Willothewisp

Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Last night was movie night,  we do not have a TV in our household so on movie night we hook up one of the laptops to a projector and a set of speakers. The main living room is equipped with a screen that folds up into the ceiling, but on summer nights when good weather can be assured we sometimes move the entire evening outside. The kids have the choice of the main film, the one shown right after evening dinner, it is largely their movie night after all. Last night’s choice was Mousehunt with that very funny English comedian Lee Evans, a man whose face seems to be made of plastescene which can produce this stunning array of expressions. If he were ever laid deaf and mute he would have no trouble communicating with the rest of the world, his face is a shout in the quietest of rooms.

It was a glorious day here yesterday with next to no breeze, so with the weather holding I prevailled on Ty and Nonke’s boys to help me set up out in the garden so we could have the movie after dark. At least the lawn area was clean and clear ready for the movie, unfortunately with me ill for the last week with a stomach bug no one had trimmed back the outdoor dinning area Wisteria Vines. I had trimmed them a few weeks back before they flowered but now they were a riot of uncontrolled growth that I had to crouch under. Using my shears I was part way through cutting back to the trellis when big Nik dropped by, poor fellow, it was such bad timing on his part. I set him to work immediately. Nearly two hours later I realised the time and sent a long cold fizzy fruit cordial down to him and some food to sustain him. He did a wonderful job even though he is not a natural gardener himself. He even managed to muster most of my mismatched garden chairs to the table and cleaned the table down, great going Nik. Between food prep and garden chores I had to root through the store room for an hour looking for the big container of Christmas lights. This was much to the joy of my guide dog Sissi and my cat Pip’s delight, they love rooting around in there for some reason which is a pity because they rather get in the way when trying to neatly work my way through dozens of storage containers. I finally found the lights in the last box I looked, isn’t that always the way, it seems the Universe does enjoy it’s little jokes ! The boys strung the lights in the shrubs behind where the screen was going to be. It would make a lovely back drop with some five hundred grain-of-wheat size bulbs strung out across the vines and shrubs of the Roman wall, even though I was not be able to see it properly myself.

This time the choice of film for the grown ups fell to me, <Sigh>, I hate having to choose. I was going to go for De Vierde Man (The Fourth Man) but in the end decided something lighter would be better. I settled for La Dolce Vita, the 1960 Fellini film. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, probably not really known much outside of Europe and the delicious and sexy Anita Ekberg (ok, so my lesbian leanings creeping in there !), and Yvonne Furneaux. I picked it because I felt it would most suit the feel of my summer garden and the lovely family and friends that would be in it. Several of our number speak Italian and those who do not would still enjoy its wounderful lyrical ride while reading the Dutch subtitles. The subtitles would also equalise the gap between the deaf and hearing members.

Food was a tricky balance. It was primarily the children’s evening so the food needed to have a distinctly Mousehunt orientation. I made up a Swiss cheese soup as an easy quick win with sunflower seed crackers. Keeping to theme I prepared grilled cheese toasties with some Dutch cheeses. A Roomano cheese, grilled with some pine nuts because as the cheese has a butterscotch flavour so they go well together. Yet another version I used Parrano, it is a Dutch take on an Italian cheese and cooks well as long as you are gentle with it. In fact I guess our version of grilled cheese is more like a bruschetto than an American idea of grilled cheese, as it employs good hams, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and half the bread of American grilled cheese. There is just too much bread in the American version of bread top and bottom. I made up salads using the first of the seasons leaves and herbs from the vertical garden in the solar with a Honing & Mosterd (Honey & Mustard) dressing. For deserts I baked a Mouse cake, Mouse Moose (mouse moulds), then mouse cookies for during the film. I was at the market stalls in town at six that morning, just as they were setting up stalls, and got some great early English strawberries. There are two types of strawberry that are supreme in taste, Alpine Hautbois vine strawberries and English Chandler strawberries, and to get the English strawberries from the Kent area so soon was a real coup’. I stood there in the cool of the early morning sun and dropped the most wonderfully vivid red berry into my mouth, pressed my tongue against it to squeeze it until it blew apart inside my mouth in a fireworks of sweetness, utterly, totally, perfectly balanced. My focus on my pleasure was broken by Sissi putting a paw up to ask for a taste of what was so obviously pleasing me, a moment later her disappointment with her taste of a strawberry was clear, definitely not doggy food ! It was only then I realised my strawberry tasting had gained a number of male on-lookers, all starring intently at me. I glanced down in a hurried check that my girls were behaving and had not leaked milk or risen in the cool air but all appeared well. Clearly someone thought I had put on a good show though because my order for six boxes had been supplemented with three more. It was only as I walked back thinking about the looks that I realised I was bouncing more than I should. With a bit of a start I realised I had forgotten to put my bra on when I dressed, and my white blouse was just a touch too thin for wearing bra-less against a low morning sun – Oooopps ! Still, it had been a fruitful mistake. Back home I turned one third of the stawberries into sorbet, a third into ice cream, a third as they are. I did not think that much would actually be eaten but I have learn from much entertaining to always have a little something in reserve.

I was still preparing food when the first guests arrived early evening and so I set them to work setting the places, checking on the boys, entertaining the children. If I am providing the food and facilities I have no problem in making my guests work for their supper ! With the arrival of Jette (God daughter) and her little charge I had someone I could set to chasing Nina and finding out where she had got to. As I expected the report soon came back that Nina had spent the last few hours between the open thighs of another woman, but she was now, finally, on her way home. Some people might expect me to be angry at learning that my wife had spent the afternoon between the thighs of another while I slaved away in kitchen and garden, but I am pretty relaxed about such things. It is not the permissive Dutch attitudes that produce this sanguin approach’ but rather the nature of Nina’s job of midwife. I have often thought of having a bumper sticker made up for her and her colleagues – “Midwives Do It Between The Thighs Of Other Women”. I sent Hilke upstairs to pick out some fresh clothes for Nina, get her shower ready and stay up there to chivvy her along as soon as she got in, while at the same time more guests let themselves in.
I was throwing the chesnut sized new potatoes into the steamer, peeling garlic for the boiling water, chopping mint and getting the last of the breads ready. Somewhere in the back of my pantry was the butter from my parents farm that I wanted for the potatoes when cooked but goodness knows where, yet to be found. The slightly tangy smell now filling the kitchen was the roast peppers about to pass that point of perfection and trip down the road to oblivion unless I got to the oven double quick. It was in the midst of all this when Tayeska (deaf friend, mother of a deaf baby girl – remind me to tell you more one day) comes in ask where she can find four more chairs and place setttings. So imagine me, knife in one hand slot ladle in the other try to sign “What do you mean FOUR more ? The table sits sixteen, I am expecting twelve, what is the problem ?”

To which Tayeska replies, in sign; “Table sits sixteen, BUT you now have twenty guests, not including children !”. My reply was un-lady like and not suitable for children, but as it turned out it was the least of my problems as I dropped my knife narrowly escaping skewering my bare foot, and hit myself in my face with the ladle as I signed my expletive. Cursing further I had to rescue my grilling cheesed up breads.

Cursing the day I had agreed to “having a few people over on movie night” I was vowing to myself to never do this again and about to have a bit of a hissy fit when Nina, along with her little chivvy shadow, wandered into the kitchen. She looked wonderful and fresh in her long white summer dress with a white and gold shawl drapped over her shoulders. She gave me a hug and I drank in the freshness of her recent shower, while still being able to pick the hint of a scent of a newly delivered baby (it tends to have a distinct smell). I told her we now had twenty guests, not sure how, and food for twelve.

“No problem, I will go and sort them out, the invited can sit at the table the self invited will have to fend for themselves. You work a miracle in spinning out what we have. It will be fine, go, go, go”

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And saying so it really was, as my Mother says, “Faith manages“.

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The light was just beginning to fade as food went out and by the time everyone was squeezed in around the table the light had gone and fairy lights and candles and table lights switched on. I could not see details by that light but I was told many times it was a good table. In the end there was enough food, the ice cream was called upon to give the ultimate sacrifice in the end. Our own little mice enjoyed their mouse hunting movie, but twenty minutes into La Dolci Vita they were asleep against various owning adults. By two am everyone had exhausted the supplied vittles, as well as conversation and had gone home to their beds and we finally locked the doors and went to bed as well. Putting the children and baby into our bed Nina and I tucked up on the bedroom couch. As I settled down I realised that through the open French doors I could see a cloud of blurry lights down in the garden, it took me a moment to realise what it was, but I asked Nina why she had left them on;

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“Well” she said, “I thought five hundred lights was appropriate, one light for each un-inivited guest that has turned up over the last eleven years by my reckoning, each leaving us only when fully fed, appropriate don’t you think. So you can see the lights then darling?”

Me; “Nahhhh, just a blurr to me now”

“Just like all those un-invited guests, how apt” she said as her white dress slipped from her shoulders to form a rippled white pool at her feet. It seems she had also gone light on underwear that day, the naughty girl, she had been naked under there all evening !

Me; ” So, tell me about this woman who kept you so late this evening.”

“Mother to her first, a boy, both well, getting to know each other now, changing each other’s lives for ever.” She said with something of a reminiscent sigh. I knew she would be recalling her own first moments with our little ones even as she said it, recalling those unique first warm minutes together with her own newborns, now sleeping in our bed. Drawing her mind back to the present she said;

” Now, how about you just show me your thighs my good Wife………………………………………………….”

The perfect ending to a movie night, and maybe the start to another, not so public story, one day.

Author: Judith.

Foot Note by Nina:-

With everyone seated, and the table fit to bursting with all manner of, well manner I guess, one of the un-invited (a Canadian lady) asked loudly if she could say grace to thank god for the food. Nik kindly replied with a hearty suggestion that HIS thanks would be going to Judith for the food and that god would do well to know that his place was to not go anywhere near Judith’s kitchen if he knew what was good for him ! The laughter was the signal to tuck in.

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A message from Tyjardia;

Regular Readers of this blog site may well be wondering why the sudden long silences from it’s principle contributors, Nina & Judith. As you may have gathered recently Judith had been having some eye sight problems following a head injury at the start of the year. About a month ago a slowly deteriorating medical situation took a very sudden turn for the worse with epileptic seizures creating a dangerous situation for her. To cut a long story short we very nearly lost Judith following an almost catastrophic seizure. When she came out of the seizure she was very confused , not able to even remember her name, and when presented with a glass of water she could not work out what to do with it, that should give you some idea as to the severity of the seizure. She has had some very extensive neurological surgery and while it is still very early days it does look like she is slowly recovering. Today I watched as she took her first steps from her hospital bed, it was shaky but it was a good start. She is able to see though not very well yet, just vague shapes and outlines and she remains totally night-blind. We do not know how well her eye sight will recover, for this we must just wait. It looks as though she will remain partially sighted for some time to come.

Up until a month ago I thought that Judith going blind was the worst outcome that might have to be faced but the worst outcome would have been loosing someone who is like my dearest and much loved sister. She will live to fight another day, and she is a good fighter.

As we prepare for her eventual release from hospital we are now focusing on getting life back to normal and helping Nina tend to the welfare of their children. On the whole they have come through the recent traumatic events very well, and have been a source of comfort and strength to both Judith and Nina. They will not be able to have their usual summer holiday as Judith works to recover so we are now trying to find other ways to give them a fun summer.

For those of you who normally correspond with Judith and Nina please be patient, as Judith recovers and Nina gets time to catch a breath  from their recent trials they will catch up with you all. Nonke and I looked after their three children for a few days and by the end of it I felt twenty years older and in need of a long holiday. How Nina manages it just beggars belief, no wonder she has been putting in twenty hour days !

Tyjardia 

Those of you who normally exchange messages and mails with Nina and Judith please be patient, the girls will doubtless be back on line in a few days.

On Saturday while out shopping Judith and her son were injured in an incident in town. They are both safe now, Nicholas was released from hospital on Saturday evening, Judith was released from hospital this (Monday) morning. She is under orders to rest and strictly no charging about after the children for a few days. It is going to be hard to ensure that little edict is observed but we are pooling the resources of our households to make sure that all child care is covered and their household continues to run smoothly in the absence of their Captain at the helm.

I could almost forgive the incident as a stupid, selfish, indulgence of youth except for the trauma to the children who saw one of their mothers knocked out and left bleeding on the sidewalk. They are two of the sweetest kids you could ask for, but they both lost their biological mothers to premature death and as a consequence they have certain inherent insecurities, the sort of insecurities not helped by seeing another mother dead to the world in a pool of blood.

It has taken several years of tender care by Nina and Judith to bring the children back to feeling safe, loved and secure in their lives again. Now in a totally stupid and thoughtless act one idiot English girl has shaken the children’s world and put their future stability at risk, this I cannot forgive and she will be learning some hard lessons as a result.

Regards,

Tyjardia vL

Happy New Year to all our family, friends and readers ! 

We are currently developing a new design for the Willothewisp Blog site for 2008. In order to complete this work the site will be down for short periods over the next few days as we test the and refine the new design. When the site is up some things will appear incomplete (because they are) but we hope to have everything polished up over the next week.

Please be patient with us while we make the changes.

Regards from Judith.