Sunday 30 March 2014

My dear mother has lost her way

Smitonius says:

It has been a rather long time since I logged in and posted anything, as my life has been altering course over the last few years. Hitting 40 has been an extraordinary experience of change, accepting it and learning to let go and flow: health issues that seem to involve hospitals and not just a quick chat with a friendly pharmacist (solution: tablet form); work that becomes, all of a sudden, not 9 to 5 but 50 hour week and not what I signed up for; thinking things like who am I, what is this thing called life, what next? (I have loads of ideas... So no worries there).


I post existential questions, with no appropriate photograph, because my mother phoned to ask - where is the dash board on blogger? I popped in, things look different but not defunct. So, next task, advise Sonata on how she can post things in the near future. By the way, she is still well, looking after her other half, sewing tiny squares, attending gym once a week and emailing me mustard recipes.

From the  Belgian magazine , “Actief Wonen” :
Mustard with beer
ingredients :
4 dessertspoons  yellow mustard seed
1         “                 dark mustard seed
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
125 ml Belgian beer ( they use La Chouffe )
75 ml cider vinegar
1 dessertspoon honey
1        “              brown sugar
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
Method :
Grind 2 dessertspoons yellow mustard seeds fine and mix with the rest of mustard seeds in small bowl .
Finely chop onion and garlic . Put in a pan with beer , vinegar , honey , sugar , turmeric and salt and bring to the boil . Simmer for 15 minutes till reduced by half and add to the mustard seed . Stir and cover . Leave it to stand at room temperature for 2 days and put into sterlised pots .
Makes 2 125g pots .
Thought you'd like to try this sometime . Recipe from the Debremaeker sisters book of preserves , “Ingemaakt”, apparently .love , mummy

Anyway, sounds rather tasty!