The return of the night

I hoped never to have to write about it but here it is. The return of insomnia. One week so far, most nights, last night particularly bad. The valerian tea didn't seem to work but then again I have no idea how long it takes! It's really getting to me. I know you have to break the cycle but I just have this memory of the insomnia that went on for months after Isobel was born. I'm scared its some form of PND returning whilst also wondering if my thyroid levels blip they picked up a while ago bit then said was fine is really to blame. Mmmh.

I was going to write this last night bit its a bit tricky as we have our nephew staying at the moment. So not really anywhere to go as the young, they like to watch tv till late and then he's in our spare room. I've wondered whether the trigger is that there is someone else about. Someone else making noises that my annoying mothers ears pick up on. Why is that? Why do you hear everything once you have children, even through industrial strength earplugs?

I know I am not alone in not sleeping but I feel very alone and very trapped in the middle of the night when everyone else is zonko. I need to find a new routine which works without having a spare bed to go to. The advice is contradictory. Stay in bed and deep breath. Get up and go somewhere else to deep breath. Read a book. Don't read a book. Watch tv. Don't watch tv. And so on.

Isobel came into our bed last night at 4 am apparently. I heard her on the stairs whilst sleeping on the spare matress in artys room.  She doesn't normally but she has a bad cough. Funnily enough though I worry about precedent and habit. Will she start wanting to come to bed with us all the time etc. I found myself thinking about sleeping pills, herbal remedies and the like and my concerns with taking them, addiction, habit forming etc. I think maybe I am over analysing? I have now found the sleeping pills, ready for tonight if needed.

On a happier note, it was like something out of a scary film this morning when Peter woke me up whilst deep in slumber and dreams. I forgot where I was and turned round to find arty standing up in his cot looking at me! I was momentarily scared.

So my battle for better sleep will start anew. And in the meantime I will keep baking! We made a Danni fine Jamie Oliver chocolate tart last weelend, you could eat the mixture raw from the bowl in massive mouthfuls although health and safety would no doubt have a cow with all that raw egg! And we made Jamie bread which was great and the best bread I've made for agrs as it was basically a brick.

Isobel and I made malt loaf (health health) this weekend and, inspired by the bake-off also made some fondant fancies. We ran out of delicate pink rose water flavoured icing though. Instead we mixed the old blue and yellow and developed a whole new Halloween treat - the incredible hulk fancy!

You're not my best friend anymore

 

Sharing more random photos of the Olympic Park - this time for the last day it was open and glorious sunshine was the order of the day!

So, I thought the phrases 'You're not my best friend anymore' and 'You're a silly banana head' would start at primary school.  You know, lots more kids, lots more older kids with older siblings, lots more potential to learn these types of phrases (and far far worse I imagine).  But no.  Nursery it seems is where it starts.

Yesterday I was not Isobel's best friend on a number of occasions.  The main one related to the fact that I played out the wicked witch character as I took Isobel away from a playdate (it was time to leave - I wasn't being too evil!) where she and her friend had dressed themselves up as Disney Princesses and were merrily prancing about.  Disney Princesses.  Where did that come from? I have no idea who they are - Peter has less than no idea and yet Isobel comes home one day talking incessantly about Belle and...well, Belle basically.  So I have learnt - we have Belle, we have Snow White and we have Sleeping Beauty.  And some more - whose names I still don't know.  And then apparently there are the Princes - not only Prince Charming but a whole load of other ones.  Is this what my life is to become?  Being a 'silly banana head' because I don't know the names of the Princesses?  I suppose it could be worse....

Some more random Olympic Shots - the Wheelchair Basket Ball and Goal Ball below - which was an intriguing game.  No idea whatsoever what the rules were!

Thinking about Disney Princess, Isobel earned enough stickers (new behaviour modification/bribery technique we are trying) to choose a magazine - she chose the Disney Princess Magazine.  I presume because it is just sooo pink.  It can't be because of the contents (can it?) because frankly they were rubbish in comparison with Thomas and Peppa magazines of the same ilk.

Anyway, I think I'm now back in Isobel's good books - perhaps because we are off camping tomorrow and after the success of the last trip, I splashed out on a ready bed which I thought would do her and then do Arthur when he is a bit bigger.  However, I have not yet told Isobel that the bed appears to be broken - after her excitement at seeing the bed, I think she might be slightly upset when she realises that it had to go back to the shop!  Mmmh.

I might have to make some chocolate brownies to make up for it!  The return of the Great British Bake off has inspired me again.  I want to bake. And bake.  And then eat it all.  Hence I am not baking (well, not very much), in case I turn into a brownie or a 'showstopper layered torte'.  I did however get inspired enough to make some rough puff pastry to go on Peter's home made pie.  Now it wasn't perhaps quite the right texture for Mr Hollywood but who cares, it tasted nice!  And thinking of Mr Hollywood, we are off camping with someone who looks just like him.  Here's hoping he can perhaps bake like him to - mmmh, imagine some lovely fresh croissants for breakfast!

Peter's pie (with home grown vegetables and left over chicken) - complete with rough puff!

And finally, back to the Jamie Oliver challenge which progresses (slowly though - slowly slowly catchy monkey...or something like that).  Last night was Thai Curry night - now I think the sauce might not have been intended to be quite the colour it came out but it tasted good, as did the chunky coconut and lime salsa.  Lots of limes in this little lot - 7 I think in total.  The curry paste was a little bit of a faff it must be said, well for a work night anyway, but it did taste good.  A friend has asked me how many more recipes I've got to go - unfortunately, quite a few!  There are more recipes in that book for sauces, dressings, pasta flavours etc than I thought possible.  Onwards and upwards as they say!  Maybe some bread next week.  Or semi freddo.  Or roast chicken.  So many choices!

Tomato, lime and coconut salsa

Green Thai Curry Paste

My favourite food is.....gruffalo crumble!

So, last weekend I went to Brixton Market with a friend for brunch.  I've not been for years so it was nice to have a bit of time sans les enfants to potter about.  So many food options in the market and the 'Brixton Village', including of course, the well known Franco Mancas pizza place (http://francomanca.co.uk/).  We had noodles with chilli for brunch and it really made me think about those years I spent in tropical climates eating noodles for breakfast.  It's lovely!!

Anyway, I'm digressing.  So, Isobel has been very well, erm, 'spirited' (or maybe I should say challenging) lately!  Not helped by her sudden wish to get up at 4am - normally because something has broken such as the Peppa Pig watch or her hairband or.....anything she can think of really.  I'm wondering if we'll have to start some tough love as I hate that time of the morning. Always brings back those memories of insomnia!  She has clearly decided to be a defiant child of late though - I've moved on from marbles (I kept forgetting and we had to keep putting them away to stop Arthur eating them!) to a sticker chart.  It seems to work but let's see.  Today she has been quite delightful to her brother which has been lovely - and she loves telling him the rules 'Arthur, we don't hit, that's the rule'...followed by 'Arthur, I'm going to tell my mummy on you'.

We've had a weekend of cookery which has been a great way to spend the bank holiday, interspersed with trips to playground, swimming and a party.  Even daddy cooked - using the products from the garden he cooked up a Gruffalo Crumble (recipe can be downloaded from the Gruffalo.com website).

Isobel helped me make meatballs (Jamie Oliver again - god bless).  She wanted to smell the ingredients - rosemary (yuck mummy), garlic (yuck mummy), cumin (yuck mummy), chilli (can I eat this mummy?) and make her very own little meat balls - some of which were soooo small but when I tried to suggest making them bigger was told 'don't be silly mummy, they are for the children'.  So there you go.

We baked cinnamon buns too - which I have to say were the best start to the day this morning when suffering from a massive hangover (I blame Peter and his 'fancy a nightcap?' which consisted of a very large nightcap and subsequently a very very large headache!).

And, to kickstart the Jamie Oliver campaign again, I've made hummus.  For a light tea I think before going to bed at 8 to recover from last night!!!

So the Olympics are over.....but the sun is out!

Yes, we had a great time! It was such a happy two weeks, not sure it was quite worth £9billion but oh well - it's spent now and we all had fun (well, this family did anyway!).

One afternoon, whilst watching the diving, Isobel appeared.  She watched, quietly in the background as they dived off those 10m boards.  'Can you do that mummy?'.  Ha ha, how I wished I could but I think my fear of heights will stop me.  The next day she was practicing at the side of the baby pool.....now then, diving off 10m boards, not something I imagine I would be very good at watching her do if she did decide she wanted to give it a go!

I'm just posting a few pictures of the Olympic park as it looked so lovely.  Aren't these flowers great?

So, I've had a blood test for my thyroid.  Now they say it's fine but I might be anaemic! So another blood test is needed.  A friend who has an underactive thyroid said that there are links between all these things from the research she has done.  Let's see what happens!  Interestingly, there are also reports about the happy pills I took (Sertraline) and thyroid problems, although it doesn't appear to be statistically significant research in terms of a strong relationship! Still, it might explain it.

One of the highlights of the olympics was us watching Usain Bolt in the 200m semi finals.  My goodness that man can run.  I laughed though.  Mo Farrah runs a 5 km in what, 12 mins?  And looks like he's barely exerted himself.  I run 5km in about 30 mins and look like a beetroot!  Don't think I have those Olympic genes somehow!!!

Next week we plan to get back to some Jamie Oliver cooking as he's taken a backseat for a while.  However, there are two other contenders for our cooking attention - the Great British Bake Off is back! Hoorah.  And they made bagels last night - which has inspired me again!  The other contender is a 50s buffet party after I found a 1950s cookbook of my granny's in my mum and dad's loft.  Some tuna vol-o-vont, shrimp boats and babycham!  Bring it on

The Olympics are coming......

The Olympic fever has hit - there is pink (well, maybe purple) everywhere you look in London and on my way to work on Monday I noticed a whole new pavement had been built! Great for the pedestrians like me....not so great for the buses and everyone else trying to drive.  Answer - we should all walk more - better for the planet, better for our health, better for the NHS budget!

Anyway, I digress.  Isobel and Arthur went to see the torch on Friday.  I say went to see the torch.  They were dragged along by me, despite their protests (ok - these were more on the way home when tiredness kicked in) and we all sat and had a picnic (at the side of the road of course) whilst we waited.  The Coca Cola bus was there as well as some other random sponsor-related traffic (eg. Lloyds cars and people with big green balloons!)

And fun was had! Ok I had to hold Isobel on my shoulders and Arty in my arms which almost caused a seizure but we saw the flame!  Getting home from the flame was a different matter - lots of tantrums by a collapsed little girl who decided the middle of the road was the best place to undertake such an activity! 'Set some boundaries' someone at work said - as if I haven't set a 'don't collapse in the middle of the road boundary'....

Anyway.  Moving on, Peter and I have also been undertaking a bit more naked Chef-ing, this time testing out some Jamie O recipies for fennel.  So we had a lovely risotto with seafood and fennel which was very very yummy (lots of chilli to which is always good) and then followed this with encrusted seared tuna with a fennel and chilli salsa.  Both of these recipes are strongly recommended - really really yummy.  Kids didn't manage to eat any this time though!

Look at that delicately sprinkled fennel on the top there - nouvelle cuisine I think!

And finally, after months of having it sit on the shelf, we broke out the 10 Minute Solutions Pilates Video.  'No problem, my arms are really strong' said Peter as we started the 10 minute arm work out.  at the end the lady says 'Good Job' (with a very strong American accent).  Peter and I can barely lift our arms!  Still, a change from running.

The chef/chefess is tired!

Look at that - home made farfalle!

We have been so busy! I am sooo tired.

I am still chuckling over 'Can I give them back yet?' which makes people look at me on the train.  In particular I found myself chuckling at stories of the 'post-natal' period and in particular those first few nights in hospital when your partner gets sent home at 8pm leaving you there with a new baby, no sleep, no idea what you are doing, and highly likely, quite unhelpful night staff (well, in my case they were unhelpful, quite is being too polite!).  The description in the book was so apt - 'your partner gets sent home at 8pm to drink champagne, have some sleep and congratulate themselves on their amazing virility'.  Ha ha, so true.

And then I think about the following morning when I sat on the edge of the bed waiting for visiting hours to start....and the appointed hour came...and no visitor to relieve me and let me go and have a shower!  I forgot that it was a Bank Holiday and I'd asked him to go and get some supplies!  I remember watching the woman opposite me, on baby number 3, who merrily put a dummy in, swaddled her baby and wandered off for a few hours to 'go get some faaagggsss'.  There I was, wondering - can I leave her? What happens if I leave her? Will someone take her? I must not leave her.  Where is my husband? Where has my brain gone?

Then Arty was born. I went to have a shower and didn't wait for any visitors.  Poor Arty.

Anyway, I digress.  Peter and I have been very busy on the Jamie O Naked Chef challenge front.  Firstly, Peter made a Chicken and Ginger broth from the left over chicken (with noodles, ginger, chilli and other such lovely things).  It was very easy, very quick and very very yummy.  So strongly recommended for a mid-week meal! Yum yum.

Then we moved on - this time to seared scallops with crispy bacon and puy lentils.  What can I say? I've never cooked with scallops before so this was all a novelty.  The lentils were great (and went well with sausages later in the week!) and the scallops only took a few moments to cook.  Now then, the picture perhaps doesn't do it justice, and I'm sure Jamie O would be shocked, but it was really really yummy and really really easy!

Look - it's steaming hot it's so fresh!

And finally, we made pasta.  Why did make more pasta? Well, mainly because we have embarked on a vegetable box trial so we now have some vegetables to use up - namely courgettes, green cauliflower, fennel and other things such as cherry tomatoes (all gone), red peppers (think I might stuff these) etc etc.

So, we made some pasta (see the farfalle above) and made the tagliatelle with courgette, lemon and basil.

Hence, we are shattered.  Too much cooking.

But have had some culture too - a trip to see the Gruffalo live at the theatre which was great (despite the calls/screams for 'I want to see the Gruffalo again mummy') and today I had a meeting in an office with a great view over London.  Just a shame that as with the rest of the summer so far, the weather was basically pants.

Here is the Shard on your left and the wheel below.

The Naked Chef-ess Returns!

Oh my, how much did this remind me of school????

 
Whilst Peter was out running for a worthy cause, I distracted myself from the never ending rain by cooking us all a sunday roast! Not necessarily the best thing to do on your own with two small children who can't go outside because it's so wet and who therefore tried to create world war three in the kitchen....my patience was not that good!

But we persevered and out came the lovely Jamie Oliver book again - I really should count how many recipes I've got to get through!  Today we tried roast chicken and steamed jam sponge (see above).  The jam sponge was such a doddle to make - no suet, just butter, but it came out absolutely lovely and light - the photo above doesn't really give you the scale of the pudding but needless to say it was about the size of a pyrex pudding basin (?3 litres?) and we ate quite a bit (together with some custard from the lovely Birds!).  So that gets lots and lots of points.

Then there was the chicken - now we've done this before many times and it always turns out well.  He basically suggests stuffing herbs and oil between the chicken meat and the skin on the breast.  Really lovely.  The kids loved it too!

Looks a bit dry but was actually really nice and just about right!

Home grown potatoes - oh yes!

Right, now time for coffee and to watch some tennis I do believe!

It's PPPPPPPEPPA PIG Mummy.....

And so it is!  I finally found the photo I took of Peppa and George on the Spa Valley Railway last weekend.  It did make me smile - the sheer excitement in the queue waiting to see them and then the panic when they got up close!  Anyway, I thought they looked good in this photo so I would share it!

It's been a funny old week really.  I have had more sleep after Sunday - though on Sunday and Monday my Insomnia returned.  I tried really hard to think of all the tips I'd gone through with the counsellor to deal with my reaction and remain calm and guess what - it worked! So I slept OK - not as well as usual but OK.  I have found that this herbal tea by Dr Stuart helps in terms of calming down (the valerian one is great but I worried a little that I might be so sound asleep that I wouldn't hear the little ones!).

I was at home earlier in the week, I'm lucky really as my work is pretty good at supporting flexible working which makes being 'home alone' a lot easier.  I could just drop the kids off at nursery and then come home and carry on.  It is a bit of a challenge though when Peter is away as not going into the office means you're even more isolated that you might otherwise be.   I'd read that some of the roads were closed in London near the office (the Olympics apparently.....) so I thought I'd walk this morning rather than get on my bike as surely then I could walk across St James' Park (my favourite park in London).  How wrong was I! I asked a 'steward' whether there was any access to the park, very politely as the rubrick wasn't completely clear and was met by a standard surly 'no, go round'.  I hope they improve their customer relations by the time the Olympics start!

Mid week, and despite my plan otherwise, I found myself tempting back to Jamie Oliver.  I was pondering what to cook the kids for lunch that would be relatively healthy and be a bit different so I plumped for the Meatballs recipe (from the Naked Chef of course) together with the tomato sauce.  And to top it off, I had it with some of the pasta I'd made earlier with Peter.  Verdict - really really easy, really really tasty and the kids loved it!  I would strongly recommend!

It doesn't look as good as it was in real life!

Then, we were lucky as in the office today we got to see Ang San Suu Kyi who I think is a remarkable lady and it was really was quite an opportunity to be able to see her.  It lifted my spirits really, as have the kids this evening who have been delightful.  Isobel wanted me to draw a picture of her daddy in a tent (he is in a tent in the refugee area of South Sudan - here is a link to some press coverage of the situation there -  http://allafrica.com/stories/201206210834.html).  So we did, and then she got a bit upset - I think because I mentioned he might have a beard when he got back and her parting words to me this evening were 'mummy, I want my daddy but I don't want a beard'.....

I thought I would end with a snippet from Peter about his work in Sudan - it's not getting a lot of press coverage so this is my little bit to raise it:

I am going towards the Sudan border today to have a look at refugee camps and reception centres where there is a significant malnutrition problem which we may take action on. In the meantime we are desperately trying to build up our campsite so that it will be habitable before Friday when we have to leave the comparative luxury (pit latrine, bucket shower) of the MSF compound.

There are about 2000 people a day being bussed up from the border, but there are no supplies here to give them so for the moment they are arriving, receiving a bucket and a cooking pot and that's it. No tents, so they are just sat out there under trees with very little to sustain them. There is no where near enough water and sanitation provision so I have to keep my eyes peeled so as not to step in human poo.

Where is Noah's Ark?

So apparently we are in a state of drought. We have a hose pipe ban. We have water butts. I know the rain is ideally meant to come in the winter, to recharge the groundwater.....but since they announced the drought restrictions what has happened? Rain. Rain. Rain. Oh my god I feel I am slowly going mouldy! I might even have to get Isobels toy ark out and prepare it for a great get away!

The trouble with rain is that the kids get all grumpy. They don't go outside as much. The sky is dark. It's not good for someone just over PND whose husband has gone away for a month and who is longing to see the sun! If its still raining tomorrow I think we might well build some toy boats and take them out somewhere in the garden to see where they go!

So, its day 4 of no Peter. Everything is just a rush. Rush to get dressed and have breakfast before the kids get up, rush to get them ready and to nursery, rush to get the train (I have borrowed Peter's brompton to save time.....ha ha, how everyone looked at me as I tried to remember how to fold it up and ended up covered in oil!), rush to get to the office, rush to get all the work done, rush to get home....oh and eventually remember to eat my lunch.....and so on.

I have however learnt from the past year and my struggles with depression. I am therefore going to try to make things easy for myself. One thing that is going for the month is my attempt to cook all the Jamie O recipes. I love cooking. I find it relaxing but I also need to find tume to just sit in the evening and rest. Overdoing it was one of the many causes of the PND I think.

Last time Peter went away for this long was just before Arthur was born. I remember how I felt. At the time there was no mention of depression but I knew something wasn't right, I just didn't really admit it to myself let alone anyone else. I remember lying on the floor screaming alongside Isobel who was also screaming. I just thought how I had had enough, how I was such a bad mother, how I resented my daughter and my husband for changing my life in such a dramatic way, how I didn't think I could cope with another child and so on. I was distraught. I then felt terribly guilty for having these thoughts, convinced myself that that meant I was a terrible mother.

Looking back on it I think it was a sign that the depression was there, that I was exhausted and needed help. I wish I had acted on that then but the next day I felt fine. It's easy not to talk to someone when you feel ok, they need to be there when you are having a really bad day.

I still have bad days when I wonder what on earth I am doing. I know now that everyone does. But I also see all the positives and am able to take a deep breath and laugh about the situation rather than cry. I thank my health visitor, husband and friends for that. Oh, and those little pills I was so scared of taking!

Naked Cheff-ess makes pasta!

Minted pea and asparagus risotto from le Naked Chef

So, on returning from sunny Preston it was back to the Jamie Oliver challenge.  Another set of asparagus recipes given that it's in season.  A little bit of info about asparagus - English asparagus is yummy yummy when it's in season.  Peruvian asparagus is also found in the shops - supporting the livelihoods of those in Peru and helping to raise GDP in the area but with big environmental impacts.  If you are interested in reading more, look at:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/15/peru-asparagus-british-wells

Anyway, back to Jamie O.  We have mainly made two recipes this week - minted pea and asparagus risotto and asparagus and ricotta tortellini.  Both from the Naked Chef.

Now then, the risotto was easy, we make lots of risotto and the kids love it (Arty loves moist food - so risotto is normally always a hit!).  The mint made it taste lovely and summery which was needed given the rubbish weather.  So, the minted pea and asparagus risotto gets good marks.

Next up, tortellini.  This required making pasta.  Ha ha. This was actually quite easy - I was quite surprised!  You can basically make it all in the food processor, kneed it a little bit and then put it in the fridge.   The filling was a little bit more time consuming to be honest - you basically cook up the asparagus with some garlic, then add the ricotta and some mint.  The preparing of the asparagus was the time consuming bit.

Pasta begins to take shape!

Then onto the next stage - making the pasta dough look like pasta.  What fun we had.  We found my mum and dad's old pasta machine and off to work we went!  It was quite good fun - we seemed to end up with loads!  After filling the tortellini (took quite a while....so not something to do when you are hank marvin as we were - doesn't lead to particularly well crafted tortellini as you're too desperate to eat something!), we ended up with some left over so made a bit of tagliatelle as well.  I looked up how to freeze it and found a few good links:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=254119

and

http://www.dailyunadventuresincooking.com/2009/05/how-to-freeze-homemade-pasta.html/

The finished product - and it was very yummy!

 
Peter is off to South Sudan tomorrow for a month.....I'm in sole charge....I'm already slightly worried about how much gin I might have to consume!  When I'm in sole charge it always makes me think of how hard being a single parent must be.  We don't have a lot of family nearby so have to rely very much on friends but when it's just you, you can't go out as easily, you don't get that little rest from the screaming at the weekend and you basically rush to work, rush around at work and then rush back.  Hopefully it might mean I shed a few pounds (I ate a bit of cake over the jubilee you see!).

I won't be able to go running much which will be hard but luckily I've found a few exciting things to take Isobel to - Peppa Pig on the Spa Valley Railway, Wisley (why not - we've not been for at least....erm, well 3 weeks!) and the Gruffalo!  I'm almost more excited than she is!

Extreme swinging and just the right number of linear!

I've just realised that the title may be a bit misleading for some.....I am obviously referring to swinging on a swing. Had friend over for a bbq and one little girl (older than Isobel) was doing some great gymnastics on the swing - one leg, one arm, trying to climb up the side etc etc.

'It won't be long until Isobel is doing that' said her mum.

5 minutes later, there she was, trying to copy her - so a bit faster than we were imagining and filling me with terror as she dangled off about to fall but somehow saving herself! I'm trying to remain calm - inside thinking, OMG, she could fall and quite hurt herself. But she is a brave little thing and I don't want to instill fear - she wouldn't have broken anything, just added another few grazes to her battered legs! What would social services say?

Anyway, a tart update. Well, the pastry didn't shrink and the egg wash (I didn't know about this - thank u Jamie!) stopped it getting a soggy botty. Now then I'm writing this on my phone so its hard to organise the photos to do a 'here is one Jamie made' and 'here is mine' but needless to say, Jamie's was all perfect on the top and mine was, well, a little bit brown. But, suffice to say with a bit of icing sugar sprinkled on it looked good and tasted good - just the right amount lime apparently as I was told! Not sure its the healthiest option with 8 eggs and 300 ml cream but who cares, its pudding!

The pavlova went down a treat too - great for kids and you can hide a relatively small piece under loads if fruit!

I also kept the asparagus theme going with another naked chef recipe - asparagus, broad bean and French bean salad with a mustard dressing. Now the recipe called for French beans and I must say we improvised and added fresh peas but it was still lovely. And interestingly, I used to hate broad beans but I followed the recipe and off I was eating broad beans! Quite nice they were too! Arty also enjoyed it so a hit with the kids which is always good.

And, as we were in a Jamie mode, we also made the potato salad with a salsa Verde which was good - full of capers and anchovies and yummy yummy!

So, another Jamie verdict - good sweet crust pastry recipe and tips, great salads and another asparagus option for that lovely veggie!

Tired now. Have a few days off from the kids as am off to sunny Norfolk for training! I wonder if it will be rude to just go to be at 630 when the course finishes each day? Imagine, 12 hours sleep. What is that? In fact, what is 6 hours sleep?

Feeling crafty.....

For some reason I feel I've been quite productive today - especially when I was out for lunch for most of it with the kids! Maybe it's the sunshine!

I also know I must be careful though. After both kids were born I just did too much I think - I baked, made stuff, went out....and what happened? I got exhausted. I think that played a big part in the whole PND thing. I am just not good at not being active....and I also need to remember that when I see Isobel who has clearly taken after me - I find it hard to deal with her craziness but basically she is just doing what I do - running around like she has ants in her pants, wanting to try things, expend energy, not seeing the point in sitting....ha ha. Arthur doesn't appear to have inherited that....well not yet anyway!

So I started the day with a run. Not just any run but a run 'off piste'....followed the signs for some public footpath and ended up in a sea of oilseed rape flowers intermingled with stinging nettles.....and then got rather lost passing the same man and his dog about 3 times. He surely thought it was odd but was too polite to say 'nutter'.  Ended the day with some crazy disco dancing in the bedroom with Isobel and Arthur....probably not best practice in getting them to calm down before bed but how we all laughed!

In between I've started a dodgy homemade lantern (needs spray painting, pink of course), and started another Jamie Oliver recipe.  Shock of shocks it isn't asparagus.  No, its a tart. Oh a lovely tart.

The first stage this evening was to make the sweet pastry. Now then, last time I made sweet pastry it shrank into a tiny weeny ball in the oven....so, am wondering if Jamie will do me proud.

He has quite an interesting way to make it - after whizzing it up in the Kenwood (behaving this evening), the recipe calls for it to be pushed together into a dough with the fewest possible moves and then wrapped in clingy in the fridge.

So far, so good. Although its really a wee bit crumbly - hoping that means it will be lovely and short and opposed to dry and rubbish! Then he calls for it to be sliced into 5mm slices and pressed into the tin, then frozen. Not tried this before. Anyway, it seemed to go in ok and I appear to have about 3 large tins in the freezer now for all those tarts!

Made a pavlova with the left over whites. It is summer after all ;-).  A kid of delia meets nigella combo. Peter is so excited at the prospect of pavlova he can barely contain himself....well ok, he's on the sofa with me watching LOTR the two towers with some lovely cider.  God bless England in the summer.

Next pie installment tomorrow - will the pastry melt in the mouth or shrink to be smaller than a hobbit!

It's a naked chefess asparagus-thon!

Well we went to Crystal Palace earlier in the week, to see the dinosaurs.  Now then, Isobel was very excited about seeing the dinosaurs.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the dinosaurs, they were built by the Victorians in about 1854 and represent the first dinosaur sculptures in the world! They were designed and sculpted by Benjamin Hawkins and Richard Owen.  They were based on the best scientific info to hand at the time but are now seen as inaccurate in many ways.

Anyway, I digress.  Yes, the dinosaurs.  It was the first time for me to visit them and the first time for Isobel and Arthur.  The excitement built in the car....

'Mummy, are they real dinosaurs'....

'Why aren't they real?'....

'Are they pink?'

'Are they big ones or very very small ones?'

Upon arrival at said dinosaur park, Isobel saw the mural on the side of the cafe - 'look mummy, that one is eating carrot pie with bones in it and that one has a blueberry drink'.  When she actually saw the dinosaur, she wasn't that impressed....she was too busy wanting to scoot off with her friend and climb up muddy banks and tree stumps, play in the sandpit, eat sand, eat food generally and graze her knees almost out of existence.

Oh well.  I enjoyed it anyway!

So, onto the next step in the Jamie Oliver cookathon.  As it's English Asparagus season I have decided to do all the asparagus recipes from the Naked Chef - why not, saves food miles!  There are about 6 including some exciting home made asparagus and ricotta tortellini!  But, that excitement is for later.

We decided to have asparagus with anchovy butter.....not a combination I had thought of I must say.  Anyway, my trusty kenwood failed me - the recipe calls for the soft butter, anchovies, chilli (yum yum), lemon juice and black pepper to be whizzed in the food processor.....the kenwood seemed to just mush it up and then refuse to blend it at all! So I resorted to using a large knife and attempting to cut it in to a smooth consistency....

As you can see....I don't think it really worked....

But anyway, I kept going! Not going to be swayed by such a small think as a dodgy processor.

The asparagus was tossed in the butter as per instructions et voila - and it was yummy, very yummy.  Peter even thought it was a particularly good combo and he doesn't like anchovies!


I thought I would share two examples of the final product, one from the book and one from my plate:

Now this is Jamie's version - with flash

And mine - much better don't you think????

So, so far for Jamie's recipes - maximum points - tasty, easy and quite healthy too!