I’ll admit I probably spend more time watching cooking shows on youtube than I should each week. However, I look at them as more of a research project than just a time waster, after all I’m looking for recipe ideas for my family.

Ones that I’ve really come to enjoy actually are from England. Now, it could just be my impression, but I get the idea that portions are smaller in the UK and desserts are far less common (and less sweet) than here. While the smaller portions part doesn’t leave much for leftovers, it does help with making sure we aren’t stuffing ourselves just because there is food in front of us.

Here are a few Youtube channels I’ve found inspiration from for cooking:

 

Sorted Food – Four guys from London, three of whom have no idea how to cook and one who went to culinary school. They’ve been around for four years now, so there are lots of videos to watch. The nice part about them is that they keep things simple. They use fresh ingredients but a fair mix of pantry items.

Titli – Not only does Titli have a busy kitchen channel, but she also has a bread kitchen channel and a garden channel.  She’s funny and her recipes are simple to follow. She also uses a good mix of fresh and pantry items. (Let’s be realistic, we can’t always get fresh ingredients for cooking.)

Laura in the Kitchen – I don’t remember when I stumbled upon her channel, but I subscribed as soon as I watched the first video. Her foods are simple and quite delicious. Laura is from Italy but lives in the US. Her recipes are also simple and quick to prepare.

Gordon Ramsay – Most people know him as the guy who stands around and yells a lot on television. These videos don’t have any of that and he’s actually quite charming. His recipes are a bit more fancy than the sites above, for when you want to have a bit more of a fancy meal.

All of these channels have a good mix of savory and sweet recipes.

I know sometimes when I fall into a doldrum about cooking, I am usually able to find a recipe from these channels to inspire me. I hope they inspire you too!

Click here for the concert!

The South Georgia Strings Project Spring Program was this past Monday. Caecilia and I play in the first set and Karol, Margaret and Joshua start at 17:54. If you listen carefully, you can hear Scholastica call out “Papa” at 18:14.

 

The kids decided to put a band together this morning. I’m looking forward to touring around the country in a few years.

Two years ago today, Scholastica was baptized. We don’t have any pictures from the actual baptism, but I have a great picture of her enjoying her pear this morning.

 

 

 

Today was a fun day. We purchased Epiphany gifts, I went one way at JoAnn’s, Joshua went the other. Benedict had to be told not to tell anyone what I put in the cart. We then went to Lowes to buy a new front door. Ours was falling apart, literally, you can see through the cracks in the door. Then we picked up Chinese for an early dinner. Really, by the time we got home and straightened up a bit, it was our normal dinner time.

After dinner we prayed then taught our kids how to play charades. That was fun and the kids did a good job, and allowed for lots of laughter. When it was bed time, Karol was sent up to help Bene get dressed. They said something about a showing us their surprise pajamas. A few moments later, the boys were back downstairs, wearing “matching” pajamas. In this picture it is hard to tell, but Bene is also wearing a dinosaur shirt. The girls wanted to be in on the coolness of matchy-match, so they went up and found their own.

Yesterday I was nursing a sore throat, so I sat on the couch and looked through old emails, some over 11 years old and from Joshua around the time we were engaged. Sweet, mushy, filled with hope and great excitement for the future. However, those are not the reason for this post.

At dinner last night, while pondering those emails (and how wonderful of a husband Joshua is), I turned to Margaret and Caecilia and told them that if they are called to marriage, to make sure their future husbands love them as much as papa loves me.

Margaret said that she would know she found a good husband if he makes sure she never runs out of ice cream.

I thought about that for a second and realized that Joshua makes sure that we are never ever out of ice cream and that, among many other things, makes him a great husband.