Learning new skills...

After dinner tonight (lentil soup), The Daddy got up and made waffles.  Shocking!  He does not cook.  He sat and went through half a dozen recipe books, settling on a recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly, dug out the old waffle iron, and set about it - the batter even included whipping eggwhites and folding them in!

They were delicious.  I like waffles or pancakes with syrup and fruit (blueberries or banana) which is strange, because I'm not normally a big fruit eater.  We had them with the Canadian maple syrup that our friend Sarah brought us back from Canada last month.  The Daddy made plenty, so we can keep them in the fridge and heat them in the toaster (I almost prefer them like this - extra crispy).

A couple of people have asked for the recipe, so I'll put it down the bottom of this post...

Speaking of learning new skills, I have decided that I would like to try and improve my handwriting.  I have really, really abysmal writing - I am always embarrassed by it, and I feel so disappointed every time I write Christmas cards, thank you notes, invitations and the like.  After choosing beautiful cards, nice envelopes, making sure the stamps are straight etc., my writing lets it all down shamefully.

My writing is, in fact, so bad that it was deemed 'illegible at standard writing speed' in high school and university.  I was allowed to use a computer to type my VCE and university exams (with adapted time limits to reflect this).  I had to sit in a room on my own for all the exams, just myself and an exam supervisor.  Things like this have seriously damaged my self esteem when it comes to handwriting!

I have researched a little, and apparently, it is possible to improve your writing as an adult, but requires a fair amount of commitment, time and repetition.  10 - 20 minutes practice a day, with templates and copying.  Below, you can see my practice from tonight (writing out the indemnity clause from Gymbaroo, haha!).  This is some of the best writing I've ever done.  One day I might post my ordinary writing...!

Finally, Tabitha is also doing well with learning new skills - her spooning and bowl/spoon coordination is going really well.  She loves holding the bowl and dipping the spoon in, getting the odd bit of soup / cereal / porridge / yoghurt to reach its target.  It is messy, for sure, but the more practice she has, the sooner she will master it.

Once she's done with her spooning, she normally attempts to lick the contents out of her little bowl or ramekin.  Now that is messy!

For less mess, I stick to lunches like this - tiny juicy organic mandarin segments, and some sushi (duck and cucumber, and tuna avocado):

Here is the waffle recipe, as promised.  It is taken from Sweet Old Fashioned Favourites, a (sadly) out of print cookbook from the Australian Women's Weekly, 1991.

Sift 1 3/4 cups plain flour and 1/4 cup self raising flour into a bowl and mix with 1/4 cup caster sugar.  Make a well in the centre, and gradually stir in 2 egg yolks and 1 1/2 cups of milk, then 60g melted butter and 2 tablespoons of water.  Stir until smooth.

Beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form, and then fold through the batter in two batches.  Drop about 1/3 cup of mixture onto a prepared, heated waffle iron.  Close iron, and cook for about two minutes or until waffle is golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining mixture.  Serve immediately with caramel sauce, or maple syrup, fruit and ice cream.

Note - leftover waffles can be stored, well-wrapped, in the fridge and reheated in the toaster the next day.

Note - for caramel sauce, melt 125g butter in a medium saucepan, add 200g brown sugar and stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to the boil and simmer, without stirring, for two minutes.  Remove from heat, allow bubbles to subside, stir in cream.