sycamore stirrings

Snowpocalypse

2012-01-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

You'll be happy to know we made it through the snow that hit Seattle last week. Actually it was not the snow we were worried about, it was the inevitable melt and the threat of a wet basement! We're so happy our basement stayed dry. Our sump pump hasn't stopped running since Friday.

Snow is such a funny thing in Seattle. The city freaks out and everything shuts down. The kids had exactly 2 hours of school last week. 2. hours. I remember the first snow we had in Luxembourg. I was convinced it was going to lead to a snow day. Little did I know. The city knows how to handle snow as it is a common occurrence each winter. The roads are plowed and salted and life goes on. Pretty much the exact opposite of Seattle.

The part of these snowy days that I absolutely love is that it brings everybody out of their houses and into the streets. Every hill is filled with sledders (of all ages!) I talk to more neighbors during the snow than I do at the annual block party. And the dogs. The happiest dogs in the world. The kids are excited and having so much fun sledding. It feels joyful. And it feels like we're truly part of a neighborhood.

Unfortunately and fortunately snow is a short lived phenomena in Seattle. Now we're back to rain. I would call it rainpocalypse but it is not. It is business as usual here in Seattle.

Don't forget to enter for your chance to win some local chocolate! I'll close the entries on Friday.

GIVEAWAY

2012-01-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Hi! Do you know what day it is? It is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. How are you feeling? Are you blue? Thankfully, I'm feeling just fine this Blue Monday. Last year was a doozy but this year I'm flying high (well, at least flying.)

For those of you who are trudging through a January funk, I'm offering a feel-better giveaway of some local Seattle chocolate. To enter leave a comment and tell me your fav kind of chocolate, brand and type. On Monday a reader will be chosen randomly to receive the goods. Good Luck!

Birthday Girl

2012-01-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

I'm the mother of an 8 year old as of today.

Happy Birthday, Eva!

S is for Success

2012-01-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

Not a perfect success, but I'll take it. Since my failed attempt at making macarons I've made 2 more batches (using this tute.) Both of which resulted in something very much like a macaron. Yipeee! I piped the cookies a bit too large and over cooked the second batch, but other that, people I'm making macarons.

My hunch is that aging the egg whites (leaving them out for 1-2days) is what made the difference. In the class I took we were told that the eggs should be room temp. I even asked about aging the egg whites to which the chef replied, no need. Perhaps she is right. But I believe it was the aging that lead to my success.

The other truth that became clear to me is that you really need to have the proper equipment to make macarons - a digital scale, a fine sifter, a piping bag and the proper tip. I also think a stand mixer would be a huge help too. I have a hand mixer. All this makes a difference.

I've since become macaron obsessed! I've read about it happening to many a blogger. It is not about eating them. It really is about making. Perfectly and with ease. I can hardly wait to try again. I'll roll my sleeves up again just as soon as my piping bag, #12 tip, and supply of powder food dye arrives. It is all about the proper equipment.

One question I still have about macarons is how to tell when they are done. Anyone know?

F is for Complete Failure

2012-01-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Friends, it wasn't pretty. I could tell by the meringue. I told myself to dump the meringue and try it again. But naturally I didn't listen to myself so I continued. And they were a joke.

My errors were in the meringue. I broke 2 of the 3 tenets for making a successful meringue -

1) egg whites at room temp. NO, too cold.
2) No yolk pieces in the whites
3) "Stretch" the egg whites* before beating them. My new hand mixer doesn't seem to have a low. Position 1 seems to be the same speed as 6. grrrrr.

*Stretching egg whites means to beat them for a minute on low before turning up the speed. The chef who taught the macaroon class paralleled it to pulling a balloon a few time before blowing it up.

Here is the evidence:

Don't be fooled by this pretty looking meringue. I stood there with my hand mixer for 1o minutes at least! It never got light and had the consistency of marshmallow cream.

Ready to go in the oven. They should have spread out so the tops were smooth. The fact that they still have peaks and lumps is a huge red flag.

Baked. Need I say more?

But today, today I found some success. I'll tell you about it. Check back.

American Macaroning

2012-01-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought my posts about macarons were over now that we've landed in America. Think again! Yesterday I took a 2 hour class all about making macarons. It was so fun.

I learned all about the characteristics of a French macaron - the pied (foot), the small frills that form along the bottom of the cookie and the skin; the shiny top of a macaron. Macs are supposed to be crunchy with a slightly chewy middle.

I also learned some new fancy words:

Macaronnage - The technique of mixing flour and meringue to make macarons.

Macaronner - The technique of mixing the batter until it is firm and drips slowly when scooped.

The class was divided into 4 groups. Each group made a different flavor macaron. The instructor made one too. So we had 5 different combinations - mint with rum cream, coffee with vanilla custard, sesame with white chocolate ganache, cassis with blueberry butter cream and coconut with coconut filling. The best? Sesame with white chocolate ganache. A surprising combination that gave a lot of flavor.

I was part of the group that made cassis macs. As you can see we had some trouble with the piping! Much harder than it looks. Due to some old, thick purple dye we ended up over mixing our batter. That made it too runny and also lead to baked macarons that wouldn't come up off of the parchment paper. Don't over mix!

Above all though, I had a really great time. Now I'm about to dash upstairs and try to make some on my own - back tomorrow with results!

Thank you notes

2012-01-09T09:15:00.001-08:00

The girls and I finished up their thank you notes this weekend. Whew. It always feels like a big job. Last year I think I dropped the ball on notes so it was very important to me to bring this routine back into practice. I stole this thank you note idea from my SIL who did something similar a few years ago.

We attached these pictures to cards and then each girl got to write a message inside. To prevent any "space" arguments, one girl wrote on the top portion of the card, the other got the bottom. Eva was completely self sufficient this year and wrote really great thank you messages. For Audrey, I just wrote down what she said and she signed her name. Before she lost energy, though, she added - I really do like you in her own writing. So cute. And so Audrey.

How do you handle thank you notes? Please leave a comment.

Friday Funny

2012-01-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

My new fav tumblr site. Cat + Scanner = The Cat Scan

Have a great weekend!

Not Happy Anymore

2012-01-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

Remember how I was interested in trying a new fragrance after my Clinique Happy ran out? Well, my thoughtful husband chose one for me. How fun, right? It was a great Christmas present. With the help of a friendly salesman at Nordstrom, Bryce chose Eau d'hadrien by Annick Goutal. He paid close attention to my requirements - light, citrus-y, clean and for every day wear. Eau d'hadrien is all those things. Compared to Happy it is more citrus-y with obvious lemon notes, not a hint of floral to be found. I look forward to putting it on everyday.

Any perfume for you under the tree this year?

A Cake Deconstructed

2012-01-04T10:34:00.001-08:00

I pulled it off. I made a buche de noel for Christmas dinner. It was tasty and looked alright. It wasn't as challenging as I anticipated although something did go wrong at every stage. In the end it surprisingly came together. If you'll indulge me, I'll break down this project for you (and me.)

I ended up going with the Martha Stewart recipe. My biggest mistake was not reading the directions thoroughly enough. I didn't allow time for all the chilling required to make this dessert. This caused me to rush through the frosting and decorating part.

I also didn't make meringue mushrooms; I used marzipan instead which easily molded into mushrooms.

The first step was to make the cake. This part gave me the most anxiety - I was worried the cake would break when I tried to roll it. Luckily it didn't. I made this a day in advance and left it in the fridge, rolled. The directions said to roll the "long end." I couldn't decide what was meant by that. I rolled it the way that made it long and thin, but this only gave me 1 roll. Most buche de noels have more rolls which lead me to believe I should have rolled it the other way . . . whatever.

Step 2 was the chocolate mousse. I didn't account for chilling time. I also had whipping issues both with my egg whites and whipping cream. I think my hand mixer doesn't go fast enough.

Next I spread the mousse on the cake and rolled it up. This was tricky as the cake didn't want to unroll. When rolled up I didn't have much of a spiral effect due to the way I rolled up the cake in the first place.

Making the ganache icing for the outside of the cake came next. The directions said to whip the ganache until it had the consistency of soft butter. Mine never transformed even after some intense mixing and remained the consistency of icing. I decided to pour/drizzle it on and let it set in the fridge (only I didn't account for chilling time) but I did it anyway.

Finally I decorated the cake; making faux bois lines with a knife, scattering chocolate shards, placing mushrooms and sprinkling with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

My family was enthusiastic and supportive of the cake. They even threw out hints suggesting this may become an annual tradition. That makes me so happy. I'm up for the task!

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Time is such a funny thing, isn't it? Years seem to fly by but when I actually look back at what our year consisted of, the events seem part of ancient history. Where we *really* riding camels in Morocco last year at this time? Living in Europe? Walking down cobbled streets in Bruges? Apparently so.

2011 was a year of transitions and goodbyes. It was also a year filled with travel, friends and some amazing good times. Here are some highlights, month by month.

January

Relaxing trip to Agadir, Morocco.

February

Ski trip to La Clusaz, France.

March

Trip to Bruges.

April

My MIL and her sister & brother visit us in Lux.

May

My mom visits and we drive to Venice!

June

Family trip to London.

July

WE MOVE BACK TO SEATTLE

AugustWe enjoy apartment living in South Lake Union

September

The girls start their new school and we move back into our house.

October

We enjoy celebrating Halloween all month long.

November

My sister, BIL and nephew visit. We host Thanksgiving.

December

Celebrate Christmas surrounded by family!

Happy, Merry to you!

2011-12-23T16:24:00.001-08:00

Wishing you all the comforts of home!
Merry Christmas!
Katy xo

Yule Log Challenge

2011-12-22T07:38:00.000-08:00

image here

Friends, I've assigned myself a challenge this Christmas; to make a Buche de Noel for Christmas dinner. Since I'm not hosting and am only responsible for the dessert, I'll have energy (fingers crossed) to make something very special.

As you know this is the Christmas dessert in Luxembourg. Since we're home now, where this classic French dessert is virtually non existent, I thought it would be fun (in a challenging, potentially frustrating, possibly hair pulling way) to make one.

image here

So, I'm looking for advice. Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling? Yellow cake with chocolate butter cream filling? Chocolate coating? Meringue mushrooms? (wishing I had a pack of the red fairy sugar mushrooms that they sell at the grocery stores in Lux. They are on every buche over there!) What do you think?

I looked at Martha Stewart's recipe and it looks a bit complicated. The directions on the Youtube tutorial look pretty good, but I'm sort of settling on the recipe I found at Saveur - unless you have a fail proof one for me to try!

This Year's Christmas Cookies

2011-12-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

2011 Christmas Cookies

Peppermint Bark by Orangette

Peppermint Cookie Bark

Gingerbread Trees (there is still dough in the fridge waiting for the girls)

Thumbprints (Audrey has stopped calling them Fingerprints. That was so cute.)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (first year making these. They are like little brownies. A friend told me about adding peppermint or espresso powder to these. yes, please.)

What did you bake this year? Leave a comment!

A Christmas Spirit

2011-12-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

Looking for a special aperitif (or grown-up drink) to serve your guests this year? I must share one with you that I had at a friend's party. It is called a Barney and is made with BroVo Spirit's Ginger liqueur. Now, let me assure you this isn't your Grandma's liqueur, not that there is anything wrong with your Grandma or her liqueur. I'm just saying this one is different.

BroVo Spirits are made with with fresh, local (WA state) ingredients and produced in small craft distilleries; in true artisanal style. They are not sickly sweet and syrupy. And they are lady made! To find out where they are sold, click the Find Us tab on their website. For you locals, I bought a bottle at the liquor store on 15th in Crown Hill. BroVo is also served at Tom Douglas restaurants.Barney
4 oz sparkling wine
1.5 oz BroVo Ginger Liqueur (about a shot)

For a festive touch, serve with a twist or a single cranberry.

These are delicious! They have just enough ginger flavor to make the sparkling wine more interesting, but not enough to overpower.

Look for other interesting BroVo flavors - Douglas Fir, Lemon Balm, Rose Geranium, and Lavender. Look for Rhubarb in the spring.

A Crafty Afternoon

2011-12-19T08:32:00.001-08:00

I didn't pull it together this year to host an ornament making party for the girls and their friends. Instead we had a mellow crafting afternoon with a close friend. We organized 3 crafts but due to time constraints we only got to two of them (the girls did the 3rd on later on.)

We made tissue paper votive holders

Apple Santas (these are so adorable! love this craft.)

Candy cane mice. This was a great craft and would also be a nice gift for kids to give to their friends.

More edible gifts

2011-12-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

The girls, especially my 7 year old, have gotten into giving gifts this year. It is great to see. Eva wanted to make something for her friends and teachers, naturally Audrey did too. I suggested these chocolate lollipops I'd seen on an Ina Garten cooking show. Both girls thought it would be a fun project and a great gift to give.

For my part in the project, collecting the supplies and getting them organized was easy. I love that. Here's how we did it.

Materials

1-2 lbs of chocolate (depending on how many you want to make. We had 1.5 lbs all together and it made 23 medium-large size lollipops.)

Lollipop sticks - found at any well stocked craft store (I bought ours at Joann's)

Plastic bags to put over the lollipops (again at Joann's)

Assorted candies, nuts, dried fruit to decorate the lollipops

Bakers twine or ribbon (to tie the bag to the lollipop stick)

Wax paper

Method

Put candies, nuts etc in little bowls, place sticks near by work space. Rip off a longish sheet of wax paper, about 24 inches.

Melt chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. If you use the microwave (I did!) be very careful not to burn your chocolate. I put it in for 1 minute, stirred and then put it in for 45 second more and it was perfect.

Chop your chocolate into smallish pieces and melt.

Using a tablespoon, pour chocolate onto wax paper. I originally drew circles onto the wax paper but discovered this is not necessary with only 1T* or so of chocolate. If chocolate is especially runny let it cool a bit until it becomes thicker.

Immediately after pouring the chocolate, place a lollipop stick in it. Turn the stick so it is coated on all sides.

Decorate with assorted goodies

Let harden for 2 hours or so (faster in the fridge)

Place in lollipop bags and tie with twine!

Give!!

*you may be tempted to use more than 1 T of chocolate like I was and did. Stop yourself. This makes lollipops that are too big. Most of ours didn't fit into the bags I bought. 1T is a perfect size - enough to be a special treat but not obnoxious.

Christmas Music

2011-12-14T09:25:00.001-08:00

Bryce downloaded this album for us and we are really enjoying it! I smile every time Beaker chimes in the on The 12th Days of Christmas.

What Christmas music are you listening to this year?

Speaking of the Nutcracker

2011-12-10T08:55:00.001-08:00

which was as wonderful as ever! Here is the Christmas book that was added to our collection this year. If you love Mary Engelbreit's illustrations this is the book for you! The illustrations really capture the magic of the Nutcracker.

Are you enjoying a new Christmas book this season?

A Magical Evening

2011-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

image here

Friends, tonight is an exciting night! We are taking the girls to see Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker! Since the girls were babies I've been anxious for them to see and *love* the Nutcracker. At ages 7.5 and 5, we think they are ready! Thank you to my mom for the most wonderful Christmas gift ever - tickets to the show!!

The Nutcracker has been an important part of Christmas for me since I was about 5. I don't know how or why it happened but at 5 I was part of the Nutcracker myself. I was one of the baffoons (also called bonbons) that danced out of Mother Goose's skirt. Sadly this act has been cut out of the updated version of PNB's Nutcracker.

For years after we'd go see the show each year at Christmas time. As a little girl I remember the music, lights, dancing and the magic of it all. It was a special occasion, we wore dresses, went out to eat and walked down the lit up streets of down town Seattle. We stopped to admire the window displays at Foxes Gem Shop - antique teddy bears and jewels! It was magical. So interesting how memories are recorded in your mind. Who knows how many years we actually did this, but to me it felt like a tradition.

So this year we are sharing the magic with the girls. I can hardly wait.

Edible Gifts

2011-12-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

This year I'd like to give little packages of sweet edibles to friends and neighbors. It was Dana's productivity in the kitchen that finally got me going on my own gifts. She made vanilla extract and salted caramels! Yes, I know, don't you wish you were her friend? I'm making peppermint bark; two different kinds. This one has crushed chocolate wafers in it and this recipe (pictured) stands out due to it's layer of peppermint ganache. Mmm, mmm good.

Have you made candy bark before? I hadn't either. I made a batch to take to the ornament party I attended last weekend and experienced how ridiculously easy it is to make. It also looks and tastes great. A winning combination in my book.

What's coming out of your kitchen this year? Do tell!

Stocking Stuffers

2011-12-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

I *love* to stuff stockings. Knowing you, you're probably all finished with your shopping but just in case you have that one last thing to buy I've put together a stocking stuffer gift guide.

Here are some stocking stuffer ideas for girls around 5-8 years old.

Stocking Stuffers for Girls 5-8 years old by sycamorestir on polyvore.com

Click on the link above or on the picture for buying information.

1) I love these doodle books that are out right now -A great combination of free coloring and coloring books. These pocket sized doodle books are easy to transport and would be great for restaurants.

2) In my second grader's class the kids are wearing hair bands on their wrists. These bracelets look like hairbands and the money goes to a good cause.

3) Each year my girls get an ornament in their stocking. My youngest is quite smitten with Rapunzel and this seemed perfect for her.

4) Gel pens - I don't know what it is about these but my girls LOVE them. I found a 4 pack of them at the craft store, perfect stocking stuffer size.

5) My oldest is big into Mad Libs and Scooby Doo for that matter. There are also Mad Lib Jrs for younger kids.

6) Book light - Bryce and I received one of these a few years ago and just love it! The girls love ours too. Now they can love their own. They come in fun colors!

7) Books - stockings must have a new paper back or two. My oldest is getting 2 of these and my youngest these.

8) A stocking is not complete without chocolate Christmas balls.

9) Notebooks or journals. These Field Note books look great.

Have you purchased all of your stocking stuffers? What did you buy?

Scenes from the Weekend

2011-12-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

It was a festive weekend! The holdiay-ing has started!

:: Annual ornament exchange party. I brought a sushi ornament this year. It wasn't the most fought over, a VW bus won that title, but it did get stolen a few times.

:: Made this zebra cake to bring to the party.

:: We got our tree!

:: We decorated the tree. The girls L.O.V.E this!

:: Unrelated to the merry making I took a photography workshop on Saturday. I rented a portrait lens for the class and really enjoyed experimenting with it. Love the bokehs!

How was your weekend?

holiday lights

2011-12-02T09:15:00.001-08:00

Take a look at these lights I found at IKEA. I think they would be great in a wreath or table display. I *love* that they are powered by a battery pack which makes them very versatile to use. Can't beat the price either. I bought a few packs of the white lights but am still figuring out how I'm going to use them. Do you have any ideas?

STRALA light chain with 10 bulbs: $2.99

One more Thanksgiving note

2011-12-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

The star of our Thanksgiving feast wasn't the turkey, although it was good. It was the pie. I made another salted caramel apple pie only this time I left the caramel sauce on the side. In the original recipe the caramel sauce was poured in between layers of apple. Leaving it on the side was a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself.) The salted caramel flavor was much more obvious. I served the pie room temp and the caramel sauce heated. I finished each serving with a sprinkled of sea salt. Next time I'll heat the pie as well. There will be a next time!

The pie itself also turned out surprisingly well. I'm always so delighted when this happens (so lucky it occurred on Thanksgiving.) I don't make enough pies to feel confident in my final product. Each pie I've made is always a bit different. There were 3 key elements that I believe contributed to this pie's success. 1) I cut the apples very thin 2) As per the recipe I sprinkled the apples with sugar, causing excess juice to be expressed from the apples 3) As per the recipe I sprinkled 1 T of sugar and 1T of flour on the bottom of the pie crust before adding the apples. I also used mostly Granny Smith apples this time. Maybe they really do make a great pie.

My crust, however, could really be improved upon. I used this recipe which I've used before. This time I felt like the crust wasn't as light and flaky as they could be. Any crust suggestions out there?

How were your Thanksgiving desserts? Any winners?

Tomorrow is December 1st

2011-11-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it?!? It seems like this holiday season is coming upon us with lightening speed. Much faster than previous years, no?

This year, unlike many previous ones, I will be ready with the advent calendar! Are you? I purchased our advent calendar a few years ago in Luxembourg. It is one of those wooden trees with 25 little drawers in it - similar to the picture above. I thought this was a great idea until I realized I had to fill the little drawers with something. (Between you and me, I've come to the realization that I prefer the old fashioned paper advent calendars. I love the simplicity. As a child I always found the little picture behind each door quite satisfying. I never missed the chocolate or little gift.)

In the past I've put little things in the drawers - barrettes, hair bands, stickers or tatoos. This year I'm swearing off little toys and bits. My house is crawling in little things. This year I've decided to put one little candy in each drawer and a joke. I'm stealing the joke idea from my friend Christina. My girls love jokes and they enjoyed the Easter eggs with jokes last spring.

Here are a few links to sites with Holiday jokes for kids in case you are getting your advent calendar ready tonight as I am.

Hello Kids
A Bit of This and A Bit of That - a sheet to print out! Yes!
Activity Village - this is a pdf. Just print, cut and put the jokes in the calendar!
SantaClaus.com
Christmas jokes for kids
Kid Activities - a long, long list!

Thanksgiving Debrief

2011-11-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was great! Ours was very nice. It was wonderful to have everyone in our home. The kitchen is now officially broken in! Why is it that no matter how prepared I am, no matter how much is done ahead of time, it all erupts into chaos when it is time to actually get the food on the table. Does this happen to you? Any one have any tips for getting all the food onto the table while it is still hot?

The purple cabbage, in the top picture of my table top inspiration post, stuck with me. I created a purple centerpiece and found purple napkins (1$ off of each, thank you very much) to complete the look. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Just ask my mom, she was the witness to my shameless self congratulations. It isn't very often that I have an idea and I actually like the results of it. Do you find the same thing?

I gathered some purple plants and produce and just played around with them in different arrangements. Whole Foods had plenty of purple produce! I started with a circular pedestal dish and ended up using a bamboo oval serving piece to hold my arrangement. I added candles which I stuck onto the bamboo with glue tack. My arrangement ended up looking quite traditional but was made out of non traditional items. I used an ornamental cabbage in the center surrounded by purple kale leaves. I added beets, purple kohlrabi and grapes to fill in the holes.

Do you have pictures of your Thanksgiving table? I'd love to see them. Leave a link.

Table Top Inspiration

2011-11-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

found here

Have you figured out your table centerpiece yet? Place cards? I know I want simple with some candles thrown in. I'm also thinking produce and foliage or some of both. And spider mums, definitely spider mums. But how to put it all together, that is the question. Here is some inspiration ~found here

found here

found here

found here

Ta Da!

2011-11-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here it is, our finished beautiful kitchen! Let me tell you, it is unrecognizable compared to the old one. Bryce and I couldn't be happier with the result. The kitchen is light filled and feels quite spacious. It is hard to believe it is the same space. Unfortunately I don't have before pictures. I'll see if our architect does. That'll put it in perspective for you. Our kitchen was sad, dank, and un-user friendly.

The sink and dishwasher opposite the stove. Fridge (not pictured) is to the left of the sink.

Looking at the pictures I see I forgot a few views. In addition I didn't think to take pictures of our sun room which is off the kitchen. The sun room got a make over too and now feels like part of the kitchen. Anyhoo, take a peek -

Opposite the windows and sink.

An interior window to the sun room adds light.

Door way to the dining room is to the left of the drawers.

Tile and counter top close-up.

From the kitchen into the dining room:

Note to self - must take a picture of my "big huge American" fridge for my European friends.

Searching for Stuffing

2011-11-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

image from Bon Apetit

I'm switching from wallpaper to Thanksgiving as the day is fast approaching. I've just about finalized the Thanksgiving menu with the exception of the stuffing. Last year I wasn't completely satisfied with the recipe. I think it was the white bread. The stuffing didn't have the texture and consistency I was looking for. This year I'm going to try something more rustic. Here are a few that look appealing to me. If you have a winning stuffing recipe please leave a link! I think personal recommendations are much better than random google searches.

Spinach, Fennel and Sausage Stuffing with toasted Brioche

Farmhouse Herbed Stuffing

Mark Bittman's Favorite Bread Stuffing - lots of great variations on this one.

How are you coming on your Thanksgiving menu?

Voila!

2011-11-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

As you can see we've decided on wallpaper #3 - Krysantemer in the gray colorway. Most of you liked #1 & #5 the best. I like these too and I think they are definitely bedroom-y. However, I went with #3 because I loved the color palette - purple, periwinkle/gray, black and gold. The others, while lovely, seemed to easy and I wanted to push myself a bit.

I'm just thrilled with the result. The colors are rich, complex and interesting and have a warmth to them that is not noticeable online. Now my head is buzzing with paint color choices. I tried Comet by Benjamin Moore which is the blue you can see on the walls in the pictures. I do like this but it is a bit too blue. A little more gray may be nice. Depending on my energy level I may try one more color or I may leave it with Comet. Comet seems to me to be the definition of a hyacinth blue - it is a rich periwinkle with some definite grape thrown in there.

Are you curious about the most expensive wallpaper? Most of you were right on! It was #2 - Rampura. Many of you noticed that it looked hand printed, which it was. Even the wood blocks used for the stamping were hand carved. When I went to order it I learned it was $250.00 a roll!! And I needed 2 rolls! CRAZY! Needless to say that was cost prohibitive.

Things do have a way of working out and I'm super satisfied with the one I chose. Thank you for your feedback on my post. It was a lot of fun to read your comments! I've updated my previous wallpaper post with the name and maker of each paper.

Friday Funny

2011-11-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

Those of you familiar with Leavenworth will find this funny and strange as it is so unLeavenworth.

Does anyone know if this was really ever used for tourism? Video found via Portland Sunshine.

Don't forget to weigh in on my wallpaper dilemma.

Wallpaper pickle

2011-11-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

In addition to our kitchen we are also redoing (or doing) our bedroom. Bryce and I are using this move back as an opportunity to fix up and change the decor in our house. It is pretty exciting (to me, anyway) to actually choose how I want the house to look instead of making do with hand-me-downs or cheap "it'll dos."

The architect, Amy, who designed our kitchen is also helping us with some interior design around the house. I tell ya, it is money very well spent. Bryce and I don't know what we're doing. We know what we like when we see it, but we don't know how to "get the look" ourselves. This is where Amy comes in. She provides ideas and acts as a sounding board as we search for paint, furniture, and other accouterments. It is really a collaborative process but Amy keeps us pointed in the right direction.

One of the rooms in need of help was our master bed room. Bryce and I had not done *anything* to it beside paint it. Seriously, nothing - no curtains, pictures on the wall, headboard, side tables - nothing. Our bedroom is part of an addition we added to the house while I was pregnant with Audrey. 2 years later we moved to Lux, the bedroom still untouched. Amy looked at the space and suggested hanging wallpaper on the area behind our bed. Fun, right?

As I've found, choosing wall paper is time consuming and surprisingly it can be VERY expensive.

Take a look at the contenders below. I want you to do 2 things -

1) Tell me which one you like the most.

2) Tell me what one is the most expensive.

Glow Duck Egg by Prestigious
Rampura by Schumacher
Krysantemer in Gray
Antoinette by Dulux
Asuka by Osborne & Little

I'll give you some time to respond (please do!) and then I'll provide the links and names of all the wallpapers - including the price of the most expensive one. Shock, horror!

In the Kitchen

2011-11-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

There is lots of goodness coming from our kitchen these days. Honestly, I think Bryce and I love our kitchen so much (thanks to the remodel) that we're cooking just to spend time there!

Roasted pumpkin seeds. I just roasted them with a little melted butter and soy sauce. They tasted good right out of the oven but the next day they were slimy. Anyone have a better method?

Kale chips. I've seen recipes for these floating around the blogosphere for sometime and have been curious about them. They were good. Watch the salt. There is no way you need the teaspoon that is called for in most recipes.

And breads - banana, pumpkin (I used a different recipe and it is really great - very moist) and Bryce has been making bread again! He has been making 2 loaves a weekend. It is delish.

What's coming out of your kitchen these days?

Thinking of Thanksgiving

2011-11-08T10:36:00.001-08:00

Bryce and I are excited to host Thanksgiving dinner this year - back in our own home and back with family. Not to say that we didn't enjoy our Thanksgiving celebrations in Luxembourg - because we did. Last year we had friends over and hosted a traditional (as much as possible) Thanksgiving dinner. It was great fun to share the Thanksgiving tradition with our English friends and a family of fellow Americans.

Frightened by the prospect of having 7 children running amok last year, I created an activity that I hoped would occupy them. I also thought it would be a nice way to help the kids focus on the meaning of Thanksgiving; thankfulness.

I drew a leafless tree on a large piece of butcher paper and affixed it to the wall with glue tack (aka poster putty, sticky putty, adhesive putty) I put out autumnal colored construction paper, leaf templates, markers and scissors. Using the templates the kids cut out leaves for the tree. On each leaf they wrote what they were thankful for. The kids then put their leaves on the tree with glue tack (you could use glue stick or tape instead.)

I was amazed and very pleased with how well this activity went over. The kids loved it! The older kids helped the younger with spelling and cutting. They were engaged and it put their mind towards thankfulness. They even colored in the tree I had drawn. Many of the adults contributed to the tree as well.

This year we'll only have 4 kids, my girls and my nieces. I'll likely do something similar. Here is a list of supplies in case you'd like to make this for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Butcher paper
Construction paper in fall leaf colors
Markers
Glue tack (or glue stick, tape or push pins)
Scissors
Leaf Templates (I just googled free leaf template printables. Look for one that is simple to cut out)

My youngest came home yesterday with a Roll a Turkey dice game. We played it last night for her "homework." She thought it was the bees knees. Think I'll print out a few for Thanksgiving this year.

Here is a link to some Thanksgiving printables I collected a few years ago.

Double Take

2011-11-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Looking at these pictures you might think we took a weekend trip to Bavaria, Germany. We didn't. Washington State has it's own little Bavaria - it is called Leavenworth.

Nestled in the Cascade Mountains, just 2.5 hours east of Seattle sits Leavenworth. It was originally a logging town and then became the headquarters of the Great North Railroad. When the railroad moved it's headquarters to Wenatchee the economy of the town began to suffer. That was until someone in the 60s had the brilliant idea of turning Leavenworth into a mock Bavarian village. A pretend Bavarian village?!? Yep. And it worked, it turned the town's economy around and now Leavenworth is a popular tourist destination. It is full of festivals - autumn leaf festival, Oktoberfest, Christmas lighting, live music, art fairs, and more.

To be honest, Bryce and I always dismissed Leavenworth because it was "fake"and full of tourists and full of festivals. Need something to do? There is always a festival in Leavenworth. We'd also spent lots of time in the area so it wasn't a novelty to us. But this weekend we saw it with new eyes after having visited a handful of real German villages. We were surprised to find that Leavenworth was actually quite similar to real Bavarian villages. It had a shop full of Christmas decorations and ornaments, it had beer gardens, it sold curry wurst and sausages. There were freshly baked bretzels and I even spotted Gluhwein for sale. Instead of seeing it as corny and contrived, we felt nostalgic for our life and travels in Luxembourg. I thought about our trip to the Cologne Christmas Market with our good friends. I remembered my friend Sara's love of Gluhwein. Bryce and I recounted our amazing visit to Neuschwanstein Castle with the girls.

It's true, we'll always think of Leavenworth as corny but we'll also always be thankful for the memories it evokes in us.

Squash

2011-11-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Truth be told I like all kinds of squash. But spaghetti squash is one of my favorites. It has a light flavor and crunchy texture when cooked. It makes a simple side dish or a main with some pasta sauce.

The funny thing about spaghetti squash is that even though it is so simple to prepare most people I know have never tried it. Have you? I feel lucky my mom introduced me to it. Next time you're in the grocery store and you see the display of assorted squash(es?) pick up a spaghetti squash and give it a try. It is so easy to prepare and very delicious to eat.

Spaghetti Squash
Prick your squash a few times with a fork. You won't be able to prick it very deeply as the squash is so hard. Don't worry about it.

Stick in in the microwave for 8 minutes on high power.

Check it after 8 minutes. If it is slightly soft take it out and slice it in half. If not, keep it in the microwave until it is - 1-5 more minutes.

After you've sliced it in half, scoop out the "guts" and put it in the microwave for 5 more minutes.

Check it again. The inside should easily shred into "noodles." They should be tender with a slight crunch. Keep microwaving 1-2 minutes at a time until this consistency is reached.

When the squash is done take a fork and shred the interior into "noodles."

At this point you can top it with your fav pasta sauce OR add a pat of butter, salt, pepper and grated parmesan and serve it as a side dish (this is how I like it - lots of freshly ground pepper!)

Enjoy!

The girls and I tried to fool Bryce into eating it by contending it was pasta!

If you have a favorite way to eat spaghetti squash please leave a comment. I'd love to hear about it.

Music

2011-11-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

I never did tell you about our musical weekend. Guess that is because I took another impromptu week off. Sheesh, get it together, Katy.

Anyhoo, In addition to the Pearl Jam documentary we watched we also went to a concert that weekend. Death Cab for Cutie. Boy, let me tell you there were a different band than the one we saw 3 years ago. They were animated, upbeat and really rockin' Maybe it was the difference between being the opening band (3 years ago they opened for Neil Young) and being the headliner. Maybe it was the less melancholy vibe of their newest album. What ever it was there was a different energy from the band this time.

When Bryce and I attend a concert our conversation inevitably revisits the topic of fantasy concerts. The topic goes like this: If you could attend any concert ever performed what would you see? Top 3 of my list - Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads (the Stop Making Sense Tour) and early Pearl Jam (I'm thinking 1991ish, when the hair was long, the venues were teeny and Eddie Vedder could be found climbing the walls and ceiling.) What about you?

Lazy Baking

2011-11-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a recipe that you wanted to make immediately? Well, I know I certainly have and it happened to me again last weekend (um, 2 weekends ago now.) The timing couldn't have been more perfect as Bryce and I were sans kiddo so I was able to indulge this whim before it passed.

The recipe was for salted caramel apple pie. You heard me. I saw it in a NY Times Sunday magazine. The recipe was created by 2 sisters who opened a pie shop in Brooklyn - Four & Twenty Blackbirds. Could it get any cooler than that? Really, I'm dying over here.

The whole leisurely process of putting it together was as decadent as the recipe itself. The kitchen to myself, a beautiful new kitchen at that, music in the background. Ah, heaven. Alas, this story turned out to be more about the process than the product. I didn't bake the pie long enough and the apples ended up rubbery. Rubbery and under done. If I hadn't enjoyed the process so much I would have felt terribly disappointed.

But it's okay. I'm already fantasizing about making it again. This time I'm going to try something different with the caramel. And bake it longer.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

From Gus the Bat Cat
(2 cat posts in a row. I'm one purple sweatshirt away from being a crazy cat lady)

Bat wing inspiration found here.

Glimpse of Gus

2011-10-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We're kickin' it sans kiddos. Oh, the possibilities! The agenda looks like a musical weekend which we started by watching 20, the Pearl Jam documentary by Cameron Crowe (which was great, btw.) More details on Monday. See you then.

Hilarious Halloween Book

2011-10-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Eva and I read this book together tonight and it was so wonderfully hilarious I had to share it with you. On each page of the book there is a Halloween themed tongue twister. And for some reason they are funny. Giggly funny. We had quite a laugh trying these out at various speeds. Our all time favorite - Which witch's britches itch? Try that 5 times fast.

Another great Halloween book here.

Table Topics

2011-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'd often noticed that our dinner table was quiet. Our attempts at spurring on a conversation with the girls rarely went beyond - How was your day? What did you do today at school? To which we would inevitably get one word answers. In the back of my mind I remembered hearing about conversation starters you could use with your kids. I thought something like this may really faciliate a conversation with us at dinner time. So off I went to find something like this.

I poked around a bit on Amazon and ended up buying a set of cards called Table Topics. We've used them for the last week or so and it has made an *incredible* difference in our dinner conversation. For starters, the girls LOVE them. I mean, LOVE. So far the topics have been engaging and interesting for the girls and for us. Our first card had us talking about when we were babies. Another notable one had us choose who we'd rather have for a babysitter - Willy Wonka or Mary Poppins. I was the only one who chose Mary!! Last night we got to create an invention.

Honestly, I look forward to dinner time more now. I love the girls' enthusiasm about the cards. They really do get us talking. A lot. Dinner feels more relaxed and we're getting to know each other better.

Do you have any dinner time rituals?

Halloweening

2011-10-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have 2 little girls who have been chopping at the bit (aka harassing their mother) to decorate for Halloween. Decorating for Halloween is really something we've never done. Since Halloween isn't celebrated in Luxembourg it made no sense to decorate there and before then, well, it just wasn't in me. To be fair I still don't really think Halloween decorating is in me. But with my girls so into it and so vocal about being into it I had to make it happen.

We hung a giant spider web on the front porch and made big, black spiders to hang on the web. We added a garland of ghosts (made from plastic bags) and our pumpkins from the patch and I do think our house is looking festive and spooky indeed.

Here is how we made our big spiders. They are nice and light so they don't pull your web down.

Materials:
Large black plastic garbage bag
Clear packing tape
Stuffing (you could also use crumpled newspaper or old packing material)
Paper or newspaper
Scissors

Step 1:
Cut a rough 12X12 inch square from your garbage bag.

Step 2:
Put a handful of stuffing in the middle of the square. Pull up the edges of the garbage bag around your stuffing and secure with packing tape. This will be your spider's body.

Step 3:
Cut a rough 5X5 inch square from your garbage bag. Repeat Step 2 with this square. This will be your spider's head.
Step 4:
Attach the head to the body with packing tape.
Step 5:
Cut a rough rectangle from your garbage bag of about 12X4 inches.

Step 6:
Cut a piece of paper slightly smaller than your rectangle. Place the paper on top of your garbage bag rectangle.
Step 7:
Roll the paper and garbage bag together. Secure the end with packing tape. This will be one of your spider's legs.
Step 8:
Repeat steps 5-7 until you have the desired amount of legs. Although spiders have 8 legs we felt that 6 (and four in one case) were enough.

Step 9:
Attach to spider web with packing tape.

Halloween Posts from Previous Years:

Jack-o-lantern shirts to DYE for
Spooky Food
Halloween Picture Book
Kool-aid Cupcakes
Halloween Brownie Bites
Noodle Necklaces
Craft Stick Mummies
Tootsie Pop Ghosts

In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin

2011-10-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

An annual outing to the pumpkin patch had always been a tradition we shared with my SIL, BIL and nieces. We were very happy that the tradition continued upon our return from Luxembourg. This year we visited Jubilee Farm in Carnation.

Tractor pulled wagons brought us out to the pumpkin fields and our quest began. Most of the pumpkins were huge! This suited Eva just fine. Audrey found an orange gourd about the size of a tennis ball which she vehemently insisted be her pumpkin. Back at the barn with our pumpkins safely by our sides we watched as a catapult heaved a pumpkin way in the air only to land and be smashed into smithereens. Children quickly gathered the pieces and fed them to the resident pigs. In addition to a pumpkin catapult, Jubilee Farm also offered pony rides (for an additional cost) and sold organic produce.

There is something about mucking around in a muddy pumpkin patch in the crisp fresh air that just feels like fall. Don't you agree?

Happy Monday Morning!

2011-10-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

We've been back in our house for just over 2 weeks now. I think we've made excellent progress in setting up and organizing. Naturally we still have a lot more to do. I'm doing a lot of self talk these days, reminding myself that we'll get there; that we'll settle and find our rhythm here again. Mostly, though, I am just riding the wave. Can't control it, can't really make it easier; just have to hold on and trust you'll reach the shore.

Here are some things I've been distracting myself with lately. Maybe you need some distraction too.

:: Ever since I saw the NYTimes article about the Gregory Brothers and their Auto-tuning and Songifying I've been hooked. I bought their Songify app and the girls think it is the funniest thing ever! I do too.

:: I used up the last of my Clinique Happy and decided I should try something new. I was going to ask you for recommendations but then found a post from a blogger who already did! Her readers left lots of suggestions. But I'm still unsure what to try next. However, I love the idea of spraying on some happy each morning. I also like the idea of having a signature scent. White Shoulders will always remind me of my Grandmother. Think I just talked myself into another bottle of Happy. Ha!

:: I just LOVE this wallpaper and the cleverness behind it. It speaks to the 4th grade sticker collector in me.

:: Halloween fever has hit this house hard! Actually it started about 3 weeks ago. The girls have their costumes all settled. We'll have a Velma this year and a Rapunzel. I bought the Martha Stewart Halloween magazine and was instantly taken with the hedgehog pumpkins. Also loved the accordion cat and pumpkin decorations.

:: This is the perfect end of summer album. What are you listening to these days?

Right Now: Late September

2011-09-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Feeling ~ A bit more settled after a week and a half of living back in our house.

Enjoying ~ lots of kitty love. We're so happy to have Gus back with us. It is like no time has passed at all.

Watching ~ Season 4 of 30 Rock. That show is hilarious. Alec Baldwin is amazing. Will start this next.

Eating ~ Homemade macaroni and cheese, the dish I christened our new oven with.

Making ~ What feels like a million trips to the store in an attempt to get our household organized and functional again - light bulbs, shelf paper, trash bags, flour, sugar, salt, broom, paper towels. . . .

Listening ~ to local radio. The chatter keeps me company as I unpack, sort, and put things away.

Remembering ~ our friends in Luxembourg and really missing them!!

Smelling ~ coffee from our newly purchased machine. Ah, life is good!

Appreciating ~ wonderful neighbors and old friends.

Coveting ~ routine.

Where are you right now?

deja vu

2011-09-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

Didn't I just do this?

I'll be back when I can find the computer. Wish me luck.

Do the Puyallup

2011-09-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the Puyallup Fair this weekend. The Puyallup Fair means one thing to me - scones. Fisher scones are a Fair tradition. Their tender pastry and generous dollop of raspberry jam are worth making the 1 hour trek down south from Seattle. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint.

Many people have a favorite Puyallup Fair food, the scones just happen to be mine. There are hurricane burgers, krusty pups, curly fries, grilled corn on the cob, funnel cakes and elephant ears. Speaking of elephant ears, Bryce uncharacteristically bought one. We watched as they stretched the dough, threw it in the deep fryer, slathered it with butter (not joking) and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. Then the four of us ripped off pieces and indulged. I'm pretty sure I could hear Dr. Oz crying in horror in the background.

But, it was the fair and at the fair you eat fair food. We did more than eat, though. There were a few rides, a trip into the Hobby House to see the collections, a visit to the 4H cats and a quick dash through the quilts. We also talked about Scheuberfour in Luxembourg, the annual fair (really more of a carnival) we visited when we lived there. The potato pancakes, curry wurst, cremant & beer stands seemed like a distant memory. The one thing the fairs did have in common though was the expense!

We came, we saw, we ate - we Did the Puyallup!

August 31st

2011-08-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

I posted my last Hipstamatic August photo to tumblr this evening. I enjoyed it. I started to get the hang of Hipstamatic as the month went on and I think my pictures got better. I'll keep that tumblr blog going to post the occasional Hipstamatic photo. An acquaintance, who is a self described photography snob, feels that the Hipstamatic app is just a way to make a crappy photo look okay. I can see what she is saying, it is a very forgiving method of photography but I think Hipstamatic is fun. For those of us who do not have the technical skills to add textures and interesting edits to our pictures, Hipstamatic is a great tool. And besides, I think the pictures can look really cool. And, there again, for those of us who lack that attribute this is an easy peasey way to approximate cool. I'll take that.

What do you think - Hipstamatic cool and fun or gimmicky and lazy?

Summer Summary or

2011-08-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

a bunch of blog posts thrown together into one.

Poor, neglected blog I do apologize for my unplanned hiatus. I'm back now to tell you where I'm been and to promise to never, ever disappear like that one you again. Now, in no particular order here is my August and some bits of July just for good measure:

:: A little angel I know turned 5!

:: The annual Pine Cone Drive-In at my in-laws was as wonderful as ever. Movies under the stars, matching cousin outfits, one brave soul who unearthed a snake and a skink, a slip and slide and sleeping in a tent. Good times! Oh, did I mention the tree house?!?! So, yeah the Grandparents surprised the grand kids with a tree house this summer. Not joking. Pretty amazing, huh?

:: I went to my 20th high school reunion. Did I say 20th? Pretty sure that is a typo.

:: My SIL took us to the most amazing blueberry farm. It is on Pine Lake in Sammamish. It is an organic farm that operates on the honor system for paying. Berries are $1.25 a pound. Did I just say $1.25? Yep. The bushes are loaded with berries. Other than going on the hottest day of the summer we had a great time. Now if I only had my blender so I could make some smoothies.

:: I took an amazing weekend trip to San Juan Island with a few friends. We enjoyed our coffee while watching harbor seas frolic in the bay, eagles fly overhead, and a family of deer resting in the front lawn. Not exaggerating any of it. Came home with an awesome souvenir - a bald eagle feather!
:: Bryce and I took the kids down to the new(ish) park on South Lake Union for a picnic and a sprint through the fountain there. I just love what they've done with that area. We had a wonderful time.:: In between activities I've been agonizing over paint for our kitchen (which is soo close to being finished.) Looking for a blueish gray that reads gray first, blue second is much harder than you think. Lucky for us the tile showed up and this lot had no blue tones so we went with a *gorgeous* warm gray from Benjamin Moore - Revere Pewter. I've almost gotten over all the time and energy I wasted on my blue/gray quest. Almost. Now onto the living room, entryway and our bedroom. Any color suggestions for our bedroom? No blue or gray.

:: We're still in corporate housing, waiting for our shipment. Fingers crossed it arrives in the next few weeks.
:: We are so in love with Seattle and have enjoyed seeing all the familiar sights again. Mount Rainier has never looked prettier. We've been to local zoos, beaches, lakes and wading pools with friends and family.

:: My cousin has been hosting her Wednesday night dinners and they've been so fun. So far there has been a luau, Americana, Greek and a slider evening.

:: Only a few more days of my Hipstamatic August.

I hope you've had a wonderful summer! Leave a comment and let me know what you've been up to.

School Boy Smores

2011-08-10T22:09:00.001-07:00

Yum. Tonight I was treated to something incredible at my cousin's house; smores made from Little School Boy cookies. Forget the graham crackers. Forget the Hersey's chocolate bar. All you need are marshmallows roasted to a golden brown and a box of LU's Little School Boy cookies. Try it. You won't ever go back!

Are you enjoying any special treats this summer?

Guess who

2011-08-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

lost her first tooth? Ah, my baby. Didn't she just get those teeth?

I'm having fun, exploring the hipstamatic app and posting a picture a day on tumblr. You can follow along here. To be honest, I'm not really sure how tumblr works. I'm managing to post pictures there but that is the extent of my knowledge. Are you familiar with tumblr? Do tell.

Real Time

2011-07-31T21:17:00.002-07:00

Hello from beautiful Seattle!

We're 2 weeks in and feeling a bit more settled. As settled as one can feel in a temporary apartment. Our things are out to sea, set to land in Seattle in early September.

I'm seeing the city with new eyes and loving what is there! My amazing sister sent these tdf T-shirts to the girls to welcome them home. Find your Seattle neighborhood! Ballard? West Seattle? Greenwood? She's got you covered. Super cute, no?
Please join me on tumblr for: Hipstamatic August - a month of pictures. I will post a picture a day; celebrating summer, Seattle and my new iPhone (who are we kidding?) Here on Sycamore Stirrings I'll be posting a hodge podge of things, yet to be determined. Much depends on how quickly our air shipment arrives with my much missed computer. I hope you stop by. I have some things in the hopper for you. Worth checking out, I think.

Hope you are well and enjoying summer! See you tomorrow on tumblr.

*all pictures by orangeroom

Addi Luxembourg #8

2011-07-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

Shops and restaurants actually close in Luxembourg. I will miss that. Shops close at 8 during the week and 6 on Saturday. On Sunday all stores are closed, with the exception of a few grocery stores that open until 1:00. It is so humane, so respectful of time. There isn't any "Open 24 hours a day" craziness that exists in the States. No one really needs a Big Mac at midnight. We would all survive just fine without a 24 hour grocery store. Shopping on Sunday? There are better things to do! America offers us too much time to buy stuff we don't need and eat things we don't need. I am in full support of the environmental controls of shop hours. Sundays are quiet in Lux. Sure we all complained about it at first but then we adjusted and then we started relaxing on Sundays. It was nice. I will miss that.

Addi Luxembourg #7

2011-07-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

Bakeries in Luxembourg, like Starbucks' in Seattle, are present on every corner. Whether for a baguette or morning pastry, a daily stop at a bakery is part of life for locals in Luxembourg. Not only delicious the cakes and pastries are beautiful. Their presentation and sleek beauty are unmistakably European. Oberweis, Namur and Wenge create some of the most amazing desserts in Luxembourg. I will miss gazing into the pastry cases, remarking on every little perfectly beautiful cake.

Addi Luxembourg #6

2011-07-22T00:38:00.001-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

Now don't laugh, but I'll miss the wildlife here. Yeah I know I was not living in the Amazon Rainforest or in the Australian Outback, but there was some wildlife. Remember the hedge hog? That was cool. I saw another one a few weeks ago on our driveway. I've seen bats flying around our house. Also cool. And lots of great birds - hawks, (almost daily) herons, cute little blue tits and European robins. And remember the pellets I found? And once we saw a barn owl. It was magical. Eva spotted it one night from her bedroom window. She had her blinds open so she could watch the snow fall. It came and perched on our clothesline. She ran down the stairs to get Bryce and I. I'll never forget that.

Addi Luxembourg #5

2011-07-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

I will miss the snowy winters. Maybe not the cold, though.

A handful of guide books compare the weather in Lux to that in Seattle. Let me set the record straight and say that they are very different. Luxembourg gets much, much colder and for much longer than Seattle. The winters here in Lux are loooooong. The summers in Lux are shorter, generally just June and July but can get very hot and HUMID. Due to the humidity there are thunderstorms in the summer when the weather breaks. Seattle's summer is July and August and even September. There isn't any humidity. Thank God! Both places are pretty gray, though.

Addi Luxembourg #4

2011-07-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

Oh the lovely walking group, of course! I will miss it so. Once a week a group of moms from the girls' school meet for a walk. It has been wonderful to see so many parts of Luxembourg and spend time outside. I've met an amazing group of women from all over the world. I will miss the chats and our coffee and pastries afterward.

At the risk of repeating myself, I must say that Luxembourg has the most amazing networks of walking trails. I will miss the ability to walk out of the front door and within minutes be on a trail heading into the forest. This is a big one for me. It is so accessible. This time in Lux has reinforced how important the outdoors are to my sense of well being.

Addi Luxembourg #3

2011-07-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

I will miss my favorite salad - Salade au Chevre Chaud. I hear Christina laughing as I write this. Her youngest daughter and I share a love of this salad. She teases me every time I order it. This salad is on every brasserie menu in Luxembourg and France (at least the parts of France I've been to.) It is my standard order. Must figure out how to make it at home. I recently remembered that the 74th St. Ale House on Greenwood has a goat cheese salad that is quite delicious. Fingers crossed it is still on the menu.

Addi Luxembourg #2

2011-07-18T01:39:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

Oh my wonderful exercise group - Forest Fit! I will miss it terribly. The forest, the exercise and the great company of the other participants proved to be a winning combination.

Addi Luxembourg #1

2011-07-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

Addi Luxembourg!

I will miss my wonderful backyard clothes line. A silly thing to miss, I know. But really it brings me such joy. On sunny days I start looking around for clothes to wash just so I can hang them up on the line. Luckily they are never in short supply. Must talk with my neighbor in Seattle about putting a line up between our houses.

Little Fish Big Fish

2011-07-14T01:47:00.001-07:00

There is always time to see a show, no? Thought we'd squeeze in PJ Harvey at the Abbey de Neumunster. We took in a last minute concert 3 years ago right before our move to Luxembourg. Funny.

Here is a fav song from PJ's new album. The video is great too.

The state of things

2011-07-11T12:43:00.003-07:00

I'd describe the state of things as loosely controlled chaos. Boxes. Movers. Stuff. I feel like I should be productive at all times but I just end up walking in circles. Checking things. Shifting piles. Wondering what I really should be doing. Wiping the counter. It is strange.

I keep waiting for the emotions to come. To feel sadness and loss. I know they are there, lurking behind the frenzy. Right now all I can do is keep my head down and focus on ticking off items on my to-do list. It is unfortunate, really. But that is the way it is. I'm sure when the dust settles the feelings will rise.

I've been keeping a list of all the things I'm going to miss about Luxembourg. I'll be sharing it with you in a series of posts called - Addi Luxembourg! These posts will hopefully bridge the gap while I'm without connectivity.

Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey of living abroad. Your comments have provided much needed company and brought insight into my experience. I hope you'll join me back in Seattle as we muddle our way through repatriation. A journey in and of itself. Until then, Addi from Luxembourg!

Little Difference #40

2011-07-10T13:59:00.003-07:00

Little Difference #40 - Deodorant

If I were forced to guess, I'd say 80% of American women using solid, stick type deodorant. Yes, I may have the deodorant preference of my fellow American women totally wrong. But based on advertisements and what is available in the shops, I'm sticking with my guess. Here in Luxembourg, however, the vast majority of deodorant is of the roll on or spray variety. In fact I've only seen 2 brands that offer a solid. I think this may be the case all over Europe. A friend who lived in Denmark said that solid deodorant wasn't even available there.

It is a funny little difference. I wonder how one area comes to favor one type and another something different. Interesting.

Naturally I must ask what type of deodorant is used (if any!) where you live?

Read all the Little Differences here.

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Friends, this concludes my series of Little Differences. I hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as I've enjoyed discovering them.

To Say Goodbye

2011-07-08T13:38:00.003-07:00

The girls worked hard on these goodbye presents for their friends. First they painted their frames using one color (not Audrey, she characteristically did it her way!) Next they added detail with paint pens. Lastly we covered the frames with modpodge to add shine and make them look more finished. The trickiest part of this project was remembering my camera so I could get a picture of the girls and their friends!

The girls are very proud of these. Now we're waiting for the perfect time to give them.

Little Difference #39

2011-07-07T07:34:00.002-07:00

Little Difference #39 - Pizza

You can get some delicious pizzas here in Luxembourg. The interesting thing is that they don't come sliced. What you'll get is a pizza on a plate, a fork and a large steak knife. Pizzas are eaten with knife and fork, one bite at a time. Talk about labor intensive. As my friend Jennifer said, I don't eat pizzas here they are too much work!

I do eat pizzas here and, yes, they are a lot of work. But I like that I'm slowed down. My meal lasts longer and I enjoy it much more. Honestly, I end up eating some bites with a fork and knife and some with my hands. Now that I feel more comfortable here I'm not so worried about following the rules.

Not only are pizzas served whole they are always served individually. Each person gets their own pizza; there isn't one large pizza for everyone to eat from. In the US pizzas are ordered in small, medium or large. A large pizza would feed a family of 4. If a pizza is meant for one person it would be listed as a "personal" pizza. A Dutch friend was vacationing in Florida and ordered a large pizza for herself as she was very hungry. You can imagine how surprised she was when the ginormous, meant for 4, pizza arrived.

BTW, my favorite pizzas here are Pizza Diavola (comes with spicy salami) and Pizza Rucola (comes with fresh arugula and Parmesan shavings.)

What about you? Pizza with a fork & knife or is pizza a finger food?

Read all the Little Differences here.

Little Difference #38

2011-07-06T13:33:00.002-07:00

Little Difference #38 - Houses

You know how we often don't see the things right in front of our eyes? That is definitely the case with this difference - houses! The houses (and buildings) here in Luxembourg are different from those in Seattle in 2 important ways - building material and paint color.

Houses here are built from cement blocks - cinder blocks. In Seattle houses are mainly constructed from wood. Brick is also not uncommon. And, yes, a few are made from cinder blocks.

More interesting than the building material, though is the paint colors. The majority of houses and building here are painted pink, yellow,orange or white. Yes, you'll see the odd light blue or light green house. But colors of the sunset is the norm. Pinks range from pale, barely there pink to Pepto Bismol. The same gradation applies to yellow and orange. Take a look:

You may have noticed from the pictures that attached and semi-attached houses are very common here. Not the case in Seattle. Most houses are stand-alone.

Please tell me about houses in your area. I'm dying to know!

Read all the Little Differences here.

Chips and Crisps

2011-07-06T11:39:00.004-07:00

In addition to their super fun language I also love the food culture of the English. No, it doesn't mean that I want to tuck into a steak and kidney pie. It just means that I have so enjoyed learning about (and sometimes trying) the food that is unique to them.

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brown sauce ~ mash ~ golden syrup ~ treacle ~ Marmite ~ double cream ~ fairy cakes ~ buns ~ pies ~ puddings ~ cakes ~ gherkins ~ Jaffa cakes ~ lager ~ mince ~ mushy peas ~ lemonade ~ sponge ~ porridge ~ Pimms ~ sweets ~ take-aways ~ tins of tomatoes ~ cider ~ biscuits ~ courgettes ~ aubergine ~ bangers ~ sweet corn ~ ginger beer ~ iced lollys

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On a girls weekend in London back in January I was introduced to another - Flapjacks! To an American a flapjack is a pancake. To the English it is a delicious cake purchased at Marks and Spencer. Sold in tubs and priced at 2 for 4£ they are impossible to resist.

I found a recipe online and tried my hand at making my own Flapjacks. Tasty but nothing like the real deal. If you ever visit a Marks and Spencer you *must* buy a tub. Or 2.

Those Cheeky Brits

2011-07-05T13:30:00.004-07:00

As you celebrated America's independence from England yesterday, I was putting together this post about one of my favorite parts of English culture - the language!

I love words. I love rhyming, puns, nic names, banter, slang. I love all of it. So imagine my delight when I befriended a few English birds, ahem, I mean proper English ladies. Our language differences weren't initially obvious. But after listening closely and long enough I sure did get an earful.

fancy dress = costume (like Americans would wear on Halloween)
Trainers=sneakers or tennis shoes
Swimming costume = bathing suit
fringe=bangs
knackered = hung over
pissed = drunk
shattered = exhausted
tea=dinner
Dodgy (one of my personal favs) = can't be trusted
Gutted = utterly disappointed
jumper = sweatshirt or pullover
rubber=eraser
And the exclamations??!! Crikey! Blimey!! Brilliant! Lovely. Well Done.

Thanks to The Inbetweeners I've also been schooled in all the naughty English words and expressions. This one cracks me up every time.

I could go on and on and on. Even after 2.5 years of friendship our discussion of the language differences between American English and English English never grows old. Never!! Now we're sort of passed the obvious words and have moved on to subtle expressions.

For example, Americans will give you a ride but the English will give you a lift. Go out for dinner? The American will tell you the food was great the English will say the food was nice. Did your child misbehave? The English will tell him off. Americans would never tell off a child, only a cheating boyfriend or soon-to-be ex boss. Americans dig in to a meal. The English tuck in.

The result of this constant analysis is that I'm always painfully aware of my word choice when I'm in mixed company. Can't say pants when I mean trousers as pants to the English means underpants. Can't excuse myself to the bathroom, must nip to the loo or use the toilet. And these characteristic American words- Awesome! Neat. Cool. Good job. Our American English keeps us optimistic and enthusiastic.

The American moms find it so cute when our children pick up little English words or start speaking with an English canter. However, the American accent holds no appeal to the English. They describe our accent as having a twang. Me? A Pacific NW coast girl with virtually no detectable American accent has a twang? Hmph. Pure rubbish I tell ya.

I would have never guessed that I'd move to Luxembourg only to learn about the English culture and dialect. But you know what? I'm sooo very glad I did!

Do you fancy reading up on this topic? This is the perfect reference book.

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Have any more favorite Trader Joe's items? Take a minute to leave a comment. Also found this post on Chowhound.

More London

2011-06-29T12:26:00.003-07:00

Just a few more pictures I wanted to share from our trip to London.

:: We took the kids to the Lion King. It was spectacular. I couldn't get over the costumes and set design. It was such an artist interpretation of the story.

:: I started off really wanting to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Then we read what Rick Steves had to say about it, ". . . .every tourist in London gathered in one place at the same time. " That was enough to put me off. But wouldn't you know, we unintentionally ended up at Buckingham Palace at 11:00, 30 minutes before the event. It was obscenely crowded, obscenely. More than 4 highly sensitive people could take. So we walked down the Mall and luckily saw the marching band and the guards marching down to Buckingham Palace. It was pretty special. I got chills. I'm glad to have seen it, especially without the mobs.

:: Isn't this picturesque? Father and daughters cooling their feet in a fountain at Trafalgar Square? As they were drying off a caretaker of the square told us to make sure the girls washed their feet as the fountain was full of chemicals. Niiiiice.

:: Eva's first Shirley Temple. This brought back great memories for me. As a child my sister and I always ordered these at restaurants. I remember the maraschino cherries and, if we were lucky, plastic monkeys floating on the top. Audrey doesn't like fizzy things so opted for a juice based mocktail.

:: This is the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. The bridge is pedestrian only, not even bikers or roller bladers are allowed.

:: This is a guard at the Tower of London. I really like this picture. Just wish I didn't cut the top of the guard box off.

:: Spotted these colorful buildings from the London Eye. Anyone know what they are?

:: World Record Bunting. This was hanging up along the Thames right before the London Eye. School children contributed the flags to make this record breaking bunting. Eva was so excited to see a real World Record. We have forgotten to look it up in the book. Maybe tomorrow.

:: Spotted by Eva on a lamp post. Anyone know what this is about? Americans deserve more ice cream. Hmmm?

:: Just like Dublin, Look Left and Look Right were painted onto the crosswalks at busy streets. I saw a few of these pictorial versions that I thought were pretty neat.

London Calling

2011-06-28T13:15:00.004-07:00

I know, I know I can't believe it either. So much travel. Yes, I feel like a spoiled brat. But, in the spirit of trying to see as much as we can before we move, we took a long weekend trip to London. And all I can say about London is that I'm totally starstruck. I loved it. Almost as much as I love the English. But that is for another post.

Here is what we saw in London:

:: One of many cool bridges. Yeah, I said cool.

:: Guards. Lots of guards.

:: A huge Gherkin. That's pickle to us Americans.

:: A Tower that wasn't really a tower

:: A palace and more tourists than I've ever seen in one place in my life

:: An Eye and the view from it

:: Ravens

:: Yeomen

:: Big Ben, Parliament. Never tired of saying, "Look kids there's Big Ben!"

:: Phone booths. The set-up for this photo was Eva's idea.

:: 4 Friendly lions

Have you been to London? Tell me what you thought.

Friday Funny

2011-06-23T20:17:00.001-07:00

Portlandia - Could easily be called Parts of Seattlandia too. This one kind of sums up the idea behind it:

A few more episodes that caught my eye:

Bryce's favorite clip.
This terrifies me because I can actually picture it happening. Is this where we're headed?
Etsy.
I know these people.

In the same vein as Portlandia is this Whole Foods parking lot rap.

Occurred to me that it may be hard to find the humor in these if you're not familiar with the area. Maybe I should have titled the post - Funny for Pacific North Westerners.

Big Brioche

2011-06-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

As cute as those mini brioche are they are also quite tedious to make. In addition, with only 12 mini pans I'm left with a whole lot of dough. No problem, though, I used the remaining dough to make one large loaf. This loaf is called - Brioche à tête. The tête (head in English) is the little ball on top. A head is not the first body part I think of when I see this loaf, but maybe that is just me.

Brioche

2011-06-21T20:27:00.001-07:00

Ah, brioche. I had so much fun trying out a few recipes and sampling the results. For the recipes I forced myself to actually look through some of our cookbooks. My habit is to jump online and search for recipes while our nice collection of cookbooks collects dust. Do you do that too?

Anyhoo, the first recipe I tried was from What you Knead by Mary Ann Esposito. This is a lovely cookbook with photographs of each step of the bread making process. This is so helpful. Curious about forming a fontana to make your bread dough? She has a photograph of each step. To a bread making novice (me!) this is invaluable. Esposito's recipe made a gorgeous, shiny elastic ball of dough. The ingredients she calls for are very specific - bottled water, King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour, and NO rapid rise yeast. Needless to say I had to use what I could find. Although the end result was very tasty I was curious to try a another recipe.
For my next foray into brioche I followed a recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. This is more than a book of recipes but instead a method of making bread. Essentially what you do is make enough dough at one time for 4 loaves of bread. You freeze or refrigerate the extras until you are ready to use them. The method used in this book is the complete opposite of Esposito's specific, detailed procedures. In the Artisan Bread method there is no kneading or no need to proof the yeast. In fact, they don't even care what kind of yeast you use. The ingredients are chucked into a bowl. As a chucker myself I really like this. But you know what I liked even more? The ease of producing a loaf of fresh, delicious brioche without any mess or hassle - thanks to the balls of dough patiently waiting in the freezer. This method does take more than 5 minutes a day - thaw overnight in fridge, rest for an hour before baking, and then baking time. But still, it is so easy and the bread was delicious.

The truth is I think both recipes are great for different reasons. Esposito's gives you one well loved, pampered and produced loaf of bread. Hertzberg and Francois give you ease and flexibility. Both recipes give you a delicious loaf of brioche.

Have you baked with either of these books? Whaddya think?

Favorite Things from Trader Joe's

2011-06-21T06:19:00.003-07:00

Thank you for your help with the California play list! That was fun. Now, I need your help with something else. I've been telling our friends about the wonders of Trader Joe's and wouldn't you know it, there is one right next to where they're staying in Cali. Sooo, please take a second and tell me your FAV Trader Joe's products. Ones that you would recommend to someone new to TJ's.

Here are mine: Their fresh hummus, pico de gallo, sesame seed covered almonds and dried apricots. I also love their peanut butter filled pretzels. However, I don't think the English love peanut butter the way we Americans do.

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Little Difference #37

2011-06-20T11:32:00.004-07:00

Little Difference #37 - Coins

A funny little detail to attend to before moving back to the States - rolling loose change. We've collected quite a bit. As I watched the girls counting and rolling I realized why we have so much. There are twice as many coins in Europe as in America.

In the States we have the penny (1), nickel (5), dime (10) and quarter(25) - 4 different coins. The Euro coin denominations are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 1 euro, 2 euros - 8 coins. The 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins collect very quickly in the change bowl.Even after nearly 3 years here I still fumble around for coins in my coin purse. There are too many of them. The 1, 2, 5 are the same color; a dark copper color. The 10, 20, and 50 are gold. It is impossible to find the proper coin in a dark coin purse. The 1 cent coins are tiny! Smaller than a dime (for you Americans.)

I also think that having 1 euro and 2 euros as a coin, mentally diminishes its value. It doesn't seem like what it is (especially if I think of it in dollars.) Bills seem like "real" money or something substantial. But the coins here can add up very fast into something "real." The first bill in the Euro is a 5 euro bill.

BTW, if you're looking to keep your kids occupied have them roll coins. My kids loved this. After the first day they asked to do it the next. They even asked about it in the car on the way home from school.

What are the coin denominations where you live?

Read all the Little Differences here.

California Dreamin'

2011-06-15T10:55:00.004-07:00

Are you taking a vacation this summer? You already know where we're going this summer - home! Some friends of ours have a very exciting vacation planned. They are taking a 2 week trip to California this summer! It is quite a long distance from Luxembourg! To add to the excitement, it will be their daughters' first visit to the States (they are English.)

I'm very excited for them to visit my neck of the woods . . . well, west coast at least. It has been fun to listen to their trip plans and to give them tips on how to talk American - things are cool, not brilliant. They will be doing quite a bit of driving in order to get to all their must sees. In addition to cranking the AC they are creating a play list to listen to in the car to make the drive more enjoyable. How fun, right? A play list inspired by California. Bryce and I contributed a few ideas, mostly obvious ones: Hotel California, Going to California, California Dreaming. But I thought I'd turn it over to you. I'm a Washingtonian, what do I know about the spirit of California?

What songs do you think embody California? What songs capture the spirit of California? Please, please leave a comment . . .or two or three.

the photo is of my in-laws in Oregon.

Time with Grandma

2011-06-14T11:37:00.004-07:00

Just like she did on her last visit, my mom brought a project to share with the girls. Last time it was the calafant castle. This time it was Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Book. The 3 of them sat together and had a ball making cute little thumbprint doodles.

Through her Eyes

2011-06-13T11:31:00.003-07:00

I handed down my Sony Cyber shot to Eva a few months ago. She loves taking pictures. Her favorite subject so far seems to be Audrey . . . being silly. She brought her camera along to Venice. I love to look through her pictures to see what exactly caught her eye. It is always interesting. Have a look~

At a rest stop in Alsace, France on the drive to Venice.

Waiting for our water taxi and being silly

Self portrait in the water taxi

Looking out of the water taxi

Campo Santa Margherita

Water fountain with mermaid design

The girls room in the apartment

Some of her reading material

reflection in a store window

New mask from Grandma

Gondola Bling

Our gondolier

Passing by the only remaining gondola workshop in Venice

View from the gondola

Currant Affairs

2011-06-10T12:39:00.002-07:00

Our neighbors gave us 2 tubs full of red currants. My mom and I were still on a baking high after making a tarte au citron so we eagerly starting researching currant recipes. Honestly, there isn't much out there other than jam but we did find a currant mini cake recipe and one for currant muffins. We made both.

I was most interested in the mini cake (Petits gâteaux aux groseilles) recipe so we made that first. It used almond flour and egg whites with a handful of currants thrown on top before baking. The cake part was delicious - moist with a light almond flavor. My mom said the cakes would be great with any berry other than currants. They were just too bitter and sour. I actually thought the berries were okay. The cakes are a snap to make. I used ramekins for the pans.

The muffins were easy as well. Guess what my mom said about them. . . would be great with any berry other than currants. The muffins used more currants than the mini cakes so the tart, bitterness was much more noticeable and, yes, unpleasant.

Final verdict: Currants are good for jam. And creme de cassis. And for garnish. That is about it.

What's cooking in your kitchen these days?

Girl vs Gelato

2011-06-09T08:21:00.001-07:00

From the Gondola

2011-06-08T12:32:00.004-07:00

There was no way we were leaving Venice without a gondola ride. The girls were set on it! Of the 500 gondolas reportedly in Venice I think they commented on *every* one - LOOK there is a gondola! LOOK there is a gondolier! So my mom and I coughed up the ridiculous price for a 30 minute ride and took the girls one evening. It was incredibly special. After throwing his hat to my mom, our gondolier took us down some quiet, peaceful canals where we felt like the only people in Venice. We enjoyed the silence and took in the experience (once I put the camera down.) Our evening on a gondola in Venice will be stored away in our memory vaults forever.

One of the ways the girls learned about gondolas and gondoliers was from this book, Gabriella's Song. I found out about it on Lucia's blog. It is a charming story that takes place in Venice.

Magical Venice

2011-06-07T11:25:00.004-07:00

I've been thinking about how to describe Venice to you. And decided to show you the things that make Venice feel so magical. Here goes ~

Quiet, hidden canals

Masks

Gondolas

Perfectly shabby buildings

Expansive squares

Colorful Clotheslines

Stripes

Granitas

Evening aperitifs

Bridges

Have you been to Venice? What do you remember as magical?

Little Difference #36

2011-06-06T11:30:00.005-07:00

Little Difference #36 - Speedo Swimsuits

I know, I know this should be a post about Venice, but we ran into this difference on Sunday and I just had to share it with you. We heard it was true. And as Bryce found out on Sunday it definitely is true - at public swimming pools here in Luxembourg men must wear Speedo style swim suits!

We've never taken the kids swimming here despite the fact that swimming seems to be very popular. There are many swimming pools and people always talk about going swimming. Once Bryce heard Speedos were required there was no possibility of him going. And since wearing a bathing suit in public is really not my favorite thing I never offered to take the girls either. But, they begged and begged so Bryce volunteered. Hey, we managed to put them off for over 2 years, not bad.

He brought his trunks, put them on and then was stopped from getting into the pool. No Speedo, no swim, Monsieur. Luckily there was a shallow kiddie pool and the girls could splash around with Bryce on the sidelines.

I've been told the reason for the Speedos is hygiene, meaning the trunks would bring more dirt, grime, unhygienic stuff into the pool. Could someone please explain this reasoning to me?

In the little corner of America I'm familiar with men wear swim trunks. With the exception of athletes, Speedos are not worn by the average guy. In fact, we secretly point and giggle when we do see a man in such swim attire. Point and giggle, my friends. And that is why Speedos at the swimming pool is a Little (big) Difference.

FUNNY READ - an expat in Paris recounts his horror at the Speedo rule.

Tell me about swim attire in your neck of the woods.

Read all the Little Differences here.

buonasera

2011-06-03T14:07:00.002-07:00

Back from an amazing 4 days in Venice! I'm happy to report the drive went very smoothly. Yeah, I know, who drives to Venice? Just doesn't seem like a destination to be reached by car. May as well drive to the moon. But, thanks to an overnight in Switzerland and one in Austria on the way home we did it!

Friends, Venice was magical. I can't wait to share it with you. I'll collect my thoughts and polish up some pictures and see you on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Greetings Strangers

2011-05-27T12:10:00.003-07:00

I guess I'm really the stranger. I don't know what has gotten into me. I used to be a good blogger, meaning I posted regularly. I write alot of posts in my head, daily in fact. Maybe we just need to figure out how you can zone in on my brainwaves.

My mom is here despite that naughty volanic ash! She is our last vistor to Luxembourg. Time is zooming by, my friends. We'll be back in Seattle in no time. Is it possible to be happy and sad at the same time? Right now I am. Excited to move home; sad to leave our life here in Luxembourg. Despite the challenges of living abroad, this has been an amazing experience for our family. Yes, I would defintely do it again. Definitely.

This week I've been busy planning a road trip. It seems my mom and I have recovered (or forgotten) from the drive to Prague last spring. We're doing it again. A longer drive this time. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Bryce introduced me to this great tool on the TomTom website. It is a route planner. Simply put in your destination from any starting point and it calculates the kilometers and driving hours. Wish we knew about it 2 years ago! Always something to learn, I guess.

Bryce came home with this great album today! Have you heard it? I love that I can picture them playing at a Farmers' Market as easily as I can picture them on stage. I think they would be great live. Their banjo is pretty awesome. I embedded one of my fav tracks for you. This song is the anthem of the living - exhilarating!

Think that is it for me. Hope you're doing well. I may be even more sporadic (if that is possible!!) for the next 2 weeks while my mom is here. I know you understand . . .

Oh, blogger is totally freaking out again. Another reason I have posted lately. Spell check isn't working now either, among other things. Just sayin.

Picture is from Rodemack, France.

Invaded

2011-05-20T10:29:00.003-07:00

A few friends and I escaped to Paris last weekend. I was on the look out for Space Invaders. Thanks to Jennifer's eagle eyes we spotted quite a few. Have a look ~

Apparently the invasion in Paris is still in progress. Read more here.

Right Now: Mid May

2011-05-12T01:31:00.000-07:00

Watching . . .Bored to Death. We've only watched the first 5 episodes and have found that each one gets better and better. Jason Schwartzman plays a writer who moonlights as a private detective and Zach Galifianakis (who easily won me over in Between Two Ferns) plays his troubled best friend. HBO does it again!

Making . . .lots of plans for an upcoming girls weekend in Paris!

Smelling . . .lilacs which have been blooming for over a week now.

Hoping . . .blogger actually saves and publishes this post. Lost the whole thing this morning. Fingers crossed the second time is a charm.

Reading . . . this classic recommended by Christina and Jennifer. When I'm finished I'll pick up The Lacuna again. Although this and this are calling my name too thanks to Jennifer.

Enjoying . . .our last few months in Luxembourg before we move back to Seattle.

Wondering . . .if Eva will ever tire of working on her dandelion chain - the longest EVER. She has hopes of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Listening . . . to Angus and Julia Stone. After I caught on to Yellow Brick Road I've been obsessed. Heard this Neil Young cover on the radio. It is the first time Neil has given permission to have one of his songs sampled. It's not bad, even Bryce agrees.

Feeling . . .terribly excited about the kitchen remodel in our Seattle house - counter tops, appliances, floors - the works!

Remembering . . . how very quickly time passes.

Where are you right now?

Just so lovely

2011-05-10T05:07:00.004-07:00

Ah, this song is so beautiful. Had to share it with you. Wish I'd clued into Angus and Julia a week ago, then I could have seen them at the Rockhal here in Luxembourg. Gah. Explains why they were being played on the radio often enough for even me to take notice.

Don't even try to tell me you don't have time to listen to this song. Just click play and go about your business, there is nothing to watch anyway. Soulful, amazing.

What are you listening to these days?

Spotted at the Supermarket

2011-05-09T13:12:00.002-07:00

I love that even after 2.5 years here in Luxembourg I still see new things at the grocery store. Today I saw these fruit called nèfles. They look like apricots, about the same size and color. I bought a few just to give them a try. They don't taste like apricots at all, the flesh is not dense, it is more watery not unlike a grape. The taste is a mild citrus and something else that I just couldn't find the word for.

I read the nèfles wiki page and was surprised to see that the pictures and description did not match the fruit I'd bought. A few clicks later and I learned that what I'd purchased is actually a loquat. Why they were labeled as nèfles (also called Medlar) I'm not sure. It seems nèfles are made into jam and tarts.

Huh, ya learn something new everyday. If you anything about these nèfles/loquats/medlars please leave a comment.

Pucker up

2011-05-06T12:48:00.006-07:00

I was just telling my friend Christina about this recipe. Actually I wasn't telling her about it I was GUSHING. Talking with my hands, speaking too loudly . . . gushing. For a good reason too, this recipe is kick-ass. I've always wanted to make a tarte au citron the famous French tart. When we had family here a few weeks ago I decided that was the time to give it a go. Glad I did.

I found the recipe on David Lebovitz's blog. This recipe is great from the shell all the way to the filling. The tart shell recipe, though, is totally amazing. So easy to make - no rolling, cutting in butter, adding pie weights before baking or anything annoying. Easy to work with too. Needless to say, I'll never use another tart pastry recipe again. This is it. David described the filling as moderate, meaning it didn't make very much. I found it to be just right. We tossed fresh strawberries over the top before eating. The berries were nice, but between you and me, I prefer my tarte straight-up. Maybe with a dollop of cream.

So, now you know what to make this weekend. Ya know for that thing you have to go to and bring a dessert. No need to tell me how it goes, I know it will be awesome*.

*Can't use the word - awesome - without a smile. Such an Americanism. When my English friends want to tease me about my accent and vocabulary this word invariably comes up.

A Royal Affair

2011-05-02T11:07:00.002-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a friend's house to watch the Royal Wedding. An English friend's house, at that! Not only did we celebrate Will & Kate's nuptials we also celebrated England as well. Posh frocks were adorned, tiaras dusted off and put on and, the other American and I, brushed up on the Queen's English.

The table was spread with all dishes English - strawberries & cream, coronation chicken, scones with jam & cream, a Victoria sponge (this had nothing to do with cleaning as I learned,) jacket potatoes, fairy cakes with royal toppers, and a cheese & pineapple hedgehog. For drinks we enjoyed Pimms, cremant (we were in Luxembourg, after all) and tea, of course.

An über talented friend of mine, Jennifer, knitted Kate, Will and the Queen and presented them to our hostess as a gift. The dolls were incredible! Have you seen the book the dolls were born from, Knit your own Royal Wedding? Super fun stuff!

So, what about you? Did you watch the wedding? What did you think? I loved the Queen in yellow. Almost made her seem cheerful, no? Leave a comment, let's dish about the Royal Wedding!

Where I've Been (again)

2011-04-28T23:34:00.003-07:00

A theme is starting to emerge in my posts; my absence. Life is busy and full right now. Which is a good thing, but not so much for the blog. I hope you'll stick with me, though. I'll be back. I always come back.

Monday was a holiday here in Lux and for most of Europe. We went to the Easter Market and purchased our 2011 bird whistle.

Tuesday I took our visiting family to Rodemack where we took in the charms of this quaint medieval town.

Wednesday our family left. Back home to Washington for them. I met with some friends about our upcoming girls weekend in Paris. Squeal!!

Thursday was one of those funny days where I felt like I was on the outside of myself. Like I was driving on the wrong side of the road. Like I'm walking around without a shirt on but I don't realize it. At the grocery store I took someone's grocery cart and added 4 things to it before I realized it wasn't my own. Perhaps this happens to everyone, but this is the 3rd time I've done it in the past few months. I'm not kidding. When I realize it I always want to say to the person whose cart I hijacked, Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I accidentally took your cart instead of mine. I'm losing my mind, please excuse me. But this sentiment is much too complex for me to express in my rudimentary French. So I end up saying something (in French) that is more like - I take your cart. Sorry. Then I walk away with my tail between my legs like a total lame-o. Ever have days like that?

Friday is today! It is going to be great. I'm headed to a Royal Wedding party! We'll be sipping Pimms, eating strawberries and cream and partaking in all things English while watching the wedding. I'll give you a full report on Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend! With any luck I'll be back to posting on Monday.

Easter goodies.

Easter Bits and Pieces

2011-04-22T11:55:00.002-07:00

A few tidbits for you ~

This year the bunny will be hiding eggs with Easter jokes inside of them. I, ahem the Easter Bunny, used jokes found here.
I was shocked today to learn this about Kinder Eggs! I bring these back to the US every time I come home. I guess I've been living dangerously.

We dyed eggs today. The girls discovered double (triple, quadruple) dipping this year. Our eggs are wild. They really enjoyed it, though and the activity lasted much longer. I still prefer simple, solid colored eggs. Clearly the preference of an adult, not a kid.

Birthday Wishes

2011-04-22T08:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you. xo

Nesting

2011-04-21T12:41:00.003-07:00

The girls and I took advantage of the bit of down time we had today to make some cookies for Easter. I whipped up some thumbprint dough (Audrey still calls them fingerprints. I love that.)and we made little bird nest cookies. The girls were really into it. I'm quite certain it had something, everything, to do with the jelly beans. Both girls declared jelly beans their favorite Easter candy. Thank you mom for sending us some!

To make the cookies you need to make Thumbprint cookie dough. Here's a recipe for ya. Bake the cookies as directed. When they've cooled spoon a bit of icing (powdered sugar and milk) in the indentation and place 3 jelly beans on the icing. Let the icing harden before storing.

If I would have had some shredded wheat cereal, I would have iced the whole top of the cookie, sprinkled some broken up shredded wheat around the indentation before adding the 3 jelly beans. You could also do this with slivered or sliced almonds. This would make the cookies even more nest-like.

See that cookie with 3 black jelly beans on it? The girls made me 2 of these because I like black licorice. Such a sweet thought . . . not so sure it will be such a sweet cookie.

Where I've Been

2011-04-21T12:19:00.002-07:00

We have family in town! I've been delightfully busy being the hostess and the tour guide with the mostess. My MIL is here with her brother and sister - a sibling trip. Pretty cool, right?

We've been to Luxembourg's Petite Switzerland.

To Metz; around the city and to the Pompidou Center.

And touring Lux City, of course.

The gang is off to Paris now but back in time for Easter.

Hope you're having a great week!

Springtime in Luxembourg

2011-04-15T13:28:00.003-07:00

I know I promised you brioche. I also told you I'm unreliable. So a post about spring should come as no surprise.

Spring is here. Not just signs of it, it is really here. I think this is the first year I really paid attention to spring in Luxembourg, at least to what exactly is blooming. Have a look -

~~Forthysia~~

~~Snowdrop Anemone~~ These cover the forest floors right now. Just magical!

~~Violets~~

~~Daffodils~~ Fields of them!

~~Magnolia~~ But I already told you about those.

Truth be told, in the week or so it took me to gather these pictures, the magnolia blossoms have started to drop, the forsythias fade and the daffodils are on their way out. But, yesterday I noticed lilacs with bursting buds and bits of yellow peeking from the rapeseed plants.

Spring in Luxembourg is here. I'm glad I noticed.

Making Babies

2011-04-13T13:51:00.003-07:00

No, no not the human kind, the brioche kind! It started with a high pitched squeal when I spied, what can only be thought of as, the cutest bake ware ever - mini brioche pans! Actually I saw the mama first and then I saw her babies. I think I yelled out at no one in particular - Look at these baby brioche pans!! Had to have them. Never made brioche before. Never really wanted to. Still scared of yeast dough. None of it mattered. At 97 cents a piece these babies were coming home with me.

So far I've tried 2 different brioche recipes. I'll tell you about them tomorrow. Or the next day. I'm pretty unreliable these days.

In the mean time just feast your eyes on some serious baby cuteness.

Tell me, what is it about miniature things that makes them so darn cute?

Hmmm. I don't know. I just know they are somehow irresistible.

Do you own any miniature bake ware? Tell me about it -

sycamore stirrings

Snowpocalypse

**GIVEAWAY**

Birthday Girl

S is for Success

F is for Complete Failure

American Macaroning

Thank you notes

Friday Funny

Not Happy Anymore

A Cake Deconstructed

Goodbye 2011

Happy, Merry to you!

Yule Log Challenge

This Year's Christmas Cookies

A Christmas Spirit

A Crafty Afternoon

More edible gifts

Christmas Music

Speaking of the Nutcracker

A Magical Evening

Edible Gifts

Stocking Stuffers

Scenes from the Weekend

holiday lights

One more Thanksgiving note

Tomorrow is December 1st

Thanksgiving Debrief

Table Top Inspiration

Ta Da!

Searching for Stuffing

Voila!

Friday Funny

Wallpaper pickle

In the Kitchen

Thinking of Thanksgiving

Double Take

Squash

Music

Lazy Baking

Happy Halloween

Glimpse of Gus

Hilarious Halloween Book

Table Topics

Halloweening

In Search of the Perfect Pumpkin

Happy Monday Morning!

Right Now: Late September

deja vu

Do the Puyallup

August 31st

Summer Summary or

School Boy Smores

Guess who

Real Time

Addi Luxembourg #8

Addi Luxembourg #7

Addi Luxembourg #6

Addi Luxembourg #5

Addi Luxembourg #4

Addi Luxembourg #3

Addi Luxembourg #2

Addi Luxembourg #1

Little Fish Big Fish

The state of things

Little Difference #40

To Say Goodbye

Little Difference #39

Little Difference #38

Chips and Crisps

Those Cheeky Brits

More London

London Calling

Friday Funny

Big Brioche

Brioche

Favorite Things from Trader Joe's

Little Difference #37

California Dreamin'

Time with Grandma

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