Frank and Josie's House

It's been a funny few days in the Yarn household. Firstly Finn tested the hospital nearby when he needed stitches after a playground injury. He's now all healed and back to his normal lunatic-self, running around at full speed having still not learnt to look where he's going! Rose is potty training so the washing is increasing and the sticker charts are filling up nicely. Poor old Merida has laryngitis and is feeling rubbish. She's completely lost her voice and is using a whistle to call when she needs something. So after two days of being home with a potty training toddler and sick ten year old (when I'm supposed to be running errands and attending a crochet workshop) I decided to bake. What else do you do when you have to stick a toddler on the toilet every five minutes and attend to the needs of the whistle-blowing girl? So all morning it's been measure this ingredient, take apron off to help Rose on the potty, put apron back on and hopefully measure the next...

Hello lovely people. Firstly I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who sent me love and good wishes and encouragement after my last blog post and during the week. Oh there has been much homesickness this week but an emergency box from our friend which was full of English chocolate and biscuits and, of course, tea has seen us through. I’ve been enjoying exploring the markets here. I’ve just devoureda sharon fruit from our market visit this morning. Oh the produce is so yummy. But being 500 miles further south than we used to live has had a few pitfalls. The main one has been melon! I bought a melon the other day and was so pleased with myself. “Yes,” I thought “I’ve managed to get a watermelon out of season. Finn will love me. This will keep the family going for a week.” Little did I know that my slightly distracted head didn’t read the sign saying “melon à la confiture”. Now if I’ve got my French spelling correct it means “melon for making jam”. So imagine my surprise when I c...

Bat wings, mummy fingers, carrots cut in the shape of pumpkins, monster cupcakes and ghost gingerbread - it must have been Hallowe'en! We love Hallowe'en in our house, can you tell? Every year we do something for it, even if it's something silly at home like dressing up and painting faces, apple bobbing and dancing to Hallowe'en related songs. This year the main focus was on fun and food! My sister invited us to her house in Dorset to spend the weekend (just) before Hallowe'en. It was the end of half term week and seemed a good note to end the holiday on. The idea was to dress up and play games and watch the Hallowe'en Strictly Come Dancing . I started talking to Merida about the food side of things and we mentioned blood soup and all sorts of grisly ideas. I then logged on to  Pinterest  and then had many more ideas, as is the way of a good Pinterest search! Before I knew it I'd created a new  seasonal recipes board ! So many wonderful ideas. The ones I pic...

Before I begin I need to tell you that none of these photos have been edited. I wanted to show you the true green of the wild garlic. I also want to thank Lucy of  Attic 24  for her post on wild garlic pesto  which inspired me to try making some of my own. I started with intentions and a recipe but it turned into a bit of a different story about how Frank and I communicate with our kids.  I love gathering food, whether that's blackberries in Autumn or runner beans from the garden. It gives me a wonderful sense of fulfilment. Merida and I were on a lovely dog walk through one of my favourite woods which at this time of year is starting to bloom with rhododendrons. We were enjoying a lovely chat and some one-to-one time and when you have three kids this doesn't happen often. She was asking me about my dream house and was telling me about hers (She wants to live in a massive house in Cornwall by the sea when she's a popstar). Suddenly we came across a massive patch of w...

Jam jam jam jam jam jam jam jam jam (to the tune of Monty Python's spam song) I love making jam! I do it whenever I have a couple of days free (it always takes a couple of days!) My mum bought me a book a couple of years ago called  Traditional Jams and Preserves by Eve Parker . Whenever I have an excess of fruit or see one in our local grocers I can't resist making jam, conserve or jelly. Last year I bought a tray of apricots for less than £3 and made lots of jam. Now you'd think that after making jams and jellies for a few years that I wouldn't need the book but not only is it a great reference tool, it also has great ideas that are on my 'to try' list such as Sweet Chilli Jam, Spicy Indian Chutney and Peach and Orange Marmalade plus there are recipes for relishes and ketchups which I've yet to venture in to. Also, because each fruit has a different level of pectin (which is what makes the jam set) they need different combinations of fruit and treating sli...

Since I discovered Jamie Oliver's risotto recipe I adore this dish. It is so flexible and the main tip Jamie gives is to make the base roughly the same every time. Now me being me I don't do that! I use his method but not necessarily his ingredients. Here's what Jamie does. For this interesting dish I made the base with what I had in the fridge (I hadn't got around to restocking our depleted veg selection so I had to go with what we had). I resorted to onion, red cabbage (which turned the rice a gorgeous purple colour), mushrooms and baby sweet corn, with some shredded spring greens to come later. Slightly different to Jamie's I know. So I made the base per his instructions (in short: lightly fry the veg then add the rice and then the wine and finally the stock one ladleful at a time until dissolved) I was determined to be careful and patient ladling in the stock over the rice so it doesn't stick and waiting for it to become absorbed until you add the next bit. ...

I love Macaroni Cheese. It is a family staple and we have it at least once a week. I even manage to make it slightly healthier by also adding something green, such as peas, green beans or spinach. The other day I achieved something I've been trying in different formats for a while - a spicy Mac 'n' cheese. Yum! There a picture below. Unfortunately it's already half eaten but in our house that's not surprising. So the basic recipe is this: Ingredients (serves four hungry souls): 500g pack of macaroni good chunk of butter/marge/olive spread (whatever you use!) cornflour or plain flour milk cheese (about 250g) Method : First of all put the macaroni in to boil but don't cook it completely. This is important. It needs to do more cooking in the oven so leaving it a little undercooked is crucial. About 5 minutes in add the peas or beans (or both as I did here) for another 3 minutes cooking. Don't cook the spinach if you're adding it, whether it's frozen or...

Every year I make Christmas pudding. It's become somewhat of a tradition. It all began when I was vegetarian and I couldn't find a Christmas pud that was both veggie and nut free (my mum is allergic to nuts). I started searching books for recipes as this was pre-Pinterest days and I didn't go straight to the net for recipes. I came across a recipe in a magazine and have used it ever since. See my dog-eared, flour pocked, mixture stained copy below.     As I altered the recipe I scribbled all over the page and now have created my own version, but even this changes every year. One year I had breadcrumbs the next none. Sometimes I use brandy, sometimes I add beer as well but there's got to be brandy as it just smells of Christmas. Add beer if you like BUT beware that the pudding rises more due to the yeast in the beer so leave extra room at the top of the pudding basin. I learnt this the hard way!!  So the version below is my standard recipe. I've now completely remove...

The other day we met with some friends for brunch. We are a family who love brunch, seriously love brunch. Our son chose porridge as he really loves his porridge. Imagine his dissatisfaction and utter disappointment when something resembling gruel turned up at our table! Finn asked "What's that?" Reluctantly we informed him that was his porridge. To be fair to Finn he tried it but not surprisingly he didn't like it. As our plates were full of food it wasn't too much of a disaster but I still got a refund stating "That's not what I call porridge!" It got me thinking "Who does know how to make porridge?" If a restaurant can get it so horribly wrong and bring out a bowl of milky soup with a few oats floating in it what do others expect? In this world of instant meals porridge seems highly advertised as such but the truth is you can make good porridge in less than ten minutes. I remember my dad used to make it in a massive pot on the old-fashio...