Puzzles and Pumpkin Scones

I so love to support our little local businesses around town. Those that bring the best of their knowledge/passion/hobby in whatever product it may be. Not only is this good for the environment, it's good for us because we know we are getting the right information from someone who loves what they do.

Today we visited our favourite puzzle and games shop. We love coming here and not just for the great games and puzzles on offer. We love visiting because we have gotten to know the couple that own the store. We know them by name and when we walk in that door we are instantly welcomed. They know our names, and they know our children. We talk about 'stuff', usually our children, and it's just so good for the soul.

We come home with 'Race Around The World'. This is awesome! I had a list of a few games that I wanted to check out and this was the winner of the day for me. I was looking for specific educational games. Eye tracking sort of games to be exact. It's a single player game, and checking out picture above, my eldest is having a great go of it. Basically you start at one town, working your way around the country, visiting each of the towns only once, following the arrows and then back to the town you started in. There is a transparent sheet that goes over your map and with an erasable marker you start your journey. This can be erased at the end of each turn, so you can move onto the next map. There are 24 maps number 1 being the easiest. So much fun, and yes, I had a turn, however, with my recipe books in front of me, I was a little side-tracked and actually struggled to finish the first map. I was a bit concerned that my boy would struggle, but he totally got it out in a few minutes. He turned the map to the side and hey presto! he was done. I was very impressed.

The other thing that impressed me so much, is the fact that this game stems from an original idea by four school girls. Yep! You got it, there was a contest run in Tasmania and this idea was so brilliant that they made it into a game for us to purchase. Go girls!

Other than shopping, chatting, purchasing today, there was some cooking done as well. You remember that lovely pumpkin and gerbera photo I took earlier in the week?? Well that pumpkin become soup, and then today with just over 1 cup of the pumpkin and veges left over, I turned it into pumpkin scones. I did a double batch and ended up with 78 scones, well actually there are probably about 50 left now. Hmmmm, lunchbox fillers for the next few days, morning tea for me and my big boy too. Delish. I know I am feeling better when I get back in the kitchen again. Just ignore the scone to the bottom right of the photo, lol, the very last scraps of the batch can't you tell, but just as yummy as the rest of them.

I have lots more cooking in my head for this week, I love being inspired by my recipe books, and have come across some lovely slices, and other delish items that I want to make. I will not be able to share the recipes with you, as I don't like doing that without permission, but I will certainly share where I get them from and tell you how yummy they are. lol, what a meanie Joyce!