The Cook-ing Monster

I have 3 half finished blog posts, two started in New Zealand and one since I got home, but somehow, life has rushed on and I haven't finished them.

But today I was a total Cooking (not Cookie) Monster!  So I want to write about it.  At the end of April, Sihle will have his 21st birthday party - his birthday was at the beginning of March, but he wants the party at the end of April.  It's his party .....

Last year when he mentioned the menu, it sounded feasible - Butternut soup to start, Sarah's Roast Beef with blue cheese and peppercorns and Sarah's Roast Vegetables, and then ice cream and chocolate sauce to follow.  I don't think he mentioned numbers at that stage.  But then we discovered that he wanted 80 people!  Thats 20 more than Sarah had at her wedding!  Even with cutting it down to 65 people the menu looked too complicated for me to manage and too expensive to outsource.  particularly when there were additions, like a chicken dish, and then, after tasting red velvet cupcakes, these were added too.  And as I only have a tiny oven that fits a small baking tray only, I started to get a bit nervous - actually, hysterical!

So last weekend we sat down and looked at what was feasible - and Sihle isn't getting many of the dishes he really wanted, but he's getting a managable but classy menu for R30/head if I cook it all myself.

This is the menu:

• Butternut Soup with cocktail rolls (which I will buy)
• Chicken and Spinach plait in puff pastry
• Beef and Mushroom plait, flavoured with blue cheese and peppercorns
• Warm baby potato and bacon salad
• Mixed salad platter
• A dessert plate with Red Velvet cupcake, chocolate truffle and mini Kahlua Dom Pedro garnished with a chocolate coffee bean

So this is why I'm a Cooking Monster at the moment - firstly, trying out all the new ways of doing things, and then making and freezing the things we can make ahead.  So today I made about 10 litre of Butternut soup, which are now in 2 litre ziploc bags in the freeser.  I made 3 1/2 dozen red velvet cup cakes which are busy freezing so I can bag them and ice them just before the party.  Then I had to make a chocolate cake to crumble for the truffles - which are now made and sitting in the freezer - more to bag and then roll in cocoa just before the party.  And then in the middle, I decided to make Chinese Guava Jely with fruit from our trees - not my best - I used some jam setting stuff I bought at Foodpak, and it's like gelatine.

The oven, mixer, blender and dishwasher have gone all day!

I am in a cooking frenzy - mostly because there is a lot to do in the next month.  Nic, Ray and Emily will be here and I don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen when I could be playing babies.  Then there is Easter Sunday, when Emily is being baptised and we have invited the whole world to visit.  Lots more red velvet cupcakes, baguettes, cold meats and salads to make for that!  And then there is Laura's kitchen tea, with South African delights - milk tart, jeqe, koeksusters, magwinya (vetkoek), chicken nibbles (I won't do walkie talkies), etc.  So I really need to do what I can ahead of time.

It's been a good day and mostly successful (apart from the jam) - but there's still lots to do.  Oh well, more Cooking Monster Frenzy to come!

Love in Cyberspace

Tonight we took Pete's computer and my data card and went to see Pete's Mom.  With an 11 hr time difference, we can see Emily as she wakes up while we are still on "yesterday" and are getting ready for bed.

Mom has seen all the pictures of Emily but hasn't had a chance to see her "live" yet, and as Ray has a day off school, and the computer is at home, we decided to try and get these two together - Great-Nana and great-granddaughter, Em.

What a wonderful time!  Emily played the game - big eyes staring at the screen, little hands seeming to wave, little mouth pursing and yawning and even sticking her tongue out.

Mom and Margie melted - as soon as the dear little face appeared on the screen, their tiredness vanished and they cooed and smiled and waved.  Mom told Em how much she is loved and how she (Mom) can't wait to hold her, in just 2 weeks time.  Nic was wonderful, making sure Em took centre stage, and turning and moving her so we could see her at her best.  It was a special, bonding family time.

It's not as good as holding her, but it is the next best thing.  And Mom and Margs are as besotted as we are.   Thank goodness for Skype!

Some more stuff we've made

Babies are such a nice way for people to start

Spending this time with Emily as she starts to get used to living in this strange big world has been so special.

I found this quote:
A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for”

She makes love stronger - my love for her is just overwhelming, but so is my love for my other grand child, Kev, as I relive his babyhood; for our special son-in-law, Ray and his parents, Rita and Graham as they just gaze at her in awe; for Sarah, as I remember what it was like being a first time Mom - nervous and unsure and so aware of the responsibility of raising her; and especially my love for Nicky - my baby with her baby.  I admire her so much as she grits her teeth and lets Emily latch on to her sore nipples, I feel so helpless when she is sad and anxious, I feel so sad when she cries because we are going home and won't see Em growing up, I feel so warm when she kisses us both when I'm holding Em and whispers to her "You have the best granny and grampa."  I feel like we are living in a bubble of love - and she is the centre of it all.

She makes the days shorter - there is lots to do, but lots of each day is spent looking at her, holding her, tickling her, loving her.  She is an absolute time-waster - and it's wonderful.  But when I can tear myself away from her, I'm busy cooking so Nic won't have to when we go home, baking so she has nutritious snacks, washing the mounds of washing Em creates each day - pee, poo and puke means a lot of clothes are used!

She makes the nights longer - right now we are having special "Granny and Grampa Time" - Nic and Ray go to bed about 9.30 and we get to hold, watch and love Emily till her middle of the night feed.  Delicious!  Pete is having his turn at the moment and then I will have mine when he goes to shower.  But it means we go to bed later and sometimes get up earlier if Nic needs to sleep.  The nights are drawing in - and our older bodies are adjusting to sleeping at different times and with one ear open.

She makes the bankroll smaller - we would buy things for her every time we go to the shop - I want to buy every cute outfit I can see at Farmers, Pumpkin Patch, JK Kids .... you name it, I want to buy it.  But even more than that, we need to save so we can travel to new Zealand often to see her.  Nic said the other night that as soon as she is big enough to travel alone, they will send her to visit us - because 1 ticket will be more affordable.  We know Nic and Ray did the right thing settling in Tauranga, but being long distance grandparents is the downside.

She makes the home happier - seeing ray's face as he comes in from school and swoops his beloved daughter up, reminds me of how Pete would do exactly the same when Sarah and Nic were tiny.  The home revolves around a tiny, quiet (for the moment) little girl but it is a home that sings with happiness.

She makes clothes shabbier - well, none of us really have time to worry too much about how we look, but my goodness, does she have an un-shabby wardrobe.  Beautiful clothes - all types and styles.  She is a real fashion plate - but even more beautiful when she's naked on her mat or in her bath.

She makes the past forgotten and the future worth living for - our beautiful Emily seems to wipe us clean and give us great hope for the future. 

I love you, Little Em.  You have started off so nicely, and I know you will get even better.

Welcome to the family

Our precious granddaughter, Emily Catherine Hodson has arrived!  Her coming has been keenly awaited for a couple of weeks.  While she was only due on 17 February, we all hoped for an earlier arrival - Nic because she was uncomfortable, we because we wanted as many days with her on the outside as possible before we needed to go home.  Every night we'd say "Goodnight" and hope it would start to happen in the middle of the night - but every morning we'd wake up to find her still inside.

But she came when she was ready!  On Sunday, 19th February she started to make her presence known with her mom's waters breaking and weak contractions starting.  We all thought this was it!  Ray would have a birthday baby after all.  We even gave him his birthday presents at midnight.  But the night wore on with contractions coming and going, and at 8, Nic saw the midwife who sent her home to get some sleep.  At 5, she went back to the hospital to see the midwife and obstetrician, who said they'd admit her overnight in case of infection, and would induce labour properly in the morning.  So the "birthday baby" option seemed to slip away.  But little Em knew what she wanted - and that was to give us all a surprise.  No sooner had the midwife left the hospital, than contractions started in earnest, and she was born at 9.10pm - on 20 February - exactly 29 years after her dad!

Nic had a few problems post partum with a hemorrhage, and Ray didn't even get to let us know till after 10.30 - but with amazing staff at the hospital, she was fine and although she needed blood and was kept in the delivery ward for nearly 24 hrs, she was soon stronger and ready to take on this challenge.

Em was 8lb 7 oz or 3.825kg when she was born and is 47cm long,  She has lots of dark hair and deep blue eyes,  fat little cheeks and a mouth like a little raspberry.  She has long fingers and skinny little feet.  She is adorable!

It's more than 14 years since Kev was born, so I wondered if I'd feel the same about Em's birth.  I was there when Kev was born and held him as soon as he was born.  I didn't get to hold Em for 12 hours, but the wave of love was just the same.  How wonderful to hold a little baby, flesh of your flesh - and know that the circle of love just gets bigger and bigger.  Pete didn't get to hold Kev until he came home - he described how his arms felt empty until he had cuddled him.  I felt the same as we waited for Ray to come home on Monday night and tell us all about it - and yet, once I had held her, my arms felt full of love.

Seeing Ray and Nic with her is just so awesome - they just gaze at her in awe.  Ray is like a kid with the best present ever - he just giggles with delight - and he can't bear to be parted from her.  Nic is glowing - despite the pain and the weakness after the blood loss.  She says that she can't believe that she loves her more each time she holds her.

The Facebook Phenomenon has also added something to this birth - we could post on fb straight away - and as it was daytime in SA, there were messages immediately.  Hundreds of them, if you count up all the "likes" and comments on our pages, Rita and Graham's, Ray and Nic's, Sarah, Laura's and Sihle's.  There have been wonderful comments - like "Where is the LOVE button - LIKE isn't enough" and Pam saying "Where is the Positively Adorable button?"  And everyone has been able to see pictures straight away.  Nic will be selective about who can see the pics after these, which is sensible, but for the moment, everyone needs to see and share.

So our little love is home, Ray is getting some sleep (he's been at the hospital almost 24/7) and Nic's milk is coming in, despite all the blood loss.  We are all so blessed and feeling so complete.

Welcome, little Emily - no longer Ricky, but her own special little self.

Let's go shopping

Being in New Zealand such a long time, we’ve done a lot of shopping – regular, everyday shopping, not only tourist shopping.

It’s been interesting seeing how different shops are here.  Firstly, the shopping centres.  There are Malls, but most grocery shops – the main chains are Countdown, Pack n Save and New World – are not anchors in a Mall.  They often stand alone – in the middle of big parking lots.  They all have covered foyers – obviously built for the miserable winter weather.  They may be linked with other shops – Fraser Cove Shopping centre near Nic’s home has a Countdown – but here the shops are not all under one roof.  This centre – like many others –has a mass of chain shops and some speciality shops but they are spread out with covered verandahs linking them.  But it’s quite a trek from one end to the other and when it’s raining, despite the verandahs, you get wet!

The grocery shops we have patronised are mostly Pack n Save – a huge “hyper” type shop with aisles cowering under towering shelves reaching up to the ceiling.  I always feel a bit claustrophobic in Pack n Save – it’s like Makro but narrower and sells mostly groceries.  It’s cheaper than the other stores, and you get to take your groceries home in the trolley or a box – no packets.  Mostly the shoppers are grumpy but the tellers are super friendly.  You mostly only find Pack n Save in a big town and usually in the centre. Countdown is found in more places – every suburb has its own and there are big and small ones.  I like the one in Fraser Cove – it’s open and bright – but it generally is quite expensive.  It’s more Pick n Pay than Checkers.  Nicky hates Countdown but we find it convenient to go to.  Then there’s New World – you see less of them and they are nice shops – like Parklane Spar.  But we seldom shop there.

In small towns, you don’t find any of the big chains – just a 4Square which is like a local Spar.  You find these local convenience stores all over – even i9n the middle of shopping streets.  They are usually expensive but open long hours – not that the big chains don’t – there are even 24hr Countdowns in some places and most stay open till 9 or 10.  And then in Suburbs, you find “dairys” – what we would call a “tearoom” – both totally inappropriate names for small, very expensive convenience stores.

I’ve found shopping for groceries difficult – there are so many specials and prices on fresh goods fluctuate much more than they do at home.  Nic gave me a list of what prices I should pay for meat, butter and fruit and veggies – if it’s more, don’t buy now – it will be on sale next week, she says.  And it is – I’m not used to groceries being on sale.

Sales are big – everyone is always having sales.  Briscoes (a home goods shop) has a different sale every week.  We’ve learnt that you never buy anything full price at Briscoes, because it will soon be on sale.  Farmers (like Edgars) had a pre-Christmas sale, a Christmas sale, a Boxing Day sale, a New Year’s sale and then a Waitangi Day sale – all in the space of 6 weeks.  TV adverts are full of sales – Harvey Norman seems to have a different sale every week.

A shop I love shopping at is Spotlight.  This is Ragland plus Prints Charming plus Mr Price Home all in one.  And their sales of fabrics are amazing – sometimes you pay 25% of the normal price for a few days – so heaven help you if you don’t buy enough fabric for your project!  The quilting fabric is fantastic! I have had such fun working with the fabrics in the packs – they are so well put together.

But my very favourite part about shopping in New Zealand is the shopping streets.  In Tauranga there is Devonport Street – lovely, varied shops on both sides of a paved street you can drive down.  There are some chain shops – like Whitcoulls, the bookshop, Stevens (homeware to die for) and Glassons which sells ladies clothes (Miladys), but also lots of smaller shops, boutique shops, cafes and restuarants.  Lovely arcades link the two main streets with charming shops hidden away next to shops which do alterations and tattoos.  The Rialto Cinema – 5* cinema – is in one of the arcades.  At the bottom of Devonport Street it opens out into the Strand, with tourist shops and restaurants.  When the weather is good, you sit out on the pavement drinking your coffee and watching the world go by. 

But the shopping streets are not just here – Downtown the Mount is a similar street at the Mount, and we’ve experienced these shopping streets all over New Zealand.  Shopping is more leisurely, less frenetic and certainly safer than walking down Church Street!

Busy Bees

Nic and I have spent a lot of time sewing and creating in the last 2 months.  So this blog is a collection of pictures of some of the stuff we have made.