I bought a jigsaw from a charity shop recently only to find that there was a piece missing. Yes I could have returned it but at 50p it wasn't worth the effort, so my thoughts turned to crafts suing puzzle pieces and what I could make with them. If you stare at puzzle pieces for long enough, especially when they are turned over so you cannot see the picture, it's surprising what you can see: a bit like staring at clouds until you see images in … [Read more...]
How I’ve changed in 30 years: Special K flakeover
Thirty years ago things were very different for me: I was a cute little six year old with blond hair and blue eyes, an annoying younger brother and a mum who made birthday cakes in the shape of fire-engines. Life simply does not get better than that. And then, after a night away from home, we awoke to the news that we had a younger brother, and were taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary to meet the little bundle of joy. The six year old me was … [Read more...]
Local Flavour: Lavender House, Bromley
If you came to Bromley- and why wouldn't you?- to visit me, you'd be in good company. Obviously the people that have come to visit me so far have been friends and bloggers and I have generally entertained them at home, but if you wanted to get a sense of the area, of why I love living in Bromley, then let me tell you where I would take you. We'd drop the Girls at school- you could stand bemused at the edge of a circle of Mother's banging on … [Read more...]
Why you should clean your teeth experiment
A few weeks ago I ordered a book about cleaning teeth after reading about it in a Sunday Supplement. I don't imagine I'm the only parent who has trouble getting my children to brush their teeth, so the concept of the book really appealed. Open Wide, What's Inside is written by a dentist who came up with the idea for a story about 'sugarbugs' as a way of encouraging children to keep their mouths clean. And it has enthralled my children. I imagine … [Read more...]
Banana, Fudge and White Chocolate cake
There are so many bananas in our fruit bowl that have been going over before The Girls can be persuaded to eat them, so I put a call out on twitter for a banana cake recipe and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All sent me to her delicious Banana Cake recipe. Obviously I made a couple of changes to what is her mum's banana cake recipe: the note that Golden Caster sugar made the cake more 'fudgey' made me think of how much DH loves fudge. So I dug … [Read more...]
How to make a rocking yacht from a paper plate
LBG's Show and Tell this week was 'Travel by Sea'. This was a challenge briefly until we took a better look at this month's Discovery Table, all of which was made from recycled materials, in honour of Earth Day. On the table was a rocking yacht we made from a paper plate earlier this year. To make it you need a paper plate, some old magazines, a brad and felt pens. First, you need to cut the wave shape from your paper plate, … [Read more...]
Leftover Chicken Taquitos with Peanut Dipping Sauce
I recently had the good fortune to attend a Chinese Cooking Masterclass given by Hannah Hayes from China Feast to celebrate the launch of Amoy Premium Soy Sauce. It was a busy class which covered everything from the best way to cook your Egg Fried Rice- you have to squish the egg in a plastic bag then add the rice and squish that too- to making your own Chili Oil. I also had an interesting lesson in the making of Soy Sauce- likened to … [Read more...]
