Life . . . the Great Adventure

I lay in bed last night thinking about Christopher Columbus. Don't ask me why. My mind just thinks about odd things from time to time. As I lay there I thought about what a brave man he must have been to set out on his voyage of discovery at a time when most of the world was thinking that the earth was flat and that they would sail right off of the edge.

He didn't know where he was going when he set off, he didn't even know where he was when he got there. When he'd been there, he couldn't even tell you where he'd been. He only knew that he'd discovered a whole new world in the process.

I guess we should be a little more like Christopher Columbus when things perplex and bother us, at those times when we don't know which direction in life to take. If we are brave and just plunge forward in faith, we may discover a whole new world as well, and wouldn't that be great!



The wind is howling away out here this morning. It sounds quite blustery and stormy. I wonder if that's why I dreamt of tornadoes all night? Perhaps I could hear the wind and it was interfering with my sleep. Who knows??? I looked up dreaming about Tornadoes on google, but none of the suggestions seemed to apply! They were quite frightening dreams though and the sky was just full of dark funnel clouds almost touching the ground and coming my way. There were hundreds of them! I can remember feeling like the whole world was being destroyed! there was a baby in the dream as well, or a toddler, and I was trying to protect them. Sounds quite ominous doesn't it!



We are off to our Stake Conference later this morning. I can't wait!! The talks are always very good and it's always so nice to see people that I haven't seen in months. All the members of our church from the whole stake, which reaches up almost to London and all the way down to Hastings will be there. It's quite exciting really! We didn't go to the Adult session last night, but Todd did go to the Priesthood session and when he got home I had his tea all ready and waiting for him.

I made these wonderful potatoes for him. I have heard them called many different things, roadkill potatoes, accident potatoes, smashed potatoes . . . no matter what you call them, they are delicious potatoes!



*Smashed Potatoes*
Serves 4

It doesn't really matter what you call these tasty potatoes, they are always a delight. Crunchy and spicy and oh so good. It's more of a technique than a recipe. You can choose your own seasonings to put on them rather than the ones I've chosen here. I also like to serve them with a bit of sour cream for dipping, garnished with some chopped chives.

16 small potatoes, washed (I used small Maris Piper potatoes)
1 TBS of extra virgin olive oil (Or more if desired)
freshly ground sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
freshly ground garlic flakes to taste
a dusting of sweet paprika
1 TBS chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano)
2 TBS seeds (caraway, fennel or cumin for example)
Sour cream (I used half fat)
2 TBS chopped fresh chives



Pre-heat the oven to 250*C/450*F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet and put it aside.

Place the unpeeled potatoes into a large saucepan of salted water and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender. Drain carefully and transfer them to the greased baking sheet.

Using a potato masher, carefully squash each potato flat, until it is twice the size that it was. It doesn't matter if it crumbles a bit as these will give you nice and crunchy edges.

Drizzle the olive oil over top evenly. Scatter on the herbs, seeds and seasonings.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crisp and golden.

Serve with little bowls of sour cream, garnished with chopped chives for dipping.



PS - Thanks for all your lovely comments re my cards. If you would like to purchase some please feel free to e-mail me and we can talk about it!