Aunt Sally's Cocoa Drops with Mocha Buttercream Frosting

I made these cookies yesterday and they are AMAZING, so I thought I would share the recipe. Enjoy!

Aunt Sally's Cocoa Drops (Gold Medal Winner!)

1/2 c. shortening (part butter)

1 c. sugar

1 egg

3/4 c. buttermilk or sour milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. cocoa

1 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Chill one hour - drop by teaspoonfuls and bake at 400 deg for 8-10 mins.

Frost if desired.

Mocha Buttercream Frosting (from the cocoa container)

1/2 stick (2 oz.) butter, softened

1/2 lb. confectionery sugar

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/8 cup coffee (I would just use some strong leftover drip coffee if you have it.)

Use a spoon to place ~ 1 tsp. of frosting on each cookie.

Ice Skating at Sommerset House

The night before flying home I went into London and got to stay with Anna McCarthey, a family friend who has been living and working there since October. It was so fun to see someone from Paso in England! I hadn't seen Anna is about 10 years, but it was so easy to catch up with her. I am so thankful to find a friend in London and I look forward to her visit to Cambridge!

We headed to Sommerset House soon after my arrival to go ice skating. The venue was sponsored by Tiffany's, with a tree decorated with teal and white skates and blue lights shining. It was such a beautiful setting and so much fun! We met up with Anna's coworker and her husband and ended up at the nearby Wellington pub for dinner. It was a wonderful London evening, thanks Anna!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Dear Family and Friends,

I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and send my love! I am so thankful for such supportive and loving family and friends. I thank God for the opportunities and blessings he has showered on us in the past year and throughout our lives.

Psalm 16: 5-6, 11 "Lord, you have assignmed me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance...You have made know to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand"

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, what is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent and praiseworthy - think about such things."

Being far away from home this Thanksgiving makes me even more thankful for the special relationships I have with each of you. I've met so many people from all over the world here in Cambridge, I see how their backgrounds have shaped them into the people they are today. You all have help mold me into someone who values people, love Jesus, and has confidence to do the things he puts on my heart. I thank God for you! I'd love to hear what you are thankful for this holiday!

In thinking towards Christmas, I received this video from a friend and it struck a cord with me. I thought I would pass it on to challenge many of you who are feeling a frustrated about the material aspect of the day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

SNOW!

I woke up this morning to see the first snow since I've been in Cambridge! My housemate Margita was up and ready to cycle to her faculty to work, when she discovered it was snowing! I understand it is typical for it to snow and leave a light dusting on the ground like this and then the rain comes and washes it away within a few hours. (I wish I could have been able to get some more idyllic photos of the colleges in the City Centre, but we are a 15 minute walk away! I'm sure there will be time for that.)

See the little cartoon I added showing the weather? Confused what Snow, Rain and Sun could be doing together? (Me too!) Apparently it's called 'Sleet Shower' and that is the forcast today at 1:00pm when the Emmanuel College Sprint Regata planned for the novice rowing crews. The Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs have a flag system on their website for regulating the river - green for go, yellow for caution (meaning novices typically can't go out) and red for no go. It is still green so that means that the race is on! In this particular regata we are supposed to dress up, so one of the girls found reindeer antlers and noses for the 8 of us to wear, along with a Santa costume for our cox Richard! It will be quite appropriate with the snow today. I will report back with pictures if I don't freeze first!

So does anyone have any stories about their first snow sightings? I'd love to hear them!

One down, Five to go!

I submitted my first assignment today and felt victory as I got it in 30 minuntes ahead of the deadline. (haha, I like to live on the edge.) To treat myself, I got some homemade Chocolate Drop cookies from my fav shop the Cambridge Farmer's Outlet where I get all my local veggies and baked treats. I'll have to have a pint with some friends later to celebrate. :) I have 5 more assignments due in 3 weeks, things are starting to heat up, so if you don't see too many blogs you know what I am doing! I'll be back in the States on December 12th until January 4th, so don't be surprised if you see me around SLO.

Moments of Loveliness

Today was cloudy and drizzly but around noon the sun peaked out. This is the view out my upstairs bathroom window of the gardens behind the neighborhood homes...umm pretty.

The first few pictures are of the Christian Graduate Society Cafe event I went to last night at the Graduate Union. They had live music from some guys playing bluegrass :) and a S. Korean girl who played the piano very beautifully. American friends Nicki and Eric Appeal (on the couch) and Michelle (orginally from Texas who is married to Ethan who is from Colorado.) Nicki and Eric, Michelle and Ethan have made me feel at home when nothing else seems familiar, so they are included in my 'moments of loveliness'.

My Nerdy British "Shopper" Bicycle

What do you think?

Happy Birthday Matt

I have to wish my brother a happy belated birthday (it was November 3rd) on here, and show off his beautiful family! Matt you are an impressive 31 year old man of God, I love you and respect you so much! My nephew Luke and niece Ella are the poster children for future members of Cambridge University (They are geniuses, right Syb?! :))

Guy Falke Day Cookies

In honor of Guy Falkes Day (see below), I decided to make some cookies. The recipe is the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe modified to add 1 cup of ground Cinnamon Oats made locally in East Anglia and nice plump raisins and dried cranberries instead of chocolate chips. The cinnamon in the oats gives it a nice autumn taste...yum!

Here's my French classmate's humorous summary of what Guy Falkes day is all about:

A few hundred years ago Mr Fawkes attempted to burn / blow out the house of parliament (or a building of similar standard) for some reason I am not totally aware of (possibly something to do with religion or an unhealthy interest in burning things). He failed and the current King, who incidentally didn't really like this type of initiatives, ordered his execution and subsequent quartering. Since then the people of Britain celebrate every year with fireworks and in general burning things (which is fun!). Now depending of where you live these celebrations can kick off several weeks before the 5th November...with kids fancy dressed and accompanied with a dummy representing Mr Fawkes (which will be ultimately be burnt) begging for money to buy fireworks.

The American description is that it is like the 4th of July...an excuse to set off fire works and have a carnival!! There will be a fireworks display at 7:30pm tonight in Midsummer's Common for all to enjoy, then a huge bonfire will be lit. I am excited to see what its like and will hopefully get some photos to post. Wish me luck that I don't get hit by a loose firework! :)

Calvary Chapel Cambridge

I have spoken to many of you about the sweet little Calvary that has been started here by Joey and Tiffany Rosek, a couple from the US. Joey is from Southern California, and hails from Costa Mesa, so its nice to have a bible teacher from a place I am so familiar with. :) He is a dynamic and passionate teacher of the Word, and also is a really gifted pastor in caring for all of us in the fellowship. He called me the other day just to read me some Scripture and encourage me, I appreciate him and Tiffany so much! These photos are of the "bring and share" (potluck) lunch we have every first Sunday of the month. There are about half Americans from the local military bases and universities and half British or other nationalities. It's a lovely group of kids, students, singles, couples, parents, and older wise people. Christ's church is so precious all over the world!

Matriculation

On October 28, I was officially accepted as a member of Cambridge University for LIFE. It's been a long, amazing road here and seems to be just the beginning!

These photos show me and my housemates, a sweet Christian friend Fiona from Uganda, and our 60-year old friend Uli from Austria.

Fiona has a huge heart for the war torn children of Northern Uganda, and is studying Special Education so she can go back and help those children who will obviously have learning problems due to what they have been through. Uli is such an inspiration, she is a laywer who's husband owns a firm in Austria who just decided to do something new, despite her age. She is soaking up the Cambridge experience - she even rows with me early in the morning! This is just a few of the amazing people here. Maybe this would inspire some of you to give thought to going back to university? :)

Good Finds

On my way home from classes today, I stopped in this local and organic shop that one of my classmates recommended. They were wonderful local veggies, cheeses, meats and breads, and some pumpkins! I left with the lovely Coffee and Walnut Bread (which I had immediately with tea when I got home!), cherry tomatoes, a small batch of aspargas, an onion and some parsnips. Anyone ever heard of parsnips? We had them at formal hall - they are a little like carrots but sweet, like a sweet potato is to a potato! I am definitely going back to that shop to try their goat cheese! Yum! I also picked up a black wool coat at the charity shop for 1 pound - great finds all around today!

Mexican in England?

Last night I attended the Christian Graduate Society's International Dinner, so I decided to prepared chicken enchiladas. The dinner and 'pudding' was really nice. There was sushi, curries, sloppy joes, stir fry, salads, BBQ. The conversation was encouraging with British, South African, Singaporian, and Swiss friends. God has been so faithful in providing fellowship here. Joey Rosek & his family from Calvary Chapel have been blessing me as well with their Friday night Bible study and service on Sunday. (I hope to have photos soon!)

I bought extra enchilada stuff so I could make some for the housemates and food for the week...so these pictures are of our lovely dinner at home and the carrot cake dessert Jenny's mom made for us! (It had honey in it which made it amazing - I'm getting the recipe!) Once again, I heart my sweet housemates. :)

Proper Tea

This Sunday afternoon, I persuaded my housemates Margita and Christine to put off studying and go to proper tea with me in the City Centre at Auntie's Tea Shop, across from famous King's College.

Margita is from Croatia and had never had a proper English Tea with scones and cream! We enjoyed experiencing it with her for the first time. The fresh baked scones and tea were amazing, yum! We walked along the river and had a nice talk about how we have been challenged and humbled since we've arrived at the diverse backgrounds we are privledged to interact with here at Cambridge. I heart my housemates!

The Return to the Books

I haven't written anything about my course yet, so I thought I would comment on why I'm here! There is so much to distract here in beautiful and interesting Cambridge, but as the days get colder and the trees loose their leaves, there is a draw inside to a warm homes and pubs and to the books. Since most don't have TV's, our attentions and passions get caught up in the written and spoken word, which we can all agree is powerful.

My course, called Engineering for Sustainable Development, has been what I expected and more. My thoughts about how to approach design, my ethical thoughts concerning people, how I view "developing countries" are all being challenged. Would being "developed" mean being like the US? Would that be a good thing?

They claim that Sustainable Development is a homocentric worldview, concerned about man and the environment, not ecocentric, where the environment comes first. From a biblical perspective, Adam was tasked with being a good steward of the earth, subduing the animals. When sin entered that stewardship got distorted...come the Industrial Revolution, we now experience the consequences of a hurting earth. I know this sounds a bit negative, but the evidence for global warming and scarcity of natural resources is here and now. I think this hurting is not only on the physical level but the spiritual as well. I was reading in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." God has the ability to heal our land. I see a need for behavioral change in his people (the world) to make that happen - a humbling, a turning from our ways. Could Biblical wisdom with all this worldly wisdom help us arrive at some answers? I have hope...

The pictures above are of some people from my course at The Eagle Pub - there are people from France, China, Barbados, US, UK, Canada, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Cyprus & Egypt. I am enjoying each of them more and more. My two closest friends so far are Emily from Portland (you can barely see her head) and Keven from Northern France (red jacket on his chair). I really appreciate Rebecca from Nigeria who left her 11 month old baby at home with dad to come to Cambridge. There are some amazing people here! (P.S. I just returned from a Christian Graduate Society International Dinner and found out 2 people from my course are Christians! Yeah! A girl named Janice from S. Africa and a guy name Huag Kin (sp?) from Canada.

The second photo is some books I am reading for my course and for encouragement. "Cradle to Cradle" is a really interesting read about rethinking manufacturing processes to reuse what we now consider waste. C.S. Lewis' "Meditations" is a compilation of excerpts of his work - the photo on the front of the book is of a bench on Jesus College green. Lewis was a Professor of Literature here at Cambridge the last 9 years of his career. What are you reading?

Autumn

Just a few photos of Homerton College, where I was invited to eat lunch with my new friend Monika (who I met at Calvary Chapel Cambridge!) All the leaves are changing to beautiful bright greens, yellows and oranges as the fall. The first pictures show the trees that lead into an orchard that has apples for the students to pick. They also have a pond and two large green areas to enjoy. I know the winter is coming, so I'm enjoying all the colors of this delightful season!

First Formal Hall

Formal Hall is a tradition in Cambridge where the students join the Fellows weekly or bi-weekly to eat a nice 3-course meal (including beautiful desserts like these.) We started with drinks in a room upstairs, then dinner is served in the dining hall with a full place setting and candles, we finish with port and fruit upstairs once again. Hughes Hall does not require that you wear gowns (they look like graduation gowns) but many other colleges do. I wore mine just for fun. :) I wasn't able to attend the first formal hall, so I scheduled to come to the second which was on a Tuesday, so not very many people came, but it was really enjoyable. I sat next to Anne from Holland, a really nice girl. I'm going again Friday night, so that should be a great time! The food is good!