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