Grandparents, Rome and picnics…oh my.

Settle in…this is a long one.

So my parents came to visit last month... for about a month! There's nothing like having visitors to get you out of the library and exploring one's surroundings. Also, there's nothing like Grandparents for dumping your kid on them so you can go do something else for a bit. It was great to have them here and Nora absolutely adored it. After all, Grandpa did buy her ice cream every time she looked at him with those big blue eyes and said, "Grampa, please you want to buy me some ice cream?" (If only you could hear her say it you'd buy her ice cream too!)

First, shortly after my folks' arrival, Deanna and I (NB: without Nora) took off for a day trip to Rome with a group of people from my program (led by my supervisor). That's right, a day trip to Rome. Our flight left at around 6 am and we touched back down in London at 11:30 pm. Then there was a drive home. It was a long but fantastic day.

Deanna's first pizza in Rome. Later we enjoyed gelato too!

The Colosseum

Temple of Jupiter

Fontana di Trevi

Grave Stone: Paulo Apostolo Mart… (Paul, Apostle, Martyr)

The next trip was a day in London, this time with the grandparents and Nora, where we traipsed around the major sights (Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, Big Ben, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square etc.) and finished with a lovely dinner with some old friends of my parents.

At the Changing of the Guard

Family picture in St. James Park

Ahhh…the grandparents.

We told my dad to pretend he like being in pictures.

Beautiful day, no?

At Trafalgar Square

Fear not. Nora is NOT being eaten by the lion. She liked shouting into it's mouth and hearing the echo.

A tired little girl looking at her balloon.

The end of a long day.

Then we rented a car for the weekend and on Saturday, Sunday and Monday we visited Blenheim Palace (Churchill's birthplace), Stratford-on-Avon (Shakespeare's village), and Cambridge (home of…you know, Cambridge).

Blenheim Palace on a beautiful day.

One of our many picnics…of course this is at Blenheim and not our backyard.

Sharing carrots with Grandpa.

Stratford-upon-Avon

If she were in Oregon she'd be hugging trees…

Shakespeare's grave.

Playing dress-up at Shakespeare's church.

Shakespeare's birthplace.

Nora and yet more ice cream.

All of these trips were packed around many trips to the (many) parks, the outdoor market, the library, the Botanic Garden, museums, Oxford sightseeing, a C.S. Lewis day (including a trip to his house, pond, church, grave, college and pub), punting, pizza at our favourite (!) pizza place, and lots of walks, backyard picnics and trips to feed the ducks. We watched a hot-air balloon launch too! The weather was incredible the whole time with most days clear and in the 60's and 70's. (As a result we put my parents to work in the garden.) Clearly, they now have a very skewed idea of the weather here in Oxford.

Who doesn't like a see-saw? Crazy people, that's who.

Grandpa keeping Nora safe... really.

She put her boots on by herself…can you tell?

Punting on the Cherwell.

The view from our punt.

At the pond by Shotover Hill where C. S. Lewis used to swim.

On the steps at Magdalen College.

All in all, it was wonderful and now that they're gone and we have settled back into life-as-usual, we have space for more visitors so come on over!!

The Royal Wedding: A Recap

Today Ben humored me.  He sat with me (and wrangled Nora as her interest waned) as I unabashedly drank in every detail of the royal wedding.  What a guy!

Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd even watch it - this was not a massively pre-planned event in our house.  First off, while I find it all amusing, I'm not a huge royal family buff.  And we don't have a TV and we listen to the radio for about 6.5 seconds every morning (this is how long it takes us to hear the alarm and then turn it off) so besides the Kate and William china plates and tea towels that have been appearing in shop windows for the past 6 months or so, I really didn't experience any of the build-up.  But, I figured, it's not everyday that you see a royal wedding... and so we watched.

And I must say, I was thoroughly swept up by it all!  For those who didn't watch I can tell you it was certainly a royal affair complete with hundreds of guards carrying automatic weapons, 5,000+ police, red carpet, horse-drawn carriages, adoring masses lining the streets, an arch-bishop presiding, an orchestra, an angelic boys choir, and trumpeters.                  

(Ah yes, it's all clear now.  That's what was missing from my wedding... the trumpeters.)

  

And the star of this wedding - as is most often the case - was definitely the bride.  Wow.  Kate who is now Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn (Scotland) and Baroness Carrickfergus (Northern Irish) was absolutely stunning.  But not in a "Hey look at me!  Oh wait you can't help it because I look ridiculous" sort of way.  There was an understated, effortlessness about her and the woman showed amazing poise with half the world watching.  Her dress, and in fact her whole look, was traditional - yet modern and stylish. 
Classy, elegant, and timeless without tip-toeing toward old fashioned. Very fairy-tale princess.
And the perfect dress for the occasion - if you ask me.





And then there were the hats.

Oh my, the hats.

It seems that the tradition of wearing hats to weddings is a hold-over from when women always wore hats (to cover their heads) in church.  Since a wedding was a very special occasion one would, of course, wear their very best hat - assuming they owned more than one.  I've also heard from a British friend that traditionally it is married women who wear hats while unmarried women may wear some other sort of headband or fancy, often feathered hairclip (appropriately) called a fascinator.  Nowadays there aren't such strict rules about it.  The hats are a fashion statement for all.  A chance to be eccentric, to dress up, to put on your best and to splurge a bit.  And boy did these guests ever do that!

Wow.

But not in a good way.

Obviously some made more 'positive' (read: 'palatable') statements than others.

Any favorites??

Oh yum.

Yesterday was my birthday.  The big 3-0.

In this house, when it's your birthday, you choose the dinner menu.  If you know me well at all, you know I just love food.  All kinds of food.  Sweet food, savory food, but most of all comfort food.  And nothing says comfort to me more than good old mashed potatoes!  So a few days before my birthday I started perusing cookbooks and foodie blogs to find the perfect accompaniment for my birthday spuds.  This is what I came up with and my my was it ever delicious.

Mushroom and Blueberry Balsamic Pot Roast

First I grabbed a pan and heated up a few lugs of olive oil.  Then threw in an onion and a few cloves of garlic to brown them up a bit before dumping them in the bottom of my crockpot.

Then I popped a nicely salted and peppered rolled brisket (in the same pan) to brown each side 

and lock in all the yummy juices. When I was done, it went right on top of that garlic and onion goodness in the crockpot.

Next was time for the sauce.  I combined some lovely balsamic vinegar, a bit of beef broth, a touch of good tomato paste and some fresh blueberries - same pan.  Yup, you read that right.  Blueberries.

That got dumped into the crockpot too -- with a sprinkle of thyme and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden.

We let this go all day... filling the house with an incredible aroma.

Later (same pan - no need to wash) I browned up some thick-sliced chestnut mushrooms.  These were dumped in the crockpot about 2 hours before we were ready to eat.

I made my mashed potatoes and mixed them with terrifying amounts of butter and cream cheese.  I made some lovely brown sugar and walnut coated brussels sprouts.  I put it all on a plate...

and ate savored every last bite.

You MUST try this.  It is absolutely divine.

The original recipe I found was from Mesiedy over at TheNoshery.  She did this in a dutch oven with some other veggies too.  You can find that post here.  I don't have a dutch oven (or a big enough oven to use one for that matter!) so altered it a bit for my crockpot and it still turned out incredible!

Then on to the cake.  My dear friend Katy has made this for me twice in the past and graciously passed the recipe along.  It's a moist, soft, perfectly spiced, luscious carrot cake topped with the best cream cheese icing.  So delicious it's ridiculous.

Happy birthday to me.   

PS - Special thanks to Ben for spending the day in the kitchen with me.  You are the best!  xoxo

A most beloved sister

Meet Linnaea:

She's my baby sister.  Although we are a little over 6 years apart, we shared a room until I was 16 so a LOT of my growing up happened with her very nearby.  And I've always felt a little extra protective of her.  She is amazing and I adore her.

Good news:      

My lovely, funny, talented, smart, sweet baby sister is getting married in Oregon this June!    

Bad news:      

I live in England.  Flights are super spendy at the moment (particularly trans-Atlantic flights) and we Edsalls are on a tight grad-student budget.

So... we're getting creative:      

In her spare time, one of my other incredible sisters (Trinette) sells Pampered Chef and she has generously offered to host an online event and to give me ALL the profits.  That means, you browse the online catalogue and pick out the things you'd like from the comfort of your own sofa.  Every bit of the proceeds will go toward my trip home for the wedding!  If by some miracle I have more than enough, I might even be able to bring Nora!  

Here's the Deal:      

You know about Pampered Chef.  You love their kitchen tools and yummy recipes.  (If you don't, just try them -- you will!)  Now is your chance to stock up all those great cooking/entertaining gadgets that make cooking easy, simple, healthy, yummy and FUN!  

Don't forget that Mother's Day is just around the corner - so be sure to pick out something special for your Momma too!  Or stock up on gifts for the upcoming wedding season!!

And remember that while you're buying you'll be helping me out heaps!   

Even if you can't buy anything it would be swell if you'd let all your kitchen loving friends know about this - anyone can order (you don't have to know me personally)!

Here's the Link:

http://www.pamperedchef.biz/trinette

When it asks for the host's name use mine - Deanna Edsall.  Happy Shopping!!

Fine Print:      

Orders must be placed by April 3rd 2011.  

PLEASE ask for your purchases to be shipped to your address (It must be a US address - sorry Canadian friends!)

I hope you're all well and if you're in Oregon, I'd love to see you in June!!

Love,

Deanna

Spring is coming…