I do love corks. In the past I have made a nativity, some keyrings, and a cake topper. Frankly I cannot believe it has taken me this long to make something festive for Easter with them. That changed today though. I made two Easter bunnies and a chick from some old champagne corks. Don't they look sweet? The first step, as ever, was paint. A couple of coats in the case of the metallic acrylic I used. Then I simply added a few … [Read more...]
Irish Colcannon
Colcannon is a traditional Irish Dish made from potatoes and cabbage. There's more to it than that obviously but these are the two prime ingredients. When we were in Galway during half-term, it seemed that every meal we ate was served with mashed potatoes so I'm guessing that the Irish and Potatoes still go hand-in-hand despite the years since the Potato Famine that sent so many across the seas to America in search of a better life. My … [Read more...]
OXO French press cafetiere and Betty’s cakes
It's so lovely when review products work beautifully together. Take coffee and cake, for example, which blend perfectly, especially in a household which considers tea to be the work of the devil. I have mentioned before that I was raised on Turkish coffee- a special thick brew which requires a particular kind of sweet and sticky morsel to be consumed with it. I like Turkish Coffee, but it's a hassle to brew. And I love our coffee machine, but it … [Read more...]
Leftover Vegetable Empanadas
There is always food left over after a meal in our house: between the unpredictable appetites (and palates) of our Girls and the unpredictable hours (and palate) of the DH, a significant portion of our food gets fed to the dog or the compost bin. And the portion that doesn't needs to be 're-modelled' to suit the delicate palates of my beloved family. Generally speaking, there are three simple rules when it comes to leftovers in our house: Put … [Read more...]
Win a holiday voucher with Latedeals
I need a holiday: I have been up the last three nights with Dimples who takes to a cold like a man. It's exhausting. To make matters worse, LBG seems- unsurprisingly given that they recently decided to share the same bed 'until we are grown-up ladies'- has gone down with the same lurgy. I have trailed home during rush hour bearing all the symptoms and we have a week left to get through until school break's up for Easter. Meanwhile DH is … [Read more...]
Giving your children a #naturalchildhood
Something David Bond said last weekend at a National Trust property in Sussex really struck a chord with me: that our children are free to roam in a much smaller area now than they used to be able to. I immediately thought of my childhood in Cyprus which-in my head at least- is comparable with an upbringing in 1950's England. Outside school hours we were free to roam the local scrub-land- not much grew in the lands around our Army Quarters- on … [Read more...]
Paper Plate Easter Bonnet
Last year I was really pleased with how the Paper Plate Easter Bonnet, inspired by Philip Treacy, turned out, so I turned to paper plates- one of my favourite kid's crafting tools- when I needed to make one for this year's parade. And all you need is glue, a large paper plate, some doilies and some ribbon. It really was a very simple craft: so much so that Dimples- just 3- did almost all the work by herself. The first step is to cover both … [Read more...]
