Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve is often a work day here in England, so I went into work for a couple hours, but about noon, everyone headed off to the pub to have a couple beers. It was a nice way to wrap up the year at work before everyone headed off to where they were going for Christmas.





All public transportation shuts down for Christmas, so wherever you are when Christmas begins is where you will be staying for the next day.

Tony and I went for dinner on Christmas Eve at a little French restaurant by our flat. We made reservations weeks earlier, which is the best way to assure that you can get a table if you want to eat out around Christmas. It's hard to find a restaurant if you want to just show up as most things close around 5pm on Christmas Eve.

It's hard to believe that this is our second Christmas here in London. We got up on a cold Christmas morning, and I made us our traditional Panetone French Toast, or as they would call it here in England, "Eggy Bread".









A little sprinkle of powdered sugar made it very festive and delicious.

When we were in America, we picked up a few gifts for the dogs. No, they are not spoiled. Okay, maybe just a little bit.

Bentley and Pepper loved their new chewies, and they made quick work of pulling out the stuffing. It wasn't long before there was carnage everywhere.

We made a traditional British Christmas this year with a 3 Bird Roast (Turkey, Goose, and Chicken) stuffed with sage dressing. I made Orange Cranberry relish and Goose fat Roasted Potatos, which were amazing, to go with it.






Tony made Maple Glazed Carrot and Parsnips and the British classic, Brussel Sprouts with Chestnuts.







For dessert, I made a Mince Pie using a jar of filling I bought when we were up in York. It came out delcious, though I'm still learning how to properly use my British oven, and the bottom crust didn't cook perfectly. Next time will be perfect.





We had our friends Jeff and Damian over for dinner. They were supposed to be going to South Africa for a safari for Christmas. Unfortunately, their flight was cancelled due to the snowstorm (and Englands ill-preparedness to deal with any amount of snow). They were in good spirits despite their travel woes, and we had a nice evening of traditional British food accompanied by the classic American film, "A Christmas Story".

Our Christmas Tree 2010

We discovered one thing that is easier to do in London than it is to do in the states - Buying a Christmas Tree. We decided a couple Saturdays before Christmas to walk up to the High Street to buy a tree. In about 10 minutes, Tony, the dogs, and I were all there and negotiating a deal on a beautiful tree.

Tony got the honor of carrying it home this year while I navigated the dogs. We carried it up the 3 flights of stairs to our flat, and set it up in the window.




We broke out Tony's treasured 3 boxes of Christmas Decorations, and we got to work. In no time, the tree was decorated, and we were enjoying the Christmas ambiance and sense of home.

We bought a couple new ornaments this year to add to our tree. One is the Queen's Royal Carriage that we bought at Buckingham Palace. The other is a hand painted globe that we bought in Stockholm.








No Christmas is complete without a batch of Christmas Gumbo, so we cranked up the stove and cooked a chicken and sausage Gumbo, complete with some Andouille Sausage that we brought back with us from Louisiana.






Even Bentley and Pepper got dressed up for the occasion.









Unfortunately, I don't think anyone else in our building got into the Christmas spirit. . .

Christmas Shopping in London

Christmas is a pretty time in London. It is fun to wander around amongst the insanity that is Oxford Street, and do a little shopping.

We've come to love a few stores over here. We really like Uniqlo, a fun inexpensive store. We bought a few of their HeatTech items to help with the damp cold over here.

Mostly, as we are on a bit of a budget over here, we have come to enjoy window shopping. And looking at the beautiful windows at Harrod's or Fortnum & Mason is a really fun way to spend an afternoon.



Some of the window displays can be very outlandish and creative.

Some will focus on telling a story like Harrod's windows which told the classic British tale, Peter Pan.

Of course, Teddy Bears are always make a good window.









It seems that it is very common for whatever film is coming out at Christmas time to sponsor the lights on Regent St and Oxford Street. Last year it was "A Christmas Carol". This year it is "Voyage of the Dawn Treader". I'm not sure what VotDT has to do with Christmas, but I'll go with it.

There are always fun things to see on sale.

Covent Garden is a fun place to visit at Christmas.







Especially when it is all decorated.






You can smell the hot mulled wine and roasting chestnuts in the air. And there are piles and piles of Mini Mince Pies everywhere. Even Tony has come to like Mince Pie since he has been here.

McDonald's makes an amazing "Festive Pie" that is part mince and part custard. All deep fried. . . Not something you'll ever see in the states and Absolutely Yummy!

Later, when the lights come on, everything looks really pretty.

London - Snowstorm of the Century

So Tony and I set off to go shopping at Aldi, a grocery store owned by the same parent company as Trader Joes. It was snowing just a tiny bit, as we rode the bus 40 minutes (we planned it to be an adventure) to get there. We rode past Asda (part of the Walmart family) on our way there. That will need to be another adventure.

Aldi is no Trader Joes, though it has a similar open bin look, just without the class. You bag your own groceries, as the cashier throws them at you. At least the prices were good.

Little did we know that as we would emerge from Aldi, we would be greeted with a major snow fall. This was a Mammoth Mountain style dumping.

As we walked the last little bit from the bus stop to our flat, we got covered in Snow.


Tony may not have been amused, but I loved it. It was fun to see just how much snow was coming down.





We decided this was reason to enjoy some hot chocolate and make cookies. I'd downloaded a recipe for Speculoos (traditional Belgian spice cookies), and we made our first attempt at cooking them.





If you want to try them, you can buy them in the US at Walgreen's under the name "Biscoff", or in the UK at most grocery stores under the name "Carmelized Biscuits".








We broke out our Christmas Cookie cutters and got to work in our tiny kitchen. There are times I miss our proper kitchen back in LA.








In no time, the smell of the Ginger and Cinnamon filled our small flat with the aromas of Christmas. The cookies came out quite good despite it being our first time. We'll have to try making them again, but I want to tweak the recipe a little bit next time.




In about 1-2 hours, it stopped snowing after having dropped a good 6 inches. I quickly grabbed the dogs and emerged from our now snowed in building.







Everything was covered in this wonderful white blanket of snow.











Very, very pretty, and very, very Christmasy.



I took the dogs to the park, which by now was a classic Winter Wonderland. There were tons of people there with their children and dogs playing in this London oddity. I've been told that it hasn't snowed like that in London for over 100 years.










Our dogs love the snow, having gone to Mammoth since they were puppies. Pepper likes to eat it.





We had tickets to see Tron that afternoon, so we tucked the dogs inside to keep them warm, and started up towards the bus stop to catch the bus to Soho.










It was a beautiful walk up with all the snow everywhere. Even Tony got into the spirit.








As one would expect, the roads were all messed up, so instead, we braved hopping on the Tube. It was crazy busy, but we managed to make the screening in time.





After the screening, and having learned a few things from the British as to what to do when the weather is bad, we headed off to the pub for dinner. We both got these great Chedder/Bacon Burgers with Chips and Cole Slaw, and of course a beer.




That evening, I walked around our neighborhood again to enjoy the snow in the night light. People had built snowmen, and our local pizza pub looked particularly inviting.








We braved going out in the snow one last time that night to bid our friends Ziah and Hage off on their round-the-world odyssey. She just quit Double Negative where I work, and is now heading off to explore the world. Sounds like an amazing adventure.

As for us, we went home to what was probably Pepper's favorite part of the major snowstorm that hit London - cuddling with Tony on the warm couch.