A Good English Cuppa

It's been a crazy last few weeks, first travelling home for the weekend which turned into a week then returning to New York for 5 days before heading out to Kansas for Thanksgiving and to be reunited with my college friends in what is a big visitation weekend at Hesston. My days and body are very confused on the ever changing schedules but I'm pretty sure that today is Monday which can only mean one thing: it's recipe time!

I'm not going to get all fancy this week, this isn't even going to be a recipe for food (although I do have some great dessert recipes I've discovered... stay posted!). This may be cheating since it's a drink and drinks are commonly made in mugs... but my recipe for the week is simple English tea in a mug.

Yes it's simple and maybe this version of tea is cheating on another level because it doesn't involve a kettle and stove and whistle but tea means a lot to me. You see, my granny was born in England and although she moved to America at just 6 months of age, she was very English, her mother having grown up and living in England until that point. And what is more English than tea?

Grannie passed on the tea-loving gene to my mom who also raised my sister and I on it. Our coffee maker was even turned into a hot tea maker as my dad slowly gave up on anyone else in the house liking coffee.

Growing up, I might be greeted in the morning with a hot cup of tea to 'help me wake up slowly'. Whenever I was sick or feeling down, a cup of hot tea was always the answer and would be quickly delivered by my mom or my grannie. Before school started each fall, my grannie would host a tea party for the girls in the family, my sister and I, Mom, my youngest aunt, and my younger cousins. Whenever we would stop by Grannie's house after school, have a sleepover, or after a big family meal, a nice cup of hot tea was offered. At our tea parties, Grannie would educate us on the etiquitte of tea and always have a few different choices of tea. Sugar cubes were always on hand because that was the best way to sweeten tea.

Back-to-school tea party - many years ago

My wonderful Grannie passed away almost a month ago. It's hard to believe it's been that much time already.  It's been a crazy, surreal, emotional few weeks. I don't want to dwell on all that though. The important thing is her life, I know she's in a far better place now and all we can do is remember the good times and happy memories. It is also important to keep her memory alive through the little things and, for me, one thing that will always remind me of my grannie is hot, English tea.

I don't use a kettle and stovetop. And I don't have sugar cubes on hand or beautiful china teacups. But the taste is the same and that is one of comfort and warmth and love.

Hot English Tea

Fill a mug almost full with water. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes. Place 1 teaspoon loose-leaf basic black tea (I like English Breakfast) in a tea ball, tea bag, or tea infuser of some sort (or use a pre-made, storebought tea bag, of a basic black tea such as English Breakfast. But PLEASE don't use Lipton :P ) 

Place the tea bag into the hot water and steep 3-4 minutes, depending how strong you like it. Remove the tea bag and squeeze out the bag with a spoon. Add sugar to taste (1 Tablespoon if you're a lady in my family ;) ) Add a splash of milk (about 1/2 Tablespoon) and stir. 

*Tea etiquette: Only add milk to basic, black, English tea.

Curl up with a good book, sit and look out the window, use it in the morning to "wake up slowly," or invite a friend over to join you, set out some cookies and sweet bread and enjoy your tea.

<3 Ashley

Munchkins on the Counter Make My Day

Back to work today! Buses were "partially running," what that meant exactly I wasn't sure but I set out at 9:45 to catch the 10:01 BxM4 Xpress bus into Midtown, hoping to make it to work by 12. There were other people at the bus stop which I saw as promising and took to mean that they probably knew the bus was indeed running. They did not actually know this, I found. Everyone was on the same page, not knowing for sure when or even if this bus was coming. And it didn't, not the 10:01 AM bus at least. Around 10:30 we saw a BxM4 driving in the opposite direction, towards Yonkers instead of Manhattan. We all grew hopeful then, knowing that the bus was at least running! 

It was interesting to see the little community that built as we all waited. A British man helped out a dog walker by informing him that the buses honestly were free today and that he didn't need to keep counting that pile of change and making sure he had $5. The dog walker then opened up to him about his latest bout of struggles and how everything happens at once. An Irish couple "here for a fortnight" nervously joked with anyone who talked to them that yes, this was the stop for the BxM4... if it ever showed up.

Finally, the bus did show up! We saw it there on the horizon, squinted to see the numbers, and all exclaimed with joy (no really, we did) when, at last!, they were the combination of numbers and letters we were all hoping for. We all piled in at about 11:20, happy to get out of the cold and be on our way. We even all got seats! 

It was about a 2 hour bus ride, hitting bad traffic once we got into Harlem. I enjoyed being above ground the whole time and seeing the sites of the route I usually am traveling underneath. Surprisingly, I didn't see a whole lot of destruction, not as much as I thought I'd see at least. There were some trees down and some caution tape and some windows/storefronts were boarded up. I suppose everything along the road had been cleaned up though, so the buses could actually run, understandable. 

I got to work around 1:10 and found only a handful of people in the office. There's probably 35-40 people who work there and today there were maybe 12 of us. There were also Munchkins sitting on the kitchen counter.... as in donut holes from Dunkin Donuts :) They seemed to be fall flavors (like pumpkin!) and they honestly made me feel that going into the office was worth it. 

It was a pretty good day at the office too. With so few people it seemed like I got to chat with more people. I also got to create the flier for an upcoming pubcrawl which makes me feel like a real designer! 

Getting home was another experience. I decided to take the same bus as in the morning so that I didn't have to make any transfers. I left work a half hour early in order to catch the 7:55 bus. Wellllll, just like the morning version, it did not come. Once again there was a little community built as a group of us waited for the bus to arrive. A man told us how he was glad that the bus was free today because $5.50! He could easily buy some rolling paper and weed to fill it with for that money. A guy from Peurto Rico told me about his first experience with a hurricane and how the sky had turned red. I also noticed the oddity of looking to my left and seeing the city full of light while to my left side the only lights were headlights, the lower many streets still being without power.

It was pretty chilly, mostly due to the wind and, once again, it was a long wait for the bus. Another hour and 20 minutes, actually. The trip home was shorter, thanks to less traffic. Plus, when I arrived I found a lovely package of popcorn and goodies waiting for me! (Thank you Grandma!!)

Overall a successful day! I'm very happy that the subways are open (at least the trains and stations that I use) tomorrow! The bus might be a nice change every once in awhile but I don't understand it well enough (and neither does ANY other New Yorker) to have the stress of HAVING to use it. 

Hurricane Day

Well Hurricane Sandy aka Frankenstorm is blasting through NYC.

I have to admit, I was a little excited to witness a hurricane, especially one that was getting this much hype! I've always lived inland and hurricanes were never an issue, although the tornadoes I was in Kansas for were pretty exciting. So my first hurricane being a "hybrid" storm-- hurricane mixing with a winter storm front from the west and coming in at high tide on a full moon-- seemed like a pretty big deal!

I worked at Hill Country yesterday. I was the opening host and we ended up closing early (at 5) so I did all the closing work too. There was so much electricity in the air as we all rushed to get the place closed and get everyone home before the subways shut down at 7. 

Today the storm rolled in. I awoke to the sound of rain and wind, the wind getting worse as the day went on. I've been fortunate enough not to lose power or to have any flooding (something I was warned my ground-level apartment was prone to doing). With the subways being shut down, most of New York is too. Even the New York Stock Exchange closed for today and tomorrow, the first unplanned closing since 9/11.

Since I didn't have any hindrances, today was just a nice day off from work! (Well the buttons on my Cablevision box did stop working and since my remote has never really worked my tv is now stuck on Starz, which so far hasn't been too bad.) And hopefully tomorrow will be another nice break (praying that the electricity stays on all day!)

It was so nice to sleep in this morning and have a day where I had to stay home and mostly just relax! I like to wake up slow in the mornings. And make myself something delicious for breakfast of course :) In my quest for more mug recipes I found this recipe for French Toast in a Mug and thought it would be a perfect Hurricane Day breakfast (ok, brunch if we're talking time of day).

I made it for the first time a couple days ago and was impressed! Last time (when these pics were taken), I was fancy and used bread from a mini baguette I had gotten at the grocery but today I used regular bread slices and it was just as delicious!

Mug French Toast

1/2 Tablespoon butter

2 slices bread

1 egg

3 Tablespoons milk

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Few drops vanilla

Melt the butter in a large mug and tilt the mug so that the butter coats the sides. Rip or cut the bread into cubes and drop them into the mug, filling it up. In a bowl, beat the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla together. Pour the liquid mixture over the bread, coating all of the topmost pieces.

Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until the egg is set (most of the egginess will settle in the bottom so pull the bread away from the sides to check that the eggs are no longer liquid-y in the bottom of the mug.) Top with syrup and enjoy!

I'd be interested in adding syrup to the egg mixture to get a maple flavor "baked" into the toast... Also in mixing peanut butter with the syrup as I love peanut butter on my French toast!

Rainy Day Music

It's been a rainy day here in New York, which, since it wasn't actually raining while I walked to and from the subway, I didn't mind at all! Rain has always been relaxing to me. It's clean and cleansing and fresh. I love the smell of rain, the sound of rain, watching storms roll in, and the sharp chill in the air right after a rain shower takes away the humidity.

Rain is very conducive to relaxing. I always imagine curling up near a window with a good book and cup of tea. However, since this rarely actually happens, I have to find other ways to bring the calming effect of rain into my daily schedule.

The best way I've found to do this is by listening to my Rain Music playlist. Yep, that's right--I have a playlist devoted to rain. This is because I identify music with emotions, certain events, people, or places, moods, seasons, and, yes, weather. Sometimes the songs actually mention rain, sometimes they don't. Rain music is mostly chill, lazy sounding music. I would say it's in the style of artists like Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Florence + The Machine, and Train, but I am in no way exclusive--when a song speaks to me, it speaks to me :)

Some songs can go either way while others go into my Rain Music category as soon as I hear them. Here are 14 of my go-to rain songs (because I couldn't narrow it down to just 10!). These are songs that I can't listen to on a sunny day without wishing it were raining.

~ Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson

~ Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles

~ Boston by Austustana

~ No Rain by Blind Melon

~ Don't Know Why by Nora Jones

~ Bubbly by Colbie Caillat (also on my Morning playlist)

~ While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles

~ Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Shop (summer rain)

~ Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John

~ Hallelujah covered by Rufus Wainwright

~ She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5

~ Stay With Me by Josh Gracin

~ In the Glass by OK Go

~ Love by Matt White

Does anyone else associate certain music with rain? I'd love to add to my collection if you have any suggestions :)

<3 Ash