Gorgeous Sunrises

Winter means really short days, and I mean really short. Right around the Winter Solstice the sun wasn't rising until nearly 9am and it was setting just after 3:30 in the afternoon. Not a whole lot of daylight! However, it does make the chances of catching a spectacular sunrise much better, because, well basically there is a better chance of me being awake at the butt crack of dawn if it doesn't show itself until 9 am! It is getting earlier and earlier every day now and its rising at about 8am which is perfect for me to get some great shots on my morning walks with Max before I head over to the radio station.

Here are a few of the January sunrises I have been awake for! You can click on the images to see them larger.

The marine birds use the beach as a sanctuary from the snow

A very bright and very snowy early January morning

A glimmer of pink reminds us that there is a sun under all those grey clouds!

Max plays on the beach in mid-January as the sun rises

My First Curry

It certainly wasn't the first curry I have had, but it was the first curry I have made myself and not from a jar. I have really challenged myself to eliminate as many prepared foods from my diet as possible and curry is a favorite violation so last night I figured now was as good a time as any to start practicing my curry skills with my favorite- Chicken Korma.

I decided to whip out my Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook. Its a cookbook geared toward beginners but there are a few great recipes in there I use quite often. For this undertaking I was really happy to have a cookbook for beginners to guide me through my first journey with curry.

I skipped a few steps just to get the hang of it. For instance I didn't have whole cumin and coriander seeds so I wasn't able to roast them for my curry paste as Jamie instructed. Also I forgot to buy groundnut oil and used vegetable oil instead. I definitely noticed that my end product lacked a little bit of depth because of this, but for my first trial run just getting down the basic steps and doing it once it worked out fine.

The first step was to make a curry paste, this was packed with lots of ginger, garlic, green chilis, cilantro, coconut, almonds and spices. I was surprised by how green this curry paste was, every jarred curry paste I have ever seen has been a brilliant red but because this was so fresh and had no added colors, it was flecked throughout with green cilantro and chilis. Luckily it looked a lot like Jamie's photos in the cookbook so I didn't let the color throw me.

Then I sauteed some thinly sliced onions with fresh ginger and something I had never cooked with before- cilantro stalks. That is coriander stalks if you are European, yes folks it is the same plant! In the US we call the plant cilantro and the seeds coriander, but here on this side of the Atlantic the whole plant is called coriander. I have always used the leaves and either blended the stalks together with the cilantro or else discarded them completely, but this recipe called for finely chopped coriander stalks, leaving the leaves aside (although there were plenty in the curry paste).

After this I added the curry paste I had prepared earlier, coconut milk, ground almonds, creamed coconut, chickpeas and some water and then I simmered it for awhile.

This is another place where I deviated from Jamie's recipe a bit. Jamie's book is aimed a lot at parents cooking for a family, so this recipe made enough curry to feed a family of 5 and I didn't have enough chicken breast for such a big recipe. Instead of adding the chicken breast at this step, I just made the curry sauce so I could split it in half reserving some to make a biryani which is kind of like a casserole you can make from leftover curry and rice. I simmered the curry sauce for about 15 minutes before splitting it in half and putting one portion away, then I added cubed chicken to the curry and cooked it for another 30 minutes while I boiled the rice. This alone was enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow for me and then I can get another couple meals out of the other half.

I also noticed that I just happened to have all the necessary ingredients to make a mango lassi, which is basically just a mango milkshake made with fresh mango, milk and plain yogurt. Its a perfect compliment to any Indian meal because it is fresh and creamy and cuts any heat. Chicken korma is the mildest of all the curries, but even mine was a bit tangier than most because I was using fresh green chiles so the mango lassi went well with the meal.

This is the final product, although I cheated on the rice and used boil-in-the-bag stuff instead of steaming the rice like I usually like to but I had enough going on I wasn't going to split hairs over rice. I also didn't make the mini naan breads, I have tried to make them before but I really don't think they work unless you have a tandoori to cook them in, which I clearly do not. As I said earlier in the post, it lacked the depth that some other curries I have enjoyed seem to have but what it lacked in depth it more than made up for in freshness. It was the perfect amount of sweet and coconutty without being sickly or too rich and I really loved how good the freshly prepared curry paste tasted in this dish.

Well its not a job, but its the next best thing...

My life feels like its getting back to normal now. Last week was kind of a wash, its never taken me so long to get adjusted back, but then again this is my first time going West and then coming back East to my life and routine. Its much easier going the other way.

After a rough first week of 2010, I jumped in right away this week with getting myself geared up for the next few months. After of a year of trying to get hooked up with some volunteer opportunities through the local volunteer placement agency I kind of took matters into my own hands. Long story short, starting today I will be volunteering every weekday at the local radio station, Radio Hartlepool.

I think I have a lot to offer a radio station, I'm good with words and what is radio after all but spoken words? I am really excited about the opportunity to become more connected to my community, and that is what Radio Hartlepool is about. Radio Hartlepool is a non-profit organization which started as an exclusively volunteer venture and still runs mostly on the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers.

So what will I be doing you might ask? Mostly I will be filling receptionist type duties, answering phones, greeting guests, making tea, and other admin stuff. On top of that I will also be learning a lot about how a radio station works, what goes into running a full time radio broadcast and dipping my toes into all aspects of station operations. It will be a chance for me to feel things out and see if maybe radio is a good career turn for me.

Maybe radio will be the thing for me, maybe it won't, but through helping out the station I gain so much needed local experience and references. It seems to be one of the major problems I have faced in my job search, no "local experience" or "local knowledge". Hopefully my time volunteering at Radio Hartlepool will broaden my local experience and knowledge and open doors for me.

I will be volunteering at the station weekdays from 9 until early afternoon, so it will at least feel like a part time job- just without a paycheck, but at least a sense of purpose and fulfillment should follow. I think it will do me a world of good both emotionally and mentally to have quite literally a reason to get out of bed in the morning, put on something other than pajamas and leave the house. I have gotten pretty comfortable in my home-based routine, but I am hoping this will be a good transitional period between not doing much of anything and gainful employment.

Carol Service at St. Hilda's

I didn't post yesterday because I knew I would want to post about my experience last night. I have been trying to visit St. Hilda's since I moved here and I've only ever seen the outside. Well last night a choir I sing in, The George Colley Singers, provided the music for the Hartlepool Freemasons Carol Service.

I've never seen anything quite the same as a carol service in the States, although certainly similar services in the season of Advent. The way it works is that a series of lessons are read, last night there were 9 lessons read starting at Genesis, through prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament and then finally to many of the familiar passages of the Christmas Story. Between each reading, a Christmas carol is sung. At this carol service my choir did a short Musical Interlude halfway through the service where we sang O Holy Night, Be Still My Soul and an Italian carol called Bambino. The rest of the service we just led the congregation in the carols and threw in harmonies where we knew them to fill out the sound.

It was a magnificent service. Sadly I couldn't get any photos inside because it was too dark in there and I don't believe in using flash photography inside 800 year old sacred buildings. Its disrespectful and the light from flashes can damage the frescos, fabrics and other priceless art decorating these buildings which are irreplaceable.

I was really surprised when I entered St. Hilda's that it has been so beautifully kept and fitted with a lot of modern conveniences like beautiful modern lighting and heating. Although there is only so much you can do, the church was still absolutely freezing and while the congregation stayed in their coats and wooly hats, I was wearing this...

It should come as no surprise that I am easily the youngest lady in the choir.

A bit of history about St. Hilda's Hartlepool. Although the exact date is unknown, St. Hilda's church was built in the 13th Century by the Brus family. Yes, the same family Robert the Bruce came from and local legend has it that Robert the Bruce was actually born in the Brus family home in Hart Village and not in Scotland as Scottish history books tell us. It would certainly make sense as Robert the Bruce's father was the Lord of Hartness and owned most of Hartlepool. Both the original St. Hilda's church and the Hartlepool Town Wall were built by the Bruce family.

St. Hilda's Church

Hartlepool Town Wall

The site of St. Hilda's church is actually home to an even older sacred place dating back to the 7th Century. Before St. Hilda's church was built by the Bruces, St. Hilda's Abbey existed on the Hartlepool Headland and was founded by the Saint in 640 A.D. So the land where St. Hilda's currently stands has been a place of worship for over 1300 years.

Visiting this church is special, but getting the opportunity to sing in this space with a really talented group of musicians was a special Christmas treat for me and something I will never forget and hope to do again next year and in years to come.

Midwest To-Do Lists

I don't know if I posted it here, but I am coming home for Christmas. I will be in Lake Orion from December 21th-27th and in Chicago from December 28th-January 2nd. I have a lot of feelings swirling around about this trip, it has really been a long time since I have been back and I don't know what to expect. My first priority was to find a place for Max while I was gone, I finally found a great kennel to board Max. Its a farm, and come on what dog doesn't love a farm? He will get lots of love and most importantly exercise and that was my main concern. It will be so hard to leave, but at least when I leave him I can convince myself he is going on vacation too.

So, now with all of that out of my mind, I can start thinking about what I am going to do when I get home to Lake Orion and when I get back to Chicago.

My Metro Detroit List

Dinner and margaritas at Sagebrush Cantina in downtown LO

A couple drinks at Hamlin Pub for old time's sake

A long visit with Barbie, we have so much to catch up on and there are some things that can only be said in person

A visit to Canterbury Village, I never realized how much I missed this until I went through a Christmas season without it

Christmas Eve service at King of Kings Lutheran, there is no substitute and its not Christmas without it

Starbucks, Starbucks and more Starbucks

My Chicago List

A visit to the Globe Pub, the place where Jason and I met

Good old Chicago brunch at Pick Me Up Cafe

Pints at the Irish Oak in Wrigleyville

Lunch with babies, sounds silly (and messy) but in the past year my group of friends in Chicago have had TEN beautiful babies (with another due any day) and I have yet to meet a single one of them

Get a haircut

Do some bargain shopping at Filene's Basement/DSW

I have A LOT of people to visit and drink wine with, I won't list them all here but you know who you are

Visit my old office and former coworkers

Eat LOTS of sushi

Starbucks, Starbucks and more Starbucks

Happy Thanksgiving!

You are probably wondering what I am doing for Thanksgiving. You may remember last year I cooked an entire Thanskgiving feast for my in laws, all from scratch. I cooked for three days straight and by the time the meal came around I think I was too tired to really enjoy it.

Well, this year I am doing the exact opposite. I am just cooking a little meal for myself, but with all the basics. I didn't even really plan anything in advance and this morning I just kind of threw together what I had.

I bought a little turkey breast roasting joint at the supermarket and just checked this morning to see what I had to flavor it with. I made a rub of herbs de provence (leftover from last year's turkey roast) and then I just roughly chopped an onion and threw it all in the slow cooker. I needed a bit of cooking liquid so I just glugged in what was left of a bottle of white zinfandel I had in the fridge. I think for just throwing things together it will probably turn out to be pretty darn good! I have one of those divided slow cookers, so in the other side of the slow cooker I cut up some carrots and some sweet potatoes and I have those simmering in some chicken stock.

I bought some cranberry and chestnut stuffing, although it is the British kind not the American style. British stuffing isn't made with big chunks of stale bread, its made with breadcrumbs so its not quite the same but this will do. I also was able to find a jar of cranberry sauce! I think I will make some green beans and maybe some roastie potatoes as well if I feel like it when it gets closer to dinner time.

UPDATE:

Just finished my delicious meal, here is a photo of my spread. Once I saw how much I had I decided to nix the roastie potatoes and green beans.

And just if you are wondering if it smells good, Max sure thought so (that pink blur is his tongue)

Taking a Moment to Pat Myself on the Back

I've been feeling very proud of myself lately. Although I certainly haven't done all of the things that I have wanted to accomplish after being here for a year (like finding a job) I have managed to do a lot of other things that I have every right to be proud of.

First of all, I have stripped this flat of all things granny and bachelor, and when I moved in there was a lot of both and its taken quite some effort to make this place really look nice without spending much money.

I think my greatest accomplishments are making friends and becoming involved in the community. I feel more tied to this community now than I ever did in Chicago. I supposed its easier in a smallish town to find ways to integrate yourself into the community, but I didn't dilly dally and I got involved right away and a year later I feel like I have become an important part of this community. Also, when I moved here I had zero friends, now I have two very close friends and about a dozen other friends and acquaintances which in a town where I have very little in common with anyone is quite an impressive number. After living in Chicago for a year I didn't have anywhere near that many new friends. Its not a popularity contest or anything, its just a matter of feeling like I belong and having a support system.

I am also really proud of myself for learning to drive here. It was really difficult and at the beginning it was one of those things I honestly never thought I was going to be able to do. It was probably the first time in my life I genuinely felt like I couldn't do something and I kept at it anyway. Its been a month since I passed my driver's test and those first few weeks were really rough and I wondered if I would ever get used to driving our car, but I forced myself to get in the car and go places I didn't necessarily want to go and put myself into situations that scared the living daylights out of me but now I am comfortable in pretty much any driving situation. I know a lot of people who after their driving test never quite built their confidence up to the point where they feel comfortable driving outside of town. It is very daunting, and I definitely couldn't do it without the aid of my satellite navigation system. I can see how easy it is to settle into the routine and never really feel comfortable driving on the big roads, it terrified me too, but I sucked it up and did it anyway because I felt I had to and its another thing I am proud of myself for.

Now on a less egotistical note, I have been considering putting my tree up a week early. First of all because I won't be here for a few days before Christmas so I will miss out on valuable tree time then, but also because it seems that all of the stores and shopping centers are already fully decked out for Christmas. Its one thing to be selling Christmas stuff, but our main shopping center has all of the Christmas lights up and Santa is arriving there next week! If Santa says its time for Christmas, well then I think its time. London had their official lighting ceremonies last week, and this week they are turning on the lights in nearby cities like Leeds. Why shouldn't I too be able to put up my Christmas decorations? So I think this settles it and I am going to put my Christmas stuff up a week from Saturday!

A final note, in case you don't read my blog column on Anglotopia, I am going to London for a day next week on Wednesday! I am really excited, mostly because I got such a great deal on my hotel and train tickets and there is nothing better than feeling like you are getting a good deal when you travel. I am just going down to London to see the sights and meeting up with some people from Anglotopia while I am down there.

I will give a full report when I return next week!