Baby blues

My Mum will tell you that in a classic case of reverse psychology she is an news addict whilst I wake up and see that the world is still there so just get on with my stuff, don't read newspapers and listen to the radio for music not events.  Mind you, even I knew that a Royal Baby was born yesterday and although I had been less than interested in it, being of the 'leave them alone and stop talking incessant rubbish as if you're selling the birth on QVC or something' persuasion, today I found myself looking the pictures of the new parents with tears in my eyes.  Ridiculous nonsense obviously.

I don't have strong feelings about the monarchy one way or another really.  I do however have very strong feelings about how little I would want to be part of The Firm, despite remembering that as a little girl I wanted to marry Prince Edward naturally.  I didn't happen to do pregnancy or birth that well at all as I was reminded by the husband only this morning 'you made a meal of it - both times' being his *amusing* comment on the whole thing; the thought that 100s of deranged people have camped outside whilst I went through the worst experience of my life (with the best end result of course) horrifies me. Nor did I (first time round) do the whole initial motherhood thing well either, as a look I mean, so again I am horrified at the thought that I would have to put a swollen and battered body which insists on leaking from all over the place in all sorts of unimagined ways into normal clothes makes me shudder.  Kate of course looked a bit tired but happy, relaxed and glamorous, surely an offence. 

I digress. The teary eyes need an explanation. In my teens & into my twenties  I didn't really see children in my future, even when I got married.  My boys already say things like 'when I'm a Dad' and I didn't ever think like that (yes before you ask, them saying that also makes me a bit moist in the ocular region). So what changed?  Actually it was the funeral (not the death) of William's mum, Diana. I guess it is all part of the ying and yang of life and death, but all I know was that when I saw the word 'Mummy' written on the card on the top of Diana's coffin I turned to my rather surprised husband and said 'I cannot die and never be called Mummy'. It was honestly as much as a revelation to me as it was to him.

So today I was crying not because a new royal Prince is particularly important to me, but because today I am a Mum because his Dad lost his. 

If you can't stand the heat get into the kitchen

Obviously it's far too warm to be baking ... it should be Nobbly Bobblys all round but this was an emergency.

I don't know where you stand on the 'cold fruit' issue but I stand firmly against unless it's in a Daquari. Peaches, strawberries and other berries in particular do not taste of much atall unless they are at room temperature in my opinion and in this hot weather they last about as long as my new year's resolutions (about half a day) before developing a mushy and furry sort of texture so what's a girl to do in such conditions to ensure that she is getting her 5-a-day?

At the same time we realised that the bread in the cool breadbin in the usually cool kitchen just wasn't coping well with the increased temperatures either, transforming from fresh to blue-mould in the blink of an eye, so it was decided that the oven would go on and I would risk heat exhaustion for both causes.

First of all I made some brilliantly easy bread (although I haven't told the husband yet that the lovely cream Kenwood Patissiere he bought me for my birthday started to smoke after 5 minutes with the dough hook ...) from a recipe on the side of the Strong Brown Bread Flour packet from Sainsburys.  It is basically flour, oil, yeast, salt, honey & water and a few minutes pretending to be Paul Hollywood  - but I forgot to take a photo.  Trust me though, it has stayed fresher than a bought loaf and is much more substantial so a few small slices filled up hungry boys and husband more effectively than even our favourite Hovis wholemeal. Also in this weather you can cover the dough with clingfilm and put it out in the sun to prove which is marvellously good for your soul and feeds your inner Doris Day. 

Now to tackle the fruit 'n' veg issue.  This took a little more effort but is well worth it.  I was lucky enough to have decided to keep 'emergency' carrot cake ingredients in my store cupboard some time ago and I was happy enough to sacrifice some of my 'I will always keep fresh carrots to make my own carrot sticks in my fridge instead of cheesy crackers to eat with my houmus' (lol!) carrots; so armed with a grater, my American cup measurers and a big whisk I set about assembling Kim Cathcart's famous enormous fruity carrot cake which is taken from her Mum's recipe.  It is fairly low fat too if you don't add the cream cheese frosting (but I always do).

Kim sent me an email with the recipe followed by a section called 'What I do ...' - which is genius.

Kim's Carrot Cake

3 eggs
1 20oz can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 1/2 cups oil
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Method
Beat the oil and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time, still beating & then the vanilla.  Sift in the dry ingredients.  By hand, mix in the pineapple, nuts & carrot.

Bake in 2 x 10" pans  until cake springs up in the middle (approx 35 mins at 160 fan or 180 normal)

What Kim does ...  Drain the pineapple and use this juice in the cake instead of a lot of the oil.  You will probably have to add a bit of oil to meet 1 1/2 cups of liquid (max half a cup usually) or use pineapple juice from a carton.  Use at least 2 cups of carrots or more if you like.  Vanilla is a must and add more rather than less.  I also quickly toast the pecans and then chop which adds flavour.

What I improvised ... I didn't have any pecans but had a packet of walnuts so toasted those and then blitzed fairly small in my 'mini chopper' - I think it's Braun and I bought it in a supermarket as I don't have room or money for a fabulous food processor at the moment! I also had a courgette (zucchini) in my fridge which had seen better days so I grated it and added it too.  In the past I have added a generous handful of sultanas or raisins too but my kids aren't fussed on them.  

The icing
Shop bought cream cheese or vanilla style frosting is fine - I tend to add some lemon juice to the mix if I am using this to make it a bit more tangy and less artificial tasting.  If you want to make your own there are lots of recipes - mine is a bit general!  Cream some soft butter until really smooth and then add some soft cream cheese, add icing sugar, a dash of vanilla and some salt. I also add lemon juice to taste.  I then refrigerated this overnight before spreading on the cakes. Yum.

Will take a better photo next time!  The good thing about this weather is that our appetites have been much smaller but we have waded through this cake as we are having it for lunch or dinner instead of a sandwich or wrap, not as dessert or as a snack!!!    

Everything changes but everything stays the same

Blimey, golly and good grief. It has been over 4 years since my last confession last Blog and although I have changed my hairstyle at least a dozen times since then, I have re-read my ramblings and rather depressingly realise I am still preoccupied with exactly the same things. 

I still love reading on trains, the springing of Spring, my Mum now lives on Twitter; however more worryingly I am still struggling to run my small business, still receiving many hundred more business marketing emails than ones from clients and am still not a size 10, Boden wearing lady what lunches female entrepreneur success story.   

However, I solved the self-employment blues by taking on a part-time term time job in a local school which I love but which has actually led to me not having enough time to run the business properly (when your admin pile is twice the size of your ironing pile perhaps it's time to throw in the towel or at least reduce your hours). 

This 2 job/2 kids farce has been fantastic for many reasons because having no spare time really simplifies your life, it makes you concentrate on the needs not the wants, it makes you realise you can have time or money but very rarely both (until you have made enough money to take time not to work but by then your children are usually grown up) and it makes you such a logistical expert I honestly think I could direct traffic at spaghetti junction.  I have made wonderful friends, learned brilliant practical and life skills and most importantly have realised that as much as I complain about being stupidly busy, tired and fraught at times, juggling is what I am best at (not actual juggling although perhaps there's a YouTube video which could teach me if I have 5 minutes ...) 

The Lighthouse Drawing Rooms is what I love to do most - people seem to love what I do too just not in large enough numbers - but if I am not frantic then life can feel a little empty ... hence hello, crochet, yes really. Well, it could have been pole dancing and no-one needs to see that. 

www.lighthousecards.co.uk

Separated at birth ...

any Dr Seuss character ... the cat in the hat, any who from whoville and certainly the Grinch ... and Phil Spector. Bizarre and disturbing.

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Oxymoronic times

Saying 'I work from home' during school holidays. Impossible. A new definition for the urban dictionary methinks
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Social networking

Mmm - when your mum signs up to Facebook and is writing a book about age inappropriate thinking and emotional maturity is it strictly cosher to throw a teenage hissy fit age 38? Think this is one for Mumsnet (they of the hugely popular discussion thread 'is it appropriate that' ...?) Failing that I could ask Philip Scofield or Stephen Fry for their comments. Crikey - between remembering passwords and thinking up my next witty posting I barely have time for a life to rattle on about ... Never mind, I'll turn it all into a book next week cleverly entitled 'is it me or is modern life shit ... But because i have a facebook/friends reunited/myspace/twitter profile to maintain I kid the world and myself that I'm really interesting'. Catchy.

Actually I think it's great that mum is on - I often joke that her body will evolve a usb port, a charger and a dongle connection by 2012. Imagine my surprise when I found out a man in Norway (I think) has beaten her to it. After losing a finger in an accident he had a false finger attached which is actually a usb memory stick. It's her birthday soon, I'm off to check out the private healthcare to see if we're covered.
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Spring has sprung

Is it just co-incidence that the banking crisis/credit crunch hit hard during the seeminly longest winter in modern memory? I think it probably is seeing as parts of america get great weather all year round (oh except when we're in florida in june expecting wall to wall sunshine and get days and days of rain - we're from ireland for goodness sake what's the craic with that nonsense) but today it feels like anything is possible - not just cos the sun's out but because - dare I say it - there's warmth sneaking out and about for the first time in what feels like a millenia. Can't give up the ugg boots just yet, but do feel the polo necks could give way to t shirt and my summer staple the cardi. Phew it must be hot!

I'm hoping that the clement weather will stifle the media obsession with doom and gloom and be replaced by berrating us about our lack of green credentials, our massive footprints and support this with photos of northerners on the beach in nothing more than thongs and flipflops (well it is in the mid teens you know).

There's nothing better than living in the uk during spring - really absolutely nothing (and that comes from someone for whom spring means having to listen to her mother max lyrical about wild flowers and bird species so I don't say it lightly). Now the all we have to do is trick our summer into thinking that this is really australia then we've cracked it.

Pimms anyone? Is that Cliff Richard I see over there?
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