Wednesday randoms.

First of all, happy Leap Year! (Or is it Leap Day? I don't know...)

From someecards.

Up until today, the weather has been pretty wonderful. So I've started running again. The thing about running is, I love how I feel afterward, but I completely forget about that shortly thereafter. Without fail, the next time I try to drag myself out of bed for a run, I'm overwhelmed by this horrible sense of dread by even the thought of running. Half the time, I don't make it out the door. It's a battle every single time.

I seriously miss pick up trucks. Is that weird? I've only seen a handful here, and they're all commercial vehicles.

This week was my monthly UKBA check-in. Basically, the Border Agency doesn't trust that I'm actually attending classes, so they make me swipe my ID card with university staff once a month to prove it*. However, they send me a notification a week in advance, so if I happened to be in Spain (or anywhere, really), I could just arrange to be back in time to check in. Major flaw in the system, there.

My grandpa sent me a Valentine!

Isn't he the sweetest?

I'm doing a research paper on flaming online, which means I have to read through pages and pages of YouTube comments in search of the awful ones. It kind of makes you lose faith in humanity...if not just for the considerable lack of grammar.

Sometimes when I think about the amount of coursework I have to do this semester, I have a mild panic attack. And then I eat a piece of chocolate (or five) and watch an episode (or five) of How I Met Your Mother, and I'm okay again. Kind of counterproductive, but hey, it works for me.

That's all for now! Tomorrow is March. Can you believe it??

------------------

*Just to be clear, it's not just me that they don't trust. It's everyone. I think...

Cookbooks.

I have a tendency to think cookbooks are kind of irrelevant. I mean, you can find basically every recipe you could ever want online. And you can store waaaay more in a computer file than a physical one. (Full disclosure: I totally have a recipes folder. It's probably the most-clicked item on my desktop. I'm cool like that.) So why buy a cookbook? It just doesn't seem practical.

It's important to note that I don't think this way about other things. I'd so much rather have a library full of physical books than a Kindle or whatever. But, for some reason, cookbooks don't count. Not for me, anyway.

At least not till now.

There are a handful of cooking blogs that I just adore. One of them is Joy the Baker's. This is mostly because her recipes are delicious and easy. But also because I feel like we could be friends in real life. Especially when she says things like, this:

"I know you eat popcorn for dinner. I know you bake brownies for boys. I know you're just looking for an excuse to make biscuits for every meal of the day."

And this:  

"I’m a little awkward when it comes to casual party conversation. I’m awful when it comes to remembering names. I’m not the kind of girl that sings karaoke or plays rock band… it’s really just better if I don’t partake in these sort of party activities.You know where to find me at a party… the kitchen. Obviously. Can I help you with that potato salad? Can I make you a cocktail? Can I whip up some chocolate chip cookies? Perhaps you’d like some sparkling water with cucumber."

She gets me. I mean, we're basically the same person. (Except for the names thing. I'm creepy-good at remembering names.) So when I saw she just put out a cookbook, I was intrigued. 

And with chapters like, "I need a hug or a brownie, maybe both," and, "I think I just ate chocolate for dinner," it's hard to resist.

Also, the cover is pretty.  (image c/o Joy's site)

So, what I'm trying to say is, I might be buying a cookbook pretty soon.
   

Sunday morning pancakes.

Everyone needs a good go-to pancake recipe. This is mine.

And, just to clarify, these are not British crepe-pancakes. These are fluffy American pancakes. Okay.

Basic Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 stick (56 g) melted butter

2 eggs

A dash of vanilla

Directions:

Heat a pan to medium heat. It's ready when a drop of water beads up and dances around the pan like crazy. Perfect.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Whisk remaining ingredients together in a smaller bowl. It helps if you use milk that's at room temperature, since colder milk will often make the butter start to solidify again. And that's a mess.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Then add whatever you like! The best thing about pancakes is that they're really versatile. I almost always use pecans in mine (they're accents, not interruptions, Alexis), but you can add pretty much anything. I'd recommend strawberries and butterscotch chips, if you're feeling fancy. 

The batter will be thick. If you prefer more pourable batter (or you want to get more pancakes out of the mix), you can add a bit more milk to thin it out.  

Add a little grease to your pan -- either butter or cooking spray. Then spoon the batter into the pan. 

It's ready to flip once little bubbles form in the middle. It'll only take about half the time to cook as it did on the other side. 

Serve hot, right out of the pan, to your loved ones. Preferably on a lazy Sunday morning.

Inside, looking out.

 Sunshine, blue skies, and only the slightest breeze. It's an absolutely beautiful day. 

And I'm stuck staring out the window. Not going outside.

Okay, so that might not be entirely true. I made a Tesco run and checked that mail, so technically, I have left the flat today. But that's it.

Sunny days make me want to run and jump. They make me want to go on long walks and play tennis and wear dresses. But there's too much to do, so I can't. Well, I guess I can still wear dresses. So there's that.

Over the next week and a half, I've got two presentations to put together, plus I've got to design a practical project. And since we haven't really been given any guidelines ("just do something that has to do with one of the lectures"), I'm essentially starting from scratch. Once I figure out exactly what I want to focus on, I should be fine. But that's the problem. I'm interested in too many things. I've seriously changed my idea for my intercultural communication class 3 times in the past week. 

The good news is, after mid March, I won't have as many classes to attend. Sure, I'll still have plenty of reading and writing (soooo much writing) to do, but I can do that outside. And I will.

But for now, I'll just have to be content staring out the window. And maybe if I position my chair just right, I can manage to be sitting in the sun...even though I'm still stuck inside, looking out.

I feel ya, Calvin.

Bring on the spring.

Ohhh...

So that's where they keep them.

 

Wednesday randoms.

My Wednesdays start early. Thankfully, they also end early, so I usually have time for a nap. I know. I'm a grandma.

Last week marked 6 months since I moved in. Crazy.

Whenever I'm listening to something like Spotify, and an advert comes on, it's got a British accent. When I was home for Christmas, that wasn't the case. I still find it funny.

Also, the adverts on other web sites are just as British, using words like "mum" and speaking in terms of stones and pounds (the money kind, not the weight kind). Like these:

I finally got one of my marks back from last semester. I'm pretty happy with it. But it's the other one (the one I'm still waiting for, a month and a half later) that I'm mildly terrified about.

I don't wear a lot of makeup. Just your basics. But I realized the other day that the only stuff I wear (at least on a regular basis) is CoverGirl. It's all I've ever really worn. And I still haven't been able to find here. Uh oh.

(Just FYI, CoverGirl isn't paying me to say this or anything. Unfortunately.)

Hannah made us pancakes for tea (dinner) on Shrove Tuesday. So yummy! Also, I've volunteered to join her in giving up Digestives for Lent (I'm not Catholic, just supportive), which will probably be pretty difficult. It's strange how something I didn't know existed 6 months ago can be such a big part of my life now. But I guess that's what happens when you move. So I'm really glad she didn't decide to give up tea...

Oh, and a big congrats to my Baylor Lady Bears! Still undefeated, and now Big 12 champs! Hooray!

Go outside.

When I can't stand to be inside anymore, I take a walk. You know, just see what I can see. 

This is what I saw today.

Life is beautiful. Do yourself a favor, and go outside.

  

Flapjacks.

Quiz time. If you're from America, when you hear the word "flapjacks," what comes to mind?

Perhaps something like this:

Thanks, Google.

Because to you, the term is basically synonymous with "pancakes," right? Thought so.

But not here. 

No, here, flapjacks are bars made from butter, sugar, honey and oats. 

They're kind of like a mix between no-bake cookies and granola bars. And they look like this:

Weird, huh? So just a heads up that if you request flapjacks, you shouldn't expect to get pancakes. 

And actually, even if you ask for pancakes, you shouldn't expect to get pancakes. 

Because if you ask for pancakes, this is what you'll get:

Again, thanks Google.

Yeah, that's right. Crepes. 

Whatever.

   

Nothing at all.

It's Saturday and it's raining, so I plan to do nothing at all. (Except maybe put this on repeat.) 

And I'm perfectly happy about that. 

 

Pandas, monkeys, bananas.

I had an American moment in class the other day.

We were talking about cultural relativity in cognition -- basically, how individuals' cultural backgrounds influence how they think about the world. To demonstrate, our prof showed us the following images, and asked which two of the three are most closely related:

What do you think?

Most of my classmates grouped the monkey and the banana together on the basis that monkeys eat bananas. 

But I disagreed. I raised my hand and very adamantly said something along the lines of, "But the panda and the monkey are both animals. They both move and breathe and they're fluffy!"

Then our prof nodded and moved on to the next slide. I had my head down and didn't notice what had just popped up on the screen till I heard laughter and a classmate say, "Oh my gosh, Kristen!" When I looked up, this is what I read:

"The American participants showed a marked preference for grouping on the basis of common category membership; Panda and monkey fit into the animal category...[as opposed to] grouping on the basis of thematic relationships..." (Ji, Zhang and Nisbett 2002)

Bam. Exactly what I said.

A nice little reminder that despite my new affinity for tea and biscuits, I am, in fact, American.

Wednesday randoms.

Another week down. And classes are really starting to pick up. Holy cow.

I still don't have my marks back for last semester. Boo.

Sarah and I came up with a proposed dissertation topic: "Reactions of Penhryn Road Campus library users to the hysterics of sleep deprived and over emotional Media and Communication MA students." (AKA, what it'd look like if we all just sat in the library and cried for a bit...which is bound to happen eventually.) Should be fun.

I really want to watch The Sandlot, but nobody here has even heard of it, and my Netflix account doesn't work outside the States, so never mind that.

And The Sandlot makes me want to eat s'mores. But those are also unheard of here, since there are no graham crackers.

We went to Richmond Park yesterday. Because it's winter, it was kind of grey and gloomy, but the place was huge, and I'd really like to go in the spring or summer. I'm sure it's beautiful when it's green. Also, there were a ton of deer, just chilling and not even bothered by the fact that you were standing a mere 5 feet away.

Hey guy!

Something I've noticed is that people use the term "called" instead of "named." For example, one might hear, "I have a friend called Joe." It's never, "I have a friend named Joe." Interesting.

I can't be trusted around Nutella. I already knew that, deep down, but I went ahead and bought some. It was in a glass jar (as is the peanut butter), which I still haven't gotten used to. Anyway, it's all gone now. I have no self control.
 

Happy Giant Cupcake Day!

I have mixed feelings about Valentine's Day. On one hand, I hate the over-commercialized, red and pink, PDA-filled, let's post seventeen pictures on Facebook of the flowers and chocolate that my SUPER THOUGHTFUL AND BEST BOYFRIEND EVER got me aspect. On the other hand, chocolate goes on sale tomorrow.

So it's a love-hate relationship.

And single girls around the globe will be partaking in Gal-entine's Day parties, watching sappy romantic movies, eating pints of ice cream, and venting about how today is stupid. There may be tears. There will definitely be sighs and sarcasm.

I don't actually plan on drunk texting. Don't worry.

As for me? Well, I don't take it too seriously. And I'm actually pretty content right now. Life is good. But I'm still quite happy to partake in the movies and ice cream part. Obviously.

I'll also be eating the giant cupcake I baked. I might even share it with the roomies. How's that for generous?

It's a basic chocolate cake recipe with the best frosting ever. Here's how you make it: 

Easy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup hot coffee

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350 (176 C) degrees. Grease the giant cupcake mold that your awesome flatmate got you for Christmas (or just two 9-inch baking pans, whatever), and set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

Add eggs, buttermilk*, melted butter and vanilla extract. The batter will be thick. 

Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in hot coffee. (If you don't like coffee, don't worry. It won't taste like it!)

Pour batter into molds (or pans) and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Turn out onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.

*If you don't have that cup of buttermilk on hand, you can make some by adding a tbsp of lemon juice to just under a cup of milk. Let stand for a few minutes, and you're good to go! Or, you could just use regular milk if you don't have lemon juice. 
No biggie.

"That's the best frosting I've ever tasted!"

 (from MissyDew at Tasty Kitchen)

Okay. I need you to promise me that you won't be freaked out by the fact that this is made with flour. It's amazing. 
Just go with it.

Ingredients

5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar (granulated, not powdered/icing sugar!)

Directions

In a small saucepan, whisk flour and milk together. Heat, stirring constantly, till it gets about as thick as a brownie mix. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (It's got to be completely cool before you use it in the next step.) Stir in vanilla.

Cream butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy -- get all the graininess from the sugar out. Then add the cooled mixture, and beat it till it's all combined and looks like whipped cream. It will be really light and fluffy.

Then, (and this is important) grab a big spoon and dig in. You know, reward yourself for all that hard work. Then frost that giant cupcake (or regular cake) with this gloriousness, and prepare to have a bunch of new friends. They'll love you forever.

(You can't really tell, but this baby's about the size of my face.)

I can't tell you how wonderful this frosting is. You just have to try it.

Happy Valentine's Day.
 

Royal mail.

Facebook is great. Text messages are wonderful. Emails make me smile. But I cannot begin to express to you how much I love mail. So this completely made my day. It was all I could do to keep from skipping right out of the post office.

And moms? Well they're the best.

 

Uncle Abe.

Today is my uncle's birthday.

(Thanks for the reminder, mom.)

Okay, so he's my great, great, great, great, great uncle. My mom's mom's dad's mom's uncle. I think I got that right, anyway. He was born Feb. 12, 1809, which means he'd be 203 years old today.

His name was Abraham Lincoln. You know, that bearded guy on the $5 bill and the penny.

We're pretty proud of him.

So happy birthday to you, dear ol' Uncle Abe.

Scenic.

 

Snow makes everything look so much softer and more peaceful than usual. At least that's the impression I got the other day as I headed into central. I really wanted to snap some pictures, but I didn't want people to think I was strange (people hardly ever even look out the window -- unless it's to avoid eye contact), so I sat there and argued with myself till the last minute. Then I pulled out my phone and tried to be really inconspicuous about the whole thing. Oh, don't mind me. I'm not taking pictures. I'm as apathetic about this little commute as you are. I'm just texting someone with my phone angled really weird. 

Because that's not obvious or anything...

 

It's a small world after all.

Tonight was great. I went into central London with some of the girls from my church, and ended up meeting some really fun new people. I also met a professional stunt motorcyclist.

But that wasn't even the most exciting part. (I know, right? What could be better than that?)

As we were grabbing our coats to leave, my friend dragged me over to this group of people. "You have to meet this guy," she said. "He's from Texas!" I'm always happy to meet a fellow American, especially one from a state I love, so I went to introduce myself. Then it got awesome. This is how it went down:

Yes. We knew each other. Both of us had worked at Pine Cove Towers camp the same summer. I didn't recognize him because he didn't have facial hair back then. And I'm only speculating, but I'll bet he didn't recognize me because at camp I didn't shower that often, usually sported a hat, and never wore makeup. But the funniest part was what ensued after we figured out we knew each other. You see, at Pine Cove, all the staff go by camp names. You get named before summer gets underway, and that's your name forever and ever amen. So there are quite a few people I worked with for summers -- 24 hours a day for 13 weeks in a row -- and I don't necessarily remember their real names.

Anyway, this was our conversation:

Me: "Pine Cove? Towers?"
Him: "Yes... (Points at himself) Meatballs!"
Me: (Pointing at myself and kind of freaking out) "Visa!"

And then we hugged. I'm sure people thought we were absolutely insane.

But it was awesome.