The completed job (almost)

It has only taken since last Wednesday for this 'bug' that we have to get round our family. I think we must be almost over it,Seb this morning was ill but he seems to be okay now. After changing his bed yet again we live in hope that tomorrow I might get that mountain of washing down a bit so it is not holding me to ransom any more.



I want to share something - a friend in the USA sent me an ornament. We do an ornament exchange every year, it makes it special to have something different, especially one sent by a good friend. This is what I got ...



Thankyou Kim XOXO







Today was a long one - I am trying (like everyone else) to get things ready for the big day.



We made some buns, the children decorated them .....



My kitchen - the longest drawn out decorating project in the history of mankind.

This has been going on since October, we had various things happen in between like a lovely big leak in the pipes under our sink.

S0 we have taken various shots from around the kitchen, all except the sink wall ... two reasons we have a gaping big hole where the cupboard should be,I am hoping we will get it put back tomorrow. Secondly we haven't finished that bit of tiles and it is not so pretty - I will slot those photos in as we get done.

anyway - so far ... The kids computer corner, this is where the kids play if I am cooking or what ever.


The breakfast bar.

Please Look Away

If you are liable to get a Christmas gift from us then please look away now!

We decided to try something different for our gifts this year - neighbours and friends are getting hand made gifts instead of bought ones.

Snowman Soup thanks to http://www.organizedchristmas.com/.
These simple gifts were made by putting a bag or marshmallows, some wrapped chocolates, and a couple of sachets of hot chocolate in a lovely snowman mug.

The tag has the poem
Snowman Soup
Was told you've been real good this year.
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You'll need to warm the spirit.
So here's a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It's sure to do the trick!


The jars below were also simple to make.
The whiter jars need to be made two weeks before you are going to give or use them. Simply split a vanilla pod length ways and cut it into three. Put the vanilla pod and caster sugar in a sterilised jar and give a little shake. After two or three weeks the sugar will smell devine - mmmm. You can use the vanilla sugar in coffee, hot chocolate, baking or anything else you fancy. This is an everlasting gift too, because when your sugar goes down you can refill it a number of times before the vanilla pod fades.

The other jars are maldon sea salt, with some dried chillies, peppercorns and a couple of star anise. The spiced salt is great for putting on your steaks or rubbing onto roast chicken for a bit of extra kick!

Christmas Dinner!

What do you do for Christmas dinner? We don't have a Christmas day dinner as such, come lunch time the children are done in. You know how it is they just cant sleep with excitement then up early to peek and see if Santa has been. Earlier years half asleep children and frazzled parents do not compliment the Christmas menu. The last couple of years we have cooked our main Christmas dinner on boxing day and I have to say it is so much better that way, everyone has enjoyed their meal and it was far more relaxed.

Last year I decided to try something different - Nigella Lawson Christmas! I have always enjoyed baking and cooking over Christmas, and have always enjoyed the main meal, but I was suitably impressed with Nigella's recipe I shall be making it again this year. The beauty about her recipe there is no exactness - just adapt it to what you like. Oh and the turkey was juicy just like she said!

SPICED AND SUPER JUICY ROAST TURKEY

You need to start two days before the big day - it is so easy too.

Ingredients
6 litres of water (approx)
1 large orange quartered
250g Maldon sea salt or 125g of table salt
3 X 15ml tablespoons of black peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
1 Cinnamon stick
15ml spoon of caraway seeds
2 x 15ml tablespoons allspice berries
4star anise
2 x 15ml spoons of mustard seeds
200g caster sugar
2 onions unpeeled and quartered (which I missed out and suggest you do too)
1 6cm piece of ginger unpeeled and sliced
4 x 15ml tablespoons of maple syrup
4 x 15ml tablespoon runny honey
stalks of parsley if you have any
and of course 1 turkey 5.5kg/12lb (ish)

for the glaze
75g goose fat
3 x 15ml spoons maple syrup


put the water into the largest lidded pot you can find - or a clean bucket with a sealing lid. Squeeze the juice from the oranges then throw the skins in too. Stir in all the other ingredients and make sure the salt and sugar is dissolved. Put your turkey in minus the giblets and allow it to sit in the spiced water for up to two days - store it outside in the cold.

an hour before cooking lift it out the water and allow it to warm.

Preheat the oven at 200degrees

melt the goosefat and male syrup together gently in a pan - this is your glaze. Paint it on the turkey with the glaze and baste it now and again.

For a 12lb bird you need to cook for about 2 1/2 hours - this is shorter than what you would expect because you allowed the turkey to rest for an hour before you put it in the oven.

Add an extra half hour if you do stuff your turkey. Why don't you wrap your stuffing in bacon and cook it in foil separately - I do this and it is so much nicer.

I also made my own cranberry sauce which I will try to post the recipe for later.

Busy day

I want to get my kitchen painted this weekend. Well painted, papered, I don’t really care which right now. We, finally after 5 and a half months, got plans passed for the building of a fair sized extension to our house and that will include a whole new kitchen. So for now I just want my kitchen fresh and tidy again (which it isn’t very tidy just now). I started emptying my cupboards this morning for a good clean and so far I have managed to do three hours lessons for the kids, been to the butcher shop, chemist, blogged a little and been on freecycle too … not much cleaning going on.


Organize Your Kitchen

The kitchen is often the centre of a family home, with people gathering there to do many activities in addition to cooking and eating. The more organized your kitchen is, the more inviting it will be. I love having my kitchen organised, if things are not in tubs with snap tight lids then I think the cupboards look messy and things get spilled easy. I don’t want to have to go wiping everything down all the time.

Its always a good idea to take a quick inventory when you are sorting things out, its perfect way to check what you might need for Christmas which is almost upon us. Are there items that you have unnecessary duplicates of that you don't really need? If so, get rid of them, do you really need 6 boxes of lasagne? Pass them on to your friends or neighbours, checking the dates as you go of course. Passing extra food on not only makes you feel good but clutters up their cupboards instead - this in turn makes your kitchen look good.

There are a few simple changes that you can make to your kitchen to help with storage. Many items once opened have a habit of spilling out and not stacking neatly. in the cupboards. This is where the snap shut containers come in – tee hee. Pots and pans are a pain, I find they start off neatly stacked but through time you gather more and it seems that no body in the house knows how to stack them apart from you. You could hang your pots with butcher hooks from a rail, this makes them more accessible. There are many nice designs you can buy that will fit with most any décor.

The way your kitchen is laid out will have an impact in how you organize your tools and cooking supplies. An island offers a wonderful workspace that also provides a good deal of storage - my new kitchen is going to have an island. Storing your bakewear near the oven is a logical thing to do. Sometimes the oven itself will have a storage drawer in the base where you can keep baking sheets and less bulky items. Your other baking supplies like spatulas, wooden spoons, and ladles, can be stored in drawers near the oven too.

It is also a good idea to store your dishes, glassware and cutlery near the dishwasher or sink. This reduces the amount of time it takes to put things away after washing. There are many cupboard and drawer organizers that can help maximize your space for storing your dishes as well, many are able to be bought from pound shops and the like.

There are many organization and storage units that can help increase your storage space. Even an extra set of shelves on top of the cabinet can increase your space. Open canisters also make a great place to store larger utensils that don't always fit well in the drawers.

Every kitchen is laid out a bit differently, so it may take some experimenting to see what sort of system works best for you. But once you establish a system, you might be surprised at how much more organized your kitchen is and how much time you'll save in preparing meals for your family.

I always find when my kitchen is tidy and organised I am more inspired to go in there and cook or bake!

Under the table!

Yesterday, the 11th November 2008 was a 'funny' day.

I had to do a few errands early on in the day, off to the chemist, newsagent for birthday cards and wrapping paper, and the like. I called in at the Co-Op for the usual food supplies with Seb our 5yo, he was looking at everything as usual. I left him playing at one of the promotional baskets, he was happy and occupied and I continued to stroll along that aisle. I heard him crying and turned to see him talking to a lady. She asked him what the matter was, Seb replied "I have lost my mummy", Well dear what does she look like?", much to my amazement he said "You will recognise her because she has hair extensions".

The woman came up to me and said "ARE you his mummy?" while she scrutinised my hair.

Later in the day we went off to a friend's house for a birthday party. Her son just turned 12, we did the usual birthday greetings, presents, food etc.

Afterwards Seb was rather quiet, this is where I found him...

Oh and he was eating Sol's piece of birthday cake.

Toni's 6th BIrthday

I am catching up - been so far behind in posting my photos and updates ..been a busy time for us.

These photos are from the 22nd of September 08, I know it was a few Weeks ago but I just had to share. Toni's 6th Birthday was a bitter sweet day for us all because on her 5th birthday my mother, Toni's grandmother passed away. Toni's 5th birthday was spoiled, and now we have to live with that date being not only a special day but a painful reminder of me losing my mother at the young age of 56.

It was a nice day weather ways, which made a chance seeing as it had been raining for the past 3 months. We had quite a few friends to help mark the day, plenty of food and TWO birthday cakes!



first thing on the actual day opening her gifts.



Seb joining in the fun!



Sol too.


Toni got a vet kit.

We are back!

Its been an age - posting photos here, chatting to my friends, catching up ...well they say "better late than never".



Its only taken me two weeks to trawl through the 600 or so photos we have taken between us. Its hard choosing which to print, you cant print them all - nor do you want to.



For those who have been asking where the photos of the blue sky and my where my white bits are ... you have to wait. First thing first!


My Grandmother has knocked on deaths door and so far has been refused entry this week. The poor lady is clinging on to life just now, after being given the news earlier this week she wouldn't make it ... she is still here. The doctors are saying "pray"!


Sol went to see the neurosurgeon also, I think I will cover that in another post.



The cat has been to the vet (rolling eyes) AGAIN!! Well good news this time, good news for her, she is now allowed out of that tiny cage she has been in for two months. Her healing has gone way beyond what anyone expected, even though her leg is still dragging she definitely has some muscles in it now.



Sol has started playgroup, again, so to speak. Sol went to playgroup for three days before our holiday, she wasn't toilet trained so it wasn't really official if you know what I mean. WELL - our girl has done us proud and is making real efforts to keep dry now.



Before I get onto the sunny photos, and believe me there are loads I have to share this first.

It was our eldest boy, Mag's, Birthday on the 6th while we were gone. We arranged a cake for him and the girls who ran the kidzworld cooked up a surprise.



This is Mag showing off one of his cards ...



By the way, he is mad on cars.






He was unaware that we had ordered a cake and we just spent the day doing normal things you do on a birthday, swimming in the pool, relaxing ... just like we do back hone (not).

We had planned on going to a cabaret show that night, it turned out to be a really good show with some quality acts. Anyways we got there to find a table decorated for Mag just to put him in the party mood. We were served chicken in a basket with fries.



This is what Seb thought of it all, well actually it was just a long day for all. Seb fell asleep during the show and missed the whole birthday surprise for Mag.



Half way through the cabaret it was announced that there was a change to the program. The compare asked if there were any 'special people' in the audience - and got Mag up on stage.



After wards they gave Mag a cocktail called Harry Potter which was right up his street. (Mum and dad had a few cocktails too)

Empty Fridge Syndrome

We have no perishable food in the house, none! Yesterday we were fed up with having nothing nice the children decided to 'bake'.



They made TOPHATS, which to the person who doesn't know how to make them simply melted chocolate poured into the base of a paper bun case, a marshmallow added and a little smartie or jelly tot stuck on the top with a little more melted choclate.



This is Hollie and Ellis showing off their buns!






On to the topic of why we have no food .... I haven't bought any!



We are going on holiday tomorrow, and I must say out of all the holidays we have ever been on this is the one I am most looking forward to. Like you couldn't tell we were looking forward to it, we have bored everyone with our talk of escaping.



Before I start I shall express my sympathies to anyone suffering severe weather like Hurricane Gustav, or any other extreme weather.



The weather here in Northern Ireland has been down right depressing. I am not talking about miserable, I am talking months and months of heavy rain. The dry days this summer can be counted on one hand, even during those dry days it did rain at some point. I myself suffer in the cold weather, I have health problems which make my joints sore and that alone is making me down. I am not one to complain, but I tend to hibernate in the winter but this year it feels as though I have been hibernating all year.

Just now I look out of my dining room window and the sky is grey, the grass is green through all the rain, and the driveway is pretty much one giant puddle. The children are fed up as they cannot go out side and play on their lovely new garden toys that they got this year.

The only saving grace for us is that we are leaving it all behind for a couple of weeks - and for that reason we are all entirely ecstatic.

We had made many plans to go out an about this summer; meet friends, do the garden, paint the house, go cycling ... well as you can imagine they all went out of the window because of the weather (or is that a lame excuse?). I feel guilty I hadn't made more of an effort but my other half assures me that no body minded too much and it seems that no body in the house is going to hold it against me. Just as well I reckon.









Funny quotes this week



The children were talking about dieing.

Seb says "I wont die as I dont go into the kitchen"

Toni replied "Awe Seb, everyone dies once in a while".

Busy Day Saturday - SNOW?!

Saturday 12th July

The 12th of July was actually a holiday day here where we live. With it being a holiday and people headed down the coast to see the demonstrations we figured that it would be a nice quiet day to go out.

Our neighbours, who we are very good friends with came with us. We headed to the Marina in the next town ...



We walked along the coastal path past the marina and round to the kiddies play park.




The two girls are great friends with our children - I took this photo not realising that Toni and one of them was holding hands. awwww











We had a lovely morning then lunch and ice creams before we headed home.

Did I tell you it snowed while we were out?



Just Kidding - someone put a bottle of bubble bath inthe water fountain




That afternoon we went to a barbeque then home again for tea time. It was hard at the barbeque, Roy and I already knew we had an evening invite back at our neighbours for dinner -they were going on holiday and we wanted to spend some time together. So we let the kids munch their way through the barbeque food while we politely pushed a salad around our plates.

Hedgehogs and Fruit

TODAY - well where do I start ... this morning I was rudely awoken by the day break! Getting up I braved a lovely hot shower and a vitamin drink! After the couple small pleasures of the day it was time to tackle more laundry, putting away all the boys things and managing my own, hubby's and some of the girls' clothes I realised it was almost 10am. My cleaner arrived to help me with my housework, ooohhh I do love my cleaner friend. She is a friend too but her job is a cleaner and she does mine woohoo happy dance. Afterwards we do get to sit down to a cup of tea and a gossip.

This is my princess Sol, when she hears the presenters on the radio talking about "the summer".


My shopping arrived this morning as scheduled so I spent the remaining part of the morning sorting groceries out and making space in the freezer. Lunch time brought on a sudden urge to make hedge hog buns with Ellis.

RECIPE

Ingredients
24 fairy cakes chocolate or plain
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
hot water
125g margarine
250g icing sugar
chocolate sticks like match makers
silver ball decorations
chocolate sugar strands
jelly tots or something similar size eg smarties, cherries

Instructions
cream the margarine until pale
Mix the cocoa powder with half a tablespoon of hot water, adding more if need be to make it into a paste.
Mix cocoa powder mix with the margarine, then add the icing sugar. Beat until mixed.

turn the 24 fairy cakes upside down on a baking tray - make sure the paper cases are removed of course otherwise this wont work.

cover the fairy cakes in the chocolate frosting - I just dipped mine in, but if they are too fresh they might crumble.

dip or sprinkle each frosted fairy cake with chocolate strands.

add silver ball eyes, jelly tot nose and broken up chocolate sticks as spikes.

here is our efforts - despite how these look they are fun to make and delicious to eat.



I did offer to take my cleaner friend home later in the afternoon and discovered yet again the car would not start. As luck would have it I had parked the other car in front of it last night so we were able to jump start it. This happens a lot and its pretty annoying when you want to go somewhere and you have to jump start your car.... so off I went to the garage leaving Roy in charge of two children and one came with me (the other one is still at camp). The man at the garage tested the battery and it is fine. As the problem is intermittent there was nothing more he could do for me at that moment, I have to wait till it wont start and call him out to the house. This is the point where I am banging my head on the wall. As the only time I know it wont start is when I get in the car to go somewhere, and the only time I get in the car is when I AM going somewhere which means I will have to drop everything one day and wait for a mechanic. Similarly if Roy is using this car, which sometimes he does as its a 'bus' then he will have to drop all instead of working to wait for the mechanic to come and rescue him. Its a pain!


On a more fruity note - we were out in the garden this evening and noticed our fruit trees are bearing fruit. Last year we had 16 apples, and our neighbour's little girl came in and picked them all while they were still small so we did not get any fruit! This year she has been warned - and the trees are a little bigger. We have loads of apples on two of the trees, some plums on another, and the cherry tree well it is pathetic and has nothing at all so far. We also have raspberries by the dozen and one single solitary strawberry, well we had three strawberries but Toni ate two!

I faked it

My sun tan that is. I hate how that stuff smells so I always put in on an hour before I shower, that way I get the tan without the icky coconut smell. I love coconut but this stuff stinks. Sitting here smelling icky I thought I had better give you a quick update...

We had another busy week last week. The highlight if it had to have been a visit to a friend from our home education group. That's how I met her, but I think now we have become good friends which is nice. Anyways - she is pregnant, very pregnant with baby due in a couple months its pretty obvious. On arrival, Seb after doing his obligatory toilet inspection, decided to tell my friend that she was fat. Quite bold about it, and thank goodness she is pregnant otherwise I might have just had to turn and leave there and then LOL. The visit went well, although it was late when we left and I think everyone was exhausted. We had hot dogs on the way home and the kids fell into bed tired and happy.

The following day, or maybe day after Seb was thinking about my "fat friend" (sorry no offence meant D.), this was obviously playing on his mind. He went into playgroup and told everyone that I was having baby! They asked him "are you sure?", and yes he was so sure about that. My friend who runs the playgroup was explaining how I wasn't pregnant to Ellis as she knows I would have told her, but he kept on insisting. So it looks I am having a baby too - LOL I wish I had that excuse for my stomach.

The weekend brought another further incident regarding our windows *sigh* one of those weeks, we discovered one of the 8ft double glazed windows in the TV room had broken, huge cracks running all over it. Total loss as to how it happened, so now we need to get that seen to. KERCHING KERCHING I can see this will cost a few pounds.

The window escapades over we had three parties to go to, come Sunday night the kids had so many e-numbers and junk food they were high as kites ... at least they had fun, and a week of detoxing is underway.

16th January 2008

Looks like we have a budding chef in our house! Mag made dinner for us last night and we all survived, joking, it turned out well.

here is his recipe

Ashley's Sausage Pasta Bake

What you need

good pack of fat sausages
3 carrots
olive oil
some paprika
ketchup
BBQ sauce
pasta
cheese

Cook a half pan of pasta according tot he packet directions and drain

cut up the sausages into small bite size chunks
slice the carrots wafer thin
sprinkle a bit of olive oil round a frying pan and fry the carrots and sausages till browned
add sprinkling of paprika at this browning stage
once sausages are cooked add a splodge of BBQ sauce and a good lashing of ketchup
stir and cook for another moment or two

grate a stack of cheese

mix coked pasta, sausage ketchup mix, and cheese in a big Pyrex dish.

throw the dish into a hot oven until its cooked to your liking

serve and enjoy!