
Thursday, 18 August 2016
Red Cabbage and Radish Slaw

Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Soy, Chilli and Ginger Pork Loin Steaks
- Bloody Mary Ketchup
- Blue Cheese Dressing
- Soy, Chilli and Ginger

This is what I did...

Friday, 17 June 2016
BBQ Soup with New Covent Garden Soup Co

Tuesday, 7 June 2016
Celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday with Aldi


Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Jersey Royal Potato Salad - #CookBlogShare Week 19
This potato salad is full of so many different ingredients that compliment each other perfectly and make it a more filling salad. The homemade sauce used has become a new favourite here. The creaminess with the kick from the mustard are perfect together. This really is a royal potato salad. A Jersey Royal Potato Salad!
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Cheese and Onion Quiche - Perfect for the Picnic Season!
I love being able to prepare food to eat outside. Whether it is a barbecue or a picnic, as soon as the sun is out so are we!
This week I am sharing with you a super easy cheese and onion quiche. Quiche is a perfect summer pie. It is ideal to pack up for a picnic or to serve along side some salad and barbecue meats or fish.
As well has having delicious food for a picnic you need those all important picnic essentials. From tableware to hampers to drinks chillers to the blanket. Having a picnic to impress can be had with these beautiful picnic essentials from House of Fraser.
Friday, 16 May 2014
Planning a BBQ Birthday Party!
We are entertaining!
We tend to keep ourselves to ourselves. If we do anything it is normally with our parents. We are happy that way and we love spending time together as a family.
Tomorrow, however, we are having guests round and we are hosting a birthday party for my mother in law! There is not going to be a lot of us and it will just be family. But there are still going to be 10 of us!
All week I have been looking through books to get ideas for the food. As tomorrow is going to be another sunny day (please don't change!) we are having a BBQ. This does ease the pressure off me a little as the hubby is in charge of the meats. But as I want everything to be perfect I won't relax until everyone is say down and enjoying their food.
This is what I have got planned...
Meats
Burgers
Sausages
Chicken
Side Dishes
Green leaf salad
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with cream cheese
Mary Berry's Goats Cheese and Tomato Canapes
Pesto and Parmesan bread
Mushroom pate/dip on crackers
Bread sticks
Peppers
Celery
Pudding
Birthday cake - Paul Hollywood's Black Forest Gateaux with a twist!
Lemon cheesecake
I am hoping that will be enough!
Today I am preparing as much as I can ahead of tomorrow. I have got my dough proving and I am baking the cake this afternoon and preparing the cheesecake.
I hope that once everything is done I will be able to sit back and enjoy the day.
A summery glass of Pimms and lemonade will help calm the nerves I am sure!
I will be writing a post about how it all went and I am hoping that I will have a few recipes to share.
Have a lovely weekend x
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Busy Day, Bad Night
Despite all the rushing around it was a great day!
After swimming, I took charge of the twins so that hubby could watch the football match that he had been wanting to watch for weeks. After lunch I made some more of my lemon and courgette cupcakes which have become quite a favourite. Especially with Isabella. She can say cake! Whenever she knows there is a cake around all you can hear from her is
"cake, cake!"
Whilst I was in the kitchen the match finished a draw and we were ready to head over to the field day. As I started to walk round with Joseph the heavens opened. So we had to make a quick dash home. This was not a good start to our outdoor plans! Joseph was so disappointed. We decided that we would still go to the BBQ that was planned as there would be some undercover area to shelter from the rain if need be.
On our way there the sun started to shine and the rain appeared to be going away.
It had been a long time since I had seen my old work colleagues. When I say a long time, it is probably only a few months, but it felt like a long time. As we got closer I got more and more nervous. I know that this is ridiculous, these are some of my closest friends, in fact they are my closest friends! When I was at work we all got on really well and when I was working full time, I spent the majority of my time with these people. I was nervous that I had changed too much, or that I would not know what to talk about. Come on, I'm a stay at home mum, when people ask me what I've been doing it is all children and home related. But as soon as I saw them all my worries vanished. It was as if I'd seen them last week. Of course I could still talk, the children had not taken over my brain completely! It was lovely to see everybody and I sincerely hope that we all get together again soon.
What also added to my worry was how the twins would react to new people. I really should not have worried about that either. Taylor was straight off to grab a ball to play with. Isabella was a little bit more reserved. For maybe 5 minutes she stood with me holding my hand. But then she too was off to play ball with Taylor. There was not one tear! I was so proud of all three of them. Joseph went straight off to play football and the twins relished the freedom. They loved being outdoors and being able to run around and have mummy and daddy chasing them left, right and centre! We must have looked quite comical. I'd start a conversation, then mid chat I'd dash one way to get one twins and hubby would dash in the other direction for the other. It was fun. I feel so blessed with our children. However it was nearing the twins tea time so we needed to be off. As I was saying my goodbyes I was hoping that it would not be the last time that everybody gets together as I had thought it would be. I guess it won't be if we all make an effort every now and then, and I hope that we all do.
We managed to get the twins home without falling asleep, which was a major concern for us. If they fall asleep at that time of the day you can guarantee that we will have a bad night. I sat in the back with them and had a fruit pouch on hand to give them to keep them going. Hubby decided to go home via the most bumpiest, uneven road there is. So you can imagine how hard it was it squeeze some fruit onto a spoon and feed the twins whilst trying to keep steady and stop bouncing around! We all giggled on the ride home, which also helped to keep them awake.
We were even home before the end of the field day and managed to call in for the last half an hour. Everything that we had planned may not have occurred in the original order thanks to the rain, but we did them. The rain did not beat us!
After the twins were in bed Joseph went out for a birthday tea party, my mum and dad arrived with an Indian take away. So we settled in with some great food, a drink, a movie and brilliant company for the evening.
After such a busy day I was looking forward to sleep. However our little angels had other ideas. Every time I started to fall asleep one of the twins would stir, cry out or loose their dummy. I was up and down until gone 1am. Then Taylor was in bed with us from about 4am, I think! Therefore I did not get the sleep that was needed last night. But I did not get up with Taylor until nearly 7am which is a lie in.
So here I am on a sunny Sunday morning writing whilst Taylor has his milk and watches Mickey Mouse, its a good start to the day.
I may not have my career as I did have but I couldn't be happier with my new career as mummy and housewife.
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Jam Packed Day Ahead!
Wow what a busy day ahead we have got!
As usual we are starting the day off with Joseph's swimming lesson. So I am enjoying the time out before the madness of this afternoon descends upon us!
Today is the annual village field day which we will be going to. The one thing I really do appreciate about living in a village is the community spirit. Everybody knows each other and the children look out for each other. In the village school there is under 50 children so it is a very close knit school. When I was growing up we lived in Suffolk. I remember when I moved "up north" finding it so bizarre that people I didn't know would say hello and great you in the street. After spending so long moving about abroad it is a good feeling to be settled somewhere. I really cannot imagine us leaving the village where we live. It is a so peaceful and we feel extremely lucky when we sit and look out of our window to fields.
We also ot an invitation to a BBQ this afternoon. It seems everything has come at once and on the same day. So we will be dashing all over!
The invitation came from my boss when I worked before having the twins. I am really excited about seeing all of my old work colleagues, albeit a little nervous too! Not sure why, these have been some of my closest friends and were present at our wedding and were with me on my pregnancy journey. Since having the twins I have not been out socializing and have just preferred a quiet home life. But as soon as I got this invitation I knew that this was one I would regret missing if I did not go.
We are all going as a family which I am pleased about. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have been out on my own since the twins arrived. We prefer to do things as a family and not as individuals. We have said that we will only go for an hour to see everyone as we need to keep the twins routine but Joseph has also got a tea party to go to this evening and we have my parents coming down for our customary Saturday night meal, drinks and a film.
So today is going to be jam packed. First things first, the boys have got a football match to watch on tv. After full time we will be on the go!
