Martha's Marvellous Munchies

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth... all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ... For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. from Colossians 1:15-20 Our first Tenants of the King study focused on this poetic passage from Colossians 1, which talks about how Jesus, the Son of God, is supreme over everything.  The study encouraged us to consider what we believed about the relationship between Jesus and creation, and what creation is made for. Because I rather like my plastic cup analogy from my last post, I'm going to use it again to explain some of the themes from this study.  A plastic cup belief is one that we've picked up eas

Are you a compostable consumer? We're all pretty well biodegradable when it comes down to it, of course.  In 500 years' time there won't be much left of our bodies.  But the archeologists of 2518 will have plenty to go on to reconstruct our habits - from life's first disposable nappy and squeaky toy, to final toothbrush and mobile phone, plastic commands our destiny. Now that's changing. Plastic-free has suddenly become mainstream.  My friendly catering catalogue offers an eco-friendly range to cater for "the more socially-conscious modern-day consumer" (the what??) and we are all being urged to refuse straws and rethink our packaging. But why? Just a few years ago, most of us would look at a bulging bag full of dirty plastic plates and cups after a party, and think, "What a waste."  Then we'd throw it in the bin and go, "Oh well, can't be helped."  We knew it wasn't great, but we believed there wasn't rea

Ten books that shaped my life in some way.  Now that wasn't a problem.  I scanned the bookshelves and picked out nine favourites without the slightest difficulty (the tenth took a little longer). The problem was that, on the Facebook challenge, I wasn't supposed to explain why .  Nope.  Having picked out my ten, I couldn't let them go without saying why they were special to me. These books are more than a collection of words by an author.  They are particular editions of those words - taped-up, egg-stained, dust-jacketless and battered - which have come into my life, been carried around to different homes, and become part of who I am. How to Be a Domestic Goddess Well, every woman needs an instruction manual, doesn't she? Nigella's recipes mean lazy Saturday mornings eating pancakes, comforting crumbles on a rainy night, Christmas cakes, savoury onion pies and mounds of bread dough.  If you avoid the occasional extravagance (20 mini Bundt tins and a ki

Um, hello?  Is this thing on? Testing... testing... Ah, good.  Can you all hear me now?  It's been so long that I've almost forgotten how this works. Right then, the boys are back at school and it's on with the blog!  Here are a few highlights of what we got up to while they weren't at school. The great outdoors The weekend before the holidays, we headed to the Peak District to climb Mam Tor.  This takes about ten minutes from the car park, so it's not as strenuous as it sounds.  There are beautiful views from both sides of the ridge.  Just make sure you don't overbalance into a gorse bush like I did (ouch!) Our National Trust membership got put to use again, as we returned to our local favourites.  The boys explored the maze at Calke Abbey and played giant Connect 4 on the lawn at Sudbury Hall. We also visited somewhere new: Bradgate Park, near Leicester.  We were most impressed - it's a beautiful spot, with deer roaming free, a phot