talking it over

I turned on BBC Radio 4 and started half listening when I realised I recognised the story.  It's a dramatisation of Julian Barne's book talking it over which I would highly recommend.  Catch it on i-player for a week or buy/ borrow the book and its sequel, Love Etc.

new(ish) beginnings

I'm hoping everyone has had a good start to the new year. Our Christmas and New Year celebrations were brilliant, we spend Christmas with family and had friends over for New Year's celebrations.

I did a lot of cooking and baking (as we had good friends stay over 4/5 days) and I used my new Veg Everyday book with great success. Definitely a new favourite! For dessert for NYE I made a pavlova topped with cream and passion fruit from my Nigella Lawson's "How to Eat" book. It always gets a big thumbs up from people who eat it. Another thing that worked well were the mince pies I made using Rachel Allen's recipe (just 1 jar left to use up this month!). Note to self, halve recipe as I don't need 5/6 jars of mincemeat! I made another huge batch of them this week and both my husband and I took them into our respective workplaces, and they were eaten pretty quickly!

Yesterday to help usher in spring I bought 2 pots of narcissi bulbs and some tulips from our lovely local florist, Miss Mole's Flower Emporium. I thought they all looked gorgeous lit up last night in these two gorgeous tea light holders that my sister bought for me.

My new(ish) beginning is that I started an Open University degree course in English Literature back in October. It's hard work, and a lot of reading and essay writing. This is my way of an apology for few and far between blog posts since the autumn.

If you want to see some more of me(!) on the web, I've recently opened a pinterest page as a one stop shop to link to all ideas/ recipes/ likes/ inspiration to ideas on the web. It's a great free resource.

Take care for now. xox

Veg Everyday!

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has written a vegetarian cookbook!! We have been a fan of him since we first saw him on Tv (+10 years ago?) cooking a placenta. Don't ask!

Hugh has pulled together a brilliant vegetarian cookbook that uses easy to get ingriedients and easy to follow recipes. I'm not sure if he realisess that parmesan is not vegetarian, but apart from that it's vegelicious!

These stuffed peppers look fab They are definitely on my to cook list (when my oven is fixed!)

Yummy linguine pasta

Hugh has a few pasties, great for a more interesting lunch box. I also love his take on pot noodles, I'm going to give that a go too.

The book is broken down into the following chapters:

Comfort Food and Feasts

Hearty Salads

Raw Assemblies

Hefty Soups

Bready Things

Store-cupboard Suppers

Mezze and Tapas

Roast, Grill and BBQ

Side Dishes (including sweet asides)

Every recipe is photographed (which I'm a big fan of) and there's a lot of recipes to choose from.

I have already made 3 dishes, all of which were delicious. My favourite was the Pinto Bean Chilli, which could easily be doubled and then freeze 1/2 for another day. I also made the Chachouka which is a red pepper dish with an egg backed on top, very yummy and his pasta souffle which he suggested doing 2 ways (spinach or with courgettes) I made the courgette one which was also lovely.

Patatas Bravas - these look yummy. I'm definitely making them. Maybe for a nice big lunch with lots of things to choose from!

When my oven is mended I should be cooking more dishes. I still have my hob and the microwave! As you can see he has a chapter on raw assemblies if everything breaks down on me!

the two of us

This weekend it was just the two of us. My eldest son and I.

So I prioritised fun and mother and son time over everything else.

I planned a loose itinery for us to do which included: gingerbread men baking, swimming, picnic on the beach, DVD, 2 x art projects, bike ride, tennis. It turned out that we did not have quite enough time to do everything, but we had fun trying.

One of our art projects involved this Pop Up book that I bought recently. Pop-Up: Everything You Need to Create Your Own Pop-Up Book by Ruth Wickings and Frances Castle

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Inside are 4 scenes to turn into fantastic pop-up pages: a dragon, a jungle, a medieval castle and Frankenstein’s laboratory. There are some brilliant pop-up tricks that you try out. And you don't even need glue (every piece has sticky back plastic attached. Genius!

We also watched a film; How to Train Your Dragon, which was a brilliant story. We both really enjoyed that. And from that my son decided he'd produce his own book about Dragons. Each page had a dragon on it (some from the film, some made up) with information about the dragon. I helped with some of the drawing and writing, but that is our work in progress.

We also played on Beatles Rockband together, which was a great laugh.

On a sadder note, I went into Habitat for probably the last time. So sad it's gone into administration. I've bought some gorgeous things from there over the last 20 years. I have many beautiful vases from there, my everyday crockery (I went and picked up some more to cover breakages), bed and table linen, furniture. Sad times. Unfortunately IKEA, and all the supermarkets have been selling homewares in a similar style and a lot cheaper than Habitat do. However Habitat was always more original, more interesting and it used to be better quality as well. Hard times.

these are a few of my favourite things.....

Like everyone I have a selection of go-to recipes that work time and again, and taste delicious. It seems only fair to share a few of these with you, as it's unlikely that I will be cooking or baking for any of you soon! Unless my dream of Claire's Cakes happens some time soon!

1. Victoria Sponge Cake. This is a simple vanilla sponge, which should be light and airy. Fill with raspberry jam for a quick store cupboard make or add fresh strawberries and whipped cream for total decadence. I use a recipe from Nigella Lawson's first book How to Eat. Find it on page 26 of the hardback version. The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it in a food processor for a very quick make. I won't reprint any recipe here as they are not mine to start with.

2. Gingerbread Men. My search for the perfect gingerbread was a long one, but once I tried the nicely spicy gingerbread recipe from Dan Lepard my search stopped. This is my favourite because the gingerbread have a great flavour, are still a bit chewy in the middle (I don't want to break my teeth) but have the crunch on the outside. Find the recipe in Dan Lepard's Exceptional Cakes: Baker and Spice book.

3. Chocolate Brownies. Again the depth of flavour, fool proof, easy recipe has me reaching for Scoop by Natasha Zabolsky. Although this is an icecream book, she also has some recipes for things to have with your icecream! This brownie recipe calls for cocoa powder, and I find Green & Blacks cocoa powder is dark and rich enough to make these brownies delicious. The brownies are chewy in the middle and crispy and flaky on top. These never last long in my household.

4. All out show-off cake. This is my very very special occasion cake, as it's not cheap to make, and is incredibly rich to eat. I make Konditor & Cooks Curly Whirly Cake recipe is here. It looks brilliant when decorated with the vanilla bean frosting and the chocolate swirls but tastes to die for.

5. Meringues. All you need to know is 2oz of castor sugar to every egg white. Your bowl and beaters need to be scrupulously clean. No grease or dirt, otherwise it will not work. Beat your egg whites until you can stand the bowl upside down and the egg whites won't fall out. Then add in the sugar, beating as you go. You can cook these 2 ways; to make them pure white and dry and crisp all the way through a very very low heat 110 deg c for many hours for a crisp meringue. Or bake at 140 degrees for 40mins for a crisp outside and a chewy middle. Turn the oven temp down by 10 degrees if browning. Eat as desired, but with fruit and cream is delectable.

6. Lemon Cakes: I have 2 different types, depending on the occassion. To impress I make the sublime biscuity/ cakey lemon bites which I found online c2 years ago. Thank you wonderweb! Julie Biuso's recipe always gets a great response when I make it. Or if I want something less decadent, then a simple lemon drizzle cake. This sticky sponge is a classic.

7. Bread and Butter pudding. I have never liked bread and butter pudding, too dry too bready, and certainly not dessert! That is until my sister recomended that I try this recipe by Skye Gyngell. It was moist, and vanilla-y and delicious. This is the only recipe I'll be using in future.

8. Fruit Tart/ Cake - Ok I can't describe this but this is the fantastic Stone Fruit Tea Cake in the Rustic Fruit Desserts book (which I would recommend to anyone). You can get the recipe if you register at Gourmet.com . I use plums in it and it works o-so well! Most people want seconds! And get a sad look when you tell them it's finished!

Well that little lot should keep you very busy. Give me a shout of your go-to recipes, so we can all share!

Happy baking xo

reviews

I have done it again and broken my rule of NOT BUYING ANYMORE COOKBOOKS - bad Claire!

But I saw these 2 and I knew that I would be cooking from them:

This book appealed to me, with the words, healthy and minutes. Plus there are alot of vegetarian recipes in here. Fantastic! Monisha's website is here.

The for some more baking pleasure:

Oliver Peyton is a judge on Great British Menu and he runs very nice restaurants and bakeries in London. I always like getting a good baker's recipes, so when I saw this and the book above on the book people I could not resist.

As always the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I am making dishes from my Indian cook book first. On Monday night I made an aubergine curry. It was straight forward, quick to prepare and cook and very tasty. What more could you want?

On Tuesday I made a spinach and tomato curry.

Season's Greetings

I made the "kill you in a hearbeat" malteaser bites from Eric Lanlard's newish book "Home Bake" as part of the baked goods for our New Year's guests. They are easy enough to make with children but good enough for grown ups too!

The book was a present and has many lovely cakes to make in it. Just look at the front cover! That says summer birthday cake all over it!

I'm sure there will be plenty of baking in 2011. Which brings me to say;

Happy New Year, I hope you all saw the new year in with family & friends. My eldest was awake until 11:30 he just couldn't quite hold on!

Another photographer in the family

My eldest took this, I think he's giving his dad a run for his money!

Yes it's me, sitting on the steps outside the Unitarian Church in Brighton, on a very warm October day. He used my (new) IPhone (courtesy of my older sister) with the Hipstamatic app. He did a good job, as it was really busy! I don't know if he did the diagonal on purpose and with artistic intention, but it certainly looks good.

The bag is full of (heavy) library books. My son got one called Witches and Wizards and we've spent the weekend finding herbs and flowers so he can make some magical potions!

library

We have a lot of books in the house, but it's also good to go to the library and get a fresh batch!


One of the more interesting books that the boys choose at our latest visit is this one, a children's book about Charles Darwin by Peter Sis. It is so beautifully illustrated and written, it makes me want to have it and not just borrow it. And according to Amazon it won a prestigious prize for it's illustrations, I'm not surprised!

Good Times

Firstly, I must apologise as I did not take my camera out with me at the weekend. Photo below is stolen from my husband! It shows Brighton from a distance.

It was a gloriously hot and sunny weekend, here in the UK (well in Brighton for sure). The kind of day where the most important thing is to find a good way of keeping cool.

Luckily we have the sea, a mere 20-30min walk away (possibly longer with both children). On Saturday, after a noisy and excitable start, I managed to round my two up and leave the house. How do people cope with more than 2 children? We first went to the park, I let them have a good run around. Then we had to head back home, grab lunch, then off we went to the beach.

We met up with a good friend of mine, and her two children. The children all went in the sea. There were no squeals of "it's too cold", it clearly was the right temperature for them. Personally I wouldn't have minded a dip, but I did not have my swimming costume with me, and I don't feel in the best shape at present to strip off!

After that we went to the children's paddling pool, which is on the beach as well (just by Al Fresco restaurant, and west of the West Pier!) It gets so busy there. When my children were younger, it was slightly scary on a busy day, as it is so easy to lose sight of your child. Now they are elder, my 7 year old really looks after the 3.5 year old, it is fine. This is very handy, and means I can relax a little bit! We were all so tired after our day out, that we took the bus home. Oh yes, and watched the last episode of DOCTOR WHO. We are a hooked family. My eldest could not believe it when they said the next episode will be at Christmas (6 months away!)

We did it all again on Sunday, got up, and headed straight down to the beach. I made a packed lunch for us this time. The boys had a great time. I bought them water squirters, they look like giant syringes! Lots of children had them.

I also finished reading a very arresting and moving book, called "Brixton Beach" by Roma Tearne. I would highly recommend it. It follows a Sri Lankan girl, whose parents emigrate with her to England due to the civil unrest in Sri Lanka. You follow all of her family (4 generations) and it's very moving. Again highlighting a conflict in a deeply personal way. I find this a better way to learn about things, as it becomes far more real. I would highly recommend it! Now I just need to find another cracking good read, any suggestions?

Quilt Update: I got round to trimming all the patchworked pieces, for the back, down to the same width! I did it while the children watched "Fantastic Mr Fox". They were engrossed. I'm not in a rush with this quilt. I'm making it just to use up all my scraps of the Midwest Modern range by Amy Butler. The quilt was dictated by all the shapes and sizes of fabric I had to work with. It will be a single bed size though, when I finally finish off the back.

Built by Wendy Dresses - Review

So you know how it is? When you say you won't buy anymore sewing books, due to the mixed results from too many of them? Well I saw this, it teased me on pre order for months, then I read the reviews, and Wendy's reputation is pretty rock solid, so I had to buy it. And for what you get it's a bargain.


So what is inside? Well 3 pattern pieces to make the above 3 dresses, a sheath, a shift and a dirndle!

Then what you get is a breakdown of each style of dress into how to alter the pattern into a variety of other dresses! Below is a selction:

From the Sheath dress.

Sheath dress.

Sheath dress.


Shift Dresses


Shift

Shift dress

Dirndle dresses

Dirndle Dress

dirndle dresses

dirndle dress

alterations example

pattern layout example

sewing up example

I just wanted to show how in depth this book is. It is not for a novice, but if you have done a bit of clothes sewing before, this would be suitable for an advanced beginner/ intermediate sewer. There are no seam allowances on the patterns, which is no big deal, as you copy them anyway.

The first step is to make a muslin, then alter that as necessary to fit correctly, instructions are in the book. Then once you have your own base pattern, you can use the other patterns and create a wealth of dresses! I'm making my 1st muslin, for the sheath dress, so I will see how that goes. But it is an exciting book, and offers great value for money (when most patterns cost £8+) I will post again on my successes/ failures!

I Spy

The other week my husband and I were discussing I Spy books. Do you remember them from the 1970s/ 80s? They were categorised, like I Spy Roads/ Transport or I Spy Countryside? My husband moaned that growing up in The North, he was not likely to see Slow Worms or Grass Snakes or Woodpeckers. So found the books disappointing and a little alienating!!! (Although I grew up in The South, and I can't say I saw any of those things either!)


So a wry smile appeared on my face when my eldest opened up a parcel from his Aunty yesterday. Inside was I Spy Nature and I Spy On a Car Journey. She found them near the counter in Waterstones. I'm not sure if they have been reissued, but it should be a fun thing to do when we are out and about!

Rest of my Books

I also received another book on quilting. Material Obsession by 2 Australians, Kathy Doughty & Sarah Fielke. They also have their own shop in Australia.

Here are a few pages from the book. I think these quilts lean more towards the traditional, than say Denyse Schmidts book. I prefer more contemporary quilts.


I would consider going a quilt like this, but it's the colour way that doesn't work for me here.

Again, in different fabrics, I think I might like this.

This style of quilt is probably my least favourite. However, i can see the skill and craftsmanship in a work such as this.

This quilt design for me could work well, but in totally different colours and fabrics. (Is anyone seeing a theme here?!!!?)

This is a possibility (again, different colours and fabrics!).

I like this quilt the best of all in the book. To me it's intense in the best way possible. Lime green and pink is very nice.

Although this is a lovely book, really good photos and descriptions and instructions of every quilt in the book, it isn't really for me. I definitely prefer more simplistic quilts than the ones in this book. However, they are clearly 2 very talented women, and if you prefer more traditional designs, star shape quilts etc this will probably be to your taste.

I also got Sew by the UK's own Cath Kidston! This book is quite a bargain, as you get the fabric and supplies to make the bag on the front cover. This book has loads of patterns in it.

Many for the more humdrum things you need and have around your house e.g. the hot-water bottle cover, clothes hangers, oven gloves, a few tote bags, a quilt or 2 and so on.

I could do with a new shower cap, but I think it's probably cheaper to buy one in Boots! I don't own waterproof fabric.


This is very pretty and feminine, it definitely has that old fashioned charm, but then, a hot water bottle, in a way, is old fashioned, so I think that works well!!!

In one way it is a useful book, as it does have so many patterns in it, a few would probably make quite good presents, but to me there was nothing that stood out as innovative or original. As I haven't got too many sewing books, so many of the patterns I do not have. But I suspect if you are a hoarder of sewing books you may find this repetitive. Everything, of course, is made in Cath Kidston fabrics! (Well that's what it looks like to me!) I think Cath Kidston has a bit of that Marmite thing going for her (you either love her, or hate her), I like her stuff in small doses, I'm not crazy on too much floral. But if you don't have too many sewing books, and want to knock out some homemade gifts, for next Xmas, this could be a useful book to have. Buy it from Amazon, for around £9!