There's no bread Mommy 'Daar's niks brood nie, Mamma'.
That was my son as he came charging up the stairs. Oops, we live far from town and it happens sometimes. No bread or milk. We keep some long life milk and some bread in the fridge, but every so often we end up with a depleted stash.
'I'll just bake you something then'. It probably says something about a household if there is always four kinds of flour, yeast, sprinkles of any description, buttermilk, many varieties of rice and even more of grains in the pantry, but no bread.
There were two very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, perfect for some muffins. We like bananas, but not the very ripe variety, not even in a muffin, so I decided to mask the taste slightly with some cacao. The chocolate bit is not decadent, just a bit of extra taste. Still healthy enough for lunch.
As soon as they were in the oven, the electrician and his daughter showed up. And then my father. Everybody took a few, straight out of the oven, piping hot. It left only four, which we took to E's swimming coach in the afternoon.
Then we had friends over for supper and I made some chocolate mousse for dessert, with some macarons on the side. Decadent, dark and even a bit naughty. We ate it while staring at the lightning that illuminated a huge storm over the mountain.
Today was a day of goodbyes and airport hugs. The kind that is always accompanied by a few teary sobs and a few weeks of heart ache. My sister and her kids went home to Canada today after spending six weeks here with us; never a happy event.
We spend the morning taking photographs and playing in the garden. Her son adored the space and freedom of spending time in a country with abundant sunshine. He wanted to be outside all-day, everyday, chasing the chickens, climbing trees, picking flowers and seeds and riding his bicycle. So that was what we did this morning before going to the airport.
My son, E was so sad to see his little cousin leave, heartbroken almost. They became as close as brothers and spend hours together. Distance is always harder for the little ones to grasp. He has no concept of the size of the earth and always asks inquisitive questions about geography. He wants to know if Canada is further than Johannesburg or Durban. He wants to know if you can drive here or have to fly there. He is trying to get to grips with the fact that his new best friend can suddenly disappear for years at a time. Little does he know that we adults struggle with the idea too.
I thought that a day like today needs a bit of colour and cheer and therefor made little cheery raspberry muffins for breakfast. The first batch was pretty standard with apple grated into the mixture. But then the mango on the counter looked too appealing and I made another batch with mango.
Muffins are the sort of thing that you can throw together on a busy morning in less than half an hour from start to finish. And it always surprise me that something that requires so little effort can yield so much reward. You have to try them, you know you want to.
