High School Reunion

Today is my 10th high school reunion at a bar in Madison. I'm not sure I'd attend even if I was living in Madison because I haven't really kept in touch with many of my classmates. Although I have quite enjoyed reconnecting with several people through Facebook (51 of my 422 classmates are on). It's such a great way to quickly see what people are up to.

Actually just looking through the replies to the Evite invitation was quite interesting because many people listed where they're living now. The most popular cities are Chicago, Twin Cities, Boston, NYC, Denver, Seattle and LA. A fair number still live in Madison as well. A few are living abroad in Japan, China, Italy, Poland and even another in England. I need to get in touch with her to see why she's here. The one location I found most intriguing though was Sioux Falls, SD. I've got to find out what made her move there! :)

Booze Cruises

According to Urban Dictionary, booze cruises are "A fun event where one takes a family car to a port in southern England, hops the channel by ferry or chunnel, loads up the car with alcohol and tobacco (which is much cheaper on the continent due to the lower tax), refuels the car (fuel again is cheaper), then heads home."

The first time I heard someone talk about doing this I thought it was quite strange to go through that much effort just to buy alcohol. However, it is substantially cheaper and you are free to return home with an unlimited amount of alcohol "provided it's for personal consumption." So it is possible to stock up and make the trip worthwhile.

In case you're curious what the alcohol-loving Brits deem a reasonable amount of alcohol...according to The Times, you won't be questioned if you keep it under 120 bottles of wine, 250 cans of beer, and 12 bottles of vodka.


You can even book a "tour" through a travel agent which involves riding a coach bus to the ferry crossing, for the sole purpose of purchasing alcohol.

Pumpkin Biscotti

Canned pumpkin is rare here, but there is one grocery store here that stocks it only in the fall. So last week I picked up five cans and Chris has gone crazy ever since trying recipes :) This past week he has made pumpkin cookies, muffins, biscotti and pie. Our favorite was definitely the pumpkin biscotti...in fact he used it as a crust for his pumpkin pie. Below is the recipe he found on the Simply Recipes website.


2 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
Pinch of ginger
Pinch of cloves
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup of pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Give it a rough stir to generally incorporate the ingredients, the dough will be crumbly.

Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches. The loaves should be relatively flat, only about 1/2 inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes at 350 F, until the center is firm to the touch. (Feel free to also form two smaller logs for cute two-bite biscotti; just cut the baking time to 18-24 minutes.)

Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then using a serrated knife cut into 1 inch wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Biscotti may be still a tad moist and chewy, so if you prefer it crisp let it sit uncovered overnight in a dry space. Serve and enjoy.

Makes approximately 15 cookies.

Atonement

I saw the movie Atonement tonight with my friend Becky. It's done very well at the box office here and I can see why, as it's a really powerful movie. Extremely depressing, but still a good film. I was surprised to read online that it's not being released in the U.S. until December considering that we typically have to wait months after a U.S. release date.

http://www.atonementthemovie.co.uk/site/site.html