The Adventures of Sarah and Paul
Aug 31st 2008sarahexpat thoughts
My absentee ballot arrived in the mail yesterday. Politics aren’t my thing at all, but I will be happy to take part in this next election.
The envelope it came in boasted “Official Absentee Balloting Material – First Class Mail” and “Official Election Mail – Authorized by the US Postal Service.” Sometimes I wonder if the mail I get amuses my postman.
I’ll look forward to sending this back in, as the same sentiments are on the return envelope!
Aug 25th 2008sarahKilt Project & Scotland
Following on from my introduction to my kilt project, I thought I would highlight the first purchase in this project, the sgian dubh. So, have a look below at Paul’s sgian dubh.
The purchase of this sgian dubh (pronounce it like “skeen doo”) was my introduction into kilt wear. I bought it as a wedding gift to Paul, with advice from my mother-in-law. I didn’t know anything about what I was doing at the time, so I picked what I thought looked good.
This particular sgian dubh wasn’t outrageously expensive but it is a serious knife. It’s got quite a sharp edge and the whole knife is about 6 or 7 inches long. Sources say that the word “sgian” means knife or dagger, and that the word “dubh” means black, which generally refers to the color of the handle, even though you can get sgian dubhs which are made from wood or horn. It’s worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose, normally on the right leg. The purpose for wearing it is only ceremonial and for decoration mainly. In the UK you aren’t allowed to carry weapons of any sort, but an exception is made for when traditional Scottish dress is being worn.
These knives can be quite elaborate, and I think this one falls on the modest side. You can see the Scottish thistle on the handle, with a piece of topaz glass inlaid at the top, and Gaelic design in silver on the scabbard. Considering the scabbard is hidden withing the hose, I think it’s really the handle that you want to concentrate on for design and embellishments.
Ok, I’m almost done with the ice cream. Maybe I’ll make something over the Bank Holiday, but then that will be it. At least for now.
I just used a basic custard ice cream, and once it was frozen I added some crushed up Oreos. How much better can it get?
…who got married today.
I hope you had a wonderful day, and I can’t wait to see some pictures! I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see it happen, but we’ll catch up in September!
Aug 12th 2008sarahFood & Friends
As you all know by now, I had a couple girlfriends in this past Saturday night. The plan was to have some food, have some drinks, and well, have some ice cream. I think we succeeded on all parts there, and when my camera came out, it didn’t stay in my hands for very long. So, let me share some pictures from our girls night in.
I’m not sure what this picture on the left is all about. I think I look a bit more like Vanna White. “I’d like to buy a vowel, Pat.” Or maybe I’m saying, “Welcome to my kitchen, let me feed you some ice cream.” but, really, I think I’m supposed to be showing off the couple boxes of ice cream that I prepared in advance of my friends’ arrival. It’s a good thing I did, too, as the one kind I did try to freeze while they were there didn’t freeze very well and turned into something more like soup.
On to the ice cream. First we have Margarita ice cream, then Cheesecake ice cream, and the last is Vietnamese Coffee ice cream churning away in my ice cream maker.
They all seemed to be a pretty big hit, judging by the reaction of the crowd. The recipe for the margarita ice cream came from Nigella, and the recipe can be found here on the BBC website. I thought it was pretty good, and extremely easy to make. You don’t need an ice cream maker at all. Just throw everything together in a container and stick in the freezer. I did it the night before and it was perfect on Saturday. I had to let it soften a bit before scooping it out but it all worked fine.
The next two kinds I made, I got the recipes from David Leibovitz’s The Perfect Scoop ice cream cookbook. The cheesecake ice cream was absolutely gorgeous, and was so easy to make. I mixed it up that morning before the girls came over. Once it was churned I added in some crushed gingersnap cookies, which was a brilliant thing. They added that graham cracker crust taste to it and the cookies absorbed some of the cream, so were soft when you bit into them and not hard little bullets in the ice cream, like I was afraid they might end up being.
We were running late in the night which is why the last one came out a bit soupy. I think we might have gotten caught up in drinks and other things and so the ice cream came at the end of the evening. Still, the Vietnamese coffee ice cream was pretty tasty. Basically, it’s just a combination of strong coffee and condensed milk with some cream and then churned in the ice cream maker. It wasn’t as rich as the other ice creams I made at the weekend, but it was still nice and I could see it being very refreshing on a hot day.
The evening started off with drinks, margaritas to be exact, and once both, Rochelle and Anneli had arrived we broke into nachos and then dinner. Dinner was my vegetarian chilli which turned out really well this time, with Anneli’s nachos grande, and Rochelle’s homemade guacamole.
Then, right as we started to dish out ice cream, the girls cottoned on to the fact that we have a Wii. And I promptly displayed the fact that I don’t know how to run it. I broke out the only game I really know how to play and the only game I really enjoy, and that’s Rayman’s Raving Rabbids, so we proceeded to play that and eat ice cream until it was time for the girls to catch their trains.
As I said before, my camera wasn’t in my hands for long. At some point in the evening, someone took some rogue videos of us playing on the Wii. There were also a number of “artistic” shots, which included this cracking photo of the miniature American flag I have by the front door. 
A few more pictures of our evening are available in the gallery.
