So what do we do all day?!

We've been officially home schooling for almost two months now. I have been overwhelmed by the support that friends and family have given us; from offers to show the girls different learning experiences to sharing knowledge and welcoming us into the HE fold.

Adults are often keen to know what we get up to and how the children will ever learn anything if they are not at school, although often they won't ask out of embarrassment. School children are just as curious to know what we get up to and it's refreshing to be asked out-right what it is we have been doing. A few days ago I found it wonderful to be asked by a neighbour's  10 year old daughter a barrage of intelligent questions about home schooling whilst we were in the park, and I thought I'd share some of the answers with you all:

1) Do they have to do tests?

No. Only if they want to or if I want to see if they have learnt anything.

2) Do they have to follow the National Curriculum?

No. The National Curriculum only applies to children in school. It is up to to us to decide what a "suitable education" is, as long as it is relevant to the children's age and to modern day life, the world is our oyster!

3) Do you have to be a qualified teacher?

No. You simply need the desire to help your child to learn. What is required is time, commitment and resourcefulness.

4) How do you know what level they are at?

We find a wealth of information on the internet and can easily level the children with resources such as online tutoring programmes, numeracy and literacy tests, work books etc.

5) Will the children ever go back to school?

Maybe. We have committed for this year and we will take each year as it comes. Time will tell!


So, with these questions out of the way, what have we been up to?!

Oh my goodness we have been busy!

We have learnt how to make notebook gifts with Willowlane Designs, watching the lunar eclipse (at 3am!), visiting Cornwall, learning about jelly fish, visiting the opera, finding out about the Stuarts, learning about business, climbing walls, cycling, walking, pond dipping, sailing, visiting castles, building, questioning, singing in our community choir (Nidus Choir)....

Did I mention we've been busy?!

We've been reading, writing, baking, visiting our allotment, digging, harvesting, cooking, laughing, praying, playing, watching, learning, quizzing, investigating, shouting, whispering, making new friends, keeping old friends, celebrating birthdays, Harvest Festival, trying yoga, observing marine wildlife, learning about skeletons, Greek mythology, playing piano, coding, hiking, dancing, sewing, picnicing ... not to mention learning some Maths, English, Geography, History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Music and I.T along the way!

So we seem to be finding our feet! The DIY is coming to an end for the time being (until the next moment of madness ha ha) and Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas are looming. The weather is changing, the jumpers are out and (occasionally) the heating is on. Am I really mean that I have a hot water bottle and the children don't? Surely they have a better circulatory system than little old me... and they do have blankets on their beds? I do feel a little guilty though.

:-) Georgie :-)

What to do with Rose Hips?

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Since my last post the Yarrow Soup was a complete success, and now I know what I am looking for, I really didn't need to go so far as up the nearest mountain to find this once elusive plant.  I am spotting the stuff literally EVERYWHERE.  Free Food is out there people you just need to know what you are looking for! She says, stating the obvious.

With this in mind Georgie, Lauren and I have become foraging queens!  Albeit blackberries (we know they're safe) but, all mushrooms look the same so that's a minefield.  My next challenge was in the pipeline.  My first idea was to go through the book 'All Good Things Around Us' recipe by recipe, but as the book is seasonal this was proving difficult.   Therefore, I decided to stick with seasonality and pick some Rose Hips at least they were in season.  Now, when I was a child, these pesky little blighters were usually opened up and the pips chucked down someones T-Shirt, all in the name of good fun, unless of course you were on the receiving end (believe me, that ain't much fun!)  But who knew there were so many possibilities!  Rose Hip Syrup, Rose Hip Soup?!! Rose Hip Jam and even a recipe from 1671 (in the book) for 'A Tarte of Rose Hips'  don't fancy that one much, probably picking pips out of your mouth for the next two years...that recipe is for another day. 

I chose to make wine.  And as Benjamin Franklin said 'Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.'  How can you argue with that?!

From this...

After an hour of picking, and the added bonus of finding a football, I became the proud forager of about 500g of beautiful orangey red Rose Hips.  Then I checked the recipe - yes I did it again.  The No 1 rule of making anything - READ THE BLOODY RECIPE!!!!!!  I needed a kilo.

...To this!

You may've guessed it... I made it up.  I chucked a load of wild plums in the mix, which I had previously foraged and horsed in the freezer, not knowing what the hell to do with them.  And I still have about 2kg of the damn things left.  Still, I lobbed all the ingredients in a bucket and put the lid on top.  I have had to stir that crusty bucket everyday for two weeks.  But today was the day was the day of the great decanting.  After using pretty much every colander and saucepan I owned, I finally got the pink/orange liquid in the bottle and have put it away to do its thing. 

The last lot of wine I made was, in my usual style, a complete disaster.  It had this sort of manky film floating on the top, so that vintage was reserved for the fine sewerage system of Great Britain. 

Its going to be a good couple of weeks until its ready, so hopefully there will be Rosé all around this Christmas!  Such fun! Til next time kids...

Love Melissa x

Madness at home.... and how to cope (sort of!)

Where to start? At the beginning I suppose. This month has been pretty hectic as our homeschooling begins in earnest and, not being shy of a challenge or two, I start some DIY. I think I might be a little mad after all - I mean what was I thinking starting a new DIY project at a time like this?! Oh. I know, I wasn't thinking... I was a little cross at the time and thought it was an ideal time to release some tension and strip the wallpaper up the stairs and landing. Well it did help release the tension but now I have to live with the consequences. Yes. I confess our house has turned into a bomb site as bookshelves and filing cabinets had to be moved and dumped temporarily in our bedrooms. I am falling over myself every bed time and pray I do not need the loo in the night in case I risk my life stumbling through the dark to reach the bathroom. Not to mention the lego, dolls, puzzles that seem to multiply and disperse throughout the house each day. Ha. So far I am alive and I thank God for that!

As we start our adventure learning from home it has come to my notice that as usual the stereotypical British are actually quite polite. I was not sure how people were going to react to our decision to homeschool. It feels a bit like 'coming out' to our schooling friends but, as a testament to them they have all been rather smashing. Lot's of "Oh that's amazing, good for you!" and "So how's it going, you're so brave!" comments. In truth I don't know how to reply to these well meaning questions. Do I tell them the house is in chaos and the children take it in turns to have melt-downs every few hours on some days or, in true British style do I put on my best smile and tell them it's going GREAT, we're having SO much fun and the girls are loving every MINUTE of it. In truth the real answer is somewhere in the middle. We are still finding our feet. Some days are fan-dabulous and some are a test to my patience to say the least.

September Fun!

We have so far had a 'few' mishaps that might amuse you. I am keen for the girls to find some other local HE children to play with and have found some groups to meet up with weekly. All seemed well, I checked the address and time they were meeting on Facebook, set the sat nav on the phone and away we went with high expectations of fun and laughter. What we found was an empty building with a lone care-taker painting inside. Apparently they meet on Fridays now. Ha.

I am also meeting new people and have so far embarrassed myself by mentioning that we were looking for some 'normal non-hippy' people (cringe....dig...dig...) to be friends with to a lovely lady that I then noticed was dressed rather hippy-like now you come to mention it. Oh God what a nightmare - I'm good at putting my foot it it like that! Bless her, she paused and replied that you had to be a little 'out there' to even consider HE. Well I can't fault her on that. Crazy is as crazy does and all that. Sorry Emily you are lovely!

On a P.E / nature bike ride darling daughter number two had her very own mishap - by cycling herself and the bike into the canal. Not a happy girl! I was soooo good and did not laugh - even though pretty in pink and dripping in pond weed is quite an amusing look! The walk home wailing was not so fun though. Hey ho at least there were no accident forms to fill out!

So, how to cope with madness at home? Keep a sense of humour and remember what's important in life. That's it!

     :-)

xxx Georgie xxx

Yarrow - Challenge #1

So it's been a while... what with holidays, him upstairs' birthday, baby showers school holidays and the British weather living up to its damp name this summer I've barely had time to think, let alone write anything down.

However, thankful for a break in the weather I have been on my first forage for the ever elusive Yarrow, as part of the challenge I set myself earlier this month.  Getting Georgie on board was the easy bit.  Getting the slugs together we trundled up Blaen Brân in search of the little green plant.

Pickings were slim on the first leg of our journey, I am pretty sure that Georgie wiped the place clear of the stuff for her Yarrow antiseptic balm!  But we pressed on a  little further hit the jackpot!!!  The recipe stated 1 colander full.  This in itself was questionable.  How big is a colander?  You can get small ones and absolutely gigantic ones, so being true to myself, I guessed.

After harvesting the questionable 'colander' full, we continued to wander on up the mountain, crossing streams, walking through the forests.  I found myself asking why I don't come here more often.  I mean its practically on my doorstep.  The abundance of life, the greenery, the flora and fauna are all around, plus the children get to be in the 'great outdoors' running around pointing out various mushrooms that they shouldn't touch, climbing trees, getting throughly wet in streams and so on.

Please - if you don't have a go at the recipe, please take time out to visit this overlooked part of Wales and if you don't...do that take the time to visit the countryside, you may be surprised what you will find!

 So back at home I am on my first recipe from the book 'All Good Things Around Us' (published in 1982).  Yarrow Soup is the first.  Apparently, after reading the excerpt about Yarrow, a witch was tried in the 17th Century for using it in her 'incantations' for yarrow was thought to be under the influence of the devil!  And, among other superstitions yarrow could conjure the visions of a future sweetheart!

As this is the 21st century I think I'll stick with soup...

Yarrow Soup   Serves 4


1 colander yarrow leaves
1oz  butter
1 onion (chopped)
1 tbsp flour
1 pint of stock
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 pint of milk
nutmeg (optional - because nutmeg is rank)

Wash the yarrow leaves, place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover the bottom and cook gently for about 10 minutes (kind of like cooking cabbage or spinach) Drain and set aside.  Melt the butter and cook the chopped onions until soft.  Add the flour and make a roux with the onions and butter, gradually add the stock until thickened.  Add the yarrow leaves and seasoning and cook gently for 15 minutes.  Blitz with a hand processor of pass through a sieve.  Preheat the milk then add to the soup.  you can add the dreaded nutmeg just before serving, if that is your thing.

 To be honest, I had very low expectations of this soup being any good, especially as it was made with a bunch of weed leaves found growing on the side of the mountain.

The finished soup!

But lo and behold, it tasted really, really, really nice!!!!!  A triumph in fact!!!  So much so I will make it again very soon.  Can't really describe the taste, but a sort of cross between spinach and a very mild fennel flavour.  Bet it would make a good sauce with fish...

Onto the next recipe!  Love Melissa x

How to make a rocket with the kids - easy and fun!

Too exciting to stand still!

Hellooo my lovelies! It's been a while I know, but the summer holidays is in full swing and we have all been busy learning, socializing and playing. Last week was manic as the weather (for once) has been good here in sunny Wales and needless to say we just HAD to make the most of it - you never know when the sun will return here - it could be in another 10 months after all!

One of the highlights of the week has been a fab online live webinar by Aurora Lipper on Rocketry and Spaceflight. It was just brilliant seeing the girls so excited about science (mind you, who doesn't have a little thrill when making a rocket; if you don't, there's clearly something wrong with you ha ha).

Gripping stuff, rocketry :-)

Right so, here is what you will need to have some fun making your own rocket:

Materials

1 x goggles or sunglasses
1 x box of alka-seltza (or generic brand)
1 x bottle of water
1 x empty camera film cassette with lid (NOT the black ones, I'll explain later)
Optional - a toy car, masking tape

Method

First go outside - this won't be pretty on your computer or laptop!

1) Put your goggles on.
2) Pour a bit of water into the film canister.
3) Add the alka-seltza tablet to the container and quickly snap the lid on tightly.
4) Turn the pot upside down and stand back!

5) If you are quick enough you can get 2 or 3 goes out of each tablet.
6) Try taping the canister to a matchbox car and see what happens.
7) Or, tape 3 canisters together to make a rocket like the Delta IV Heavy Rocket!

The opportunities are endless...... I hope you have some fun, I know we definitely did. Of course, we got the wrong kind of canister initially, which caused a bit of an anti-climax as the only thing that happened was a slight hiss from the pot. Luckily for us darling hubby was around to come up with a plan so we ended up using a tin whistle wrapper/pot/thingy which worked just as well. In the webinar the girls were encouraged to find out if adding different amounts of water would change how high the rocket went which you could try too...

If you are interested in Aurora's science curriculum you can buy it at www.superchargedscience.com.

Let me know how you get on!

Georgie xx

Holiday and a new challenge

Freshwater East (View from Garden)

I've been busy... and lazy, there are the two main reasons I haven't written in a while.  Well, we did go on our Summer holiday to the glorious Pembroke for a week, so that's a really good excuse in my book.  My Aunt has a bungalow very near the lovely beach at Freshwater East and I've have to add, its my most favourite place in the whole world.  We didn't go to any theme parks, or castles, or parks.  We had a good old fashioned holiday.  Picnics on the beach, lots of walking, rock pooling and even campfire cook out.  The children have made memories, without spending a penny and I don't feel they missed out in any way, shape or form.

Lots of Bullaces!

Still, that is a distant memory, as holidays generally seem to be a week after coming home.  Since being home, I have sat in post-holiday blues, washed the same load of washing 3 times and decided to get my act together to write about something!  During the last two days,  I have made a successful batch of home-made bagels, knocked up a 7-a-day Curry for the slugs, picked some fennel from Bullaces (wild plums) and picked up the new kitten!
my allotment for tea, picked 2kg of

I think my 7-a-day Curry was a success with the slugs, and I completely made it up so here is the recipe:


7-a-day Curry

1 Sweet Potato
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Small Courgette
1/2 Pepper (any colour)
Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
Handful of Peas
Good Handful of spinach/some frozen Spinach
100ml or so of Coconut milk (optional)
1 tsp Curry Powder (or more if the slugs like it more spicy)
oil

Chop all the vegetables, except the spinach and peas, to approximately the same size, small cubes is

ideal.  Wop the lot in the pan with a drop of oil.  Fry for 5 or so minutes on  a low to medium heat.  Add the curry powder and cook for about a minute - stirring.  Chuck in the contents of the tinned tomatoes with about half a can full of water along with the coconut milk, if using.  Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender.  Add the peas and spinach.  Serve with some plain boiled rice. 

I served the leftover curry in a bowl of tomato soup for the slugs the next day, Georgie's two weren't impressed, bits in soup seems to be sacrilege!  My two ate the lot, in fact Ava inhaled hers.

After our little Bullace foraging effort, I was given a book by my mum and dad called 'All the good things around us' and it is totally fantastic!  Its a collection of old recipes using over 90 wild plants and herbs.  I am not sure that this book is still in print, but Richard Mabey's book (here) is also excellent, especially for first time foragers...So I am going to challenge myself to try and have a go at the recipes in this book and hopefully learn something along the way!  Yarrow is the first chapter in the book, so watch this space!

So excited :)

Love Melissa x

Origami anyone?!

So how are the summer holidays going with you? We have been busy – so far we have spent a week in sunny Cornwall staying at my parent’s house while they are on a fabulous cruise to Iceland enjoying the beaches and looking after their dog, Flora.

 Since we have come home almost everybody has had a sickness bug – nice. It has put a bit of a dampener on things. I don’t know about you, but I get really paranoid when everyone around you is ill. I have forgotten how many times I have washed my hands today. Oh, and the house is looking quite sparkly as I can’t seem to stop cleaning.

It seemed like a great idea to look after Flora at the time I offered. We have two dogs already, what’s one more? She is a good dog; not used to cats, but as I said gaily to my mother whilst cheering her off on her hols “we’ll just tell her NO! And she’ll soon get used to Willow (our precious cat)”. Yeah, right. Maybe I was wrong to be quite so optimistic....

Since ‘darling’ Flora has arrived she has:

1.      Howled all of the first night in our kitchen until I finally broke at 2.34am and brought her and her beanbag upstairs and next to our bed. (This has severely upset Willow, who cannot stand the sight of her and upstairs is usually her domain)....

2.      Howled every time I have gone upstairs and left her downstairs.... this first happened while I was putting Xavier in his cot for the afternoon nap. I festered with fury whilst seeming calm and sublime reading in my wonderful rocking chair then, once he was asleep she felt the sharp side of my tongue I can tell you.....

3.      Taken food out of my own hand (the cheek!) and considers anyone else’s food as fair game, yet steadfastly refuses to eat her own food....

4.      Decided that despite continuous rewards for coming when called, she will only come back when when SHE feels like it, not when I call her. Cav has refused to walk her at all as she won’t listen to him even a tiny bit.

So... the count-down is on. The parents arrive back in the UK today and are collecting the dog at the weekend. THANK THE LORD.

I love Flora really. Just in her own home and not mine. Sorry Mum.

Moving on, Tillianne and I have been busy making origami bookmarks, butterflies and dragons. Our plan is to sell them at a local craft fair.We have never done it before and it was really fun. Next time I will buy pretty origami paper like this but for our first attempts plain paper is fine.

You can find the instructions on how to make the heart bookmarks here.

Next we moved on to making a butterfly. The instructions we used were from here. This was exhausting but we were happy with the results in the end:

The final piece de la resistance was our dragon –what a nightmare! We had to take a break in the middle because we got mind freeze. If you fancy having a go you can find the tutorial here. Remember to persevere J

We may need some practice but there is definitely potential!

Have I mentioned that the ‘lottie is coming on nicely? We are currently having a daily supply of lettuce, rocket, radishes, cumbers, peas, courgettes, gem squash, tomatoes and French beans. Feeling happy!

Weed on my lovelies, speak soon

Georgie xxx

Irish Mike

Hello, Hello,

Again it has been a while.....I am so busy with work and Mad Madam Mimm that I hardly get chance to share with you all! Its 10.15 on a Wednesday and I really should be making my way to bed but I was feeling the need to blog.

So....who Irish Mike I hear you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Mel and I have had the allotment for appx 2 months now. The majority of the time we are there, we get a visit from one of our parent's acquaintance'....Mike. He is an Irish gentleman around late 70's in age but he is just the sprightliest most funny old fellow, I remember him  from our old local (no longer open) and when he first came to see our plot we were extremely interested in what he had to say (being a weathered plotter) 'Hi Mike, how are you?' we would ask, only to be responded with, 'wht yr doin tere now? you need to get some netting ovr tat'
Off he trotted, coming back with pipes and netting to create a safe haven for our lovely broad beans. He still had no idea who we were.
Next trip to the plot, he come along with 2 big handfuls of strawberries....'tere for te little one's' he says, 'I got no use for tem, I don't like tem' 'tell te gerls ti help temselves to me strawberries'
Moving on to the next visit, he brings over a bag of mini cheddars, pulls up the patio chair in front of our shed and starts conversing with the girls and giving away his little snack pack to them. Meanwhile, I'm digging over an empty bed with a fork whilst Mel de-weed's in another. Mike disappears, then reappears with a manual rotavator - to make things easier for me.....love him (and his rotavator - I might nick it!)

Do you know what he says?

'I like t' help tose tat work hard for temselves'

And that is really what this little post is about, work hard and you will reap the benefits, not only will you meet wonderful and helpful people along the way but you will have an immense feeling pride in yourself....something I think a lot of people lack these days.

Love Lauren x

P.S, Mike only realised  who myself and Mel were when our mum came down the plot to help and spoke to him.....doddery old fool! :-)   (jokes people, jokes!)

Home Schooling - The Journey Begins

Okey dokey, so over the last few days I have been finding it difficult to decide what to write about. The trouble is I have lots of ideas which I think to myself  "I'll blog about that" and then promptly forget later on. There is however, one topic that is on my mind which I have not been brave enough to blog about. Until now....

Darling hubby and I have been researching Home Education.

It's been a huge learning curve for us and as it turns out, there is a growing trend of people in the UK preferring to home-school rather than rely on our wonderful country's education system. I am not going into the details of why we are looking into it other than to say that we feel it may suit us as a family. The plan is, try it for a year; if it doesn't work out, send them back to school. Not the end of the world - right?! It's still a MASSIVE decision though.

We are on the brink of something new and exciting. Terrifying and challenging. It will allow us so much freedom yet the prospect of having the children 24/7 is going to require some adjusting on my part. For the last year it has just been Xavier and I at home during the week days:
we have been having lots of fun building dens and getting messy in playgoup together. From the end of this week school finishes until September, and we begin our journey as a whole family.

Ha. It all sounds a little deep but I'm sure it will be be great....... I'm just a little nervous - I mean - by October I may be that mad woman you see out shopping with the totally uncontrollable kids on the verge of tears (oh, wait, that's me now - well almost lol). No, honestly, I intend for us to be that well-behaved family that can have fun AND learn things  (and behave whilst doing it).

The truth won't hit us properly until September, when all the girls friends will go back to school and the reality of what we are doing sinks in. Wish me luck! In the mean time enjoy the holidays - I know we will - more than ever :-)

Georgie xx

Counting my blessings and a Risotto

Money issues...if I had a piggy bank, this is how mine would look right now.

Yesterday after baking some pebbles and being the frugal 'I hate waste' kinda person that I am - leftover chicken noodle soup was on the menu.  Him upstairs and the slugs love this dinner, so, for once, all was well and at peace in our household.

To avoid 'nasty, over-cooked, claggy, regurgitated noodle syndrome' when the grown-ups ate later, I thought for a bit of fun and to speed things up I would use some of those curly instant noodles for the children first.  Whilst they were cooking I decided to check on our finances...

Thereupon, the funk hit me.  And nasty, over-cooked, claggy, regurgitated noodle syndrome was upon us.  Because I had forgotten they only take about a millisecond to cook.  I fished out the clag and put some proper noodles in and fed the children.  I then thought it would be a good idea to shake off the funk and have a lie down.  And in that I counted my blessings.

1. I have a wonderful loving husband.
2. I have two beautiful, healthy children
3. I have a super, supportive family who love me. 
4. I have the best friends ever
5. I have a home, sometimes its tidy
6. I have a car, albeit temperamental
7. I have my kitchen sanctuary
8. I have an allotment
9. I have my garden
10. The list could go on...

 Funk over.  There are so many people worse off than me.  I shouldn't complain. Period.

I got my butt off the bed and went downstairs to start our dinner only to find a saucepan with vomit bubbling away in it.  I had left the hob on, chicken noodle soup had become chicken noodle spew in the space of half an hour.

What to do now?  Mushrooms in fridge - Check.  Peas in the freezer - Check.

Mel's Mushroom and Pea Risotto (with some chicken from the noodle spew)

1/2 Onion finely chopped
Knob of butter
drizzle of oil
Small handful of porcini mushrooms (optional)
Sliced chestnut mushrooms (as many as you want, I'm not fussy)
Arborio Rice (about 150g)
Drop of white wine (optional)
Chicken stock (probably used about a litre)

Fry onions in oil until soft.  Add butter, when melted add the rice and coat well, cook for about 2-3 minutes on a low-med heat.  Add the wine (if using)  wait until liquid has been absorbed and a little stock. Stir. Repeat adding small amounts of stock and stirring all the time.  This usually takes about 20 minutes.  Somewhere in amongst all the stirring and adding, chuck in your peas and mushrooms.
Serve with some grated parmesan if you so wish.

It was one of the best risottos I have ever made.

And here is what I have learned...

Life can be a bit like boiled chicken noodle vomit some days.  But you can turn it around and make it into a risotto.

And on that little bit of wisdom, I'll catch you later

Love Melissa x



 

 

Bread Rolls - Try #1

The picture I found looks lovely, this is how my rolls are going to turn out.  With some blood, sweat and tears I'd imagine.

I had a cook book  - The Complete Cook given to me as a housewarming gift many years ago, it has since been chewed by the over-excited Beagle we once had, and is well thumbed.  Still, it contains a lot of valuable information and recipes, ideal for any novice or amateur cook.  I think you can get hold of a copy in Amazon, should it take your fancy!

So here goes nothing...

Soft Wholemeal Rolls (taken from the Complete Cook)

250g/8oz Wholemeal Flour
1 Tsp Salt
25g/1oz Fat (butter or lard)
1 1/2 Tsps Fast Acting Yeast and a tsp sugar
about 150ml/1/4 Pint of warm milk

Frothy Yeasty Stuff

Add the yeast and sugar to the warm milk and set aside for 15 minutes or so, until becomes frothy.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, add the frothy mixture and beat until the dough comes away from the bowl.  Knead for 10 minutes.  Put the dough into an oiled bowl and set aside to prove until double its original size.

Knock the dough back, roll into a fat sausage shape and cut into 8 equal sized pieces.  Shape into rounds and press down firmly with the back of your hand and release.  Place the rolls onto a floured baking sheet leaving a space for expansion. cover and prove for about 15 minutes, or doubled in size.

Dust with flour and bake in a hot oven (230oC/450oF) for about 15-20 minutes. 

Got this prove down!

This time I thought I had it in the bag.

The dough proved perfectly in the confines of its bag, I made the little rolls and proved again.  My rolls are not going to turn out like the picture they stayed pretty much the same size.  Frustration is setting in... what on earth am I doing wrong here people?!  Still, perseverance is key!  I popped the rolls in the oven, and promptly forgot about them.  Simply becasue Georgie had popped over with the girls to make paperweights out of pebbles for their teachers end of school leaving gift.  Him upstairs said we should've used the bread rolls instead of pebbles they'd probably last longer.  Needless to say his input wasn't considered.

Nevertheless, bread pebbles are still a step up from napalm proof bread biscuits.

Still I am absolutely sure that you don't have this post-prove bread curse, so please have a go, I'd love to see your bread efforts, bad or good... bad preferably, it would make me feel a hell of a lot better!

Go forth and bake.

Love Melissa x

Cooking with Slugs

 

Well not actual slugs.  Had you going for a bit though!

Slugs as in my children, wherever they go they leave a mess behind them, which muggins here, still picks up!

As children my parents believed that my sister and I  should be able to cook, and at the very least be able to cook a meal that was edible.  Being taught by my Dad usually meant a stool being pulled up to where he was preparing and cooking.  He talked through everything he was doing whilst we listened, and were encouraged to get hands on.  This is probably where my love of cooking first stemmed from - happy memories.  I would like to say a massive thank you to my Mum & Dad without their guidance I wouldn't be 1/4 of the cook I am today.

Ava getting 'hands on'

It seems only right that my children do the same. I am extremely proud that my children know where their food comes from.  Watching some programmes on the TV it is evident that this knowledge is getting lost in an ever increasing technological world.  Some children don't know that chips are made from the humble spud.  I think more children know where the HDMI port on their computer is, before knowing that bacon comes from a pig!!!
 
Ava is now 5 years old, she knows what a butternut is, she can differentiate a cucumber and a courgette.  she adores eating olives and anchovies, in fact all fish - she does think she is Toothless the dragon mind you!  I feel sad that most children won't even experience these different flavour sensations even into adulthood.  And please don't get me wrong, this is not me getting on my soap box, its just my observation.  As I said, I have been very lucky given that my parents advocate fresh quality and most importantly, home made food.


So today we start off simple - Homemade Fish Fingers, Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes
The recipe can be found at BBC Good Food

 We started by washing our hands, beating the eggs and bread crumbing the fish.  I happened upon some frozen pollock from the supermarket, which I thought was incredibly handy as fresh was unavailable!




 We did make a bit of a mess!

 Ava's end result (with some oven and cooker help from Mummy) Delicious!


Broccoli mash - what a revelation!!  Ava normally pulls the 'urrghh' face, broccoli not being one of her favourite 'flavour sensations'  Oliver on the other hand LOVES the stuff!  However, she quite happily ate the lot, along with the obligatory tomato ketchup

Mummy - 1
Ava - 0


No#1 Rule in our home . . . Mummy always wins :)



















Till next time, Love Melissa x

02nd July 2015 - Grrrrrrr

Its been a while my lovelies, and I apologise........

One incompetent broadband provider has decided that we no longer require the internet. I won't mention names, but it starts with an 'S' and ends in a 'Y'.......Yeah, like, Y the hell do I bother to pay your ridiculous prices when I can't even use the internet?

Esmé has driven us up the wall because she hasn't been able to watch Frozen on a certain internet channel due to the fact its 'frozen' in internet time.  Give me strength!

So...... you have had a good few days without me you lovely lot, bet you missed me didn't you? OK, maybe not!

Well, I have managed to procure a compost bin for our allotment whilst I've been offline. Courtesy of our Auntie Tina the little gem that she is.  Although, with the amount of weeds, bolted plants and other crap flora we have up-heaved from the allotment when we first took it over, we will probably need a 'compost skip' rather than bin, as Melissa put it.

We have had lovely hot weather the last few days, sometimes reaching 28 degrees, however, work has not been so kind.  As I said before, I work in a customer service centre, a living nightmare I like to think of it lately (its not always like that though).  Seriously, where do people get the time to witter on about bull for 45 minutes without an ounce of respect for the person (yes we are people - not robots) on the end of the line. Jeesh!  Sorry for the rant beauts, bad day!

Due to all the above I have been too much of a sweaty, stressy Betty to cook *sad face*.

Now although the weather has cooled a little, and after a more hellish day than usual at the office, I am hankering for the sanctuary of my kitchen. So, here is the recipe for the culinary wonder that is tonight's tea........

Lamb Burgers with Polenta Chips and Tomato, Basil & Mozzerella Salad

500g Lamb Mince
25g breadcrumbs
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 small garlic cloves (finely chopped)
Zest of 1 lemon
Handful of chopped mint leaves
1 Egg
Salt and pepper
Pack of ready made polenta
2-3 vine tomatoes
1 ball mozzarella
a handful of basil leaves
rapeseed or Extra Virgin olive oil

Mix the lamb mince, breadcrumbs, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, mint and egg together with a scrunch of salt and pepper. Once combined, shape into 4-6 burgers.

Cut the polenta into chips and arrange on a baking sheet with a good drizzling of oil. Put these into a pre-heated (180c fan oven) for about 30 minutes.


While the chips are cooking, prepare the salad, I layer it tomato, mozzarella,  basil, tomato, mozzarella basil.....you get the idea!  Then drizzle the salad with oil and sprinkle on seasoning to your taste.

Leave the salad to get to room temperature and whilst this is being done, cook those burgers. they will want about 15-20 mins on a med-high heated frying pan.

By the time your burgers are ready, the polenta chips should also be done and you are ready to serve and relish!

Love Lauren x

Laundry is the devil.

Now, as Georgie knows, I am a little OCD when it comes to a clean house, and most days I whip around the kitchen with a vacuum, mop and cloth, whilst I tell myself I am the perfect housewife!  I don't have much clutter as I can't stand to see it, everything generally has it's proper place.

But my downfall...the laundry.  Its like my own personal Kryptonite.


I DESPISE LAUNDRY.  And every week I say to myself, 'I'll do a load a day, that'll make my life so much easier'  And I say it like I've had some sort of especial epiphany.. There is nothing quite like deluding yourself.  Every week, needless to say, I look at the veritable mountain of stuff and think 'I really should've done this, like I told myself last week' *SIGH*  It's like bloody Groundhog Week in our house.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I gave up ironing 4 years ago.  What is the point in ironing stuff that's going to get creased again anyway?  And if you are one of these people who irons pants, you really need another hobby or come and see me I'll knock some sense into you, I have a Pressure Cooker you know.  If him upstairs asked me to iron pants I'd probably would throw the iron at him.  Then again, if he asked me to iron I'd probably would laugh.

Here's the thing, before children (or slugs as I sometimes call them as they leave a mess wherever they go), I had hardly any laundry, hey I even DID the ironing.  Now?! 

Well last week for instance...

1. Every towel in the house had been used - I find this slightly impossible, but hey you can't argue with fact.
2. I found I was washing clean stuff the kids couldn't be bothered to put away or what they like to call 'tidied up'
3. I found myself washing the things that I couldn't be bothered to put away that the kids couldn't be bothered to put away/tidied up.
4. I had piles of clean washing in lovely neat piles on my bed. They got removed from the bed every night then got put back on the bed in the morning.  That literally went on for 4 days.
5. I washed two blankets 8 times on a delicate wash, because I forgot about them 8 TIMES.
6. Oliver's pile of washing was 3 times the size of everybody elses?  He wears school uniform most of the week, I still can't work this out.  God help in the summer hols...EEK.
7. Everyday there was a new pair of dirty socks rolled into little balls in the sitting room, usually stuffed down the side of the sofa.  Thanks Ava.

I know I shouldn't moan, him upstairs works full time.  Things like the laundry and housework I should be on top of.  Which is all well and good.

Until something like this happens...

And I lose the will...I could've quite easily buried him under the patio and been done for mariticide if he was in the house.  However, after calming down, I have come to the following 3 conclusions as to why this keeps happening:

1. He is a man
2. Stupidity
3. All of the above

Still, I have achieved the impossible this week and its only Tuesday, it's all done every last bit is freshly laundered and I hasten to add, put away.

Now onto picking the slugs up from school, providing an evening meal for the vultures and not sitting down til 9pm!  A woman's work is never done ;)  Such fun!

Love Melissa x