New Vocabulary

It seems I have acquired a new word in my frequently used repertoire of vocabulary - SHENANIGANS. It needs to be written with capital letters and in bold to to imply the way it needs to be said. Shock, horror, disbelief......

The reason for this new word? The antics of the amazing sons over the last few weeks. Well, over the last few years if I am honest, but the last few weeks stand out in particular.

For example......The sneaky buying and eating of about 14 chocolate bars EACH in the space of just 3 days over half term. The spitting of toothpaste out of the bathroom window so it looks as if our garden steps have been daubed by a rather unwell flock of birds. The sneaking of the treat box upstairs after bedtime. The discovery of a stash of sweet/crisp/chocolate wrappers under the floorboards. Rotten sandwiches discovered hidden away in their bedroom. The drinking of chocolate sauce out of the bottle from the pantry shelves. The sneaking of the computer upstairs after bedtime to play games or watch DVDs. Being found INSIDE the duvet covers (buttoned up) when asked to strip their beds. Being caught on camera eating ice cream after not being allowed to have any or take any spending money on the school trip due to previous SHENANIGANS.......a parent on the trip inadvertently emailed me the photos not knowing what she had discovered.

I laugh. A lot. Usually after getting cross. Usually after a large glass of wine. I've had 2 large glasses of wine tonight. You have to agree, SHENANIGANS sums it up rather well.

Chui Chilli Chop

The amazing sons helped me to cook lunch today. Nothing fancy. It is the end of the 2 weeks of half term and I really urgently desperately need to go to Sainsbury's. There is not much 'fresh' food left in the house so we made a bean and lentil chilli with a few carrots and stalks of celery that were languishing in the fridge. The amazing sons' knife skills are definitely getting better. That last sentence read out of context would be extremely worrying.

For extra spice I chopped up a few chillies. It wasn't the gorgeous husband who suffered for his chilli eating bravado this time. Amazing son number one looked more than a bit watery around the eyes it has to be said after crunching through a few of them. He was also heard to say 'I think I prefer mustard, it [the effects] doesn't last as long'. Regardless, I bet he'll be back for more when we have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Cheesecake Conversion

I'm not a huge cheesecake fan. Despite my very sweet tooth it is not a pudding I often eat or want to eat.  Probably due to the school dinner variety that I was offered throughout my education. And until last week I had never made one or had a desire to do so.

I don't know what came over me therefore, but with 8 friends coming for dinner I decided I simply HAD to serve cheesecake. Baked cheesecake. Baked cherry cheesecake. With a soured cream topping. It seems that a recipe for this does not exist on the internet, so I had to combine 2 recipes and add my own twist.

It almost went horribly wrong when I discovered that the foil (above) had failed to keep the water (from the 'bain marie', what culinary sophistication) away from the tin and there appeared to be some seepage. I was imagining a very damp biscuit base but carried on regardless. Thankfully my fears were unfounded and the cheesecake was something of a resounding success.

I served it with sour cherry compote to complement the cherries in the mixture. And even I had seconds. I may be converted to cheesecake it seems. As long as it doesn't have a soggy bottom.

Chuis and Chillies

The gorgeous husband decided to treat us all to an impromptu  meal out last night. One of our locals (there used to be just one which was a definite 'old man's pub', but now we have 4 rather trendy (or trendy enough) bars/cafes within walking distance) has a curry night on a Thursday. The amazing sons loved it although there was some inevitable curry bravado amongst the Chui males as to who could handle the hottest curry. Amazing son number 1 was brave enough to try a chicken jalfrezi (4 chillies on the menu) while amazing son number 2 ordered a chicken korma (not even 1 chilli on the menu, no fun in that). The gorgeous husband had a chicken vindaloo (a whopping 6 chillies on the menu) and suffered a little for it. It is a very rare occurrence to hear him say that something is a little too spicy, but that is (I am sure) what I heard him mutter at some point during the meal. It may have been when he was mopping his brow such was the heat of this curry. It was a simply lovely evening, topped off with mini ice cream sundaes at home. Special times with my favourite people.

Wednesday Sundaes

The amazing sons chose to have their ice cream sundae treat today. Effortless and (thanks to some bargains I spotted in Sainsbury's) complete with proper sundae glasses and spoons. Okay, so the sundae glasses are vivid orange and the spoons equally garish in colour but they were vastly reduced and added to the fun! Ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, bananas, chocolate buttons and whipped cream. All topped off with total silence while the amazing sons enjoyed them. I think we will be making more....

Mocktails, a Movie and Midnight Munching

After a tiring morning filled with swimming and gymming we spent the afternoon making 'mocktails'. We even dipped our glasses in egg white and sugar! They are rather pink and did not really convey the 'James Bond shaken-not-stirred' image the amazing sons wanted, but we had fun. You really don't want to know what went into making these - I wouldn't recommend them for adult consumption as they were very, very sweet but the amazing sons thought they were very, very delicious. But then they are 12 and 8 and would happily eat sugar cubes with maple syrup poured over for breakfast if I let them. Amazing son number 2 was in fact caught sneaking the 'treat' box upstairs for a little midnight munching that same evening. I do feel the amazing sons are making progress in their sneaking of the 'treat' box upstairs. This time amazing son number 2 was only caught by chance as the gorgeous husband went to the kitchen to get a beer. I wish I had been there to see his face! Last time they tried, amazing son number 1 dropped the treat box on his way upstairs. Rookie error.