easy chicken wings

One of the boys' favourite meals is chicken wings. Super delicious, I remember Mum making them from the Woman's Weekly Chinese Cookbook. The first time, I think was for 'Entertaining'. You know the sort of thing - they were done in a very posh way, too. All the flesh was pushed down to one end to make clean bone-handles to eat from!

These is my 'throw-it-all-together' version. Key ingredients are soy sauce, honey and garlic. In various meals, I have included any or all of these things too : fish sauce, sweet chilli sauce (this could be used alone! yum.), tomato sauce, brown sugar, grated ginger, Chinese or ordinary vinegar.

Take the wings from their tray and split into portions - I do this with my big kitchen knife and chop straight through the bones - leaving me with one mini-drum and a second boney bit. The third wing tip is just skin really so I ditch it. The kind butcher at Asda had already taken that bit away.

Put your marinade in a bowl - whatever combo you fancy. Toss in wing bits and mix well before marinading for a couple of hours or overnight. Cook for around 45 mins 175 degrees. Keep an eye on the wings and if they are burning on top, cover with foil - the sugar/ honey will colour too quickly if the oven is too hot.

Freddie's friend came over for tea... and here they are demolishing the bowl full. (You can see my sewing projects piled up at the end of the table! Ha. Waiting for that spare 20 minutes... and I don't think Harry is picking his nose??!!)

Monopoly

We took part in the giant Monopoly in St Albans yesterday. It was brilliant! A board gave us a route of around 2.5 kms to follow (a 4km one was available too) and we visited historic spots on a special trail.

What a fabulous idea! The family was able to see quite a bit of St Albans and even gain access to the jail under the courthouse in the Town Hall. We were a bit tight on time, so didn't get around everything - there were activities, too. One stop by the Cathedral featured a gentleman who had made (yes, made!) 20 or so wooden games and puzzles to encourage problem solving. We were there for AGES. Had to tear Keith away, too.

legoland

We stayed at the Beaumont Hotel, visited Windsor and had a whole day at Legoland last weekend. What great fun! After lots of warm days, it was unexpectedly drizzly and I was misguided enough to wear shorts. mmmm.

But so much to do, the day wasn't spoilt. It was really tempting to go for the year long pass, but we still want the day out to be a treat. The kids get so much nowdays (I sound like someone's Great Uncle...)We are already lucky enough to have passes to the zoo and National Trust. This way, it will be a real occasion when we go.

My favourite - miniland. Little rude things happening around Amsterdam!

ross-on-wye

We visited this lovely part of the world for half term, with a converted school-house cottage to hold us and keith's parents.

What a beautiful place! It was cold, (snow on a couple of days) but beautiful.

We were on the edge of the Forest of Dean and our highlights were:

• the pancake race in Ross
  
  




• Puzzlewood (visited by Tolkien, and surely the source of inspiration for Lord of the Rings)






• Tintern Abbey and a great walk towards the Devil's Pulpit - we never did find it though!

• the Dr Who Exhibition in Cardiff.
  

And this last picture is from Ledbury... we stopped for a homecooked pie in the Prince of Wales and I found the MOST beautiful shop full of Danish delights - fabric, cushions and toys. We have a new spotty orange cushion plus a metre of furnishing fabric with a brilliant house design for me to update things in the lounge.

http://www.husandhem.co.uk/

Now.. to get this done sometime in the next month...

centrparcs

this is a magic place for families. the boys rode their bikes, sped on the scooters, shot down the waterslides. while we were there, harry had turns on his new (borrowed) bike, freddie learnt to start by himself without stabilisers and i rode my first bike in years.

and we shared the time with good friends. you can't really go wrong.

the pictures of me and keith were taken by freddie.

harry george montgomery armstrong 1913 - 1992

I have just dropped some banana cupcakes to the Methodist Church in the village for their poppy appeal. I really hope they are ok... I usually make teeny ones in the pampered chef tin, these are normal, grown up size!

Anyway, the poppy appeal always brings back memories for me of my 'Poppy'. He was a really sweet grandparent, twinkling eyes, smart trimmed moustache, always gardening and offering us lollies (or sweets if you are from the UK)!

He fought in World War II and was interned in a German prisoner of war camp. I have heard stories of him being in charge of the cricket green for the competitive cricket matches and also the shows the prisoners put on. I remember his left foot, with its smallest toe removed due to frostbite. Once back in Western Australia he was granted one of the first farms in a scheme for the returned servicemen. My mum was one of four daughters who joined my uncle to be raised in Moora WA.

I wish I had a photo of Poppy to add to this post... when Mum gets home to Australia, I will ask her to send one across.

kew gardens

Granny is here! Hurray!

We spent the day at Kew. There is so much to see and it took about an hour to drive there. If you are thinking of it, there is 20% off - up to 6 tickets - available via kew gardens online.

The treetop walk is spectacular... beautiful green parrots flitting around and wonderful views. Perhaps not quite as high as the one wandered by Elle Macpherson in Walpole, Western Australia!!

And there is a great indoor (nature related) play area with snapping venus flytraps, giant seed pods, tunnels and this challenging blossom...

We had the most glorious weather. Sunny, with a chill in the air and lots of crackling leaves to kick.

This afternoon, after school, we used our finds for some leaf prints. The idea is to turn them into Christmas trees, so we kept to a simple palette. Just coat the dryish leaves with green paint, and press down carefully. Granny showed Freddie how to do a reverse print. The next step is the add a Xmas star at the top and lots of glitter. The pinecone tips were painted and Harry wants to hang them on the Christams tree with cord.

baby isabella

Here are the proud parents holding their new bundle. Jon and Alina are very happy with this lovely little girl (who wouldn't be... I can almost feel my ovaries bumping around!)

I visited on Sunday, bearing my accumulated pink stash of clothes and some handmade bunting. There is a matching nappy pouch for Isabella, somewhere in my sewing room. Where???

Baby is putting on lots of weight, Jon also cooked a great lamb roast so I'll be doing the same, I guess.

Love Apples!

I made some really sweet apples for last week's Apple Fair, I have just 3 left. Comment or email me direct (brocchi111@hotmail.com) to let me know if you would like one! They are £5 (this includes postage within the UK).

I used this pattern, if you would like to have a go yourself. I didn't worry about a template, just fudged it.... but I like the organic nature of the shape. http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2007/11/apple-pin-cushion-tutorial.html

And I had a real giggle this morning when I picked up the photo. I found that Freddie has been taking pictures with the camera!

Here is his brother, the star model:

And some stuffed favourites (nicely framed, I think):

And an edgy shot with a balancing car:

Isabella Grace

My brother Jon is one of my favourite people. He is calm, kind and a bit cool. I am so lucky to have him living here in the UK. He is in Wimbledon with his family.

Jon and Alina have had the most beautiful little girl, Isabella Grace. She was born last night and I did get the vital details but I answered the phone in a sleep-fog so can't remember them!

Well done to Alina and congratulations to her son, Arnas as well... he will be a fantastic big brother.

Wendover

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/Website/recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandBuckinghamshireNoForestWendoverWoods] Wendover Woods (just by the A41 and Tring). It is a beautiful Forestry Commission expanse, full of paths, play equipment and picnic grounds. We wandered for ages, the boys noticing spiders and beetles. And collecting the required bag of pinecones, bark and fallen leaves.

A really lovely day!

And now home to prepare for Freddie's first full day at school. He has been 'settling in' with last week introducing school dinners (a huge success!) and this week seeing a 3.15pm finish. I expect a very tired monkey tomorrow.