Roast dinner

Not an exciting photo, is it!  But it was tasty...

Random Cake

Olivia had a friend over today and one of the things they did was bake a cake. I think it took longer to decorate than actually to make it...  And in case you think Olivia is being pushy having her initials on the cake, the other girl is called Nina, so it's really both of their initials - just happens to be Olivia's proper initials...

Playing Tourist

Took some time uptown today to play the tourist - the original plan was to pop into the Transport Museum in Covent Garden as we have a free entry (it's one of those where you get a year's free return if you've been once - we went in August)  - but when we got there, there was a HUGE queue, so we decided to skip it.

Instead, we had a wander around Covent Garden, starting with a trip to the Moomin Shop and taking in some Valentines themed sculptures (the metal tags have individual messages written on them, and they are padlocked to the frames. There were also a giant L, O, V and E). 

And we spent some time watching the performance artists - always a bit of fun.

We then wandered along to Chinatown, where there were loads and loads of red lanterns out still from the Chinese New Year, so that was fun - and colourful.  After that, we walked through Leicester Square down towards Trafalgar Square - it was freezing cold, so we decided to spend a little time inside the National Gallery to warm up a bit - and look at some paintings, too, of course. 

Then we walked down the Mall to have a look at Buckingham Palace

And finally, walked through Green Park back towards Picadilly, where we had a brief stroll through Fortnum & Mason before hopping on the Tube back to Waterloo and so home. It was a nice day, but really, really cold.  We were very impressed with this woman eating lunch on a park bench - a bit heartier than we were - and we are pretty hearty!

Dinner, 20/2/13: Sausages with onions and chestnuts

served with lots of mash.  We all agreed that the chestnuts were ok, but didn't really add anything, so weren't really worth putting in. Would be better with something else, like mushrooms.  Otherwise, nice.

Dinner, 19/2/13: Cumin Crusted Vegetables with Lamb Steaks

The veg (& potato) recipe came from the Hairy Bikers' Diet Cookbook (The Hairy Dieters) and was really lovely. Definitely would do it again.  Worked fantastically along side a bit of meat. 

Ham House Afternoon

It was a lovely, sunny (!) day, and it's the half-term holiday, so we headed out to Ham House, where I'd read there was a display of costumes from Anna Karenina on show (part of the film was shot there - something in Vronsky's house). As Ham House is a National Trust property and we are members, free admission!  Always a good thing.

As the exhibition (and related tour of the house) were ticketed events, we had some time to kill - we got there around noon and couldn't go on the tour until 2.15.  So we had some lunch. And then, as it was lovely and sunny, we sat outside at the tables and drank tea. 

And then, we drank some more tea. 

And ate some cake. We originally had planned to have a stroll in the garden, but it was so lovely out and warm (for February) that we ended up just sitting. And drinking tea.

Although the sun is still quite low, it does really make a difference - especially as the weather has been so foul recently and looks likely to get yucky again from tomorrow. 

There were a few - very few - this little anemone was in a very sheltered spot

and of course snowdrops are among the earliest spring flowers - I did spot a few crocuses (croci?) across a lawn, but didn't photograph them. Even the daffs weren't out yet, though they were budding...

After the tour (which was interesting - the house isn't officially open yet for the season, so it was just a tour of a few rooms and a talk) and exhibit (which was good as far as it went, but had fewer costumes than I expected it to - this due to Universal Pictures, not Ham House itself, though), we had a little walk along the river  - not for long as the path was quite shady, so it wasn't as warm as the gardens had been.   Still it was nice to catch some scenic views, 

and to see some other folks enjoying the sunshine!

This is Ham House from the river side.

And this is the view across the river from the car park - not bad for a view from a car park!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

I almost feel like this is cheating - it's a cake mix - but hey, it's still cake, right?

Dinner, 18/2/13: Chicken roasted with leeks and fennel

This was nice, although we all agree it could have cooked a little longer and been even better - especially the potatoes, which were cooked, but a little al dente, particularly for Geoff, who likes his potatoes quite well done...  I used drumsticks, because I had a package in the freezer, but in future, I would use thighs, which are easier to eat - and I would put a second bulb of fennel in - but then we really like fennel.

Dinner, 17/2/13: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

A family favourite. Served with new potatoes.

A bit of spring colour

I decided to change my kitchen windowsill today - the candles had been all white/clear/silver but I wanted some colour, so dug out all these bright spring ones. I could really use another pink or purple one - will have to keep my eyes peeled in my travels...

Dinner, 16/2/13: Braised Root Vegetables with Barley

... served with mashed potato.  This was pretty good - the veg were cooked in stout. It was a little bit bitter, so we felt maybe some carrots in next time would help balance it a bit. The swede is a very strong flavour and the parsnip perhaps wasn't quite enough on its own to balance. 

Good fortune

After a very long day, most of it spent dressed as a pirate (a school thing), I decided that cooking was not on the cards. After some debate, we got Chinese takeaway from our local.  Anita, one of the owners, knows the kids well as her son and Alex are great mates, so when I sent Olivia & Alex to collect, she threw in a bag of fortune cookies for free. I forgot to photograph most of them...well, I did say it had been a very long day!

Dinner, 12/2/13: Meatballs with Chunky Tomato Sauce

This is another recipe from the Hairy Dieters Cookbook. I used a combination of beef and pork mince for this one, and although the taste was nice, I found the meatballs a little tough. If I make them again, I might only use pork mince; I might also put a little breadcrumbs in, despite the additional calorie count for doing so.

Official pancake flipper...

with butterscotch sauce... mmm.

Dinner, 10/2/13: Slow-cooked ham, garlic potato gratin, spring greens.

Yum.

Dinner, 9/2/13: Mango Chicken with Sticky Rice

This is a family favourite (except Sarah, who doesn't like cooked fruit) from Chinese Food Made Easy by Ching-He Huang. We've had it several times and most of us really love it. I've added carrots to the original recipe as well as increasing the quantities. Tonight I served it with sticky rice, which was very nice.

Dinner, 8/2/13: Stilton and Broccoli Pasta

This was a fantastic, quick supper. The sauce was very creamy and the broccoli broke down into the sauce with just a few bigger bits, giving a nice texture and taste. The little bit of crispy bacon (I used pancetta, as I had some left from another meal) on top was a perfect contrast. We'll be seeing this again!

Happy birthday (not so) little boy!

Here's  my "baby" when he really was - not sure how old, just a few months. He's a lot bigger than that now, of course - hard to believe he's 10 today. In this photo, he's in his little bouncy chair - he loved that chair (as did I) - it held him upright so he could see what was going on, while keeping him out from under foot. Being a third baby, he spent quite a bit of time in it as we were very busy all the time with two other small children in the house - although there were times when both of them were in school and Alex and I did stuff together, like baby swimming.  Ah, those were the days (though given the choice, I don't really think I'd go back to the  days of changing nappies and having to carry half your life with you everywhere you go)...

End of the nine...

[I know he's out of focus, but it's too late to retake it - he's asleep now]

Last day of being 9.  Yep, my "baby" is turning 10 tomorrow. Don't ask where those years went; I have no idea.

Have your cake...

It's not technically Alex's birthday until Tuesday, but as there are dozens (ok, 6) of extra boys coming to tea on Tuesday, we did family birthday cake tonight. The boys are getting a bought cake with Yoda on it - Alex is pleased as he can have it both ways...

Anyway. This is only one stage of the cake - there was also

some cracking of eggs

and slicing of sponge into very thin layers.

There was frosting - done by me - 

and decorating - done by Alex. 

and of course, there was eating.  With more eating predicted for tomorrow...