The journey from Alfriston to Southease. Alfriston is an adorable village with ice cream and tea shops and Much Ado Books. 
Then we walked through fields and fields of sheep. 
And finally arrived in Rodmell, the longtime home of Virginia Woolf, and also the Abergavenny pub which had the best nachos made with English Mature Cheddar. 
South Downs Way Day One
What an incredible journey with very few opportunities to access internet. I shall start from the beginning where we departed Eastbourne. 
After that last happy shot of KP by a cottage garden in Litlington, we got several hours lost until we remembered we bought a compass in London, which saved the day (night, really, by the time we stopped yelling at each other and sniffling through Friston Forest). We found The George Inn in Alfriston and had a happy first night after 13 miles of hiking. 
South Downs Way Trail
After a power breakfast of croissants and coffee, we have got our packs on for a one hundred mile adventure along the South Downs Way. Today, to Eastbourne! 
Solstice at the Globe
Tonight we celebrated the summer solstice by attending the midnight show of Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s renown Globe Theater, which was the best I have ever seen, and an all-female cast, and wouldn’t you know they also had rather fine pastries? We munched as happy Groundlings.
Euphoria Bakery in Islington borough of London
Since I have been unable to bake a decent loaf of bread in the last week, I have taken to stalking good bakeries and boulangeries whilst in London. Today’s find required that KP and I nearly leap off off the Waterloo double decker. But oh was it ever worth being slammed in the bus door for… I agree with the owner of Euphoria that you cannot improve upon bread and butter for one’s daily victual.
Fish and Chips at The Anchor on the Thames
The Narrative Medicine Conference started off well today and I very much enjoyed the presentation by David Small on his memoir Stitches–a graphic memoir of voicelessness among other things.
KP and I enjoyed a dinner of fish and chips on the Thames at a restaurant built in 1615.
Then we did some walking around–the London Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the British Museum.
Safeway Bagels and the Liebster Award
Safeway Bagels and the Liebster Award
While travelling on the West Coast, there is no better bread to be found than in a Safeway bakery. It is entirely unlike any other “grocery store” bread–I have no idea what their secret is, perhaps I’ll have to make some calls and see if I can tour Safeway’s bakery sometime. Since high school, when every day I had a Safeway across the street, I have been addicted to their bagels. I was super disappointed by my own attempt, and delighted to find, yesterday, that Safeway bagels haven’t changed their recipes for at least a decade.
Off to England today, so while sitting in the airport I mean to finally perform my Liebster Award duties. Thanks to Searching for Sugar Plums , I was nominated for a Liebster award, which, according to my nominator is:
“Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn’t that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.”
These are the rules for accepting a Liebster Award:
The award is given by bloggers to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.
Each blogger should answer the questions the tagger has set you.
Choose eleven new bloggers to pass the award to, and link them in your post.
Create eleven new questions for the chosen bloggers.
Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
Each blogger should post eleven random facts about themselves.
Here are some blogs that I nominated because they are wonderful and definitely worthy of the name Liebster and all the niceness it represents… just be prepared to leave hungry and needing to try their recipes!
Cooking on the Farm , At 350 Degrees , Sugar and Love Bakery , Sweet Lab , Words and Cake , The Indolent Cook , My Favourite Pastime , Notes From a Tuscan Olive Grov e, Domestic Diva, MD , Vegetarian in Vegas
I know some of you writers of my favorite blogs, have more than 200 followers, but sometimes it is hard to tell from the blog! So, even if you cannot accept, consider this a complement!
Here are my answers from my questions:
1) What’s your favourite quote? Well, today, I love Marilynne Robinson’s line “Love is half a longing that possession does nothing to mitigate.” (From her novel Housekeeping)
2) What activity gives you the most meaning and satisfaction? Writing–anything.
3) What’s your favourite thing to bake (or have baked for you)? Gingerbread cookies at Christmas time.
4) What motivates you to get up in the morning? My French press and the man I married who knows how to use it.
5) Who do you admire the most and why? I really do admire my husband, and this isn’t newlywed drivle as we have been married for almost 6 years now. I admire Karl-Peter because he knows what goodness is and works hard every day to spread it around.
6) If you had a garden and could only grow three things, what would they be? Bell peppers, zucchini, and mandarin oranges. (my favorite fruit and veggie snacks–it would be so handy if I could get these things to grow!)
7) Is there anything that makes you smile just thinking about it? My brother Dave.
8) What is your idea of the perfect meal? Polyanna had it right– Steak and Ice Cream
9) What did you like to imagine as a kid? That I had an important job that required me to wear a powersuit and carry a briefcase.
10) What do you daydream about now? Publishing the book I wrote.
11) Is there a food or drink that always makes you feel better? What is your idea of comfort food? A Starbucks coffee always makes me feel better (or, paradoxically, sleepy) And comfort food will probably always be Cheerios.
Eleven questions to consider, we’ll start with the easy stuff–
1. What is the meaning of life?
2. Is there a God? And if so, what is he/she like?
3. Where would go if you could get on any plane?
4. What is the story of your name?
5. Coffee or tea?
6. What is the best book you’ve read in the last few months?
7. Do you have a tattoo, and if so, what of?
8. Where were you born?
9. In one sentence, or sentence fragment, describe your most embarrassing moment.
10. What do you think of my bulldog Izzy (as portrayed on Bake This Day Our Daily Bread)?
11. What is your favorite recipe as of this week? The Monday Baker , Vegetarian in Vegas
KP and I arrived safely today in London and spent the afternoon at the British museum. I have scoped out several lovely looking bakeries which I promise to patronize and report on in due course!
Quinoa Salad and Marathon #21
Mom invented this killer salad and has graciously allowed me to share it with the world. She deserves credit not only for being a phenomenal cook but also for agreeing to babysit my sourdough starter for the next two weeks while KP and I are in England. My future bread depends on her!
Quinoa Salad
Written by my mom, Andie Ellis
1.Cook a cup of quinoa (we used red quinoa) in two cups chicken broth (this will make three cups of quinoa)
2. In a bowl, mix ½ cup of finely chopped red onion, ½ package of chopped cilantro, 2 cups corn, ½ pound of halved cherry tomatoes, 1 can black beans (rinsed), 1 chopped avocado.
3. Make this dressing and add it to the bowl:
½ package chopped cilantro
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp honey
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chopped and seeded jalapeno
Salt and pepper to taste
4. To build the salad, mix quinoa with 2-3 tbsp olive oil. Spread quinoa out on a serving plate. Top with the veggie bowl mix. Decorate with tomatoes and avocado. Squeeze ½ fresh lime over the top.
This was so so so tasty, and especially good with grilled trout seasoned with cornmeal and old bay.
Today, KP and I completed our 21st marathon in Vancouver, Washington–which was awesome for being yoked to the NW Brewfest, but also not awesome because there were few spectators and we were routed past the dump twice. Yes, the course had runners pass the same city dump twice. But we finished together! Only 29 states to go…
Ponzi Vineyard in Oregon
For Father’s Day, we took Dad to the best pinot noir winery in Oregon–Ponzi–where they have bocce courts in the vineyards! Here is my dad looking svelt. 
St. Honorare’s Portland Oregon
Enjoyed lattes and pastries at the boulangerie of St. Honorare in Portland, Oregon this afternoon with Mom and KP. After going through the France section of The Village Baker, I was gleefully familiar with everything on the shelf.
