Skip to main content

Monthly Munch: November 2015

It's been one of those months where we've felt a bit battered.  As well as the violence in Paris, we've had news of several friends suffering from severe injury or illness, which has torn at our hearts.  Moreover, the weather has blown us around, soaked us, hit us with hail, and even tried to snow on us slightly.  Despite all that, some chinks of sunlight have found their way through, both metaphorically and literally.  When you live with two small boys, there are always going to be some giggles.


Toby

 - was very excited about going to see fireworks for Bonfire Night.  He was the one jumping up and down and cheering.
Fun with sparklers...
...and light sabres.

- is doing really well with learning cursive handwriting.


- announced that he "loves green beans" when I went to have a school lunch with him.  Something I had not previously suspected.

Quotes:
When my Dad was getting all intellectual in his sermon and talking about the relationship between the knower and the thing known, Toby whispered to me, "There's a Noah in my class!"

He asked what was for dinner.  I told him, and he responded, "Yuck. (pause)  I don't know what that is, so I'll just say Yuck anyway."  You see why I was surprised about the green beans.

Theo

- wants to help with vacuuming but is just a little scared of the noise.

"I've got this, Mum."
- has mastered going up and down the stairs in a standing position, without holding anyone's hand.

- will make quite a good attempt at echoing our words, but still thinks that "da doo da cah bah!" counts as conversation.

"I do laundry, too!"
- went from merely waking up several times during the night to not wanting to go to bed, not wanting to have a nap, and basically not wanting anything to do with sleep whatsoever.  Fortunately he seems to have settled down again now.

Thankful for:

- a nice "date" with Graham (and Theo in tow) at Park Bike Works in Derby.  We were there before the lunch rush, so it was a lovely relaxed atmosphere, and we were very impressed by the food.

Entirely unrelated photo of chickens

- getting to go to my first blog conference.

- no need for fillings, despite the visit to the dentist being my first in... um... far too long...

Recipe of the Month: Carrot Cornbread



This is the time of year for soups, chillis and stews, and this goes very well with any of those.  My boys love cornbread because of its slight sweetness - even without any added sugar - so this recipe gives you the secret satisfaction that comes from sneaking vegetables into something they will eat without any fuss.  Albeit a lot of crumbs.  Of course you can grate the carrots and mix everything up in a bowl, but a food processor is quicker and completely blends the carrots with everything else.

300g carrots
300g fine cornmeal
3 tsp (1 tbsp) baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
250ml milk
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 20-24cm (8-9") square baking tin.
Peel the carrots and chop into large chunks.  Put in the food processor and whizz until finely chopped.  Add the remaining ingredients and process again until mixed, scraping the sides down if you need to.
Pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until risen and firm.  Cool slightly before cutting into squares.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Models of Contextual Theology: Spiritual Formation Book 7

"A theology that neither issues forth in action nor takes account of the way one lives one's life can hardly be theology that is worth very much." Models of Contextual Theology looks like the most boring book in the world. Dry academic title, weird geometric cover design - you'd definitely only pick this up if you were required to write an essay on it, wouldn't you? Well, I wish the outside did it justice, because the contents are much more exciting than the cover. It asks some very interesting and important questions about how our faith relates to the world around us. Is culture mostly good or bad? Is there such a thing as the "naked gospel", free of context? Do you have to be a trained academic to theologize, or can anyone do it? How much does theology from one culture transfer to a different culture? Bevans describes six models of theology which offer different answers to these questions. All are valid, he says, but they all understand the gospel an

A birthday weekend in York

We were surprised to discover that York is only a 90 minute drive from our house. It's somewhere we'd been thinking of going for a few years, but I'd assumed it was much further away. So when we wanted to go away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday in January, York was the obvious choice. The city did not disappoint us. I'd been to York years ago, and my only clear memory was of a tower on top of a grassy mound. That was Clifford's Tower, owned by English Heritage, and recently updated with a rather snazzy series of platforms and staircases inside. We saw a 13th century toilet which had been inaccessible for 400 years (I think I was more excited about this than the boys) and got a great view of York from the rooftop viewing platform. View from the top of Clifford's Tower Most people's memories of York probably involve the Shambles - an ancient street of shops - and York Minster. Apparently there isn't a clear difference between a minster and a cathe

Unto us a son is given...

Did I mention something about life getting back to normal in October? Oh yes, I was just finishing work and looking forward to at least two weeks off to organise the house, stock up the freezer and buy baby stuff. Then little Toby threw a spanner in the works by turning up five weeks early! Which would put his birthday in... let's see... October. So much for normal! For those who would like the gory details, here goes. If you are a mother who had a long and protracted labour, I advise you to skip the next bit - or if you don't, please don't start sending me hate mail. You have been warned. You see, we'd been to all the childbirth classes (yes, just about managed to finish them) and learned all about the different stages of labour, and how many hours each lasted. We learned some relaxation techniques and various things Graham could do to help coach me through long periods of contractions. And then we turned out not to need any of them, because the entire thing