November’s Meet, Make & Munch

Meet…

Some things never grow old…others do. But it certainly didn’t feel like it last weekend when I had a girly weekend away with friends I’ve known since playschool! That’s a lot of years. We may not speak often, and I’m the first to admit I’m absolutely rubbish at keeping in touch, but they’re the sort of friends with whom you simply pick up where you left off; the sort at whose house you could turn up crying in the middle of the night and be let in, given wine or hot chocolate and a bed to stay for as long as you want; the sort who you spent so much time with when you were young, know everything about you and you have a shared history.

Basically, the sort of friends who mean an awful lot.

Research has also shown that having friendship groups and spending time with those who you are not in a ‘relationship’ with, can have positive mental effects and make you happier! Friends “are a way to derive all the benefits of being in a relationship with someone without the enormity of it,” and that was definitely how it felt this weekend. It was certainly therapeutic, with no pressures…just good friends, mucking in together, and catching up. Just what the doctor ordered.

We (well, Claire) chose us the fabulous Pear Tree Cottage in the Cotswolds, booked through Character Cottages, and did most of the organising too. Thank goodness someone took the lead or we’d all still be checking our diaries! It was central to a beautiful village called Bourton on the Water. Now, you’d think, over 100 miles from home, we’d be out of reach of reality, but no, I managed to somehow bump into two other people I knew whilst there. I think it’s one of those places people come for a relaxed weekend away!

Our cottage was tucked just behind the main street and an easy walk to the pretty river, shops and pubs. With three bedrooms, two with two single beds and one double, a large dining room and separate living room and a long galley kitchen, it was perfect. We lit the fire every night and hunkered down, but in the summer it also has a beautiful courtyard garden. And when you’re sharing the cost between friends ended up at £110 per person based on 5 of us sharing.

Claire also organised for us to go clay pigeon shooting through Old Downs Pursuits on the wettest, coldest morning of the year so far! After dusting off our hangovers, and eventually finding the right gate and the right man, Sean, we had a good old chat about the Fosse Way whilst stamping our feet to keep warm and eventually had our first try at shooting at clays. Luckily, Sean has built a wooden shelter from which to fire so at least we were dry!

And it was brilliant fun…once we’d managed to put the earplugs in (Claire) and learnt how to stand with one foot just behind the other (Sita)! We had around 25 shots in bursts of 5 with each set coming from a different direction. The easiest came from afar straight towards us and I found the trickiest to be those that started near to us and disappeared straight away from us as it was so hard to judge the height and distance! I’d highly recommend giving it a go…once you get the hang of it, it’s a little bit addictive.

We had a good homemade lunch in The Mousetrap Inn, and cosied in there for a few hours, then meandered through the shops and, once again, retreated in front of the fire to play board games and chat. It was just great…and what we all needed I feel. We were even back home in time for a delicious afternoon Sunday Lunch at friends. A perfect way to round off a great weekend.

Make…

F had a friend round for the first time a couple of week ago. They get on really well and like similar things, so the play date was super easy. One thing requested, however, was ‘real’ cooking. Now, I’ll definitely be prepared for next time and they can help with the cooking, chopping etc. of their own dinner, but this time it was too late for that so I improvised.

They wanted to do some ‘science’ at the same time so out came ‘the big pan’ and a range of kitchen items: food colouring, sprinkles, oats, pasta, etc. They spent a good 20 minutes mixing, adding, stirring etc and the little girl even requested to take a pot home! Her mum was chuffed (!). In summer, this is a great outdoors activity. We use leaves, grass, seeds and berries and add a little eco-glitter and sparkle to make ‘fairy soup’.

Munch…

I was lucky enough to be given a pair of tickets to Taste of London winter edition this year and couldn’t wait to get booked and go. We’ve been previously and seen the event grow and grow, the first year being quite a niche event and gradually becoming busier and busier. However, we’ve yet to be disappointed. The food is stunning, but, almost above that, it marks the start of the festive season. Tobacco Dock is decked out gorgeously, there’s a piano bar area for sitting and chatting, cocktail and gin workshops, lots of independent retailers with some of the bigger ones too and Firepits dotted around the outside covered area serving charred meat and fish to perfection. Click on the Bon Appétit tab on the top menu to find out more about what we ate this year or look here!

So, there it is, November. It really does only seem like yesterday that I was wondering where January went and now we’re really nearly at Christmas! Eeeeek. Being a primary school teacher, it’s unlikely I’ll fit in an ‘early’ December post, so, if you dont see me til January, I’ll wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

See you the other side everyone!

I do love a holiday lunch!

There is nothing I like better than a lunch on holiday. With a little family, it means that you can stay in for the evening and the children can get into pjs etc and we can play a few family games before a slightly later bedtime. But it also means they’re not sitting in a restaurant waiting for a late dinner when they’re worn out, thus leading to whingey, grumpy behaviour (from them, and, in turn, me!)

So lunch out it is. We usually just about manage to get out of the apartment around 10/11am, meaning we arrive in time for lunch! Perfect. We have a look around the village, a browse in the shops or a wander along the beach before finding a restaurant. Actually, we usually know which one we’re going to here in Nice before setting out, and our day tends to be planned around it! We have a few firm favourites which never disappoint. Most offer a Menu du Jour which is set and a fixed price, often including a main, dessert and, sometimes, a drink usually for between €15 and €20. For just the Plat du Jour (dish of the day) it’s around €10-€12 and there’s often a small choice of three or four dishes.

We’ve long learnt that this is often the best, not to mention the cheapest option. Our 8 year old usually chooses a piece of fish with rice or chips, or a bowl of pasta whilst the two year old shares everyone’s.

Most of our restaurants are not actually in Nice itself, but a short drive outside. One is in the middle of the university area hidden between flats…you’d never find it if you didn’t know about it! And none have instagram, few have Facebook, and none need either. No self promotion necessary; the quality of food and cooking literally speaks for itself.

First we visited Cagnes-sur-Mer and ate at a Moroccan restaurant on the corner of the ‘front’. It produces the most amazing tagines and cous cous, all served in big sharing bowls from which you help yourself and make up your own bowl. Alongside is a small dish of flavoured chickpeas and some harissa. My husband had a lamb and apricot tagine, I had merguez cous cous.

You help yourself to Cous Cous, pop on the sausages, ladle on some delicious carrot and courgette stock/soup and garnish with the chickpeas and harissa. There is a chalk board with several ‘plats du jour’ all for €10…often there is something for everyone on here: a couscous, a meat, two fish and a pasta. The restaurant is called ‘San Marino’ and if you’re visiting, get there early!

Next on the ‘list’ was the restaurant on the port at St Laurent du Var, Paradis Marin. We’ve been visiting here for many years now and recently, the whole stretch of restaurants along the port has had a facelift with the kitchens, insides and outsides being redone. There are many to choose from but we tend to return here time after time. Again, I opt for the menu du jour for €18 which is a main course, plus a cafe gourmande for dessert, and includes a glass of wine or a beer. This time it was Merlu with a light hoisin sauce served with rice. The cafe gourmande is my favourite dessert as you get a few tasters of puddings, plus an espresso. Perfect! David had the menu at around €24, and choose moules, steak and iles flotants. F had a fillet of sea bass with frites and cc shared everything. They even brought the girls a little free taster dessert!

Another great find, recommended by French friends, is hidden away next to the voie rapide by-pass. You’d never find it by accident … you just have to know! And by the time we left yesterday, it was super busy inside with a vibrant, Thursday lunchtime atmosphere. We were the only ones mad enough to sit outside on the terrasse as it was still lovely and warm. This was before the rains came! There is a brilliant menu, and when you had a nose at what others were eating, huge plates of sharing pasta, meaty, tasty brochettes and many other choices. We all had the menu again, this time priced at €16.90. Starter was an Italian cheese made with cow’s milk, baked with pine nuts and honey, and lots of bread to dip! Mains were a simple tomato pasta with pecorino…f had a bowl of this too and shared with cc: they only charged €8 for this and it was equally as large as our main portion)…with a chocolate mousse for dessert. Again, the girls also had a mousse each but they just charged for one on the bill. Booking is vital here. It was really busy on just a usual, workday, Thursday lunchtime. You’ll find it on Rue Robert Schuman and it’s called La Locanda, specialising in homemade Italian deliciousness!

Today is going to be a choice in Antibes. Usually we would go to Square Sud, a large French brasserie on one of the main squares, but having looked into reviews, we might opt for a little french place called Cote Terroir. I’ll let you know via fb which we chose!

Spooktacular Halloween Party

Since we are away this year for the first time during Halloween, I promised the girls a little party before we went. And by little, I mean little. My girls plus 3 others. It was a Friday night, before half term, I’d worked all week and had to sort grandparents to look after a poorly Cc with a chest infection, plus all the usual racing around between clubs, music lessons, parents’ evening etc. So, on Monday I tried to get everything prepared. That would be my number 1 tip!

Prepare

Decide on which activities you would like to do with the children. I like the idea of keeping them occupied (so they don’t run riot) whilst also giving them the chance to make a few things to take home in their party bag at the end of the evening.

So, this year’s activities were:

Make an egg box monster / spider

Paint a wooden ‘pumpkin’ person

Decorate gingerbread pumpkins / ghosts

Make a ‘chocolate’ toffee apple

Leaf printing the ‘going home’ paper goody bags

Apple bobbing

Eating doughnuts off a string

Stick the smile on the skeleton

All quite quick and easy to prepare. I simply gathered the items needed for each activity together and popped them on separate tray or lid. The Skeleton smile game was bought from Tesco and the decorate the gingerbread was from Co-op…with little time I was keeping it simple.

Below are the things used and needed for the other activities:

Make an egg box monster / spider … egg boxes cut into individual ‘holes’. Paint. Selection of pipe-cleaners, pom-poms, pva glue, paintbrushes, googly eyes. (I topped up our supplies with Halloween coloured things from Hobbycraft)

Paint a wooden ‘pumpkin’ person…wooden people blanks (I bought from amazon) orange and green paint, black Sharpie

Make a ‘chocolate’ toffee apple… wooden lolly sticks, apples, melted chocolate, sprinkles

Apple bobbing…apples, washing up bowl, water

Doughnuts off a String…doughnuts, string

Goodie bags…paper bags (again, from Hobbycraft), leaves, autumn colour paints, paintbrushes.

It was so easy that on the day itself, I just put each activity out at a ‘station’ and guided the girls round each one. I strung the doughnuts, ready to hang, melted the chocolate just before they arrived as that was one of the first activities so the apples would dry and prepped the carrot/cucumber sticks. We had pizza to keep it easy, raw veg sticks, watermelon and shop-bought Halloween cakes. The girls watched a Halloween film whilst eating and came to finish any activities before leaving. They all left with a goody bag full of handmade items and a tub of Halloween slime, a couple of Halloween chocolates and a sticker.

Job done!

September’s Meet, Make & Munch

September, the start to new things: new school year, season change (meteorological Autumn) and warmer clothes! And this year, the month seems to have whizzed by. No sooner was I ironing uniform, (actually, who am I kidding? I never iron anything, but it was all washed, clean and ready!) buying new water bottles and remembering routines, than we were celebrating mum’s birthday on the 30th and looking ahead to mine in October. Fortunately, everyone seems to have settled well back into school, nursery and work life, although I still long for the lazy summer mornings where we don’t have to get dressed if we don’t want to!

Meet…

At Marsh Farm. Having lived so close for so long, but never having been, we ventured down on the last day of the summer holidays for their Bubble ‘n’ Pop Kids Festival, and had a great time. We booked online for around £10 per person and spent all day there, with everything for free, even taking a picnic: The weather held and we had a great day. Both my 8yo and my 3yo were catered for…they both enjoyed the radio Essex Bubble and Glow disco and the music workshop, despite being a 10-15 minute queue. As soon as organisers saw this, they put another show on straight after the first to ensure people who had waited would get a place. Clever thinking and common sense applied…tick!

The free roundabouts, digging for gems, and glitter face paints as we entered were particular highlights. Trying to get them off the adventure playground was a struggle (we didn’t even go inside the play barn) but they were soon wooed with the aviary and birds to see next door. We didn’t really visit many other animals, which was a shame as, as the name suggests, it started off as a small farm with animals to ‘pet’ and feed, but with so many other activities to keep us busy, they sort of got a bit forgotten. The bouncy castle zone was brilliant fun for both ages and small enough to keep an eye on them both. My eldest loved the foam, the little one not so much and neither were that keen on the ‘pool and beach’ area…the water being cold and dirty (as it would be at the end of a summer-long kids festival). But it didn’t matter as there were so many other options to pursue!

We had a fantastic day out and left filled with fun and exhaustion! I’d definitely recommend these themed weeks from Marsh Farm, but have yet to go to an ‘event’ such as the Halloween or Christmas Experiences. I’ve heard they’re amazing but would like to see for ourselves sometime soon!

Make…

A seasonal display. I’ve been looking at ideas for these for ages, but the wooden ‘celebration rings’ and stands are so expensive, and you have to buy the figures to add to them, that I decided we’d have more fun making our own version. After seeing a lovely idea to make a ‘stick frame’ and hang found nature objects from the top stick to create a nature picture, I though we could use a similar idea as the focus of our display. Except I wanted it to be seen in the round and to be able to stand independently, so decided upon a tripod shape. We bound three sticks tightly at the top and splayed their ‘legs’, then wrapped twine around the top part only to act as a weaving frame for our found objects. F used her hand drills and conker clamp to bore holes through the horse chestnuts, then we threaded these on. Feathers, other seeds and skeleton leaves were also wound through the structure.

We used the Autumn colours of our Grimms semi-circles to create a base, a couple of pieces of the large Fire for stands and height and the small inner part for a central bonfire, and a silk scarf with autumnal colours to add a different texture. F then filled the bases with colourful leaves, acorns and hazelnuts. We added a few home-painted ‘amies’ (friend people), the Conker clamp as it’s a mushroom shape, and one gorgeous Ambrosuis figure…a boy with a hazelnut. As the season develops, I hope to change items around and update it, for example, adding spookier figures nearer the end of October and different seed pods. I also found a gorgeous little book, Around the Year by Elsa Beskow, which has poems and ideas about each month so we can read and turn the pages as the year progresses. I’m really hoping this will be a feature that stays and grows as the seasons change and the year continues. It’s been such fun doing it with F.

Munch…

On Herman! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed growing our German Friendship Cake, Herman, that F brought home a pot of from school. I’ve done one before, many years ago, but F hasn’t so it was a great chance to talk about yeast, starters, living things, etc and see how it grows and changes. She already knew about how the yeast uses the sugar and how it’s similar to the brewing process in alcohol! We’ve transferred a little to a small bottle and put a balloon over the top to watch it inflate with the gasses given off over the next few days too. Science in action!

We’re still ‘feeding’ Herman at the moment though, then F hopes to make him into a chocolatey version of the cake in a few more days’ time. If you can’t wait that long, have a look here to read my previous efforts with Herman!

With the months whizzing by, I’m looking forward to an Autumnal October.