Belated British Thanksgiving

        I've been meaning to write this for the past week, however writing has got a lot more difficult over the past month or so. It took me two days to write a single email. I used to be able to get them done in a flash. Oh well, I'm finally getting round to it which is an achievement!

        We all know that Thanksgiving is a huge American tradition, and before things turned a little, well a little topsy turvy, I was hoping to spend the holiday out there and experience everything about it. Unfortunately, that wasn't able to happen so my sister and her best friend planned for us to have our own take on Thanksgiving. We had cute little turkey decorations, and a traditional menu (of course, all gluten free!).
       For our main meal we had turkey and pulled pork, with roast potatoes, sweet potato mash, maple covered carrots and parsnips, veggies and gravy. It was all delicious, and I think we really pulled it all off; especially my sisters pulled pork - none of us had ever made or had it before, but on all the cookery programmes and in restaurants it looked amazing, and so my sister took on the challenge and it came out great. The recipe was also really simple, using the slow cooker, and we had leftovers for sandwiches the next day.
        Pudding was a slight disaster, to say the least. Pumpkin pies are traditional, but due to them not being Mel suitable, we decided to go for an apple pie, using a package pie crust mix. All we had to do was add the flour mix to oil and water, this part went swimmingly, until we tried to roll out the pastry. Uh oh this wasn't gonna work. We ended up pushing the pastry into the pie tray as best we could. The filling seemed to be the only bit that worked, yummy cooked apples and raisins in a sugary syrup. The pastry topping didn't work either, and we ended up renaming it a jigsaw pie as it really looked so mismatched on top! Surprisingly, when it came out the oven it looked golden and yummy... that was not the case. The pastry had a chemical taste, so we ended up only eating the filling. Never gonna use a package pie crust again.
        To save the day we got back on track with a final bite of delicious food, turkey decorated cupcakes. Alison is an amazing baker, and these were no exception, and the decoration was super.

        The day really made me feel grateful for the family and friends I have around me, and I couldn't of asked for better people to spend our belated take on Thanksgiving.

Back to Basics & Baking

        First of all I'd like to apologise for the radio silence - since I've come home I've been resting pretty much 24/7 as my chronic fatigue has deteriorated drastically due to the last 3 months. I've there for decided (well, partly because my body is making me) to go back to basics, and start rehab and recovery from the beginning. Struggling to do anything at all on my own is such a huge pain, so I'm spending the days resting, using my wheelchair to get about, and starting to do some basic exercises, in the hope that the rest will renew my energy, the use of the chair won't wear me out and the exercises will start to build my strength.
        That's the plan anyway; and although my plans don't seem to be going quite how I'd like, I really hope starting from scratch will finally help me recover.

       Another thing I've gone back to this week is one of my favourite hobbies - baking! With my current situation, I find doing any sort of activity difficult, so my Mum and I decided to start again with a basic recipe (I've had a 3 month break from baking - hardest thing ever!) of banana bread. It was so much fun to get baking again, even if I had to let my mum do most of it, and thankfully the recipe came out great!

Recipe - Gluten Free Banana Bread

Ingredients
150g Mashed Bananas (peeled weight)
200g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
125g Pure Sunflower Spread
125g Light Soft Brown Sugar
Grated Zest of 1/2 a Lemon
2 Large Eggs
100g Sultanas
100g Chopped Pecans
        (The last two are optional, and could be substituted with chocolate chips, dried fruit, or other nuts).

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C, 160C Fan, or Gas Mark 4.
2. Line your loaf tin.
3. Mash your peeled bananas in a bowl and set aside for later.
4. Beat together the sunflower spread, brown sugar and grated zest in a mixing bowl.
5. Beat in the eggs, and add the flour and xanthan gum, until thoroughly combined.
6. Add the bananas and stir, and lastly stir in the sultanas and pecans.
7. Put the mixture in the loaf tin, and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.


        This recipe creates a delicious, fresh banana bread, which is perfect with a cup of tea before bed, or served with custard as a pudding.

Welcome Home

        I'd been trying to think of what to write even before I was completely home, and nothing I was preparing to write would cover what happened! I was packed and ready nearly two weeks before (a bit eager I know), and did the final few bits of packing that weekend, ready to head home on Monday.

        We started out reasonably early on Monday morning, driving down to Portland to catch the Concord bus to Logan International. It took about 4 hours, and it was 4 hours of me getting slightly frustrated at every little thing that happened, or things that certain people did. Arriving at the airport, with time to spare, even though we got caught in Columbus Day Parade traffic, was a quiet relief. I wasn't able to check my bags in for a couple of hours, so we went to the Boston Bar & Grill and grabbed some lunch - although I'd already snacked on sandwiches, crisps and cookies on the way down and had said I'd grab something before I got on the flight.

        After having lunch it was time to check in my bags, and head to security. The queue went quite quickly for the bag drop, and because we ate in the Boston Bar & Grill the receipt allowed me to go through the upper classes security lane. Saying goodbye to Uncle Ian was hard, and I got upset - all a mixture of upset, and anxiety of flying on my own for the first time. The queue was a lot shorter than the normal security section, but it still took a long time, and it was such a pain to do it on my own, as I had four trays of my things going through the scanner!

        On the other side of security, I went to the little news agents, and brought a drink for the flight, and later on some chewy sweets for take off and landing. I had lots of time to kill so brought a small hot chocolate, and tried to get the nuisance internet to work so I could chat to Mum and Dad - I got it working on and off, but in the end gave up and let them get to sleep anyway, and went to my gate to wait to be called.

        On the plane I was sat next to two guys, probably a bit older than me, and they were really lovely. There was also a crowd of 'grannies on tour' near me, which were quite amusing. I was pretty darn anxious, but taking off and the start of the flight was actually a lot better than I expected. The dinner was the best gluten free meal I've had on a plane so far, and I got to watch Monster's University which I've wanted to see since it came out. The film was great, so funny, and even though it's made for children I still loved the story and the characters are super as always.
        Just before breakfast was served, I got up to go to the bathroom and on the way back I had to wait behind the breakfast trolley. Next thing I know, my vision is blurry and two men are holding me up from behind, as I was swaying all over the show nearly about to faint. They got the attention of the air steward, and he told me to sit down, but before I could I felt extremely sick, and had to run to the bathroom. I'm never sick, which can sometimes be a bonus, but other times you feel like it might help - this was one of those times. The steward got me some water, sick bags, and told me just to stay sitting for a while, until I felt well enough to get back to my seat. Eventually I did get back to my seat, but after a while I felt myself going all over again, and so they took me to the jump seat thing at the back, and got me some coca cola (flattened coke is meant to reduce sickness, which it did); I then started shivering crazily, so next thing I had a hot water bottle and blanket, and they had radioed ahead to Heathrow to let them know that I would be needing the beep-beep cart to go through the airport.
        I went back to my seat before landing, and the guys made sure I was okay, and everyone was so sweet when they got off the plane wishing me well and making sure someone was waiting for me.

        I honestly couldn't of asked for better people to look after me on the plane - both the steward and stewardess were extremely kind and caring, and did everything they possibly could to make me feel comfortable and well.

        After getting through the airport on the beep-beep cart, not having to wait at the passport check, I got my luggage and as soon as I looked through the double doors I saw my family waiting for me with signs and a balloon, and I just knew that I was home and that even though things haven't been great, I was home and I would be able to go through everything with them now, instead of half way around the world.

Goodbye

        Goodbye. It's something I have been trying not to think about. I've been trying to think about it not as a goodbye, but as a see you soon.

        Today is my last day at UMaine, and the only thing to do was see Brianna for the last time. This past week I have only been in yesterday and today, as I have been unwell, and Bri has no lab work due to writing her thesis. We caught up at lunch yesterday, and put off the goodbye until today - I brought her a gift, and she adored it (so happy about that!), and she gave me plenty of abalone shells. All that was left was to say goodbye. Incredibly, I didn't cry - until I got back to the office - but it was still extremely hard, as I have become so close to her over the last few months, and she has been so supportive, understanding, and has done everything she can to make my experience amazing.

        I really don't have the words to express how thankful I am for her, or how happy I am that I got to become such great friends with her. She is truly incredible, and gave me such sweet advice for my future.

Little Bit of Charity

        Yesterday evening, Katie and I represented the UMaine Food Science Club in the community by going to the Ronald McDonald house and cooking a meal for the residents. For those of you who haven't heard of the Ronald McDonald House, it is a house sponsored by McDonalds that gives families who have children in hospital a home away from home, with a comforting, supporting environment, where families can meet others in similar situations, and allow them to be near to the hospitals whilst not having to stay in hotels all the time.

        I originally thought that the whole food science club would be attending, but it turns out that they find it difficult to organise everyone to go, so it was only me and Katie - this didn't bother me at all, and between the two of us we managed to cook the meal, and make some pudding.

        We started off by hitting the grocery store and getting some last minute things including, veggies and cheese ends; if you go to the deli cheese counter and ask for cheese ends they give you a bag of spare or ends of their cheeses for such a good price! We then headed to the house, and set up in the kitchen and began cooking. The dish Katie had chosen to make was called 'hearty chicken casserole' - I'd say it wasn't a traditional casserole, but it was still delicious whatever we want to call it! It consisted of chicken, kidney beans, celery, and onion cooked in a tomato and creamy sauce, with melted cheese on top, all served with white rice and steamed broccoli.

        I think the meal went down well, even if some of the children were very opinionated on various parts of it, and there wasn't much left at all, so we sat down with a portion ourselves and I absolutely loved it and would happily make it at home. For pudding we had already prepared the pretzel bites - we did pretzels dipped in chocolate for any peanut allergy sufferers, and then the main pudding was pretzels with a creamy peanut butter filling dipped in chocolate. Hopefully the kids will like these better, kids always like sweet foods!

        After we had finished eating, washing, drying and generally tidying we said goodbye to some of the residents, and the man who was on duty, and jumped in the car. Katie had been telling me about a Giffords ice cream stand that was only a short drive away, so we decided to treat ourselves to dessert. The stand was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night at 7 o'clock, but we got served quickly and both absolutely devoured our ice creams! I went for a cup with one scoop of vanilla and one scoop of mint chocolate chip; I'm not really meant to eat dairy as it upsets my tummy, but having a bad stomach anyone I thought it wouldn't make any difference. Both these flavours were incredible, and the ice cream was so smooth and delicious, and all made here in Maine. Katie 'accidentally' ordered a sundae, and it included a scoop of s'mores ice cream, a scoop of muddy boots ice cream (it has pieces of brownie in), caramel sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry! Katie was an absolutely cutie and treated me to it, as she wasn't sure whether she would see me again before I leave on Monday - I really hope that I will see her on Thursday or Friday at uni though!

        I really don't know what I'm gonna do without this girl back home, I've got to know her really well and just love hanging out with her!