the rest. A wedding planned in 6 weeks followed by 10 weeks apart while we waited for my visa!

From Michelle:
What American stuff were you surprised to find in the UK?

Mustard. I don’t like English Mustard. It’s spicy, but too spicy for me. I was going to have my mom send me a bottle of French’s, when I found ASDA brand “American Mustard”. There’s a picture of me on facebook hugging the bottle!

ASDA is pretty good for selling random American things. Generally, if I find something I pick it up for the novelty factor.

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Since I’ve been here for one year, I thought I would open things up and let people interview me and ask me anything they’d like to know about living in the UK. I asked over on Facebook, and here are some of the questions with my answers. If you’d like to ask something, feel free to leave me a comment on facebook or on this post. There will be a part II, assuming I get more questions!

From Amie:
What is the most amazing thing you stumbled upon living in the UK that wouldn’t be something a tourist would find?

Knowing I can go back to places more easily means that I don’t obsess so much about HAVING to see something or another and can take my time and enjoy a place. But I think it would have to be the village pubs. Most tourists probably wouldn’t consider stopping at a small village pub for dinner unless it was in the guide book or a “name brand” kind of place. Tim and I have been in some great little pubs that we found simply by getting off the motorway and driving on back roads – which is also something a tourist probably wouldn’t do!

But oh – I thought of an actual place. Finding Tupholme Abbey while driving on a back road.

Oh, and charity shops!

From Carrie:
What are some of the biggest differences between the US & the UK? What were the hardest adjustments to make?

Honestly, there aren’t as many differences as someone might think (at least to me). Money is different, but it’s still based on decimals, so the only hard bit there is learning the new coins. Food is different, but not in a “ew, that’s weird” way, just in a “never had that in the US” way, like Fish pie or bangers and mash. It’s more normal for people to have a Pay-As-You-Go mobile phone here than it is in the US, but the PAYG plans are also better. Measurements for cooking are different – grams and ml instead of cups and ounces. The UK uses Celsius for temperature here (learned that one the hard way with the washing machine!). Most schools require a school uniform and most schools are still affiliated with the Church of England. I’m sure there can be loads more to add to the list, but I just don’t find things super different.

Also, the drinking culture is different. Here, it’s not uncommon to give a child a shandy – a mix of lemonade and beer – when they are young and children as young as 15 can drink wine in a restaurant or pub as long as their parent is present and gives permission.

A hard adjustment was getting used to shops closing at 5, and living in a village. Coming from an area where the local mall was open until 10 and most stores were open until at least 9, it was hard to get used to. We do have 24-hour grocery stores, though.

From Amie:
Is there anything you miss from the US that you simply CAN’T find in the UK? Be it food, a certain type of restaurant, or even other items…

My mom? No, but seriously – I miss hoagies. We do have Subway here, but Subway in the US was never as good as going to a local mom and pop shop for a hoagie. It works in a pinch, and if I’m in town and need Lunch I usually go there, but it’s not the same! A few nights ago we bought lunchmeat and baguettes and I tried creating our own….still not as good!

From Lou:
has the experience of finding your way in a new country changed you? Has the experienced helped your confidence, challenged you, things like that?

I don’t know if I can separate moving to the UK from getting married, since one lead to the other. I DO think I have changed in the past year, but whether it has to do with moving to the UK or the fact that I’m now married, I don’t know!

I do think my confidence level has gone up, but I also think that has a lot to do with Tim.

What is your Favourite UK TV show? (not counting Doctor Who I know that one is a given)

I’m currently enjoying QI, Come Fly with Me, and Not Going Out. Secret Diary of a Call Girl starts soon, too. I also love the shows Giles and Sue do, and I watch anything Jamie Oliver has on. I also like some older UK shows – Red Dwarf, Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, Black Books, Hyperdrive, Spaced, etc. We watch a lot more TV on DVD than we do actual television.

Actually on the same theme – UK bands artists that you hadn’t heard of prior to coming over to live?

I don’t know if I really know, to be honest. Any time Radio 2 played a new artist I liked, it would turn out that they weren’t British. LOL. Boothby Graffoe doesn’t count since I heard him on the cruise in 2008.The only new CDs I’ve bought since moving have been new BNL and Carbon Leaf.

Oh, but would you believe I had no idea who Take That or Amy Winehouse were before I moved here?

From Sue:
Is Hogwarts real?

Yes and no. Alnwick Castle (where they filmed bits of the earlier ones) is real, the viaduct the train goes over is real, and platform 9 3/4 is “real”.

From Brian:
Do you think you’ll ever want to be living stateside again?

Not really. I think whatever happens, it would have to be a family decision and be what’s right for our family. Tim’s job is very UK-specific, so I can’t see us leaving unless one of us got a better offer than what he makes now. We joke about the possibility of living in the US and building a huge garden railway in my aunt’s backyard, but we also know it isn’t likely to happen. Plus once we have kids and they are in school, I wouldn’t want to pull them out to move them since the school systems are different. But that’s okay. I’m happy to stay here!

From Sheldon:
Do you like EastEnders or Corrie ?

Honestly, I haven’t seen a full episode of either, only bits and pieces. Occasionally I’ll watch Doctors, or have it on in the background. I watched Emmerdale a few times. My problem with picking up an established soap is not knowing any of the back stories. I don’t even like starting to watch a TV series partway through!

From Sally:
You at the dinner tonight Rebecca?

Sadly, no. We originally thought the weekend would be the only time for Tim and I to see each other, so I told Helen I couldn’t! 🙁

From Elisabeth:
Do you think your and Tim’s future kids will have a better life here in the UK than they would in the US?

I don’t think I know enough about the British education system to really answer this yet. I’m sad that my children won’t get to be in marching band, though! But, if we lived in the US, there’s no way we’d be able to afford a house with as large of a garden as we have, so I think that’s a definite plus for them!

From Emma:
which building in Lincoln has a hidden Imp?

As far as I know, the only place to find a hidden imp would be the Cathedral.

From Robert:
Have you seen the Queen?

I’ve seen the film “The Queen” if that counts!!

From Michelle:
Is there anything about living over there that you don’t like, that just drives you crazy that’s different?

I try my hardest to use “British English” and use the British words for things. But 30 years of living in the US ingrain some words into my head that are hard to not use. Things like asking for the bathroom (which in the UK, is the room with the bathrub), or calling those long things you wear on your legs pants (in the UK, pants are the undergarment). Tim tells me over and over not to worry about it because with the influx of American Television, people know what I’m talking about. But it really annoys me and drives me crazy when someone deliberately acts like they don’t know what I’m talking about or tries to make a joke about it. That doesn’t really answer the “different” part of your question though! I guess you could say the differences in language, despite being the same one, can drive me crazy at times.

Do you think your mom will ever move over there to live by you?

Unfortunately, the UKBA closed the way of bringing over a dependent parent, so it would be a little hard to get her a visa to live here. But maybe when she retires she can spend months at a time here as a visitor instead of a few weeks.

From Janey:
Is it still hard to convince people that you don’t get homesick because England is the best place ever?

It’s really hard to explain that I don’t get homesick. The things that I miss I either make do without, get sent to me in care packages from my family, or I create my own substitute. I don’t really miss a lot of people because I do get to talk to people like my mom on a near daily basis, and have had video calls with some of my friends, too.

Today marks ONE YEAR of living in the UK.

I haven’t left Europe in a year, either.

I absolutely love my life here, and look forward to the next year, and the next, and the next.

I don’t get homesick. Honestly. But I do on occasion miss things from the US, and it gives me something to experiment with in the kitchen when what I miss is food.

For ages, a friend of mine kept telling me I could get something similar to Steak-Ums* at Iceland**, but I never spotted them, so I had kind of given up on the idea of trying to make a cheesesteak sandwich. But last week, I really wanted a chicken cheesesteak hoagie (sometimes also called a California chicken cheesesteak). I could practically taste it, I wanted one so badly.

When is a cheesesteak a hoagie? When you add onto it mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato (sometimes also oregano and pickles, depending on the shop). Now, some people will argue that chicken does not belong on a cheesesteak. To them I stick out my tongue. I have never been a fan of beef, being unable to properly digest it most of the time, so I tend to avoid it (I even was vegetarian for many years because of my dislike of meat, too).

Last week, I ordered an item from Tesco called “pork for stir-fry”. It turned out to be small strips of pork, so I thought if I bought chicken for stir-fry, it would hopefully be the same style. I checked the Tesco website, and it isn’t. Chicken for stir-fry comes as cubes, not strips. Back to the drawing board for ideas. My second thought was to order some “mini fillets” – if I pounded them down a bit flatter I thought it just might work. I even went so far as to wonder if sliced chicken lunchmeat would work!

But then, I was at ASDA on Saturday with my MIL and SIL and in the poultry section they had something called “turkey steaks”. I know, I know “steak is supposed to be beef”. But the package looked interesting, and the “steaks” looked the same way regular steak looks, just made of turkey. I thought I’d give it a go and purchased 2 submarine rolls along with lettuce and tomato. Don’t ask me what kind of cheese I used, though. I have a big block I got on offer at Tesco a few weeks ago that I just keep shredding whenever something calls for cheese. Sadly, no Cheeze Whiz (though I understand it is available in some ASDA stores).

Today was the day. I was going to attempt this, and if it didn’t work, Tim and I would be screwed for Lunch.

I decided to grill the steaks on the George Foreman. There wasn’t much fat in them to begin with, but I just like the way things come out on the George. The steaks only took about 8 minutes. I wound up slicing the steaks (though not nearly as chopped up as an authentic cheesesteak) so they would fit easier in the rolls. Topped the steaks with a small bit of shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a small sprinkling of cheese, then put them under the grill*** (the regular oven’s grill) until the cheese was melted and the bread was toasty.

Served them up with some chips (US: fries) and a can of Dr Pepper Zero. While not authentic, they were really good on their own, and I can see myself making it again. Tim liked it too, which is always important when I play around in the kitchen. Next up? Trying to make soft pretzels. Okay, maybe not, but now I’m on this Philly food kick…

Sadly, no photo. I thought about it after I was almost done the sandwich!

*Steak-Ums, for those of you unfamiliar with them are very thin bits of steak you grill or fry and then put in a sandwich to make a homemade steak sandwich.

**No, not the country. There is a shop called Iceland that primarily sells inexpensive frozen items.

***In the US, I would use the broiler.

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One thing I really struggle with as a housewife is being a GOOD housewife. I always worry that I’m not doing enough…or if I get distracted (which, I easily get!) by a webpage or book and haven’t done much with my day, I feel like I’m a failure.

Well. I’m going to try to change that.

See, I already meal plan every week because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do a Tesco order. I try to meal plan on the Friday before (which is why I don’t participate in Meal Plan Monday that often) so I can place my order for a Monday or Tuesday delivery. It works out pretty well, and sometimes I even get the following week planned at the same time. Meal planning takes up a decent chunk of my day. I like to try one new recipe each week*, so sometimes I spend as much as an hour looking through cookbooks. Sometimes I mark more than one new recipe if I’ve found several interesting ones. Sometimes I’ll pass Tim a cookbook and tell him to pick something. Sometimes, I’ll try to come up with something to do with leftovers other than freezing them for a homemade ready meal. Then, I make a list of ingredients I need, sometimes looking up recipes for our favourites. After I have my full weekly ingredient list, I spend time going through the pantry, freezer, and fridge to see what items are already “in stock” and also to check what I’m running low on. And then, of course, I have to put the order into Tesco’s website. This doesn’t take too long, since I can go in and see my “favourites” and just click on the things we order each week – bread, milk, eggs, chicken (nearly every week. What can I say? My husband loves his roast dinners).

But anyway. This wasn’t going to be a post of me babbling about how I meal plan. This was going to be a post about how I’m getting myself more organized and trying to become a better housewife. Not a Donna Reid (who I had to explain to Tim), but a good housewife. Though, if anyone wants to send me a frilly apron, I promise I’d wear it! (and I need a new one as I’ve had to throw one out for ripping beyond repair)

Last Christmas (2009), my mom put a magnetic notepad in my stocking. It’s about 7 inches wide, 5 inches long and has columns for the days of the week across the top. Monday through Friday have full page columns, and Saturday and Sunday split the 6th column. I used this pad sporadically for meal planning in 2010, but I kept feeling like I wasn’t using it to it’s full potential. Most of the columns only used up a line or two where I wrote in what I was making. Occasionally I’d write an event on it, but usually it was largely left blank and became scrap paper after the week was out.

There are about 30 sheets left on it. I don’t know what I’ll do when I run out of sheets, but for now, here’s what I do –

First, I write at the top of each day what the date will be, followed by what shift Tim is on. Then, I take a coloured pen, and I write in the meal plan. I use other colours to designate other things, too. Tim and I both want to make sure we get on the Wii Fit every day, so I’ve written it on the planner. I write down deliveries and meetings, and I even started scheduling what cleaning tasks I’d like to do each day. I also added (after I scanned it) blogging, so I can keep my promise of weekly blogging…I haven’t been doing so great since the start of the new year, but I think I can pick up the pace.

Will it keep me organized? Who knows. But at least, I have things written down. Sometimes, I don’t always make the meals in the order they appear on the weekly meal plan, so I’ll probably do that with the cleaning, too.

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*So we don’t get stuck in a rut of the same old stand-by meals. I mean, Tim would be happy with a roast chicken every week, and I’d be happy with pasta every week, but I have to mix it up a bit!

I really need some opinions on this matter.

I volunteer at the Cancer Research UK charity shop on Thursday afternoons from 1-5PM. I take the bus into town (£2.50) and then usually meet up with 2 friends to go to chorus, and then another friend would give me a lift home.

My friends I usually meet are no longer available to meet me before chorus to give me a lift, so I’m stuck scrambling for a solution. Another chorus friend lives in one of the villages near me, and she’s offered to give me lifts on “most” Thursdays if I can get to her house via the bus. I’m fine with doing that, but it will mean paying for a return fare into town (£4.50) plus a single to her village (£2) every week. I’d also only have about 45 minutes at home between busses to shove something to eat down my neck. That’s not counting busses running late (they nearly always are) or the walk to the bus stop (about 5 minutes each way). So really, I’m looking at spending maybe if I’m lucky a half hour at home. Which isn’t enough time to cook anything, so I’d either have to have a meal in the crock pot waiting, or just have a sandwich. Even heating up my oven to cook chips takes nearly 20 minutes! The downside to a crock pot meal is that depending on Tim’s schedule, he might not get to eat it, but would have to smell it cooking, which really isn’t fair.

This also means I’d be spending £4.50 each week just to volunteer….over £20/month. In a time when Tim and I are trying to cut back on some of our finances so we can put more into savings…do I really want to spend that extra £20/month? Granted, some weeks I go into town early and do some shopping, but since I’m also trying to cut back on my extracurricular shopping trips, I can’t really use shopping as an excuse. Plus, I always have to take the bus into town on Market days, since Market isn’t on a Thursday.

And let’s talk about the volunteering.

I started volunteering to get myself out of the house, to meet people, and to possibly count towards my eventual citizenship*. I started in March 2010, and I have not met anyone to hang out with outside of the volunteer job. I’d say I’m “friends” with the woman I usually work with, but we don’t even have each other’s mobile numbers and we only talk if we’re both at the volunteer job at the same time…and since September, it’s been hard to find a day when we’re both there since they keep switching her schedule around. I do not get along with anyone else I volunteer with, other than one of the men who helps out with sorting (and he’s not usually on the floor). All of the other women who work on the floor just rub me the wrong way, boss me around, treat me horribly, or are just too quiet to try to make friends with and barely answer my questions if I try to start a conversation. One of them clearly has a problem with immigrants as well, as she makes horrible comments but then covers them up with a “but of course I don’t mean you”**. Another deliberately gives me a hard time any time I use the word “pants” instead of “trousers”. Now, most people know what I mean (and even this person knows) if I say “pants”. Customers recognize that I am American and that in America we call trousers “pants”. Nine times out of ten, I catch myself and correct myself immediately when talking to a customer, but there is one of the co-workers who always sneers at me if I use an American clothing word.

The bosses are nice, but sometimes I think they think we are all uneducated and they seem surprised when I pick things up after being shown/told once….but then if I make one tiny mistake I get called out for it, so really, you can’t quite win with them. The bosses (and other co-workers) seem to be plagued with the same problem some of the chorus members have of “you should just know this because that’s how it’s done”.

I know I’m not happy 100% with the “job”. I think if I was 100% happy there, I wouldn’t bat an eye at spending £20/week to commute to it. But really, it’s more like about 20%. Most Thursdays I really can’t get up the excitement to go, but I do it anyway.

I don’t want to be a quitter. I wanted to stick it out and “just do it”, but I really don’t want to spend that money and rush myself around like that.

Tim didn’t want me to quit the many times I said I wanted to before, because he didn’t want me to be one of those people who never leaves the house and who doesn’t have a life of her own outside of her husband, but I do things. I have friends that I see and do things with. I take the train to visit friends and other places….I’m not going to suddenly become an invalid if I stop volunteering. I also still have (for now) chorus. I think Tim is starting to see point in me leaving it though now that my schedule is changing.

PLUS, our steam-ups are always on Thursdays, and if I’m not volunteering, I’d at least be present for part of the steam-up. I’ve missed so many of them last season, and some of Tim’s friends (my friends now, too) were disappointed when they didn’t see me.

So, how do I graciously get out of this? Do I need to write a formal letter stating that I am leaving? Do I ask if I can leave myself on the roster for possibly going back if my schedule changes again? Do I just call in and say “not doing this any more” or do I need to attend a “last day”?

*The volunteering was part of the Earned Citizenship stuff to reduce wait time from 5 years to 3. Parts of the EC have been thrown out, but no one seems to know if this volunteering thing will still be needed….but they also never released figures stating how much volunteering you needed to do for it to count.

**I don’t think we need to get into this again. Those of us who are (white/English-speaking) immigrants in the UK get treated to comments like that all the time.

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When Tim and I were in Austria, we bought several bags of Mozart Kugel that we wanted to share with our family. I hung onto them until Christmas, and I was planning on using leftover gauze bags from our wedding to put a few pieces in and tie them onto packages as decorations. I was browsing Craftster one day when I stumbled on this post about making your own crackers, and I thought that would be a really fun way of distributing the candy.

Authentic crackers go bang! when you pull on them, and some airlines even consider them explosive. I wanted mine to snap, and I wanted to include the traditional paper hat and silly joke (or “motto” as it gets called). So I hunted online. If you are in the US, you can get your supplies from a site called Old English Cracker. If you’re in the UK, you can do what I did and order your pieces off Amazon or go directly to the seller on Amazon, Fred Aldous. I spent about £7 for 24 snappers, 12 hats, and 48 “mottos” including shipping. Next year, I’ll only need to order snappers and hats!

After you order your inside bits, and know what kind of “prize” you want (If I was in the US, I might look at Oriental Trading Co. for some inexpensive prizes), you need to start collecting your tubes. For each cracker, you will need either 1 empty kitchen roll (US: paper towel) tube or 2 empty toilet paper tubes. Depending on the size of your household and how quickly you use those products, you might have to start collecting early! You will use one tube as the middle, and cut the other tube in half to be the sides. If you are using a kitchen roll tube, cut it in half, and then cut one side in half again. If you are using a combination of TP tubes and kitchen roll tubes, check to make sure they are the same width. If not, make sure you use all 3 pieces of kitchen roll tube on the same cracker.

Other supplies include: curling ribbon, tape, and wrapping paper.

You’ll need a piece of wrapping paper that easily wraps around the three tubes plus leave some extra on either end. Our pieces were just big enough, so when I make them next year, I’m going to add a little extra to the sides.

Lay your wrapping paper print side down, with the large tube in the middle and a small tube on either side. Take your snapper and put it inside the tubes, making sure it’s not sticking out on either end, and secure it with tape to the inside of each small tube. The one pictured has the snapper taped down flat, but I also taped some in diagonally, and those seemed to snap better. At this point, put the hat and motto in the middle section (it’s a lot easier at this stage).

Next, roll the wrapping paper around the tube, securing with tape on the middle piece. You shouldn’t need tape on the side pieces, and I think it works a lot easier to leave those tape free for now.

This next step might take some practise. Cut a length of the curling ribbon and pinch together the wrapping paper between one small roll and the middle roll, being careful not to tear the paper. Wrap the ribbon around the pinched area and tie it as tight as you can (again, without ripping. Told you, it might take some practise)

Now pick up the cracker, with the pinched side down and insert your candy/prize through the other end. If it falls out the other side, you didn’t tie the ribbon tight enough. Repeat pinching and tying on the other side of your cracker.

The very last step is tucking the stray wrapping paper around the ends (if there is any) and curling the ribbon ties. At this point, you might also want to straighten the wrapping paper around the sides and tape it down.

The whole family loved them, and my SIL told me they looked like professional store-bought crackers! Can’t wait to make them next year!

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For Christmas, Tim’s aunt gave me a cast iron dutch oven! I’m over the moon, as I’ve wanted one for ages and could never quite justify the price of one. It’s only a small one, but it’s the perfect size for us.

Tonight, I had planned on making Herbed Chicken Traybake, something we hadn’t had for a while and then I was looking up instructions on how to clean some black spots off my Corningware dish and I stumbled upon some cast iron dutch oven recipes, including one for Braised Herbed Chicken Thighs . I thought it was pretty similar to my traybake recipe, so I decided to combine the two recipes.

You will need:

1 large zipper top bag
dutch oven
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS Flour
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Lemon Pepper (if you don’t have lemon pepper, use 1tsp pepper and the zest of one lemon)
2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Oregano
Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Thyme, Bay, and Salt grinder OR 1 bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt
skinned chicken thighs (I used 4, but had to cook them 2 at a time)
about 300g vegetables – I used a combination of Swede, Carrot, and Parsnip
400ml chicken broth (or stock)
250ml wine (great way to use up leftover Christmas wine!)
1 TBS corn flour

First things first – remove the skin from the chicken legs. It’s really not too difficult, even if it is gross! I discovered that as long as you can cut the skin at the bottom of the leg, the rest of the skin peels right off. You could probably also leave the skin on, but since the skin is supposed to be bad for you, I took it off anyway.

Step 2: Put the olive oil in the dutch oven, and heat over medium heat. Next, combine the flour, herbs, salt & pepper in a zipper top bag with a few clicks of the JO grinder. If you don’t have the JO stuff, hang onto the bay leaf for now, but add the salt. Add the chicken to the bag and shake until chicken is well-coated.

Step 3: Put the chicken (and whatever remains of the flour mixture) in the Dutch oven and cook chicken for 3 minutes on each side to lightly brown the chicken. Dissolve the corn flour in the chicken broth, and add to the chicken along with the wine and vegetables (and bay leaf, if you need it at this stage). Bring to a boil (with the lid on) and then simmer 30-40 minutes or until chicken and vegetables are done. Remove the lid the last 10 minutes or so to help the liquid thicken.

If I had been thinking when I started this, I would have tossed some potatoes into the oven to have roast potatoes, but instead, I made baked potatoes in the microwave.

I also received a ceramic Le Creuset from Tim (for oven use only), some mini glass pyrex dishes from Mom (perfect for mini pot pies) and a silicone giant cupcake cake pan from my SIL, who has informed me she wants me to bake her a giant cupcake for her birthday in February. Better start practising! Sadly, no one picked up on my hints for a new apron/pinny.

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