Cosmic Menu of Happiness

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T22:53:00.002Z

Happy New Year!

It's been a lovely lovely holiday. And I've hardly cooked.

Did make the dough for these gingerbread houses that Momma's boy shaped and decorated.

Healthy

2011-07-27T12:23:00.002+01:00

I've just posted the following on a blog that I follow. CarbSane asked are we healthy at any weight? Thought I would post it here as well as I haven't posted in a bit. This is my input.

I've always had a weight issue, but looking back at childhood pictures I now consider those issues more in the mind of my mother and I rather than in reality. I'm 42, 5'3'" have a BMI of 28.95 (according to the Wii this morning) and weigh 11st 9lbs (163lbs). I'm an American living in England these last 17 years. I've had two kids 7 years apart. My youngest is 5. I grew up on a farm, I was a chef for many years and am now a Food Technology teacher. Food is part of the framework of my life. Reason for this info: I don't consider it a surprise that I struggle with my weight.

I've pretty much always exercised in one form or another. The only two major health issues that I've had in the last three years have nothing to do with weight. Shingles and I've just had an ovarian cyst removed 7 weeks ago (damn thing tried to kill me). After both incidents I went to the doctors to get my bloods tested because frankly these things can throw you for a loop. Both times the blood work came back fine and both doctors were of the opinion that I was in perfect health and the BMI is only a guideline. As one Doctor said, 'The average height of a man is 5'9", that doesn't make a man that is 6'2" abnormal'

I don't have any other health issues and now that I've come out of the surgery recovery, feel great.

I've had some success with LC diet (20lbs starting in January), but it wasn't working completely for me and I stalled in April. But I believe I was eating too many calories. Post surgery I'm eating carbs again, but still avoiding processed and sugary foods. And my weight is steady and am losing a bit again.

Childbirth and the shingles and the cyst have taught me is that, you only do the best you can do and you may feel great and 'be healthy' but life is apt to throw you a zinger. Eat and exercise to make yourself resilient. Extremes in all things (types of eating, drink, drugs, exercise) may be interesting but from my point of view should be avoided. But I also know that some of us can't avoid, mainly because of how our brains work.

So in summary I am healthy at my weight, was healthy at my heaviest and lowest, but 'health' isn't totally in our control. Wish it was.

Optimum BS

2011-07-02T20:35:00.004+01:00

Optimum nutrition. Optimum fitness. What a nonsense. As if you can achieve perfection and not get ill, not get hit by a 'black swan' . Like selling a religion. You can only do your best and not forget to LIVE your life as well.

Am recovering. I think walking is the secret. We went downtown yesterday and had lunch in Brasserie Blanc. It was marvelously simple and perfect. We had summer minestrone and poached salmon. It inspired me to make a green lentil broth today with corn cakes (mamma's boy loves corn cakes, won't eat anything that looks vaguely like soup, drat him : )

And I walked. I walked on the Wii and then I walked the girl to where she needed to go. Had a nap in the afternoon and felt the better for it all. Supper was roast chicken and salad with a proper vinaigrette, inspired by Blanc and reminding me that I do know how to do these things.

What happened next...

2011-06-20T20:38:00.003+01:00

Last Thursday I ended up in the hospital with severe pain. Thought it was (in this order); e-coli, because I had carried on eating cucumbers from Lidl, kidney stones because of this low carb diet, appendicitis and it goes on. A CT scan in the middle of the night revealed a growth and I was sent to the gynecological hospital. I had a ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit and the damn thing was thing was trying to kill me. Operated on Saturday to have it removed along with the ovary.

As you can imagine, it's been a shock to all of us. Here I was in the previous post talking about my waist size. How could I not know that this thing was inside there????

My husband has been fantastic. My kids, neighbours, in-laws, colleagues have all been fantastic. Once again, I have nothing but praise for the NHS. Throughout the people working in the doctor's office and hospitals have been kind, sensitive, concerned and did their job well. I was in safe hands.

So now I'm off of work until September. Being home and recovering is it's own journey. I'm tired and sore and having to learn to be still. hmmm.

magic realism can happen...

2011-06-05T09:19:00.003+01:00

For these last 5 months I've been following a low carb diet. And I've lost 19lbs. I was going to say 20lbs because I like even numbers and it sounds better, but it's not the truth. I've also been reading lots and lots of blogs and wondering if this is the right thing to do. It all seems too magical really. Eating bacon and eggs in the morning, not eating wheat or sugar products and *poof* the weight comes off. But that's not the whole picture. I've also been weighing myself on the Wii fit every morning, doing yoga afterwards, walking to and from work (until we bought a car in April) and enjoying Just Dance. And I do eat vegetables and salad. A lot of these low carb gurus post their meals and they seem to eat only meat and butter, and a lot of it.

I feel really good physically and in control. But one wonders about the long term truths of low carb dieting. CarbSane has been doing a lot of questioning too and it's been helpful to read her posts. A lot of people comment on their belly fat that wont shift. Also a LOT of them don't get to an ideal weight. They loose weight, but only so much. And, while I'm as vain as the next person, the reason I started this was to get healthier, not worry about becoming diabetic and not have aching hips and knees. How big your tummy is a definite health marker.

I want to get into the wii fit ideal bmi range and have a smaller tummy. So I've decided to move more to a 'balanced' diet. Reducing my fat intake, putting a few more carbs in there and increasing exercise (especially as I'm driving to work now). So this morning I had a poached egg on a slice of toast and half of my son's apple.

I'm quite convinced that my weight will stay the same or go up these next few weeks while I adjust what I eat. I've just got to keep logical about this and think long term.

Meanwhile I did finally go out and buy work trousers that fit and don't have to be safety pinned into place!

flesh

2011-05-14T22:36:00.002+01:00

Flesh like drawings is what I have been making. I think they are grim, but I like them at the same time.

It's all about the..

2011-05-07T21:29:00.004+01:00

Birds. Robins have set up a nest in the outside part of the air conditioning unit for my classroom. We can't touch them of course and don't feel we can turn the thing on in case we do damage. So the room is terribly hot, but it's for a lovely reason. I made up a nut ball today and hung it nearby. Hopefully the robins get the food rather than the GIANT seagulls that feed off of the pupils' scraps.

Prom. Well not really, but that's the fun/stressful bit of my brain. It's coming up this month. I've got the dress and the shoes. I've been walking around the house in the heels, getting used to them so I don't look like some old lady hobbling onto the dance floor. I'm going to have to alter the dress because it's too big. (big grin) and if I ruin it...well that's what credit cards are for!

Car. Lovin' the new car. Instant freedom and expansion of time and possibilities. We've made mental lists of all of the places we are going to go. But it was great to be able to get The Girl to orchestra practice in the pouring rain.

Boy. He's not been feeling well and he's all quiet and not eating very much. It's bothered me so much I've bought in sugary treats and chocolate. He's not interested. Hope this changes soon.

Diet. I have been reading a lot today. About exercise and how it doesn't really help with weight loss. And through personal experience I know it's true. I've spent the week dancing and doing more muscle work rather than yoga on the wii fit in the mornings. And I know I've overdone it. But I was concerned about making up the difference from not walking to and from school.

And I like to dance.

blogiversary.

2011-05-02T20:07:00.002+01:00

I made this picture to use as a card for all of the babies that have been born in the family, 4 girls!

It's been a great couple of months. I've lost 16 lbs and have totally changed how I eat and feel. Really pleased with that. Buying new clothes, getting ready for prom in a few weeks. Funny that, it's their prom, but I'm just as excited about it. Found a dress with the tags still on it at a small boutique while on holiday (charity shop!) and then splashed out on a killer set of high heels. Now I've got to practice walking around in them. And I've been using Just Dance on the Wii to help get into the groove in case someone asks me to dance. : )

We've been on holiday for practically all of April. And it's been sunny and beautiful and relaxing.

And we bought a car. We've been without for 2 years now. Hiring cars for holidays and walking everywhere else. When we hired the car this time, we were in love again and started looking. It's an 'energy efficient' car that is just right for getting around in. Tomorrow The Girl and I get to drive to school in our little blue baby and show off. Yipee!!!

twice baked potatoes, difficult?

2011-03-16T22:59:00.002Z

Practical today with year 10's. Purpose? Cooking two things at once and with foods that help with calcium and vitamin d. Not the most able group, so smoothies and twice baked potatoes. With the instructions written on the board, with me talking 'em through those instructions, with me and LSA helping them. How hard could it be? What a bizarre dream that was. Pupils peeling potatoes before putting them in the oven. Pupils throwing out the skins after they scooped out the flesh. Pupils ACTUALLY struggling with making the smoothie. Why? Because they don't listen. Because they think listening is for suckers. Because they think that cooking is some sort of voodoo magic instead of a skill to learn. Because they think it should reflect their state of being in that moment (and being teenageers, that means chaotic).
So what is a girl to do? Say oh well and help them clean up the mess. Parents' evening tomorrow night and so tonight thinking through exactly what I'm going to say to their parents. Diplomacy is needed for long term success and harmony.
Came home to a peaceful house. Which is all that matters.

So, what's been happening?

2011-02-22T21:31:00.004Z

A lot really. I got really excited about the idea of starting again.

Background:

I went off the radar for a personal reason. So no facebook, no twitter, very few emails to friends and no blogging. Instead I've been doing yoga in the morning before school, getting my act together in terms of work stress, being with the kids, reading more, and drawing stuff. And it's been good.

Today's story:

At the end of October I bought two beautiful bread loaf tins and got to baking. Obsessed with the prices of food and wanted to still feed the family well. We now call November the Month of Bread. By Christmas I had put all of the old weight back on while still doing everything else the same. I was also getting numb feet while I was exercising. Quietly thinking to myself, this isn't good, but didn't say the 'd' word outloud. Not happy about all of this.

Then my husband sent me a link during our first week back in school in January. Gary Taubes' blog page. It spoke to me. Two main things that I got out of it personally was this: I am NOT LAZY and I DO NOT OVEREAT. and I really am not lazy, I exercise at 6 in the morning, walk 20 minutes to school and 20 minutes back again. I never sit down at work and teach in 5 different rooms, I teach a practical subject in which I have to be moving and working the whole time. I get home and do all the stuff the us grown ups have to do and don't tend to stop until about 9 at night. I burn calories dammit. Calories in = Calories out do not equate in my situation.

I immediately stopped eating bread, potatoes, pasta, anything with sugar, etc. Researched what were low carb vegetables and what weren't and adjusted. I lost 7 pounds in the first 2 weeks. And have been loosing weight steadily ever since. I bought Taubes' Diet Delusion (good calories bad calories in US) and read it through. I highly recommend it's dense pages of information. I also have been reading this website: The Spark of Reason. I have found it a good read. One wants to avoid zealots and one wants to avoid becoming a zealot, but at the same time one wants information.

Zealots who espouse without logic or reason is why I went off the radar by the way.

I personally can only tell you how these things are effecting me. I've lost weight. I'm never hungry. I don't have an energy dip half way through the day. My skin is clear. My nails are growing. And I have no more numbness in limb (which is probably the most important detail if I'm honest) I'm excited about it and at this point think that is going to become the WOL for me.

5 years

2010-05-04T21:43:00.002+01:00

Must not miss today. Five years!

May brings breathing space at work and I allow my thoughts to go to other things.

Sourdough going well(we've named it Bliss after the character in Whip It, great film)

A bit of Gonzo Gardening. Spent the weekend ripping out stuff, moving the shed, moving the compost box. Secretly enjoyed the hard work. Have left it too long.

The Girl is growing up and she makes me laugh out loud with her wit and humour.

Mamma's boy is growing and becoming, as we say in school, a little man. A little man who loves his food, goes to sleep when you want him to and gets very upset when you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do.

Sourdough

flour

water

on the kitchen counter in a glass bowl for 3 or 4 days

each day discarding a cup of mix and adding a cup of flour and cup of water

waiting for it to bubble right up.

than use it.

You don't need me to tell you, just google it and you're away.

and then he was four...

2010-04-13T15:22:00.008+01:00

Mamma's boy is four today.

I love my kids.

As requested the cakes are chocolate with a honey frosting. The honey from the honey bear jar that we brought back with us from the Honey Farm in Wales. Before we went away I bought the Thunderbirds cake toppers from ebay. He's very pleased. I am too.

For 16 or so cakes

3 eggs

100 grams of butter (lurpac for best cakes)

100 grams of caster sugar

100 grams of plain flour

2 and 1/2 tsps of baking powder

35 grams of cocoa powder

15 grams of cornflour

dash of vanilla extract

dash of milk

Beat the room temp. butter and sugar for a full 3 minutes (it does help) so that the mixture looks like frosting. Then eggs and dry ingredients stirred in in 3rds. Milk at the end if you need it.

The butter creme was 250 grams of icing sugar, 100 grams of butter and about 2 tablespoons of honey, beaten together until irresistible.

And where have I been? Besides the coast of Wales I mean?

Well, after the shingles in October, I needed to do something to make me feel fitter and calmer. And it was raining a lot. A lot. And therefore couldn't go for long walks with my kids (not all kids are game for that sort of thing). By Thanksgiving evening, I couldn't take it anymore and asked hubby to buy us a Wii and Wii fit. And he did. It's been the best thing ever. I highly recommend it. I do yoga in the morning before work and then another 45 minutes of exercise fun after I get Mamma's boy to bed in the evening. I haven't lost loads of weight, but I'm much happier and coping with work. I've also had a check up with the doctor, who says that all the tests show that I am rude with health. He says to not put all your energy into trying to fit into the BMI chart. Each person is different.

I like my doctor.

The other place I've been is Facebook. I know, I know, you don't have to tell me, I've experienced it fully. I can't discuss everything as this blog is about being positive. Don't worry, I'm ok now and will get back to doing productive things again. promise!

cornbread and soup

2009-11-02T23:05:00.003Z

Back to work... harsh.

I'm getting better at letting the kids cook. Mamma's boy is a baker and loves cornbread. Really loves cornbread. The Girl's spicy black bean soup was the bomb! As I may have stated before, if you are planning on letting the kids cook, make sure that you tack at least an extra half an hour onto the planned making or make sure it isn't crucial for the next meal.

First day back at school:

We compared homemade rough puff pastry to bought and I demonstrated a cheese and onion jalousie with the two pastries.

In the afternoon I had the pupils analyse pot noodles in groups and then I showed them how to make a much better 'own' version. They liked own version best. (thank goodness)

ghouls and shingles

2009-10-21T20:59:00.003+01:00

Year 7's went away on camp. Except for a few. It was my turn last Wednesday to teach them. But what? I was thinking of just a bit of drawing, just let them entertain themselves while I got on with paper work. But, that morning, their temporary tutor came next door to me and asked on their behalf what they would be doing. He looked at me with his puppy dog eyes and said that they were lovely. AWWW... monster bread it is then!

We had a fab time. Mine from that lesson is the top photo.

I love the idea of monster bread. So I did it again with The Girl. She came up with the gold that is the mummy bread. We made Mamma's Boy a frog as he expressed concern over the theme of monsters. Packed it for his lunch and he actually ate the whole thing. The most positive event of his day.

And the shingles? Well, got to enjoy being 41 last week, feeling on top of the world, feeling I'd cracked this ageing thing, and then I started to feel unwell in a very non specific sort of way. And I was trying to figure out just when I bruised my back. Woke up Saturday morning, took a bath to try to get the pain to go away and did a check. Still couldn't figure it out. Got out of the bath and then the realisation hit. Shingles. Oh Crap. Google. Husband does physical check, no those aren't ordinary spots. What?! NHS direct nurse. Lovely woman. Good. Yes, you have shingles. Christ.

Flashback. Remembering my Granddad's shingles. He was stoic but in lots of pain. Begin to panic.

But all shingles are not the same. Mine are mild. I went to the doctor on Monday and he gave me the week off, but that's all I'll need. And amazingly, this time (for he tells me I will get shingles again) I would have to say shingles have been a gift. I've slept, thought, and have been able to be there for my kids while they are going to and coming back from school. An honour. I've allowed myself to rest and get better. A sure sign of ageing well. Rather than running back to work, working too hard and making myself twice as ill.

end of 40

2009-10-13T22:58:00.002+01:00

A lot has happened this year. But that is the way for everyone. I've learned a lot. I've learned to have more confidence in what I know. I've learned to stand by what I know is right. I've finally learned that old demons are just that: old and demons. Best to be either battled or ignored depending on their D & D level (bear with me). I've also learned that being family is not enough. There has to be respect and empathy.
I've been thinking a lot these last few weeks about the stories and the facts of my life. I often fantasize about being asked about what I know and what I know to be true. But as we are all aware, that just doesn't happen. People look without asking. Ineffective.

What I know is...
The best advice I was ever given. I was 19ish, at university and for various reasons feeling pretty messed up and emotional. I decided to partake in some psychotherapy. I was in there for 20 minutes and came out of it wanting to...well you get it. I went to my art teacher/ mentor. He said to me magic words. Words that I never heard from anyone else ever since. But they are logical. First he said not to go back to the therapist. Paint and talk to him. He then said that I shouldn't have goals. Too many goals and you can't see the opportunities in front of you. Epiphany.

I looked at what my goals were. And they were these: to get to university and to be like Mary Tyler Moore. Well, obviously I was at university and let's face it, even though it's cute and very midwest child of the 70's/80's, Mary Tyler Moore as a role model isn't going to get you far.

So I started to look around me. One night I saw a man across a crowded room. I turned to my friend and said, 'That is the man I'm going to marry.' I knew it was true. And it was.
With him I gained love, security, adventure, children and family, friends and friendship. All of which I'm convinced I wouldn't have had without him.

I'm going into 41 feeling solid, secure and loved.

september sun

2009-09-26T17:53:00.002+01:00

It's been an absolutely brilliant Saturday. It's made the stressed of the week melt away.

I'm back to teaching a lot more cooking this year. Which means more apple pies, pizzas and curries taken home from demonstrations. So not so bad really.

I have been sketching on my mobile phone, a great way to unwind before I go to sleep at night.

Have a big painting in my head waiting to get out onto the plexi glass that is in the shed.

The rest of my brain is filled with education, fear of ofsted and strategies for troubled kids.

eating well is avengement

2009-08-28T11:56:00.002+01:00

Ah, I love a cheap posh meal. Don't you? For brunch this morning: homemade potato cakes, poached eggs and fresh green beans with loads of butter, salt and pepper. Even better knowing that with my clever marked down purchases it was a real bargain. 4 eggs 54p, 4 potatoes 35p, and green beans 18p = £1.07 . Am feeling smug. I am a bit like the dad in Everyone Hates Chris, doing the costings as I sit around the table watching people eat, then bothering them with the details.

Poached Eggs. My Grandma M. used to poach an egg every morning for Grandpa. She always had a small pan boiling at top speed and just dropped it in. And it worked. How??? I have to put the salt and bit of vinegar in the shallow, slow simmering water. I crack the egg into a small tea cup, spin the water ever so gently and slip that egg into the water...then hope. I also have to change the water for the 4th egg. Not one of those meals that we all sit down at the same time for. Restaurants, for those of you who may be wondering, do them ahead of time and re-dip them in hot water to order. I never volunteered for that job.

upon our return

2009-08-24T22:14:00.004+01:00

'The rules for happiness are simple and unavoidable. Hard work, marriage, consideration for others, gardening. We are free to reject all of these, but we are chasing phantoms.'

This wonderful quote come from this article in the Independent on Sunday. A good article, I highly recommend reading it. It speaks the truth. It even says succinctly what I've been trying to get across to people in my life.

'We should sympathise with the misfortune of others, but it is vulgar and self-centred to claim it as our own.'

and this quote from this article made me laugh out loud. So true

' "Excuse me," he says, leaning forward, indignant. "The fact I was beaten up by adults as a child means I've never laid a hand on my kids. This nonsense about if your parents are alcoholics you're going to be an alcoholic – that's a bad post-hypnotic suggestion to live by.'

I'm busy painting and decorating the house. Watching my children flourish and planning a MAJOR garden revamp for next year. Doesn't get much better.

back from our trip to Germany

2009-08-24T21:50:00.003+01:00

It was a successful trip. Food was interesting and thought provoking. Since we were visiting my brother on the air force base, I got to enjoy some of the foods from my childhood. Interestingly, my kids did not take to them. Too sweet?? Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Hawaiian Bread (brioche but fluffier and sweeter), Mountain Dew (sorry, MTN Dew?), Fritos. Whole conversations revolve around foods of our childhood, but they are just memories. Palettes change and mature, especially if one gets to move away from childhood standards. While my brother and his family were poppin' open pops for breakfast, we were going through the cupboards desperately seeking coffee to brew up. Wonderbread is the norm, and my brother was truly bemused when my hubby bought Jewish rye bread. We just wanted proper toast. Mamma's boy barely ate the whole week. That and his poor behaviour because of it was the only concern.

It was lovely to see my brother and his family. And they took us to such wonderful, kid friendly places. The kids were happy. The Hubby and I want to go back to just explore the wonderful world of Bratwurst.

Oh, and I know this makes me sound like an old lady, but I've never seen such clean loos and kitchens than in the places we visited. Well impressed.

paintings and painting

2009-08-08T08:38:00.006+01:00

summer time

2009-07-26T20:45:00.002+01:00

School's out.

Mamma's boy has planted himself firmly between me and the fridge. He's turned a corner with the toddler fussy eating. Though he still is pretending to be vegetarian. This evening he helped himself to a whole carrot, crackers, chunks of tofu, spoons of peanut butter and chocolate spread and then he managed to eat his supper of veggie stirfry noodles.

Looking forward to our holiday with my brother in Germany. It will be like visiting two places for the price of one. He's in the Air Force and the base is supposedly like little America. How many weird foods will I be able to consume in a week? Can't wait!

Other than that, this summer's focus is going to be on... oh, wait a minute, it's going to be the same as last summer. DIY, painting, walking, trying to buy the best food for the cheapest price. Lidl's is my new favourite shop.

Will try to post more artistically worthy posts soon.

sometimes it's just best to cook

2009-06-24T21:51:00.002+01:00

Sometimes it's just best to cook.

Hot today, walking home was a chore. When I got in my brain defaulted to wanted to put some pre-cooked item in the microwave and then sit down. But I couldn't do that as, at first glance, the cupboards were bare.

Hubby offered to walk down to the store and get something.

Logic came back and I said, no, I'll just get on with it.

40 minutes later we had

cous cous with yellow pepper and butternut squash

served along side pork chops for us

and

tofu for the kids.

Followed by a pineapple upside down cake with custard.

It turns out that we needed that sustenance as the internet and the tv went out for 2 and a half hours. It was difficult and reminded me of the days when the electricity went out and we had to light hurricane lamps. We had to actually read, write with a pen and talk on the phone.

I really need to review my dependence on technology.

watermelon

2009-06-06T21:30:00.003+01:00

I woke up and I knew it was going to be hot

proper hot, like back home in the summer

downstairs

open windows but keep the curtains shut

tea

lift lid on laptop

emails

mom

photo

watermelon

And this is especially for you. :)

Your Dad has turned out to be the best at getting

really good ones! Fabulousity! :D

I click on the image and save it to the hard drive

I see him sitting on the woven black white and grey couch

thin worn chambrey shirt

red brown skin

smell of hay and sweat

standing metal fan

whirring

setting the scene

on the arm of the couch sits

a huge wedge of watermelon

in an old rectangle metal pan

at least that is what I remember

a salt shaker

yes salt, fruit is salted at point of eating in this house

my father digging at the melon with a large flat metal spoon

and slurping it into his mouth

the black seeds returned to the pan

at 7:26pm May 28

Hey! Don't be spending all your money on Ebay!! You have to have some to come get that watermelon in my fridge! :)

at 8:51pm May 28

mmmm. watermelon. must get some watermelon..

will have to take the pushchair without mamma's boy to carry it back!

I’m supposed to want to come home

but

that Dad

that watermelon

that black white and grey woven couch

that metal fan

that summer

is no more

I Took A TAXI, am so pleased with myself!! : )

I’m not

but that is how it is

this watermelon

this now

strawberries tarts

2009-05-28T21:24:00.003+01:00

Nanna, who has had a spot of bother but is better now, sent the girl a recipe book. Everything from it has been terrific. Today, The Girl and a mate made strawberry tarts and pizzas. The tarts comprised of an own-made sweet pastry, own-made lemon curd and cream and West Country strawberries. They were lush. And the pizza was pizza. Which is all kids want from pizza. It had pineapple on it, as Mamma's Boy demanded pineapple very loudly in the store this morning. It was terrifically funny. He wanted a proper pineapple with leaves and everything but had to settle for a basics .14p tin.

As usual, 'cause I'm on school holiday, I've been thinking too much again. I fancy a mental ramble, but won't until it's a bit more structured. Thoughts are about: allowing my kids to be themselves, encouraging them and pushing them to do well, sewing my own clothes, and trying to put disappointments at work in their proper place and painting. I want to paint.

blogiversary! four years of fun!

2009-05-02T20:11:00.002+01:00

When I started, this blog was going to be about food, but life progresses and changes. I've had a baby, I've become less interested in food, and life happens. It's been terrific, really. What this blog does do for me is remind me that there are wonderful things in this world and I've got to experience my share of them. How nice is that?

Themes of the week:

Thunderbirds (check out the Camel's sign in the picture I post)

Technology (it's cool. period.)

sunshine (it's sunny in Britain again!)

music

and keeping the perspective at work. I was feeling really down about work last week. This week every lesson was good. The pupils were sunny faces that wanted to learn and they showed empathy. Can't get better than that.

Mamma's boy is three!

2009-04-12T22:22:00.004+01:00

Mamma's boy is three tomorrow! He has requested a chocolate cake and he's mad on Thunderbirds (no, we don't know how either) hence the space theme.

I am currently having possibly the best Easter evening a person can. Drinking wine and eating brie, watching Pretty in Pink and wrapping me boy's pressies. I've got so much I could talk about, but will save it for another time cause the prom scene is on NOW...

choux pastry for GCSE exam

2009-03-22T19:06:00.004Z

This year's Food Technology GCSE exam is seemingly based around eggs and pastry... and buffet food. At first when I saw the hint sheet, I was dreading it. But I have to say, it's been really fun revising with the kids. They are a good group (now) who want to do well (now).

So far I have demonstrated mayonnaise, a lemon meringue pie, brought in some party food and they have made Bakewell tarts. This week I will demonstrating Choux pastry. I would never recommend a chocolate eclair practical. Too many things to go wrong. So just a demo. I had a run through tonight. They went well. Served 'em up with some thick homemade creme anglaise and coated 'em in dark chocolate. So nice. Mamma's boy devoured them.

irises, Lidl and celeriac soup

2009-03-08T14:06:00.004Z

We've been going to Lidl. I could no longer justify paying £1.45 for a cucumber. I know it's not hip, but I like to have salad all year round. The Girl spotted a celeriac and was intrigued. Mamma's boy has stated clearly that he will not be consuming that particular foodstuff. So I made it into soup, since he wont eat soup anyway. The Girl has tried it and likes it!

Lidl feels like an American store of old (you know, when I lived there). Multi-cultural without all the Premium Branding and sometimes a bit risky. It feels all edgy buying a net of peppers and wondering if they will go off before I can use them. And what's not to love about a place that sells a pork gyro pizza???

This week's bargain: £0.45 for a cucumber! I bought 3!

snowed in

2009-02-06T21:15:00.004Z

Yes, we are snowed in like the rest in Bristol. But like a lot of the rest, it's been brilliant. Haven't had to struggle to work and enough snow to have a proper play.

Hubby came up trumps today. Checked on two of the neighbours and got supplies for them at the store as well as iced buns for them and us. My goodness those buns tasted very nice after building a four foot high fort in the back garden.

better than playdough

2009-02-01T14:48:00.003Z

Meet Elsie our new dolly. She's shy. A simple pattern given to me by the super fab textiles teacher at school and The Girl designed it from there. She did most of it herself.

Better than playdough is gingerbread dough. and a box of letter biscuit cutters. Mamma's Boy gets a lump of dough and it just keeps rolling up without crumbling. After I've cut out the rest of the cookies, I cook up his letters. He learns his letters, he feels like he is cooking and helping me, and we get cookies! I have even made a batch and divided it into 3 portions and have frozen it. So he can play while I'm cooking supper.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies.

I got this recipe from the Somerfield website years ago.

350 g plain flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp bicarb of soda

100g butter

175 g of caster sugar

60 ml (4 tblsp) of golden syrup

1 egg

sift flour, ginger and bicarb together

rub in cubed butter until a fine crumb

stir in caster sugar

add syrup and beaten egg

combine well and bring to a ball.

wrap in film and fridge for an hour or so.

Or freeze it.

divide dough up into manageable portions

lightly flour surface and dough and roll out and cut shapes

onto a baking tray

190*c oven

about 10 minutes depending on size of biscuit.

And a little word about pinto beans. Tins of pinto beans have completely disappeared from my local Sainsburys. Haven't got a clue why. But I've had to resort to dried. I had an idea and it worked. I soaked the beans over night, then I put them in the slow cooker on high for 6 hours. It worked without filling the house with that horrible cooking bean smell and without creating a rainforest-like atmosphere in kitchen.

rice bowls and coleslaw

2009-01-15T20:21:00.003Z

Our purchase of the year. Insulated rice bowls. £2.00 each and they work very well. They keep the porridge nice and hot. And The Girl now gets a bowl in her lunch box so that her soup du jour is at peak temperature too. I am smug.

On the other hand, the first weekly shop of the new year found me purchasing an iceberg lettuce for (oh the shame of it!) £1.19. And it was tiny and pathetic. I tried to pretend that it was a top quality lunch addition all week, but it wasn't. So the next week I corrected and made coleslaw. Not even the third of the price and much nicer.

bread and dripping

2008-12-28T21:39:00.002Z

It's roast chicken dripping (fat and jelly) on home made sourdough toast, topped with watercress. OMG, it was really good. Highly recommend it. Having a lovely holiday break. The second birthday cake was chocolate with cherry jam in the middle. The Girl made a trifle yesterday and it was devoured. Venison steaks for Christmas dinner (something from the freezer for the vegetarian kids) and of course the shortbread. Cheesy potato cakes tonight with a home made chicken broth. I received a Broons' Cookbook for Christmas and it's looking like a Hogmanay Steak Pie for the New Year's meal.

A lot of shortbread, as I was saying

2008-12-24T22:49:00.000Z

shortbread and birthdays

2008-12-23T22:40:00.003Z

Let's just get this out of the way. My mother-in-law has sent, as a Christmas present, 13 boxes of Scottish shortbread cookies in various forms. It's quite overwhelming and the negative is that there is no real need to do any Christmas baking... for a very long while. So the gingerbread dough stays in the freezer for the while.

But we ARE going to make more birthday cake tomorrow. The Girl will be 10 tomorrow! It feels so significant. And it is, isn't it? 5 years ago I decided that actual birthday parties would only occur every 5 years, for sanity's sake. So it had to count. We organised it for yesterday. I can highly recommend the climbing centre. The girls had a great time.

my own mincemeat and red velvet cake

2008-12-12T22:22:00.006Z

I have been working hard at not getting me knickers in a twist (as they say) over Christmas this year. So far so good, but there are a few things that haven't happened yet, cards to relatives in the U.S. in particular.

Above is a picture of the mince pies I made. I made my own instant mincemeat. I completely winged it, but it worked. Two apples, handful of raisins and dried cranberries, dash of vinegar, sugar, various spices and a bit of vegetarian suet. And it was very nice.

For The Girl's birthday party I was dabbling with the idea of a red velvet cake. It's the stuff of myth in my mind. I had always heard of it, but had never seen it. So I did some research and made a single egg batch on Sunday. Weird cake. The common recipe ingredients were oil, buttermilk and red food colouring. It had the texture and flavour of a muffin. Not very cake-y rich and in real life, the colour is quite off putting. So the general consensus was that it was ok, but not for a birthday cake. We are leaning towards a creamy chocolate cake with a Oreo cookies and frosting topping. I don't know how many trials I'll be able to fit in before the birthday party next Monday. I have to make gingerbread cookies tomorrow for a demonstration and more mince pies for departmental do on Thursday. But that is the nice bit of my job.

painting detail

2008-11-15T22:08:00.003Z

When I was 18, I produced my first painting within the abstract expressionist style. My art teacher looked at it, told me that it was very good and that I would never produce anything better. He used his fingers to frame a particular area of about 2 inches square and said that that was that was what true painting was about. He asked for the painting, I gave it to him. I, as you probably can guess, don't paint on a regular basis now. I don't know if it's because I'm a person that will prioritise everything else before my art, or if it's because I have found it difficult to get past that moment.
But I'm having a go now. And, for the moment, I'm going to photograph as I go along. But it may not always get published, or mentioned...playing that one as it comes.

Menu is working well. And that means that food is not very interesting because it is the same every week. Mamma's Boy is a confirmed vegetarian like his sister. But he is Mamma's Boy and his favourite thing to eat is PIE. This makes me very happy. For election celebrations I made a succotash with pastry tops in the shapes of stars and stripes.

October Girl 40

2008-10-17T20:46:00.005+01:00

Birthday flowers. A lovely way to end two months of painting and school work. very pleased with it all. Could blog about economics, but I'm sure that's being done. I am not cooking anything different. Haven't been out in the garden. School is pretty settled and calm. This Jane is a dull girl. And now that I've 40 years old and worldly wise, I know that dullness can be a lovely state of being.

september saturday night

2008-09-20T23:38:00.005+01:00

Lovely summer weather. With just that bit of autumnal chill just to make it just right.
I was in the loft this evening, up on a ladder, painting. I looked out of the window to see a low-riding waning moon. A display of fireworks flew up by the Moon's side and all looked strangely in proportion.

sunflower harvest

2008-08-15T19:49:00.003+01:00

our summer

2008-08-08T21:52:00.003+01:00

loft conversion
whole new house
Really pleased
painting again.
for The Girl
for Mamma's Boy
Tomatoes ripening
sunflowers hanging heavy with seed
balloons overhead

potato harvest

2008-07-06T20:44:00.004+01:00

When I put them in, I had no idea how many potatoes I would get out of my seeders (?). I would just like to say, well impressed. This is the second batch (there in the middle of the kids in the green bucket) and that's just from one and half plants. And I think they will produce more. And they are wonderful. I highly recommend growing potatoes. Not difficult and very satisfying.

Other than the harvest, the Girl and I have decided to not do anymore hobby-like activities until the loft conversion is done. This moratorium may get extended until Mamma's Boy potty trains himself. The work stoppage immediately put us all at ease and we felt much calmer about the changes happening to the house.

I get to go to an amusement park this week!! School trip with my year 8's. I CANNOT WAIT. I even bought a new raincoat, just in case. Nothing is going to stop me getting on those rides.

Oh, and yes that is bamboo behind the Girl. She calls it the zombie bamboo. It's come back and it's wonderful. I didn't dig up the roots and put loads of compost over it and the rest it did itself.

happiness is a sandwich

2008-06-22T21:35:00.003+01:00

People spend their whole life trying to find happiness, and I just stumbled across it this weekend.
It's finally sleeping in 'til 8 am after two years of baby-dom and lunching on a corned beef sarnie on Polish sourdough with gherkin, mayo and mustard and other salad fixings, garnished with excellent potato crisps.
The garden is growing like mad and the sun was shining.
enough said.

volcanoes, potatoes and clouds

2008-06-15T20:59:00.003+01:00

Don't be put off, it's not food. We made volcanoes this week. It was a team building exercise. I stood in front of the room and said last week you are going to do it, but don't expect any help from me, cause I haven't a clue. It was great fun. this team should have won, but they didn't write up a proper evaluation (it's got to appear educational at least). It's a good group I've got and it's going to be a lovely 6 weeks until school breaks up for the summer.

At home we are preparing for the loft conversion. I hate change, so I'm going through it with blinker on and face each day as it comes.

The garden is lush and glorious. The potatoes are blooming, black currants ripening, lavender about to flower. Above us are wonderful clouds floating across in the pale blue sky.

green day at school

2008-06-06T21:41:00.005+01:00

Our school was taking part in green day yesterday. I and other teachers have been plotting (get it? plotting?) to get some sort of garden going at school for a while now. On the day I got 43 helpers (we are now called the aps guerrilla gardners), including supporting teachers and a courtyard. We cleared weeds and sorted out the compost area. Lots of nettles. We put the sunflowers and other annuals in homemade grow bags. There were two huge planters in there already, so the kids pulled out the overgrown bushes and we planted herbs, rhubarb and grasses. One of the other teachers donated a pumpkin plant and tomatoes, so we should have a Halloween treat next year. The kids were fabulous. I even made little newspaper parcels with wildflower seeds the night before to give the kids to take home so they could just shove them in the ground somewhere, to continue the guerrilla theme. One of my best days at school this year.

I made a dress

2008-05-29T20:46:00.004+01:00

I downloaded this pdf from the V & A website sometime last year. I am not what you call highly skilled at sewing. As long as it's square and uses a straight stitch, I'm your girl. I wanted to improve. But I don't want to make ordinary clothes that you can get in the shops, don't see the point. I've always fancied the idea of a 40's or 50's dress and this fit the bill.
I did the smart thing of using an old duvet cover and two pillow cases to create this toile. Why spend £25 + on fabric without a run through? I printed the pdf, stuck it together and cut it out. That took an hour and a half. I then pinned and cut out the fabric (another hour and a half). I realised then that I would have to pace myself, this wasn't a one night project.
Most of the instructions are straight forward, except (and mind, this is a novice talking) for sewing up the arm holes, which I did wrong, and the pocket instructions which manages to avoid mentioning panel 16 at all. I need to buy a seam ripper. I also enlarged the pattern to fit my thick waist, but it still doesn't fit.
But, you know, it's o.k. I'm over it now. I learned soooo much. I'm going to make a version for The Girl (with proper fabric, not the colourful cats duvet :). And I know that I'm not willing to buy a corset to make this dress work for me. I'm too much practical for that.

look at what we bought

2008-05-24T20:46:00.006+01:00

Things are progressing nicely in the garden and as you can see, the next set of seeds are hopefully warming up in their little pots and thinking about germinating. The potatoes are doing well on the other side of the garden and here in the Sainsburys' bags for life.

And today, I and the kids are out for a walk and stopped dead in our tracks in front of a charity shop. There in front of us was this builder's workstation and sundries. £5 = Bargain! We are chuffed. It was duly broken down and attached to the back of the pushchair. The trip home wasn't that bad, excitement pushed us forward. And we all played with it for hours.

We are home for a week. During this week: The Girl will be learning a few more recipes, The Hubby will be attempting to work in the shed, Mamma's boy will terrorizing , and I will be planting more seeds in preparation for Green Day (not the band) when we return to school.

heart and sunny days

2008-05-05T19:56:00.004+01:00

Yikes! I missed my blogiversary on Friday. Proof again that I'm letting things slip. I haven't got a photo either. What do I have...hmmm... (shuffling of brain cells)...stuff...stuff that I, by my own rules cannot mention on this blog. That's the thing with having a rule about keeping it positive, sometimes that is just plain difficult to do and boring. I could photograph the garden every week to show progression, that would be a bit on the dull side too. Growing is a slow process.

So perhaps I'll let things slip and tell you what is on my mind. It may do me some good.

I found out about two weeks ago that my Mom (aged 59) is having heart problems and has done since last September (she didn't want to add to my worries). Now, I don't know what anyone else does, but I immediately began to take a comparative inventory of my health misdemeanors and hers.
every cigarette, every gluttonous moment, every drink
and tried to negate it with
every walk, every bowl of porridge, every sober moment (glad I quit smoking years ago)
Results?
*am really worried for my Mother
*going to try to get some blood tests to check cholesterol
*had to have the 'what's the plan going to be?' conversation with the hubby that anyone that lives away from their parents dreads having
*and all the other thoughts that goes with this sort of thing.

But, you know, I am o.k. As I tell the kids at school when they get upset about something that is happening to someone they know. Get the right perspective, I'm not suffering, my Mom is. I would be doing her a disservice by wearing her troubles as if they were my own. I love my Mom. I am worried about my Mom. I am cross at her because she didn't take care of herself properly. And I will do what I can to help and support, but because of where I am and where she is (physically and mentally) that's not a lot. And that's o.k. too.

still feel the need to post a photo or something.

hold on a moment...
(rummaging through iMovie...)
how bout this? just as an experiment? Summer 2002. Was going to sing on it, but not sure I and the world is ready for that.

my bamboo died

2008-04-20T15:05:00.006+01:00

At the time I thought, Oh cool, look at those pretty purple grassy flowers! Time passed and the bamboo wasn't doing that spring renewal thing and I finally googled. Turns out that when bamboo flower they generally die afterwards. It's one of those unexplained pheno..phenomen...phenomena. Look it up, it's weird.
I've harvested the culms (see, I did my homework, they are not bamboo 'sticks') Which took a long time, but that gave me time to come to terms with the passing of this plant.

I bought it when I qualified as a teacher, a pressie for myself. It become a metaphor (I think) for teaching and children learning as it grew and grew and spread. By the way, do you like my trousers? Just bought them, they are going to be my spring and summer garden warrior/hip and groovy older mom at the park trousers. (yes, I know... : )
The days spent harvesting the bamboo inspired me to get involved again with my garden. Babies and work can take that motivation away, but I'm back now with a vengeance. I've hacked away the ivy, cut down the ugly murtle and had a good clear out of rubbish.

I've planted potatoes, broad beans, sweet peas, tomatoes, cress, onions, beet root, all sorts. Very excited.
It should be a good way to spend time outdoors with Mamma's boy. as soon as it warms up. He last for about 10 minutes, then goes in, grabs the box of cornflakes or similar and sit in front of the telly. hmmm...are couch potatoes born not made?

January clearance

2008-01-14T21:59:00.000Z

Guilt, well before Jamie and Co. started killing battery chickens on telly (no I didn't watch it, I know enough), hit over the holidays. I'd been cheaping out with food and going for the lowest common component because I was on a budget. Meanwhile we had a pretty good Christmas and I thought...who am I foolin? So I'm back to basic wholesome foods, that aim towards British, seasonal and taken care of. How preachie is that? It's difficult, mind. No, not really, we're eating well and I've cut the food budget mysteriously by 15 to 20£'s a week. You can stretch a chicken a lot further than a roast pork.
The Girl is getting noticeably older and needing a different sort of focus, a different type of quality time. Cooking, for the moment, is all I can come up with, since it's raining and muddy and outdoor activities are frankly unappealing. The Girl struggles with peeling of veggies with traditional peeler. Sunday morning I nipped out and bought one of those peelers that looks as if it can shave Hubby's beard. In fact, the damn thing is so sharp, it probably could. She did well with it and made carrot and lentil soup for lunch, but became too confident later in the day and shaved skin off of her finger while attacking the supper potatoes.
But I felt proud for her as I packed her school lunch this morning. It included the soup and chocolate chocolate chip muffins that she made on Saturday.
Work is a struggle and I'm scanning all the self help literature available in January to make myself more dynamic and successful. Can't wait until Groundhog Day to start thinking about spring and more positive times.

birthday cake

2007-12-23T21:26:00.000Z

You know, every time I tell someone that The Girl's birthday is Christmas Eve they invariably say 'oh what a shame' or imply that she is being cheated out of a proper birthday. But do you know what? I think it's totally the opposite. Everyone is winding up for festivities anyway, so we are ready to celebrate anything and there is such a magical quality to the days. Any other time of the year, I think it is more of an effort.

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And if it's your birthday in these same weeks, well Happy Birthday!

pie and bourbon and felt

2007-11-29T20:30:00.000Z

Thanksgiving done and dusted very nicely. Nothing like homemade pumpkin pie and some Kentucky bourbon to make me homesick. It's the only time of the year that I feel it.
Now looking forward to Christmas. Mamma's boy is old enough to appreciate it. And it gives me something else to think of, rather than work.
I had the kids at school work on a creative writing exercise that I found on the net today. I'll post the results if I get a chance. It was called 'A menu of what makes teacher angry' The results were clever and funny.
The Girl and I have been working on a felt advent calendar these last two weeks. I have to finish the 24th tomorrow night and put it up. Being brought up a Baptist, the notion is a bit alien to me. Last year I finally broke down and bought her a commercial chocolate advent calendar and we were both bemused by it. Disappointment and shock at the amount of packaging vs. actual chocolate content. We have chocolate coins, Santas and snowmen stashed away waiting for the 1st to be enjoyed. I have just realised that we only bought enough for the two kids, but there is room in those little pouches for us grown ups. mmmm, must go to shop after school tomorrow.

chairs

2007-11-04T21:08:00.000Z

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T21:15:00.000Z

words

2007-10-26T20:58:00.000+01:00

So many words I speak all the time, I get fed up hearing them, as others are. That is why schools have half term breaks. But when I'm away from it, I immediately need it again.
It's been a difficult September, not something I want to talk about, as you know. But I do want to remember the positives.
One of the boys in one of the year 11 GCSE classes hunts with his Dad. He asked if he could bring in rabbits. 'I'll skin them outside the classroom". Visions of kids fainting in the classroom block opposite made me giggle inside. I suggested that that may not be the best idea. 'Defrost them tonight and peel 'em in the morning before you bring them in.' OK Miss.
He brought in the rabbits, his own homemade sausage meat with apple, his own equipment and sourced a sharp knife, which just doesn't exist in the food rooms. He worked diligently in his corner (the kids choose an area and stick with it) and was the star of the day. Kids managed to come out of other classrooms to see the rabbits and see him work. He made rabbit burgers. The girls in the class, who were wary and incredulous of him at the beginning, decided to try to the burgers and loved them. That could possibly be one of the best days of that kiddie's school life. Thank goodness I didn't stop it from happening.

At home and within me:
Mamma's Boy, as you can see above, is barreling on ahead into toddler hood. Has a sheer bloody-mindedness that is just breathtaking and I loath to have to try to control it for him, but if I want to get anything done or have sanity I have to. Realized this week that if I want to be a really super-duper parent, I should plan out the days as if it were school. Hhmm... instead, how about cbeebies and a cup of coffee????
Modern parenting (lordy, I hope others feel like this, or I'm really crap) is all about what we should be doing. Every minute needs to be accounted for. Every need, current and future, must be sorted out. I just can't do it.

The Girl is marvelously 8 going on 16. We are currently plotting her costume for the School Halloween Disco. We have ambitions of winning. Wish us luck.

Hubby bought a slow cooker and we both have cooked marvelous things in it. And today he made his first loaf of bread. He's missed the home baking so much, that it has motivated him to learn how. It was so sweet (sorry to be so saccharin) to watch him and his nervous self doubt throughout. And the pleasure of being able to point out to him that the boy, who is very discerning, was devouring the results. So, yes, it was a good loaf. Please make more.

And finally, the diet. I've kept the weight off, am in control of what I eat. I even seem to be off the plateau and have lost weight this last week without really trying. I've hit 39 and may actually be happy with my physical self at last. Is that allowed?

time for school and conkers

2007-09-03T19:57:00.001+01:00

Back to school and back to the work-time cosmic menu. I'm secretly looking forward to it. Porridge and berries in morning, Brazil nuts for snack, salad and soup for lunch, fruit and lots and lots of caffeinated fluids and working my socks off. The supper menu is in the process of becoming more streamlined. Mamma's boy is no longer a baby and eats everything we do (with gusto it must be said). We are contemplating whether to include mushroom crumble, pear tarts, and smoked fish. The Girl is showing more of an interest in cooking and wants more homemade puddings. Not good for my diet, but I could just show adult constraint...

Show and Tell

2007-09-02T10:52:00.000+01:00

I'm just beaming like a little kid. I've learned to put in a zipper! I embroidered a drawing of The Girl's.
I also have just finished matching aprons! Mine is for work, I'm going for a retro more mature look and not so utilitarian.
Back to school tomorrow!

What I did on my summer holidays

2007-08-19T18:42:00.000+01:00

It's been a long and quite frankly, lovely summer holiday. Each day a lifetime lived.
Lots have happened, all good and I don't really know how to summarise without it all sounding too personal, and at the same time like one of those photocopied group letters I used to get from a University colleague during the summer (she became a journalist).
So I will leave it at that and resume normal transmission asap.

I made shopping bags

2007-08-02T09:48:00.000+01:00

OH! What a buzz. Hubby bought this fabric ages ago from a charity shop (1£!) so that I could dabble with the idea of making my own shopping bags. I came across this website today morsbags.com. An hour later I had two shopping bags. An hour after that Hubby went to the shops with one (he doesn't like the flowers, I wonder why?) and return with a sizable purchase. Design Technologist in me demands assessment feedback. It felt secure, manageable size, carried lots, but to make it male user-friendly, I need to find different colours/patterns. Fair enough.

We are all philosophers

2007-07-30T09:59:00.001+01:00

Last Night
I've been re-reading Alain De Botton's Consolations of Philiosophy. Chapter IV Consolations of Inadequacy focuses on the writings of Michel de Montaigne. The man was the original blogger!

"He was concerned with the whole man, with the creation of an alternative to portraits which had left out most of what man was. It was why his book came to include discussions of his meals, his penis, his stools, his sexual conquests and his farts- details which had seldom featured in a serious book before, so gravely did they flout man's image of himself as a rational creature."

I could go on about the internet and how writing about our lives in the public domain have changed the way society lives, but I would be in danger of sounding more of a fool than I do normally. And, it has just occurred to me, my life online is heavily edited. I have my own personal blogging rules:
1. Try to write about non-negative observations (I wouldn't necessarily call it positive)
2. Always include a photograph.
3. Each entry must not be so long that the reader has to scroll down the page.
4. Don't refer to family members by name.
5. Don't mention anyone specifically from work without them knowing about it.

I can't remember the others, but I did start with 10. Yes I did write them down somewhere before I began blogging.

This Morning
Mamma's boy was up at 5:20 (yikes), the sun is shining and the cool breeze is glorious. He and I ate a breakfast of blueberries, (oh yeah another rule, always refer to food) bananas, fruit bread, cheerios and for me lots of coffee. The Girl awoke at 8:00 and attempted to have her breakfast outside picnic stylee. Mamma's boy helped himself to it for his second breakfast of the day.

Holiday Time

2007-07-29T11:35:00.000+01:00

I always have loads of ambitions for the holiday time. The list included: blogging everyday, sewing, reading 10 books, strip cleaning the whole house, playing with the kids, I'm too embarrassed to list the silly over the top stuff.
What I have done so far is: sleep, eat, play with my baby. And have thoroughly enjoyed it. For once, I'm not letting my overachieving anxiety get the better of me and am taking this time for what it is. Rest and repair.
And today, it stopped raining!
Mamma's boy loves picking blueberries off of the bush and eating them. Ripeness is an issue...as it is with the tomatoes.
And Sunday's meal was a lush bruschetta/pizza thingy, watermelon and blueberries (store bought from Poland, nevermind)

Bread and Butter

2007-07-08T19:57:00.000+01:00

My guest blogger today is: The Girl

It was yesterday when we started planning for bread and butter pud. Mum had just asked me what I wanted for pud tomorrow and I had answered 'can we try bread&butter pud?"
'sure' said mom. She reached out and took down a rather large recipe book from the shelf careful not to drop it on E.J. who was playing with pots and pans right under neath her. after that book was unsuccessful we tried another and that one was. now enough of all that stuff that was how it started.and this is how it was ended and ended was it.
now of course you'll be wondering what happened all that wont you? [it includes a lot about me being poked in the eye with a bamboo stick, and having to put an ice pack over it.]we got out all the bread and stuff and we started making the pudding. after that we put marmalade and butter and laying out the bottom layer of the bread we started putting the apples and raisins in. then we had to put the egg in using sieve[I don't under stand it either].It was basically over by now and we just had to put it in the oven and that was soon done.it turned out delicious and I had it in my lunch the next day

DOING SOMETHING

2007-07-01T19:41:00.000+01:00

The Girl took the bento box picture.

I have decided today that I am troubled by inertia. When busy (I or those around me) I want it to stop. When quiet and restful, I cannot get out of my head that we all should be DOING SOMETHING. There is something lurking inside of me that says that the opposite of whatever is better for health, fortitude, moral standards, education and blah, blah, blah. Guilt for guilt's sake.
The incessant rain does not help.

Rhubarb Bakewell and musings

2007-06-24T21:26:00.000+01:00

My friend B gave me some rhubarb last week after I told her that ours had disappeared in the garden. I made a rhubarb jam with orange and ginger and then turned it into a Bakewell tart of sorts. The cakey topping is a sponge mixture of half wholemeal and cornmeal with vanilla. Burnt the edges a bit, but it was very very nice.

The Food Technology GCSE exam was this last Friday afternoon. That morning I turned around to see quite an eclectic gaggle of year 11 pupils coming through the classroom door. It was lovely to see them to be honest. Why they aren't in class is a bit too complicated to explain, but mainly it's their decision at this stage. We had a gossip, they asked questions about bread, yeast, labeling requirements and food temperature danger zones. One of the girls made an observation about tv soap operas. On the Australian shows there is always fruit on the tables and they are forever having bbq's and nipping into the juice bar for a smoothie. While on the UK soaps one see is bacon sarnies, fish and chips and bottles of ketchup sitting out on the tables (even if they are not eating!). What does it say about us? Just an observation.

Been watching Glastonbury on the telly, the only way to do it, even if it's just down the road from us. Highlights, and you must try to check it out on the ole' you tube if you haven't seen them yet, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop and Shirley Bassey. WOW. Life affirming the lot of them.

out for the day

2007-06-01T21:40:00.000+01:00

A trip out. Much needed after a week off of school with no money and a whole load of rain. It seems like a good idea until one starts thinking about mobilizing and then it all comes all flooding back. Have to pack food as it always costs an arm and a leg to eat out. No food in the house that is picnic friendly. Have to think about and get STUFF. You know, all the stuff that a child under the age of three needs. Cause if you don't pack it, you WILL need it. So change of outfit, nappies, wipes, food, milk, bibs, toys, push chair, hat, sunscreen, paper towels, carrier bags, trainers, etc...
Then: Well, where is the damn place? What time of day is it? What will the traffic be like? Will I get lost?? (I have an overactive imagination on the getting lost front, especially as it has never actually happened to me) Do I have petrol? No. Will there be a queue at the station? Yes. Do I queue for things? No. Bother. Have we got any cash? No. What will I wear? My jeans are in the washing machine...
House is a mess. Laundry could actually go out on the line today. I could do some planning for school when Mamma's boy is asleep. Yikes. School in three days. Panic sets in.
I have a tantrum.
Hubby goes out for a paper.
Comes back with flowers, proscuitto, brie, organic bread and packets of unsalted crisps fried in sunflower oil not palm (he does listen to my rantings!)and a mango.

So. I find the directions to the American Museum in Bath. We've lived in Bristol for thirteen years and have never been. This has to be corrected. I pack the lunch while Mamma's boy has a nap. Spinach soup, coffee and lemonade is added to the above list. I go to a small service station and get petrol (95p a litre! Crickey). We wait for the boy to wake and we rush to the car. We drive for 45 minutes through the traffic hell that is Brislington and Bath. And we arrive.
And it's rather nice.
We have our picnic. We walk through the house. The quilts are amazing. They have a Grandma Moses painting. They have very nice tour guides.
Then the sun comes out and we tour the estate gardens. Tomorrow is a Cowboy re-enactment and they were setting up tepees and chuck wagon. And everyone had a good time. So there.

show and tell

2007-05-20T22:59:00.000+01:00

It all started yesterday. Went to IKEA (man! they are going to have a lot to answer for environmentally, aren't they?) and we went all rebellious and walked through...in the wrong direction! That's right. We went in via the check outs. Got only what we went there for (except for the extra water plant for the fish, Bob has been so neglected lately), had a coffee, shared donuts and went home. And it was O.K.
I'm sure we all have IKEA horror stories to tell, so I wont share mine.

Today, I made this bag. And I am so chuffed. I haven't been this proud since...well I don't know when. I used an online tutorial here, took apart my wrecked trousers, lined it with some checked cloth I had and went for it. I also made 4 cushion covers, gardened, and roasted a chicken and actually communicated to the other family members on a normal human level. Which hasn't been happening a lot lately. Mamma's Boy sure loves Roast dinner. mmmmm. The Hubby and The Girl were brilliant and had a brilliantly busy day too. Come on summer holidays I say.

sweet art

2007-05-01T20:22:00.000+01:00

With a group of year 7's in DT, I've been exploring animation of inanimate objects. I took some of my favourite pictures and took them home and altered them. So a bit of appropriation. But the kids wouldn't recognise them from the original.

p.s. How exciting! I've just realised that tomorrow is my Blogiversary. Two years.

Start 'em young

2007-05-01T20:16:00.000+01:00

same lunch different day

2007-04-23T18:27:00.000+01:00

I was about to eat my lunch, the lunch that is now the same everyday, and I realized how lucky I am. I like my lunch and I am able to have lunch...
nothing to complain about.

Consumption

2007-04-07T20:35:00.000+01:00

O.K. Thought of the day (one that has occurred to many before me, I'm just a bit slow) and it's one I've mentioned before. Why do we have to 'treat' ourselves all the time? The constant bombardment of coffee, chocolate, flowers, personal grooming items that offer so much more, cards, gift wrapping, plastic wrapped hollow easter eggs. In everyday life I've been reducing, not in a eco-warrior one day I'll get a medal sort of way, but reducing. But, but, but... along comes Christmas, Easter, Birthdays and I feel forced into the brainwashed purchasing collective that is Western Society. I can't even believe that I still allow my daughter to 'believe' in the various mythical characters. I keep thinking she's just going to naturally give it up, being eight and usually shockingly logical and politically minded (she is investigating the Green Party after all) but then two days ago she casually wonders what the Easter Bunny will bring this year. Perhaps she believes that if she divulges her true understanding, the gifts will stop. I never believed in Santa and the Easter Bunny because my Mom was studying with the Jehovah Witnesses when I was very little. When she re-married when I was four, the concept was introduced and we went along with it, being the greedy little mites that we were.

It's all so frustrating.

I'm going to try, very slowly this will take some time, to give up chocolate. It really is unnecessary and generates so much negative stuff with it. Slowly so that it doesn't become a self-sacrificing nonsense.

D-word update: 13 lbs. almost a British stone. This is going well and ties in nicely with my desire just to consume less and feel better. Though, annoyingly after this conversation, weight loss has made it necessary to buy new clothes and then I went crazy a bought these to help with my hip and joint pain. I love them and don't plan on buying another pair of shoes for a very very long time. So there you go, contradictory and I shouldn't even dream of preaching.

lunch bag series: Monkey Boxing

2007-03-13T20:27:00.000Z

Friend, colleague, artist and writer of a music review blog, that is my friend T. I handed him a lunch bag months ago. He came up with the goods quickly and the bag art was terrific. The food? Hot pork balls and noodles. Real hot, for our drawn hero, who thinks he's all that, and probably is...check out his reviews.
T. has an uncanny ability to show up for a chat just when I need it. We work on a project together but separately (if that makes sense). I'm sure he would agree that it occasionally feels as if we are participating in an experiment: put us monkeys in a room with a typewriter (with all the time in the world) in the hopes we will eventually produce a new way of teaching Shakespeare. But we are both full of ideas and always hope that this project will allow us to experiment. T, lunch is on me soon.

D is for...

2007-02-18T22:01:00.000Z

We have a week off of school and I feel that I'm coming around a proverbial corner in my life. My baby's first year is sadly almost over. He's 10 months old now. And as many fellow parents will know, the first year is demanding and constantly changing. When I'm feeling low I feel that I've missed loads because I work full time. Jealous of my husband. And of course he is jealous of me for going out.
But both children are flourishing and hubby and I are in a good place.
The corner is this...I'm...on a...diet. I've not been on a 'diet' for years. I am a foodie after all. There are other reasons for not going on a diet, but that is too personal. As I said in previous posts, food hasn't been a focus anyway.
Not to worry, I'm not on a fad diet. Very healthy and balanced. Hubby is eating with me and supporting me. And I'm walking everyday with the fun pedometre thingy to get to 10,000 steps. I love doing things like that. When I walk to and from school, I hit the target no problem.

Porridge in the morning
nuts and fruit for snacks
soup and salads (with yogurt and hot sauce! yum!) for lunch
and small portions at night.

I do not like feeling hungry and I do not like thinking about it all the time, so I've changed the menu and put patterns in place so I don't have to think about it. A mind that has that thinking pattern of *diet, diet, don't eat, don't eat, can I? Am I thin yet?*, is a very very boring mind.
I want my joints to stop hurting and I want to wear nicer clothes and feel nice in them. That's all. Small details considering how many other things I am doing and thinking about and so will not be mentioned again.

Next post: lunch bag friend Tony

Next week: My parents arrive to visit!

2007-01-27T23:17:00.000Z

Dear all
As a colleague at work said, "January is a Cruel Mistress" and as this is a positive place, I haven't had much to say. I haven't been cooking. Which isn't good.
It's been all about the job and 'teaching'. Not Food Technology so much this year but instead two new experimental projects. These projects have taken over my life. Along with the 9 month old Mamma's Boy. He's turning out to be a bit like a Tasmanian devil. Lovely though he is (and my god I do love him), he is a lot of work. All of which leaves me little time or thought for my hobbies and interests.
But enough of explaining myself as if it's important to y'all. What about the pictures? Well, they are evidence of a very enjoyable practical lesson with year 11's. I need to provide ingredients for some of them and they pay me back. It was such a challenging week I decided to treat myself. So S. got to make a 'chocolate Bakewell'
The base is a chocolate shortbread
125 grams plain flour
25 g cocoa powder
100 g block margarine (he was only paying £2's so no butter)
50 g caster sugar

The middle is chocolate spread

the cake topping
2 medium eggs
100 grams block margarine
100 grams caster sugar
75 grams self raising flour
25 grams of cocoa powder

and drizzled on the top is a melted bar of white chocolate.

Yes, it was excessive but it energized the group and made that particular pupil the centre of attention (and we all need that from time to time, me...all the time) and quite frankly they were damn good on a dreary January Friday. And we all deserved it.

Merry Christmas from The Cosmic Menu

2006-12-23T19:53:00.000Z

lego tree

2006-12-21T23:01:00.000Z

pupils' work

2006-12-18T15:22:00.000Z

Now, this pastry doesn't look that awesome, but let me tell you it is. When N. made it the first time, he bought puff pastry and just sliced the kiwi and mango and baked it up. That was it. I decided to write a detailed feedback, suggesting that to improve his grade he will have to make the pastry himself and make some sauces/jams to go with it. And I'll be darned if he didn't go away and make his own puff pastry, and lemon curd to go underneath the fruit and in the lesson he learned to make his own proper custard (so many British kids think that proper custard is Bird's which is no more than coloured cornflour in a tin, awful stuff). Terrific stuff.

This is K.'s blueberry pancakes. She got very excited about photographing them as if they were going into a magazine. Not a bad shot I think.

And these little delights are potato cakes with three different fillings, including bacon and mozzarella. Again it doesn't seem much, but is quite ambitious for a kid as they have to plan ahead and do stuff the night before to prepare. And it's a lot of shaping etc. in a lesson. But they were terrific. N. is very interested in the bento idea and bento is the inspiration with these potato snacks.

And these biscuits are just shortbread, but J. wasn't leaving until they looked great in the photo.
Best practical lesson I've been in in years.

Images of the week

2006-12-16T21:42:00.000Z

Mamma's boy

2006-12-16T21:38:00.000Z

After eight months, he's almost ready for the Christmas dinner...

lunch bag series: my friend B.

2006-12-09T21:59:00.000Z

I have asked my friends to take a lunch bag and create any image they want on it. Then they tell me what food should go in it...
This lovely piece has been created by my friend B. She is an artist who works part time as a Food Technology teacher... I'm having trouble writing about B. as I know that any short written description will not do her justice. Let's just say that she is wonderful, artistic, funny, caring and I love working with her. Unlike most people, who would think such a project a weird time waster, B fulfilled the request with a true piece of art. More than I could have hoped for.
B requested that the bag be filled with hummus, boiled egg, bread sticks and kiwi. Which of course is not what you see here. Two weeks ago, I organised the meal. I bought the hummus (I don't really like my own made) and instead of bread sticks, I made melba toast out of a sourdough loaf. On the day I cut kiwi flowers and took in an egg to boil, as B likes them soft. B was having a full-on day after having a full-on couple of weeks, so lunch was on me. It was lovely, as it usually is when we sit down and take a break. But I decided not to photograph the meal.
B, you are cool and I'm truly glad I know ya!

photo update

2006-12-07T21:14:00.000Z

Can't wait till lunch most days now that I've got this bento box. And I really can't wait until the holiday break. Can't think straight enough to blog, so here are some photos. This is what year 11 bydt2 made the other day...

making baby food

2006-12-02T23:45:00.000Z

No, I didn't go on strike, it was too much to bear. Baby has been sick this last week and it has made feeding him very stressful. It's such a delicate balance and I want to feed him well, but the jars looks so inviting and reassuring... But they are expensive. So I've updated the Cosmic Menu Of Happiness, which had been sidelined since Mamma's Boy had been born to include his food and hopefully things will go a bit smoother.
I am ambitious and will try to blog everyday up to Christmas. Kind of an advent calendar, but not, if you know what I mean.
Tomorrow, What the class 11dtby2 made Friday.

On Strike

2006-11-18T22:17:00.000Z

On strike and now realizing that Thursday is Thanksgiving. How's that for experimental?

Cookies and Punishment

2006-11-18T21:24:00.000Z

How does a teacher become popular? Making cookies of course. Year 7 Design Technology Packaging project with no real needed outcome. But why not end on a high? The week before, I had the kids design a package for cookies using the lunch bags that my Mom sent and utilizing our lessons about characterization of inanimate objects (cookie people with histories). This week I made the cookies before they came in and while I decorated the them, the kids wrote the recipe on the back of the bag. 50 pence to cover my costs and everyone was happy. Good way to end a very stressful week.

Hubby wound me up tonight and I've decided that I'm on strike. He's cooking from tomorrow for a week. Of course this will probably back fire. This is the guy that, when I moved in with him in Dundee sixteen years ago, had half a box of cornflakes and a box of stale ryvita in the cupboard AND THAT WAS IT!

Born in Kentucky and have never made pecan pie!

2006-11-12T22:12:00.000Z

Last weekend I figured out how to make sourdough English muffins. Using the cast iron skillet again. I had the sourdough sponge fermenting happily overnight. When I awoke I had a eureka moment and added just a little bit more flour, formed the rounds and got the skillet heating up. They were nice and chewy.
This weekend, a friend's birthday (Happy Birthday S!) and a desire to try something new. The Girl picked out this recipe. To my chagrin I realise that I have never made pecan pie. Didn't know how easy it was. The oven was a bit too hot and the top cooked faster than I wanted. A bit of cosmetic melted chocolate was in order. It went over well.

I've got an idea brewing from future posts, a collaborative lunch bag project. Watch this space.

how to wear an old chef's jacket

2006-10-28T23:24:00.000+01:00

I found out from a previous experience that if I throw out my chef's jacket, I'll need it. By this I mean I'll end up back on the Line calling out orders in a steak house somewhere. No amount of waxing nostalgic with Hell's Kitchen is going to make me really go back to that sort of life: 60 hours + a week, split shifts, Saturday nights followed by Sunday Morning all you can eat, you see where I'm going with this...
Anyway, I didn't throw out this jacket. What I did do was wash it with a bright yellow duster by accident, turning it to a lovely colour of pee. No amount of washing got rid of the colour. I decided to tie dye it. The dying got rid of the yellow, even in the man-made fibre thread stuff. I dyed the chef's buttons in purple. It turned out much better than I could ever hope.
I wear it now for practicals. The kids like it, they know I'm serious about the process. As a parting gift from the wonderful textiles teacher (covering for maternity leave last year), she machined on the Miss M.
Just thought I'd share...

my slide show experiment

2006-10-28T20:52:00.000+01:00

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Saw this on another food blog and had to have my own!
We are down to the end of the month and we've spent all our money on other things, not food. The Hubby says that an empty fridge makes me edgy. He's probably right.
I figured out how english muffins are made this morning, I took a damp version of sourdough that was fermenting away over night in the (empty-ish) fridge and broke off a bit for four portions. Popped them on a low heat in the cast iron and wow wee, they were good. Went with leek and potato soup. mmmm

It's Letter People Time!!!

2006-10-24T21:30:00.000+01:00

How to make Welsh Cakes, as requested.

2006-10-22T14:30:00.000+01:00

A Welsh Cake is a wonderful tea time snack that those clever folks over in Wales serve up to visitors. Easy to make but one does need a griddle, cast-iron skillet or similar.
250 grams self-raising flour
125 grams butter
125 grams caster sugar
125 grams raisins (I often put in a bit less)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 egg
and about 2 tablespoons of milk

Cube the butter and rub it into the flour
Stir in the sugar, the spice and the raisins
Crack and beat the egg, stir it into the mix
Add the milk and bring it together to form a ball
more milk if it is too dry and crumbly

Lightly flour the surface you'll be working on
Turn the dough out onto the surface
Knead lightly and roll out to about 1 cm thickness
Traditionally one cuts rounds with fluted edges, but as you see I used a star cutter

I heat the cast iron skillet slowly on a medium heat while I'm making the mixture
Turning it down slightly if it starts smoking.
Don't add oil!
The secret is a low but solid heat, if that makes sense. So that the cakes can be in the pan for a while to cook thoroughly without burning. that's the tricky part, and I often burn a few but eat them anyway.
Golden brown on the first side? Turn them over and do the same on the other.
They keep well in a sealed container, especially sense they are not fried in oil.

I got my recipe from a very reliable magazine, but I'm sure there are many variations.

lunch this week

2006-10-19T23:23:00.000+01:00

The focus on lunch has intensified this week. Sunday I taught the girl how to make welsh cakes. We shaped them as smiley stars to pack in her school lunches. She enjoyed that. Being conscious that the nanny state I live in would not approve of such things, I made the cakes with wholemeal flour.
Used my new tiffin today. In the top a creamy coconut curry with lentils, butternut squash, sweet potato, etc. In the bottom some sushi rice and eggs with vegetables for garnish. More fun making it than eating.

camp, ofsted and tiffins

2006-10-13T21:19:00.000+01:00

Well.
I survived. Almost lost it emotionally, but nevermind, it's over now.
Camp came and went, nothing to report here, food was institutional. I was hungry, so I ate it with gusto. Y'all would have been embarrassed for me.
Came back to school and the news that we were getting inspected by OFSTED. Crikey! My cool facade came crashing down. Sleep deprivation along with the idea of being observed can throw one's confidence. Lots of tearful chats with nice colleagues. Used it to think of strategies. The inspection went well for the school and we are all proud.
To give myself some thinking space, I made sure that I took time to create nice lunches for myself. Sushi today...plus lots of chocolate.
I have decided to collect lunch boxes. It makes sense. So late into the night on Tuesday ordered this tiffin on ebay. Isn't it darling?

Finally downloaded some pictures from work.
More fun with bread.
This one below started out as a shoe, then I said to shape it like my home state, Illinois. But upon reflection, I think it looks more like the Willendorf Venus
Tomorrow is my birthday. 38. I came home to smiling baby and child, a bottle of Canadian club and accompanying Coca Cola, more chocolate and baseball on the telly. What more could an American middle aged girl want?

The Girl's lunch today

2006-10-03T22:59:00.000+01:00

I am obviously getting settled into work again. I am spending too much time thinking about lunch and making it cute and nice. The top set year 11 GCSE class were introduced to the idea of bento today to help them with their project, which is designing a snack product for a kid's lunch box. I think the general British idea of what the contents of a packed lunch should be is rather limited (at least from what I've observed). I wanted the pupils to know that there is this idea of balance and aesthetics. We went to the computer rooms (brand new Apple computers, lush...) and I projected a couple of flicker bento pool slide shows. It went well I think.
Tomorrow, Mamma's boy and I are off to the 'Can Do Camp' with the other half of year 7's (along with plenty of other teachers). I have it on good faith from one of the pupils that the food is pretty good there. I've packed some tinned baby food and some scooby snacks for me. Just in case I have to go more than three hours without nourishment.

Bentos, brown paper bags and camp

2006-10-02T20:28:00.000+01:00

Since starting back to school, I had made no effort on our lunches. Opening tins of soup, micro-waving potatoes, buying cereal bars for the Girl's lunch. Yikes. Well it stops now. My Mom was asking what I wanted for my birthday. Response: American style brown paper bags and some cute bento boxes.
So lunches are back in focus.
Wednesday I go on CAMP! What??? As part of the school's new strategy to improve overall achievement and pupil confidence we are taking all of year 7's on a outward bound camp. One half of the year group went today. I and other colleagues go with the other 100 on Wed. back on Friday. I'm taking Mamma's boy. Cause I'm still feeding him and don't want to be away from him, but also as a comforter as I am really anxious about the whole thing. Wish me luck.

Friday Night Review

2006-09-29T21:36:00.000+01:00

Friday night. Always seems like a celebration. The end of another week, our lives advanced that bit more. Table set, candles lit, The Girl being sociable and looking forward to the trifle...
It's been all about relationships this week at school. For the first time in my five years of teaching, my group of year 11's are, on the whole, taking their coursework seriously. Actually doing what I ask them too. I'm not used to such motivation. My tutor group and I have come to the difficult impasse in our relationship and I'm having to show them the discipline as it were.
With my new job as a non-food teacher, I'm realising just how much lacking in confidence I am. Without the cover of cooking skills I haven't got much in my repertoire. Practical lessons are really only a management exercise, like being a line manager in a chaotic pancake house run by Snow White's mates. It's part of my goals this year to work on this and work towards feeling like a real teacher. I'm looking to others for inspiration and there are some lovely supportive people out there and I'm gratefull to them.

Who needs clay pots when there are iced buns to be made?

2006-09-22T21:54:00.000+01:00

"Miss, you're cooking today, aren't you?"
"Why yes, how could you guess? Did my pink tie-dyed chef's jacket give the game away?"
I have had two very pleasant bread making practicals. This week with a top set year 10 GCSE group. Iced buns. Only half of the class were there as the other half were in Art all day making clay pots. We all agreed that it was much nicer with only 12 kids in the room and we were being just as artistic.

While in the computer rooms with my year 11 GCSE groups, supposedly conducting internet research, we instead had great fun with the new Apple computers with the built in cameras. I don't normally post pictures of myself but I do have a collection of self -portraits (call it the art student in me). I like this one because it proves that I do enjoy my work and y'all still wouldn't be able to identify me in a line up.
My tutor group is quite a collection of preadolescents. (I'm keeping this sentence because I really like that word) And we are definitely on the journey together. I feel like a newly qualified teacher again, luckily with the added skill of being able to yell like an army sergeant when the need arises. I've been teaching them history this week. We finished with a discussion about Popeye and spinach and I unknowingly told a few porky pies (I've just checked wikipedia) but never mind. They wont check. Hopefully.
On the home front, Mamma's boy is a foodie! Sweet potato tonight and pear for pudding, went down a treat. I love making baby food. Not much skill in it, but there is something so satisfying about puree'ing the food to a silky softness.

Blue lollies, blue pop, blue bubble gum: WHY?

2006-09-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

Baby and I chilling and playing with water.

It's been a bit of a hurtling through uncharted corners of space kind of week. As I've said before, half of my teaching timetable is non-food now. I didn't actually have a practical until the second week and only because I covered a colleague's class. Gateau with fresh cream and everything. It was too hot for it, a lot of the cream curdled before the kids even got into school. But they were good natured kids. Quite a few discussions about healthy eating and our schemes of work.
For those of you not in Britain, Jamie Oliver has caused a knee jerk revolution about food in schools. It is a bit misconstrued. If one was to believe the media, cooking isn't taught in any school in England. There is even talk of setting up lunch time and after school cooking classes with non-teachers. Which begs the question: what the heck is wrong with just re-instating Home Economics and getting rid of the product design focus of Food Technology? A quick survey will no doubt reveal that most if not all Food Tech teachers would prefer traditional 'this is how you cook and this is what food does to the body' type of curriculum.
At our school, the dinners have been changed, sodas and crisps and chocolate are not now sold by the school, but but but Charlie and his Icecream van still get to come on to the premises at lunch time to sell the kids blue ice lollies, blue bubble gum and blue panda pops. I watch my newbie tutor group come barreling in for register in the afternoon, faces and mouth tinged with (you guessed it) blue and a wild look in their eye and I know that the afternoon is going to be fraught for the teachers and them. After having an afternoon lesson with them and having to practically peel one kid off of the ceiling, I've decided that a bit of pressure will need to be applied to get this anomaly sorted out.

lollycake

2006-09-02T23:00:00.000+01:00

A house full of four girls can be quite unnerving. Especially when we have spent the last five weeks alone with just one who has had her nose stuck in a book the whole time. But it was a good way of getting used to idea of back to work on Monday. To survive such afternoons, no matter how casually planned and put together, it is always wise to have food presented as a picnic or party spread and always, always have a DVD ready. The Girl and I made the cake which would be the centre of the picnic. And Hubby thoughtful planned ahead last night and picked up a funny movie.
The Girl had been wanting to make a cake that looked like a giant lolly pop for the last two weeks, so I had bought some coloured ready to roll icing. We had to roll it flat to get it to fit the cake, and we liked the results. The Girl added the cat (yes it's a cat) for a bit of flair and to use up the icing.
We took extra care with the sponge and it's the best I've ever made. I weighed the eggs, used the best quality cake flour, the zest of a lemon, a touch of vanilla, and a dash of milk. I glazed it with some homemade blackcurrant jam and applied the icing. Ready to roll icing tastes horrible you know. So the adults peeled the icing off of the cake and enjoyed it with a nice instant coffee.
We watched Kicking and Screaming, the Will Farrow film. I don't know about the girls, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. But they are not American and therefore have never had the Little League experience. It was especially poignant for me as my mom took over as our Little League coach after our first and very disastrous year. But that is another blog completely isn't it?

Whahey! it's a holiday!

2006-08-31T23:29:00.000+01:00

A long, busy and pretty gosh darn successful day completed. I sit on the couch next to The Girl. She's reading the last Harry Potter book *sigh* again and I pick up the computer to do some ole' skool surfin'. The house is quiet. Nice.
Then I discover that it is BlogDay2006! I'm so jealous, I want to be a part of the collective. So I spend the rest of the evening searching for new blogs. Taxing and there are a lot of quite frankly, dull blogs out there, but I'm glad I did it because I found these blogs:

1. AFRICAN AMERICAN DAD It's just well written and interesting.
2. The Shape of a Mother TM After the birth of Mamma's boy, I really needed to see this site. It has reminded me that physically I am just like a hell of a lot of other women out there.
3. hipteacher I hope she keeps the journal up, but I know that anonymity is important.
4.mathemagenicI found this blog when I was researching Co-constructed learning. Lots of people say that they love to learn, but she really means it. It's fascinating stuff.
and
5.molly chicken I have to confess that I have been reading her site for a while now,but it's terrific. She's a highly skilled crafter and the stuff is just sooo cute.

I haven't told them yet, but I'm going to post just before midnight my time. And feel part of something good.

tattoo baby and GCSE results

2006-08-29T21:01:00.000+01:00

Oh, this was fun. I bought cheap baby sleep suits for the boy and then customised them. This one I call tattoo boy.

GCSE results: disappointing as I thought. The three kiddies that I had hoped would get B's didn't.Three of my most challenging pupils, who had targets of C's, actually got G's and F's. Flippin' heck can't I get a break here? Not a good way to start the next school year. This session I will only have GCSE in the food dept. and the rest of my time will be spent teaching my tutor group (30 eleven year olds) everything else but food.
I'm spending this week mentally preparing for this by visiting friends and eating a lot of chocolate. Good plan don't ya think?

Holiday? Feeding and going back to work

2006-08-24T21:49:00.000+01:00

Are all family holidays stressfull? Is it a public secret that no one wants to admit too? We have come back from Scotland a week early because we just couldn't bare it anymore. The weather, the lack of clean, dry clothing, driving around to every known relative so that they can see the new baby. Or should I say, see the new baby as he did that territorial thing of needing to feed the minute we walk into a new house and then spit up all over me and him and their white furnishings? The Girl was clever and found an escape in the discovery of the Harry Potter Books. She barely spoke for days on end as she read and re-read them. Something up there that I was consumming disagreed with Mamma's Boy (the water?) because the spitting up stopped when we came back home.
Because of all that and my concerns about going back to work in a week and a half, I had decided to start Momma's boy on formula. Quite frankly, I was getting a bit fed up with getting the ole' knockers out in front of everyone. And that made the thought of spending my break and lunch times in a closet expressing just unbareable.

Now that I'm home and we've both settled again, I'm having second thoughts. We've also started him on baby rice. I know the guidance now is to leave it to six months, but Mamma's boy weighs a hefty 21 lbs. 6 oz., is incredibly strong and is showing all the signs of being ready, including going mental when we eat and waking two and three times in the night to feed. I know he's more interested in the process of putting spoon in mouth, so we are taking it slowly.
I've been doing a bit of googling about breastfeeding vs. formula and of course it all tells me what I already know, that I should continue for as long as possible. But my job this September is going to be very different, more stressful, and I want to get it right, so that I'm more employable in the future. Both things are important. So I'll try to not jump to any quick changes and see how things go.
GCSE results were out today, and that's made me really anxious too. (Sorry, I'm not supposed to winge on this blog) My Food groups historically don't do as well as they should and I most definitely get judged on that. It really gets me down, so I didn't go into school to see the results just yet. The group I had was on the C/D border, so it was crucial for the school's results that they got the C's and not the D's. I was on maternity leave during the revision time, they didn't take their work home to study, and I'm not too confident.

Philosophising

2006-08-05T22:37:00.000+01:00

Scotland, Summer, so it must be raining. But it's still nice.
Here is a truism for you: An interesting landscape can stimulate an internal dialog. Because one is busy trying to place one's self within it.
Here is a couple more. You can't really decide about a new person until three weeks have passed. That's when they let their guard down and show their true selves.
And it's all well and good to try to cook a perfectly boiled egg, but all your efforts won't count for nowt if the person that the egg is for is otherwise occupied, in the loo for instance, as it will carry on cooking and your fantasies of the greatest expression of love through breakfast fall apart.

Full Circle

2006-07-22T21:45:00.000+01:00

Funny how things can come full circle.
Almost 7 years ago I packed in my job as second chef at the ole' cafe/bar/conference centre to move rapidly and blindly towards a career in teaching. Last week I was back there to attend an Enquiring Minds conference. What was scary but predictable was that the menu and the buffet served to us was exactly the same as what was being served up when I left. This will amaze many of you, but I brought to the place the 'radical' concept of nachos and potato wedges. I do not lie! Oh the tales that I could tell, but all unimportant.
It was lovely to pop into the kitchen and see who was still there and have a chat, catching up and checking out the new computerized oven. Cool.
As for the others attending the conference, well they considered the pickins' to be posh nosh. Little did they know, unless I whispered it to them that it all came from a box and was deep fried. But I ate it with joy and nostalgia and it was good.