Changes in Hampstead

In addition to the White Bear becoming our new favorite place to eat in Hampstead (they know us when we call to make reservations before we even say who it is...must be the American accent) there are a couple new changes to report from the neighborhood. One good and one bad.

We'll start with the good news... The Rosslyn Deli, which many of you know as the place we buy our "American" groceries like Hunt's tomato paste, Teddy Grahams, and cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, shut down on Sunday. You may be thinking, why is that good news? Well, the answer is that the store replacing it is... A BUTCHER AND WINE/CHEESE SHOP! Yay. Really couldn't be more excited. There's been a BIG whole in Hampstead ever since the butcher closed, shortly after we arrived. There is no where to get decent meat (or any meat for that matter... Tesco is routinely out of chicken breasts and ground beef) and the main thing we had been going to Rosslyn for anyway was cheese. So now we get an even better cheese shop, with wine, cured meats, and a full butcher. Very very happy to see this place when it opens up next month: The Hampstead Butcher and Providore.

On the bad news side of things, we heard that the Duke of Hamilton pub is closing down. This was the last true, authentic pub in Hampstead and has been around for ages. They've got great picnic tables outside for when the weather's nice, serve London Pride, and don't serve food (the mark of a true pub in many people's opinion). The owner of the building decided not to renew their lease and is instead turning it into an apartment building. We will miss The Duke, as I know many of you will (mainly my dad and brother) and plan to frequent it until the close in late August.

A few of my favorite things

James turned four months old last week and in honor of his birthday I thought I would make a list of some of his favorite things. Maybe when he's 14 he'll look back on this as a simpler time... I know we will :)

1. Smiling
2. Sucking and chewing on pretty much anything, especially his pacifier
3. Looking in the mirror
4. Laying on the changing table (preferably naked)
5. Being swaddled
6. The "Little Man" song that I made up (A little man in a little house, said hello to a little mouse. The little mouse said what's your name? The little man said I am James!... that's the whole song)
7. His cloth book of faces
8. EATING - he's a bottomless pit these days, we honestly can't feed him enough. I think he may be ready for real food sooner than the recommended six months
9. Being outside on the move (thank goodness for the nice weather)
10. Watching me eat cereal... he really loves this. I think it's a sign that he's ready for real food :)
11. Spitting up - well, this may not be one of his favorite things, but he does it enough that I thought it deserved a place on the list

We were hoping to add Italy to this list after our trip there... Starting to get a little worried about the ash cloud, though, and keeping fingers and toes crossed that planes will be flying again by Saturday!

One day old James

Here's a picture of James that was taken at the hospital when he was only a day old! It's hard to even recognize him now!

http://www.theportlandhospital.com/web-baby-details.asp?q=297

Easter break

The family took a trip over the Easter break to a small town in the south of France called Sonnac Sur l'Hers, which is close to a slightly larger (and more well known) town called Mirepoix, and about an hour and a half drive from the Toulouse airport. We were in the Languedoc wine region, which we learned has only recently become a legitimate area in France for wine. It was more well known, until the past few years, for mediocre table wine.

Ric had read about a small B&B (only 4 rooms) called Le Tresor that is "family friendly"... a new criteria by which we plan our holidays. It's run by two Brits who have a couple young kids of their own and do a fabulous job of making your stay as easy as possible. We were able to eat dinner every night just downstairs from our room in their dining room and feel like we were getting a night out without really being away from James. Tilly, the woman who runs the B&B with her husband, is an amazing cook and we had every dinner and breakfast there. We didn't do a whole lot other than enjoying long lunches, going for a few walks, and driving to a winery for Easter Sunday.

Overall, it was a great trip, and we learned a lot about what's going to work, and not work, when traveling with James. I think one big lesson is that it's really better to travel with him if we can go somewhere for at least a week. The quick weekend getaways that we were so used to doing from London, aren't quite as enjoyable with a little one. All the traveling is exhausting for him (and us) and just as he's getting adjusted to the new place and settling back into his normal schedule, we're leaving to go home. We also will look for places where we don't have to "do" a whole lot and can just hang out, relax, hopefully have a nice room that we can spend time in, and some simple activities close enough by that we don't have to drive or train anywhere.

Hopefully as we do more of these trips we'll continue to get a feel for what kinds of things are most enjoyable. In the meantime, Ric found a great site that lists nice, family friendly places to stay all over the world so we'll be studying this intently :) www.babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk. And getting mentally prepared for our next trip, which is a week in Italy at the end of the month.

All the pictures are up on Flickr and videos are on their way. Enjoy!

Recipe

There hasn't been much to update everyone on lately, so I thought I'd post a recipe that we've recently tried and really liked. It's different than what I normally cook, but very tasty and, while there are a lot of ingredients, it's easy to make. We're all about things that can be thrown together quickly these days!

Singapore Turkey Stew: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=633463

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground lean turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice (see notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 can (13 1/2 oz.) coconut milk
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) fat-skimmed chicken broth
• 1 head bok choy (12 oz.), rinsed, stem end trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can (14 oz.) baby corn, drained
• 2 Roma tomatoes (about 8 oz. total), rinsed, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup drained canned sliced water chestnuts
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, mix ground turkey, five spice, chili flakes, and salt. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Pour flour onto a large rimmed plate and roll balls in flour to coat lightly.

2. Pour oil into a 4- to 5-quart nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add meatballs in a single layer. Cook, turning frequently, until lightly browned all over and barely pink in the center (cut to test), 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.

3. Add garlic and ginger to pan and stir just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add coconut milk, broth, and meatballs; bring to a simmer. Adjust heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook until meatballs are no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in bok choy, baby corn, tomatoes, water chestnuts, green onions, and lime juice and cook, stirring often, until bok choy leaves are wilted and stems are barely tender to bite, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve from pan.