New Week, New Room, Same Old Memories

This is the beginning of my first full week in my new room here at Sarah Lawrence College, in the lovey Tweed House:
(p.s., this is a photo I found here, not one I took myself)

Anyhow, after a huge blow-out and weeklong freeze-out with my former roommate, I finally took the necessary steps to move out of MacCracken 9 and into Tweed House. See that room on the top floor, far right? That little window above the trees? That's the window above my bed! Tweed is a total housing upgrade, which I didn't think was entirely possible after MacCracken, and I get along far better with my new roommates than with my first one. We have hardwood floors, arched ceilings, walk-in closets, and more than enough room for the three of us. Once Kate has woken up, I will take photos to post here. Our building also boasts a large (if somewhat messy) kitchen, laundry in the basement, and one of the prettiest classrooms on campus, plus a patio with a barbecue in the backyard! Talk about heaven...

This morning, though, the quaintness of my life here in New York has brought me back quite vividly to the time I spent in beautiful (and quaint) Cambridge two summers ago. I've been looking at pictures of Grantchester all morning, and remembering that pleasant stroll from Jesus College to the Orchard:




Oh, England, how I miss thee! Those photos are, from the top, The Orchard tea garden in Grantchester, a treat I consumed there (fruit scone with clotted cream and blackcurrant jam, and tea, of course), and my Mum and I on the lovely trail between Cambridge and Grantchester, enjoying an eerily bright grey day.

Well, there should be more photos later on today, once I have showered and my roommate has awoken... Much love to everyone on this February morning!

A New Intrigue...

I've always been a lover of tea and tea ritual from all over the world, and a new aspect of this culture has only yesterday come to my attention: Dim Sum. It's a dining experience I've enjoyed numerous time since Dynasty Gardens opened in my home town and became the only Chinese restaurant around to serve this style of lunch, comprised of small, finger-foodie usually steamed dishes to be served alongside traditional tea. This tea ritual, or yum cha, has provided the world many delicious, bite-sized delicacies, and I would like to talk now about one of them: sticky rice in lotus leaves, or lo mai gai. I experienced this treat for the first time yesterday, and it has fast become one of my favourite foods in the world. I saw its lovely picture on the dim sum menu and, automatically intrigued by any sort of food wrapped in leaves, I ordered it.

When it arrived, I carefully unwrapped the steaming package with my fork to reveal a serving of moist, fragrant rice, which I quickly began to devour. on reaching the center of the package, I met with a nice surprise--a nugget of sweet sausage and a pile of teeny-tiny shrimp! All of this amid a variety of rice so sweet, so earthy and herbal . . . it was almost too much!

I'm in the process of looking for an easy enough recipe to make this phenomenal dish at home, but so far, it looks like they are all going to require ingredients I cannot come by and excessive quantities of time which I cannot procure. Hopefully, I will be able to master this, now easily one of my most favourite foods of all time.

Girl's Day Out

Yesterday found my best friend, Amina, and I in a flurry of beautiful things. We skipped our morning jog and, instead, dressed up to make a jam cake--which we ate out on the patio-- as well asvisit a few antique stores, make a stir-fry for lunch, and watch two absolutely terrible movies starring Jackson Rathbone: S. Darko, and Twilight. They were both awful, but we had a beautiful, lovely day.

Here are some pictures of our delicious jam cake, recipe from Gourmet magazine, December 2007, to follow.



Jam Crumb Cake

For Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 stick butter, melted
1/2 milk
1 large egg
1/2 cup raspberry jam
For Crumb Topping:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the middle. Generously butter a 9-inch square or round cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Whisk together butter, milk, and egg in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
3. Pour batter into cake pan. Dollop jam all over surface, then swirl into batter with a spoon.
4. In another bowl, whisk together butter, sugars, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Stir in flour, then blend with your fingertips until incorporated.
5. Sprinkle crumbs in large clumps over top of cake.
6. Bake cake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Enjoy with a mild, fruity tea (we had a pomegranate green tea) or a smoky black.

Some Culinary Experiments:

I've done some neat things in the kitchen in the past few days. First of all, I've improved upon a recipe for "Apricot Tea Bread," as published by Sunset Cookbooks in 1993. Here is the new and improved SCONE recipe!

1 large egg
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temp.
1 tbsp. orange zest (about 1 small orange)
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 sour cream (I use low fat)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 cups (about) dried fruit
1-4 cup slivered almonds

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter and zest; beat until blended.

2. Stir in orange juice and sour cream.

3. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and baking soda.

4. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and beat to blend.
(Note: don't bother getting out the electric mixer--this is an easy one by hand)

5. Stir in fruit and nuts.
(Note: the original recipe calls for apricots and golden raisins, but I like a medley of fruits--on this batch I used both types of raisins, apricots, peaches, and apples)

6. Arrange 2-inch diameter lumps of batter on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

7. Bake in a 350° oven for about a half an hour, until medium brown. Makes about 20 scones.

8. Pairs great with as hearty tea--try an Irish or Scottish Breakfast or an Orange Spice like Constant Comment by Bigelow.