A Proper British Meal

All things British really appealed to me as a kid… I mean, we had Monty Python… The Beatles… The Stones…  All the pithy British sitcoms on PBS like Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, and then the Vicar of Dibley and of course, the veritable Doctor Who (My grandparents had a Doctor Who coloring book that I am pretty sure was prehistoric, that I colored in for years… Now I kick myself thinking about how collectable it would be now).
But for the longest time, us Americans made fun of the Brits. Hell, I made fun of Brits for a long time. Until my dad met and married a wonderful lady from across the pond and I got a whole new extended British family including two step sisters, a new grandma and grandpa and aunts, uncles and cousins that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
Now everything British is cool again. Doctor Who has made an awesome resurgence, British TV is taking over America and everyone is accepting and embracing all things British. People really should have taken my cue and did this years ago.
Why? Because… Their traditions are awesome and while everyone says that English food has no taste is smoking crack.
Today I have a proper British dinner on the blog, complete with Yorkshire Puddings!

To start off, you want a good thick roast. You ideally want something a bit larger than the 2.5lb roast I cooked. I didn’t realize it was this small LOL. Oh well, it still made for awesome food.

In a dutch oven, or roaster pan, melt three tablespoons of butter over medium heat.

While it’s melting, season your roast with salt and pepper on both sides. When the butter is melted, place the roast in it to sear. Sear the roast on both sides and then stand it up on the other sides to sear evenly.

Yummmm.

Turn off the heat, place peeled cut up carrots, onion and some garlic in there. Sprinkle on some more salt and pepper. Cover and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 2-3 hours depending on how done you want. Medium Rare would be about 2 hours; well done would be about 3. I cooked my small little roast for 2 1/2 hours and it was perfect. Don’t forget to put about a cup of water in the bottom of the pan before you pop it in. Cover and let it cook until it reaches a roasty goodness that melts in your mouth.

Now onto the Yorkshire Puddings. This is the tricky spot. The recipe will be at the end of the pictorial. Get your ingredients ready! And find your popover pan. Or just a regular non-stick muffin pan will work as well. I just like my fancy pans you don’t use for anything but that one certain thing LOL.

Get your eggs in a bowl. Because you can’t whisk eggs on a plate. Well I guess you could, but it would be really messy.

Now with your silly whisk that really doesn’t serve a purpose other than to look cute and get stuff stuck in it, whisk your eggs.

Sift your flour. We can’t find our regular flour sifter, so we use this fine mesh strainer. It works well!

Plus it looks REALLY cool when you take a picture at the right time.

Mix your flour with your eggs.

Then start mixing your milk in slowly, making sure all the lumps are gone.

And you wind up with this! Now carefully pour your mix into a measuring cup as it will be easier to pour from there than it would be to ladle from the bowl to the pan.
Take the roast out of the oven…

UGH! It looks so damned good. Let it sit while the puddings are cooking. Drain some of the juices off into a bowl…

A little drizzle from the skies of flavor town
Take the drippings and put about a tablespoon each into the tin you’re going to use for the puddings. I forgot to picture that part. Put the pan into the warm oven and let it warm up for about 3 minutes. You’ll hear the sizzle.
Take it out and carefully pour the batter into the pans about 2/3 full.

Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. 20 minutes was about the right time for mine. DO NOT OPEN YOUR OVEN until the timer goes off! It will cause the puddings to fall!!!

You will be rewarded with these gorgeous, airy, yummy little confections that are just begging to be eaten.

I mean, can’t you hear it?! Eaaaat meeeee!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaat meeeeeeee!!!

Plate your roast along with the carrots and onions and drizzle the pan drippings on top of the roast.

Then plate and enjoy! And believe me….

You’ll enjoy it!
Now onto the recipe!
Yorkshire Puddings
1 1/4 c. flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Beat flour into eggs until smooth and gradually add milk until lump free. Season with salt and pepper.
Place grease into tins. Heat in oven until hot (3 minutes or so).
Pour batter into tins to about 2/3 full. Place into oven for 20-25 minutes. DO NOT OPEN OVEN!!! Serve immediately.
This yields about six good sized Yorkshire Puddings.
PS.... I'd like to credit this recipe to my wonderful Auntie Lorna!

Polish Review: Time Lord by A Girl Obsessed

Ahhh… So my final review of 2013. Crazy huh? The year has gone by soooo fast. It’s like someone sped up time or something!

My last review is of A Girl Obsessed’s Time Lord. I have been eyeing this polish like FOREVER. It’s been taunting me and gloating every chance it got. I was totally ready to purchase it after New Years, but received it as a surprise Christmas present from the owner of AGO!

Time Lord is of course, Doctor Who inspired. It’s to mimic the dimmer color of the 9th and 10th Doctors’ TARDIS. I happen to love these two Doctors’ TARDIS for the worn, tarnished look of the blue. Granted, I do love Matt Smith’s bright blue TARDIS, but this color is just more indicative of the well-traveled, well-loved TARDIS.

My mani today is of course, Time Lord and LynBDesigns Slim and a Little Bit Foxy as an accent finger. Time Lord is an AWESOMELY pigmented polish, I mean. One coat is really all it needs, but I had to add two because that’s just how I roll. It goes on seamlessly and beautifully.

It doesn’t have any sparkle, I’m not sure why my topcoat and picture are translating it this way. And that’s not a nick at the top of my nail, it’s a reflection of my lamp LOL This will be the PERFECT canvas for some awesome Whovian inspired nail art, that’s for danged sure.

*sigh* So prettiful. Even makes my horribly damaged cuticle on my pinkie finger look good. Never try to start a fight with a thin paper sign and think you’re going to win.

This is hands down my new go-to-Who polish! It is seriously fantastic. If you’re wondering where you can purchase this beautiful polish, you can find it at A Girl Obsessed’s Etsy page. At just $8 it’s barely a bank breaker, so make sure you add this to your collection!

Bloggerversary Best of 2013 Indie Polishes

So, I didn’t quite get to my 1,000 Facebook likes as I had planned. Ho hum. Oh well, my awesome giveaway will be even more awesome as I’m going to start looking for sponsors in the next week or so.

This year has been a whirlwind of awesome happenings. I’ve loved nurturing and working on my blog and I hope many, many more awesome things will come in 2014.

So without further adieu, I bring you- in no particular order- my 25 top favorite Indie polishes of 2013!

One of my first posts of 2013 was one expounding the virtues of my MANY Beatles-themed polishes. I have more to add to the list, so I may need to revamp the post later this month.

Enchanted Polish’s Across the Universe: a gorgeous, shimmery, sultry shade that never fails to make me melt.

Daring Digits Nova- One of my favorite toppers and it’s such a sleeper. Goes good with pretty much any nude or neutral for an added zing.

A Girl Obsessed Berries & Cream- The polish that began my obsession with milky glitter filled crellies. SO absolutely beautiful, and one of my all time favorite mixes of colors!

Literary Lacquer Laters, Baby!- Such a beautiful deep charcoal linear holo with bits of holo glitter mixed in. Definitely a must for vamping out a little!

Cosmos Lacquer R2 Beep Boop- A great red-white-and-blue topper from my good friend Tia, has to be one of my favorites from her awesome little company!

Literary Lacquer Raspberry Cordial?- On the search for a true hot pink holo, my friend Amy over at Literary Lacquers sent me this beauty to review. Not only was it the PERFECT hot pink holo, but it was also designed with Anne of Green Gables in mind, one of my favorite book series when I was a little girl! A double whammy!

LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?- A PERFECT orange holo that doesn’t make me look like I’ve got Jaundice, Am I Ginger? is one of the best fandom polishes I’ve seen lately!

Kawaii Lacquer Stars & Dots- Yet another white crellie glitter bomb on the list. Stars & Dots was my go-to mani over the 4th and my birthday.

Limitless Lacquer Blue Matte Topcoat- Such a bright and vibrant matte glitter topcoat, which honestly… I am really digging matte glitter. Don’t get me wrong, but matte glitter just kicks a little ass. And Limitless Lacquer has made bank on it!

Sweet Pea Polish Peach Moonshine- Such a beautiful polish by itself, but it’s also a thermal polish. A real double whammy!

Cinema Swatch The Clock- A beautiful scattered teal polish. It’s a beauty of a polish and never fails to please.

LynBDesigns Alexandrite- A stunner of a polish that I wasn’t able to capture completely. It is a crazy shifter and so beautiful it’ll take your breath away.

Literary Liquor Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster- A gorgeous teal holo that is seriously OUT OF THIS WORLD. It’s a must have for holo fanatics!

Sinister Benediction Spearmint or Fruit- Seriously the BEST, most awesomest fandom polish theme in the world. Themed after Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Sinister Benediction hits one out of the park with this AWESOME polish. If you go get this puppy… Tell her Large Marge sent ya! Muahahahahahahahaha

Lacquer Queen Radioactive- Whenever I look at this polish or wear it I immediately start singing Radioactive, that’s how much I love it. LOL It’s a gorgeous blue linear holo polish that never fails to impress!

Lady Varnishes Bigger on the Inside- One of my favorite TARDIS blue Doctor Who themed polishes, Bigger on the Inside is a stunner!

Kawaii Lacquer Sugar Skull- What better to show off your Halloween spirit and your love of pink?! Sugar Skull can help you out there!\

Clarity Paints Toffee Sparkle- Hands down my favorite (and only) brown linear holo polish I own, and such a beauty at that!

Two Gypsies Lacquer Lake Glass- A stunner of a polish that I had a hard time taking my eyes off when I was wearing it. Looks gorgeous in the bottle and translates beautifully onto the nail. A must have!

My-Stash Lacquer Grape Ape- This deep purple shimmer polish will not fail to knock your socks off.

Limitless Lacquer Retro Christmas- The best polishes are ones you give the ideas for, am I right?! This was one of two custom polishes I had made for Christmas this year.

Paint Shop Polish Godric- I’m a sucker for anything Harry Potter related, and Godric was truly a stunner that won my heart.

 

Honey Bunny Lacquer Rotten Apples- This Alice In Chains topper is rockin!

Polish Yer Hooves Vintage Christmas- This shimmery teal polish was another one of the Christmas customs I ordered and she didn’t fail to please!

All in all, the polish through this year have been SPECTACULAR. I have loved the opportunity to swatch for some of the best indie brands out there and look forward to swatching more in the year to come.

Thank you so much for sticking with me, my darling little Witchie-Poos. I extend cyber hugs to each and every one of you for being so freaking awesome it’s ridiculous.

Here’s to 2014, to be one of the best years any of us have ever had before!