Pumpkin Scones

My friend Donna recently gave us a pumpkin she had grown in her garden. We put it to good use. Some of it was mashed into baby food, some of it was roasted for dinner, and some of it was made into pumpkin scones.

I searched online, and ended up choosing a recipe published on the Best Recipes website. It looked nice and simple, which was important because Grace was "helping" me cook them. We made a batch on Thursday, and they turned out so well I made another batch yesterday for an afternoon tea at Neil's aunt's place.

As usual, I ended up modifying the recipe a little bit. Here's my version ...

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients:

55g margarine
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup steamed pumpkin, mashed
1 egg
1/2 cup reduced fat milk
3 cups self-raising flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Mix the butter and sugar until combined.
3. Stir in the pumpkin and egg.
4. Add the milk and mix until smooth.
5. Slowly add the flour to form a dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead lightly, then roll or press out to about 2 cm thick.
7. Use a small round cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut scones from the dough.
8. Place the scones on baking paper on a tray, and brush the tops with milk.
9. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden.
10. Turn out and wrap in a clean tea towel. Serve warm.

Tips:

• The original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups flour, but I found I needed 3 cups or a little more to make the dough the right consistency. I guess it depends how watery your pumpkin is. Just keep adding small amounts of flour until the dough is a consistency you can handle. It should be slightly sticky.
• It is important not to knead the scones too much, as it apparently makes them tough and heavy. I just mixed the dough with my hands until it felt smooth and was easy to shape.
• In my reading I discovered that twisting the cutter can prevent the scones from rising evenly. Unfortunately I read that after cooking them, but I'll know for next time!
• It is a good idea to place the scones side by side and almost touching each other. That helps to keep the sides straight and ensure they rise well.

How many scones you get obviously depends on how big your cutter is. Yesterday I used a small round cutter, and made about three dozen little scones.

These scones are very light and fluffy, and in my opinion taste best straight out of the oven, with a little bit of margarine and honey. Yum!

The Case of the Missing Big Bird

On our recent holiday to Singapore, Grace was given a Qantas children's activity pack. It had a Sesame Street theme, and included Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird and Grover cardboard cut-outs. They became favourite items while we were away, and in the first few days after our return. Then they seemed to disappear.

Last week I was cleaning under the cushions of the sofa, and found two of the characters. Elmo had a foot torn off and was very crumpled, so I put him in the bin. Abby Cadabby looked quite good, so I gave her to Grace.

Big mistake.

Grace immediately began looking for Elmo. After much angst, I "found" Elmo in the bin, and repaired his foot. Then she started looking for Big Bird (thankfully she seems to have forgotten all about Grover).

The first place she wanted to look was, of course, the bin. After all, that's where Elmo was! We then proceeded to turn nearly every room in the house upside down in our search.

Of course, being two years old, and having declined the offer of an afternoon sleep, a 7:00 pm search for a missing toy is never going to end well. Especially when I'm fairly sure that toy was disposed of quite some time ago.

Attempts to get her to sleep failed, as did Daddy's promises to find Big Bird in the morning.

Thankfully, we live near a 24-hour K-mart. I set off in the cold and rain, but returned home victorious.

Hooray! Peace was restored, and Big Bird spent several nights in bed with Grace before being replaced by Upsy Daisy.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen him for a day or two. I'd better start looking now before his absence is noted!

Dolls House Rediscovered

I am fortunate to have very creative and capable parents, who made me a wonderful dolls house when I was young. Over the years they kept it, then gave it to me to pass on to my children.

The dolls house needs a little bit of renovation, and we have stored it in a spare wardrobe for the last few years, intending to do it up and give it to Grace when she is a little older.

Today we needed to move it to rearrange our storage. We planned to wrap it up and put it under the house for another twelve months or so ... then Grace saw it!

It is an A-frame house with removable roof panels. There are two rooms downstairs (one with a built in fireplace), and two rooms upstairs. As you can see, it comes complete with a staircase and a balcony, and is very cute.

There was also a box with several dolls, dolls clothes, and furniture items. I quickly hid the Barbies, as I don't want Grace exposed to those just yet. But there were two little dark-haired dolls which she spent hours putting in and out of bed, sitting on chairs, and getting me to help her dress and undress.

I have no idea what type of dolls these are (if you know, please tell me), but the beds were made to fit them, and there were two or three sets of clothes to fit as well.

The dolls clothes we have are quite old and worn out, and the furniture is mismatched and incomplete. But at this stage Grace doesn't mind. It is so nice, if a bit surreal, to see her deriving pleasure out of playing with something I played with as a child.

It brought back a lot of happy memories seeing the dolls and their furniture, and the clothes mum helped my sister and I make for them.

I'm looking forward to making a whole new set of memories with Grace and Charlotte over the coming years.

Crafty Stress Management Course

Back in May, I attended a great course called Crafty Stress Management. It was held in the studio at Fertile Ground Health Group in East Melbourne, and was run by Sue Halliday from Crafting Health.

I've always loved craft, but hadn't made time for it in my busy schedule since having children. It was exciting to rediscover and expand my crochet skills, and practise some simple stitching. More than that, it was inspiring to meet Sue and the other participants and share ideas.

One night a week for six weeks (I was only able to attend the first four) we met to learn craft skills and discuss various stress management techniques. Mindfulness was a particularly strong theme, and I was reminded how relaxing the simple process of crafting can be. The other main point I took away from the course was that what I make doesn't have to be perfect. It's OK to be wonky!

Our first project was a small crochet heart, followed by crochet granny squares, and then stitching an inspirational phrase. While I finished my stitching awhile ago, I only just framed it tonight, hence the blog post.

Since doing the course, I've been trying to regularly spend time working on small craft projects, and it really has given me a great deal of pleasure.

If you'd like to find out more about Crafting Health or the next Crafty Stress Management course, click on the link below:

Crafting Health

Return to Work

I had a meeting with the new manager this afternoon to discuss my return to work after maternity leave. It won't be for three or four months, but I need to be organising childcare now to have it in place in time.

Things went reasonably well. I can't do less than 0.5 EFT, but I can do two days one week and three the next. And hopefully the two main days are the ones Grace already attends childcare, and Charlotte is on the waiting list. That just leaves one day a fortnight to sort out.

It was quite ridiculous how frumpy I felt. I was very conscious that my jacket didn't quite fit right, and there was a mark on my trousers where I'd tried to wipe off some baby vomit. I feel sure that I'll be able to pick it up again reasonably quickly, but I feel very out of the whole work scene at the moment.

The phrase 'return to work' got me thinking, too. Return to work? What is it I have been doing for over two years? What it really means is, return to regular adult conversation. Return to drinking a hot drink while it is still hot. Return to eating a meal uninterrupted. Return to going to the toilet without company. Return to driving in the car without singing "Baa, baa, black sheep" or "Hot potato".

When it comes down to it, my return to work means earning a salary, and maintaining my skills and professional registration. But the main returning I'll be looking forward to is returning home to see my two little girls. I think I'm going to miss them a lot.

In the Park

We've recently discovered a new park, and most weekend afternoons will find us there. It's only a short drive away, and has plenty to keep the family entertained.

The playground is fully fenced, with seats and picnic tables and plenty of space.

A lot of the play equipment is suitable for toddlers, and Grace enjoys climbing, sliding, crawling through the tunnel, and playing in the little house.

The rest of the park is off-the-lead, so Rosie (our little Westie) has a great time with all the other dogs and works off plenty of energy.

Rosie (6 years)

Charlotte loves being in the baby carrier watching everything, and we keep each other warm!

Right next to the park is a coffee shop, which appears to do a roaring trade in take-aways!

I'm not sure if it is the trees, or the weather, but this park has a very English feel. I love going there. For me, nothing beats being outside on a crisp, sunny winter's day!

Survival

I'd like my blog posts to be positive, but I don't want to misrepresent my life or the challenges I sometimes face. So in the interests of being real, here are some 'highlights' from the past 24 hours ...

• Took last of second round of antibiotics for throat infection last night. This morning throat was already sore again.
• Charlotte is on antibiotics for ear and throat infections, and is running high temperatures, particularly at night. On six-hourly baby Panadol. Up every hour settling her until around 1:00am, when she had a longer sleep.
• Grace woke around 12:30am and wanted to go downstairs and play. Didn't let her. Tried a bottle, putting her back in the cot, threats, bribes, sleeping in the spare bed with her, sleeping in our bed with her. Neither of us slept. She finally went down in her cot at 3:00am.
• Spent 15 minutes hand expressing painful, lumpy breast (it is two days since I finished weaning Charlotte) so could lie on my side. Got to bed around 3:20am.
• Charlotte up by 5:00am, and a bit miserable. Spent time settling her and packing for our day.
• Drove two and a half hours in cold, wet and windy conditions to Sale for Neil's aunt's funeral. Sat in the back singing, handing out toys, and otherwise trying to keep the girls occupied until we got there.
• Grace periodically said "Singapore?" as we went through a town. The last time she had to sit still for so long, she ended up somewhere a bit more exciting than a funeral in Sale in the middle of winter!
• Tried to keep hungry six-month-old and energetic two-year-old quiet during funeral mass. Didn't want too much crying, or giggling. Ended up in the foyer for most of it.
• Played in the cemetery car park with Grace while Neil attended the burial. Tried to keep her out of the mud puddles so her clothes wouldn't be ruined before meeting all the relatives at the afternoon tea.
• Stood in the rain making bottles from a thermos and tins of formula in the back of the ute. Changed dirty nappies on the floor in a side room of the cathedral. Worked hard to stop Grace drawing on the wall with the white board markers, or knocking over the statue of Mary.
• Met a lot of Neil's relatives for the first time. Concentrated hard so my sleep-deprived brain would remember their names. Started to get confused when one kept referring to Neil as 'Andrew'.
• Stayed awake talking to Neil on the way home so he wouldn't fall asleep. Thankfully, the girls slept most of the way.
• Quick and easy pasta for dinner. Not enough energy to make a healthier meal.
• Late afternoon sleeps meant girls didn't go down until 9:45pm. Time for a quick blog post then bed!

Joy

I just have to share this photo, which I took this morning.

It was the first time that Grace has had her hair done up in two ponytails, and she was very proud of how pretty it looked. I asked her to stay still and smile, and this is the photo I got.

It makes me realise there's a lot of sense in Jesus encouraging us to be like little children (Matthew 18:3). How wonderful it would be not to worry about having a dirty face or being in old clothes when a camera appeared! How fun life would be if I could celebrate my little achievements with such abandon!

Burmese Information Night

On Saturday night we hosted a wonderful evening organised by my friend, Nicole.

Free Burma Cafe provided the catering, as well as speakers who gave insights into the political situation in Burma, the experience of being a refugee, and how we can help.

The food was delicious. Our menu was:

• Kyat Thon Laik (potato masala spring rolls)
• Atha Du Hin (sweet tofu & tomato curry)
• Hin Thee Hin Ywat (vegetable curry)
• Atho Soh (Burmese salad)
• Nga Yoke Thee Atho (chilli, onion & lemon relish)
• Mah Loh Kyaw (coconut bombs, mango, and coconut ice-cream)

It was really interesting to hear about a country I only knew a little about, and quite humbling to realise how hard life is for people forced to flee their homes, live in a refugee camp for ten years, then start a new life here in Australia. It definitely makes me realise how much I take for granted!

If you would like to find out more about Burma or the Free Burma Cafe, click on the link below:

Free Burma Cafe Website