February 11, 2013 by Elliotandme

The MADS – if you’ve got a spare 5 minutes?

Hi there dear reader,

I address you in the singular as I’m pretty sure there’s just one of you that keeps coming back and looking at my blog rather than a whole horde of people. But do you know what? That’s ok with me, and I love you all the same no matter how many of you there are. The intention of this blog is to record things so that my little man can read it when he’s older and (ignoring my rants about random topics) find out what he was like when he was little, so I’m not really after a huge readership (although that *may* be quite nice…)

I, on the other hand, have spent the last couple of days looking at other blogs – most with huge followings – and coming up with a list of nominations for the MAD Blog Awards. These are awards for Parent bloggers and quite frankly what seems like a perfect excuse to get out on the town!

I am under no illusions that I could actually ever get to go to this event you’ll understand, but if you did feel like nominating little old me you can do so on the MAD Awards site (or have fun nominating the masses of other simply amazing blogs there are – I have had such great fun doing this, can’t wait to see who wins!)

February 11, 2013 by Elliotandme

Lemon curd warning, this is addictive

I recently made some macarons (or maybe that’s macaroons?) which turned out to be an awful lot easier than I was led to believe from watching the Great British Bake Off!

mmm macarons!

To fill the centres I used homemade lemon curd, which again seemed RIDICULOUSLY easy to make. To be honest I was left wondering why I’ve never made it before. So much so that I thought others may like to make it!

If you’d like to give it a go you’ll need:
3 lemons
140g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp cornflour

Firstly put the zest and juice of all the lemons in a pan over a low heat, then add the cornflour and mix to dissolve. Then add the sugar and stir until it’s all combined.

Once that’s done you can add the eggs. Give them a bit of a whisk first, then add them to the lemon mixture.

Then increase the heat to medium and stir constantly while it thickens. It takes less than 5 minutes. I thought it was never going to happen and then suddenly it was lovely and thick.

Once it’s nice and thick you can put it in a jar (it makes enough for one jar) and once cooled it can be stored in the fridge for about a week – if it lasts that long in your house, it doesn’t in mine!

See, easy or what? Enjoy!

February 7, 2013 by Elliotandme

Is it just me or is potty training terrifying?


: thejbird / People Photos / CC BY

There are several things that in all honesty I don’t like. These include being in long queues, being anywhere without access to a cup of tea, people who drive with fog lights on when it’s not foggy, even the annoying man who we see cycling every day on the way to work who never has his feet on his pedals in the right way, and anything to do with those really grim public toilets you find in town centres.

This last point is what I’m particularly worrying about as we are speedily heading towards the happy land of “potty training” in this house.

Our little man seems quite keen, we’ve had reports that he has “been” on a potty twice in the past couple of weeks at nursery, though currently is not showing any interest at home. For the Mummy who barely remembers to go herself before leaving the house, I’m worried I’m heading for disaster.

I mean how can you possibly get away without visiting a public toilet when you’re potty training a toddler? I can’t expect him to hang on in the insane manner that his mother seems to be able to can I?

I don’t deal with mess very well either and surely that’s an unavoidable delight that goes along with this whole phase? I can’t expect no accidents at all can I? How long do these things take?

So I need coping strategies, fast. Any advice?

Photo credit: thejbird / Foter.com / CC BY

February 5, 2013 by Elliotandme

A Postcard from Ghana: 25 years of Comic Relief

Last week there was a huge guessing game going on among blogging types over on Twitter – you see Annie, Tanya and Penny (from Mammasaurus, Alexander Residence and MummyBarrow) were waiting with bated breath to announce some very exciting news!

They had been invited to travel to Ghana with Comic Relief this week to see how the money we’ve all been donating for the last 25 years has been used in a number of different projects from schools to bakeries. They were joined by celebrities – Davina McCall and Jonathan Ross. What an amazing trip of a lifetime!

Luckily these lovely women have been sharing their experiences with us and sending personalised virtual postcards from their trip. Mine arrived today, and I have to admit I welled up a bit when I opened it especially to see the smiling eyes of a little boy shining out of my computer. It made me hug my little boy, Elliot, ever so slightly tighter this evening.

Well done TeamHonk! Let’s hear it for 25 years of Comic Relief!

************************
Dear Philippa

Within minutes of arriving at the Virtuous Women’s Bakery this little fellow popped his head over the nursery wall into the courtyard. He’s the very first child I photographed, so we were both a bit shy. When we arrived the children were singing and dancing. Davina joined in for a dance while this little fellow said hello to us over the wall.

The bakery gives women the opportunity of financial independence and having the nursery on site means they can work.

Love Penny

This is a digital postcard sent from TeamHonk (www.mammasaurus.co.uk; www.aresidence.co.uk; www.mummybarrow.com) during their travels with Comic Relief in Ghana celebrating #goodwork.

For the past 25 years the money raised through Red Nose Day has been changing the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa. Let’s Keep Up the Good Work. Find out how at rednoseday.com

For other digital postcards please do join up and check out the linky on www.teamhonk.org