Today was a not-much-to-show-for-it day. There was breakfast, and swimming, and grey skies. There was a little bit of work squeezed in here and there. There was family and comfortable silences. There was paper, and glue and crayons and pretending to make cakes. I’m not even making dinner tonight – it’s a rare night out for the two of us. It was a day where if you asked what happened, the accurate answer would be ‘not much’.

But it was a good day, not a disappointing day. These are the days that make up a life. It contained cuddles and conversation and smiles. It didn’t have that much TV or email. It would have been good to spend more time outside, but the sudden chill in the air drove us indoors, with me wondering where my gloves are.

This weekend we are entertaining friends and family, and getting ready to go on holiday next week. If you have a quieter weekend planned, and would enjoy a baking project, it might be a good time to make Christmas cake (I posted about the recipe I use this week), Christmas pudding (Deborah at Licked Spoon is making hers) or advent gingerbread (from Jules at Butcher Baker blog).

Recipes:

• Slow cooker roast chicken
• Slow cooker sausages and beans – a severely corrupted cassoulet

Without a recipe:

• Chicken pie
• Pasta bolognese

Reading:

• A gingerbread advent calendar from Butcher Baker blog! Love this idea, although definitely filing it under ‘things I do not have time for’ this year.
• Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats argues that sometimes metric weights aren’t right for recipes. I think he has a point. Where accuracy isn’t essential, it’s better to use what readers are familiar with, along with the way the food is sold in local shops (i.e. sticks of butter are only a good idea if your supermarket sells butter in sticks)
• Fascinating experiment convinces children that they don’t like chocolate, by telling them a story about it (via Bee Wilson).
• Very interested in trying this non-yeasted cinnamon bun recipe from Claire Ptak of Violet Bakery. Would be a great thing to have stashed in the freezer.
• 2 ingredient microwave chocolate pudding. This feels like a recipe worth mastering 🙂