On being frugal. And eating crumpets.

Happy Mothers' day to all you lovely mummies and grandmas out there, and the ones who are just like a mum too. In the words of Faith No More - It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it! Though I very much doubt that anyone ever wishes it were different. I've had 3 sleepless nights with hot snotty coughing kids but despite that I wouldn't change it for the world.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish for you all a day of love and laughter with your loved ones. With plenty of (hot) tea.

We shall shortly be heading out into the cold with a picnic packed for an afternoon at Portland Basin. I'm sure some people will be enjoying a Sunday lunch at the pub and I'm equally sure every gastro pub (I despise that term!) has a special menu planned so mum doesn't have to cook. At a special price too! Not for us. Sausage and mash is on the cards. And I'm not cooking it!

Money is tight all round at the moment and yet we are guilted into spending what we don't have in this incredibly materialistic age. My girls bought me a box of chocolates (always appreciated!) and another baking book to add to my ever growing collection. In truth I would have been happy with a card and a hug but a recipe book that i can share with the kids in the future, and make lots of happy memories doing so, is lovely too. Who needs expensive gifts or slap up meals? Not me.

I have spent most if the week thinking about frugality and budgets. Unfortunately like many these days my hubby us under threat of redundancy and as I have just gone on maternity leave the pennies are going to be very tight over the coming months. With that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to share our budgetting tips. How do you make your money go further? Its all part and parcel of being a domestic goddess after all!

I'd like to share with you a small domestic success when I attempted to make some crumpets. I got the recipe from Paul Hollywood's Bread book and knew as soon as I saw it that it would be the first recipe I tried. So yesterday I bit the bullet and you can see in the photo my efforts weren't entirely wasted. It took me a while to get them anywhere like crumpet-like in appearance, and to figure out where I was going wrong. But eventually I did and with a bit more practice I'm sure I will perfect them. If you're interested in making them may I suggest not too much batter in the ring (he says to fill the ring to just under the brim but I filled it just over halfway) and watch the heat of the pan. I had it on medium but it was too high. You will know your own cooker/hob and pan the best. It just takes a bit of experimenting. Slow and steady definitely wins the race here. Its not something you can knock up for a quick breakfast but they have kept fine overnight and taste ok reheated. Definitely something I will try again, especially as the ingredients are not difficult to obtain, in fact I bet most home bakers will have them to hand.

I'd like to direct you over to Wendy's blog again for Handmade Monday  to catch up on everyone's week. I will hopefully be heading over as soon as the kids are in bed and I get 5 minutes peace!

Til next time!