that's not supposed to happen

eeeep! i went out for lunch and when i returned to the school car park this happened....


believe it or not, today was a day of luck.

i was so lucky my key didn't break off in my car door.

i was even more lucky that my key didn't break off in my engine.

i was terribly lucky to find a key cutter willing to cut me a new key using 2 bits. his exact words were *put on your best cockney accent* "alright then love, i'll give it a bash".

the best piece of luck is having a great school caretaker who went out to get me the key cut because the shop closed at half 3 and i wouldn't get there in time after school.

suggestions

happy valentines!

1. make this apple puff pastry tart. everyday can be valentines with this treat! this recipe makes 4 tarts.

pack of puff pastry at room temperature
flour for dusting
1 pink lady apple
4t of caramel sauce
1/4t cinommon
1T icing sugar
whipping cream (optional)

preheat the oven to 200C/390F.
roll out the pastry until 4 8x10cm hearts will fit. the recipe suggests making a template but i just guessed.
quater and core the apple and slice each quarter into 6 pieces.
lay out 6 apple slices in a heart shape on the pastry.
cut around the apple heart leaving a good sized (1cm) boarder (repeat for all 4 tarts).
spoon 1t of caramel sauce over each pastry heart and spread around leaving the boarder free of sauce.
arrange the apples on top of the sauce.
dust all 4 tarts with the the cinommon and icing sugar.
place on a large baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

whip some cream and swirl with some more caramel sauce, if you want.

eat warm! yum.

2. if you live in london go and see la clique, a melange of cabaret, new burlesque, and circus sideshow. for your pleasure are the talented..

Captain Frodo, Norway’s outrageously bendy man, hula hoop’s finest exponent Yulia Pikhtina, the PVC-clad Miss Behave who has a penchant for swallowing pointy objects.

not mentioned was my favourite guy, mario queen of the circus. a leather clad, juggling, queen fanatic. and miss behave didn't swallow anything for our show, but she did reveal some lovely crystals she had been hiding upon her person at the end of the act. she was naked save 3 small strategically placed hearts, a treat for the valentine's show. there's also the wet rope dancer as pictured above. yum.

la clique was fantastic! i would like to go again as i think each show is probably a little bit different.


3. if you live in bath go to jamie's italian, jamie oliver's new restaurant. i cannot gush enough about how much i enjoyed this restaurant. it was a tough decision on what to eat as the whole menu made our mouths water. there are a few locations, if you live near one you must go! if you're visiting england factor this restaurant into your plans. check out my flickr for the meal play-by-play.

i woke up to a snow day

building a snowman is harder than i remember.

buddy the snowman.

personal crafty time

i find that from about october to december, i'm in total craft mode. i can churn out the christmas gifts without thought but i rarely keep what i make.

that's going to change. let the personal crafty time begin!

my new tea towels

3 cheers for sublime stitching for giving me these embroidery designs!

sometimes, my job is not so cool

i hate kids. they are carriers of disease.

i am never more than 3 meters away from someone infected with something; ringworm, lice, chicken pox, cold, flu, throwing up, pink eye...

i have ringworm. again. i get to twice daily, slather jock itch cream on a red ring the size of a 20p on my arm.

it was only a matter of time, there are at least 6 children at any one time in my class who are festered with it and i would guess that only 2/6 are actually being treated properly for it. and of course i get it, i cannot get away from the little buggers. 21 four year olds are constantly around me - under me, beside me, climbing me, clinging to me, dancing near me, walking into me, sitting on me, coughing and/or sneezing in my mouth/face. that last one happens more than you'd think.

i count myself lucky i've never had nits, that would be the worst. but ring worm is a close second in the scale of horrible gross-ness.

dive in

i am bout to delve into the launch edition of jamie magazine. i feel a little nervous for him, starting a magazine is a big thing. he's a pretty busy chef....or so the tabloids tell me. but i love him. every recipe i have made has worked beautifully. he fights for food in his country. he kills/grows what he eats or at least knows where it's come from. i shop at sainsbury's because jamie oliver endorses it.

i'm excited.

he takes his own pictures for the magazine and funded the whole thing himelf. it's printed on paper that is from sustainably managed forests.

i'm also thrilled about the great britsh food fight that just started on channel 4.

maybe hugh fearnley-whittingstall will start a magazine as well.

jack frost nipping at your nose

it's the real jack frost!

recipe of the week: christmas left over pie

i love jamie oliver. every recipe i have made of his has been a triumph, i have learned so much from his shows.

here's his recipe for turkey and sweet leek pie, i used the basic principals to make my own christmas left over pie. as jamie says, 'this isn't a pretty boy pie, this is a proper english pie', i've never made one before and i will certainly be trying this one again. it may seem like a lot of work but it's not, not much washing up either.

christmas left over pie

1C left over goose meat
2 rashers of bacon chopped
knob of butter
salt and pepper
sprig fresh thyme, leaves removed
4 small potatoes thinly sliced
handful green beans
1 head of broccoli
4C stock
heaped spoonful of flour
2 heaped spoonfuls creme fresh
puff pastry, thawed
roasted chestnuts
1 egg, beaten
fine strainer

preheat the oven to 190/375 degrees
fry the bacon in the knob of butter until brown, add the thyme leaves and fry for a minute.
add the thinly sliced potatoes, salt and pepper and toss well.
add enough stock to cover the potatoes and allow to bubble away until almost all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally.
test the potatoes with a fork, if they are not soft add more stock and continue to cook until potatoes done and most of the liquid is absorbed.
add the beans and broccoli and goose meat and toss.
dust the mixture with the flour and mix up vigorously.
add the rest of the stock, or water if you've used all the stock and stir it up.
mix in the creme fresh and bring back up to the boil.
place the whole mixture into the fine strainer over another pot and allow the gravy to drip down while you roll out the pastry.

lightly flour your counter and roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle until it's quite thin.
crush the roasted chestnuts over half of the pastry and then fold the pastry over.
gently roll out the pastry again to a size that will fit your baking dish, don't worry if chestnuts poke through.

place the goose and potato mixture into a baking dish.
cover with the puff pastry and tuck the edges under like your tucking a child into bed.
score the pastry with the back of the knife into a criss cross diamond pattern.
paint the egg over the pastry.
bake for 30-45 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

reheat the gravy. i didn't have enough gravy so i added water, gravy granules and more creme fresh to bulk it up a bit.

serve immediately! yum-oh! it keeps well too. i made a second pie for lunch today and it reheated, covered in tin foil in 40 minutes. it was just as tastey.

12 drummers drumming

it's christmas eve! let the feasts begin.

i suggest roasting a ham with a side order of scalloped potatoes.

i have no pictures as we ate it too fast...but trust me, these are winners.

11 pipers piping

i have to say that i'm more pagan than christian in my spirituality. but around christmas i can't help but come over all religious. alex and i attended the carol service at st. pauls this afternoon. cathedral choirs give me chills.behold my poor quality camera phone photos.

10 lords a leaping

yum yum yum, turn on the christmas carols and make yourself a holiday treat.

mulled wine

2 glasses red wine
1 glass apple juice
pinch of cinnamon or 1 stick
pinch of ground cloves or a few whole ones
small grating of nutmeg
1 clementine cut into rounds

bring everything to a simmer, take off the heat and allow to steep while you prepare the chestnuts.

chestnuts not roasted on an open fire

take as many chestnuts as you think you can eat and cut an X into the skin of each. place in a baking tray and roast in a preheated 200c/390f degree oven for 15 minutes.

reheat the muled wine if it's cooled down too much and eat everything immediately.

9 (pagan) ladies dancing

happy solstice!

8 maids a milking (who stop to eat black forest cookies)

black forest cookies

3/4C flour
3/4C sugar
3/4t baking powder
1/4t salt
4T butter, melted
1/3C cocoa powder
1 egg
2T coffee or water
1/3C chocolate chips
1/3C dried sour cherries, chopped
some sifted powdered sugar

preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking tray with parchment.
mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
whisk melted butter and cocoa in separate bowl.
mix in the egg, coffee (or water) and blend well.
fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, do not over mix.
fold in the chocolate chips and cherries.
scoop 1T of the mixture and roll into balls.
roll the balls around in the powdered sugar twice.
place balls on baking tray, 2 inches apart.
bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies are cracked yet soft, do not overbake!
cool the cookies on the baking tray for 5 minutes before fully cooling on a rack.

yum! these are great and they keep really well in a tin. have some milk for drinking handy...

7 swans a swimming

alex is back.

hurrah!

he's ever so skinny and scabby.

6 geese a laying

it's not christmas until little children act out the nativity story. i love my class.