Life is Sweet

You might remember i gave up sugar, sweets, chocolate, cakes and biscuits in January. I said at the time that it didn't take long for me to notice how sweet everything is when I wasn't eating so much sugary stuff. I decided to stop again in the run up to Easter as I knew it would be a bit of a sugar-fest so I hoped that cutting back beforehand would help me to moderate my intake.

Well, a week before Easter I found a cake mix that I had bought a while back at a cake and bake show that needed to be used so I made this:

It's a toffee sponge with maple icing and pecan nut topping. It is very sweet indeed as there are pieces of toffee in the sponge itself. I managed to control myself and not succumb to it and there is still about half of it left in the fridge. 

Then I decided to check what I had for Easter as I'd been buying things over a period of months. You see I am a border of groceries. I shop like armageddon is imminent. My cupboards are unlikely to be bare any time soon and yet I still buy food items as though the next shopping trip will be my last. 

When I saw all of the chocolate laid out like this I realised that it might be a little over the top. Not least as we are still finishing chocolate we were given at Christmas ! 

So, we finally came to Easter weekend and the boys went on an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden where the Easter Bunny had been hard at work hiding small bunnies and small chocolate eggs for them to find. The rest of the haul was put into baskets and kept for them to dip into over the next few months weeks.

While all this madness was happening we received a parcel in the post. It was this lovely box of Mr Kiplings cakes. I may well struggle to stay away from sugar for a while :) 

Baking banana and blueberry muffins with my boy

On a Thursday my boy is usually exhausted from his 3 days at nursery so we take it nice and easy with some relaxing home-based activities. The night before I set out some puzzles, toys and games to play so that when he comes down to his playroom he has some things to keep him occupied, but not tire him out too much. This week it was a repeat of the fire engine themed day we did a few weeks back as he loved it so much.

As I wandered into the kitchen to prepare his mammoth breakfast of porridge and eggy bread - that boy can eat ! - I noticed that I needed to use up eggs and some quite black bananas. As I also had some blueberries in the fridge I thought I'd do some baking in the afternoon that would double up as a football snack for Hubbie in the evening - apparently England are playing in some kickabout thing with a few lads down the park and he's quite into it. I planned to be out running or something as it's not really my cup of tea. 

Can you tell what it is yet ? 

I got all the ingredients ready - I always have basic baking items like flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in the cupboard - and went to take a shower. I heard the boy call up to me and he was chomping on the blueberries. I asked him to leave some for the muffins we were making and managed to curtail his pleas for 'just one more' so that we had enough left. 

Adding blueberries carefully

Counting cup cases

Stirring the mixture nicely 

He was actually a very good helper. He counted out the cake cases into the tin and worked out how many more he needed to fill the gaps. Then he assisted me with the weighing and stirring - his favourite bit - then mashed the bananas and added the blueberries into the mixture. He did help a bit with putting it into the cases, but it is pretty sloppy so I took over and he asked if he could lick the spoon. I've never been into eating uncooked cake or biscuit dough, but he explained that George Pig does it so it must be ok. Can't argue with that logic can I ? 

Yummy muffins

Once they were in the oven we set the timer to one hour and he said he'd sit on the step and wait for them to cook. I explained that it would be a while and he might like to go and watch some telly or have a play, so he wandered off, but kept trying to convince me that he had heard the bell go off. I went to listen to the Archers and wash up all the things we'd used and when I looked back he was nodding off. As a result when the bell actually did ring he was fast asleep !! 

Far too tired to taste test 

What makes me smile ? A man, a boy and a cat :)

I'm joining Mummy never sleeps in her new linky to remind ourselves what teeny tiny things can make us feel a teeny tiny bit better when things aren't feeling so great. So for the inaugural All The Small Things I present the following:

1. Homemade soup with homemade bread - nicer than expected and my boy even said, "it's very tasty Mummy."

2. The first daffodils in our front garden - a delightful surprise every January :)

3. Looking out of the kitchen window and spotting our cat sitting in the window of the den - an unlikely sunbathing spot :)

4. A walk with my boys on a winter's weekend 

and finally

5. Finding a packet of cookies named after my cat :)

I hope at a least one of these things made you smile too - see you next time :)

[All photos are mine - please ask permission before reproducing them or any content]

Baker Days wheat and gluten free cake: a review

As I've mentioned more than once our boy is going to be 3 at the end of this month. In anticipation of this I've had a practice run of his birthday cake and have enlisted my wonderful friend Sarah-Jane who makes the most beautiful cupcakes to ensure we have an endless supply for his party. So you can imagine how overjoyed I was when the lovely folks at Baker Days offered us a wheat and gluten free cake to try.

Baker Days can put any design on a cake and it will arrive through your letter box packaged safely and intact. I browsed the designs on the website - of which there are many - but decided to send an image to be put on the cake that I knew my boy (and Hubbie) would love - it's of their non-league football team Fisher FC.




Sure enough within a few weeks the cake arrived in a presentation tin complete with a birthday card, candles and a party blower thing.

The boy was very excited to see his team badge on a cake and we decided that we would have an early birthday cake cutting practice run.





It is quite a small cake - otherwise it wouldn't fit through the letterbox would it ? - but they managed to pack so much into the tin it was a lovely surprise to find the candles and balloons inside.

The cake itself is surprisingly moist, tastes nice and has a pretty good texture, which is not bad for a wheat and gluten free cake at all. The icing was a little overpowering for my taste, but the boys loved the sweetness of it so that's just down to personal preference really.

Overall it's a nice gift item to send someone. It's packaged really well so it arrives intact and with a complete ingredients list to check for any allergies.



As you can see we had a bit of a ceremony with ours and thoroughly enjoyed trying it.

If you place an order using the code BBLG Baker Days will give you a 10% discount - please tell them I sent you :o)

http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/gluten-and-wheat-free-cakes

Disclosure: we were sent this cake to write a honest review.

Polly Styrene I ain't

I always secretly wanted to be a punk. Not in the spitting, shouting, violent way of course. More the fashion really.

My ambition was hampered by not being allowed to cut or colour my hair and not wanting to draw attention to myself by wearing anything that was too unusual - why invite even more reasons to be bullied ?

Instead, over the years I've flirted with the themes of punk in the form of kilt skirts, bondage trousers and in recent years punk motifs on t-shirts.

So imagine my joy in finding out the theme of the latest meet up of my local Clandestine Cake Club. Tomorrow it's all about 'Rebellious cakes.' I wanted to do a test run for my son's birthday cake which I'd planned to make as a rainbow cake. My challenge was to make this into a rebellious version. So here's what I did:






1. To start with I made up the sponge mixture and separated it into different vibrant colours.













2. Then I merged it in the baking tin into a marbled effect.












3. The baked cake is a bit thinner than I'd like, but it is still colourful and when it's cut I hope the colours will all be visible.













4. I've iced it and decorated with what is supposed to look like graffiti and few (inedible) safety pins.







Now I just hope it tastes nice :o)

Foodie Friday: My final fling - in the kitchen.

After much to-ing and fro-ing about hours and start dates I'll be back in the world of the working from next week. I am very nervous about it, but not because I'm worried about the boy. He will be doing an extra day at nursery and will be taken care of by his beloved Auntie or Hubbie on alternate weeks to cover the other day. This means he's taken care of from breakfast until teatime and I am let loose on the world from the time I drop him off to when I pick him up.

This week I've been making the most of our time together and it has been fraught at times. Apart from his ability to go from zero to high pitched tantrum and back again in seconds (just like his mother) he has also demanded a lot of attention from me as if he knows I'm going to be away from him. To counter this I've been baking and making things he likes. We made some oat and raisin cookies this week and he helped add the ingredients and stir the mixture as well as being the official taster for me. In my kitchen I keep a small ringbound notebook in which I store my most used recipes. Top of the tree is the perfect oat and raisin cookie recipe, by which I mean the ingredients list is less than half the page and it contains no more than one ingredient I haven't got already.

Even better is when I have a recipe that actively uses ingredients I have hanging around. I made a cake from frozen blueberries, fresh lemons and some butter that needed to be used up and apart from realising too late that the baking powder was past it's best it turned out pretty well. Hubbie likes it served with ice cream as a dessert so I've frozen it and will come back to it when the latest batch of cookies is finished and we are in the market for cake again.

Equally popular is the definitive banana bread recipe which uses up bananas that are past their best, freezes brilliantly and is just right for a packed lunch treat for Hubbie or a post work/nursery snack for the boys. I made it this week with fewer bananas and different butter and for the first time I actually enjoyed eating it too. I usually don't eat cooked bananas, but for some reason this one just hit the spot for me. I won't make a habit of it though as even with a walk up three flights of the narrowest stairs in London to get to my office won't counteract the effects of cake gluttony.

I am now faced with the prospect of taking a packed lunch to work again - which is tricky as I don't particularly like sandwiches. Hubbie has taken the same packed lunch since I've known him - he doesn't like change. I managed to swap out full fat for half fat crisps a few years ago and that was so traumatic for him that I daren't suggest any further substitutions for fear of the need for therapy. I suspect it's going to take a few tries before I get it right for me. After all I have to take my breakfast, lunch and possibly an afternoon snack with me as I'll be out from when I take the boy to nursery for breakfast until I pick him up at his dinner time. I can't eat too early in the morning so unless I have something healthy with me I risk a meltdown and low blood sugar late morning resulting in some very poor nutrition choices with so many cafes and coffee shops in Farringdon.

Cooking dinner may also require some forward planning as I'm not sure how inclined I'll be to roll up my sleeves and prepare food from scratch after a day at work. One of my favourite meals to prepare is the fastest veggie chilli recipe I have. It uses up leftover veg and always stretches to at least one more meal so it's efficient and timesaving. This is one where I pretty much pop all the ingredients into a large casserole dish and leave it to simmer with the occasional stir to stop it from sticking. Again it freezes really well so can be kept for a future date or an evening when Hubbie is out at football and I can't be bothered to cook just for me.

I mentioned at the start that I'm nervous about the new job. Not because of the boy. Not because of the logistics. Not even because of the travel. I'm used to being at home now. I'm used to planning my day with the boys in mind and a fairly open diary. I'm also used to doing my radio show and my yoga teaching and will be taking a break from both for the time being. You see I don't deal with change very well either.

So from Monday wish me luck with my new venture and pop a metaphorical note into my lunch to tell me it's going to be ok.

I'll try not to eat it by mistake :o)

Red Nose Day - Sweet Charity

It's that night again - the one when the BBC is taken over by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry and their comedy pals all doing stuff to raise awareness and money for various charities in the UK and overseas. For weeks we have seen red noses in the shops and heard about various fundraising efforts by friends and celebrities. Miranda Hart has been doing various crazy things this past week and in previous years Eddie Izzard has run multiple marathons and David Walliams has been swimming. 

Now, I know a bit about fundraising having been a professional fundraiser for over ten years so I have a special appreciation of how people do so much to support good causes. I've even baked cakes for Bliss, run for Cancer research and walked through London in my bra at night for Breast Cancer. In my working life I've written direct mail and radio appeals to persuade the public to part with their cash. It's heartening how kind people really are and how little they ask in return for their generosity. 

I visited refugee camps in Sierra Leone, met children who had been child soldiers and was moved to tears by the scars one young man had suffered from machete wounds to his back. He had been left for dead having witnessed the vicious murder of his entire family. It's these stories that move us to give money to good causes and that provide the personal touch that bridges the gap between us here and them over there. 

At the time I worked in the charity sector I wasn't a parent and when addressing a Rotary conference I mentioned how heartwarming it was that they were so committed to supporting children all over the world with their charitable efforts. The president of that region told me that the 'Rotary family' considered all children to be their responsibility and that giving to others was a key element of being a Rotarian. 

When I spent time in Romania with children in state institutions who had been neglected and mistreated I felt a pain and anger at their treatment that I could not adequately express. I understood the deep pain that a parent feels when they cannot help their own child as I wanted to scoop up every child and take them away from their imprisonment. 

It isn't practical to try and do it all yourself which is why Comic Relief give grants to organisations working in the UK and abroad to support people in need. I have seen first-hand some of the projects they support and can vouch for them being worthwhile. 

I know things are not easy for many of us right now and that giving to others many not be possible. It is still, however, very reassuring that so many of us are still donating to causes that vaccinate children overseas, or combat cyberbullying in this country or help women start small businesses to support themselves and their families. 

It shows that even in the toughest of times we still remember that our humanity is in what we do for others. I didn't need to become a parent to learn that lesson. Having my beloved son just reminds me every day why it's something I should never forget. 

Foodie Friday: Give us this day our daily bread

I am grateful to Penny Smith for a few things:

1. The yoga dvd she made with Howard Napper that I do when I can't get to a class with him

2. Her lovely, supportive tone when I called her radio show to talk about adoption

3. She dropped out of a bread class with Daniel Stevens last weekend which meant I got to go instead 

Now aside from my Penny love I now have total Daniel love. I did have a moment there where I expected Matthew from Downton Abbey to be teaching us, until I realised that it wasn't *that* Dan Stevens. This one is a chef and his pedigree is from River Cottage and he is now based in South London.

Daniel's Cookhouse runs a classic bread class that is a full day and begins with coffee / tea in the most amazing kitchen in Wandsworth and ends with a delicious meal and lots of wine and teeny tiny doughnuts that we filled with jam ourselves. If you like food and you enjoy preparing it this is a great day for you.

During the day we made Ciabatta (harder than I thought), focaccia (easier than I thought), wholemeal seeded rolls (a faff, but delicious) and a cobb loaf (still in the freezer, can't comment yet). The morning was spent kneading which takes longer than I realised and explains why my homemade bread has a tendency to be a bit on the stodgy side. We took it in turns and when we got tired Daniel took over and showed us how to do it properly. We learned how to check it was ready, the answer is always "not yet, keep going."

Daniel showed us how to turn some of the dough into crispy and delicious flatbreads, we made some houmous and mint yoghurt and had a snack break with a glass of wine before making our cobb loaves. The last thing we made was the doughnuts I mentioned before and I don't even like jam doughnuts, but I was all over these sugar coated little beauties !!. It's a pretty full day with a lot to do, but it's very well organised and the learning is balanced out with some good old fashioned graft. 

At the start of the day Daniel told us we'd fall in love with the dough scraper and all want to get one and I have to admit I had no idea how useful that small bit of blue plastic was going to prove to be. I did indeed get one to take home as well as a kilo of flour and more bread than the three of us could eat so I filled the freezer and we've been working our way through it all week. 

I've never done a 'cookery course' before and this was a gift from Hubbie which I'd basically told him I wanted. We looked at the Waitrose cookery school classes before Christmas, but didn't book anything as they are in North London, are very expensive and as far as I can tell you don't get a fabulous meal (with wine) at the end.

I left early on Sunday morning leaving Hubbie and the boy to their own devices and returned in the evening with a bag full of bread and a very full tummy.

If you fancy learning about bread and having a fun day with some delicious food this is definitely worth a go. If you can get it as a present, even better !! 

http://www.danielscookhouse.com/

Foodie Friday: the food of love

In foodie terms this last week has been an obstacle course of planning and preparation. Last Sunday was Chinese New Year and despite the various offers out there for prepared meals I decided to try my hand at homemade wontons. I had some wonton wrappers in the freezer that I'd bought a while back and I found a recipe in a veggie cookbook that my lovely friend Vicky gave me last year. Double bubble - working down the freezer contents and managing to get another of my resolutions going too. It was a very simple recipe with only a few ingredients: garlic, ginger, mushrooms and soy sauce. Preparing the ingredients and assembling the wontons took a little bit of time, but I used the one knife I love and hardly ever use (the proper chopping knife) and was very proud of myself once they were done. Cooking is very quick as they only need to be boiled for a few minutes and they're ready. They look like soggy samosas, but tasted really good.

I also made a pad thai using a kit from Waitrose to which I added prawns and an egg. It was half price, but to be honest I wouldn't buy it again as it's far too pricey when not on offer. We scoffed my efforts with some ready made prawn toast and some spring rolls. Not strictly chinese really, but it was delicious and made a change from the usual noodles and stir fry that we have. I plan to do the wontons again at the weekend, but next time I might pinch them into a small bag shape instead of folding them over. It has made me realise how few ingredients it takes to make very tasty dishes and that nothing beats the feeling of cooking from scratch and it tasting delicious.

Shrove Tuesday was a working day for Hubbie and a nursery day for my boy so we didn't have pancakes until teatime. One of the nursery staff told me they'd made pancakes with the children and my boy loved it - if he sees me using a frying pan he often encourages me to 'flip it' even if I'm making eggy bread so I do try and oblige to make him happy. I have a recipe for buckwheat pancakes that I'll be doing at the weekend - maybe a post swimming brunch or a light lunch I'm not sure yet. We usually eat pancakes for breakfast so having small ones with fruit for post nursery / work snacks made a nice change for the boys. I know it's lazy, but bought in scotch pancakes are such a lifesaver that I keep some in the freezer at all times.

The freezer also came in handy for Valentine's morning as we had fruit and pancakes complete with heart-shaped sparklers. At first my boy wasn't sure what to make of the sparkling and fizzing that was coming from Daddy's breakfast plate, but when I brought his food out sans sparkler he was most insistent that I go back and rectify the error. Now, of course, he's a bit put out if he's served breakfast without the pomp and ceremony, but I'm sure he'll get used to eating toast or Weetabix without so much fanfare,

I did my Valentines baking on Wednesday afternoon following a few weeks of planning and a variety of recipes to try. In the end I went with heart shaped red velvet cupcakes with chocolate topping. There was so much mixture left over from the dozen cakes that I made a red velvet loaf cake with chocolate topping too. It took a while to find a recipe I was happy with as I've found that what disappoints me with red velvet cake is that it just isn't as good as I expect it to be. In my imagination it's as rich as devil's food cake but bright red. Instead it's always a pretty dry chocolate cake with a buttercream topping and falls apart.

The recipe I used turned out pretty well although I might add a bit more raising agent next time for added oomph. The chocolate topping was partly so it would keep for longer (buttercream has a shorter shelf life so it compels me to eat them against my will !) Also, I like the contrast of a soft cake and a harder topping, but I did add icing sugar to the chocolate to make it spreadable and a bit sweeter because I used the 70% cocoa variety the same as in the sponge.

I've written before about food being about love and for me the challenge of a week like this one is being able to keep things interesting and delicious while also encouraging my boy to enjoy his food.

The bigger challenge is stopping myself from scoffing all the baking I've done when they boys aren't looking !!

Foodie Friday: Snow day, cooking with kids

It started snowing just as we were getting ready to go out for week two of Baking Bears at the local children's centre. It's a popular activity with a waiting list so I was delighted when I got the call before Christmas telling us we'd finally made it onto the toddler cookery course. It is a shame we're missing it this week, but I don't feel so bad because I do bake with my boy at home. Nothing too taxing, biscuits, cupcakes and occasionally something exciting involving pastry cutters, but he does like to stir things and help with measuring out ingredients. Of course the best bit is the tasting at the end.

Great British Bake off here we come !

In the early days of going to playgroups he was always a big fan of the kitchen activities and would always make a beeline for the 'home corner' so we decided to get him a toy kitchen to play with at home. My kindly cousin had to rehome her daughter's kitchen so we acquired a very pink and purple Disney princess cooker which he loved. He's also recently been given a brilliant toy baking set by my sister which he is fascinated by. The hand mixer is just like Mummy's and you can add batteries to make it work to give an authentic feel to your play baking.

At nursery earlier this week the pre-schoolers prepared their own snacks using safe knives. They often prepare fruit or bagels for afternoon tea and learn how to use kitchen utensils safely. The experience of real food preparation helps children to understand where their meals come from and also helps develop their manual dexterity. I know my son recognises that when the microwave pings it usually means something is cooked, but he also knows that the saucepan on the hob often has hot soup or boiled eggs in it, the rolling pin is used to prepare chapattis and that the oven is where the yummy cakes and biscuits come from.

When I spoke to Mother-in-law earlier she recounted that Mary Berry says instead of giving children playdoh why not give them actual dough so they get a feel for cooking and baking real food ? Of course that would make the playdoh barber shop a bit like Sweeney Todd's, but you get the point. And it's not just the queen of the Great British Bake Off who thinks we should cook with our kids, Cbeebies has a plethora of cooking programmes aimed at little ones. Our snow day viewing has included I Can Cook and on Something Special Justin was making shortbread with his friends. In the past my son has watched Big Cook Little Cook with fascination (much like I watch Come Dine With Me) and the lunchtime song is a favourite in our house.

I'd recommend introducing cooking to young children - and I hope these tips are helpful:

•  Be prepared for mess - if it bothers you put a lot of newspaper or a sheet on the floor first.
• Relax if they eat the ingredients - tasting is all part of the learning and a bit of raw pastry isn't going to do any harm 
• Make a game of the practical activities - washing hands at the start and the implements at the end. If you put a washing up bowl onto a low table covered with lots of tea-towels it gives little ones the chance to have lots of fun.
• Reward your little chef with first taste - I always make a smaller version of everything so that he has his own ones 

My little washing machine

It's with all this in mind that I took my boy for his first session of Baking Bears last week and it would be fair to say he was underwhelmed. I'm not sure if it was because we usually go to the children's centre for stay and play and he wanted to go outside to drive the tiny tikes cars or because he was just too tired, but he was as moody as Gordon Ramsey and as energetic as Jamie Oliver in his attempts to escape the kitchen. The first session was preparing a fruit yoghurt and he enjoyed 'sampling' the fruit (some of which I managed to salvage for the recipe), but his favourite part was definitely the washing up at the end.

He may not be the next Heston, but then I'm no Nigella.

Resolutions Schmesolutions :o)

If you'd told me at the start of this year that at the end of it I'd have a weekly radio show of my own I'd have looked at you sideways and smiled kindly. I'd also have been amazed if you'd told me that the most toxic female journalist of modern times would refer to this blog in a column following the fab Mumsnet blogfest event.

So it's with this in mind that I am starting 2013 in a novel way. I won't be detoxing or giving up anything on Jan 1st. Not because I have a perfect life or I am as good as I think I can be, but because I'm coming at this resolutions thing from a different perspective for a change. Instead of stopping doing something I'm going to concentrate on doing more of things I want to do better. By doing that I hope that I will spend less energy and time on the things that I don't need or want.

So, in no particular order:

I am going to make time to read. I was given so many great books for Christmas and I still haven't read the ones I got last year. I'm sure it's possible for me to make time in my day to read a little bit - although this might mean watching less Hawaii 5-0.

I'll be trying new sporting activities that I haven't done before. I've been doing the same exercise classes for almost 4 years now and while they are fun it's a routine for me and I attend because I feel guilty if I don't. That's not a good reason. I used to play softball and scuba dive and ski -  what happened to that action chick ? Oh yes I am a middle-aged Mum now, but that's no excuse is it ?

At least once a month I will go to the cinema and watch a movie - this may entail finding a movie buddie or I could go along on an afternoon when my boy is at nursery. This is all thanks to Hubbie being super generous and getting Sky movies so I can see films at home, but let's be honest sitting in a dark room at home isn't the same if you haven't overpaid for the popcorn.

I'm going to cook at least one recipe from each cookbook I own - and no, not just the baking ones !! Kind people have given me some great books full of recipes which I look at and go "ooh aah," but I haven't actually followed any of them yet.  My aim is to make a seasonal Slater stew, some gorgeous Gok gyoza and anything from the achingly beautiful Lilli Vanilli baking book I won from a fellow blogger. I hope to find some interesting new meals and to use ingredients I haven't tried to cook with before. I will, of course, share how this goes with you for good or ill (preferably not getting ill !)

I'm sure I'll think of other things as time goes on, but these are a pretty manageable start I think. They are already better than my original list which was:

To be able to afford to use Aveda shampoo and conditioner

To have someone to do my hair for me at home

Have a personal trainer to get my backside to exercise when I want to sit on the sofa watching Hawaii 5-0
The beloved Kitchenaid mixer which I really want to own, but I can't justify the cost of 

To be able to travel first class - anywhere

I realised that all of these were materialistic and made me sound like I want to be Madonna - which I used to when she was all cool and wore rubber bangles and lace in her hair, but not so much now.

Thanks for reading my blog and for listening to my show. If you haven't yet tune in at 1pm today or you can podcast it later.

Hope 2012 was good to you and here's to not turning into Madonna in 2013 :o)

Foodie Friday: fudge & fancy gingerbread

Last night I shared my bed with two chaps and there wasn't a lot of sleeping involved.  Before you jump to 'three in the bed romp' conclusions it was my snoring Hubbie and my poorly son - who it turns out has tonsillitis - who kept me from a graceful slumber. What it does mean is that today I'm fairly good for nothing other than mooching around the house mainlining cups of tea to keep me awake and being grateful that I don't have to go to work.

I am so pleased I had the foresight to do my baking earlier this week. If I'd left it until today I'd be in a lot of trouble. Instead I have managed to bake and box up the second batch of peanut butter fudge which is nothing like the first. I have concluded that I didn't boil the mixture for long enough or at a high enough heat the first time so it was gritty and a bit too soft, but it stands alone as a great sweet fix if not an accomplished fudge. This batch is darker, more solid and has the texture of indian mithai with the buttery taste and mouth feel that appeals so much. I also managed to score some fabulous kilner jars to put the fudge into (which I'm tempted to keep for myself actually) so that I don't have to resort to using those take away plastic boxes that always smell vaguely of chinese or indian food even after many washes.

The other less successful bit of baking I did was the long awaited gingerbread kit from Waitrose. The mix was pre-made which required kneading to make it soft enough to roll out, but it was still too dry and kept breaking up. We did manage to get enough stars out of the mixture for my son's nursery party and some to decorate the tree with so it was sort of worth the effort. Once baked though the icing part was the next trial. There were two pre-filled icing bags and a small bag of 'edible glitter,' but the icing was too thick to pipe and did not 'smooth over the top' as the pack claimed. I'm particularly disappointed as this was a pricey £3.30 (and that was on special offer) and rather than being a fun activity to do with my boy it was just a bit too fussy so I won't be getting it again.

The surprise of the week was how well the festive palmiers turned out that I had sort of come up with as a way to use up the remainder of mincemeat and some puff pastry I'd bought to experiment with. I popped some in a jar to give as a gift and I think they make a suitably light alternative to traditional mince pies. They're light and just the right size to have with a cup of tea - which for me is the sign of a good snack.

So that's almost all of my Christmas baking done. Once it's over I'm going to feel bereft so I was delighted to receive a call telling me that the boy and I have a place on the 'Baking Bears' course at our local children's centre. It's a course of classes teaching children some basic cooking skills and is always over-subscribed so it's taken us a while to get a place. As we're starting in January it gives us something fun and foodie to look forward to.



That and the boot camp I've signed up to do in January to counteract all the overindulgence !!

Foodie Friday: Festive Fare

This year I've been a bit more prepared than I usually am and have been ahead of the curve on the baking front with Christmas food. Of course it helps that I'm at home and therefore able to prepare food while my son is either at nursery or sleeping, rather than after a day at work and a horrid commute. On cold days like these I prefer to be in the kitchen weighing out sugar and rifling through the cupboard for a suitable baking tin to line for delicious fudge.

Which brings me neatly to the first recipe with I found courtesy of a lovely friend who directed me to the BBC food website where I found Sophie Dahl's recipe for Peanut Butter fudge which is really simple and requires very few ingredients, but enough sugar to make you diabetic with one bite !

The only difficulty was in finding a suitable jar to put it in for gifts, but once I'd located these it was all good. Oh, that was until I discovered that one of my intended recipients has a nut allergy so I've had to rethink that - I mean how selfish is that ?

Homemade sweets are a great luxury item and presented in a lovely glass  jar makes them even more of a treat so I'm dead chuffed that I haven't scoffed the lot as the recipe make a lot of fudge - even for someone as greedy as me !



I had a bit more of a trial with the Christmas cake. I mentioned in a previous foodie post that I bought a mix from Waitrose that I've used twice before - it's been a bit hit and miss for me in the past as it's taken so long, but this time the box said it would take 2-3 hours so I had high hopes - even with an unpredictable oven that I've blamed in the past.

We had a rare night out planned and my sister was coming to babysit so I popped the cake mix into the oven around 2pm thinking it would be done in plenty of time. When it was still soggy 4 hours later I was becoming more than a little concerned that we would have to miss the Idiot Bastard Band to stay in and watch my cake not cooking ! Instead I left the oven on low and gave instructions to switch it off whatever happened after 5 hours had passed.

It did look ok eventually (if a little damp on the bottom, but less said about that the better) so I turned it out onto a board and covered it in marzipan and icing and my traditional snowmen decorations and festive ribbon. All I can do now is hope that when we finally cut into it the middle isn't gruesome !

Then this week I finally got round to making some mince pies and used up the marzipan that was left from the cake as mini stars for the topping of the puff pastry fancies. They're ok, but not quite as neat as I'd hoped they'd look. They taste fine, but I did already buy some fancy ones just in case my homemade ones weren't quite up to scratch. I have a bit of mincemeat left in the jar so I might do some festive palmiers based on the recipe I saw that uses marmalade and brown sugar - I'll let you know how they turn out when I finally get round to them.

So these are the advance guard of the food prep. In a week I'll be making the stuff that won't keep so well. Sausage rolls (meat and veggie) the aforementioned palmiers and the gingerbread stars that I hope my son will help decorate. His budding culinary skills were at the fore today as he created the taste sensation of chow mein with onion bagel (surprisingly good) and then stabbed the leftover bagel half and announced it was a 'helicopter' (propeller).

I may just let him plan our Christmas meal. My lad is a gastro-genius !