Christmas is busy and I’m less organised than ever this year it seems. I bought a jar of mincemeat with the intention of making mince pies last week, but hadn’t gotten around to it. When I went to make them this morning the pastry had magically disappeared and we…
It was Cathal’s 4th birthday last week. He’s my middle child and every year he likes to test my birthday party planning by throwing a spanner in the works. Last year he insisted on a shop-bought Peppa Pig Cake from Tesco rather than one of the homemade delights that…
Having reviewed Fay Ripley’s “What’s for Dinner” I promised myself that I’d try the Pear Pudding recipe so I finally got to last weekend. I posted a photo on Facebook and Twitter and the requests for the recipe rolled in (OK there were three, but in my terms that’s a…
I promised a recipe to use the cranberry jam in last week. Events have conspired against me. Firstly, I couldn’t find my copy of the book that contained the recipe for the tart. I sent an emergency tweet and the lovely Rosanne from Like Mam Used to Bake and Bionic…
Things are busy, crazy busy this Christmas, and I’m not sure why. (OK it might be the fact that I have a six month old baby and two small boys). Despite having started my shopping in early November I’m not yet finished. The only presents that have been wrapped are…
I’ve written about the chaos that can ensue when I bring my children to the supermarket, the running up and down the aisles and the general mayhem. One of the things that they beg for are the bags of cookies in the bakery aisle as you go in, the smell…
Ciarán is one of the last of his little group of friends to turn 5, and this has led to emotional scenes on the way to many birthday parties this summer as he declares that he doesn’t want the birthday child to be 5 before him. Come to think of…
Those dotty bananas, the lunchbox rejects that children in this house turn their noses up at. They look at you (me) accusingly from the fruitbowl demanding to be used. Mostly, I pop them in the freezer for later (just in their skins) and turn them into Brown Sugar Banana…
Nigella’s Lemon Meringue Cake Lemon Meringue Pie, or plain old “Lemon Meringue” as we called it, was a standard feature of all our family gatherings when I was a child. The blind baked pastry case, the “Royal” brand lemon mix which you’d add water to and wait for the delicious…
It’s lovely to have something home baked if you have callers for a cuppa. Even better if it’s easy to make and hit with everyone, sure we hate having waste, better to see the crumbs on the plate. In my fantasy world I have freshly baked things for every caller,…
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