How do you fit it all in?
November 12, 2006 at 1:19 PM
by Ashleigh
Au Fil des Reves pin keeper
I'm still shaking my head when I think of my grandiose dreams of lying on the couch, sipping coffee and watching tv after my youngest son was in school full time. What was I thinking?
Our schedule just increased for an extra two days a week with Sebastian now having swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Fridays directly after school. Mondays and Wednesdays are football training days (and swimming for Joe).
That means Thursday is the only day of the week that we all have free after school and Thursday is also the day I get our veg bag, so Thursday afternoons feel like I am cooking from the time the kids get in until dinner time.
Add in the school PTA committee (oudervereeniging) which I will be going to observe on Monday evening (with a view to joining) and my Dutch lessons and it's suddenly very busy.
All our Saturdays are now taken up with football (soccer). Our poor little team suffered defeat again this week at the hands of the Fortius F4. They tried valiantly but the kids were much bigger then them. The 'F' age range runs from 6 - 8 years old and we have mostly 6 year olds and some 5 year olds in our team. Scary when you see how big the other kids are! Yesterday's match was an away match at a pretty cool sportground though, which boasted a wonderful climbing frame just behind the field. That kept Joe busy for the entire duration of the match leaving me free to chat and watch the game.
Last night was also Sint Maartenavond and we took the kids for a walk around the neighbourhood with their friends. They had a wonderful time singing Sint Maartenliedjes (songs) and came home with a haul of sweets bigger than they get in a year! I let them have sweets and chips for breakfast, thinking maybe it was better to get the sugar rush over with early in the day - four hours later I'm not so sure!
Today includes wonders like patching up a wall which crumbled because of damp and filling and repainting it with moisture-proof paint, making a fruit salad, putting more stuff on ebay, cooking black salsify and making it into fritters, making a pie for dinner, trying to get the dyson clean after I vacuumed an area where the cat had pee'd (yuck), and trying to organise what's going to happen this week. It's just a few weeks til Sinterklaas and someone has to tell the Sint (ahem) what will be going in the shoes and coming out of the bag on Sinterklaasavond.
Meanwhile, the Christmas cake came out fabulously! I have amended the recipe a bit, which I've done on the original post in case anyone searches for it. I increased the amount of flour, used substantially more brandy and sherry than called for in the recipe and soaked the fruit for two days instead of the one day as specified in the recipe.
The cake came out perfectly, however, when I turned it out a little stuck to the plate that I turned it out onto, which turned out to be a blessing or I wouldn't have been able to taste it!
It has a rich flavour somewhere between a fruitcake and a chocolate cake. The addition of the bicarbonate of soda has given it a very dark colour, but the cranberries helped there too. I am not sure where the hint of chocolate came from, but I love it!
Definitely a winner and I am happy that I have discovered 'my' cake recipe. I'll be leaving it wrapped up in brown paper and foil in a tin until Christmas, when I'll ice it with marzipan and royal icing. Apparently there are plans for how to decorate the cake which include surrounding it with cupcakes iced with 'snow' and covered with Christmas decorations. Hmm. Some little people in our house have put a lot of thought into this! The same little people have been writing out 'verlangslijstjes' (literally - longing lists) for Sinterklaas that include things like Game Boy Advance games (on the premise that if they receive the games we will have to buy them the Game Boy)! The other little person wants more Play-doh. That one will be a cinch for the Sint ;)
Yesterday I read the Christmas edition of Good Food magazine and I'm sure the long lists of all the food you 'have to make' is just a ploy by the supermarkets. Looking at the layouts of pages and pages of snacks, starters, soups, main dish, side dishes, dessert, cheese course, wines, gifts etc is enough to make you run screaming for the 'ready made' aisle in Waitrose. But wait, we don' t have a Waitrose here!
So for us it will be a simple affair, just a starter, a main course (god please not turkey) and a dessert. I'm thinking of a pavlova for the dessert ...
And finally, today's picture is of the Au Fil des Reves pinkeeper I stitched for Paula in the Legacy Sampler House Exchange. Paula makes the beautiful threadwinders and needlekeepers offered by her company, Kelmscott Designs, so it was difficult ot think of something to make for her.
Paula received her package this week so I am finally able to share a picture. I'm glad she liked this pinkeep. It was fun to stitch and to put together.
When I read through the Holliestitch website earlier this morning I saw that Sylvie Tonnelier, the designer for Au Fil des Reves is, sadly, unwell, so these kits and charts are now out of print. What a pity!
Now, onto all those chores ...
Comments
The pinkeep is gorgeous, congratulations on a great exchange.
I'm with you on wondering where the time goes!
LOL - your weeks make mine look empty in comparison! You make sure to put the brakes on somewhere!!
So glad your cake recipe turned out so well. You've made me feel quite tempted to try it out. We keep Christmas very simple for various reasons, but it would be nice to have a super-duper special dessert.
And the pinkeep is fabulous. I am very sorry to hear of the illness, though, and the lack of availability of these beautiful designs.
I'm in awe! You're doing great! I still feel overwhelmed by all the chores running riot in my head...not able to grasp any of them but still have an urgency to do something about it. Makes me feel inadequate and twitchy. First thing tomorrow morning: make a list! Our Christmas arrangements vary from 7 people staying the night and Christmas day, my inlaws having a brunch at our house (13 people) or no quests at all or anything in between...Nothing is sure yet! Help!
And then Sinterklaas...
Oh and that pinkeep is just wonderful! Great to hear that your christmas cake has turned out so well, the chocolate flavour has made me thinking.. should I try?
Hi Ashleigh,
I will probaly do a recipe for Kerststol sometime in early December, and write about it on the Dutch Food thread on eGullet!
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=76568/
I liked hearing about Sint Maartenavond, although I don't read Dutch so I'm not exactly sure what it is, it seems like some kind of Halloween. Dutch lessons? Good for you!
Lovely work! I am amazed at all that you do! When in the world do you have time to stitch? Do you stitch while the boys play sports? I need to get my stash out and start carrying it with me. I would probably get a lot of stitching down since I am always waiting for one of my teens some place with nothing to do.
Glad you liked your cakes! They sound delicious. I haven't decided on my menu yet for Thanksgiving, but I have a stack of cookbooks I checked out from the library. I did think about doing a leg of lamb instead of a turkey, but my crew was outraged that I would even contemplate such a thing! lol
Dee
Oh that is beautiful!!!
November 12, 2006 3:51 PM