From YourNabe.com
Next week, Brooklyn parents will protest the city Department of Education’s (DOE) new bake sale rules — by making cupcakes.
On March 18 from 4-6 p.m., parents are expected to pack City Hall for a “bake-in rally.” They’re outraged that the DOE now allows Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) to regularly sell prepackaged snacks, including Doritos and Pop-Tarts, but homemade desserts may be sold just once a month.
“This regulation mandates that if we want to raise money for our schools, we have to buy and sell junk food to our children! Our cookies and banana bread aren’t good enough,” asserted the East Village parents behind www.nycgreenschools.org. “Our children cannot receive the message that junk food is healthier for them than foods cooked at home. This will only encourage a lifetime of bad eating habits.”
“I would love to have each of your schools bring out at least 30 parents with their children for the rally,” said Elizabeth Puccini, a protest organizer.
The DOE prefers prepackaged snacks because they display nutritional information, whereas homemade grub does not.
Brooklyn parents aren’t so supportive of the new rules.
“How anyone can laud the nutritional merits of a Pop-Tart is beyond me,” said Martha Foote, whose son attends P.S. 321 in Park Slope. She objects to “our children eating processed foods that I would not allow my children to eat at home, for instance Pop-Tarts or Doritos.”
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Today we are going to try to squeeze in nammet and nunchin. Nunchin (nuncheon) was the subject of a previous post, so I don’t need to repeat the whole story, but will help you schedule it in your day by reminding you that the word is not related to ‘noon’ but to ‘nones’ meaning the ninth hour after sunrise, therefore about three in the afternoon – meaning it competes with afternoon tea rather than luncheon.
‘Nammet’ (or nummit), if you remember as far back as Monday, was one of the meals claimed by Dorsetshire harvest workers in times past. Fitting in our nammet is made frustratingly difficult, or perhaps delightfully flexible by the variety of definitions it has attracted over the years.
According to the OED, it is (or was) ‘ A light meal, esp. one taken in the middle of the day’ – in other words, it is luncheon. An eighteenth century source however refers to it as ‘A short intermeal between Breakfast &; Dinner, or between Dinner & Supper’, which give us great latitude. Mr. Grosse, in one of his linguistic works, intriguingly says it is ‘a luncheon before dinner.’ Novelists have opinions on nammit too. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, ‘nammet time’ is ‘around three o’clock’. To add to the confusion (or the flexibility), the novelist John Galsworthy in his book Bit O’Love (1915), has a character say “I give 'im a nummit afore 'e gets up; an' 'e 'as 'is brekjus reg'lar at nine”, making it similar to dewbit, or maybe first breakfast.
I have no idea of the origin of the word ‘nammit’, but I do prefer the explanation that it is the same as, or related to ‘nemmen’ and ‘nemnen’ which are are forms of usage of ‘remnant’ in Middle English. Whenever it is, one carries one’s nammit in a nammit-bag, of which I have read, and of which I wish I was in possession.
For the recipe for the day I give you a nice breakfast cake or currant bun – quite suitable for anything from dewbit to afternoon tea. It is from English Housewifry, by Elizabeth Moxon ( 1764).
To make Breakfast Cakes.
Take a pound of currans well washed, (rub them in a cloth till dry) a pound of flour dried before a fire, take three eggs, leave out one of the whites, four spoonfuls of new yeast, and four spoonfuls of sack or two of brandy, beat the yeast and eggs well together; then take a jill of cream, and something above a quarter of a pound of butter, set them on a fire, and stir them till the butter be melted, (but do not let them boil) grate a large nutmeg into the flour, with currans and five spoonfuls of sugar; mix all together, beat it with your hands till it leave the bowl, and then flour the tins you put the paste in, and let them stand a little to rise, and bake them an hour and a quarter.
Quotation for the Day.
Christopher Robin was home by this time, because it was the afternoon, and he was so glad to see them that they stayed there until very nearly tea-time, and then they had a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards, and hurried on to Pooh Corner, so as to see Eeyore before it was too late to have a Proper Tea with Owl. .. A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards.
A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
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"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye."
I came across this little wish verse the other day and thought it to be so very beautiful. I'm not sure where it comes from or who wrote it, but the words in it are very apt and applicable to our lives.
How can I begin to express the gratitude I feel for each one of you and your most welcome prayers, happy thoughts and kind words for Todd and myself?? They have touched the very core of me. It is so very hard to feel down when so very many people are rooting for us. You are blessing our lives in a very beautiful way. We feel encircled and carried on the wings of love.
This is a very scary time for me. I try not to let on to Todd how I am feeling at times, and to be very upbeat for him, and in truth . . . most of the time I truly am feeling positive about it all . . . and then there are the moments when fear grips my very soul and I am so worried about what the future might hold. My mind starts filling with questions . . . like what if I can't find a job, or . . . what if we can't pay the rent . . . or . . . well, I am sure you get the picture.
Those are the times when I need to get on my knees and I do get on my knees . . . for when you are seeking the reassurances of the Father and Son . . . there is a wonderful power that comes and lifts you above anything that the earth might beat you with. I am so very grateful for His tender mercies.
I'm afraid that I have been a very bad blog reader these past few weeks. My head has been all over the place and I have found it hard to settle down and concentrate and read for any more than a few minutes at a time. I am going to try to get to all your pages today if I can.
I also didn't get the dolls posted yesterday as planned. I decided to make some accessories for them, so I have been busy sewing up little felt cupcakes and Scottie dogs. All will hopefully be revealed before the end of today. (fingers crossed) One of them is already spoken for, and one is for my giveaway that I hosted and will be flying it's way over to Great Granny Grandma very soon. (Could you send me your mailing address again? I seem to have lost it!!)
Also anyone that wants my new mailing address, could you let me know and I will send it to you.
These past few days I have found that moving is a great excuse to clear out all the rubbish and to get rid of things that you have no need for. We've been using the criteria that if we don't need it and don't love it, we are getting rid. The local charity shops are having a field day. There is very little storage space in the new house so we really need to pare down. (One thing they're not getting though . . . is my cookbooks!!)
I made us a tasty and warming soup for our tea yesterday. Oh my but it was good and very filling. We will soon be into spring and soup days will be coming to an end, so lets enjoy them while we still can!
*Leek and Bean Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
This soup is a complete meal in a bowl. It's really a rich and flavourful leek and potato soup with the addition of some beans and toasty little cheese croutons on top. Lip smacking good and very quick to get ready and on to the table!
1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 large leeks, washed, trimmed and chopped
1 large potato (or two medium) peeled and diced into small dice
3 cups vegetable stock
4 TBS finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
410g tin of borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1 small baguette, cut into 8 slices
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Once it is hot, add the garlic and leeks and cook them over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until they are soft but not coloured.
Add the potato and the vegetable stock. Stir, and then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow to simmer covered, for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are quite tender. Remove from the heat and puree with either a stick blender (My preferred method) or in an regular blender or food processor. (Do take care if using this method and only puree a small quanitity at a time. All that heat tends to make the lid blow off the blender. I always cover mine with a tea towel and hold it on for dear life)
Return the pureed mixture to the pan, and add the beans along with half of the parsley. Gently allow to heat through.
In the meantime, set the grill (broiler) to high. Place the slices of bread on the grill rack and grill on one side for about 30 seconds or so until toasted. Turn them over and grill the second side. Once golden brown on both sides, sprinkle each slice with an equal amount of the cheddar cheese, using about half of it and grill for about a minute longer, or until the cheese is just melted. Stir any remaining cheddar into the hot soup.
Ladle the hot soup into four heated bowls. Float two cheesey croutons on top of each and sprinkle the the remaining parsley to serve.
There are some really scrummy Chocolate Chip Shortbreads over on The English Kitchen today!
PS - Today I WISH YOU ENOUGH!!
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I love the way these crazy cupcakes turned out:  By Roobee.
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