Motherhood, Creativity and Drudgery

Now that I have the Tadpole in day care one day a week, I have time to do my stuff.
MY stuff.
Not the cleaning, the cooking , the groceries or what have you. (Although let's be honest, the dishes have to at least get done! Does it ever stop?!) I have from about 8:30am until 4:45pm and it's mine to do what I like with. Lately, I'm all business. And although my time is finite, I generally get a lot done in those hours. In Rachel Power's "Motherhood and Creativity - The Divided Heart" many of the women interviewed say that having less time actually made the time they did have, even if it's half an hour, more productive, not less. Now that I've put my business hat on my creative little head, I find the same is true for me.

However, sometimes motherhood, creativity and flu germs collide.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have had a pox on our house. The Lurgy has been hanging around for what seems like forever.
It started slowly.
We barely registered runny noses or phlegmy throats. But it built and even I have succumbed. I'm always the last to go down, and being Mum means no sick days. Poor Tadpole missed two days at Child care (over two weeks), which means I have missed  two of MY days of what I am trying to call "Work", without using quotation marks.

Whats a creative gal to do with a sick family and itchy fingers?
Create, any way she can.

Behold!

I made Lemon Cordial, again.

I made Lemon Salt (a new thing I quite like the idea of)

I decorated and labelled my Preserved Lemons

There are days when even my never ending supply of lemons gets shafted. Some days the only creative thing I get to do is mend.

Mr Frogs jeans, now definitely not for public consumption.

Once in a while, the lemon creations give way to the creation of a birthday hamper.

Because let's share the craziness.

  Often though, motherhood and creativity collide in the sweetest of ways.

Tadpole and our collaborative effort on a floor collage.

Now, we're back into the swing of things.

Tadpole is back at Daycare making Fathers day cards.

Mr Frog is back to work for the end of term.

And I'm starting a new, very exciting, and important project that's a little out there.

Stay tuned.

How do you merge Motherhood and Creativity?

Lemon Curd, And My Little Matthew Evans Crush

I've got more lemons than I know what to do with, but I'm giving it a red hot go.

If you've been playing along at home, you'll know this isn't my first go with the Lemon Curd. The last time I made it though, I fell in love with it and so it makes sense that the millions of lemons I am always in possession of get made into this beautiful balm.

While the fabulous packaging (if you ask me) is all my work, I can't take credit for the recipe. It's my boyfriends recipe.
Mr Frog knows, don't worry. At least I think he does. Although he forgets anything he doesn't take seriously.
Anyhoo, the recipe comes from the gorgeous, and heavy, tome "The Real Food Companion", written by (my boyfriend) Matthew Evans.

I realised I had the hots for him somewhere near the middle of the original Gourmet Farmer t.v series. I'm not sure what it was... the way he narrates, cooks or talks to his pigs. When I saw his book during my Angus & Robertson days, I had to have it. Aside from the crush, the book really is beautiful. It's all about how our food is raised, grown, killed and harvested and the best practices for all of these methods. It's not preachy, it just tells you how it is and how it could be if we all made better choices. Beautifully styled and shot, it's one of those books you can read from cover to cover, and if you're familiar with the series, you can hear Matthew reading to you.

Is it getting creepy yet?

Sadly, unbeknownst to me, during the filming of that first series, Matthew had already hooked up with his extraordinary wife, Sadie. This is a woman who stuck with a bloke who had not only just bought himself a little farm he had no idea how to run, but was being filmed while doing so. Since then there has been another couple seasons of G.F, a series on the labelling of Fish for consumption, and then he filmed him and his mates traveling around Tasmania on a boat. All the while Sadie has been running not only the property where they live, but also the other farm they own a few k's away. (I'm not actually sure how far, I'm not a stalker!)

Did I mention they have a little boy?

So, as much as I enjoy your shows and adore your books Matthew, you'd better hang on to that Sadie. She's a keeper.

So, back to those lemons. I use Matthews recipe. It's super simple, and I always feel better when he says "Don't worry if there are lumps - that just proves it's homemade".


Ingredients:

Finely grated zest of six lemons and their juice
8 eggs, lightly beaten
200g unsalted butter, cubed, softened
400g (1 2/3 cups) castor sugar

Sit a large bowl (Matthew says stainless steel, I use glass) over a saucepan of boiling water. Add all the ingredients, stirring occassionally with a wooden spoon until melted. Cook for a further 10minutes or so, stirring and scarping the bottom as you go, until the mixture thickens slightly. Remember ot to worry about the lumps, Matthew says it's ok! (And so do I!) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Transfer to sterilised, airtight jars and once cool, store in the fridge. It'll keep for up to two weeks.

Excellent on crumpets, pancakes, your favourite bread, turned into little tartlets, or even dolloped into your yoghurt.

Bon appetit!

MC

P.S Matthew, please don't sue me for sharing your recipe... it's an act of crush!

Lemon Cordial is for Vodka, Lime and Soda

It's been forever since I posted, but it's not my fault.

I've been drowning in Lemons!

So, I made Lemon Cordial, which turned out not just sweet but wonderfully zingy. Then, I made Lemon curd, which is now my favourite thing to have on crumpets.

They didn't have time to get a fancy make over, I've only got one jar left!
I've also been making cards...

 ...finding things to add to the compost...

...Mr Frog has harvested our first veg, Lettuce and Spinach...

...and, we've been generally enjoying the garden Mr Frog has become so obsessed with...

Mind my bra hanging on the line.

Meanwhile, I've been going mad on Pinterest for Tadpoles 1st Birthday, and hunting for supplies. The invites are in the middle of being made, and I am slowly talking myself down from the extravaganza in my head to something more achievable without giving myself a stroke.

What have you been up to?

Got any lemons?

Lemonade is for Wimps

So, remember how I have a lemon tree?

Remember how I made Preserved Lemons?

Well, at the same time, I made this...

 

This is Limoncello.

After a month or so like this...

...this Bad Boy gave birth to these...

 Retro babies...

 Pretty little retro babies.

And that chilled little dude in front minus a little bit....?

He's mine. And had I not felt compelled to do a taste test (actually, I made Mr Frog taste it first) to make sure I wasn't going to poison anyone, my little guy would be full.

But not for long!

Oh, and the preserved lemons...?

I haven't been game to open them!

MC

Life Gave Me Lemons

Life gave me lemons... actually, chance gave me a lemon tree in our new house.

I have been waiting ever so impatiently for the copious amounts of green fruit to ripen, finding out along the way that they actually ripen off the tree.

Anyhoo.

I had to use all of these!

And so...

Some squeezing...

... some sorting and squeezing...

 ... a few extra ingredients...

... a mishap with a cheap jar, and a rescue from Dolmio...

... we have Preserved Lemons.

I hope.

And then...

there were still more lemons.

So stay tuned!


MC