Indulgence: homemade spa night and cannelloni

Lately, I have been thinking about indulging and spoiling myself, because I worked out that my duties as a mother dominate my mind, my thoughts, all my waking hours and a fair amount of my sleeping hours too, in fact every aspect of my life. I think I probably spend 99% of my time being mummy and very little time being myself, just me. And besides, I'm worth it! *wink with a cheesy smile a la L'Oreal ads*

Don't get me wrong, being a parent is the greatest blessing I've been given, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but once in a while I really love being alone. I love having the TV and the remote control  for a whole night all to myself lying on the sofa under a snuggly blanket and a mug of hot chocolate to watch the art documentaries, geeky historical biographies, and period dramas that no-one wants to watch with me. 

So today, I decided to spoil myself some more. I have wanted to make cannelloni for a long time, and I finally went out to shop for the ingredients. It is so easy to make if you are using the ready made tubes of course, and it can be made with so many fillings, but I went for the classic spinach and ricotta filling, my favourite, with a bechamel sauce. 

I made some variations from the original recipe, for experimentation purposes, and to make the dish unique. First, I added some chopped chestnut mushrooms to the spinach and ricotta filing as I had a packet in my fridge which had to be used, and this made it taste even better, because mushroom, pasta and bechamel go beautifully together. Filling the tubes was fiddly but fun once I got into the flow of it. 

For the bechamel sauce, I used the leftover cheeses in my fridge, including white Cheshire, Caerphilly, Lancashire and Wiltshire, and grated them straight into the pot so I ended up with something like a four English cheese bechamel sauce. I also sprinkled grated parmesan over the top before baking. 

I left out the tomato element from the recipe simply because I just didn't feel like having any tomato in it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my finished dish. And it looked so good! 

The indulgence didn't stop there. After my Tesco cannelloni ingredients shopping trip, I couldn't resist popping into Boots to pick up a bath product. This was the first time I noticed that there is a whole section of aisle dedicated to ''Luxury Bathing''! I was familiar with the usual aisles like soap, shampoo, shower gels and bath. I felt like I had made a secret discovery when I found the luxury bathing products! How come I've never noticed this before? I feel like I've missed out and I took my time to choose something, and selected Sanctuary Foaming Bath Soak. So; luxury bath product, check. Scented candles, check. Bath pillow, check. Face mask, check. Soft and fluffy bathrobe, check. Children asleep, check. Husband fed and watching football, check. Soak away in peace, that's pure indulgence to me.

Playdate and magic dream spray

Today R had her first ever playdate with a school friend, and it was my first ever too as a hosting mum!
I have to admit that I was looking forward to it just as much as R! When R woke up this morning she kept asking if it was time for her friend to come yet, and if I could call her mummy to ask her when she was coming. Seeing as she wasn't coming until after lunch, I had to think of something to do for her to pass the time. So we went to the fun day which was being held in the local high street where A works. The children had a turn on a fire engine carousel ride and then on a trampoline. Next we went to the library for some reading.
When the time came and her friend arrived, she was so excited and happy to see her. She didn't know what to start playing, so I offered some guidance and suggested play-doh. This kept them busy for the best part of an hour. They even allowed little K to play with them, and he was so chuffed to be playing alongside the two girls. Next, they decided to play dressing up, and they chose princess dresses along with tiaras, slippers and purses. Adorable! Then I arranged a picnic tray of snacks which they wanted to have under the table along with their teddies and cuddly toys arranged inside their 'tent'. After this, they went back upstairs to R's room and played 'shop' with one of them buying and the other selling. All this time, K was just so happy to be playing alongside them, they never argued once about anything. Throughout the whole 3 hours they were together, there wasn't a peep out of anyone. I was truly amazed! Finally, they sat down to do some colouring before it was time for her friend to go home.

Recently, R has been waking up several times a night and coming to my bedside. She says she has bad dreams and when I take her back to her room, she says she doesn't want to sleep alone. I decided to try something I'd read in Jo Frost Supernanny's books and try a magic spray. This was suggested for keeping monsters away, so I've adapted it to have special spray that makes you not have any bad dreams. Last night it worked, and I'm using it again tonight.

I love you anyway

She wakes me up at 6am on the weekend and robs me of a lie in, while on school days no amount of noise or light wakes her up before 7.30am

He insists on putting his own clothes on, and manages to get both his legs in one of the legs of a pair of trousers each and every time.

Her latest word for everything is 'boring'. Reading is boring, eating breakfast is boring, writing is boring, sleeping is boring.

He is obsessed with cheerios, chocolate and copying his big sister. And not any chocolate bar, it has to be the luxury, expensive chocolate like Lindt.

They both need to go to the toilet, usually for a no.2 right in the middle of having their dinner, or as soon as I start mine.

These are the things that drive me round the bend, but they are also the things that make each of them so unique and special, I can't help it but I love you anyway.

Memories of the un-Autumn half term

It was my birthday Tuesday 11th and to me, my birthday is insignificant. I no longer consider it an occasion to celebrate with parties, cakes and presents although I wouldn't be partial to a fancy, intimate dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant! The day passed as normally as any other day except for the constant pings on my iPhone throughout the day notifying me that a new message had been posted on my Facebook wall. That was the most eventful day on my Facebook wall and those pings were the most eventful occurance of my birthday that's how it should be. It's my childrens' birthdays that are important milestones to me now, not mine! In any case, I received a perfume from my mum (the new Carolina Herrera), a ceramic and wooden Afghan hand crafted trinket box from my brother, two lovely Phase Eight blouses from my sister, and a delivery of a bouquet of flowers and HOB hair salon treatments from my husband. He also brought home a Peppa Pig cake and birthday cards from the children.

Saturday was the first day of R's first half term and she was very certain about what she wanted to do in  her 9 days off. In the morning she made herself a plan to go to Parent's Paradise, a huge soft play centre with vast climbing frames and slides. We spent a good three hours there. Tomorrow she wants to go swimming.

On Sunday, we decided to make a trip into Central London and spend the day there, and seeing as the weather was superb, we took a London bus tour. This included a Thames boat cruise and we made a round trip totalling almost 6 hours. What I love about these touristy excursions are the Cockney Londoners who earn their living as commentators on the buses and boats, and I ended up learning a vast amount of totally useless trivial facts about London and its landmarks and history.

Monday was such a lovely day. A had a day off work and for once we didn't have errands to run or somewhere to go or a list of things to get through. It was actually such a good feeling to have no plans and no agenda or timetable to run to. We spent the morning lazily pottering around at home and A made us a lovely breakfast of eggs and fava beans in the Arabic way. We went for a walk up to the high street for some groceries. Then we took a drive to the best playground in the area, where we spent a couple of hours on all the playground games. The weather was unbelievably warm for the season, this late October weather is more like early May, and we were taking off layer after layer of warm clothes to enjoy the warmth of the sun. We then spent some time climbing a lovely oak tree with low branches making it easy for the children. We lay on the grass, played rough and tumble, had a snack and searched for acorns.
We had lunch at the local shopping mall and I finally got to buy the potato ricer and professional pepper  mill I've wanted for ages! Isn't it silly how the most mundane things get me excited! Another thing that made my day was our stop for lunch. In the display of the food counter was an amazing Polenta and Orange cake and I just had to have it. I ordered it immediately and my generous wedge of a slice arrived dusted with icing sugar and garnished with a fresh mint and an orange sliver. It was perfect and I have to learn how to make it.

Tuesday was another amazing day for weather. We went to the local playground, again without coats, and this time R and K spent a grand total of 5 minutes in the actual playground and then decided to take a hike through the fields and through the woods. We spent a good 45 minutes strolling along with R as the leader, guiding the way for K and I with a long thin fallen branch of a tree. We stopped to investigate their ''discoveries'' such as a plastic bottle, a plastic lid, some footprints, dog poo, fallen leaves, conkers, a log, acorns, a cricket ball and so on. We covered a long distance, and as we were walking further and further on, I kept reminding R that we would also have to walk back to the car. I was worried about K getting tired as I didn't have the buggy. When we got the the entrance of the wood, the ground got muddy and wet, and the flat field became a hill. This is where R started whispering and tiptoeing saying ''sshh we're going to find the Gruffalo'' This made K get frightened and from this point he would only walk if I held his hand. We decided to turn back and head to the car as a dark cloud was starting to make its way towards us. I wonder how long R would have carried on for if I hadn't made the decision at that point. The two park outings totally convince me that the best things in life are free. The fresh air, the colours of the grass and autumn leaves, the imagination of the children in full gear, and the memories made.

Wednesday was my dad's birthday and HE treated me and the children to lunch along with his next door neighbour of over 30 years! We went to my favourite local Italian restaurant and cafe, Fellini's. Here I ordered the lemon sole with saffon sauce and the children had their usual Margarita pizza with black olives and mushrooms. Dad ordered fried whitebait and R loved them, only she refused to eat the ''face'' and would decapitate the head off each one before eating the rest with the tartare dip. She followed her meal with vanilla and pistachio Italian ice cream.

My Parting Gift

This poem was written to me by one of my colleagues Ken, who is wonderful with words and write poems regularly to express his views on work matters. It's a great way of getting his points across in a pleasant way and whenever someone is leaving the team he write them an ode. It meant a great deal  to me when it was given to me on my last day of work back in June along with a bouquet of flowers, shopping vouchers and was taken out for lunch and dinner by my team. Oh man, I really miss work!

DH Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

I was inspired to make this cake after it featured in an episode of Desperate Housewives.

It turned out perfectly and tasted divine! So seventies!!

Here is the recipe

Ingredients for the topping:

50g softened butter
50g light soft brown sugar
7 pineapple rings in syrup, drained and reserve the syrup
Glace cherries (optional, I don't like these so I left them out, they are only for aesthetic presentation purposes)

Ingredients for the cake:

100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy
Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up of a 20cm round cake tin.
Arrange the pineapple rings on top, then place the glace cherries in the centres of the rings

For the cake, place the cake ingredients in a bowl along with 2 tablespoons of the pineapple syrup and using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency. Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it is level. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from the over and leave it to stand for 5 minutes in its tin. Finally, turn it out onto the serving plate.

Things about my children that make my heart melt

There are few things in life that give me as much pleasure as my childrens' quirky mannerisms and rituals. They are little bahaviours that would not be significant to anyone else but me, it can be something they do, or try to do, something they say and they make me feel so honoured to be their parent and these moments are so special to witness.
I want to capture as many of these moments that make me smile to myself before I forget them forever.

Here are some that I remember from the past week, but there are so many of these precious moments taking place everyday, it would take hours to mention them all. Besides, some are just much harder to put into words.

K trying to say a new word or sentence and sounding like a passionate Italian!
For example when he wants a yoghurt or piece of cheese from the fridge that he can't reach he screams:
''mammyyyyy! me! deeeesssa wann!'' (meaning: mummy I want this one)

R trying to impress me by showing me how she can get dressed all by herself and putting on EVERYTHING back to front and I don't have the heart to tell her because I don't want to disappoint her.

My little babies when they have fallen asleep on a long car journey, they look absolutely angelic.

K trying to put his own nappy on. It sounds like nothing but so adorable to witness

When K enters the house, he sits himself down on the bottom step, take of his shoes and socks, and places each sock neatly inside a shoe and places them in his shoe cubby.
When R enters the house, she takes of her shoes and socks without using her hands and leaves them all over the hallway.

R singing in the shower. She has given up taking baths and loves to stand under the shower, singing loudly

R copying what I do to her when disciplining her and applying the discipline to K. If he has done something she disapproves of she takes him by the hand and scolds him while taking him to a corner of the room and instructs him to sit for 2 minutes of thinking time. K will remorsefully oblige. After the 2 minutes are over she will allow him to come out of the thinking corner.