from somewhere in my imagination

The Witching Hour

The witching hour is often referred to as that hour or so before dinner when the kids can go a bit nutty.  Before we moved and I started working again the witching hour would usually kick in around about 5.45 if Steven hadn't walked through the door yet.

Now that I'm working and Steven isn't home every night that dynamic has changed.  I'm generally more organised with meals and I regularly have more hands on deck around that time thanks to my sisters.  I've also learned that the ratty behaviour comes from a combination of tiredness and attention seeking so if I need to sit and cuddle/read stories/sing songs/talk for 10 minutes and delay dinner I try and just do it whenever I can.

Until I had kids I thought of the witching hour as something else entirely.  For me the witching hour was how Roald Dahl described it in the BFG, some dark hour in the middle of the night when all is still and quiet.

Unfortunately, with Steven away for work a few nights a week, I find myself visiting the witching hour more and more often.  We do it when he's home too, just trying to steal a few more quiet minutes together.  A perfect pair of night owls becoming perpetually more tired as the week goes on.

After getting the kids to bed and making lunches the couch beckons.  Catching up on TV, blog reading, writing, chatting, thinking, dreaming and general procrastinating.  I often glance at the clock around 10.15 and think, no it's too early for bed just yet...I'll do a few more things before I switch off.  Then, suddenly, the clock is knocking on the new day and I still haven't left the couch...and oftentimes I haven't achieved anything constructive either.

I'll have watched something and not really seen it.  Tried to write something but my fingers haven't been able to translate the words in my head in to coherent sentences.  Sometimes I'll plan big and other times I'll dwell on things that make me feel sad.  We will talk of the future and the things that happened yesterday.  There are times when I simply mourn the passage of time and wish I had taken the time to be more patient in certain situations or taken the moment to give that extra cuddle.

I need to stop visiting the witching hour.  It takes me to dark places more often than not and limits my enjoyment of the lightness of every new day.  It's a vicious cycle and I need to step away from it.  I need to take this sleep thing more seriously.  I have mountains I want to conquer.

Are you a regular visitor to the witching hour?  If you are an early to bed type I'd love you to share your secrets with me!

On a lighter note...I want to thank everyone for their notes of congratulations yesterday here, on facebook and twitter.  Exciting times.

Tatum xx

 

Zucchini, Corn & Feta Fritters - NYC I'm Coming Back!

It's been a public holiday here in South Australia today.  Something about a horse race.  Not really my kind of thing but I'll take the long weekend in its honour.

I got the surprise of my life this morning when I checked my emails.  You might remember a contest I entered a few weeks ago, grand prize being sponsorship from Kellogg's to attend BlogHer in NYC in August.  As I wiped the sleep out of my eyes I had to read the email at least 3 times just to make sure I had read correctly that I had won.  Wow.  To say I'm excited is kind of an understatement.  Huge big thankyou to Kellogg's.

Grinning to myself I headed off to the gym for a PT session where my trainer was somewhat bemused by the fact I was smiling to myself the whole time.  I almost dropped and started doing burpees when he jokingly suggested it.

I have been toying with the idea of making some zucchini fritters for a while.  I wanted to try making them with feta and besan or chickpea flour (it's fairly easy to come by at the healthfood shop).  I decided to add corn so as not to scare the kids off the idea of eating them too much and away I went.

Try and get nice fresh zucchinis, they won't loose anywhere near as much water that way.  Feel free to substitute other veggies too of course, I'm thinking I'll try carrots next time but I haven't quite decided what to use instead of the corn.

To make the cooking part easier I enlisted Steven, got him to clean off the BBQ plate and we cooked them there.  So much easier that in a frying pan on the stove because you don't have the sides to contend with, it's a bigger surface and the heat tends to be much more even.  Besides, it was a perfect day for sitting outside today...I would have liked to crack a bottle of wine and while away the afternoon chatting and watching the kids play.

Zucchini, Corn & Feta Fritters with Yoghurt Sauce - Makes about 14, depending on size.

Ingredients

3 Zucchinis, grated and squeezed to remove excess water.

1 tin salt reduced corn kernels (or kernels from 2 cobs)

1/2 bunch (about 6) spring onions trimmed and finely sliced

150g feta cut into small cubes (I used danish feta)

125g besan flour

3 eggs

1/3 cup greek yoghurt

2 tsp ground cumin

To Serve

1 Cup Greek Yoghurt

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh coriander

Juice of 1 lemon

Freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together

Method

Whisk together the besan flour, eggs, ground cumin and yoghurt until all ingredients are combined and a batter has formed

Tell husband you are nearly ready for the BBQ plate (or just go and do it yourself like I do about 80% of the time).

In a separate bowl mix together the grated zucchinis, drained corn, spring onions and feta.

Add the batter to the veggies and mix well.  It will probably get a bit runny around the edges but it's all good, just don't let it sit for too long.

Put a little bit of olive oil onto the BBQ plate, you won't need much, just enough to make sure the fritters don't stick.

Plonk big tablespoons (I'm talking the old sized tablespoon that your granny had) onto the plate and leave to cook until the first side is set.

Flip the fritters and cook through.

Cook in batches, keeping them warm until they are all ready.

Serve with a big dollop of yoghurt sauce and a fresh lemon for squeezing.

We had these for lunch on their own (they were demolished) but you could serve them up with a big salad for dinner.

The besan flour makes them much less stodgy than plain white flour would and it makes them extra tasty.  I know that it's gluten free too.

We've been eating an increasing number of veggie based meals lately and my grand plan is to work up to at least 3 meat free days a week.  I'm linking up with Veggie Mama for Meatless Monday...because I love her blog, it's monday and my recipe is meatless :)

Hope that you had a lovely weekend, be it long, short or normal...and tell me, what was the last fantastic surprise you got?

Tatum xx

Changing Things Up

Over the past few months I have slowly been building up my running again.  I’ve talked about running and how it has played a role in my life over the years before.  About 18 months ago I was starting to feel like my feet were sprouting their wings again and then, blammo, they got flattened by a pretty bad case of tendonitis.

I learnt my lesson that time around.  My body is actually getting older, I have also had a couple of particularly nasty foot sprains in the last 5 years and too much too soon is bad.  Very Bad.  I also learnt how important it is for me to work on my strength as well as my fitness because if my body is strong it's better protected against injury.

With the 2012 Melbourne Marathon as my ultimate goal I am pretty pleased with my progress so far.  I’m starting to change things up a bit, pushing further on some runs and faster on others.  Tonight I put together my longest run for a very long time.

I’ve been trying out different running apps on my phone with mixed success.  I’ve also been working on my strength and fitness in the gym.  I’ve been managing to squeeze in 30 minute sessions in my lunch hour. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have considered it worthwhile because it was only 30 minutes but I can actually feel the difference it’s making because I’m making it count.

I’ve been working with Supertrainer Stef, you’ll have heard about him if you read Lauren’s blog.  I feel stronger.  I actually want to do push ups for the first time in my life.  I can almost do them on my toes but my back isn’t quite letting me yet.  After having 4 babies my lower back is definitely my biggest point of weakness but it’s getting stronger as I improve my core strength.

I’ve seen even more people taking up the C25K this year and discovering running for the first time.  Do you have a running or fitness goal, short or long, you have set yourself this year?