I just finished the book “Notes From a Small Island” by Bill Bryson last night.  In a move that is fitting for the book, I purchased it for 20p at a village fete a few weeks ago.

Though it seemed to trail off at the end a bit, it was a thoroughly delightful book and I highly recommend it for any North Americans living in the UK.  Bryson is witty and thought provoking about both the UK and his homeland of the US.  It helped me make sense of some of the stuff I’ve been thinking and feeling while I’ve been here and the natural comparisons to past homes.  The UK is truly a mysterious place for the newly arrived.  Perhaps they should hand out this book at the border.  Though, on second thought, I think it’s probably funnier to read it after you have your own experiences.

Well worth the 20p investment.

Now, on to some light summer reading!

This is the only conclusion I can draw watching the Michael Jackson tribute.  He fed the hungry, clothed the naked….  He was the greatest figure in civil rights history….  He was the most inspiring American who ever lived.  He will be remembered and revered for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

Really?  Jackson was clearly a talented singer and entertainer.  He’s left a big legacy of music and musical influence.

How long ago were these same people distancing themselves from Jackson?  How long ago were people saying Jackson had turned away from being an African-American?

Sure, funerals are or remembering the best of a person’s life.  They are a chance to acknowledge and express grief.

This seems completely out of hand.  It seems to be exploitative.  The man was a recluse.

Obviously he was a hurting enigma with many problems.  Why can we not celebrate the best of him, rather than celebrating a hyperbole that never existed.

Plus, they are preaching some crap theology!

Outside my window the rain is just pitching down.  It’s pounding on the roof and making a nice little percussion section.

I so prefer this to bits and drops of rain.  The kind of rain that you can figure out whether to put up an umbrella and you can feel your hair frizzing.  Instead, this rain feels substantial.  You can almost watch the grass get greener (which is good after our heat wave) and feel the temperature ease down.

I love going to sleep with it raining like this.  I used to love sitting in the car and listening to it on the roof.

However, I’m hoping this rain will be intense, but brief.  As much fun as it is to enjoy it from inside, I do have to go out in an hour!

I have so many fantastic memories of 4th of July celebrations in the US.  Sitting on the banks of the Charles taking in the concert and fireworks in Boston.  A big party at Sarah’s, followed by watching the New York City fireworks from her roof deck.  Fun days of barbequing and watching the Amherst fireworks.  So many funy days.

Yesterday’s activities weren’t as official, but they were definitely the most interesting.  And rather surreal.

My friend Sheena and I had decided to go into London for some Independence Day festivities at a  pub there.  So, I hopped on a train and headed into the city.

We should have known things were going to be a little crazy when we got accosted by an over affectionate person in a bear-suited-as-a-royal-guard.  An odd way to start the day.  As we continued down the street, we walked passed the theatre where the Thriller show is playing.  The front had been turned into a mini-shrine for Michael Jackson.  Felt like a historic moment.

When we arrived at the pub they were just putting up baloons and it didn’t seem like there was anyone there.  So, we headed out to kill some time.  I dragged Sheena down to Haymarket to look for the famous Tim Hortons.  Sure enough, it was there.  I got a Boston Cream donut and a latte.  Neither really tasted the same.  Sigh.

We went back to the pub, which still didn’t have many people around.  We had a drink and chatted a bit.  There still wasn’t much happening, so we took a pass on the 6 pound hot dogs and headed out.  We went down to Leicester Square, where we ran into the start of Pride Day in London.  Not quite what we expected!  Headed into Burger King for an all-American meal.  Then over to Ben & Jerrys for some fantastic ice cream.  Met some very interesting people in line (filling water bottles with vodka and all that).  I must recommend brownie cheesecake ice cream.

Then we followed the line of crazy through to Trafalgar Square and sat behind the National Portrait Gallery doing some people watching.  And oh, was there a lot to watch.  Drag queens, people dressed as disco balls, men walking around in their underwear.  It certainly wasn’t what I expected for July 4th.

We took a little time in the National Gallery checking out the Impressionists.  Then we walked through St. James Park through to Buckingham Palace and around to the Canada Gate.  Then we walked through Green Park to the tube stop and made our way home.

Seems like a lot more Canadian content than American!

Overall, a most unusual day!  Happy Birthday America!

This week as part of my cook-more-US-dishes-I-love/bangers-and-mash-isn’t-a-summer-dish-people effort, I baked one of my favourite muffin recipe, entitled dirt bombs.

I first discovered dirt bombs in my Cape Cod Table cookbook and couldn’t resist making them.  They were incredible!  I made them many more times before making the pilgrimage to Cottage Street Bakery in the fall of 2007.  The bakery version was much bigger than what I had made and I think it was even better.

Anyhow, this week I need to take some cakes to a meeting and thought about them again.  Despite being in the middle of a heat wave, I found the recipe on the internet and gave it a go.

As always, the recipe did not disappoint.  I ended up with light and fluffy, slightly spiced muffins wrapped in a coating of cinnamon sugar.  Plus, it reminded me of being on Cape Cod.  Sigh!

Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a go!

Dirt Bombs
Yields: 12 muffins*

3 cups AP flour, minus 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk **

Topping ***

¾ cups unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400º F. Place the rack in the center position. Generously grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cardamon into a mixing bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down half way through. Mix in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in two additions, mixing gently by hand to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be on the stiff side, but airy. Don’t over mix or beat the batter as this will make the muffins tough. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, without smoothing the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, turn them out onto a wire rack.

Add the melted butter to a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.
Dip the muffins (top, sides and bottom) in the butter, using a pastry brush -if necessary- to cover areas not buttered by dipping. Immediately roll the muffins in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I’ve made this twice, and both times, this recipe has yielded 16 muffins instead of 12.
**I substituted whole buttermilk for whole milk because I always have it on hand and prefer it for baking.
*** The amounts listed for the sugar and cinnamon are not quite enough to coat all the muffins, so I recommend you double it.

Three weeks until Dublin and U2!!!  So much to do to prepare!

Happy Canada Day everyone!!

It has been a long time since I lived in Canada.  For 10 years I lived in the US.  It gave me a different perspective on Canada and I often felt I was just outside the window looking in.  It helped me understand the Canadian political system better to be part of another system.  It was also interesting to be part of a culture that Canada was rebelling against for most of its existance.

Now I’m over the pond in the mother country and once again I feel I understand Canada a little more.  Visiting at Christmas I saw the influence of the UK much clearer than I had before.  At least on the East coast, there is a strong British influence.  And, having lived in both the US and the UK, it’s easy to see Canada as the bridge between the two.

Last summer I visited Northern France and saw the love that they have for Canadians.  I would have thought that the years since the wars would have dampened that, but it hasn’t.  It’s a very good thing to be a Canadian in Europe.

Even though I haven’t lived in Canada for a long time, I still love the country and definitely consider myself a Canadian first (with a growing list of allegiences behind that).

Heat waves in countries unacustomed to heat are really gross.  Hardly any air conditioning.  Hardly any ice cold drinks.  Mostly I’m lying very still and praying for a cool breeze!

It has been a rather long and full week this week.  I’m quite enjoying a rest on Sunday morning.

Some bits of this week.  This week I was:

Cooking!  I tried another new recipe from the Smitten Kitchen on Friday night.  Asparagus, goat cheese and lemon pasta.  Really good.  I added a bit of chicken and some fine beans which added a little extra bulk to the dish.  Nice summery feeling pasta.

Obsessing!  For some reason, I’m obsessed with Cape Cod right now.  I really miss dashing down there for summer days.  Clearly it was a mistake to leave it off the US itinerary.  Missing the beaches, the boats, the shops and the feel of the Cape.

Sneezing!  Pollen, pollen, go away!!  Enough already.

Quilting!  Shocking, I know.  I’ve only cut out quilt pieces so far, but it’s more of a start than I’ve made in a long time.  Next, to see if I remember how to hand piece!

Stressing!  Another ‘am I flying out in a month’ moment this week.  Hate that feeling of rising panic.  Don’t mind so much moving back to the US or Canada, but I would just like to know more than a month in advance.

Tearing out my hair!  Book keeping is taking years off my life.  Not only do I not like doing it, but I’m crap at it, which makes everything worse.  Spent most of this week inputting stuff, working on spreadsheets and developing a budget for next year.  And I still feel like everything’s wrong.

Reading!  Still working my way through Notes From a Small Island and Organic Church.  Have some great books out of the library, so I’m hoping to finish Notes soon.

Watching!  Ace of Cakes Season 2 brought back from America.  I’m sure Duff would be a pain to work for, but it sure is fun to watch.

Praying!  It’s our monthly week of prayer (not that we don’t pray at other times) and I was able to spend a good amount of time in the prayer room.  Refreshing on many levels.  On a super hot week, the prayer room was rather chilly, a physical reminder of the calm peaceful refreshing!

Forgive me a moment of self-indulgence as I launch into a fabulous cliche.   Last night I got quite a shock when my housemate walked and said “Michael Jackson’s dead”.  I didn’t believe him at first and became part of the frantic masses hitting refresh in hopes of finding news, or bringing down the whole internet.

I didn’t get confirmation (from a credible news source – I still can’t believe I stooped to checking TMZ!) until much later.

Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘fan’ of Michael Jackson, but Thriller was my very first album and I think Michael Jackson/Thriller was my very first obsession.  I listened to that album for hours, looking at the very cute baby tiger on the album sleeve.  Sadly, the first I heard of Paul McCartney was his duet with Michael.  I’m so a child of the 80s.

I loved Beat It and Billy Jean.  I remember not being allowed to watch the Thriller video or listen to the song.

Obviously, I had no real connection to Michael Jackson, but last night was a bit of a trip down memory lane to those pre-teen days and first crushes.  Sad what his life later became and sad that he died so soon.