DOWN TO THREE

I took an unexpected drive to Carrickfergus today. Mag got a birthday party invite to go to the cinema followed by dinner in Pizza Hut with friends. I had no problem letting him go and staying at their house over night so we only had to make the journey once today. We need to go to Belfast tomorrow so it will work out well for collecting him.


The afternoon ended up a bit rushed though, we headed off at 1.45 to leave Mag off at chess club. The plan was to use the hour he is in chess club to go pick up a thing I had got off Freecylce then pop in the back door of the Flagship Centre and pick up a little present for the birthday boy. Well best laid plans and all that ... Bangor town was a nightmare, it took me ages in the shops and by the time Mag had finished chess club at 3 o'clock I was only just getting my way out of the town. Anyways - long story short we made it to Carrickfergus just in time for the party.

Seb and I stopped off at a parking area by the shore on the way back - we were able to see right across Belfast lough as it was so clear, we walked for a little while and watched the world go by until the light dropped.

I had to laugh, when I arrived home the strong smell of paint hit me as I walked in the front door. Roy had only gone and done the kitchen ceiling with gloss paint.

Castle Park

Friday morning - it is very cold today so much so the car was covered in a film of ice! We love the crisp mornings, when it is dry and the autumn leaves are on the ground. I got the children wrapped up warm and off we went to Castle Park, in Bangor. We had a good long trek among the trees and then went up to visit Bangor Museum at the Heritage Centre. It was nice to get back in the heat so the museum was welcomed greatly, The children did the quiz in the museum but we ran out of time to see everything so we are going to have to return another day.

I took a few photos along the way!

We found two Geocahces also wich makes our Geocache score 7 now!

Not Good News

The news this week.

It is not good. My grandmother died early on Monday morning, she had been ill for a while but to be perfectly honest I think no one expected it to happen when it did.

This itself has caused upset to our family but also there are some underlying problems too. The burial is on Saturday and I am not sure I can go. There will be an ex family member there and I am afraid she can be a little bit unpredictable. After her, earlier in the year, vicious tirade against me and my family I have seen what she is capable of - I cannot risk putting my family or myself in the path of her very erratic behaviour again. This person tried to destroy my family and my life (she did not suceed), and after a lot of soul searching and questioning myself as to what was so bad to make her hate me so much I realised that she herself needs to love herself before she can love others. Myself and my family are greater than she will ever be, and one thing I can be sure of is that our popularity and position amongst our friends and the village where we live is good testimony to ourselves.

My grandmother would understand if she were here as she also faced the wrath of the above mentioned, I am not sure others would understand but I dont have to live with 'others'.

I will always remember my gran, she was special to us and no body can take our fond memories away.

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.

It Wasn't Me!

This is Sol, moments after she emptied a bottle of baby powder on the bathroom floor. I walked in to catch her and she said "It wasn't me!"

RANDOM FLOWER PHOTOS - camera practice!

I am just playing with my camera - nothing more!

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!