Pancake Day!

My favorite holiday in England: Pancake Day! Otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday in these parts, it is the day before Ash Wednesday. In the states we call this Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gra... also called Carnival in some parts, but here in the good 'ol UK... it is PANCAKE DAY.
This is Tim and his assistant chef, Gaz, making crepes! On pancake day half the fun is getting multiple pans going at once and seeing who can flip the highest pancake :)

I had a hard time wrapping my mind around Pancake day for awhile, and wondered why we didn't actually consume (what I would call) pancakes but instead their thin French sister: the crepe. Apparently this is another area where my American English trips me up (other places include but are not limited to: what is fudge? Chips? Fries? Crisps? and of course the tepid milkshake). Those lovely thick and fluffy and my preference, blueberry dotted cakes fried in a pan that we, Americans, smother in maple syrup are not the pancakes to be enjoyed on pancake day. They eat crepes... that they call pancakes. What is a crepe? Answer: oh that's a french thing. Right. It is not a conversation that anyone is ever meant to win, but it sure is amusing to watch the words travel around in circles!

Although I think what STILL gets me about this celebration is that in a country that is reputed for nights out, and bases the level of expensiveness of foreign country on the price of a pint, is that one of the few days when it is socially acceptable in America to have a roaring night on the town (a proper piss-up) the Brits stay in and do the most domestic activity imaginable: make pancakes. I think that is hilarious, and I am not sure if I will ever be able to fully reconcile this phenomenon in my head. Pretty sure I will always find it kind of funny. :)

This is my lovely housemate Letty and I on pancake day, we had a great group, at least a dozen folk showed up to my house. Food, friends, laughter, music, and crazy traditions?!?! all of my favorite things. There wasn't any smoke surrounding us in the living room when this picture was taken, and I didn't doctor it, so I am not sure why it looks as it does... hmm... maybe because we're smokin hot!! maybe not, maybe just a blurry photo. hahaha

I don't want to skip over the main reason that I like this particular Tuesday in February, it is because the following day signals the beginning of Lent!! Lent is not just for Catholics!I really enjoy Lent, it seems to be the time of year when I most challenge myself to grow and learn in a new way. It is a chance to try something new, give something up that is a distraction. Learn. It is an awesome new start, a fresh start. Like New Year's Eve, but better! Because unlike New Years, Lent is not a new start to a calendar year, and the end of Lent, Easter, is a celebration of new life. That, my friends, is amazing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. You can't go wrong with a holiday that is all about chocolate, flowers, poetry and wearing red and pink!! Growing up we always received heart socks or small boxes of chocolates from our parents. I think this is part of the reason that I think of Valentine's Day as a when you celebrated LOVE, love in all forms: friends, family, and of course with your respective partner. It is only recently when I see what pressure people put on themselves to be romantic, or especially "coupley" that I can see why some people might not like it. But I still do! Valentine's day is a holiday that I think I will always enjoy if I am able to see it as an opportunity to express to my friends and family how fantastic I think they are, and how grateful I am for their love in my life. So thank you!

To celebrate Valentine's Day properly I am sharing with you both the flowers that my parents surprised me with this morning (What a treat!!! And from all the way around the world!?! What girl doesn't like to wake up to a delivery of fresh flowers? Maybe someone who is allergic, but I am not so hooray for flowers! :) as well as one of my favorite love poems. I love this poem so much that I have yet to give it to anyone on a Valentine. That might sound like a trivial point, but poems mean a lot to me, and I don't fancy giving it away over and over again (though I am sure I have blogged this poem before because I do want LOTS of people to read it and love it too!). For now, it is between me and ee. (and of course... you all) Happy Valentine's Day blog land reader(s) <3>
I carry your heart with me(i carry it in

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

Chocolate

Charlotte, my lovely Belgian housemate from last year in Leeds, came to visit England a few weekends ago. Charlotte is great for many reasons, not only is she kind and compassionate, but also hard-working, diligent and an lovely loyal friend. We enjoyed many hours chatting in the kitchen and endless coffee/chocolate breaks whilst locked away in our respective rooms writing essays. I think those breaks made the work bearable and enjoyable. Needless to say I was very happy to hear that she would be around and bought my train ticket to Leeds immediately! It was great weekend :)

To take home with me to Chester, Charlotte brought me a gift! Chocolate of course! :) The other night I enjoyed part of the gift for the first time. She brought me a box of chocolate pralines from Neuhaus.

It has been a pretty busy week, Letty is very busy as it is the weekend before Valentine's Day and she is a florist. So I thought both of us deserved to enjoy a moment of pleasure, as promised on the box of chocolates. I heated up some milk to steaming and we made some amazing hot chocolate!! You simply take one of the chocolates and melt it. The best part is the melty bits left on the spoon. YUM!!! I highly recommend this trick of melting chocolate in hot milk or coffee to anyone, at anytime. However, it is especially nice on a cold night after a long week with good company and laughter. :)

Handful of Luvin'

I'd like to take a moment to recommend a band that is near and dear to my heart. Near and dear to my heart, but apparently almost completely out of my normal music rotation! When Handful of Luvin' played on my itunes today I was greeted with a flash flood of happy memories dancing with Tracey at Masa in Tacoma on a Thursday night to this great hippy happy up and coming local band.

It became a regular ritual and grooving across the dance floor to this band is great. But don't take my word for it! If you live in the greater Washington area check them out live! Or you can look for their CDs on www.cdbaby.com. Get a taste for them on some of our great Internet devices for listening to music like lastfm or spotify. Though I do think that this band is best enjoyed live and preferably in the sunshine whilst dancing in a large grassy field. Here is the link to the band's homepage: Handful of Luvin', check out their shows and get out there and dance. Dance one for me :-)