Spooky Halloween cupcakes

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PumpkinsNow I’m not the world’s most creative person (as some of my photos on here will testify), but as I mentioned the other day, I was desperate to make some pumpkin cupcakes. Charlie’s buddy James is 16 this week (more of this later) and I thought I’d knock up a couple for him to take to the party (obviously first checking that this was ‘the done thing’ - it’s okay, apparently it is, as long as they’re ‘not crap’).

I started out with a basic sponge cake mix and added some little fudgey chunks. Once the cakes were baked I got busy with the fondant. I coloured the fondant with tangerine colouring paste (my hands are now a fetching shade of orange) and pushed the marks into the pumpkins with a spoon. I made the brown stalk colour by adding a bit of navy to some tangerine fondant. Add a bit of green buttercream, a few spooky sweets, et voila!

Halloween cupcakes

 

Settling in: surviving with a new puppy

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Lyra

So it’s been five days since Lyra joined the family. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. My lovely pal Amanda, who also has a quite new puppy put it this way: ‘it’s hard and tedious but I promise it’s worth it’.

I guess having a puppy really is a lot like having a new baby. We got her straight on the back of arriving back from holiday and me going into hospital, which, with hindsight wasn’t the best bit of planning. Plus, Mr English is away on duty and the boys are off on half term. All this basically means that the washing mountain (it’s ceased to be contained by the basket) has reached epic proportions, we’re wandering around half-dead having had no sleep, and rather a lot of takeaways have been consumed.

Still, five days in and I feel like we’re making progress. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about surviving with a new puppy:

1. It’s all about routine. The quicker she knew what was what, the more she settled in. After the carnage of the first few days, where I put food down, then she didn’t eat it, so I left it, then she grazed all day, I sorted myself out. Now she gets three meals a day and goes straight out after each meal. It makes housetraining a lot more predictable.

2. Talking of housetraining, you basically spend your life in the garden. Out of interest I wrote down a little note every time she ate or went in the garden (and every time she had an accident in the house) and you can definitely predict a pattern. She basically needs to go out every time she’s been asleep, been playing, eaten or drunk anything… and sometimes just because it’s been a while. And even then accidents happen.

3. Everyone has an opinion. It’s very difficult to make decisions on how you’re going to treat your puppy, even harder when everyone offers their view on what you’re doing wrong. This is my fault because I’m basically an oversharer. I need to learn to shut up. My bestie Laura sent me a fab book called The Perfect Puppy and it’s really helped shape how we’re going to be with her: firm but fair, never angry, always celebrating the good and ignoring the bad. Some people don’t let dogs upstairs/in bed/on the sofa, others do. You have to work out what’s acceptable to you and your family.

4. You basically get nothing done at all. Puppies need watching like a hawk. I’ve learned now that if I need to get on with something I should just pop her in her crate. The vet gave us some really good advice when she said we should make it a place where fun things happen, not just when we’re going to leave her - so she sometimes gets fed and played with in there too - just with the door open.

5. Having a dog is just the best thing ever. When she sees the boys she leaps on them, tail wagging, trying to kiss them all over their faces (bleurgh) and when I come down in the morning (the night time crying is slowly subsiding) she’s just so darned pleased to see me. We love her so much already it’s ridiculous. Our lovely, gentle, sweet, bonkers girl.

 

Video: how to pack a suitcase

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I’m absolutely rubbish at packing. I have to stick to a list (see my handy downloadable packing checklist here) but even then it never seems to fit in the suitcase (or ends up all bunched up down one end) and the less said about my recent limoncello disaster, the better. This video, created by Holiday Inn Express‘ new ‘Efficiency Engineer’ Dave Hax, shows some really good packing tips including one for how to fold a suit - something we wish we knew before we headed out on the cruise (where irons aren’t allowed) and ended up steaming the creases out in the bathroom!

And how fast is he at folding shirts? I have to learn this technique!

EMFT

The spooky Halloween roundup and British Sausage Week!

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Yankee Candle Halloween Halloween is fast approaching. I never really used to like it, but now find myself buying the odd bag of sweets every week in my shop in readiness for when the kids come knocking. It seems to be getting more and more popular around our way. Yankee Candle have an amazing range out for Halloween this year. We tried the ‘licorice’ candle which is black, as the name suggests, and smells absolutely delicious. It’s like scenting your room with Black Jacks (remember those?). I’m also looking forward to testing some of their Christmas range too. Pumpkin cupcakes

One of Charlie’s besties is having a Halloween party for his 16th and I thought I’d try and knock up some Halloween pumpkin fairy cakes using these ones from Pinterest for inspiration: I might go for some really rancid-looking bogey green icing too! If you need any more inspiration for Halloween baking, my lovely friend Helen over at Casa Costello has some amazing Halloween cookies, and Tara has some great ghostly cupcakes too.

If you’ve seen (or baked!) anything else for Halloween please do let me know, I’d love to have a look.

Martin Miller's gin If you’re looking for a little something for the adults, why not try a traditional bloody Mary, but make it with gin instead of vodka (I like Martin Miller’s at the moment) - it’s called a Red Snapper and is deeelicious. In fact, I like it more than the vodka-based original.

Next up, of course is Bonfire Night (and British Sausage Week, 4th to 11th November!) To celebrate, I was sent a lovely hamper. Happily, it contained our current sausage of choice, the delicious Spoilt Pig sausage, which satisfy my ‘happy pig’ ethos and taste really nice too. They don’t ooze loads of fat, have a nice texture and don’t have any of those horrible gristly bits in that I particularly hate. The bacon jam was also a revelation! We’ll be eating our sausages smothered in my own barbecue sauce, baked in the oven and then stuffed into fresh baguette with loads of slow roasted onions. Yum.

Crying, sleepless nights… and that’s just me!

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Lyra

So yesterday Charlie and I went up to London to pick up our new baby whippet pupster. I’m not the world’s best London driver so our journey included an accidental U-turn (the satnav said ‘turn right, then bear right and I bore too far right and went back on to the road I’d just come down) and a pretty scary intentional one (satnav: ‘turn right’, me and Charlie: ‘what, NOW? Really? Okay… arrrggghhhh!’)

By the time we got there, all sweaty and stressed, we were nearly an hour late. This is the second time I’ve seen Tamsin and her family and the second time I’ve been late. Honestly, and I hate being late too. Their lovely daughter was saying goodbye to our pupster, who they’d named Mouse, and I was touched to see that they were genuinely upset to see the little pup go. We actually felt a bit guilty taking her away.

Anyhoo, long story short: conked out phone, detour around Enfield and lots of puppy puke later, we finally got home. The poor mite was not happy and huddled against the kitchen door, shaking. What on earth must it be like to be taken away from your mum and taken on a horrible journey to a strange house with massive, strange people looming over you? All at just under 12 weeks. Poor pupster.

And then we went to bed. And she cried. She cried and cried and cried. We’d promised ourselves we’d be strong and not go back down to her, but honestly it was heartbreaking. I lasted until 6am then went down to give her a cuddle. She was so ridiculously pleased to see me too!

She’s been brilliant in the house so far and already seems to know that she has to go to the back door if she needs some personal time. Bless her heart. We’ve called her Lyra, after the little girl in the Golden Compass, one of our favourite films. We love her already.

If you can’t say anything nice…

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http://www.pinterest.com/pin/159596380516228693/

I was chatting with a couple of friends recently and when I mentioned that I’ve gone off Twitter a bit recently, I wasn’t really surprised when they agreed.

I’m big on positivity, and honestly, Twitter seems to be getting more and more negative all the time. Take the Great British Bakeoff for instance: a fun, frivolous and frothy reality show about people baking cakes in a tent. Innocuous enough, surely? But following the hashtag #GBBO whilst watching the programme (I do this all the time, and I’m not alone – according to a recent survey by Ladbrokes Bingo, 50% of women use a second device while watching TV) all I could see were negative comments: how the contestants were anything from ‘too flirty’ to ‘too thin’, ‘scheming’, and everything in between (contestant Ruby Tandoh wrote a fabulous piece on it in the Guardian – check it out).

I also like X Factor – we have friends working on the series and I like to keep up with it, but honestly, the comments drive me insane: ‘she looks awful’, ‘she’s so fat’, ‘ugh, vile’. Would they say this to the people’s faces? Of course not! It’s all about being a keyboard jockey and hiding behind your online persona. It brings out the school bully in so many of us.

A friend of mine works in a school and is constantly battling with bullying and nastiness online, generally through Facebook. Kids are terrible and have very few filters, so a medium like Facebook is asking for trouble, but most of the people on Twitter are ADULTS, for goodness’ sake – what is wrong with people?

The rather wonderful English Grandma always says ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all’. A mantra that a good few people could do with adopting, I reckon.

Surgical stockings ahoy!

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Surgical stockingsSo yesterday, I went into hospital to have some surgery (just something small – don’t send flowers). My long-suffering mum had to drive me a considerable distance at ridiculous o’clock in the morning, drive back to my house, get the kids to school, then later drive back to pick me up, bless her.

She got her own back when I showed her my fetching surgical stockings and commented, in a loud voice for all to hear: ‘WELL, YOU ARE 43!!’.

I bloody love the NHS. The hospital was spotlessly clean and the staff were amazing – full of fun, very caring and a good laugh too. Much amusement was had by me declining the standard pre-surgery pregnancy check. The conversation went something like this:

Nurse: ‘now we’ll need a sample for a pregnancy test’

Me: ‘oh that won’t be necessary’

Nurse: ‘well, it is standard procedure but you’re welcome to decline’

Me (whispered): ‘my husband’s had the snip you see’

Nurse (shouting against background noise): ‘sorry? I missed that’

Me : ‘MY HUSBAND’S HAD THE SNIP!’

Sadly, this coincided with someone in the corridor turning off their floor cleaning machine and was delivered to background silence. All eyes slowly swivelled and landed on me. Awkward.

Anyhoo, I was well looked after, was awake by the early afternoon and, best of all, it’s all FREE! When I got home, I had, interestingly, received an email from medical negligence lawyers First4Lawyers sending me a copy of a survey they’d conducted that found over 29% of people had experienced poor treatment by NHS staff. I’m pretty gobsmacked by that (and saddened, frankly). I do think a lot of it has to do with how hard they’re worked (in fact, in the same survey nearly half of those people agreed with my feelings that complaints are often due to the staff being overworked). My lovely nurses were running around like headless chickens and doing it all with a smile. It’s also been reported in the media that the total paid out by London NHS trusts last year as a result of medical negligence claims was over £172 million. 172 million! Depressing reading don’t you think? Would you sue if things went wrong?

Happily, none of this affected me and I’m now sitting in bed, still in the surgical stockings, being looked after very well by the boys who made dinner last night and even cleared up.

It’s a miracle.

Plus I have to get well quickly because the pupster is arriving on Friday morning! EEK!

Guest post: tackling family worries

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Having a family and being a mum is often a troubling and a testing business. There’s nothing quite like worrying about your kids (not to mention your other half) to give a girl premature grey hairs and worry lines before her time! Of course, it’s all worth it and we wouldn’t have it any other way, but occasionally those worries about what the future holds for ourselves and for our families can be all-consuming and really take over our minds.

If you’re feeling anxious and stressed out about what the future holds for your family or for yourself and you can feel the stress getting on top of you, you might not have considered clairvoyant readings, but for lots of people they can really help. A clairvoyant reading can give you a sense of clarity in whichever area you are worried about and can put your mind at ease when it comes to your own abilities as a parent and your worries about your family.

Clairvoyant readings can also be very helpful in terms of your general spiritual wellbeing, giving you a feeling of calm and personal empowerment and giving you the strength to move forward and make the best choices for you and your family.

If you want a clearer indication of what the future has in store for you and your family, a psychic reading might be more useful to you than a clairvoyant reading. Psychics and tarot card readers use their skills and abilities to predict for you what the future holds. That doesn’t mean that there’s no changing it though. Any genuine psychic will tell you that you have your own free will and can take a different path; a psychic reading just gives you the ability to see where your current path is leading you.

The Immersive Wine Cruise on the Celebrity Infinity: part 1

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Celebrity Infinity Bilbao

The Celebrity Infinity, Bilbao

And so we’re back: relaxed, revived and probably half pickled by now. On the bright side, we’ll probably never go mouldy as we’re about 99% alcohol. I’m keeping away from open flames for a few days, just in case.

Ah we had a fabulous time. We sailed from Harwich to Le Havre, La Rochelle and Bilbao in utter luxury and feel that we’ve learned so much about wine. The wine tour was hosted by the lovely Oz Clarke (who, I believe, is actually 100% alcohol) and the equally knowledgeable and fabulous Tom Forrest from the famous Vinopolis in London.

Luckily for you, I took notes during all the wine Masterclasses and I have some incredible wines to introduce you to, as well as some wonderful wine and food matches. Tom and Oz have a marvellous rapport (making it bloody impossible to take notes as they frequently finish each others’ sentences) and their wine masterclasses were hilarious, informative and, as you can imagine, a bit boozy. They weren’t at all snooty or snobby and spent a lot of time talking to us about wine, both during the masterclasses and also rather late into the night in the martini bar!

iPad menu at Qsine

iPad menu at Qsine

The Celebrity Infinity is a seriously luxurious Millennium Class ship (although it’s somewhat knocking on in cruise world terms, being the grand old age of 12 and a bit), holding over 2000 guests, with several speciality restaurants, including Qsine (where a cover charge of $45 applies), a quite incredible modern dining experience. At Qsine, you order an array of small plates (although they shouldn’t be called plates as the food arrives on everything but plates!) and then dive in and share, chat and scoff away while the waiters bring more and more delicious food to try. Highlights for me were the lobster escargot and an amazing Moroccan banquet served on a kind of culinary ‘block of flats’ type arrrangement - quite incredible. Plus, having two wine experts choosing wine to match your food choices made it all the more special!

Our stateroom on the Celebrity Infinity

Our stateroom on the Celebrity Infinity

People come back year after year for the Immersive Wine Cruises and we met some truly lovely people on board: Carol and David, Sharon and Bill, and new cruisers, Tony and Carla (who I managed to call ‘Sharon’ for a whole evening by mistake, and who was still nice to me). It was great to share experiences with the group as they were from really diverse backgrounds and varied from seasonal cruisers to cruise ‘virgins’. They all had a love of wine in common and it was a real treat to sample incredible wines, visit vineyards and enjoy food-matching dinners together. Lots of people on these cruises strike up friendships and return to meet up again next time.

Our one gripe (if you can call it a gripe) was with the drinks packages which were a bit confusing. The ‘classic’ package, for example, costs about £35 a day (costs vary) and entitles the cruiser to drinks, including coke, juice, tea, coffee, bottled water, beer, etc, up to $5.75. It also entitles you to wine by the glass, cocktails etc up to $9.25.

The ‘three martini trick’ in the Martini Bar

This can be confusing as, for example, if you fancy a glass of wine that costs $10 you can’t have it unless you pay the whole $10 for it. You can’t just pay the difference and add on £0.75 to your bill. It can be embarrassing if you order something over your package price by mistake (or on purpose if you’re prepared to pay the extra) and have the waiter say ‘I’m sorry, madam, that’s not on your package so you’ll be billed for that’, and it’s a pain to trawl through a wine list finding things you can ‘afford’.

Still, you don’t have to buy a package (my maths isn’t up to whether it’s better value than just buying your drinks as you go along - depends how much you drink, presumably), and we were incredibly lucky on the Immersive Wine Cruise to be treated to all sorts of fabulous wines from all around the globe, and had the added thrill of being guided through the tastings by Oz and Tom.

Crepe Suzette in the Bistro on 5

Crepe Suzette in the Bistro on 5

Being on a cruise brings a whole new meaning to the words ‘all inclusive’ though. Most nights we ate in the Trellis restaurant, where the food was superb. Highlights included a delicious slow-roasted dish of short ribs that just fell apart, a deliciously delicate sea bass, and a surf and turf dish with a steak so enormous that it beat even Mr English. Desserts were another highlight, and we felt it was lovely to dine at the table with proper waiter service. It made the experience seem really special. If you’d rather just eat buffet style, though, there’s the Ocean View Café up on deck ten where we ate breakfast (everything and anything you could possibly imagine, including eggs benedict made to order - yum).

We rather fell in love with a little place called ‘Bistro on 5′ ($5 cover charge) where they did lovely crepes, soups, salads and paninis. we popped in most days and got to know the staff who led us straight to our favourite corner. The decor is gorgeous, with muted gold leather sofas and dark wood. We also spent rather a lot of time at the Martini Bar where the bar is made of real ice and the bar staff make amazing drinks and entertain with all sorts of theatrical shenanigans, including pouring several martinis at once.

One of the gorgeous pool areas on deck

One of the gorgeous pool areas on deck

Away from the food and drink, there is a beautiful pool area with lots of different pools, whirlpools, etc, plus an indoor thalassotherapy pool which is gorgeously warm, even when the weather’s not up to much. There’s a wonderful AquaSpa, where I had my favourite Elemis tri-enzyme facial, but you can have anything from Keratin hair straightening to teeth whitening and botox if you so desire! Mr English chose to pound the treadmill in the gym a few times. I preferred a gentle walk around the deck or a coffee and a slice of cake in Café Al Bacio. Each to their own, I say!

Next up, then, it’s wine, wine and more wine. Brace yourself!

 

Join Celebrity Cruises’ (www.celebritycruises.co.uk; 0845 456 0523) Celebrity Infinityon a 12-night France and Iberian Discovery cruise-only from £736 per person (based on two people sharing an interior stateroom).

Price includes a 12-night cruise departing from Harwich (England) and calling at Paris (Le Havre, France), Bordeaux (La Rochelle, France), Bilbao (Spain), Vigo (Spain) and Porto (Leixoes, Portugal) before returning to Harwich; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price based on 19 September 2024 departure.

For more information or to book call 0845 456 0523 or visitwww.celebritycruises.co.uk

 

 

Three tips on how to teach your kids about pensions

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One of the most important things you can teach your children is money management. It’s one skill that will help to protect them later in life - especially when it comes to pensions and retirement.

It’s never too early to start teaching your kids about pensions. The earlier you do it, the more ingrained it will become. The three tips below will help you to teach them everything they need to know about saving for their retirement.

Tip #1: Have a good chat about pensions

Before you can teach your kids to save for their retirement, you need to first make them understand how important it is. Talk about retirement and how without savings and a good pension it will be impossible to enjoy life.

Most people these days aren’t saving enough towards their retirement. This means they are going to have to work longer than retirement age.

Make sure you really drive home how important it is to start saving early if your kids want to retire comfortably.

Tip #2: Encourage them to save

Open a savings account and encourage your kids to save a portion of their pocket money. This is a great strategy as it gets them used to putting some of their money to one side.

By the time they become an adult they will be used to saving some of their monthly wage. The savings can be placed into a retirement fund. Show them how a pension calculator on Moneyvista.com can help with their pensions so they get a good idea of how much they’ll need to save to retire at a certain age.

Tip #3: Let them know their options

There are a number of ways to save for retirement. Make sure you run through each option along with its advantages and disadvantages. You can visit Money Vista and other online resources for more information – there are plenty of great tips available including goals and budgeting information.

The key is to simply inform and encourage your kids to save. Let them know how important it is and the consequences of not saving enough. If you can set them on the right path early on then they will be able to retire in relative comfort later on in life.

Cooking for all

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Indulging in a good, hearty breakfast is a great way to set yourself up for the rest of the day. Even when you have a busy diary of events to contend with, allowing time for breakfast is a must.

Catering to a family of four or more can sometimes prove difficult, especially if you’re the only one cooking. Having a selection of cereals, jams, pastries and juices at hand is always a good idea as not everyone can be tempted with a full English breakfast.

However, for those that won’t settle for anything other than the real deal, warm toast dripping with butter, grilled tomatoes, sausages, bacon and some individual hash brown portions are a must.

McCain offer a wide selection of frozen goods, perfect for those that require a hassle-free yet tasty breakfast option and you can always make a healthier fry-up by swapping the oil for low fat sprays and using health grills that remove large amounts of the fat when cooking.

Once breakfast is done and dusted, any leftovers can be put in the fridge and saved for later. If you have a number of kids to contend with, you can guarantee they’ll be hungry again in a few hours.

If you can’t make time for breakfast every day, it’s important to sit down together as a family at least once a week. The weekends are often a great option as the only days of the week when everyone is likely to be free.

Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore and if you’re lucky you can employ the services of the entire family. You may choose to put your partner on tea and coffee duty, ask the little ones to set the table and butter the toast or get help with some of the prep work but whatever you choose it’ll leave you free to concentrate on the main affair.

Breakfast is said to be one of the most important meals of the day and dining on foods that boast a slow release of energy is a great way to tackle any tasks at hand. Whether the little ones are off to play football or you have an entire day of DIY planned, working on an empty stomach is quite simple a no go.

As well as providing you with the fuel you need, sitting down to a good, solid meal will also ensure that you converse with the other members of your family. Chatting across the breakfast table is a good way to find out what the entire family have planned for the week, whilst making a few plans of your own.

EMFT

The Stoptober Challenge!

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StoptoberThe month of October is ‘Stoptober’. Promoted by the NHS, you might have seen adverts dotted around advertising the popular stop smoking campaign. Research has proven that people who successfully give up smoking for four weeks are five times more likely to stop permanently.

Whilst I’m not a smoker myself, I gave up many years ago and know how extremely hard it is to give up smoking. The NHS has put aside a large sum of money to fund this year’s Stoptober campaign, and will be offering everyone who signs up a support pack, free mobile app and regular motivating text messages to try and keep people going, as well as daily emails with tips and advice and additional support through the Smokefree Facebook page.

Here are a few tips if you are trying to give up smoking this month, or simply want to make a few healthy changes:

An obvious one, but drinking plenty of water keeps you hydrated and is great for your skin. Swapping high calorie fizzy drinks or your morning coffee for a glass of water is a much healthier alternative. If you’re craving a mid-morning snack, try drinking a glass of water before you reach for the food, I sometimes find I’m actually thirsty and just grabbing food out of habit, which leads me on to…

Snacking. One of the easiest ways to put on weight. Swapping crisps or chocolate biscuits for fruit or dried nuts can make a huge difference. Frozen fruits are the perfect healthy snack. For those of us who aren’t always organised enough to prepare fresh fruit salads, get your frozen fruit out the night before and it’s ready to go in the morning. Frozen fruit is also perfect for smoothies: pop some mixed frozen fruits into a blender, a dollop of natural yoghurt, a splash of milk if it looks too thick and honey to taste. Delicious.

Switch to e-cigarettes if you are currently a smoker. Electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular. I’ve seen a lot of people out and about recently using these electronic vaping devices. They don’t contain tobacco and are a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.

Exercising daily, even if it is something as small as taking the stairs instead of the lift, or taking a brisk 10 minute walk. Exercise can improve mental and physical well-being and also boost self-esteem, mood, energy levels and sleep quality.

Good luck to everyone taking part in Stoptober!

Oven baked rice pudding with a brown sugar crust

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Rice pudding

Our new rule, when Mr English is home, is to make sure we indulge in a full-on Sunday dinner. What with being on holiday and it being nice weather, we’d kind of got out of the habit, but I’m right back on it now. On Sunday I made a lovely beef brisket with roast potatoes. For dessert, I thought I’d do a rice pudding. I love rice pudding. It’s so easy - just mix it up and bung it in the oven. For those of you who have rice pudding skin haters in the family, I’ve got a little trick with some brown sugar which shuts them right up. Bonus.

You will need:

Small knob of butter

150g short grain pudding rice

1.5l milk

3 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

So first, preheat the oven to gas 3/160 degrees. Take an ovenproof dish and butter it generously. Then, just tip in the pudding rice, milk, sugar and vanilla. Give it a big stir and whack it in the oven for a couple of hours, giving it a quick stir every so often just to separate the grains (you don’t even really have to do that, to be honest - I generally forget).

Now, if you’re not a pudding skin hater, that’s it, but if you’ve got haters in the family, here’s how I deal with them, the moany blighters: remove the pudding from the oven and scrape off any skin. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar (I actually used golden caster, but brown looks much better - darn you store cupboard management skillz) and then pop it under a hot grill until golden and bubbling.

Scrummy. This is delicious with any sort of fruit compote (we love it with caramel apples) or just a big spoonful of jam.

rice pudding with brown sugar crust

Physical activity – natured and nurtured.

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What do you do on an average day? I suspect there’s probably some cooking, a bit of eating, quite a lot of working, driving or another form of travelling, maybe some housework and then a well-earned relax in front of the TV.

Now think about how much physical exercise your day includes. I don’t know about you, but statistics say for most British women the answer is none. As children, we can’t stand still for more than a minute - it’s natural and normal for kids to be active, to move their muscles and be charged with energy in this way. So how do naturally energetic little people, eager to explore the world around them, turn into bored, lazy, sedentary adults? We could blame schools with their tight timetables and lack of PE lessons, but the thing we forget is that people are born to be active and that exercise is a habit often picked up from those around you.

So if you think you can just buy your son a bike from the nearest sports store, you are wrong. What you should be doing is buying two bikes – one for him and another one for you!

Luckily, there are enough websites with local ads selling sports goods for a decent amount of money, so you can double up for less money than you think. Exercise is a fabulous, fun thing to share - if you’re excited about hopping on that bike and riding through the park, you can bet that your daughter or son will be too. In the same way, if you are constantly tired and looking forward to the evening TV session, that’s likely to be reflected in the habits of your children too.

So what are you waiting for? Encourage an active lifestyle in your child. Remember, there are sports to suit every type of personality. The competitive ones can show their worth in team sports, while the calm ones can relax by doing swimming or yoga. Get out and about - grab your stuff and head to the pool, get out into the countryside for a walk, or get on your bikes! Your child will be inspired by a happy, healthy mummy to find their own passion for exercise.

Exciting news: a new addition to the family (and a new jacket too!)

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We’ve been talking about puppies for ages. We’ve been through the mill with older rescue dogs and really wanted to start with a dog right from a puppy. Once this was decided we argued and argued about breeds. We like greyhounds, but have had a bad experience with rescue ones (most are delicious, we had Bert for years, but it’s a sad fact that some do have trouble adapting to a home environment), the boys wanted a husky, but my own view is that those sort of dogs should be pulling sleds not sitting on sofas, plus they’re a bit too hairy. We registered with puppy sites, bought books, asked the vet to ring us if any puppies were on the way…

Then one day, I was looking through a pups for sale site and saw this:

whippet pups

… a delightful sleepy tangle of - wait for it - whippets.

And why not a whippet? We’re quite big on the gangly/houndy/sleep in stupid positions/I’m gunna chase that wabbit type of dog, so why not? I showed the others. We googled whippets, looked on breed sites and studied photos. To my astonishment, we were all in agreement. It was meant to be.

I travelled up on the tube to see them. The lady selling the pups, Tamsin, was absolutely lovely and we spent a while chatting. The pupsters were sprawled everywhere, and a little fat one with a blue face, a blue stripe down her back and a two-tone blue and fawn tail came and plonked herself on my lap. She plodded up my chest, gave my nose a quick sniff, then settled back and went to sleep in the crook of my arm. I sent this picture to Mr English along with the message ‘I think I’m in love’:

Little Boo

And so, on 25th October, little Boo - or at the moment she is Boo, after little Boo in Monsters Inc, but that’s not to say she won’t end up with a different name, that’s another thing we’re arguing about - is coming to live at English Towers.

I’m sure there’ll be sleepless nights, little accidents and a fair bit of stress along the way, but we just can’t wait to bring her home. In the mean time, the lovely chaps at Blacks, the outdoor specialist store, were chatting to me about coats and the like. I said I prefer layers, and being experts on everything to do with ‘life outdoors’, they steered me in the direction of this lovely North Face Resolve jacket (£95), which is lightweight, but waterproof and windproof and with a nice big hood for getting out and about in all weathers, with plenty of room underneath for me to layer up jumpers and maybe even a hoody. I’ve also got some lovely classic short Hunter wellies from Millets (£65). I love Hunters but do find the tall ones a bit of a battle to get on and off. These are fab and will be really practical for me to throw on for emergency garden duty! I now feel battle ready. So bring it on, pupster, I’m ready for you :

Dog walking gear

Massive thanks to Blacks and Millets for your generosity and for being extra lovely xx

 

Win £100 to spend with The Cotswold Company!

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Cotswold CompanyI hate to mention the C word, but I’m already starting to collate gift guides (stay tuned - some wonderful ideas on the way) and search for beautiful things to give my friends and family.

One of my favourite sites is The Cotswold Company, not just for their scrummy oak furniture (I adore their wine racks) but for all the lovely accessories too. I use their baskets on top of my kitchen units to store things I don’t use every day like big platters and special baking tins, and their lamp tables are just gorgeous. They also have cushions, throws, all sorts of lovely stuff.

I’ve teamed up with The Cotswold Company to provide you with a little treat: £100 to spend on whatever you like! So, if you’ve got your eye on something bigger, like one of their amazing oak dressers, this will be a big chunk towards it, or maybe like me you’re in love with all those baskets?

Cotswold Company

Just leave a comment and let me know what wine you’d put in this fabulous Costswold Company wine rack and the winner will get £100 to spend on anything they like on the Cotswold Company website. Off you go, then!

The Small Print

Usual English Mum competition rules apply. Competition ends Friday 11th October at 9am. UK only. Prize comprises: £100 to spend online on cotswoldco.com. Winner will be chosen at random. New comments will not show straight away as they require moderation.

 

**This competition is now closed. Congratulations to Mark Hawes who won the £100!**

 

 

Considering a Disney Cruise with teenagers? Here are my top tips!

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The last night on deck

So as you know, I’m a huge Disney fan. I adore Minnie Mouse, regularly weep over my ancient Beauty and the Beast DVD and could walk you around Walt Disney World blindfolded telling you all about my favourite rides. I love the films, the characters, the parks, the food (Disney dining is second to none, but cupcakes are my speciality - ask me anything). The boys have grown up with Hercules, Toy Story, Stitch and Pirates of the Caribbean, and Disney has been a part of all our lives for as long as we can all remember.

This summer we were ridiculously excited to be invited for an amazing trip aboard the Disney Magic as it cruised around the Mediterranean for one of the last times before heading to dry dock for a spectacular new makeover and with an 18 year old and a 15 year old in tow, I was interested to see how we’d get on.

Let’s be clear: there are as many different types of teens as there are holidays. You’ve got your adventurous ones, your quiet ones, your sociable ones, your ‘not talk to anyone at all’ ones… So what’s the best way to choose a holiday that will suit your teenagers AND the rest of you?

1. Involve them in the choice of holiday

As I write about travel, we tend to go on holiday a lot. My teenagers have been on all sorts of trips but the ones that are the best received are always the ones where they’ve had some choice in the matter. Make it a treat: head out for a burger (this is our standard meeting place as it guarantees at least a few minutes of silence where I can get my point across) and flump a big pile of brochures on the table (obviously you can tip the odds in your favour by adding in your favourites). Arguing will no doubt ensue, but you’ll also be able to gather who wants what from a holiday.

2. Teenagers need freedom

Cruises are perfect for families. Think about it: there’s buckets of fun for the little ones, plus the teenagers can’t really wander off and there are a gazillion activities for them to do. You can stay by the pool, head to the beach or sightsee on shore days, watch the latest Disney films (either on the amazing ‘Tunnel Vision’, an outdoor screen, or in a proper cinema), catch a show (the shows are INCREDIBLE - I always cry), play a game of basketball or table tennis… a Disney cruise is like 10 holidays in one and their kids’ clubs are amazing.

3. Which brings me to a word about kids’ clubs

Teen Clubs are really hard to get right. It helps if the age groups are well thought out (young teens and old teens is the best split: no 17 year old wants their style cramped by a 13 year old) and the leadership needs to be friendly and non-patronising. ’Teen disco’ tends to strike fear into the heart of any teenager, but generally by day four or five they’ll be there, hanging about looking like they don’t really want to be there, but actually enjoying themselves. By day seven, they’ll be cruising around in a huge pack, annoying everyone. Teen clubs also allow them more access to the facilities: Charlie wanted to go into the gym, but it’s over 18s only. Turns out the teen club organise group visits to the gym. Result: happy Charlie.

4. Think outside the box

Our Disney Magic cruise took us to Spain, Italy and France, but maybe you fancy going further afield, or you’ve ‘done’ Rome already? No problem. Disney Cruises go to the most amazing places: cruise the Caribbean, or swoosh along the California coastline. Next on my list? Alaska!

5. Compromise compromise and compromise a bit more

Want to schlep around Pompeii on your shore day but have kids who want to lie by the pool plugged in to their iPhones? It’s all about the compromise. There are some absolutely amazing shore excursions - you don’t have to spend hours in a coach or traipsing round cathedrals. Let them choose what they want to do - I wanted to see Monaco, so we chose a trip with a visit to the Top Car Museum in Monte Carlo, which suited all of us. Also, maybe consider splitting up. We find this works well: I might head off on a trip with one, leaving Dad slobbing on the deck with the other.

6. City breaks can be really cool

We weren’t looking forward to our last day in Barcelona. We were disembarking at 9am and had all day to kill before our evening flight. We were lucky to team up with friends we’d made who knew it inside out and showed us around some really cool places. It turned out to be one of our favourite days.

7. Disney is part of everyone’s past

Some of our favourite moments were really unexpected. We bumped into Stitch - a huge favourite from their childhood, and one evening we sat and watched Hercules up on the deck, singing along to our favourite songs from the film and reminiscing about when it was their favourite film (‘nice catch, jerkules!’). Lovely moments to share.

8. Consider doubling up

Know another family with kids a similar age? Think about holidaying together. Not only is it fun to have a Disney adventure with friends, but it’s a lot easier walking into that kids’ club on the first day if they’re doing it with someone they know. It also means that you have more adults to mingle with too!

Chas pirate

9. Everybody loves the pirate party

Trust me: nobody is ever too old for pirate night. Everyone on the ship dresses up as pirates (whole families bring their costumes with them), there are pirate themed dinners and then a massive party on the deck afterwards, with the best firework display ever and then a DJ until the early hours. There is nothing better than dancing to amazing tunes out on the deck at ridiculous o’clock in the morning under the biggest sky full of stars you ever saw.

10. Disney’s for everyone

Think Disney’s just for young ones? Think again. One of my happiest moments after we came back from the cruise was overhearing Sam talking to a friend describing the cruise: ‘I’m going every year if I can, mate, you can’t beat Disney’. Nothing makes me happier than to know I’ve passed my love of everything Disney onto my children.

 

7-night Disney Magic Mediterranean Cruise from £949 per adult and £699 per child. Virgin Holidays Cruises offers seven nights onboard Disney Magic from Barcelona, calling at Villefranche (for Nice, France), Pisa, Rome and Naples, including flights from London Gatwick and transfers. Prices are per person based on two adults and two children travelling and sharing an inside cabin on a full-board basis. Based on a departure on 30 August 2014. Offer is subject to availability and includes all applicable taxes and fuel surcharges which are subject to change.
To book: Visit www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk, call 0844 573 4398 or visit one of our stores located in Debenhams and House of Fraser stores nationwide.

The big wine roundup: warming red wines for autumn evenings

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Autumn reds

 

One of the best things about Autumn for me is leaving behind summer’s rosés and going back to a big glass of red by the fire. I adore a shiraz, and if I’m buying reds, I must admit to being a bit boring and focusing on the shiraz (or syrah - New World wines tend to be called Shiraz, but as you’ll see, it’s by no means a rule). I tend to go for new world as the wines are often a bit sweeter and juicier, which I like (not SWEET, sweet, obviously).

First up is a South African wine called Higgovale Heights (Shiraz 2011). It was a last-minute grab in Tesco and went fantastically well with our steaks in pepper sauce. Apparently there’s a violet aroma in there. I just couldn’t get it though.

This next one was recommended to me by my very clever wine-buff brother and I’ve bought it ever since and loved it: Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz will set you back a bit more (about £15 in Majestic, but it’s sometimes on offer) but its deep fruity flavours (again there’s that hint of violet in there that I just can’t get - why won’t my nose work?!) are worth every penny. I know it sounds weird but I do get a hint of something ‘medicinal’ in the background of this that I love. It’s one of the few wines I reckon I could pick out of a blind tasting (maybe). Lush. Also in Waitrose at the moment is another Jim Barry wine, Clare Red Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon - it’s a gorgeous, full bodied fruity spicy hug in a glass - again it’s around the £15 mark but well, well worth it.

A big favourite of mine is Porcupine Ridge Syrah - I go back to it time and time again as it’s a real big, easy drinking red. This one often goes in the trolley if I’m in Waitrose and is currently on offer for £5.99 - bargainous as it’s usually £8. Grab a bottle or two.

Big Bro also recommends Italian Amarone wines if you’re into this sort of big red. Next on my list for tasting (when I’ve got a few quid - or I thought I might splash out for Christmas) is Amarone Ca Rose Le Arche 2008/9 recommended to me on Twitter by Oddbins. It’s another pricey one at £22 (Oddbins) but the description of it being like ‘liquid fruitcake’ has me intrigued!

I also still have my stash of Tesco Finest Cabernet Carmenere. I can’t help it. I bloody love this wine. My love is deepened by the fact that my lovely mate, Helen, she of the Knackered Mother’s Wine Club and now ALAN TITCHMARSH’S NEW WINE EXPERT!!! loves a good Carmenere too. And she should know, right?

On the downside, I tried a Sainsbury’s Winemakers’ Selection Carignan Syrah. An initial sip left me tasting blackberries - not unpleasant, but then I was left with a weirdly dry, furry mouth. On having a chat with Helen, it would seem that the furry ‘hangover mouth’ I got from it can be somewhat typical of Carignan. Better with dinner, I think.

I had a group of friends around for a little wine tasting and curry night. Here’s what we thought of some of the other big reds around this autumn:

Morrisons have been busy on the wine front recently. Following the launch of their online wine site morrisonscellar.com at the end of last year, they’re now reinventing their own brand wines. If you want to spend a bit more on a really fantastic bottle of wine, their Piccini Sasso Al Poggio £12.99 is a peppery Tuscan red that really packs a punch. We loved it.

I found the fabulous Jacktone Ranch Petite Sirah at Tesco on special offer at £5.99. Sadly now can’t find it on the shelves OR online there. It’s a big Californian red, deliciously dark and fruity and it got a unanimous YUM vote. I’ll be looking out for it from now on.

Other highlights included Asda’s Extra Special Valpolicella Ripasso £9.00 – a warm, full-bodied, fruity glassful of dark red fruity yumminess (technical term, that). If you’re looking for a bargain, also at Asda are a lovely ripe fruity The Wine Selection Corbieres £4.50 and the Busby Estate Shiraz £4.00 – both rich, fruity and blackberry-infused. And lastly, Asda’s Extra Special Barbera d’Asti, a bit more expensive at £8.00 – is full-bodied but also oaky. Yum.

Many thanks to my loyal tasting crew who powered through a significant amount of red wine without even flinching. That’s devotion to the cause that is.

Wine tasting

 

Turn Saturday night into treat night with the perfect meal

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Turn a Saturday night in into a treat night with only a few clicks.

Treat night is easy to arrange and is guaranteed to keep everyone happy. There are two main ingredients for treat night. First, there needs to be a takeaway so no-one has to spend precious Saturday night time cooking or washing up. Second, there has to be some form of entertainment. Sorting out the food is a complete doddle and it’s really straightforward to come up with something that everyone can enjoy. JUST EAT is a handy online service that gives you the choice of hundreds of tasty takeaways in just a few clicks.

For a truly special Saturday night in, consider having a themed night by matching the food and entertainment. For example, if your family enjoys a good sing-song together, set up the home karaoke machine and stage your own Saturday night talent contest – maybe throw in a few drinks to get in the mood! Karaoke originates from Japan, and translates literally as empty orchestra. So why not make a truly authentic evening of it and order from a Japanese takeaway to get everyone in the right karaoke mood? Famous for fresh, healthy and delicious food, Japanese restaurants and takeaways are sure to deliver a palate-pleasing Saturday night feast.

JUST EAT Don't cook

If you’re not sure what to try, kick off with some tasty yasai tempura (lightly battered vegetables) and follow it with a healthy selection of sushi (many restaurants provide family platters or party platters, which are perfect for experimenting and sharing). For a sweet treat afterwards, try a traditional kakigōri, which is a pretty dessert made from shaved ice and flavoured with green tea or fruit syrup and condensed milk.

If karaoke is just not your cup of green tea, or you don’t want to order from a Japanese takeaway, then it’s just as easy to have a movie night instead, simply pick a couple of favourite films and then find some matching food. So, if Hollywood films are favourites, choose from a selection of American takeaways and opt for burgers, grills, surf ‘n’ turf and a whole range of accompanying fries and shakes.

Nearer to home, Pinewood studios are famous for making James Bond films. Or, you could celebrate the best of British film-making with an Ealing comedy or two from yesteryear. Whether you prefer vintage or modern movies, there are lots of English restaurants providing traditional treats. Just click on JUST EAT and grab yourself some good old fashioned and fish and chips.

Best of all, when it comes to ordering from JUST EAT, whether it’s food from Japanese restaurants and takeaways or from the place around the corner, everything is very convenient. You don’t even need to fire up the laptop, simply download the JUST EAT app from Google Play or iTunes. And there’s no longer any need to nip out to grab cash or search for the right amount of money, since it’s possible to pay online when ordering. And of course, if you prefer to pay by cash, that’s an option too!

EMFT