Christmas Cookies

My love for baking has only been exacerbated by the holiday season - I've been going crazy in the kitchen! On Tuesday I made several dozen Christmas sugar cookies and brought them to my work for the carol evening. I thought they turned out quite well : ) It's worth mentioning that I bought these cookie cutters in New Hope, PA when I was home visiting the first week in September. And I made Sharon make Christmas cookies with me back then so that I could just use the cookie cutters, haha. So obviously - I was excited about making these cookies. I would have made them earlier, but making and decorating 4 dozen cookies is a time commitment!

I thought the snowman and the Christmas Tree were worth a close-up. Please note the yellow carrot nose(!) I used a toothpick to decorate him! Although those voluptuous red lips would suggest it was a her, haha.In the UK - sprinkles like these are called "Hundreds and Thousands" - I think that's an awfully long name for something so tiny as sprinkles!
Andy will probably kill me - but I thought this was so cute. He's been really ill and had a couple days off work earlier this week. This is pretty much how he spent the two days - all snugged up on the couch under the duvet. Couldn't resist taking a picture.

Christmas Party Weekend!

This weekend has been fantastic! I finally turned in all my coursework on Thursday and thus began all the Christmas fun. Friday night I went to the Woking Borough Council Christmas Party (I worked at WBC until August this year and they kindly invited me to come along) which was 80s themed and loads of fun. And then last night was Andy's Christmas Do which was a black tie event in London - we cleaned up pretty well :)
And I even had my hair done! I love the curls - wish I knew how to do it myself. Ironically, she used hair straighteners to make the curls! Friends of ours picked us up and drove us to the venue. There was a drinks reception for the first hour....
After the drinks reception we headed into the main event where we had dinner. We sat with 5 guys from Andy's team and their wives/girlfriends.
After dinner there was dancing - but Andy's not a huge fan of dancing and I'd had my fill the night before at the Council's Christmas Do, so we headed into the other room where they were doing things like massages and caricatures - we had ours done & I think you have to have a sense of humour about your more prominent features to do it. We had ours made into fridge magnets....hahaha how hilarious (and awful) are those?!?! I actually kind of love them. I look like an obnoxious talk show host and we all decided that Andy looks like he's part of the royal family :) See? A sense of humour.

Website!

We have a website for the project!!! I am so excited about this. Our dear friends Amber & James made it for us - they are the best. They have worked so hard on it and are everyday finding ways to improve it.

http://www.healthymotherproject.org/

Let me know what you think!

Oh yea, almost forgot - the Christmas Tree!!!

Our stockings (and no...the student pile hasn't gone - it's actually worse!!!)

Annabel's Christening

Just a few pictures from Annabel's Christening today. She was perhaps the most well behaved baby I have ever seen - while being held by a stranger and having water poured on her head! It was a lovely service followed by a delicious meal back at Val & Simon's house. We had lamb stew and mash followed by apple crumble - perfect on a rainy Sunday!

Can you tell I'm happy to be holding a baby?!? Hehe.

Kebs & Annabel

She was such a great sport with all the pictures!

Uncle Biff - always entertaining :)

Off to get our Christmas Tree now :)

Thanksigiving - English Style!

Isn't this a nifty little contraption? I want one. It's called Hostess - it keeps your dinner warm so you can put thing in the dishes as and when it's finished. No overcooking!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. We had an excellent Thanksgiving (on Wednesday). Andy's grandparents kindly offered to host it at their house (ours is a bit small for 8 around the table!) I made mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, stuffing (the most important part of the meal!) and of course, pumpkin pie...wait maybe that's the most important part of the meal, haha. Anyway, Nanny made the most delicious turkey and because she wasn't sure she'd like mashed potatoes or the sweet potatoes, she made roast potatoes as well. So yes, we had 3 sorts of spuds! Also, most everyone said they wouldn't like pumpkin pie, so Nanny had not one...not two...but THREE extra desserts on hand. Pavlova, profiteroles and banofee pie. And she set the table so beautifully! We all had a lovely evening together. I am thankful for so much this year.

Although the lighting isn't very good- this is the only picture of Andy and me from that evening!

As you can see - everyone liked pumpkin pie much more than they thought they would! I was hoping for more leftovers than that!!! Haha.

Although I really enjoyed Thanksgiving, I'm glad it's over. Why, you ask? Because it means that in just a few weeks...we are going home for Christmas! And it also means we can get our Christmas Tree and put out our decorations, which we're doing on Sunday : ) Hurray!

Diary of a Student

Well I've been working on my first Political Economy of Development essay for about 10 days now. It's only 3,000 words and about 4% of my overall degree, but still - this is what is has come to. For DAYS I have been sat at this computer - books, papers, articles and graphs everywhere. And I am completely and utterly fed up. It's finished - but now I have to do all the polishing and fixing up - which is the worst. And the reference page, the worst of the worst. Just feeling a wee bit sorry for myself. And I have to work tonight again. No rest for the weary. I told Andy it looks like my book bag exploded all over our living room. And I did promise I would clean it all up and organize it as soon as I hand it in on Thursday. Celebrations will be in order! Also, anyone into cooking - check out my friend Amber's cooking blog: http://www.bluebonnetsandbrownies.com/ It's really fun. I might even be a guest blogger from time to time!

At least I've got the 70s faux-fire going - that makes me feel better.

Only 9 more months of this! Haha.

Wedding Fun!

We just returned from a lovely overnight in Botley. We went to Andy's family friends wedding. Gill and Tom have been friends with Angie and Geoff (Andy's parents) for more than 20 years and Andy and James grew up with Gill's son Tom. Gill is also Andy's Godmother - which I didn't know until last night! Anyway, the wedding was absolutely lovely - we had such a fantastic time. The ceremony was short, but sweet and the food was delicious. Andy had a filet steak and said it was the best he'd had in a long time - he loves steak and eats it whenever he can as I don't cook it. The evening entertainment was fantastic - they had a Tom Jones impersonator - all the way from Vegas! He was hilarious and we danced the night away.

Angie and her boys - awwww....

I loved Gill's dress and the vintage lace...it was beautiful!

The four of us (that thing in my head is called a Fascinator - people in the UK wear these to weddings, well, Fascinators or hats...this I borrowed someone, just for a laugh.)

Andy and me before the ceremony
Also, my dress was £13 (down from £90, gotta love a bargain!)

My honey at our table.

Fireworks!!! It was a pretty incredible display.

This cake was pretty cool - it was already sliced and in boxes ready for you to take away - I had never seen anything like that before!

We had such a great time - it was nice to get away for a short break, but now - it's back to the books. I have an essay due in two weeks time! Eek.

Pumpkins!

It's sad, but true. My husband had never carved a pumpkin in his life, until last night! They have Halloween here in England, but it's a pretty poor effort. There really isn't Trick-or-Treating and they sell pumpkins, but it's not really "the thing" to carve them. Anyway, we had a blast last night. The boys were sceptical at first (Andy's mate Biff was here too - and he had never carved a pumpkin either) but once they got started, they really enjoyed it and got into it! They were so sweet. And I think they did a great job! We put them out back and people walking in the park have been checking them out with interest. Maybe we'll start a trend!

Andy wasn't keen on the Pumpkin Goo!

Silly Boys...Pumpkin-Heads!

Andy's Pumpkin

My Pumpkin - I gave it hair like me!

Today we took Rachel to Stonehenge and then to Windsor - I have been to both places many times, but Windsor couldn't have been more beautiful in the Fall. I love the Long Walk - especially with all the changing leaves. It was beautiful. And then we went for Afternoon Tea at The Crooked Tea House.

Stonehenge

Crazy Rachel!

The Long Walk

The best scones on the planet!

The Crooked Tea House

It's been fun having a break - but Rachel leaves tomorrow morning and it's back to the grind! Reading, reading, reading! At least I have carved pumpkins and a few photos - those will make me smile while I'm hard at work : )

Still Busy : (

I've still been too busy to keep up-to-date with the blog. I guess the simple fact is - if you spend all your time going to and from London for class and then you're at work or at the library the rest of the time, there isn't much time for doing fun things and taking photos.

However, my friend from America (Rachel) arrived on Tuesday so that has forced me to slow down the pace which has been really nice. For the first time in YEARS I've been doing all the touristy stuff in London! On Wednesday we did The London Dungeon (so Halloween appropriate!) and Madame Toussads Wax Museum. And then yesterday we went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben & Houses of Parliament and last but not least, The London Eye (where Rachel promptly freaked out and only opened her eyes for about 2 seconds of the 20 minute ride! Haha.) We have taken about 1,000 photos - so there will be many funny pics to post soon. On Sunday we are taking her to Stonehenge and then to Windsor to see Windsor Castle and (my favorite) The Crooked Tea House - it's this tea house that is so old, it's leaning and there is no loo inside! But they make the best scones around : )

Andy has had to work this week - but we've been hanging out in the evenings. I'm glad it's finally the weekend so that he can play with us too. It's a busy time at the Keet Household - Andy's mom arrives tomorrow from America - so we have that to look forward to as well. But how am I going to get all my work done!?! Haha.

SOAS (and quiche)

While I was University on Friday, I took a few pictures of the main square. SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) is part of the University of London which is made up of about 15 different Universities. SOAS is in Central London, but I guess - looking at a Tube map it's North East. So three times a week I take the train to Waterloo Station, which is about 30 minutes on the train from my house) and then walk from Waterloo to SOAS (another 30 minutes). Eventually I'll have to take the tube, but I prefer to walk while the weather is nice. Above is the main building that holds the library as well as many classrooms and lecture theatres.
This is the Brunei Gallery, (which was donated by the Sultan of Brunei) there are classrooms here as well as a main theatre. As you can see, SOAS is a happening place - seems like there's something going on nearly every day. It is one of the most diverse Universities in the world meaning that there are an endless number of clubs and societies from 12 different types of Martial Arts to The Hare Krishna Consciousness Society. And politics are huge at this University, H-U-G-E. Never a dull moment at SOAS.

And then, I'm also posting a picture of the quiche I made last week. I'm just really proud that this was my first attempt and it wasn't a complete failure. That was just bacon, leek, tomato and cheese (a.k.a what I had in the fridge). A few days ago I made broccoli, pancetta, camelized red onion and goat's cheese. Andy LOVED it - so much so he had seconds and thirds!
p.s. I also love my "I love baking" tea towel. A friend from my old job got those for me!