ENGLISH MUM

A New Generation weekend in Disneyland Paris

So blimey, what a weekend!  I hardly know where to begin.  Brace yourself, this could be a bit of a big one (as the actress said to the bishop).  A little while ago, the Hubby and I were invited to Paris for the launch of Disney’s New Generation Festival.  Basically, Disney are introducing their newest generation of characters, from Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from The Princess and The Frog, through to Stitch, Sulley and Mike Wazowski (and the adorable little Boo) from Monsters Inc, through to characters from Ratatouille and Buzz, Woody and Jessie, to join ‘old favourites’ such as Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Goofy, with new shows and attractions either starting on 2nd April or planned to roll out over 2010.

Friday

I’ll start, dearest reader, with the nice, calm trip into London.  Speedily glossing over the screeching, panicking, suitcase hurling and fishwife-type swearing that featured heavily in our slightly late departure.

The wonderful Aude, Press Officer for Eurostar and the equally delicious and rather drop-dead gorgeous Alix from the Disney Team met us at St Pancras International and frankly, if they could have carried us onto our first class carriage on the Eurostar they would have done.  Nothing was too much trouble.  We had a lovely breakfast (cheese omelette, sausage, mushroom, tomato, yoghurt, fruit… you name it), and our peace was only mildly shattered by a very annoying man talking arse to his family the entire journey.  Ah well.

Arriving at Marne La Vallée (the station is right next to the parks and a five minute walk to the Hotel New York, but they still bussed us in), we were met by the wondrous Disney Sarah – our own patient, sweet Mary Poppins from the bloggers’ trip to Florida and after hugs, kisses and a birthday card, we checked into our fabulous room and set off at a rather ungainly trot for the nearest park, which happened to be the Walt Disney Studios Park.  By this time starving enough to gnaw our own fingers, we indulged in a burger the size of a child’s head (very nice, beautifully cooked beef and lovely fresh salad) and unwisely headed off to the nearest ride.  The Rock’n'Roller Coaster nearly reacquainted us with our lunches, but we persevered and headed straight to the Armageddon Special Effects show, which started out with a really boring presentation (mostly in French), but ended with a fabulous special effects mock-up complete with flame throwers, water jets and falling scenery.  I then forced Hubby to sit on Peter Pan’s flight (bit of a kiddy one, but I love it), where he did a full ‘London from the Air’ type commentary: ‘on your right, you’ll see The Tower of London…’

CELEB ALERT: We then sat next to Shane Richie and his family (who were very nice) in a specially cordoned off area (we felt well posh – it turned out later the pretty girl behind us was one of The Saturdays, but sadly I’m too old to recognise them) to watch the lovely Once Upon a Dream parade.  This was also the part where I got told off by Hubby for going ‘ooh look, there’s Chris Evans!’ in a really loud voice (‘sit down!  And stop bloody pointing!‘).

Then it was off to Café Mickey for dinner and drinks where we finally met up with fellow blogger Tara from Sticky Fingers and her lovely lad, plus a host of characters.  Tigger brought me a lovely 40th birthday cake and I got all overemotional when he gave me a hug.  Ooh, and DISNEY TIP: if you go to Disneyland Paris, do make sure you book (in advance – the queues are horrendous if not) at least one meal at Café Mickey.  The waiters get up on the bar and dance.  I nearly died laughing when they hauled Chip’n'Dale up there too for a shimmy.  It was like a furry version of Coyote Ugly.  We finished the evening in the hotel bar, drinking mojitos, and returned to our room to discover champagne on ice and fresh raspberry truffles.  Blissful.

Saturday

Plenty of free time today.  We started with Buzz Lightyear’s Laser Blast (Hubby got all competitive when he realised the front of the ‘gondola’ contained a scoreboard), then queued up for Space Mountain Mission 2 (never, ever again).  Onto a simulated Star Wars ride called Star Tours (which made us both regret being quite so greedy at breakfast – but oh, those croissants…).

After meeting the Disney chaps and the rest of the press pack for lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a little R&R: jacuzzi, swim, sauna and then a little snooze (we’re not as young as we once were y’know).

We ventured out later to watch the all-singing, all-dancing Disney Showtime Spectacular with all the new characters. It was really energetic and looking around, it was nice to see it wasn’t just the kids that were dancing and clapping (no, not Hubby – don’t be silly).

The evening saw the main event, a champagne reception to mark the official launch of Disney’s New Generation Festival.  We enjoyed private access to the parks (which was really incredible), a fabulous buffet: sushi, little canapés in teeny glass bowls,  little salads in globes and the layered strawberry desserts that you syringed straight up into your mouth – I was in heaven.

Leaving our lovely, champagne-toting waiters behind, we filtered over to a mahoosive stadium where we watched the New Generation Dedication Show.  I can’t even tell you how bloody amazing this was.  Highlights for me was the aerial ballet dancer supported only by balloons, and the incredible Toy Soldiers from Toy Story.  Oh, and then there was Buzz whose shape-cutting frankly stole the show:

Later, we snuck another little mojito with the Disney peeps (who were having a brief five minutes before heading back out on celeb duty), and teased Disney Dave that we’d got him on video shmoozing and practicing his ‘princess moves’ with The Saturdays and Princess Tiana.

Sunday

Sunday was a free day in the park and we took the opportunity to use our Fastpasses (a MUST – this isn’t even high season and some of the queues were 90 minute waits) to visit Big Thunder Mountain (fab), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (or I liked the French version: ‘le temple du peril’!) and several of the smaller attractions.  A bit of retail therapy later, and it was onto a coach to travel into Paris to the Gare Du Nord (I saw the pointy top of the Eiffel Tower!), a fabulous dinner on the Eurostar (garlicy salmon on a bed of spinach and dauphinoise potatoes, far too much wine and some very funny conversation).  By the time we’d legged it from St Pancras to Euston (we had 15 minutes to connect), we were absolutely burned out.

I still found myself singing ‘It’s a Small World After All’ on the train home though.  Good Times.

EUROSTAR INFO:

 Eurostar operates a daily direct service in each direction to Disneyland Resort Paris (daily direct services to the resort will no longer operate on Tuesdays and Saturday except during school holidays)

 Fares are from £69 standard class return (adult) £44 return (child aged 4-11)

 Children under 4 years-old travel free (not allocated a seat)

 Leisure Select travel is from £146 return for an adult and £94 return for a child aged 4-11

 Return through fares start from only £77 (St Albans, Luton etc)

 2hrs 35 mins from London and 35 minutes less from Ashford, Kent

 Tickets are available from eurostar.com or from Eurostar’s Contact Centre on 08432 186 186



The March roundup. This month I have been mostly:

Wallowing…

in a fabulously fragrant Little Me Organics ‘Shhh sleepy head’ milky bath.  Yes, I know it’s for babies, but oh, the scent of dill and organic lavender… zzzzzzz…..

Snuggling up…

with my special Bold 2-in-1 blankie (permeated with the smell of Crystal Rain and White Lily fragrance – how did they do that?)  Check out the new fragrance and their perfume micro-capsule technology (no, of course I can’t explain it – smells nice, though.)

Getting my chocolate fix…

…by slathering myself in fabulously guilt-free chocolate!  I’m loving the entire range of brand new products from Palmer’s, including the fabulous Cocoa Body Butter (like liquid caramac in a tub!), the new Cocoa Butter Lotion with SPF15 (heavenly, chocolatey and perfect for travelling somewhere hot and sunny – hint hint) and the rather handy new swivel stick, a multi-tasking hit of pure cocoa butter – perfect for lips and dry patches everywhere (or just for whipping out and having a quick sniff).  And don’t get me started on the Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Lip Butter… mmmmmm:

Stuffing myself…

with the fabulous range of cakeage from Respect Organics.  Imagine the excitement at English Towers when this little lot turned up:

We loved the chocolate flavour, and thought the dairy free carrot, ginger and banana varieties would be fab for people with dairy allergies.  The good news is they’re available in most supermarkets at around £2.00 or less.

Opening…

Lovely presents from the fabulous chocolatey wonders that are Green and Black’s:

Schmoozing…

At Disneyland Paris with fellow blogger Tara from Sticky Fingers, and a whole host of celebs for the launch of Disney’s New Generation Festival.  Loads of pics, gossip and general waffle to follow very shortly!

Life begins… ten reasons why I’m exactly the same.

So by the time you read this, I shall be winging my way to gay Paree to spend a fabulous, star-studded (what? Mickey’s a star), glamorous 40th birthday weekend courtesy of the lovely folks at Disney (yes yes, there’ll be the customary ‘this is what I had for dinner’ photos, don’t worry)  checking out Disneyland Paris’ New Generation Festival.

This was supposed to be a ‘now I’m 40 I feel different because…‘ kind of post, but I wrote it and re-wrote it, and frankly, I couldn’t find anything different about being 40 than being 39 (I’ve only had a few hours to get used to it, to be fair).  Okay, looking back on my 30 year old self or… god forbid… my 20 year old self – would I swap places? No. I’m probably happier in my – admittedly slightly less firm – own skin than I’ve ever been, but there’s nothing momentous I can tell you young whippersnappers about being 40, I’m afraid.  Nope, nothing to see here, move along…

So here goes, then, with reasons why I’m probably likely to be exactly the same forever, whether I’m 40 or 70…  In fact, I can feel a top ten coming on.  Brace yourself:

1.  I am still clumsy.  I fall down a lot, set fire to things and drop things all the time.  I’ve probably always been like it, but spectacular crashes aside (the walking down the stairs when the dog trod on the back of my slipper incident – henceforth known as slippergate –  springs to mind), I don’t seem to hurt myself too badly.  And boy, do I bruise like a peach.

2. I am still horribly unsociable.  And yes, years ago I suppose I used to beat myself up about not wanting to go to parties, and my horror of being surrounded by drunken, sweaty people…  But do you know what?  I still feel exactly the same.  The only difference is that now I don’t care.  I embrace my inner solitary mad cat lady and go with the flow.  I have lovely friends that I cherish, and who seem to love me for who I am, the nutters.  So I shall continue to adore them back, and spend lots of time sitting on my sofa while other people go and do that sweaty, socialising stuff.

3.  I am still a nerd.  If I’m not cooking, then you’ll find me on Twitter, or I’ll be writing my blog and if I’m not doing that I’m gabbing to my mental bloggy mates on gmail and if I’m not doing that I’m probably on Facebook.  I sit with my ‘fercuck’ glasses on and type faster than a greyhound with a hot bottom.  I say things like STFU! and LOL! and do I care?  Nooooo.  I’m always saying to #1 that if anyone calls you a nerd, embrace it.  Do you think Bill Gates gives a shit if people call him a nerd? Doubtful.

4.  I still can’t take my drink.  On Saturday night, we started with a cocktail, then went on to gin and tonic.  I think I had two and was happy as larry.  Cheap date?  Yup.  When we lived in Ireland I could always tell how much alcohol I had consumed by how unsteady my last walk around the garden with the dog was.  We’re not talking 2 or 3 bottles here, we’re talking glasses.  I’m a total lightweight.

5. I’m still completely in love with my children.  In fact, I think I’m probably a better parent now they’re able to have a good, snorty, laugh-til-you cry silly conversation (at which I excel).  I was actually a crap Mum when they were little – no patience for reading the same book ten times in one evening, and hopeless at painting and stuff.  Still, they got to make loads of cakes.  My happiest time is 3.30pm, when the door bangs open and there’s a rush of testosterone-fuelled, slightly muddy-smelling energy in my direction.  Okay, so they ruffle my hair and go ‘alright, knob?’, but it’s with affection.  No, really.

6. I still have the stupidest baby hair in the world.  It’s like toddler hair – so soft that you can’t even put it up in a pony tail without the bloody thing falling out, slipping down the back of your t-shirt and ending up in your pants.  I’ve stopped trying to control it now and go through life looking like a blonde Russell Brand.

7.  Talking of toddler-ness, I still can’t help myself but go ‘oooh’ when faced with anything pink, sparkly or gorgeous smelling.  It doesn’t matter if it’s lovely shimmery nail varnish, the edible glitter you put on cupcakes or one of those vaguely scary ladies in Debenhams offering to squirt you with perfume.  I love it.  Well, I love the perfume, not the scary ladies.  In fact, I always get an urge to lick my finger and wipe it down their orange faces to see if it will leave a white mark. So far, I’ve resisted…

8.  I still love baking.  I love the mixing and the stirring and the lovely smells and the alchemy and the sheer pride of giving something delicious that you’ve lovingly created to someone that you adore.  In fact, I love it so much, I’m going to teach an evening course at the local college this summer.  A three week ‘Introduction to Cupcakes’ course.  There’ll be sparkles too.  It’s just how I roll.

9. I’m still married.  Something of a miracle this one.  Fifteen years and counting.  He tolerates my unending, ‘shiny, happy’ optimism and I occasionally tell him off when he’s really grumpy.  Apart from that, we rub along pretty well.  The fact that pasta makes him gag, he doesn’t do creamy sauces, and can’t stand pork OR buttercream is another matter altogether.

10. I am still stupidly enthusiastic about stuff.  I suppose this is in part due to my infernal, eternal optimism, but oh how I love having something to look forward to.  Holiday, birthdays, Christmas… all come in for some serious list-making, planning, wishing, hoping and longing.  Oh, and I still hunt in cupboards for my birthday presents. I can’t help it.

Anyhoo, I’ll see you on Sunday…  à bientôt! xx

Chocolate, oat and apricot cookies

One of my golden rules here at English Towers 2 (and there aren’t many, in fact, I think that’s the only one – oh no, hang on, there’s the no saying ‘eurgh’ at the table… oh and then there’s not referring to one’s wedding vegetables as ‘nads’ – I hate that…) is that everyone has to have breakfast.  I will never complain if I’m asked to cook poached eggs and toast first thing in the morning (which I often am) as I’d so much rather they ate something.   Sometimes it’s just a biscuit or a slice of toast and a quick mug of hot chocolate (oh, there’s another golden rule – there’s a 5 marshmallow limit to each mug).

But here’s the rub: if they’re going to eat biscuits, or worse, force down a cereal bar first thing in the morning, wouldn’t you rather that you had: a) some control over the contents and b) the chance to sneak in some healthy stuff, even if it’s covered up by the taste of chocolate?  Yes?  Here, then, are my ‘not very healthy but better than a Weetos bar’ breakfast (or anytime) cookies:

You’ll need:

125g butter

150g dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla paste (or extract, never essence)

150g flour (make it wholemeal if you like)

50g oats

50g chocolate, chopped

Handful dried apricots, chopped

So cream the butter and the sugar until it’s light and creamy.

Then add in the egg, beating well, and then the vanilla paste:

Chop the chocolate:

then gently stir in, along with the flour and the oats…

and the apricots (chop finely first):

Blob the hideous-looking mixture onto a non-stick baking tray (a dessertspoon per cookie is about right):

…and bake at 180 degrees/gas 4 for about 12 minutes.  They’re better when they’re still a bit soft in the middle.

Store in an airtight container.  They’ll last a couple of days (what am I saying?  they’ll last about ten minutes).  Serve as a last resort ‘oh Mum, I don’t want any breakfast’ kinda thing with a glass of milk or a hot chocolate.

A vey vey big fashion faux-pas dahling

I’m a bit poo at fashion. I like it, but it doesn’t like me. Nor, it seems does it like my budget. My good blogging friend and fashion guru, the beautiful ThatGirl39 over at fabby fashion blog 40NotOut is like my own personal little fashion devil - dressed in frothy red tulle and with a sparkly, sequined pointy tail – perched upon my shoulder.  She keeps tempting me with gorgeous pictures of lovely things that I can’t possibly afford, or that would look completely ridiculous on me.  ’Look at these fabulous jeans…’ she whispers provocatively in my ear, ‘you need them, AND these shoes that go perfectly with them…!’ and ‘this nail varnish – you need it!’…

Yesterday, for example, my lovely pals, the fabulous Tums and Foxy and I, planned to go out and have cocktails and dinner with our long-suffering husbands to celebrate my impending 40-ness.  But what to wear.  Well, I was determined to go girly, and with spring in the air and words like ‘brights‘ and ‘sheers‘ being bandied about amongst ‘those wot know”, I rashly purchased this:

And yes, it’s quite pretty.  In fact, it’s lovely.  It’s fabulously light and chiffonny.  Good times.

Trouble is, I didn’t bother to try it on.  And when I did, I looked sadly like several enormous, uncooked chipolatas stuffed into a very pale (and see-through) Bedouin tent.  Bad times.

I rushed to Twitter (as one does) and asked said sparkly-tailed devil for some advice.  St Tropez was the answer, or at least some kind of glowy/sparkly lotion or potion.  And a little cropped black cardi.  I tried it.  I looked as thought the chipolatas had had a light grilling and popped on a beanie hat, but the overall see-through tent/sausage theme was still present.

Oh, and a word of advice?  Don’t apply St Tropez to your lower extremities whilst 1.) In a hot, sweaty rush and 2.) When you are just about to go out.  I have two words: orange feet.

Sod it.  I wore something else.  We still had a fabulous time – laughed a lot, drank a lot (I can highly recommend Raspberry Collins cocktails), ate a ridiculous amount and walked home in a large, giggly and somewhat unsteady pack more suited to teenagers than parents who should know better.

And that dress? Oh I’ll probably keep it for my holiday. Did I mention my 40th birthday present is a holiday to Morrocco?  No?  Must have slipped my mind…

Review: ‘Eat Me!: The Stupendous, Self-Raising World of Cupcakes & Bakes According to Cookie Girl

Well firstly, I’m a bit cross.  This ‘Cookie Girl’ has just gone and written the book that I was always meant to write, goshdarnit.

Seriously, if you’re a bit of a cupcake afficionado like my good self, Eat Me!: The Stupendous, Self-raising World of Cupcakes and Bakes According to Cookie Girl is the book that you will cherish, love and continually be covering in dropped splodges of buttercream.  It’s one of those books that’s just so lusciously pink and pretty,  so inspiring, so flippin’ cute, that you’ll adore it forever.

The story behind the book is just as unique as the book itself.  Turns out, Xanthe Milton started her cupcake career by selling her wares door to door in West London dressed in the kind of Alice in Wonderland/Nell Gwynne costume that must have had the fellas wanting more than her cupcakes.  She really does make baking sexy.  And I love Xanthe’s writing too, it’s difficult not to admire someone who pours so much love into every pink-iced morsel:

“…when making cupcakes for a wedding, it is essential to think thoughts of love, future happiness and prosperity for the bride and groom… never bake out of a sense of obligation or when feeling sad or stressed.  No good will come of it – the milk will sour and the butter will go rancid”

So far, I’ve made about three of the recipes.  I particularly loved the Pistachio Lime Cupcakes and the little lemon biscuits (for sheer quirkiness, though, check out the Jack Daniels Cupcakes!) and the book delivers on the quality of the recipes as well.  It’s a win/win.  Rush out and buy it now.

EAT ME! The Stupendous, Self-Raising World of Cupcakes & Bakes According to Cookie Girl by Xanthe Milton is out now, Published by Ebury Press, priced at £15.00.

Sticky ginger ‘Guinness’ cupcakes for Paddy’s Day

So today is a happy and a sad day. I’m happy, because I love all things Irish, and we’d always have a wonderful day out at a pararde or a mad boat race or somesuch nonsense, and then a special St Patrick’s Day dinner at English Towers to mark the occasion. Sad, because I miss our lovely Irish home and even lovelier Irish friends. So this post is dedicated to all of them: wonderful, bonkers Jen, D&D Next Door, to the scrummy Mrs Lovely, and to Poppy’s Mum. I miss you all.

Guinness cupcakes, then. This idea was more to emulate the ‘look’ of Guinness, rather than the actual taste, which I have to admit I’m not a great fan of. Still, their dense gingery fudginess is certainly Guinness-like, and the light, soft topping of whipped cream adds to the effect. They don’t taste too bad, either, which is a bonus.

You will need:

170g Irish butter, softened
200g dark brown soft sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp black treacle
170g self raising flour
2 tsp ground ginger

First, then, beat the butter and sugar.  Soft brown sugar is the way to go here – you want the toffee, fudgy taste that it adds:

Make sure it’s really pale and fluffy before you move on to the next step:

Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition, then add the black treacle. Mix well.

Now, sieve the flour and ginger, and add in to the mix.

Stir gently, without overworking the mixture. Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees/gas 4 for about 15 – 20 minutes until just springy in the middle.  Remove to a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, if you want to make cream cheese icing, just whisk about 100g of cream cheese like Philadelphia with a squeeze of lemon and 200g sieved icing sugar.  Or you can just spoon over some whipped cream.  Or ganache. Or just normal glacé icing. Or just leave them plain.  I’m all-encompassing on the topping front. It’s just how I roll.

Obviously you can use ganache (click here for how-to guide with Green & Black’s), but then you’ll lose the ‘pint of Guinness’ effect:

If you’ve got far too much time on your hands like certain people I know *cough*, then you can make really pathetically bad shamrocks out of chocolate to adorn your cupcakes, or pop on a little bit of greenery (make sure it’s edible – this is lemon thyme).

NOTE: As a little trial, I did reserve a bit of the mixture and add in a couple of tbsp of Guinness. The result is pleasingly earthy and not at all unpleasant. I would suggest that it was more of an adult taste, but well worth a try.

However you make them, and wherever you are in the world, I hope you enjoy them and have a wonderful St Patrick’s Day.

Oh, and this is especially for my wonderful BFF, Jen:

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

(See, Jen, all your teaching wasn’t in vain – look at those ‘fodders’! LOL xxx)

A beautiful parcel from Snapdragon

SO excited this morning – a rather beautifully wrapped parcel arrived from my lovely fellow blogger and twittermate, Jane from Snapdragon’s Garden.

About ten years ago, Jane did what I would love to do – she changed her life completely.  She gave up the 9 to 5 office grind in Glasgow and retrained in horticulture.  She then moved to a smallholding in Stirlingshire where she created a beautiful garden.  She now sells flowers and hand-makes the most beautiful embroidered textiles.  I ordered a notebook for a couple of rather exciting trips I’ve got coming up (patience, grasshopper, all will be revealed).

And this is what I got!  The parcel was so delectably wrapped, we almost fought over who would open it:

And did you see the teeny stitches on the little cupcake?:

Isn’t it gorgeous?  The kids are now begging me to buy chicken notebooks and camper van egg cosies, and I can see this will be the first of many orders.

I’m always full of admiration for people that, instead of just bemoaning their life, get up off their bums and change them to how they want to live.  Oh, and before you ask, even before offering me a discount as a fellow ‘tweeter’, she never once asked me to plug her products either.  She’s not only a really inspiring person, she’s a genuinely nice one too.

If you want to check out Jane’s beautiful stuff, or order seasonal flowers, click on www.snapdragongarden.co.uk

Fercucking hell!

I love the NHS.  Yup, really.  You won’t hear a bad word said about it in our house.  After four years in Ireland spent wondering whether each ailment was worth the fifty quid to see the doctor, I am ridiculously grateful.  Add that to several mad dashes to A&E at £100 a pop and you can imagine I’m a big fan. 

Not only that, but the kids had a recent eye test (you guess it, on the NHS), and we discovered that not only did #1 need new glasses, but #2 needs them now for reading and close-up work.  He was not impressed.

He was more impressed, however, when it turned out that he could have funky Quiksilver ones (to go with his recent purchase of skinny Quiksilver jeans from T K Maxx, and enormous DC skate trainers that, combined, make him look oddly like Mickey Mouse’s slimmer brother).

I also had to have a new pair.  I’d had my old ones since 1994, it turned out, so it was probably time.  Later,#2 was on the phone to his Dad:

#2: I’ve got this new pair of glasses – I’ve got to wear them for reading and stuff – they’re wicked!  They’ve got Quiksilver on the side!  And  #1 got some new ones too – his are Red or Dead.

Hubby: And what about Mummy, what are hers like?

#2: They’re okay.  They’re kinda brown and they say ‘fercuck’ on the side.

…and the winner is:

The lovely folk at MyFotowall have done their deliberating and cogitating, and decided the the winner of the photo wallscape wallpaper is this entry:

Congratulations, CarolineSweetie!  If you’d like to send me an email to: contactenglishmum@gmail.com I’ll put you in touch with them so you can claim your prize.