It’s my birthday…

Posted on August 6, 2011 by nicdempsey

I’ve had a fantastic birthday weekend!!

Yesterday people came to my house and we drank cocktails and pizza and it was lovely.

Today, the flat was filled with family and friends with babies and it was chaos. Nice chaos but two toddlers can cause havoc…especially when one of them is Olly and he pretty much knows he can just smile at Aunty Nic and get what he wants (today mostly to splash water around!!)

I got lovely presents, spent time with my lovely friends and even though it’s raining (actually bucketing down) I couldn’t have had a better time.

I wish I had remembered to take some photos.

It’s still my birthday for another four hours so I going to eat some cake…

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Busy, busy

Posted on August 5, 2011 by nicdempsey

Most of today is going to be spent baking.

I’m going to make these..

and these

and some ginger cakes (special request from my mother!)

I’ll also be making some of these..

Yes I know, it’s all carb heavy but we’ll need it because on Friday evening, we will be drinking these…

Some of these

Maybe some of these..

The reason for all this eating, drinking and making merry is Friday Night Cocktails: Birthday Edition

Yep on Saturday, I get to celebrate making it through another year and my brother gets to point out I’m older than him…

On Saturday afternoon, (assuming that it’s not raining, our 3 day ‘heatwave’ just broke and it been raining a bit!) we’re going for a picnic and if I’m very lucky there will still be a merry-go-round and I’m so going on that!!

Yay for birthdays and weekends with people I love!

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Tina

Posted on August 4, 2011 by nicdempsey

This is my favourite photo of Tina.  She’s in her kitchen and it conveys (to me anyway) the way she is always moving!

I’ve known Tina since I was 16 and babysat for her children, Christina and Tom, who are both ‘responsible’ adults now. I lived in their house for a while in my 20’s and as role models go, she’s a fabulous one (although really she would utterly reject any notion of her being a role model at all!).

She’s responsible for me owning a magimix for which I paid her in cake, the only thing she doesn’t cook. I still remember my horror when Tom told me that he knew how to bake a cake, you started with opening a box. The horror….

Aside from cake she is an amazing cook, she doesn’t make a big deal out of it but I’ve never had a bad meal at T & C’s! In fact a lot of the staples of my cooking started as something I ate at Tina’s and she is entirely the reason that I can make jam.

Cooking isn’t the only thing she’s taught me though, good places to go for a walk in Ealing, how to just get on with it and not to be silly about things, the importance of surrounding yourself with people that enrich your life, how to agree to disagree and the importance of houses being clean, if not tidy!

I’m very lucky to have had strong women in my life as role models and Tina (as much as she would tell me not to talk nonsense!) is one of them. So there..

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What I’ve Read – July 2011

Posted on August 3, 2011 by nicdempsey

Got my reading bug back this month, largely by not trying and just reading what I fancied. It has to be said that none of it was great literature and didn’t require too much brain space. I’ve read over 50 books this year but really need to start working on the big list.

43. Just Listen – Sarah Dessen

My first Sarah Dessen and this month not my last
44. Blood Red Road – Moira Young

I loved this, once I’d gotten into the groove of the writing style. (and yeah more dystopia!)

45. Someone Like You – Sarah Dessen

Second Sarah Dessen, with mother issues and teenage pregnancy added to the mix. I enjoyed reading it but it did worry me a bit and if I had a teenager reading this, I’d really hope that they had access to other points of view.

46. Ultraviolet – R.J. Anderson

Not what I was expecting at all, but really good fun anyway.

47. Heartless – Gail Carriger

I now have Kindle for my iPhone and this book is the reason I’m considering a Kindle, it was silly, fun and the type of book in physical form that I wouldn’t make space on the bookshelf for (space is limited!!)

48. When God Was a Rabbit – Sarah Winman

I really wasn’t sure about this one, but I really enjoyed it. Anything that has me laughing out loud on the tube is worth reading especially when this book deals with some really difficult stuff. I read somewhere that Sarah Winman, wanted to convey that stuff happens and children get on with it, if that was her intention, she does it brilliantly.

49. A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow – George R. R. Martin

Mixed emotions, loving the story, really want to find out what happened next but at the same time, I’m a bit scared about what Martin is going to do to next. Also wondering if I can drag the next 3 published books out until book 6 comes out. Somehow, I think that’s not going to happen but the story is getting more and more twisty and I have no idea where it’s going.

50. Whatever Happened to Goodbye – Sarah Dessen

Another Sarah Dessen, another Kindle book and more mother/daughter issues. After 3 Sarah Dessen books I’m getting the hang of the style (which I love) and I like that the adults have issues too.

51. Jean of Storms – Elinor Brent Dyer

This is a typical Elinor Brent Dyer story. Written for adults and not as much fun as her school stories but interesting if you’ve read the Chalet School books and very much of it’s time (1930). The heroine ends up married to the nice doctor and the spoiled children come good with some common sense parenting!! Another Kindle buy.

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Cake

Posted on August 2, 2011 by nicdempsey

This was emergency cake. Max was coming for lunch and I had promised cake, however, the night before I’d been out and hadn’t really given baking much thought.  I found myself with about an hour to get ready and bake. There were nectarines in the fridge and this was the result.

I decided to go with a nectarine version of the summer strawberry cake on Smitten Kitchen. The strawberry version is amazing so I didn’t think I could go much wrong but I didn’t have any milk so used plain yogurt instead! They were really good!

Nectarine summer cupcakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

What

3oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup golden caster sugar (2 tablespoons for the nectarines)
1 large egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

How

1) Preheat oven to 180°C

2) Put cake cases in muffin pan (I got 15 cakes out of this).

3) Cut nectarines into small pieces, put in small bowl stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar

4) In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

5) Add egg, yogurt and vanilla until just combined.

6)  Add flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture and mix in until just smooth.

7) Divide cake batter into muffin pan and add nectarines to the top. (As much as you can fit in!)

8) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer comes out free of cake batter. (my oven runs hot so it may take slightly longer for people with normal ovens!)

9) Eat!

 

 

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Too much fun..

Posted on July 30, 2011 by nicdempsey

I’m on the way to meet my mother and I have to confess I’m feeling slightly jaded. OXO in Thursday followed by birthday and leaving the country drinks (my friends, not me!) have left me feeling a bit sluggish.

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Last week was dedicated to getting on top of the flat (and there is a bathroom to be painted this week because being grown up is just one domestic task after another!), next week is going to be about strapping my running shoes on and getting back into my slightly (ok hugely) wheezy groove. I get Tuesday off because Max and I are taking Murphy for a long walk and Friday for birthday party prep. Every other day this week will see me out in the park for at least 20 minutes. Time to focus on putting the miles on those shoes!!

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London

Posted on July 29, 2011 by nicdempsey

Some people don’t like London, they want to live in the country where there is no traffic or noise, or other towns or cities where they think that people are more friendly.

 

I am not one of those people.

 

I love cities generally and I love London best of all. It’s a place like any other and like any other place, some of it is dirty and some of the people are be rude but for me it’s where the magic happens. I don’t think anywhere else would suit me as well.

 

Other people I know, think that always living in one place is dull and that you only experience life by moving about.

I would agree that travel can be mind expanding but I don’t want my home to be anywhere other than my city and if that makes me dull then I can live with being dull! There is art and culture and green space here.

Samuel Johnson said it best “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a  man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” He also said that “By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can shew”. I entirely agree…

 

 

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Tonight..

Posted on July 28, 2011 by nicdempsey

My mother decided that it had been while since we’ve been to the OXO Tower Bar.

So there is at least one of these

in my future.

 

Also Ma picked up my camera from my brother’s yesterday, so I shall be reunited with my baby…

It’s not even my birthday yet! Happy Thursday…

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Cleaning

Posted on July 28, 2011 by nicdempsey

It’s no secret, I don’t like housework. I like the bit just after I’ve finished when the flat is tidy. The trouble is that it needs doing again almost immediately, dust settles, clothes get dirty, plates get used and so it continues. What I don’t like about housework is that it never ends.

However, I like my living space tidy more than I dislike housework. So I try and keep on top of it. At the moment, I’m not working and there is no excuse for the flat being a mess, there is time to do the housework!

It’s fair to say I’ve gotten a little obsessive about the housework and this can be seen in the spreadsheet I’ve made to plot out what housework needs to be done when. I know, but it helps and gives me a sense of achievement to put the ‘done’ tasks in green and I’ll take what I can get at the minute!

 

So anyone else have a spreadsheet, surely I can’t be the only one? So far everyone I’ve told has laughed, I find it helps and now I’m off to clean my make up brushes (which was on the spreadsheet for yesterday!)

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Lemon Curd

Posted on July 27, 2011 by nicdempsey

Sometimes you want something and it seems that everyone in the world wants the same thing. The last couple of weeks that something has been lemon curd.

At Jo’s last week, there was lemon curd and since it seems to have been everywhere, eventually I gave in and made some!

I used a recipe from Nigella Lawson for lime curd but have (as ever) played with it a bit. I don’t always use it in cake or on toast, I’m more likely to mix it with yogurt or put it on a bowl of fruit.

What
75g unsalted butter

3 large eggs

75g caster sugar

juice of 4 lemons

How

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan, take off the heat

2) In a bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and lemon juice

3) Add this mixture to the butter and return the saucepan to the heat

4) Heat gently and stir the mixture until it thickens

5) Let it cool and transfer to a clean jar. Store in the fridge.

 

 

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