Madrid

We started our recent trip to Iberia with a couple of days in Madrid. We were there for their independence day, so a few things were closed (I didn't get to see Picasso's Guernica, for example), but we had a nice time seeing the city. Here are a few random photos.

Portuguese tiles

One thing I loved on our recent trip to Portugal was all the gorgeous tiled buildings. Here are a few photos that show the tile variety.

Royal Wedding, part II

Did you watch the wedding coverage? We had a gathering of a few friends for our Royal Wedding party, and it was pretty fun. And yes, I took pictures of the TV screen. Go ahead and make fun of me right along with Jacob.
We grilled burgers, and I made a no-bake strawberries & cream cake. Because what's more British than strawberries & cream? I'll tell you--a strawberries & cream cake that involves rich tea biscuits. Yes, the same cookie reportedly the star ingredient in William's groom's cake.

What a fun day to live in the UK!! Enjoy the rest of my "screen shots." :)

Royal Wedding, part I

I was a little distracted when Kate and William announced their engagement last year. And even if I hadn't been about to give birth, I might not have thought it that big a deal. But I would have been wrong. It's a HUMONGOUS deal. In the lead-up to the Royal Wedding, it's pretty much all we hear about on TV and radio. Everyone has the day off, and the Prime Minister has encouraged everyone to party in the streets.

We saw on BBC news that the bell-ringers at the parish church in Kate's hometown of Bucklebury have prepared a 4-hour peal for Friday. FOUR HOURS. They're pretty excited.
The same news segment shows her family's butcher. He's also very excited.

BBC's website is helping everyone out with lots of street party recipes and Royal Wedding Recipes. They're excited.

The seating plan, the dress, the guest list, the honeymoon plans, the cakes, the hair (here too), the vows, the weather forecast... I could go on. Who isn't excited?!

This guy: VERY excited.

(This guy isn't. Neither is Jerry Seinfeld.)

Gavin's Easter attire

Our friends Becky & Mike (& Michaela) gifted Gavin the outfit he wore to church today. When he wore it for the first time a few weeks ago, he immediately found a new toy: the necktie. He chewed/sucked on it pretty much the whole time he was wearing it. Today it was in his mouth during the entire Easter service. The above photo is from today; the below are from a few weeks ago.

Macarons

I mentioned my love of French macarons in this post, and this weekend I decided to try my hand at making them. They are rumored to be one of the most difficult things to make with lots of tricks and techniques, and I did find them to be extremely delicate. I used Martha Stewart's instructions here. The macarons are raspberry, and the fillings include raspberry curd (that I made from scratch), lemon curd, raspberry jam and fresh raspberries.

They didn't turn out perfect, and one whole pan was a total disaster, but I was pretty pleased with the way they developed "feet" like they're supposed to. And Jacob was pleased with their chewiness. (We had some in France and Belgium this month that disappointed him with their absence of chewy.) Overall, I'm counting them a yummy success!

St George's Day

Even though he had no direct connection to the country, St. George is the patron saint of England. He did slay a dragon, so he's a pretty cool choice for patron saint. Today is St. George's Day (but because it's so close to Easter the churches are moving their celebrations to May 2nd). We celebrated today by wearing our England colours and eating a delicious pastry with St. George's cross (England's flag).