Well good morning!

A friend spotted this and passed it on to me today-(thank you M) and I just had to share it with you all. Talk about athletic! Am loving it this morning, after a strong cup of coffee and with the kids at their grandparents I feel almost like tap dancing around the place myself. Had to share!

Hope you are all out having a good weekend!

By the way, fancy feet and myself are at last signed up to start tango lessons! Just hope I don't get the giggles, tango seems like some serious business.

For the kids

WATER BABIES

Sometimes you just need five minutes, to jump in the shower, run and grab the laundry off the line, finish the breakfast dishes or make a quick phone call. Am including (because I strangely enjoy making lists) a list of some of my kid's favourite youtube videos, most are 3-5 min long.

I admit I am a bad mother and have used them as bribes, such as "if you two can stop bickering and get your shoes, hats and coats on by the count of ten, you can watch the robot song".

Boy does it work! Better then sweets and I admittedly enjoy hearing them humming the songs throughout the day.

FUNNY BUNNIES

CONSIDER YOURSELF

THE ROBOT SONG (TALK BY COLDPLAY)

MAHNAHMANAH! (MUPPETS)

TALK LIKE YOU(JUNGLE BOOK)

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

OH TRIANGLE

THE BALLOON SONG (AUSTRALIA)

1234 (FEIST ON SESAME STREET)

BARNYARD

ONE WAS JOHNNY

I'D DO ANYTHING

*I have listed the videos as the kids refer to them.

Mysteries

While stopping by my husband's grandmothers old house last week (when I say old I mean more than 400 years, it has closed up stairways connecting to the catacombs under the city leading to the church), a labyrinth of a house, complete with an inner courtyard, an old well and countless rooms. My other half was away so I was asked in his place to stop by and pick out anything I wanted from one of the old upper rooms soon to be renovated, there was not much left in this particular room but two old arm chests (meant for someone else) and some random pieces of furniture (mostly spoken for already). Just before saying good by and thank you I spotted an odd shaped black case in the corner of the room, my husband's aunt had no idea what it was, so we gingerly took it out and carefully unzipped the case to discover a mandolin in perfect condition. She had no idea where it had come from or how long it had been sitting there, neither did any of her brothers or sisters (all seven), she had never seen her father or anyone else in her family ever play such a thing. She has decided to keep the mandolin and hang it on the wall somewhere but I am still puzzled by it, for it seems unlike the Italian Mandolins I have seen and the carved work is so intricate, many little inlayed triangles of mother of pearl, looks far more like something from north Africa.

I did read Captain Corelli's Mandolin many years ago and loved it (never saw the film), but ever since moving here it has drifted in and out of my mind for it's descriptions of the light on the Greek island remind me of what it is like here, and the band clubs where the old men gather, and the dry rocky earth with sparse olive trees....so many small details envoke a similar feel to this island. So this mandolin has for the time being captured my interest. Certain there must be quite a story behind it, one we will probably never know. At the least though I would like to know which country it came from. There is nothing written on it.

oh new books!

Kid related tid bit, my other half brought this home for our airplane enthusiast (we so enjoyed his other book, both pictured). Really beautiful illustrations and both have very sweet stories. Ahem someone went to Scotland and someone stayed home. Sometimes your the sail sometimes your the anchor I suppose.

In any case I just had to share...

Monsoon Rains?!

Fig and Ricotta Tart

What a delight to have a bit of rain on Saturday, thunder and lightening to boot! Summer storms are something I miss from my midwestern roots, England at least did provide a good dose of summer rain. The rain brought a smile to my face and a wave of nostalgia, actually more for our quiet days in Winchester when a short stroll through the tiny lanes, past the river, to the Bridge cafe was the perfect morning outing (especially with two toddlers and a new born) complete with fresh croissants. For some reason it is near to impossible to get a croissant here in Malta (at least in Zabbar). There is a wonderful cafe- newly reopened (will have to take a photo) in Valletta, a cafe near the old library called Cafe Premier which does thank god have good fresh croissants. Next post perhaps I will have to highlight some of my favourite cafes here. So yes a bit of rain over the weekend was lovely, the heat however did not subside much, and the humidity seemed only to increase. Back to the beach with the lot of us on Sunday.

I did find some last figs at the local vegetable stall and made this, which turned out suprisingly well! Shame I did not think to do it earlier in the season. Next year I guess.

I am terribly embarrassed about this picture, I am totally rubbish at taking good food pictures, and the grilled figs are a hard thing to capture but I feel compelled to add some kind of visual to the recipe.

Fig and Ricotta Tart

Crust - (makes enough for two)

6 ounces butter or about 3/4 cup (you can use half butter half margarine)

125 grams self raising flour (about a cup)

125 grams plain flour

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

100 grams almonds

1 egg

filling

250 ricotta

2 eggs

1 1/2 Tbs semolina

5 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix Flours, almonds, salt and baking powder together.

Mix in with your fingers the butter till the consistency of cornmeal or wet sand.

Beat one egg with a fork, add in a tablespoon of cold water

Pour egg mixture in and briefly mix together the dough.

Place the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out.

Blind bake the crust at 180 C for 10 min.

Take out and let cool

Meanwhile mix together the filling and once the crust is cooled off to room temperature pour in the filling and bake for 30 min or till the edges are golden brown at 180 C.

take out and place the quartered figs on the top, brush lightly with heated currant jam and grill for 10 min.

Let cool, tastes best when eaten cold.

Local Talent

No, I did not make this dress, but my dear friend E. over at My Funny Valentine did, what a pleasure to have met such a talented and interesting friend here - she cooks too! What could be better than a French friend who likes to cook?! Lucky me. She has effectively re-lit that fire of desire to sew again, now to find some time alone... may have to wait till school starts again. Till then I could not resist sharing some of E's lovely creations.

It's been a year

The feast of st. Helena,

This last weekend we celebrated the Birkirkara annual feast, (the town from which A. is from) this photo was taken of the statue of St. Helena making her way round the narrow center streets. It has been one year now since we relocated to Malta, a year ago we were in quaratine with three kids all having chickenpox. Seems in a way far longer than just a year. I have to admit that I still do not feel quiet 'settled'here. But I do feel I have adjusted in ways I did not expect, some things I mocked when first settling here I now see the logic of and some things (like pink sequined mispelled clothes for little girls) still get to me. I have quietly 'mislaid' the corset style bright pink top for my three year old more than a few times.. sometimes gifts are tricky things.

I have grown to like our noisy ally, with it's various standby characters and even feel a growing sort of belonging to our noisy side of Zabbar. Everyone seem to adore little destructo in particular, perhaps that is partially due to her daily 'Bonju' or ÇIAO!' which she says to every person she passes, with a huge grin and great gusto.

The older two seem more settled and are looking forward to the start of school (school starts the first week of October here) so still a ways to go!

I am secretly hoping not to find full time work for a few months so that I can have enough time to sew, plant, run, read and finally begin in earnest again with corresponding by pen and paper to old friends.

Nothing like necessity

to make you try something new. Can officially say that I am back on the ice cream kick again, this time its fruit sorbet. We had six kiwis I had forgotten about in the fridge and they were just at that soft sort of mushy point that no one really cares to eat, this combined with the fact that I have not been able to find any fresh cream in the small shops in our area combined with the nagging desire to make some new ice cream. So that's what led me to try out making a kiwi sorbet. I followed a great (Jamie Oliver tip) which he used in a lemon sorbet recipe, that being that once you have dissolved the sugar in the boiling water add in a table spoon or two of marscapone, it slowly dissolves and makes for a very creamy sorbet texture. Am very happy with the result. Really refreshing. Next time I make it I would double the proporions, this made only a small pint of sorbet.

Kiwi Sorbet Recipe

6 kiwis (scoop out the insides and puree)

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 Tablespoons Marscapone cheese

A small squeeze of a lemon (to bring out the tang of the kiwis)

First Boil the water and sugar (just enough to dissolve the sugar) then add in the

marscapone, let this cool. Next scoop out the inside of the kiwis and puree, add in the

sugar mixture and about a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Pour into the ice cream

mixer and your done. I am guessing you can do this in a freezer container - stirring it

every few hours for a similar effect but have not tried.

I was on a bit of a it's-hot-and-we-need-some-cool-desert sort of kick and made this second ice cream that we will be taking to Birkirkara today for the St. Helena Feast.

That is a fresh peach and prickly pear (cactus fruit) ice cream. I have been determined to try and make something with the prickly pears, they have an odd texture but have such a nice gentle taste, in the end I ended up using peaches (very ripe and bruised) with some local prickly pear liquor and did this time find some single cream. Here is the recipe (quickly before I forget myself).

Peach Ice Cream

6 very ripe peaches

1/3 cup sugar dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water

250 ml single cream

3-4 tablespoons prickly pear(cactus fruit) liquor pure all together and wirl away in the ice cream machine

Makes a creamy delicate ice cream, like the kiwi sorbet it would go well after Sushi.

Publish Post

Last but not least, a photo of the fig ice cream, recipe featured on a previous post.

Maltese inspired salad

For those of you that have been to Malta and tasted the tuna ftiras then this will probably look very familiar, it's basically a ftira minus the bread. A simple tuna salad- photo shown above.

Maltese inspired Tuna salad

INGREDIENTS

1/2 a small red onion finely chopped

big handful of fresh mint leaves chopped

few sprigs of parsley

spoon full of capers

3-5 green olives chopped

1-2 tomatoes chopped

can of tuna

some olive oil

salt pepper

dash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar

*if you have pickled onion, it can be added as well as a few broad beans

or white butter beans.

if you have it on bread, be sure its the kind with a good hard crust and spread on some tomato conserve and add a dash of olive oil ( as is always done here).

Another newly acquired favourite inspired from living in Malta is fresh ricotta sprinkled with some fresh ground pepper and salt on bread, straight simple and so tasty (especially if you have some good rustic bread).

.

3last thing is that I have to admit to being pretty won over with the preview of the new film Where the wild things are- I soooo loved the book as a kid and my children do as well and it seems they actually made a film that does justice to the book. Still have to see it though.. hope it comes here soon! Here is a link to the trailer I am talking about.

At last

On a random Friday afternoon walk , just the wish-he-were-a-pilot T. and little destructo and myself, down past the old city arch to Birgu to play in the lovely outdated (nice old school metal and wooden playground). On our way we passed the old truck I have been admiring whenever spotting, in the year since we arrived in Malta. The sunrise truck! Had the chance (as I was on foot and in no particular hurry)so took a few pics to share.

I do love the way that people here personalise their vehicles, trucks and buses in particular can be covered in small details. In fact a few months ago I nearly got run over by a huge cement truck (nicely painted blue and red) the drivers apparently not seeing the zebra crossing and myself till the last possible moment, so suddenly I found myself nose to nose with the front fender (yes tall truck) in which in bright yellow paint, were the words in search of gold. Really made me laugh, the possibility that those words could have been my last sight on earth.

Dust and Debris

Found sea side objects .. what a fun idea, am loving my friend's art pieces, so wish I could have been at her opening in England. Here are a few of my favourites.

All created by Elaine Starks

Discovery

Hop Skip

Just when I thought Ide melt into the sandstone here we discovered a small bay within 5 min drive from our house (as opposed to all the other sandy beaches which are in the North of the island and a good 40 min drive away in a small our old un-air-conditioned car). It's called St. Thomas's Bay and is perfect- bit of sandy beach, bit of clear blue water and no hassle with parking (unlike most other parts of Malta).

It's a local, low key place.. not too trendy.. just our style. Kids were in heaven. Think afternoons at the sea side will be the key to our surviving the long hot summers here. Oh yes and the incredible fruit- local plums, grapes and the best peaches I have ever had are in season now (and SO cheap).

First it was CARS

then it was TRUCKS and DIGGERS then was the all consuming TRAINS phase followed briefly by RACE CARS and ROBOTS and now our oldest (five years) has come fully into the latest phase- AIRPLANES!!!!!! It is seriously all he wants to talk about, read, draw or build at the moment. To give you a small sample was this mornings 20 minute drawing session- which resulted in this series. I won’t over do it with a photo of the airport he constructed covering his entire bedroom (using all toys available including, blocks, robots, dolls, cards and books as landing strips). Wonder how long this will last and what will come next?

Returning

Sometimes things do somehow fall into place and you are reminded subtly that you are creating memories that not only your kids will (with luck) recall but yourselves as parents as well. Moments you want to savour, the cheery meandering of conversations, the light, smells and sounds. There were many of these in the last five weeks. On back porches, picnics on rolling midwstern country sides, and near campfires in the northern woods looking out at Lake Superior ….the squeals of kids in the background and the sweet company of old friends. Yes, feeling very revived and refreshed. The course now finished. It’s time for sewing, reading, painting, cooking and running.

The sounds of our neighbours trumpet echoing through the courtyard and fire works from Birgu's Festa pounding in the distance.... sweltering heat.. and the season of feasts. A fine welcome back to Malta. Best of all still fig season! This time a small kind (two inches rather than the earlier dark purple four inch size).... made some ice cream yesterday which came out quiet well. Roughly it was 250 ml fresh cream, 400 grams fresh peeled soft figs and 1/3 cup good quality honey. 

Photo fun

Had to share- watch this! Take a few minutes to see it. I love it.

LURA

Immersed in Madison life, from camping to french music festivals and art fairs on the square we are having full days in Wisconsin and loving it.

I can't help but share a recently recieved gift - a cook book... one I never heard of called Spice, Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. My sister made a tasty meal for us entirely from this cook book the other night. Some unique combination that I am keen to recreate soon. The author of the cook book owns a restaurant called Oleana in Boston which I have been hearing grand reviews of for years. On our next visit to the states perhaps.

On the theme of cook books and good food I feel compelled to share my delight in the lovely ambiance of a restraunt near by (Madison East side) called Sardines (featured in the pictures above) we had brunch this morning there out on the back patio overlooking the water. A nice Scandinavian feel to the place. How I miss brunches! They are non existent in Malta!

Lastly we had the double pleasure of A. a night out kid-less and B. getting to see a group from Cape Verde at the local French music festival (free) ...the main singer Lura was really good! Really an excellent performance. Do check her out here if you have a few minutes Lura.

On the Road

Happy to say that school has finished for us all, so very very relieved to have handed in the last of my assignments. By in large I am happy to be returning to my other role as mum of three crazy youngins and a 13 going on 31 year old husband. If anyone is interested here is a link to the website we (my coauthor Brian Gauci) and I created as part of our final project (The Colours of Malta). It's mainly an educational website relating to cultural diversity- a pdf version of the research paper is in the authors page should anyone out there be interested in multiculturalism in Malta.

We have left our wee rock in the Mediterranean on holiday and are now enjoying some Midwestern goodness....local specialities like bratwurst, seasonal beers such as my old favourite spotted Cow or the Solstice wheat beer variety brewed in New Glarus and of course some pride of Wisconsin - ice cream.

Have come across some music to share (after some time) if you like Norah Jones you may like this...Melody Gardot .

Not to be forgotten was a lovely all too short visit to one of my favourite cities- Brighton, (while on route to the states a little over a week ago). It was such a treat, seeing old friends, picnics in the park, almond croissants and Milano cappuccinos at Carluccios and a lunch at Bills (featured above).

Ode to the small details

An ongoing project I had intended to embark on a long time ago was to highlight favourite bits of friend's houses.... at long last here is the first instalment - from a friend in Shoreham (England)

Last hurdle

Certainly has felt like one fast hurdle race these last two weeks but I think I can see the finish line now and am feeling just a bit more optimistic about it all.... can even think about cooking.. inspired again at last-(fresh swordfish in a Maltese green pepper, caper and tomato sauce tonight) and the first type of local figs are in season.... so delicate and delicious! 

Must admit to having indulged in a wee bit of retail therapy lately..(thanks Zara) (the second photo is a dress I would love to buy but can't quite afford just yet). 

What can I say it's summer and for the first time in nearly four years I am not pregnant or breast feeding- bring on summer dresses!    

Also have at last been able to give my kids some attention- went to St. Antons gardens yesterday- they were thrilled to see the peacock strutting his tail, the turtles sunning themselves in the pools and the wallabies (small kangaroos) at the Melita cafe (the small baby one is well worth a seeing).  

Busy working

But I came across some photos today that I can't help but share- here are two. I love the expressions on these kids faces. 

This one too, I find to be incredible. 

Also this cool project that I had never heard of- SOTM (Someone Once Told Me)

check it out here.