Skip to main content

Monthly Munch: November 2016

Well, we've had sicknesses and successes, soups and stews, sunshine and sn...frost.  I've been doing lots more writing and trying to figure out how to get people to give me money for it. 

And we went mining.  Actually, this photo is us in an old lime kiln, on a suitably atmospheric camera setting.


Toby


- got some glasses!  Unusually for our family, he isn't short-sighted, but has some astigmatism.  Children's glasses have got much more trendy since I had them; he has Star Wars and Minions.

- won first prize in his class for the Children in Need bake off at school.

- has been trying to teach me "ninja" moves, which is quite fun.

- got the sick bug which has been going around, and has been off school for a few days.


- designed a (belated) jack o'lantern and a table centrepiece for Thanksgiving.

Our mini Thanksgiving dinner


Theo

Cafes with Kids out-takes

- decided to go to preschool happily after half term.

- has twice gone to sleep on the landing instead of in his bed.

Toby's just pretending


- loves drawing and decorating things.

playgroup penguin


- did not like fireworks at all - far too noisy!

Thankful for:


- free/cheap food!  I have had bags of free apples to stew, and got two pumpkins for 50p each, which provided pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

mmm... pumpkin pie!


- a visit from Auntie Colette, who brought the boys matching Star Wars T-shirts.



Recipe of the Month: Minestrone soup


I've never made minestrone soup before, but it's a good chunky comforting type of soup.  I cut down the original recipe a bit but it still made lots; you could probably get 8 servings out of it.  I froze some in portions, as soup is a nice thing to pull out of the freezer for lunch when it's cold outside.

2 large leeks, sliced
300g carrots, peeled and diced
300g potatoes, peeled and diced
1.5 litres vegetable stock
125g green beans, halved
125g mini pasta shapes
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
oregano

Put the leeks, carrots and potatoes into a very large saucepan and add the stock.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Add the green beans, pasta, tomatoes and tinned beans with the seasoning, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the pasta is done.  Serves 6-8.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor   Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...