kooking kvetch

We got another veg box today. It a bit larger than the last one. We nixed the potatoes because Jason doesn't eat them, but pretty much everything else is the same plus some leeks, carrots, and a big turnip or (swede as they're called here). I, not thinking ahead, I suppose, did not bring a blender (or any ricing implement) or a roasting pan or a cutting board or a soup pot. I'm sure there are more things I didn't bring, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. We have purchased a soup pot and a cutting board- worth it if only for the amazing apple sauce that is both condiment and dessert.

Recipes that include root vegetables, like those that have been delivered to our door, but do not include a roasting pan or a blender (or a dutch oven I have found) are hard to find. We eat a lot of soup. Big Thick Meaty Lentily Root Vegetabley soup. This is due in large part to the fact that, in addition to the acquisition of our soup pot, I now have a mastery of the stove top. I am, however, still working on the ovens.



The grill, on the right, is easy enough to understand. Its temperature is measured in Celsius and it acts like a broiler. It is not connected to the little red light below, so I have no idea when it is actually hot save sticking in my hand. Since, for some reason, it only works when the door is open, this is very simple. We use it primarily for the inexact science of toasting bread and making our frozen pizzas (2 for 3 pounds) brown and bubbly on top. The fan oven, on the left, is connected to the red light. This would be very handy if I had any idea to what temperature the STUPID NUMBERS ON THE DIAL corresponded. We have learned, through burned crusts and black vegetables, that the '6' is in fact the least hot while '1' is the most hot (opposite of the stove top).

So, if anyone has any good recipes for soupish or sauteed root vegetabley dishes with leeks and turnips please send them along.

Oh...and tomorrow I am going to my first Coffee Morning with the wives. I can't wait!

look kids...big ben, parliament

This past weekend we had planned a driving trip to Wales. Unfortunately, it snowed in Wales and, seeing as Brits have a hard time driving in weather (see funny thing happened on the way to Sheffield) we decided on a day trip to see "classic" London.

This, of course included.


Parliament


Big Ben


Westminster Abbey (which we didn't enter because, as one wise gentleman said, "eye ain' piein' ten quid to gow innoo ah chuch.")


and the Tower Bridge (with the "erotic gherkin" in the background).

We took a long meandering walk along the Thames past museums and sites to which we'll return when we're doing our "museum and site" London day trip. Jason said, "Lets go this way," and we came upon the Borough Market. It was teeming and aromatic and crowded and wonderful. We found coffee worth standing in line for and brownies made from "O" chocolate. (that would be chocolate that makes you groan "oooooohhhh" when you bite into it)


In the evening we walked around Covent Garden and through the theater district. In keeping with the theme of the day, we went to a pub for dinner and each had a beer and a pot pie.

to round or not to round...

Getting to know the British NHS (National Health System) has been intriguing. We start late, take coffee breaks during rounds and prioritize. Ward rounds can take a back seat to more pressing issues. We are not lacking in patients or work. Over the last week we admitted more than 40 new patients to our firm. We start seeing patients each day at 8.00 (vs 6 back home) so, ward rounds can often linger late into the morning.

On Friday our firm gave grand rounds so we started ward rounds a little late. At 9.30 we mosied up to the floors to start. Intermittently the consultant (equivalent of an attending), Mr. Maynard, would split off to check a computer on the floor. He wasn't interested in lab results, radiological studies, or email...he was checking the score of the England versus Australia cricket match. Come 10.30, even though we still had four patients to see, Mr. Maynard was done. It was much more important to enlighten me about the nuances of cricket and its many points of superiority over American baseball. The entire team (Mr. Maynard, the house officer (intern), three medical students and myself) promptly left the wards to watch the match in the Doctor's Mess.

By the time the last few bowls were left for the English, it was a four point game. More and more teams poured in to watch. By the end, there were at least 30 people crowded around the tele cheering and commentating. Having lost every game in Australia last month at the 5 day cricket Test Match, the mere promise of a victory kept the room hopping. With three bowls left, the English won! The room errupted and then reluctantly drained back to work.

Back home, the World Series or the Superbowl wouldn't be enough to stop rounds!

fahst and furious

Interesting note on the alarm/immobiliser front. I called and e-mailed and it turns out that we DO have an immobiliser. Phew! However, because it was not fitted by a VSIB authorised fitter, Norwich Union will not insure against theft. We have to take it to an audio store (what I wouldn't do for a Best Buy right about now) and have them stamp a little sheet of paper indicating that it was fitted properly.

When I inquired,"Are people regularly in the habit of stealing 13-year old cars?"
The agent replied, "Well, no but the Golf GTI...it's...em- a boy racer car."

Who knew??! Now I can finally learn how to do the Tokyo Drift. (See The Fast and the Furious part (I-can't-believe-we-made-another-one-of-these) III)

Or, if you know him...just ask Derek.

The bakery we found

Have I mentioned the bakery we found down in Cowley? It is literally the front room of a woman's house in the middle of a residential street. I opened the front door and she came in from her den, the tv was on and her son was asking for help drawing some letters in crayon. The counter was still covered in warm white and brown bread in several varieties. She wraped a 'cowley crunch' for me, said, "thank you, my love," and returned to help her son with the drawing. It's really wonderful.

okay...

I was running a couple of days ago and took a side street and I came across this painted on the side of a semi-detached house off the park. I don't know if you can read all of the writing. It reads:

Before the last tree has died.
Before the last river has been poisened
And the last fish has been caught...
Will he realize that we cannot eat money.

In the place of George Washington there is a likeness of George Washington Bush.

I was nonplussed at first, being a little bit frightened of living in the midst of such anti-American sentiment. But I can't really dissagree...

pretty pretties...

These are just some photos I took on my way to the bakery this morning. Thought they were cliche ahem... picturesque.

what a difference a day makes...

here we go now to the hardware store...

Last week we blew out the extension cord that powers our washer and drier. While Jason was working, I walked the mile or so to our version of Home Depot. I can't, for the life of me, remember the name because we just call it 'home depot' even though its not. My point here is that this...




is my walk. Not that it is particularly pretty in winter, but it is refreshing that there are marked public footpaths (as well as bike routes) which bypass busy streets and cut unobtrusively through small groves of trees, marshy fields and, in our case, a bucolic golf course. It's a brilliant way to discover the nooks and crannies of our neighborhood.