Women's Interests

Mothers Day is a wonderful time with a young family: they bring home handmade cards and gifts from nursery or school and they are enchanted by the whole concept. This year I got a very cute ‘kiss in a box’ with strict instructions not to untie the ribbon as it would float away and then I would be sad. Bless.

My husband, to his credit, embraced the day as well and I got the traditional breakfast in bed complete with flowers on the tray – most impressive. The state of the kitchen afterwards told the tale of how ‘helpful’ the children had been in preparing the food and I questioned the wisdom of including jam on the menu to go with my croissants. I am also beginning to wonder how I will keep up with the standard that has been set when it gets to Fathers Day… Read more… » «Mothers Day Mayhem»

There is a lot of baking going on in my house at the moment. As well as the normal requests I receive on a weekly basis for muffins, biscuits, cakes and pies the children have got in on the act and started producing their own efforts such as gingerbread men and cookies. Indeed it is as if we are trying as a family to beat some kind of marathon baking world record, and in fact the whole thing has got quite out of hand – and more than a little competitive amongst the youngsters. Cookers have never been so cool.

Photo: fuzzz

In addition to all this sibling rivalry and one-upmanship I am concerned for the housekeeping budget which is taking a pounding in the raw ingredients department, and I am also beginning to get distressed about the effect on our waistlines of consuming all these baked goods. I for one can feel the pinch in my jeans and the fruit bowl is increasingly looking like a more sensible alternative: perhaps I can get them excited enough to compete to produce the ultimate fruit salad? Possibly not methinks. Read more… » «Bake-a-thon Bake-off»