Blogger’s Block

I don’t what has changed, but I don’t seem to be inspired to blog, lately.  Expat life in the UK is becoming more routine, less shocking.  That’s a good thing, I’m sure, but not so very interesting as a blog topic.  “Day was normal – again.”  Whooo-hoooo.  

I’ve also been doing things that haven’t made it to the blog, like preparing to participate in my first mud run.  But those hours at the gym and outside running don’t really fit with my crumpet persona.  A mud crumpet?  Sounds potentially salacious.  And no one is sitting still for me to take a weird macro shot of a muddy trail run — even if I could bring my camera along.  Though I do admit, I’m seeing a whole new side of Camelot in muddy rivers, grassy hills, and forested runs.  Mudders in Camelot?

All the wonderful day trips we took this summer feel a bit sad to look over, right now, as the sky slides into darkness and I look at my calendar, empty of travel plans but full of day-to-day routines.  And I am legitimately distracted by creating the yearly birthday books for my kids — 12 months of photos, all in one book, chronicling their birthday year.  Do you know how many photos that is to go through for each child?  Over twenty thousand, spanning our move from the US to England, and each a small emotional bomb as I see how much each child has changed in these short months.

So that’s it.  I’m blogging today more to keep the spirit alive than anything else.  Why don’t I share one quick recipe, just for the sake of it — some comfort snacking I made the other day, using leftover store-bought naan:

• Take prepared naan and slice into finger-sized portions, place in large bowl
• lightly drizzle olive oil or rapeseed oil over the bread (about 2 tablespoons)
• sprinkle bread with spice rub (cumin, cardamom, paprika, garlic, cayenne, pepper, salt) and toss in bowl to coat
• arrange bread in single layer on large baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until edges start to look golden

Serve with: one cup greek yogurt mixed with juice of half a lemon or lime, tablespoon minced garlic, dash each of dill, turmeric, and cumin.

I made this because I was envious of the kids’ snack bags of crisps — which they immediately abandoned as soon as this came out of the oven.  Next time, I’ll make a bigger batch, and skip the store-bought crisps entirely.