Welcome to the Eating Season!

So every year as Thanksgiving approaches (or in this case has past) I begin to think about the delights this time of year holds, and how the period from Halloween through New Years is one of my favorite times of the year (aside from the return to studying and writing).

I may not always enjoy the colder weather, the damp and darkness, but I do enjoy unearthing my tweeds, baking spicy goodies, and there is definitely something to be said for long winter evenings...at home with a good book or movie, or out in the pub with an Irish coffee and good conversation. I fondly refer to this time of year as the "Eating Season". So in honor of the Eating Season (and also to minimize my time in writing this blog), I've decide to share a recipe for mince to go into mince pies*!

*For those of you unaware of the delights of mince pies, I'll put your mind at ease. Mince meat is just fruit, not really meat, and these spicy, delightful little pies are just the thing for the Holidays. So whip up some pastry dough and try out this yummy recipe for the filling!

Farewell Summer...

...we will miss you!

So, I had fully intended to get a blog out in September (to keep my track record of at least one blog a month this year) but alas the end of summer passed me by in a blur and I am now, back in school...summer is well and truly over.

As I stare down the barrel of this final year of Uni, I can't help but look back at what a lovely summer I've had...

Great times spent with friends and family. New places, and old, visited and explored...and also a few lovely moments, just enjoying the simple things like my balcony...

good conversation...

and fresh tomatoes...

Where Sky and Water Meet

The train ride that takes you from Kings Cross to Edinburgh is absolutely lovely (provided you’re not sitting next to a screaming child, which I wasn’t, phew!) I took this train over twenty years ago (twenty! yes, scary thought!) and still after all those years, remembered spending the four + hours with my nose pressed against the glass.

This summer I was lucky to be going even “farther up and further in” on my trip up to Scotland. The train that leaves the Edinburgh Haymarket station takes you out of the city, up into the wild remote Scottish Highlands and beyond!

My friend Heather grew up in the Orkney Islands. This summer I had the pleasure of visiting her in her hometown of Stromness. I walked, took the tube, a train, a taxi, a ferry and even a plane to get there and back. It felt like going to the end of the world, but the warm welcome I received and the many beautiful things I saw over the four days I was there made the long trek so very worth it. (Plus the trip was half the adventure!)

Where sky and water meet, Where the waves grow sweet, Doubt not, Reepicheep, To find all you seek, There is the utter East. North.

A sort of homecoming...

Eeeek! So I have most definitely procrastinated on writing this blog...and now I'm out of time...I fly back to London tomorrow. What can I say? It was lovely to be home and spend priceless time with friends and family. In keeping with the tone of the lyrics posted below, I have picked a few snaps that I took while driving* across the western United States...these scenes from the car reminded me of this song...

See the sun rise over her skin
Don't change it
See the sun rise over her skin
Dawn changes everything
Everything
And the delta sun
Burns bright and violet

Mississippi and the cotton wool heat
Sixty-six a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
Of the shining cities

In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland

See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost-ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on

In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland
Heartland...heaven's day here in the heartland
Heart...

~U2

* I was most definitely riding in the car, not driving while I snapped theses pics!!

City Mouse...Country Mouse?

Over the last six years I've been living in cities, proper cities! Los Angeles... London... and I have to say I DO love what these cities have to offer. Great food, great markets, clubs, pubs etc.

...but every so often my little country mouse starts to squeak, and I know it's time for a trip away from the hustle and bustle...to balance myself...to indulge in some of the different finer things in life that only the countryside can offer.

I was lucky enough to spend the last weekend in May in the Loire Valley with my friends Cat and Bryn (and family) and Rose...just soaking up the smells and sounds of rural France...bliss...

Summer...almost!

I'm all worded out! So instead a little poem by William Blake to enjoy and a couple snaps from a glorious May afternoon in the park!

To Summer by William Blake

O thou who passest thro' our valleys in
Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat
That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer,
Oft pitched'st here thy goldent tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld
With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.

Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car
Rode o'er the deep of heaven; beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy valleys, on
Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy
Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our valleys love the Summer in his pride.

Our bards are fam'd who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat

Il cibo belli d'Italia

Buon giorno! Just a little food (picture)tour of my recent trip to Bella Italia! Pizza! Always a must!!

Espresso! Morning, noon and night...and sometimes in between...

Fresh pasta with pesto, tomatoes and fresh basil...

Don't forget the vino!

Mmmmmmushroom ravioli with walnut cream sauce....amaaaaazing!

...and of course no trip to Italy is complete without sampling the gelato...everyday!

Now it's back to the grind stone with one more paper to write, then freedom! Summer! Friends! (and more blogging!) Ciao!!