The wonders of the Lakeland catalogue

OK, so this isn't the Lakeland catalogue, but instead a picture of Corfe Castle in Dorset.  We had a great holiday - I can't believe I'm back at work already.  If only we could win the lottery, pay off the mortgage and spend all our time on holiday! But that would require buying a ticket, and a massive miracle.

So, back to work. Oh the joys.  The trains are still rubbish - it was amazing how well they ran during the Olympics, like clockwork.  Then the Olympics finished and all I can think is that the bonuses stopped.  No more clockwork trains.

The dad of a very old friend of mine died while we were away.  I went to the funeral on Monday.  It was quite difficult (quite? I mean very - and he wasn't my dad!).  I was so incredibly impressed by her strength as she stood up and said some words about him and about the wonderful life he had lived.  How she could do that without breaking down I don't know.  It made me think though, it made me think of how lucky I am to have Peter, my two monkey children, and to still have my parents and brother.  I realise how many questions I have to ask my mum and dad - like how my mum makes her Christmas cake, what is was like to go on a big boat to Australia during the war, what the 60s were like for them!  I should write a list and ask them so I don't ever wish I had but never did.

Anyway, onto more positive tones.  Isobel has decided that she wants to be an ipad when she grows up.  How we laughed we she announced that one!  Arthur is running around cuddling everyone in sight which is lovely. And me? Well, I am still getting better I think.  The pills aren't needed anymore and I can't believe its about 6 months since I stopped.  It's still hard at times, but I'm monitoring it and can now quite clearly link it to the lovely monthly cycle.  So at certain times I should really just stick a sticker on my head and say 'keep away, I'm grumpy'. 

Durdle Door coastline (not the door itself of course).  One of my favourite spots!

I have also realise that what I need is a little adventure.  Holidays with family are great, I love them.  But I realise that before I had children I used to travel.  Quite a bit.  I traveled with work and on holiday - to some great and different places - Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uzbekistan, Northumberland (!) and so on.  Since becoming pregnant with Isobel more than 4 years ago I've been on a plane once (well, twice if you count coming back again).

It's a massive change.  I don't want my old life back in terms of traveling a lot with work etc., but I do want a little bit of travel again.  So, the plans are afoot.  It's off to Delhi and Orissa next year (for work, to see some toilets - 2.5 billion people don't have access to 'improved' sanitation - basically they poo in the open.  I'm off to look at work being done to try to help address this problem and understand how to do it in a cost effective way - i.e - build toilets that people actually use).  Then, and this is the exciting bit.  To Burma hopefully, with another very old friend.  Just a week but even so.  I am so excited at the thought.

To counter that excitement and help me sleep, I have found myself perusing the Lakeland catalogue.  Now Lakeland, for those who aren't familiar, is a shop which sells all sorts of stuff for the kitchen (and home) - from baking trays to peelers and knives.  And always some sort of crazy thing that you can't imagine anyone using.  Peter and I had a competition - to find the most useless looking item.  In the current catalogue, in order of perceived uselessness we have:

• the stuffing protector (£8) - not quite sure why string won't do...very closely followed by
• the tea tool 'no drips on worktops, no burnt fingers and no mess' - seems like glorified tongs for a teabag to us! (£4.49)
• the egg boiling machine (£11.99)

And finally, the Great British Bake Off - oh my, it's the final next week.  What will I do when it finishes AND there are no Olympics to watch!  I am going to place a bet I think, on James.  The Tank Top boy.  I love his flavours and use of Whiskey!

Disco Divas.....made from gingerbread!

So, Peter is home.  Hoorah.  He was a little jetlagged but that didn't stop Isobel waking him up every few minutes such was the excitement!  There I was, entertaining her with trips to climbing frames and doing craft and baking....but no - she just wanted her daddy - I mean, all he does is take her to Tool Station or the Car Wash! (ok, I jest, he is very good really).

Anyway, after Mrs WP gave birth to the lovely Daniel on Thursday, Isobel and I decided to have a go at testing out a few more lovely Lakeland purchases.  In addition to the cake release (see previous blog), I had also purchased a baking genius tray and some russian doll cutters.  

I was quite excited by my new baking tray - my old ones are knackered due to putting them in the dishwasher (I didn't read the instructions properly) so this new one promised to be non stick and dishwasher proof!  As for the dollies, everyone loves a Russian Doll and I have thought about all the various benefits of these cutters which I thought were great!  More on that below.  In the meantime, Isobel and I decided to make gingerbread Russian Dolls.  We used Delia's gingerbread recipe which I won't repeat here as it's all on her site - http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/sweet/gingerbread-men.html

We rolled out the dough with our lovely Joseph Joseph rolling pin and one of the first exciting things about the cutters was that because they nest inside each other, you can make a lot of cookies as they fit well together and the small ones can easily be squeezed in those difficult bits of dough you sometimes have left:

Then it was into the oven for 13 minutes to cook them.  The big test came when we took the biscuits off - they literally slid off the baking tray and left only little oily marks where they had been:

So, all in all I was quite pleased with my baking tray and will be testing it out again soon!

What did I think of the cutters?  Well, apart from the fact that they nest and therefore you can make lots of biscuits, I liked the fact that toddlers can make their own dollies and you end up with some smaller ones which are good for small people (and people on a diet) and larger ones that are good for adults.  Making gingerbread ones means that you don't need to add butter so they can be eaten by people with lactose intolerance and also they are good for christmas.  I also think that you could probably use them for a host of other cookies - perhaps father christmas, a snowman, penguins, etc etc.  But probably not Peppa Pig.

Busy, Busy, Busy....not just eating too many biscuits

Upside down biscuits!

I don't know what's come over me - I've been doing all sorts of random cooking and sewing!  I think it's having the evenings to myself but not being able to run as there is no one to look after the little ones if they wake up!  Arty has a cold so I've been smearing him with vicks, including on his feet which I remember reading somewhere was meant to help.....lets see.

So last night, I set about learning something new - quilting.  I had this great idea to make coasters for Xmas presents.....mmmh.  To help me out I opened a box of waitrose biscuits (on special - £2.75 a box) and they were so yummy I ate a few too many....it was Mrs WP's fault - texting me that her waters had broken whilst sitting on the sofa!  Mine broke with Arthur (not really with Isobel) and it was quite a hollywood moment - gutted that I wasn't in John Lewis or Marks and Sparks with potential for a trolley dash (is that an urban myth???).

Anyway, I think the biscuits addled my brain.  My first attempt at quilting was not that successful.  I was trying to make these bound edge coasters which required 3 layers of batting sandwiched in two layers of fabric and then really tight quilting....and clearly with a steady hand so you can make it vaguely straight...something I don't have.  So if you look at the pictures on the link and then look at the picture below, you'll see why I decided that frankly Arthur could just have an unfinished one as a toy!

Completely not straight

Much better as toy!

But I perservered - and tried a slightly less tricky one which only had one layer of batting....not great but better than the previous one.  Don't think coasters are going to be the Christmas present of choice somehow!

Health Health, low calorie!

And today was another new day.  Isobel was in nursery for the day and as Arthur was full of cold I continued on my making spree.   Finally rid myself of the butternut squash in the fridge and made a squash soup, then turned my attention to the massive box of apples which are slowly going a bit mouldy in the garage!  One lot turned into an apple, sultana and cinnamon stew for Arthur and Isobel, and with the other I decided to try out and review the cake release spray I found at the lovely Lakeland:

£3.99 from Lakeland

 I was a bit dubious about getting it but someone had mentioned that it worked really well.  I'm a bit slapdash normally when it comes to greasing cakes so they end up getting stuck.  This only needs a tiny bit and you then brush it round the tin with a pastry brush.  Pour in the mixture (in my case an apple cake) and then bake.  The result?  Well, the cake just popped out.  It was great.  So, a good investment if you bake a lot.

Here is the finished cake with lovely smooth edges!

And finally, I decided to have a go at sewing another purse - this time with a flat bottom.  Now I found the instructions on a website somewhere and now can'tfind the link.  I'll add it when I do.  It's a good set of instructions and I'm quite pleased with the result.  Might make some more - practice makes perfect!

And this is the flat bottom