Tuesday Catch Up

In resistance to my childrens' constant suggestion that fish 'n chips would be a great dinner, tonight was a rather uninspired dig through the recipe books for an alternative to chicken & corn soup.  No creamed corn sent me on that adventure.  Nigella, of course, came to the rescue and we ended up with an Asian flavoured chowder to go with our mini chicken dim sims.  It always pays to keep an ecclectic clutch of ingredients that otherwise seem to be unrelated.  Potato, prawns and frozen corn kernels.....who knew they could be so good together.  What's more it was fast.  You have to be happy with dinner that is prepared, cooked and served within 20 minutes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first couple of days with students has been surprisingly pleasant.  I've spent most of my time with my most challenging student and will begin popping out to other classes in the next few days.  His first day last year was characterised by extreme opposition, attempting to throw a desk at me, a pinch here and there and the charming "I wish you were dead" thrown my way.  This year?  Calm, obedient, staying in the classroom.  We actually went to the whole-school assembly this year and he sat with his class and wiggled no less than anyone else.  This afternoon Mr Busy asked if I'd been wrestling with the two boys that tend to require it.  Nope - I won all the battles.  And this particular child wrote 35 words today.  Yesterday he wrote 7.  I'd say it was a good day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

After recently (end of last year) making the bold decision to move from our church of 19 years to somewhere different I have been acutely aware of the friendships I value most.  Last night I spent an evening with one of my precious and dear friends.  She surprised me with the small gift of a new bracelet in just the style that I adore....whispery tinkles, pretty, pink....perfect.  I wore it to work today.  The Year 2/3 girls declared it beautiful (and it is...I love it!) and the boy I work with said I must be very rich to have so many pretty bracelets.  I told him none of them are terribly expensive but they are pretty!  My new bracelet if all the more special because of the dear friend who spontaneously thought of me when she saw it.

Reprieve

It feels a bit like we've been given a reprieve on many fronts this week.  The kids have managed to escape coming to school with me a couple of times thanks to family and friends who have taken pity on them.  Their generosity is such a gift.  The weather is cooler today and heading into some days in the 20's instead of the 30's (celcius).  Very nice.  A public holiday tomorrow is small reprieve from starting back to work this week.  We'll be celebrating Australia Day with some friends in a quiet kind of way.

There are lots of things for which I am grateful.

Monday Menu Plan: Week Beginning 23 January

I know why I was reluctant about going back to work.  It's not that I don't love what I do.  It's not that I don't love the people I do it with.  I really missed having a little afternoon nap on the couch today!  If only there was some way to combine the two.

We've hit that school-start weather as well.  It always seems to be awfully hot when school is in the midst of returning to action.  Whilst January has been generally cooler than normal, February seems determined to outshine its predecessor.  Fortunately Our School has been busily installing cooling in more of the classrooms so life will be much more comfortable for some.

Of course, hot weather means cold food.  Here's what's on:

Monday:  Chicken wings; salad
Tuesday:  Pork chops; salad
Wednesday:  Chinese corn soup; chicken wontons
Thursday:  Meatloaf; vegies
Friday:  Beef noodle stir fry
Saturday:  Prawn & mango curry; rice
Sunday:  ...my brain hurts now - I'll think about it later.  Perhaps a special treat before the kids head back to school properly.

What's in a Name?

My youngest brother and his wife have had an ongoing disagreement for many, many years.  It's really quite funny to watch this conversation in action.  It's one of those silly things that is all about the terminology we use to describe things and how the cultural aspect of different countries impact on the terminology use.  Especially in a country like Australia where there are so many cultures that stive to coexist harmoniously.

Yes - they disagree about pancakes.  And crepes.  And flapjacks.  A pikelet is the only variation they do agree on!  So here we go - the definitions according to my research of wikipedia and the web.

Pancake:  According to Wikipedia, a pancake is a thin, flat, round cake.  It is made from a batter and cooked on a griddle or frypan.  It seems that in the US pancakes are thicker and fluffier than how I would expect a traditional Aussie pancake to be.  Having lived overseas, I was introduced to the US version early in life and that's what I prefer.  My Mum's acquired 'American Pancake' recipe is the only one I use.

photo:  wikipedia

Crepes:  These are a very thin pancake, commonly associated with France.  Scandinavia have something very similar - of course they have their own word for them.

photo: taste.com.au

Flapjacks:  Here's where things get sticky.  A flapjack is basically just another word for pancake, used in America.  They also use the term hot cakes and griddle cakes.  It all means the same thing: what we know as pancake.  I know someone is going to be disappointed here - I can't remember whether it's my brother or his wife! In my wanderings I also discovered that in the UK flapjacks are something else altogether!  Over there flapjacks are more like what I would call a muesli bar.

photo: flapjackrecipes.co.uk

There you have it.  Lots of different names for something that is very similar but just different enough to cause dissention in a home!

A pancake story:  When I was young and living overseas we had a Sunday tradition of having homemade (there was no other option where I lived) pizza on the beach for lunch with many of the other missionary families in our town.  We almost always had pancakes for dinner before heading off for church.  The English service was in the evening, so we had plenty of time to get ourselves organised for lunch and an afternoon of swimming.  And guess what?  It was in a very short space of time that I took on much of the responsibility for these meals.  I guess that's how Mum managed a day off cooking when eating out was non-existant!

Hmmmmm...after all that pancake talk I'm thinking perhaps we need some pancakes for breakfast.  Miss Sunshine will be thrilled!

Pineapple Triffle...TiraMisu...Something

 Pineapple Triffle...Tira Misu

OK, so I got bored yesterday.  Yes, I did.  I can't imagine what came over me, but I found myself in the kitchen making a dessert.  My family thought Heaven had arrived on earth.  I only do dessert when visitors are at our table, and last night there was just us.  And a blowfly.  Blowies don't count as guests, so you can imagine how excited everyone was.

I made one of our favourite pineapple desserts and kind of twisted it to use up a pack of sponge finger biscuits I'd had in the pantry.  Voila - a pineapple tira misu kind of triffle thingy.  Whatever you want to call it, it was very, VERY yummy.

Pineapple Dessert

1 packet vanilla pudding

600ml cream + a little milk

1 can crushed pinapple, drained (reserve the juice)

1 pack sponge finger biscuits.

1. Begin by whipping the cream until it forms peaks - but make sure they're soft and floppy.
2. Sprinkle the pudding mix on top and whip lightly until thoroughly mixed.  You might need a little milk to thin the mixture a bit. Do this a little bit at a time.
3. Add the drained crushed pineapple and mix until thoroughly combined.
4. In a rectangular dish, lay sponge finger biscuits that have been dipped in the reserved juice. 
5. Over the biscuits, spread about half of the pineapple mixture.
6. Lay another layer of dipped biscuits over the pineapple and then top with another layer of the pineapple mixture.
7. Cover with cling film and leave overnight.

This is good enough for company and very quick.  The pineapple cream is something we would normally do whilst camping - hence the packet of vanilla pudding.  The only time I ever have them in the house is during summer whilst camping.  I didn't use any during our last camping trip.  I'm going to have to tizz up the chocolate ones now too.  Aren't I?

Summer days and cold desserts.  A perfect pair.

Monday Menu Plan: Week Beginning 16 January

My KitchenAid Mixer - beautiful and full of grunt

I got a magnificent surprise in the mail today.  Not in an envelope which had been addressed by hand.  Not in a package delivered early in the morning by the parcel post man.  Although I find both of those exciting.  Today it was a letter from the Deputy Head of School at Uni.  It was a very encouraging letter acknowledging academic achievement whilst maintaining family, work and other pursuits.  When you study online sometimes it feels like you are studying in a bit of a void - but apparently not.  I suspect I will keep that letter close at hand to encourage me on those days when I sit here and think "I do NOT know how I am going to get this assignment written".  Trust me, it happens!

We've a trip to Costco planned for later in the week, so this week's menu is all about making room in the freezer and using up some more of what is stashed in there.  You'll remember that I posted about my diving into the depths of it for meals a couple of weeks ago.  After a week away, I'm back to my diving.  I think almost my entire menu plan this week is free of the need to buy meat.

Monday:  Slow roasted beef; vegies
Tuesday: Marinated chicken wings; salad
Wednesday:  BBQ steak; salad
Thursday:  Pasta bolognaise (using leftover frozen meat sauce)
Friday:  Osso Bucco; pasta
Saturday:  Orange crumbed chicken; vegies
Sunday:  Pumpkin & sweet potato soup; bread & butter

I'm having one final attempt at producing a moist succulent beef roast.  It is the one thing that has continued to allude me.  That and light, fluffy scones.  I've slow-roasted it and managed to keep the temperature right.  The vegies are in the oven now, so we'll see how it all turns out soon.  The steak planned for Wednesday will be the topside roast cut into steaks.  I somehow don't think topside is conducive to a nice roast, when you're as challenged by this as I am.

Joolz commented on yesterday's post to tell me about a great blog with lots of slice recipes.  Guess what I'm going to be doing this week?  Yep - simple baking.  I haven't looked around the rest of the blog yet.  Perhaps tomorrow.

What are you having for dinner this week?

Questions Answered

What is a slice?

A slice is a sweet treat that could be described as sitting somewhere between a cake and a biscuit (cookie).  The mixture is cooked in a shallow rectangular tin and then sliced into squares when cooked.  Wikipedia was particularly unhelpful, however if you google 'slice recipe', you'll find some examples of what I'm trying to explain.

Let us know how the gnocchi roast potato went.

It was delicious!  Definitely good camping food.  Probably not something I would be in a hurry to repeat at home due to expense and my aversion to pre-made foods.  I used about one and half packets of gnocchi from Aldi and refrigerated the rest.  I cooked them up for a late afternoon snack for the kids a couple of days later.