A Capital Time - London Loveliness

My gorgeous family spent last weekend in London. It was a fairly last minute plan - two weeks ago Mr Wren and I sat down in his office, looked at his calendar and realised that if we didn't go away that weekend we would end up not going anywhere at all this holiday. Now the Little Wrens and I are getting along fine but we all needed a change of scenery. So a hotel was found, train tickets were booked and we all had something to look forward to.

My soft spot for my old adoptive city is well documented - it is where I feel most at home. But the children too just LOVE London. We have always spent time with them there - my sister in law lives there, so that always makes things easier - but there is nothing quite like staying in a hotel in the centre of a city to really give you a taste of the metropolis. 

Master Wren would in all honesty be happy to ride around on the tube all day, but his choice of London landmark was a visit to The British Museum. Having studied the Egyptians at school last year he was very excited to see all of the ancient Egyptian relics. We saw actual mummies and tombs, the Rosetta Stone (which I was vaguely aware of but my encyclopaedic son explained "was the key to unlocking the meaning of hieroglyphics" - so there you go!) and even a preserved two thousand year old body (complete with hair and skin intact). It's a very special place, although I couldn't help wondering quite what all of those wonderful exhibits from around the World were doing in dear old Blighty. All of it presumably acquired during the grand days of the British Empire. Fabulous as it was to see it all, it does feel a bit like a very large and impressive exhibition of all that we have plundered from other nations. 

Our hotel was near St James' Park, so for dinner on Saturday night we wandered out past Scotland Yard through the grounds of Westminster Abbey, crossed the road in front of Big Ben and walked alongside the Houses Of Parliament, crossing the Thames at Westminster Bridge to reach the South Bank. So pretty unremarkable really! The South Bank itself had, as it does every Summer, given itself over to The Southbank Festival which this year took the theme of 'Love'. So after stuffing ourselves silly in Canteen, the children took a spin on the carousel and we all threw ourselves down the enormous family slides they had dotted around (see photo, top), before treating ourselves to an ice cream and taking a sundown stroll back to our hotel. 

Maxi Dress - American Vintage

Sunday began with breakfast with a view of Buckingham Palace in St James' Park followed by a quick tube ride (oh, happy boy!) to South Kensington and a wander around Miss Wren's museum of choice, the V&A. I love this place and spent many lazy hours as a student gazing longingly at the vintage Dior and Balmain dresses on display. So beautiful. Both children were fascinated by the fashion through the ages and were hypnotised by the jewellery exhibit. The dizzying display of diamonds left me feeling slightly giddy. They really are a girl's best friend. Or would be, if she could ever get her mitts on any!! Breathtaking!

We spent our last few hours in the capital in sunny Hyde Park, before heading to Paddington on our last legs to begin our journey home. We had a wonderful family weekend. 

In order to have as full a weekend as possible we caught the early train to London on Saturday morning. So we were all up at 7am and out the door before 8. Breakfast needed to be eaten on the train so on Friday evening I baked some healthy and sustaining muffins for our railway picnic. They were also very delicious. Here's the recipe....

30g unsalted butter

60g (two heaped tablespoons) honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsps crunchy peanut butter

2 large ripe bananas

150g light spelt flour

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Around 12 teaspoons raspberry jam.

12 hole muffin tin and cases

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C/ gas mark 5

Put the butter, honey and vanilla in a pan on a low heat to melt, then set aside. Mash the bananas.

In a large bowl, measure out the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix the peanut butter and bananas with the melted butter mixture and combine with the dry ingredients.

Line the muffin tin with the cases and fill them about half full. Dollop a scant teaspoon of jam in the centre of each, then top with the remaining batter (making sure that all jam is covered).

Put in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Eat warm ideally. Train optional.

Busy Doing Nothing

We're into week 3 of the Big School Holiday now and I am loving having my monkeys around every day. In holidays past we have had a pretty quiet time of it (and driven each other mad in the process!) But this year we are packing it in - meeting up with friends 2-3 days out of 5, working on little projects at home, day trips, visits to family, a camping trip and the odd weekend away. Plus many water fight-filled days in the garden with this incredible weather we've been having. We are BUSY! Which is wonderful - the little Wrens are having fun, I'm having fun and we're spending real quality time together. All this though, of course means that I am struggling to fit in more tawdry tasks - the ironing has piled up and the house has definitely seen cleaner, tidier days - poor Mr Wren is regularly returning home from a day at work to utter chaos! 

It also means that I am struggling to find time for my selfish little pleasures - visits to the gym have been rare (and that makes me slightly jittery) and my tiny little corner of the internet has been sadly neglected. But now the holiday is in full swing I am hoping to get into more of a routine (both writerly and housewifely!) and I will make sure my nests (both physical and digital) are much better cared for.

It's hard to put my finger on why, or what it is exactly, but since my last post (over a month ago - shame on me!) I have in all honesty lost a bit of oomph. I have been approaching everything at half speed, with minimum effort since it was all I could seem to muster and as a result I have been feeling really dissatisfied. That old 'put 100% in, get 100% out' adage would, I'm afraid, appear to be true. So consider a leaf turned, the rose-tinted spectacles are back on and I am going to try and approach life in my usual positive, upbeat manner. And if I'm not happy with something, well, I have the power to do something about it. And, actually when I look through my photographs from the last few weeks I can see that I have had a really lovely time and done and created some very special things. Most of them involving the two most special things of all - my babies. Seems I've been achieving a lot more than I thought. It's all about perspective. xx

Chocolate caramel birthday cake - mmmmmm!

The boy's Mad Science party - blog with details to come...

I finally got my Frame Denim dungas - I promise I'll stop now!

GP's fish tacos - incredible!

The Frozen cake - made three batches of my own candy for this. That's love.

Even Miss Wren had had enough cake by the time her birthday came around. Birthday rocky road it is then!

National Trust membership - the saviour of many a school holiday.

Perfecting my Dutch braid.

Playhouse renovation using child labour. They've had so much fun planning this.

Summer Fair - Name the Ted and Fresh Gingerbread

I've been AWOL again, I know. I'm sorry. But this post should help explain why. Last Saturday was the school Summer Fair and Sports Day that along with the rest of the PTA committee I was in charge of organising. It was a loooooonng day. Set-up began at 9am, stalls opened from 10.30 am and we weren't packed up until 5pm. But it was such a beautiful day too. Everything looked gorgeous - from the glistening tombola prizes, to the mountain of cake donations, from my hastily created Human Fruit Machine to the bunting that had been lovingly hand-sewn from old school summer dresses by a very talented friend of mine. The sun gazed down on us from morning 'til night and all day I was surrounded by the faces of smiling children. It was hard work, but absolutely worth it. Here are a few pics from the day. (Thanks to my friend, Alan for the beautiful photos)

It's Party Time!

God, I love a kids party! Which is a good thing really since I'm in the midst of planning three in the space of as many weeks. First up is the imminent school Summer Fair. I'm head of the Parents Association (did I mention that before? No? Probably because I'm trying to pretend it's not true myself! So stressful and did I mention thankless? Sorry. I'm at risk of going off on a rant here!) and the Fair is imminent (like next weekend imminent -aaarrgh!) so I am currently up to my eyes in bunting and raffle tickets. I am busily sorting tombola prizes and preparing rats to be splatted. I am the person who has to count those sweets into the jar so some lucky person can "guess how many" and win the lot. My husband says I should just make up a number, but really, that's not in the spirit of things, is it? It's loads of work but it makes the kids so happy, and really, I don't think I could just stand on the sidelines while someone else does all the work. I secretly love it.

Bank Holiday - Birthdays and Rainy Days

I love a long weekend. This Bank Holiday Sunday we travelled up to Richmond to celebrate my brother-in-law's and his twin sister's 40th Birthdays (coincidentally it's on the same day! Ha!) It was also my Father-In-Law's birthday on Monday, so it was a big group celebration. As usual, cake duties fell to me. So I baked a huge batch of my brownies and the Birthday Boy's specially requested favourite carrot cake. 

It was a glorious day - a beacon of sunshine in the midst of a week of solid rain. Much Pimms and white wine and delicious food was consumed. The children ran around together all afternoon, while the grown-ups chatted and laughed until the early hours. Perfect!

Summer Breeze - sunshine, weddings & celebrations

Well, that's more like it! Summer sun all weekend and today. There's nothing like a bit of sunshine to make me feel that all is well with the world. I have had the most wonderful weekend. A beautiful Cotswolds wedding on the hottest day of the year, a world-beating first barbecue of the season and to top it all off another pretty major reason for my family to celebrate. Today's is a pic-heavy post!

Dress - Diane von Furstenburg, Jacket - Rag&Bone,
Bag - ASOS, Shoes - Shoemint.

My wedding outfit was a riot of colourblock (although, in 23 degree sunshine that jacket was a bit surplus to requirements). My jacket and dress were Yoox designer bargain finds and that bag was a half price ASOS steal (still available too - link here.

Rainy Day Rhubarb & Custard

Well, talk about a wet weekend! It was rainy or cloudy for most of Sunday and at the same time I was in a mildly hungover fug. These two facts combined meant that I had to spend the day eating my own weight in carbohydrates. It was fried eggs with toast and pancetta at brunch, and we had macaroni cheese for tea (is there any better hangover food than mac & cheese?). Around midday, my background headache like a pushy shopper elbowing their way to the front of the queue began forcing it's way to the foreground. I needed cake.

I found a bag of rhubarb at the bottom of the fridge that my Mother-In -Law had picked from her garden. Not quite enough for a crumble. So I googled 'rhubarb and custard cookies'. No luck. I did however find a recipe on the BBC Good Food Magazine website for a Rhubarb & Custard Cake. Boom! And off I went.

I posted a pic to Instagram and Facebook of the cake about to go into the oven and I've had loads of people asking me for the recipe. So here it is. It is incredible. I urge you to make it. It will make everything better.

Sunshine and Strawberries - here comes the weekend

Today has been a beautiful day and I was lucky enough to spend the whole morning outside in the sunshine. I have been busy assisting a very talented photographer (Aniko Towers - check out her website here) as she snapped the children at our school for the school calendar. They are wonderful children at a beautiful school and watching them relating to someone they don't know very well it's remarkable to see how well behaved they all are. These are good kids, but even so, witnessing the teachers' deft handling of them I couldn't help thinking that a career as a cat herder would be less challenging. I am exhausted. I have no idea how teachers do it calmly and patiently every day!

For everyone else out there who might also be flagging this Friday I thought I'd share with you one of my baking recipes. It's for a batch of Strawberry spelt muffins and they are sugar free, vegan and wheat free. Don't let that put you off, though - you would never know. These are divine - light and soft and sweetly delicate. A wonderfully indulgent feeling treat ideal for winding you down to the weekend.

This is the perfect recipe for when you've bought a punnet of disappointing early season or air-freighted strawberries. You know, when they are underripe and too firm and taste of nothing. Or even with the few that have gone a bit soft in the fridge. Somehow a little baking makes them more strawberry-ish. I reckon this would work pretty well with raspberries too.

Weekend in London - The Details (The Wren falls in love with The London Edition)

"When a man is tired of London, then he is tired of life"

                                                                     Oscar Wilde

What a weekend! It was at least two days too short, but our two day sojourn to the Big Smoke was a feast for the senses. It almost ended before it had begun with all trains cancelled from Worcester to Paddington (aaaaarrgh!) but a detour to Birmingham and a mad dash across New Street station to make the connection meant we arrived no later than originally planned.

A black cab took us the short distance to our hotel - The London Edition on Berners Street. When you walk into the lobby your jaw hits the floor. It is INCREDIBLE! The grand period features - double height ceilings, unbelievably ornate cornicing (there are angel carvings, for goodness sake!) and wrought iron balconies give the feeling of intense old-moneyed luxury whilst the furniture and fittings remaining entirely modern. Breathtakingly beautiful...

Photo by Nicholas Koenig

Anniversary anticipation

Just a quickie post today, because I am running around like the proverbial headless chicken getting the house, myself, husband and children organised ready for Mr and I to set off on a night away in the Big Smoke. It's our anniversary tomorrow (11 years - count 'em!) and since we were living there when we got engaged we thought it would be great to spend a bit of time in our city of love - London.

The restaurants are booked:

Here for lunch

Polpo

And here for dinner

Berners Tavern

In Search of Breakfast...

Hooray! It's Friday. I got there. And in a week when Mr Wren has been on a business trip (since Sunday and still not back - grrrr). And I got there without a single glass of wine and without the tiniest smidgen of sugar passing my lips. Unbelievable. Particularly the wine part.

It's actually fairly easy to avoid refined sugar most of the time.

Sugar rush - It's time to lock up the chocolate.

   

This Easter holiday we have all fallen head first off the healthy eating wagon. In holiday mode, James and I have been opening or finishing a bottle of wine most every night. We have indulged in white floured crumpets and croissants for breakfasts. The children's regular cries of "can I have a snack?" have been greeted with a carefree "Help yourself!". Chocolate. So much chocolate. And we've barely scratched the surface of the Easter egg stash. 

"It was like having a box of chocolates shut in the bedroom drawer. Until the box was empty it occupied the mind too much."     Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter

I am

Brownies and Bling - Mother's Day Treats

As I type this my house smells like Wonka's chocolate factory. It is incredible. The little Wrens have friends coming for tea, so I am baking brownies. For the kids, you understand, because I'm just selfless like that. I may have made a rather enormous batch. Well it is 'Stuff-Mother's-face-full-of-chocolate-Day' on Sunday and apart from the odd very sporadic weekend loaf by Mr Wren I am the only baker in this house so I need to make sure we (I) are chocolate-filled.

Here is that recipe - any Mother in her right mind would be thrilled to receive a box of these on Sunday. Heck, any Mother in her wrong mind would too!

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Roasted roots and skater boots

Last night's dinner was delish. I originally got it from the Goop winter detox recipes and have been making it lots. I'm not on a detox, I just want to eat this. All the time. It's so simple - just a pile of roasted root vegetables (I used

The Wren Cooks Key Lime Pie

In my last post, I wrote of how my Mum was the inspiration for this blog. She named her much longed for home in France Nyth Y Dryw which is Welsh for The Wren's Nest. Not long after she died, my Dad gave me her Nyth Y Dryw note book in which she had jotted down some of her favourite recipes. It is such a precious gift - full of her scribblings and sketches. On Sunday, in between sobbing sessions I thumbed through it and decided to knock up one of our family's favourites. In tribute number two to Mum, I give you Wendy's Key Lime Pie.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Mr. Wren's birthday. I'm not going to tell you how old he is, because it's a year younger than me and that's just plain depressing. I gave him

Cookies and Carnage.

Yesterday, the little wrens had friends to play and so the perfect kids spaces I showcased on yesterday's blog are today looking just a little rough around the edges. Actually, I think the phrase I used was 'a complete tip' and

Food of Love

T-shirt - Zoe Karssen

'Tis the Feast of Saint Valentine Today, allegedly the most romantic day of the year. Although, quite when the notion of a £20 Meal for Two became the height of romanticism, I've no idea. I'm having fillet steak tonight and

Comfort Food.

Some meals just take you somewhere. They often aren't the grandest, most haute-cuisine of dishes, but they transport you to a place of comfort and familiarity. Last night, confronted with the last leftovers of a roast chicken, I made chicken croquettes. I had seen Michel Roux Jr. cooking his version on Food & Drink on BBC2 this week and so I searched the BBC website for the recipe. I added a little Dijon mustard to his recipe to give them a little kick.

As I stood there, mindlessly (but very messily) rolling these little cylinders of mashed potatoes, up to

Tea Break

I was at the gym again this morning and half an hour into exercise I had to stop as I could feel the beginnings of a migraine approaching. I came home to discover my undrunk morning cup of tea from breakfast time. So, by 9.30am I had a headache because I hadn't had my usual breakfast bucket of tea - that is a slightly worrying sign of my body's caffeine dependence. That February detox is going to hurt! In the meantime