Sunday 27 February 2011

Sunday bloody Sunday

It's Sunday morning and the sun is actually shining,how long for is any ones guess but at the moment it looks like spring has finally sprung!
The thing about Sunday's is you never quite know what to do with them should they be a lazy day? I wish! With kids that's impossible, a day out with said kids? Sometimes more stress than it's worth, A day of DIY there's always something to do that never quite gets done but for me as I imagine most parents with children of school age it's going to be a day of getting school uniforms ready for tomorrow, cleaning the house, cooking Sunday dinner(my favourite part) and nagging at children to get uniform sorted bags ready and rooms cleaned, ah the excitement, I may just explode! But that my friends is the reality for most of us normal folk and we either embrace it and get on with it or spend the day in moaning and groaning about all that has to be done! For me I intend to embrace it, the sun is shining, my family is healthy and for the most part happy so I'm going to cook Sunday dinner.... Roast pork with crackling,roasted root vegetables and lovely spring greens with lemon puddle pudding for desert, with a nice glass of wine in hand and I'm going to remember to count every single one of my blessings no matter how small. And if anyone is reading this and feels a little less than happy make the lemon puddle pudding it is so delicious I promise it will put a smile on your face!

Lemon puddle pudding

Ingredients

50g butter
200g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
100ml lemon juice
3 eggs separated
50g plain flour
250ml milk


Heat the oven to 180c/gas 4, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and creamy then add the egg yolks, flour lemon juice and milk and mix together until you have a smooth batter.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until firm but not stiff and then fold into the batter.
Pour into a buttered ovenproof baking dish and put it in a roasting tin half filled with hot water.bake for 45 minutes until the top is lightly browned and set and there is a gooey lemon curd below. Serve hot with cream or even on it's own . It really is delicious the recipe I've done serves 4 so if you have a large family like mine or you just feel greedy double the recipe but you only need to increase the cooking time by about 5 minutes , hope you enjoy and it brightens your Sunday. *


* Disclaimer : Emma_ps would like it known that she is not usually one of those bright breezy positive people and 'those people' do in fact freak her out but with all that is going on in the world at the moment she thought what the hell lets try this positive thing!

Friday 25 February 2011

My Mountain became a Molehill

I have a floor in my utility room! ok this might be stating the obvious I'm sure everyone has a floor otherwise how would you walk on it! but the the thing is I haven't seen mine for weeks thanks to the ever increasing mountain of washing but now I can reveal that thanks to hard work and much nagging on my part I have a floor and its dark oak, I also have about 3 loads of washing until I am laundry free! this may all sound very mundane and boring to those without children i.e. those of you who probably have a real life! but to me this is exciting and big and it makes me happy! and now after the complete unadulterated over use of exclamation marks I will stop talking about my laundry.

So this my third attempt at a blog page and I have realised how technologically challenged I am, I have also realised that my laptop may have a secret vendetta against me as it doesn't seem to do what I tell it do, It must be in league with my children! So anyway I'm trying to get the look of this thing right but between the constant cry of "MUM!" usually screamed at levels that only animals can hear, the limited time available to actually sit in front of the computer and my complete inability to understand what I'm doing this is proving a slow process , so if anyone except me is reading this , this your chance to give me some tips on my page , yes I'm really asking so please guys leave some comments.

And as if my magic there goes the Mum cry so I'll catch up later!

TTFN x

Wednesday 23 February 2011

I'm wearing mens pants! we all have days like this.....Don't we?

I'm wearing men's pants, not in cute quirky sexy kind of way, no I'm wearing them in a I have no clean underwear except thongs kind of way! This really is my life and lets face it and be honest girls and guys if you like that style, (no judgement here) the thong is not the most comfortable item to wear and I feel should be resigned to the days when you're wearing something that you really don't want that knicker line or Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries etc when you know sex is as good as guaranteed anyway I digress the point is my life is such that my laundry pile, yes I did say pile is always growing no matter how much I wash they add to it. My 2 year old pointed at it and said "can I climb the mountain mummy" that to me says it all! I have now given strict instructions to all that if they go near the washing machine and its not on , fill it up and put it on, its kind of working the mountain is now more of a hill but I still don't have any clean knickers so I need to get on top of that immediately.

So this it would seem is my life not enough days in the week not enough hours in the day and trying to figure out how to get the most out of what I do have so for me one those ways is to come up with meals that don't take long to prepare, taste great and hopefully please all, which is no easy task with one vegetarian in the family. I often make a meat option and a veg option along the same theme but today I'm making a one meal fits all dish that tastes great is really quick and easy to do and looks impressive enough for a dinner party. What is this amazing dish I here you ask? well ok I can't technically hear you but you get the gist anyway here it is my recipe for The amazing spinach and feta pie served with my extra tasty herby potato bites, hope you try it and love it , I will update with a pic later providing it turns out as well as it normally does, It will of course go wrong now but sod it either way there will be a pic , you've been warned!

ok here goes with the first recipe of my blog

Spinach and Feta pie with herby potato bites

Pre heat the oven to 200-220 c (gas make 6-7, 400-425f) everyones oven is a bit different you will probably know whats best for you.

Herby Potato bites
Another nice time saver here no need to peel your potatoes

Ingredients

Potatoes (enough to serve you or your family)
Italian herb mix or any herbs of preference
olive oil
salt and pepper to season


Chop the amount of potatoes into about 2inch chunks, sprinkle herbs and seasoning over them along with a good glug of olive oil , use your hands to liberally coat all the potatoes pop them on a baking tray and there we go just pop them in the oven on the middle shelf well you get on with the pie.

Spinach and Feta pie

Ingredients

small knob of butter
1 onion
1 bag spinach I prefer baby spinach but totally up to you
200 grams feta cheese
1 pack of filo pastry( around 12 sheets )
1 small cup of melted butter for the pastry 
salt and pepper to season I also add a sprinkle of all purpose seasoning but it tastes good without 

In a large pan over a moderate to high heat melt butter.
chop onion and pop in the pan allow to cook stirring occasionally until onions are translucent add spinach and  seasonings give it a stir and put the lid on and turn off the heat , spinach wilts down quickly and by time you finish the pie case it will be ready.
I use a 9 inch spring form cake tin but trust me what ever you have will work as well. I use the cake tin to make it easy to turn out so I can show people how clever I am!
Grease the tin with some of the melted butter then put in one layer of filo just line the tin and let the pastry hang over the sides , butter the pastry and then add a another layer at a different angle , then butter and the same again now back to the filling.
the spinach should be ready now so all you need to to is crumble the feta into the mixture give it a stir and then pour it into the pastry case. now for the fun and effective top, take the remaining filo sheets and just scrunch each one up you can be as arty as you like , I just scrunch like paper balls and put it on top of the pie until its covered. brush with remaining melted butter pop it in the oven until a lovely golden brown and there we go!

hope that was easy to understand and I hope you enjoy it as much as me.x

Tuesday 22 February 2011

And so it begins

I've thought about starting a blog for a long time but never quite made it to the actually starting one but here it is Ta dah! I hope someone, anyone is going to enjoy it(Do I sound desperate enough?).
The advice given is to choose a topic or a theme but that's the thing I don't really have one and believe me I have thought about it a lot! I want to write about food,relationships,kids, life in fact you name it I want to write about it, Hence the mad ramblings.

My initial thoughts were a parenting based blog after all I've been doing this parenting lark for a long time now but there seem to be so many parenting blogs out there and so many that offer tips and advice but I'm not one of those 'Look at Me I'm perfect full make-up on the morning school run, 3 course organic meal, show home'yummy mummies I'm more of a been up since 5, haven't worn make-up in a week or used a razor for that matter, haven't seen the hairbrush since Friday and now it's Monday and be grateful you're getting a hot home cooked meal kind of mum, so you see my dilemma.

That being said I love to cook when I can find the kitchen under the mess of childrens stuff and I hope to offer to some recipes that people will enjoy once I figure out this whole blogging thing and setting up the page and although I won't give out any parenting tips, if I inadvertently say something that helps or gives you an idea for your own family then that's great. But mostly it's going to be just what it says on the tin, The Mad Ramblings of well.....Me! I hope you enjoy them and my introduction x