Monday 31 January 2011

living twigs (part I)

 
how cool is that! youngest was given a 'grow your own living twigs' (wandelende takken....) kit. open the box, order the eggs on the internet with the code provided, select your preferred delivery date, and voila! the postman duly delivers the eggs. youngest was very excited - he did all the typing himself, checked the mailbox every day, and then he followed the instructions very carefully.
they're now resting on some kitchen roll, waiting to hatch. every morning, youngest runs downstairs, mindful of his duty of care - must check the eggs!




hmm. they've been there for about a month now. we're almost off on ski holiday. i hope there is a part II to this log.......

Friday 21 January 2011

DWZI / this week i saw...

what can be achieved with a few sleepless nights
hurrah...
finally lost those last few pounds that have been so difficult to shed!


Deze Week Zag Ik is een initiatief van Daan en Roos (geïnspireerd op Jills Today I saw)

Sunday 9 January 2011

George the Dragon

Each weekend, a different child from eldest's year group may take George the Dragon home for a fun weekend. This time it was eldest's turn. For some reason, she kept calling him 'Archie' by accident. Here's an impression:

scoring a goal with youngest's godfather

sharing a snack










George's first parachute jump


group hug
night night George

Friday 7 January 2011

DWZI / this week i saw...

how bloody blonde i still am!
youngest is nearly 5, which means: a new passport is needed
for us that means a trip to the dutch embassy in london
he was sooooooooo excited at the prospect of a trip to London
& a day of one-on-one with his (lurvely) mother
so i recharged the camera battery especially for today's DWZI
i was going to take pictures of us in the train, a black cab, the underground, under the embassy's emblem, on a double decker bus, whilst having lunch with his sister's godmother in the british museum, etcetc. i have them all from when he was a month old & we went the first time
i took the camera
and left the recharged battery at home
and no, i don't have a sketchbook.

so yep.

do you reckon it might improve if i dyed my hair red?




Deze week zag ik is een initiatief van Daan en Roos
(geïnspireerd op Jills Today I saw).
Meedoen? Leuk! 
Klik op het deze week zag ik logo rechts in de sidebar.
Daar vind je ook de lijst van deelnemers:
kun je zien wat zij zagen!

Monday 3 January 2011

epilogue

oh well...
it all tasted very nice today! the kids were so sweet - first, totally astonished when i told them their friends wouldn't be coming after all 'oh... really? and had they promised? (yes) oh........... that's naughty!' then, 'well, let's pretend we're the visitors!' and 'so is all that tarte tatin for us?' - my kids give me such a nice sense of perspective sometimes
i tried to find the monkfish recipe online & failed. and it's so nice & so easy to make - thought i'd reproduce it. it's from nigella's 'how to eat' and i've translated some of it in dutch, just in case... (and apologies - cannot get the 'jump break' to work despite having tried 10000 tips from 6000 troubleshoot sites - so it's here also for uninterested readers. but you shouldn't be uninterested - it's delicious! :-) )

Sunday 2 January 2011

stood up

today, friends were to come over for an early supper with their kids. messages had been exchanged last night to check & confirm everyone was still up for meeting up. so, today i spent cooking
Yotam Ottolenghi's Brussels sprouts with caramelised garlic and lemon peel - takes forever, but it is totally worth the effort. also, it is meant to be served at room temperature so you can make it in advance. i kept the chili on the side, to add for the adults once the kids had helped themselves
i also cooked jamie's crunchy thai salad (without the noodles) - kept the spicy ginger, chili & herb dressing to the side again
i made a tarte tatin,
and finally i defrosted 2 monkfish tails so i could make nigella's roast monkfish

3pm - all ready to go, just needed to load the dishwasher and then we'd be ready to receive & entertain our guests.
then... the telephone went. would i prefer to come to theirs? (no thanks - was polite enough not to mention i'd just spent 4 hours in the kitchen preparing their meal)

then the 'phone went again. actually - if i didn't mind, they'd give it a miss. today is a bit hectic. but i should definitely come to supper at theirs any evening this week.Smiley  

Saturday 1 January 2011

my one New Year's resolution for 2011...

...this year I am definitely and finally getting a bare-chested gardener!

The Scuba Site enjoy 2011 everyone