Creative Grandmothering

As a creative grandma, I’m constantly looking for things to stimulate and interest my six grandchildren. I love to find new and interactive things for them to do, beyond baking and craft and making fairy gardens, which of course they love.

One time, I was staying with Gabriella and Thomas, aged eight and six, and I said to them:

‘How come there’s no games about seniors?’

And so we decided to create a board game. We called it Game of Crones.  It’s all about old people trying to navigate the senior years. The kids were involved on every level, making suggestions and working out how many spaces and how many challenges should be given to the participants. We had a lot of fun doing it. Here is a fairly crude prototype – I think Hallmark or somebody should take it up!

Over Christmas,  four of them, ranging in age from almost nine to six stayed with me and it was a constant struggle to get them interested in things for longer than about five minutes.

They do love Blind Man’s Buff, an old schoolyard favourite – which I believe, after consulting Professor Google, dates back 2500 years to China. Who knew? Our version of this game  usually involves us blindfolding each other and finding a room or a particular place in the house – no peeking! I extended this by handing them unfamiliar objects, while they were blindfolded, so they could guess what they were. I would give them clues, such as it’s used in the kitchen, or in the bathroom, or in the lounge.

When I was desperate to corral them all in one place, I said:
'OK, everyone's under arrest. Put your hands behind your back!'
We called this game ‘You do the crime, you do the time’

What I did was to arrest them, and it was interesting that they did not struggle when I pretended to handcuff them, they immediately put their hands behind their backs and kept them there. No equipment required!

I took them in for questioning and began interrogation. They all readily admitted to various crimes, from graffiti to grand theft auto. They had to get their own lawyers, and sometimes I thought the lawyers were more crooked than the perpetrators.

I offered them immunity from prosecution or a reduction in their sentence if they would give me more information about the other suspects. I was amazed that they would grass each other up with great alacrity - with Spencer saying about his cousin:

‘Oh yeah,  I saw him down on Addison Road, what was it? Number 123 or something and he was spraying their fence.’

‘Are you absolutely sure?’

‘Oh yes. It was terrible.  I didn’t do anything but I saw the whole thing.’

Thomas then chimed in, to rat on his sister Gabriella.

‘Yes, she stole that car.  It was a blue one. I think it might have been a Porsche. And then she just drove off in it.’

And so it went on, with lies piled upon lies – until I could not continue, I was so doubled up with laughter.

Easiest Ever Gluten Free Biscuits

These biscuits are yummy and so easy to make!


Ingredients

1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 generous tblspn unsalted butter
1 egg

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 fan-forced.
Blitz the nuts in a food processor or grinder - but not too fine, leave some chunks.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the nuts and brown sugar and stir over low heat. Remove and cool slightly. Beat the egg with a whisk and add to the mixture.

Spoon the nut mixture in small blobs onto a tray lined with baking paper. It won't matter if they're a bit irregular in shape. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until firm.  Enjoy!

Podcasts, Television, Books

I know it’s been a while since I posted – but life gets in the way!

One of my favourite podcasts at the moment is The Moth, which is true stories told by real people – originating in the U.S, but we have a version here in Australia – my friend Judith from our writers’ group, Writestuff, performed her own true story on The Moth.

Then of course, there’s my old favourite This American Life, which continually surprises me with its interesting content and professional production.

Someone Knows Something, by David Ridgen, who investigates cold cases, has me absolutely hooked – the first two seasons were great. His recent update has me chomping at the bit for Season 3, which doesn’t begin until November.

Homecoming, featuring Catherine Keenan and David Schwimmer is a gripping fictional psychological drama – the storyline involves returning war veterans and the social worker who tries to help them. Very well produced and am hanging out for Season 3.

I’m always listening to language podcasts, particularly French – one of the most consistent and best is Learn French by Podcast presented by Hugh Nagle (with a delightful Irish accent) and Amelie Verdier – very easy to understand including all levels of French and there are useful grammar explanations included. Coffee Break Spanish is also a favourite, as well as Notes in Spanish, where an English/Spanish couple present easy to understand dialogues and language explanations in Spanish.

Meditation Minis, which I think I’ve mentioned before is by hypnotist Chel Hamilton, short meditation/relaxation exercises not very long and different themes such as overcoming fear and creating a powerful positive state.

Best of all, these are all FREE and can be downloaded on iTunes.

                                                                        ***

Television – and I admit, I’m an addict! Netflix has me hooked once again!

I’ve watched several seasons of Broadchurch, an English crime series, with very believable flawed characters.

My latest find is Jack Taylor, again a crime series centred around a very flawed alcoholic ex-policeman set in Galway with those delicious Irish accents – very watchable and quite long – allow about an hour and a half for each episode.

Pulse, an Australian drama series set in a hospital, is also great.

                                                                        ***

Books – Have been reading Apple Tree Yard, by Louise Doughty. It’s a thriller which has been made into a movie recently.  The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, a Man Booker prize winner, and a thought-provoking story about how a man is haunted by his past.  

Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance is a really interesting easy to read memoir about American culture and reflects some of the more dramatic recent changes in American politics.

Last week I attended the launch of ‘Golf Interrupted’ a new novel written by one of our members at the Writers’ Centre, Peter Anderson.  It’s beautifully written and tells the story of a forensic psychiatrist and his three golfing mates, called out to a siege from the golf course. It’s a story of loss and friendship beautifully told. The pelican featured on the cover guides Sebastian in his golf and his life.

Easiest Ever Fruitcake - Irish Tea Cake

This is probably the easiest ever fruitcake you will ever make!  Had some mixed fruit left over from Christmas and decided to make this - I've tweaked it (as usual) from an old traditional Irish recipe - it's delish!

Preheat oven to fairly low 175 degrees (165 degrees, fan-forced)

Ingredients:

500g mixed fruit (or you could use sultanas)
150g brown sugar
400ml boiling water
1 egg
About 4 teabags (I used Earl Grey)
250g self raising flour (sifted)2
2 tbspns melted butter
1 tspn cinnamon (optional)

Method:

Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Brew tea using 400ml of boiling water and 4 teabags.

Place mixed fruit in a large bowl and pour over tea. Let steep for at least 2 hours or ideally, overnight.

Stir brown sugar and cinnamon into the mixture.  Add beaten egg, butter.  Mix in the flour.

Put the mixture in the loaf tin and bake for about an hour and a half (test with a skewer to see it's done)
Remove from tin and allow to cool.  Serve slathered with unsalted butter, if desired. Yum!

Strawberry Cloud Cake

This cake is delicious!

I made it from one of Annabel Langbein's recipes - just tweaked slightly

150g sweet biscuits (I used Marie)
100g melted butter
50g desiccated coconut
2 egg whites (room temperature)
250g washed sliced hulled strawberries
250g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Crush biscuits to fine crumb with a rolling pin (or blitz in a food processor) put into a bowl, add coconut and melted butter.  Mix well and fill the base of a 26cm springform pan that has been lined with baking paper) - put the crust in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up while you make the cloud.

Place eggwhites,  castor sugar and strawberries and vanilla into clean dry bowl of electric mixer.  Beat on high speed for about 6 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and glossy. The mixture will fluff up quite a lot. Test the consistency and if it is gritty, it needs to be beaten a little more. Spoon the mixture over the biscuit base, cover with baking paper and freeze for 4 hours. Decorate with fresh raspberries. Yum!
It will keep for several weeks apparently, but mine didn't last that long!
                                                               

Podcasts - New and Noteworthy

With nothing on television but re-runs and hours of cricket,  I'm reduced to listening to podcasts - I particularly like the True Crime ones.

Cold cases are interesting - there's a podcast from Canadian Radio called "Someone Knows Something"
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/sks
Season 1 is about the case of a five year old boy, Adrien McNaughton, who went missing in British Columbia while fishing with his dad way back in 1972.  The author of the podcast, David Ridgen, interviews people involved in the case, which seems to be ongoing - it looks to be up to about 6 episodes so far.
Season 2 details the case of a beautiful young woman, Sheryl Sheppard, who disappeared back in the late nineties.  Her fiancé had just proposed to her on national television. The cold case gets more and more interesting as David delves into her past and the people who last saw her alive.


An absolutely riveting fictional podcast from GE is called Life After http://lif-e.af/ter
You become so invested in the main character, a low level data entry employee in the FBI who begins to talk to his dead wife (stay with me here!) on an audio channel - her podcast - the hero is torn between keeping his connection with his dead wife alive and dealing bravely with forces much larger than himself. The ten episodes are so addictive you want to listen to them all at once!

The other one which is completely fictional is called Homecoming https://gimletmedia.com/homecoming/
It's a psychological thriller - currently up to Episode 6 - a fascinating story about a social worker helping scarred war veterans deal with their PTSD.   I can't wait for the next episode!

The beautiful thing is, they're all available free on iTunes - on the telly or iPod...AND can be listened to when you're doing the ironing or walking or doing chores!