Market Tastes

This past Saturday morning we made our usual foray to the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. Such a perfect family activity as the market is on the edge of the lovely fountain and playground area that we love to visit. Fun for everyone. While the boys pootled around the play area, I picked up fresh trout […]

Not Eating Animals So Much…

Seventeen years ago I read this book in conjunction with a community consultation on the issues surrounding World Hunger and what we could/should be doing to make a difference: I am still inspired by Frances Moore Lappe. She prompted me to refrain from eating meat as a humanitarian choice, not for health or animal rights […]

A Little Older

At the end of last week I got a little older. It was a quiet sort of day, spent moseying around the library in the morning, chatting to my mother and sister in NZ online in the afternoon and then going out for a coffee with Kazuo. Unfortunately, he slept through the early dinner time […]

Pancake Tuesday

Last night we had a traditional Shrove Tuesday feast. For an atheist, the carnivore definitely subscribes to more of the religious feasts than I would have expected. And for a carnivore, he eschews meat even when on offer surprisingly often. So I prepared a little feast of savoury (mushrooms, cheese, sundried tomatoes) and sweet (maple […]

Red Thai Curry

We had a killer curry for dinner last night. The last time I made such a concoction I nearly died, choking on water I was gulping down to mitigate the fire at the precise moment that Akira cracked a joke. I sucked too much water into my lungs, I thought I was drowning (so did […]

New Year

It seems a little silly to be recording my New Year’s Resolutions now, in February… But so far 2010 has kinda caught me by surprise and for a number of reasons, I have gotten off to a very slow start. So here I am, bearing in mind that it is also the start of a […]

Birthday Party Preparations

It’s party time at ours in a few hours. Enjoying the calm before the storm! Here is the cake – spicy pumpkin chocolate chip with cream cheese icing. Here is the happy little birthday boy – before he gets totally overwhelmed by everyone, and overloaded with sugar. Out for a walk now to clear our […]

Smoky Lentil Goodness

Tuesday was a cold sort of day and I felt like a little Autumnal Lentil warmth. I had in mind to make a French-style puy lentil stew that I made a while back (recipe pending) because I loved the nutty texture of the little hard lentils. But when I went to the cupboard, all I […]

Gratitude

I am inspired at the moment by the thoughts of the everyday wonder of ordinary life, and of trying to make a habit of being a little more thankful. This was also brought home to me last night as we sat and discussed the Science on Tap event that Akira took our friend Christine to […]

Autumn Squash Risotto

Tonight we are having our good friends Jon and Julia for dinner and our lovely friend Christine from Leeds is staying with us for the week… it is grim and rainy but a satisfying kinda day as the dinner is ready (just a Thai Curry and Thai Bean cakes… something for another day) and the […]