Saturday 19 April 2008

All the fun of the fair

In Fife each spring we have one of, if not the largest street fairs in Europe. The Links Market has come to Kirkcaldy each April for over 700 years.
Now as I have 3 children, including 2 teenagers, this can end up being an expensive time. This year as DD#1 is almost 16 I had to cut the apron strings and let her go on her own. It did not help me make the decision when she told me that a worker had died this year after falling when building one of the popular rides called the bomber, but I bit the bullet and let her go, she had a great time.
DD#2 is not really interested and would rather go out for the day with friends, which is fine by me.

As a parent of young children you want to keep them safe and close to you, as you mature as a person and a parent you learn to let them be more independent, but making sure you are there in the background to make sure everything is ok. When they hit the teenage years you are given a person who is desperately trying to form their own identity, but who can turn into that toddler that you thought you had left behind a long time ago. I often think of how my parents allowed me quite a lot of freedom, but I never abused that, or took advantage.
I hope that when the girls are older they will see that Mum only tried to get the best for them, even if at the moment they can't really see it.

On Sunday I made a lovely Chicken Curry. It was full of flavour and the recipe for the "brown stuff" was an unusual way to get a base for many curries I only changed it by adding salt and sugar, but the recipe yielded enough to freeze some for later use. I made some lovely rice to go with the meal and here is the recipe

Turmeric Rice

Serves 4 – 6 Preparation 5 mins, Cooking time 20 mins

450 g (1lb) basmati or long grain rice

3 tbs vegetable oil

3 cloves

1 bay leaf

4 cardamom pods

2.5cm (1 inch) cinnamon stick

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

¼ tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

675 ml 22 fl oz water

2 tbs finely sliced chives or the green part of a spring onion

Put the rice in a bowl and wash in several changes of water.

Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl.

Put the oil in a heavy based saucepan and set over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot and beginning to bubble, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the garlic.

As soon as the garlic turns medium brown put in the rice, turmeric and salt. Stir gently for a minute. Now add the water and bring to the boil. Cover tightly, turn the heat down to very, very low and cook for 20 minutes. Stir the rice with a fork to separate the grains and serve garnished with chives or spring onions.

3 comments:

Sylvie said...

I used to love going to the fun fair when I was younger. It was always on the large village green behind our house, so I'd always go on my own with my friends, but then it was just a village and I guess things were different in the 70s/80s.

Marie Rayner said...

As a mother of five, the oldest being 32 and my baby 19, I know only too well the difficulties of letting go . . . I can totally understand how difficult it must be for the mother bird to push the fledgling out of the nest, but she knows she must . . . there is no alternative. I don't think a mother ever stops worrying about her fledglings. I know I don't!! As ever it shall be . . . That rice looks delicious and I think I shall give that curry a try. Can you believe I had never eaten curry before moving to the UK??? Neither can I! I totally love the stuff!

Raquel said...

Angela: You have quite a lovely blog! That rice looks very nice, will definitely try that next time I make curry.

I know exactly what you mean about letting go, it has been so hard for me. I think a lot of it is just putting your head to it. Now that it has been around a year, I am just getting comfortable with it. It does give you much more time for the things you may have always wanted to do and did not have time to before! That is what I am finding anyway! Have a great week! I always love the fair, we have a small one every year here.