New ventures in eating and cooking

The last 6 weeks has left me occupied with my two children and the business of settling each of them into school and nursery. My son went from having mama 24/7 to a few days of nursery away from me and his precious big sister. This was a significant change for him and I welcomed the balance of mama time and nursery time. He had much to look forward to such as the different stimulation varying from the cool music teacher with his guitar to eating together with the rest of the children on small tables and chairs and might I add, without any help! I was curious how this last task would pan out as my boy generally has ants in his pants. After several weeks into the process, I was happy to learn that he sat with the rest of his peers and was having seconds as well! And this has of course had an effect at home, as he is able to sit longer than usual.

My daughter is slowly settling in at reception (also known as kindergarten) and she has had some days where she has had school lunches and other days when she and I have lunched together. On the days that she is at home, her appetite has almost doubled and I am so pleased with this. As a baby she was a small eater and its only over the years that her desire for food has grown. And now it seems that being at school has only expanded her tummy!

So now I will start my classes once she has fully settled, and this will be towards the end of November and I will update my blog, Facebook page and website www.spicesformysweets.com with dates.

In the mean time I have done some interesting talks, one has been for a local clinic specialising in alternative therapies. I spoke about the beneficial uses of spices and baby food and offered some pureed samples for clients to try, one of course was my favourite butternut squash puree with roasted cumin and steamed plums puree with star anise, black peppercorns, cinnamon and clove.

Then this weekend I did a cooking demo at a quaint shop that sells spices by the weight. It was a fantastic experience where I demonstrated how to cook tadka dal (tempered lentils) and Bombay aloo. I was so high on adrenalin after the class and got so much positive feedback. I hope to do some more classes here in the future!