Martha's Marvellous Munchies

This is a beautiful time of year in North Texas, when the days are warm and the nights are still cool; when the grass is green and the flowers compete to bloom before the heat sets in; when butterflies emerge in clouds of bright colours and proud mother ducks shepherd little balls of fluff around the lake.  We haven't made any big excursions, but like most people, have been making the most of the time before the wilting heat drives us inside. A few miles north of us, the small town of Roanoke markets itself as "The Unique Dining Capital of Texas", and recently put on a "Unique Week".  The festivities included live music for several evenings, so we went to hear a group called Brave Combo .  They play dance music in the widest sense of the word - their website boasts that they can turn their instruments to polka, salsa, rock, chacha and much more - and they do so with vigour!  One thing I love about Texans is that they're not ashamed to dance in public.  Any...

No, not great-grandparents, though Toby has some of those too.  But he also has two sets of just great grandparents, and one pair came to spend a few days with us last week.  All that Skyping certainly paid off; he didn't seem shy of my parents at all.  They had hardly stepped off the plane before they were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar fifteen times over and being invited to admire every truck within sight.  In return Toby provided endless entertainment (almost literally; he didn't want to go to bed at all) and we took them to see a few pretty parts of North Texas. One of the prettiest has got to be the Botanic Gardens Conservatory when the butterflies are in residence.  Dainty white paper kites sip delicately from flowers, while fearless blue morphos swoop past your nose.  A giant atlas moth, one of the largest moths in the world, sat at the base of a tree.  Toby's favourite spot, though, was underneath the overhang where a waterfal...

The sky is blue, the air is warm, and our garden is getting some colour again! Texas doesn't boast the same array of early spring flowers as the UK, but I planted some daffodils in the autumn, and they duly sprouted and produced yellow trumpets to herald the spring. This bed also includes a clump of four-nerve daisies which has done particularly well. On the fence in our back yard, the unidentified creepers (anyone got any ideas?) nearly froze to death in the Big Snow last year. I had to chop them back severely, but it did them good. This year they are a mass of yellow flowers. The bees and butterflies are having a field day out there.

For the past few years, I have been taking part in International Homemade Hobnob Day .  This year I was a little late, but tried to make up for it by experimenting with new options.  A few weeks later I had to make 4 dozen cookies for a church cookie sale, and after the dismal failure of my attempt at a new recipe, I resorted to these tried and tested Chocolate Ginger Hobnobs. 8 oz / 2 sticks margarine 1 tbsp golden syrup (or corn syrup) 1 tbsp hot water 1/2 tsp bicarb/ baking soda 8 oz / 1 3/4 cups self-raising flour 8 oz / 1 cup sugar 8 oz / 2 1/2 cups rolled / quick oats 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 oz / 3 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger Melt margarine and syrup.  Mix water and soda together in a cup and add to margarine mixture.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Form into small balls, place on baking tray and flatten slightly.  Bake at 180C / 350F for 15 minutes.  Melt 100g / 3.5 oz dark chocolate with...

Port Aransas, Tuesday evening:   Having located our cottage and settled in, we stroll out to the ship channel as the sun is going down.  Suddenly we hear splashes at our feet, and look down to see the smooth curve of a dolphin's back breaking the surface.  Once we've spotted one we see several more, feeding along the edge in the twilight peace. Sunset over the ferry terminal Port Aransas, Wednesday:   We have a warm sunny day for our first morning on the beach, and Toby quickly decides that digging in the sand is his new favourite activity.  Graham takes him out to test the water, but it's a little chilly.  Well, it is December, after all! Mustang Island is reputed to be an amazing place to see birds, so we do our best to look like twitchers and walk to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.  A footpath through some trees suddenly opens out to a secluded lagoon framed with tall reeds.  An avian paradise I am sure.  Un...