Sunday, February 25, 2018
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Jam Competition
Our lovely friend Kathy (Amy's old boss), has taught Audrey the art of jam making and so it was with a combination of excitement and some trepidation that over the last few months we have been making jars of jam with the intention of entering them into the Canberra Show (which takes place this weekend). In total we entered six jars (plum, blackberry, lemon butter, apricot, marmalade and Christmas jam!).
I had high hopes for Audrey's entry as we'd road-tested some of the jars with friends and they'd all been well received. Indeed when you make your own jam you realise just how poor some of the shop jams really are.
It wasn't until I delivered the jams to be judged that I truly realised how serious it all was. I had been required to register some weeks beforehand but I was asked to sign all the jars in to the competition, and watched as the jars were placed carefully (and anonymously) in categories along with the many other entrants. The officialdom was Olympic-esque! Elsewehere in the pavillion I noticed that cakes and vegetables were being collected from hopeful entrants with equal earnestness.
I drove back to the tent for my lunchbreak to see the judging was going (judging condiments alone took almost the whole day!) and was amazed that (despite being entered in the under sixteen years old category) just how stiff the competition was and how meticulously each jam was being judged.
We landed a third place for our plum (I was surprised as I thought it was over-set..plum is a tricky one!) and I was delighted when I saw our blackberry (which we'd picked a few weeks previously) had scored second place in the 'berry jam' section. Audrey's marmalade was also placed (though in truth it was a bit cloudy). Meanwhile other jams did less well. Our apricot (which I had been so impressed with because of its beautiful golden colour) caused the judge to wince and exclaim; "not sweet enough!"
Our lemon butter was ruled out without even tasting "too stiff" (I thought it was pretty runny when we had made it the previous evening) and our Christmas jam (which friends had loved when we had given them jars in December) was scoffed at by the judge; "There's NO such thing as Christmas jam" our inclusion of nutmeg and cinnamon was also criticised "No need for unnecessary spices".
Nevertheless I think for her/our first effort Audrey did pretty well. There were definitely others who would have ended up empty-handed as most categories had 20 or so competing. Watching the judging was also very entertaining (and slightly intimidating) - you got judged down for having a speck of jam on the inside lid of your jars (who knew?) and the judges were also fastidious at tasting jam and knowing if it was over/undercooked. Filling the jars all the way to the top also seemed to be important.
I like to think we'll be back next year. Certainly Audrey was really chuffed at her result. We had fun making the jams and despite the harshness of the judging I learned enough to make sure we improve our entry for next year!
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Tryathalon
The kids took part in their second Tryathalon at the Australian Institute of Sport. It's a tremendously organised event and having 3,000 kids taking part in a swim, cycle and run takes some effort on behalf of the organisers. Once again Audrey and Eli loved it and both did ever so well.
It's set up as a fun event and so nobody is timed. Of course there's still an undercurrent of pushy parenting as parents seek to shove others out of the way to get the ideal vantage to see their kids, but I guess ultimately that's a small negative and it certainly doesn't outweigh the great buzz and enjoyment that is had by spectators and participants alike. Like last year it was sometimes problematic trying to split myself in two in order to be cheerleader for Eli - who was cycling in another part of the arena at the same time that Audrey was due to go in the swimming pool.
It was nevertheless a fabulous sunny morning and I was proud of them both for finishing with broad smiles on their faces. Well done you two.
It's set up as a fun event and so nobody is timed. Of course there's still an undercurrent of pushy parenting as parents seek to shove others out of the way to get the ideal vantage to see their kids, but I guess ultimately that's a small negative and it certainly doesn't outweigh the great buzz and enjoyment that is had by spectators and participants alike. Like last year it was sometimes problematic trying to split myself in two in order to be cheerleader for Eli - who was cycling in another part of the arena at the same time that Audrey was due to go in the swimming pool.
It was nevertheless a fabulous sunny morning and I was proud of them both for finishing with broad smiles on their faces. Well done you two.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Tłusty Czwartek
Some traditions are worth keeping. When we lived in Warsaw we quickly learned about the importance of Tłusty Czwartek (or Fat Thursday) Like pancake day/Shrove Tuesday it's all about eating bad stuff before undergoing the penance of Lent. The Poles do it in style, eating Pączki (a delicious type of deep-fried dough similar to a doughnut filled with cream and/or jam)- thereby essentially trumping the flat and flaccid pancake of the UK...besides what even is a Shrove?
I worked for a while at an English school above Warsaw's famous bakery on ul.Chmielna. At that bakery and all throughout Poland, Pączki are available in a huge range of different flavours and are one of the delightful memories of our time living in the country.
We're grateful therefore that Canberra has its very own 'White Eagle Club' which celebrates Fat Thursdays so we were able to tuck into Pączki. Not to the same high standard as found on Chmielna but still delicious.
I worked for a while at an English school above Warsaw's famous bakery on ul.Chmielna. At that bakery and all throughout Poland, Pączki are available in a huge range of different flavours and are one of the delightful memories of our time living in the country.
We're grateful therefore that Canberra has its very own 'White Eagle Club' which celebrates Fat Thursdays so we were able to tuck into Pączki. Not to the same high standard as found on Chmielna but still delicious.
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Back to School
Back to school is always a bit of an odd time, and I guess it always will be.
In amongst the fact that it heralds the end of the summer holidays - which this year managed to draaag on for an incredible 7 weeks is the realisation that Amy isn't here.
It's always a bit of a 'new beginning' for a family - new shiny shoes, clean shirts and fancy pencil cases. When she was receiving treatment Amy always said one of her objectives was to see Eli start school (sadly she never did) and now I realise that he's going into year 3 it's even sadder to contemplate how much of his little life she's missed.
It's always a bit of a 'new beginning' for a family - new shiny shoes, clean shirts and fancy pencil cases. When she was receiving treatment Amy always said one of her objectives was to see Eli start school (sadly she never did) and now I realise that he's going into year 3 it's even sadder to contemplate how much of his little life she's missed.
Somehow though when we arrived at school and once again hit the enormous wave and hubbub of excited children and parents it kind of felt she was still with us. Perhaps she did see him after all.
Blackberry Picking in Duffy
We had a great morning with some friends walking over the nature reserve in Duffy and picking blackberries. We came home with nearly a kilo of them.It was such a fun and relaxing way to spend a Sunday.
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