Skip to main content

Monthly Munch: February 2017

Most of the photos this month were either of Theo's birthday or our short break in the Lake District, which I will tell you about soon, I promise.  We also went for a walk up Streatley Hill with my parents (last time we did that, Toby was in a baby sling!) and ate both British and American pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.  And finally, the spring flowers are starting to appear!  My favourite time of year.



Toby


- has become very interested in big numbers, especially googolplex.  He wanted to know whether googolplex was larger than infinity.

- is getting quite good at an app called Cute Munchies, a logic puzzle where you navigate small creatures round a kind of maze.

- enjoyed looking at VERY EXPENSIVE cars with Graham, on a recent visit to my parents'.  (No, we haven't suddenly got rich.)


- can ride one-handed on his bike.

- found the biggest tyre ever at Lakeland Motor Museum.


Theo


- is getting going on his balance bike pretty well

- calls fried eggs "Friday eggs".  He used to call boiled eggs "eggshell eggs" and still prefers them to any other kind.

Where's my eggs?

- visited a friend's house and wore her child-size oven mitts the whole time.  Do you think naming him after a chef has had an effect?

- loves wearing the Batman mask he got in a McDonalds meal - although he usually refers to it as Super Spy Chase from Paw Patrol.



Thankful for:

- being able to join a new Christian writers' group - it was fascinating to meet so many people writing in so many different ways.

- getting to play a National Trust grand piano at Rufford Old Hall.

Glad I don't have to wear one of these, though!
- help and advice from several people as I'm trying to kickstart my career again.

Recipe of the Month: Chocolate Cherry Trifle


I'd had some chocolate cake offcuts in the freezer for so long I couldn't even remember which cake they came from.  So I thought it was about time to use them for something delicious.  Here is my very precise and elegant trifle recipe.

Bits of chocolate cake
1 packet black cherry jelly (Jello)
Custard powder, sugar and milk (or ready-made custard, or vanilla pudding mix)
Sugar sprinkles
Squirty cream

 Make the custard first so it has more time to cool.  Follow the packet instructions to make 1 pint, going generous on the custard powder to make it nice and thick.  Set aside to cool.

Break or chop the cake into chunks and put in the bottom of a large bowl.  You don't want it too packed in - mine came out a bit solid because I was trying to use the cake up, but if I'd had some canned cherries I would have used less cake and added the fruit.

 Make the jelly following the packet instructions.  Pour over the cake and put in the fridge to set.  If the cake was frozen this obviously speeds up the setting process.

 When the jelly is set and the custard is at least lukewarm, if not completely cold, remove any skin from the custard and pour it over the jelly layer.  Press clingfilm over the custard to prevent any more skin forming.  Refrigerate until cold.

 If everyone likes cream, you can put proper whipped cream all over the top.  Half the people in my house won't eat it, so I put sprinkles over the custard and let the boys add squirty cream as they wished (a great treat!).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mr White Watson of Bakewell

Once upon a time, back in 1795 or so, lived a man who was always asking questions.  The kind of questions like, "Why is glass transparent?" or "Why do fruit trees grow better in that place than in this place?" or "What does the earth look like underneath the surface?"  This last question was one that he was particularly interested in, and he went so far as to work out what the rock layers looked like where he lived, and draw little pictures of them.  Now he was a marble sculptor by trade (as well as fossil hunter, mineral seller, and a few other things) so he thought it would be even better to make his little pictures in stone.  That way he could represent the layers using the actual rocks they were composed of.  Over the course of his lifetime he made almost 100 of these tablets, as he called them. Then he died.  And no one else was quite as interested in all those rocks and minerals as he was.  His collection was sold off, bit by bit, and the table...
Post a Comment
Read more

Laid-back Lille and Bustling Brussels

After a night in a tiny AirBnB in Canterbury , where there were chocolates on the table and artwork on every inch of the walls, we boarded a ferry with an absolute minimum of fuss, enjoyed a smooth crossing of the channel, and were deposited in the decidedly unscenic surroundings of the port of Dunkirk two hours later. Once we got past the cranes and shipping containers, though, the countryside was flat but pleasant. We stopped at a small town called Cassel, reached by cobbled roads winding up a hill. On the summit was an old windmill and a topograph telling you the distances to various improbable places; St Omer may have been visible in the haze, but Manchester was surely over the horizon.  In Lille, we found our apartment, unpacked the luggage (one rucksack apiece), and set out to find food. Our first choice was fully booked, so we embarked on that kind of aimless wandering where everyone is hungry and no one wants to actually choose a restaurant. We reached a Lebanese place call...
Post a Comment
Read more

Canterbury Cathedral

We were booking a trip to France, and I persuaded the family that it was madness to drive four hours to Dover and get straight on the ferry. "We should definitely stay overnight somewhere," I said. "Oh look, Canterbury is very handy - just twenty minutes from Dover." Of course, my suggestion was not influenced in the slightest by the fact that Canterbury contains England's most famous cathedral. On the way down, we stretched our legs on Dunstable Downs, an area of chalk grassland owned by the National Trust. I was pleased to spot a scarlet pimpernel for my 100 Plants Challenge . We also enjoyed watching gliders ascending and descending. We turned onto the M25 and made our way through busy traffic to the Dartford Crossing. This is one of those mythical points on the UK road network, like Scotch Corner and Watford Gap: the name familiar from traffic reports on the radio; the reality - for someone who grew up west of London - a hazy blur of imagination. It turns ou...
Post a Comment
Read more