What`s for dinner Clarey?: Star above the car wash
I went to the car wash to...: Star above the car wash I went to the car wash today and so I parked the Volvo near where you check your air pressure and went inside to b...
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Star above the car wash
I went to the car wash today and so I parked the Volvo near where you check your air pressure and went inside to buy my ticket. When I got back to my car a couple of bearded foreign looking guys asked me if I could jump start their car for them. As always I was in a mad rush and politely declined and told them I was in a hurry, actually I don't even know how to open my bonnet let alone indulge two strangers in a little bit of car maintenance! I drove into the car wash to find a huge 4x4 parked up and the driver hurried out unapologetically yet to even purchase a car wash token! Whilst I'd been talking to the beardy boys a little old lady in a sports car had also just nipped in front of me, even though I'd bought my token before her. I did feel a little aggrieved and my school rule " treat others as you would like them to treat you" flashed across my brain. I mean even the least socially adept 5 yr old I know , knows you don't push in, it's super rude!
The bearded boys were still asking everyone on the forecourt for a jump start and must have been turned down half a dozen times , I felt ashamed that I was just as bad as everyone else at the petrol station and so pulled out of the car wash queue and pulled alongside their car and offered to recharge their battery! They were charming and showed me how to open my bonnet and where to attach the jump leads and were so appreciative and relieved to get their car started. I then noticed that one of them was wearing a sweatshirt with a Cenacolo logo on it. The Catholic Church I go to to get my own batteries recharged spiritually are linked with the Cenacolo community who live outside Kendal, many are recovering addicts, mostly Italian who are rehabilitated mostly through Faith and prayer.
I instantly knew why they were sporting such huge beards, they reenact the Nativity and their play is on Saturday. My two new friends Eduardo and Ricardo were actually "Joseph" and "The Angel Gabriel". We shook hands and I rejoined the queue of grumpy Christmas shoppers feeling so blessed to have been sent a reminder of what Christmas is really about. Maybe it was my imagination but I'm sure I saw a star twinkling above the car wash as I exited, I felt all my worries washed away and feel hopeful that this Christmas will be full of comfort and joy for us all, when we will all get our batteries recharged. The Cenacolo community rely on gifts to feed them here is what I'm making for them this week.
Mango cake
3 tbs butter
7 tbs sugar
2 eggs
Zest and juice of a lime
1 tsp baking powder 1 mango chopped
Mix all ingredients together , apart from lime juice
Pop into a cake tin into the oven gas 3 for 50 mins
Mix the juice with 3 oz sugar and pour over the cake to make a lime drizzle crust.
Serve up to some bearded wise men with love.
I went to the car wash today and so I parked the Volvo near where you check your air pressure and went inside to buy my ticket. When I got back to my car a couple of bearded foreign looking guys asked me if I could jump start their car for them. As always I was in a mad rush and politely declined and told them I was in a hurry, actually I don't even know how to open my bonnet let alone indulge two strangers in a little bit of car maintenance! I drove into the car wash to find a huge 4x4 parked up and the driver hurried out unapologetically yet to even purchase a car wash token! Whilst I'd been talking to the beardy boys a little old lady in a sports car had also just nipped in front of me, even though I'd bought my token before her. I did feel a little aggrieved and my school rule " treat others as you would like them to treat you" flashed across my brain. I mean even the least socially adept 5 yr old I know , knows you don't push in, it's super rude!
The bearded boys were still asking everyone on the forecourt for a jump start and must have been turned down half a dozen times , I felt ashamed that I was just as bad as everyone else at the petrol station and so pulled out of the car wash queue and pulled alongside their car and offered to recharge their battery! They were charming and showed me how to open my bonnet and where to attach the jump leads and were so appreciative and relieved to get their car started. I then noticed that one of them was wearing a sweatshirt with a Cenacolo logo on it. The Catholic Church I go to to get my own batteries recharged spiritually are linked with the Cenacolo community who live outside Kendal, many are recovering addicts, mostly Italian who are rehabilitated mostly through Faith and prayer.
I instantly knew why they were sporting such huge beards, they reenact the Nativity and their play is on Saturday. My two new friends Eduardo and Ricardo were actually "Joseph" and "The Angel Gabriel". We shook hands and I rejoined the queue of grumpy Christmas shoppers feeling so blessed to have been sent a reminder of what Christmas is really about. Maybe it was my imagination but I'm sure I saw a star twinkling above the car wash as I exited, I felt all my worries washed away and feel hopeful that this Christmas will be full of comfort and joy for us all, when we will all get our batteries recharged. The Cenacolo community rely on gifts to feed them here is what I'm making for them this week.
Mango cake
3 tbs butter
7 tbs sugar
2 eggs
Zest and juice of a lime
1 tsp baking powder 1 mango chopped
Mix all ingredients together , apart from lime juice
Pop into a cake tin into the oven gas 3 for 50 mins
Mix the juice with 3 oz sugar and pour over the cake to make a lime drizzle crust.
Serve up to some bearded wise men with love.
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Little candles
When I was a child the smell of Birthday candles to me was what Happiness smelled like, the sulphurous whiff , the wish winging up to Heaven and guaranteed party and CAKE afterwards. I just love Birthdays and parties, even today when my age sounds like a Bingo callers dream. I think we should treat every day as though it was our birthdays , getting older is a privilege when so many of the best people I have met , never got the chance to blow out many candles.
My Mum was pure glamour as I was growing up, doing the Hoovering in her Levi 501s made her many of my teenage friends Mrs Robinson. Naturally and effortlessly beautiful and kind she was and remains, culinarily challenged as well I'm afraid! However , without fail she made me a homemade birthday cake every year for me, Hedgehog shaped with chocolate button spines, Mickey Mouse holding a clutch of Smartie balloons. On my 18 th birthday I woke up to the smell of cake cooking and had hot coffee cake for breakfast with little candles sliding gloriously off the plate in a mudslide of icing. Quite simply those little acts of love, like the candles , light up our lives in memories that last a lifetime. Little candles are the kind deeds we need to survive in a weary World, they can illuminate the darkest of days. Happiness rests on such little things. Someone let me into a traffic queue today so I wasn't late for work, I was brought a bag of free Damsons that I'm turning into Damson Vodka for Christmas to share with my family and that sweet sweet smile from Jemima when I picked her up from school a bit earlier today all priceless shiny moments that make life worth living - worth celebrating.
I suppose I'm a sturdy girl because I treat each day like a birthday, cake , cava and I love a fire and candles! Candles everywhere , life can be so grey without them. My Nanna always had a piece of Battenberg on the go and had the loveliest , cherubic face , even in her 90s. Face cream vs double cream- it's a no brainer to me.
When I went to visit my Grandmother Lucie, she always had a tin of rock buns in her pantry. To me a cup tea and a bun equalled true love. Happy Thursday, make a wish!
Rock buns
You should listen to the Foo fighters whilst making these to make them "Rock" buns, but actually they're "as light as lad's love " as my Nanna would say! Not rocklike at all.
200 g self raising flour
75 g butter
75 g golden sugar
2 eggs
50 g mixed fruit and peel
Rub the butter into the flour stir in the sugar and fruit bind together with eggs and a little extra milk. Put dollops onto a greased baking tray put in glacé cherries for eyes and bake in a medium oven for 15-20 mins until golden. ( I think Betty's of York call these fat rascals, if you eat too many you might turn into one , like me! ) xxx
When I was a child the smell of Birthday candles to me was what Happiness smelled like, the sulphurous whiff , the wish winging up to Heaven and guaranteed party and CAKE afterwards. I just love Birthdays and parties, even today when my age sounds like a Bingo callers dream. I think we should treat every day as though it was our birthdays , getting older is a privilege when so many of the best people I have met , never got the chance to blow out many candles.
My Mum was pure glamour as I was growing up, doing the Hoovering in her Levi 501s made her many of my teenage friends Mrs Robinson. Naturally and effortlessly beautiful and kind she was and remains, culinarily challenged as well I'm afraid! However , without fail she made me a homemade birthday cake every year for me, Hedgehog shaped with chocolate button spines, Mickey Mouse holding a clutch of Smartie balloons. On my 18 th birthday I woke up to the smell of cake cooking and had hot coffee cake for breakfast with little candles sliding gloriously off the plate in a mudslide of icing. Quite simply those little acts of love, like the candles , light up our lives in memories that last a lifetime. Little candles are the kind deeds we need to survive in a weary World, they can illuminate the darkest of days. Happiness rests on such little things. Someone let me into a traffic queue today so I wasn't late for work, I was brought a bag of free Damsons that I'm turning into Damson Vodka for Christmas to share with my family and that sweet sweet smile from Jemima when I picked her up from school a bit earlier today all priceless shiny moments that make life worth living - worth celebrating.
I suppose I'm a sturdy girl because I treat each day like a birthday, cake , cava and I love a fire and candles! Candles everywhere , life can be so grey without them. My Nanna always had a piece of Battenberg on the go and had the loveliest , cherubic face , even in her 90s. Face cream vs double cream- it's a no brainer to me.
When I went to visit my Grandmother Lucie, she always had a tin of rock buns in her pantry. To me a cup tea and a bun equalled true love. Happy Thursday, make a wish!
Rock buns
You should listen to the Foo fighters whilst making these to make them "Rock" buns, but actually they're "as light as lad's love " as my Nanna would say! Not rocklike at all.
200 g self raising flour
75 g butter
75 g golden sugar
2 eggs
50 g mixed fruit and peel
Rub the butter into the flour stir in the sugar and fruit bind together with eggs and a little extra milk. Put dollops onto a greased baking tray put in glacé cherries for eyes and bake in a medium oven for 15-20 mins until golden. ( I think Betty's of York call these fat rascals, if you eat too many you might turn into one , like me! ) xxx
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
My brothers
My brothers Tim and Jamie are quite simply my heroes. As young children of the 70s we wore our Starsky and Hutch homeknits together with pride looking like a living knitting pattern! We were all crazy about the Chinese spaghetti Western styled awfully dubbed "monkey" tv show. On a Friday night we would have a Chinese takeaway from the Loon Che in Sunny Harpenden and watch "monkey". Jamie was Monkey he would unscrew my Mum's carpet sweeper and use the pole as a jousting stick. Tim would be the beautiful Trippitakker ( we never figured out if he was a she or not!) and after oodles of noodles my delightful brothers would make me be Pigsy! So throughout our lives, Jamie has continued to be a teensy bit magic, Tim has always been too good looking for a boy and I am a foodie who is transported back in time to those happy 70s nights,whenever I eat chow mein.
We moved to our parents home town of York for the start of the 80s, this enabled us to spend the best of times with both sets of Grandparents. Nanna and Grandad, George and Muriel taught us to play cards and eat Battenburg cake! Even when we lived down South my Nanna would send us Quality Street chocolates rolled up in a copy of The Yorkshire Evening Press, she worked in the Rowntrees chocolate factory and made the best homemade scones Ive ever tasted. My other Grandparents Lucie and Roy though insisting on brown bread and sugarless tea made our lives just as sweet. Meat pie and Shepherds pie made by my Gaggy I am sure evoke memories of being warm and loved. To me my brothers were my comfort and joy, Tim my comfort, 100% the big brother and defender and mender of broken hearts. As a student he would often arrive with a bag full of shopping or take me out for a slap up meal, when I had no money. Jamie was pure sunshine from the moment we laid eyes on him in the maternity wing of Crewe hospital! In my first teaching job we shared a room which was hilarious , he would arrive home in the early hours and hurl a kebab at me across the bedroom, the naughty boy. The days of sharing rooms are long gone, my brothers are now strictly board room and have families of their own. I am so proud to be cut from the same cloth as them. We grew up together immersed in love and shared many birthdays and Christmases all full of food and comfort and joy. The Love our parents and Grandparents lavished upon us has been enough to last a lifetime and is my daily inspiration to make my own childrens lives as happy and memorable. When they say "whats for dinner Mummy?" I know these times at the dinner table will tie them together forever too.
Kebabs for my heroes
4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic crushed
Olive oil
Salt
A tube of tomato puree
Green peppers in chunks
White onions chunked
First of all marinate the chicken in tomato puree garlic , oil and salt for a few hours and better still overnight.
Thread onto kebab skewers with alternate chunks of pepper and onions
Grill or barbecue until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are roasted, serve with hot pittas, hummous and rocket salad, three simple ingredients on the skewer, just lkie me and my bros, all absolutely delicious.
My brothers Tim and Jamie are quite simply my heroes. As young children of the 70s we wore our Starsky and Hutch homeknits together with pride looking like a living knitting pattern! We were all crazy about the Chinese spaghetti Western styled awfully dubbed "monkey" tv show. On a Friday night we would have a Chinese takeaway from the Loon Che in Sunny Harpenden and watch "monkey". Jamie was Monkey he would unscrew my Mum's carpet sweeper and use the pole as a jousting stick. Tim would be the beautiful Trippitakker ( we never figured out if he was a she or not!) and after oodles of noodles my delightful brothers would make me be Pigsy! So throughout our lives, Jamie has continued to be a teensy bit magic, Tim has always been too good looking for a boy and I am a foodie who is transported back in time to those happy 70s nights,whenever I eat chow mein.
We moved to our parents home town of York for the start of the 80s, this enabled us to spend the best of times with both sets of Grandparents. Nanna and Grandad, George and Muriel taught us to play cards and eat Battenburg cake! Even when we lived down South my Nanna would send us Quality Street chocolates rolled up in a copy of The Yorkshire Evening Press, she worked in the Rowntrees chocolate factory and made the best homemade scones Ive ever tasted. My other Grandparents Lucie and Roy though insisting on brown bread and sugarless tea made our lives just as sweet. Meat pie and Shepherds pie made by my Gaggy I am sure evoke memories of being warm and loved. To me my brothers were my comfort and joy, Tim my comfort, 100% the big brother and defender and mender of broken hearts. As a student he would often arrive with a bag full of shopping or take me out for a slap up meal, when I had no money. Jamie was pure sunshine from the moment we laid eyes on him in the maternity wing of Crewe hospital! In my first teaching job we shared a room which was hilarious , he would arrive home in the early hours and hurl a kebab at me across the bedroom, the naughty boy. The days of sharing rooms are long gone, my brothers are now strictly board room and have families of their own. I am so proud to be cut from the same cloth as them. We grew up together immersed in love and shared many birthdays and Christmases all full of food and comfort and joy. The Love our parents and Grandparents lavished upon us has been enough to last a lifetime and is my daily inspiration to make my own childrens lives as happy and memorable. When they say "whats for dinner Mummy?" I know these times at the dinner table will tie them together forever too.
Kebabs for my heroes
4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic crushed
Olive oil
Salt
A tube of tomato puree
Green peppers in chunks
White onions chunked
First of all marinate the chicken in tomato puree garlic , oil and salt for a few hours and better still overnight.
Thread onto kebab skewers with alternate chunks of pepper and onions
Grill or barbecue until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are roasted, serve with hot pittas, hummous and rocket salad, three simple ingredients on the skewer, just lkie me and my bros, all absolutely delicious.
Sunday, 11 May 2014
What`s for dinner Clarey?: Ruby and RazzleWhen we first were married Sixteen...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: Ruby and Razzle
When we first were married Sixteen...: Ruby and Razzle When we first were married Sixteen years ago, Matty ,in a vain attempt to quash my desires for babies , brought me home twi...
When we first were married Sixteen...: Ruby and Razzle When we first were married Sixteen years ago, Matty ,in a vain attempt to quash my desires for babies , brought me home twi...
Ruby and Razzle
When we first were married Sixteen years ago, Matty ,in a vain attempt to quash my desires for babies , brought me home twin kittens from York RSPCA. The boy was sleek and black with white paws and the girl was fluffy and white with a black bushy tail and a black diamond face. So Razzle and Ruby Joined team Neal.
They were the best of friends, were amazing tree climbers and were wonderful at taunting the guard dog at The aptly named Punch bowl inn on Haxby Road. Every Saturday night when the punches began to fly, Elvis impersonators and karaoke folk spilled out on to the pavements and the guard dog went wild, then Ruby and Razzle would shoot through the cat flap and upstairs to the end of our bed. They would often be out all night chasing ghosts around the city walls no doubt, arriving home with the milkman clinking his bottles as the chocolate factory workers cycled silently past on their way to make Kit Kats.
For our first anniversary we went to Majorca and put Ruby and Razzle in a cattery . Teesside airport was an experience , I bought Matty some Chanel aftershave at duty free and managed to squirt it in his eye. Matty being Matty called for the paramedics, four burly guys with a neck brace and pat slide burst into the tiny airport looking for the casualty. The English patient guiltily ambled over and was given short shrift and an Optrex eye bath for his pains!
We didn't talk on the flight and I felt uneasy , missing my furry friends. It was as though we had gone abroad and abandoned our kids-unthinkable now with our human variety.
When we arrived home, all sun drenched and golden our first stop was to rescue the cats. We all flopped when we got back to Rose Cottage and dreamily headed off to bed with duty free Cava and the beloved Moggies. The next day I instinctively knew Razzle was unwell. He used to finish the milk off from my bowl of cornflakes but today he hid under the table, half purring, half growling. We took him to the vets , who seemed to think he had pined for us and hadn't eaten for days. To cut to the chase after many injections we couldn't save Razzle and he died. Watching Ruby was the saddest thing, she would sit on the back wall waiting for him to come home after a night on the tiles but of course he was mousing in Heaven now. My Mum bought me a Razzle dazzle ring of black diamonds to remember him, as if I could ever forget when I gave my heart to someone else unconditionally.
That sort of love is reserved only for children and pets.
Ruby is now 16 years old , her days of climbing trees are long gone, but every night when the children are asleep she jumps onto the sofa like the kitten she once was and lets us stroke her as she purrs and waits to finish the cream or cheese from someone's supper dishes just like Razzle. Matty came home today and smiled as he passed me a cauliflower "don't say I never bring you flowers love." In my next life I'm coming back as a cat!
Eurovision dinner with leftovers for Ruby!
Watercress soup
1 leek sliced
1bag of watercress
2chicken stock cubes
Milk or cream
Salt and pepper
Fry the leek in a little butter add the watercress until wilted , add chicken stock and a pint of milk, half cream if you aren't on a diet! Whizz in a blender until foamy and smooth, super food soup or
what!
Cauliflower curry
Slice a large onion , a whole cauliflower of florets and cube a large potato, fry in a pan with four cloves of, garlic , then add a can of coconut milk and a spoonful of sugar. Add more milk and chicken stock cube and plenty of curry powder. When the potato and cauliflower are tender add a whole bunch of fresh coriander to make this a sweet and herby green curry feast.
Lemon and lime cheesecake
To make the base crush half a packet of digestive biscuits, add a tablespoon of posh muesli for extra crunch and grate 4oz butter fudge (tablet ) into the mix, bind together with 4oz melted butter and press into a lined tin, put in fridge to set.
To make the cheesey bit, in a mixer blend a small pot of marscapone , a small tub of creme fraiche,a medium sized pot of double cream, 2tbs of lemon curd ( thank you Auntie Wendy homemade is divine) the juice and rind of a small lemon and the same of a small lime pour on top of the biscuit base and top with black grapes. Leave to set in the fridge and serve with a shot of iced Limoncello for the grown ups and a drizzle of cream for Ruby or any other beloved pet!
When we first were married Sixteen years ago, Matty ,in a vain attempt to quash my desires for babies , brought me home twin kittens from York RSPCA. The boy was sleek and black with white paws and the girl was fluffy and white with a black bushy tail and a black diamond face. So Razzle and Ruby Joined team Neal.
They were the best of friends, were amazing tree climbers and were wonderful at taunting the guard dog at The aptly named Punch bowl inn on Haxby Road. Every Saturday night when the punches began to fly, Elvis impersonators and karaoke folk spilled out on to the pavements and the guard dog went wild, then Ruby and Razzle would shoot through the cat flap and upstairs to the end of our bed. They would often be out all night chasing ghosts around the city walls no doubt, arriving home with the milkman clinking his bottles as the chocolate factory workers cycled silently past on their way to make Kit Kats.
For our first anniversary we went to Majorca and put Ruby and Razzle in a cattery . Teesside airport was an experience , I bought Matty some Chanel aftershave at duty free and managed to squirt it in his eye. Matty being Matty called for the paramedics, four burly guys with a neck brace and pat slide burst into the tiny airport looking for the casualty. The English patient guiltily ambled over and was given short shrift and an Optrex eye bath for his pains!
We didn't talk on the flight and I felt uneasy , missing my furry friends. It was as though we had gone abroad and abandoned our kids-unthinkable now with our human variety.
When we arrived home, all sun drenched and golden our first stop was to rescue the cats. We all flopped when we got back to Rose Cottage and dreamily headed off to bed with duty free Cava and the beloved Moggies. The next day I instinctively knew Razzle was unwell. He used to finish the milk off from my bowl of cornflakes but today he hid under the table, half purring, half growling. We took him to the vets , who seemed to think he had pined for us and hadn't eaten for days. To cut to the chase after many injections we couldn't save Razzle and he died. Watching Ruby was the saddest thing, she would sit on the back wall waiting for him to come home after a night on the tiles but of course he was mousing in Heaven now. My Mum bought me a Razzle dazzle ring of black diamonds to remember him, as if I could ever forget when I gave my heart to someone else unconditionally.
That sort of love is reserved only for children and pets.
Ruby is now 16 years old , her days of climbing trees are long gone, but every night when the children are asleep she jumps onto the sofa like the kitten she once was and lets us stroke her as she purrs and waits to finish the cream or cheese from someone's supper dishes just like Razzle. Matty came home today and smiled as he passed me a cauliflower "don't say I never bring you flowers love." In my next life I'm coming back as a cat!
Eurovision dinner with leftovers for Ruby!
Watercress soup
1 leek sliced
1bag of watercress
2chicken stock cubes
Milk or cream
Salt and pepper
Fry the leek in a little butter add the watercress until wilted , add chicken stock and a pint of milk, half cream if you aren't on a diet! Whizz in a blender until foamy and smooth, super food soup or
what!
Cauliflower curry
Slice a large onion , a whole cauliflower of florets and cube a large potato, fry in a pan with four cloves of, garlic , then add a can of coconut milk and a spoonful of sugar. Add more milk and chicken stock cube and plenty of curry powder. When the potato and cauliflower are tender add a whole bunch of fresh coriander to make this a sweet and herby green curry feast.
Lemon and lime cheesecake
To make the base crush half a packet of digestive biscuits, add a tablespoon of posh muesli for extra crunch and grate 4oz butter fudge (tablet ) into the mix, bind together with 4oz melted butter and press into a lined tin, put in fridge to set.
To make the cheesey bit, in a mixer blend a small pot of marscapone , a small tub of creme fraiche,a medium sized pot of double cream, 2tbs of lemon curd ( thank you Auntie Wendy homemade is divine) the juice and rind of a small lemon and the same of a small lime pour on top of the biscuit base and top with black grapes. Leave to set in the fridge and serve with a shot of iced Limoncello for the grown ups and a drizzle of cream for Ruby or any other beloved pet!
Thursday, 1 May 2014
What`s for dinner Clarey?: The silver shoesWhen I was about nine years old...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: The silver shoes
When I was about nine years old...: The silver shoes When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance toge...
When I was about nine years old...: The silver shoes When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance toge...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: The silver shoesWhen I was about nine years old...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: The silver shoes
When I was about nine years old...: The silver shoes When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance toge...
When I was about nine years old...: The silver shoes When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance toge...
The silver shoes
When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance together , the Empress Tango, Waltz and Cha Cha Cha were my favourites. The dance teacher had a son called Peter who was twelve, he had black hair, blue eyes and freckles . I can remember the first time I saw him, he was doing his homework and he looked up and smiled. I bumped into a chair smiling back at him and blushed crimson as I thought he must be smiling at someone else and was laughing at my clumsiness.But no , whenever we were asked to find a partner to waltz around the floor with (usually to "yellow submarine") all the pretty girls would clamour for Peter but he would always choose me. We were a perfect fit and I loved dancing with him. We weren't allowed to chat and after the class we would just say "see you next week" and go home where Top of the pops or Tomorrow's world was on the telly and a seventies super supper of egg and chips and a Cornetto would be waiting for me. It was a lovely little life and for my tenth birthday I was given some proper ballroom silver shoes. They were the most beautiful thing I had ever owned and when I wore them and had Thursday night Ballroom class to look forward to all was well with the world.
Sadly my disco ball moment was short lived, my brother needed a brace and we had to catch several buses to see his orthodontist , his regular appointment was set for a Thursday night and so I didn't continue going to ballroom dancing. I saw Peter twice again, the first was at a Carol concert at the posh senior school he attended. I turned around and expected him to come and sweep me up , but he was with his friends and he gave a little smile then turned away. The first pangs of love sickness are just as bitter sweet even to a ten year old. Then the last time I saw him was at a May Fair when I was about to move up North to Yorkshire. There were stalls and he bought me a silvered thistle brooch and we went on the big wheel together and he held my hand.
So today is May Day and as I was looking for junk to sell at a car boot sale and I found the thistle brooch. Of course I cannot sell it , it is priceless. To Love and be Loved is what makes us Human
and I will always remember the dance teacher's son, who picked me to dance with when he could have had any girl.
Life is just one big Cha Cha Cha the secret is to always sparkle and shine and imagine you are wearing silver shoes and pick a dance partner who knows your worth.
Retro Ham and eggs
After all that shameless shimmying down memory lane a 70s tea is in order
1 gammon joint
Marmalade
Eggs
Oven chips
Garlic butter
Flat leafed parsley
Boil the gammon joint for 30 mins until part cooked
Score the fat in a diamond patterns and cover in marmalade
Roast in the oven for another 25 mins until a golden crust has formed
Meanwhile cook the oven chips and fry the eggs
Melt the garlic butter and sprinkle in a handful of parsley
Slice a a thick slice of gammon and top with an egg, toss the chips in the garlic butter and serve on the side with a handful of watercress .
It'd have to be Butterscotch Angel delight for pud then a quick read of Jackie magazine before sweet dreams of Peter!
When I was about nine years old I used to go to ballroom dancing. There was 50 little girls and we all had to dance together , the Empress Tango, Waltz and Cha Cha Cha were my favourites. The dance teacher had a son called Peter who was twelve, he had black hair, blue eyes and freckles . I can remember the first time I saw him, he was doing his homework and he looked up and smiled. I bumped into a chair smiling back at him and blushed crimson as I thought he must be smiling at someone else and was laughing at my clumsiness.But no , whenever we were asked to find a partner to waltz around the floor with (usually to "yellow submarine") all the pretty girls would clamour for Peter but he would always choose me. We were a perfect fit and I loved dancing with him. We weren't allowed to chat and after the class we would just say "see you next week" and go home where Top of the pops or Tomorrow's world was on the telly and a seventies super supper of egg and chips and a Cornetto would be waiting for me. It was a lovely little life and for my tenth birthday I was given some proper ballroom silver shoes. They were the most beautiful thing I had ever owned and when I wore them and had Thursday night Ballroom class to look forward to all was well with the world.
Sadly my disco ball moment was short lived, my brother needed a brace and we had to catch several buses to see his orthodontist , his regular appointment was set for a Thursday night and so I didn't continue going to ballroom dancing. I saw Peter twice again, the first was at a Carol concert at the posh senior school he attended. I turned around and expected him to come and sweep me up , but he was with his friends and he gave a little smile then turned away. The first pangs of love sickness are just as bitter sweet even to a ten year old. Then the last time I saw him was at a May Fair when I was about to move up North to Yorkshire. There were stalls and he bought me a silvered thistle brooch and we went on the big wheel together and he held my hand.
So today is May Day and as I was looking for junk to sell at a car boot sale and I found the thistle brooch. Of course I cannot sell it , it is priceless. To Love and be Loved is what makes us Human
and I will always remember the dance teacher's son, who picked me to dance with when he could have had any girl.
Life is just one big Cha Cha Cha the secret is to always sparkle and shine and imagine you are wearing silver shoes and pick a dance partner who knows your worth.
Retro Ham and eggs
After all that shameless shimmying down memory lane a 70s tea is in order
1 gammon joint
Marmalade
Eggs
Oven chips
Garlic butter
Flat leafed parsley
Boil the gammon joint for 30 mins until part cooked
Score the fat in a diamond patterns and cover in marmalade
Roast in the oven for another 25 mins until a golden crust has formed
Meanwhile cook the oven chips and fry the eggs
Melt the garlic butter and sprinkle in a handful of parsley
Slice a a thick slice of gammon and top with an egg, toss the chips in the garlic butter and serve on the side with a handful of watercress .
It'd have to be Butterscotch Angel delight for pud then a quick read of Jackie magazine before sweet dreams of Peter!
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
What`s for dinner Clarey?: I gotta brand new fear of roller coasters!It is ...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: I gotta brand new fear of roller coasters!
It is ...: I gotta brand new fear of roller coasters! It is the end of the beginning of the school holidays and I am a wreck. As a teacher I pine for...
It is ...: I gotta brand new fear of roller coasters! It is the end of the beginning of the school holidays and I am a wreck. As a teacher I pine for...
I gotta brand new fear of roller coasters!
It is the end of the beginning of the school holidays and I am a wreck. As a teacher I pine for, I long for the holidays like a lovesick teenager waiting for her spotty boyfriend to arrive! And that's just it, holidays are like a spotty boyfriend. They can be adorable but at times a bit of a pain, not quite what you'd hoped for!!
My children are my sunshine but can cast a cloud over the sunniest ,laziest of days because they need amusing! I blame the teachers! Every minute of their school lives are organised, pacy,meaningful,full. So when the holidays finally arrive full of untold promise, they expect them to be as action packed and full on! Me I just want to plump up my cushions, read a magazine and drink nice coffee. Them, they want zip wires, camp fires and roller coasters.
Yesterday I accompanied my marvellous brood to a theme park. Quite what the theme was has still evaded me- " scare the pants off your Mummy"/" neck braces and bad backs all round" seemed to me to be the main theme of the day, but obviously I'm a flatulent old fossil who hasn't sought out any thrills worth mentioning since Ziggys Over 25 s night!
I went on all the rides with them, water slides ( got wet knickers), Eagles claw ( nearly got my breakfast back) raptor attack ( got whiplash) . By the time we got to the pedalo swans I sat like a resistant toddler in a throng of daffodils and refused to budge, eating fudge I didn't want and donuts I didn't like, anything but put me on another dangerous ride! Admittedly the pedalo swans were rather more attractive than the other "attractions!" But my dummy had been well and truly spat out and instinctively my better half knew it was time to buy Clarey a curry.
The kiddiwinkles had a great day. "What was the best bit?" I asked them on the winding road home to Kendal.
"Your face Mummy when we came to the second loop on the roller coaster , second time round you knew what was going to happen and you still smiled!"
Arrr , Bang ! and the hurt is gone.
Life is a roller coaster ( as that eejit Ronan Keeting crooned shortly before his model wife discovered he had been cheating with some pole dancer!) the main thing is he was right ... you've just got to ride it!
I could have stayed home and washed my kitchen floor and dusted my chandeliers yesterday, but who would have been there to hold their hands and drink up all that insane child like Joy with them. You could spot the yummy Mummys who were drinking bottled Evian and were perfectly coiffed, chatting about their next getaway without Tanguin and Portia. Me, I am proud to have fallen off every
ride, looking windswept and Kermit like, staggering to the twirling teacups for some respite, coughing up flies from my 50mph ride on the ultimate!
So holidays are a bit like a spotty boyfriend,and I've had quite a few in my time! They can turn into the most wonderful surprises and the best of times if you are prepared for a few ups and downs. As we came hurtling to an unexpected stop on the Raptor attack I was in midstream shouting"WHEEEE!" Jemima looked at me all big eyed and windswept and said " yes I've done one too Mummy!"
Pumpkin pie
I've got this lovely auntie Wendy she's quite bonkers but simply one of the best people I know but she gave us a can of pumpkin at Christmas and we had to give it a go...
You will need:-
1 can of pumpkin
1/2 pint of condensed milk
2 eggs
Nutmeg,cinnamon ,mixed spices
A sweet pastry case
bake your pastry case blind,then combine all the other ingredients and pour into the case and bake in the oven for 40 mins Gas 4 until set.
We tasted the pumpkin and it was like puréed carrot, but once we added the condensed milk it tasted divine anyway.
Eat a big slice of pie with whoever you love enough to board a roller coaster with ,this business called Life is a white knuckle ride, but I'm still smiling! Xx
It is the end of the beginning of the school holidays and I am a wreck. As a teacher I pine for, I long for the holidays like a lovesick teenager waiting for her spotty boyfriend to arrive! And that's just it, holidays are like a spotty boyfriend. They can be adorable but at times a bit of a pain, not quite what you'd hoped for!!
My children are my sunshine but can cast a cloud over the sunniest ,laziest of days because they need amusing! I blame the teachers! Every minute of their school lives are organised, pacy,meaningful,full. So when the holidays finally arrive full of untold promise, they expect them to be as action packed and full on! Me I just want to plump up my cushions, read a magazine and drink nice coffee. Them, they want zip wires, camp fires and roller coasters.
Yesterday I accompanied my marvellous brood to a theme park. Quite what the theme was has still evaded me- " scare the pants off your Mummy"/" neck braces and bad backs all round" seemed to me to be the main theme of the day, but obviously I'm a flatulent old fossil who hasn't sought out any thrills worth mentioning since Ziggys Over 25 s night!
I went on all the rides with them, water slides ( got wet knickers), Eagles claw ( nearly got my breakfast back) raptor attack ( got whiplash) . By the time we got to the pedalo swans I sat like a resistant toddler in a throng of daffodils and refused to budge, eating fudge I didn't want and donuts I didn't like, anything but put me on another dangerous ride! Admittedly the pedalo swans were rather more attractive than the other "attractions!" But my dummy had been well and truly spat out and instinctively my better half knew it was time to buy Clarey a curry.
The kiddiwinkles had a great day. "What was the best bit?" I asked them on the winding road home to Kendal.
"Your face Mummy when we came to the second loop on the roller coaster , second time round you knew what was going to happen and you still smiled!"
Arrr , Bang ! and the hurt is gone.
Life is a roller coaster ( as that eejit Ronan Keeting crooned shortly before his model wife discovered he had been cheating with some pole dancer!) the main thing is he was right ... you've just got to ride it!
I could have stayed home and washed my kitchen floor and dusted my chandeliers yesterday, but who would have been there to hold their hands and drink up all that insane child like Joy with them. You could spot the yummy Mummys who were drinking bottled Evian and were perfectly coiffed, chatting about their next getaway without Tanguin and Portia. Me, I am proud to have fallen off every
ride, looking windswept and Kermit like, staggering to the twirling teacups for some respite, coughing up flies from my 50mph ride on the ultimate!
So holidays are a bit like a spotty boyfriend,and I've had quite a few in my time! They can turn into the most wonderful surprises and the best of times if you are prepared for a few ups and downs. As we came hurtling to an unexpected stop on the Raptor attack I was in midstream shouting"WHEEEE!" Jemima looked at me all big eyed and windswept and said " yes I've done one too Mummy!"
Pumpkin pie
I've got this lovely auntie Wendy she's quite bonkers but simply one of the best people I know but she gave us a can of pumpkin at Christmas and we had to give it a go...
You will need:-
1 can of pumpkin
1/2 pint of condensed milk
2 eggs
Nutmeg,cinnamon ,mixed spices
A sweet pastry case
bake your pastry case blind,then combine all the other ingredients and pour into the case and bake in the oven for 40 mins Gas 4 until set.
We tasted the pumpkin and it was like puréed carrot, but once we added the condensed milk it tasted divine anyway.
Eat a big slice of pie with whoever you love enough to board a roller coaster with ,this business called Life is a white knuckle ride, but I'm still smiling! Xx
Thursday, 20 February 2014
The law of attraction
I suppose I am annoyingly positive but that's just me and my modus operandi. I always ask my late father in law Poppa Neal to find me a parking spot when I'm out with the kiddiwinkles or taking Betty to mass and one always arrives just in the nick of time. The more positive I am the luckier I seem to get.
As a lonely heartbroken student in Manchester I literally asked the Universe to send me someone beautiful to hold my hand and within a week there he was in the coffee shop, the Truelove had landed and that's 23 years of hand holding I am so grateful for. If you believe it's going to happen and openly ask or have a cunning plan for the Universe to peruse, the Universe will deliver.
We are all like magnets attracting like to like. So even on the wettest and greyest of days like today I got up and asked for a wonderful day and I got one! We drove to Hawes in N.Yorkshire (God's own country of course) and went to the Wensleydale creamery!
My 13year old twins had clocked that this wasn't a theme park and the looks on their faces could have soured the Wensleydale cream in one go.The rain was pelting, the video about cheese making was grainy and the whiff of mutiny was in the air stronger than Yorkshire rennet. Then something marvellous happened , the sun came out and as it was still raining so did the most perfect rainbow.We moved into the cheese shop and my three discovered there is so much much more to cheese than plastic cheese strings. They swooned at the Garsdale garlic, they gobbled up the samples of special reserve,Bishopdale and Coverdale . Then they went out of the shop and back through the revolving door like cheese spies with different hats on or hoods up, so as to fool the cheeseman into letting them try the Wensleydales with, apricot, ginger, chilli and pineapple. We left the creamery with bags of cheese.We went and bought some sourdough olive and sundried tomato bread and a rather nice Shiraz for me. Tea tonight has been sublime. A cheese and no wine party ( no wining at all) what a gift of a day, with no squabblings or fallings out just love love love and pure cheesey mutual appreciation of one another. All I had to do was ask for it...
The best cheese butty ever
2 slices of sundried tomato sour dough bread buttered
a large wedge of Wensleydale Bishopdale cheese
Cherry tomatoes
Rocket,cucumber and celery
Share this cheesey monster with someone you love,with pit stops to slurp yellow tail Shiraz
Be aware that your thoughts can positively manifest into happiness , so just think happy thoughts and hopefully after all that cheese don't have nightmares! Xxxx
I suppose I am annoyingly positive but that's just me and my modus operandi. I always ask my late father in law Poppa Neal to find me a parking spot when I'm out with the kiddiwinkles or taking Betty to mass and one always arrives just in the nick of time. The more positive I am the luckier I seem to get.
As a lonely heartbroken student in Manchester I literally asked the Universe to send me someone beautiful to hold my hand and within a week there he was in the coffee shop, the Truelove had landed and that's 23 years of hand holding I am so grateful for. If you believe it's going to happen and openly ask or have a cunning plan for the Universe to peruse, the Universe will deliver.
We are all like magnets attracting like to like. So even on the wettest and greyest of days like today I got up and asked for a wonderful day and I got one! We drove to Hawes in N.Yorkshire (God's own country of course) and went to the Wensleydale creamery!
My 13year old twins had clocked that this wasn't a theme park and the looks on their faces could have soured the Wensleydale cream in one go.The rain was pelting, the video about cheese making was grainy and the whiff of mutiny was in the air stronger than Yorkshire rennet. Then something marvellous happened , the sun came out and as it was still raining so did the most perfect rainbow.We moved into the cheese shop and my three discovered there is so much much more to cheese than plastic cheese strings. They swooned at the Garsdale garlic, they gobbled up the samples of special reserve,Bishopdale and Coverdale . Then they went out of the shop and back through the revolving door like cheese spies with different hats on or hoods up, so as to fool the cheeseman into letting them try the Wensleydales with, apricot, ginger, chilli and pineapple. We left the creamery with bags of cheese.We went and bought some sourdough olive and sundried tomato bread and a rather nice Shiraz for me. Tea tonight has been sublime. A cheese and no wine party ( no wining at all) what a gift of a day, with no squabblings or fallings out just love love love and pure cheesey mutual appreciation of one another. All I had to do was ask for it...
The best cheese butty ever
2 slices of sundried tomato sour dough bread buttered
a large wedge of Wensleydale Bishopdale cheese
Cherry tomatoes
Rocket,cucumber and celery
Share this cheesey monster with someone you love,with pit stops to slurp yellow tail Shiraz
Be aware that your thoughts can positively manifest into happiness , so just think happy thoughts and hopefully after all that cheese don't have nightmares! Xxxx
Friday, 14 February 2014
Love is putting the bins out
Valentines day is here again, St.Valentine patron saint of florists! I have no desire to go out tonight to people watch as couples eat at the same table whilst texting or just surfing the void between themselves by saying nothing at all. Romantic Love is wonderful when you're about 17 and you haven't had your heart broken. Real Love is something less floral and more permanent, it's not pretty it endures because you have endured some crushing defeats and looked life and death in the eye together and you're still here to tell the tale. Love is washing the duvet covers when your toddler has been sick allover . Love is watching the babies being born and worrying about them everyday after. Love is making you a boiled egg and soldiers when you have a cold. Love is pumping up your bike tyres or scraping the ice off your wind screen whilst in your PJs. Love is putting the bins out , in wind, rain and Kendal hailstone so I can have five more minutes in bed.
Happy Valentines day , I hope it is full of warmth and passion and real Love.
Valentines dinner
1lovely bottle of red wine
2steaks(rib eye)
2cloves garlic 2 shallots
Butter
Double fried chips(fry real chips once leave to settle then refry)
1bag of rocket salad
Pudding
Posh vanilla custard
Brown sugar
Season the steaks and fry in the butter with shallots and garlic, serve with the double fried chips and rocket.
Cheats creme brûlée
Top the shop bought luxury custard with
2 tbs of brown sugar and grill until caramelised, put in fridge to set.
Eat all of the above with who you love the most, party of five in my case!
Valentines day is here again, St.Valentine patron saint of florists! I have no desire to go out tonight to people watch as couples eat at the same table whilst texting or just surfing the void between themselves by saying nothing at all. Romantic Love is wonderful when you're about 17 and you haven't had your heart broken. Real Love is something less floral and more permanent, it's not pretty it endures because you have endured some crushing defeats and looked life and death in the eye together and you're still here to tell the tale. Love is washing the duvet covers when your toddler has been sick allover . Love is watching the babies being born and worrying about them everyday after. Love is making you a boiled egg and soldiers when you have a cold. Love is pumping up your bike tyres or scraping the ice off your wind screen whilst in your PJs. Love is putting the bins out , in wind, rain and Kendal hailstone so I can have five more minutes in bed.
Happy Valentines day , I hope it is full of warmth and passion and real Love.
Valentines dinner
1lovely bottle of red wine
2steaks(rib eye)
2cloves garlic 2 shallots
Butter
Double fried chips(fry real chips once leave to settle then refry)
1bag of rocket salad
Pudding
Posh vanilla custard
Brown sugar
Season the steaks and fry in the butter with shallots and garlic, serve with the double fried chips and rocket.
Cheats creme brûlée
Top the shop bought luxury custard with
2 tbs of brown sugar and grill until caramelised, put in fridge to set.
Eat all of the above with who you love the most, party of five in my case!
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
What`s for dinner Clarey?: No makeup no jewellery, no knickers!That was the...
What`s for dinner Clarey?: No makeup no jewellery, no knickers!
That was the...: No makeup no jewellery, no knickers! That was the sign that was on the door when I took Jemima to her ballet exam today. How blissful I th...
That was the...: No makeup no jewellery, no knickers! That was the sign that was on the door when I took Jemima to her ballet exam today. How blissful I th...
No makeup no jewellery, no knickers!
That was the sign that was on the door when I took Jemima to her ballet exam today. How blissful I thought to have that as your mantra. So she bounded off without a backward glance and came out punching the air saying how much she had enjoyed the exam.
Oh to have that energy and unfaultering self confidence overleaping the obstacles in our lives with a lightness of mind and body. What was her secret?Of course I had sweated buckets scraping back her hair into the requisite elegant chignon and with a minute to spare I had to sew her ballet shoe elastics and kissed her, wished her luck and told her she was the greatest. So I suppose always have an adoring companion with you would be the recipe to her success. Love is the answer and we know that for sure.
When we got home we snuggled on the sofa and had a bacon butty and cup of sweet tea, lit the fire , put the fairy lights on and got into our PJs. Having time with my kiddiwinkles is my guilty pleasure. Schlupping around with no make up no jewellery and no knickers brings the best out in us all , try it!
Jemima's frittata
6 eggs seasoned with seasalt
1 pack smoked salmon sliced
1 splosh of single cream
1 banana shallot sliced
2 potatoes peeled and boiled, sliced
butter
rocket
Fry the shallot in a little butter and add the potatoes
Mix cream and eggs and add to pan
Add the salmon and cook slowly til set, put under hot grill to finish,top with some rocket tossed in a little olive oil and lemon juice.
Finish with a grating of fresh parmesan an d freshly ground pepper
Eat with a munchkin preferably under a duvet when the wind and rain are howling outside and you are inside with your love to keep you warm.xxx
That was the sign that was on the door when I took Jemima to her ballet exam today. How blissful I thought to have that as your mantra. So she bounded off without a backward glance and came out punching the air saying how much she had enjoyed the exam.
Oh to have that energy and unfaultering self confidence overleaping the obstacles in our lives with a lightness of mind and body. What was her secret?Of course I had sweated buckets scraping back her hair into the requisite elegant chignon and with a minute to spare I had to sew her ballet shoe elastics and kissed her, wished her luck and told her she was the greatest. So I suppose always have an adoring companion with you would be the recipe to her success. Love is the answer and we know that for sure.
When we got home we snuggled on the sofa and had a bacon butty and cup of sweet tea, lit the fire , put the fairy lights on and got into our PJs. Having time with my kiddiwinkles is my guilty pleasure. Schlupping around with no make up no jewellery and no knickers brings the best out in us all , try it!
Jemima's frittata
6 eggs seasoned with seasalt
1 pack smoked salmon sliced
1 splosh of single cream
1 banana shallot sliced
2 potatoes peeled and boiled, sliced
butter
rocket
Fry the shallot in a little butter and add the potatoes
Mix cream and eggs and add to pan
Add the salmon and cook slowly til set, put under hot grill to finish,top with some rocket tossed in a little olive oil and lemon juice.
Finish with a grating of fresh parmesan an d freshly ground pepper
Eat with a munchkin preferably under a duvet when the wind and rain are howling outside and you are inside with your love to keep you warm.xxx
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