Tales from Columbia Court

Before it got to the end of January I had good intentions to write a piece about Christmas – a little reflection, the ones spent here…..it’s sitting in my drafts and although I’ve gone back to it a few times, it remains sitting – it’s not gripping me and although it is a useful memoir of our time here, it isn’t pulling me to the screen to finish it and therefore the screen remains blank….and that was something I was trying to avoid.  If the blank stays there too long, I won’t add anything to this…

My last post was a little emotional, but part of this blogging thing is being brave and writing despite the desire to sometimes remain silent.

One of the things I learnt from attempting to write in every day of Advent, is that I gain more satisfaction from writing from the heart, than just writing in terms of a diary of events.  I thought I could just write a little each day, but on one evening after returning from a friends social gathering I suggested to my husband that I might just write “WINE….that is all….”.  But he said “no….you can’t do that, it doesn’t add any value….”  and you know he was right.  But of course at that point it was the wine combined with the obligation to write something, anything.

And now it is February.  Pancake day has just passed and Lent has arrived.  Valentines vibes fill the air as I attempt to make cards for the whole of my son’s class.  Raiding the cupboard for card and inspiration that came in the form of glitter glue and sticky felt.

The tiny pot of roses is a gift to me for February, I don’t often buy flowers – other than daffodils, when I see them and they aren’t too expensive.  We have no house plants here, so it’s nice to have a little bit of green and brightness of flower sitting in the muddle of my desk.

The oven has beeped and I am expecting to be joining supper club shortly, so I’m going to hit ‘publish’, before this sits for days in my drafts too!

2016 has appeared and as it is the first full week of the new year, I wanted to say hello on here….so Hello!

I have my new calendar on my kitchen wall….

… a beautiful creation from a lovely friend who has filled it with wonderful pictures of home, friends and growing children!

2016 will be a year of change for us.  As the months pass, we will creep closer to a transition that will see us move back across the pond.  That will take some planning.

However, in the meantime,  there is lots to see and do and we have started the new year with wonderful skiing.  Amazing snow conditions and the inevitably resulting weary legs!

This is a Delia recipe from ‘Delia Smith’s Christmas’ and can be found on page 60.  Today I doubled up the amounts to make a larger batch as I am planning on giving away a few pots as gifts.  I got some half pint jars especially so that I could divide it up into suitable portions.

You need to take a bit of time with the chopping up of everything, but once it is all in the pan it just needs a bit of stirring through the cooking period.  Use a preserving pan or one that your not too concerned about marking, as the vinegar fumes tend to leave their mark.

I even paused today between the cooking part and the jarring as I had to do the school run; so I had the dishwasher running with the jars while I was out and then came back, put the pan back on the heat for a short while and then got it all into the jars as quickly as I could – whilst making hot chocolate and finding snacks and catching up on what had happened at school today.

All the chopping bit took place whilst on Skype with the UK.  My friend was wrapping gifts for her family and I was cooking.  It was almost as if we were sharing the same space and getting on with bits whilst chatting, like we used to do all the time!

I feel that the pace has slowed a little this week as I focus on the things that are priority for this weeks events and have some social time too.  I haven’t made it to the post office yet, but I will towards the end of the week.

Yesterday was MOPs and tomorrow is Mom’s Connect!

The weather has changed to a slightly more seasonal winter coldness, with the temperatures lower, a few showers of the wet stuff (which means snow in the mountains – yeah!!) and some pretty nasty winds.

A trip to the park usually means going in the car as the parks are all spread out, accessed from busy roads and with the weather being either hot or windy you have to pick your trips out carefully.  When we first arrived, there was no safe pavement route either, however in the heat of the summer last year a stretch of sidewalk was created, so if you have the time, it is now possible to get most of the way there on pavement.

The first time I attempted this route solo parenting, I ended up carrying the bike and we discovered that the lights at the crossing although installed,were not operational, which resulted in a slightly scary navigation of a four way crossing.

This weekend we thought we would attempt a repeat adventure.

There is about a mile of this ‘new’ sidewalk

It is probably about a mile and a half to get there with four big roads to cross.  The last bit is on dirt and is difficult to cycle through – requires a bit of a push and avoidance of broken glass.

Once we arrived, the bike was ‘parked’ and snacks immediately searched out and consumed.  There is a circular path within this park which is about a third of a mile and that was cycled too.

Over the time we have been here the climbing has definitely got braver and higher and more adventurous!

The cycle back was fueled with cookies and encouragement as we were against the wind.  However, we made good time and it blew away the cobwebs.  I felt like I had been a little cooped up this week, so it was nice to be out in the fresh air getting a bit of exercise.

After school we washed our hands, donned pinnies and got to work in the kitchen.  It’s a simple recipe and there are lots of parts that a small person can help with (cutting butter, squeezing the juice, stirring & holding the sieve).

We have friends who have access to lemon, orange and grapefruit trees.  A real treat to come home laden with bags.  The first year we were here, there was a glut of lemons and I squeezed, sliced and cooked.  This year there were only a few, so I didn’t make any lemon curd.

I was chatting to my old neighbour on the phone a few weeks ago and she commented on finding my recipe whilst looking out recipes for thanksgiving and it reminded me that there wasn’t much left, so I bought some lemons.

In the year of the glut I searched and compared recipes and as lemon curd doesn’t keep for an extended amount of time I discovered that you can freeze it.  I also found plastic 8oz pots which are designed to be freezer jars.  So you can happily make a batch and keep it all for yourself, should you wish!  It is also an ideal gift as it doesn’t take that long to make and now my stash has been topped up, I shall make another batch to share with friends.

So, what you need, other than lemons….

Four ingredients: lemons, eggs, butter and sugar.

• 4 medium sized lemons (ripe & juicy) – the zest and the juice
• 4oz of butter (one stick) – chopped up into small pieces
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 12oz of sugar (here the granulated is the size of caster sugar which is what you need so it dissolves easily)

everything goes into the bowl

sit the bowl over a pan of simmering water & stir

keep the mixture moving gently

once the sugar & butter have dissolved, keep cooking for approx 20 mins more

Everything goes into the bowl, which is placed over a pan of simmering water.  You need to gently stir until the butter and sugar have dissolved.  The butter you can see disappear and the sugar becomes quieter as it will sound quite grainy as you stir to start off with.  Once you have got to this point, you keep cooking for another 20 minutes or so, until you can see the mixture thicken.  It should stick and coat the back of the spoon.

Then the bit that makes all the difference is that you strain it.  Pour the whole lot through a fine meshed sieve prior to putting into your clean jars.  This takes out the bits of zest and any sneaky lumpy bits which you probably won’t see until you strain it.

Each batch is a little different, but I usually fill three jars.  Store in the fridge or put into the freezer once cold.

Lemon curd isn’t that common here, so I have had to explain what you can eat it with to local friends.  It works pretty well on a toasted English muffin – but if you need a real hit, just stand in the fridge doorway with the jar and a spoon!