bigfoodiemama

With great delight this morning ,I announced to GASP how delighted I was that ,due to some practical training I had to take part in, I had to wear tracksuit bottoms to work. This to me is quite an event as I normally wear suits or a uniform so the liberation of the tracksuit bottom was a much welcome change.GASP turned in horror to me and asked exactly which pair of tracksuit bottoms I was planning to wear."Don't worry" says I "they have not got writing across the bum". GASP thought for a moment and replied " you could make alot of money that way though". Stupidly I asked why for him to reply "think of all that advertising space !!!!!!! If you are affected by any of the references in the paragraph above, please join the Tracksuit Bottom Appreciation Society on Facebook x

So it has now been decided that the neighbouring counties of Meath and Louth will meet in the Leinster Final of the 2010 GAA championship. This is monumental as it is 50 years since Louth were in a Leinster Final and now it is against their greatest rivals. July 11th promises to be a great day but there is a clash of events. Yes, the "blessing of the graves" aka "cemetery Sunday" is on the same day. Now this is truly a clash of two religions, one Catholic, one sport. The interesting and fortunate thing is that the local parish priest is a major football fan, so the feeling locally is that he might have some of the blessings earlier in the morning or even the night before. I am somewhat disappointed as I find the blessing of the graves one of the most interesting days of the year. Whereas in some countries they have biggest vegetables competition, or the best Victoria sandwich or the best knitted jumper, the blessing of the graves is the " I can dress smarter th...

Ingredients 1 whole chicken 5lb 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons of your favorite dry spice rub ( eg. Cajun) 1 can beer Directions Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil then rub inside and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside. Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your baking tray and place in the center of the oven, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod. Cook the chicken at 180 gegrees Celsius ( or in kettle BBQ with the cover on), for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F in the breast area and 180 degrees F in the thigh, or until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed wi...

Last night as we brought eldest son down to bed, we heard a strange noise from the boys room. Oh yes, the 7 month old was lying ,on his side, snoring ! GASP thought this was hilarious, but as a woman who now lives in a house with a 7 month old snorer, a 4 year old snorer and a 43 year old snorer, I did not find it particularly funny. GASP and I started off married life in the usual state of bliss newlyweds enjoy, unil the first night he snored. Now the problem was not that he snored, but that , when I nudged him and asked him to roll over because he was snoring, he answered with "No I wasn't, I wasn't even asleep" . I am always awake longer that GASP because I read and I therefore get to observe that 20 second process it takes for GASP to fall asleep on his back and immediately commence snoring.He seems to think that I nudge him for no apparent reason and make up the fact that he snores ???????? What possible reason would make a woman wake up in the middle of the nigh...

The FA joined me on Saturday when GASP had chosen GAA over an evening in with woty....imagine ! Mond you he had just spent a week with me on holidays so deserved a break. The cupboard was well and truly bare, having not got around to the post hols shop so I was under pressure to produce a meal for someone who is a gourmet foodie. Thank God for GASP, as I strolled out to the garden to find large dew covered lettuces, vibrant green spinach and some scallions. I had managed to pick up a cooked chicken that lunchtime so I raided the bottom drawers of the fridge and the larder cupboard and managed to bring together the best salad I have ever made. I washed the lettuce and spinach and tore them roughly into the huge Nicholas Mosse bowl we got as a wedding present. I added the chopped scallions, some halved cherry tomatoes, the last 3 inches of cucumber and some sunflower seeds. I found a jar of artichoke hearts in oil, which I had bought some time ago in Aldi, drained them and added them on ...

Now should you think that this further attack on the lack of generosity in New Zealand is as a result of the Fit Ones husband ( BBB - big bald bloke) texting me the rugby score last weekend, you would be right ! Yet again the Kiwis have made the National news over here in the Northern hemisphere. You will remember the guy who went around to various funerals just for the food ....the Grim Eater! Well this time, one of their government ministers has been found to have used his ministerial credit card to pay for the porn movies he watched while staying away in hotels on government business....the tight and stupid git ! Fantastic.....make our guys expenses look tame.Now this in itself is a great story,but added to that the fact that he is a married father of 7 and it turns into a comedy sketch !I do remember going to a wedding in the UK along with some of my male friends, some years ago. I couldn't understand why their hotel bills were exactly £6.70 more than mine, until someone pointe...

In the glorious sunshine today, the eldest son and I attended the birthday party of the third daughter of Newly Single. Now to me this was a big event, as Newly Single and I attended each others birthday parties in the 70's. Now we are the big 40 and our children have taken over the mantle. The great thing was, nothing had really changed. The same things I remember with fondness were repeated today much to the delight of the boys and girls. Pass the Parcel and Musical Chairs were the order of the day and food was cocktail suasages, sandwiches, crisps, homemade buns ( plain, iced and rice crispie )and cake....just lovely. Back in our day BMM used to bring us over to Newly Singles Mamas ( who will from now on be known as the Duracell Bunny (DB) !) and they had an extra game.....the tasting game. I think this particular game began my foodie personality.DB would blindfold us and then get us to taste 4 items of food on a teaspoon and we had to guess what it was. Now, in case you have vi...