Where the Deer and the Antelope Play - Living in the USA (visitors welcome)

[SuperBunny]

East Coast
MaNanny - Boston
Twinmommytobe - Boston
MuminCT - CT
Greatgooglymoogly - NY State
Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
Brooklynmom - NYC
alarkaspree - NYC
MKG - New Jersey
Mummimamma - PA
Poetmum - PA
Twirl - MD

South
Earlybird - TN
jabberwocky - AR
Sunchowder - Florida
Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
Tinpot - NC
MadameDeathStare- AL

Midwest
SuperBunny- Chicago
Dodgykeeper - Dayton, OH
Chocchipcookie - Ohio
MonkeyLover
KickAssAngel - Ann Arbor, MI

Rockies
Alipiggie - Boulder, CO
Ribena

Northwest
AnnieLaurie - Seattle, WA
Dooneygirl - Oregon City, OR

California
SittingBull - nr San Francisco
Califrau - Milpitas
loopsngeorge - Brentwood, LA
Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA
SofiaAmes - LA
LATyke - Redondo Beach

Texas
Texan - Dallas
Tiggyhop - Houston
Vixie78 - Houston
BananaPudding - Austin
Cosmicdust - East Texas

Canada
Hellish - Ottawa
Shouldlistenedtomymum - Hamilton
Nooka - BC
Jacksmama - Langley

Exotic Islands
Anorak - Bermuda
cp - Trinidad
Barefeete - BVI

Brazil
Albert

More snow ffs. I don't remember it being this bad in the past. I don't think I have ever seen so much snow and I have spent time in the Rockies in the winter

tangarine, what a nightmare!

Superbunny, how's your friend's child? Very scary to have pneumonia

OKay SB just to make you feel better, woke up to a good 5"+ of snow this morning . Beautiful day in Colorado. Oh and Ex was a meet tomororw, so two things spring to mind - a) he wants to pay less child support (F.O). b) he and new lady love are married/engaged. What's the vote?

Oh Ali... they've just had a big trip together. I hope neither of your fears are realised but I'd be worried too.

Jabber - she came home today! Thanks for asking. Am very relieved.

My babysitter seems to have done something odd with my kettle - I got home tonight and boiled the water to make a nice cuppa, poured said water into a cup and there was tea in the kettle. IN THE KETTLE. What is that all about? Would it be terribly rude to ask her not to do that? How odd. Why would you fill a kettle with tea?

chilled mam - you can look up online about car seats. varies state by state, so if you're near a state border then go for the highest needed. in mi, dd doesn't legally need a car seat, but they all use them still, and would need one the minute we left mi in any direction. generally, rules are more leniant. we brought over a small booster seat for dd, but you can buy them for $15 easy. (complete with cup holder)

just found out dh's firm are going to pay more of our expenses than we expexted yay! we can buy new sofas. any ideas? i want pottery barn style big squishy leather things, but at half the cost!! i sat in one of their sofas once, and could happily have lived there.

Superbunny, so glad your friend's child is better. Sorry about your kettle though. You will have to hide the tea next time the babysitter comes. Or the kettle.

Tangerine, I've found with some US companies that their website forms aren't set up to accept foreign credit cards, but if you phone them they can do it. Worth a try?

Ali, good luck!

I did think about hiding the kettle

Good luck tangerine. I think phoning is a good idea.

I had no idea you didn't need a car seat in Mi. I always find it bizarre that different states have different rules for such basic safety things as that. Like wearing seatbelts too - I know someone who still refuses to wear one, preferring to get tickets if stopped

Def worth a try - dh is also putting out feelers with some of his NY colleagues.

Ok, anyone got any good low fat but satisfying recipies? Christmas was not kind to my waist and I am finding it increasingly hard not to throw things when my new wii fit tells me Im overweight on a daily basis [anrgy].
SB, Americans just don't understand kettles - we lost one when I asked a friend to put it on and she placed the electric kettle on the hob! Hope your friends dc is doing well - it can take a while to get over.
Off to drag our very reluctant dog for a walk round the block in the snow.

I did try to have a look online about carseats but it is a complete mare! To be fair, I think I was hoping there would be an equivalent to the Which Online guide or something like it at least.
Also there are things way more important to sort out first...the whole bank account, credit card thing, getting a car to put carseats in would be a good start etc. We need to find a place to live so that will probably mean coming over for a recce before hand but don't know how easy that will be to achieve either...god a sound like a real whinger...sorry will do better next time!

Should have added...the ketle story made my really giggle...what on earth was babysitter thinking???????????

More on my new babysitter: mutual friend has just emailed me to say that babysitter reported that, unless specifically told otherwise, she feels it acceptable to spank a child she is looking after. Wonderful. I have never smacked Dinner. So now I need to decide if I just ask her not to or if I find someone else - it didn't even occur to me to mention it. I wouldn't dream of spanking anyone.

chilledmama, consumer reports is a bit like Which, I think. You do have a lot of things to sort out!

DK, I was going through my menu planning list today & I reckon the following are low-ish fat to varying degrees (it's a bit long, sorry):

Omelet/ Frittata

Veggie Bake
Grilled Portobellos w/ roast tomatoes & ricotta/ goats cheese
Tomato & Tapenade Tarts
Sweet potato & chick pea curry
Baked spuds
Potato & Onion Tortilla
Spicy Roasted Veg
Veggie/ Allotment Pie
Chunky Veg Chili
Leek and Potato Gratin
Paneer, peas and potato curry
Cauli Cheese
Baked Figs with Stilton
Stuffed Peppers
Black bean, mushroom and quinoa stuffed peppers
Stewed Okra w/ tomatoes
Baba Ganoush
Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, and Chickpea Wraps
Perciatelli with Roasted Tomatoes and Eggplant
Ginger ROatsed Winter Veg
Roast veg in Phyllo cups

Black Bean Burgers
Mushroom veggie burgers
Carrot Lentil burgers

Gnocchi
Roast pumpkin and mushroom lasagna
Lentil Lasagna
Tortellini
Ravioli
Pesto
tagliatelle w/ Veg ribbons
Whole-wheat spaghetti w/ fontina & Kale
Pierogi
Orecchiette w/ cherry tomatoes and kalamata Tapenade (v)
Sundried Tomato Pesto
Penne w/ mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and artichokes

Risotto (pea/ veg/ lemon zucchini/ mushroom & sundried toms)
dirty rice
Rainbow Rice
Dahl & rice
Tahini Lemon Rice & Beans (v)

Red Beans and Rice
Chermoula Chickpea burgers
Chick Pea Burgers
Chickpea and spinach Curry
Lemony Chickpea stir fry (w/ tofu)
Tuscan beans w/ tomatoes and sage
Adzuki Bean Stew
Parsley & butterbean stew
Black-eyed peas (w. rice)
Homemade baked beans
2 bean salad
3 bean salad
Chipotle, Corn and black bean stew
Black-eyed pea and quinoa croquettes with mushroom sauce

Crunchy Lentil Loaf
Cheese & Lentil Loaf
Lentil Stew
Lentil Shepherds Pie
Spiced Lentils
Lentil Chili
Lentil, cheese and carrot wedges

Quinoa tabbouleh
Quinoa w/ avocado and mango
Quinoa with pesto & everything else
Jeweled Quinoa
Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa
Lemon-scented quinoa (w/ tahini dressing)
Veg fried quinoa
Couscous with spicy chickpeas & veg
couscous w/ peas and mint
couscous w/ raisins and pine nuts, thyme and onion

Bruschetta w/ sundried tomatoes & mushrooms
Hummus, avocado and tomato wrap
Cheeseless pizza (tomato, olives, roasted red pepper, caramelized onions)
PHyllo pies w/ lemony artichoke & spinach

Burritos
Mexican Lasagna (black beans, salsa, pasta)
Mexican Lasagna with tortillas (refried beans, sour cream, spicy veg)
Mexican Lasagna (Vegan)
3 bean chili

Stir Fry
Sweet potato wedges w/ thyme
Spicy Sweet potatoes

Soup
Veg Soup
Barley & Veg sop
Tomato & Lentil
Onion
Winter squash (Roast pumpkin/ Butternut & onion)
Mushroom
Spicy Carrot
Pea and bacon soup
Borscht
Carrot and sweet potato
Pumpkin & Red Pepper
Tortellini Soup (w/ escarole/ spinach)
Tomato Veg soup
Split pea and ham
Carrot Bisque
Roasted butternut
Curried split pea
Potato and Asparagus
White Bean and Roasted Garlic
Black and White bean soup
Spicy sweet potato

Salads
Pasta w/ green beans & mushrooms
Nicoise
Beetroot & mint
Tomato, Bean & fried Basil
Watermelon & Feta
Anchovy & roasted pepper
Arugula & mushroom w/ pine nuts & red peppers
Greens w/ almonds, crystalised ginger and raspberries
Apple-fennel Poppyseed coleslaw
artichoke and arugula
carrot salad

wow, sb, an amazing list. i love food like that, but grew up in stricly meat eating family & always feel the need for a recipe book to cope. also have very fussy dd who would like to live off chicken nuggets & chips, so would then end up cooking twice, but i will give some fo those a go

I just watched DH make a cup of tea in the cup, and then take the tea holder thingy out of the cup, and make another cup of tea in his kettle for later. I had to go in my closet and laugh.

How do you make your potato and onion tortilla?

Oh no, MrDooney. I'm terribly disappointed now.

Potato and onion tortilla - can't find recipe but saute onions, add cooked potatoes & butter, fry for a bit, add beaten eggs, cook on v low til eggs are done and perhaps put in broiler to finish.

Add cheese/ salt & pepper etc as needed.

I am making an effort to cook properly this week.

I was going to tell him your kettle story, because he bought one a few weeks ago and is fiercely possessive of it, but then he goes and pulls that. I've never seen him do it before.

That sounds good. Maybe with some cumin and adobo seasoning?

My new office (second day today!) has a great supply of tea, as well as freshly brewed coffee (very nice, and a bit of a change from the NHS!). But it has a special machine for making the coffee, with a spout for hot water. Trouble is the water just isn't hot enough, and the subsequent tea is horrible! I'm going to have to ask them if I can bring in a kettle...

Does how hot the water is make a difference?

Oh yes, that is often a problem Nooka. Good luck.

Am sure cumin and adobo would be good. I like it with a bit of a kick.

Oh, Dodgy - stuff like oats for breakfast, dried fruit, nuts etc good for filling up on.

Yes, Dooney! It's vital. Must be just boiled- very hot. Not warm. and best made with freshly drawn water.

I was surprised a quite how nasty it was. Also that no one else thought so! I drank coffee today. It usually makes me really buzzy (not good) but I think I was so tired it didn't really do anything. I haven't worked for over nine months!

i was just wondering, how many of you have dc's with american accents? dd is defintiely picking it up - hearing her say the pledge is hilarious. she doesn't know all the words, but manages to say the whole thing as one long stream of american sounds, without any meaning (imagine a whole class saying that!) she'd 5 bts.

mym mum lived in US when she was little. apparently, she was american at school & british at home (aged 7 - 10) her younger brother was american all the itme. both became totally british once they retuned to the UK.

so - how are your lot holding up? does it fluctuate? what happens when you go to uk for visits?

Maybe that is what I'm doing wrong. I don't like things really hot, so I never let the water get very hot. I suppose putting ice cubes in is a no-no too, then.