The Honeymoon - Part 4 - Lower Nile

Its quite difficult to write a post about Cairo, which is probably why it has taken me so long.

The problem is that for the most part cameras are off limits without a special permit or licence.

This is the part of Egypt where I would suggest you buy a stack of postcards. Not to send to anyone but to fill in the gaps in your photo album later.

I can only suggest you visit, Cairo, Giza and the rest of the Lower Nile are absolutely breathtaking.

One word of warning though. If you happen to be in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus or any of those places and are offered a "day trip" to Egypt, proceed with caution. There's nothing actually wrong with the trip, they are very well organised. But they are organised in such a way as to make you part with your cash as quickly as possible. You will be taken to Cairo Museum for about an hour.

It has been said that if you were allowed 1 minute to look at each artifact it would take over 9 months to see everything.

You'll then be ushered on to Auntie Betty's jewelery shop, Uncle Jim's papyrus shop and well you get the idea.

You'll see very little of Egypt on one of these tours and there is a lot to see...


We were there for one week and I would have been happier with a few months. This photo was taken from the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. While we were at the Mosque the Muezzin began calling and out of respect I didn't take any more than a few photographs facing away from the Mosque.

One thing I will say is that if you plan to visit any of the many mosques in Cairo, please cover up. It doesn't take a lot to show some respect and a pair of trousers and long sleeves aren't really going to do you any harm. One girl in our tour group was a bit put out by the fact that all the women entering the mosque were told that they would have to wear a heavy cloak except me. Bear in mind that this was the same girl who put her bloody shoes down on the ground beside the fountain so that she could get her camera ready. And the same girl who eventually had her camera confiscated because she couldn't switch off the flash. I swear there's always one.

Anyway, obviously the first thing you will want to see on arriving in Cairo are the pyramids.

Surprisingly enough you can't really see them from anywhere in Cairo. The city is so built up and more than a little polluted that you will have to get a bit closer to really appreciate them.

One other thing. People in general are a little jaded by the pyramids. You've seen them everywhere, TV, magazines, postcards and it does ruin it for you a little.

If you see them from a short distance, you get your typical holiday snap idea of what they look like.


Off in the desert, the middle of nowhere, these giants rise out of the sand.

Want to see them from the other side....


This was our hotel and yes that is a swimming pool and a golf course right at the foot of the Giza plateau. This view almost ruined it for me. I knew the hotel was close, but I never thought it was that close.


You will need to get right up close and personal to get a true idea of just how big these things really are.


Each stone was about five feet tall, although I think they are a bit smaller closer to the top.

There is a tour inside one of the pyramids, but as I've mentioned before we arrived in the middle of a heatwave and on this particular day the temperature reached 63C. The tour guides recommended to everyone that whilst the tour was still running nobody should take it. It is very cramped and claustrophobic inside the passageways and a few people had to be carried out while we were there.

Instead we headed over to see the Sphinx.


It was and probably still is undergoing a lot of restorative work.


Also on the Giza plateau is the Solar Boat Museum containing the oldest boat in history. The boat was used to transport Cheops body and then buried with him. Its in pretty good condition, don't you think?


We were also able to get to Memphis during our stay in Egypt. Memphis is now a city built over ruins. Of course, archaeologists would love nothing more than to flatten the city and start digging, but the people of Memphis are firmly standing their ground.

As it is today there are a few uncovered statues to be seen and a large alabaster sphinx.


There is also a Colossus of Ramses II in Memphis. It would stand over 14 meters high if it wasn't lying down, obviously.

Some of the other things we were able to visit, but unfortunately weren't able to or just wouldn't stop what we were doing to photograph...

The city of the dead is probably not what you imagine it to be. A huge graveyard now filled with life. In the 1960s due to a great housing shortage for lower income family and immigration from the country and outlying areas, the tombs and mausolea were transformed into homes. You'll see little children playing football and using headstones as goal posts. In fact many of the headstones have been used in the building process. Its a spectacular place to visit and spend some time and well worth the trip to Cairo on its own. Its a very strange experience to see so many living share space with the dead.

The Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar is an amazing place. Its actually a large group of separate bazaars which have grown and enveloped each other of the years. The poor husband couldn't get me to stand still love enough to take any photographs, but the colours and smells are breathtaking. Each bazaar sells vast quantities of a different item. Gold (sold by weight, silver and leather, carpets, copperware, spices, perfume, cloth and fabric, food, sheesha and street after street of belly dancers outfits. It can seem a little overwhelming and a bit scary when you first enter the bazaar. It covers a very large area and is extremely crowded in very cramped streets (no more than a few feet wide) but there is some method to the madness and its actually quite easy to find your way around once you've had a quick dash around the market. A word of warning, avoid the centre of the market, its the area where you will see a lot of tour buses parked and hawkers trying to sell "real essence of Chanel No:5" and some poor saps desperate to buy it. Also don't go into any shop with a hustler. They stand in the bazaar telling everyone they can get you local prices on everything. The store owners know them on sight and hike the prices to pay their compensation. Never pay more than a third of the first price you are given. Seriously, sellers actually look disappointed for a second if you don't haggle.

The Hanging Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary is the most beautiful in Egypt and well worth a visit. It is nicknamed the Hanging Church because it is built over the bastions of a roman gate. It is decorated inside with decorative cedar panels and a large marble pulpit supported by twelve columns. No matter what time of the day you visit the church is always filled with people but something about the place quietens the usual chatter and noise you will hear at other sights and you feel like you could very well be there alone.

I'm going to have to leave it at that because I'm very tempted to sell the car and book a couple of flights and that just wouldn't do at all.

Menu Plan Monday - 16/2 - 22/2

God this week has dragged in. I was starting to think I'd missed a Monday and just fed the family exactly the same thing two weeks running.

Turns out I didn't.

I actually have blisters where my thumbs meet my hands at the minute. I have worked like a dog in that garden today. On the up side everything is now ready for planting and I'll do that in drips and drabs with Toots next week. I can't wait to have a garden filled with fresh vegetables. Toots has been looking forward to the fresh peas as well. If she goes missing in the summer I can pretty much guarantee I'll find her hiding in amongst the peas, eating away quite happily.

We stuck to the plan as written last week and I'm hoping we can stay on track with this. It's definitely helping each day be a little more organised.

Monday:
Lunch: Toasted English muffins with cheese and fresh fruit. I did really well with my market haunting this week so the house is crammed full of fresh fruit and winter vegetables. My dad brought the muffins home from the bakery, although I'd like to have a go at making these myself.
Dinner: Our winter salad. The hubs has been craving this for weeks. Its basically just steamed baby potatoes (quartered), green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, tuna/chicken/prawns and salad dressing of your choice. I like Caesar the hubs likes Paul Newman's two thousand island dressing with an extra hit of chili.

Tuesday
Lunch: Garlic mushroom on toast (bread dough in the fridge to bake tomorrow) with any leftover salad.
Dinner: Cauliflower soup with tarragon and good bread.

Wednesday
Lunch: Crusty bread pizzas.
Dinner: Spaghetti with chorizo (still from Christmas), peas and cheese sauce and garlic bread.

Thursday
Lunch: Soup or sandwiches. We have to be somewhere today so it'll be something quick.
Dinner: Black eyed bean and vegetable burgers with chips(fries).

Friday
Lunch: Tomato and spring onion noodles.
Dinner: I mentioned in passing to the husband that Annie has a snack night once a week and he jumped at the idea. Still not entirely sure what to make though. I've a mini goat's cheese in the freezer I might bake that with some baby potatoes and chicken goujons for a fakey fondue, maybe some onion rings or mini pizzas. I haven't decided yet.

Saturday
Lunch: Back to ballet today so we'll just clean out the fridge of any leftovers, add bread or make some sandwiches.
Dinner: Irish Stew.

Sunday
Lunch: Roast chicken with steamed vegetables and potatoes.
Dinner: I still have a lot of trout in the freezer and my brother will be catching again soon so I'll use some to make fishcakes with sweet chili and salsa for dipping.

Head over to Organizing Junkie for more great Menu Plans and maybe some ideas and inspiration for next week.

I'm also having a giveaway at the moment. Its open to all until midnight on 28 February. Click here for details on how to enter.

Say what...?

I thought I'd clarify some common Irish/Ulsterish words and sayings, just for funsies.

Faffing - Used to describe time wasting, usually when the time waster is actually very busy doing something, but with no direct outcome or nothing to show for their work. Not to be confused with Dossing about.

Dosser, Dossing about - Sitting on you bum doing absolutely nothing except taking up valuable space and using up valuable oxygen.

Chuffed - Feeling happy or incredibly pleased with yourself.

Poke - An ice cream cone and Toots personal favourite treat.

Craic/Crack - Fun.

I tell a lie - used in conversation to to correct yourself when you realise you've remember something incorrectly. Usually preceded with "No, wait".

So it is - Can be used either on its own as in "Its cold out", "aye, so it is" or at the end of a sentence to help get the point across as in "Its cold out, so it is".

Is that you? Please don't try to be clever and answer "Nooo, its Madonna". The person wants to know if you're finished.

Yer Da - Your father.

Yer Ma - Your Mother.

Does my Da know yer Ma - Is my father "familiar" with your mother. An insult, use with extreme caution.

Eejit - Idiot.

Numpty - Idiot.

Bin lid - Idiot.

A drop of the black stuff - A pint of Guinness.

The Funny Fortnight - Northern Ireland's fifth season or the Marching Season (i.e. Spring, Summer, Marching, Autumn, Winter). Usually a time when trouble would break out, angry mobs, rioting that sort of thing, although I haven't seen much of it the last few years. Also a time of the year when, if you work in Belfast and your boss is very nice, he may allow you to go home early in case the roads were blocked by an overturned bus or more often than not a couple of tires, a sofa and a few teenage boys with bumfluff.

Bumfluff - Barely pubescent facial hair commonly seen on young teenage boys. Also known as "The Barcode Moustache".

Brickie - Bricklayer or builder.

Spark - Electrician.

Chippie - Carpenter, not to be confused with Chippy.

Chippy - Purveyor of deeply delicious fried food such as fish, chips (fries), pasties (past-ees), sausages and the ever present Ulster Fry.

Ulster Fry - Soda bread, potato bread, pancake, white bread, sausage, bacon, egg and mushrooms all fried and served with baked beans (Heinz) and generous amounts of red or Brown Sauce.

Red sauce - Ketchup.

Brown sauce - always HP its made with vinegar, fruits and spices. Think chutney only completely smooth and very lovely.

Bap - a small bread roll.

Belfast Bap - a large bread roll, more of an entire loaf to be honest but usually consumed by a single person in one sitting, sometimes filled with cheese and onion crisps (Tayto).

Butty - Sandwich.

Ok, so that'll do for the minute. If anyone finds this to be a useful reference, let me know I'll do more.

There are thousands of these, so there are.

I'm in a giving mood - Designer Bag Giveaway

Giveaway open to all, regardless of location, read on to find out how to enter...

So maybe its all the love in the air or the fact that I had bacon for breakfast.

It could be that I have a gas leak and haven't noticed yet.

Whatever the reason, I'm feeling generous and one of you lovely people will benefit from that generosity.

I'm having a bit of a clear out and tidy up and I came across this bag. Brand spanking new, it was bought to go with a outfit to wear to a wedding, the outfit got returned at the last minute because I'd changed my mind. The bag did not.

Because who in their right mind would return this.

The bag is by Charlotte Reid London and is no longer available. You'll have a very hard time finding this particular bag anywhere.

Anyway, its never seen the light of day which is a bit of sin because its absolutely gorgeous.

Lovely person that I am, I'm going to give this bag away.

And you, dear friends have three chances to win this lovely bag.

All you have to do is any or all of the following (you get one entry per)

1 Leave me a comment.

2 Subscribe to SeetheWoodsandthetrees and then leave another separate comment (if you are already subscribed leave a comment letting me know, it'll count).

3 Write a short post about this giveaway on your site and link back here, come back and leave another separate comment.

Simple as. Three chances to win this lovely bag.

The giveaway will run until midnight on 28 February 2009 and on Sunday I'll select a winner using random number generator.

And the giveaway is open to one and all, completely regardless of where you live, I'll send it anywhere.

And if this is your first time here or you've been before but simply haven't commented (we're all busy after all), don't be afraid to jump right in. If you have any questions about the giveaway or the bag itself, please email me. It makes the draw a little less fiddly. Thanks

Remember, if you're not in you can't win.

Good Luck.

Freebies work for me. For more WFMW tips, recipes and ideas head over to visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer and thank her for all her hard work, effort and time she dedicated to Works for me Wednesday before the torch passes to Kristen at We are THAT family.

Three's the charm

So I'm going to be a millionaire. No really, I am.

You, with the skeptical look on your face, yes you. Stop being so pessimistic. You must be an absolute joy to have around.

Anyway, let me explain my thinking.

I never win anything.

Nothing at all. Except once I won £7 on a scratch card. Say it with me friends "Wooooohooooo".

But this week has been a little different.

For a start I won this week's challenge in the Friendly Project 365 Challenge with this shot

So I was chuffed to bits.

Then I won a Superwhy DVD for Toots (not me, obviously) over at the Supersisters Blog at PBS Parents.

So now I'm well and truly chuffed.

I figure if luck does come in threes, then I must be due a lottery win.

Don't worry though, I won't let all that money go to my head.

I'll still live in Ireland, although maybe I'll buy something a little bigger.

Do you think this place is for sale?

And of course I'll still write (do I write?) here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a HOT date with a lottery terminal. I think I might get lucky.

Knowing my luck I'll find a pound coin on the ground on the way there......

My Man

Sometimes it seems you were born by design, for you are everything I could hope for in a friend. My friend, my best friend for over 12 years now, my husband for the better part of 7.

Sometimes I feel I've know you all my life, the years before are little more than a blur.

I love everything about you.

I love that you love me.

I love that you gave me my daughter, a child more precious and beautiful than we could ever have imagined.

I love that together we laugh at the world, regardless of what it has thrown at us over the years and the world has thrown a lot.

I love that you can deal with my head and some of the very dark thoughts in there.

I love that I no longer have a "backup plan". You always knew about this and you helped me see that not all men are alike. You helped me to trust and rely on someone other than myself.

I love that you let me be weak ... and tell nobody of this.

I love your eyes, as dark as night, and that you gave them to our daughter, except for their heart. The heart is mine and the brightest blue.

I love that when you concentrate on something you stick your tongue out of the corner of your mouth and bite it. Toots does the same.

I love that even when I'm completely skanked out you still tell me I'm beautiful.

I love that you never automatically take my side in an argument just because I'm your wife. If I want to pick a fight I should be able to hold my own.

I love that you still roll over in the morning and say "Morning Wife", like its all still new.

I love your arms, for obvious reasons.

I love that you say you look like a hippy if your hair is more than an inch long and that you weren't vain enough to run for the Grecian when the ratio finally shifted to more salt than pepper.

I love that when I'm getting ready for bed at night you still say "ooh boobs" like a schoolboy.

You're by no means perfect, but I love that too. I can't stand perfection and you know this. You know about the secret pleasure I get from breaking the spine on a new book.

I love that we can laugh at each other's mistakes and not take it personally, its just a bit of fun and that's how we are.

I love that you still don't know how to work the media player and I do because you couldn't take it to the bathroom with you.

I love that even in spite of this you still refuse to read the instruction manual.

You make me laugh every single day.

You are very, very important to me.

People say you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. They are wrong. I chose both.

I love that you love me...

My husband, my love, my strength, my backbone and my friend. I will love you always.

In honour of all the husbands who stand by us and put up with us Kristen of We are that Family is hosting a little get together. If you'd like to take part or just fancy reading more like this, head over to Kristen's S.W.A.K Valentine Carnival

Freecycleables - Valentine Hearts Tutorial - WFMW

We spent today making some very simple gifts for Valentine's Day. The gift pictured above is a paper mache heart for my mum. It will be a present from Toots.

This actually turned out to be pretty quick to finish, aside from the drying time it only took around 30 minutes, which is a pity because I'd planned on keeping a slightly bored preschooler occupied with this for most of the afternoon. Ah well, c'est la vie. It just goes to show, when kids are involved, plan, plan and plan some more.

Bear in mind that it is messy so its best to throw down an old tablecloth or sheet to catch any drips.

You'll need to start off with some old newspapers, magazines, catalogues, just whatever you happen to have handy.


The newspapers I used were copies of the local paper, so about the size of an average magazine. Take two sheets of paper and roll up into a ball then cover with tape. I used decorators tape because I had quite a lot handy but any tape could be used. Repeat this process so that you have two balls.


Take one sheet of newspaper and fold in half lengthwise. Place one ball of paper close to the side of the length of paper and roll up so that you have a tube of paper with the ball close to one end.


Fold the ends of paper in and tape to the ball, cover the rounded end of the tube with tape to give it a slightly smoother appearance and make sure its well secured.


You'll end up with a basic torpedo shape like the one above.


Flatten the empty end of the tube and fold each side of the paper in towards the middle to make a point and completely cover with tape.


Make another teardrop shape the same as the first and one smaller one, beginning with half a sheet of newspaper for the ball. This should help give the right size for the small piece.


Tape all three pieces together with the smaller piece in the middle and again completely cover with tape, add some scrunched up strips of paper if you think there are any obviously "holes" in the heart shape or any sunken sections which will be difficult to fill out later.

Next comes the messy bit. You'll need to shred some newspaper and get some glue. I used 2 parts PVA and 1 part water. You can also make a very good paste using 1 part flour to 2 parts water. Start to completely cover the heart shape with strips of newspaper dipped in the paste. You'll need to build up about 4 or 5 layers.

I then added a final layer of pink tissue paper. This is necessary I just had it in the craft box and didn't realise until the last minute that I didn't have any pink paint left or even any red paint so I couldn't make pink.

You'll notice from the first photo that i changed my mind again and recovered the heart in a darker shade of pink tissue paper.

And then of course once the kids are in bed you can some fun all by yourself and go slightly nuts with the embellishments.

I have an absolute ton of buttons so I super glued a few on there, as you can see and then I cut some hearts and circles from some offcuts of craft paper I had in the box, placed them together, added yet another button and sewed them together with embroidery thread before gluing them on in the same way.

And all the craft supplies have been gathered over the years from my local £ shop (dollar store equivalent) and stockpiled.

For more great tips, crafts, recipes and loads more head on over to Rocks in my Dryer. And if you're interested I also have a great bread recipe posted today. Its also linked over at Rocks in my Dryer and I've listed some delicious additions to the main recipe.

Basic Bread Dough Recipe - WFMW

As promised my basic bread dough recipe. I've been fiddling with this for a while and I'm pretty sure its as good as it going to get.

I use this dough for a lot of things, not just plain white bread, but we'll get to that.

About lb plain white flour
About 300ml luke warm water
2 tbls olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
2 tsp dried yeast

Put flour, oil and salt in a large bowl

Add yeast and honey to lukewarm water to reactivate and make a cup of coffee while you wait 10 minutes.

Tip water mixture into flour and combine with your hands. You may think at first that there is too much water but just keep mixing and squeezing together it will be a soft dough. The idea behind good bread is to get as much liquid in there as possible and still be able to handle the dough, even if you can just barely handle it.

Flour your counter top and tip the dough out. Knead the dough for as long as you can manage, you'll start to feel a difference with this dough very quickly after a couple of minutes and because it is a soft dough with plenty of liquid it is very easy to knead*. If need be take a break for a couple of minutes, nobody ever said you had to knead the dough for a solid 20 minutes.

Once you're happy that the dough is soft, smooth and elastic, add a little bit of oil to the original bowl (it will be relatively clean), cover with cling film and leave to prove**

Once proved, knock back slightly, shape, preheat oven and bake.

* I think the easiest way to knead dough is to hold onto the piece of dough closest to you and stretch the rest of the dough away from you, then roll the dough back on itself, turn and repeat. The first few stretches the dough will break, then it stretches more and more easily. This way seems to me to be much easier on the arms, much quicker and theres something very rhythmic and relaxing about it.
** In my house there are three ways to prove bread. Sometimes I'll make a double batch of dough and prove half of it in the fridge for 24 hours or so, that way I only have to make dough once. It can be proved at room temperature for about two hours, you can easily make a batch after lunch and have fresh baked bread with dinner. 3.00pm and not a crumb in the house, stick some washing in the dryer while you make the dough, put it in the bowl, switch off the dryer, flatten the clothes slightly, set the bowl on top and close the door while you preheat the oven, 20 minutes later, perfectly risen dough.

I always bake bread at 180C (350F) in a fan assisted oven.

Sandwich Rolls divide dough into eight pieces, shape into rolls, scrunching and twisting the ends of the dough into the base of the roll, brush with milk - bake for 15 minutes. Or make about 20 smaller rolls, flattening the dough into a disk before wrapping around a knob of frozen garlic butter or mozzarella before baking. Make a dozen medium rolls stuffed with chicken breast, marinated and cooked in soy, garlic, ginger and spring onion, wrap the dough around, brush with salted milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top for Chinese style chicken buns.

Plait divide the dough into four pieces then each piece into three, roll into a long strip and plait starting in the middle and working out to each end, turn the ends under, brush with milk and bake for 15 minutes.

Tin Loaf - Tip entire batch of dough out onto a flour surface, flatten slightly, roll the dough into a short fat sausage shape drop into a 2lb loaf tin and bake for 30 - 35 minutes. You'll have to give the loaf a second prove for about 40 minutes with this option. Don't be afraid to add flavours here, when the dough it flattened, before rolling up, spread with basil or tomato pesto, Dijon or wholegrain mustard, cover with chopped steamed spinach, tomato or onion relish, all very good additions.

Bloomer - Again use the whole batch of bread and prepare as for tin loaf, except prove the bread on a greased baking sheet. You can knead in other flavours here and give the loaf a longer second prove, chopped sunblush tomatoes, fresh green grapes and brie, Parmesan and chopped spinach, grated raw beetroot (wear gloves) bake for 30-35 minutes.

Pizza - Yes it makes great pizza, tip dough onto a pizza sheet or just a regular baking sheet (pizza doesn't have to be round), push out to the edges of the pan with your hands, add toppings and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or part bake dough on as it is for 10 minutes, cool and freeze for later use. This recipe will make two 12inch deep dish pizza bases or four thin and crispy (although you're going to have to bake it on a pizza stone or a large untreated terracotta tile placed in the oven works just as well for a fraction of the cash).

Focaccia - The recipe makes two, drop half the dough into the base of a cake tin (about 10 - 12 inch) and push out to the edges of the tin, leave to prove while oven is heating. Before baking make indentations all over the top of the dough with your fingers, drizzle with olive oil, add sea salt, finely sliced red onion and fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage, bake for 20-25 minutes. The bread should be a lovely dark golden brown on top with a lovely crisp crust, serve warm (can be reheated wrapped in foil in the oven for 10 minutes or so).

That isn't even the half of it, you can use this bread recipe for dozens of other options, no more having to remember which recipe you use for rolls, or sandwiches, or pizza, all the one, it all works.

And please let me know if you try any other flavours with this recipe. I'd love to see what else everyone comes up with for this bread.

For more tips, crafts and recipes than you can shake a stick at, head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.

I also have another post up today if you need a relatively quick, very cheap gift idea for Valentine's Day.

Menu Plan Monday - 9 Feb to 15 Feb

Monday again. This is great, not only is this helping me to remember what to cook, its helping me remember what day it is.

January was not a good month for remembering what day it was, seriously don't ask me what January was all about.

Anyway, food.

Last week we stuck to the plan completely. Nothing weird cropped up and I had a lovely relaxing time and even managed to get some completely non-essential baking done (btw non-essential baking is pronounced chok-o-lat cake in my neck of the woods).

Monday:
Lunch: We'll be at mum's and dad will cook, so probably something "mad man with a spatula esque" cornbeef toasties for all I know*.
Dinner: Ham and Pea Risotto with crusty bread.

Tuesday:
Lunch: Toasted hotcross buns, fruit and yogurt.
Dinner: MTM's glazed pork chops with roasted root veg

Wednesday:
Lunch: Potato, spinach and cheese melt. I've spinach in the freezer and baby potatoes which need to be used.
Dinner: Fish pie. Basically just fish poached in milk, use the milk to make the parsley sauce, add flaked fish and peas, plonk in an ovenproof dish, top with potatoes and bake.

Thursday:
Lunch: Lentil soup and bread rolls.
Dinner: Crockpot pulled pork with noodles and shredded vegetable stirfry.

Friday:
Lunch: Pulled pork sandwiches using some homemade soft bread rolls.
Dinner: Homemade pizza using the salami I still have from Christmas.

Saturday:
Lunch: No ballet today (its half term), I have sandwich steak in the freezer, so I'll cook that with some soy, ginger, garlic and spring onions and have it (again) with good bread or with rice or noodles. If the weather is at least dry I may chuck the gas cooker and a pan in the back of the car and head to the forest to get Toots out of the house, I'll cook lunch while we're there.
Dinner: Toots will be at Nana's and what with it being valentine's day I'll treat the husband to one of his venison steaks**. I'll coat it in crushed peppercorns, sear it quickly in the pan and then finish it off in the oven. I'll serve it with tobacco onions, roasted sweet potato and baked mushrooms.

Sunday:
This Sunday will be a bit different, mum does a light lunch and big meal later on, so toots will only have had a light meal when she arrives home and I'd like her to have something substantial in the evening.
Lunch: Nice lazy lunch, something bready,, maybe french toast with bacon and eggs.
Dinner: Baked whole trout (I still have loads in the freezer my brother caught last year. He fishes but hates fish, go figure) with lightly spiced crushed borlotti beans and spinach.

* He's actually a pretty good cook most of the time and he knows I'm joking when I make fun, but he sometimes has a bad habit of putting together ingredients that have no business even nodding at each other in passing let alone sharing plate space.
** I bought the venison steaks for the husband as a Christmas present and seriously those things have paid for themselves three times over. Ladies consider buying your husbands meat for all present affiliated holidays. Meat and beer!

Stuck in a rut? Need menu ideas? Head over to Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

And if you come back here tomorrow I'll be posting my basic bread dough recipe, with some ideas on how to use it and also some yummy variations.

Creative Birthday

I know, we're sorting out birthday presents for Toots a bit early but you have to be on top of these things.

The husband was away on business a few weeks ago and while he was in the airport he spotted the new 40Gb Creative Mosaic for a meagre £40 and thought it would make a perfect present for Toots. Seriously who's going to turn down an offer like that.

We're a hardened Creative family in this house, you can keep your naff (designed for 12 yr olds) Ipods. And don't even try to talk me round, others have tried and failed miserably.

I know its only her fourth birthday and an MP3 player seems a bit over the top, but she's really become a music lover in the last year and .... trust me if you knew her you'd agree, music is definitely the way to go.

The thing I love most about this player is the built in speaker. She doesn't have to sit blocking out everything else with a pair of headphones or earbuds. She'll be able to bop around to her hearts content and I'll not have to worry that she's accidentally turned the volume up a it too load for her wee ears.

Ok so present sorted then. Well not quite. We've spent the last week vetoing each others music choices.

Toots likes rock, she's a bit of a wee rock chick, which could be something to do with the fact that she spends her time with a woman who listens almost exclusively to rock but we'll just gloss over that for a minute. Nursery rhymes are the sole domain of the bedroom, a baa baa black sheep and a hickory dickory dock and she's fast asleep. Pop doesn't hold her attention for more than a few seconds, but in all fairness to the child pop isn't exactly designed to hold attention is it? It tends to be innocuous drivel, purpose built to be as inoffensive as possible. That would be why its popular.

One exception to the rule is Footloose, she loves it and so do I. And I'm not apologising for it. We even have matching legwarmers*.

I actually listen to lyrics so I can be pretty confident about which tracks are appropriate and which aren't. Its become very apparent that the hubs doesn't listen to lyrics. At least not carefully.

Exhibit A: He couldn't understand why I told him to take Alice Cooper's Poison off the player.

I can just see me standing in the queue in the corner shop, jug of milk in one hand, preschooler signing about black lace on sweat in the other. Um no thanks.

Exhibit B: He couldn't see a problem with My Sharona either.

Listen harder husband, the reason's in there.

And its went on like this for the last week or so. He'll ask first, or just go ahead and add it to the list and I'll whip it straight back off again.

Actually so far, I've been pretty lenient.

Queen, obviously. I was brought up on Queen and I turned out alright.
Status Quo, because every child should be drip fed pure Quo since birth.
The Who
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Old U2
Boston
Sweet
Journey
Twisted Sister. She will learn the lyrics are "I Wanna Rock" not "I'm a goofy goober" if it kills me (Thanks Spongebob)
Stepping waaaay out on a limb here, Gary Glitter.
She's heard some Soundgarden (when I had music on but wasn't really listening). She liked it, but I'm still not sure.
Certain Aerosmith tracks

She already likes the obviously one, Dude looks like a lady (thank you Robin Williams) so I'll just add a few more mild ones.

The husband tried to veto that one because he thinks we'll have to deal with the whole question of cross dressing too early. I honestly can't see it being a problem and its a bit of a non-issue with a daughter. A girl can wear whatever she likes. There's no such thing as a female transvestite. So suppose if I'm trying to make sure she doesn't have any double standards I'll tell her there's no such thing as a male transvestite either. Just a bloke wearing whatever he wants.

Actually, I'll show her this guy.

Eddie Izzard. In my most humble opinion one of the most beautiful men ever, regardless of what he puts on in the morning.

Everyone knows he does a bit of acting these days, but if you've never seen his stand up you should seriously consider having a look. Some of his bits are The Death Star Canteen, Being Bilingual, Exploding Breasts, and Stonehenge. Seriously, look and wet yourself laughing.

Right so anyway, music! What do you think of the selection so far? Have I missed anything that should be included and isn't?

Brotherly Love

I just had to share with you the lovely birthday card I received from my brother yesterday.

Adorned with little handbags, either he knows me very well or...

mum bought it.

The inscription was also heartwarming and very well thought out. He mus have agonised for hours over the exact words to use. The words which would best describe the love he has for his only sister on her birthday.


Thanks our kid. I'll add it to the card collection and cherish it forever.

Your loving sister.

LEANNE

WFMW - Soda Bread

Soda Bread

We love soda bread around here. Its one of the easiest things to make and definitely the quickest way to have lovely fresh bread in the house. I'm trying this year to buy as little bread and baked goods as possible and so far apart from one or two sandwich loaves when I've been short on time I've managed it.

I've been using the same recipe for years and its been a great help in sticking to my resolution.

1lb plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1oz butter
1/2 pint buttermilk

Feel free to half the recipe (I usually do), substitute margarine for the butter or sour milk for the buttermilk it all works. Bear in mind though if you use sour milk also add a pinch of cream of tartar to help keep the bread tender, although the bread is still fine without it, it just makes it a little lighter.

Method (haha)

Dump all dry ingredients into a bowl, rub in butter (don't be too fussy about this) add buttermilk and mix it all together with your hands. It will form a soft dough, but it shouldn't be too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a fat disk about 5 centimetres thick.

You can cook the bread in a couple of ways either,

Place the disk whole onto a baking sheet and score into wedges and bake at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes, or

Cook in a heavy based frying pan or skillet over a low/med heat turning occasionally until dark brown blisters have formed on either side of the bread. You may want to make the disk a centimetre or so thinner to cook it this way.

Either way, allow to cool slightly, cut into wedges, split and cover with butter, jam, eggs, bacon, whatever takes your fancy. It keeps for a day or two and its much easier to toast after a couple of days.

Of course you can add to the bread. I don't personally know where the idea of adding caraway seeds came in and I've certainly never seen any for sale with them added, but a lot of people seem to like it, you could give it a whirl. A great addition is dried fruit, currants, raisins or sultanas are all good.

And you could always whisk a couple of tablespoons of treacle (molasses) into the buttermilk before adding to the flour to make treacle farls (the husband's personal favourite) or go the whole hog and add treacle, fruit and cinnamon for a lovely sweet tea bread.

If you try the bread, please let me know and feel free to pass on the recipe to anyone with a pen and paper.

For recipes, tips, crafts and more head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

Menu Plan Monday - 2 Feb to 8 Feb

Another Monday already. Last week's menu plan actually went pretty well with only a few changes to scheduled programming.

We had omelettes instead of frittata on Wednesday because we were short on time and because we were short of time (yep you guessed it) no ribs on Thursday. I completely forgot to lift them out of the freezer. Instead I made a veggie lasagna on Thursday and the ribs on Friday.

The weather here this week is for icy winds with the possibility of snow, so I think nice warming casseroles and soups will be the order of the day.

MTM's pork chops went down really well, they were lovely and tender. I will say when I was heating the sauce to begin with and the first few minutes in the oven, they smelt very cinnamony (so not a word) and I was bit concerned that I'd maybe added too much but the smell really mellowed after a while and the cinnamon was a very subtle background flavour in the end, so don't panic if you have a go with these yourself.

Monday:
Lunch: Baked potatoes with cheese.
Dinner: Vegetable Soup with homemade bread. This is an Irish staple. Ask any Irish girl, we all make the same soup, carrots, soup celery, flat leaf parsley and leeks with a mix of different lentils and barley. Don't believe me, seriously ask anyone?

Tuesday:
Lunch: Homemade sausage rolls. There's still half a hundred weight of processor puff pastry in the freezer.
Dinner: Toast with garlic mushrooms and picnic chicken.

Wednesday:
Lunch: Crusty bread pizzas (again, I know but we love them)
Dinner: Toots will be at her Nana's so I'll make the husband an Ulster Fry. He doesn't get them often but with the weather to be really bad today he'll appreciate it.

Thursday:
Lunch: Homemade soda bread with scrambled eggs.
Dinner Paella

Friday:
Lunch: Jambons using more of that processor puff pastry.
Dinner: Baked chicken kievs with roasted veg and sweet potatoes.

Saturday:
Lunch: Cheese and Ham toasties with tomatoes.
Dinner: Lamb Patia with chapatis.

Sunday:
Lunch: Baked gammon with roasted potatoes and parsnips.
Dinner: Sandwiches or hotdogs.

For more menu plans check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

The Wedding

I've decided to join in with the carnival being held by Kara-Noel of Eli's Lids. All she asks is that we Remember When....we got married. I noticed Janmary of Welcome to my World joining in and never being one to miss a boat, thought it would be the perfect way to post my (admittedly small amount) of wedding photos. Its such a fun idea for a carnival and her photographs are beautiful. Go on, join in...

There I go again jumping straight to the honeymoon and completely forgetting about the wedding.

Ok, time for a bit of background.

The husband and I were desperately hunting for a home together. We had managed to sell his house in Belfast. We had a bank account full of money but still didn't seem to be having any luck finding a house we both liked and could agree on.

We were engaged at the time but hadn't quite gotten around to planning a wedding. Or setting a date for that matter.

We finally found this house and immediately fell in love with the place, even though it was literally falling apart.

Because we got such a great price on the house and didn't need to borrow anywhere near the amount of money we had original thought we would, we decided to celebrate with a big holiday before settling down to the grind of getting the house livable.

Cut to the scene of us in Lunn Poly handing over vast quantities of cash for the trip to Egypt. We'd chosen two of the best hotels, upgraded the flights, you name it, we were going all out. This was to be our last trip for a very long time. When the travel assistant noticed my engagement ring and mentioned before processing the payment and booking that if the holiday was a honeymoon we would get all the upgrades we were paying for free, plus some extra upgrades not available for booking.

"Oh, alright then, go on".

I arrived home later that day, phoned the registry office, popped down to fill in the paperwork and pay the £35 fee and hey presto we were to be married six weeks later.

Here we are signing the registry book.



As I've said it was a very simple (slightly rushed) affair. Just some close family and a disposable camera. Neither one of use thought to lift the digital camera on the way out the door that morning. I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with registry office weddings but there really are only a few minutes spare for photographs before the next couple are ushered in.

You'll have to excuse my very lacking skills at taking photographs of photographs, but this is my mother. Isn't she beautiful. I hope I look like her when I grow up.




We had time for a quick photo of everyone and it shows just how small the wedding party actually was.

From left to right, my mum's sisters (and two of my best friends), my (very tall) brother, my grandfather (my mum's father and the constant in my life), my mum, yours truly, the husband's brother and father, the husband and last but definitely not least, my dad.

And finally a photograph, I'll always cherish. My Gana Joe in the far left, seemingly minding his own business, quietly assessing this new family his first born granddaughter has married into. It was a very classic pose of his, hand on his chin with a slight smirk on his face. His health started to go about a year after this photo was taken and he passed away two years ago after a long battle.

This is how I'll always remember him.



After the wedding we had a lovely lunch and then went home to get changed and go to collect our currency for the honeymoon.

See nothing fancy, but that's just me I suppose.

The only thing I regret about the honeymoon is not doing it sooner. My Mother-in-Law passed away six months before we were married and I would have loved to have had her there. She was a wonderful woman.

The carnival runs until the end of this week, so go on, quickly, hurry up and join in.

WFMW - Oh yes I did.

It's that time of the week again and you'll be sooo pleased you stopped by.

Oh yes, its also that time of year again.

Yep, I'm planning for Christmas.

Wait, wait, don't be running away just yet. There's a perfectly good reason for planning so far ahead.

Seriously, I don't know about anybody else, but Christmas here just wasn't the same this year. I'm sure its been very difficult for everyone this year and I personally know a lot of people (myself included) starting 2009 unemployed or facing the real prospect of redundancy.

So with that in mind (and in part to take my mind off it) I'm planning really far ahead for the holidays this year. All holidays and birthdays in general but mainly Christmas.

I'm determined this year will be completely a "make your own" year. No presents will be bought ready to give, no ready made bread, biccies or buns. If I can't make it, you won't get it here.

So, the first step is to organise the knitted and hand sewn projects.

I grab the hold of my handy little A5 binder (I've carried this around with me for about 2 years now, couldn't be without it) and add another section.


Next I need to have a look through my ever expanding pattern books. I have three like this with around 80 patterns in each and four lever arch files which I need to get around to sorting into books like these. So much more space efficient. You'll notice straight away they aren't sorted into sections. That's because I like to just ramble through them to pass time.


My mum will love this bag. A new bag is her first request for every birthday and Christmas, although she wouldn't be too keen on the colour. She prefers bright colours, even in the dead of winter. So...


My mum is #1. I'll pop a little sticker on each pattern for her with a #1 written on it and pop in a list to remind me which yarn I will use.

Then back to the book and make a list detailing each gift for each person along with supplies needed to complete the project. If I have highlighted the item, I already have the supplies in my (huge) stash. Bonus.


And lastly I need an easy shopping list to carry around with me.

I never leave home without my phone and even though its quite old now I can still open a new reminder in my calender and pop in an abbreviated list and set it to recur weekly. This way I can keep a quick track of anything I've still to pick up if I spot a good sale.

So there you go. Is anyone else mad enough to prepare for Christmas in January?

For some, perhaps more sensible, tips, tricks and ideas, head over to WFMW at Rocks in my Dryer.

The Honeymoon - Part 3 - The Valley of the Kings...and Queen

You can't spend any time in Luxor without visiting the Valley of the Kings

The first stop on the tour was at the Colossi of Memnon. They're 18 metres tall, although its difficult to tell that from the photogragh. They are all that is left of the Temple of Amenophis III (Amenhotep). The Temple itself was destroyed by earthquake and the Colossi cracked. We were told that after they cracked they would "sing" as the sun rose in the morning. Unfortunately Emporer Septimius Severus attempted to restore the Colossi to get brownie points with Memnon and now thy are silent.

Not a great job on the restoration either.


After the Colossi we were taken to the entrance of the Valley of the Kings.

That would be our guide pulling faces at some of the stupid questions people were asking about "slaves".


We only visited one tomb while we were in the valley. KV8 the tomb of Merenptah. He was the successor of Ramses II.

I think.


A sarcophagos...

This is a list contained within almost all of the tombs. It details who worked on the project, how long it took, all the consumables used during the time such as food and clothing and it gives details of how far people travelled to help with the build.

Again everything was protected by glass and no flash photography was allowed so it was quite difficult to get anything bar dodgy slightly blurry photos.

I mentioned a Queen didn't I?

Just the one mind you.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al Bahri or Dejesr Dejesrn meaning Most Splendid of all.

It is a masterpiece to say the least.

Three levels carved into the face of the mountain. It isn't in the Valley of the Kings, its quite close to the Valley of the Nobels though.

She became ruler of Egypt after her husband, Thutmose II died.

There are very few images of Hatshepsut left intact at the temple. Her son, Thutmose III was made to wait 20 years before becoming ruler of Egypt because she refused to marry him (as you would)(bear in mind her husband was her half brother)). When he came to power he destroyed all of her cartouches and images so that she would be forgotten.


One of the intact images is in the Sanctuary of Hathor standing between statues of Hathor and Amun-Ra, although this room is closed to the public she can be seen faintly through the gates.

Unfortunately the top terrace was closed for restoration while we there but the view from the second terrace was hard to beat.

The second terrace was also undergoing a lot of restoration and probably will be for a long time to come.


One of the reliefs in the temple...


And we haven't even got to Cairo yet ;)

Menu Plan Monday

I said I was going to have another go at menu planning this year. Truthfully, it was a New Year's so its probably time I started don't you think.

Monday -
Lunch: I cooked a cured ham I bought at Christmas yesterday, so Toots and I will have some of that along with baguettes and tomatoes. The husband will take some to work in sandwiches.
Dinner: Roast Chicken with steamed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday -
Lunch: Chicken and pasta bake using some of the leftover chicken.
Dinner: Homemade potato and leek soup, again with any leftover chicken and big croutons made from the remaining baguettes. The husband's on call tonight so if I make this during the day it'll be something quick for him to have if he needs to leave the house in a hurry.

Wednesday -
Lunch: Frittata. I'll use some of the leeks instead of onions with potato (must remember to cook extra on Tuesday night) and bacon.
Dinner: Toots will be at her Nana's for dinner, so I'll make some chilli and rice for me and the husband.

Thursday -
Lunch: I'll chop up any left over frittata and add an extra raw egg along with leftover rice and make a fakey egg fried rice.
Dinner: Barbeque ribs with pickles and crusty bread. The ribs are in the freezer, someone remind me to lift them out on Wednesday.

Friday -
Lunch: Crusty bread pizzas. I'll slice the bread and cover with tomato sauce, cheese and salami, I have in the freezer since buying it at the christmas market.
Dinner: Hamburgers and french fries. Fully loaded with roasted red peppers, dressing and tomatoes for the husband and with cheese and dressing for me and Toots.

Saturday -
Lunch: I've processor puff pastry in the freezer, I'll cook some chicken and add it to some of the potato soup, cover with pastry and call it a pie.
Dinner: Again it'll just be me and the husband tonight. Toots is off to a party at her cousin's with Nana and she'll spend the night there. We'll probably just use up any leftovers still in the fridge or I'll make some pizza dough during the day if pickings are slim.

Sunday -
Sundays here are a bit different from the rest of the week. I usually cook breakfast on Sunday, pancakes, scrambled eggs that kind of thing so when I say lunch it's actually more like a dinner and its about 3pm and dinner is later and lighter.
Lunch: Glazed pork chops. I've been meaning to try to this recipe for a couple of weeks now and I've checked, I have 18 pork chops in the freezer (don't ask me how that happened). We'll have them with mashed potatoes (with a little mustard added for me and Toots and a lot added for the husband), cauliflower and brocolli.
Dinner: I may use some of the leftover mash, add finely chopped scallions and tuna and make mini fishcakes with some sweet chilli dipping sauce.

I'll be checking through the plans and recipes on Organizing Junkie for some inspiration to keep this from getting too samey.

A few days in the life

Its been a busy few days around here.

I'm still managing to keep up with the Project365 and I'm actually having fun. My addictive personality has kicked in big time though. I badly want a new camera along with all the bits and pieces to go along with it, but short of a lottery win that won't be happening any time soon. I'll just have to stick with my "old as dirt" Fuji.

We went to Wacky Whizz Ards on Thursday. I managed to get in touch with the mother of Toots best friend in daycare. We'll call the mum Alison and her lovely son Jimmy. Toots and Jimmy had an absolute blast in Wacky Whizz Ards which is a large indoor soft play area for kids under 7. They spent most of their time scrabbling up the platforms and going down the spiral slide on their tummies. The real bonus is that Alison and I got on like a house on fire too. We have quite a lot in common. Unfortunately, she will be made redundant at the end of next month so meeting up worked out quite well for both of us. We'll be able to get together and occupy the kids once a week or so and I've said that I'll happily take care of him and take both kids to the library or let them play around the house if she needs time to attend interviews or anything like that.

She's a single parent and in her line of work you don't really want to mess potential employers around by changing interview dates and times. Take the first one they offer, even if it's at lunch time, today.

Later we went on to Alison's home because the kids just couldn't bear to be separated again just yet and it was quite late in the afternoon by the time we arrived home.

I threw some food together with Toots and the husband and popped a load of washing into the machine. About 20 minutes later it stomped out into the middle of the room in protest. It's been a bit noisier than usual lately and I've been pushing my luck with it.

The husband had a look because he's pretty good with these things but all the obvious things, brushes, belts, motor seemed to be perfectly fine. So I had to call a repair guy to come and have a look at it. I'm pretty well on top of things around here, but I can't be doing without a washing machine for any length of time.

He came out, popped the top off and fiddled with four large bolts holding the block of concrete in place. I don't know if all machines are the same but ours has a big block of concrete in the top of the machine to stabilise it. He said the bolts were loose and after removing them said that some of the threads were worn and they'd need to be replaced. About fifteen minutes and £35 later I swear that machine is quieter now than when we first bought it. Plus now I have a fair idea of whats wrong the next time it starts to get noisy again.

I'm pretty happy about the charge for fixing the machine though. £35 isn't exactly a lot of money, although I wasn't planning on it a week before the end of the month so its thrown a spanner into a couple of my plans, but at least the machines working and I can keep everyone in clean clothes.

I still have the old bolts so I think at some point over the next week or so I may pick up another set and keep them somewhere safe for a quick fix next time. Obviously buying the bolts and replacing them myself will be a lot cheaper.

Toots had another ballet lesson yesterday. This time was much better. No tears whatsoever, as soon as she spotted the tutor coming down the hall she was off running, pulling other kids along behind her. Still no photos though I'm afraid. It looks like I really will have to wait another 8 weeks.

Also I'm going to start menu planning. I tried this once before and it didn't really work out too well, but this time I'm determined. I want to try to plan leftovers for Toots' and my lunch more so than the actually evening meal. I could eat the same thing everyday and it wouldn't bother me but I think the kid's getting a bit sick of reheats.

We'll see how it goes.