The longer I have my slow cooker the more adventurous I'm getting in what I cook in it. This week's special was beef adobo. Now, if you are like me, you may well not even know what adobo is. Let me enlighten you: : a Philippine dish of fish or meat usually marinated in a sauce containing vinegar and garlic, browned in fat, and simmered in the marinade (according to Merriam Webster) Other online dictionaries suggest that the dish may be Spanish and some also say that the meat (or fish) is cooked from raw in the marinade. Things differ in this recipe as you don't ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Little Men – Louise M Alcott
It's rare that I look forward to a book as much as I did Little Men. It's also the case that I'm rarely as disappointed and frustrated with a book as I was with LIttle Men. After reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Little Women and Good Wives I went to quite a bit of effort to track down copies of LIttle Men Jo's Boys and I'm not yet sure it was worth the effort. Little Men is set at Plumfield, the school and home for boys that Jo has set up with her new husband, and follows many of the boys (and a couple of girls) that are in their care through ... read more
The things they say
As Little Miss C develops one of the things which I marvel about most is her speech and understanding. She's always been quite vocal, but since she turned one words just started tumbling out of her. At first we just had random objects being named in isolation, but more recently phrases and sentences have been formed and it's fascinating to see how her understanding and imagination are driving this. A lot of the language she knows has been driven by books. We read loads with her; first thing in a morning, just before bed and at several other points throughout the day. That means she ... read more
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
It seems that Little Miss C is very much following in my footsteps and becoming a complete book addict. The last things she asks for at night is books and first thing in a morning she wants "stories" before anything else. Trying to keep up with her is proving somewhat challenging and I have to admit that some books really test your patience when you have to read them over and over again. One of our last trips to the library resulted in fines that were so large that it would have been chaper to buy the books new! I was delighted therefore when the postman delivered a copy of The ... read more
Changing nappies – Little Miss C style
It's strange - before Little Miss C came into our lives I hadn't changed a nappy before. Now, 22 months later, I'm a bit of an expert with thousands of nappy changes under my belt. That doesn't mean it gets any easier though and we're just in one of those phases at the moment when LMC doesn't really want her nappy changed, mainly because that stops her from doing something more interesting for a few minutes. Tantrums start as soon as we try and get her anywhere near her changing mat and it's becoming a bit stressful for all concerned. We've been here ... read more
How big is #nissanLEAFcar21 – The Motion Picture
Following on from yesterday's post #nissanLEAFcar21 - The Motion Picture has now been released. Sit back and enjoy! ... read more
Just how big is a Nissan Leaf? – #nissanLEAFcar21
When I recently tried to tell you nearly everything you ever wanted to know about the Nissan Leaf I mentioned my surprise about just how roomy it was inside. It seem that my bland statement wasn't enough though and a group of local parent bloggers decided to test things a little bit further by asking the question "How many mummy bloggers can you fit into a Nissan Leaf", specifically #NissanLeafCar21? The answer it seems is an amazing eleven mummy bloggers, one daddy blogger (i.e. Alex who is taking part in the Nissan Big Turn On Challenge) and one bump! So, but ... read more
Fifty things to do before you’re 11 3/4!
After my recent post about how we should be allowing our children to explore the outdoors more to help them to connect with nature I was delighted to hear on the radio news this morning about the National Trust's new Fifty things to do before you're 11 3/4 campaign. If you're not seen this on today's news then let me tell you a little about the campaign. The idea is to encourage children to put down their computer games and step away from their TV sets and instead embrace the great outdoors. They have come up with a list of fifty activities for children to try with ... read more
Chocolate Easter nests
The long Easter weekend and we decided that it was the ideal time to introduce Little Miss C to the joys of cooking with chocolate! The three of us followed the Chocolate Easter egg nest cakes recipe from the BBC food site that seemed to be very much like the one I remember from childhood. Chocolate, melted with butter and golden syrup and then mixed in with cornflakes, before being topped with mini-eggs. It couldn't really be much more simple. With two of us at home LMC could be picked up to watch as I melted the chocolate on the hob and then she got very involved in helping ... read more