Missy's birthday surprises

I have been a bit quiet recently, thanks to work, and life. Oh yes, and birthdays. Well, one in particular. Missy Woo was six last Thursday and I had a few days of lining up surprises and then carrying them out.

You see, she is a child that doesn't want for much. Yes, she does always want new toys but she's just as happy with small ones (and usually tat at that). We bought her a bike last year, she doesn't always want new games for her DS, and the thing she likes to do most is draw, colour and make things. She is very difficult to buy for if you want to spend more than a tenner.

She told us she wanted a scooter but she said this when we were in Devon and my sister offered to buy it for her. Still no closer.

The only thing I had to go on was her love of dancing. I tried to look for London shows but then we were at the other extreme of cost. With added hotel and travel costs, I couldn't justify it. Then I discovered a show in Manchester on the weekend of her birthday, featuring ballet and streetdance. And the tickets were £15, so two were purchased very quickly after consultation with her that she wanted to go.

Opening her presents

This didn't feel like much of a birthday surprise so we decided to extend her trip by booking a night in a hotel after the show. Given that the show was at the Palace Theatre, I booked a room at the Palace Hotel across the road. Then I typed up a note to her from Hello Kitty telling her about this to put in with the tickets she was expecting to open on the day. We managed to find a few smaller bits and bobs for her to open - mostly with a Hello Kitty theme - on the day.

So, on the big day itself, she had a few nice presents to open, but didn't look as much as it did on Monkey's birthday. (He got a bike this year). She was very excited about her "sleepover" in a hotel, had a special breakfast and got to speak to grandparents before school, where she got to wear the Birthday Hat all day and gave sweets out at the end of the day. Granny met us there on a flying surprise visit, bringing presents and giving her a big hug before hopping back on the bus home. For we were off on our usual Thursday odyssey - Monkey to football, Missy Woo to her dance lessons - as she had insisted that she was really looking forward to going to dance on her birthday. Mainly so she could be centre of attention, for the first thing they did was sing her Happy Birthday.

Then, and only then, and after a quick change, we went out for tea where she could make her own pizza! This meant a bit of a late night on a school night for both her and Monkey, which I suspect was the motive for insisting on going to her dance lessons!

Saturday was a big day, despite it not being her birthday. She had her party here - 9 girls and poor old Monkey totally outnumbered! One of the girls coming was a girl she used to play with before she went to school and hadn't seen for ages but I had kept from her that she was coming and the little girl didn't know she was coming either! That was another little surprise which she enjoyed.

She was very excited about her cake which she had helped to mix the day before. This was not my idea - I got it from Susan's post and it seemed really easy yet effective. I had to source non-Nestlé equivalent to Smarties but I discovered all the supermarkets did them. These are from Asda. My tip, if you want to make it yourself, is get your Cadbury's fingers from Aldi or Lidl and put the cake on a bigger plate than you think you need because the fingers increase the size of the cake quite substantially.

Once the party was finished, it was all systems go to get to Manchester. We took the train in, Missy adopting a granny we met in the station along the way and insisting on sitting next to her on the train. We popped into the hotel before the show to check in and the room was WOW. Look at this. The ceilings were about 20 feet high and the windows went right up to the ceiling.

Unfortunately, because the room was on the main road and at the same level as the railway track not 20 feet away, it was too noisy, necessitating a move to a new room later in the evening when Missy tried and failed to sleep.

The show was brilliant. It was called Against Time. I would urge you to go to see it but sadly, the performances in Manchester were the last ones and it's now finished. The promo video gives you a flavour of it here. It was a collaboration between English National Ballet and Flawless, who were on Britain's Got Talent.



Missy was mesmerised and loved every minute of it, especially there was a lot of familiar and contemporary music. She joined in with the clapping and was singing along to the songs too. I asked her what she thought of the show during the interval and she just said "Fab".

Chilling after the show.

After the show, and finding her new adopted granny to say goodbye to, we went out for tea to a nearby Italian before retiring to our room and attempting to get Missy to sleep, as I mentioned before. By the time we moved to a new room, it was nearly 10pm but once we were settled, she was asleep in a couple of minutes. In the morning, she was awake before me and got up to play with her sticker book and watch telly. When I did wake up, she told me off for snoring! We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, at which she discovered fried bread and sautéed potatoes, and followed it up with a quick coffee before heading home to piles of leftover pizza and birthday cake.

All in all, it was a fun weekend and Missy took away some fabulous memories of her sixth birthday, that will hopefully stay with her for a long time. I got to enjoy time with my little girl and it reminded me how much I enjoy just being with her. And for now, I'm revelling in that, because these experiences can be all too fleeting.

Happy birthday Missy Woo. We love you.

Meal Planning Monday - the over-catering edition!

You're probably wondering what the hell I'm on about but this week, I am deliberately cooking more than we need. The reason for this is that husband is still on his course. (I thought it was one week; turns out it's two) He needs to take reheatable leftovers in with him as he only has access to a microwave and a kettle. So, I put my thinking cap on - which was a tall order after a weekend full of party, trip to Manchester and tennis! Although the recipes below are serves 4, I am in some cases going to scale them up to allow 1 or 2 extra portions.

After a hunt around on my usual places, I think I've done it. It's an odd week because of the course. We're also at school's Celebration Evening one night, and it's our last week of Thursday madness until September (it's me you'll hear breathing a sigh of relief when it's over!) although I am still cooking a chicken for tea. Yes, totally mad. Going to a wedding on Saturday night too.

Here is our week

Monday - Veggie shepherd's pie with sweet potato mash
Tuesday - Slow cooker gammon with mustard potato salad
Wednesday - Spanish fish stew
Thursday - Roast chicken
Friday - Squash, lentil and bean one-pot with fig raita
Saturday - staying free
Sunday - not sure, more leftovers probably.

That's mine, how is your week looking food wise? Don't forget to tell me, then visit Mrs M to check out the other Meal Planning Monday entries.

Cakes through the post? Go on then!

As I mentioned the other day, Missy Woo's birthday is this week and her party is on Saturday. I've managed to talk her into a really simple but fab-looking cake as she had grand plans for a cake that she had drawn and I just knew was going to involve lots of sugarpaste and fancy decoration that is beyond my skill level.

Then we were given the chance to review a letterbox cake from Baker Days. They do two types of cake - a small one that literally can go through your letterbox or a larger cake that is perfect for a party (which won't fit through your letterbox).

Now, all this was arranged via an email through a PR so my experience didn't involve ordering via their site but I showed some to Missy Woo with the intention of having a little cake on her birthday. She chose two designs but one of them didn't fit with the wording we wanted. There is a massive range of designs, plus you can design your own or upload your own photo to go on the cakes too. We kept with one of the standard designs.

I told the PR when Missy's birthday was and left it at that. The cake then appeared a day or so later, much much sooner than I had anticipated. The cakes can be stored for up to a fortnight, but as the children wanted to see in it and then try the cake, we had to open it there and then.

The letterbox cake comes packaged in its own little tin.

Inside, there was this:

Hmm. My name wasn't supposed to be on that! As I say, it wasn't ordered through the site, rather by email but I thought I'd make it clear in the message who it was for. Ah well. The cake is really quite small. It literally is just enough for 4-5 people to have - so suitable for a small informal celebration.  Some of the design looked a bit blurred and the sugar paste was a bit creased as you can see but Missy loved it (apart from the fact it didn't have her name on it).

I' chose double chocolate chip for the cake (which costs an extra £2.00) and it was delicious. There are a range of options - including a gluten free and wheat free option which is nice to see.

My main issue with it is the price and this is where my cheapskate head gets put on. £14.99 for a small cake that only serves 4-5 is a lot to me, and it's £16.99 if you want chocolate cake. That is an awful lot of money. The party cakes seem a lot better value - as they serve up to 16 for about another £12. Thankfully, the prices include delivery - which are sent out next working day if you order before 1pm or the following day if ordered after that.

I can foresee situations where I would use this, but as I said, my main reservation is the price. Still, the range is huge and you can be almost assured of finding something that is perfect for your intended recipient but I would only do it for someone a long way from me. Someone closer by, I'm more likely to bake a cake for them and give it to them myself.

(I was sent the above letterbox cake for the purposes of a review. All opinions are mine and genuinely held)


Edited to add - Baker Days have been in touch to apologise for putting the company name on there and offering to send a new one to see if the design can be improved. 


Also, they have given me a voucher code to pass on to you that will enable you to get a 20% discount on orders from their website. That would bring the cost of a letterbox cake down to around £12.


The code is 5My6Co - enjoy!

Meal Planning Monday - the July birthday week edition!

Yes, it's another birthday week in our house. This time, it's Missy Woo's turn - she turns six (6!) on Thursday, and has her party on Saturday. We've some nice surprises lined up for her - she thinks she knows all the nice thing, but she so doesn't. Not saying anymore as I had better keep them to myself.

So, the week is split by festivities. Also, husband is on a course this week, which may mean he is home a bit later, though I'm also hoping it means he can do the school run once or twice for me as I've got a lot of work on. Still not sure what we are doing on Missy Woo's birthday - she is adamant she wants to go to her dancing so she needs to have a sandwich before going as she has two lessons back to back but she is also adamant that she wants to go out for tea after that!

I actually wrote this plan on Saturday as last night, I was at Clandestine Cake Club and am always stuffed by cake after, so I got busy and filled the three or four days needed. Monkey has asked for the lamb pilau as it is one of his favourites. Two of the others are basically using up things I have, to keep the shopping list short in lieu of all the party food I'm having to buy for Saturday.

Here we go.

Monday - Roast summer vegetables with chickpeas
Tuesday - Lamb, coconut and mango pilau
Wednesday - Easy cheesy chicken
Thursday - To be decided
Friday - Saucy sausage pasta
Saturday - party day
Sunday - keeping free

That'll do me. I have a cake to make as well! Don't forget to pop over to Mrs M's and see what else is on offer this week. Next week will be less manic, she lied.

Parenting - not for the faint-hearted

The other day, I noticed a tweet from another blogger who said that her daughter thought she was evil, because she had said no to ice-cream. I replied to her that my kids think I'm evil daily but such is life. She replied that it's hard not being liked but that it must be part of being a parent. 

And it's true. You can't be your children's friend all the time. You love each other, but there are a lot of times when you just don't like each other very much. The old phrase "tough love" rears its ugly head. 

Little did I know that this would come back to haunt me so quickly. That afternoon, I went to collect the children from school and Monkey was being challenging to say the least. The current focus is my old laptop - it hasn't been working for months, but I've recently had it repaired and have cleaned it of my work data, so now it's designated for them to play on and both children are beyond excited. Both had spent a considerable amount of time on it since, but I had said the night before that we were going to get reading out of the way first before any screen time, and Monkey had said OK to that. 

On the way back to the car, Monkey was already asking if he could play on the laptop. I reminded him of the deal and he threw a tantrum, claiming he didn't remember the deal we had made. His tantrums are very vocal and he starts blaming everyone (except himself) and everything for the injustice in the world. This one was so bad, I stopped the car after pulling away because he was making me angry. He went on so much, I decided I had to act. "OK then, there will be no laptop at all for you this evening. I am not standing for behaviour like this."

This was not received well. We had tears, recriminations, screaming, kicking of legs for the duration of the 5 minute journey, clearly because he thought he could change my mind and I would relent. I stood my ground. 

We got home and one of the neighbour's children appeared as we got out of the car. I explained to him that Monkey couldn't play with him. Monkey went mad. Shouting, screaming, kicking, crying, you name it, he did it. I tried to calm him but he was pushing all my buttons and winding me up (plus, it's not fair on Missy Woo, she loses attention and it's not her fault; she is much less antagonistic although liable to whines and sulks.)

Eventually, I cracked. I told him he was not staying up to watch any football, sent him to go and get his pyjamas on, he would then do his reading and have some tea, then go straight to bed. This was met with even more recriminations but I stood strong. He came downstairs to read and obviously thought he was on safe ground as tea was not made. Wrong. I made him toast. He ate it sobbing. He kept saying sorry, but it was obviously done in such a way that he hoped I would go back on my word. He read his book, had a drink and I sent him upstairs. 

By the time he did get to bed, I felt like the worst mother in the world. Obviously, it was still quite early and there was no way he was going to sleep so he sat in his bed, shouting screaming and crying. He demanded to see Daddy when he got home, but then proceeded to blame his behaviour on him for getting the children up early which meant he was tired. Husband left him to it. More shouting and crying. 

Several times over, he found reasons to come out of his room but he got sent back. He demanded to see husband once again but he didn't really have anything to say. Eventually, I had to go upstairs to the spare room and Missy Woo was getting ready for bed too. He opened his door for something and so I asked him to do a couple of jobs, then I put him back into bed. Much calmer now, he said sorry and started to cry again. Hugging him, I asked him what was the matter.

His reply said it all. He told me, "I'm crying because I'm cross with myself for getting sent to bed and now I've missed the football." 

I may not be the perfect parent and yes, my children think I am evil daily. I say no to them. But that means they know what the boundaries are and they know the consequences if they cross them and that they can't have everything whenever they want it. It's hard not being liked, being blamed for the faults of others, having the product of nine months' incubation that you love dearly telling you that they hate you, but the end result is worth it. 

There will be parents out there who read this post that will think I could have done it the nice way, but the only result Monkey would have been happy with would have been to play on that laptop - and that would have meant giving in and rewarding what was pretty awful behaviour.  Much as it was hard, I couldn't do that because that was the best way to guarantee a rapid re-occurrence. My reaction might have been extreme, but I felt it was proportionate to the behaviour. Since this incident, he has been really well-behaved and much less argumentative about things that are regularly flashpoints with him. I think the penny has finally dropped. 

Parenting isn't about being their friend all the time. It's being the critical friend, who has their best interests at heart. It's hard. It's relentless and it's not for the faint-hearted. But if you think you are right, it's worth standing your ground. 

Getting my goat

No, I'm not annoyed at anything. Far from it. I mean, someone sent me some food to try!

Those people were from St Helen's Farm, who despite the name are in Yorkshire, not Merseyside. They sent me lots of different goat products to try out. Now, in this house, we don't really need them as none of us have any dairy allergies but I thought I'd give them a try out as there are a lot of benefits of trying a goats milk diet which husband sometime mentions.

When the box arrived, there was a slight problem with one tub of yogurt which had got squashed in transit but we were able to try what was left in the pot and everything was pretty unscathed. I didn't expect that I would be sent so many different varieties - whole milk, semi-skimmed, skimmed, butter, yogurts and a hard, not soft, cheese, just like cheddar, but cream in colour rather than yellow.

There is no doubt that goat products do have a strong taste to them. Personally, I found that the goat's milk was fine for putting in tea - although I have very little milk in tea - but not for coffee; well, I largely have cappuccinos which are very milky. I could definitely pick up the taste of it and personally, I don't find it pleasant. The yogurts have been used in cooking and mixed with fruit puree for the children to eat and we find that palatable. The butter has a strongish taste too, but I'm yet to try it in cooking.

What I did really like was the cheese. I like the taste of goats cheese, and it was fabulous in toasties with some sliced spring onion. However, I thought I would try this polenta dish out and adapt it - because let's face it, plain polenta doesn't taste of much and is pretty bland so I thought adding the goat's cheese would pack a punch. I have upped the cheese slightly compared to what I actually made as husband made the comment that it could do with being a slightly stronger taste. Of course, with the polenta - which is corn meal - this is wheat free and cow's milk free so it's a nice meal for someone with two of the most common allergies.

This is a very informal dish and can be served as an appetiser, with antipasti, for a larger meal with friends. However, we just had it for tea, sat around the table with spoons scooping it up. It's adapted from a Gennaro Contaldo recipe that I found and have been meaning to try for ages. I changed it because there was loads of oil in the recipe, and I didn't use wild mushrooms; I just used a mixture of chestnut mushrooms and the usual sort you get in the supermarket. It's also pretty quick to make.

Goat's Cheese Polenta with Mushrooms

Serves 4 as a main course, 6-8 as an appetiser

For the mushroom sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I use frozen mostly!)
1 tsp thyme leaves, fresh or dried (optional)
600g mushrooms of any sort, sliced thickly
1 tbsp tomato puree
100ml veg stock


For the polenta
1 litre water
200g quick cook polenta
25g butter
150g hard goats cheese, cut into 1cm cubes or roughly grated, plus a few shavings.

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the garlic and thyme (if using) and cook over a low heat until softened. Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat, and stir fry for a few minutes until the mushrooms start to brown.

2. Stir in the tomato purée, followed by the stock. Cook for a few minutes to reduce the liquid and make a sauce. If the mixture looks too dry, add a bit more liquid but the liquid from cooking the mushrooms should help.  Set the sauce to one side whilst you make the polenta. (This can be done in advance and heated through gently when you are ready to make the polenta.)

3. Now, make the polenta. Place the water - and a good pinch of salt - in a medium saucepan, and bring to the boil. Pour in the polenta in a steady stream, stirring with a wooden spoon all the time to avoid lumps. If lumps do form, beat well and the lumps should break up. Keep stirring until it starts to come away from the side of the pan - this should take around 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and then add the cheese, stirring to distribute.

4. To serve, you need a lightly oiled wooden board. If you don't have one, try a pizza stone or similar, which is what I used. Pour or spoon the polenta onto the board - you want to spread it out to a circle around 20cm in diameter, about 2.5cm thick. Place the shavings on top of the polenta, then top with the mushroom sauce.

5. Place the board in the centre of the table and allow everyone to take their share. If liked, you can serve with a plate of Italian antipasti.

Meal Planning Monday - the family favourites edition!

Another week, another dollar. Or something.


Every now and then, I lose inspiration and ask the family to suggest meals to have that they liked. I am very lucky in that the children often say, "Can we have this again?" when we have new things but I like to try new things all the time (if you hadn't noticed!) and when I do get round to this , I've forgotten which ones were such hits. I figure that complete favourites will really stick in their minds.

This is one of those weeks. Trying to plan a week of meals at short notice as we got a voucher for Ocado late on Friday for delivery Saturday necessitated this strategy. I was expecting pizza and pasta and to be fair, the first thing they said was pasta based but different - as in not bolognese, pesto or carbonara based. They came up with a couple more but needed a couple of  prompts from me, we picked out a few other things we have had recently that we all enjoyed.

So, then, here is our week. Think I'll leave Sunday open because it's the Euro final and I'm going to Clandestine Cake Club early evening. Saturday is probably going to be for grown ups only, as the children are going to a party.

Monday - Toad in the hole
Tuesday - Sticky marmalade chicken
Wednesday - Butternut squash, ricotta and sage pasta bake
Thursday - need I tell you? Butties again!
Friday - Moroccan meatballs with eggs
Saturday - Spanish omelette (possibly)
Sunday - keeping free

That's us. How about you? I would love to know what you are having this week, to give me inspiration for next week, although it's Missy Woo's birthday and party next week and the second week of WImbledon. Once you've done that, don't forget to check all the Meal Planning Monday entries over at Mrs M's place for more meal planning ingenuity.