ManicMammy’s Blog

Hurrah,  the Spicendipity site is open for business. It looks gorgeous and theres a great selection of spice mixes, sauces, baking mixes and gift hampers. In addition, a very helpful recipe section which gives plenty of serving/cooking suggestions and examples and is therefore excellent for people like me who are culinary imagination challenged. All the products looked great. So without delay, I ordered amongst other goodies one of their chocolate brownie mixes.

This is baking made very very easy. Oscar did most of the work. I melted the butter, he stirred the mix into it. Another advantage is that the mix doesn’t contain any artifical preservatives, colouring or additives. A teaspoon of vanilla extract was measured, poured and stirred in. We then cracked in the eggs and he whisked. He greased the baking tray and poured the mixture in. Oisín then appeared for the most important part of the baking experience: the licking of the bowl, whisk and spoon. All faces were covered but the mixture tasted yummy, very chocolately and gooey.

At this stage, due to the fact our oven doesn’t appear to uniformly heat and has hotspots, the brownies got slightly charred around the edges. The middle was still perfect: moist, chocolately and very rich. The next time we’ll take more care and keep a closer eye on the baking stage.

As they were very rich, we cut up the slab of cooked brownies in to small rectangles rather than the larger size shown above. Needless to say, they didn’t last very long in this house with both parents and kids loving them. They were delicious.

I’m looking forward to trying some of the suggested variations out. Maybe adding some chopped nuts or making them as small muffins as Deborah suggests and turning them into an easy to prepare, fun and delicious dessert. Yummy.

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photo credit: houseoftext

My 3 primary school going kids got their book lists for next September a week or so ago and having learnt my lesson from previous years of leaving their purchase till August, I decided to get it all done and dusted now.

Our local bookshop will eventually get all the books in, but it usually entails a few visits to the shop as they tend to get them in bit by bit. I decided to go online.

The website is very easy to use. You select the class your child is in, then the subject and can then add the required books to your shopping basket. Shipping costs from €1.90 but as I was ordering over 2kg of books, it cost the maximum price of €7.95. I elected to get the books covered which cost 55c per book. It took about 30 minutes to select all the books, workbooks, stationary and copies our 3 kids required. Payment was by credit card, and the complete parcel arrived at our door a few days later.

I really couldn’t fault this service. The books cost the same as if I ordered them locally, just the extra shipping cost. The whole process was much less painful and very convenient, especially as I used the option of getting them covered too - that’s one less hassle to be dealt with before September and I can now forget about it and enjoy the holidays.

One of the presents that Oscar received for his recent 9th birthday was the Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb LEGO set. Thanks to Auntie Emer, this was perfect as it combined his love of LEGO and the hype of the moment that is Indiana Jones. I love LEGO Indy.

As soon as the after party hype died down, oh yes siree, these 9 year olds sure can party, he set about building the Lost Tomb. By no means is this the most complicated or intricate LEGO set, but he really enjoyed putting it together. It was built in a relatively short time and without any assistance or queries to myself or Conor.

Voilà:

The main attraction of it for him is the fact that there are inbuilt booby traps: the Anubis statues topple, the back walls fall, the snakes land on Indy:

and all can be corrected and repeated ad nauseum. Perfect.

He loves it. Thanks again Emer.

What are the dishes and food that you remember from your childhood?

As the eldest of 7 children, with only 10 years between me and the youngest, I recall there always being a mad rush around mealtimes when we were younger. The main meals I remember are fried liver on a Thursday (my mother had an obsession with us getting enough iron so this was a regular dish), tuna in a cheese sauce with mashed potatoes which I recall loving and minced meat, beans and mashed potatoes which we would eat mixed together as a big cake on our plates.

Some of my siblings loved Chef brown sauce and to this day, its smell makes me ill. Myself and one younger sister insisted on YR sauce. Mam made a mean chicken curry also which we would be given in a large tubberware container on a Sunday evening when we were returning to Dublin to college. It would last at least a couple of days so she was happy we were eating well enough for at least that amount of time. It was very good.

My father was always partial to steak, fried onions, finely cut chips and gravy just made with water added to the frying pan once the steak was out. Christmas cake with butter and marietta biscuits also come to mind. Though my mother didn’t often buy confectionary, we had apple trees in the back garden, so when I got a sweet craving, I’d make 5 or 6 apple tarts as 1 or 2 would never last long. I remember once when my parents were away, finding a tub of icecream in the freezer and making a baked Alaska. Delicious. I loved to bake which is something I haven’t really done since then.

photo credit: jspatchwork

Which brings me to this series, currently running on BBC2 in the weekday evenings. Its hosted by Nigel Slater and is a real feelgood programme. Each episode revolves around a different guest and starts with their taste of childhood, progressing to taste of their college or young adult years to foods they now love as an adult who’s successful in their career - foods that have a special meaning for them. Its part interview, part cookery/food programme and the style is very easy going and laid back. Nigel seems to have a talent for putting people at their ease and the talk takes place whilst they’re enjoying the food and so it tends to be more informative, entertaining and interesting than other standard talkshows or interview style tv.

I missed the first couple of episodes, it slipped under my SKY+ radar, but have managed to catch Timothy Spall, Jo Brand and Neil Morrissey amongst others. The interviews have been great, sometimes funny and sometimes touching. The part where the guest is given a challenge is a bit naff really: cooking blindfolded etc. But the section where someone close or related the the guest cooks for them is entertaining and often gives a deeper insight into them.

The recipes vary from complicated to basic student favourites of Spaghetti Bolognese or cheese on toast. Some are the guests’ and some are Nigel’s versions of the food they love. Definitely worth watching, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

My fabulous sister surprised me with a Jo Malone gift set for Christmas and its so gorgeous.

Packaged in cream box tied with a black ribbon, it contained a bottle of the White Jasmine and mint cologne and some orange blossom bath oil. I’ve always preferred light, fresh, green, floral perfumes rather than heavy, spicy ones and the white jasmine and mint smells perfect. I’ve been wearing it pretty much constantly since recieving it. The mint is a surprising addition initially but really adds something to the overall fragrance.

The orange blossom bath oil is fabulous. My only quibble was I really didn’t know how much to add to the bathwater on first use so added way too much. Its smells divine, really refreshes and revives me when I make myself take the time and chill out in a bath after a hectic day.

I didn’t realise that these two are recommended for use together but they do work really well.

I know that it is an expensive gift, but as a one off or for a special occasion I would definitely recommend if you want to pamper someone. Thanks again sis.

Have recently started watching this legal thriller series which is showing on Monday nights on BBC1. Have been well impressed so far.

It began with a bloodstained woman running panicked out of an apartment building and then returns to 6 months previous to this, where we meet the same woman beginning her career as a lawyer. She is Ellen Parsons and is played by Rose Byrne. Glenn Close is her boss, feared and revered litigator, Patty Hewes. Patty is taking on Arthur Frobisher, played by Ted Danson, a wealthy CEO in a class action lawsuit. Both Ted Danson and Glenn Close are excellent in this. The plot twists and turns and just as you think you know happened something occurs to change your mind.

It is difficult to see who is the goodie and who the baddie. Everything is not as it seems and it compelling to watch as we know the ultimate result of the dead man in the apartment. Who killed him and why is yet to be discovered. Did Ellen do it and why would she? If not, who is framing her? What is their motivation?

The dialogue is sharp and the acting great. I particularly like Frobisher’s lawyer Ray Fiske, played by Zeljko Ivanek and Tate Donovan who plays Patty’s second in command.  Very enjoyable viewing and the best opening theme tune since The Sopranos: The VLA - “When I get through with you”