Blowing Raspberries

The raspberries I mentioned on Saturday had been soaking for six days (rather than the usual five, but that's motherhood for you) so this morning I finished off the bottle of raspberry cordial. Diluted with (fizzy, for preference) water, this is a beautifully refreshing drink and not too sweet for my taste - unlike most fruit-flavoured drinks you can buy. Apart from the five-day waiting period it's a quickie and, let's face it, it doesn't ask anything of you than for a bowl to be in its service for a few days. Oh, and for a corner of the kitchen counter.

Raspberry Cordial

500g raspberries (I tend to use frozen ones)
300ml white wine vinegar

Put the raspberries in a bowl (not a metal one, though) and crush roughly. This is why frozen berries can be better than fresh - no juice squirting everywhere! Pour over the vinegar, cover with clingfilm and leave for five days to steep. Line a colander or large sieve with a J-cloth (or a piece of fine muslin, if you happen to have such a thing lying about), then rest it over a saucepan and strain the berries and juice through the cloth until you have all the drips. Try not to 'help' by squeezing and pressing the fruit as it will end up cloudy. Less work, too...

400g caster sugar
250ml boiled water (preferably still hot, but only boiled ONCE)

Add the sugar to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the water. Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer while you skim off the scum that has surfaced. I use a tea-strainer for this, and very well it works, too. Pour through a funnel into a sterilised bottle and cool. Stick the lid on and bung it in the fridge.

You don't need much per drink - maybe a tablespoonful for a tumbler topped up with water, and it is a glorious pinky red. My children are very keen on it and I'm happier for them to drink something like this than regular squashes or fizzy pop drinks as I know what's in it. It may be sugary, but it's all-natural, no nasties.

'Boys of Summer' skirt

A skirt I had a brainstorm for a while ago. I ran this up the other night, after watching Snakes on a Plane - with one ear on Bill Bailey's Tinselworm - because I always find a good comedy performance makes me speed through my sewing. It's a very simple skirt - gathered with an elastic waistband (using some fabby no-roll elastic which doesn't roll over on itself during the course of the day).

The print on the green cotton is of a white paisley pattern and I think it looks great with its trimming of bright pink ric rac braid. I adore the pairing of pink and green all year round (and claim this combo as my 'favourite colour'), but somehow it screams summer to me and so far, it's true, the skirt has heralded better weather than has been forecast. I like to name the skirts I make and, as I have had Don Henley's 'The Boys of Summer' whirling round in my head for a couple of days, this, coupled with the pleasant weather of recent days led to the, I think exceedingly appropriate naming of this one. It now hangs in the wardrobe beside my 'Red Shoes' skirt while I wait for inspiration to strike once more.

Making Sunday Funday

Wet Sunday afternoons really are awfully tedious, particularly at this time of year. So something fun is very necessary - and this book is just the ticket. With the boys ensconced in Muppet Treasure Island, I took a much-needed creative moment to myself.

Aranzi Aronzo Cute Stuff is a real tonic for a grey day and, as my little tissue case (pictured, in pink leopard-spot felt) has proved to be so covetable, today I made a rather more boyish one for my eldest son to pop in his schoolbag. I made his with some camouflage print felt from good old Hobbycraft - thankfully their sheets of craft felt are sufficient for two of these cases as I then had to make one for the jealous little bro! As a tissue is never far from the hand if you have small children (or if you are one), it's nice to bring a little kitschy fun to the day-to-day...

The tissue cases are in a a simple envelope style and, while I eschewed the funny face appliqués in the book, I can never resist a bit of pretty, so some simple iron-on appliqués which have been hanging around in my sewing box for a while were the perfect way to make clear to whom which case belonged. With the robot and the fire engine, the y have the boyish designs they love - but there's a teeny bit of sparkle to keep Mum happy too.

Drinks for Lazy Summer Days

So we've had a teeny taste of summer. I suppose it's a bit of a case of "get us addicted and then jack up the price", because now I'm sitting watching the rain beating down outside and thinking back to the last few days of sitting in the garden of an evening, with just Radio 4 and a long drink for company.

Looking ahead hopefully to warmer weather to come (fingers crossed, at least) I've made a start on our summer drink supplies. I've some raspberries stewing in white wine vinegar for my raspberry cordial (watch this space...) and fresh lemonade can be made using my Lemonade Base, but this ginger drink can be whipped up whenever and stored in the fridge for all sorts of occasions. It's lovely poured over ice and diluted with water (fizzy or still, your call). In fact, once diluted, it tastes like 'proper' ginger beer, but carries with it none of the problems or effort. It is also rather nice to splash it, neat, into cocktails, pop or fruit juice for an extra hit of fire.

Ginger Drink

Please don't worry about peeling the ginger too scrupulously, will you?

3 large pieces of root ginger, peeled and sliced
1 lemon, zest pared and juice
1 litre water
1 heaped tbsp ground ginger
250g caster sugar
2 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar

Put everything, bar the vinegar, into a pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil (uncovered) for 30 minutes or so, then remove from the heat. Stir in the vinegar and then pour through a funnel into a sterilised bottle. As you can see, I use an old wine bottle. I line the funnel with a J-cloth to stop any bits or sediment going into the bottle. Leave the bottle to cool completely, then stick the lid on and keep the bottle in the fridge.

List-mania!

I absolutely adore making lists, and not only the grocery-shopping sort. Things to cook, girly shopping, outfits to dream about, Christmas, wishes, stuff to do to the house, parties to hold (one day), all sorts. So here, in no particular order, is a snapshot from my melange of to-do lists...

Learn to crochet

Pack light.

Hold a Girly Afternoon Tea Party (with no children invited!)

Find time to do my BFN coursework assignments

Paint the kitchen purple

Make a Black Forest Gateau

Own some really kick-ass heels

Be fluent in Welsh

Decorate the boys' bedroom

Finish Christmas shopping

Have a Halloween party for the children and their friends

Sort out the front of the house

Go to France again

Clear out the junk in the upstairs drawers

And that's not even halfway through! Some may be pipe dreams, others more realistic - but I love the listing process, it cheers me to look back at past lists and realise how much I have done, when having two small children so often means that days pass with no obvious achievements to show. Except for my gorgeous boys, of whom I am so proud and who are, every day, so much an achievement in themselves.

Help!

Perfect for those (regular, in my house) "what on earth am I cooking for supper" moments, this is a pasta bake (yum - my favourite) with bits and bobs hauled from the fridge after one of those blind-staring moments at the open door. I always think that savoy cabbage is a winner with ham or bacon anyway, but this was certainly proved to be so tonight. I think this recipe is most definitely a keeper and up for regular repetition (without hesitation, but as always with me, a little deviation from time to time). It went down well with the children (and the husband who, it must be said, is a darn sight fussier than either of the kids).

Cabbage & Bacon Pasta Bake

200g dried pasta shapes
8 savoy cabbage leaves, sliced
200g smoked bacon, chopped
1/2 pint milk
20g butter
20g cornflour
1 tsp mustard powder
100g strong cheddar, grated

Cook the pasta and the cabbage in p[laenty of boiling salted water. Meanwhile, fry the bacon until just cooked and heat the milk, butter, mustard and flour in a pan, whisking until the sauce boils and thickens. Combine the drained pasta and cabbage, the bacon and the sauce and tip into an ovenproof dish. Top with grated cheese and a good grind of pepper. Bake for 15 minutes at 200°c, the ideal temperature and timing for a frozen loaf of garlic bread to go in alongide, hehehe.

Cop-Out au Vin

Well, the half-term madness is finally over and I have time to return to normality (or at least what passes for it in this house!). James celebrated his 2nd birthday during half-term so that made a busy week even more hectic, We visited my in-laws in Sheffield for a large chunk of the week and I indulged myself with a little pre-Christmas trip to good old Hobbycraft while we were there.

Our supper tonight was a shortcut of a real favourite, something that is a regular 'friends-for-dinner' special. One can't really go the classical French cookery route on a school night though, so here is my whistle-stop version...

Cop-Out au Vin

I serve this with baked potatoes, which I start off in the microwave for 5 minutes, then cook in the oven alongside the casserole pan for half a hour.

1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
170g pack lardons
100g small mushrooms
6 boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets, halved
300ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
2 fresh bay leaves (or 1 dried)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp tomato purée

Whizz the onion and garlic to a pulp in the blender. Fry briefly, then add the lardons and mushrooms. Lay the chicken pieces on top, then pour in the wine and stock. Stir in the balsamic vionegar and the tomato purée (which help to correct the purplish colour and boost the flavour), then add the bay leaves. Cover the pan, bring to the boil and then transfer to a 180°c oven for 30 minutes. Remove the lid of the pan for the last 10 minutes to reduce the sauce. Scatter with roughly snipped parsley to serve.