beautiful connections

hello march. i can't believe you're here already! i didn't mean to be away for so long. but after the slow month of january which is generally only eased by the ambitions for the new year, plotting great plans and a full of hope feeling that brightens even the gloomiest of winter days. by the time march comes around i am always surprised that it is already, well, march! and here i am hoping that i will catch up with this year before it races off and i am left chasing behind wondering where all the months have gone. is it only me, do you ever get this feeling?


definitely a highlight so far this year and a happy distraction from our woes was when my mother and i, along with my little ones visited my lovely sister in cornwall for a few days. we had a great time catching up and seeing her life close up rather than on the end of a telephone. it was wonderful. and as we said farewell she handed us each a jar filled with some of her sourdough starter to take home and nurture. from start to finish the whole process is quite a labour of love. after feeding it for a bit (you can see how to make the starter here) and making the sponge, and all that rising time here is my first loaf. it is delicious and fresh bread and honey is so simple and wholesome. but what i like most is that we are all making bread to feed our families from the same sourdough starter. the three of us, in our homes that are not as close to each other as we'd like. i enjoy thinking about my sister and my mother every time i feed my starter or eat this delicious bread. and yes, it makes me feel connected to these amazing women who also happen to be in my family. and i love that, it's a special feeling and one that makes me feel very happy indeed.

sarada xx

beetroot brownies

if like me you have still have beetroots growing in your garden, allotment or window box, and are not sure what to do with them, try these little beauties. they are deliciously moreish and contain one of your five a day so they must be good for you, right??



ingredients
250g raw beetroot, boiled, peeled and pureed
200g plain chocolate
250g butter
250g golden caster sugar
3 large free range eggs
150g self raising flour

step 1
heat the oven to gas mark 4 180C
melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan

step 2
whisk together the sugar and eggs, then pour in the melted chocolate and butter

step 3
fold in the flour and then mix in the beetroot.

step 4
pour mixture into a lined tin and bake for about 30 mins, or until a skewer comes out just a little bit sticky (they are brownies after all)

ready to eat. yumm sooo good!

i also just wanted to share with you some christmas presents i wrapped using paper and tags made at the handmade christmas event which was held recently by saltash environmental action group.



ambika x

perspective

this is where we live.


i love it. the chicken run is bigger than our house, the shed is also bigger than our house and taller than the workshop. the living roof which we created about 3 years ago, has amazingly big flowers growing on it, and the birds in the sky above our garden have smiles and beaks. nothing amuses me quite like a 5 year olds perspective.

we have been baking a lot lately, getting prepared for christmas.


i took my wedding ring off when we were making these mince pies and forgot to put it back on. i remembered when we were out shopping in town. francisco said, "don't worry mummy, everyone will know that you're married by your happy face"

4 days till christmas, i get the count down daily, there is a lot of excitement here.

ambika x

at the weekend

we had a picnic on friday night in a park near us with huge trees, where we sat and ate chicken with orange and tomato glaze from my new favourite cookbook and a boot fair find apples for jam. and explored, climbed trees, made fairy houses and looked at the sky. such a nice evening. on sunday still trying to soak up the last of the sunshine we went to the same place for an apple day. of course i forgot my camera, and we couldn't find a toffee apple anywhere, but still it was fun, the children played and the grown ups drank locally brewed cider and we all ate beech nuts from the tree we were sitting under until it was time to go home with handfuls of colourful leaves and lots to dream about.

hope you had a lovely weekend,
sarada xxx

tea and toast

i'm on my 3rd cup already or is it 4th?! it's a yummy chai by clipper and homemade jam by the little sis, but still, that doesn't make up for the unsettling feeling that has taken hold. the baby is in bed and my big boy is at school. yes i know i can't quite believe it. i thought it was still summer, that there was plenty of time left. but autumn is rearing it's lovely crisp, cool, colourful head and that means big changes for all of us here especially for my just turned 4 year old. and at the moment i'm not feeling too good about it.

hope you had a lovely summer,

and see you soon i hope,
sarada xxx

adventures in bread making

j had the day off today so i had a lovely lie in and was awoken to the smell of freshly baked bread. what a treat. we've both been getting into bread making lately, partly as it is such a great activity for little stan to take part in especially the kneading bit! and of course because the bread tastes so good. so yesterday little stan and his dad mixed and prodded and waited and prodded some more and filled two tins to rise in the fridge overnight following delia's advice in this book. this is such a great thing to do as it means you can just pop the risen loaves in the oven first thing in the morning. so we sat down for breakfast, with our warm bread spread thickly with butter and jam. the crust had just the right crunch and the bread itself was light and slightly chewy. just delicious. this is the first white loaf we've made and it was a real success. i've been experimenting with wholemeal bread using a variety of recipes and adding sunflower seeds and walnuts (my favourite). but they usually end up too dense and heavy, so i'll just have to keep on practising until i find the perfect recipe. that'll keep us in bread for a while at least!

sarada x

a cosy day

we arrived home late last night, tired but happy after a long weekend away. it was cold and rainy today so a good excuse to stay in and get cosy. for lunch, we made bread rolls that we buttered hot from the oven and sweet potato and pumpkin soup. and i roasted the seeds too. i like to spoon them straight from the pumpkin onto the oven tray with the stringy bits and mix with oil and soy sauce. so i've been snacking on those all day in between making tents and inspired by one of little stan's favourite stories at the moment - we're going on a bear hunt, hiding from bears!

sarada x

i think i love you

i have been doing a bit more drawing lately. in fact i think i have the bug and find myself with pen in hand when i really should be doing other things. here is my latest doodling.


we have also found a new love for dips and dippers. it is great tonight francisco was eating raw broccoli, carrots, tomato, and cucumber.


yesterday i made some tahini. it was so easy. i toasted some sesame seeds and then ground them up in the pestle and mortar, and then added a little water until it made a paste. inspired by the tahini i have now made some cashew and brazil nut butter using the same method except adding a pinch of salt and using olive oil instead of water. it is so delicious.

ambika

back to the same old same new

we just spent a lovely relaxing week visiting the grandparents in suffolk. it was so nice to be able to catch up and share the days with stanley together. j's brother lives nearby with his two little people so it was nice to spend time with them too and of course stan loved his cousins. typically i forgot my camera, it was waiting on the table when we got home so i had to imagine the photographs i would have snapped for myself. i was very taken with the picture postcard image of a heather bush in a tin bucket on the wooden pale grey green garden table. such lovely colours. and a very pleasant spot to drink tea in the morning.


more pretty scenes awaited us on our return. our two tomato plants were full to bursting with fruit in various shades from green to red. apparently tomatoes should ideally be picked before the fruit turns red so that their juices stay sweet rather than watery. yesterday my little helper and i picked a bowlful to ripen in the kitchen. so tomato salads are on the menu for a few weeks. chopped up with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, a dash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. delicious. i think i counted 50 tomatoes in all!


the only other plant that has done well on our little balcony was the chilli, a modest handful of chillies that went straight into an omelette last night. hot but tasty.

it was a nice feeling when we arrived back to our (still new to us) home, looking at everything with fresh eyes and being appreciative of the larger space. even though we do miss the boat from time to time.


i also had time to finish a couple of gifts including one for a little girl who calls herself bubba. so sweet.


bondaweb, i really love it, recycled fabric and chain stitch. i had lots of fun making them.


now i just need to enjoy the declining days of sunshine before they disappear altogether. i'm just not quite ready to say hello to autumn. not just yet!

sarada

making tea and other things

i recently collected some elderflower heads on one of our walks to make tea. i got the idea from my spanish aunt who did the same when we visited her. she says that it is a good tea to drink when you have a cold in the winter.


i laid them out on some paper to dry. this only took a few days. then i took as much of the stalk off as i could and placed the tiny flowers in a glass jar. only enough for a few cups i reckon, but i look forward to using it later in the year.


we've also been drinking smoothies lately. a very thirst quenching drink on a hot day. i consider this a break through as i have tried them on stanley before but he wasn't having any of it! it's a great way to get fruit down him, as he quite often refuses to even try food if he doesn't like the look or smell of it, which i find quite frustrating especially as his diet is some what restricted anyway due to his food allergies. he is allergic to all dairy products and a few types of nuts. so i am thrilled that he has taken to drinking these whizzed up concoctions of mine.

i know it's pretty straight forward but this is what we put in ours:

3 handfuls of soft fruit, we like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries,
half a banana,
half a pint (or enough to cover the fruit) of soya milk
a spoonful of honey, maple or agave syrup
blend it all up and there you have it, a delicious summer smoothie.

this makes enough for two glasses, we have to add more if daddy is around. and most importantly, it needs to be served with a straw, that's the essential for this little customer!


the beauty is that you can really put anything into it as long as it tastes good. I might experiment further by adding avocado, silken tofu, some nut or seed butter into the mix to make them extra nutritious before stanley's taste buds find me out!




we have also been making stuff, stanley has been finger painting non-stop and while he sleeps i have been sorting out my small fabric stash and working on some birthday gifts.


here's a sneaky peek, i need to finish them this week so i better go right now and work on them some more!


see you later
Sarada x

baking and making

as the days are beginning to shorten, and the summer which was waited for, but never really appeared is coming to an end. i felt the need for warm slippers in lovely bright rainbow colours.
i have also been;
jam making,
baking,
pickling,
packing,
and preserving like a woman possessed. as winter really does approach i am getting desperate to keep a little summer sweetness jared up for colder darker times.


blackberry and apple jelly,
hedgerow jelly,
hawthorn ketchup,
strawberry jam,
pontack, (a new recipe)
pickled beetroot,
mint syrup,


and mulled pears.

i have also been spending some quality time with my little artist who at the age of 2 and a half has finally managed to draw some beautiful pictures of his papa. i love the movement that small children bring to their art.


rr

coming home

this is the face of a very excited little boy! we're usually hanging around in the wheel house which also happens to be our kitchen, either making dinner or tidying up when j gets back from work. as soon as stan hears the click of the lock, he expectantly looks to the door and starts smiling hugely and waving his arms and legs around frantically as his daddy arrives home. it's such a lovely thing to see and makes my heart smile watching the joy on both their faces, as they see each other after having been apart for the whole day. at those moments it's as though it has always been the three of us. our little family. and all the struggles of everyday living fade away leaving the air full of love and laughter.

those moments really make my day.


we were really thrilled to receive this beautiful jumper for stan the other day. knitted by a dear family friend. he seems to like it and it's just his colour.


along with these cute shoes that ambika sent us a while ago, thanks little sis they're really lovely, both gifts are a little big at the moment but i think stan will grow into them very nicely.

sw

hello, goodbye

we sadly lost a close friend of the family last week and travelled up to oxford for the funeral. if it can be said the day was beautiful, the best it could have been. franc was a little angel and really lifted everyones mood by being very silly and funny. we arrived back, after about a week away, to find my seed trays sparkling with new life. it always fills me with a certain excitment when seeds germinate. there is always the hope that some kind of crop may follow. i made a pillow case based on the curly hazel photo posted a couple of weeks ago, it's a bit scruffy around the edges but i like it.


the sun has been shining all week and it feels like winter is almost behind us. much to our pleasure a new playground has been built in saltash, we spent most of the day there, and the rest, making yummy surprise valentines day biscuits for stick. there were more but someone kept eating them!

the wonderful world of weaning

i bet baby stan had no idea that he'd ever be eating anything apart from breast milk! he's on two meals a day now and i have no idea what we used to do with all that time before he started meal times. it's proving to be a really fun and sweet experience. did i mention messy too! watching him react to all the different foods makes us smile a lot. he's such a cutie pie and so serious about the whole thing. i wish i knew what he's thinking when we introduce all these new tastes to him.

'did i miss a bit?'

we had 'rice congee' for breakfast this morning, it's eaten in china and is just a porridge made out of rice. very soothing. we put fresh pear puree on it and it went down a treat. it's a recipe from this lovely book i found in the library, food adventures that talks about what babies first foods are around the world and explains what happens at meal times in different countries. we had the chorizo and chickpea stew ourselves for dinner tonight. it was very tasty. i think i'm going to buy it as i'd love to try some more of the recipes, when he gets older.

i also made this mobile. something i was inspired to do after seeing one that stick made the last time we visited. it has lovely balance and moves beautifully. he collected stones with holes in, fishing line and wood from special places on his travels. i did collect the shells for mine when i went to visit our brother in ireland a little while ago, so that's nice, but the wool and balsa wood were just from local shops, not half as romantic. it's also taken me since november to finally get round to making it. so it's great to have an encouraging sis to help spur things along! i really enjoyed putting it all together, and am already thinking of making a more robust one for baby stan as he loves looking at it.