Anyone else experience the pre-vacation panic? Austin and I always get cold feet before a vacation. “Do we really need to go?” Every second before boarding the plane is full of anxiety. But once we take off, we are ready to party! It is so funny to me that no matter how many times we travel, the scenario is the same, and we always come back so glad that we went. So, if you feel anxious about travel, know you are in good company!
For our trip to the UK, we had a red eye flight from DFW to Heathrow. It was delayed about an hour, but we arrived right on time. Now, I cannot sleep on planes. On my trip to Central Asia, I was awake for around 30 hours just simply because I cannot, no matter how exhausted, sleep on a darn plane. Knowing this, I purposefully got us two seats by themselves so maybe I could actually sleep enough to enjoy day one. It was only slightly successful.
Getting through Heathrow was not terrible. Busy, but it’s one of, if not the busiest airports in the world. Find the tube to get out of Heathrow finally required asking for assistance. You have a few options when leaving: tube, express tube, and taxi or hotel shuttle. Our hotel did not offer a shuttle, so we took the tube, which got us to city center in about an hour. Don’t forget your Oyster Card! I’ll never forget the almost silent tube ride through residential areas and finally, into town.
The Claremont, Victoria Lobby
We stayed at The Claremont, Victoria hotel, which is attached to Victoria Station. This was wildly convenient to main attractions, like Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, and to all other buses or tubes to get everywhere else. We walked in the rotating doors to the most beautiful fresh flowers and sweeping staircase. After a shower and nap, we set off to find dinner.
Our RoomThe Claremont, Victoria, formerly the Grosvenor Hotel
Let me tell you, Cyprus Mangal was everything we didn’t know we needed. The food was so fresh and abundant. We both ordered the Mixed Doner and ate almost every bite. We were starving! And took Baklava back to the hotel for later. I still think about this meal…
A little late to the update, but I couldn’t not share the details for our trip to England last spring. If you know me in person, you know that I am obsessed with the royal family. My sports are State Dinners, Trouping the Color, and all other events where Catherine, Princess of Wales (AKA Kate Middleton), makes any sort of debut, especially involving a tiara. We were in a semi-close area, and could have made the trip to see her and Prince William out and about, but forewent the opportunity and survived. I won’t, however, let myself live down missing The Princess of Wales when she came to Boston later that year… Tragic.
Since this post is not an update on all things royal, we’ll move on. We’ve been asked multiple times: why England? Well, my sweet husband and I had not, at that point, traveled outside the U.S. together, except for our honeymoon to St. Lucia. We don’t always travel well together (two first-borns… need I say more?), and wanted to get our international feet wet without the added stress of a language barrier. We have each traveled to non-English speaking countries, he to Peru and I to Central Asia, but never together. So, we made it easy on ourselves.
Using our American Airlines miles we booked flights in April. We love to travel during shoulder seasons, as flights are cheaper and there are less crowds. It was perfect. Cold, but perfect. I highly suggest England in Spring, especially if you love wildflowers. I was enraptured by wildflowers and bright yellow fields. Magic.
Windsor Castle wildflowers
When it comes to planning any sort of itinerary, you need to decide a few things. What is the purpose of visiting this place? How much time do you have? What are major area attractions, and will there be any added disruptions such as cruises, sporting events, festivals, or concerts? Do a quick scan of the local town website to get a good idea of what may be going on, or what major sites you don’t want to miss. Trip Advisor is a great resource for things to do.
London is a great city to visit because of the incredible variety of things to see and do, all reachable by public transport. I do not recommend renting a car until you are leaving the city, and then perhaps rent one as far from the city center as possible, as there is a strict area of increased tolls/fees, and the traffic cameras are a little too good. That’s a story for later.
After that, consider a drive to the beautiful Cotswold’s and beyond. Driving on the other side of the highway can be stressful, but it can be done! If you aren’t feeling up to it, most of England can be reached by train or bus. Toto, we are not in Texas anymore!
Our Itinerary starts where every good thing starts: Microsoft Word. Good for party planning, as seen here, as well as itinerary planning. This is the rough draft outlining each day, where we start to where we finish. Clearly we did not make any dinner reservations… It all worked out, and no one went hungry.
Travel Calendar
It is tempting for some to start planning the nitty-gritty, moment by moment details of each day as you go. My advice: don’t. Start with a very basic idea of where you start and where you end the day, and fill in later. Trust me, too many details too soon can cause some burnout. First, plan flights. Then transportation, then hotels, then any concrete activity reservations (unless you’re going for a specific reason: concert, sports event, etc., then purchase those first).
When it comes to filling in the details, guesstimate how long each attraction will take (reddit is a great place to find this information). We grossly underestimated how long we would take at various points of interest… A supposed two hour trip to the Tower of London really took us four. Maybe it was my five trips around the crown jewels. Maybe it was him reading every. single. sign in the sword and armor rooms. Who really knows? But, live, learn, and give yourself more time next time. Lifelong learning, isn’t that the goal?
Okay, below is our detailed timeline of events. We stuck to this fairly well, although we did not do the Robin Hood Tour or Warwick Castle. My best advice is to always start your day earlier than you think. Most crowds start lining up around 10am, so if you get up and get going, you can see what you really want to before having to fight someone else to see it. Austin kept saying, “man, our timing is so perfect!” Thank you, remember that tomorrow when we are up at 7am!
ItineraryItineraryItineraryItineraryItinerary
There, of course, is so much more to see in London and beyond. We missed quite a few sites in Bath simply for lack of time and knowledge. Our goal for Bath was to relax and soak up the mineral waters. Next time, I would see more of the historical sites, and obviously, any and everything Jane Austen. I hope this helps you in planning your next adventure!
Does it have meat in it? Do you mean “brown gravy”? The two most asked questions when my friends and acquaintances are met with the idea of Chocolate Gravy. I always chuckle lovingly as I explain the treasure that is my very large, very loud family’s favorite breakfast.
My dad is one of six siblings who are all very close. I grew up spending every summer at Ouachita Lake, Arkansas where my family, including 15 first cousins, gathered at the Highway 27 Fishing Village. So famous were we that they welcomed us on their sign out front. Truly, we are a humble crowd…
During our summer gatherings, Family Christmases and weekends together in between, one memory remains the same: my Aunt Jeannie standing at the stovetop stirring Chocolate Gravy.
I have tried a few blogs before (remember Xanga?), but never published because it felt so daunting. What to do with a blank page? So many thoughts, but where to start? Beginnings and endings are rough, right? The good stuff always seems to happen in the middle. So, as I thought of what I wanted this space to be, I decided to start at the beginning. Those early summer mornings filled with the people I love and that glorious saucepan full of Chocolate Gravy.
Now, before we go further, I must confess that I found out I memorized a different version of Aunt Jeannie’s recipe when she made a family cook book last year. Where this recipe in my head came from, I have no idea. I had often thought it was the extra love and the fact that I didn’t have to wash the pan that made hers taste better than mine. But I am here to report that it’s the extra butter. And so I will give you both recipes, both of which carry their own cult followings.
A few tips:
Serve with hot, buttered biscuits. As I said earlier, more butter simply makes it better.
If it runs over onto your eggs, bacon, sausage or other items, don’t be alarmed! It tastes good on everything. Trust me.
Patience is key. In my college days, I tried to speed the thickening process by adding more flour while heating the gravy. Don’t do this unless you want still runny gravy with chunks of flour in it. Your friends won’t eat it.
Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days, but if you’re making for more than 2 people that likely will not be an issue.
Can this be made gluten and dairy free? I’m sure gluten-free will be no issue. I can give no guarantees about dairy-free butter. I have made sausage gravy with soy milk and gluten free flour and it worked well, but I did not use butter or a substitute. Let me know how it goes!
Amanda’s Version
2 cups Milk
1 cup Sugar
2 heaping Tbs Flour
2 level Tbs Cocoa Powder
2 Tbs Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
Warm milk in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat
Combine dry ingredients into a bowl
When milk is warm, pour enough of the warm milk into the dry ingredients to make a syrup. Mix until the dry ingredients are dissolved.
Pour the syrup back into the pan with the milk.
Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly until gravy is thick. Be patient 🙂
When gravy is thick, remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla and continue stirring until butter is melted.
Serve warm, preferably over warm, buttered biscuits.
**12/09/25 EDIT: I realized I transposed the milk and sugar quantities. The recipe has been updated to reflect the correct amounts. My apologies if you had very thick, very sweet gravy!**
Aunt Jeannie’s Version
2 cups Sugar
2 Tbs Cocoa
1/3 cup All Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 stick Butter
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat just till warm.
Pour a small amount of warm milk into dry ingredients to make a syrupy mix. Pour this back into the sauce pan, with a whisk stir till thickens.
Remove from burner, add butter and vanilla, stir till butter is completely melted.
Serve over hot buttered biscuits.
Leftovers can be stored in refrigerator, and reheated.
For those who don’t know me, I’m a Type A. Blood Type A, that is! Have you heard of the blood type diet? I first heard of it through my cousin, who used it to lose several pounds and inches. Now listen, I’m not a Nutritionist, health blogger, or fad dieter. While I have a few pounds I wish would kick rocks, I am really interested in whole health, starting with addressing unnecessary inflammation. The only other diet I’ve done consistently was Weight Watchers. I did have success with this approach, but, to be honest, struggle to even consider doing again. The app is expensive (but very easy to use!), and I don’t think I can eat another spoonful of yogurt. So. Much. Yogurt. Nope, can’t do it.
Well, there might be a good reason to why the thought of yogurt makes my stomach turn! Blood Type As are not friends with dairy anything. Utilizing this pdf, I did a two week run of sticking to this list of beneficial/neutral foods and it was eye opening! I was already avoiding dairy milks, but taking it further by eliminating things like potatoes and bananas that I was eating almost daily, I noticed a marked difference in how I felt. The best word to describe it is lighter. I didn’t feel like I had a brick sitting in my stomach after every meal.
Now, as stated earlier, I did it for two weeks. This list can feel almost impossible to sustain, especially if you eat out many times a week. In my small town, healthy options are not plentiful. Much planning has to go into this, which is why I have started to slowly eliminate harmful foods. Luckily, my husband is on board to eat anything I cook, and has been very supportive in this endeavor. Mostly due to this recipe!
We love pasta! But a quick look at the harmful foods list will tell you that NOTHING involved in the pasta dishes we love is beneficial, or even neutral! My lifesavers have been lentil pastas, favorites being these penne noodles, and these lasagna noodles. Throw these noodles together with this marinara sauce and some ricotta (a neutral!), and you’re in business! *chef’s kiss*
Thanks to Nicole at Heal Me Delicious, I had a great jumping point for this sauce. Hers is perfect if you can handle vinegars, and a little tweaking will make yours Type A compliant. See her Nomato Sauce recipe here. I also add pumpkin (a beneficial food), which is a staple in a lot of my cooking (pumpkin chili, anyone?).
Let’s get started!
First, feel free to use fresh ingredients. I am the worst at using fresh produce before it goes bad. I work second shift, and our personal lives are so busy that I’ve learned to lean on canned and frozen produce when I can. I keep all these items on hand, and always pick up a few cans when I grocery shop.
Next, I use the Instant Pot Gem Multicooker (I have now learned it’s been recalled, which is a shame because I love this little appliance!). Using a multicooker has saved me time and dishes by allowing me to sauté the onions, garlic and celery before changing over to the slow cooker mode. Then just add your other ingredients and slow cook on high for 4-6 hours. I love the flavor that happens when you cook this sauce for longer periods of time, and a slow cooker prevents me from burning or splattering my white kitchen with beet juice. If you trust yourself more than I do, feel free to do this traditionally with a stock pan or dutch oven over low heat. I have made this sauce in a shorter amount of time, but the texture is not as smooth.
An immersion blender is my other best friend. It allows me to blend right in the pot and doesn’t require the sauce to be cooled before placing in a blender or food processor. I have used both a Blendtec blender and a food processor, and prefer the immersion blender. Just be careful not to splash! Remember, beet juice…
Voila! A beautiful, Type A compliant sauce that is sure to be a hit!
This recipe makes several batches in one sitting. I was able to get four 24oz servings out of it. I then freeze it in a quart bag, leftover jar, or these containers and use within 3 months. You could probably store it longer, but I am not a freezer or canning expert. Three months seemed to be the sweet spot from articles I read. I also love to prep freezer pastas for quick dinners!
Worried about cost? When I did the math, barring spices and oils, the total came to be about $3.15/jar! More than Ragu, but less than Rao’s. Feels doable, right? We can do this!
Nightshade & Vinegar-Free Marinara Sauce
Makes (4) 24oz Servings
2 10oz bags Butternut Squash, frozen
2 150z cans Beets (sliced or whole)
2 15oz cans Carrots
1 29oz can Pumpkin Puree (or 2 15oz cans)
1 Onion (fresh or frozen, yellow or white), chopped
1 cup Celery, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, pressed
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Water
1.5 tsp Basil, dried
1 tsp Fennel Seed, dried
1.5 tsp Oregano, dried
1.5 tsp Italian Seasoning, dried
1.5 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar (not essential, but adds pizazz)
In your multicooker on “saute” or in a skillet over medium heat, warm some olive oil. Add diced onions and celery and cook until transluscent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients to pot and mix together.
Simmer (stovetop) or cook on high (slow cooker) until vegetables are soft. Preferably 1hr or more on stovetop, stirring occasionally. 4-6hrs on high in a slow cooker.
When veggies are softened, turn off heat. Season to taste. Carefully blend with an immersion blender. If using a regular blender or food processor, let sauce cool completely before blending. The heat can cause your machine to explode.
Place 3 cups of sauce in each container, leaving space for sauce to expand in freezer. Use within 3 months.
Let me know how it goes! Next up, I’ll share my favorite Type A smoothie recipe to take to work.
A little bunny is on the way! On my last post I shared with you the master plan for my brother’s Peter Rabbit baby shower. Well, all that planning was a success if I do say so myself. Everything went so smoothly, and I am so grateful for the many hands that made it work! Now, let’s get to the good stuff!
The shower was hosted at my brother’s church. They just acquired a new building and remodeled, which made for a beautiful, clean place to host a shower. Fun fact: my husband and I met at this church while we were in college. After we got married and moved away, my brother started going to there and that’s where he met his wife! It was such a fun, full circle moment to have all the people we love in one place.
First things first, the day before the shower I asked one of our college students for some assistance in making the balloon garland. Both easier and harder than you think it’s gonna be… My living room smelled like latex for two days! I eventually shut them in a bathroom with the vent fan on in an attempt to remove the smell! I set up the backdrop on my PVC pipe stand to make sure everything fit, and did have to attach some velcro to the backdrop to attach to the stand (I have permanently attached a strip of the rough side of velcro on the stand).
Aren’t those rabbit balloons just darling!?
I also prepped the party favors, table signs, and decor. For the favors, I placed the stickers from Etsy onto small square envelopes, filled them with a carrot cake teabag, and then attached the shovel shaped teaspoon. They were a hit!
The printables I bought from Etsy made life so much easier! I printed the double sided ones onto cardstock and cut them out. Then I used little clear stands to place them on the tables. They were a little top heavy, so some were a little ornery, but most of them stood upright the entire shower.
How cute is little Peter!? Can you tell I was smitten with him the entire day? I am not ashamed. Finally, I used the other printables to make these signs in Microsoft Publisher. My favorite trick is to pick a pretty, script font for a heading, and then a regular font for the body.
That night, my husband and I loaded the truck so all we had to do was shove the balloon garland in in the morning and head to the shower! I am not a morning person, so I find that it is most helpful to do whatever I can to prep so that the morning is less stressful. Now to the good part!
Welcome to the shower! We welcomed guests with this adorable set up of fresh florals and treats. Our sign in book was a beautiful hardcover edition of a children’s book that will now be filled with notes from loved ones. We asked guests to print their addresses onto thank you card envelopes to help mommy-to-be in these last few weeks. We also placed the party favors on this table to be sure everyone got one.
Walking in to the shower, you were greeted with the smell of hydrangeas and eucalyptus, which were set in mason jars painted white with a touch of gold. Just wonderful! Our white tables were draped with dusty blue chiffon runners for an elegant look. Who says Peter Rabbit has to be completely rustic? Garden Chic is more like it.
And finally, our piece de resistance, the food table. Is it possible to be in love with a food table? I say a resounding yes! The backdrop was perfection, surrounded by the balloon garland. A small word of warning, be cautious not to place the balloons too close to a light… it will pop right in the middle of your event… All popping aside, balloon garlands are a great way to hide the edges of a backdrop. Everyone loved the carrot floral arrangement. All the florals were put together by my Aunt Kim and her daughter Angelina. What a labor of love!
If you have ever read Peter Rabbit, you know that while trying to escape from Mr. McGregor, Peter gets caught by the fence and has to shimmy out of his sweater. So we recreated that scene with the perfect picket fence and a 12-18mo sweater, attaching the sweater with thumbtacks.
The food was so good, and there was hardly a crumb left. Especially of the cake, masterfully created by my Aunt Dana, who makes all our family cakes. She made our wedding cake that is still talked about to this day. Check out those trees! They are rice crispy treats!
My cousins were so kind to follow my crazy Pinterest ideas for a carrot shaped cheese ball (I need this recipe, it was to die for!) and chicken salad stuffed cabbage! Last minute, we decided to nix hollowing out a real cabbage and use a cabbage bowl, and I think we both breathed a sigh of relief! The ladies who did the drink table went all out, using leftover carrot stems and other greenery to make a garden of tea and punch. Check out that ice ring!
It was such a beautiful day. I hope that my brother and sister-in-law know how loved and supported they are. We are ready for you, Elliott!
Never able to get a good picture with this ham… But we love him!
“Now run along, and don’t get into mischief.” – Beatrix Potter
I will certainly try, Ms. Potter, but I can make no guarantees! Anyone else feel they get themselves in a bit of a pickle when planning a party? I truly believe in entertainment on a budget and using what you have. But sometimes a theme comes along that runs so closely with your personal style and, well, budget lines get a little hazy!
When my sister-in-law expressed interest in a Peter Rabbit baby shower for my first nephew, I knew this was going to be one of those moments. I’m sure if you were to stick me, my blood would run blue and green, not red! My husband’s grandmother once told me, “you like colors blondes should like!” when I told her I really didn’t care for the color red.
Cabbage ware, and gingham, and floral arrangements with carrots began to swirl in my head, so I enlisted my Aunt Kim got to work.
As with most plans, I started with my favorite layout program: Microsoft Word. I know, my husband teases me all the time when I send him screenshots of my latest Word creations. But Microsoft Word is my most trusted friend. I can make it do just about anything I want without expensive downloads or the need for YouTube tutorials. Simply copy and paste the photo you want to use, change the format to be either in front of or behind text, and remove the background. I’m not sure when they added the background removal tool but it has made my life so much easier! Voila! An easy, peasy mock-up ready in just a few moments.
My first stop: Etsy. Don’t you love Etsy? A simple search for Peter Rabbit turned up several wonderful choices for invitations, backdrops, gifts and more. I chose a backdrop and stickers for party favors to start. Then I decided to get a few printables for easy table decorations.
Next stop: Amazon. While I’m really not a fan of using Amazon for everything (call me old fashioned, but I don’t want other shops to go out of business!), it does offer affordable options for table decor. I selected a balloon garland in just the right shades of blue, green and beige. Then tablecloths and runners, and the cutest shovel shaped teaspoons I ever did see!
All this talk of gardens and vegetables reignited the flame for cabbage ware. You know, the lettuce looking stuff your grandparents had on display but never used. Dillard’s released a cabbage collection with their Southern Living line last spring and I about fell off my chair! I was so self-controlled every time I walked into the store (though it didn’t stop me from picking it up and dreaming of all the garden parties they would inspire). Alas, my self-control could hold no longer the more I pictured our food table. How on earth was that table going to come together without green cabbage bowls?? It won’t!! So I hopped on over to our local Dillard’s and bought what I could.
Whew, NOW it’s a party! I have a wonderful family who puts on showers for every wedding and baby, and with 70 of us and counting, it gets to be quite the run of showers! My sweet aunts and cousins, along with a few of my Sister-in-Law’s family and friends are helping to cover food, drinks, flowers and other miscellaneous items.
The House on Ladd 