Family, food, travel, gin and a touch of hysteria…
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Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 16th, 2012
Healthier baking – a bit of sciencey stuff, and a great recipe for banana, oat and honey muffins
Okay so not exactly science… just baking jiggery pokery really.
First, can I say that I’m not a fan of processed low-fat ANYTHING. If I’m going to spread butter on my bread it’s going to be butter (Yeo Valley out of preference), and nothing remotely low-fatty or weirdly whipped with water.
Still, it’s the New Year and while I love my cakey buns, I’m determined to shed...
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 15th, 2012
In which the Ninja Cat of Death causes ABH and falls off a window ledge
Cats.
Gorgeous, fluffy, plumptious, cuddly balls of loveliness.
Or in our case, vile, evil, furry balls of complete hatred (bar 2.2 minutes of purriness around dinner time).
When we got Ninja as a kitten, she was already horrible. I think the toddlers at the place where we bought her had been allowed free rein and the poor thing had virtually been hugged to death. So in Ninja’s view, humans = forced...
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 12th, 2012
Where should I go on holiday? Year round climates.
I think I’m quite annoying. Alright, I KNOW I’m quite annoying. I’m one of those ‘yay, it’s January! Let’s make plans!’ type people. And while the rest of the family (and possibly the world) are mired in depression about putting on weight or going back to work, I’ve got a fresh notebook, a new pen and am busy planning where I want to go on holiday this year...
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 11th, 2012
Thrifty brisket: a beautiful slow-braised beefy treat.
So, starting the year as we mean to go on, then, my next recipe is a little belter. Brisket is a firm favourite in our house. I love it because it’s a ‘bung it in and forget about it’ type of recipe, and the brevren and Hubby like the meltingly tender meat and rich sauce. We have it with mashed potato usually (not really your diet option, so substitute with mashed sweet potato or maybe...
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 8th, 2012
Healthy recipes: lentil and vegetable soup (remember, lentils are your friend)
So, after promising you a couple of healthy recipes, I then buggered off and promptly forgot all about them. Sorry.
Anyhoo, here I am, back live and a week into my alcohol free month. It’s going well. It’s going really well. I feel fab – and after the amazing facial, my skin’s feeling fab too. I’m drinking much more water (Katy told me that your body often mistakes thirst...
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 5th, 2012
My first snapshot of the year: a KS Goddess Therapy facial with Katie Hill.
So my lovely friend, Jane (of Diary of a Desperate Exmoor Woman fame) has written a gazillion books (check out her page on Amazon for the full list) all about stuff like detoxing, Ayurveda, energy and loads of alternative therapies, amongst other things. She’s been helping me sort my head out recently, getting me in the right mindset to start the year fit and healthy (or at least working towards it)....
Posted by
English Mum |
Jan 3rd, 2012
In which English Towers becomes a gin-free zone
So after all my moany, whiny protestations, English Dad actually DID buy me underwear for Christmas (sorry, lonnnnjjjjherrrieeee, you have to say it right). It was very pretty, not too thongy, and actually really nice.
I tried it on.
In front of him.
There was some levering. Actually, there was quite a lot of levering. And a bit of sweating. And a bit of unsightly overspill. Quite a lot, if I’m...
Posted by
English Mum |
Dec 31st, 2011
2012 will be all about snapshots. And not about stuff.
So here’s a question for you: what did you get for Christmas last year? Go on, think hard. And your birthday? Hmm, thought not. I can’t remember either. And that’s not to belittle my beloved and family, who obviously shopped mindfully and thoughtfully and bought me gifts they knew I’d love. I just honestly can’t remember.
Now I’ll ask you another question: where...
Posted by
English Mum |
Dec 30th, 2011
The Party: new friends, old friends and wine on the carpet
There’s nothing quite like a houseful of your favourite people to bring about a warm glow. Admittedly, several glasses of fizz added to my glow, but mostly it was goodwill and stuff, I’m sure.
We really did have a lovely time. Sadly, I’m completely useless and only managed to take two pictures, one of which was all blurry, the other of which was this one: Mad Uncle Ali, his lovely fiancée...
Posted by
English Mum |
Dec 27th, 2011
New Traditions, dog vomit, drunken Santas, kitchen fires and ‘Pie Day’
So it was a funny old Christmas. A LOVELY Christmas, but a funny one. Trust me, a Christmas with teenagers is just as much fun as a Christmas with teenies, just a lot different.
The first bit of festive fun was when Mad Uncle A and his new fiancée came to visit. The dog took a liking to the fiancée (in the way that dogs do when they sense that a person might not be a dog lover). She behaved appallingly...
