Boden’s Birthday Cake

Today’s post is special because it is one cake recipe done two ways. The first way is a traditional Victoria Sandwich cake and the second way is a checkerboard cake with chocolate frosting that I made to celebrate the birth of my nephew. That’s right, I have a nephew!

On Saturday night Aaron and Katy (Ryan’s twin brother and his wife) emailed they were going to the hospital. I was jumping up and down in the street with excitement. Then Sunday Ryan and I woke up with an email and a photo of their son Boden! It’s their first kid, and our first nephew. We are an uncle and aunt for the first time!

Raspberry Honeycomb Ice Cream Pie

Recently I bought delicious and BBC Good Food, two UK based food magazines. I thought it would be nice to have some recipes and not have to constantly search for conversion. My oven is in Celsius and everything I buy in the grocery store comes in milliliters or grams. But I’m used to Fahrenheit and ounces and tablespoons. So, I pulled out tons of recipes and the first one I chose to make doesn’t really require too much conversion anyway.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Reese’s Pieces Cookies

I’m moving to London later today. Officially and for real. The last week or so has been really busy and fun as I said goodbye and prepared for this move. Let me tell you about my last few days and then at the end I’ll give you a cookie recipe.

My 29th  birthday was a little over a week ago! I went to New York to have a last hurrah. I actually hadn’t been to New York since my graduation, and I was excited to go back and see the city one more time. On Friday (the 20th) I went to Staten Island and stayed with my friend Inga (who also has the same birthday as me). It was so great to catch up with her. She and I were roommates years ago when we studied abroad in Rome. Visiting her, I got to see her new house, meet her  beautiful daughter, and celebrate our birthdays. We had sushi and cake and it was wonderful.

Banoffee Pie

Photo from Bullycomics

Have you ever seen Love Actually? I have. Many times.

Do you know that scene when Juliet (Kiera Knightley) goes to Mark’s (Andrew Lincoln) apartment? She goes there looking to see if he has good video footage of her wedding. When Mark opens the door, she offers him banoffee pie. “What the heck is that?” I’ve thought to myself. So I googled it, and I immediately wanted to have some. And simple as that, I decided to make this pie for myself.

Banoffee pie is banana and toffee pie. Get it? Banana+toffee=banoffe. Doesn’t that sound delicious!?! I really liked this pie. The texture is creamy and silky. It’s cool, delicious, and both indulgent and refreshing.

Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

When I get back to London, I want to have tea. Obviously I’ve had tea before. Ryan and I made it in our apartment and I even had tea and scones with some friends at the Victoria & Albert Museum. But I think you know what I really mean.

I bet you have some idea of the ridiculous picture I have in my head. Imagine: a restaurant, dressing up a little bit, a fascinator hat, pinky in the air, and a three-tier tray with tiny sandwiches and sweets. I know it’s not really going to be like that and my little fantasy is probably closer to a stereotype than anything else. Regardless, I still want to go to tea and Ryan and I have been collecting a few suggestions for where to go.

Confetti Cookies

I feel a little guilty that it’s been over a week since I’ve posted, but the truth is I haven’t been cooking much. Since I’ve been back I’ve gone out, I’ve had pb&j, grilled cheese, and teriyaki chickpeas. Ryan, on the other hand, has been killing it. He sent me beautiful pictures of the ingredients for pasta, homemade tomato sauce, and cheesy garlic bread. Cheesy garlic bread! I wanted it. It looked gooey and buttery and amazing. Also, he is having great adventures. He recently went to Greenwich and saw the Naval Museum and Royal Observatory. The pictures are impressive – check them out below. Gorgeous architecture, amazing painted ceilings, and beautiful scenery!

Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

I first thought about this kind of cake a few weeks ago. Ryan and I were having breakfast at Bloomsbury Coffee House, which is a charming restaurant. Although the place has a basement location, it still feels bright, welcoming, and cozy. There was a window box bursting with a gorgeous herb garden, worn wooden tables, and a delicious looking menu. Being a sucker for all sorts of lemon desserts, the lemon rosemary cake caught my eye. But I ordered the English breakfast, and promised myself to get a slice for the road. When I finished, I was too full and forgot about the cake. 

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Our flat is starting to feel more like a home! On Friday, I baked peanut butter cookies and it made the apartment smell wonderful. Baking, the yummy smells, and having home made food made the apartment feel more like mine. We’re also starting to get settled by putting our knickknacks out and decorating our place.

We can finally start decorating because on Saturday, our landlord came and furnished our apartment! Yes, to answer your unspoken question, we’d been living in our apartment for a week without furniture. Now, it’s starting to feel more like a real place to live because we can put things away and actually sit and relax other places besides the air mattress.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes a person needs a cookie. And after this weekend, I really needed one. Ryan and I went on a long road trip, we went to a wedding, I cried over missing our friends, I took Ryan to the airport, I watched scary TV, and I got pumped and started packing for London. See? I needed a cookie. Let me tell you about it.

This weekend Ryan was in his friend Tommy’s wedding in Atlanta. We left on Thursday and stayed overnight with our friends who live in North Carolina.  They just moved into a beautiful new house with the most amazing kitchen. (To digress a bit, their kitchen is truly a dream kitchen with a huge fridge, two ovens, and a beautiful gigantic island. I wish I had taken pictures).  Anyway, it was wonderful to see them, their new home, and to catch up. We parted and I was so sad to leave them. I asked Ryan if when we come back if we could be their neighbors (and so I could have an awesome kitchen too).

Going Away Party

No recipe this time, but don’t worry, this post is mostly about food.

My mom and Ryan’s mom organized a going away party for us this weekend. It was wonderful to be surrounded by many of our family and friends. I felt so loved and was really touched that people made the trip out to send us off. And I liked having so many different groups of people together. I felt warm and fuzzy, but I also got a bit weepy. With so many people supporting and encouraging us, what can’t we accomplish, even if we are far away? But, being far away… I will miss so many things and so many people. So I cried a bit. But not too much.