Fruit mince pies, part 5

This has turned into more of an obsession than either of us planned... However, here is the fifth attempt at fruit pies. The first time we had the right pans and the adjusted pastry recipee. We fed them to some intrigued dinner guests, and they were quite impressed.
Hubby is relatively confident that we might have worked it out now. Looking forward to next Christmas!

Follow up on Christmas Cake

No, not more cooking, a bit of an explanation.
The joke in America, apparently, is that no-one actually eats the fruit cake. That about 10,000 were made at the beginning of time, and they're just being regifted around and around each christmas. Which sort of explains why my fruit cake wasn't eaten when I put it out at bible study.
Apparently, maybe in the grandparents generation, fruitcake was eaten, but now, generally, what with the huge joke and all, it is not eaten, although it does turn up as a secret santa gift... I don't know why or how this has changed.
Wedding cakes here are not fruit cakes. Apparently many look good but don't taste good. I know all wedding cakes in Australia are not fruit cakes, but many are, and are eaten with great gusto, right?! I can also remember many morning teas, generally in the bush, with a cup of strong tea and a lump of fruit cake. When my nana died a local lady made us a fruit cake. I have my Aunt Penny's recipe for light fruit cake.
Pictured is our wedding cake, with fruitcake recipes from three different women in our lives - one recipe per layer!

Pink cherry blossoms

The beautiful thick late pink cherry blossoms are out (and moving on...) Hubby has a picture of a glorious old established tree in a suburb of pure americana (I'm thinking, refined quietly wealthy houses, not huge 3 living rooms wealthy) that we drove around recently. I'll get it for a later post.

The houses are just different here. I can't explain it. I'll try another day. 

Flashy car

Yars, this is what you think it is...

Cheap biscuits

This is something at our supermarket that is at the same time great, and very wrong - 2lbs 4oz biscuits, for $5. So many biscuits for so little, and on the other hand... so many biscuits for so little...

And if you don't have a grill -

You can buy the cookie mix...no, really. The subtext under 'S'mores' is "Naturally and Artificially Flavored". You don't die wondering here...

UPDATE: I had a conversation with a colleague this morning, who was heating up some S'mores flavoured Pop Tarts for Breakfast... I kid you not. I think they are trying to take over the universe.

Cherry Blossoms two days later

And with a little rain... no more cherry blossoms!! Just a green tree. And a very decorated car (unfortunately, didn't take a photo!!). Now we wait for the late, huge cherry blossoms to come out.
I'm late in putting this photo up, but this was literally taken about 2-3 days after the other photo.

Just in time for summer grilling -

This strikes me as almost worthy of Chindogu - those Japanese inventions that seem really useful, but...
Except someone actually manufactured this and the supermarkets are selling it.

Cooking brandy...(who would have thought)

yes, cooking brandy and unsweetened cranberry juice... quite tasty. The brandy took the tart edge off the cranberry juice.

Cardinal

The blob in the tree is a northern cardinal, the christmas bird, and possibly also St Louis Cardinals baseball team. They are very common, but seeing them around singing is really nice (don't see them in Winter). They are the state bird of seven states!! (but not Maryland)

Cherry Blossoms

We have agreed, that if we ever get enough land, we will be planting a cherry blossom tree, so that once a year, we can sit under it and watch the blossoms fall. This is the most incredible, peaceful thing to watch, ever. With the warmth, and the signs of spring, and the sudden outbreak of gardening, and the way that with a gentle breeze each little petal meanders towards the ground, like confetti through dappled sunlight, well, it is a moment worth remembering.

Clarifier Cake

There is a cake club at our office, and each month someone cooks a cake. You pay some dues that go towards the material costs. One of the first cake club efforts I was aware of (before I started work) was this one...
The comment from hubby - You know you’re in an engineering office when this is produced by the month’s cake baker. It was fantastic.
Yes, that is lego across the top. What else?!

Northeast

Guest post from hubby

The town near another job site – the church was established in 1706, well before independence and the civil war. There should be great views from the head of the Chesapeake not too far away, but there are no public beaches or lookouts. I’d like to stop in the town one weekend.

Women's Lacrosse

Last Saturday, we watched the women's lacrosse - Navy vs Holy Cross.
The game before was men's lacrosse - Navy vs Army, a huge grudge match, that the Navy men hadn't won since 2012 (but they won this one though). The stands were full of midshipmen, who all disappeared as soon as the whistle blew. It is hard to justify why the college has to watch the men's lacrosse, but not the women's lacrosse. But I guess it is the same as the entirety of our high school taking the afternoon off to watch the first XV (rugby league?) but not the women's touch, who actually advanced further in the competition more regularly?!
We really enjoyed watching the game, but were cold (the stadium turns into a wind tunnel...) and were reminded why we don't take our kids to sports matches - 'is it over yet?' 'are we going home yet'? I think they were a touch cold and tired...
It has to be said, if you like watching sport but don't have money to pay for tickets, women's sport is regularly either cheaper or free, and just as enjoyable (except without that full throated stadium roar every time the home team scores.)

Funkstown

Guest post from hubby, who drives a bit to site for work. Some of the town names around here are very out there. I should get a collection together...

I love the name of this town, on the way to a job site in Hagerstown. I usually start humming Ben Harper’s song on the way through. It is old, with civil war associations, and not particularly upbeat despite the name. I haven’t seen the big reserve/green space which is apparently pretty nice. There is an old bridge as well.

Signs of spring

The signs of spring are here! Hooray!
The days are getting warmer - and longer
Magnolia's are blooming
Grass is turning green (and growing...)
People are cleaning up their gardens and putting in violets and other flowers
The next door neighbour put up her umbrella over her picnic table
The cherry blossoms are just about here
The basketball has finished, baseball is starting
The daffodils are blooming, I have hopes that the tulips are not far behind
I am starting to see the merest hint of green as the trees get their new leaves ready
The county is getting out and fixing the potholes from winter
People are having yard sales and painting their decks (here's hoping our landlord will do ours)

The photos above are of the same tree outside the library about a week apart.

Pulled Pork

This has been on the must try to cook list since we worked out what it was. But, added challenge, avoid recipes with BBQ sauce, as they are filled with high fructose corn syrup...
Eaten with coleslaw on a bun, although our kids ate the bun with tomato sauce, and then ate the meat and coleslaw separate. You can buy packets of the coleslaw mix, and just add the sauce (mayo plus a few other things) and it is the easiest thing, and doesn't involve trying to use up half a cabbage. Brilliant.
Despite the shrill dislike when the coleslaw arrived on the table, both kids ate about a spoonful with minimal whingeing. (Although the second bun was held to ransom over it)
So, for those who are still wondering - you cook pork shoulder rubbed in spices and cooked in a broth, in a slow cooker for the day, then you pull it apart into little bits (discarding fat) and add some of the sauce left over.
This was even better the next time around with lots of the juice in with the meat.

The American Man

It seems we spent enough at Nordstrum to be put on their menswear catalogue list, so I have been treated to a fascinating insight of the different 'tribe' looks that exist here (according to Nordstrum). In the catalogue, there is an actual blurb that says "Breath new life into your Ivy League looks....", (I honestly only thought that line appeared in romantic fiction) or another that talks about vintage vibes, or the one I like the best, picture of a guy wearing a maroon shirt with flowers on (basically, but a very expensive shirt, which of course makes it ok) saying "Dark earthy shades add an exciting new dimension to spring". I think they're trying not to mention the flowers. My other favourite page is a suggested "Pack for a Warm-weather getaway" to do you "a day on the beach and a night on the town", but - there is no underwear or toiletries included in the pack - he's going to remember his vintage camera and his pictures of the Colosseum, but not his boxers?!
The photos above seemed a good summary, as it is the same model, with jeans on, and they're just changing the look around the jeans. And you can sort of see how you can judge people - their likes, dislikes, their job, whether they're vegetarian, whether you'll get along with them, without even meeting them.
Left to right, top to bottom, this is what I think the looks are aiming for:
1.Uni student ? Slightly activist? (Berkinstocks, big bag for books) or Tourist, or grocery shopping with a very expensive green bag?
2. Can't place this one, it just seems a little off. Like, what guy would wear a tie on his day off? With a tie keeper? Maybe he is a bit psycho. Or, is going to the laundromat (ie, washing day clothes!),or a smart casual birthday party.
3. I think this is either Boaty or Ivy League? (ie, pots of money - either for a boat, or an expensive university education)
4. Going to a ball game - sporty spice.
5. No sense of fashion here either. jeans are too short (but I know from other pages that you do this to show off your shoes), top half is still in the office, bottom half looks a touch like it should be at a wine tasting for its 35th birthday.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this catalogue - almost more than the other one with the expensive pocket square.

Fort McHenry

Because we had to be in Baltimore anyway with the boys, to put in our tax, we decided to make a day of it, and visit Fort McHenry on Baltimore Harbour. Fort McHenry is where a famous battle between the British Navy and the Americans in 1812. The British had just burnt Washington DC and were moving in to do the same to Baltimore. The defenders at Fort McHenry, which is on a peninsular that sort of sticks out and guards the entrance to the harbour that Baltimore was built on, helped by earthworks to the East of the town and various Militias holding back the British troops on the ground, had a huge night of exchanging canon fire with the British Navy. In the morning, a huge American flag was raised by the defenders to show their defiance. 

Which would be a lovely story in itself but what made it remarkable is that Francis Scott Key (of Annapolis) happened to be unwillingly watching the whole thing from a British Navy ship, having gone out to negotiate the release of a friend of his. He wrote a poem - "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which later became the words to the song "The Star Spangled Banner" - and the American National Anthem.

A while ago I wondered about the attachment to the flag here, and really, you can't blame them. To have a flag that is closely associated with such an important historical event, and have a poem/song written in with the full force of the relief of seeing that flag rise up that pole. Part of American pride seems to be in their self-determination, and their struggles to become a nation, and that is bound up in their flag, their national anthem, and so many other aspects of their culture. (Says I. Just thinking!)

In terms of visiting: very lovely for children, except possibly the video showing the historical re-enactment of the battle. We have had to answer a lot of questions about canons from our 5 year old, who couldn't finish watching the video. Fort McHenry was used by the military as recently as WWII (?), so it has a very interesting history, displays about which are set up in various buildings that you wander around to look in.

Grand Central Station, NYC

This would have to be travel architecture at its best. I would feel like buying one of those super expensive leather travel bags and packing some super compact (and cool) pack that fits in a super expensive travel bag to go on a holiday that started here ($450 Nordstrum. I've seen it). But no, just full of tourist, normal looking travellers running for connections, wedding photos, a fashion shoot, and security guards. There were US army people, NYPD, state police (ie, NY state police) and Metro Police all circling and looking wary.
Thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who successfully campaigned to save the building from developers.

Katz Deli

This is an interesting one - a deli in  that has managed to survive about three generations, and has become a tourist destination in its own right. Hence, every lunch time, they are overrun with tourists, and have to hire a security guard to ensure everyone behaves themselves. I'm not entirely sure this is the comfortable quiet life that the original owners intended.
The thing I love about this, and about Chick and Ruths back home, is that they serve pickles - not the polite little slices that you put on crackers with cheese in the 70s for an hors d'oeuvre,  but a whole plate of big chunks of them. They're called dill spears, and we now have a jar in our fridge. They're the perfect accompaniment to a Ruben made with not so good corn meat (I think next time we should ask for the pastrami).
Photo is of  half a sandwich. Tip - this is enough for one person, esp with a common plate of chips for the table (fries, ask for fries. don't say chips).

Hersheys, M&Ms and Lego

Took the unusual step of visiting some stores this time - we normally avoid the plethora of opportunities to spend money while already spending money on holidays.

• Hersheys Store (Times Square)- do not visit, unless you want to see all the different things they can stuff the Hershey's kisses with. Or buy a Hersheys mug, tshirt, etc. Store is one level, and is crowded with merchandise, and then they let the people in!!
• M&M's store (Times Square) - is a bit better, as the only confectionery they are pushing is M&M's, and they fit on a wall. The rest of the three level store is merchandise - cups, tshirts, pj's, fluffy toys, oven mits, etc.
• Lego Store (Rockefeller Building) - their Flagship store. We had high hopes for something special, but no, apart from a few larger models, it was simply a very crowded lego shop.

We were underwhelmed by all of it.

Breakfast sandwiches

I always thought the McDonalds McMuffin was a bit weird, but I'm wondering if it was a transplant from the USA without any cultural context? These were advertised on the wall of a service centre on the way to New Jersey. You can buy these in the freezer section too, and people actually buy them frozen and reheat them for breakfast.

NYC take 2

Visited New York City again, this time late March. Lessons learned:
1. Late March is probably the earliest you want to visit NYC. Take your snow jackets, it is that cold, especially on the Brooklyn Bridge, or visiting the Statue of Liberty
2. Always book a ticket up the Rockefeller Centre Building - because although we strolled in and got tickets last time, I think we can safetly put that down to beginners luck. This time, we had to go home, and come again the next day, as the earliest tickets available at 5pm were for 9.40pm
3. Always take children to the toilet when passing one. Don't take their word that they don't need one.
5. Always have a park up your sleeve for when the kids get sick of things
6. Union Square farmers markets have the biggest brownie - we estimate about 3 x 4 inches, for $2.50. However, although the baby can eat a brownie this big, and enjoy it, he won't eat anything else for the rest of the day...
And the big one -
7. Hotel room that we got the first time - diplomat suite. Ask for that  next time, or you get a normal suite, which doesn't really have a separate bedroom, just more a partition. Which means we spent most evenings quietly reading in the dark on our side of the partition while the kids went to sleep on the other side.