Thanksgiving in England

I am thankful for...

My friends (new and old)
My family
My education
The ability to live abroad
And many more things.

Of course, we should be thankful for things more regularly than on an annual holiday; but at least we have one reminder each year that brings us all together.  You've been following my preparation so far, and it gets more interesting, I think.  For an example of my difficulties in buying ingredients:

This is double cream... apparently there is also single cream.
This is what I used for half and half and it was pretty comparable.

I went to multiple grocery stores millions of times, it seems, over the last week to get every thing I needed... or so I thought.  Yesterday, upon returning home from class, the agenda was to bake the pies, prep some other dishes, and clean the apartment.

Pumpkin pie!!!

We had lots of left over filling so we made mini pies too!!

The table is all set!!

Rookie mistake number 1: forgot to remove the pie crusts from the freezer.
Rookie mistake number 2: (or possible ex-pat mistake) When all your recipes are in American measurements, but you're shopping in metric measurements - convert your recipes before buying things so you know how much you need.  This mistake required yet another trip to the store, but luckily just for a few things.

Despite a few hiccups, every thing turned out splendidly!!  Have to say I'm pretty proud of our accomplishments.  See photos below.  We had great company, lovely conversation, and all of our British friends were able to experience a new tradition and even did some of their own research on the holiday!

Brittney basting the turkey

Our Thanksgiving spread (from L to R): macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, cranberry mold

And finished off with pumpkin and pecan pie - with whipped cream, of course!
And clotted cream for my British friends who prefer it.

P.S.  I have a deep admiration for people who host large Thanksgiving dinners every year.  And reflecting back on my childhood, great respect for my grandparents who not only prepared dinner but also hosted our entire family for 3-4 days in their home.  It takes so much effort and energy.

My Quest for a Turkey

This year I won't be able to celebrate Thanksgiving in the US, so instead I am hosting it here on Friday.  Initially it's exciting!  I love to host!  Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday!  The food is amazing, I get to eat as much as I want without feeling guilty, and I don't have to buy any presents.  After the initial excitement, the anxiety sets in.  I've never hosted a Thanksgiving.  I don't have a proper table, so it won't be as formal as my family's Thanksgivings.  More importantly, I've never baked a pie.  Or stuffing.  Or a turkey.  I've been a vegetarian for a year - I haven't cooked any type of meat in a long time.  Six of my guests are British and I don't want to disappoint them - even though they'll have nothing to compare.

In Type-A Cathy fashion I started planning really early.  I made lists of what I wanted on the menu.  I am co-hosting with my fellow American friend, so we talked about what things our families do and what types of food we have.  I looked up recipes for every thing, made lists of ingredients, broke down the lists into dry ingredients and perishable ingredients.

Saturday I went to ASDA, the English Wal Mart.  I figured it'd be the easiest place to find every thing I need (hopefully) and for the best price.  I went with my dry ingredients list and it took my probably two hours.  Some things are named differently, but I found almost every thing.  For example, I need jello mix to make a cranberry mould, they call it jelly.  I need corn syrup to make pecan pie - ummm, I'm not sure what exactly I bought but it was the closest thing I could find.  I have my fingers crossed it works well enough.  I needed marshmallows to top my sweet potato casserole, and the only marshmallows I could find are bigger than any one I've ever seen in America.  But beggars can't be choosers.

So far the only thing I can't find is fried onions to top the green bean casserole.  To solve this problem I think I'll just fry my own onion slices - or mix in onions and top it with breadcrumbs... haven't fully decided yet.

Anyway, the whole point of this is actually about my quest for a turkey.  While I was in ASDA I looked for a turkey to see how much it would cost.  All I could find were chickens!  So I went to my local grocery store, the Waitrose.  They have signs "order your turkey now for Christmas!"  I asked the woman in the butcher section, and she said they wouldn't be getting their shipment until 22 December.  So I went to Tesco Local, nothing.  So I went to Sainsbury's Local, nothing.  Finally I went to the big Tesco and FOUND MY TURKEY!  Since I had such a hard time, I decided to buy it.  It's frozen, so it'll take a few days to thaw in the refrigerator any way and then it should still be good by the time to bake.

Now I'm just researching how to bake a turkey!  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.  Have a wonderful celebration of your own! X

Traditional Afternoon Tea

I presume every one has heard of afternoon tea, but I doubt any one has done it.  Hot tea isn't much of a thing in the US, and definitely not a structured meal around it.

Here afternoon tea is set between 3 and 5 pm.  It's certainly not a daily occurrence for every one, it's sort of a treat.  One of my classmates is from Nottingham and has made it her personal mission to play tour guide of English culture, and one of the goals is to try different tea houses.  This week we went to Tiffin in West Bridgford just outside the city proper.

We actually browsed around West Bridgford a bit before heading to tea.  Since the holiday season is upon us we were able to pop into a little craft market.  We also stopped in a few boutiques on our walk through the town.

Tiffin is a quaint little spot tucked into a small row of shops.  It has a bicycle outside displaying it's sign and a basket full of greenery.  It's small when you walk in, but can accommodate a decent number of guests.  And it's totally what you would think of a tea room.  It has a flower patterned wall paper and white table cloths on the tables.  We settled into our table and browsed the menu.

We ordered the Traditional Afternoon Tea for 5 and decided on two pots of tea... English Breakfast and Earl Grey.  These are both traditional black teas.  I prefer Earl Grey to English Breakfast, to me it's a bit lighter in taste.  I don't like to put milk in my tea, just sugar and I find that English Breakfast is too bitter for me like that.  The tea comes first, in these lovely vintage pots.  Each pot and cup is unique, I doubt they have any two the same.

Then the tiers of food arrived!  The bottom tier is sandwiches - the one in the photo is all vegetarian sandwiches: cucumber and cream cheese, egg and cress, tomato and cream cheese, egg and pickle*.  The other tier had things like salmon and cream cheese and some kind of chicken salad type sandwich, and possibly a ham one also.  The second tier is cakes and the top tier is scones, jam and cream.  So you eat it in a certain order... sandwiches first, then scones, then cakes.  It's all small so it doesn't seem like a lot at first - but we were so stuffed by the end!!

*Pickle is not like American pickles.  It is still pickled vegetables, but it's a mixture of onions, cucumbers, sometimes beans or cauliflower.  And it still pickled in vinegar, but it's more of a spread used for sandwiches and it's brown.

The Simplicity of Nature to Restore the Soul

My friend Sacha is an avid horseback rider.  She had been looking for a place to ride close to the city.  She found one just outside the city, about a 10 minute bus ride from the centre, called West Bridgeford Riding School.  Today we decided to head out there to see what it's all about.

We arrived at the stop and it was the typical English countryside: hills, green, a bit damp.  It was so nice to be in nature for a bit.  We ended up deciding to ride today too.  I haven't been on a horse in close to 13 years.  But I was excited!  It's nice to be around animals... they're so peaceful.  Sometimes I wish I could have a pet here to keep me company, but I'm not allowed to have animals in my apartment and I really don't want the responsibility of one right now any way.

So the staff got us two horses ready... Dream and Miss Marples for us to take out on a hack.

Sacha getting to know Dream before going out

We went out for an hour and walked around the surrounding fields and was also able to see the Water Sports Centre, the canal (I think), swans and ducks and barn cats.  Miss Marples and I weren't the best of friends, but she did trot for me a bit.  Apparently she's shy.

Miss Marples wasn't too keen on me at first,
but after I fed her an apple she was alright

And my new friend, Domino.
He seemed blue so I tried to cheer him up.

It was very nice to relax with some fresh air for a while!  And then we finished off the afternoon at Thea Cafe English Tearoom. 

Rosebud Herbal Infusion tea

Diwali

The other night I had plans to go out with some of my classmates.  We were meeting at the left lion on the Square at 7 and would decide where to go to dinner from there.  I put on a smart outfit - appropriate for dinner, but dressy enough to go out afterwards.  I bought the most amazing oxford-style heels from Debenhams and have been dying to wear them wherever I can.

So I headed out to the Square to meet every one and as I came upon it there were tents and lights and crowds of people.  The smell of curry filled the Square and reminded me how hungry I was. And there were men playing music and people dancing.

Turns out it was the Diwali celebration.  Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights.  Lamps, called diyas, are lit to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, into the homes.  Apparently depending on the region different Hindus celebrate Diwali for different reasons or gods, but the basis is "The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance."

We didn't stay long since we were just waiting on the Square for every one to show up.  But while we waited I watched and admired the festival.  There is always something going here and I love it!  It's also fascinating to see things like this since the town I grew up in doesn't have many ethnic activities like this.

I got my information on the celebration from BBC

My favourite past time: going out to eat

As many of you know, I really love going out to eat.  The great thing about living in a new place is that I haven't been to any of the restaurants!

Last weekend Brittney and I stopped into this tea shop, Lee Rosy's Tea Room, that I walk by regularly.  I had seen it mentioned in some things about Nottingham - and it's new, so why not.  Plus the day was cold, so a warm cup of tea is perfect!

Well they have what seems like a thousand types of tea.  It's probably less than 100 but it's a lot.  You can order by the cup or by the pot.  They also have some other things like lattes, mochas or smoothies and cakes.

Lee Rosy's Tea on Broad Street

Today I went with two of my classmates to a place called Delilah.  It's a market that specialises in really high end and unique foods and also a cafe.  They have coffee, cake, and meals.  This is one of my classmate's favourite places.  She had mentioned it to me a few weeks ago.  I had actually seen it and every time I walked by it got store-lust.  But sometimes when you're in a new place you're not really sure if you can go in certain stores.  Or maybe that's just a personal problem.  Anyway, we went today for lunch, coffee and cake and it's delicious!  My classmates both ordered goat cheese salads, and I got a brie, grape and cranberry sandwich.  Then for our cakes I ordered a blueberry stacker and Lucy got a caramel and chocolate chew (it was like a rice crispy treat and then caramel and then chocolate all layered together).  All very delicious!

Delilah on Victoria Street

Bonfire Night

The 5th of November is Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night in the UK.  It is a celebration held to commemorate the failure of a plan to kill King James I on 1605 by blowing up the House of Lords.  Guy Fawkes was the man found in cahoots with the plot to kill the king, though it was a host of people who had put it together.  Now it's celebrated by bonfires and fireworks, and according to one of my friends a wooden man representing Guy Fawkes is normally dangled above the bonfire to burn.

We went to one of the celebrations here in Nottingham that was actually turned into a mini fair along with the bonfire and fireworks display.

The bonfire from the tram stop (shortly after it was lit)

By the time we got to it

Let's Be Witching!

Britishisms of the week: Fit - attractive, fine, hot; "She's fit!"
                                       Fancy Dress - costumes

Apparently Halloween isn't a big thing here, but since Brittney and I are American and our friends like Halloween we decided to throw a costume party!  As a group we tried to do a female villian theme.

If you do Halloween here your costume has to be good and scary. Or so we were told. Now the scary thing I wasn't entirely buying into.  The main thing is they don't do the "sexy Halloween" like the US does.  Lucky for me, I never bought into that either.  There is no need for me to leave the house in lingerie claiming to be a costume.

I got so excited I decorated!

And made themed snacks!

Spider cookies and Babybel eyeballs

Mummy dogs and fingers

And this was our group photo before heading out for our Spooktacular evening!

We specifically picked a student-based club because we knew they would all be dressed up.  And we were right!  We had a wonderful time out dancing and seeing every one else's fancy dress!

Oh - and PS, I was Poison Ivy