"A house that does not have one worn, comfy chair in it is soulless." - May Sarton

I have now been in London for about a month. I really don’t know how that happened. It has all gone by so quickly and been quite overwhelming. Things are finally beginning to settle down and I have developed a bit of a routine, which helps things to feel more normal, and I have just about mastered the way to get from my dorm to campus (no easy feat).

Classes have at last begun, and so far they are great. Lots and lots of work, but the courses (or “modules” in Brit-speak) are very interesting and the professors (“lecturers”) are all brilliant. It almost makes up for UCL’s complete lack of organization and archaic policies. Not to complain, but when Smith College starts looking organized, there’s a problem.

I have also gotten completely, hopelessly lost so many times that I have learned my way back from many different places and tube stations and learned who to ask for directions (and who will give you dirty looks and tell you the completely wrong thing…thanks a lot Nasty French Lady). I have also learned what stores sell what and in what price range, which grocery stores carry the good yogurts and which have the cheapest prices on produce, which tube stations have Cranberry or are near an Itsu (← my new addictions), and many other important things. Knowing these things has made me feel like I’m becoming less of a deer-in-headlights tourist, and actually making London home.

On a similar note, I seem to have developed an accent! It’s not quite a British accent; in fact, its rather unclassifiable. It is certainly not forced but I have been noticing it a bit and realizing that I have picked up on certain British speech mannerisms, but today a British person pointed it out. She did not believe me when I said I was from New York, because I apparently do not have a New York accent; she said I speak “very posh English combined with a slight American accent.” It’s quite strange but at least I do not have a Long Island accent!

To further make London feel like home, I have been cooking more. I like to cook, but there are several obstacles at the moment:
- London does not have: refried beans, normal oatmeal (just “porridge”, which is disgusting), grape jelly, ground turkey, or garbage disposals. This makes many of my recipes difficult, and the clean up very near impossible.
- My flatmates are gross and do not clean up after themselves when they use the kitchen. This makes me less inclined to use said kitchen
- I cannot find a reasonably priced shopping trolley anywhere! So until I do I can only buy what I can carry on the fifteen minute walk home from the closest big grocery store.
- I have lots of cookie recipes, but very few actual food recipes.
- Time. I’m a busy girl! And even when I’m not busy, I just don’t want to be in the kitchen for that long (see complaint #2).
- (This is where the title comes in) I broke my chair. I was sitting on it and the seat part just caved in! Now there is nowhere to sit in my room (though supposedly it will be getting fixed within the next few weeks). The chair is really cheap and poorly made, but still, I feel really, really fat. And we don’t have dining chairs at the table in the kitchen so I now have to eat on the floor in my room.

But I want to cook! And I want to want to cook. So I am asking my dear friends and family if they have any recipes they would like to share with me! I’d really appreciate it! The quicker and easier the recipe the better. And if they were also low fat/healthy, that would be a huge plus (see complaint #6). Thank you in advance!

Fun fact: There are no “cook books” in England. Instead we have “cookery books”.