Reflections
December 27, 2006 at 7:26 PM
by Ashleigh
I'm deep in the throes of a 'rhino-thingie'. Anyone who watches House will know what I'm talking about. And for those who don't watch House (and shame on you for that!), I have a horrible cold. Red eyes, runny nose, joint aches, the whole damned cast of cold symptoms came out to play with me. Hopefully it's an 'end of the year' thing and the New Year will be marked by an absence of cold viruses!
Our Christmas Day was lovely. The kids had a great time playing with their new toys. I had a great time cooking. Brad had a great time playing his new game. Cat got gifts too, and was alarmed at the new toy selection spread out before her.
Joe got a Polly Pocket jumbo sized set after wanting one for months, just to exclaim, 'But that's a girls toy!'. Nevertheless he surreptitiously played with it all day. The Kid K'nex he got was a hit, as always, and so were his books.
Sebastian was delighted with his huge set of K'Nex, lugged back from the USA with Brad, and his books. He already made a moving crane from the 50 model instruction set. It's been dismantled and now he's making a motorised boat, that apparently really goes on water.
Santa brought them chocolate, pencils and stickers. I think we managed to draw the line between too much and not enough.
My Christmas gift from Brad and the kids was the new Dutch recipe book 'Koekje' which has been written about on so many Dutch food blogs. Karen wrote about it in English, and shared a recipe, so I'll direct you to her. I loved the idea of the book, but the execution is a little weird - the fontface used is barely legible and they've printed in tan ink on a white background! I'll need to photocopy the pages before I can use the book in the kitchen. I hate wearing my specs in the kitchen.
Nonetheless it was interesting to read about the cookies I see in the shops around me. My first thought is how much simpler some of them are than their American counterparts, at least in terms of the quantity of ingredients and number of steps required to produce the cookie. It'll be an interesting journey to try the recipes out and of course, share the results with you.
I got a great Christmas gift from my not-so-secret-stitcher, Jenny, of a wonderful felted pincushion, glass headed beads to go into it, some Gumnuts and Needle Necessities threads in Christmas colours, Ghirardelli chocolates (yum!), and some holiday foot treats. She sent some jelly beans and strawberry flavoured Pez for the kids - heaven! I felt so spoiled, and so glad I waited til Christmas to open everything.
Christmas dinner was fantastic. The lamb was superb and the romanesco in cheese sauce provided a fine counterpoint. I ended up cooking the brussels sprouts with bacon and finely chopped shallot instead of braising them. The carrots were lovely too, and as they were done in the oven there was no fuss. The lemon tart was sublime. Yesterday I made the leftover lamb into a pie which we had with leftover potatoes, cut in half an sauted with shallot and bacon. Awesome.
So, what about the stitching? I'm going to disappoint the readers who visit for stitching content and admit that there hasn't been any stitching for months. I hurt my thumb months ago and it doesn't respond very well to the stress of stitching, so it's moved right down my list. I'm knitting instead for the moment and I'm sure I'll get back to stitching, but never to the same extent as I did it before. I am still trying to lead a 'crafty' life. I'll be going back to what I like best - making Christmas and seasonal decorations - they're quick and pretty, and useful. I have some needlepoint to work on too, which will probably be easier on my hands and of course, there is machine patchwork and knitting.
One of the huge advantages of not stitching so much is having more time to do other things, like read, play with the kids and meet with friends. Which are all *good* things!
Here's to more good things in the New Year!
Comments
Thanks for the mention! I hope you'll feel better soon. I am sooo with you on the typeface of the book Koekjes. The style dept has gone wild on it I think. It's all about looks but hellooo I'd like to use it! I would have liked to see some more spacing and distinctive full stops and capitals please! And no, I don't need reading glasses -yet- but this book makes me wonder...
Sounds like you had a lovely Christmas, I loved the cat photo's.
I hope you're feeling better soon.
Karoline
I am so sorry you are sick! But what a wonderful holiday you described. I am so glad you got to spend it with your beautiful family. I wish you the very best in 2007.
Ash, your life is totally crafty whether you stitch or do something else. Your knitting is stunning and I can't wait to see some more of it. And your upcoming cookies!
I do hope you'll soon be over your host of cold symptoms and feeling fine. We've also had a big visit from the Sickness Fairy.
We watch house religiously. Even my mother, who hates TV, watches it.
December 28, 2006 10:36 AM