A Foodie Post

It's been quiet here on the blogging front. Sausages is needing me a lot at the moment, I'm getting tired and slow moving, and I had to give the fabulous camera back to Bapar. Blogging seems pretty dull without photos! This week I have set myself up with the camera I had when I was a student. It's the same as Sausages', but he has 6mp and I have only 4! His life is more exciting than mine anyway! So I apologise if my photos are a little sad at the moment.

There has been some really hearty seasonal cooking recently, so I thought I'd share some of it with you!

This is Chicken Stew/Soup (this one lies on the cusp. If you mashed it it would definitely be soup, and if you chunked the components it would definitely be a stew, and would love to go with dumplings) in the style of my Gran. Again, it's a what-I-have-in-meets-slow cooker recipe, but well worth passing on. If you've met me, or read the blog recipes before, you'll know measurements and precise ingredients are not in my nature! This potful contains: three chicken thighs; a little marigold reduced salt bouillon powder; two sticks of celery and five carrots, chopped up fine in the food processor; about a cup of ubiquitous broth mix (barley, split peas, lentils etc. available very cheaply in any supermarket or wholefoods shop); and a good measure of boiling water from the kettle. Bear in mind that the broth mix will drink a lot of water. I cooked the chicken in the slow cooker first, then took out the bones and skin but left in the juices before adding all the other ingredients and cooking for half a day. Pulses don't really seem to soften well in the slow cooker, so I try to give them as long as possible. It made six hearty portions, wolfed down on a chilly lunchtime with hot crusty bread rolls and lashings of white pepper. The white pepper is important! It makes the dish!

The second slow cooker lovely I want to share with you is a sort of instant sauerkraut-inspired sausage and cabbage affair. This is a real autumnal meal. Into the pot went: a pack of six bratwurst sausages from Aldi, roughly quartered; half a white cabbage, sliced into around 1.5cm strips with a bread knife; one red onion; ground mixed peppercorns; a tablespoon of cider vinegar; and about a cup of cider (plenty left in the bottle to drink alongside!). We served it with mashed potato to soak up the delicious gravy, but we were not equal to the quantities, and so I would say this serves 5-6. There was plenty left over for another meal. Sausages especially loved this, and when I wasn't looking leaned over and liberated some of my sausage. He is the proverbial "good eater!"

I've also been making some fancy drinks this week. Sausages and I tried out a fabulous outdoor playgroup last week, and at snacktime they produced hot potatoes and a flask of mulled apple juice. Sausages loved the apple juice, so I made a big pan of it at home, and the three of us dealt with it pretty swiftly. I just chucked a carton of cheapy UHT apple juice in a pan with a sachet of mulling spice, long past it's B.B.E. and found lurking at the back of the larder. It reduced down a little, but the spices stopped it from being too sweet int he way apple juice can be come times.

I also had a go at making pumpkin spiced syrup, courtesy of the lovely home baked blog. I recently roasted and processed a delicious little pumpkin. Most of it went into an amazingly delicious risotto, but three spoons of puree were reserved for this little treat. I wasn't ready for the pumpkin spiced lattes to disappear from the cafes!

I ended up with one tall jar full of delicious, dark syrup, but I think I reduced it too far, so you should end up with more. Also it would have been cleverer to use several little jars instead, so that only the sterile seal on what you are using would be broken. I'm not too bothered though: I don't think it's going to last very long!

As I have emerged from the fug of pregnancy sickness I have been greeted by not only the change is season, and the culinary excitement it inspires, but also the push towards preparing for Christmas. Christmas this year is a "known unknown" for us: will we have a new bungalow resident? Will I be waddling around with a full-term-sized belly? It's a mystery for now, and Husband and I are focusing on every week as it comes, taking things very steady, and doing everything in our power (not much) to avoid having another early baby. This weekend in my fortune cookie I received the fortune "a happy event will take place shortly in your home." I'm taking this as a positive homebirth sign. I'm not superstitious, but even I can't ignore that one! However, it has occurred to me that it might well be Husband who actually cooks our first Christmas dinner in our own home. I have been doing as much preparation as possible, and the 4-bird roast, pigs in blankets, and baked red cabbage are all nestling in the freezer. Husband does the best roasties and veg anyway, it only remains for me to persuade him to cook sprouts the way I like them!

How is your festive prep coming along? I hope you are enjoying your slow cooking!

E

Wednesday Yarn Along

Joining in with Ginny...this week I spent a lot of time making up a jumper knitted by one of my lovely mummy friends, who I taught to knit "my very rown self," as Sausages would say. I actually enjoy making up, and like to think my seams are quite pretty, but in my first attempt at making up this jumper I made a silly mistake in reading the instructions, and had to rip out all the sleeve and side seams. This is a before picture:

It broke my heart to rip that out! It was done! But my silly mistake had made the arm holes too small, and nobody needs that, so out they came. My lovely friend fed me a lot of chocolate afterwards, and I'm just about over the trauma now. The moral of this tale? Don't read the pattern! Follow your brain! I have also finished knitting the leaves for Sausages' autumn decorations (as demanded. He knows what he wants knitted, that boy!), and they are awaiting forming into some sort of display. Maybe around our hall mirror?

This garish beast is the first thing I have knitted for 'Madge, even though I started it before we even imagined that we would be having a baby soon. It's really an exercise in using a basic chevron pattern, and uses a pack of rainbow yarn that came free with a magazine Husband bought for me when I was poorly at New Year. It's also full of mistakes, and one row of non-regulation red due to a miscalculation that saw the blanket abandoned in a project bag for a good month or so. In the end I decided that I had to get the project out of my system, and that 'Madge isn't really in a position to criticise, so a single row of the wrong red was endurable. Please forgive me if the colours have hurt your eyes!

Not knitting, but Sausages and I had a lovely day with our fellow woolly friends, making wet felt. Unfortunately it turns out Sausages still doesn't have the patience for wet felting, but his little friend (who is a year older) managed just fine and produced the best effort of us all! the above is what Sausages and I managed together, and will make a nice little coaster for my dresser. The slightly dodgy surface underneath it is my upturned sewing table, still awaiting repair by Husband before it can assume it's place in my overcrowded craft corner. We've been a bit busy lately!

Reading-wise I am half way through Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am not enjoying it, and this is another case of my inability to walk away from a book before I have read the whole thing. This book seems to be a vanity exercise in navel-gazing, and not up my street at all. The end.

As you can see, quite a random week this week, but I had a very strong urge to finish the leaves and the blanket, and have soooo many new cast-ons lined up, so next week should be a lot more exciting on the knitting front! I have cast on the first of my Christmas knitting projects, which I will share with you next week, when hopefully I will have resolved the question of the final design. I know, I must decide these things before I cast on, but it's going to be a big project and I was aching to get it started!

Have you started your festive crafting yet? What are your personal rules about crafting gifts for others? Do you enjoy crafting with your children for Christmas and other celebrations? Let me know!

E 

All Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness in the Fen

It's been a clingy week for Sausages, hence the lack of the usual Wednesday blather, and I'm only managing to come online now because Husband has managed to prize him off me with a treaty boys supper of nachos with trimmings! Not a normal dinner in our house, but it's been a demanding day with a lot of food, and such moments are what rule-bending is for. I finished Sausages' pumpkin hat, and he was so chuffed with it that he put it on and ran around the house singing "I am a pumpkin head!" without even letting me weave in the ends!

There's no pattern, I just cast on a multiple of six stitches that was compatible with the circumference of Sausages' head and standard DK gauge, and worked in the round in six stocking stitch panels separated by two purl stitches. When I guessed it was tall enough I started decreasing two stitches per panel per round, and when I got down to six stitches changed to the green yarn, working a stalk in six-stitch rounds. Anyway, it's cute as pie and will be his hallow'een costume this year. Sounds lame, but hallow'een isn't really our thing, so it's a compromise because I want him to enjoy the festivities with his friends.

I've also got back in the kitchen in a bigger way this week. I've done a lot of cooking with leftovers this week. We had some sweet potatoes and butternut squash left over from a roast dinner, so I bunged them in the slow cooker with two tins of coconut milk, a red onion, and the end of a jar of Thai red curry paste for seasoning. I blended and froze it, and when Sausages and I had some for lunch this week he licked the bowl. It was THAT good, honest! We had it with hot, buttered, toasted sourdough from the end of a homemade loaf...bliss! Husband has also developed a taste for homemade quiche, so this week we had "leftovers quiche," containing mostly courgette and butternut squash. Both of these are yummy, hot autumnal meals, and I didn't have to buy anything in for either. Perfect!

Sausages and I have had a really autumnal week, reveling in the change of season. Yes, I do know how pretentious that sounds, but I'm just not a summer person, and the change in season has come at the same time as my morning sickness is waning, and I feel so contented to be breathing in the cooler air and autumn scents of conkers and rain. We had a lovely walk with friends at Wicken Fen, where we explored a fenland cottage along with the beautiful countryside. Can you see what my lovely friend is holding in her hand? A taxidermied mole! Our boys thought this was brilliant, along side the tractors, ducks, chickens, cattle and windmills that punctuated our walk.

 I know I do bang on about it, but our National Trust membership does give us a fantastic selection of days out available for no extra cost and on the spur of the moment. It's ideal when mummy needs fresh air and small boys need to run around with no restrictions. We've needed it a lot recently! Of course Sausages' clingy mood and difficult bedtimes have been caused by a huge developmental leap. I'm so proud of him, but I'm also very proud of Husband and myself, and our ability to look at changes in his behaviour, recognise that he's going through something we don't know about yet, and adjust our lives accordingly. It makes me feel like we can pause in our climb of the mountain of parenthood, look down, and be proud of the progress we have made. Oh dear, I do sound pretentious and sentimental this evening, but what I want to convey to other parents is: be kind to yourselves, if your child's behaviour is challenging you in some way there is probably something exciting coming, and bending the norm to make life supportive for everyone while this change is coming is fair, and not "copping out!"

I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying the change of seasons as much as we are! Do you have any favourite slow cooker recipes for the autumn? 'Tis the season!

E

Yarn Along!

Joining in with Ginny...

It's a quiet week in the Bungalow. Husband is under the weather, and Sausages is having a tough time with bedtime. What I mean by that, of course, is that we're all having a tough time at bedtime! It's been a demanding month for him: Husband going back to work after a summer that must feel like forever when you're two; a new playschool, which he loves and is stretching him in good ways; Mummy slowing down and not up for all the usual japes; and new swimming lessons where he has to go in without Mummy. This latter has probably been his biggest challenge, and he started the week before he turned three. He's a year younger than the other children in the class, and desperately wants to take part and do what they do, but is also quite nervous of doing it! I've been so proud to see him manage this in the last four weeks, getting braver and more independent every lesson, while I wobble on the poolside.

Back to the task in hand! The new playschool is further from home, so mostly I run errands in the local town, and find a bit of time for myself. This has meant more reading time, hurrah! This week I am reading Mayim Bialik's account of her own attachment parenting experiences. It's been a really good read for me. She and I agree on pretty much everything, but have gone about some things differently. It's like discussing the topics with another mum, but without worrying about offending or misunderstanding each other. Understandably, emotions often run high during discussions of parenting approaches! Dangerously, she has included topical recommended reading, some of which has found its way into my amazon basket this week. Oops! The scarily orange knitting is going to be a pumpkin hat for Sausages, by way of a costume for a Hallow'een party he has been invited to. There's no pattern, just a vague idea of shaping using purl columns, but I think it's going to be too small for his large head. Very orange toddler pumpkin hat, anyone?

Having Husband at home on the sofa in front of a film has meant that Sausages isn't climbing all over me today, so this morning I have put a Christmas cake in the oven, and a red cabbage in the slow cooker. That will cook all day, then be stuck in the freezer for Christmas dinner (if it makes it that far). In fact, it's so delicious I'm going to share the ingredients with you:

1 red cabbage

1 red onion

2 cooking apples

a slug of red wine

the juice of an orange

mixed spice

brown sugar

The quantities? Oh, I'm afraid I don't really cook that way, it's what I have in, or left over, or can scrump! I often freeze it in smaller batches, and defrost one every time I make a shepherd's pie with leftover roast lamb. The juices and cabbage are just perfect cooked in with the meat. I hope you have a go and enjoy it!

E

Yarn Along

Joining in with Ginny, here's what I'm reading and knitting this week!

Chouette is finally finished, and awaiting a pepping-up block before it pops off to its intended recipient. This is the biggest size, but still knitted comfortably on my "hat needle," so it's a convenient little project (when you don't have a yarn aversion!)

The red leaves I am knitting will hopefully be part of a selection I want to put together to make an autumnal display with Sausages. They're a bit cute, if you excuse the loose ends and desperate need for blocking. I have a couple of different leaf patterns, and will be looking for an acorn or similar. We've really enjoyed stomping in the leaves recently, especially on our walk with Mammar at Wandlebury Woods. This is a great day out, lots of lovely space to walk around, £2.50 parking for the day, and the odd charming resident...

Reading wise I am just coming to the end of Anchee Min's Katherine, the story of an american woman's time living in China. I can't bring the dates to mind, but it's basically an exploration of the harsh reality of post-Mao China and the naivete of the Western incomer. It's not terribly deep, but it will do me for now!

I've been chatting this week with my lovely Kangaroo Mummy friends about how we live frugally, so I thing a serious frugal post is due this week, but right now we have to go to big boy swimming lessons (Mummy sits on the side, doncha know!), so I'll be back soon to talk with you about my beloved slow cooker, and other domestic economies!

E

Yarn Along with Ginny

Joining in with Ginny and her friends!

It's been a busy week in the Bungalow. Husband and Sausages have the same birthday, so that involves an annual extravaganza of cards, presents and cake, as well as visits from friends and family. I always suggest a BBQ, and Husband always overrules me. This year they both had some friends over, but sadly I am still too sicky to do a proper party tea, and they had to make do with everything bought in. Except cakes. When I was giving birth to Sausages (actually when I was pushing, since we had been assured that his premature birth could be prevented and had believed it until right at the end, when it became apparent that this wasn't going to be the case!) Husband made me promise that there would always be separate birthday cakes. Apparently sharing your birthday is one thing, but sharing your birthday cake is quite another! I seem not to have taken a photo of Sausages' cake, but here is a little peek of Husband's:

Can you guess? Yes, it's the ever-popular chocolate Guinness cake. I did the harp myself. I'm pretty chuffed. Thanks to the fabulous help of The Outlaws and my sisters the boys had a lovely day and there was plenty of food. Sausages received lots of lovely presents, including a Lightning McQueen scooter Husband picked up on Freecycle. Here he is learning to use it with Grandad:

There has finally been a bit more knitting for me! Yay! The rainbow on the left is the first thing I am knitting for the new baby (Madge), and on the right is the Explorer's Vest I started eons ago. I'd love to finish it soon for Sausages, but just taking the knitting one day at a time at the moment. The Craft-A-Day was a birthday present for Sausages from Auntie Wooodle, and contains a project for every day of the year, with weekly themes. It's a bit repetitive, but sometimes you do just need something to get you started, and all of the projects are charming.

The Handbuilt Home comes from the authors of this blog, which Husband and I have been admiring. It is full of lovely projects, and I've put in my requests! A lot of Husband's other presents were DIY related, so I have high hopes. First on my wishlist? Shelving in the boiler room/airing cupboard. Storage in the Bungalow is a nightmare! I have no idea where we will find space for a whole extra person's stuff!

This last book is what I'm seriously reading at the moment. David Attenborough is one of my favourite people ever. People I know refer to him as "my David." Sausages has started at a new preschool in a nearby town, and since the sessions are short I am so far just hanging out in that town while he is there, curling up in an armchair in a coffee shop with My David. Bliss! I'll leave you with a little treat for anyone who's ever lived with small children or been to my house; the instructions on the side of one of Sausages' jigsaws, that caught my eye while we were playing trains this morning. Have you seen it yet?

Summer of Fun Part II

Last post I mentioned some of the activities we squeezed into July of Sausages' Summer of Fun. Here are some of the things we managed for August!

Several trips to the fabulous adventure playground at Ickworth. We really make good use of our National Trust membership, making many weekend family visits, and well as Sausages and I going during the week most weeks.

Sausages has rediscovered painting, sticking and drawing this summer, after a long time of not being interested. This is a great joy to me! We have made sooo much mess, but it's great to see his creative ideas forming and his fine motor skills improving every day.

We took a train in to London to visit my brother and his partner for a weekend. Both of my sisters and my parents came along. It was very much worth taking the train rather than the car. Sausages LOVED the train, especially going through tunnels, and going down the "magic stairs" to the underground. We picnicked in the park and on the South Bank, where Sausages really enjoyed walking over the Thames, waving to the boats, and riding on a beautiful roundabout. This was a big step forward for our timid boy, who is mysteriously frightened of riding on swings, and doesn't like you to put a coin in the ride-ons outside supermarkets!

We revisited an old favourite, Blue Reef Aquarium, and treated ourselves to fish and chips on the seafront for lunch, where we watched boats sailing by. Sausages loves the aquarium, and would happily spend an entire week there, getting nose-to-nose with the rays, stroking the starfish at the rock pool experience, and running through the tunnel. Husband hates it, and is very sweet about taking us there.

We visited Uppark, another great National Trust property with fantastic grounds. This was a really family friendly day out. There were long underground tunnels, where Husband and Sausages pretended they were an octopus in the sling...

...lots of open space for running around, and games equipment provided...

...and a fine supply of different benches for our connoisseur!

We also had a fabulous day out at Portsmouth Historic Dockyards, which was a big treat from The Outlaws. The grown-ups really enjoyed the new Mary Rose museum, which I cannot say enough good things about. The amount of artifacts available is truly amazing, and the museum has been so well put together. Sausages' favourite parts were HMS Victory, where there are a lot of interactive exhibits perfect for small boys. In the picture below he is sitting at a table where the sailors would have eaten, which was laid with wooden bowls and spoons, and replica weevily biscuits. Next to the Victory there was a nice water play, with pumps and other toys. That wore him out, so the grown-ups got to enjoy another museum while he slept in the sling. That investment has truly saved our summer!

On our way home from Portsmouth we met up with some of Sausages' little friends at Wimpole. This is another great day out for small children. There is a large park to run around in, and even a farm on site, although the entrance is not covered by National Trust membership.

The boys have had a fabulous summer together. We are so lucky to have Husband home for such a chunk of time in the summer, even if it isn't the six weeks that teachers are rumoured to have! They are so lucky to have this time with no pressure to just enjoy each other's company. Here they are making mince out of the end of a leg of lamb. Men, using machines!

If you have children at home, what have you done with their summer time? The lessons I have learned from the Summer of Fun are: that a toddler carrier is absolutely indispensable where there are distances to be walked or crowds to be negotiated; and that every other day should be a rest day. Sausages has been so tired out by this summer, and has even resumed a day time nap. The sling was essential for carrying him, especially when he was tired, or needed to be held on to, because there were lots of people or breakable objects. It also helped him to be able to see things that were designed for adult audiences, and to have a conversation with us face to face when it was noisy. A buggy would have kept him separate from us in these situations, and they're so awkward! Our sling is a toddler ABC, and although Sausages is now right at the top of the weight bracket, and no longer knee-to-knee, it's very hard wearing and will probably last us until it's no longer necessary for occasional lifts. I can't carry Sausages any more, because he weighs over 20kg and my pregnant spine just can't handle it, so I'm really looking forward to getting to use this carrier when the next baby is big enough!

I hope you've all had fantastic summer breaks, even if it was just a long weekend, and are looking forward to the change in seasons to come.

E