bigfoodiemama

So we move on from "one of those days" to one of those weeks, when yet again the "she shall have NO social life this year" fairy waved her wand. I had managed to have a good pre-christmas-party exfoliation in the shower after the vomiting incident, aware that Friday night was coming and I would need to be tanning on Thursday having moisturised on Wednesday.....fat chance !On Tuesday night we went to bed when I started shivering, chattering and goosebumping, to the extent that I put my dressing gown on, over a top and tracksuit bottoms and was still cold ! Not a good feeling and not a good look. I was about to compare myself to Bernard Dunne going into the ring but I am more of a Mike Tyson really. Wednesday was was feeling lousy and poor baby was still off his food but we survived and were well and truly sick of looking out at snow by now. Wednesday night same shivers followed by some very attractive sweating led me to head to the docs on Thursday, my saviour coming

It started off very well, considering there was a further 4 inches of snow and GASP had had to move the Renault off the drive again, where I had attempted another Evil Knievel stunt.The journey to work was tricky but I got there and a good day at work was had, particularly because it was Christmas lunch in the canteen. This made everyone forget the budget as they got 4 courses for 7 euro !I managed to get up the seriously steep hill to the childminders ( my saviour)with only a wee skid at the start and both boys were happy to see me. Then it started. When I was half way home on a very snowy road the baby threw up all over himself and his car seat. I stopped, put a towel over him, managed to pull out of the side of the road and parked at the bottom of the drive deciding that GASP would actually kill me if if I grounded the car for a third time. I carried baby and car seat, while eldest son carried my handbag and the rucksack across the (6 inch deep with snow) front lawn. I stripped off

In the current climate of ice, snow and slush it is really fab to be 40 ! The reason for this is that I have gone past the stage of having to look totally fabulous in adverse weather conditions, choosing instead to be dry, warm and safe.All week I have put on my work suit, but underneath there was a littel vest, two pairs of socks ( one pair belonging to GASP) and my 20 year old hiking boots. With my scarf and warm coat, I may not have cut a fashion swathe but I was warm,did not fall over and my lovely shiny ankle boots were dry when I changed into them in my office. Today bet all though. I had to attend a funeral of an old family friend this morning, down wee back roads, which have seen many a John Deere but never a Gritter. The tiny road up to the church was treacherous ( really treacherous.....not like they use the word on traffic watch). As I sat in Fat Freddies warm car in the car park, after quite a hair raising journey, I was in a lovely pair of grey and pink pinstripe trousers

Right, here we go again ! Sunday, I had decided was going to be a family day out, to the Food and Wine Christmas Show. I was keen to go for a few reasons, 1. Food, 2. Wine, 3. Santa and 4. the chance to see my cousin the Pastry Chef of The Cake Stand ( not necessarily in that order).I donned the new underwear (again) under some warm clothing...just in case ! My plans were nearly thwarted by 2 inches of snow and the AA advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. I had a job convincing GASP of the "absolutely necessary" part of a Food and Wine Show, so I used language he would understand and said " this is my Leinster Final".....job done !Off we set with enough stuff in the car should we have to sleep in it overnight, but the M1 was clear keeping a smug smile on my face....until we hit Dublin ! The city was immersed in 3 inches of snow and the roads were a disaster but since we'd got that far , we ploughed ( literally) on to the RDS. Items 3. and 4.

OK the scene was set. So we hadn't managed to attend the wedding Saturday night,missing out on the opportunity for me to dress up to the nines in the new underwear to wow GASP, but I had a back up plan. Under duress,GASP had agreed to take today off for us to go Christmas shopping. We decided to shop local, so the plan was shopping in Drogheda, Smyths/TK Maxx/Heatons/Marks and Spencers etc. before a romantic lunch in the Eastern Sea Board and then on to Duffys Toyworld in the afternoon. While we were away, the Carpet Man was going to return the carpets to their previous glory so a good day all round. This is how it went...... I got dressed having donned the new underwear, we went shopping, we had lunch and then it was bed time !Calm down readers....it's not what you think. I had ( as they said in the old days) "caught a chill", which meant that as soon as we arrived in Smyths I had to go the loo, then again 10 minutes later, then again before we left. I then went to t

Genius find last week. I was rushing through the local Supervalu on the hunt for a quick salad to accompany the Aruna Chicken Rogan Josh I had prepared for The FA and the Blonde. Out of the corner of my beadie foodie eye I spotted Thai Red Curry kit. When I say kit, I mean a little pack containing a lime, lemongrass, Galangal ( looks like dried pooh !), Thai Shallots ( looked the smae as Irish shallots!)6 red chillies, a globe of garlic and a stump of ginger. Following the instructions in the pack, I deseeded the chillies and put them in the food processor with the lemongrasss, shallots, garlic, ginger and Galangal. I finely chopped them in the processor before adding the rind of the lime, juice of half the lime, 10 black peppercorns and half a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander seeds. I then slowly added 6 tablespoons of sunflower oli until it turned into a smooth fragrant Thai Red Curry paste. It is now stored in a Kilner jar in the fridge and I feel like a Thai Nigella Lawson. You

So, here I am sitting watching X Factor, when I am meant to be at the evening reception of my cousins wedding. OK so last night the five year old threw up ( in the toilet) but was well for the rest of the evening and this morning so it was all looking good. One of the seven dwarfs had kindly agreed to baby sit, GASP kindly slept in this morning so I could have the post Sauvignon Blanc lie in tomorrow. The new GOKtastic dress was hanging on the outside of the wardrobe, lace top hold ups purchased and most importantly, the new ( expensive) underwear wrapped in tissue paper(shows the expense level!) was laid out in the bed with love and admiration.I am one stone lighter than 6 weeks ago ! GASP kindly volunteered to go to mass this evening so that I had no rush to rise in the morning. The exfoliation was complete, the tan perfect, the nails about to go on and then at 5.50 eldest son puked on the sitting room carpet. Gratefully her puked the week before the carpet cleaner is booked to come

Roseanne is petite, pretty with long chesnut hair and I invited her into my marital bed !She shares the bed with my husband and I. GASP wasn't keen initially but can, definitely, now see the benefits. I am certainly feeling the benefits. No more tugging and pulling and squealing.....she takes it all without making a sound so I can sleep away while it is going on. The relief to me is immense and I am alot less tired.I never thought there would be anyone except GASP and I ,in our bed but needs must, so Roseanne has joined us. Roseanne is 35cm tall, cost less than a tenner and is a godsend. You see, youngest son has an addiction.....pulling, stroking and holding on to my hair. If he is on my hip he is holding a clump of hair like it's a safety handle. In the morning, when he wakes ( beside us in bed....yes I know !) he spends about half an hour wooling the head off me, causing me alot of discomfort and meaning I arise looking like a Troll. Today, I bought Roseanne. As I type, she

GASP is on the doghouse ! Interestingly enough I don't think he is aware of the fact, but needless to say my tone and expression will make it evident in the very near future . OK from the start. Thanks to Weight Watchers I have lost 12 pounds in weight and a dress size. I am truly thrilled with my progress and think I am fabulous ! ( I think this most of the time thank God so I am even more fabulous than usual) The person I most want to be fabulous for is, in fact ,GASP. We are invited to the evening of a wedding in a few weeks, my first posh night out in forever so I am really looking forward to glamming up my new figure. I have arranged the babysitter already and was going to wear an LBD I nicked off the Mad One. This evening I tried it on, in front of GASP only to find....to my delight....that it is too big. Normally I would have it taken in by the Seamstress but as it belongs to the Mad One, that would be a bit chancy. GASP in a moment of " oh my God no, she is going to wa

I love my children, I love the seven dwarfs, I love the Mad One and her brood, I love my nephews and nieces, I love parties. Put them all ( 15 kids and 8 adults) in the same room for 3 hours, with that room being in my house on the occasion of the babies first birthday and my favourite things combine into a kids party ie. hell on Earth !Now I don't think any parent would disagree with me on this one. Kids parties are total madness. For weeks beforehand you debate what fabulously inventive party menu you will create and browse through kids cookery books,google cakes and recipes and scour the shops for bizarre ingredients and edible decorations. Then things like work and everyday life get in the way and you realise with 12 hours to go that all you have is a pile of the type of sweets you totally disapprove of at parties, you still have to make a cake because you think you should, when you should have got one in Tesco and your husband convinces you that Chicken Nuggets and Chips as al

" If you have removed your undergarments I will be round in 15 minutes " Fact 1.These are the actual words of a text I received yesterday Fact 2. I did not receive this text from my husband Fact 3. It was from a man Fact 4. He did come round 15 minutes later . . . .to see my Shiela's Maid Now, interestingly enough, Newly (not so) single was round a the time. She is the person who introduced me to the concept of suspending a Shielas Maid clothes drier from my utility room ceiling, so that my smalls would waft above me, instead of staring me straight in the eye ,on the inside line. I say "waft" as if they are small and flimsy enough to "waft" but that is in fact a severe case of poetic license, as my smalls ( larges) give the impression of someone having parachuted into the utility room, their chute having got caught just before they crashed to the floor ! Newly single and I greeted the Chicken Man on his arrival and I confirmed to him that I had removed

Today was the day of the annual anniversary mass for GASP's father and sister. It was unusual in that it was in a bank holiday but every year MIL gets pipped a the post for the Sunday closest to the actual date, having tried to book it earlier in the year and been advised by the priest to leave it awhile !The seven dwarfs were all there and my four inch heels only added to their shortness. I looked great if I say so myself having lost 8 pounds and put on a pair of "magic" tights under a Gok approved wrap dress . When I say "magic" they apparently lifted my bum, smoothed my tum, embraced my hips and toned my thighs.....MAGIC indeed !I had dressed the baby in a new tracksuit ( no not the mini NIKE type ) but the trousers were far too long ( he has the dwarfs legs) so I changed the trousers on GASP'S suggestion.GASP ( in a moment of complete and other fashion madness) wanted to leave the green and white top on with the brown cord trousers. I knew that merely po

Ok so we lost the big one. On Monday I went out and bought a perfectly shaped, perfectly orange large pumpkin. GASP did the honours, cleaning it out and carving it beautifully. Eldest son was delighted when we lit the wee candle and christened him "Paddy the Pumpkin". All good....until this morning ! Paddy had gone blind in one eye due to an infestation of mould ! Like plastic surgery gone bad, next to collapse was the bridge of his nose but before his whole face caved in we sent him to the compost heap leaving eldest son in tears. Jaysus, I wish I had never started this pumpkin thing. Last night I used pureed pumpkin flesh to make Pumpkin Muffins.....they were crap ! Let's face facts pumpkin is tasteless. The reason you add every spice you can think of and vast quantities of sugar to every pumpkin recipe is to cover the taste of the pumpkin !For you own sake substitute every mention of pumpkin for carrot or sweet potato and life will be alot better. I have promised to bu

It has been a very tough week. It's bad enough that we lost two of our baby pumpkins but now the big mama has bit the dust....a tragic loss. She now rests on the compost heap so at least her life was not in vain ,and others may benefit from her generous donation in the future, but I was heartbroken. I broached the subject very gingerly with the 5 year old , who simply said " sure we'll buy more seeds Mammy and grow some more". The young can be so harsh !We now have one small, lumpy pumpkin left after months of prayer, love and attention and it looks like my encyclopedia of pumpkin recipes can be reduced to a pamphlet.This would all be bad enough in itself, if the Teacher had not decided to post photos on facebook of his offspring and his children....magnificent orange pumpkins of varying sizes and the two children in ecstasy posing beside them.....oh the sheer insensitivity of it ! How could he ? I thought we were friends. GASP is not impressed that there is someone o

Today I had the pleasure of attending the Artisan Food and Craft Fair at Sage and Stone ( www.sageandstone.com). The promised Indian Summer didn't arrive but the rain stayed off and they came in droves to sample the fayre. The blonde was manning the Callan and Harte stall next to the Porn Star's art, my first stop. She was wrapped in layers of wool and scarves while he sported a pale yellow polo shirt. We commented on his attire but realised it was all part of his ploy as one after one the women came over to first admire his biceps and then fall for the sales pitch. The blonde was seriously considering exposing some cleavage but I felt it was inappropriate next to the Old Mc Donald framed children's poem. She was consoling herself with the truly great pizza's from the pizza oven aboard "street pizza" as I continued to browse. The chicken and sweetcorn soup I had as a starter was fantastic but then it was on to the Aruna stall for Chicken Roganjosh and rice....

The Mad One has given birth to a baby girl ! Last Wednesday evening she arrived speedily into the world with a mop of brown hair with blonde highlights already in place...may be the Mad One's last colour penetrated through ? The fact that it was a baby girl meant that her 8 year old sister's dream has finally come through having tolerated the three boys in the house for long enough.I have a funny feeling their world is about to turn well and truly pink !The Mad One ( still quite mad) looks a million dollars and is blissfully happy as is the sperm donor...the Spud Farmer.His sperm ,however ( after 5 children !), is no longer required by the Mad One and he is soon to be featured on ebay I believe. Maybe she should consider doing to him what four women in England did. A wife found out that her husband had three mistresses! She contacted each one of them, none of them knowing the other existed. They enticed him to a hotel room, blindfolded him and promptly glued his penis to his l

As I sit her at 7.30 Sunday evening I am wondering what made this such a good weekend. Then I realised it was because we did not have anything in particular to do, no obligation to anyone, so we got to relax (as much as you can with two small boys) Friday after work we had visited the Teach Jack gang for cups of tea, gossip and playing in their Beverley Hills style playhouse. Eldest son pushed the pram while his "wife" tended to the baby whilst youngest son polished off his first jammy dodger with a sticky smile.I had the lie in Saturday morning...a great start to any weekend and really all we achieved that day was to invite around two of the boys favourite cousins and listen to the laughter and squeals of delight that brought.BMM joined us for tea and then it was the heaven of two hours of X Factor. GASP enjoyed the Sunday lie in and after mass we headed off to MIL's house for a cuppa, a chat, a crawl and Wii session.After a hurried lunch I declared we were off to the pl

Preggers and Photoshop have had a baby boy ! Now that baby is her Preggers is....obviously...no longer pregnant so will have to be renamed. I should have thought about the temporary nature of her condition before labelling her. She will however always be an English Rose so her new name is born ! Last night a select few celebrated the birthday of the FA with an early bird in Marinis Italian Restaurant. It was meant to be a quick bite and film evening but we rarely make the film cause we are always far too busy talking. Sparkle, the Blonde, Newly Single and I joined the birthday girl. I was in a particularly delicate frame of mind having been to WW and had my mental state put into turmoil, when the leader told me I would have to count points as they have stopped the "no count" diet.....bloody hell, my biggest nightmare.Only my desire to lose weight will get me through this. I will not refer to it until you want to shoot me, but will keep you posted on my progress. Great hilarit

We've had the minimiser, balcony, underwired, push up and wonder and now we have the Emergency Bra ! It's not a joke ! Check out www.ebbra.com and see for yourself. A doctor has invented a bra that can then be used as a facemask in the case of smoke , disease or biological warfare ! The great thing about this actual piece of lingerie is that it is hot ! Bright red hot...the only colour you can get it in at present but we are promised a selection soon. She is working on an emergency shirt for men but personally I would like to see Emergency bright red speedos...they could save my life any day !Apparently you can remove the bra and create the facemask without removing any of your clothing ( I will be discouraging this with the speedos). In an emergency it is of course vital that you don't show any flesh...remember the clean pair of knickers, hit by a bus advice ! The serious advantage is that, like all bras it has in fact got two cups ie. two facemasks so you can save the tot

The key to looking slim is hanging around with people who are fatter than you are.I kinda forget this and have failed to make myself look any better due to the fact that those I am most often seen with are all smaller than I. I am not suggesting that I hang around with a bunch of supermodels ( they will not be offended by this). I try to hang with the "built for comfort not for speed" type but the FA has let me down badly a) by turning into a slim person and b) by introducing an even slimmer Sparkle to the group ! And she's meant to be a friend!The Baking Queen is pregnant...thank you, the blonde declares she has put on a stone ( I am not sure but it's good of her to say) and Newly Single has a Thyroid problem...happy days !True friends ! Bigfoodiemama is too big presently. A drastic decision has been made....I will return to WW this Thursday....just before a birthday dinner out with the all of the above for the FA's birthday. I am declaring my intent so that I ha

I exposed my pumpkins. They had been under cover for long enough and lets face facts there is only a little bit of sun left so I got them out. GASP was not there. I just strolled out to the garden while the baby was asleep and eldest son was watching TV.I whisked away everything that was covering them and turned the gorgeous smooth globes towards the sun. It felt good, liberating even and it was a great start to a Sunday.It was followed by a family trip to Newbridge House and Gardens in Donabate, where we enjoyed their fabulous playground, the gorgeous farm and a great zesty lemon cinnabun from the Sunday Market !It was packed and as always the Polish put we Irish to shame. On National picnic day they make the mark. They use public parks and amenities exactly as they should be used, for great big family outings with loads of great food. The Irish struggled with the dress code today. You see although it was Autumn, it was very warm so you got everything from Bermudas and sun glasses to

Today GASP and I took a day off work and went to the National Ploughing Competition in Athy on a date. (www.npa.ie) It was fantastic ! GASP was a bit impatient when we reached the site and had about a 10 minute queue to get to our parking space. Hi impatience soon turned to satisfaction, when I whipped out my food flask containing hot sausages and rashers and proceeded to make up our own Breakfast Rolls with Orange Juice.....yes I am a Goddess ! We strolled around for the day GASP in his element admiring buttocks...of Belgians Blues while I admired admired the tackle of an Aberdeen Angus. We watched nether regions being shaved, hair being combed, hairspray being applied and powder being sprinkled....and that was just the livestock !The great thing about the ploughing is that, once you don a pair of wellies, you are dressed.Now every type of wellie was on show, spots, stripes, swirls, scottie dogs and my personal favourites, wellies covered in stiletto shoes. Those of us over 30 stuck t

The Gospel according to GASP...."Sunday is a day of rest". Now GASP uses this religious reference in order to further his own relaxation. Take yesterday for example. The MALE - GASP got his Sunday lie in ( I am not complaining as I get Saturday morning)He rose, showered and arrived down to the kitchen where I handed him a bacon omlette, toast and tea. Off he went to mass after the usual 10 minutes in the loo ( what do men do for that long ??)After mass he collected me and the boys and we went to visit his Mun ...MIL. While he reads Pat Spillane in the Sunday World ( why buy your own when you can read your brothers) Following this we headed back home where GASP seated himself in front of the television in the kitchen, having convinced eldest son to watch a DVD. Having known he would want to watch the All Ireland Final I had resigned myself to the fact he would not be in communication for 1 and a half hours...my mistake. The commentary before the minor match started at 1.30 and

So I went from Fridays baby shower to Saturdays "surprise" celebration of MIL's 75th birthday. Having declared she wanted no fuss, bother or the likes, the large ( massive) extended family ignored this completely and decided to hold a "surprise" party in her house yesterday. I use inverted commas around "surprise" as they could not keep a secret if their lives depended on it. They are alien to the subtle look, raised eyebrow or whisper opting for very loud conversations, numerous phone calls, exagerrated hand gestures and constant changes of plan. I was charged with bringing Lemon Chicken, a recipe I will blog at some stage as it feeds alot of people very well.We were asked to arrive at 4.30 so we got there at 4.45 to find we were first....by a mile !Gradually the seven dwarfs and their husbands and offspring arrived as did one brother in law (aka Loud) and family. The other brother in law present ,single white male , who asked for the party to take pl

So last night the Caribbean Queen had the generosity to host ( in her MTV cribs style house) a baby shower for the Mad One. A great gang of women gathered, the Stunner, Maxi, Stage School Mum, the Culchie Dub, Andie Mc Dowell, BMM, the Mad Ones MIL and the Caribbean Queen Mother. The Mad Ones daughter got to come along to the girls evening much to her delight and designed a special baby shower card, ie. a picture of her mother in the shower with her head poking above the door and her bump poking out the side !She had announced at school earlier that she was going to a baby shower, which her friends took to mean that her mother was going to give birth that evening in the Caribbean Queens bathroom....thankfully this was not the case. The food was a delight, warm salsa or crab dip, guacamole, sour cream or a heavenly combination of roasted figs, tossed in balsamic vinegar and topped with crumbled goats cheese ! We overdid it a bit on the starters but still managed to devour the stuffed br

This is a totally true story. I have the most wonderful assistant at work whom I shall call Jackanory because she tells the most fantastic stories, all of which are about her and true. She doesn't think they are funny but she has reduced to tears on many an occasion...like the time she and her mother went to view a show home, took a look around the downstairs and kitchen and headed upstairs. They were a bit surprised to find some of the people drinking wine, until they realised they had gate crashed a house warming!She told me this story a couple of weeks ago and I insisted she recount it to the rest of my colleagues. They loved it and asked me if I knew the bank raid story. I said I hadn't and so heard the following true story. When Jackanory was in her early twenties (in the late 70's) and recently engaged, she was working in a building society. One day, as she was sorting money with her colleague, in the presence of three detectives, three armed men burst in wearing bala

Last night the FA invited a select group around to her recently Feng Shui'd house for dinner. The group consisted of Newly Single, myself, the blonde, the Baking Queen and a very welcome addition to the madness, Sparkle. Sparkle has been subjected to us before ,but in our diluted state, when the men were present,so she had not felt the full force of our gathering in the one room...god bless her !The usual components of our conversations ensued, with the regular smattering of innuendo, shrieks, laughter and groaning. The Baking Queen entertained us with the story of the time she went to Harwich for a week with a friend when she was 18. They hired a sun bed for a week, lay under it daily, came back with a tan and told everyone they had been to Spain ! Newly Single gave us a glimpse of our previous lives....in technicolor ! The Baking Queen brought forward many gasps and shrieks when she advised us of the baby names she had in mind for her December baby.The blonde is concerned that I

As I had made a large lemon cake for eldest son's birthday, and there was only three of us to eat it, there was a lot left so ( never one to waste food)I used the sponge to create a trifle. This came to me as Fat Freddie was coming to lunch and after Lemon Meringue Pie, Sherry trifle is his favourite. Now he hates those dry, gelatinous individual trifles, he only likes it from the side of a great big bowl of trifle, particularly on it's second day when all the flavours have married. So off I went, spreading cherry jam on the sponge and placing it in the base of a fabulous Crystal bowl. I drained two cans of fruit cocktail ( shock horror....not fresh fruit). I mixed the syrup with a good measure of rum ( sherry ran out) and poured this sweet heady syrup onto the sponges. On top I spread the fruit, a layer of jelly and then a layer of custard. I repeated these steps until the bowl was a myriad of colours and spread a layer of lightly whipped cream over the top. I put this in the

Son aged five sat behind me in the car this afternoon teaching his cousin aged four a Westlife song. " 5 foot 10, cat suit and Bambi eyes " he sang repeatedly while his cousin looked on in admiration. After a few minutes of this, I turned on the radio for a change of tune, just as the line " I really like your peaches, wanna shake your tree" was sung. The five year old burst out laughing exclaiming "shake your tree....How do you shake someones tree Mammy ?" I suggested it was a nice thing to do to someone and left it at that ! Later in the day the cousin asked if I had finally bought playdough.." oh no, I forgot" I exaggeratedly replied thinking over my dead body was playdough coming out. Hearing this he replied " you also forgot to buy new sand for the sand pit....you're not the best are you !" What hope have the women of the future got with these two on the loose later in life?

I had not meant to sound psychiatric in my last post but must have done as the Mad One and the Caribbean Queen both phoned to suggest I have the boys minded so I could join them and some others for a girlie lunch. The Saviour came to the rescue and I proceeded to Fuschia House in Ardee for some necessary "me time". Also there was Maxi, the Stunner, Stage School Mum and the Culchie Dub. As expected, particularly due to the presence of the Mad One, the conversation sank to a very low level, so I was well and truly entertained. At one point someone asked for some Paracetamol and the conversation got round to medication. I felt the need to recount a story told to me some time ago, of a friend of mine who, in advance of having an IUD fitted, was given a Difene suppository, by another friend, to make the whole experience less uncomfortable. On questioning afterwards as to how it all went, she exclaimed that having the IUD fitted was not half as hard as having had to SWALLOW the Dif

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/272947/Hairy-Bakers---Maple-syrup-scones Yes ,I know you thought I had disappeared off the planet but the last week has been a roller coaster. Fat Freddie in hospital ( he'll be fine ) , BMM's house warming, sick baby Monday,Eldest Son's 5th Birthday Tuesday, his first day at school Wednesday, he came home sick !Back to docs for second time in a week . My plans for this week off work have gone completely out the window and I am suffering somewhat from cabin fever. I have turned to baking for sanity . Last week the childminder who shall be known as my Saviour, gave me a ridiculously big marrow...the size of a pumpkin. She suggested that I would know what to do with it...no,not like that!Firstly I roasted a quarter of it and although it was successful,it lacked a bit of flavour.I decided then to go down the sweet route and made a Marrow Cake ( ie. carrot cake made from marrow)I topped it with an orange butter icing and it was really good, i

So there we were, myself, the FA and the blonde, celebrating the blonde's birthday with a Food and Wine Readers evening in One Pico. The Tattinger Brut Reserve reception was at 6.45 ( do bear in mind we had polished off a bottle of Bollinger in our hotel room beforehand !)We were "on form" and really looking forward to our 7 course meal in the Dublin Restaurant of the Year. We were seated next to the couple who have attended the most F+W evenings and things started off well with an Amuse Bouche of Saute Langoustine, sorrel risotto, summer truffle and peas.....tiny but divine ! The blonde agreed but we both agreed that a big bowl of it would have been great. By this stage the foodie beside the FA was advertising her two single sons and we were offering her the FA on a plate. The blonde was listening to the first of many stories from her husband whose nationality I will not divulge (but he had thrown a towel over his seat earlier in the day !)The starter of Fois Gras parfai

So, we're down in the Ferrycarrig Friday evening with the Mad One's son no. 1 who has his arm in plaster. He has already missed soccer camp and his twin sister has been to Paris so the plan is that he gets to swim with an inflatable splint over his plaster to keep it dry. The Mad One forgot to get it, so on Saturday morning the poor thing had to keep his arm above his head in the kids pool while his siblings splashed away ( but not near him !)The Mad One in a fit of love said she would drive into Wexford that afternoon to Mc Cauleys chemist ( as recommended by reception) to get him the splint. She also needed wipes and Neurofen and Fat Freddie asked for shaving foam. I suggested she thought of the word SWAN, Shaving foam, Wipes, Arm, Neurofen. This was a good idea but the Mad One in her pregnant state was not confident of remembering so she wrote them down on a piece of paper and set off to the chemist "just on the edge of town". Two hours later she returned, presente

OK so if you hate kids in hotels, have no kids and never planning on having kids, go back to Google ! One Grandfather, two sisters and six kids under 8...I know what you're thinking but it was bliss and I am totally chilled after two day at the Ferrycarrig Hotel. I'ver heard about it, read about it and now I have experienced the hotel which keeps winning "Family Hotel of the Year".There are lots of very good reasons. Their kids club is extraordinary, involving trips out, movie nights, country and western night, pyjama parties. It is open 10-1 and 4 - 11 every day for over fours and we had a job removing the children, even the Mad One's 8 year old twin girl who informed me the she is "more mature" since she visited the Ambassadrice in Paris earlier in the week !Fat Freddie, the Mad One and I spent most of the weeekend sat out on the deck looking at the water with just the two babies for company, who honoured us with snoozes. We swam, ate, played, swam, at

Boy am I glad to have reached 6.50 this Sunday evening. Finally I feel well, not fiully well of course, post hangover well, where you are still wrecked but the pain is gone. Last night saw the usual suspects partying in the Blonde and Victor's house. We christened their "indoor outdoor room" in style with vast quantites of Prosecco from those demon glasses they have which have a hollow stem !We arrived at 8.30 to find the porn star in conversation with Victor while the blonde tried , for the first of many times, to take her 6 inch heels from the gaps in the decking. The men were busy telling her she should just change her shoes, but her sister, gorgeous niece and I nodded in understanding when she replied she just had to wear them until everyone arrived.....it's a girl thing.The FA and Newly Single joined the party along with my old Geography teacher, who reminded me of the day I brought in the bullocks lungs, heart and liver to Biology class ( Fat Freddie was in the

Ok back to January. The Mad One and I went off on a 3 hour shopping jaunt to get a wedding outfit for her...I was there for ooh's aaah's and "no ways" with no intention of buying anything....you can tell the end of the story already ! Now Big Girls like us don't go to boutiques, we go to department stores, so we arrived in Shaws in Drogheda full of beans at 10.00 on a Monday morning. Straight to the Libra section we went and within 5 minutes I had bought a twin set and the most fantastic purple high collared rain mac !The mac cost 190 euro , an amount I would very rarely spend on myself but decided it was my maternity pay treat and loved it so much I felt no guilt. The coat was also there in Teal in the summer section and although I touched it, looked at it and circled around it, I resisted the temptation to buy both.The Mad One found a great dress for the Holy Communion in May and bought it even though I reminded her that every time she bought an outfit in advanc

http://www.castlemurray.com/site/index.aspx?ID=1 BMM has guests arriving over from the USA next week and they plan to do a tour of Ireland in a week.Only people from a place as big as America would contemplate going from Meath to Kilkenny,to Kinsale, To Kenmare, to Liscannor, to Galway, to Sligo and to Donegal and back to Meath in 7 days. What makes this even more of a feat is that the Americans ( the 3 of them) have an average age of 80 something....fantastic! The Babe in the Chanel Suit ( Bics)is one of the most amazing women I have ever met.She is a petite blonde dynamo and arrives over every couple of years loaded down with gifts for every one of the children in BMM's extended family....about 32 !It is impossible to beat her to a bill in a restaurant as she has usually sweet talked the Maitre D' before you even get to the table. She never had any children, which saddened her greatly and she would have made the most wonderful mother. When I last dropped her back at the airpo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTxfIDYx6Q&playnext=1&videos=FWigsq_Wzho&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh%2Bdiv-1r-9-HM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOu2MYXjU74&feature=youtube_gdata Have discovered u tube ! This is due to eldest sons. Micheal Jackson obsession and wanting to see the video of "Beat It" .I googled "beat it u tube" and got the attached links among the clips. The eldest son was in histerics, as was I. His other love at the moment is Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham, which gives me the opportunity to relive my youth while singing into a yellow and red microphone in the playroom.I remember going to see Wham! in the RDS with the Mad One. I was hopelessly in love with Andrew Ridgely, who wore tartan trousers with a matching long coat.....magic ! I reckoned fancying Andrew gave me more of a chance cause everyone fancied George. He never did contact me...another man who is walking around not realising how close he came...sigh. GASP knows exac

Right, it's 7.16 on a Saturday evening. GASP and eldest son are gone to a football game down the road ( not actually far enough away !), the baby is asleep in bed. I have just put a large proscuitto and mozarella pizza in the oven, I am drinking a cold beer, while watching the cookery channel......FANTASTIC!. I don't envy anyone getting dressed to go out, anyone at a party, anyone anywhere in fact...this is just lovely. The pizza was given to me last night by the FA after she, the blonde and I had shared a Friday night together. My text to her did say I would come round Friday night after doing the shopping and "would bring dinner" but she missed that section of the text and thought that I was most unsubtly suggesting it was time she cooked for us....as if I would ! She had bought pizza and had made a gorgeous Lambs Leaf and avacoado salad. We put the pizza aside ( she sent us home with one each)and polished off the salad wiht my Aruna Rogan Josh curry containing our

So today, GASP, I and the two offspring went to the zoo. This was the treat of the week due to it's expense ( even though the Duracell Bunny had kindly given us a card which would qualify us for a discount). Recession proof as always I lacked the picnic, ham sandwiches, crisps, homemade lemon cupcakes ( BUNS!) and a bottle of pop.We packed for all weather eventualities so the buggy looked like I was a street hawker by the time we had slung all the jackets on top of it and lathered on the sunscreen.An hour in the queue proved worthwhile as I got chatting to the woman ( who looked alot older than I am ) behind us, who had a four year old and 18 month old twins. Their "Phil and Ted" had got a puncture on the front wheel so the twins were enjoying a view of the sky as their father tried to keep the front wheel off the ground. The pucture repair kit which comes with this most fashionable baby vehicle was of course " at home" so they were depending on meeting another

Where do I start.Truthfully preparations for last night started on Wednesday with exfoliation an shaving, followed by tanning on Thursday. Not just standard tanning, I actually put fake tan over every inch of my legs as opposed to the mid thigh piebald pony look I usually go for !The boys were dropped off by me to BMM's house at 6.15 and I arrived home to GASP dressing so I duly took to the shower. I got very excited when I realised that GASP was sitting on the edge of our bed looking into the ensuite at the good wife in the shower so I acted like I was in the Timotei ad. Unfortunately when I turned off the loud power shower, I realised that my husband of 7 years was actually listening to the sports news on our bedside radio !I clothed myself in a pretty summer dress with the required amount of tanned cleavage ( and a bit more!)At 7.15 I poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and sat down beside my husband as he watched....yes you guessed it...The A Team !Marital bliss. Off to Newly Sin

So, GASP has very kindly decided to go to Newly Singles for dinner on Friday night. It is getting even more exciting as I met her fir a picnic today and she was able to tell me that the Porn Star is coming ( excuse the pun !) as is the Baking Queen and the Teacher....the makings of an excellent night indeed. Now the porn star is a gentleman (?) friend of the Financial Advisors and has previously shown up for dinner wearing a t-shirt with this written on it "Amateur gynaecologist at your cervix". He also greeted the Ban Garda for the frist time with the words " you have magnifient breasts". He is therefore not backward at coming forward ( just can't help it !).He was at the Sage and Stone Food and Craft Fair on Saturday selling Art....non erotic Art !He was previously a member of the army, which I for one always found hard to believe as he wouldn't know a covert operation if it hit him on the crotch. He is now an art dealer/gallery owner and has some really l