Christmas Recipes

Pub. Mmmmm, not a place we usually go but HSMSHS wants a photo. Last time we went to a 'pub' was in Jamaica so this is just another excuse to show some holiday photos :O) Last night after tea Andrew had all the cookery books out in the kitchen trying to make a list of ingredients for a Christmas cake, Christmas puddings & mincemeat. No matter how hard he tried going from one book to another he couldn't get to grips with how many ounces of flour, dried fruit etc. we needed. After making fun of him trying to multi task, we made a table of ingredients we needed to buy, in a spread sheet on the computer (anal I know). We must have spent half an hour doing it as he kept adding to the list. As far as I'm concerned you buy marzipan in a block from the shop, but no, Andrew wants to make his from scratch. Andrew, I said, you can buy royal icing in powdered form from Tesco. Nope, he wants to make that from scratch too. I wouldn't mind but 10 minutes before the cookery books came out, he was planning the decoration of our bedroom this weekend and changing the cupboard doors in the kitchen.

Yes I know he's fab :O)

Anyway, we printed off the table of ingredients and got the packets of dried fruit, nuts & cherries out of the kitchen cupboards. Easy now we had a list. We soon fell about laughing, all the packet stuff was in metric and we had spent ages working out imperial measurements lol. Does that make us old or just daft???

Elena's Last Day of the Summer Holidays

Well today was Elena's last day at home before she starts High School tomorrow. She's spent the day geting ready, PE Kit, Lunch Box, Pencil Case, School Bag. We watched some 'House' with Lisa, Liam & Sam & she built her own 'Sims' house on the PC and then set fire to it lol. In between all this we found time to make some iced buns :O) They were delicious.

Cooking on Gas

I finished work at 1pm today so it made a lovely change to spend the rest of the day with Andrew. We've folded the pool up and put it away. The gazebo is all packed away in bags too and we've moved the trampoline down to the bottom of the garden :O) The garden looks huge again now. In between all that Andrew's been cooking ... soup!! By the bucket full. We've got chicken soup with vegetables, tomato soup, french onion soup & vegetable soup. We've got another bucket full of beef curry ~ yum. Two jars of homemade lemon curd & a cherry & coconut cake. I adore this man, what would I do without him :O) Mind you, it's been my job to try and fit all this stuff in the freezer, no easy task I can tell you. Gemma's been at work all day & Lisa & Liam have been on the beach. My best friend Teresa phoned tonight, talking to her is like a breathe of fresh air. Little Max, my Godson has masses of curly hair now, even more than Mika! He is such a comedian. Teresa tells him to show her his funny leg and he walks around with one stiff leg like Basil off Fawlty Towers. Then she tells him to show her his funny walk and he walks round with both knees bent ~ lol! I can't wait to see him again, I just know it'll be a laugh a minute. They are hoping to complete on their house next week so they can finally move in. At least then she'll be able to get everything sorted, I miss her so much :O) Finally, Andrew's just heard from his Mum that poor David, his brother in law, has just had his business burnt down. Last night he had a phone call to say that he needed to get to the warehouse ASAP. Just hope he hasn't lost everything, fingers crossed. Can't leave without posting a photo or two :O) Here's one of the Islands Double Decker Buses, well, the back end of it ~ lol! Just love this poem ... This one is of the sky tonight, I thought the clouds looked a bit funky :O)Edited to say:
Just found this in the Manchester Evening News ...
Fabric warehouse blaze
Paul R Taylor 2/ 9/2007
THIRTY fire fighters tackled a blaze at a furnishing fabric wholesalers in Cheetham Hill in the early hours of Saturday morning.Crews were called to Simpson Interiors on Broughton Street at about 2.30am and found the two-storey building on fire. Flames and smoke were streaming from the windows and it was too dangerous for fire fighters to go inside. They brought the blaze under control with two jets from the ground and one from a hydraulic platform. No one is thought to have been inside the building at the time. The street remained closed for most of the morning.

Sandown Illuminated Carnival

Last night Andrew, Gemma, Elena & me walked into Sandown to watch the illuminated carnival at 9pm. All Isle of Wight Carnivals take place midweek because the main industry here is tourism. In the summer months the majority of people start & end their holiday on a Saturday so it makes sense for occasions like this to be midweek. It's going dark now by 8:30pm but at least last night was dry and relatively warm although we did wear coats :O) These are a few photos of the parade ... Not sure if it's my photography skills or whether the camera can't handle movement in the dark?? Although I like the effect of the pirate boat :O)

Today Elena & I didn't do much. We were going to walk to Shanklin to have a game of crazy golf but the weather kept threatening rain so we stayed around the house instead. Elena wanted to make lunch and this is what she made ... It tasted delicious :O)