Platform 2, LocalMotiveMarkets

Ah here's me thinking I was done for the night but there's one more: Platform 2 from LocalMotiveMarkets.

This is the new market that will be at Edinburgh Waverley station every Friday from 1pm to 7pm. I had a quick look before catching my train home. As it's new it is still quite small. There is a mix of stalls from those selling handmade bags and felted goods, jewellry stalls, a great looking art stall (Stones of Scotland) and some food stalls. I was going to try cheesecake from one stall but she couldn't guarantee it was vegetarian and was very surprised to tell hear about animal vs vegetarian rennet and the easy availability of veggie cheese in all supermarkets! Philadelphia is veggie and makes lovely cheesecake cake-stall-lady.

It's a lovely idea and I hope that it continues to grow and grow (especially as I always forget that Scottish Farmers' markets are on saturdays...in London they were usually on a Sunday!!!!)

Our kiddo free week part 4: Thai food and Danny Bhoy

Thursday
Another lovely lie in. Another small lunch - this time because I was expecting a gorgeous dinner. Another late start to work. A shock at the Edinburgh Waverley which was packed full of tourists coming and going to the Friendly Games.

Work was fine. Not much on so I got to chat to a colleague from another office.

Then the fun began.

Dinner was at the rooftop restaurant Chaophraya, This was my second thai meal within a week. On the previous Friday I met a mate for lunch at Time4Thai - crap name but my god, the food was so delicious. I had a dish with fresh peppercorns and holy basil. My mate ordered off menu in Thai (very impressive to me and the Thai waiter). The staff let us eat - they didn't speak English well but who cared as the food was delicious. Now back to the rooftop. I was early but went in anyway to enjoy the view. Nervously I tried to make jokes to a red headed totally HUMOURLESS waiter. Gah!
Hubby eventually turned up and sat down. Two minutes later his team leader walked up to us - of all the restaurants, what a coincidence. They were also headed to the Assembly Rooms after but for a different show! Small world hey?

The couple were so funny when I was taking photos.

This is lovely looking restaurant with a cocktail bar attached with access to a terrace which was beside this glass enclosed dining area. The view has to be the most phenomenal in the City. It did feel odd as people came onto the terrace and were looking into the glass area; obviously they were looking at the view but it made us feel like animals in a zoo.

Yummy sweetcorn cakes and Singha beer. Best bit of the meal. I chose Tofu with pineapple with sticky rice as a main. It was sweet (d'oh!) and I couldn't eat it. Hubby chose chicken satay to start and then prawn dish for main which luckily he enjoyed. This bill was just under £55. As a comparison Time4Thai food was miles better but this place had a view to die for IMHO.
And a final note - I mentioned the sweetness to another waiter (Manuel who was a lot better than the other guy) who assured me he would feedback to the kitchen.

Oxford Bar  - with time to kill we headed to the Oxford Bar which is a old man's boozer frequented by Ian Rankin and featuring in his Rebus books. I loved it and enjoyed my half of IPA and chatting to an old Art Lecturer who was in town visiting art museums. And just look at the window of the ladie's loo door - so pretty! (side note, the old man was trying to catch the eye of an older hottie at the same bench who wasn't interested - wonder if he managed after we left)

p.s. if booze and gourmet burgers is more your thing, head down the same road to the Cambridge Bar :)

Danny Bhoy 12 nights, 12 charities

Well now what a tardis the Assembly Rooms on George Street are. It's huge inside. After the previous night's experience we didn't expect a huge crowd. Boy was I wrong - we were directed to a long queue that snaked twice along the side of the building. A mixed crowd of old and young. Mostly white - I am still getting used to being the only brown face at Comedy shows. 

Eventually we were allowed in to the Music hall and we chose to go up to the Balcony. Wowsers is this room awesome with a chandelier that I would keep well away from Del, Rodny and Grandad. 

Well now, the show was ace. He is a very funny man. This was his 12th Fringe show, and all proceeds are going to local charities. 

His experience showed as he handled the crowd well - telling an enthusiastic fan shouting about BottleOs (an Aussie offie that Danny has done jokes about before) that with only an hour, there wasn't much time for banter. And much later very deftly told a lady in the audience to turn off her phone as it was rude and distracting. The jokes were so funny - things about not using publicity, about a yob defacing a Danny Bhoy poster to Danny Gay - diligently taking time to cross out the H whilst Danny stood behind him and watched. He joked about the problems comedians have renting flats as they are too high a risk. 

There was singing as part of a joke about blues and stories and BB King singing about going down to the bus stop to get a bus. He likes to sing and has done in previous shows. And another joke about going to a Michelin star restaurant in Canada where the maitre'd insisted he wore a jacket even though the place was empty. And finally a funny rant about how companies are always collecting our details even when it make no sense - I don't think I will ever be able to go to Tony and Guys for a haircut or even go to buy a pair of pants without laughing.

At one point I shushed hubby as I thought he had started his high pitched laugh (usually happen when he is really out of control laughing) - turns out it was the fan next to him. 

Unlike the previous night, I didn't want this one to end - he is such a master of his art and I'm glad that charity or no, we went to see him. 

Thoroughly wholeheartedly recommended. 

Our kiddo free week part 3 - Imran Yusuf / Josie Long pre-Fringe show.

Wednesday 
A luxurious lie in until 10am as I was working the afternoon. But urgh - dehli belly caused by those hot chillies so no left overs for lunch just a yummy Red Delicious apple and a cuppa.

That evening we had tickets to see Imran Yusuf at the Underbelly and then later Josie Long at the Stand. I was really excited about Imran Yusuf as whenever we have seen him on the telly he has been hilarious.
Before the show we treated ourselves to a very rushed dinner at Mums Great Comfort Food which was a brilliant find. I enjoyed my choice of veggie sauces and had champ for the first time. But the best bit was the Tempest Brewing Company Holyrood Pale ale. It was DELICIOUS.

Now to the show which was in the Wee Coo - a very long shed painted black. Imran Yusuf was doing a new show Roar of the Underdog. As it was a pre-Festival show there were not many of us in the wee coo shed.  Apparently 34 of us. How do I know? He said it about 6 times at least. And I think he was counting himself and the crew. I don't know what happened as before the show I was raving about him to the people outside and jumping up and down with excitement. It was AWFUL. It was raining. We walked into the shed and were urged to sit at the front. After some rap music, he announced himself and came out in casual clothes, not the shiny suits that he wore when on the telly. He is a lot taller than he looks on the box. Notes in hand he explained that he hadn't been to Fringe for 2 years. Too close to home in parts (he's an Asian born in East Africa who great up in London, though much younger than me). He worked for Sega where one of my brothers was for a while (they never met). The first story was about him being a Godfather to a Catholic friend's kid - something Mr P.M. knew all about as he is Godfather to my catholic niece. Every story was long and what started off as a grin in my face changed to a grimace. The stories were long. At times it felt like a lecture. And a lot of it felt a bit too racist for me. He did something about trying to change people's perception of Muslims but by this time, I was so bored and regretting my front row seat that I didn't care. He didn't make eye contact with me but did with Mr P.M. who did laugh. At the end of the show he just said he wanted to be liked and was happy to meet people outside and sign autographs. 

My review: the boy grew up and got all serious - my humour bone cracked but not with laughter. 

Josie Long at the Stand - umm well we went along and found out that actually the show had been cancelled a few weeks back. After the Imran show I was LIVID. The staff at Stand were really lovely trying to find out if we had been refunded. They emailed the Fringe staff to find out if we had been refunded. 

Date night was over. I had a thundercloud over me and was angry beyond belief that our evening had been so awful. To top it off my feet were killing me (stupid Karrimor shoes) and Mr P.M. who had aleady made the mistake of laughing at the earlier show hadn't really seemed that bothered about the cancellation. So No, I didn't want a drink. I just wanted to go home.

At home, still fuming I check and both The Fringe site  and Josie Long's site still had the show listed. Tehre was link to here Twitter feed and the rage went into overflow as I saw a tweet from her saying how happy she was to be in Edinburgh.WTF. A twitter exchange followed where it turns out she is actually quite a lovely person, was very sympathetic about my rage and offered to get us VIP tickets. I turned those down as it wouldn't have been fun but at least now when she's on the Stewart Lee Alternative Comedy Experience, I won't turn off.

Fringe lessons learnt:

1. Don't believe the Fringe site

2. Don't believe Artist's site 

3. Always ring the venue to check a show is on

4. We had been refunded but as I had decided to save the extortionate £4 per show booking online, the Fringe didn't have my details to tell me the show is cancelled. Hmmm not really a lesson here - I still hate that fee more than this risk of going to shows that aren't on. 

5. Don't go to bed in tears and angry as no-one gets a cuddle and a cold wall between couples is a big waste in kid-free weeks. 

Our kiddo free week parts 1 and 2

Routine again rules our house. At 7.30 I had the battle to take kiddo for her shower - she always enjoys herself in there so the battle is doubly frustrating. Now it's around 8pm and Mr P.M. is upstairs putting kiddo to bed.
We have had a kid free week - and boy did we need it. I love being a mum but sometimes I just want to walk away - be somewhere where I can read what I like, watch what I like on TV and eat what I like without feeling guilty that I haven't made a yummy yet nutritious non spicy meal for kiddo. Freedom wasn't quite what I got though as I still had Mr P.M. around but luckily we took advantage.

The next few posts are going to be about the week that was. Lets start with Monday and Tuesday

Monday 
A full day of work which means extra money at the end of the month to spend on the house. To be brutally honest, I am not enjoying this job as I have to wake up very early to get the train in and there is a lot of work to squeeze in the hours. But I'm grateful to have a job and on the whole they are flexible which is useful for a parent.
We cracked open the first season of Breaking Bad. Episodes 1 and 2 were fine. But my goodness Epi 3 was slow and I nearly gave up. I spent a lot of time complaining about the wife who was just an awful person!

Tonight's dinner was a falafels. Usually a meal I love but having spent a bit of time on the phone with kiddo it ended up burnt. And our Zinfadel Rose didn't work out - very rarely I get a strong pain in the Eustachian tubes when drinking alcohol. Sod's law it was this time. Bit of a flat evening ensued.

Tuesday
Another working a full day (wooohoooo more hours = more money to spend on the house).  I couldn't be bothered to cook dinner so we had take out from Bay Leaf - I had my usual extra spicy saag paneer and hubby had a prawn curry. He seemed to enjoy his. I loved mine - even though every now and again I was crunching on rougly chopped up chillies. We had our meals with pilau rice and a paratha. It is really lovely being able to order a ruby murray without worrying about kiddo.
More Breaking Bad - we are HOOKED

In some ways it was a normal few days - I got home and moaned about my job. we ate dinner while watching the box. We watched the box until late and we went to bed.

Bitter sweet

The day started off rather bitterly as I had to go for a smear test. This is a godawful thing for any woman to go through as an instrument resembling eyelash curlers is shoved up your privates and then the shover has a root around to get a good look at your cervix. It's so undignified but it must be done as regular screening ensures that any changes can be detected earlier. I was mildly curious to see that the instrument of torture has now been changed to some plastic contraption (which must be more hygienic I hope than the previous, re-usable thing). Before I was subjected to torture, the nurse noticed that I had been called in for high cholesterol last year and went on about my need to change my diet. I was weighed and despite joining a Zumba class, had lost sod all weight. The advice is to cut out: Cheese, chocolate, biscuits, bread, carbohydrates, crisps and ICE CREAM. She didn't mention cake but I'm sure that's on the banned list. I almost feel that I might as well be dead but having a child soon puts an end to such selfish melodrama.
Afterwards I trundled off home and sadly told Mr Plummy that it best we give our plan to visit the London 2011 Chocolate Festival a miss. One of the reasons I love my husband is that he is able to say "Pah" to nonsense and so after lunch off we all went to the South Bank.
Wasn't it gloriously hot today in beautiful London? Probably not the best weather to be hanging around a choccy festival, no matter how pretty the decorated items were. We tried a bit of salted caramel (nice) and tot had some vanilla choc all the way from Italy. There were only a few stalls and my best one had a chocolate raspberry ladybird for £5. Luckily for our wallets, heat put us off carrying anything around so we looked but didn't buy.
It was a nice surprise to see Greenwich Meantime Brewery with a stall here. I didn't notice if they had any chocolate beers but I'm sure tomorrow when the crowds really get going, they will do great business. The pose the young man held as I quickly took a photo was very funny.
A nice stroll past the Eye and back towards Cannon Street lifted my mood no end. Along the way, I took a few more photos with my little phone. The silt/sand sculptures were particularly impressive but I did worry about the man spending so much time in Thames Water - is that safe?
And of course, like on any sunny day, we had to stop by the ice cream van. Don't worry - I was good and had a cone of Lemon Sorbet. Please don't tell me this is on the banned list too.

English Curry Awards

I really should not read the Greenwich Curry Club's excellent posts when I am hungry. We've ordered a take out but after reading the GCC's latest post, I am now RAVENOUS.
To take my mind off things I just googled Curry Awards. Those North of the Border have had the Scottish Curry Award for a few years (nomination forms can be downloaded here) and for the last 5 years there are the Welsh Curry award (top 30 restaurants list here). Now, a new English Curry Award has been set up with the final being held later this year in Manchester.
Personally I felt Manccy restaurants were poor compared to the ones in Bradford/Leeds (Aagrah for instance)- but neither city's offering were a patch on the Birmingham Balti restaurants from my student days that provided much needed manna for this little round indian gal.
If you are interested in nominating a restaurant follow this link: English Curry Awards
For the more swanky among you there is the well established British Curry Award which features Shampan 2 in Bromley. This is a sister restaurant to Shampan 3 that StuMayhew recently told me about and one I shall be checking out soon.
Did have a giggle that the Chief Guest at the 2010 British Curry Awards was Rt Hon Eric Pickles...pickles, Indian restaurant geddit???
Finally, if you want to put in your tuppence worth then send your recommendations into the Cobra Good Curry Guide - they are compiling the 2011 edition now.
Argh I'm really hungry now. Must resist temptation to eat a chocolate bar while I wait

Hall Place

We went along to Hall Place today for the first time. The place is well laid out and we had a nice walk around some model gardens, the greenhouses and some other garden areas. It was interesting to see some of the plants there such as the ginger plant.
For lunch we went into the Jacobean Barn restaurant which is on site. Luckily, even though we didn't have reservations, we were seated easily. Although my vegetarian lunch was very average, my meat eating companions enjoyed their meals. The desserts were again a bit disappointing - my Eton Mess didn't have enough fruit so give those a miss.
The plan had been to walk around the 65 acres and the medieval house but wine with lunch laid me out (I'm such a cheap date!) and we drove back home. Luckily, it only takes about half an hour to drive from Plumstead so I will be returning to finish my visit, preferably on a day with a lower pollen count....achoooooo!
There is plenty of free parking but note that the Hall & gardens are not open on Mondays or Tuesdays.

Hall Place:
Hall Place and Gardens, Bourne Road, Bexley Kent. DA5 1PQ.

Couture

Couture Food Hall, 1 Cadogan Street, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6YS
Tel: 0208 317 4320

After our art trip on Sunday, we popped into Couture Food Hall as I wanted to get some veg and had never been there.
It's there clearly on the sign "Organic fruit and veg". But inside none to be found. Quick call the Trades Description bods...this place doesn't sell any fruit and veg! Apparently they used to but didn't make any money out of it. Now this surprises me as they are in the hidden, posh, Woolwich of townhouses and flats in converted old historical looking buildings populated by bods I don't think would step across the road to the real rough Woolwich except to get the DLR into town.
I have to admit if this foodhall deli was in London town centre, I'd be very disappointed at the lack of variety. Yes, some were interesting like the meal packs in the chiller and some of the sauces, but these were mixed in with the plain and ordinary like jaffa cakes. Also, it sold fresh meat which is of little interest to veggie me. But it isn't in town, it's in an area which has nothing even remotely close so judge it along those lines.
Another misleading sign we spotted was "Service with a smile" as we politely waited for a few minutes for the girl behind the counter to clean a spotless counter before she deigned to raise her oafish head and ask us what we wanted. But again to be fair, later on the charms of our tot worked on the other server and said smile was forthcoming.
The sandwich and panini were very nice, fresh and tasty. The coffee was also good - not like the rough Costa coffee. This was proper brewed java. There were only 2 other customers in the cafe. So we had a choice of tables.
Whilst sitting there, I couldn't help but think the whole place should be converted into a cafe as the food on sale was not brilliant and this area is screaming for decent eateries esp. one where you can take a paper, maybe a drink (they have an alcohol license), have a lazy lunch and then saunter back to posh domiciles (OK OK I'm jealous!). And with the owning organisations background in catering, an evening of food demonstrations wouldn't go a miss or a taster menu. Given a choice between eating here or at the Firepower museum, I would choose here.
Finally, I big bonus for parents out there.... though small this place has a toilet with a baby changing table. That's was a pleasant surprise even though tot will be out of nappies soon, very, VERY, soon.

See Woo

After a lot of urging from a friend, I finally went into See Woo at the weekend. Full of great ingredients many of which are explained in English.
Unfortunately, unless you know which brands to buy, it's impossible to tell which taste the best. And in the case of some dried cassava sticks...how to cook them.
Wouldn't it be great if someone ran tours of foreign supermarkets and gave you tips on what to buy and how to cook it.
I need to make friends with experts in Thai and Chinese vegetarian cuisine. In return I can take said friends round Indian supermarkets.
Any takers?

Tamasha

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. Instead of going in town we opted for a meal in Bromley at the quirky Tamasha. If you like Indian food, it's worth giving this place a go. It's total Days of the Raj dontcha know.
On arrival, our tot was whisked away by the door man (yes they have a dedicated person to open the door) and plonked onto a huge statue of an elephant. He found it funny, she was a tad scared. We were seated at the back of the restaurant which seems to be where the smaller tables were. Next time, I'll ask for a more central table so tot can look around - although I think we may leave her home next time!
To begin we had papadoms - I really loved the yoghurty, coriander sauce that they came with. Yum yum, will have to try to emulate it somehow.
The starters were fine. I had Aloo Palak bhajiya (£5.95) which are light and tasty spinach and potato pakoras. Hubby opted for calamari peri peri (£6.95) which was spicy.
I wasn't as impressed with the mains. There were spiced but not chilli hot which I like. Even the pakora chillies (huge green chillies fried in gram flour batter) weren't that spicy though I didn't eat as far as the seeds. I opted for Karahi Paneer (£9.95) that was creamy with fresh paneer but not much kick and Baingan Bharata (£7.95) which is an aubergine based dish. I basically left most of the latter as it there was the amount of dhana jeeru was too much for my palate. Also I make a very of this which I like better and will be posting a recipe on my other website soon.
Hubby went for Achari Duck Sashlik (£13.95) which was palatable if somewhat lacking in heat.
With beer, deserts, accompaniments and service charge the bill was nearly £100. In future we will do what fellow diners did - don't order the bottled water, just have tap and share things like rice and naans.
The place is very child friendly in terms of providing baby seats and waiters making a fuss. But I think the menu lacks options for the really young. The waiters also gave tot some chocolate which I whisked away, not wanting her to be any more hyper than she was. I know it's nice of them but if they asked, I'm sure most parents would not want their tots and even babies (they gave same to a 10 month old at the table next to us) to be given chocolate. It's a shame as on Sundays, they encourage families and even put on a magic show for the young ones! Also, the loos are definitely not child friendly...it's hilariously shocking to find pornagraphic images, inspired by the kama sutra I assume, adorning the walls. When I went years ago, I found this funny, but now as a mum I just didn't know where to look and wouldn't want to explain any of the images to my tot!

Tamasha
131 Widmore Road, Bromley, BR1 3AX
tel:020 8460 3240

Bar du Musee

Well I never. I went along to Bar du Musee this week with some other local mums for a drinking and gossip session. I've passed this place many times and haven't been tempted in which has been my loss. The small exterior is misleading as the place is cavernous. Even more importantly, there are lovely comfy couches to sit on. This Wednesday, it was strangely empty...where are all the tourists?
I did find the lighting a bit too low - lovely for a romantic liaison but not so much for a bunch of friends trying to see each other in the dark. And I found it hard to hear what my friends were saying though I think we can put that down to old age rather than bar ambience.
Unfortunately, I'd been tucking into some trail mix at lunchtime which rendered my tummy a no-go zone for drinks so stuck to cranberry juice. I think I'll have to venture there again for some alcohol and maybe even a bite or two :)

Bar du Musee
17 Nelson Road, Greenwich, London, SE10 9JB
0208 858 4710

Sunday Blackheath Sunday

Have been meaning to get over to Blackheath Farmers market ever since I moved to this area. On Saturday after seeing that the sunny weather report for Sunday, we made plans to head down. It's so sad that trains no longer go to Blackheath from Plumstead as we could have had a car free day. I had a quick look on the tfl site and it showed that on Saturday you could go to Blackheath via Woolwich.
That was Saturday, so I thought it was reasonable the same would be true for Sunday. Right? WRONG wrong wrong - we got to Woolwich, parked at the station and merrily went along to be told that trains to Blackheath could not be caught from that Woolwich line that day. So we jumped into the car (so glad we took it rather than walked else trip would have been off) and drove off to Welling. £1 for the car park is outrageous when Woolwich is free on Sunday but we paid and headed for the trains. What joy to be able to use my PAYG travelcard. I did panic a bit as it was nearly 11 and I thought the market would be done by 12.
We arrived in glorious sunshine to a buzzing Blackheath - lots of strollers, lots of young middle class in view ...Gordon Brown should get down here with his latest campaign ;). The market is small, and it didn't have the variety in veg that you would get at e.g. Borough but maybe the snow had something to do with that. I saw with relief the market is open to 2p.m. The stall holders obviously know their market as we walked around some had sold out of their produce and most of the others were doing a good trade. As expected, there were some stalls selling bread/cakes. Will I never learn that you should walk all the way round before buying as I got a spinach/ricotta roll and then passed a stall that had the most delicious looking veggie tarts on sale.


Once our shopping was done we decided to go to Cafe Rouge rather than a pub as a) it's very child friendly and b) unlike a pub the quality of food is predictable. We came to regret this in some ways. On turning up the place was not full but as some tables were reserved, we very lucky to be given a table by the door. For this, I had to tolerate blasts of cold wind hurtling into my back every time the door was opened. The staff were very busy, mostly greeting people at the door just to tell them the place was all full.
We waited ages to be served. When served, we took the waiter's suggestion to have garlic bread...if you go on a Sunday DON'T do this as it seems to radically affect the time you eat your meal. The bread arrived at the same time as tot's meal. We had to remind the waiter to bring our drinks. It was really lucky that the tot's meal arrived as we devoured the delicious bread and then sat there for 20-25 mins waiting for the mains to come. We had to ask the staff where they were and were informed they were being prepared just then. I told the waiter that they should get more staff. The hostess / maitre d' person piped up and said this would not help them. I don't run a restaurant but seriously how can this be true?
During our long wait, other would-be diners walked out as they hadn't been served. One made quite a point of this and [I think] was rudely brushed off by the hostess/maitre d' person. Great customer service. Bear in mind, people were regularly being turned away during all this time.
When our food arrived, it was delicious but how can you enjoy it when your tot who had eaten nearly 45 mins before is squirming about and just wants to leave.
My hubby and tot had dessert and we made to leave. While hubby was in the loo, the waiter again made the comment about how extra staff would not help as according to him the problem is that diners all came at the same time. So this is a restaurant, in a prime location which would get a lot of lunchtime or dinner trade and cannot handle the number of diners it covers. It's a restaurant where many of the tables were reserved so they could actually predict that they would be busy. This is not a new restaurant but an established one. Methinks someone in Cafe Rouge management needs to review this as it's madness. I enjoy a leisurely lunch but I absolutely hate waiting for food to arrive. The real shame here is that that particular waiter is one who has served once before and is a really nice person. If they were just a tad more efficient, people could enjoy visiting this restaurant. Next time I think we'll go the pub or El Pirata.
We finished off in Blackheath by going to Pares shoe shop and getting tot a brand new pair of pink shoes. That cheered us all up. The staff in there are are very good at handling children (the lady seeing to us even laughed off the swift kick in the head tot accidently gave her) and even better, there was a sale and tot got a lollipop as we left :)
We happily made our way back to Welling and were home by 3. I'm not sure the market is compelling enough to visit frequently but I'm sure that when the sun is out we will make our way there but next time, we'll take a picnic.

Back to me...

It's very odd to feel sad when a celebrity dies - unless I guess you knew them personally.
This morning was a double shocker; first Patrick Swayze then a few hours later, Keith Floyd.
Now with PS I was sad. But with KF I was gutted.
I loved to watch Floyd cook even though most of it was meat or fish and therefore not really something I could do. But he was pure entertainment before all the wanker arrogant TV chefs of today were on the box . And he reminded me a lot of my dad's style of cooking. When my mum died, dad went mad and started taking over the kitchen. Much to my annoyance as I was also trying to do the same thing. Our styles of cooking were different. I chop as I go, quite happily cooking in chaos with a sink full of dishes. Dad on the other hand would first clean the kitchen, then get his glass of booze, his rolled up ciggie and set off on the great and LONG adventure of cooking that night's dinner. Before the actual cooking began, he would have everything chopped and ready in little dishes, Floyd-like. I would be told to get out of the way and would only get him coming into the main room to tell me a story or summat whilst he set something to simmer, blanch or burn (frequently, though he denied it). Dinner would take ages and often we didn't sit down to eat for at least 2 hours.
We both enjoyed watching Floyd. The man had style even if he was a rude sod. He would embrace the cooking and life etc. I wanted to go where he went, drink what he drank and be that enthusiastic about eating (something I think denied to veggies as we often say No to food). And I loved that. So sad to see that vitality gone.
Dad's coming over this weekend and I think we will do a tribute lunch to Floyd. But there is no way the old man is kicking me out of the kitchen this time and NO booze for him as he's driving. And we will eat before I age another year.

Fairy Cakes!

I went all W.I. this week and made fairy cakes for the playgroup's Easter Hunt. All I can say is that I have a lot to learn about icing.

Hopefully the kids enjoyed my efforts. I know I enjoyed the batch I kept at home and covered in butter icing.

Now I must start that diet soon and look at ways to ensure me and mine don't have butter-induced heart attacks.

For those who like all things cakey, check out the Cake Shop link that a mate just sent me. Yum yum yum!

Brain dead

I'm definitely getting the cold so have been a bit brain dead this week. Yesterday was a busy day - beginning with a visit to the playgroup. This was our first outing in the week as the little one has been ill. Had fun there and it was nice to talk to other mums though I was a bit puzzled by the parenting style of some of the carers (an issue I'll cover in another post). Back home, I was trying to fill in a job application and do an online test. The test took longer than I thought as I kept being interrupted by the tot. Not her fault. She was bored. Eventually, and guiltily, I persuaded her to sleep.
Then I tried very unsuccessfully to make Scottish lentil soup - my husband loves soup and even though I rang the MIL for the recipe, it still burnt but left lentils uncooked. It burnt as I was still filling in forms.
Husband came home and I just let him get on with tot and dinner. Very unfair of me but the application had a deadline.
Now it's a new day and I feel I should make up to the tot. I feel crap but will drag myself out when she wakes from her nap.
Then I will try to be creative with mushrooms (B vits and protein), spinach (iron) and rice (carbs). As there is no form filling involved, I am sure I will manage not to burn her dinner. Whether she eats it is an entirely different matter.