Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Wild Wednesday: Snowdrops

Tis the season for snowdrops. They can bloom as early as January in the UK and are the first light at the end of a gloomy winters tunnel. This year we had a bit of a trickle as opposed to a wave of blooms, however we are in full swing now.


A number of places throughout England and Scotland have snowdrop walks as blankets of snowdrops can be found in formal gardens to woodland wonderlands. This link to the Woodlands Trust  has information and identification sheets, discussions and blogs about the best places are at the time to see where snowdrops have naturalized. That's right naturalized.

Once thought of as a wildflower, there is only documentation of snowdrops in England in cultivation before the 18th century. When you see woodlands with a carpet of white blooms, there is no wonder why it's origin was mistaken.

Snowdrops along with crocuses are very important for pollinators as well. Bees and other early arousing nectar drinking insects are happy not to have to wait for happy hour to take a sip.  That being said, they are only polinated and produce seeds in times of very mild weather, like this year.  Most of the time, they reproduce not by seed, but by bulb division.  

I am not the only one smitten by the snowdrop, here is a poem by a much better writer than myself.

TO A SNOWDROP
By William Wordsworth

LONE Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,
Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,
Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay
The rising sun, and on the plains descend;
Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend
Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May
Shall soon behold this border thickly set
With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing
On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;
Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

1819.

Monday, 27 February 2012

Wild Wednesday: Lady Birds Beetles

Or lady bugs if your American. As spring approaches and the weather is mild, the lady bugs are waking up. I went into the back yard (garden) and I couldn't believe how many were on the evergreens. I had to come inside to get my camera there were so many.

I have identified these as 7 spot lady birds, one of the more common species in England.

Here is a great web sight identification page for ladybirds.

http://www.ladybird-survey.org/downloads/Ladybird%20descriptions_Info%20pack_2006_v.1.3.pdf

With my science background and rural village life I have found a variety of citizen scientist opportunities. Ladybird-survey.org has a larvae ID page in addition to the adult ID page linked above. This has been the citizen scientist program I have had the most participation with as ladybirds seem to be the most common wildlife in the area.

The seven spot ladybugs are the ones I see most commonly, however on 2 occasions I have seen a tiny yellow ladybug which I have finally identified as the 14 spot lady bird. It is so little, I am sure it is slightly more abundant than my annual sightings may suggest, it is just very well hidden in the garden.

I even managed to get a video to go along with Wild Wednesday, hopefully I can get it to load by the end of the day!

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Help me nail it!

On Saturday my husband and I are joining a few friends for the "Champagne & Feathers Ball". This black-tie event benefits Meningitis Charities as our friend had a nearly fatal battle with spinal meningitis. Several years later and fully recovered, paying her gratitude forward is genuine.

While I am looking forward to the event, I am a bit nervous. While my casual Florida style is accustomed to formal events, the English level of formality is completely different than what I am used to. My husband and I went shopping a couple of weeks ago and both managed to get something to wear with very little stress.

Obviously, finding a tux is a bit easier than a dress, but we found one to buy that was cheaper than renting practically. We figured we can take it on our cruise and it will be a good test to see if we should invest in a higher quality tuxedo for my husband.

My dress was much too easy as well. Very little alterations are needed and are things I can do myself. Surprisingly enough, I found a full length dress that can I can wear without hemming as long as I wear some platform heels. I think I have a pair to wear, and they're from Clark's, so they will be comfortable as well. I just have to stop looking, like most women, I'm a bit of a shoeahilic and continue the quest regardless of what is in my closet.

My other dilemma is how to accessorize. There are some gem details on the dress, so I think less is more. With nail art being so popular at the moment, I thought fun nails would be my big accessory. Here are a few ideas I've come up with, let me know what you think. My husband likes the blue and glitter.

Saturday, 25 February 2012

American Suburbanite in Portugal: Food!

There were two things I had been looking forward to in Portugal, the fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood. I was not disappointed by either one.

We did shop in the regular grocery store when we first arrived, but the local market wouldn't be open for a couple of days and we needed a few staples to get through until then. But even in the grocery stores the fresh fruits and fish were abundant.

One of my favorite things I ate almost every day was oranges. We could see a small orange grove across the street from our villa and the trees were laden with bright orange fruits. In the mornings we could see the woman picking buckets of oranges and her husband driving off, presumably to the market in Caldas da RĂ£inha. Knowing from my time in Florida this was prime citrus season, I couldn't wait to taste some. They were so sweet and juicy, better than drinking a glass of orange juice! I have told my husband to look for portuguese oranges at the grocery store here in England in hopes to find some as tasty.

At almost every restaurant you are served olives and bread. Often it is brought to the table before ordering. Unlike olives you get on a pre made salad or pizza, these have a lovely firm texture. I like a flavorful extra virgin olive oil, so I am glad I have found olives I enjoy as well. My only fault in the olives was the extremely salty brine some of them had been stored in. It did help the wine go down a bit faster though!

Another delight was the bread. We snacked on bread more in Portugal than we did in Paris. Whether it was toast, a bacon sandwich, croissants, or the yummy chorizo stuffed mini loaves, we had tons of bread.

Finally, the fresh seafood was amazing. Anytime we ate out, seafood was our choice. I had a tiger prawn the size of a small lobster. We shared a whole sole between the two of us. We were a little nervous to see the bill when they brought it out to us, but managed the bill better than the fish. We had to ask for it to be wrapped in foil to take home.

In addition to sea bass and sole, fresh sardines are quite the specialty in Portugal. I have to admit, after years of serving sardines and herring to the marine animals I cared for, eating them myself has not been easy. It has more to do with making baby dolphin/whale formulas than the fish themselves. I know they are healthy and sustainable, but they take a conscious effort to eat for me, and I wish they didn't. However, they were so fresh in Portugal, I found myself stealing some from my husbands plate. If that doesn't say they were good, I don't know what else does!

I'll tell you about our favorite restaurant and some of the local beverages of Portugal soon.

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Sweet Treats (or maybe not): Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes

To those who know me well, it is no surprise I wanted to try Buffalo Chicken cupcakes. I absolutely love buffalo flavored anything - wings, shrimp, on a salad, a sandwich, in chili, ANYTHING! Every time I go back to the States, there are 2 things I order: buffalo shrimp from Frenchy's restaurant in Clearwater, FL and Louisiana Lickers chicken wings from Quaker Steak and Lube wherever I can find one.

About a year ago, I made barbecue chicken muffins and they were quite tasty. I simply seared some bite sized pieces of chicken until it was almost cooked and coated it in barbecue sauce. I filled mini muffin tins with corn bread batter (use your favorite mix or make it from scratch) and set some chicken on top. Placed it in the oven for about 15 minutes, enough time to bake the corn bread and finish cooking the chicken, and ate them. They were great, and I had started coming up with ideas to up the wow factor on them (think I have been watching too many cupcake wars lol).

So, when I saw a recipe on the blog "cupcakes take the cake" for buffalo chicken cupcakes I was very excited. This was just before the Super Bowl and after a month of anticipation I finally got to the business of making buffalo chicken cupcakes...and they were awful. I even wasted the last 1/2 cup of my 'American import specialty food item' Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

I was not expecting a sweet cupcake taste, the post said it would be like corn bread. I like corn bread and I had given my own go at the savory cupcake, I thought I knew what to expect. You know that moment when you have a flavor expectation in your head and you take a bite and the actual flavor and the flavor expectation are complete opposites? All I can say is I was glad I was at home and I did not have to be polite. I actually took a second bite in hopes it was not as bad as my first reaction, but I was wrong. I even had my husband taste it afterwards and he affirmed my conclusions with his response, "No offense honey, but they are awful".

Oh well, they can't all be treats! I guess this one was more of a trick. We will be chucking these out the kitchen window to see who can get more on the roof of the outhouses. Maybe the birds will enjoy them more than we did!

More about the buffalo chicken cupcake from: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2012/01/buffalo-chicken-super-bowl-cupcakes.html#ixzz1lPv8YD69

Yeah, Pancake Day!

Whether you call it Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, pancake day, or Sprengidagur (bursting day in Iceland), they all mean the same thing! You eat (and drink) a lot before you abstain from all (or some) of your vices during Lent.

In England pancakes have become the traditional food for "Shrove Tuesday" because they contain fat, butter, and eggs, all things forbidden during Lent. If they think the pancakes are bad, I wonder what they would think of my fillings?

In England it is traditional to use lemon juice and sugar on your pancakes. While my husband still enjoys this simple way to top his pancakes he has not turned down any alternate fillings.

Last year we had 3 courses of pancakes. This year we lightened it up a bit with only 2 courses. Our savory pancake was Greek inspired this year. It consisted of ground turkey with peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice. I simmered everything until the ground turkey was cooked through then topped with feta cheese.

Our sweet pancakes never change much, and why should they? Nutella and strawberries are a winning combination any time! This year I added a bit of banana and instead of whipped cream from an aerosol can I mixed vanilla and confectioners sugar into some marscapone cheese...Heaven!

Sunday, 19 February 2012

Handy crafts of Portugal: Cork

Aside from tourism, the major industry of Portugal, is cork production. With 35% of the worlds cork oak trees, Portugal produces more than half of the worlds cork. For more statistics about Portuguese cork you can go to www.cork.pt. This post is not about the the production process or even how the Portuguese economy is feeling the switch to twist cap bottle tops.

Instead, this is about the unique products the artisans of Portugal make out of cork. So everyone knows about bottle corks and floor tiling. It is used as beverage coasters and place mats, but those are the mundane uses for cork. Artisans and craftsmen (and women) throughout Portugal have taken cork to another level. Jewelry, postcards, iPad cases, umbrellas, shoes/slippers have all been beautifully hand crafted from cork.

If you check websites such as http://www.corticeiraviking.pt/default.htm you will see examples of these products.

We brought back a couple of bracelets as gifts and sent ourselves a postcard.