mother's day curry

Having lost my job on Friday and thrown the SS Barnes into a bit of a spin, the signs for an auspicious Mother's Day take a further battering when we wake up to a gale outside, and then I realise by not going shopping yesterday, I don't actually have anything to cook a special breakfast with other than toast.

The portents of doom are slightly averted by Milo who sneaks into our room to tell Ana not to get up as we're cooking her some secret pancakes, and to give her his (and my) card. But that's about as lucky as it gets for most of the day: I go shopping in the rain and promptly drop our new tax disc in the car park, and then I forget to to buy some flowers. One argument later, followed by a trip back to Waitrose (somebody had handed it in), via our local florists, and the dark clouds lift, literally as well as figuratively.

Is there nothing snake-head fritillaries, a bottle of wine, Delia's lime chicken curry (even for Milo, as we've decided his curryfication needs to start now), and the looming prospect of Scandinavian crime drama cannot cure?

sources

lime chicken curry - Delia, How to Cook Book Two, p107

happy mother's day!

After two days of boy-stuff (including indie-dancing with Lucyfer and Septimus Page, a hearty game of rugby, Finn's birthday and a farewell drinks for the lovely, fragrant and divine Jacqui and TVS Collins), today it's all about the Ana Louise. And quite rightly, too.

After a mini-lay-in (in as much as you can have a sleep when you've got a loony three-year-old running about next door), Ana gets the next part of her Mother's Day treats - smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast:

Following a mid-morning coffee and mini-macaroon from Orange Pekoe, we head out for a walk in the sunshine to the pond (via the flower shop), and a cheeky drink in The Sun Inn. Back home, we've just got time for a family roast, another couple of Killing's and then bed.

Food of the Milos
Breakfast: The usual nibbles, followed by toast;
Brunch: Smoked salmon and scrambled egg;
Dinner: Roast chicken, broccoli, cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes

mother's day

A beautiful Mother's Day starts well, has quite a strong middle and ends slightly drunkenly next door.

Tea and toast in bed is followed by my first trip to Sainsbury's of the day and then poached eggs on toast for breakfast, which we all eat together - kind of anyway. Now I've been through several top tips for the perfect poached eggs and I've *finally* found one which works every time. No vinegar, no over swirling, no nothing in fact - all you do is put the egg in the boiling water for 10 seconds before you crack it. The immersion makes the egg slightly gloopier which keeps it together more in the pan. Marvellous!

A morning spent rescuing the garden is followed by a lovely smoked salmon on rye bread (with IOW garlic horseradish) and fizzy wine for the parents whilst the milos are snoopy snoozing.

Post sleep we take a second trip to Sainsbury's before heading over to Des and Ali's for a cup of tea. One cup leads to another, and another trip to Sainsbury's, before Des cooks lamb chops for us all and we eventually get home at 23.30. We're only slightly foxed.

mother's day cooking extravaganza

It's mother's day and not only is Kayosaurus in residence, we're going to see new-mum Kendra with another batch of meatballs *and* for some reason ana is expecting something nice, even though she's not my mother.

First up, spinach and parmesan meatballs for Kiki and Brian:



Whilst they are bubbling away, I do a light lunch for the ana's, kayosaurus and mikeledocus - lamb tagliata:



Leaving the Kay and Mike in charge of the milos, we pay a flying visit to Kiki and baby Finn, and return for tea, when Kayosaurus gets her favorite moroccan chicken stew with lemon and gremolata to accompany The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, and I get to slump into a Luke Haines-induced coma.



Even more surprising, the weather is fantastic. Could summer be on the way?