sooo true!

empathy beats judgement everytime

what happens when you leave your mobile unattended

devils food cake with raspberries

take betty crockers cake mix, follow instructions, melt milk and white chocolate and swirl on top of cake, cut raspberries in half and arrange in chocolate

very fudgy

oreo cake pops

lottie has been watching lorraine pascal

she made these on last week's programme 

crush one packet oreos, mix with a spoon of chocolate spread so they stick enough to squidge into balls, insert wooden sticks into them (free from mcdonald's), freeze for 15mins, melt a bar of white chocolate, remove your balls from freezer, dip your balls in white chocolate and roll in sprinkles (or not), freeze again for 15mins, chill thereafter

enjoy your balls

brambles

these are not photos of my lab specimens but on the left pure bramble sauce (liquidised then sieved for a smooth finish....to add to crumbles with apples in the deep mid winter) and on the right the remaining pulp (to add to gravy for an accompaniment to lamb)...both in the freezer for other days

because we had enough jam

target practice

one marker pen, one window, one child, one poundland pistol with rubber-suction bullets, one hour of fun

little things

a smiley pebble from newhaven beach

Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.” 
― Tina Fey, Bossypants

retro babies

you can tell we don't get much sun...

"somewhere over the rainbow"

lottie's rainbow and cloud and blue sky cupcakes

rainbow from stripy sweets

blue sky from melted white chocolate coloured blue

clouds from melted white chocolate shaped onto greaseproof paper and chilled until hard

high street history

walking down the high street today, we found this!

which used to look like this

paintwork has stood the test of time well

norwegian cinnamon buns

lottie made these which are incredibly moreish

recipe in nigella's domestic goddess

brambles!

yep it's that time of year again

lottie's haul

ellie's 

and we have discovered that the breadmaker also makes jam so that's what they'll be used for

lottie's crusty bread

grandma gave us a breadmaker and lottie was itching to make some

this is her first crusty white loaf which is great toasted with butter and cut into soldiers with dippy egg

dieppe raid memorial service

a piper!

the wind caught in the canadian flag

a great turnout

their lives were not in vain

firstborn dressed respectfully

her poppy corsage with her raf sweetheart brooch and the canadian flag

The Dieppe Raid, also known as Operation Jubilee, was a Second World War Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe. The raid took place on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 a.m. and by 10:50 a.m. the Allied commanders were forced to call a retreat. Over 6,000 infantrymen, predominantly Canadian, were supported by limited Royal Navy and largeRoyal Air Force contingents.

The raid, called a 'reconnaissance in force' by the planners, was a military disaster in terms of casualties and equipment lost.

Of the nearly 5,000 strong Canadian contingent deployed that early August morning, 907 were killed, 2,460 wounded and 1874 taken as prisoners of war. Of the 2,210 who returned to Britain, only 236 were unhurt - and 200 of these were men who had not been landed. The

British Commandos had lost 247 men. The Royal Navy lost one destroyer (HMS Berkeley) and 33 landing craft, suffering 550 dead and wounded. The RAF lost 106 aircraft  - including 13 from the Royal Canadian Air Force - the biggest allied air loss in a single day in the entire war. More than 150 aircrew were also killed or captured. Sixty per cent of the ground force became casualties, including almost 100 per cent of those tank crews who landed. The raid's planners had factored in 10 per cent casualties.

she is 17 part 2

grandma and aunty anne came round and grandma had made black forest gateau!

oh yeah

more afternoon tea (dunno why my trousers won't do up...)

grandma made ellie a 40s cardigan

and a 40s sweater

a lovely afternoon

she is 17

outside the grand hotel eastbourne

ready for her afternoon tea

my beautiful girls

yum!

retouching one's face in the loos

what restful toilets

am i this short?

lottie in a dress and girl shoes

i can see ellie getting used to this

happy birthday firstborn

moscow

this is the inside of 

st petersburg mosque

and this is the inside of 

st basil cathedral

another trip...

ellie's wholemeal olive and rosemary foccacia

1lb 2oz strong wholemeal flour, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 teasp salt, 2 teasp yeast, 12 floz cold water...mix to form dough, knead 5 mins, leave to rise 2 hours (on the trampoline in the sun is very good for this)

add 1/2 jar olives and some fresh chopped rosemary from garden, divide into 2, spread to fit 2 baking trays, leave to prove 1 hour, bake 20mins at 230c, brush with olive oil and sprinkle salt when just out of oven

eat one, freeze one

lottie's red velvet cupcakes

4oz marg, 4oz sugar, 2tbsp cocoa, 2 eggs, vanilla, red food colour, 6oz sr flour

cream marg and sugar, add eggs, add vanilla and food colour, fold in cocoa and flour, divide into 12 cake liners and bake 20mins at 180c, leave to cool

melt 30g white chocolate and dip hulled strawberries in and drizzle on top

cream 4oz butter and 4oz icing sugar by hand until combined, then whisk for 2 mins, melt 60g white chocolate and add to icing and whisk for 1 min, pipe onto cupcakes and top with a choccy strawberry

enjoy

this is lottie's take on pillsbury funfetti cake

3 eggs whisked with 8oz sugar until pale in colour and double in size...melt 4oz butter and slowly pour into mix whilst whisking.....whisk in vanilla and 8oz sr flour...bake 180c 40mins

allow to cool then slice cake in half

melt a whole bag of marshmallows and use to sandwich cake halves together and cover top