Cullen Skink - A Scottish Fish Soup w/milk, onions, mashed potatoes and smoked haddock.
I tried this soup when we were in Glasgow and loved it there. I had kind of forgotten that I wanted to try to make it until recently. It is a very easy soup to make and absolutely delicious. Especially when all the days are gray, cold and wet.
Turkey Dinner had a nice flare to it this year since we were here in London. We had met a couple Americans (Angie and Jack) earlier this year and have been able to do a couple things with them. So for Thanksgiving, Angie arranged a dinner at their favorite neighborhood French restaurant for a few of their friends, 14 of us. The restaurant fixed up a full dinner with turkey, trimmings, green beans, squash, potatoes, cranberries, waldorf salad and pumpkin pie. It was a great meal and an amazing night. We truly enjoyed meeting a few more people from the States and hearing how they ended up here for a bit. It will always be a Thanksgiving to remember.
From two Americans in London that are ready to see home for a bit.
My old friend from Paris, Daniel, has added a new feature to his blog which I think I'll copy. Everyone who knows me, knows how I love music and tend to have it going at any time my mouth isn't running. So the deal is whatever you use as a player (IPod, MP3 player, ITunes, etc) hit shuffle on your play list and post the first 5 songs. It will be interesting to see if I can get anyone to play along, especially after seeing what I am listening to when I am quiet. I'll post my list from time to time, hopefully weekly. And as a warning, I listen to mostly rock, with a mix of jazz, and scores from movies on a typical day. I use Yahoo LaunchCast, so the music playing is not necessarily something I purchased.
Korn - I've Known Everything - I lost a little respect for them when they released an acoustic album.
CSI Theme - Go figure.
Jack White/Alicia Keys - Another Way to Die - This Bond theme did grow on me a bit, but I could listen to Jack White play the toothbrush.
Terrence Blanchard - 25th hour (movie) - FU montage - I liked this movie probably b/c of the soundtrack. But this scene with Ed Norton yelling at the mirror made me slightly uneasy.
Disturbed - Land of Confusion - Great cover of a song I liked years ago.
So it has been 6 months since I have been Stateside, but only 1 to go until we are home for the Holidays. There is still a lot to figure out between now and then, but all is well. School is keeping Nicole busy and I am closing out a small project at Work.
Since not much is going on, here are some pics from Nikki's New Forest Field Trip of the ponies. It would be fun to have a few of these wandering around a place.
Not much going on and our time here is winding down, but let's see what I can report.
The lunch last week was good. I managed to make the full menu as I had mentioned, even with bringing most of the goods from the house. I figured it up and there was about 76 ingredients in the 3 course lunch. I probably over did it a little, but I do enjoy cooking. I got rave reviews from most, but I am not sure the British palette is suitable for Gumbo. I should have given it a bit more spice. Anyway, it was a fun day. The BBQ Bruschetta made me miss home a lot.
We had a good weekend of x-mas shopping at Covent Market and a movie last night. 007 was good and entertaining. I think it is worth the price of admission, but I wouldn't say it fits into my great movie category. It was just a little thick of a story with a tad bit of let down of momentum near the end. But I am starting to enjoy the stories of a young, inexperienced Bond a bit more than some of the old Bond movies.
Besides those bits, we were able to talk to the niece and nephew yesterday. X-mas there is going to be a blast. I am not sure where to find Dekan some peaches for x-mas though. Someone will have to teach that little guy to want more than that for the holidays. Ha.
Anyway, all good from here just a lot of studying to do between now and the end of the year for a young lass. As far as me, I just have to keep my nose clean as someone use to tell me and figure out where we are living when we return.
Well I have let Obama control my blog for long enough. But as you can guess, not much is going on. One of us knee deep in school work and the other is counting down the hours until he is stateside. So it is time for some of my random thoughts.
If you ever come to London, you must make time for the museums. They are my favorites in the world, as a complete collection, plus they are free. We started our farewell tour of places we have enjoyed with the British Museum on Friday Night. It is a great collection of a lot of the Brits souvenirs from Greece and Egypt and truly a sight to behold. We even saw the gold Kate Moss yoga statue. I am not sure it should be in the 'history' museum in the middle of the Greek section, but oh well.
Weekly cooking highlights - an eggplant stuffed with ground lamb, onions, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It was placed in the definite keeper pile. We also had a decent night of eats in China Town. Plus a truly thrown together Daron special of what we had in the kitchen. Chicken, broccoli in a soy based curry of onions, peppers and such. As I think I have said when I am bored my creativity goes into the cooking with no objections from Nikki.
Tomorrow is the first of a monthly office lunch with me being the special guest 'chef'. I think I have nailed the menu down. Everyone wanted a Southern style meal. Not sure this qualifies as Southern but here it is: Apps - Pulled Pork BBQ on Bruschetta, Finger Vegs, Jerk Chicken Wings with a Blue Cheese Dip. Main - Chicken, Chorizo, Crawfish Tails, Shrimp Gumbo. Desert - Cheesecake Squares with Berry/Mint Toppings, or other Toppings. We'll see if I can pull this off. Pics and reviews forthcoming.
Enough Food Talk. I am back on to American TV shows. We finished up Hell's Kitchen USA this week. I find it funny that Gordon Ramsey plays up his temper a bit for the American shows. He isn't that crude on his UK shows, which are quite enjoyable. We are going to fit in one of his restaurants before we leave. Also on the TV, Dexter and the Amazing Race. I am having to download them on Tuesday's here, but we are up to date. We are enjoying both of the new seasons. I am already excited that Lost and 24 are back on when I return.
Not much else is going on. We are still a bit behind on movies. Hoping to catch W and 007 soon. I am reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy before the movie hits next year. It is a decent page turner. Also started to catch up on my military history with a book on WWI.
So now you see what is happening to me at least when Nikki studies. She would probably add that there is a great deal of online poker happening. I have hit a lull, so there isn't much to write home about on that front.
Until next time, I will leave you with a pic of the two frozen Americans from the Chargers/Saints game last month at Wembley. 
Some of the headlines from a few of the papers here this morning. It is pretty cool to see how excited the UK and the World are for something so positive that happened in the States. It is about time. Good Luck and Godspeed President-Elect Obama. Someone definitely left your work cut out for you.
We had a bit of a choppy weekend of several things.
Friday - Underworld concert that Nikki posted.
Saturday - Burn After Reading. Good movie, slightly slow to develop but we both enjoyed it
Then Burn After Watching Bulldog Football (Nikki was studying)
Sunday - Christmas browsing at Harrod's. So much fun looking for stuff for kids.
My first try at a seafood paella. Not too bad.
Is it time to get excited about the 'fins? 4-4 and 1 game back.
One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing Halloween Pictures from home. Looks like Dad went to the zoo.
Underworld at Brixton Academy in London!
This was an awesome event. Daron and I went with a friend from his work named Rhett. I had a blast.
I tend to ponder and dream a lot, probably too much if you ask some. Most of the times when I am quiet I am thinking of useless facts and things. Some people see my quietness as cold and distant, b/c I do tend to be two sides of a coin at times. But that would be another post some day. Anyway, here is what I have been thinking about over the last couple days.
It is no secret that I like to travel and go. Plus I have been slightly aggravated that we couldn't travel anymore this year. It just isn't worth the risk of Nikki not being allowed back in the country, plus she needs to properly finish her term here. I came to grips with this fact awhile ago, but I needed something to put it over the top for me. So finally to the point of this post. I took a second to roughly figure up how many miles I will have traveled by the end of the year.
I will have traveled a little over 54,000 miles. Enough to circle the equator 2+ times.
OK, I can move on to my next quiet thinking moment.
Nothing like a wintery mix in October. Spain seems so far away right now.
We went out for dinner and a play on Wednesday, so last night I decide I would do a little relaxing by cooking.
3 different kinds of wings - Fried/Baked Asian Sweet and Spicy, Baked Caribbean, and a Fried/Baked Smokey Regular style. Made my own blue cheese dip to go with it. Delicious.
I taxed our 1 oven pan to the max, so I think we will have to bid it farewell. Wings are really cheap here. I bought about 40 wings, drumsticks and legs for under $3. No one seems to eat them here.
Anyway, all good.
Made it through another year. Looks like they are starting to really fly by now. I have been thinking about what I wanted to post about my life over the last few weeks and I can't say I have any more structure than my normal ramblings.
On her birthday, Amanda talked about how blessed she has been. I think it is easy to get busy and forget to take a minute to reflect on the blessings of a year. So I am taking a cue from you little sis.
The year started off great with a surprise party last year from friends in Charlotte. I told Nikki last night I would give anything to see the people that sat around that table today. Most were from the office and this year has really reinforced how much those guys and gals have been my family over the last few years. Birthdays aren't the same unless we are making cards on Vinnies' napkins for people. At that time, we knew the fun was about to start with our anticipation of moving to London. Timing for a move was perfect in my personal life, b/c there wasn't a better person to experience all of this with than Nicole and I wouldn't or couldn't have made this far without her. We are truly 2 peas in a pod. Christmas last year was one of my favorites ever. Getting to see Amanda's kids grow up is a lot of fun and we can't wait to see them this year. A new tradition was started with x-mas with Nikki's family. I don't think I have ever felt as welcomed as I have with them. And this year we get to experience a new kitchen. Woohoo. The momentum picked up on the move shortly after x-mas. For some reason, I enjoyed the insanity of it all. So we set up temp shop here and then started our travels. There have been a lot of good memories created this year with our new adventures. Crufts Dog show, Dublin, Scotland, New England, the British Open, England day trips, Egypt, Portugal and more of Spain were all new to us and we had a blast. Throw in some return trips to Paris, New York, Greece and around London and it is amazing that we fit as much in to a year. The best part of these trips were the ones that we had friends and family on. Rachel, Amanda/Glenn, and Cary/Justin made our journeys oh so much sweeter and there is still time if anyone wants to return for some more fun. I also got to see or hear from some old friends and made a couple new ones, which was a pleasant surprise. Almost 75% of my last year has been spent abroad. Like I said I am glad I have Nikki here with me to help me through the struggles, but talking with the people back home has also made it easier. I know I live a privileged life and how hard I have worked to enjoy the trips, concerts, shows and just life in general. But on my day I do want to say thanks to all the people that surround me that truly enrich my life and make this road I am on oh some more much enjoyable.
As much as I like to reflect, I also love to dream (probably more if you ask Nikki). Moving back is approaching. We'll also get to see a historic appointment, if all goes right, in the next few months. The holidays, as I mentioned, will be wonderful. We have already laid out the groundwork for about 5 trips next year. Details are available for anyone that would want to come along. I want to spend more time with friends and family in my next year. It'll be fun to get back to sharing our sorted tales. Plus it will be nice to get back to some American work. So I don't see any let up in my next year, but it all looks exciting.
This year has been a great one, even with all the draining situations. But I can't wait to see the next couple chapters in my life, b/c they appear quite bright.
See you all soon and we'll have some good times when I do.
daron
Sliced, Seared Duck Breast with a Cherry, Brandy Sauce
Lentils mixture with shallots, garlic, carrots, and celery
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
I think Nikki is hoping I stay unencumbered (bored) with work so that I continue my culinary experiments. I do quite a bit when I am busy with work also, but I get more ideas when my mind isn't trying to remember how many mils there are in 2 inches or some other similar noggin filler.
"I told him he had a choice. I was either going to work or make the sandwiches (for my lunch), but I wasn't going to do both."
I love some of the things I hear. Hopefully I will remmber to post more.
Nikki is off on a field trip today and it reminded me that I have neglected posting her last trip. She went down to Brighton on one of her first Saturday's in school with the Exchange Program class. She liked the area a bunch and made a couple friends, if I remember correctly their names are Ashley and Catt. It was a good day out for her and I am sure she enjoyed having a break from my nonsense.
Yep I am bored. So this weekend I decided to see if I could cook 2 soups at once (or close to it) with my limited cookware. Here was the light menu:
Turkey, Shrimp and Greens Gumbo
Salmon, Corn and Potato Chowder
Soups are one of my things I love to do and the official taster loved them both. It appears that we are going to have a Southern Office Lunch courtesy of me in the near future. That should be entertaining, so stay tuned.
Easily our favorite part of the zoo was a walk through ringed tail lemur exhibit. The pen holds 18 male lemurs that appear to not worry much about the people walking through. Lemurs have some of the best mannerisms of any animals, so this was a special treat for us. We could have sat in there with them for hours. Take a second a blow up the second to last picture. There are a couple things wrong with the picture. I knew the lemur would look like a kid cutting up in a picture, but I missed what the guy was doing. Such little characters and so much fun. Nikki and both imagined what Coop would think having one around the house. I have always imagined Cooper with a spider monkey riding on his back and aggravating him, but now it might have to be a lemur to lounge around with. Don't worry Coop(if you have learned to read while at Justin's) no lemurs are coming home with us. We had a great time and it was a perfect weekend to kick off some birthday celebrating (early) with a great girl.
If you know me for any time at all, you'll realize how much I love animals and how they tend to relax me. Part 1 of my birthday (hint, hint) gift from Nikki was a trip to the zoo slightly north of London. It is a little cumbersome getting there and back (bus, tube, train, cab, zoo, bus, bus, train, tube, bus), but it is well worth it and we had great weather.
The park was the first of its type in Europe and it sits on 600 acres overlooking a scenic valley, see the penguin pics for the view. The park itself reminded me of the one in Asheboro (which I want to take Dekan/Kaylie to next year Amanda), but this one was probably a little better. They had all your typical animals and most could be viewed with ease. Some were quite lazy and enjoying the sun. The cheetahs didn't cooperate much, shucks because they were beautiful. The park lets wallabies, small deer and maras run free (see pic of them with Nikki). They had tons of maras. The maras just hung out wherever they wanted. I think the zoo has taken pride with perserving different types of Rhinos in the past. They definitely had the most I had seen anywhere. Also they had quite a few babies of many types. Look at the closeup at the Rhino, I wish the baby would have stuck its head out a bit. The giraffe baby was a nervous type, only 6 weeks old. The first Rhino chased the small train we were on. And the elephant was just running from parent to parent. Yep relaxing and enjoyable.
All in all we had a great, stress free day out. I have one more post of a special exhibit they have at the zoo to post in a second.
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Good Times
Wembley Oct 08