Monday morning

. . . and it's the start of the first full week back with a day that is filled with 'stuff'.  Violins, Infant singing (which I take) and swimming in the afternoon, which means zillions of carrier bags with swimming stuff in them to put somewhere or other in the classroom.  OK, so maybe not zillions, but it feels like it.  In a small classroom (and our classroom areas are very small for infants), even half a dozen pairs of wellies on a wet day can cause a right kerfuffle so you can imagine the chaos if it rains on a swimming say - wellies, brollies, coats and swimming bags.  Deeelightful!  Looking out, right now it's raining and it's windy.  Very windy.  Another joy to add to the list!

Right now the house smells.  It's not a bad smell, just the lingering remains of the spiced red cabbage and apple that DD and I produced in amazing quantities yesterday.  The final total is two big bowls full which I need to bag up and take to the freezer.  Two or three 'family get-together' portions and the rest in smaller plastic take-away boxes with one portion left out for dinner tonight.  It's going to take for ever so maybe some will end up in the fridge this morning and get done after school.

It's a great recipe (Delia's always are) but it involves carefully layering the ingredients in the pot and for the life of me I can't see why.  A layer of shredded cabbage, a layer of chopped onion, a layer of chopped apple and the sugar and spices go in there somewhere - it's all a great faff when actually all you need to do is bung the whole lot in a big bowl, give it a good mix around and tip it into the pot.  It all gets mixed up the first time you stir it anyway!  From now on that's *exactly* what I'm going to do (assuming normal quantities, that is) whenever I make this recipe.  No point making life more complicated than it already is!