Thanksgiving

This is yet another back-dated post...

As is tradition Rob and I hosted 15 people for Thanksgiving Dinner in our tiny flat on the final Saturday in November. With 15 people this year we struggled for space and cutlery so we ended up renting tables, chairs and cutlery... it worked perfectly and everyone fit in happily.

Squeezed in! 

We had the normal food: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans and rolls. However there were a few lovely additions this year. I made a vegetable turkey out of Crudités following on from the success of last year's fruit turkey. While, Rob added profiteroles to the dessert cart alongside the usual apple and pumpkin pies. Following another Scott-Clark Thanksgiving tradition, Rob wrote and mastered a pub quiz after the meal where everyone provided amusing answers while one very competitive team, who will remain nameless, stormed through as very convincing winners!

It was a treat to have everyone join us and it's something we look forward to every year. Days like this really make you feel fortunate, who knew we had so many friends! Here are some photos of the day:

Preparation... this is blow-torching the infamous
marshmallow sweet potato casserole.

More prep... our turkey was so big it
took two full grown men to lift!

Sue, Will, Lizzie and Bex, post meal stupor!

Thanks for the amazing Turkey visors, Mom!
Gillian looks amazing in it. 

Bex's meal and a mutilated bird behind!
Once again we forgot to photograph the bird! 

Rob was clearly saying something important, being a very good host!

Gearing up for the pub quiz, Rob the quiz master! 

Who wants dessert!!! 

The  'veggie' turkey. 

It turned our really well! 

Rob's delicious profiteroles! 

The nut wellington for the vegetarians,
with it's own pastry turkey on top! 

A big switch-a-roo

Anyway... since I've last written a lot has gone on but mainly I have got a new fantastic less-stressful job! For any of you who have hung out with me in person of the past three years you will know that I was pretty fed up with my last job for at least a year! However, once I got over the tremendous mental barrier of actually applying for new jobs I found one very quickly!

I'm now working for Save the Children as a production coordinator. The position is a project manager for publications and printed materials across all sections of the charity  It is extremely interesting and a huge change for me. I went from working at a charity with 12 people employed in total to working in a team of nearly 20 people in a charity that employees nearly 500 people! It took a bit of time to get used to and I'm still trying to work out what it's like to work a normal 9-5 day and not be expected to be on call 24 hrs a day!

Though much happier now, I really do miss a lot about my last job, mainly my fantastic colleagues. As a leaving present they bought me a bottle of gin (huge grin), a bookstore gift certificate and a baking course to learn how to make macaroons!!! The generous and thoughtful way they sent me off is testament to how much more than colleagues they were to me, and the fact that I stay in touch with most of them now shows just what great friendships I built there!

My last week was emotional but fill with fun memories, including a charity gala (The Big Give) at Fortnum Masons where I was showered with free champagne, macaroons and luxury food!!! Here's a few photos from that night!

Mini ice creams and champagne!
A very appropriate dinner.

Just some normal pastry treats you would expect at Fortnums

Oh yeah, there was a free oyster bar... 

and amazing smoked salmon, too! 

Election Party 2012... Rombot versus Bronco Obama

This post is nearly 2 months late, but let's look back on a very exciting night... the US election!

So, I've been feeling less and less American as I spend more time in the UK. However, there are certain things that I will always cling onto and enjoy. One of them is the Presidential Election.

I don't know why I get so excited about the elections, maybe it's the fact that it's the only elections I get to vote in, or maybe because it's something that I get to do here that most people I'm friends with don't get to do, sort of a ritual I get to participate in when most of the time it's me left out of these democratic processes... or maybe it's just because I get to have another excuse to throw a party. Who knows?


So, we threw an election party at our home which was mainly a standing dinner and beer pong tournament (never really seen or played by a lot of Brits). The beer pong teams were the Bronco Obamas vs the Rombots and like the election, the Bronco Obamas won! We had a good time... until nearly 4am! Once Ohio declared that Obama has won I finally fell asleep.

As per usual we kept everyone well fed. Rob made traditional Boston Baked Beans and baby-back ribs. We also made some slider burgers and drank Coors Light. It was all very VERY American. I also baked some red and blue cupcakes for the red and blue states! I used my normal chocolate cupcake recipe with the vanilla frosting. Then finally, the creme-de-la-creme of the desserts... Pecan Pie!

I spent nearly a day looking for Pecans, there was a shortage in all our local shops so when I finally found some I made a Pecan Pie chucked full of nuts! I was delicious. I used the BBC recipe here. Then I melted butter and brown sugar together until it was a syrup and poured it over the top. I also used my own homemade pastry instead of store-bought! The pie was so sweet but absolutely amazing with ice cream or custard.

It was a great evening and so much fun to share a bit of unusual americana with my friends. We have Thanksgiving every year but an election only comes every four years and no matter the occasion a party is alway appropriate!