Supper strategy

I plan to make Chili Fish Burritos for supper, but I have to plan it well. My 'I-like-what-I-like' husband eats fish but rather sparingly (and he better not know beforehand, otherwise he might pull a steak out the freezer). These Burritos are so delicious but I will have to bring them to the table very casually. Then give him an innocent look, "Oh I thought you knew it was fish... you didn't?"
His response might be something like King Edward (in King Henry the Sixth) "But now, you partly may perceive my mind... (you can imagine the rest)"

The bare necessities

Ruby and I arrived home this afternoon after Ballet and were swept indoors by a blustery wind and there was still no plumber in sight. It necessitated a little baking. We required (not wanted) a pot of hot tea and a slice of something to cuddle up to.

Banana Bread

1 cup of regular flour (I like stone-ground flour)
1 cup of wholemeal flour/nuttywheat flour (can use regular)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, beaten
50 ml olive oil
100 ml buttermilk



Preheat oven to 180 deg Cel. Sift dry. Mix wet. Mix all together gently (don't over mix). Today I added 2 tablespoons of wheatgerm (for a little extra health). Sometimes I add a handful of choc chunks (for a little extra treat), but today I didn't. Bake for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes. Test. Cool for 5 minutes in baking tin.

The irony

I did the lovely egg cup decoration idea and it looked so cute with the little flowers (the idea from my previous blog) and then served Rebecca her favourite 'Tomato Spaghetti'. So there we were... enjoying our meal... when she suddenly half-choked, freaked out and spat out her spaghetti. So after dragging out a 'half-a-metre' (not quite) length of spaghetti from her throat, I thought... this played differently in my head when I planned supper. My daughter didn't end up in tears, red-faced and full of tomato.

To add to the injury our thermostat went a.w.o.l sometime during the day so we all had cold baths thereafter. Not happy campers.

The irony is that things don't always go according to the text book but we still made a memory!

I'm off to bed - cold. I'll dream about hot water.

A flower in an egg cup

'Children growing up in an atmosphere where beauty is considered an important part of daily life cannot help being inspired to develop their own original ideas in these areas, nor can they help being prepared to live aesthetically themselves. There is a togetherness in sharing a prepared table that even very small children feel. Instead of saying, "Oh it doesn't matter, its only the children" when you are alone with a child for a meal, it is important to say to the opposite to yourself. "I wonder what the children would enjoy the most?"

When bringing someone a tray (when they are unwell), a candle on the tray brings light, warmth and aliveness of movement into the drabness of being shut away. A flower in an egg cup or tiny vase, or a piece of ivy, will lift the meal.

If you never have time to enhance moments together by making some preparation for beauty as well as for meeting necessities you are apt to miss altogether the spontaneous response and opening up of the personality which this would bring... I feel that the 'caring' for others in the family, can be expressed over and over again in ways which bring a very warm chain of memories, through transforming an ordinary meal table into a place of surprise and beauty.'


The hidden art of homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

Kids Stuff - A clean heart

Introduction:
This blog is going to be written by my daughter who seems to find blog-land fascinating and wanted to say "Hi y'all" - this is going out of her heart unedited (she even stationed the camera on a chair and took the picture herself). She said she wanted to write something for the kids...

Blog:
Children should be happy. Their hearts should be pure. I try to do it.



Why must your heart be ugly? Your heart must have confidence in the Lord.

Written by Rebecca Sella Batty

Sunday

Yesterday was perfect weather... and we spent most of the day outside enjoying it.

Cream cheese Log

I made this cheese log for a dinner party and my husband declared that it was one of the top five things I had ever made. It quite an honour to get into his 'shortlist of favourites' for something that you don't really need to follow a recipe to make!

Cream Cheese Log

In a bowl add lots of cream cheese (not cottage cheese, you want a lovely creaminess, +- 3/4 tub) and add about 2 preserved figs (finely chopped) and mix.

Then comes the tricky bit... shape this into a log shape (your hands will get full of cream cheese but its quite easy otherwise you can shape it by placing on the cream cheese onto cling wrap, roll closed and shape into a log shape, but I like to use my hands - real quick). It doesn't have to look perfect, once it's rolled in the nuts it will look great.

Place a generous amount of flaked almonds on a plate and roll log in the nuts (or use chopped pecan nuts). Re-shape as best you can, after nuts are added. Place the log on a cute platter and serve with french bread / wholewheat biscuits or as part of a cheese board. Delicious!!