Pass The Sugar Please

I know I know….I haven’t posted anything for a super long time.  Like did she fall off the earth and die…long time.

In my defence, I was going through a busy transition last month.  Lang and I are in the process of moving to Rome…as unbelievable as that sounds.  The past few months have been a marathon of phone calls and meetings between Lang’s new company, Italian emigration, apartment agencies, etc,etc.  As soon as we would get some good news, it would quickly change into bad news.  Apparently trying to capture La Dolce Vita was going to be much more complicated than originally planned, even with a job offer.

After a roller coaster ride that seem to last for an eternity, Lang finally got the go to start work in Rome.  He left last week and I will follow him a week later.  It will take 3-5 months for Lang to get his Italian visa, and mine will take 5-7 months.  Since we can only be in Rome for 90 days total without a permanent visa, we have to fly back to London every 2-3 weeks.  I have to be extra careful about pacing out my days since my visa will take so much longer.  If this all sounds complicated and painful…it is!!

At the end of the day it’s all worth it, because it’s ROMA.  Italy was the first European country we visited together back in 2003 and we fell madly, deeply in love with it.  It is what sparked our desire to live aboard and be in Europe.  But because of the language barrier and lack of jobs in Rome, we settled for London.  Two years later this unbelievable opportunity comes up, and of course we had to say yes….wouldn’t you.

So starting next week I hope to write about all the amazing experiences of living in Rome, and of course about all the challenges too…did I already mention that neither of us can speak or read Italian…should be an interesting next few months

Roman Forum, January 2009

I haven’t baked in a while, partly because I’ve been trying to be good, and partly because of laziness.  I got a mad craving for cream cheese frosting yesterday…so I finally gave in.  Plus I wanted to use these new super cute cupcake liners I just got.

This red velvet cupcake with vanilla bean frosting recipe comes from the cupcakeblog.  Cheryl Porro is an engineer by day and a cupcake genius by night.  Her blog is the place to go for all things cupcakes.  In addition to all time favorites like red velvet, she also comes up with the most unique recipes, using creative combinations and ingredients.  It is a great site, especially for a foodie like myself, complete with beautiful photography and baking tips.

(Please note…usually these cupcakes would be much redder, but I ran out of food coloring.)

So this year we decided to spend Christmas in Strasbourg…the self proclaimed “Capital of Noel”.  We were really looking forward to all the Christmas festivities, markets, and most importantly the fabulous French food. The original plan was to take a quick ride to Paris with Eurostar and then another easy train transfer to Strasbourg.

Of course when something is suppose to easy…it often never turns out to be.  The weekend before Christmas, five Eurostar trains stall in the tunnel, leaving over 2,ooo people stranded.  It ended up shutting down completely for three days.  Needless to say, we were going to have to take the long way to Strasbourg.  Three train transfers, a ferry, and two taxi rides later…we arrive.

Strasbourg turned out to be a picture perfect town.  I really loved the architecture and small town feel of everything.  It was nice just walking around, browsing the different markets, and eating freshly roasted chestnuts.  We did lots of eating in general.

We also stopped in Paris for one night to catch a ballet performance on our way back to London.  We took a tour of the old Opera House during the day (Palais Garnier)….it was really beautiful.  Completed in 1874 by Charles Garnier, it became the center of high society in the late 19th and early 2oth century.  It was a place to conduct business and a place to see and be seen.

It’s that time of year again to give the gift of calories again.  It’s been a tradition of mine to give home made gifts to friends and colleagues for Christmas, and this year is no different.  Past years have been bottles of limoncello, or jars of caramel and chocolate sauce, a loaf of banana bread, or maybe a jar of homemade jam.  This year it’s cookies.  I know…it’s not the most creative…but it’s easy and always popular.   I made a big box for Lang to share with his work mates, and using some clear cellophane wrap, I made individual cookie bags for friends and neighbors.

Recipes

So a few days ago we were passing through King’s Cross station when Lang says to me “did you know there actually is a platform 9 3/4″.  And of course I give him that…okay crazy…look.  Seriously, they made a fake platform 9 3/4 wall for tourists to visit, he tells me.  It’s suppose to be somewhere at King’s Cross station.  We had some time to kill before lunch so I figured why not?….let’s find the wall   The fake wall was suppose to be near platform 9, but because of construction work it got moved to a very remote and obscure alley.  Any way…we found it somehow, and it was pretty funny to see.  They had chopped the front of a trolley off and stuck in the wall for that through the wall effect.  Of course we both had to pose for some silly pictures

Fun fact:  In the book and movie, platforms 9 & 10 are suppose to be adjacent and in the main part of King’s Cross station.  In actuality, they’re in a separate building, and two intervening tracks separate the platforms.  When JK Rolling was asked about this, she says she confused King’s Cross with Euston station.  Although, at that Euston’s two tracks separate platforms 9 & 10 as well.  For the movie, they filmed the scene at King’s Cross using platforms 4 & 5…renumbered of course.

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving and even though it isn’t celebrated here in London, I still made the usual spread I do every year.  I was going dazzle you with pictures of the beautiful turkey and all the wonderful side dishes.  Unfortunately, due to our eagerness to consume this magnificent feast…I completely forgot to any pictures…doh!!

So instead of talking about Thanksgiving as originally planned, I’m going to have to switch gears and talk about cousin Tony instead.  May be it’s because I just got done watching In The Mood For Love again recently (longing, loneliness and unrequited love at it’s finest).

Okay…the great Tony Leung Chiu-wai isn’t actually my cousin…not even a distant relative (I wish).  I refer to him as cousin Tony only because I’ve been following his career for so long, he feels like relation.  I’ve been watching him since the mid 80’s when he started his career at the TVB.  Growing up in Iowa, we of course didn’t actually get access to the TVB (Hong Kong based television station).  My mom would borrow completed series from a friend who had a nephew living in Long Beach, CA  that would send her all these different shows dubbed in Khmer.  I’d usually watch them with my Grandma as soon as I got home from school.  It didn’t matter if is was modern cop comedy or an old fashion wuxia epic, the best ones always had Tony in them.  What can I say… at the tender age of 10, I was smitten and I have been a fan ever since.

In the early years he exuded a sweet boyish charm that made him instantly likable.  The charisma is still there, but now there’s an intense vulnerability in his performances, a quiet subtly, and versatility that makes him such a joy to watch.  Of course it will come to no surprise that I am not the only person who feels this admiration for Tony.  Although Western moviegoers know him mainly for his artist collaborations with director Wong Kar Wai, Tony has long been a much loved and respected actor in Asia.  A self proclaimed shy and private guy, he has trouble leaving his Hong Kong home without being mobbed by the paparazzi.

He has yet to make a big Hollywood movie, choosing to wait for the perfect role and the right script to come along.  That’s completely fine with me, just as longs he keeps making movies.

I know it’s not quite the same, but I hope this picture of Tony makes up for the missing Thanksgiving pictures

I am so excited to have an Anthropologie in London!! The store open just three weeks ago on Regent Street, and of course I had to pay a visit.  It’s certainly bigger than the one in San Francisco, but not necessarily better.  It feels like they could use a bit more merchandise to fill the massive 3 floor store.  It’s still beautiful eye candy, but it lacks that really cozy, flea market/antique shop feel that I liked so much from the one back home.

One unique feature of the store is a huge living wall completely covered with different varieties of ferns.  No watering required, it comes with it’s own sustainable irrigation system.  The other feature, and also my favorite addition, is the massive and colorful chandeliers they have hanging over the staircase.  One of the sales clerks told me that the Obama daughters have a smaller version in their bedroom at the White House.  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but they certainly are striking.

It’s nice to have a favorite store arrive in London, it’s like having an old friend in town you can always visit.  Now if only I could get a J Crew, a William Sonoma, a Berkeley Bowl, and a Tartine….life would be nearly perfect

A picture of one of the chandeliers.

When the weather turns cold and rainy this is the perfect cake to have on hand.  It’s a take on an old fashioned upside down cake, but I’ve given it an autumnal twist by replacing the pineapple slices with apples spiced with vanilla.  The caramelized apples work really well with the moist, buttery cake.  I like to serve it warm with a big dollop of whip cream.  Of course Lang and I always end up fighting for the last piece.

The Recipe

You can get the original pineapple upside down cake recipe from (joyofbaking.com).

This is a really great cake recipe and I’ve only made some minor changes to turn it into an apple upside down cake.  I’ve used 4 apples instead of a medium pineapple and I’ve added a vanilla bean to sugar/butter topping.  I think other fruits like pears, peaches, and plums would also work great.  I also omitted the cream of tartar just because I didn’t have any on hand, and the egg whites seemed to whip up fine without it.

This is Geki, short for Gekiganger (if you’re an anime fan you’ll know where the name comes from).  Gecki is our LX 150 Vespa we brought from SF with us when we moved to London.  He’s had some trouble adjusting to his new life.  He gets a lot of bullying from the other scooters.  I think it’s because he likes to  flaunt his good looks too much.  Showing up all shiny and pretty…that’s just asking for trouble.  He gets pushed and shoved around a lot; always coming home with fresh bruises, nicks and scrapes.

He’s always getting his cover taken away, and there’s the traumatic attempted kidnapping of last Spring.  Fortunately, Geki held his own, and the would be thieves eventually gave up.  He became very anti-social after that.  He misses the good old days when he didn’t have to be chained up all the time, and the warm cozy garage he use to sleep in every night . You still look good!…I tell him and the new dents and scratches just add extra character.  We’ve promised him a life of pampering once we move back home if he just holds out for a couple more years.  And of course that our affection for him will never waiver, no matter how ugly he gets

Finding a good cappuccino can be a lot harder than you think, especially in a country that prefers drinking tea.  Tinderbox has become our cafe of choice, conveniently located in our Islington neighborhood.  The coffee is strong and full flavored without that bitter, burnt after taste.  Having a husband who is a coffee fanatic, I can’t tell you how happy I was when we found this place last year.  We usually take our coffee to go, but sometimes we like to linger in the sleek wooden interior and have one of their excellent muffins or croissants.  They also make a killer ice coffee for that rare hot day in London.