MARIE'S MUSES

The family
is like a garden
with joy
for all to share,
With tender, growing blossoms
that thrive on love
and care,
And when
the flowers are gathered
for a very special day,
They make
a bright and beautiful
happiness bouquet.

~Mary Loberg

History of Mothering Sunday:

“Mothering Sunday is on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It is often called Mother's Day in Britain. However it has no connection with the American festival which is also known by the same name.

On this day children often give their mothers gifts and cards as a way of saying thank you for their hard work. In church, prayers are said for mothers at a special service.

In the past girls who worked as domestic servants were given the day off work to visit their mothers. They often took a simnel cake as a present. Simnel cake is especially associated with Mothering Sunday. It is a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste. On top there are eleven balls of marzipan, one for each faithful disciple, Judas not being included as he betrayed Jesus.”

Mothering Sunday is always a little bit weird for me. I stand here with a foot in two continents and an ocean in-between. Mother’s day in North America is not until the second Sunday in May and that is when I send a gift/card to and telephone my own mother each year. Hopefully, I will get a few cards myself on that date, but more often than not I don’t. I make excuses to myself, such as the children have busy lives and the special day has just crept up on them, and I will get an e-mail or two, and . . . I usually do. If any of the children remembers at all, it will be my oldest daughter who is in Quebec right now, having just competed in the Canadian Winter Special Olympics. (I hope that she had a great time and can’t wait to hear about it when she gets home!) Still, I love my children and forgive them their forgetfulness and I have to say that having had the five of them and being able to bring them up has been the single most rewarding and wonderful experience of my life. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for all the riches in the world. I am so very proud of each and every one of them, and the special people they have become. It’s really fun seeing them becoming parents themselves now and seeing what a good job they are doing. It helps me to know that I must have done something right.

Motherhood is a circle of love and caring. My mother loved and nurtured me all the days of my life and before, as did her mother before her, and her mother before . . . I loved and nurtured my own children, and now they nurture theirs . . . the love goes on and around and never ends. It’s a chain that reaches both back and beyond into eternity, as fine and beautiful and precious as the finest gold, but with a strength that defies description. It’s a gift from a Father that knows our strengths and weaknesses and trusts us anyways . . . to do the right things and bring our children up in the right way, and to love them and teach them, to nurture them with tender care and loving ways.

So to all you mother’s out there iin the UK,  I wish you a very Happy Mothering Sunday. May you be blessed beyond measure and loved as much and more. J

Here’s a recipe for a tasty bread that is quite easy to make and goes very well with soups and stews and is wonderful split and toasted, and then filled with some meats and cheeses for a delicious sandwich.

Makes 1 loaf

This is so easy to make and tastes so wonderful when done. It’s full of lots of delicious flavours and is really great to make toasted sandwiches with. You can vary the herbs as you wish and even add other toppings. Sun dried tomatoes and black olives come immediately to mind. On this day I sprinkled mine with some toasted pine nuts for a little crunch.

2 ¾ cup strong flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white sugar

1 packet of instant active dry yeast

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 TBS olive oil

1 cup warm water

2 additional TBS of olive oil

2 TBS grated Parmesan Cheese

Additional toppings as desired (mozzarella cheese, caramelized onion, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, black olives etc.)

Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and seasonings in a large bowl. Mix in the 1 TBS of olive oil and the warm water. Stir well to pull the dough together. Once you have a manageable dough, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place the ball of dough into it, turning it to coat it with the oil. Cover with a warm damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 25 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 205*C/425*F. Remove the dough from the bowl and punch it down. Place it onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat it out to a ½ inch thick rectangle. It doesn’t matter if it is a bit wonkily shaped, as this only adds to the charm.

Using one of your knuckles place indentations into the top of the dough, spacing them about an inch apart and prick the top all over with a fork. Brush with the olive oil and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and any additional toppings you wish to use.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until golden brown.