Contrasts

Last year...

 This year...

And I honestly couldn't say where I'd rather be. 

I find myself yearning for the snow in England, but I'd be willing to bet that most people in the UK would happily swap their snow for our heat.  I suppose we all want what we can't have.

Christmas Approaches... bring on the snow and cake!

"Let it Snow!" I pronounced in my last blog post, and...  sure enough, it has!  You might think I'd be immune to the charms of snow having lived through two Canadian winters, but I still find something magical in it.  I suppose it's that it's always quite unexpected here in England.  I just love how the snow brings so much excitement - on our walk yesterday we saw so many people having fun on sledges. 

The snow has also made everyone so cheerful.  Practically everyone we have passed whilst walking this weekend has greeted us with a cheery 'hello!' and one even offered us a go on their sledge!

Of course, it's only lovely if you have nowhere you need to go.  We haven't really had to drive anywhere this weekend so it's not been a problem.  I didn't much enjoy my snowy commute to work on Friday though... 

So, what better to do on a snowy weekend after a long walk than to enjoy some festive food?  Wherever we are spending Christmas Day itself, Rob and I always like to cook our own early Christmas Dinner, so that's what we did last night.  Turkey, stuffing, bacon-wrapped chipolatas, lots of sprouts - even a Christmas Pudding.  It was gorgeous!

My Christmas baking has also been done.  Having salivated over Nigella's Chocolate Christmas Cake recipe and heard excellent reports of it from my online foodie friends, I decided to go with the version in Feast (very similar to the version in Nigella's Christmas).  As ever the contents of my cupboards necessitated a little tweaking of the recipe (no Tia Maria?  Mix up some Rum and Camp Coffee instead!), and I left out the candied peel because, well, it's gross. 

The recipe made one 20cm cake, as stated, but I had quite a lot of mixture left over so managed to also make 4 cute mini loaf-cakes as well.  These were very handy for giving as Christmas presents, especially when adorned with edible glitter and chocolate stars.

And the cake itself?  Amazing.  Gorgeous.  Better than I ever expected!  Even Rob, who really didn't like the idea of it, and even grimaced in disgust when he tasted the uncooked mixture, is a convert.  You can't really taste the chocolate in it, but the cocoa and the coffee add a deep rich smokiness to the cake.  The texture is not as dense as a traditional fruit cake, but it's heavy with moist fruit, spongy and sticky.  In short, perfect. 

The recipe can be found in many places online, but here's a link on the BBC Food website.  I can't recommend it enough.  I had a large slab of it with a cup of tea this afternoon... and now I'm a little worried about how I'll fit in my 'Boxing Day' supper of cold turkey and fried stuffing!  I'm sure I'll manage.

Lots to Celebrate!

Yay!!! Rob is home, and so is my camera! And just in time for Valentine's Day too. Despite our mutual agreement that we 'don't do gifts' on February 14th in a protest at the gross commercialism of the day, I was of course delighted to receive this little haul of goodies from the American PX in Garmisch:



Those Necco Sweetheart candies are gorgeous! And Valentine's Funfetti!?!?! Just how cool is that?! I had to make it. Immediately.



Rob was gutted not to have realised that you have to buy the frosting and sugar hearts separately - "So it's just a cake with red bits?" he said forlornly... However, upon eating the unadorned cake I realised that I actually prefer it that way. It's moist, sweet and vanilla-ey, and the frosting just pushes the whole confection dangerously close to teeth-rottingly sickly. Not that there's anything wrong with that on occasion, but I'm finding it somehow easier to eat huge chunks of this cake than I did when I made a frosted one. Best not to gild the lily!

The weather was beautiful so we went on a long walk to enjoy the remnants of the snow. A heavy frost and bright sunshine - my favourite kind of winters day.



I hope that you all had a very Happy Valentine's Day, however you celebrated it.

Looking for the Little Things

I didn't realise quite how much I love my SLR camera, and how much it has changed my life. It's right there at the top of my list of 'things I would grab before leaving my burning house', right there alongside the laptop, my childhood soft toy and my photo albums. And Rob of course - although I'd hope he'd be helping to carry the photo albums.

But this fortnight I find myself camera-less. Rob is away in Germany on a skiing trip. I think it's officially a work trip (OK, I know it is, and I know he is working very hard!) but it is February and he did take his skis. And he has my camera. He has been abroad for work before and asked if he could take it, but in the past I have always said no (because it's MINE). But in an unusual fit of generosity, and a genuine desire to see some photos of snowy Oberammeragau, I let him take it this time. And now England has the biggest snowfall for 18 years. Typical.

So I'm feeling bereft. Not only am I husband-less for two weeks, but I don't have the one thing with which I would happily fill my days. OK, I have several thousand photos of the snow after two winters in Canada, but this is snow in England, and I have days off school in which to enjoy it!

Still, it has made me realise just how differently I look at the world now I use my camera a lot. I find myself constantly on the lookout for the little details around me - a reflection, a shadow, patterns and colours that it's so easy to overlook. These were taken in Oxford a few weeks ago.





So although I'm frustrated by my lack of camera, I am trying hard to keep my eyes open to these kinds of things. There is so much of interest and beauty around us, whatever the weather, and it's easy to forget to look. As William Henry Davies put it, more eloquently than I ever could:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

From one Extreme to Another

We are currently enjoying some wonderful Summer weather. The temperature is hovering around the late 20s and the dramatic 'thunderstorm season' seems to have passed now, taking any uncomfortable humidity with it.

I can't help thinking that Canada enjoys what is - for me - the 'perfect climate'. It has wonderful Summers and wonderful Winters too. I'll concede that I have missed the beautiful English Springtime - Canada seems to lurch quickly from Winter to Summer, with a short period of dullness in between - but I'm really going to miss the 'proper' snowy Winters here (particularly when we're in the middle of a grey January in the UK) and the 'proper' sunny Summers where you can mindlessly throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt every day for months without worrying about the weather forecast.

At its most extreme we have experienced a nearly 80 degree centigrade range in temperature here. It can reach minus 40 degrees (although this is rare in Ontario, more common on the Praries) and the Summer heat can peak at plus 40 degrees (again rare, but all too possible).

Last Winter was a loooong one here. Our last snowfall was on April 13th (the first one having been last November!), but here we are, 3 months later, wearing shorts and sunglasses.

I've been enjoying looking back through some photos this week, and have been particularly fascinated by remembering back to certain places in different seasons. Here are just a few:

Chez nous, last Summer (late Summer I'd guess, looking at the maple tree next door!)

The house in Winter. Note the great walls of snow... I shovelled that there. Well, until we mastered the petrol-driven snowblower, which brought yet more excitements!

Me, cycling down the Trillium Trail last week, enjoying the lingering warmth of the evening sun.

The same trail in January. I XC-skiied down it then.

Relaxing on Wasaga Beach last weekend. We both swam in Georgian Bay; it was beautiful.

Just as beautiful, Wasaga Beach in Winter. We both skiied on Georgian Bay, and clambered over the frozen waves.

Awesome!

Yes, the Winter can bring its problems (driving in freezing rainstorms or white-out blizzards was none too fun...) but by and large the country is well-equipped to deal with it and life goes on. I like that about it. All part of the typically laid-back Canadian attitude.

Canadian weather, eh? I love it!