A bumper crop

  I’m strong to the finach                                                                                                                     Cause I eat my spinach.                                                                                                                       I’m  Popeye the Sailor Man!

For many years I have struggled to grow spinach because the birds love to eat it. Late last year I made a little tunnel with water pipes and bird netting. My tunnel has successfully kept the birds out but not the insects. The spinach is thoroughly insect bitten, but that’s what happens when you garden organically and don’t use insecticides. Luckily there is enough for all of us so I don’t mind sharing with God’s creatures. I picked a huge bunch yesterday evening after I had already made supper, so I had a little time to think up something interesting to do with the crop.

I found a recipe for Spanakopita in a recipe book that Lucy gave me, but living in Piet Retief meant that I had to be innovative because I couldn’t find phyllo pastry in our shops.My version was delicious – we ate it for lunch today – so here is my adapted recipe.

Spanakopita (not Spinnekoppe)

• 600 g Fresh spinach leaves – I used a mixture of Swiss chard and Bright lights spinach
• Red onion – chopped
• 3 T Olive oil
• Grated nutmeg, handful of mint leaves, handful of parsley leave
• 2 Eggs
• 200 g Crumbled feta cheese
• Phyllo pastry (I used spring roll pastry because there was no phyllo pastry in town)
• Melted butter

Fry the onion in the olive oil – use a large pan/wok. Add the roughly chopped spinach leaves and the grated nutmeg. Remove from the heat when the spinach has wilted and then leave to cool. Chop up all the herbs, beat the eggs, crumble the cheese and add  it all to the cooled spinach leaves.  Season with a little black pepper.

Roll out the pastry (follow instructions on the packaging), brush  the sheet with butter, fold it in half (length ways), brush with butter, place a line of the spinach mixture at the bottom of the pastry, roll it up into a ‘sausage’ and loosely coil it up before placing on a buttered baking sheet. Repeat until all the spinach mixture has been used. Place the coils next to each other and then brush them all over with melted butter. Bake at 200’C for 20 minutes.

The crispy Spring roll pastry worked quite well, but I didn’t fold it in half as I correctly thought it would be thick enough as a single sheet. The filling was deliciously moist and full of flavour. There was dill in the original recipe – I am not sure I would have put it in even if I had it in the garden as I don’t like the flavour of dill.

Proverbs 15 v 17                                                                                                                                     “Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.” This verse always reminds me of Aunty Ann because it was the verse she wrote on the recipe she gave me for my kitchen tea – 30 years ago.

Daniel 1 v 15 and 16                                                                                                                             ” At the end of ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.”

So here we have Popeye eating his spinach to be strong and Daniel who was well nourished yet only eating vegetables. I don’t think I could ever be a vegetarian because I like meat too much, but I do believe that some food is better for me than other food. I know that wheat causes my skin to itch, so I avoid it if possible. This lesson applies to other areas of our lives too. What is good for one person may not be good for another person, if God tells us to do/not do something, then just like Daniel we need to be obedient. Sometimes little changes can make a big impact in our lives and the people around us. When Mom said ‘eat your vegetables’ it was for my own good (and she had physical nourishment in her mind), but now I realise it was a lesson in obedience too.

The Art of a “Nice Cup of Tea”

A woman is like a tea bag; You never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Tea is my ‘go to’ beverage. I come from a long line of tea drinkers and I have produced a family of tea drinkers. I don’t know the chemical composition of tea, or its health benefits or the ‘proper’ way to brew tea, but I do know that I drink tea when I am happy, sad, anxious, grieving, hurt, thirsty, hungry, hot or cold. Tea fixes everything (well almost). Tea comes in many forms, according to Wikipedia (the fount of wisdom) tea is prepared by pouring boiling/hot water over the cured leaves of Camelia sinensis (an evergreen shrub native to Asia). Britons only started drinking it in the 17th century. According to Asterix and Obelix the Britons were drinking hot water, with a dash of milk, before they discovered the East and its treasures of tea, spices and drugs.

In 1946 George Orwell wrote a column for the Evening Standard entitled “A Nice Cup of Tea”. I am surprised that she didn’t use a juicier word than ‘nice’, but maybe that’s because the word ‘nice’ perfectly describes a cup of tea. Anyway… she mentions 11 outstanding points for making a nice cup of tea. She recommends using Indian or Ceylon Tea. She points out that Chinese tea  is economical because it can be drunk without milk, but otherwise it doesn’t have much benefit. I tend to agree with this point of view. Point number two is to brew it in small quantities – that is, in a teapot (NOT an urn). Modern society has taken this point to the extreme – people brew their tea in a mug. The third rule is to warm the teapot, the fourth is that the tea should be strong. It’s a long time since I bought loose tea leaves, so rule number five is broken in my house. Apparently one can actually ‘swallow considerable quantities of tea leaves without ill-effect.’ Sixth – take the teapot to the kettle. This rule is to ensure that the water is freshly boiled, seventh – give the teapot a stir. The eighth rule is about the cup, a shallow cup is a no-no because the tea will cool down too quickly. My grand mother must have read this rule. Rule number nine is to pour the thick cream off the top of the milk as it makes the tea ‘sickly’. This is not a problem we have nowadays as our milk doesn’t have cream anymore. The tenth rule is controversial because apparently the tea goes into the cup first, this is because you can regulate the amount of milk you pour into your tea. The last rule is that unless you are drinking black tea, (Russian style) sugar should never be added.

According to science, putting the milk in after the tea is incorrect, as it causes the milk to heat unevenly. This uneven heating of the milk causes the proteins in the milk to denature, meaning they lose their structure and clump, affecting the taste and contributing to the skin that you get on top. So that settles it.. milk before water. Except if you make your tea in a mug – then you have to put the teabag in first, the water second and the milk last.

I am fairly fussy about my tea. I will drink ‘badly made’ tea to be polite but would rather have water. My pet hates are ‘Rooibos’ (which isn’t actually tea), hot milk, water not boiling, sugar, squeezing the tea bag and tea bag in the mug.

My list of how to make a proper cup of tea :

• Use freshly boiled water to warm the teapot. The teapot should ideally be china or glass (for aesthetic appeal) but stainless steel is also fine. Silver leaves a horrible taste. Apparently freshly boiled water is aerated and improves the taste of the tea – I have no scientific proof of this theory.
• Put the teabags in the teapot (one per person) and pour the boiling water (not hot or warm) over the tea bags.
• Leave to ‘draw’ for up to 5 minutes
• Put the teacups (with saucers) on a tray, pour milk into a little milk jug and place it on the tray. If your visitors take sugar in their tea you can put sugar (in a bowl) on the tray and teaspoons on the saucers. It is the polite thing to do. Place a pretty tea-cosy (not a knitted beanie) over the teapot and place on the tray. I prefer full cream milk, low fat is acceptable but long-life milk is not. On a side note- the tray must have a traycloth.
• Pour a little milk into the teacup and then fill the cup with tea. ‘Boarding school cups’ are only for small children.
• Sit down on a comfortable chair and enjoy your tea with a biscuit, a special friend or sip it quietly on your own.

So what’s the correct method to make tea? Well, if by correct I mean the “method that tastes best”, then that’s something that involves a lot of variables to produce a highly subjective result. So “scientifically” speaking the  correct way to make tea is the way that you like it best.

I have some lovely teacups. Some are pretty, some are functional, others are just the right shape or size, some are stored in the cupboard because they are valuable. The cup adds no quality to the tea. People are a little like teacups. The beautiful, functional and valuable ones are ‘chosen’ and the cracked and broken cups are ignored. We place so much emphasis on the vessel and forget to make sure that the inside is of good quality. Sometimes by concentrating on the cup we fail to enjoy the tea, and other times in our rush to enjoy the tea, we fail to prepare it properly.

1 Samuel 16 v 7

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

I think the most comforting part of tea drinking is that so many of my happiest memories have taken place with a cup of tea for company.

First and Second Attempts

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything.

Vincent van Gogh

It has been more than a year since I promised Jane that I would paint a picture for her bedroom. Why have I procrastinated so long? I have enough time, I have the equipment and I have the idea. The problem is that I don’t have enough confidence. Last year I drew a pencil sketch for Andrew’s 50th birthday. I planned, drew and finished the task (and it was BIG) in one day. No problem. The problem is the paint. I use a pencil every day, but paint is one medium that I avoid if possible. Watercolour in particular. It’s a very unforgiving medium, mistakes can’t be ‘fixed’ and although it looks so easy in the hands of an expert, I am no expert.

I realised that in order to become more proficient I need to practice my skills. My first attempt looked OK until I dropped a paintbrush on the work. There was no way to rescue the work, so I used the paper to practice washes and lifting techniques before the whole thing was tossed in the bin. I took a photograph of the half finished piece and with the magic of Instagram managed to make it look halfway decent.

Today was my second attempt. This time I had a scrap piece of paper to practice on before attempting the final task. I practiced blending colours and attempted to work more ‘loosely’. The end result is better, but not good. I like some bits and really dislike other bits. I am posting a cropped image of today’s work, not because I am satisfied but because “where would I be if I didn’t have the courage to attempt anything?”

And so it is with life, we attempt to do things that may or may not be a success. The reality is that most of the things we do are not one hundred percent successful, but we try again, hoping that we learn from our mistakes and that next time we will do it better.

Albert Einstein said …

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new

In my first blog post I mentioned that mindful people make peace with imperfection. Well… I dont like imperfection but I am able to see that my work has improved and I can appreciate some of the good things of today’s artistic attempt. Jane won’t get her painting just yet.

Being Mindful

I often meet people who say they are not creative. I don’t agree with their point of view.

• Genesis 1 v 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
• Genesis 1 v 26 says,”Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness…'”.
• Genesis 1 v 27 tells us that God created mankind in his own image.

So…if God, who is creator, made us in his image/likeness then… we are made to be creative.

Obviously we are not all great artists or musicians, but I have encountered people who are creative in other ways. Some people create lifelong friendships, others create wealth, some people create beautiful gardens, scrumptious meals or delicate needlework and others spread joy wherever they go. I have also met people who think up creative ways to avoid doing any work or to get themselves out of tricky situations.

The quote below is from Helena Bonham Carter. (I wish I had said it first)

I think that everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art.

As I lay awake in the early hours of the morning on the day before Christmas I was thinking about my plans for the New Year. One of my schemes is to share my creative endeavours with other people via this blog. I might share an artwork, or a recipe or gardening tips. Whatever the format, it will be a challenge for me as I never feel comfortable writing and would far prefer to be communicating visually. I hope to not only keep a record for myself, but also to inspire others to be mindful of the everyday things we do.  Mindful people approach everyday things with curiosity and they savour the mundane. They forgive their mistakes and make peace with imperfection. They are grateful for the good moments but have grace for the bad ones. I want to make sure that I appreciate all of my moments.