A few weeks ago I had a yearning to make peanut butter biscuits. The ones like my mother used to make. I tried a couple from the Internet, yet the couple I tried just weren't right.
I went after the original recipe from Mam. She searched around for her old Dairy Book of Home Cookery, as purchased from the milk man a few years back that she'd written down her recipes in. Alas, it had been thrown away due to too many spillages from cooking. Mam doesn't do the cooking in the household any more, that's become my dad's job, and, since all the kids left home, there is little point to our old Sunday routine of full roast followed by an afternoon making various cakes, puddings and pastries to gorge ourselves on.
I managed to inherit an old Reader's Digest book called The Cookery Year. My dad warned that it wasn't an every day cookbook and wasn't sure how much use it would be to me. Its cover is falling off and it has scribbles in it from when I was a toddler and didn't know better than to grab books when there was no paper to be found.
I wouldn't say it isn't every day cookery nowadays, although some dishes should stay back in the 70s/80s such as the version of kedgeree that was forced upon us all too frequently. Nor can I imagine myself pulling all of the inside of a crusty loaf of bread just to fill it with leftovers from the roast, some sherry, onions and mushrooms and then cutting into slices for P's packed lunches. But looking at this month's recipes there are none that would be considered posh with expensive, hard to find ingredients.
There are a few things in there I do make on a regular occasion, and some I am starting to make more often now I'm growing my own veg. It also includes, as the title would suggest, a lot of recipes for veggies that are in season, which should mean it comes in useful for the few things I'm growing that I don't normally buy and the few where I'm growing too many. It has a very nice section on how to preserve vegetables, as well as jams, pickles, sauces, wines from the recipes themselves to how-to diagrams on removing bones, using water baths and so on.
All in all, it is now my second favourite cookbook - my first being Google.
Sunday 24 July 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Superheroes and recycling
We live less than 5 minutes from our local library. This, I feel, is an amazing bonus to our new home. Especially as yesterday they held a Superheroes and Villains day for the kids.
Adeline, our 7 year old, is a real bookworm. She read 5 books last weekend. While we try and instill the geek in her by suggesting fantasy books such as Cornelia Funke, Tanith Lee and Susan Cooper, she happily picks out anything girly to devour. Currently she is reading Cookie by Jacqueline Wilson, 2 Rules for Girls books, some other thing about fairies and Going Solo by Roald Dahl.
Some of the more "throwaway book" choices she makes do have me sighing and I am guilty of trying to suggest books when we're in the library. I always let her make her own decisions in the end. Aren't we all guilty of reading some fairly rubbish books when we were young? I read anything and everything. I wasn't a big fan of Nancy Drew, but I read a fair few of the Babysitters' Club Series and adored the Point Horror books. Yet I'd also read a few of the classics and a few books I still love by the time I was in Secondary school.
I guess whatever gets her reading is something to be pleased about. Plus all the girly stuff isn't making my geeklings too girly themselves.
I've also found something to do with all the plastic bags we have in the cupboard. Knitting! Not too hard to prepare the bags, all you need to do is either cut it into strips or spiral so you have one long bit. Twist slightly as you make it into a ball and then just knit as normal. That bits not too hard. The tricky bit came with the actually knitting, the plastic sticks to the knitting needles in a way wool does not so knitting becomes a little more laborious. By the end of it I had a blister on my finger, so although I want to do more, I might experiment with different needles and types of plastic. Plastic Bag Crafts
I know the photo is rubbish, tried so many different settings on it but just couldn't get it right so here is one blurry Yoda.
Adeline, our 7 year old, is a real bookworm. She read 5 books last weekend. While we try and instill the geek in her by suggesting fantasy books such as Cornelia Funke, Tanith Lee and Susan Cooper, she happily picks out anything girly to devour. Currently she is reading Cookie by Jacqueline Wilson, 2 Rules for Girls books, some other thing about fairies and Going Solo by Roald Dahl.
Some of the more "throwaway book" choices she makes do have me sighing and I am guilty of trying to suggest books when we're in the library. I always let her make her own decisions in the end. Aren't we all guilty of reading some fairly rubbish books when we were young? I read anything and everything. I wasn't a big fan of Nancy Drew, but I read a fair few of the Babysitters' Club Series and adored the Point Horror books. Yet I'd also read a few of the classics and a few books I still love by the time I was in Secondary school.
I guess whatever gets her reading is something to be pleased about. Plus all the girly stuff isn't making my geeklings too girly themselves.
I've also found something to do with all the plastic bags we have in the cupboard. Knitting! Not too hard to prepare the bags, all you need to do is either cut it into strips or spiral so you have one long bit. Twist slightly as you make it into a ball and then just knit as normal. That bits not too hard. The tricky bit came with the actually knitting, the plastic sticks to the knitting needles in a way wool does not so knitting becomes a little more laborious. By the end of it I had a blister on my finger, so although I want to do more, I might experiment with different needles and types of plastic. Plastic Bag Crafts
I know the photo is rubbish, tried so many different settings on it but just couldn't get it right so here is one blurry Yoda.
Monday 17 January 2011
Writing Challenge 2 courtesy of SH
"Two people who know each other bump into each other out of the blue. They haven't seen each other in over ten years. What happens next?"
Unfortunately I have no idea at the moment. I fear this may be an off-blog thing until it's finished. Yay for the edit function.
Unfortunately I have no idea at the moment. I fear this may be an off-blog thing until it's finished. Yay for the edit function.
100 years... 100 films... 100 days?
We have a new blog especially for this challenge - Dexter's films
The challenge? To watch all of the films listed in AFI's 10th anniversary 100 years... 100 films list. Which can be found here. It was just a general desire at first. Then it became a case of watching them all in order and taking a picture of our son with the DVD. Then Dex should be dressed or positioned to reflect the DVD. Then we should watch them all in a year. Now, as we're watching them all so quickly, I think the challenge should be in 100 days. As we have no working TV this becomes quite easy at weekends.
However, we have had to cheat already. The postal service have let us down and we have yet to receive number 4 on the list, so we've been watching a few we own further down it. We're still determined to post them to the blog in order though so there's only 3 of them on there. Keeping my fingers crossed for Raging Bull arriving tomorrow so we can get back on track. Already know what costume D is going to wear too!
The challenge? To watch all of the films listed in AFI's 10th anniversary 100 years... 100 films list. Which can be found here. It was just a general desire at first. Then it became a case of watching them all in order and taking a picture of our son with the DVD. Then Dex should be dressed or positioned to reflect the DVD. Then we should watch them all in a year. Now, as we're watching them all so quickly, I think the challenge should be in 100 days. As we have no working TV this becomes quite easy at weekends.
However, we have had to cheat already. The postal service have let us down and we have yet to receive number 4 on the list, so we've been watching a few we own further down it. We're still determined to post them to the blog in order though so there's only 3 of them on there. Keeping my fingers crossed for Raging Bull arriving tomorrow so we can get back on track. Already know what costume D is going to wear too!
Kitchen failure AKA Lego brick or underside of a female pig?
Complete kitchen fail! I've been looking for geek food to serve at our party on Saturday. So far we have on the menu a Starship Meaterprise (which may turn out to be veggie), burnt Lemmings and some rice characters, as well as the obligatory Mr Potato Head.
But I saw this and wanted to make it:
How cool is that?
My practice effort... well, I decided to not go for dyed icing for the practice run which probably didn't help matters. The pink marshmallows I used weren't fully covered by the icing either. So when my eighter was complete it looked like it should have little baby pig cakes alongside it happily suckling from their mother's teats.
I think I'm going to have to go with marzipan and ready to roll icing instead.
But I saw this and wanted to make it:
How cool is that?
My practice effort... well, I decided to not go for dyed icing for the practice run which probably didn't help matters. The pink marshmallows I used weren't fully covered by the icing either. So when my eighter was complete it looked like it should have little baby pig cakes alongside it happily suckling from their mother's teats.
I think I'm going to have to go with marzipan and ready to roll icing instead.
So my blog now has a name
I love Geek Mom. It's a site made by geek mums for geek mums, full of interesting articles, great craft ideas and so much more.
There's just one huge problem with it - it's American. I'm not anti-America in any way, but obviously the site is geared towards residents of the US not of Britain. That's not going to stop me from devouring each post that is published on there either. I've become used to seeing cool things on there and checking how much postage would be to the UK or if it's available over here. I can work in metric or imperial, so it's not that either.
Why can't I find a UK version?
That's my problem. Maybe there is one out there that just isn't showing up on my searches. Where are my fellow Brit geek mums?
Forums? That could be where they're all hanging out. I can't say I'm a fan of them generally. There have been more than a few occasions where I've found an interesting thread and then noticed it's from a couple of years ago. Then there's the obvious problem of, how can I put it nicely... people who can't see past the end of their own noses, trolls and that kind of thing. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good online debate. I had a huge ongoing one on a forum a few years ago about smacking (I'm anti, she was pro) which got very heated. Now, myself and this other woman, we argued and argued, then another debate was started. One which I happened to agree with her over, and we'd discussed other things during the smacking debate we'd both agreed on. To me, that shows we have some things in common, everyone is different and we can all have a good debate without resorting to name calling or hissing at each other. She was the same, we got on brilliantly as long as neither of us mentioned the s word.
*sigh* There aren't that many on these things like that though. They just decide you're an idiot for not agreeing with you over x and bring it up at every opportunity they can. The other main anti-smacking mum on the board seemed aghast (as far as I could tell this side of the computer screen) that I would exchange pleasantries with the pro-smacker. There was much *headdesk*ing.
Though there is a curious little part of me that wonders what my reason for being wrong about stuff would be if I went back on those ones. At the time, it was because I was too young to understand. Yet my opinions have changed very little over the past ten years.
There's just one huge problem with it - it's American. I'm not anti-America in any way, but obviously the site is geared towards residents of the US not of Britain. That's not going to stop me from devouring each post that is published on there either. I've become used to seeing cool things on there and checking how much postage would be to the UK or if it's available over here. I can work in metric or imperial, so it's not that either.
Why can't I find a UK version?
That's my problem. Maybe there is one out there that just isn't showing up on my searches. Where are my fellow Brit geek mums?
Forums? That could be where they're all hanging out. I can't say I'm a fan of them generally. There have been more than a few occasions where I've found an interesting thread and then noticed it's from a couple of years ago. Then there's the obvious problem of, how can I put it nicely... people who can't see past the end of their own noses, trolls and that kind of thing. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good online debate. I had a huge ongoing one on a forum a few years ago about smacking (I'm anti, she was pro) which got very heated. Now, myself and this other woman, we argued and argued, then another debate was started. One which I happened to agree with her over, and we'd discussed other things during the smacking debate we'd both agreed on. To me, that shows we have some things in common, everyone is different and we can all have a good debate without resorting to name calling or hissing at each other. She was the same, we got on brilliantly as long as neither of us mentioned the s word.
*sigh* There aren't that many on these things like that though. They just decide you're an idiot for not agreeing with you over x and bring it up at every opportunity they can. The other main anti-smacking mum on the board seemed aghast (as far as I could tell this side of the computer screen) that I would exchange pleasantries with the pro-smacker. There was much *headdesk*ing.
Though there is a curious little part of me that wonders what my reason for being wrong about stuff would be if I went back on those ones. At the time, it was because I was too young to understand. Yet my opinions have changed very little over the past ten years.
Monday 10 January 2011
The Count Down to the Housewarming
It's all very exciting. For the first time since I moved out of my parental home at the tender age of 17 (I've since moved back in and out again, but that's another story) I get to invite lots of people round and call it a party.
When I was with my ex-husband, this never would have happened. He was quite the unsociable creature, having gradually dismissed his friends one by one after we got together. Partly it was because they lived elsewhere, mostly it was because, in his eyes, he had me and no need for anyone else. Unfortunately, this attitude from him included anyone I was friends with. The few times during our relationship that I did have someone round, he made them feel uncomfortable enough that it was unlikely they'd come round again. If I went out, I was made to feel guilty about it and would have dresses vetoed because they were too revealing, which they really weren't. So I didn't go out and I didn't invite people round and didn't have anyone I would consider a close friend. This all became too much after we had the girls, I began to need the adult company and conversation that wasn't all about the kids. Even though I love them completely, any parent should understand that you can feel like you're going a little mad when you only have the company of a babe. So I sought out a writing group. Which, although he said he was okay with, I would have to text him when I got there, leave at 9.30 on the dot and text him when I had. Some meetings would see me get several texts from him during the two hours that would all require a reply. And so, with that, and many other things, I left him.
And since then, I haven't lived anywhere that's really allowed for a decent gathering of people. Which makes this all the better.
Hosting the party also means I have a deadline for getting a few key things achieved within the house that might otherwise have been put off. The table and 6 chairs I bought for the bargain price of £35 was £35 for a reason. Three of the chairs have been restored (fortunately not much work needed on any of the six) and table has been sanded, part restoration attempted and failed, top stripped completely and awaits sanding and dying. The little area at the bottom of the stairs has had most of the painting done; just a bit of woodwork left. The stairs need doing and I'd be happier if the kitchen got a coat of paint but most people know how much work we need to do to the house so I doubt they'll judge us on the current condition. Painting has been tricky. Not only is there a huge amount to do, the previous tenants, maybe the ones before them too, have done a really bad job of it all. Which means we're painting over chips and old, old areas of excess paint, bits that look like someone has painted over a chunk of paper... really the whole thing could do with stripping back, sanding and holes filling in before we even start painting. That could take years though and we want to get it looking liveable.
So, over the next 10 days we need to:
When I was with my ex-husband, this never would have happened. He was quite the unsociable creature, having gradually dismissed his friends one by one after we got together. Partly it was because they lived elsewhere, mostly it was because, in his eyes, he had me and no need for anyone else. Unfortunately, this attitude from him included anyone I was friends with. The few times during our relationship that I did have someone round, he made them feel uncomfortable enough that it was unlikely they'd come round again. If I went out, I was made to feel guilty about it and would have dresses vetoed because they were too revealing, which they really weren't. So I didn't go out and I didn't invite people round and didn't have anyone I would consider a close friend. This all became too much after we had the girls, I began to need the adult company and conversation that wasn't all about the kids. Even though I love them completely, any parent should understand that you can feel like you're going a little mad when you only have the company of a babe. So I sought out a writing group. Which, although he said he was okay with, I would have to text him when I got there, leave at 9.30 on the dot and text him when I had. Some meetings would see me get several texts from him during the two hours that would all require a reply. And so, with that, and many other things, I left him.
And since then, I haven't lived anywhere that's really allowed for a decent gathering of people. Which makes this all the better.
Hosting the party also means I have a deadline for getting a few key things achieved within the house that might otherwise have been put off. The table and 6 chairs I bought for the bargain price of £35 was £35 for a reason. Three of the chairs have been restored (fortunately not much work needed on any of the six) and table has been sanded, part restoration attempted and failed, top stripped completely and awaits sanding and dying. The little area at the bottom of the stairs has had most of the painting done; just a bit of woodwork left. The stairs need doing and I'd be happier if the kitchen got a coat of paint but most people know how much work we need to do to the house so I doubt they'll judge us on the current condition. Painting has been tricky. Not only is there a huge amount to do, the previous tenants, maybe the ones before them too, have done a really bad job of it all. Which means we're painting over chips and old, old areas of excess paint, bits that look like someone has painted over a chunk of paper... really the whole thing could do with stripping back, sanding and holes filling in before we even start painting. That could take years though and we want to get it looking liveable.
So, over the next 10 days we need to:
Sand tableDye table- Apply finish to table
Finish woodwork in hall/stairs- Paint any annoying bits of wall that have been missed in hall
- Sand and dye steps
- Decorate stairs
Repair floor tiles in front roomClean hall floor and lay tiles- Buy plates and stuff for party
- Borrow some sort of seating as the number of guests exceeds the number of chairs.
- Clean lots!
Writing Challenge 1 ('You're just mad 'cause you can't knit.')
'You're just mad 'cause you can't knit.'
'Knitting's stupid anyway. I keep dropping stitches, this has got massive holes in and this... it's just crap. Plus, k7, p7, b.. o.. what the hell?' Pip pulled the half finished scarf off the needle and threw it across the room. It was supposed to be dramatic but, as it was still attached to the ball of wool, it didn't go as far as she intended.
'Yet another thing you can do better than me. Just one more thing that makes you the girl in this relationship.'
'You throw like a girl.'
'Not helping.'
'Sorry.' Sam tried his best sad puppy-dog eye face. It didn't work. Nothing had worked over the past few days.
'Okay, you're not going to like this,' Sam started. 'Just remember, I am totally on your side on this. She was completely in the wrong. But.... You could just try saying sorry. Even if you don't mean it. Maybe if you're nice she'll end up in some sort of shame spiral and apologise to you.' Evil eye. Abort. Abort. 'Or you could just... punch me in the arm?'
'And what, exactly, would that achieve, Sam?'
'I'd have a bruise and you'd feel better?'
Pip eyed Sam's arm. 'Tempting though it is, you know I didn't mean that. Even if I took a tub of Ben and Jerry's over and we both apologised. We might chat and laugh and have a brilliant afternoon but it doesn't make things better. She's still with that prick.'
'Honey, she loves him. Nothing you can do can change that.'
'He's still a prick.'
'Yes, he is. But what would you do if she'd stopped coming round here and hardly spoken to you when we got together?'
'You're not a prick.'
Sam sighed and pushed a strand of Pip's hair back behind her ear.
'You love her, she loves him. You have to try and get on with the guy. You can't just avoid her and hope to get the, "I told you so," moment. That might never come. You either lose her friendship or suck it up.'
'I hate you.'
'No, you don't.' Sam pulled her in close for a hug. "See, you throw like a girl and you sulk like one.'
'Knitting's stupid anyway. I keep dropping stitches, this has got massive holes in and this... it's just crap. Plus, k7, p7, b.. o.. what the hell?' Pip pulled the half finished scarf off the needle and threw it across the room. It was supposed to be dramatic but, as it was still attached to the ball of wool, it didn't go as far as she intended.
'Yet another thing you can do better than me. Just one more thing that makes you the girl in this relationship.'
'You throw like a girl.'
'Not helping.'
'Sorry.' Sam tried his best sad puppy-dog eye face. It didn't work. Nothing had worked over the past few days.
'Okay, you're not going to like this,' Sam started. 'Just remember, I am totally on your side on this. She was completely in the wrong. But.... You could just try saying sorry. Even if you don't mean it. Maybe if you're nice she'll end up in some sort of shame spiral and apologise to you.' Evil eye. Abort. Abort. 'Or you could just... punch me in the arm?'
'And what, exactly, would that achieve, Sam?'
'I'd have a bruise and you'd feel better?'
Pip eyed Sam's arm. 'Tempting though it is, you know I didn't mean that. Even if I took a tub of Ben and Jerry's over and we both apologised. We might chat and laugh and have a brilliant afternoon but it doesn't make things better. She's still with that prick.'
'Honey, she loves him. Nothing you can do can change that.'
'He's still a prick.'
'Yes, he is. But what would you do if she'd stopped coming round here and hardly spoken to you when we got together?'
'You're not a prick.'
Sam sighed and pushed a strand of Pip's hair back behind her ear.
'You love her, she loves him. You have to try and get on with the guy. You can't just avoid her and hope to get the, "I told you so," moment. That might never come. You either lose her friendship or suck it up.'
'I hate you.'
'No, you don't.' Sam pulled her in close for a hug. "See, you throw like a girl and you sulk like one.'
Challenge(s) accepted
2010 was a rubbish year for my writing. I think I managed half a short story in total and NaNoWriMo was a complete non-starter. The latter wasn't really surprising though as we'd moved just before November started and D was born a week into the month. I barely wrote on here or in my journal though; which, considering how much happened last year, is very strange.
The letter writing is fab for making me want to write again. Each time I sit at my bureau to write, I want to carry on. I don't want to stop after just one letter. So I've been pondering how to go about get myself back into writing fiction. I have, on long-term loan from a friend, two excellent books with writing exercises I could make my way through. I have a novel planner from NaNoWriMo. And, of course, there are a million and one sites on the Internet where I could find inspiration and writing exercises. I know me. I know that I have access to all these things yet I could easily still put it off. Let's face it, despite the urge to carry on writing after I've wrote a letter, that urge hasn't got me to hunt down either of those books and begin working through the exercises, nor has it made me pull open the top drawer of the bureau open to grab more paper to get writing.
What I need is pressure. What I need is National Novel Writing Month to be happening right now. I need other people to know what I am attempting and prod me. So... one missive sent to writers I've met through my writing group saying HELP!
So far, three of those lovely people have sent challenges to me. Which are as follows:
Begin a story with - 'You're just mad 'cause you can't knit.'
Two people who know each other bump into each other out of the blue. They haven't seen each other in over ten years. What happens next?
Words to use in a story: skiing, rubber dinghy, splurge (which is a cool word), saucy, chaffing and chaffinch.
And from the same person who sent the words -
"For a plot idea why not borrow from possibly the worst film I've ever seen which was one I watched last week. I think you should rework these plot points into a good story."
Japanese kids find spaceship
Kids fly spaceship to a planet
Kids notice whilst they are flying they also see their favourite monster flying through space next to them
Kids get to planet
Kids meet two women who want to eat their brains
Kids try to escape and a giant monster tries to get them
The monster fights the other monster they saw on the way there
Kids go home
Think that'll be enough to get started with :)
The letter writing is fab for making me want to write again. Each time I sit at my bureau to write, I want to carry on. I don't want to stop after just one letter. So I've been pondering how to go about get myself back into writing fiction. I have, on long-term loan from a friend, two excellent books with writing exercises I could make my way through. I have a novel planner from NaNoWriMo. And, of course, there are a million and one sites on the Internet where I could find inspiration and writing exercises. I know me. I know that I have access to all these things yet I could easily still put it off. Let's face it, despite the urge to carry on writing after I've wrote a letter, that urge hasn't got me to hunt down either of those books and begin working through the exercises, nor has it made me pull open the top drawer of the bureau open to grab more paper to get writing.
What I need is pressure. What I need is National Novel Writing Month to be happening right now. I need other people to know what I am attempting and prod me. So... one missive sent to writers I've met through my writing group saying HELP!
So far, three of those lovely people have sent challenges to me. Which are as follows:
Begin a story with - 'You're just mad 'cause you can't knit.'
Two people who know each other bump into each other out of the blue. They haven't seen each other in over ten years. What happens next?
Words to use in a story: skiing, rubber dinghy, splurge (which is a cool word), saucy, chaffing and chaffinch.
And from the same person who sent the words -
"For a plot idea why not borrow from possibly the worst film I've ever seen which was one I watched last week. I think you should rework these plot points into a good story."
Japanese kids find spaceship
Kids fly spaceship to a planet
Kids notice whilst they are flying they also see their favourite monster flying through space next to them
Kids get to planet
Kids meet two women who want to eat their brains
Kids try to escape and a giant monster tries to get them
The monster fights the other monster they saw on the way there
Kids go home
Think that'll be enough to get started with :)
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