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By Kate, 24 January 2010 8:41 pm

It’s about time I start using this thing for what I meant to use it for in the first place rather than boring you with my rants and raves about society’s stupidity. So I’ll start with some craftiness and move on to the food.

My first embroidered elephant.

A while back, I mentioned that I had taught myself a new skill. Huzzah! But was not able to post the results of said new skill because the project in question was part of a super secret quilt meant for my best friend Kelsey’s baby, who was not yet born. Booooo. Well, Ms. Etta has now entered the wide world so the quilt is a secret no more.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the whole thing, but our friend Kedre got a bunch of Kelsey’s friends and relatives got together and got them each to do an animal square in their own style. I did see the finished quilt over Christmas and it’s awesome. All the squares are different but they pull together nicely.

For my square, I decided to dive into the world of embroidery. The results did not suck. And I found that I enjoyed doing it, especially because it’s something I can do while watching TV, which means I feel like less of a lump while sitting on my couch. Double bonus! I’ve done some more little projects since then (a stocking for my parents’ new dog Randle, who is awesome, and a set of dish towels for their new beach house), but this is the only one I’ve got a picture of at the moment.

Unforgettable Elephant from Sew Everything Workshop.

Continuing with the elephant theme, I made a little stuffed elephant with a pattern from Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp. It was fairly easy except for sewing up the top seam. I’m absolute shite at handsewing, and even more hopeless at slipstitch, so I gave up on trying to hide the stitches and just did as neat a seam as I could. It ended up ok, especially because no one, let alone a baby, cares about a little visible thread when an elephant is involved. I also figured it was more important to make the stitch strong rather than invisible, because kids like pulling at stuff. In any case, I think I’ll be making more of these little guys, because I sort of want one, and there are other babies I know who are about to enter the world.

Back in the present, this weekend I decided it’s been far too long since I’ve done any baking of the cake variety. The urge to bake was further spurred on by a visit to the Cup Cake Caffe, which is basically the wee coffee shop extension of the restaurant in the main National Gallery Complex. I was in the gallery shop buying some stuff with the gift certificate I won in the staff drawing before Christmas (Score! Good way to start a new job.) and I had been meaning to try out these cupcakes I’d been hearing about. No cupcake in my world can ever go uninvestigated. Especially when the few I’ve bought lately haven’t been up to scratch. In any case, these particular Cup Cake Caffe cupcakes were actually pretty good. They only had two kinds left at the time, so we tried both. One was a coconut cake with vanilla frosting and fresh blackberry-ish jam, and one was pretty much victoria sponge with raspberries and cream. Both were super tasty. I’ll have to go back and try the dark chocolate and cherry one. Too bad there’s no employee discount on the cupcakes.

Mocha cupcakes with Kahlua and coffee icing.

As I said, all the cupcake sampling got me in the baking mood. I made Rachel Allen’s mocha cupcakes with Kahlua and coffee icing today. They are pretty freakin’ good. I feel like maybe they could be a bit more coffee-ish. I used all coffee instead of coffee and water like the recipe says, but maybe next time I’ll go get some espresso and use that. The texture is awesome though, really light and moist and a good complement to the buttery icing on top. I may put more Kahlua in the icing next time. We’ll see.

As for the burger I mentioned, we went to Guilty Lily for lunch today and both had burgers. I think it may have been the best burger I have ever had in this city. Burgers in this country tend to be disappointing because I think the whole hoof and mouth thing a few years back freaked people out and they really don’t like cooking a burger any less than very, extremely well-done. I, as you may imagine, am not cool with this. Scott is even less cool with this, especially after he had an amazing burger at Brewer’s Alley in the states that was just about raw in the middle. Now, I don’t need my burger to be as bloody as my steak, but you just can’t cook the hell out of a burger, because it looses all its flavour and dries out and isn’t at all pleasant anymore.

The burgers at Gulty Lily aren’t quite pink in the middle, but I have a feeling if they were cooked about 2 seconds less, they would be. They were nice and juicy and fatty, as a good burger should be, and the sweet onion chilli jam that was on top of mine I could have eaten from a jar. They only had one beer in the cask, but I had a nice glass of wine (ok, two) and we’ve had the cocktails there before, which are fantastic. Highly recommended. And I think we’ll be going back and trying the breakfast, because I spied one or two plates that made my mouth water.

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By Kate, 27 July 2009 8:34 pm

Because I’m not ready to post my pictures of our closer-to-finished bedroom yet, I figured I’d talk about some other good stuff.

First of all, the ginger beer. It’s ready! It’s fizzy! And quite good. After drinking two pints the other night, I have concluded that one pint a day (and probably even just half) is all I need. Not because of the alcohol content (it’s only about 3%), but because of the amount of sugar and fizz involved. I don’t usually drink soda, and I rarely even drink lager or other fizzy beers (I’m a real ale girl, as you may well know), so I’m not used to that amount of bubblage, nor is my gut. Enough said. But at this rate, the stuff will last for ages, as we started with 40 pints. And next time, I’m going to try making it properly from scratch. The Coopers kit is good, but it involves some artificial sweeteners, which I’m not really down with.

Next up, courtesy of my friend Mali and Jezebel, Sister Salad Thinks Yo Comments Are Wack. In which two smart ladies, using Sir Mix-A-Lot as their muse, berate the moronic commenting hordes plaguing YouTube (not to mention plenty of other sites open to comment by the public). Part of what makes it so great is that they are taking their message fairly seriously, but not themselves, so plenty of bad dancing ensues. And costume changes! I approve.

Good thing the third: french toast. I made some this Sunday morning. This follows on from the previous good thing because french toast is something I love more than any other breakfast food, and Mali’s family makes THE BEST french toast I have ever had (sorry, Dad). It doesn’t so much have to do with the toast-making technique as it does the myriad of accompaniments served alongside. French toast at Mali’s house means all sorts of fresh fruit, yoghurt, syrup, and anything you could possibly imagine wanting with your french toast. Unfortunately it has been far too long since I have experienced the breakfast of breakfasts at the Royer household, but when I do manage to make some of my own, it always gives me happy thoughts of the event (and a happy stomach).

Yet another happy thing on the list is my parents and their buying of a house in Bethany Beach. It’s another place I haven’t been in too long a time, but we went there nearly every summer for a while, and my parents have continued to go back regularly. It’s a good beach, and now we’ve got a more permanent place there. While I may not be able to take advantage of that from my current overseas position, it’s good to know it’s available to me when I manage to be around. I’m already planning it into my Dan-and-Kathleen’s-wedding-going trip for next year.

Last but certainly not least, I get paid tomorrow. I definitely like the reinflating of my bank account. However brief and minor it may be, it still buys me groceries.

And soon enough, I will show you my newly painted bedroom, which is also something I like, this week and beyond.

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By Kate, 18 July 2009 7:06 pm

Last week, I discovered that my favorite bar is closing. Or rather, reopening under new ownership. Or something like that. Either way, the Andy’s I know and love will be no more after tonight, and it’s much too far away for me to stop by for a last night in a place I’ve missed since I left Chestertown.

Andy’s was where I had my first legal American drink. (And second. And eighth…) It quickly became my favorite place to go with friends for dinner or drinks or both. Andy’s had the best burgers in C-town and some killer specials every single night. It’s where I discovered that a stout float could actually work, and taste awesome. It’s where I learned that a good bartender is worth their weight in gold (and rum). It’s where I tried my first Dark and Stormy and had some of the best Mojitos a girl could ask for. Plus they had Dogfish Head on tap. Really, what more could you want?

Andy’s is where I celebrated my thesis production with so many friends and family (and champagne!). It’s where I celebrated a lot of things actually, and self-medicated for probably just as many. It’s where I went for dinner when I found ants in my peanut butter and couldn’t face any of the other food in my cabinet. It’s where my friend Melissa had her first date with her husband. It’s where I went to say goodbye to friends before moving across the pond. It’s where I’ve looked forward to going back when I finally get back to Chestertown this winter. But now, that’s not going to happen.

Behind the bar at Andy's.

I’ll miss the drinks and the food and the free popcorn. I’ll miss the comfy, squashy chairs and the big fireplace in winter. I’ll miss squeezing as many people as possible around a table and talking about nothing til closing time. I’ll miss taking other people to Andy’s for their own first legal drinks. I’ll miss walking in and feeling home.

I hold every bar I walk into up to Andy’s example. And I still will.

I know Andy’s last night will be a huge party, I only wish I could be there to rock it out in style with all the other people who come to say goodbye. C-town is losing part of what makes it such a great place to be. I’ll be having a Dark and Stormy in Andy’s honor.

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By Kate, 6 July 2009 8:14 pm

For hands-free luggin' around.

Although I tend to feel like I’m being too lazy all the time, I’ve got a few things that I’ve finished recently, and some other things I’ve started.

The first project is top secret for now, so I can’t post pictures for a few months, but I tried a new skill and did not suck at it, so I’m proud of myself.

Project 2, a yoga mat bag. I got tired of carrying my mat in my hand after one class. I have to bring it to work with me and then bring it most of the way back towards home before I even get to class, so that’s 3 miles before I even unroll it. I made use of some scrap IKEA fabric I had from my sister’s christmas present and whipped this up in about 3 hours. I’m pretty happy with it. The bottom was sort of fiddly, and the stitiching on the top of the strap is kind of crap, but overall, a good result.

Third on the list is a pair of pajama pants, which I don’t actually have a picture of. I’m not too big a fan of the waist, mostly because it relies solely on a drawstring rather than a drawstring plus elastic, but they’ve got super wide legs, and since I made them myself, I was able to make them long enough for my legs, so they’re cozy. The fabric is maroon cotton with little cartoon elephants, giraffes, lions, pineapples, and palm trees. Awesome!

nomnomnom

Next! So I make a lot of cake. I get used to having it around. When it’s not, I can get a little stroppy. Because dammit, I like cake! I don’t want a chocolate bar, I don’t want a lollypop, I might want a cookie depending on what it is, but really, I just want some cake. So I raided my cabinets and my recipe books and decided to make chocolate cupcakes with some raspberries on the top. (I had frozen ones. If I had fresh ones, I would have just eaten them on their own. Scottish raspberries in season are THE BEST IN THE WORLD.) I used Rachel Allen’s chocolate cake recipe for the first time. It’s all right, but it would probably do better with frosting instead of raspberries. For the record, every other cake I’ve made from her book, Bake, so far has been absolutely freaking incredible, so it’s a good book to have. Anyway, that put some cake in my house, and by some miracle, it’s still not gone. Mission accomplished.

I’ve also started a few longer-term things. The first being a batch of homebrewed ginger beer. Scott’s been doing a lot of beer with mixed success rates, but I hadn’t tried anything myself yet. Then I saw our homebrew shop had a ginger beer kit from Coopers, so I jumped on it. It was even easier to brew than a beer kit. I decided it had to be refrigerated for the best result, so this was our first foray into bottling (we’ve just kegged everything else). It seems to have gone well. It tasted pretty good before it went into the bottles, and now we just have to wait 3 weeks til it’s done conditioning. It’s supposed to be about 3.5%ABV, so I’ m looking forward to having properly alcoholic ginger beer around whenever I want it. We’ve got 40 pints of it. I think it will last a while. I might even try making a cake with it.

Soon, there shall be tomatoes.

Last on the list are some tomato plants I started about 3 weeks ago. It was a little late in the season, but they’re coming along nicely. I need to put them in bigger pots soon and hope they do well enough in the window to give me a bunch of tasty tomatoes in a month or two.

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By Kate, 24 June 2009 12:32 pm

I realise it’s been about 2 months since I posted. I kind of stink at this.

Since then:

I’ve been to London where I raided Borough market for the first time, wandered around the city eating raw asparagus all day, went to the Tate and the History museum, and had some good times with friends.

Beer a-plenty.

We went to Germany for a whole week, and I did not send a single postcard, but did drink a lot of beer and eat a lot of giant pretzels and pork products. And also a lot of asparagus. ’tis the season. Pictures on my flickr.

We transformed our boxroom into a respectable (and green) walk-in closet, thus freeing up a lot of space in our flat.

I started Yoga. It’s good stuff.

We’ve seen three movies at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, including Moon, Mary and Max, and Away We Go. I managed to not abduct John Krasinski. I also did not see Sean Connery. All of these movies were really good. Especially Mary and Max and Away We Go. We’ll be seeing The Maiden Heist tomorrow night.

I have designed two websites, both sort of unfinished, but: For Bunny Sake Rabbit Rescue, Zero Hour Theatre

I have also changed the theme of this blog in hopes that not worrying about the design would allow me to worry more about actually using the thing. I’m going to start posting more in this thing. Or at least I’m going to try.

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By Kate, 1 May 2009 2:37 pm

I miss Washington College a lot today.

I tend to miss it a lot, and not in the way that I want to go back and live it again, because reading The Great Gatsby often enough (and, you know, living life) will pound into your head that such things aren’t possible. No. I miss it more in the way of remembering how awesome a time I had for four years and then being a bit jealous of myself, and then a little annoyed because maybe I didn’t appreciate it quite as much as I should have at the time. But no one ever does, because if they’re anything like me, they’re having too much fun to notice. As it should be.

May Day, just like Birthday Ball, is a major Washington College holiday. For those of you who have no idea of the traditions of my alma mater (and why should you?), May Day is generally known as a time of naked dancing around the flagpole. Usually at midnight. And usually large quantities of alcohol are involved. But I don’t really associate May Day with nudity alone. (I never did participate in that particular element anyway.) I associate it more with the general happiness that the semester is over, your work is (mostly) done, and it’s time to sit on Middle porch with some beer and some friends and some bullshit. And one year, a makeshift barbecue of Foreman grill proportions. I feel like that’s a particular feeling you don’t get very often in life, and even less so outside of college.

In any case, because I’m at work waiting impatiently for the metaphorical bell to ring so I can get on a train to London for a weekend break, I’m wiling away my time trolling through the WAC website looking at all the stuff I miss about sunny Chestertown. And pining. Maybe not for my college days in particular, but just for that ‘Hey, it’s summer and this beer is good and I’m not really concerned about anything else right now’ feeling. Because it’s a good one.

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By Kate, 5 March 2009 1:17 pm

I made some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to bring into work for my birthday yesterday. I should have taken pictures, but I’m not yet used to this ‘recording stuff for the blog’ thing. It was a recipe from Bake by Rachel Allen. I’d never made red velvet cake from scratch before, so I was a little worried at first, especially because it’s kind of a crazy recipe with a lot of steps (and bowls), but they turned out well. And I ate two of them during the day before I even got a piece of the birthday cake Scott made me. It was his first ever from-scratch cake, Chocolate Stout Cake from Green & Blacks Chocolate Cookbook, one of my favorites (the book and the cake), and he did a flawless job.

We ate some before we went out for dinner, which may have been a bad plan, because dinner involved quite a bit of food. I didn’t know where we were going til we got there because I wanted a surprise, so all day I was wondering what kind of tasty stuff I was in for. We went to The Outsider on George IV Bridge.

According to reviews on The List, More than a few people have not been impressed with the service, but we had absolutely no problem. They had a weird policy of having to take outdoor coats to the coat room, but aside from that, our waitress was lovely and the rest of the staff I encountered were quite normal. But lets get to the important stuff.

They clunked a plate of bread and dipping oil down in front of us before we even had menus, which bodes well with me, especially in this country where you rarely ever get bread for free. I ordered a bottle of Australian shiraz, don’t remember what kind it was now but it was excellent.

The Outsider doesn’t do traditional starters. Instead they have various plates of skewers (or ‘Chunky Healthy Lines’). We got the monkfish with bacon, roasted tomato, and salsa, which also came with salad and a carroty-raisiny coleslaw type concoction in a pita. There were two enormous hunks of monkfish on my skewer and, because of the cake I’d already eaten, I was worried about getting through my main course. The fish was cooked perfectly, and I got extra tomatoes because Scott is not a fan.

For the main course, I ordered venison in juniper berries with barley and steamed greens. Scott got half a rabbit with prune and calvados sauce and parsnips. We also ordered a side dish of sweet potatoes in cumin-y spices and pumpkin seed to share, which was absolutely unnecessary given the size of the main dishes, but I ate some anyway because they were lovely.

My venison was perfect. The light in the place was too low for me to tell for sure, but I’m fairly sure it was nearly rare, because it melted in my mouth. I ate all the greens, per usual, and I would have eaten all the barley had I not been stuffed to capacity. Scott’s rabbit was a bit dry and the sauce was a little overwhelming for him. I tasted it. Not awful, but not the best rabbit I’ve ever tasted. Then again, I’ve only ever had it in a stew-type pie thing, so who knows what it’s meant to be like? Anyway, I definitely picked the better dish this time. Usually it’s the other way around. There was a pork belly confit on the menu that we both wished we could have tasted as well.

We had absolutely no room for dessert, so instead we went to the Bow Bar on Victoria Street for some whisky. They’ve got 145 malts! First I had a 16 year-old double matured Lagavulin, which was about £6. Nice, warm and rich. Scott had some Blair Athol whichw as a bit lighter. I’m no good at tasting notes when it comes to this stuff, but I know what I like, and what I like tends to be Islay malts. Peaty, strong and delicious. A lot of people can’t handle the stuff. That’s not meant as a boast, I’m just saying, for reference, that I like things that other people tend to think they could run their car on.

We had a pint each after that as we sat there staring at the wall of whisky, and Scott said ‘why didn’t you get a 25 year-old whisky for your 25th birthday’? We eyed a 25 year-old Laphroaig on the top shelf and decided to share it, because what the hell? It was £18, but worth it. I know grown men who have issues with Laphroaig 10 year because it’s like drinking smokey, alcoholic peat (so naturally, I love it), but this was really mellow. That extra 15 years really takes the edge off.

All in all, an awesome way to turn 25. And on top of it, Scott got me some nice balsamic vinegar, a salami flavored with white truffle, and some epic argyle knee socks. (I am a fan of long, crazy socks. Especially in the winter.)