Stories and Sausage

Today was a hugely inspirational day; I took James to an event at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, called (rather naffly) "Check It Out!", aimed at giving parents access to a number of local organisations with an interest in helping them out in various ways. We met some really interesting people and went away with a lot to think about. There was also the usual haul of freebies to be had - promotional balloons, keyrings, pens and the like.

After lunch, we listened to a talk from the author and inventor of StorySacks, Neil Griffiths. The only word is WOW - that guy can sure tell a good tale! Such a simple thing, and he makes it look so easy to do it really well - but did you know that 1 in 9 children have never been read to at home? Or that in some ares of the U.K. that figure increases to 1 in 2? That's right, HALF. I bought a couple of books while we were there, picking up Neil Griffiths' Itchy Bear and a (bilingual) Welsh book, Tynnu llun gyda sialc from a local company @ebol.

When we'd finished for the day, and picked Christopher up from nursery school, we pootled home. I started dinner faily swiftly when it became clear that I had two hungry, over-tired boys on my hands. Why is it that the more tired children get, the more active and obstreperous they become? So I was really glad that, not only was I feeding the children and we adults separately tonight, but that theirs was to be a simple and quick pasta dish.

Spicy Sausage Pasta

I defrosted a package of my homemade tomato sauce, but use a favourite bought one if you'd rather. Equally, replace the saucisson with any other 'slicing' sausage or salami.

100g pasta shapes
200g tomato sauce (and see above)
40g saucisson sec
4-6 pitted black olives
scant pinch chilli flakes
chopped fresh parsley

Put the pasta on to cook in lots of boiling water. Meanwhile, chop the sausage and olives roughly and put them into a pan with the tomato sauce. Reheat slowly, stirring in the chilli flakes and parsley. Drain the cooked pasta and toss with the sauce, topping it with parmesan to serve.