tea with the queen

Oh P.S. My mom went to the UK last month to visit my studying-abroad sister and have tea with the queen so I was kind of foraging for myself for awhile there.

Which leads to things like this happening:

I sit at the computer being all “God I’m so tiiiiiiiiiiiiired. I’m so huuuuuuuuuuungry. I can’t even stand uuuuuuuuuuuuuup”.

And then going “OH MY GOD I WENT OUT TO LUNCH AT WORK AND HAVE LEFTOVERS! I AM SAVED!”

 

In a (compostable!) leftovers container was a deeeeelicious half a veggie burger from Busboys and Poets. Went on a rare and thus very exciting work lunch out in DC to welcome a new staff member at our DC office.

I kind of ordinarily think people who only eat half a sandwich for lunch are ridiculous and probably hungry all the time, but we had gotten their ridiculously good nachos as an appetizer and their veggie patty is also the size of my face. So.

That half a sandwich didn’t fill me up for dinner (not having preceded it with nachos) so then I randomly chewed on:

Tomatoes and bean sprouts, of course.

And SHOCKINGLY, SHOCKINGLY, eating those things with my bare hands did not leave me satisfied. I know. And then I ate a bunch of other crap. Can’t remember. It’s been awhile. April was not my healthiest month. Trying to get it together now.

Steve came over for meals a lot, because he is good company and my house makes scary noises from time to time.

It was good cause I still had all this food at my house, cause we tend to overbuy.

So I did a his and hers leftovers-utilizing thing.

His:

  

Leftover pasta made into salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, hummus, and vinaigrette.  

Hers:

  

Leftover rice cooked up with hummus, tomatoes, kale. Both pretty good.

 

Then my mother returned!

A welcome to America meal, beautifully arranged, if I do say so myself. Nice colors. Nice textures. Nice flavors.

 

I had leftover black bass from a delightful day of grilling, so I made it into a nice pasta dish with caramelized onions, Swiss chard, and vegetable broth. YUM!

 

And my mom did not return from England empty-handed!

First, this chestnut spread:

Um, literally squeezed it out of the tube and onto my finger. Went, “I know this was probably really expensive and I want you to know that I’m really enjoying it despite eating it like a cavewoman.” Didn’t stand a chance. Ridiculously amazing. Not as thick as peanut butter: more the consistency of frosting. And the flavor of sweet chestnutty buttery… awesomeness.

Zoomed right through these, too:

My mom studied abroad at St. Andrew’s in Scotland (where Wills and Kate later met!) and became passionately fond of oatcakes. They are uh-mazing. Super dense, not that sweet, just… so hearty and satisfying and great. And you can put honey on them :D

Finally, proper English breakfast tea!

 

Proper leaves, so I got out my little buddy that Steve gave me.

 

I call him Mao.