I dreamt that Michael C Hall lived near me, he's the serial killer Dexter Morgan from the show Dexter. He came to our house one day for a cup of tea. The place was a mess and other half was decorating a living room at the front of the house. I was in the back living room with Michael C Hall asking the tea. The tea was actually little capsules, I'm thinking like a herbal type tea. Michael did not want milk in his. I had a cup and a mug but struggled to find another mug for other half. I was scrabbling in boxes of packed up stuff no joy. I stood and watched the tea capsules dissolve, Michael drank from the cup and he balanced it on top of my mug.
After a while I showed Michael around the house, he was amazed at the work other half was doing with the decorating, actually he wasn't doing so good. Anyway I left him there while I in went to find Mag so he could meet him too.
Michael and Mag were soon deep in conversation, he told Mag they were working on another series but this time about food. The title of the program was something like 'chicken to go'. After he left Mag quietly recounted to me what the series was and its title.
Then my dream then took me outside Michael's manager's office. He was in there and raging about what Mag had told me, how he knew I don't know, I guessed we were bugged. He snarled at Michael that he shouldn't have shared the name of the new show, and now it has to be changed.
Thursday 29 April 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
Moths & Mammals
The Ulster Wildlife Trust held an event at the Balloo Wetlands on Saturday, the topics covered were moths & mammals. I usually try to go to these local talks with the children as they are small enough you can enjoy them and always very informative. The children had a great day, learned lots, and each came away with a bag of goodies.
Thursday 22 April 2010
A Star A Star
This is going to be a big brag post!
We home educate as you probably all know! Well my eldest son sat the first two modules of three, for his maths GCSE. The way it worked out he ended up doing two modules in one day back at the start of March this year. Anyhow the results are in, and he did very well. For Module 1 out of a possible score of 108, Mag achieved 101 and that is an A*, on Module 3 out of 162 he got 160 and that too is an A*. All that's left to do is Module 5 at the beginning of June and with a bit of luck he will do well in that one too.
There is always a 'problem' arranging for home educated kids to sit their GCSE exams, well its not really a problem but you have to contact a school and ask them if they will take a child as an external candidate. Not all schools will accommodate external candidates, not that its any trouble, but simply because they don't. So you may need to contact a few schools to get one that will let you sit an exam. Anyhow the school where Mag sat his exams have now come back to us and said he can do all of his exams there, which is a huge result for us. Prior to him getting his two A*s I was under the impression they wouldn't be able to accommodate him for everything so as you can imagine I am really pleased at how this has worked out for him. Mag is hoping to sit his next three GCSE exams starting with the first modules for those in November this year.
Okay another brag ...
Mag goes to a Company Section of the Boys Brigade in a near by town. He missed a lot of last years Boys Brigade due to illness so this was his first full year with that Company. Mag has been in the boys brigade for nine years working up through the various levels. Monday was the parents evening and the last night of this years BB. He received a few badges for various completed projects through out the year and also the award for BEST BOY! Once again, twice in less than a week I have to admit I was really really proud of him.
We home educate as you probably all know! Well my eldest son sat the first two modules of three, for his maths GCSE. The way it worked out he ended up doing two modules in one day back at the start of March this year. Anyhow the results are in, and he did very well. For Module 1 out of a possible score of 108, Mag achieved 101 and that is an A*, on Module 3 out of 162 he got 160 and that too is an A*. All that's left to do is Module 5 at the beginning of June and with a bit of luck he will do well in that one too.
There is always a 'problem' arranging for home educated kids to sit their GCSE exams, well its not really a problem but you have to contact a school and ask them if they will take a child as an external candidate. Not all schools will accommodate external candidates, not that its any trouble, but simply because they don't. So you may need to contact a few schools to get one that will let you sit an exam. Anyhow the school where Mag sat his exams have now come back to us and said he can do all of his exams there, which is a huge result for us. Prior to him getting his two A*s I was under the impression they wouldn't be able to accommodate him for everything so as you can imagine I am really pleased at how this has worked out for him. Mag is hoping to sit his next three GCSE exams starting with the first modules for those in November this year.
Okay another brag ...
Mag goes to a Company Section of the Boys Brigade in a near by town. He missed a lot of last years Boys Brigade due to illness so this was his first full year with that Company. Mag has been in the boys brigade for nine years working up through the various levels. Monday was the parents evening and the last night of this years BB. He received a few badges for various completed projects through out the year and also the award for BEST BOY! Once again, twice in less than a week I have to admit I was really really proud of him.
Ice Cream Recipes for the Ice Cream Maker
We love ice cream, well who doesn't. There's something different about home made ice cream, its creamier, smoother, once tried you always have second helpings. Ice cream is best enjoyed once it has been out of the freezer for ten minutes, many people drag it out of the cold abyss and dig in. If you are one of those people you can never appreciate the smoothness of the frozen delight.
Here's a couple of recipes we enjoy.
Bourneville Chocolate Ice Cream
150g of caster sugar
250ml of milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon of cocoa
3 egg yolks beaten
50g of Cadbury's Bourneville Chocolate (any chocolate would do, variety is the spice of life)
500ml of double cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or flavouring
I use an ice cream maker but I guess you can make it without by whipping your mix prior to freezing then whipping it every half hour through out the freezing process.
Combine the sugar, milk, salt and cocoa powder in a pan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, be very careful you don't boil this mix.
Place the eggs into a bowl or large jug, slowly, carefully trickle a little of the hot simmering liquid into the eggs and mix. (this bit is crucial otherwise you get scrambled eggs) Return the mix to the pan, if for some reason you get a couple bits of 'cooked' egg then fish it out, it wont affect the end result.
Simmer the mix until it thickens. Stir in the chocolate till it is melted and allow your mix to cool
Once cool, stir in the cream and vanilla and put into your ice cream maker for about 40 minutes. Now once this comes out of my ice cream maker its still quite soft and runny, I don't know if this is a flaw of my maker or this is how they all are so you need to put your 'ice cream' into the freezer for a few hours.
When you are ready to serve don't forget to bring your ice cream out of the freezer and allow it to sit for about ten minutes before you dish up.
Toffee Ice Cream
This recipe is so easy and versatile. I use different chocolate bars for different variations. One day this will be Toffee Crisp Ice Cream, and another day it will be Crunchie Ice cream, you get the idea. The brown sugar in this recipes, once cooked, will give a very convincing toffee flavour (lick the spoon).
you need
1 Table spoon of butter
200g of dark brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
175ml milk
175ml double cream
125ml double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ice Cream maker or follow method in above recipe.
Heat the brown sugar, milk, 175ml of cream in a pan. Bring to a simmer. Once again put your eggs in a separate bowl and trickle in some of the warm mix, run it down the side of the bowl so it cools a little. Again watch out for cooked eggs! Return the eggs and mix to the pan and simmer this mix until it thickens.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, stir in remaining cream and vanilla. Break up one or two bars of your choice and add to this cooled mix.
Run this mix in the ice cream maker for about 40 minutes then pour into a freezer dish. Freeze for several hours before needed.
For serving take this ice cream out of the freezer ten minutes before you are going to eat it.
Here's a couple of recipes we enjoy.
Bourneville Chocolate Ice Cream
150g of caster sugar
250ml of milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon of cocoa
3 egg yolks beaten
50g of Cadbury's Bourneville Chocolate (any chocolate would do, variety is the spice of life)
500ml of double cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or flavouring
I use an ice cream maker but I guess you can make it without by whipping your mix prior to freezing then whipping it every half hour through out the freezing process.
Combine the sugar, milk, salt and cocoa powder in a pan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, be very careful you don't boil this mix.
Place the eggs into a bowl or large jug, slowly, carefully trickle a little of the hot simmering liquid into the eggs and mix. (this bit is crucial otherwise you get scrambled eggs) Return the mix to the pan, if for some reason you get a couple bits of 'cooked' egg then fish it out, it wont affect the end result.
Simmer the mix until it thickens. Stir in the chocolate till it is melted and allow your mix to cool
Once cool, stir in the cream and vanilla and put into your ice cream maker for about 40 minutes. Now once this comes out of my ice cream maker its still quite soft and runny, I don't know if this is a flaw of my maker or this is how they all are so you need to put your 'ice cream' into the freezer for a few hours.
When you are ready to serve don't forget to bring your ice cream out of the freezer and allow it to sit for about ten minutes before you dish up.
Toffee Ice Cream
This recipe is so easy and versatile. I use different chocolate bars for different variations. One day this will be Toffee Crisp Ice Cream, and another day it will be Crunchie Ice cream, you get the idea. The brown sugar in this recipes, once cooked, will give a very convincing toffee flavour (lick the spoon).
you need
1 Table spoon of butter
200g of dark brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
175ml milk
175ml double cream
125ml double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ice Cream maker or follow method in above recipe.
Heat the brown sugar, milk, 175ml of cream in a pan. Bring to a simmer. Once again put your eggs in a separate bowl and trickle in some of the warm mix, run it down the side of the bowl so it cools a little. Again watch out for cooked eggs! Return the eggs and mix to the pan and simmer this mix until it thickens.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, stir in remaining cream and vanilla. Break up one or two bars of your choice and add to this cooled mix.
Run this mix in the ice cream maker for about 40 minutes then pour into a freezer dish. Freeze for several hours before needed.
For serving take this ice cream out of the freezer ten minutes before you are going to eat it.
Meet Your Maker
There are 'makers' for everything!
Well there are and they are all living inside my kitchen except one. Thanks to my friend I am going to end up with yet another maker, a yoghurt maker. I wasn't going to but I will probably succumb...
I cant see my kitchen worktops, and my cupboards are full.
The makers are taking over slowly, one by one.
I have a bread maker, which doubles (or trebles or maybe quadruples) up as a jam maker, pizza base maker and jam maker.
Then there is the ice cream maker which I am using a lot at the moment. I have a smoothie maker which was leaking but now with a bit on imagination is fixed. I broke it because I put it in the dishwasher without taking the blades out so the seal ring and it seals no more. I got some plumbers tape, you know that white stuff that goes a bit stringy, and its all better now back to making smoothies.
I got a rice maker, it doubles up to make something else I forgot what ... maybe its porridge.
Oh I don't have a chip maker or chip pan, cant stand those wretched things, nasty, stinky, have you ever put one in a dishwasher?
I did have a pie maker, it make gorgeous neat deep pies in 8 minutes, sealed them and they were the most delicious pies I had ever eaten. Trouble about the pie make was that it was a b****r to clean so I got rid of it. the burger maker quickly followed suit. Ooh what I would do with a pie maker or burger maker with removable plates.
Anyhow, please tell me about your makers, I am always on the look out for new ideas.
Oh and while you are at it, shall I get that yoghurt maker?
Well there are and they are all living inside my kitchen except one. Thanks to my friend I am going to end up with yet another maker, a yoghurt maker. I wasn't going to but I will probably succumb...
I cant see my kitchen worktops, and my cupboards are full.
The makers are taking over slowly, one by one.
I have a bread maker, which doubles (or trebles or maybe quadruples) up as a jam maker, pizza base maker and jam maker.
Then there is the ice cream maker which I am using a lot at the moment. I have a smoothie maker which was leaking but now with a bit on imagination is fixed. I broke it because I put it in the dishwasher without taking the blades out so the seal ring and it seals no more. I got some plumbers tape, you know that white stuff that goes a bit stringy, and its all better now back to making smoothies.
I got a rice maker, it doubles up to make something else I forgot what ... maybe its porridge.
Oh I don't have a chip maker or chip pan, cant stand those wretched things, nasty, stinky, have you ever put one in a dishwasher?
I did have a pie maker, it make gorgeous neat deep pies in 8 minutes, sealed them and they were the most delicious pies I had ever eaten. Trouble about the pie make was that it was a b****r to clean so I got rid of it. the burger maker quickly followed suit. Ooh what I would do with a pie maker or burger maker with removable plates.
Anyhow, please tell me about your makers, I am always on the look out for new ideas.
Oh and while you are at it, shall I get that yoghurt maker?
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Funny Faces
Thing about Sol is that she likes to pull a funny face now and again! Lately she has been doing it each time I have my camera out, I have some amusing photos which I sure she will be awfully embarrassed about when she grows up.
Look carefully at this photo, I didn't notice while I was taking it that summer was laying under the stone pulling faces.
Look carefully at this photo, I didn't notice while I was taking it that summer was laying under the stone pulling faces.
Easter Egg Hunt
The Easter Bunny! Actually his name is Dougal and he is the black lionhead rabbit which belongs to the children.
Well, its ages past Easter but I have loads of different things to blog about .....
First things first lets get the Easter Egg hunt out of the way. Every year we have an Easter egg hunt in out garden and our neighbours garden for the six children we have. Well this year Mag hid the eggs so I cant really count him as an 'egg seeker'. Great fun was had by all and of course lots of chocolate was consumed that day.
In the afternoon we went into the village as they were having a little Easter fun afternoon aimed at children. the kids got to hold little chicks and pet some other creatures.
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