Skip to main content

Shrove Tuesday

Yes, I know, it's been aaaaages!  I do apologise.  Moving countries has a way of disrupting blogging.  I will have to think of a new subtitle (suggestions on a postcard, please!) since this won't be a taste of Texas life any more, but I know some of my Texas friends will enjoy hearing about a taste of English life, and I hope the rest of you will too!

English countryside.

Settling back into your native country is not a particularly easy process, as we have found and many others we've spoken to have told us.  So I thought I'd try and make Shrove Tuesday a bit more of a celebration this year.

I kept the main course simple and nutritious - shallow-fried fish, stir-braised cabbage with cumin, and sweetcorn - so that we could gorge ourselves on the obligatory PANCAKES.  While I can make crepes if I have to, American-style pancakes are so much easier.  A huge plateful soon diminished, accompanied with warmed golden syrup, fresh blueberries, butter and yogurt.


I love the identical expressions!

mmmmmmm.....


And then it was time for the creative part!  Toby loves colouring and sticking now, so I cut out some Mardi Gras masks and we got busy decorating.  Some feathers and sequins might have been fun, too, but I think we made quite a good effort.  Once all the glitter glue was dry, I stapled them to straws for handles.

Deep concentration.

Modelling the results.

I spy with my little eye...


All decorated!

So that was our Pancake Day / Mardi Gras!  If you are keeping Lent, I hope it is going well.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greece is the word! Part 1: Athens

The last few times we have been on holiday, my family has asked, "Mum, are you going to blog about this one?" It's felt like an overwhelming task. For a start, we now have FOUR phones with photos on, rather than one digital camera. Also, I regularly write quite long blog posts about three-hour walks. How on earth will I summarise a full week's holiday? But this time, I thought I should try. It's one of the most enjoyable holidays we've had in a while, and I've definitely done too many Peak District posts recently. Everyone needs a change of scenery. So here we go, jetting off to Athens. Day 1 We landed at Athens airport in a looming thunderstorm, but the worst of the rain held off until we'd made it safely to our apartment. Graham had earmarked a nice little restaurant called Lolos for dinner - eating shell-on prawns in tomato sauce was a deliciously messy experience - and we went to bed early after our 3am start. Day 2 Next day we climbed Philopappos ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Greece is the word! Part 2: Epidaurus

For the first part of our Greek holiday, see here . Day 4 - continued After much waiting around, we acquired a hire car and set off for the second part of our holiday. I am so glad that Graham can get into a strange car in a foreign country and drive away with no problems. I would be a nervous wreck. Even Graham was a little spooked by the Athens traffic - very narrow lanes crowded with cars and buses, and mopeds zipping in and out of every available gap. I had left Google Maps set to "avoid tolls", which meant that we stayed off the fancy new highway and took the old road towards Corinth instead. There was practically no traffic, so although it was slower, it felt very relaxed. We passed hills, hotels and oil refineries. Along the way, we stopped at a supermarket for supplies and drank Green Cola at the beach over the road. Crossing the Corinth Canal at Isthmia, we started heading south through the mountains of the Peloponnese. The sky had been growing darker and darker, and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Derwent Valley: Belper and Duffield

I'm getting into familiar territory with this walk. Duffield is one of the closest places that I can easily drive to and climb a hill, so I've done lots of walking around here. It's surprising how many new places I still see, though. Temperature: warm. Likelihood of being attacked by hordes of nettles: low. I decide to wear shorts. It's a good choice. The paths are well-trodden, and the sun is bright, though there's a pleasant breeze. There's plenty of free parking by Duffield church, so I drive there and walk across a field to the main road. Veering left up King Street, there is lots to see: the Methodist church, a butchers, and a penny-farthing gate. At the cemetery, I turn right and pick up a path towards the golf course. I'm heading towards the Chevin Hills here, which are the absolute lower reaches of the Pennine range. The ancient trackway along the ridge of the hills is another favourite walk. But today I'm just going straight down the other side ...
Post a Comment
Read more