A Little Bit About The Last 3 Years…

I’ve been at home with my kids since I found out I was pregnant.  We moved from Shanghai the day after I found out I was pregnant with twins.  By the time I had my work permit I was 5 months pregnant and measuring the same size as almost full term.

Here I am!!

Before kids, it was work that defined me.  Not that I ever really thought about it like that.  I was young and in love and traveling around the world with my boyfriend and then husband. I thought of my needs but didn’t really consider “who I was”. Do other people when they are young? But becoming a mother somehow made me want to define who I was and what specifically made me happy. Of course it was supposed to be my kids that made me happy… right?!

When those two little guys were born my whole world changed.  I didn’t know it would change me so much.  It has taken me 2.5 years to really be able to acknowledge this change and embrace it (still a work in progress!).  It hasn’t been easy but it isn’t something that mothers really don’t talk about.  They talk about this rush of love and how its hard but to me it seemed that is was so much easier for everyone else – and they were all enjoying it.  This is what they were made to do.  I didn’t really feel that. My heart and my love for them grew over time, more steadily. Even as I re-read this, I came back and felt that I had to put in another sentence, one that assured you that I love my boys, that I would do anything for them.  Where does that insecurity come from?  Why does it exist? …thats for a future post 🙂

For me, motherhood has been a pendulum swinging between really hard and really great moments – just as dramatically as that sounds. Its really high highs but really low lows. No other way to describe it really.  For the better part of these 2.5 years that pendulum has swung in the really hard direction. Now comes the change: for the first time, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and that pendulum is starting to swing into a more balanced position.  Its still really hard, but it’s tempered with more of these really great moments.

So now the boys are starting pre-school, things are becoming more enjoyable and I’m on a journey of discovery to find out what these past 3 years of hard slog have created.  How do you measure everything you’ve been through?  How do you even put that on a CV?  I feel like I’ve been through the gauntlet but have come out the other side less qualified.  So here is my experiment, my “something for me” and lets see where it takes me…takes us.

A Lot of People in A Lot of Places

This is pretty amazing!  One of the best parts of traveling and living abroad has been meeting and actually making friends with people from all over the world.  You sometimes forget – but to actually have a visual of where all my friends are around the world – and to have them supporting me is pretty amazing.  Thank you!

PS When you are not a writer and you decide to do some writing, it helps to have A Lot of friends around the world whose first language is NOT English. 😉

A Lot of Roasted Potatoes (to go with that Chicken)

Ok…since I talked about them so much in the last recipe, I thought I’d share how I make my duck fat roasted potatoes.

• Potatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Duck fat or olive oil

Preheat oven to 200C and place a baking sheet or roasting pan inside. Take your potatoes, peel and chop into them chunks. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring the potatoes to a boil with a cover on the pot.  When it begins to boil take them off of the heat and drain.  Put them back in the pot and shake them around in the pot a bit.  The rough edges will help the potatoes to get nice and crispy.  If your duck fat isn’t already melted, take a generous helping (you really can’t go wrong with adding too much fat) and place it in the heated roasting pan.  If it is already melted, pour over potatoes and mix to make sure they are coated.  Pour the potatoes onto the hot pan and put into the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them and turn them at about 25-30 minutes.  If they are sticking to the pan, wait a few more minutes before trying to turn them. Remove from the oven and try not to just stand over the stove shoving them into your mouth – at least wait a few minutes…they’re hot.

A Lot of Roast Chicken

Hello Friends!  What is the first thing that pops into your head when you wake up? Mine is dinner…what am I going to make for dinner.  So here is a little inspiration for when you need it.

Who doesn’t like a roast chicken dinner?  Its a classic… but here is one with a little twist – ever roasted a chicken in milk??  I came across this recipe on Jamie Oliver’s website and thought it was strange enough to try. It was so delicious that it is now my go-to roast chicken recipe.  I do tend to play with my recipes so of course I have made my own amendments but I don’t stray too far from the original recipe.

• 1.5 kg chicken

• sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• olive oil (I’ve started using Duck fat in more recipes and this is one that works well with this kind of fat. Plus the leftovers make for AMAZING roast potatoes)

• ½ stick cinnamon

• 1 good handful fresh sage, leaves picked (I don’t always have fresh so I use a tablespoon of dried sage or other herbs I have on hand – thyme and/or rosemary)

• zest of 2 lemons

• 10 cloves garlic, skin left on (I take the skin off because I blend the sauce at the end)

• 565 ml milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5, and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season it generously all over, and fry it in a little olive oil (or duck fat!), turning the chicken to get an even colour all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and remove the oil left in the pot – but don’t throw it away – put it aside for roasting some potatoes.

Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and cook in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Baste with the cooking juice as you go. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce which is absolutely fantastic. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot. Pour all the sauce and other bits (remove the cinnamon stick first) into a blender and blend until smooth.

To serve, cut up the chicken, pour the sauce on top and serve with the duck fat roasted potatoes and a vegetable of your choice. Enjoy!!

Find the original recipe at http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-in-milk/#JxzcfBdF6uDmOWbs.99