First batch of cookies (biscuits) in the UK!

This morning I woke up very excited to see the sun shining through the yellow 1950s curtains on our bedroom window. Sunshine! "It's going to be the perfect day for a walk to Regent's Park!" An hour later, as we finished breakfast, I looked outside again as we prepared to leave on our walk. I was completely dumbfounded to see a dark gray, cloudy sky! "What happened to the sun?"

London lesson #1: The sun is elusive in England. As quickly as it appears, it can disappear, and usually will, anywhere from 10 to 30 different times a day. We're not in California anymore.

We enjoyed an incredible pizza in Camden, strolled through a brilliantly green Regent's Park, and explored the canals and Little Venice just north of Paddington. It was a perfect day, even with the sun playing hide and seek.

After doing some studying back at our flat (see kitchen window with herbs above), I decided to make my first batch of chocolate chip cookies in London. I had lugged my handheld kitchen aid mixer and favorite kitchen tools all the way from the US and carefully purchased all the ingredients for the cookies from Morrison's, so I was ready to start! Everything at room temperature, I plugged my handheld mixer into the converter and the converter into the socket; turned on the mixer and bam!! Sparks flew and the smell of burnt plastic filled the air!

London lesson #2: ALWAYS double check the voltage requirements of appliances and electronics before plugging them into an outlet in a foreign country.

Instead of buying a handheld mixer at the supermarket here in London with the proper voltage and electrical outlet for a mere 20 pounds (which would have been the simple and practical thing to do), I, being the sentimentalist I am, brought my mixer that I've had since college half way around the world, just to blow it up!! "Just focus on making the cookies," I told myself. So I put my French apron on for empowerment (I was told in culinary school that real French chefs eschew electrical mixers and prefer mixing by hand) and mustered the arm strength to start beating my cookie batter with a wooden spoon. Needless to say, the cookies came out pretty flat and pathetic looking, lacking the air to help them hold their shape. And while I will have no problem eating all of these with a cup of tea by the end of the week, they didn't come out tasting delicious either!

London lesson #3: Baking ingredients and equipment are not universal. You might think sugar is sugar whether in Los Angeles or London, right? No! I learned that the brown sugar here is not the same in texture as the brown sugar back home. The unsalted butter I used was a slightly different texture and color than I'm used to. And I couldn't find dark chocolate chips, so we bought an 85% chocolate bar and chopped it up. While it was very good chocolate, it was just too bitter for these cookies.

So my first batch of cookies came out a bit short of my standards. But...I've got a year to figure these ingredient and voltage issues out!

Miss you guys! Wish you were all here to be my guinea pigs! :) Love, Em