Halloween

More photos here and here.

Pumpkin and Blueberry Loaf

This is a wonderfully moist cakey loaf I rediscovered in my recipe book a few days ago. I first made it about 4 years ago when my friend Jeanne shared the recipe (and a sample of its baked result) but forgot all about it till now. My loss - it is probably my favorite dessert loaf now!

PUMPKIN & BLUEBERRY LOAF

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries (not dried) - do not be tempted to omit the blueberries. You must have them. There is no point to this loaf without the blueberries. Really!

* There are many recipes for pumpkin pie spice. The one I used (relative ratios in parentheses) is:

• Cinnamon (4)
• Ground ginger (2)
• Ground cloves/ground allspice (2)
• Ground nutmeg (1)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour (or line with parchment paper) a loaf tin (large - about 2 pounds)
2. Cream together the softened butter and sugar.
3. Mix in the eggs, pumpkin and water.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients and fold into wet ingredients.
5. Stir in blueberries till just well mixed.
6. Pour into loaf tin and bake about 1.25 - 1.5 hours.

Jumping in Leaves

Yesterday there was a large pile of leaves in our yard. 

And it was attacked by three little girls.

And much fun was had by all.

The end. 

Photo of the day

...... about a fortnight ago.

This is a corner of Emily's room, that she converted into a library. It was quite elaborate: doll beds impersonating bookshelves, with books categorized into fiction, non-fiction and other things. There was also a checkout system involving paper slips and library cards. The girls spent entire afternoons and evenings squeezed into this little hideaway, reading to each other and to themselves. 

More Stuff To Dance To

Suddenly remembered this: it was probably one of my two all-time favorite songs we danced to when I was coordinator of our church's Dance Ministry back in the very old days. The other favorite song was Keith Green's Asleep in the Light/The Sheep and The Goats, which we did in mime.

It was a good thing I wasn't the only one allowed to pick songs to choreograph, or else they'd all be RnB pieces. We weren't really into the Jewish tamborine dance thing (tried that, and decided we liked something else), as you can probably tell. Oh, Dance Min was fun. Even more enjoyable than even the dancing (and workouts) was the relationships between the girls (and the occasional boy that was hip enough to join) and the ladies who danced with us.  Such a privilege to be part of their lives for those years before I left to come to the US. And no, we weren't anorexic. We ate rather like pigs, actually- especially french fries and the Killiney Road Kopitiam's kaya toast after performances. We had our youthful metabolic rates to thank!

Stuck in Our Heads - The Girls Edition

Not really in the mood to post photos or long stories here (yet) because this is the busiest month of the year. October is when two mammoth commitments violently collide: Jenna's birthday party and Halloween, all on the same week(end). Halloween means manic costume-sewing. Jenna's birthday means manic everything. Both are very enjoyable and satisfying but a person could keel over and die from the deadlines and the intensity of the activity level around here.

So instead, here is music, which soothes the savage beast (and the distracted Mother). We've shared music many times before on this blog, but usually performed by male people. Here today is the Girls edition!

First is a blast from the past which the girls have been singing and dancing to all week. The Seekers are an Australian group from my childhood - the guys sing, too, but the lead singer, Judith Durham, is a girl. What a voice!

This is the girls' most requested bedtime song, first introduced to them by Mum in Singapore. Now I sing it to them. The second version is Kate's "favourite part" and the third verse is Jenna's.

Something a bit more modern now - if I could magically choose to have another person's singing voice, it would be Margaret Becker's. Also Helen Baylor's (her rendition of the church staple Doxology is my favouritest ever). So much soul. So wonderfully non-screamy and non-shrieky. 

Slightly amusing account: once upon a time, the youth dance team from our church in Singapore performed this other M.B. song. Yes, I co-choreographed it (shocking, I know, but I was very young then and actually had decent coordination). I wish we had a video of it. It was something else. 

Why Little Girls Should Have Pigtails

1. Because they won't stay 4 years old forever.

2. So you can squish their cheeks.

3. Just because.