Making your limitations your strengths......

My 11yo has had a really rough trot.

He is the one who has been having the nightmares.....you may have read about it here.

He is an incredibly intuitive child.

He teaches me things.

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Soul important stuff.

The stuff that helps us in difficult times.

He sees things others miss.

he hears things in songs that no-one else does.

He has amazed quite alot of people with his insights into things.

They are the sort of things that kind of make you do a double take.

He is only eleven after all!

We have been reading The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff (I blogged about that here too) with him.

Do go out and buy a copy. Do.

You won't regret it.

And you won't regret re-reading Winnie-the-Pooh either.

I have mentioned this book to several people and been happy to hear they know it.  It is a treasure.

On Friday little Mr11 had an all day Basketball event.  I'm exhausted just writing that!

He came home and I asked how it went.

He told me "It was great.  I used something I learnt from the Tao of Pooh today"

Of course I was thrilled and wanted to know more......what was it that he had used?  What was it he had heard in that book that helped him?

"Well mum it was the bit where they talked about knowing your limitations.  You know how they said that if you know your limitations you can make them your strengths."

"Go on" I said..........my eyes were welling.

"Well I am not very tall and usually I try and run all over the court and try to get goals too but today I didn't try to do that.  I left the tall kids to do that and I just ran and tried to get get the ball off the opposition.  I think I did a better job.  Normally I am trying to do everything and then I just get too tired to do anything well."

I held him tight.  Really close.

I wanted a little of his wisdom to flow into me...........

MR.11's POTATO, LEEK & PARMESAN SOUP:

He is an amazing cook too.  Today's recipe is his.  He tried a Potato, Leek & Parmesan soup at a farmers market, loved it and came straight home to try and replicate it.  He got it right first time and has made it quite a few times since. It is DARN good!  The addition of the parmesan adds the most amazing flavour to this soup.  Feel free to grate more on once served!
He made it for all of us for dinner last night.

PapaGourmet and the 5 boys at the Gasworks farmers market.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 leeks
• 2 onions
• 6 potatoes (we used dutch creams)
• 300g Parmeggiano Reggiano
• nutmeg
• salt
• white pepper
• chicken stock
• good quality butter

METHOD:
 Chop the leeks straight down the middle leaving the root section on.  This allows you to hold the leek under a tap to wash away any dirt and keep it in tact.  A useful trick! 

Then trim leek and chop coarsely.

Chop onions.
In a pot (big enough to hold all ingredients) melt a good size knob of butter at a medium heat.
Add onions and leeks and cook till translucent.
Chop potatoes (we don't peel them- so make sure they are well scrubbed) into rough pieces.
Add them to the pot and add enough chicken stock to JUST cover the vegies (you can add more but we like this soup quite thick).
Grate a generous amount of nutmeg and season with Salt (don't add too much salt as the parmesan is salty- you can adjust at the end if you need to) and white pepper.
Cook till potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes).
Add grated parmesan and BLITZ BABY BLITZ! (my super technical term for using a stick blender).

Serve with crusty sourdough spread with good butter.   You could add a dollop of cream if you were feeling super decadent! x


My kids love music as much as me...Mr.11's fave at the moment is Quincy Jones' Soul Bossa Nova. This is not Quincy's but another Bossa Nova clip I found on youtube that I thought was great. Bossa Nova is great kitchen music. Turn it up y'all!