Gobble Gobble
25/11/06 16:42
Happy Turkey Day! Two days post-Thanksgiving and we
are still eating leftovers, as we will do for days to
come. Bring on the turkey sandwiches! I cooked dinner
again this year, for seven people. Me and Paul were
joined by some wonderful friends who helped us
celebrate in style -- Lisa and Matt, Sara, and my
fellow American expat Jen and her husband Jonno. Jen
was able to come over early and help me in the
kitchen, peeling potatoes and getting the vegetables
sliced and the turkey basted.
I am pretty proud of how the turkey came out, I did more to it this year than simply throw some butter and herbs on it and stick it in the oven. I made a garlic paste out of 6 oven-roasted heads of garlic (man, did the house smell for awhile!), rosemary, butter, dijon mustard and salt & pepper. Rubbed that all over the turkey and inside the skin, then poured white wine and chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting dish and added chopped carrots, celery, onion and the turkey parts (neck, gizzard, liver, etc..) around the bottom to give it lots of flavor and keep it nice and juicy. My supersonic oven cooked that baby in just about 2 hours so it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Good thing too since we were running behind schedule!
But everything turned out great in the end, we had a lovely time and it was nice to be with my 'family' away from family. I missed everyone in Indiana, of course, but it helped that we did a web-cam with Mom, Dad and Andrea earlier that day. You can see pictures of our Thanksgiving get together under Friends, Thanksgiving.
Amelia is as wonderful as ever, a real joy to be around. She is so curious and exploring her surroundings at every opportunity. She can pull herself up to standing very well now and only needs a small hold on something to keep her balance. She seems to have lost interest in crawling so it looks like she might go straight into walking. At least it means she can't get too far away from me quite yet! We haven't babyproofed yet but I think we'll have to do that before Christmas or just after.
We went to the London Aquarium today as it was a rainy, miserable day and we wanted to get out and about but stay indoors at the same time. We thought Amelia would like the fish but boy, were we wrong -- she LOVED them! Every single glass case she was held up to evoked peals of laughter and little legs and arms flailing with happiness. Luckily nearly every display had a ledge in front of it so we were able to sit or stand her right next to the glass so she could put her hands on it and get a really good look at the marine life. We bought her a toy shark memento in the gift shop and then had a late lunch before heading back home on the train. That's another thing she loves, the train. She just looks out the window and squeals with laughter as she watches the buildings and other trains fly by. She's a city girl already!
We have had what may be a serious breakthrough (for me!): Amelia is in her own room now and for the last two nights, has SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! Hallellujah! Hallelujah! I managed to get more than 4 hours sleep in one go and feel like a new woman. Please send us some "continue doing this, Amelia!" vibes and I'll let you know if they're working.
Poor girl had a bit of a throat infection with a high fever two weeks ago and then as soon as that cleared up she got a heavy cold. It's starting to fade away now but for a couple days she was pretty miserable, not being able to breathe through her nose. A little TLC, lots of kleenex and some VapoRub were all I was able to provide her with as she's too young for cold meds, but she's definitely on the mend now and hasn't let it slow her down much.
Next update will be just before Christmas, and then another one around the New Year, I would imagine. In the meantime, look at the new videos and pictures (Millie - November, Latest Movie, November movies, Friends - Thanksgiving). Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Love to all.
Amity, Paul and Amelia
I am pretty proud of how the turkey came out, I did more to it this year than simply throw some butter and herbs on it and stick it in the oven. I made a garlic paste out of 6 oven-roasted heads of garlic (man, did the house smell for awhile!), rosemary, butter, dijon mustard and salt & pepper. Rubbed that all over the turkey and inside the skin, then poured white wine and chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting dish and added chopped carrots, celery, onion and the turkey parts (neck, gizzard, liver, etc..) around the bottom to give it lots of flavor and keep it nice and juicy. My supersonic oven cooked that baby in just about 2 hours so it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Good thing too since we were running behind schedule!
But everything turned out great in the end, we had a lovely time and it was nice to be with my 'family' away from family. I missed everyone in Indiana, of course, but it helped that we did a web-cam with Mom, Dad and Andrea earlier that day. You can see pictures of our Thanksgiving get together under Friends, Thanksgiving.
Amelia is as wonderful as ever, a real joy to be around. She is so curious and exploring her surroundings at every opportunity. She can pull herself up to standing very well now and only needs a small hold on something to keep her balance. She seems to have lost interest in crawling so it looks like she might go straight into walking. At least it means she can't get too far away from me quite yet! We haven't babyproofed yet but I think we'll have to do that before Christmas or just after.
We went to the London Aquarium today as it was a rainy, miserable day and we wanted to get out and about but stay indoors at the same time. We thought Amelia would like the fish but boy, were we wrong -- she LOVED them! Every single glass case she was held up to evoked peals of laughter and little legs and arms flailing with happiness. Luckily nearly every display had a ledge in front of it so we were able to sit or stand her right next to the glass so she could put her hands on it and get a really good look at the marine life. We bought her a toy shark memento in the gift shop and then had a late lunch before heading back home on the train. That's another thing she loves, the train. She just looks out the window and squeals with laughter as she watches the buildings and other trains fly by. She's a city girl already!
We have had what may be a serious breakthrough (for me!): Amelia is in her own room now and for the last two nights, has SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! Hallellujah! Hallelujah! I managed to get more than 4 hours sleep in one go and feel like a new woman. Please send us some "continue doing this, Amelia!" vibes and I'll let you know if they're working.
Poor girl had a bit of a throat infection with a high fever two weeks ago and then as soon as that cleared up she got a heavy cold. It's starting to fade away now but for a couple days she was pretty miserable, not being able to breathe through her nose. A little TLC, lots of kleenex and some VapoRub were all I was able to provide her with as she's too young for cold meds, but she's definitely on the mend now and hasn't let it slow her down much.
Next update will be just before Christmas, and then another one around the New Year, I would imagine. In the meantime, look at the new videos and pictures (Millie - November, Latest Movie, November movies, Friends - Thanksgiving). Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Love to all.
Amity, Paul and Amelia