Becca Jane St Clair

Testing blogging from blackberry!

I puzzled facebook friends by posting this photo in my “food and recipes” folder:

And captioned it “What did I make with this?”

I made cappuccino mix!

But I should back up a little and tell the story.

The first part of the story is from about 10 or so years ago when my mom and I were looking for something we could make our office friends for christmas that wasn’t going to break the bank, and we discovered a recipe for cappuccino mix. We made it and everyone loved it – my aunt so much that she gave us her empty container and asked us to refill it!

The second part of the story comes from a girl obsessed with Starbucks. Me. When December rolled around, my favourite drink was an iced peppermint mocha or a frappucino. One year, I mentioned to the barista how sad it was that the peppermint mocha was only offered in December, and she told me I could order it regularly and ask for a shot of peppermint. It would cost me an additional fee for the flavour, but I was able to get peppermint mocha year round.

…and then I moved to the UK, where Starbucks does not have peppermint mocha. My mom found an International Coffee powdered version that she sent me and I gobbled it up. She also found peppermint Coffeemate powdered creamer and sent that along. Recently, I’ve been looking at the second caninster and thinking about making something with it, when I remembered the old cappuccino mix recipe. To make it even minty-er, I decided to use mint hot chocolate mix, and to get it to “froth”, I picked Aero hot chocolate. You can make this with regular creamer and regular hot chocolate or any flavour hot chocolate and regular creamer. If you can’t find regular creamer, you can use powdered milk.

So, here’s what you need. I did the measurements for this in Metric, but as long as you get the ratios right, you can use any measuring system you want.

100g instant coffee
200g powdered creamer
200g hot chocolate
50g Splenda (or sugar, but I was trying to make it a little less sugary)

you also will need a plastic zipper top bag, a rolling pin or glass, and some containers to put the finished product in….like the containers you just emptied!

Step 1 – Pour the coffee into the zipper-top bag, squeeze out as much air as you can, and seal it. Gently roll over the coffee with a rolling pin to break up the granules.
Step 2 – Add the hot chocolate, powdered creamer, and splenda to the bag. Seal it up tight and shake it until everything is mixed together.
Step 3 – Pour into containers.

[finished product on the left, it’s inspiration on the right!]

When you are ready to have some, just put 3-4 spoonfuls in a mug and top with hot water. I like to fill my cup about 3/4 with boiling water from the kettle and then top it off with cold water from the tap so I can drink it right away.

This would make a great gift, too!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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I need a new iron. The one I have been using was Tim’s from bachelordom and he no longer has the manual for it ,nor can one be located online. Plus, I wanted an iron with the ability to steam upright. After loads of looking online, I settled on a Morphy Richard’s model and ordered it from Tesco Direct (mostly for the points!). Tesco has two delivery options – The first was £5 (or was it £3?) and was for a 12-hour slot of 7am to 7pm. The second option was £6.85 and lets you pick your own 2 hour time slot for delivery. I paid the extra and set my delivery for today from 3pm to 5pm.

I’m writing this at 5:57, and there still is no sign of my iron. I rang Tesco around ten past five because I checked the online status and it says my item is going from the warehouse to the store, NOT out for delivery. The woman I spoke with was very nice. She said it should be out for delivery and she didn’t know why it hadn’t arrived yet, so could I hold on while she rang the store it was coming from (Cleethorpes). I waited, and she came back on the line to tell me that no one was answering the phone in the delivery department, but she spoke to store customer service who told her that was because they were done for the day, and the store had no way of contacting the driver.

This is a bunch of crap, as they have always been able to ring the driver if he was running late — and on several occasions, the driver has rung me to tell me he was running late.

The only thing the woman could tell me was to wait until 7PM and ring back tonight or tomorrow morning to reschedule delivery, but she would refund my $6.85. I told her I was not interested in rescheduling my delivery because I would not be available tomorrow, I was available today from 3 to 5, which was why I paid extra to book the slot. She urged me to wait until 7PM just in case the driver was running late.

In the meantime, I’ve found the exact same iron at Argos. It is £7 more than Tesco but it will even itself out because Tim can collect the item before work tomorrow and we can avoid a delivery fees. For whatever reason, Tesco Direct will not send items to Lincoln, and always insists we need to pick things up in Cleethorpes, which for those of you who don’t know, is about a half hour to 45 minute drive away from us!

Overall, I’m very disappointed with Tesco today. There is absolutely no excuse for not delivering an item on time, let alone not ringing to state it will not be on time. I seriously doubt there was ever an iron on the delivery van for me for today, given the online status of my order, too.

(I’m pressing publish on this at 6:15pm, and still no delivery. They have 45 minutes.)

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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Miss M has had some great news recently. She was approved for a pre-existing condition insurance policy which will help her pay for the bulk of her surgery, AND she has finally been given the all-clear for surgery and will be going in on October 5. She will have a long recovery after this, and so she still will be unable to work for quite some time. Miss M also still has to pay off $600 before the surgery, as well as maintain her insurance premium ($250/month), try to make some headway on her previous hospital bill (while her insurance covers the pre-existing condition, it will not cover previous medical care), and well, be able to live for the next few months.

So, we’re asking for one last big push to help her get through the next few months. Please consider purchasing an item from her – handmade, one of a kind jewellery makes great holiday gifts – or making a donation. Also, if you could please pass on the links to her sites or my site, that would really be appreciated!

Her Website: http://giveneyestosee.com/blog

Blow-by-blow: http://giveneyestosee.com/blog/hysterectomy/

Donation Storefront: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com

Her Storefront: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com

Her Website: http://www.phoenixfiredesigns.com

Direction Donations: http://tiny.cc/hysterectomy

http://www.gofundme.com/hysterectomy

One of my favourite Pennsylvania Dutch things is apple butter. Apple butter is best when spread on a warm dinner roll, or a spoonful mixed into some cottage cheese. Trips to Willow Valley always included a spoonful of apple butter on my plate, and trips to Kitchen Kettle were never complete unless I bought a jar.

In the UK however, we don’t have apple butter. We have all sorts of other spread-y type things for your bread, but no apple butter.

For those of you not familiar with apple butter, I need to explain that it is not butter in the sense of a dairy or vegetable based spread you put on toast or use to bake bread with. The best way I can describe it is it’s sort of like applesauce, only thicker, darker, and with spices. It’s tasty and is my favourite topping for toast. It even out-shines Nutella!

With all the wind bringing down the apples on the 20-foot-tall apple tree in the garden, it was time to start doing something with them!

Like last year, I planned on coring and cutting as many apples as I could and dividing them into 500g freezer bags. 500g is just about what will fill up my crumble bowl, and a good way of measuring them out. Plus, it’s how much will fit into a small freezer bag comfortably. To freeze the apples, I leave the skins on and use one of those kitchen gadgets that slices the apple and cores it at the same time. I discard the core, cut off any brown spots, and cut the slices in half. After measuring out 500g, I pop them in a freezer bag and add a teaspoon of lemon juice (to help with discolouration) and give the bag a shake before putting it into the freezer. Last year, I wound up with 6KG of apples in the freezer which really saw us through winter! This year, I’m trying not to put too much in the freezer because we need to defrost it soon and I wouldn’t want to lose anything!

I made apple butter last year, but such a small amount I only had enough for 2 small containers. Since I had to get the apples dealt with sooner than I had planned, I decided to try making a large batch of apple butter and I collected as many as I could that had fallen into my laundry basket.

I started coring and cutting the apples and measured them out in 500g intervals on my scale and tipped them into my large crock pot until it was full — about 2KG of apples. 2KG of apples will yield about 2000ml of apple butter, more if you don’t cook it for as long as I did. I sealed my jars in the oven since I don’t have a large pot for the stove. The USDA does not recommend this method for canning, however there are no such suggestions in the UK, and oven canning is even suggested.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

You will need:

2KG Apples, cored and cut (or however much your crock pot will hold. I used a 6L crock pot)
2 TBS Cinnamon (adjust based on amount of apples)
1 1/2 TBS Nutmeg (adjust based on amount of apples)
1 1/2 TBS Cloves (adjust based on amount of apples)
1 1/2 Cup sugar or Splenda (optional)
Water

Large Crock Pot
Blender (I tried out my new stick blender!)
Wooden Spoon
Sterilized Jars

– Core and cut apples into small chunks. You can leave off the skin if you don’t feel like peeling (I never peel them). Fill your crock pot until it nearly reaches the top. I stopped about three inches from the top.
-Using a measuring jug, add water to the crock pot until the apples are covered. I used 1L of water, but your amount may vary.
-Cook on LOW for 10-12 hours. Overnight is ideal. You want to cook it past the point of applesauce.
-In the morning, turn off your crock pot and use a blender or stick blender to blend the apples until they are smooth. I used my stick blender directly in my crock pot, but if you’re using a regular blender you might have to do it in batches.
-Mix in the spices and give it a taste. If it tastes too tart to your liking, add about 1/2 cup sugar or sweetener. You also can add more spices if you think it needs it!
-Cook on low for about 2 hours. Give it a stir and a taste. Add more sugar/spices if it’s not to your liking.
-Take a wooden spoon and use it to prop open the lid. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! By venting the crock pot lid, you are letting the steam escape and this will reduce the applesauce down to apple butter.
-I had my crock pot on low for about 12 hours, but this was only because we left to visit friends in the evening and stayed longer than we had anticipated. At a minimum, it can be done in about 8 hours. The longer it cooks, the thicker it will get.

-Sterilize your jars. You can do this several ways including boiling them in water or placing in a hot oven. I sterilized mine in a hot oven by pre-heating the oven to 105C (225F) and placing the jars on a tray. Leave in for 10 minutes, then turn off the oven and let the jars sit in the oven until you are ready for them.

-Give your apple butter a taste again. If it still tastes too tart for your liking, add the final 1/2 cup of sugar or sweetener and blend. You might want to use your blender or stick blender again if your apple butter looks too chunky.
-By now, your apple butter should be a dark brown colour. Turn off the crock pot.
-To make it easier to pour (and to know how much you made), transfer the apple butter into a measuring jug. I had just under 2000ml.
-carefully pour into your sterilized jars, leaving a little bit of room at the top. Wipe the sides of the mouth and screw on the lids.
-Seal your jars in your preferred method. Most people will boil their jars, but as I don’t have a large pot, I needed to use the oven method.

-Place jars on a baking sheet in a cold oven and turn the dial to 105C (225F). Allow the oven to heat up and leave on for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave jars in for an additional 30 minutes. You can tell the jar is sealed if you can push on the top and it doesn’t make a popping sound.

And now you have apple butter to last through winter!

Oh, and to clean out that crock pot after making a mess in it, pour some dish soap in it and fill it up with water. “Cook” it on low overnight with the lid on, and in the morning it should come clean.

In case you were wondering, to make applesauce cook the apples and water for 4 hours on high in the crock pot, add sugar, drain off some of the water, and blend.

[The first batch. I’ve since made a second batch of apple butter and a batch of applesauce….]

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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[Taken looking out the upstairs window]

We’ve been having a lot of wind lately all over the UK. For a few days, I was enjoying the wind – clothing I hung out on the whirly were dry within 15 minutes and the air smelled crisp and like Autumn.

But then the wind continued. Apples on our apple tree were being blown off faster than I could pick them up before they started rotting on the ground. In the past few days, I have cooked over 6 kilos of apples and I still have loads to cook that I brought in the house, not counting the apples that have fallen yesterday or today that might still be good.

And then, on Wednesday, the worst thing happened.

I was sitting on the sofa watching something on TV when I heard the familiar “creeeeek creeeeek” noise our lilac tree makes when it blows in the wind followed by a “crrraaacccckkkk” and then a “thump”. I glanced out the front window to discover half of our lilac tree had been blown down and it missed the house by about 2 feet. When it fell, it took out a fence panel and very nicely the lighter bits landed on the railway.

[The view when I opened the front door]

[now what?]

[Where the tree cracked]

[No damage to the tracks]

Dave came over to assist Tim in at least trying to move the tree and get it cleanly broken off and they discovered a second crack on the other trunk for the purple lilac, so they took that down as well. All that is left is the white part and it looks very funny leaning slightly to the left like it always has without the rest of the tree! (I’ll take a photo of that later). A friend of ours, Rae, told me it might grow back and be more bushy since we still have lots of small shoots at the bottom that hadn’t been cut off….I hope so! I really liked that tree!!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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I need a new phone. I’ve been using my Sony Ericsson w200i since I purchased it on my visit in 2008. I purchased it as a barebones basic phone for £30 just as something to use while I was in the UK, since my Verizon Wireless phone did not work outside of North America. I wound up taking the w200i back to the US with me, and since the phone was tri-band, I was able to keep it minimally topped up while I was in the US and Tim and I were able to text on it (as well as me with his other family and my friends). When I moved, I pretty much assumed I would get a different (better) phone to use on a permanent basis, but we never got around to it. I briefly tried out a LG KS360 in July 2010, and you can read all about it here. So it’s been well over a year since I tried getting a new phone, and I’ve stayed with Orange.

When I get my new phone, I’m switching to O2. O2 is the company Tim’s work phone and personal phone are on, and you can have O2 to O2 calls for free. Plus, Tim’s never had a complaint about O2. I, on the other hand, have had countless issues with Orange. It’s gotten better now that they merged with T-Mobile in terms of getting a signal, but I’ve rang Orange customer service far, far more than Tim has. I think the only time Tim’s had to even go into the O2 shop was when his phone went through the washing machine while he was visiting me Summer 2009.

So the great debate is out on what to get. My old phone from the US was a LG 9900 (sold on Verizon as an EnV). I LOVED that phone. The front of it worked as a regular mobile phone, but then you could flip it open and there was a full Qwerty keyboard and larger screen. It was perfect, because if I didn’t have both hands free to type on the full keyboard, I could tap things out the old way on the front…and I LOVED the Qwerty keyboard. A Qwerty keyboard is a MUST for my next phone. I text way more than I talk on my phone and I update twitter and facebook from my phone, too, so aps for those would be a plus.

For a long while, I wanted an iPhone. They were sleek and shiny, and a popular phone. I have an iPod Touch, so an iPhone would be very similar to it, just also having the capabilities of being a phone. iPhones are expensive, but if you want an older model they can be found on eBay for around £100. Still, that’s a lot of money for an old phone that has no guarantee of it actually working. And one of my biggest issues with my iPod Touch is the touch screen keyboard. I actually dislike it and wish it had keys!

Tim received a phone with his new job. A Blackberry Curve. Ironically, I have been looking on and off at a Blackberry Curve for several months, so I was more than a little jealous when Tim got one for work use! I love the Blackberry. It has a Qwerty Keyboard, it has Aps, and it has blackberry-to-blackberry messaging, which would help me keep in touch with my friends all over the world who also have blackberries. Tim let me play around with his to see how I liked using the keyboard on it (I sent an email to myself and played with the notepad) and I found it pretty easy to use. I really, really want one. O2 has a purple curve on offer as free with a monthly plan. The plan is £16.50/month for a 24 month contract. Not bad.

But then, there’s Android phones. Tesco mobile currently has Android phones on offer for free with £18.50/month plans (for 24 months). But I’m less-inclined to get an Android because it will have the same touchscreen keyboard as an iPhone. So I think I was only attracted to it based on it’s price and the fact that I know people who have them.

Honestly, I’m sold on the Blackberry. Plus, it means Tim and I can share travel chargers/car chargers which is always nice. I figure I’ll set up a pop email address on beccajanestclair for the blackberry and only give the address out to friends and family instead of having it linked to google mail..I don’t want to pay to receive spam/junk! And, I could always check gmail through the web if I really needed it.

Honestly, it’s just a matter of time!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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Fun phone call tonight…

Man with Indian accent: Is this Mrs Lockley?
Me: Who may I ask is speaking?
Man: this is Bernard. I am calling about your bank account.
Me: Which bank are you calling from?
Man: I am from [firm name I didn’t catch, but it wasn’t a bank.]
Me: You told me you were calling from a bank. I’m not familiar with that bank.
Man: I am calling you about your bank account.
Me: yes, you told me that. I would like to know which bank account you are calling me about.
Man: I would tell you, if you listen.
Me: all right. go ahead.
Man: I am calling on behalf of your bank account
Me: [interrupting him] but you still haven’t told me which bank account you’re calling about.
Man: Would you listen to me? I am calling about your bank account.
Me: I’m sorry but until you verify which bank you are calling from I cannot tell you anything.
Man: [frustration in his voice] I am calling about all your bank accounts.
Me: So which banks would these accounts be at?
Man: All of them. All of the banks in Britain.
Me: I’m sorry, I need you to be more specific. I have several bank accounts [lie!] and I am interested in knowing which one you are talking about.
Man: If you tell me your bank sort code and your account number, I can help you.
Me: No, you just told me you were calling me about all of my accounts. How do I know which account number to give you?
Man: If you give me all of them, I will tell you which one.
Me: Please verify which bank you are calling from.
Man: [He is getting very frustrated] I told you. I am calling from all the banks you have accounts with.
Me: I only have one bank account.
Man: I am calling about it.
Me: Which bank is the account at?
Man: I will tell you once you verify the sort code and account number.
Me: You need to tell me which bank you are calling from and the account number and then I will verify if that is my account.
Man: I don’t have your account number. You have to give it to me.
Me: No I don’t. Where are you calling from?
Man: [name of firm spoken too fast to catch]
Me: That isn’t a bank I am familiar with.
Man: We are not a bank. We are calling about your bank account.
Me: I’m sorry. I cannot give you account information until you verify the account you are calling about.
Man: I am very sorry I called you. [click]

I 1471’ed it, but the only number I got back was 011.

But really, I had fun with that!!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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When Tim and I got married in 2009, Tim bought our rings at H Samuel. Mine are white gold, his was Tungsten – an indestructible metal, according to the salesman. We picked a stronger metal for Tim because of his job and hobbies and we didn’t want a white gold ring to get ruined. The ring held up well, until a few weeks ago.

I happened to look down at Tim’s hand and noticed a triangular shaped chink missing from his ring, and a resulting crack running the full length of it. Since we are coming up on our second anniversary, we were pretty sure we would either have to pay to have it repaired, or buy a replacement. Tim was upset, as he wanted to keep the ring I put on his finger when we exchanged vows, but he knew he couldn’t keep on wearing a ring that was cracked – eventually it either would have come off or possibly even cut him.

We were in town today and went into the H Samuel where Tim purchased our rings. The salesman was absolutely astonished that Tim had not only cracked his ring, but put a nick it, too. He said the only time he had ever heard of a Tungsten ring getting damaged was when a woman took a hacksaw to her husband’s ring (when she was mad at him). He also explained that they do not resize the rings, they order the size you need and we would need a replacement. We told him that was fine and went over to the case of men’s rings. He asked us to wait and took the broken ring back to the office to show the manager.

The manager was so appalled that the ring had cracked, he offered to replace it FOR FREE, even though the statute of limits had worn off.

Cue us being overjoyed! It will take about a week for a new ring to come in in Tim’s size, but it’s worth it to have the replacement.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

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The bad: Video card is fried.
The good: Comuter has an on-board video card that can be used instead
The bad: on-board card isn’t compatible with some of Tim’s video games. Will have to order a new card for £20-50.
The good: at least we can use the desktop while we wait for the video card to come in…

The desktop is still with Pete, but we’ll probably go get it tomorrow or Saturday and set it back up just so we can use it, then when we get the new video card get that installed so the video games work.

Though, if it won’t work with the video games, I’m not sure the on-board video would work with Photoshop CS3 either.