Hot Cross Buns

This year we have a combined English and Orthodox Easter, so it's going to have to be Flaounes alongside Hot-cross buns, which sounds good to me.....as a Cypriot born and bred in the U.K, I feel privileged to grow up within two cultures, everything is different within you because of this, our humour,our values, some of the choices we make and of course our knowledge of two very different cuisines....Moussaka followed by Apple Tart...Traditional English Roasted Turkey on Christmas Day and Souvla,Pastitsio and Kollokassi on Boxing Day...yes, indeed we are lucky!!! Today, we'll start with those lovely sticky traditional English Easter cakes, Hot Cross Buns and tomorrow it'll be flaounes!! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

For the buns
625 g Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp ground mixed spice
45g unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
85g Sugar
Zest of one Lemon
1 sachet yeast
1 Egg
275ml tepid Milk
125g Mixed Dried Fruit..I prefer to use sultanas
For the topping
2 tblsp plain flour
Vegetable oil for greasing
Honey, gently heated for glazing

Method

For the buns, sieve the flour, salt and ground mixed spice into a bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, and then add the sugar and lemon zest and yeast.
Beat the egg and add to the flour with the tepid milk. Mix together to a form a soft, pliable dough.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Add the mixed dried fruit or sultanas into the dough until well combined. Knead lightly for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Grease a large, warm mixing bowl with butter. Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the prepared bowl, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour to prove.
Turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back the dough. Shape it into a ball again and return it to the bowl, then cover again with the tea towel and set aside for a further 30 minutes to rise.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly into a bun shape using the palms of your hands. Cover the buns again with the tea towel and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
Grease a baking tray with butter and transfer the buns to the tray. Cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place for a further 40 minutes to rise.
Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 8.
Meanwhile, for the topping, mix the plain flour to a smooth paste with 2 tablespoons of cold water.Spoon the flour mixture into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun.
Transfer the buns to the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the hot honey, then set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Androulla

 

The benefits of family holidays

To know each other

Often, the holiday season also brings an awareness of a change in a loved one’s capabilities. Family members may notice tasks that used to bring joy are now overwhelming. Keep in mind that more individuals are reluctant to ask for help. Be proactive and help the seniors in your life take appropriate action. For example, adult children should have the talk.

 Many times seniors struggle with how to tell their children what’s really going on in their lives. Likewise there are many topics that seniors themselves should begin discussing with their children and other loved ones. Many aging issues can be solved by providing a loved one with the support he or she needs.

To help people relaxing

Family holidays are great occasion for each member of the family to get relaxed. Modern family lives are full of tensions and stress. Only a peaceful environment can help them to forget the tensions and rejuvenate the mind and body to lead the life more actively and happily.

For successful family life

Gatherings with your relatives may be more important than you think. Familial encounters not only provide positive experiences, but also can play a large role in successful and happy life. Face-to-face contact provides the contextual part of what it means to be family. People who cultivate extended family relationships are at an advantage emotionally and are often more successful in their personal lives.

4 interesting facts about raising twins

You will likely give birth early
With so many mamas having twins these days, it would seem like a twin pregnancy is no big deal. But carrying two instead of one is a very big deal, indeed. Women expecting twins are at higher risk for preeclampsia,gestational diabetes, andpremature birth. In fact, about 60 percent of twins are born prematurely, according to the March of Dimes, with the average twin pregnancy lasting 35 weeks.

Twin moms are more susceptible to the baby blues
It’s hard to bring one newborn home, let alone two. Juggling the feeding and sleeping demands of a pair can be exhausting, and parents of twins get less sleep than parents of singletons, at least for the first few months until the babies get on a more synchronized schedule. Exhaustion can make everything more challenging. If you’re breastfeeding, you’re likely either nursing or pumping around the clock to keep up with your wee ones’ demands.

But it gets easier later
Now, the good news: Raising twins will not be this difficult forever. With twins, the hard work is front-loaded in the first three years or so. Later on, your same-age siblings will be able to entertain each other. Plus, you can put them in the same schools, camps, and extracurricular activities without having to shuttle between programs suited for different ages. Also, they’ll likely be interested in the same shows and movies, eliminating fights over the remote, and you’ll have one bedtime instead of two.

Your fraternal twins might really be identical
A recent study out of University College London found that 15 percent of parents were mistakenly told that their identical twins were fraternal. Why the confusion? Most identical twins share one amniotic sac and one placenta, but 25 to 30 percent actually have two separate placentas and amniotic sacs. However, not all doctors are aware of that fact: 81 percent of doctors think that twins who don’t share a placenta are fraternal.

Fears for Larnaca’s future - Paula Manoli-Gray

Things are heating up regarding the future of the port and marina. At the time of writing, the government is pushing for a heavy industry port, whilst the Mayor, Municipal Council, Larnaka Tourism Board and the Larnaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry are all vocally objecting. Their vision is of a unified coast from Dhekelia Road all the way to Mckenzie, taking in the port and marina and seafront along the way.

A protest took place on Saturday and statements have been issued, but will the wishes of a town be able to override the wishes of a government who are thinking very differently to those who live in – and love – Larnaca?

Larnaca has always drawn the short straw. Our reputation is that of a peasant town; old fashioned, backwards, un-trendy. I don't know how much this has changed over the years, but growing up, this is the way people in Nicosia and Limassol always viewed us.

In actual fact, Larnaca is the gateway to the rest of the island, thanks to its central position, and is (in the opinion of many), the only coastal town on the island that is not a tourist 'resort'. The experience tourists have here is not a segregated one like in Paphos or the Famagusta resorts where there are clear and obvious tourist restaurants and bars. In Larnaca, tourists and locals alike all go to the same places, and the result is an authentic experience for visitors, and a normal town, unblemished by an 'in-your-face' tourist industry for its residents.

The vision the bodies have is a wonderful one. It seeks the removal of the refinery tanks from Dhekelia Road – something that the town has been demanding for years – and its redevelopment. That prime stretch of coast would then be developed and is the only place where new hotels could be constructed, and boy do we need those. Dhekelia Road has been in decline for so long, this is the much-needed push the area needs to return to its glory days of the nineties.

The port and marina plans are grand and will see an influx of cruise ship passengers. The redevelopment of Piale Pashia and the promenade (which begins later in the year), will result in a coastal town that stands head and shoulders above the rest, and we are lucky that there are people in positions of power and authority in Larnaca that actually care about the town's future.

It would be tragic for the government to block these plans and it's about time the politicians came down to Larnaca for the weekend and saw what we are and what we can become. Let's take them to Piale Pashia for a good quality meze, let's take them for a drink at the town's hotspot of Mckenzie, and let's stroll with them along the Finikoudes. Then we could show them round the fort, and the small artisan workshops, educate them at our museums, show them the natural beauty of the salt lake and the environmental significance of Oroklini Lake.

I defy anyone to spend time in Larnaca and not love it. If those at the seat of government come down and meet us, I have no doubt they will realise the gem we have and will be as keen as we are to allow it to flourish.

First published in The Cyprus Weekly, 12/04/14

How to raise a spiritual child

Introduce spirituality early on

Introducing spiritual practices to your child when she's young – such as lighting candles or singing hymns together – lets your child view them as a natural part of life, and allows you to have a spiritual influence on her before other people do. Even if you don't believe in God or see God as a single all-powerful being, it's worth talking to your child about it. 

Don't pretend to have all the answers 

When your child asks where people go when they die, answer honestly: "Nobody knows for sure, but some people think they go to heaven to be close to God. Other people think they're born again in a new body."
Inevitably, your child will ask what you think. If you have a strong belief, share it. If not, it's okay to admit that there are some questions people spend their whole lives trying to figure out – and this is one of them.

Use daily events to teach spirituality

Big ideas don't always require big actions. You can demonstrate that spirituality is a part of everyday life by incorporating it into ordinary actions and words. When you open the curtains in the morning, you can say, "Look at this glorious day Mother Nature made." At bedtime, you can sign off with, "God bless you, sweetie pie."

Instill an appreciation of nature

 Nature is a great place to find inspiration and a sense of spirituality. "Kids learn with all their senses – they love to pick up a rock or jump in a puddle or chase a butterfly," says Neifert. Help your child see nature as something precious by demonstrating your own love and respect for it. When you go for a family hike in the woods or a picnic on the beach, clean up after yourself (and even others), and be considerate of creatures in their habitat.

Tell stories

The world's spiritual traditions are full of stories designed to explain everything from how the world was created to why people sometimes do bad things. Read stories together from an illustrated Bible, a book of Hindu mythology, a collection of Jewish folk tales, amending and simplifying as you see fit.