And the Home Baked Challenge January winner is...

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in, and helped spread the word about the January Home Baked Challenge. You can see all the entries on the Home Baked Challenge flickr group.

Without further ado I will announce that the winner is Lisa's Cold Snap. Well done Lisa! This little prize bundle will be heading your way (a boot print potato masher, Usborne 30 healthy things to cook and eat recipe book and a postcard print of one of my photos) along with the Home Baked Challenge winners blog button! (Drop me an email with your details and I'll get them sent out to you).

Thank you, once again, to Lucy from Vegan Family House for being our first guest judge.

Many thanks to those who answered the poll I posted the other day. It was pretty clear that most of you like the idea of 3 judges, so I will try and line a guest judge up for the next challenge - if you'd like to be a guest judge, send me an email at homebakedonline at gmail dot com. You don't have to be a foodie blogger - don't be shy!

I will be announcing the theme for the February Home Baked Challenge on Monday! I hope to see you all then.

Homemade Mayonnaise & Food Inspiration from Elizabeth David

Years ago, I recorded a television drama based on the life of Elizabeth David. The opening voice-over words in the programme were

"Some sensible person once remarked that you spend the whole of your life either in your bed or in your shoes. Having done the best you can by shoes and bed, devote all the time and resources at your disposal to the building up of a fine kitchen. It will be, as it should be, the most comforting and comfortable room in the house.”

I was immediately transfixed and remained so for the entire programme, which left me completely inspired.
Some parts of that programme have been firmly set into my memory, one of which was her making mayonnaise. Separating the bright egg yolks with her hands, whisking, gently and methodically whilst the voice-over describes the process in a velvety smooth voice, dispelling mayonnaise myths with great wisdom such as

"Good food is always a trouble and its preparation should be regarded as a labour of love."

I revisited the recorded programme the other night and really enjoyed it, even in it's crackly VHS, taped off the telly quality!
I decided I definitely should have a go at making my own mayonnaise, as well as a few other things.


Mayonnaise recipes, I found, tend not to really differ that much. I ended up following the instructions and Aioli (garlic mayonnaise) recipe from The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters.

It was lovely to make, going slowly to avoid curdling. Cameron had some Vivaldi on while he was sketching that particular morning and kept commenting on how he liked the smell of the garlic. It was such a lovely atmosphere in the kitchen.

I adapted the recipe slightly, using less olive oil, as my egg yolk was quite small. When I make it again I will use a lighter oil - the book recommends extra virgin olive oil but I find the flavour a bit over-powering when using so much of it. I might add some anchovies too.

Since revisiting the programme, I've treated myself to an Elizabeth David book. I can't wait to find out more about her approach to cooking.

Happy HE Day!

Yesterday was a very special day for us - the third anniversary of de-registering from school and therefore starting our journey in home education. Essentially, it marks the time when our eyes really opened and we began living more mindfully. It is probably the most meaningful occasion that we celebrate each year because of that.

This year is a particularly special one because Cameron has now been home educated longer than he ever attended school.

As the years have gone by we have developed a couple of traditions. I always gift Cameron with a new book - this year it was A Beatrix Potter Treasury (because Cameron and I watched Miss Potter in December and he fell head over heels in love with the illustrations and has been studying it closely) and of course there has to be cake!

This year, with the cake, I went for taste over presentation and baked these brownies which are amazingly chocolately and were a delight to make.

We decided to go bowling and had a lot of fun. There was only a 2 point difference between our scores in both games! We had lunch at the bowling alley too which was satisfyingly junky.

The rest of the day was lovely and relaxed. We were quite overwhelmed with the air outside today, there was definitely an element of Spring-like freshness that was a joy to breathe. We sat in the garden for a little while and listened to the birdsong, just enjoying it.

We are entering our fourth year of home education with great enthusiasm. Have you ever felt like you're on the brink of a really great time in your life? That's exactly how we're feeling right now, so optimistic about the year ahead.

Please Vote :o)

I'm just pondering over future Home Baked Challenges and wondered if people would rather have the votes open to everyone (in a poll like this one) so that you can get your friends and/or readers to vote for your entries.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this - please vote and let me know :o)

Weekending

I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was nice and relaxing. We pottered about at home on Friday night/Saturday when I jumped up a couple of difficulty levels in window star making - I crafted a sixteen-pointed wind wheel.

It wasn't as fiddly as I was expecting but it had a sort of twist fold that I didn't really master until the last few pieces.

I learnt an important lesson about window star making, which was to assemble all the pieces in the same sitting - rather than assembling half and coming back to it another day - as it didn't quite match up when I went back to complete it with fresh eyes.

I like it though, and I enjoyed the process and learning new skills.

It hasn't photographed very well, I haven't managed to find a pocket of sunshine to capture it but you get the idea!

You can see my progression with making these stars by clicking here.

On Sunday we went off on the train to a car boot sale. We weren't sure what to expect as it was raining and we've never been in Winter before. There were fewer stalls but it was interesting anyway. Cameron found a Pokemon book and some canvasses for painting which we haggled down to half price! I'm only just starting to find the confidence for haggling so was glad to get a good result.

I spent a grand total of 20p on myself. I bought these two little glasses with citrus prints on them, I thought they might make nice tea light candle holders for Summer.

***

Thank you so much to everyone who has submitted entries to the January Home Baked Challenge! Entries are now closed and the winner will be announced here on Friday! You can see all the submissions on the Home Baked Challenge Flickr group.
If you missed the deadline, do not fret - there will be a new challenge to follow very soon!

Last reminder for the Home Baked Challenge: January

These three weeks have been flying by haven't they? - the deadline for the January Home Baked Challenge is this Monday lunchtime! That means you have just 3 days left!

Here's my interpretation of the Frost theme

Simple Peach Sorbet and Pomegranate Frost Cups

The Peach Sorbet really is incredibly simple to make:

1 tin of peaches in their own juice

40g caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Puree ingredients and freeze, forking through once or twice when partially frozen.

The frost cups were supposed to be fully formed cups but I had quite a few epic fails whilst trying to master them and ran out of patience in the end so served it on a piece of ice from one of the failed attempts!

It's been great to see entries appearing in the Home Baked Challenge flickr group. Remember to upload yours before Monday at noon.

If you don't want to join flickr I can post your photograph for you - email them to me at homebakedonline at gmail dot com

If you're discovering the challenge today or in case you need a refresher -the original post introducing the Home Baked Challenge is here and the details of the theme for January are here.

Thank you again to everyone who has shown an interest in the Home Baked Challenge and to our guest judge Lucy from Vegan Family House.

If you fancy being a guest judge for future Home Baked Challenges drop me an email at homebakedonline at gmail dot com - don't be shy, I'd love to hear from you!

More Wet on Wet Painting

Since we first gave wet on wet painting a go last year it has been a regular feature.
We are enjoying interpreting ideas or descriptions from books in watercolour, in an abstract way - aiming for beauty in colour rather than perfection or likeness to something.


We have been cutting up some of the paintings and using them for note cards, like so many others before us. I love that my "to do" lists for each day are now so pretty! People sometimes ask where they came from when they spot lists in my hands while I'm grappling around for change, library tickets etc.

I've even found myself sitting down to paint by myself when Cameron isn't interested. It's so relaxing and I like to keep a nice pile of note cards ready - I'm a perpetual list maker!

These particular ones were inspired by a description in a book about rays of sunshine underwater.

Red Onion Tarte Tatin

Make tarte tatin is on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I love to gain new cookery skills and tarte tatin is something I had never previously tried. I saw an article once, with gorgeous pictures of vegetable tarte tatin that was so colourful with onion and peppers and other things. I tore the picture out of the magazine (sans recipe unfortunately!) and put it away in my inspiration folder and remembered to include it when I put my list together.

On searching for savoury tarte tatin recipes I found Delia Smith's recipe for Red Onion Tarte Tatin on the BBC food website. It has a cheesy pastry crust which appealed to me - you can't go wrong with the caramelised onion and cheese combination - so I decided on that one.

I had assumed that you need a special anodised pan to make tarte tatin and was slightly taken aback by the prices of some of these! I found a lovely one going unbelievably cheaply online one evening so immediately purchased it, only to find later that it was half the size that I wanted. (This was a good lesson for me, to learn not to shop online late at night when I'm not paying attention properly to the finer details). However, the small one is lovely and would make a darling mini tarte tatin or similar when such a need arises.

I ended up using my trusty old victoria sandwich cake tin in the end. I heated it gently to begin with and it was absolutely fine.

The finished tarte tatin was rustic in appearance but utterly delicious and I will definitely make it again.

I seem to be having a run of ticking off items on my list in the last few weeks - long may it continue - only 54 weeks left!

Speaking of deadlines, there is only one week left to get your submissions in for the January Home Baked Challenge!

Bloggers for Haiti

Update Monday 18th, 7pm: The total now stands at £2792.50!! Thanks to everyone who has helped to spread the word so far.

***

Cameron and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about Haiti, sending our positive thoughts and researching ways to be able to help. We both decided to donate some money but we were stalled for a while after I became a victim of identity fraud and had to cancel all of my cards. Thankfully I managed to donate using paypal rather than having to wait.



I have been amazed by the amazing blogging community who have been quick off the mark to help and have already raised a lot of money.



Bloggers for Haiti have a just giving page to raise funds for ShelterBox. The total at the time of writing this post stood at £1255. Each £500 raised buys:

• A ten-person tent with privacy partitions that allow its occupants to divide the space as they see fit
• A range of other survival equipment including thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets, essential in areas where temperatures plummet at nightfall
• Life-saving means of water purification. Water supplies often become contaminated after a major disaster, as infrastructure and sanitation systems are destroyed, this presents a secondary but no less dangerous threat to survivors than the initial disaster itself.
• A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters. These items enable people to improve their immediate environment, by chopping firewood or digging a latrine, for example. Then, when it is possible, to start repairing or rebuilding the home they were forced to leave.
• A wood burning or multi-fuel stove that can burn anything from diesel to old paint. This provides the heart of the new home where water is boiled, food is cooked and families congregate. In addition, there are pans, utensils, bowls, mugs and water storage containers.
• Each box can be adapted to the individual needs of the disaster area, for example, following the Javanese earthquake in 2006, when some resources were available locally or could be salvaged from one storey buildings, the overwhelming need was for shelter – so ShelterBox just sent tents, packing two in each box. The box itself is lightweight and waterproof and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past – from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby.
• And lastly, but I think just as importantly, each box contains a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. For children who have lost most, if not all, of their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.

You can learn more about it and donate here.


Alternatively there are several other charities working to help the situation in Haiti, details for some of them here. Donations of all sizes will make a difference and even if you can't offer any money, you can still contribute by spreading the word via blogs, facebook, twitter (#bloggersforhaiti) etc.

Also, checkout Craft Hope for Haiti on Etsy where "all proceeds of the Craft Hope Etsy shop will benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. All items have been generously donated by the crafting community. If you'd like to donate an item please visit the Craft Hope website (www.crafthope.com)."

Rice Pudding: The Ultimate Comfort Food

Is there anything more comforting on a cold Winter's night than home baked, old fashioned rice pudding? I think not.

So simple and easy - 100g rice (preferably, but not essentially, pudding rice), 50g sugar and 1 pint of milk. Place in a greased oven dish and bake at 150C for 2 hours (or make it in the slow cooker).

Warmth from the oven. Sweet, creamy, comforting warmth in your belly. Great conversation by candle light - perfection!

Exciting news today is that the first Home Baked Challenge submission has been uploaded to the flickr group - well done to Liz for being brave enough to go first! Only 10 days left to make your submissions and upload them.
Full details of the Home Baked Challenge here and the January theme launch here.

***

I've made some updates to the linky love section in my sidebar including (at the top of the list) some ways you can help people in Haiti - just a "heads up" for those reading in feed readers.

Seasonal Nature Table in Winter

What do you include in your Winter seasonal and/or nature table after epiphany?
I find it the most difficult season to represent inside the house and, as there is so little to collect on nature walks that it feels much less interactive for Cameron unless he wants to craft something for it.

Here's what we've come up with so far:

A Lady Winter felted figure, laying her carpet of snow and ice, some rocks and pebbles, some glass pebbles to represent the ice on the ground and some Spring bulbs, slowly forcing - I particularly like with these that we can watch the work of the roots, reminding us of what is going on underground.
We used a cotton brown cloth for the bare ground and a white one for the background. Since I took the photograph I've added a plain white candle too.

We haven't been adding seasonal books to our table, Cameron said it was too 'school display-ish' but I like the ones I've seen on other blogs and flickr.

I have this great book on nature tables/seasonal areas, it's beautiful. I'd love to find a Mrs Thaw figure, like the one in the book, for the end of Winter, I'm not feeling brave enough to make one yet!

If you're looking for more on nature/seasonal tables this flickr group is great for nature table inspiration and The Magic Onions blog holds Friday's Nature Table, where people share their lovely ideas.

Marmalade Jaffa Cake

After I made all of that lovely marmalade last week, I thought I'd better find some more interesting ways to use it up rather than eat marmalade on toast for breakfast for the next 3 months!

I stumbled across a recipe for a home made jaffa cake but it had too many eggs for my liking so, naturally, I made my own version!

I used a basic sponge recipe and baked it just a little more than usual (in a lower oven) to make it slightly dry/thirsty. I let it cool in the tin and skewered it all over to make lots of holes, which drank up the warm, very slightly watered down marmalade when I poured it over. I added a little bit more of the marmalade mixture before topping it with melted chocolate - yum!

If I make it again, I'll add some citrus zest to the cake mixture to give it a bit more of a citrus kick. Cameron enjoyed the more subtle flavours in this one though, so the cake didn't last long!

Allotment Planning

I've been giving our allotment quite a lot of thought over the last few weeks. If you want to see the beginnings of our allotment journey you can visit Home Grown Education - however I'm going to be blogging about the allotment here from now on.

The allotment was very badly neglected when we got it and despite working really hard in the first few months, an injury and a very challenging year kind of got in the way and I decided to do what I could to keep the land we had cleared, clear, and start a-fresh with renewed enthusiasm this year.

I'm trying very hard not to be too ambitious in my plans. I'm a perfectionist by nature and find it difficult not to think in all-or-nothing terms about anything that I do. I think this is an asperger tendency, I find myself constantly struggling with accepting anything that isn't one extreme or the other, although I feel I have come on in leaps about bounds in terms of recognising this, and being more comfortable with things, however they turn out.
Gardening is possibly the hardest thing to be "perfect" at because of so many varying factors that are out of my control. I find it refreshing though actually, that nature makes me learn to be more patient.

I have started a little savings fund in order to be able to buy in some help in early spring. I feel a little bit like I'm cheating, but I'm rationalising with myself that as a lone allotment holder with a lot of demands on my time already there is no reason why I shouldn't have a bit of help with the hardcore, heavy jobs.
I'm hoping I'm going to be able to delegate rotavating and the building of 4 raised beds. The rest, I intend to do myself.

Here's what I'm hoping to grow this year:

Potatoes - a LOT of potatoes! We really enjoy growing potatoes. They're pretty low maintenance. The harvesting of potatoes is like Christmas morning, uncovering natures gifts. Also home grown potatoes taste delicious! I'm planning to grow them in waves, so that we can (hopefully) keep harvesting until the Autumn.

Pumpkins - we grew our first pumpkins last year, almost by accident! It'd be great to carve our own, home grown pumpkin at Halloween again.

Red onions - grow and preserve onions is on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Onions tend to form the base of nearly every evening meal I cook so I am really looking forward to using home grown varieties.

Garlic - We use a lot of garlic too and Cameron loves the smell of it growing.

Courgettes - we grew some courgettes very successfully in our first year of home education and then the years following have been rather disappointingly popular with the slugs! I'm looking forward to growing these on a larger scale so that if they do get munched on by slugs then we might not lose the entire crop.

Peas - the taste of fresh peas, picked and eaten straight from the pod is one of the delights we look forward to. Having the space to grow enough so that we don't have to buy any from the market will be a great.
Carrots - So far I haven't had great success growing carrots. I'm trying again this year but I'm not devoting a whole bed to them until I feel I've mastered them a little better.

Fennel - I grew some fennel in pots in our back yard for the first time last year and it was lovely! Hoping to repeat the success.

Strawberries - there is an existing patch of strawberries on the allotment so I'm going to watch with interest to see how well they do.

Blackberries - also, already thriving on the allotment. I didn't get the chance to prune the bush back in the Autumn so it's quite wild at the moment!

Blackcurrants - another thing we inherited from the previous allotment holder. We made strikingly colourful blackcurrant ice-cream with them last year.

Redcurrants - I'm going to buy a redcurrant bush this Spring. I remember being amazed by them as a small child. The taste, the amazing colours - especially when the sun is shining through them. Home made redcurrant jelly!
Gooseberries - for similar reasons to redcurrants really.
Blueberries - there's still a question mark over this one. I'm pondering over an offer for fruit bushes that includes a blueberry bush so we shall see. I've heard they can be quite high maintenance.

Rhubarb - I love rhubarb! Looking forward to planting some of that.

Sweetcorn - I was quite amazed that we managed to grow sweetcorn last year so am looking forward to growing a whole block of it.
Sunflowers - a sunflower growing competition has become a bit of a tradition. This year I want to harvest the seeds too.

Raspberries - there is already a raspberry bush by the shed which produced very well last year but the birds got all of the harvest! I will be netting them this year.

These plans will be subject to change, but they're a rough guide for what I'd like to achieve this year.

Cameron has asked for his own plot, which is fantastic. I have given him a good sized bit with the best light - an already existing raised bed at the back of the allotment. He's still deciding what he wants to grow.

We're going to be composting for the first time. The area we live in doesn't do gardening bins or composting and I haven't been keen to start my own in the back yard as it's so small. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've been reading a lot about it.

I also want to add a picnic table with a big umbrella for shade. I can already picture summer days sat at the table, sketching in our gardening journals and enjoying fresh peas, home grown potato salad and raspberries with yoghurt while butterflies flutter past and a gentle breeze sweeps through my hair!
It's funny how I have such a rose tinted view of the allotment after being away from it so long - when I get back there I may feel down spirited until we've done a lot of work! I'm looking forward to the challenge though.

I'd love to hear what you're planning to grow this year in the comments section!

Multi-coloured Window Star

After making a multi-coloured star as a Christmas gift, I decided I'd quite like something similar for our ever growing collection.

This was the simplest 5 point design I've used but the instructions were very confusing so it took me ages to work it out!

I've been enjoying that the five pointed stars all begin with a square. Having to cut the paper to the precise sizes has been putting me off making more complex designs but I'm aiming to move up in the difficulty levels this year. I'm looking forward to being inspired by the changing seasons.

The link to some window star tutorials, including a lovely one from GardenMama is still in the linky love section of my sidebar if you fancy having a go.

Did you have a good weekend? Has anyone made a start on their Home Baked Challenge projects yet? I have been making a very slow start on mine - here is certainly plenty of frosty inspiration outside at the moment!

Wishing you all a great week :o)

Feeding the birds and pondering on Winter

The weather here has been incredible this last few weeks. I've never seen so much snow at once in my life and I'm 28! We just aren't prepared for a lot of snow, ice and prolonged cold temperatures in England. I wonder if this will become normal for Winters here and how things might adapt so that life doesn't come to an almost standstill each time the snow falls.


I had a really hard time letting go of Autumn but am surprising myself by finding so much joy in Winter. The snow is absolutely beautiful, for one thing. We took a little train ride on Wednesday and were in absolute awe of the beauty we saw in the wintery sunshine. Fields of untouched snow, some of them so smooth they looked like newly iced cakes. Snow covered clusters of trees in the distance that, Cameron observed, looked like they were placed there straight out of a painting, almost too perfect to be real. We saw children sledging and a family building an igloo too - what fabulous memories they will have when they look back on this snowy season!

The novelty of playing in the snow has worn off and Cameron and I are enjoying the chance to cosy up at home and beaver away on our own projects. Christmas brought so many wonderful presents that have sparked our interests, and the excuse to stay home in the warmth and get on with them is very welcome.

The early stages of plotting and planning for Spring have slowly started to enter my mind. I have a stack of seed catalogues on my nightstand for bedtime reading, leading to dreams of Spring sunshine on my face, budding trees and a carpet of Spring flowers all around me.

Lunches of home made soup and croutons are becoming the norm. We like to warm our hands on the bowls and catch up on each other's project news.


We have decorated the Christmas tree (which is now in the back yard) with strings of popcorn and dried fruits for the birds.

It feels good to be able to give back to some of the local wildlife after getting so much joy from our observations all year round.

Lemon Marmalade

Making marmalade was on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days and I was waiting for January, when marmalade is traditionally made due to the availability of Seville oranges. However, I'm not actually a huge fan of orange marmalade so I decided to try a different flavour instead.

I was gifted the full set of The Best of Mrs Beeton books over Christmas and dived straight in with the Jams, Pickles & Preserves book as soon as I had the opportunity, which is where I found, not one, but three recipes for Lemon Marmalade!

I chose Lemon Marmalade 1, because it seemed the most simple. It took about 3 hours to make, but for the bulk of the time it didn't need to be watched.

The house smelled absolutely amazing throughout the entire process and the lemony vapours worked wonders on our winter snuffles!

The boiled lemons were extremely slimy and difficult to slice and my hands were stinging by the last few lemons because of the acidity.

The Best of Mrs Beeton's Jams, Pickles & Preserves

Lemon Marmalade I (as it appears in the book)

"Place the lemons in a preserving-pan, cover them with cold water, and boil them gently for about 2 hours, during which time the water must be drained off and replaced by fresh boiling water at least three times. Let the cool slightly, slice thinly, remove all the pips, and weigh the fruit. To each 450g/1lb allow 900g/2lb granulated sugar and 600ml/1 pint of the water the lemons were last boiled in, and boil these together until a thin syrup is obtained. Then add the prepared fruit, and boil until the marmalade jellies when tested on a cold plate. Cover closely and store in a cool, dry place."

The recipe doesn't use quantities, however I used 7 medium sized, un-waxed lemons which, by sheer fluke, made exactly 450g fruit so the sugar and lemon water quantities were very easy to work out.

The set of books was a fabulous gift for me, I'm very grateful for it and I know I will get a lot out of it. But I do wonder what Mrs Beeton herself would have made of the way her books have been carelessly updated with spelling mistakes etc. and are being marketed under her name, containing modern ingredients, metric measurements and microwave instructions, among other things, despite her having died in 1865. Perhaps she wouldn't care less about the quality and just been pleased that her ideas were still being used after so long. Who knows. I can't help thinking that if I'd have bought the books myself, hoping to find authentic old fashioned recipes and other household methods, I'd feel a bit duped by these books. (Grump over!)

I have to say, I really enjoyed the chance to get preserving again and was pleased as punch with myself for managing to get exactly the consistency I was hoping for, probably for the first time. Reading up on different methods (rather than my previous slap dash efforts) and having a decent preserving pan are really starting to pay off. I am plotting and planning things to grow on the allotment this year now, so that I can plan ahead what I can preserve in pretty jars!

If making marmalade is tickling your fancy, I found another recipe here that can also be adapted to Seville Oranges, when they arrive in the shops and markets.

Anorak magazine

This is NOT a sponsored post, I don't earn any money from recommending it. It has been such a big hit with both of us that I couldn't not share it.

My Mum put the Autumn '09 issue of Anorak Magazine in Cameron's Christmas parcel and we think it is fantastic! The illustrations are beautiful, it's interactive, it's funny, it's quirky, it's informative without being patronising and it's cute without being sickly.

Cameron has been really inspired by the artwork and also a photo story featuring teddy bears. He's been making his own, featuring Squeaky and another stuffed toy he received at Christmas. In fact, it was the thing that drew his attention away from his new games console during Christmas week - not an easy feat, I can tell you!

As a parent, I think this is the best regular children's magazine publication I've ever seen.

We were especially pleased to see an illustrated feature by Gemma Correll. We have been enjoying some of her Daily Diary pages on flickr for a while and we spotted her drawing style straight away.

Best of all - Anorak is not very expensive - at the time I wrote this it was £12 for an annual subscription (4 issues) which I think is an absolute bargain and we've signed up for a year. You can also buy back issues and other things on their website shop. It's also available in some shops too.

I hope that didn't come across like a sales pitch, I just love that the online community of parents can share news about good stuff :o)

In Defense of Pizza

A ranty post today.
I've been getting cross at all the weird messages banding around about this obesity epidemic. While I agree there are changes that need to be made, I think people are going about it the wrong way and it is my opinion that we are going to find ourselves with an eating disordered generation who are completely confused about what they should and should not eat, and even feel guilty for having a lazy Sunday afternoon, because of all the mixed messages.

One of my bug bears is the demonisation of foods. Cheese in particular is getting bad press, the thought of carbs still seems to put fear in people, any kind of fat is now considered the root of all evil and somehow sugar is considered so bad for our children that it is replaced with artificial sweeteners?

These messages are forced at our children from all angles (along with an array of other worrying things like misleading food labelling and manipulated body images) and it's confusing, with many children (and adults for that matter) now believing that the only "good" or "guilt free" things to eat are vegetables (no fruit as "it's got sugar").
And these adverts, aired at prime family viewing times, have had my extremely healthy 9 year old weighing himself and standing in front of the mirror, pinching the skin on his stomach while questioning his health this past year, which infuriates me!

I'm not going to go into all of my grievances with how this issue is being dealt with, and I don't think these issues are all new things. However, I believe that attaching guilt to food is the biggest mistake of all.
I grew up around a lot of people who "dieted", some of them more as a hobby than a health choice. I have a lot of memories from my childhood of eating "treat" foods but never getting any real satisfaction from them because they were accompanied by conversation along the lines of "Ooh, aren't we naughty!" leading (along with other factors) to a lifelong dysfunctional relationship with food and body image.

As this post title suggests, I'm feeling the need to stick up for pizza. Not because I'm in denial, but because I think it's being treated unfairly.
Often lumped in with crisps, chips, sweets and fizzy drinks, pizza is being touted as one of the worst "offending" foods. While I don't believe in "banning" any foods, lets have a look at those contenders shall we?

Crisps - potatoes fried in oil (or covered in oil and baked) with added salt (also sometimes sugar, MSG, artificial sweeteners and e numbers). Hardly any nutritional value.
Chips - see crisps
Sweets - sugar, artificial sweeteners, colourings, chemical ingredients we sometimes can't even pronounce. Unlikely to be of any nutritional value, even in the ones that claim they're made with natural fruit juices.
Fizzy drinks - see sweets, carbonated and often plus caffeine.
Pizza - bread base, tomato sauce, cheese, toppings of meat, fish, herbs, vegetables etc. OK, cheese has a higher fat content than some other foods, but if you want to reduce fat you don't have to use a lot of it and there are so many types such as less processed and lower fat varieties or ones with stronger flavours so you need less.
Nutritional content of pizza in comparison to the other contenders? It's in a different league as far as I'm concerned and I think people should stop putting it down!

This pizza recipe is my go-to, standby meal when I've had a hard day and don't feel like cooking something more complex and haven't had the foresight to throw something in the slow cooker. It isn't the best pizza recipe ever but it takes me less than 30 minutes from scratch to plate and I will not be made to feel guilty for serving it as a legitimate meal, nor will I class it as a "treat".

Mum's tired, let's have pizza tonight recipe


200g plain (white, wholemeal or a mix of both) flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
130ml milk (water is also fine)
pinch of salt
Passata (instead of tinned tomatoes because of Cameron's sensory issues)
Garlic, 1 large clove
Large teaspoon of pesto or mixed herbs if I've run out
Toppings - onions, peppers, sweetcorn and either tuna or anchovies are our favourites
Grated cheese, low fat if you want
More mixed herbs

Turn oven on. Mix flour, oil, milk and salt to a dough. Knead until a bit springy (not more than 2 mins, Mum's tired remember!) roll out and place on baking tray (stab all over with a fork if yours doesn't have holes) or pizza stone.

Spread passata garlic and pesto and arrange toppings and cheese with a sprinkle of herbs.

Bake at 200C for 20 mins.

Eat, taste, enjoy without guilt.

I'll be back with something more cheerful tomorrow!

The Home Baked Challenge theme: January!

I'm so, so pleased that so many people are interested in the Home Baked challenge - I have been grinning from ear to ear all weekend! Thank you to everyone who has been spreading the word.

Just to touch on some concerns some people have expressed - we aren't aiming for "perfect" creations, it's meant to be fun, so don't be shy! You don't have to invent the recipe yourself - you can put your own twist on a recipe or follow it to the letter - remember, as long as you make it, and it's edible then you can enter it. Also - people from countries outside the UK are welcome to join in too.

Without further ado, I will announce that the Home Baked Challenge theme for January is: Frost!

So that could be very literally, something that resembles the frost, something frosted, something frozen, something with the word "frost" on it... or something else completely! You are such a creative bunch, I know you will come up with great ways to interpret the theme.
It might even be a good opportunity to use up some edible glitter you may have bought for the festive season. The dictionary definition comes up with a few ideas, but don't feel you have to stick to the rigid meaning.
I see the joy of the challenge really being in the creative process and sharing as a community of home cooks rather than being fiercely competitive.

Your submissions need to be uploaded to the flickr group or sent to me at homebakedonline at gmail dot com
Remember to include a photo, a description and a link to your own blog (if you have one).

The guest judge for January is Lucy from Vegan Family House (well worth a visit whether you're vegan or not) and the among the trees blog where I particularly enjoy the inspirational seasonal photographs. Thanks so much for being our first guest judge Lucy!

The deadline for submissions is: Monday 25th January at noon.

The winner will be announced here on the following Friday.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, either in the comments section or via email.

Don't forget to grab yourself a Home Baked Challenge blog button from my sidebar.

I can't wait to see all your entries - good luck!

Introducing the Home Baked Challenge!

I'd like to get a bit more interactive here on the Home Baked blog this year. I stumbled across this website where they hold cupcake baking/decorating competitions on a set theme each month. The closest one to me is a fairly long train ride away which would probably destroy any prettiness I create so instead I thought this would be a great kind of idea to do in blog land. From there, the idea of the Home Baked Challenge was born!

Here's how it works:
At the start of each month I will set a theme. Anyone who wants to join in can make food, interpreting the theme in their own way and submit a photograph and description for the chance to win a small prize and a Home Baked Challenge winners blog badge (I can already hear you squealing with joy)!

The "Home Baked" part refers to my blog name so you aren't boxed in with just baking - your item can be baked, boiled, fried, steamed, grilled, roasted, frozen, raw or any other method you choose. Likewise, they can be sweet or savoury, a meal or treat, cakes or sweets, gluten free, vegan or catering to other dietary needs - as long as you make the item and it is edible, the sky is your limit.

I will set the submission deadline with each theme announcement at the start of the month - this will give you approximately 3 weeks to come up with an idea, create it, photograph it and upload it. You can enter more than one item, if you choose, and cooks of all ages are welcome to participate.

Judges will be Cameron, myself and one other guest judge each month. Obviously, because it's an online challenge, we wont be able to judge submissions based on taste or texture. Judging criteria will be presentation and originality of concept.

I see the joy of the challenge really being in the creative process and sharing as a community of home cooks rather than being fiercely competitive. I will be joining in too, but obviously not to win, just for fun.

I have set up a Flickr group so we can pool all entries over the year. You don't have to join the Flickr group in order to participate, it is simply to make things easier for guest judges so they can view entries on the Flickr group rather than having an inbox full of food! Flickr is free to join but if you'd really rather not, I will happily post your entries through my account, with your permission (you can email entries to me at homebakedonline at gmail dot com). Also, you don't have to be a Flickr member to view the group.

I've also made a blog button for everyone who participates or wants to support the challenge by spreading the word.
You can find the HTML code for the button at the top of the right hand sidebar of this blog. It's the first time I've done blog buttons and I found it quite challenging to make - do let me know if you're having problems with it and I'll do my best to fix it!

So, what do you think? Do you fancy joining in?

I'll announce the theme for January on Monday. I really hope to see you then!

Happy New Year + a little blog admin

Wishing you all a joyful, healthy and productive new year!


Cameron and I are so pleased to be able to put 2009 behind us and move forward to a more positive place. We have worked hard to rekindle some family relationships, our own relationship and adapt our lifestyle and outlook to suit us more presently. And I think we may be out of the other side of the nine year change, which I didn't believe existed until it arrived.

So, here's to 2010!
We saw in the new year with a little walnut shell boat activity (featured in All Year Round). It was a lovely activity and then we got an early night so as to approach January with energy and enthusiasm rather than a headache and fatigue!


Do you do the new year resolution thing?
Usually we make a light hearted list of things we'd like to do, but this year we're just going to have some overall goals (such as healthful choices, beauty in our surroundings, more days out etc) to aim for and see where it takes us.

This may sound completely selfish, but this year I plan to do more for myself. I found myself completely worn down to the point of illness last year for many reasons. One of my goals this year will be investing in myself a little, nurturing my own creativity, and taking some time to be alone or with other adults. I am still committed to being a full time Mother and to home educating Cameron, but it was gently pointed out to me, by someone very nice, that running myself into the ground and taking nothing for myself isn't the best example to be setting. I hope that makes sense without making me sound completely self-centred!

Of course, we have our huge allotment to really get stuck into this year! I have already started a savings fund to buy in some help in the Spring to give us a kick start. Cameron is also very keen to have his own bit of land to grow his own things, which is great considering his reluctance last Summer! I have decided to scrap the separate allotment blog and share our allotment adventures here, otherwise this space will be pretty quiet during the Spring and Summer!

You may have noticed that I've made some changes here on the blog too. I have added an extra sidebar so that you don't have to scroll down so much to find things you're looking for.
I have bought my own domain name which is http://www.homebakedonline.com/ You can still find the blog from the old address but it'd be great if you could update your feed readers/blog lists to the new one, when you have a little time.
I have chosen to keep this blog non-political - this does not mean that I do not care or take action on issues I believe in, it's simply my choice for this space. However, I will post links related to campaigns for home education etc in the "linky love" section as they come up, along with other non-political things I think are of interest. Be sure to check it out from time to time if you're reading on a feed reader and don't see my full page.
I've dropped the word "education" off the blog title, mainly because this space is evolving towards a point where I'm sharing less about home education and more about life in general and my own projects. We'll still be sharing snippets of our educational approach here, but perhaps in less detail than when this blog began as we don't really make the distinction between education and living life anymore - we learn all the time.
Also, although Cameron has not expressed a dislike to me sharing some of his life here, I'm feeling the need to give him more privacy, so there may be a little less of him featured in the blog, but he'll still be popping up from time to time when it feels right.

This week marks my second blogger-versary! I can't quite believe that I've kept the blog going regularly for this long. I'd like to take the opportunity to say thank you to you all for reading and for your lovely comments and support. I really enjoy this platform to express myself and record bits of our lives, and am enjoying seeing it grow and evolve.

Anyway, enough of all that serious stuff! I have a very exciting (well I think so anyway!) idea that I'm hoping you will join in with - make sure you come back and visit tomorrow to find out more!