Month: October 2012

Wot So Funee? Pandora’s Box

The transition to Key Stage 2 and Junior School has been fun, but hard work. I have loved it, relishing the challenge of something new, enjoying learning so much about the ancient Greeks, earning house points for my appreciation of mythology, focusing on the weekly value – respect, ambition, enterprise, teamwork… It has, however, been a very long half-term. At parent’s evening last week my teacher detailed to M&D what a pleasure I had been, how helpful, supportive, hard-working, and willing to have a go. But 8 weeks is a long stretch; it is something that Daddy dismissed as nonsense …

Read more

How girl’s dresses change over the years…

  When I was a toddler, I think I was quite cute. Always chuckling, tiny bunches sprouting off the top of my head, chubby thighs, and as cheeky as they come. Of course, I was a typical toddler, always getting messy, falling down, or  waving around a spoon of something orange until it landed on Mummy, or me. And then there was snot, and other bodily fluids. Ahem… So I needed practical clothes, comfy, easy to move around in, and capable of withstanding a bit of wear and tear at the playgroup, or of handling the hot wash required to …

Read more

10 Rules for your first half-term holiday

So you’ve done it. You’ve completed your first 8 weeks at school, and have earned a well-deserved rest. So what should you be doing with your first half term holiday? NOTHING! That’s right, I said nothing at all. If you, like me, have a white face and shadowy eyes that owe more to 8 weeks of school than to the Halloween grease-paint, you need a break! So here are my 10 rules for your first half-term holiday: Do not pick up a pen, under any circumstances whatsoever! All writing, of any kind, is completely banned. Unless you are marking the …

Read more

Warming Chickpea and Chorizo Casserole 8 ProPoints

"chickpea, chorizo and butternut squash casserole slow cooker"

When I lived in Spain as a student I was astonished at the awful food – until I moved in with some girls who had a cook. Yes, I know, students with a cook! But that’s how seriously these people take their food, and mealtimes. After their various lectures, they would all convene back at the flat at 2pm for a hearty lunch made by Loli (she also ironed and cleaned for them, for a pittance, I seem to remember). My absolute favourite creation from Loli was a chickpea and chorizo concoction; it was invariably laced with gorgeous olive oil, …

Read more

Wot So Funee? How my children see me…

Oh memes, and tags, and spread the word posts. Don’t you just hate them? How at first glance you think, “yeah, so not doing that one.” But you linger just a little bit longer, long enough to smile at the blogger offering herself up to your derision, long enough to think, “actually, that’s funny; that would only take me a couple of minutes, surely?” And BAM! Just like that, you’re hooked, linking yourself up, tagging another blogger, offering yourself up for their derision… This happened to Mummy yesterday; she tried to resist the offer from Kate to show the world …

Read more

GG writes: A Halloween Mystory

Once upon a time there lived somebody called Lord Pumpkin. True to his name he was a pumpkin. He had fiery red eyes, a flaming red mouth, and a gnarled laser shoot. Also living at that time was a cat called Kitty Softpaws. She had sleek black fur and white paws which strangely had no claws; the fur can extend. She owned only a sword and some boots. She and Lord Pumpkin were bitter enemies. Each of them had an army – Pumpkin had Werewolves; Kitty had cats. Now it just so happened, they were about to have a battle. …

Read more

Slow Food Fast

Italian cooking with kids

Which of these images is more appealing to you as a parent? Which would you prefer your child to eat? And which would your child choose? Yeah, us too, and though Mummy tries to make us cut out fast food, we do love the odd Happy Meal. As a family who eats out whenever we can afford it, we were shocked to discover that more than half of meals eaten out in Britain are at fast food restaurants . When we eat 0ut it is at Wagamama, where the Bug’s favourite dish is Chilli Squid, or at Sophie’s Steakhouse, where …

Read more

Parmesan and pumpkin gnocchi with sage

Recipe for pumpkin gnocchi

We learned this recipe from Francesco Mazzei as part of our experience with Slow Food Kids Ingredients (serves 4): 100g                       mashed potatoes (use 2 large potatoes) 100g                       pumpkin mash (1 butternut squash) 100g                       Grana Padano 21 Months (or good quality parmesan) 100g                       00 flour Pinch of                Nutmeg 1                              egg yolk 50g                        butter 1                              teaspoon shallots 20g                         Sage (4 leaves) Method: 1)      Cook the potatoes and pumpkin in boiling water for 20-25 minutes, or until soft, then drain. 2)      Mash well and place in a large bowl. …

Read more

Oven roasted vegetables with fresh hazelnuts

This is one of the delicious recipes we learned whilst cooking with Slow Food Kids and Grana Padano (Recipes by Francesco Mazzei) Ingredients (4 servings): 200g     Beetroot 200g      Fennel 200g      Butternt squash 200g      Purple Aubergine 2              Red onions 2              teaspoona tomato paste 50ml      Extra Virgin Olive oil 50g         Fresh hazelnuts or cobnuts Salt & Pepper 2              Tablespoon honey 500ml    Raspberry vinegar 50g         Grana Padano 21 Months shavings Fresh Herbs for decoration (Chervil, Basil, celery cress)  Method: 1)      Place the beetroot in a pan of cold water; bring …

Read more

Wot So Funee? How to change your parents

Prompted by I’m Counting UFO’s #funee post last week I remembered that actually I had wanted to change my Mummy recently. I knew I couldn’t, but after I’d doled out all the requisite slander – “You’re the worst Mummy in the world, you hate me, I hate you, you love the Bug more than me…” I pulled out my best lines to really sock it to her. “I’m going to tell Laura tomorrow, and she’s going to tell her Mum, and then her Mum will hate you too, and you’ll have no-one to speak to on the playground.” Mummy, having …

Read more

My name is GG and I watch TV…

Prompted by a thread on Mumsnet this week Mummy got rather mixed up in a debate over the rights and wrongs of watching TV as a child. It seems some bloke has advocated banning TV entirely for the under-3’s. For God’s sake! The under-3’s?? I have about enough time to eat my tea, go to a couple of playdates, do my homework, complete my music practice, and read a book or several before bed, without worrying about when I’m going to find a window for Tracey Beaker or Horrid Henry. Don’t get me wrong, I will sit for 36 hours in …

Read more

What child marriage really means, and how you can help

My Auntie J lost her sons recently. I don’t mean lost as in she misplaced them – that would have been simply careless, they are in their 20’s after all. But they left home, you see, went off to start their independent lives. Incidentally, I’m kind of hoping that means they might get married, because I’ve never been a bridesmaid… But anyway, I digress. Auntie J has always been a carer: a great mum to her boys, our favourite relative to visit, and a nurse. When she became an ’empty-nester’ she had a hankering to do something different with her …

Read more

Wot So Funee? The Family Chortlequaffer

We’re not big milk drinkers in our house. Mummy says she tickled my ear and sat through endless Baby Einstein recordings in her efforts to make me drink just one more ounce from my baby bottle. The Bug was worse – his dairy intolerance led to him being prescribed a dreadful chemical concoction smelling more like blue cheese than the sweet milk of a baby. Consequently we lost the milk habit very young, and our calcium these days is more likely to come from cheese, broccoli, and dried apricots (did you know, 3 dried apricots contain as much calcium as …

Read more

ONE Mums: What being a Mum means to me…

This week sees Michelle and Jen from BritMums travelling to Ethiopia with ONE Mums, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of extreme poverty and preventable disease. ONE is not a charity, and is not asking for your money. All they need is for you to add your voice to the movement that is keeping this issue on the political agenda for change. Here’s how you can help: 1. Sign up to ONE using the box above, and add your voice to the campaign. Remember, you will not be asked for money, and it only takes one Mum to grow the fight against …

Read more

Slow-cooked smoky beef casserole: 5 WeightWatchers ProPoints

Slow Cooker Beef Casserole 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints

This weekend Mummy served this slow-cooked smoky beef casserole instead of roast dinner. I was inclined to kick-off, because Sunday roast is my favourite meal of the week. But I found myself sneaking into the utility room to check on the slow-cooker, because the smells wafting out were just so tempting. Once again, Mummy cooked for about 10 minutes and then produced this rich, smoky-scented dinner about 8 hours later! Serves 6: this recipe has been created by us, using the WeightWatchers ProPoints system. It is not a WeightWatchers recipe. You will need: 8oog lean casserole steak, cubed 20g plain …

Read more

I am MAD, bad, and dangerous to know… and where that dress came from!

Ahem. Let’s just get this straight. This is Mummy we’re talking about now, not me. I am, of course, sensible, angelic, and very safe to know indeed. It’s Mummy you want to avoid; especially when she’s been on the popping wine…  Image courtesy of Mummy Daddy Me  If your contact details are in Mummy’s email account you may remember having seen a missive from her sometime around March, asking you to vote for her in the MAD Blog Awards. Probably a bit bemused, some of you did. Others pointed out that she may have upset a vast number of her …

Read more

GG gets a MAD Award from Myleene Klass. And a top night on the town…

Little did I know, when Mummy switched from hand-written to online diary 18 months ago, that the result would be this: GG and Myleene Klass wear Leopard Print for the Schooldays category, sponsored by Startrite Shoes Oh, and this: Friday night saw The MAD’s and we were finalists in the Schooldays Category. For those readers who do not blog,  think “OSCARS” but for Parenting Bloggers (MAD: Mum and Dad), and you’ve got the general idea. Special outfits, speeches, beautiful dinner tables, tears, and an after party… There will be more about Mummy, her outfit, her acceptance speech *yawns* – but …

Read more