Best broccoli salad

This weekend we enjoyed our first broccoli salad of the season with home grown broccoli.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than serving food that comes from my garden.

 My family is not partial to broccoli but when served this way, they cant get enough!

It is quick and easy to make.

Chop raw broccoli finely along with some spring onions, 

add grated cheese 

&

 a handful of toasted sunflower seeds.

The dressing is made to taste with mayonnaise, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a little sugar.

Another recipe some of us really enjoy is broccoli chicken.

Steam broccoli and place in a casserole dish with cooked shredded chicken.

Top with a white sauce and grated cheese.

Bake until crispy and enjoy!

Cultural Exchange - another exciting parcel!

Who doesn't just love receiving a surprise package in the post!

 Our last day of term got off to a great start with another Cultural Exchange pack arriving. We love being part of this fun Worldwide Culture Swap and will continue to sign up as we finish each swap we take part in.

If you are keen to become a culture swapper but are concerned about international postage costs, you can also take part in an individual swap instead of the normal swap with four other families. It is a great way to learn about the world and other cultures.

This delightful pack came from a family in England. They live in a beautiful seaside town called Folkstone.

In the pack there were some photos of the family, the area they live in and places they love to visit.

Letters from the children and a history of their area helped us learn so much more about them and we love this personal touch to the pack.

We loved the beautiful stamp on the pack depicting the Queen too!

We received a Kentish recipe book and they marked their favourite recipe which we will certainly try out, as well as all the others too! Lots of fun in the kitchen coming up!

No pack from the UK would be complete without some beautiful pictures of the Royal family.

They included Union Jack party blowers, balloons, bunting and paper chains as well as a pin-wheel to make and invitations to hold our very own Jubilee picnic!

Oh...I forgot to mention more delicious recipes for this special Jubilee picnic or tea party we will have!

We will be thinking of this special family on 18th July when they cheer and wave as they watch the Olympic Torch coming through their town!

The medals added a lovely touch to the pack!

And there was more...

Sticks of rock candy with their town's name running through the middle

Pencils for the kids

Postcards

&

a piece of chalk from the White Cliffs of Dover!

We look forward to enjoying their recipes and culture as we learn so much more! 

Thank you lovely family from England!

From the kitchen

We have had a little fun in the kitchen recently.

I love trying out new recipes and our local fresh fruit and veg market has some amazing weekly specials.

 I try to get down there and take advantage. 

Recently I bought a pocket of onions and so it was time to make some onion marmalade!

It turned out really well and my eldest has decided I should produce it in bulk so he can eat jars at a time.

We jazzed up the "normal" cheese and tomato with fresh rocket and basil from the garden and dollops of onion marmalade!

Peppers were surprisingly inexpensive and I made some marinated pickled peppers.

 They will be ready to try in a day or so. 

We picked our first broccoli from the garden today,

 and I hope to make a broccoli salad over the weekend. 

We have been enjoying the abundance of fresh oranges : orange juice, orange cake (courtesy of  my daughter), butternut and orange soup, and oranges for those in between times when the kids are 

constantly hungry.

The kids harvested lemons at their Oma over the weekend and we have been eyeing out a number of lemon recipes to try. Besides pancakes with cinnamon sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice, my daughter baked an interesting lemon desert . It is a cake with a sticky and delicious lemon sauce underneath.

Perfect to end off a winter meal!

June's Joy Dare week 3

Thanking Him in the midst of this busy and full life...

Day 12

(3 gifts full)

602) oven full of delicious goodies baked by my daughter

603) full tummies after delicious chicken soup for dinner

604) full night's sleep giving me strength for the new day

Day 13

(3 gifts smelled)

605) clean and fresh scent of washing that dried in today's sun

606) sweet smelling clean baby after bath time...

babysitting tonight so his mum and dad could have an evening out

607) delicious spicy aroma of mince curry at dinner

Day 14

(a gift unexpected, unwanted)

608) totally unexpected- winning a yuppiechef voucher yesterday for my original twist on a recipe!

609) clothes unwanted by another, happily worn and enjoyed by my daughter and I

Day 15

610) an understanding friend's listening ear

611) seeing my boy enjoy his science club and having fun with friends

612) my daughter's help with her baby cousin

Day 16

613) hubby's care when I was not feeling well

Day 17

(3 gifts in your dad)

614) his understanding and gentleness

615) his crazy sense of humour and hearty laugh

616) his amazing story telling that has given me a storehouse full of memories from my childhood

& more my own

617) conversations with far away family today, my sisters and mum

618) delicious orange and poppy seed cake made by my daughter, 

and enjoyed at my in laws for Father's Day tea time

Day 18

(3 gifts from your heavenly father)

619) His strength, not mine

620) His mercies, new every morning

621) His "unimaginable grace"

& more my own

622) a pot of hearty veg soup that turned out really well...

even two of mine who are not soup lovers ate seconds!

623) coal for the fire given by my kind neighbour.... warming the lounge tonight

624) unexpectedly seeing a friend today

My Winter Garden

I have been enjoying watching the garden over the last couple of weeks. 

Despite the cooler weather we have lots to look forward to...

The cabbage and broccoli are doing well and we have been enjoying the kale. I didn't realise the great health benefits of this amazing plant until I decided to do a little research. 

The sweet leaves add pleasant flavours to soups and stews and I look forward to trying some new recipes with kale.

The Bright Lights Spinach/ Chard is picked almost daily. 

Handfuls are finely chopped and added to salads, stews, soups, curry or anything going! 

Most recently we have been adding it to home baked breads and muffins.

Fresh peas are picked every couple of days...I need to plant way more next year! 

They are picked and given to our youngest who does not fancy peas any other way, 

except fresh from the garden. 

Tomatoes are everywhere, little yellow blossoms and even a few green tomatoes already. 

Mustard greens are finding their way into salads and are specially delicious on burgers!

I have been harvesting a number of green peppers and was delighted to find a red one on the same bush.

There are a few green granadillas on the vine and soon we will be gobbling gooseberries...

they are everywhere. Perhaps we may have enough this year to try some gooseberry jam.

June's Joy Dare into week 2

As we head into June, no matter what may come, I continue to give thanks....

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"

(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

June

Day 5

(a gift of peace, of hope, of love)

579) gift of peace - His peace, settling my anxious mind

580) gift of hope - His promise of a hope and a future

581) gift of love - my mum's constant prayers

&

582) spending the day touring " a never seen before" area of our city with my three children,

loving learning together

583) hubby helping me with dinner of mince and rooti and enjoying hearing about our day

Day 6

(3 gifts ugly beautiful)

584) harsh words turned around with apologies and forgiveness

585) a kitchen with dishes piled high but a beautiful meal enjoyed

586) street art my daughter has been photographing, her project coming together beautifully

Day 7

(3 gifts in what you are reading)

587) " His love is a radical love" from Love Like Him

588) " The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." 

from our morning Bible study

589) escaping every now and then for a bit of down time with the novel I am enjoying

Day 8

(3 gifts empty)

590) empty jam jar after lunch of crumpets topped with jam & cheese made by my sweet daughter

591) empty house...kids off for an impromptu afternoon of fun with friends....

giving me much needed quiet time to work on some admin

592) " heavy" and aching empty arms after rocking my solid little nephew to sleep tonight....him peacefully asleep, blessed to have him in our lives

Day 9

(3 gifts that made you really smile)

593) the amusing things my witty teen boy comes up with

594) on asking the children who remembers what a sarcophagus is?...

one of my kids saying, "that thing in your throat"....laughter is good medicine!

595) my youngster's cute explanation of how simple it is to drive: one foot to go, one to stop and press in the middle to hoot!

Day 10

(a gift at 8 at 12 at 2)

596) @ 8 still asleep, lovely to have a little lie in

597) @ 12 enjoying the winter sunshine

598) @ 2 or there abouts, visiting my friend at her new house

Day 11

(2 gifts painted)

599) paintings on my walls, gifts from my dad

600) the smiling little yogurt painted face of my precious nephew

and one my own

601) getting out for a bit and helping my friend in her new house

Cultural Exchange... parcel from Catalunya

Would you believe it, another parcel arrived this week from a family exchanging with us in the 

Worldwide Culture Swap!

 This time from Catalunya, an autonomous region of Spain, with it's own language, culture and traditions. 

I know we are going to have great fun discovering their very interesting history and more!

Along with a letter introducing the family and explaining their most important festival, we received the following:

poster depicting human towers made during their festival,

a colouring page depicting some of the characters in the festival,

sunflower seeds to plant,

sea shells from the Mediterranean,

home made olive oil soap,

a pink wall lizard toy,

Catalan Flag,

a counting puzzle in Spanish,

&

assortment of sweets made in Spain, 

shared and enjoyed!

We are so excited to learn from this family and thank them for their interesting parcel.