Monthly Munch: January 2017

We celebrated New Year's Day with a party, and my birthday with a visit to the Mug Tug, a paint-a-pot place on a canal boat. We had about two hours of snow (It fell. It settled. It melted.) and some very cold days. And we made another trip to the children's emergency department.

Toby

- has really got into the latest bedtime book, The Secret Garden. He drew pictures of it and discussed what might happen next.

- thankfully seems to have pretty much recovered from his sickness bug.

though he did feel a little sick after this!

- notices which year every car licence plate belongs to, and which ones are personalised.

- started being allowed to wear slippers at school, which inexplicably made the national press.

- painted a tank at the Mug Tug.

Theo

- fell down the stairs and broke his finger. OUCH. Two-year-olds recover remarkably quickly; he still has it strapped to the next finger, but it hardly seems to bother him.

- gave his dummies (pacifiers) away to a friend's baby, with surprisingly few negative consequences.

- calls Scalextric "Scalelec", pajamas "jamamas" and trousers "trow-yers".

- wears his Gruffalo hat everywhere and gets so many admiring comments.

- painted a fire engine at the Mug Tug.

Thankful for:

- a Bible study group I've just joined - we have some great discussions while a lovely lady takes care of our kids!

- a quick trip to the A&E and a Hand Clinic which is apparently the best in the country.

- new bedding and a new tablecloth (I know. But the old ones were getting so shabby.)

And it'll improve my geography!

Recipe of the Month - Roasted plums with ricotta and honey

There must be a glut of plums somewhere, because they're really cheap at the moment. I had a tub of ricotta to use up, so this made an easy dessert.

6-8 plums, halved and stoned
Spoonful of brown sugar
150g or so of ricotta
Few spoonfuls of honey
Orange or lemon zest

Arrange the plum halves in an ovenproof dish, cut side up. Sprinkle the brown sugar over, and put just a splash of water in the bottom. Roast at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until they're soft.

Meanwhile, put the ricotta in a bowl and add honey and orange or lemon zest to taste. Beat well.

Put the hot plums in bowls and top each serving with a dollop of ricotta mixture. Eat straight away.

Comments

Dove Valley Walk: Going round the bend

Somewhere between Marchington and Uttoxeter, the wiggles of the River Dove stop wiggling west to east, and start wiggling north to south. If it went in straight lines, it would make a right-angled bend. As I'm following the river upstream, this was my last section walking west. After this it's north to the Peak District and Dovedale. here the Dove swings north The main walk of this section was all on the south side of the river. But I also did a separate, shorter walk, to explore the village of Doveridge, and the old Dove Bridge which is tantalisingly glimpsed from the A50. Walk 1: Marchington to Uttoxeter I liked Marchington even more as I arrived there for the second time. I parked opposite the village shop - noting the "ice cream" sign outside for later - and near the brick-built St Peter's Church, with a war memorial built in above the door. A few streets took me to the other side of the village, where I found a path alongside a stream, then across some hay m

Dove Valley Walk: Meeting the Limestone Way

At Uttoxeter my route along the Dove Valley met some official long-distance trails. First the Staffordshire Way north to Rocester, then the Limestone Way continuing up towards Dovedale. Graham joined me on today's walk, which included the Staffordshire Way section and the first part of the Limestone Way. Unusually, it was a one-way hike; we got the bus back. Uttoxeter to Ellastone Graham and I parked at Uttoxeter train station. It's very cheap for the day if you park after 10am, but I was worried about getting back in time for the school run, so we got there at 9:20 and paid the more expensive rate (still only £3). We started off across flat fields towards the A50 and Dove Bridge. A group of young cattle gave us hard stares as we walked past. I posted a photo of a wonky gate on the Gate Appreciation Society with the caption "Parallelogate" and it quickly accumulated 200 likes - many more than this post will get! Passing the old Dove Bridge again , we ploughed t

San Antonio

San Antonio is towards the south of Texas and feels very much more Mexican than American. The balmy evenings, the colourful Mexican market, the architecture of the buildings, and the number of people speaking Spanish around us all added to the impression. The city, in fact, grew out of a Spanish mission and presidio (fort), built in 1718 as part of Spain's attempt to colonize and secure what was then the northern frontier of the colony of Mexico. Texas was then a buffer zone between Mexico and the French-held Louisiana, and Spain was keen to cement her hold on the area by introducing settlers and converting the natives to Catholicism and loyalty to the Spanish government. The missions in general had no great effect, but the San Antonio area was the exception to the rule, growing into an important city with five missions strung out along the San Antonio river. The first of these, San Antonio de Valero, later became well-known as the Alamo, where 182 Texans died in 1836

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog