At the start of a term

For all those who teach, in whatever capacity (school, parent, boss, friend...), here are some inspirational stories to get you dreaming. 1. An offering for teachers from Australian children's author, Morris Gleitzman: Saving Ms Fosdyke 2. A poem about what real Christian education should look like, from my friend Jenn, in the style of Wendell Berry: The Mad Students and Teachers Liberation Front

Overwhelmed

This Christmas I was reminded of the reason for the season - God's unprecedented, undeserved, grace-filled, loving, saving gift of Jesus. It wasn't the carols, or cards, or weather, or advertising, or even church services. It was seeing J overwhelmed at the gifts that kept on being presented to him throughout the day. You see, when we explained in the morning that there was something special for him at the end of the bed, he was delighted to discover the toy car that had fallen out of his Christmas stocking. That would have kept him happy all day! Then we showed him the stocking... and the fun stuff that he could pull out of it. So before breakfast, J had lined up all his stocking presents and went from one end of the small line to the other, picking up each item and playing with it, before putting it down and playing with the next one. When the presents under the tree were delivered to their recipients, J wasn't sure what to do with himself. We helped him hand out a gift to each person and then we took turns opening them. We even had a half-hour break in present opening because he was so flustered with how many gifts he was receiving. Our PhD budget meant our gifts this year were mostly homemade, and we were blessed with lots of gifts (particularly for the boys) from family and friends. Once J opened the dressing gown I had made him, he put it on, twirled like a model, and then continued opening presents. We had to distract him with toys and invent an excuse to get it off him when he got too hot! Our best present was watching his awe and excitement as each new gift was given and opened. My prayer is that I remember God's overwhelming gift of Christ, and that I wear my salvation through Him all day and every day, even if sometimes it makes me feel 'too hot'!

C is for Cheerful

Christmas seemed to sneak up on us this year. In the hustle and bustle of readying ourselves to celebrate Christ's birth, we did manage to capture C smiling at his dad - certainly he had the proper Christmas spirit. It only took a week of trying to have the camera and smiles around at the same time! But it was worth it, don't you think? :o)

Giveaway

This week I have been wasting spending my 'free time' perusing the beautiful things on offer at the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day (well, really it's a week). I have found lots of interesting new crafty blogs, even some Kiwi ones, and entered for my chance to win a few of the giveaways. The giveaway closes on December 16th (or the 17th in NZ!) so you may want to check out the goodies and get some ideas. I know I have lots of new projects waiting in the wings.

A Fresh Start

So... it's been a while since I blogged. My early New Year's resolution is to try to get back into the habit, mostly as a way of keeping friends and family up to date. And a fresh start calls for a fresh look. This design appealed to me because it reminds me of a vision I had before we left NZ. That the changes about to happen in our life were going to be like dandelion seeds - spread wide, falling on fertile ground, and hard to eradicate (in a good way!) That certainly seems to have been the case so far. So here's hoping this resolution is fruitful and hard to eradicate!

Baker's Market

On a shopping run to Superstore on Saturday, Claire and I were intrigued by the hand-written sign for a baker's market at the side of the street. So we toddled on down, and found the tail-end of a yummy array of foodie delights. We bought a loaf of divine sourdough bread (which was gone within 24 hours) and tasted some salted rosemary caramels. Apparently our "faces lit up" when we asked if sponge toffee was hokey pokey... mostly because the answer was 'yes' and we didn't have to explain what we meant by hokey pokey!

We will be visiting again.

Here's the website: www.bakersmarket.com

Sopaipillas & Posole

Our visit to the US over Christmas had some pleasant foodie sidetracks. As well as savouring homemade hamburgers for dinner on Christmas Day at April's mom's place in Denver, we had the pleasure of staying with April's friends, Eric and Gentry, in Laramie, WY.

Here we are from left to right: Jada (3), Gentry... holding Eric... holding Macy (under 1), me, April, and Nathan.

They treated us to a special American meal, usually tasted in New Mexico (where Eric grew up). First on the menu was posole, a stew made with pork, green chillies, and hominy (corn kernels soaked in lye).

It was hot and delicious! (Sorry, the photo of Chef Eric was too blurry to keep.)

Gentry was trying to make sopaipillas (soap-a-pee-yas) for the first time and enlisted my help as a baker. We used this recipe, which is much like a scone dough. The dough is rolled out to a few millimetres thickness,

cut into pieces (squares and triangles are common too)

and then deep fried for a few seconds each side until golden brown.

The sopaipillas puff up in the hot oil and develop a crispy crust.

Next you split a side open and squeeze in some runny honey.

Gentry and I felt very decadent as we supped on sopaipillas and posole that night. The sopaipillas certainly help temper the heat of the posole, and they taste great when washed down with Eric's Belgian home-brewed beer!

I have since discovered recipes for both posole and sopaipillas (called Navajo Fry Bread) in a Christmas present I recieved from April's mom; "I Hear America Cooking: The cooks and recipes of American regional cuisine" by Betty Fussell. (Betty is a cousin of April's grandmother, and was featured in the August 2008 edition of Vogue.)