What I'm reading this month....

At long last I’ve got this ready! Check out what everyone else is reading by clicking on the link on the right.

Right heres a sample of what I’m reading this month.....

The Last Resort,

I was a bit worried it would be just another harrowing story on Zimbabwe however Douglas Rogers tells his parents story with humour and a certain flowing charm. I picked it up as it was a case of nothing to read and thought I’d put it down after 5 mins but by the second page I was hooked! His parents run Drifters a backpacking lodge in Zim and somehow have so far managed to stay on their land and survive although they have dabbled in renting their chalets by the hour and also in growing cannabis to make ends meet. A definite must read!

Katie Fforde - Practically Perfect

 

A bit of light but wonderful reading for bed time.

One day i’ll get round to trying this book out....after i’ve sold the house, boys have left home

And I love love love crime stories and heres two of my favourites I read and reread....

 

PS do read M.M.Kaye crime books if you can get hold of them. No gore but the tension she builds means my husband banned me reading them after 5 in the afternoon incase of nightmares!

Clothkits is back!

I should imagine many of us remember the wonders of Clothkits back in the 80’s. I had a wonderful farm jacket which had different animals in each pocket and was a huge favourite so you can imagine my delight when surfing the internet I discovered they were back!
Formed in the late 60’s by Anne Kennedy at her kitchen table it grew to vast proportions and into everyone’s home. They were brought out then in the late eighties by freemans and went quickly into hibernation until 4 years ago when mum Kay Mawer an artist restarted the company.

Clothkits is based around beautiful and fun clothing which you can make at home in kits without the fuss of having to cut out patterns and working the way of the cloth.  Each kit has everything you need to make the outfit or item from the lovely fabric down to the buttons and thread needed. We also noticed that in a lot of the children’s patterns there is in the extra fabric a little rag doll you can also cut and sew for your little ones.


With today’s society being bored of poorly made and identical clothing its refreshing to find such fun and bright clothes which are individual but also exciting and stylish which you can make yourself! Not only for children they have some amazing and fun skirts for us to. I adore this bustle skirt and it’s so easy to make!  On board they have some magnificent designers in Jane Foster and Rob Ryan who used to work with Paul Smith among others. However they also run regular competitions to find new designers most recently shown off at Goodwood Vintage show.

 
If you don’t fancy cutting out and sewing these delights you can buy them from clothkits pre-sewed, they also offer a fabulous one off bespoke service. So why not head over to the website http://www.clothkits.co.uk/ and browse their glorious range maybe buy a simple wrap round skirt (starting at £15) and decorate it yourself from some of their fabulous and funky accessories.

Below find just some of my favourites!

Things to do in the garden...

So each month I try to bring you ten things to do with your children and since we’ve had a lovely influx of good weather I thought I’d share ten things you can do with your kids in the garden this month.

1,  Make a rain gauge

Living in the UK we are always interested to know how much rain has fallen when it does come. You can make a rain gauge of your own and keep a record of the rainfall for your area.

You will need:

An empty plastic fruit juice bottle with a flat bottom, a pair of scissors, a ruler and fine permanent marker.

What to do:

 Use a pair of sharp scissors and cut the top off just before it starts to slope.

Turn the cut section upside down to form a funnel and push it back into the bottle.

 Place the bottle on a firm surface and use the ruler to mark off the measurements. It will be easiest if you measure off in 5mm lots.

 Dig a narrow hole in the garden free of overhanging plants about three inches down. Push the bottle into the hole.

Check the bottle each time it rains and record the amount of water collected.

 Once you have recorded the amount empty the bottle and replace it in the hole.

2, Tidy the garden

Grab a rake or a trowel and go dig for worms or tidy!

3, Plant a garden!

Section off a part of the garden, dig it over and start planting together! lettuce and radishes are quick to grow and can be eaten raw, and growing strawberries is easy enough, they are resilient and loved by most children. Cherry tomatoes can be grown by a child of 3 to 4 years and while it will need a little more care than strawberries or lettuce, the joy of being rewarded with a bunch of sweet-tasting cherry tomatoes is enough to win them over to the growing their own fruit and veg for life.

4, Slugs trap

Snails and slugs can do a lot of damage in the garden. They hide in all sorts of places during the day and come out at night when it’s damp to feast on the lawn grass and plants in the garden. Squishing them is a good quick way to get rid of them, but that can be a bit yucky. Snails really like beer. This trap provides beer for them to drink and then they get drunk and fall in and drown. As least they die happy!

You will need: an empty margarine container (or similar); some stale beer, a trowel

What to do:

1. Use the trowel to dig a hole the same size as the margarine container in a place where snails are a problem eg the vegetable garden. (Other types of wide food containers work fine too.)

2. Push the container into the hole so that the rim is level with the soil.

3. In the evening, pour some stale or left-over beer into the container so that it is about three-quarters full.

4. Empty out the beer and the dead snails every couple of days and replace with more beer.

5. If you don’t have any beer to use, crushed up eggshells sprinkled in a band around seedlings and plants can stop snails crossing to get to the plants. They don’t like the sharp shells because they stick to their slimy "feet".

5, Paint clay pots

One of the benefits of painting clay pots is that the whole process doesn't take very long at all, making it a suitable childrens activity for a birthday party - taking a painted flower pot home instead of the usual party bag with throwaway nick-nacks could start a new trend!

Instructions for painting clay pots

You will need: a clay pot, suitable paints in various colours (we usually just use poster paints), small paintbrush, a container with clean water, and lots of newspaper to save your table from being painted!

Wash the clay pot in warm soapy water to remove any traces of dirt or grease.

Cover the table or painting area with newspaper, find paints, paint brushes and a mug of clean water (to clean the paint brushes when swapping colours).

When the pot has dried, start painting whatever design you like!

Ensure each layer of paint dries thoroughly before adding another colour on top.

Allow the painted flower pots to dry out.

6, Make some newspaper pots

You will need: sheets of newspaper; a straight-sided glass; scissors

What to do:

Choose a straight-sided glass that's about 7cm in diameter.

Cut strips of newspaper which are about 7cm wider than the height of the jar. Each one must be long enough to go round the glass about three or four times.

Take a strip of paper and wrap it fairly loosely around the glass. The paper should be level with the top and extend beyond the base of the glass. (See photo 1.)

The bit that extends over the bottom should be just long enough to fold over to reach the opposite side of the glass. Fold it over then keep folding the extension in (in overlapping folds) to cover the bottom of the glass. (See photo 2 & 3.)

Slide the newspaper down the glass for about 2cm. (You can't wrap it too tightly at the start.) Pinch all around the bottom of the newspaper pot to make a base for it to sit on it . This will also stop it coming undone. (See photo 4.)

Carefully slip the completed pot off the glass. (See photo 5.) You can then make the next one.

7, Plants you can eat

Flowers that you can safely eat are nasturtiums, borage, violets and scented geranium flowers. Flowers of cooking herbs are also safe to eat.

2. Coloured flowers are very nice in salads. Try some nasturtium and borage flowers. It's also fun to sip the nectar from nasturtium flowers. To do this you need to nip off the very end of the long spur on the flower and then suck the nectar out. (Make sure there aren't any bugs inside first! Yicky!!) 

3. Crystallising flowers is easy to do. You will need a new fine paintbrush, an egg white, some caster sugar, some non-stick baking paper and a rack or cake cooler to dry the flowers on.

4. Violets and geranium flowers (especially lemon, rose or cinnamon scented ones) crystallise particularly well. Pick them early in the day, wash them, then stand the stems in a small jar of water until the flower parts are quite dry.

5. Beat the egg white very lightly, then, using the paint-brush, carefully paint every surface of the flower with the egg white. Make sure every bit is covered.

6. Sprinkle the caster sugar lightly over the flowers until all surfaces are well-coated, then put them on the rack to dry. Drying may take a couple of days. (Don't do it in wet weather or they 'll go sticky.)

7. Store the candied flowers in an airtight container. They can be eaten as sweets and make great decorations on ice creams, on sundaes and on cakes.

8, Wind chimes

You will need: a length of wood, no more than one inch wide and between 6 and 10 inches long (a length of bamboo is best), some string or yarn (not too thick and preferably synthetic as it will last longer), a very small drill, and lots of little knick-knacks.

Suitable objects would include large buttons, tiny plant pots, sea shells, wooden balls, little bells (the type you find on cat collars!), or wooden and ceramic shapes. Most of these are available from craft shops with holes in the middle predrilled, which makes life easier!

Drill holes in objects which are not predrilled (ADULTS ONLY!). For ceramics and sea shells, it is a good idea to put some masking tape over the spot to be drilled as this helps prevent the object from cracking, then use a very small drill piece and slowly drill through.

Find all your materials and lay them out on a table. The aim is to have one length of string dangling from the top piece of wood every inch, so measure your length of wood, and cut pieces of string varying lengths accordingly.

Attach an object to the end of each piece of string. A couple of inches further up the string, tie a knot in the string. Feed the second item down the string until it rests on the knot. Depending on the length of the string, repeat the process every few inches until you are left with approximately 6 inches of clear string at the top.

Repeat the process of adding objects to your wind chime for all lengths of string. While doing this it is fun to 'test' the sounds the different objects make when gently banged together and then try to position those which makes the 'nicest' sound (according to your child!) next to each other on the string.

To fix the string to the wood, either tie the end piece around the top piece of wood and fix tightly with a knot, or drill holes through the wood at 1" intervals and feed the string through them, tieing tightly.

To avoid the string from slipping along the wood or pole, use either a stanley knife or small saw (ADULTS ONLY!) to cut a small grove in the wood for the string to rest in.

Finally the wood needs to be have string attached to either end and tied in a triangle above to hang more or less straight. For normal pieces of wood. The easiest way to do this is to hammer in either a couple of nails to the end of the wood, or srew in little hooks or circles. Attach two pieces of string of equal length to the end of the wood and tie these onto either each other, or better still, a ring. The important bit is that the string has to be of equal length and the hoop, ring or knot has to be directly above the center of the wood.

You can then either hang the ring from a hook, or tie more string to it and dangle it from a branch or similar outside.

And hey presto, your garden wind chime is complete and you can sit back and listen to its wonderful tones :)

9, Grow Cress Men

You will need: an egg, some cotton wool or kitchen towel, felt tip pens and cress seeds.

Boil the egg and eat for breakfast! Take care to slice off only the very top of the egg shell - fairly evenly if possible.

Carefully place a wad of cotton wool or shredded kitchen towel in the base of the egg shell (now empty!). It should fill about half of the space available.

Place the egg shell in an egg cup and using felt tip pens, draw a face on one side of the egg - excluding any hair.

Saturate the cotton wool or kitchen towel with water.

Sprinkle some seeds on to the cotton wool.

Keep the cotton wool moist by watering every day, and within a matter of a couple of days, the cress will germinate and start to grow

10, Make a weather vane

In winter and early spring if there is no wind on a cold, clear night we know to expect frost overnight. You can make your own weather vane to show which direction the wind is coming from.

You will need:

A piece of card (a business card is perfect); a drinking straw; some masking tape; a long pin with a bead on the end; a pencil with an eraser on the end; a large blob of BluTack; an empty 2 litre plastic milk container; some pebbles and wet sand; a compass.

What to do:Rule a line lengthways down the centre of the card dividing it exactly into two. Measure 3 cm from one end of the line and make a mark across the line. Using a ruler, draw straight lines from each corner to this 3cm mark to make a triangular arrow shape. Cut along the straight lines to cut the arrow out. You now have the arrow tip of your weather vane and the other piece makes the tail.

       

Take the drinking straw and carefully make a lengthwise cut 2cm long on each end. Try to cut the straw neatly so it is divided in half to make a slot. Slip the arrow into the slot on one end and the tail into the slot on the other end. Stick some masking tape over the slots on both sides to make them secure.

           

Cut the milk container below the handle so that it is quite a bit shorter than the pencil. Stick a big blob of Blu Tack right in the middle of the bottom of the container. Push the pencil into the Blu Tack leaving the eraser-end sticking out at the top. Put some pebbles in the bottom of the container. Use a trowel to spoon in wet sand or earth around the pencil. This will keep it upright and will make the weather vane heavy so it doesn’t blow over.

Now measure the length of straw between the arrow head and the tail and find the half way mark. Hold the straw so the arrow and tail are straight up and down (not flat like the floor) and push the pin right through the straw at the half way mark. There should a bit of pin sticking out both sides of the straw.

Push the pin carefully into the centre of the eraser end of the pencil. The weather vane will spin around easily in the breeze.

Use the compass to find which direction north is at your place. If you face north, then the east is on your right hand side, west is on your left hand side and south is behind you.

Your weather vane will always point in the direction that the wind is coming FROM. If it is half way between, for example, north and east, then we say it is a north-easterly.

With thanks to global-garden for great ideas!

My Vintage

When asked who or what inspires the idea of Glamour the image conjures up Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe.....Why? Mainly their clothing! Well cut, great quality and feminine regardless of size and a little bit of history entwined.

Currently there’s a huge surge for Vintage clothing. With programmes like Mad Men leading a revival of 50’s clothes vintage clothes have never been more sort after. Vintage clothing thankfully isn’t just about designer although you see top celebrities wearing vintage – Julia Roberts, Chloe Sevigny and even Kate Moss. It’s worn because the clothes are not only unique but they are made well and out of great quality fabric. Large seam allowances and hems also allow you to custom fit each item.

Today’s fashion on the high street I find to be a bit challenging. I’m tall and slim but quite frankly harem pants do not look good! I strongly doubt that they look good on any one apart from belly dancers. I have to wear tried and tested styles. I find that the vintage items around today are these classics. Fashion moves in cycles but some styles stay and look fresh each season, these are the vintage styles you find in the good quality shops.

Emma at www.myvintage.co.uk has loads of amazing vintage pieces from the 40’s thru to 80’s with the accessories to match. No longer will you be worried about turning up at a party wearing the same as someone else and looking like one side of pair of book ends. I defy anyone to not be able to look glamorous, sexy and stylish in vintage.  Emma also has some great help articles on her site pointing you in the right direction for your body shape. So whether you’re a voluptuous Marilyn Monroe or have the current to die for lollipop shape she can point you in the right direction. 

And if you’re worried about price or your carbon footprint then vintage is another bonus.  Not only have you avoided using labour practices from third world, and then the item being shipped half way round the globe, fewer items were made so you can ensure you can sparkle and enjoy your evening safe in the knowledge, you look fabulous at a great price and even have helped the environment.

Either look online at www.myvintage.co.uk or contact Emma on @emmabphilsophy or email her on sales@myvintage.co.uk

And for an extra 10% discount enter LUCINDA10 at the checkout.

Here's a couple of my favourite bargains online now......

And yes that jumpsuit is Armani!

South African Recipes

My lovely husband is South African and also does a lot of the day to day cooking.  So needless to say we have a lot of African influences in our food. Butternuts are a main part of this diet so I thought I’d share some yummy recipes with you. Also coming from beautiful Durban I couldn’t not include bunny chow! (curry in bread)

Durban!

Bunny Chow (serves 4) (not really bunny!!)
Ingredients:
1 kg lamb, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced thinly into rings
2 large tomatoes or 1x400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 curry leaves
1 stick cinnamon
4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1.5 tsp crushed ginger
1.5 tsp crushed garlic
4 tsp Durban masala (or substitute shop-bought curry powder,as hot or mild as you like)
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
3-4 potatoes, cubed
Salt
1 or 2 (depending on the size) crusty, square loaves of bread
Fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
Cube the meat and slice the onion; peel and dice the tomato.
Heat the oil and add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, onion and curry leaves. Fry until the onion is light golden brown in colour.
Add the masala mix (or curry powder), turmeric, ginger, garlic and tomato.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mix resembles a puree.
Add the meat and cook for about 10 minutes. Then add the poatoes and about 1/4 cup of water.  Lower the heat and simmer over low heat until the meat is tender and the potatoes cooked.  Keep an eye on it to make sure the bottom of the pot does not burn.
When the meat is cooked through and the potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes), add the garam masala mixture. Test for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Simmer for a further 10 minutes on a low heat.
In the meantime, take a fresh loaf of white bread  - it needs to be crusty on the outside with a nice, soft crumb.  Little farmouse loaves half the size of standard loaves are ideal.  Halve the loaf and scoop out the soft white crumb, leaving the crust to form a "bowl". 
Spoon the curry into the half loaf and serve, garnished with coriander leaves.  The soft crumb can be dipped into the curry and eaten as well.

Butternut Soup recipe

Butternut soup is a favourite South African starter. The butternut has a flavour all on its own and it is great to serve it as a starter before a good roast beef or lamb.

Ingredients

2 medium butternuts
1 apple
2 medium onions
50g butter/margarine (4T)
7 ml medium curry powder (1 ¼ t)
40 g cake flour (4 T)
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 chicken stock cubes
750 ml boiling water (3 c)
500 ml milk (2 c)
7 ml salt (1 ½ t)

Method

Peel, seed and dice the butternuts. Peel, core and chop the apple. Peel the onions and chop roughly. In a large saucepan, saute the chopped onions in the butter/margarine. Add the curry powder and fry the mixture lightly. Add the butternut and apple and saute the mixture for a while. Add the flour and nutmeg and stir-fry lightly.

Dissolve the chicken stock cubes in the boiling water. Add the stock, together with the milk, and salt, to the butternut mixture. Boil, with the lid on, over moderate heat until the butternut pieces are soft. Stir the mixture occasionally. Puree or blend until smooth. The colour of the soup should be a deep yellow and the texture creamy. Serve the soup hot.

Each bowl of soup may be garnished with a teaspoon of cream and a little finely chopped parsley. For an interesting variation, replace the nutmeg with a little finely grated orange rind and add a few shreds of orange rind to the garnish.

Makes 2 litres

 

Now most of you don’t have a potjie (poi-key) or cauldron in your garden so this cooks great on stove!

 Chocolate potjie - the best kind in my opinion!

Mild lamb curry potjie recipe

The recipe serves six.

Ingredients

750g x 2 cubed lamb ( you can use half beef and half lamb, but it is nicer if you use only lamb)
4-5 sweet potatoes peeled and cut in large chunks
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander seed
2 teaspoons garam masala
1cm ginger peeled and grated
6 garlic cloves crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 ground turmeric
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions chopped
800g tin peeled tomatoes

Method

Liquidize the tin peeled tomatoes in the food processor. Fry the onions in the oil remove the onions. Use the same pot to dry fry the herbs and spices for a moment. Add the onions and the liquidized tomatoes. Add the meat bring to boil. Cook for 1 hour on the stove top with the lid on the pot. If dry you can add half a cup of water. Add sweet potatoes cook for another hour or till sweet potatoes are tender. The sweet potato thickens the sauce. Eat and enjoy. The mild curry freezes well.

The Wonders Of Eden...

10 Years ago in an old clay mine near the town of St Austell a miracle was happening. Tim Smit of Heligan gardens had just opened up the world of Eden. Two biomes one rainforest and one desert were set to attract visitors of 750 000 visitors a year. In the first year alone they managed 1.8 million......

Before Easter this year my husband, my boys and I will being going back on holiday to Cornwall. With so much on offer in England it amazes me that people choose to go abroad. One of favourite places to visit is the wonderful and amazing world of Eden which I have visited since they first opened to the public and you could view the tonnes of sand and clay being dug out the pit.

Not just a horticulture wonder Eden accomplishes far more than just a pretty garden. With arts & music events, most notable Live 8 where Eden turned to Africa for the day, Eden strives to enhance learning, regeneration and climate change.

We took Jack first to see Eden two years ago when he was 18 months, boy was he struck! From the minute we entered the visitors centre and saw the trains winding down the hills flowing with plants and wildlife to the two strange bubbles below he couldn’t wait to get inside.

Although an educational charity I have never enjoyed a day full of learning so much. Every time we visit there’s something new. Once you’re inside the rainforest dome (the biggest one!) and have de-robed of coats and jumpers in every direction there’s something to amaze! You find flying over your head a banana machine, the distant sound of waterfalls, laughter and amazement coming from the rainforest landing over head and ooohs and ahhs from the children and adults.  There are some amazing play areas and exciting trails with hideaways, sandpits and shortcuts.

I would say you need a good three or four hours to tour around but with little’s one you don’t have to miss out as the whole place is buggy friendly!  But I advise if you have young children to get the land train down the hill and to wear layers as the different biomes temperature fluctuates quite dramatically. They also advise to wear sun cream as obviously despite the huge football pitch sized hexagons forming the roof the sun can still get in and you can still get burnt.

So while they proudly celebrate their 10^th birthday I cannot wait to see what the next ten years of Eden brings! It’s been lovely to watch it grow and evolve from the day it looked like a moon landing site to the quite frankly stunning centre it is today.  So if in the last decade you haven’t been, if you can only spare a weekend visit, do go and visit this amazing and family friendly place!

For more information visit www.edenproject.com

Montezumas!

My doctor is wonderful, she specialises in everything and will look at other remedies rather than just handing out drugs which is exactly what she did to me when she prescribed me half a bar of good chocolate a day!

Needless to say I didn’t disagree at all and when asked what she classed as a good chocolate she replied Montezuma’s Dark Chocolate – its pure – no dairy – eco friendly – increased my essential red bloods cell and taste FANTASTIC! And they have some amazing new creations - Sea Dog: Dark chocolate with sea salt and lime – One of my favorites! (and vegan!) Gourmet Gorilla: Dark chocolate with almonds and hazelnuts.

I’ve always been rather picky over what chocolate I eat, Bourneville or Cadburys only please but I had to stop even these when my little one was born as he has a severe milk allergy and it now turns out my eldest does to. So I have to admit I was somewhat dubious as I like chocolate to taste like chocolate not cocoa powder however within a day I was hooked!  And I want to share with you their great taste so I have 5 Bars to give away. Just follow me here or on twitter and give me your best ideas for chocolate!

PS while you’re at check out http://www.montezumas.co.uk/ and some of their latest creations! 

GIVEAWAY: NOW CLOSED!

Follow and leave me a comment below or on twitter and share with me your best ideas for chocolate. I adore mine grated over ice cream (non dairy of course!)

National Pie Week

I love pies! Apple pie, lemon pie, chicken pies, fruit pies!  And as its national pie week I thought what else then share a pie you can make as a family quickly and easily.

Rhubarb to me is the simplest around. One of the easiest fruits to make amazing all it takes is a little sugar and pop it in an oven, drizzle a bit of cream over and hey presto you have one fantastic dessert.

This recipe is a standard in our family we have it twice a week at least when we can.

Wash off four or five sticks of rhubarb and chop off the end bits. Then roughly chop into 1cm pieces and chuck into an over proof dish. Cover (and do not be mean here) with sugar and then shake a bit more in for luck.

You can then choose your topping.

I tried to take a photo of the pie but somehow it gets eaten before I find my camera!

Crumble topping  (freezable!)

2oz butter
4oz plain flour
2oz sugar

Or for a quick traditional pastry topping –

One packet of pre rolled pastry cut to fit and popped nicely over the top.

Pop in a pre heated over at 220c and cook for 20 mins (while you eat a yummy dinner)

Viva Las Vegas

I’ve had a lot of interest this week in my old cake making company. I started it up with my mum but due to gluten and wheat allergies and various other incidents and the hope of relocating we decided to shut up shop. However one of my cakes seems to be stirring up a lot of interest at the moment.

My rather wonderful Las Vegas cake

So I thought I’d share with you all how it’s done.

The bottom layer was covered in a black regal ice and white diamonds were cut out of white regal ice and glued (gummed) on. Each tip and bottom was then given a little dot of yellow.

 

The second layer is fairly straight forward – White regal ice again with all different games written in fine icing across. As to the top layer. Well this was again a traditional plain cake then we rolled out some scarlet regal ice and draped it over the top and cut a jagged edge with scissors while rolling the edge up and we left it to dry.

The topper is glitter card and fine icing again with huge feathers popped behind.

All the decorations were handmade and had been made a couple of weeks in advance so they were dry and would flop when placed around.

I hope you enjoy this cake and here is some of my other favourites.

World Book Night

Well this evening being a lover of books I joined in with world book night. Off I went to our local waterstones taking along my papa as escort as my husband baby sat the kids and joined in with many other book lovers to discover some new authors.

Well I was given for free Margaret Atwood and Gabriel García Márquez Love in the time of Cholera a book I have always wanted to read. While most book obessed people know the story heres a quick brief for those that don’t:-

“Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Arizo’s impassioned advances and married Dr. Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half century, Florentino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again.

When Fermina’s husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives?”

And while I whole hearted approve of  the idea behind world book night I do wonder how close to their original plan of introducing new people to reading they actually have come. A lovely time was had at the local book shops by book lovers advertised in their shop and their website but how many people who came tonight actually didn’t normal read?  However since I took my father and he has never been a big reader maybe this will stir him on?

So I applaud the reasoning, the wonderful idea of free books (though slightly heavy going for 1^st timers) and look forward with anticipation to the next.

Cooking with children...

Or rather cooking with the aid of your children rather than the main ingredient! My eldest loves being in the kitchen and loves nothing better than making a mess either with washing up where we end up needing boats to clean up the kitchen gets so flooded (am sure the bowl of water multiples!) or covering the kitchen in a white mist while making scones with daddy!

Either way he loves it! So with pancake day arriving next week I thought I’d share with you our favourite (and less messy) recipes.

Of course one of the simplest and best if you have impatient kids is

Microwave in a cup cake

4 tbsp self raising (SR) flour

4 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 medium egg

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil

A few drops vanilla or other essence (orange, peppermint etc)

2 tbsp chocolate chips/nuts/raisins etc (optional)

Use the largest mug you have to avoid it overflowing in the microwave (if you dont have a large mug two mediums will do!)

Add the flour, sugar and cocoa powder to the mug and mix.

Add the egg to the mixture. Mix in as much as you can but don't worry if there's still dry mix left.

Add all the other ingredients apart from the chocolate chips etc (if you are adding) and mix until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and/or the nuts/raisins and mix well.

Centre your mug in the middle of the microwave oven and cook on high for 4-5 mins, or until it has stopped rising and is firm to the touch.
Watch it rise as it cooks!

Allow to cool for a few minutes.
Either eat out of mug or tip onto plate and serve with fruit, cream or ice cream.

Garlic bread

1 ciabatta or French stick, sliced thickly

50g softened butter

1 clove garlic

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

Mix the butter with a crushed clove of garlic and a little chopped parsley.

Spread thinly on both sides of bread.

Bake on a baking sheet in a hot oven (200C/Gas 6) for 5-10 mins, or cook for few mins on each side under the grill, until lightly browned.

Pitta Bread Pizza

1 large white or wholemeal pitta bread
150g can baked beans in tomato sauce
25g/1oz cheese of choice that grates or crumbles and melts

Warm the pitta bread under a moderate grill and heat the beans through gently in a saucepan.

 Pile the beans onto the pitta bread and crumble or grate the cheese over the top.

 Grill until the cheese melts and starts to bubble.

The variations are endless! Instead of beans use a small tin of chopped tomatoes on the pitta bread. Try other tasty toppings with your cheese like flaked tuna and sweetcorn, mushrooms, and diced lean ham or turkey

Banana and Yoghurt Biscuits 

130g/ 5 oz butter

130g/ 5 oz caster sugar

1 whole medium egg

1 ripe banana

280g/ 10 oz self-raising flour sieved

3 tablespoons natural yogurt

80g/ 3 oz raisins

Method

To make Banana and Yoghurt Biscuits

Cream the butter and sugar

Add the egg slowly

Add the sliced banana and fork in/mix

Stir in the raisins if using them

Add the yogurt and mix

Add the sieved flour

Drop small spoonfuls on to a greased tray, leaving spaces between each one

Bake for 10-15 minutes-till firm, raised and light brown

Spring has sprung the dirt has riz.......

Well it’s now March which to me is the start of Spring. January and February are gone and the days are getting noticeably longer. So I’ve decided to make my page look a bit more spring/summery. This brings with it also the dreaded Spring Clean. I don’t dread having a tidy house but the chemicals of all the cleaning equipment mean I swell up and start looking like a bullfrog round the throat.This year therefore I’ve decided to do it without chemicals or having to lug out sopping wet duvets on to the line in the hope that it stays dry and windy long enough to dry them before bedtime. Heres my tips for a chemical free spring clean!

Beds - The dry cleaning or even going to a laundrette and washing them came to the same price as new duvets so I decided to veto this idea this year and clean them out some other way. They were all in fairly good condition with no stains on them so I placed each duvet in a huge vacuum bag and sucked! And sucked and sucked!  This apparently gets rid of all the horrible bits of dead skin which has accumulated since I last did this (when? Don’t ask!)

Mattresses – A good vacuum and being shut in the room with the window wide open is enough to free all the bugs and give them a good airing!

Floor - Sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda over the carpet to get rid of smells and also bits of cotton wool with Lavender drops popped on them placed under the bed and in the cupboards keep away bugs, moths and beasties.

Bathrooms – A good scrub and clean! To make my tile grouts whiter than white and get rid of any soap scum bicarbonate of soda mixed with some lemon juice and a good scrub of the paste with a toothbrush and leave for a couple of minutes did the trick here. The rest of the bathroom got a good  clean with vinegar and water spray (250ml vinegar, the juice of 1 lemon and 500ml water ) which brings the sinks and taps up lovely and shiny. The toilet on the other hand I am not going to stick my cleaning toothbrush anywhere near! Thankfully though I love drinking diet coke out of cans and only ever seem to get half way down. The remainder was tipped down the toilets and given a good scrub with the toilet brush. Apparently vinegar chucked down also does this but can be a bit pricey.

Lounge – Hmmmm Hoover the curtains and using a duster tied to the end of a long stick gets the cobwebs . Baby wipes work great on all stains and marks on the wall. I hate to think what they do to my babys skin but gosh they’re great on everything else!

Mirrors  - If they’ve built up residue cool a tea bag down in some water and wipe this water over the surface first (it lifts the residue) then use the good old vinegar and water spray to bring them clean shiny and smear free!

Kitchen – Vinegar being a natural antibacterial cleaner does a great job in here. By the way if I didn’t mention it before only use white vinegar! However if your microwave and oven look a little worse of chuck in some wedges of lemon and either microwave for 30 seconds or chuck in the over for ten minutes or so. This loosens the grease and helps cleaning easier!  Also rubbing a lemon across your kitchen chopping board will clean and deodorize it.

St Davids Day

Good Morning. Since today is St Davids Day I thought I’d share some lovely welsh recipes with you today.

Welsh Cakes

Ingredients

225g plain flour

85g caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

½ tsp baking powder

50g butter , cut into small pieces

50g lard , cut into small pieces, plus extra for frying

50g currants

1 egg , beaten

splash milk

Tip the flour, sugar, mixed spice, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Then, with your fingers, rub in the butter and lard until crumbly. Mix in the currants. Work the egg into the mixture until you have soft dough, adding a splash of milk if it seems a little dry - it should be the same consistency as shortcrust pastry.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of your little finger. Cut out rounds using a 6cm cutter, re-rolling any trimmings. Grease a flat griddle pan or heavy frying pan with lard, and place over a medium heat. Cook the Welsh cakes in batches, for about 3 mins each side, until golden brown, crisp and cooked through. Delicious served warm with butter and jam, or simply sprinkled with caster sugar. Cakes will stay fresh in a tin for 1 week

And one to do with kids and these are great for breakfast!

Welsh Muffins

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour

50g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

½ level tsp mustard powder

100g strong cheese , half grated, half cubed

6 tbsp vegetable oil

150g Greek yogurt

125ml milk

1 egg

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

Mix together the self-raising and plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and mustard powder in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the cheese, oil, yogurt, milk, egg and Worcestershire sauce.

Combine all the ingredients and divide between the muffin cases in the muffin tin.

Place in the oven for 20-25 mins until golden. Remove and cool slightly on a rack.

What you need: Ask the kids to help get everything ready, weighing scales, measuring jug, fork, 2 mixing bowls, 12 paper muffin cases, muffin tin, cheese grater, sharp knife, tablespoon, cooling rack.