I'm in love . . . with BBC

   It's no secret that I adore the British Broadcasting Corporation. I thought I'd share my all time favorite shows & miniseries with you! Enjoy!

Doctor Who

   Oh how I love this show. I can't even put it into words how much I love it. I now have the difficult/impossible job every Whovian faces of trying to explain it in a few sentences. Saying it's about an alien that travels around and saves planets doesn't even scratch the surface of Gallifrey. It's about friendship, loyalty, love, loss, courage, & pain. And epic awesomeness. 

   If you don't know anything about Doctor Who, here's a brief overview (emphasis on brief). The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels through all of time & space in his time machine called the TARDIS. He gets lonely so he has companions that go on adventures with him. When The Doctor is mortally wounded he regenerates by changing every atom in his body. New face & personality, but same Doctor. Right now it's the 11th Doctor that's flying around saving the universe.

   Yes, there are some really cheesy episodes with bad CGI & a weird plot. But the further you get in the series the fewer and farther between those cheesy episodes become till they are pretty much nonexistent. Series 6 & 7 pretty much blow my mind every time I think about them.  

   Really it comes down to the characters. They are so deep & complex & you love them so much! You laugh with them & cry with them. Seriously. Lots of crying. But it's worth it. 

   The 50th anniversary special is on November 23rd. And I. Can. Not. Wait. It's going to be so epic I just . . .  I can't . . . I . . . yeah. (Sorry, that's my only fangirl moment in this whole post.)

   If you want to give Doctor Who a go I can't recommend it enough!

Sherlock 

   Another epic BBC show. It is exceptionally well done! It's Sherlock set in modern times. With most old books making a "modern" TV show of  it would ruin it at best. But not so with this! The writers have brilliantly managed to weave things like technology into Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories. And quite simply, Benedict Cumberbatch is incredible as Sherlock. He is Sherlock. At the moment all Sherlockians are freaking out because Season 3 has an air date. After two years we will finally, finally learn what happened!

Great British Bake Off

   Okay, complete change of genera. Baking. But seriously guys, this show is so much fun! It's not like American contest shows where everything is hectic & critics are harsh. Everyone is friendly & it's just good fun! The finale about a week ago & I'm so sad it's over!

Pride and Prejudice

   This is the only film version of Pride & Prejudice that my family acknowledges. It's exceptionally well done & captures the book perfectly. If you haven't seen this yet, you must watch it!

Emma

   I struggle to decide which is my favorite Austen story, Pride & Prejudice or Emma? I identify with Emma a lot, so she helps me see my strengths & weaknesses. I will say that I do not struggle with matchmaking. Anyway, this BBC version is lovely & the actors are perfect for their roles!  

Little Dorrit

   If you're in the mood for a dark Dickens tale Little Dorrit is an excellent choice. Dickens is a master of complex plots. This one features a stedfast heroine, a vile villain, a sweet love story, some laughs, & lots of people you just want to punch in the face. He's especially good at making those last characters. But that's part of what makes this a great watch!

Cranford

   This miniseries is set in the village of Cranford & follows the lives of it's residence. It's a sweet story about love, loss, & the struggle of everyday life. You grow very attached to the characters & long for everyone's story to have a happy ending.

   So there you have it! These are just some of my favorite things produced by BBC. It's amazing how stories can capture your soul. To BBC: thank you.

   Do you love BBC as much as I do? Have I left off your favorite show or miniseries? Let me know in the comments!

P.S. I will mention that I'm also a Downton Abbey fan! But even though it is a British show it is not made by BBC, so I didn't include it in this post.

Macaroons & Dauphinoise

   We really do eat healthy. Mum is so good at making delicious & nutritious meals for us. The problems come when I want to make things. Because I like sugar. And cream. 

   So all the things I make & post on here are not the healthiest things to eat. But they are the tastiest. Here are two new recipes I've found!

   A few weeks ago I went over to a friends house to watch The Great British Bake Off finale! I figured since it was a bake off finale we needed a treat to munch on. Enter the first recipe: coconut macaroons. I used this recipe {here} and they turned out beautifully! I definitely want to make them again. I suppose that's the problem with scrummy deserts. You want to make them again. *Sigh*

   Last week we had some friends over for a wonderful dinner with lots of veg! I wanted to make something for it & we had lots of fresh potatoes. Enter the second recipe: cheesy dauphinoise (basically, potatoes baked with cream & cheese). I roughly followed this recipe {here}, but made a few changes.
   Firstly, I used gruyere cheese instead of cheddar.
   Secondly, instead of heating the cream first, I simply mixed all the ingredients in a bowl (except for half the cheese), poured everything in a baking dish (sprinkling rest of cheese on top), & baked for an hour & fifteen minutes.
   The result? Creamy divineness.

   A word on double cream. We do not have double cream in America. It is one of the things I will miss most when we go back home. It is so thick you can almost stand a fork up in it. Almost. You see in the picture above how it looks like the dauphinoise is dripping with butter? There's not a teaspoon of butter in there, it's just double cream. Mmmmmmm...

   So there are two divinely delicious recipes that you absolutely must try. I'm sorry. Do you have a favorite recipe that is so unhealthy but so worth it?

Big Times & Big Ben (London Part I)

   I apologize for my long absence. I've missed you! Last week I had several pressing assignments due for school & this week I've been traveling around the UK with my Aunt & Uncle. But now I will tell you all about our adventures! 

   On Friday, the 30th of August, we went to London!

   Friday morning we hopped on a (rather full) train and rode to Town. I love riding trains, but this one was less enjoyable since it was so full. I will describe a much pleasanter train ride in detail soon. 

   We came into King's Cross Station, which is where platform 9 3/4 is in Harry Potter! Unfortunately we did not have time to find the 9 3/4 sign, but hopefully we will next time. 

   We then walked to our hotel to meet up with my Aunt Kim & Uncle David! It was great fun to have them in England with us. 

   We grabbed lunch and then hopped on a double decker bus for a tour of the city. We saw some fun sights, but we didn't get many good pictures since we were moving, there were lots of tourists about, and the sun was harsh. But I'll show you our few decent ones.

Photo Credit: Dad

Photo Credit: Dad

Trafalgar Square!

We also got to see the BBC headquarters! =D

   After we got a feel for the city (mostly a feel of how big it is) we went to The British Museum. Again, glass & tourists got in the way of many good pictures. Ah well.

   We  saw the Rosetta Stone! There are three different sections of text, all saying basically the same thing, but in three different languages. The top portion is Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics, the middle is Demotic, & the bottom is Ancient Greek. When it was found at the beginning of the 1800s it allowed  translators to use their knowledge of the Greek text to decipher Hieroglyphics for the first time! 

P.S. I tried to read a word in Greek, but it didn't work out.

   I also enjoyed the Ancient Greek statutes. I've always found stone carving to be so impressive since it's a very unforgiving art.

   My favorite room was the clock room. I found the development of clocks & watches fascinating. The pocket watches were especially exquisite.  

   This was my favorite pocket watch. The plaque below it said it is set with ninety-two diamonds. What can I say, I have good taste.

 We also got to see a birthday invitation which is one of the oldest hand written documents surviving today.

Pretty old books!

   Then that night we went to Harrods. It's the biggest & fanciest store ever. It's the biggest department store in Europe with over one-million square feet of store space. When we first walked in we were in the purse department. We're talking Gucci & Burberry. Then we found the Food Hall. We're talking chandeliers and fruit on silver platers. And there was even a Chocolate Room. A Chocolate Room. Mum bought each of us girls a piece. I didn't even know how to pick, their were millions of options. 

   You're not allowed to take pictures inside Harrods, which is probably a good thing since I would have been wandering around snapping pictures & running into displays. But I found a few images online to give you a taste of the grandeur. 

Via

Via

   We ate a lovely supper on the top floor. Mum & I split fish & chips! 

  

Photo Credit: Dad

   After supper us girls needed to use the loo (posh English for "bathroom"). The only word to describe that loo was . . . elegant. There was a wooden vanity in the middle of the room with perfume for you to use. And a lady worked in there to make sure no one needed anything, & she would gesture to the stall you should go in. It was . . . intimidatingly fancy?  

We also got a picture with some of the Harrods bears.

Photo Credit: Dad

   Needless to say, Harrods was quite the experience! I loved all the gorgeous decor and eye candy displays. I couldn't afford to buy a sandwich there (the cheapest one was probably thirty dollars) but it was great fun anyways! 

   Our first day in London was a success, if very full. Day two coming soon!

The Village of Lacock (The Cotswolds Part I)

   I attempted to write a blog post about our whole first day in the Cotswolds, but I simply couldn't do it. To many good pictures. =) So I will write two posts about our first day, and quite possibly two more about our second. 

   On Wednesday, July 17th, we got up early & went to one last C. S. Lewis lecture (which was really a panel discussion). Then we got in our rental car and drove off to the Cotswolds! Yes, dad was driving & yes, mom was nervous. But they both did very well with their respective roles and we all ended up enjoying the drive. Hallelujah for the air conditioning in our car!

   We reached the lovely village of Lacock around midday. This is the village where BBC has filmed many of their period pieces: Cranford, Pride and Prejudice, etcetera . . . It was so fun to be like, "Look, that's the window the Bennet girls looked at in the village!"

Mom outside of Miss Mattie's house (from Cranford)!

Photo Credit: Dad

 

   At the end of the village road we came to King John's Hunting Lodge Tea Room. The building it's in literally used to be King John's hunting lodge, back in the 1200's. It's also the house of the sweet old lady who runs the tea room, so her house is 800 years old!

Our beautiful & refreshing lunch!

   When dad was buying some jelly after our lunch, he started talking with the lady who owns the tea room, Ms. Margret. Then she came out to talk with mom & me! She was so sweet & called everyone "dear" or "love". She told us about owning the tea shop & of the different people she's had tea with when they came to film in the village. Collin Firth & Daniel Radcliffe were just a few of them! Then she took us inside her house & signed a tea book, for mom, that she wrote. We chatted for several minutes & had the most delightful time. Mom was about to die from happiness, I think. And it turns out Margret is a believer, which is extra wonderful!

Photo Credit: Dad

   Our talk with Ms. Margret is one of our favorite parts of our trip so far! It was just lovely.