comfort

It seems I've been looking for comfort in all the wrong places. It's easy to do. Scotland is Western and shares a similar language to the States. I'd argue it's almost harder moving here than to a place with completely different food and languages. In that scenario, you never even expect comfort to taste or sound familiar. Here, I did expect to find a nice place to eat lunch and grab a movie all by myself, just like in Seattle. But no such luck. No worries, but no such luck. It's disorienting to always be off by a hair.

The G has a terrible diaper rash. We've been fighting it since Halloween when she was a lamb for the festivities. Last night it reached a breaking point with blisters and bleeding appearing after her nap. While caring for her, Bug knelt beside her, stroked her cheek gently, and said, "Don't worry sister. We'll take care of you. I'm a pirate."

Since Mike, Jenn, and Kasten this summer, Bug has been infatuated with pirates and their rotting teeth and their odd "arghs." If he's not a kitty, he's a pirate at home and on crazy days, he's a pirate kitty. Argh, lesson learned, take ye comforts where they be even if from
friends far away.

Labels

Apparently, The Queen told a reporter at a dinner that she didn't think that the EU would work with all the "...Wops, Dagos, and Jews involved..." or some such thing. The reviewer has come to her rescue saying that she's lived through the two World Wars and just because she hasn't used PC language doesn't negate the point that she thinks there are just too many conflicts of historical interest for the EU to work. 

Labels are odd things. I need people to label correctly. I need to know the history of the food Bug eats. Has it touched a dairy product or is the additive a disguised derivative of dairy? I asked Barista Blaine at my fave coffee shop in West Seattle if a muffin was vegan and he snickered, "Yeah, sure, if you need it to be." I then explained why and he graciously apologized. Vegan is our short-hand for safe. Vegan for others is short-hand for pain in the tuckus. 

We went to Bug's school fundraiser last weekend. It was loads of fun. Disguises and all! "Cute family" is one label that doesn't get easily overloaded with negative emotion. 

Lefty

We arrived in Scotland on Oct. 6. After a full day of flying with two wee-uns, customs, luggage, a new rental and a doctor's appointment to begin navigating a healthcare system so very unlike the States', I decided to open a can of coconut milk to make Thai soup and rice for dinner on our very first night.  Duh, wouldn't that be your "go to" meal in a foreign land under said circumstances?

We have a furnished rental that provides most everything you could want under said circumstances. I found a can of coconut milk at the local megamart and was just so happy to see something familiar, that it was to be the feature of our first meal here. The furnished rental even has a can opener. After about a half hour and feeling very dumb because I couldn't get a Scottish can opener to work for me, my lefty husband easily opened the can. Ahhh, so there is such a thing as a lefty can opener. And this is how a lefty feels in a right-handed world.

 I went along with the big Scottish move precisely to change my world view, but a new appreciation for Lefties I did not expect. 

The cutest lefty of Clan Lovie Sweetie Cutie Sugar Sweet Sweeties is featured in the center of the picture of the Blonde Brigade sub-sect above.  Everyone needs an Auntie M. Thankfully we have one, two if you count extended family- and we do-  

Shout out to Great Auntie Em in Portland. Woo hoo!

Lefties. Respect. 

Dairy-Free Thai Soup

2 T grated ginger

2 T soy sauce

2 garlic cloves

2 T sugar

1 lime (helpful, but okay without)

red thai curry paste (helpful, but okay without)

1 pinch of dried red chili flakes

2 cups vegetable stock

1 can coconut milk

olive oil 

veggies of your choice like carrots, bok choi, red pepper, onion, mushroom, spring onion, corn, sweetpotato cut into strips etc.

meat of your choice if not vegan, chickies or moos are good.

Fry the ginger and minced garlic in the olive oil for about 2 minutes, medium heat. 

Add red pepper flake and cook for one minute.

Add sugar and red thai curry paste (if using) for one minute and stir.

Add soy sauce for one minute and stir.

Add veggie stock and coco nut milk and lime juice. Bring to simmer.

Add veggies and simmer til tender crisp.

Add meat here too if not veg and poach 1" chunks in the broth til done.

I serve over rice or thick spaghetti nudles and the mini-not-me's love it. 

Easy and quick. Super yum.

Real Thai people might groan, but my kids eat this. Yay!

Sugar and Spice

Since our decision to come to Scotland, PheeBee and Jan-Ah have both called me intrepid. That's it. That's the one positive thing I've heard from family and friends about our decision. Statzie thought I shouldn't even include my status as a mother when pitching articles pertaining to motherhood so that the newspaper or magazine would know that I know, "what real life is like." Even the Swedish woman at Bug's school who has a similar story to mine says that she "WOULD never do" what I did. Needless to say I felt a bit lost and ineffectual until I made VEGAN CARAMELS! EEKS! They worked and I'm so excited! I even had a few hits against me. A new non-dairy butter, liquid glucose instead of corn syrup (an entirely American novelty), two busy kids and the wrong kind of candy thermometer. I feel like quite the vegan stud because they are so yummy and so easy if you call stirring a pot non-stop for about 40 minutes to an hour easy! Recipe below. Because it's vegan butter the calorie count is also silly low. I have such good memories of making caramels with my own mama. It was a treat to do the same with the Bug! M helped and he didn't even cut one finger off. Whew! These are vegan!

Vegan CaramelIngredient proportions from The Glad Cow CookbookMakes ~100 pieces of caramel candy
1 cup margarine*
2 cups sugar
2 cups soy milk
1 cup light corn syrup
*Optional: Add 1 tsp salt if using unsalted margarine-
#Optional: Cayenne Pepper and Finely Ground Kosher Salt. (Added by ME!)
Line a baking sheet with greased parchment or waxed paper. -Place the margarine, sugar, soy milk and corn syrup in a large saucepan (4qt capacity minimum)-Bring ingredients to a boil stirring continually.-Cook over medium-high heat while continuing to stir until candy reaches 248 degrees F. (243-5 for softer caramels)-Pour into lined baking pan. -Allow the caramel in the pan to cool completely. Snip into pieces using clean kitchen shears that you wipe or spray with oil (or slice with a knife). Wrap individually with waxed or parchment paper. Makes ~100 piecesVariation: Cook to 230 degrees F for caramel sauce. Store in a covered container.

For one quarter of the batch, I dipped one end of the caramel piece in Cayenne and salt, then wrapped it up. Very sweet and warm caramel bit in your mouth!

Super different but very, very yummy.

G and I on Auntie M's steps.

The Bug fishing....

mas y una mas