Upon request

As requested: closet photo. Though only one finished with Will's stuff....

Here is the labor intensive photo part:

New Closets

I got back from NY with a surprise! Will redesigned the two (out of 4) closets in the dressing room before our bedroom. Now I can have (some of) my stuffs in there too, as opposed to the dresser and closet of one of the guest bedrooms. Very exciting. This makes me feel *more official* then the ring.... ;)

I don't get it.

Okay, I know that Christmas windows of the New York stores are supposed to be all hip and fanciful and stuff; they are supposed to strike with awe the passers-by and make them stop and stare at the displays.

But as Fiona and I walked by Bergdorf's what we were struck by were the sheer bizarre-o combinations in the windows.

the dead birds....

the hideous and super-sized jewelry....

the uniformed serving monkeys....

the acordian....

We don't get it.

Obama's favorite Chocolate is now MY favorite too

As an engagement gift, a lovely colleague of mine from Seattle handed me a box of Fran's chocolate. She gave Will and me the gray & smoked salt caramels in dark chocolate. They are amazing, as Fiona can attest.
Apparently, these have become Obama's favorite candy. And Oprah. And Harrison Ford. With fans like these, you know it's gotta be good.

And as my colleague: chocolate is decadent but doesn't last long, unlike love: equally as decadent, but sweeter and more enduring.

Will and I (and Fiona) will eat to that!

This is what I need

Right now. Maybe all three of them....

"Working" in January

Every January, Fiona and I meet up for a week. It is under the pretense of "working/attending the AHA's annual meeting." The location and exact dates change from year-to-year.

This January, we are meeting up in New York right after new year. We are staying (for a steal) at the Waldorf-Astoria. As I check into this amazingly ornate hotel, I am struck by the Art Deco style... ZOMG. Is that a chocolate fountain AND lobster claws in the lobby?

Why, yes. Yes it is.... Being here really can't be called "working."

Battenberg!

One of the delicious edibles from England to which Will has introduced me to is Battenberg tea cakes. Sometimes called Chapel Window cake, it is a pound cake-like dessert wrapped in apricot jam and marzipan. The cake itself if divided into sections, pink and yellow, to look like a window. We requested that we get these (and Bath Olivers and hot water bottles) brought over from the Motherland whenever we have visitors from there.

Now, we don't have to wait until the next Englishman (or woman) arrives. I have learned how to make it! Especially key now given the fact the British government in April 2008 asked for a voluntary ban on artificial food dyes in food, which would effect Battenberg cakes (and Turkish Delight and mushy peas)!

It might be a heresy committed against my great grandmother Mammy's pound cake to wrap it in anything because it is so yummy on its own, but I have taken it, divided the batter in half and added red food dye to get the pink color. And no way can I pass on the recipe for the cake (My mother might kill me), but those of you who have tasted the cake know that it is too.die.for. And to be honest, this cake might have been the best one that I have ever made.

Once they were out, I let them cool completely, and then put them in the fridge (wrapped in cling wrap), to really set up. Then I cut them into square logs, spread apricot jam in between and all around, and finally wrapped marzipan (rolled out over sugar) around the whole cake.

Viola! Homemade Battenburg.

When you come to our house for tea, we will serve this to you with your cuppa.