Adapting to new routines when you had the old ones serve you so well - a Man Tou recipe that will help in times of stress

First week back to school, and it feels absolutely chaotic. It's always like this, this is the country where nothing is ever ready to really begin at the appointed date, so it's no wonder schools aren't ready to start when they're supposed to. My son's school, though he loves the place, seems to be particularly adept at this: there's always a hitch or a delay that prevents the place of working at full speed and under normal conditions at the start of the term. It's not as if the dates weren't made public before the end of last school year, they've had sufficient time to get things ready, so I don't understand these delays. First day of school and there were no classes, I had to bring kid home with me after the parents/teacher meeting. The second and third day I had to pick him up at half past three instead of five because there was a shortage of teachers and personel. I fear for the second week, really. And then there's the change in the school hours! For the last three years I was dropping him at school at nine, picking him for luch at half past twelve, dropping him off again at two and collecting the kiddo at half past five. That left me plenty of in between time for my stuff. I had my days all scheduled down to the minute, and I was happy with it. I managed to divide my exercise between mornings and afternoons, I had plenty of time for writing and blogging, for editing and photographing, I could work on my things at my pace. For three years, it was like this and I already had my routines settled and how happy I was tith them. Enter this year, and even though we haven't changed schools, school decided it was a great idea changing the hours. Now, there's minus half an hour on the kid's schedule that was of extreme importance for me. Now I have to drop him off at 9 and pick him for lunch at twelve - minus half an hour which I used to do my exercise routine of the morning, now I will have to take half an hour from work so I can fit my exercise in. Then, I'll drop him back at half past one but by five I need to be at the school so I can bring him home. Again, another half hour has been taken, the one I used for my afternoon exercise routine. I think I'll fit in my stepper exercising for when I come back at half past five. But it'll take a lot of getting used to, and a lot of seeing what works best, so I'm not happy.

But seeing that there's nothing I can do about the sad and sorry business, I took it easy this week and will be test driving my options next week. I haven't really worked on my current novel, lately, busy as I've been with the editing and revising of "Supernatural", my third instalment on The Preternatural Series. I'm happy to say that the eBook is now ready for pre-order here, and will be launching officially on the second of October, both the digital and the paperback version. Untill then, I will be running several promotions on my previous novels on this series, and if you haven't read them yet, then there's the chance of getting Book I and Book II for a lower price, before you get your hands on Book III. If you have read them, I would love it if you could just leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads, it's the only way us Indie Authors have of getting our books noticed, especially on Amazon, where books with no reviews tend to get no attention whatsoever and never get pushed to readers who like the genre. So, if it's not too much to ask, if you do buy and read Indie Authors, make sure you leave a review of those books, it doesn't have to be a huge review, something short and to the point will always be appreciated. Like these Man Tou. Short and to the point, and a favourite here at hour humble abode. We've had them a few times over the Summer and I have to say, I'm sorely addicted to these. I mean, it's bread, so I would be addicted. Plus, it's bread that can be fried or have a filling, I mean, can anything be dreamier than that? (I'm not gonna say, yeah, it can, a Skarsgaard can be dreamier, but just so you know: I thought it.) I haven't yet decided which way I like them better, so here's both ways!

For the Man Tou:

• 10 gr baker's yeast
• 125 ml lukewarm water
• 250 ml flour
• 20 gr sugar
• 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Start by dissolving the yeast and the sugar in the water, then mix in the flour and the oil until you get a rough dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, then allow to rest for about five minutes. Spread into a rectangle over a floured surface and fold into three: first fold the left side three quarters in, then conver with the right side - like you do with puff pastry. With a rolling pin, roll the dough again and brush the top with water. Roll into a snake-like roll and cut into eight portions. Place each portion over a square of baking parchement and then inside a bamboo basket, so you can steam cook them. Once they're done, all fluffy and white, you can serve as it is or you can fry them on a frying pan with a little vegetable oil, turning them on the side regularly so they get an even colour on all sides. This is the simple version, the plain one. If you want to, you can spread the filling of your choice over the dough before you roll it into a snakelike form. We usually go for a bit of mince meat that we stir fry with chives, chinese ten spice, oyster oil and other fresh herbs we might have around the house. You spread this stir fry over the dough, once it's cooled, of course, then roll the dough from top to bottom as you would do for the plain Man Tou, cut into portions and steam cook as before. No need to fry these, though if you want to, you can. Mix up some oriental sauces and serve, you're good to go. You'll be happy as a kitten with a roll of thread, too, they're that good!