Martha's Marvellous Munchies

The chief priests and scribes hold an emergency meeting "Good afternoon, gentlemen.  I trust we are all aware of our reason for meeting today?  Good.  The situation has escalated dramatically after yesterday's upheaval in the temple, and with the added pressure of the Passover feast at the end of the week, we simply must find a way of neutralising this man before he causes any more trouble.  You all know how precarious our positions are already; the Romans need hardly any excuse to abolish Temple worship altogether - and I don't need to spell out what that would mean for us as scribes and high priests.  We will not let this Jesus be that excuse. "Now, our best option is to catch Jesus in either an outright blasphemy or a statement of revolution.  So far he has been frustratingly careful, but we sent Joseph and Matthias to talk to him this morning.  Joseph?" "Thank you, High Priest.  Yes, Matthias and I found Jesus in the Temple courts again - fortu

Two temple traders complain about the recent ruckus "Three days' takings I've lost, Samuel.  Three days of my money down the drain, thanks to that joker." "Tell me about it.  Did you see my pigeons?  Everywhere, they were.  Some even got into the Holy of Holies, and the priests didn't like that , I can tell you!  It took me ages to round them up." "Pigeons?  Well they're OK - they're homing birds, aren't they?  You shake a bag of food, and back they all come.  My coins don't do that.  You know what all those beggars are like in the temple courts - one chink of a coin and they come running like chickens round seed.  When that madman turned my table over, half the money didn't even hit the floor before it was gone!" "At least you didn't get in the way of his whip, Hosea.  Poor old Jedidiah got driven right out of the courtyard.  I know those Ark of the Covenant models he sells are pretty tacky, but he did

Judas Iscariot argues with the other disciples "Well, I've never been so embarrassed in my whole life!" "What's up, Judas?  You didn't enjoy all the cheering?" "A donkey, that's what's up!  A flipping baby donkey!  What kind of animal is that for the saviour of Jerusalem to ride in on?  I told him I knew a guy with a good horse, but oh no, he sends me and Matthew off like a couple of farmhands to get a donkey .  It makes fools of all of us, that's what it does.  No one's going to take him seriously after this." "Oh, give over.  The crowds loved it!  You heard them - hosanna to the Son of David, and all the rest of it.  And we were right in the middle of it!  I never thought a poor fisherman from Galilee would be able to say that! " "Well, make the most of it, Andrew.  They might be cheering today, but crowds are fickle things, you'll see.  He should have seized the moment!  Ridden in, stormed t

Somehow, somewhere, an Easter bonnet must have entered my life. Because when I read the words, "Easter Bonnet Parade" on Toby's pre-school newsletter, I immediately had a few mental associations.  Home-made.  Spring flowers.  Easter eggs.  I am sure I've never worn one.  I've definitely never made one.  But some kind of folk memory told me what I had to do. That, and Google, of course.  A few clicks brought up this handy Netmums page, and I thought the chicken-on-a-nest idea looked pretty cute. Now, of course, for items like this you basically have two options.  You either set your kids loose on it and encourage them to go as crazy as possible so that it is abundantly clear that it is All Their Own Work, and not that you are totally uncreative and/or forgot all about it until the night before.  Or you give in to your competitive streak, banish your children completely and go for top-notch perfection. Well, I tried for option 2.  Next year I'm lettin

It's almost Easter!  To celebrate, I've been doing some seasonal baking.  And I'm writing a special blog series for Holy Week.  It's called Conversations on the way to the Cross , exploring the events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection through the mouths of some of the people most closely involved.  So watch out for a post every day from Palm Sunday, March 29, to Easter Sunday, April 5! In the meantime, you may want something to eat.  Try these recipes. Easter Biscuits Some years ago, when I was living in Bristol, I wandered into a local chemist for something.  On the counter they had small bottles of cassia oil, with this recipe attached.  Intrigued, I bought some.  The cassia oil is long gone, but the recipe remains.  It works just as well substituted with cinnamon (a relative of cassia).  If you happen to come across any cassia oil, the original recipe called for 6 drops. 75g butter 75g sugar 1 egg 185g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder

It's a long, slow build up to spring around here.  I found myself wanting to shout at the daffodils to get moving, as I chivvy Toby to get his shoes on when we're running late.  But finally there's a sunny day here... and another one there... and a tantalising smell of green growing things in the air... and I got my camera and went hunting for springtime. Crocuses Magnolia buds (and blue sky!) Daffodils on the windowsill Flowers on the village green Snowdrops Even an early clump of primroses! Alder catkins A coot adjusting her nest Courting mallards But in the middle of all this new life, I turned on the radio this afternoon and learned that Sir Terry Pratchett had taken the hand of Death.  He was a man of immense imagination and immense humanity. Not many people can claim to have created a world.  Still fewer have welcomed 70 million people into that world with them. And probably only one has made it as funny, serious and fantastic

Seven things that you may or may not find interesting.  But first, a picture. Weekend Cottage 2 by Toby White.  Note the numbers above the doors, the chimney (and are those solar panels?) on the roof, and on the right, a tap with hose attached.  All his houses include this feature. 1.  I have six growbags in the back of my car.  This is the cheap and cheerful approach to starting a vegetable garden.  Once the frost has finished, the plan is to fill them with courgettes, spring onions, rocket, green beans and tomatoes.  Out of all those, tomatoes are the only ones I have grown before, but apparently they are all easy to cultivate. Shiny seed packets! And yes, I will take the growbags out of my car first.  Unless the weather is so bad that I need an impromptu greenhouse solution, in which case mine's the vehicle with green beans hanging out the window. 2.  Toby at dinner tonight: "I've tried the fishcakes and they're not good.  And I have nothing to dip i