Stuff from the States

As I have read blogs from other expats, or had conversations with those I have met here, many have a list of items they are coveting from the States - items difficult to find here in London they plan to stock up on when they head back home.  These lists have included such items as:

Chocolate chips, pumpkin in a can, Velveeta cheese and/or American singles, Grape jelly, Kraft Mac & Cheese, deodorant (not all, just their kind), certain hair care products ...

Now that I am heading back to the States, I have been thinking about what things I want to make sure that I stock up on.  Interesting enough, I really can't think of anything.  I am sure this has something to do with the fact that I haven't eaten packaged store foods in many years and I really don't miss them ... which I guess is also the same reason why what I stock up on will be consumed while in the States and brought back with me in my belly!

What I am missing most are hugs from my BF and our Saturday night cooking, seeing my Mom and Bro, food and friends at BT, various other outstanding restaurants in the Chi (i.e. Lula, Urban Belly, Rootstock, Sai Cafe), the meca Whole Foods on North Ave., the convenience of Target ... things I can't put in my luggage and bring back.  So, I plan to get my fill the next couple of weeks ... I better start thinking about the work out plan for 2011!!

Dandoy Biscuits

I fell in love with this place in Brussels so much I am dedicating an entire blog to it.  For almost 200 years and six generations the Dandoy family has been making "biscuits" in the centre of Brussels, just off the Grand Place (most of you would call them cookies).

The originals, called speculaas, are a pretty simple gingerbread type recipe with brown sugar and spices and are formed using wooden molds.

It wasn't so much the recipe, as it was the presentation.  I was so taken aback by the wonderful antique carved molds they used to create these, some humongous, treats.

I wandered their original location with wide eyes, looking at all the wonderfully shaped cookies and the vintage molds.  Man, if only I could find one of those babies at an antique market (of course for sale by someone who has no idea what it is and is selling it for super cheap).

The vintage St. Nicks and Saints were amazing.  I want one.  Makes me realize all those designs I saw in the seventies in Country Living magazine and the like weren't all made up - actually based on historical designs.

As I write this I realize, I haven't even tasted one yet. I bought a box to bring back to Chicago on my visit, which will be hocked for other home made varieties at the annual cookie exchange ... I will sneak one for myself first, however.

Mussels in Brussels!

This past weekend a group of friends took the Eurostar down to Brussels to go to the Christmas market.  I of course was also looking forward to the beer, mussels, and frites.  While living in Chicago I fell in love with Belgian food, where both the Hopleaf and Rootstock do it quite well.  The beers are strong and you never run out of varieties to try.

Brussels is just a 2 hour ride from London and we went Friday after work, arriving around 10PM - enough time to drop our goods at the hotel, take a little stroll, and get on over to the Delirium bar.  For those who are less familiar, Delirium is a well known Belgian beer with a pink elephant emblem and is quite the dance provoker (I'll omit the details on my spill which left me with a horribly bruised thigh and the video).

After a couple of those we were all ready to tackle those famous frites (fries typically served with mayo).  In no time we wondered upon a shop on the street and ordered huge paper cones - mine with "tartar".  Whoa, they do like their mayo ... and that night I did too.




The main square in Brussels, Grand Place, is breath taking.  I am officially making it my favorite plaza in Europe to date.  The cathedral is impressive (less so than others), but the other surrounding architecture is out of this world.

Though touristy enough, the pubs and shops surrounding the square felt very authentic, offering up Belgian lace and tapestries, as well as chocolate and waffles.

I had never heard of little Manneken Pis, but he is quite the hero in this town.  A statue/fountain from the early 1600s of a little boy doing his business is certainly the most popular tourist site in town. Every prestigious chocolatier has molds of him and every not so prestigious grocer has some pretty flattering corkscrews of him.  Those in the know would know there is also a little sister statue across the Grand Place, which some peeps on the street were happy to point out to us.

The Christmas market offered up some good scenery, interesting goods, yummy smells, hot mulled wine, and one particularly good Christmas gift (shhhh).

Seems like there are so many other topics to cover, like the rainbow over the city the last afternoon, the coordinated Christmas light show broadcast repeatedly on the cathedral, the bizarre street of seafood restaurants with picture menus and plastic plants, the sparkle tree, the interesting hotel room, the fact that it is the comic capital of the world and the Smurfs were invented there ...  great trip.

I am also sharing the link to my friend Shannon's blog, as she also has some great pics.

 

It must be a record ...

... two days in a row of sun this week in London.  OK, so that may be a bit brash - however we did actually have some very nice weather considering:  December, the blizzard last week, I wasn't carrying an umbrella which is generally a guarantee for rain ...

This beautiful hot pink sunset sky was the backdrop to my walk home from work Thursday night.  Certainly reason to take pause.

Cookie Decorating

Found a little place in the neighborhood called The Make Lounge that holds classes for do-it-yourselfers like me.  To get the gang in the Christmas spirit I thought we should take a class in cookie decorating, so a couple of the girls went this past Monday to learn some tricks of trade.

Was a great way to spend a Monday evening ... and the gang polished them off on the way to Brussels!

The Wolf Dog down the street ...

is currently going NUTS right now because he can't sink his teeth into my deliciously barbecued lamb chops.  Rightfully so.

Christmas Collar

Needed something red, cozy, and soft for the Brussels Christmas market next weekend ... whipped this guy up in a couple hours.  If you're on ravelry, here is my link.

Blizzard!

So, the typical reaction to me telling people I was going to move to London was, "OMG, how great!  That's awesome!  You do know the weather sucks, right?"  And the typical response from Londoners when I asked them how bad the weather was: "Well, it can get quite gloomy, but at least it is not like Chicago ... I mean, it almost never snows here."

Enter last week - Blizzard.  At least by London standards.  We had probably 3-4" in the city, but outside areas had over a foot.  And, it was arctic-ly cold.  Made for a miserable couple of days getting to the office, and our industry Christmas party was pretty empty on account of everyone's fear of not being able to get home.  Even the Eurostar was delayed for hours and hours.  At that time it was warm in Chicago.

Consolation was this weekend felt down right balmy at 40 degrees, and it is all melted now!  And with the bright sun, I even got a minor reprieve from my Vitamin D deficiency.  Heard it is snowing in Chicago ...