Creative, Crafty, Christmas...

I'm tempted to lie and say I made these, and overnight I was transformed into this creative goddess, but I suppose it wouldn't be fair on the children.

Yes, they made them  - it was nothing to do with me....They did it all at school and yesterday we went to the 'christmas craft fair' where each class had produced a different selection of products to sell.

I have to say I was really impressed.

but I shouldn't be surprised, Czechs seem like quite a handy bunch...in fact I think Martha Stewart the American Queen of Home Making must have had some Czech in her.

Czech women have this gene that I swear Western women don't have - they can bake 100 different types of Christmas biscuits, make stunning home made decorations which they magically sprinkle about the house like fairies....(and talking about fairies they must have at least 5 cleaning ones working for them).

And then to add insult to injury, they themselves look immaculate, effortlessly groomed and quaffed.

It's just not possible.

It's just not bloody fair.

At the craft sale my son's teacher reminded me that they have a Christmas party next week and mums again can bake something to bring in, she quickly added, but if you don't bake you can bring some juice.

Now I have a dilemma.  Do I just bring in the juice? Or do I rise to the challenge, pinny on, rolling pin at the ready and show these Czech teachers just what they've been missing?

sweet tooth

This is what my son had for breakfast the other day.

Nutritionists would have a field day.  I'm not sure if any of the ingredients actual fall into any  recommended food group.

My son went on a sleepover at the school (lovely idea, again he was packed up with roll mat, sleeping bag etc).  The school letter said, 'prosime maminky, aby nam napekly upecene sladkosti slouzi jako snidane' - mothers please can you bake something sweet for breakast.

Bake?!

This obviously wasn't aimed at the English mum in the playground.  Instead my son got a donut and some cakes from the local store : )

Czechs don't have a word for 'sweet tooth', but gosh don't they personify the phrase.

They love anything sweet.  There are Cukranas everywhere (a kind of bakery) but they don't really sell much in the way of bread, more like slabs of cake - with nuts, chocolate, cream, coconut, sprinkles, icing, you name it.... all screaming out Eat Me!

I've been know to indulge in the odd cake or two given the chance, but what I can't stand is eating sweet food for a main meal.

It seems this isn't a problem for most Czechs.

I nearly gagged the first time I had 'ovocne knedliky' for lunch at my future mother-in-laws, it was a sweet fruit dumpling covered in icing sugar.  This was the main meal...yes followed by....desert!

And how can I forget the first time I had 'nudle s makem'.

My sister and I were visiting the in-laws family deep the Czech countryside and we were served what we thought was pasta for dinner.  But it wasn't like any pasta dish I'd ever tasted - it was bathed in butter, covered with icing sugar and sprinkled on the top was a mountain of poppy seeds.

My sister helpfully christened the dish, 'Pet Shop Pasta' as it had the aroma of a pet shop - that kind of bird seed smell.  Yummy.

My daughter has already inherited the sweet gene off her father and she's in 7th heaven, especially as the kids are allowed to take sweets to school and teachers positively encourage their sugar addiction by handing them out to the class ALL the time.

Even the doctor gives out lollies as regularly as she does prescriptions!

How can I fight that?!  I can only retaliate with plates of fruit as pure punishment ; )

Although my taste buds have got used to the eccentricities of Czech cuisine, I can guarantee I'll never embrace sugar like a true Czech.