lovely jubbly london

Sunday

I'm Loving {January Edition}

Call the Midwife

The BBC's newest drama set in the 1950s. Why did I wait so long to start watching it?!

 

 

Spiced Roasted Chicken by Gourmet

Delicious, quick and easy! Double up on spices and add some wine to the deglazing process and you've got a winner.

 

Cold Weather

Call me crazy, but I do love cold weather in winter. I want a winter that feels like winter. If it would only snow...

Rainy Day Necessities

brolly & welly socks

Autumn Essentials

teapot, mug, tea, candle, throw

Sweet Tea

If you go out to eat in my hometown you can pretty much assume you'll be drinking sweet tea with your lunch or dinner. Pitchers and refills are plentiful.

So when the weather forecast looks like the above, there is only one drink in my house.

Cold delicious sweet tea.

There's nothing like it.

There's also no two recipes that are alike.

If you're at my grandma's house, it's guaranteed to be Luzianne and it's guaranteed to be perfect.

Side note: anyone else remember those little animals that used to come with the box of tea bags?

My mamaw always made iced tea with grape juice and to this day the taste reminds me of her.

I normally take mine half and half when ordering out. That's half sweet and half unsweet. When I make it at home, I use about 1/4 - 1/2 c of sugar per gallon of tea.

Making it in England does have challenges. Hard water and the type of tea can create cloudy iced tea. While it isn't pretty, it usually doesn't affect the taste.

Lately, I've tried something new with each gallon.

The last two gallons I made, I simply added the tea bags (7-8) to the cold water and let it sit (this pitcher 24 hours!). I then mixed in simple syrup to taste. It's stayed clear so far. I've also been adding in a pinch of baking soda so I don't know if that's what has made the difference of not.

Next on my agenda? Pick up some orange pekoe tea bags from Fortnum & Mason. If I can't get Luzianne surely F&M will do! 

So tell me, iced tea yay or nay and any secret recipes to share?

A Sunday Stroll in Surrey

The sun has been shining brightly the last few days making winter bearable for us all. 

What I learned on my Christmas vacation

1. A Dunkaccino is amazing. Half cappuccino + half hot chocolate = pure deliciousness. How could I only just find out about these?! I will say half a cup of coffee + Swiss Miss = not good. Don't try that at home. Do you think Starbucks will look at me weird if I ask for a half cappuccino and half hot chocolate? 

2. How to repair a kitchen sink. Okay well I didn't have anything to do with the repair but I did watch the husband. You see the sink at my parents house was clogged and the disposal wasn't clearing it. The husband decided to use his hands and make compressions over the drain like a plunger. Next thing I hear is "uh oh" or maybe a variation of those words only slightly cruder. I walk over and the sink is no longer in the sink hole. Luckily all was well when the husband fixed it and the only real damage was that we couldn't use the sink for 24 hours and had to eat out.

3. NYC did not handle the December 2010 blizzard as well as the one in December 2009. I don't know what happened or who dropped the ball but the side streets were still quite treacherous several days after the storm hit. Take the below photo taken several nights later on the UES- do you really think that person will be going anywhere any time soon?

I think not.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

 

Finally

After days and days of promises from the weather forecasters, snow has finally made it south! Waking up and seeing this scene out the bedroom window made me very happy- it's really starting to feel like Christmas.

In other Christmas news, we started decorating this past weekend. I thought we were done and last night I walked into the living room and saw this:

See anything out of place?

This is what happens when the husband ends up at a garden centre alone and suddenly decides the little tree is no longer good enough. He told me I was lucky because there was an even bigger one he loved. 

A White Thanksgiving Weekend

Yes, please!

I've been watching this movie which I'm sure doesn't help my desire for some snow: