• baking - reviews

    Review: Annabel’s Kitchen

    I’m a big fan of Annabel Karmel and have a couple of her recipe books so I was keen to review her latest cookbook which aims to teach children from the age of four and upwards how to cook. Tying in with her new TV series, Annabel’s Kitchen, broadcast on CiTV from April 2011, this step-by-step book for beginners demonstrates how to cook simple but tasty dishes in a fun and accessible way – with appearances from the shows loveable characters, Jimmy the Penguin and a trio of Singing Cupcakes!   The book features dishes from all over the world…

  • blogging

    Reasons to be cheerful

    1. Today I went to BlogCamp, organised by the fabulous Sally, and I had a great time. I learned lots of tips to improve my blog, met up with online friends, got to hand out my lovely new business cards and had a day off from being mummy. 2. I have the best husband! He booked the day off from work when I said I wanted to go to BlogCamp and spent the day with Edward. They played in the sandpit for most of the day and then went on a boys’ trip to a local model shop. It sounds…

  • moving - Paisley Road

    Our house

    This week Ella asked why we live where we do and I thought it would be fun to write a bit about our home. We currently live in an Edwardian terrace in north London. The first flat we bought was a lovely 2 bedroom in Dartmouth Park but it was a terrible house conversion and too noisy. We lived there for 2 years before we knew we wanted our own front door and outside space. We wanted to stay on the tube network as before Edward we used to enjoy going out after work. Estate agents wouldn’t take us seriously…

  • swimming

    Swimming not drowning

    Edward and I go swimming each week. I’m not sure if he enjoys it as much as I’d like him too and this may be our last term of swimming for a while. The new term started yesterday so off we went and were very surprised to find the teacher in the pool for once. She usually sits on the side, barking orders and chatting to other members of staff 🙂 The lessons are very formulaic and as Edward only seems to like the jumping and splashing bits we join in when we want. He refuses to wear armbands or…

  • sleeping

    Sleepless nights

    I’m not sure what has happened to my son lately but for the past week he’s woken at 3am. I’ve gone in to see him and he’s sitting up in his cot either crying or talking out loud. Usually I would just pop his dummy in and he’d go back to sleep but he’s fallen into a pattern of being wide awake. It doesn’t seem to be teething pain or hunger, he just wants to be picked up and cuddled! Although I love a cuddle I don’t love them at 3 in the morning, and this week it’s taken over…

  • Gingerbread house finds - handmade - sewing - vintage

    Vintage embroidery

    I’m a bit of a hoarder, probably not surprising that I decided to become a curator. It started off with rubbers, then My Little Pony stickers, vintage postcards,  and since I’ve been a grown up, fabric. My hoarding instincts got so bad I had to limit the number of fabric shops I went to, only going in if I needed something specific. However there is one exception to the current moratorium on fabric buying and that is vintage embroidered napkins and tablecloths. I can’t bear to see something that has been stitched by hand being sold for 50p so I…

  • competition - cooking - giveaway - reviews

    My Italian Family Cookbook review and giveaway

    Sacla’ have teamed up with rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio to produce a fabulous new family cookbook called My Italian Family Cookbook. All the dishes are full of goodness, easy to prepare and use the very best ingredients.  Lawrence says “My Dad and I have always wanted to create the ultimate Italian family cookbook, sharing our passion, our love of cooking great food with fresh ingredients and of course our treasured family recipes. Sacla’ are now a part of our family, coming from Piedmont in Italy as we do, where they still make all their delicious products including our range, Dallaglio…