Wednesday 3 August 2011

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!




18 comments:

  1. Your posts bring a tear to my eye about 90% of the time. 100% of the time they inspire me to be a better mother. You truly rock girlfriend! Thank you.

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  2. I truly hope my 9 year-old daughter grows up to marry someone as intuitive and smart as your son.

    PS: She's smart, fun and very pretty... shall we arrange their marriage now? ;)

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  3. Tears. Good tears. What a beautiful boy. What a beautiful mama and family he has too.

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  4. "Normally I am trying to do everything and then I just get too tired to do anything well." > this is a beautiful, wise life lesson that many of us adults would do well to learn from. What a gorgeous boy. x

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  5. I suspect the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree with your Mr 11 lovely one. He's super wise for his age. I continue to wish we lived closer so I could get to know your small people in person. Another truly beautiful post about a beautiful little man. x

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  6. What they said. X x x oh and DO tell him I am going to make that soup!

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  7. This is my first time commenting, i just had too, brought tears to my eyes, what a special little guy, and oh so talented too! I'm going to make his soup tomorrow :)

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  8. MY FUZZY. MY DARLING.

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  9. what a beautiful little boy you have. No wonder you feel such pride xxxxx

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  10. Wow. What a beautiful post. A beautiful son and a beautiful mum. xx

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  11. Heavens above this just gave me goosebumps... what a special, special child. I'm so thrilled you get to hold each other's hand through life.

    I've been trying to get hold of The Tao of Pooh for my boy... will redouble my efforts!

    Thanks for this story xox

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  12. Just gorgeous. Both of you x

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  13. Oh my. Once again, Ruth, you have brought a tear to my eye. Truth and beauty just shines through this boy. And you know, he has the wisest of Mama-bears to show him the way. That wisdom is ever flowing. In both directions. C xx

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  14. Tears here too. what a wonderful post.

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  15. Got the Bossa Nova on - missing the sociable strumming - another lovely attribute of your special 11 year old. One of your very special qualities is your intuitive nurturing of the very individual qualities of your 5 young men. It is such a joy for me to share some of that with you all. Thanks a million. xxx Joma

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  16. Today, as you saw, I made the soup for our dinner and I also posted a blog post inspired by you both. Tanti baci. xxxxx

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  17. Wow your Mr 11 is truly special. x

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  18. I read something once that went along the lines of "your children are sent here to teach you things". I totally agree with that but perhaps your boy is sent here to teach the world things. We need more people like him xx

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