Easter 2015

Easter has come and gone. Where are the days going? They are flying by and I feel like I just need a half a day to get back ahead of myself. There never is that half day though, and so I'm always out of breath trying to catch up. Gosh, the things I could do if I had a cleaner, a couple of evenings when my husband wanted to watch a film on his own without me, and a magic machine to kick me out of bed at 6am every morning.

But I can't and I shouldn't complain. The world's a much tougher place for most other people in it and, even if you're not into the religious side of Easter, the giving thanks and feeling lucky part of it ought to be something all of us hold on to. New life racing in - who of us would ask it to go away or slow down?

Just you wait til I put up a whole post of Easter lamb pictures!

(And, by the way, I'm having yet another fed-up-with-my-outdated-clanky-blog-design moments. What do you think?)

Baking: fire engine birthdays and Easter days

The Tiny One turned two! Not so tiny any more. He had a little party with his chums. I made Nigella's birthday biscuits from The Domestic Goddess, with a number two cutter and Smarties. You can never go wrong with Smarties.

I had a bit of a cake dilemma: the Tiny One asked for a fire engine, but I just wasn't comfortable with all the red food colouring that would entail for toddlers. I had a little brainwave and went with red fruit covering instead. You have to squint a bit to see it (!) but the cake above is a fire engine shape, coloured red with strawberry halves, peanut butter & jam biscuits for the wheels (another recipe from The Domestic Goddess), a breadstick ladder and blue candles for the fire engine lights. It was, to coin my Essex heritage, proper yum!

But the Tiny One wasn't content with just one cake, oh no. His party was nearly a week after his birthday so I asked him what cake he'd like for the day itself and he chose satsuma cake! Now, a) he's completely invented the idea and b) that's a pretty cool choice of a cake from a two-year-old who could have gone for something much less healthy and discerning. Luckily for me my elephantine memory for recipes (thank goodness my memory works for something) remembered Nigella's Christmassy clementine cake from How to Eat which involves boiling clementines for a ridiculous amount of time then pulverising them. Et voila! It was seriously good.

Here's the rest of the party fare, mid-party: number two biscuits (Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, p.212), peanut butter & jam jewels (same book, p.221), peanut-butter squares (same book, p.223, and oh my goodness they were incredible), and the cake (buttermilk birthday cake, p.210). It all went on my sewing table. Now that's sacrifice for you.

We also made these Easter nest cakes (since we're in the baking zone). Last year I made a proper Easter cake which was fabulous but time-consuming. These no-bake Shredded Wheat and chocolate affairs were simple, moreish and still had the requisite Easter-wow factor. If you're a time-poor, aim-high mum (like me!), go for them. I'm definitely nest caking again next year. Want to know the recipe? Oh go on then (another Nigella Domestic Goddess affair - yes, I can get a bit cook-book obsessive). I've put the ingredients in bold...

Melt 200g milk chocolate and 25g dark chocolate with 25g unsalted butter. I did this in the microwave on low, you can use a bowl over a steaming pot of water if you want. Stir it then leave it for a moment to cool. Crumble 100g shredded wheat into another bowl then mix in the chocolate. Your children will love this bit (mine did). Take little handfuls and place them on a lined baking sheet in vague nest shapes. Nigella says to make them about 7cm in diameter but I went smaller so I felt less guilty about the little ones eating them (and me, let's be honest). She also says to add the approx 25 chocolate eggs once cooled but I added them at the point of making so that they'd stick. They then sat in the fridge for about an hour before we started gobbling. (Proper recipe can be found in Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, p.231)

Musings: let's make a list

No this isn't a sand dune. This is snow. This is what spring looks like so far.

 

And in this weather, the Easter holidays are beginning. 17 days to fill with the boys: keeping us all happy and enjoying each other while the weather says "stay inside!" and "ditch your plans!"

 

I'm making a list anyway. I've got just over two weeks, and I want to keep them happy, me happy, and keep our world turning round...

 

: : The boring stuff first: having had all the chaps round, we need to choose a roofer to completely re-slate our leaking house-lid, a joiner to replace our leaky, rotting and drafty windows, and a builder to knock down our can't-open-the-passenger-side-doors-so-the-kids-have-to-exit-into-the-road front wall. Then we have to figure how to pay for it all, and schedule it all in.

: : It's going to be Easter! There are going to be some home-made hot cross buns and chocolate nest cakes baked, some felt decorations strung up, and an Easter tree made (if we can brave the arctic wind in order to grab some branches.)

: : The Tiny One turns two! Oh where did all the time go? But he's so ready for it, and we want to make it a day to remember. There are presents to wrap, cards to make and a cake to bake. He's asked for a satsuma cake (!!) Can't disappoint. And we have a surprise trip lined up for him [zipped lips].

: : Then, once he's had a few days to calm down and play with his presents, we're throwing him a little low-key bash with toy playing, cake eating, and chums dropping in. I need to plan some fire-fighting type decorations, bake some biscuits, stock up on the caffeine (for the grown ups!) and make another cake. We've chosen (predictably) a fire engine. But I don't want to use food colouring as he's so little. Time for some cunning plans.

: : I'm taking Elsie & Elise's blog (design) love e-course. I've decided to keep blogging, keep the unimpressive frequency of blogging, but take the design up a gear. You have been warned.

: : In order to do so, I need to spend quite a bit of time designing things on the computer, and book the lovely husband in for a photo session or two.

: : I also need to read the instructions for my smartphone's camera and work out how I can take half-way decent, stylised photos with a camera phone myself (since the lovely husband's photographing and my blogging are not coinciding enough.)

: : My parents are coming up. Let's plan some day trips.

: : And for the boys, some art sessions, baking sessions, and play dates. We need to focus on things we can do indoors that keep ringing the changes. They'd just get miserable if out in that arctic wind for too long. But I think we can plan for a couple of day trips to indoor museums or similar.

: : I've got stuff to do for my local baby & toddler group. Uninteresting for readers of this list, but if it doesn't go in here, it'll get forgotten about.

: : I have three quilts to make and I'm only in the cutting stages of the first one. Exciting but I just know I'm going to get disappointed as usual in my sewing plans. Tomorrow I hope to lay all the pieces out, play with their location, re-iron them all then start sewing up. Ha ha ha, like all that will be allowed to happen!

: : I also have a sewing commission to complete and a commission to scope out.

: : Not enough yet?! There's upholstery fabric to buy, an Ikea trip to make and an overnight trip to my mother-in-law's. Plus friends to catch up with, in person or by phone.

 

I feel tired just looking at it all. Better get started.

 

And an echo from Easter

Has it been and gone already? Easter was over in a flash. I had so many ideas that stayed in my mind's eye and made it no further. Decided not to beat myself up over it - no one knew, no one minded. Rather than let them disappear, I have postponed. This Easter was a little underwhelming, but sort of lovely in its simplicity and ease.

This year...

• Friends visited. Lovely, old friends. We caught up, shared surprise at rapidly ageing children, and dished out Easter eggs.
• I made an Easter cake - Nigella's Easter Egg Cake from 'Feast' (sorry, can't find an online link). My boys and my friend's boys planted the eggs in it. It was good. But rich. Too rich really - will probably make a more child-friendly chocolate offering next year.
• I made bread. Somehow it seemed Easterly appropriate. Something about the yeast I imagine.
• We bought the children Easter gifts rather than chocolate. They get enough from elsewhere. The gifts came in egg packaging - how cool are these?!

Next year...

• I'll make the felt bunnies and chicks that I bought felt for (it's still sat there staring at me), and garland some too.
• There will be egg decorating, and French toasting with the blow-out.
• I bought the ingredients to make my own hot cross buns this year (made them last year - worth it for the annual smug joy). Made none! Next year then.
• And there will be more Easter eating. The boys will be the right age for nest cakes. And those cheap (boom, boom) fluffy chicks on everything.
• I didn't get round to the Easter tree this year (it must be two years since I made one) - it required a walk with secateurs to find good shaped/sized budded twigs (but it kept raining). And me digging out the little pastel-coloured wooden eggs (but I know the Little One can't leave them alone). Next year!

I quite like this 'if I don't do it now, I'll do it someday' vibe.