Our Stuff Arrives!

January 17, 2012 nk330Leave a comment

I was really peeved when our household good didn’t arrive by the end of October. I thought two months was PLENTY of time to ship things over here, but apparently I was wrong. Once the shipment arrived, it had to go through customs, and then it had to be sent up to our neck of England. When Andrew found out our things would be delivered on November 16th, I was ecstatic! I obviously just wanted to use our own things again, but I was also relieved that all of our kitchen items would be here because… Andrew had volunteered us to host Thanksgiving for 12+ people. Yikes.

We were up before 8am, just in case the movers came right away. They didn’t, but that gave us time to move our loaner furniture into the conservatory and move the loaner bed into our second bedroom. Every time I heard a noise, I was convinced it was the movers. I just couldn’t sit still! And then the big truck arrived!

I really hope they didn’t see me snap this picture… that would have been a little embarrassing. I was probably way too excited to care though! I was surprised by how quickly they unloaded everything, but our movers in Wisconsin were also much faster than I thought they would be. Soon our house was filled with boxes…

It was pretty overwhelming. After the movers left, we both just sat on the sectional for a little bit. Thankfully nothing was terribly damaged. Except for the sectional… the frame was broken in the move. We still have to file the damages so we can get reimbursed though.

Once Andrew & I took it all in, we got to work. We had gotten bedroom furniture as a wedding gift from Andrew’s parents, but we had left it boxed up for the move. So he went upstairs to tackle furniture assembly. I decided to take on the kitchen. We had an entire box labeled “Glassware” — I had no idea where it was all going to go! After some maneuvering of shelves and trial and error, I got it all to fit, more or less. And Andrew got our bedroom ready for our first good night’s sleep in the house!

Having the bedroom and kitchen taken care of helped a lot, but there was still a LOT to unpack. We managed to get the downstairs looking good by Thanksgiving, but the upstairs is still a work in progress!

Recipes

Snickerdoodles

January 17, 2012 nk330Leave a comment

I must have been on a cinnamon-and-sugar kick, because I had a hankering for Snickerdoodles after I made the Feather-light Muffins for breakfast! I had to look up a recipe for these, since I had never made them before.

Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Makes: 2-1/2 dozen

1/2 c. butter, softened
1c. + 2 T. sugar, divided
1 egg
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1 t. ground cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Bean in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a small bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. In another small bowl, combine cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar.
2. Shape dough into 1″ balls; roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 375F/190C or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
**Each cookie has about 80 calories**

Recipes

Feather-light Muffins

January 15, 2012 nk3301 Comment

Mmm, these muffins are SO good, and they’re very easy to make! Despite this, I still messed them up the first time I made them here. First of all, the British grocery store employee had no idea what shortening was. So I used lard (I think I prefer shortening). And I was half-asleep when I was making them, so I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder. Thankfully, they still tasted pretty good, they just weren’t “feather-light.” So don’t make the mistakes I made! Pull out your ingredients before you start measuring so you don’t grab that baking soda by mistake. 🙂

These muffins are dipped in butter, so I’m sure they’re not very good for you, but you will have a very hard time not having more than one.

Serves: 8-10
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

1/3 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 c. cake flour (I always just use all-purpose)
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, cream shortening, sugar, and egg.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a smaller bowl; add to creamed mixture alternatively with milk. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 325F/170C for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let cool 3-4 minutes.
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll warm muffins in melted butter, then roll in the sugar mixture. Serve warm.

**Each muffin has about 307 calories**