Fisher's Mom
Mother Superior
The results are in and the NCT Community has chosen Miniman for our newest Member Spotlight! Congratulations, Miniman, and thanks so much for giving us a peek at you and your life!
Tell us a little about yourself - your family or household, kids, pets, occupation, etc.
Well I am 46 years old and was born in Bulawayo in what was then called Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). I spent the first seventeen years of my life there – my father was also born out there and worked initially in the police and then on the railways. When I was 17, we emigrated to the UK, my mum was born here so we could claim citizenship. I have lived here ever since initially in a town called Basingstoke and now in Alton, both Hampshire towns. I went to university in a city called Hull way further up the country and studied zoology as I wanted to be a vet – never happened. I graduated from there and returned to Basingstoke, took on various jobs until I spent 10 years working for the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. I met my wife at this time getting to know her on a group holiday in the Loire Valley, France. We married in 1991 and subsequently had two boys and a few miscarriages. After Jonathan was born, I gave up my job to become a full time father – Unusual at the time. As they grew up, I got involved in preschool work and teaching, so then trained as a teacher, nearly had a nervous breakdown with the stress of teaching in the school I was in and went back to preschool work. I now am the deputy for the preschool and also teach cooking at my boys secondary school and am the administrator for my wife’s computer contracting company. I also do some tutoring on the side. I have been a born again Christian since 1984 and am very involved with my church in Basingstoke and been on several trips to Europe and also support several missionaries around the world.
What part of the world do you live in?
We currently live in England, but I was born in brought up in the country now known as Zimbabwe and it is my wish to go back there someday with my children to show them some of there roots.
How did you find the NCT community?
I was invited by Jeekinz (now known as High Cheese). I came over and had a look – being part of another forum at the time. Liked what I saw and slowly moved over here and stayed – I very rarely visit the other site now.
Do you have any hobbies besides cooking?
I spend a lot of time reading, sometimes play computer games and try to keep up my garden and produce good quality vegetables & fruit.
Give us 5 words that describe you.
Tall, fat, funny (at least I think so). The children I work with call me silly and my friends think I am reliable.
Tell us one thing about yourself that people would be surprised to know.
I was into drama and have appeared in a number of amateur plays.
How and at what age did you start cooking?
My mother grew up in Malawi with loads of servants and never learnt to cook. She decided that all three of her kids would learn and we have cooked from an early age. My earliest memory is from about age 10 – cooking a roast dinner when my mum was ill – running up and down the corridor asking what to do next. Interestingly, my brother and I are now the main cooks in our families.
Do you have a signature dish or one that you make especially well?
No not really – I like cooking lots of different things. DW has even said that my food is generally good but occasionally weird.
What is your favorite spice?
Again, don’t really have one – I like paprika a lot but I use lots of different spices.
What is your favorite restaurant meal?
Now you are asking – I don’t often have the same thing – my sort of comfort one is steak but I also enjoy duck. The one I have never quite got the courage for is to have a fresh lobster.
What would your last meal be if you could choose anything at all?
Steak and the trimmings followed by ice cream.
If you could host a dinner party with 6 well-known guests, living or dead, who would they be and what would you serve?
My guests would be Jesus, Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Lord Shaftesbury (who led the campaign to abolish slavery), Bob Geldolf and Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop).
I would serve a sort of tapas meal with lots of different things so I could spend time talking with my guests.
If you were going to be stranded on an isolated island for a year, what 6 foods would you want to have to readily available?
Beef, eggs, avocados, seafood, vegetables and rice
Who would you most like to prepare a meal for and why. What would you serve?
I would most like to prepare a meal for Mum (who passed away in 1996) so she could see how much my cooking has improved. I would serve my goulash.
Who would you most like to have prepare a meal for you?
That is really difficult – a mixture of Bams, Delia Smith and Gary Rhodes.
100 years from now, how would you like to be remembered?
Someone who made a difference.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself?
No
The young me - various shots of me as a teenager (I don't have the baby photos.)
Me at my 21st birthday party
Mum, dad & me - two shots of me with parents around my graduation time - don't I look slim?
Me - my first job - riding a computer terminal
Me in Holland - I did a summer helping a missionary group called Operation Mobilisation running their dining room.
Dw & boys - a much younger DW with firstly just Nicholas and then with both boys
The graduate
The wedding
Boys & me
A recent family shot
Tell us a little about yourself - your family or household, kids, pets, occupation, etc.
Well I am 46 years old and was born in Bulawayo in what was then called Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). I spent the first seventeen years of my life there – my father was also born out there and worked initially in the police and then on the railways. When I was 17, we emigrated to the UK, my mum was born here so we could claim citizenship. I have lived here ever since initially in a town called Basingstoke and now in Alton, both Hampshire towns. I went to university in a city called Hull way further up the country and studied zoology as I wanted to be a vet – never happened. I graduated from there and returned to Basingstoke, took on various jobs until I spent 10 years working for the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. I met my wife at this time getting to know her on a group holiday in the Loire Valley, France. We married in 1991 and subsequently had two boys and a few miscarriages. After Jonathan was born, I gave up my job to become a full time father – Unusual at the time. As they grew up, I got involved in preschool work and teaching, so then trained as a teacher, nearly had a nervous breakdown with the stress of teaching in the school I was in and went back to preschool work. I now am the deputy for the preschool and also teach cooking at my boys secondary school and am the administrator for my wife’s computer contracting company. I also do some tutoring on the side. I have been a born again Christian since 1984 and am very involved with my church in Basingstoke and been on several trips to Europe and also support several missionaries around the world.
What part of the world do you live in?
We currently live in England, but I was born in brought up in the country now known as Zimbabwe and it is my wish to go back there someday with my children to show them some of there roots.
How did you find the NCT community?
I was invited by Jeekinz (now known as High Cheese). I came over and had a look – being part of another forum at the time. Liked what I saw and slowly moved over here and stayed – I very rarely visit the other site now.
Do you have any hobbies besides cooking?
I spend a lot of time reading, sometimes play computer games and try to keep up my garden and produce good quality vegetables & fruit.
Give us 5 words that describe you.
Tall, fat, funny (at least I think so). The children I work with call me silly and my friends think I am reliable.
Tell us one thing about yourself that people would be surprised to know.
I was into drama and have appeared in a number of amateur plays.
How and at what age did you start cooking?
My mother grew up in Malawi with loads of servants and never learnt to cook. She decided that all three of her kids would learn and we have cooked from an early age. My earliest memory is from about age 10 – cooking a roast dinner when my mum was ill – running up and down the corridor asking what to do next. Interestingly, my brother and I are now the main cooks in our families.
Do you have a signature dish or one that you make especially well?
No not really – I like cooking lots of different things. DW has even said that my food is generally good but occasionally weird.
What is your favorite spice?
Again, don’t really have one – I like paprika a lot but I use lots of different spices.
What is your favorite restaurant meal?
Now you are asking – I don’t often have the same thing – my sort of comfort one is steak but I also enjoy duck. The one I have never quite got the courage for is to have a fresh lobster.
What would your last meal be if you could choose anything at all?
Steak and the trimmings followed by ice cream.
If you could host a dinner party with 6 well-known guests, living or dead, who would they be and what would you serve?
My guests would be Jesus, Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Lord Shaftesbury (who led the campaign to abolish slavery), Bob Geldolf and Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop).
I would serve a sort of tapas meal with lots of different things so I could spend time talking with my guests.
If you were going to be stranded on an isolated island for a year, what 6 foods would you want to have to readily available?
Beef, eggs, avocados, seafood, vegetables and rice
Who would you most like to prepare a meal for and why. What would you serve?
I would most like to prepare a meal for Mum (who passed away in 1996) so she could see how much my cooking has improved. I would serve my goulash.
Who would you most like to have prepare a meal for you?
That is really difficult – a mixture of Bams, Delia Smith and Gary Rhodes.
100 years from now, how would you like to be remembered?
Someone who made a difference.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself?
No
The young me - various shots of me as a teenager (I don't have the baby photos.)
Me at my 21st birthday party
Mum, dad & me - two shots of me with parents around my graduation time - don't I look slim?
Me - my first job - riding a computer terminal
Me in Holland - I did a summer helping a missionary group called Operation Mobilisation running their dining room.
Dw & boys - a much younger DW with firstly just Nicholas and then with both boys
The graduate
The wedding
Boys & me
A recent family shot
Lovely family indeed, I must say..Really enjoyed it all. Have a good one Ray!
