January, mostly

:: Once again I am surprised at the passage of time. January has been a bit of a blur. Time off, illnesses (not serious but enough to make you feel a bit sorry for yourself), work and birthdays have all played a part. I’ve been busy but not ridiculously though. It’s just prioritising time at the computer when I’ve been on a computer all day at work or when I’ve been cuddling a poorly child and it’s habit I’ve gotten out of. Anyway, I will be catching up with everyone’s blogs and in the meantime…I’ve been trying to appreciate January and all that sit has to offer. And also working out how 1/12 of the year has gone already!!

:: I’m STILL unravelling the hideous mess that is the yarn from hell. It’s taken hours…probably longer than it’ll take me to knit the hat! It’s got a tight tangle at the moment. So I’ve put it to one side less I take to the scissors to unravel it! In the meantime I bought some more wool and am going to make the ABO a scarf. I’ve selected mistake rib stitch as it looks fairly simple and fairly achievable, for me. Socks have been side lined for now. I’ve chosen Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Charcoal. Right now it’s still sat in the bag it came in!

:: I’ve been admiring my yarn bowl (thank you ABO) mixed in with my cookery books. As yet it contains no yarn but it does look very nice. We had a bit of a declutter and rearrange which resulted in a trip to Ikea. The trip to Ikea necessities some new frames and a rug too. CDs and DVDs (of which there were many) were moved into a series of wallets and the cases disposed of. CD cabinets moved and replaced with book shelves. Books transferred (this is just a very small sample....can you believe I reduced my book collection when LittleR was born? This was so she fitted into the house) and a myriad of child clutter put where the books once lived. The resulting tidiness lasted about an hour before normal service was resumed. I know I'm fighting a losing battle. Perhaps if the ABO and I moved out there might be enough room for the girls? I'm particularly enjoying reading through Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries. I received book 2 for Christmas. He does have a magical way with food words.

:: LittleR turned two in the middle of the month and has definitely mastered the art of ripping open a present. I made my usual birthday cake of a Victoria sponge with person specific topping. So in this incarnation Peppa Pig jumped in a chocolate puddle. All of a sudden she's a burst of language - sentences flow and there's a constant chatter.

:: I’ve also been admiring Leeds’ hotel ceilings during a break at a work training day. I did do some work too.

:: I’ve listened to the entire Serial podcast series. And now I’m mourning its end. Once again late to the party.

:: I’ve been lazy and watched a lot of TV. Not sure quite what as I keep complaining there’s nothing  much on. Football mostly I think. We're now out of the FA cup but still in the Capital One cup. And there I betray my honorary Yorkshire-ness (although I've lived more than half my life in Yorkshire) and show my true Essex/London/Southern colours.

:: I've been cooking but mostly the usual things that we always have. A very tasty chicken, chorizo and butter bean casserole featured. It looked a little anaemic but some broccoli livened it up.

:: I've enjoyed bringing in the first daffodils of the year. They've definitely brightened the kitchen.

:: We built the world's smallest snowman with the lightest snow shower. I only had HUGE carrots. A snow bump with an enormous nose.

:: I've been making plans for the garden this year. Deciding what we're going to do with it all. We need a more secure gate this year so the children (well, LittleR really, she's utterly fearless) can't escape when my back is turned for a second. A couple of roses have seen better days so I need to dig those out and replace them...not sure with what yet. I've been browsing the seed catalogues for inspiration for the summer. We're definitely growing strawberries again...they were a hit last year.


:: Thank you so much for all your helpful comments on my precious things. There are some really useful suggestions for keeping on top of all that precious child art.

When lemons are all that's left

Family mealtimes vary. Sometimes we all eat the same thing together, sometimes the girls eat one thing and we eat something else. Often, we eat together when the girls are in bed. If the girls have been at nursery all day they have a smaller meal about 3pm. This means they need a more substantial snack (but not a full meal) so we don’t all eat the same thing…plus I don’t always want food at 5pm!

When I’m on my own, as I’ve mentioned here before, I tend to eat things the ABO isn’t keen on. Occasionally I’ll eat a big meal at lunchtime and then have crackers and cheese or beans on toast. Last night, I was hungry, tired and the fridge was almost empty (we’re due a ‘big shop’) so we were out of my go to quick meal of eggs on toast. What I did have was some leftover cream and some lemons. Not what you would think would make the main basis of a meal. I’ve had this recipe in the back of my mind for a while having made it a few times 2 summers ago. I make no bones about owning it; in fact a quick search reveals the smitten kitchen has beaten me to it by some time…usually I add some peas but we are out of those too. It’s easy to scale up or down. It would be delicious with other green vegetables especially asparagus. In brief, here’s what I did… 

Boil the spaghetti or tagliatelle (or other pasta…I’ve done this with fusilli and penne, but a long thin pasta works best). Whilst this is cooking, zest and juice a medium sized lemon (I used 2 slightly shrivelled small ones- I also heated them in microwave for 10secs to get more juice), grate a good handful of parmesan cheese and roughly chop some herbs…today I used basil as that’s what I had handy, although thyme works well too. 

When cooked drain the pasta. Gently heat the cream (a good glug per person) in the same saucepan, add in the lemon zest and half of the juice. Return the spaghetti to the pan stir through the sauce, add a little water to slacken if you need to (Smitten Kitchen reserves some pasta water but I always forget this!) stir through the parmesan cheese. Add more lemon juice to your taste (I didn’t need to). Add lots of black pepper. Grate on even more parmesan cheese. Serve to yourself on a tray in front of some mindless TV and remember just in time to take a photo on your phone in very poor light

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Cooking and understanding my place in the world

What a difference a few days or warmer weather and sunshine make? I really feel as though Spring has most definitely sprung. Seeing all the fab photos all over other’s blogs is really inspiring. One day I’ll sort out my camera and stop using my phone!

We had a good weekend. I managed to get the supermarket out of the way very early (thanks BigR for the pre 5am wake up!) and we could spend the rest of the time having fun.

On Saturday whilst LittleR napped we made fairy cakes (or buns as my Yorkshire lass says) and some more date and ginger slices for Daddy. She was very excited to be using the pink cupcake cases. We planned to ice them but they hadn’t cooled enough before LittleR awoke, so one had to be taste tested before that happened for quality control purposes.

We decorated them on Sunday…there can never be too much pink glitter. The lack of icing on the cakes is down to BigR not liking it! We used just enough to stick on the sprinkles!

I was inspired by Gillian to make some poached eggs with Colcannon. Usually my poached eggs don’t cut the mustard. I was quite proud of these two holding their shape. I used a mixed bag of cabbage as I didn’t have any Kale in the fridge and lots of black pepper. It was very, very tasty!

In keeping with my try a new recipe each month…for my evening meal, once the girls were in bed, I made Sue’s chorizo and chickpea rice. I forgot to take a picture of finished dish as I was far too hungry!! I used Chorizo from Tesco and found it to be a lot more piquant than others I have used. No less tasty for it though. There was enough left for lunch the next day which I had with a big salad. You can tell spring is here; I’ve bought salad! Also, this picture tells me I need to clean my pan handle more thoroughly!

I’ve had to google whether you should capitalise ‘spring’ or not. Apparently if you give the word a human trait you add a capital letter….everyday really is a school day!

Sunday saw playing with friends at their house due to inclement weather and the making of a Shepherd's pie and a beef casserole. Batch cooking at its best.

All this food activity meant I spent a happy few hours leafing through some cookbooks. I have 2 huge shelves of cook books and can’t stop collecting them. I’m not sure how much of this changes what we cook day to day, sometimes I think just be having them there things will go in by diffusion!  I have very practical books that I use regularly and plenty of fantasy books that I just read for pleasure (and look at the pictures for inspiration). This is what I perused over the weekend.

The Allegra McEvedy book was a ‘getting paid for the second time after going back to work’ treat. It’s got some lovely looking recipes in it that I may even try out!! I like recipes that have a bit of narrative to them as well. Nigel Slater is a favourite cookery writer. He really understands how to marry together words and food. I’m loving the Rose Prince book too! The River Cottage bread book is a staple. We should have made homemade pizzas but we ran out of time!

Once again I’m thinking about work and not working. It’s nice being paid and having that extra cash to buy books and glittery sprinkles, spending time having adult conversation and using my brain in non-childcare/household (read here cleaning) related tasks. I spent so long in education to get into the ivory tower of academia I’m loathe to give it up completely. Being an academic is part of my identity. A really important part of how I define me. So when I read this today I felt a mixture of relief that I wasn’t alone and despair. I earn a good salary but I’ve added up our childcare costs, how much it costs me to commute, and I have to conclude I’m not really in it for the money that’s left! I’m torn between caring for my children myself and having time as a family and being at work and perpetuating that part of my identity. Our School is in the middle of planning for an Athena Swan silver award, I’m part of the steering committee. It’s interesting as the leads are men, the loudest voices are men and they think they understand the pressures and that flexible working policies are the answer (mine could be a parking permit!). I guess it’ll be up to me to tell them where they’re going wrong!

Wondering in January

:: The phrase ‘the days are long but the years are short’ seems very true at the moment. The weeks go by very quickly at the moment even though I seem to be busy at work I spend time being ‘bored’. I love my job but I’m not ‘in love’ with it anymore and I have to say I’m a little shocked by this. Not sure what I’m (we’re) going to do about it as yet but I’ve been looking at the flexible working policy. Maybe I need to give it a little more time.

:: LittleR was 1 last week. There were presents and Grandparents and a Mary Berry Victoria sponge. It was all very jolly….even with teething thrown in.

:: To go alongside the teething we’ve also had colds. Everyone apart from me, with the ABO feeling the worst and doing the most (building Ikea furniture, going in the loft lots of times, preparing for the chaos).

:: Why is it that the traffic on Tuesday is busier than any other time of the week? I’ve often wondered this. It’s even more pronounced when it’s raining. Whilst I’m sat in the traffic I’ll ponder this some more.

:: I have finally started knitting my Knitting and Stitching show project. It’s this pattern by Sirdar and I’ve got 2 colour ways to do for the girls. So far I’m barely through the first dog’s body. I’m hoping the girls like them….when they eventually get finished!! My extremely competent knitter friend, S, has offered to do the second dog so the second girl isn’t left out…

:: I’ve been reading like a demon…however a demon reads that is. In so far as I have finished a book and am 30% (so my kindle tells me) through The Goldfinch. I'm loving it.

:: Have you noticed that it's lighter in the evenings? Is it too early to say this? I am aware of this as currently we haven’t any curtains in the dining room and it was light when the girls had their tea.

:: The kitchen chaos starts tomorrow. I'm already counting the days until we have a functioning kitchen again. I’ve made some freezer dinners, especially for the girls but am expecting a lot of sandwiches and jacket potatoes. Anyone have any good ideas for things to ‘cook’ in a microwave?

Hello 2014

Well 2014 has been a bit of a shock to the system…I’m back at work. Hopefully this might bring some more spare moments for thinking and blogging. It’s a little bit strange being here, especially as the ABO is still off, but in some ways extremely familiar. There’s plenty of change afoot at home…our bedroom is in the process of being decorated….tantalisingly close but not there yet. And we’re about to undertake installation of a new kitchen. I’m not looking forward to the upheaval but I am looking forward to new adventures in cooking and baking!! My mantra during the process will be “it will all be OK”!

I’m hoping I’ll be able to strike a good balance between family and work…and being a bit more creative and mindful.

So what am I thinking of doing this year??

I still have things on my list from October…I’m going to revisit those…

:: making the tea cosy and giving it to S

:: an appliqued blanket for BigR

:: embroider some tea towels

:: take BigR to ‘pots to go’ for some ceramic painting fun

But what else will be new for 2014?

I was really lucky to receive some lovely wool and a pattern book from my knitter friend S and I am booked onto a ‘knitting in the round’ course at a local knitting shop (thank you to the ABO!)

So with that in mind…

:: Knit a hat

:: Knit a hat in the round (or maybe socks?)

:: Sort out the new garden beds…we had trellis separating a part of our garden that fell down in the strong winds recently (taking with it two climbing roses) so I’m seeing this as a new opportunity to re-establish the garden

:: When the kitchen is complete…attempt to cook a new dish once a month for all the family (once a week might be a step too far with everything else that goes on in life). I’m really lucky that both girls really love their food and always try new things (I’m holding onto this with BigR who the other day turned down chicken casserole but ate Rapunzel’s favourite chicken dinner!!) I really should try to menu plan better as well. We’re a lot less wasteful than we were a few years ago… but, I do rely on the old favourites for ease as well as lack of imagination.

So that’s where I am at right now. It’s a change this January when last year I was about to meet a new little person. Which gets me thinking about cakes for a first birthday…