MN Little Italy 8

[francagoestohollywood]

Benvenuti, ciao hello

Sunflower: If you moved to South Cambridgeshire we might be local to each other!

Yup, am in C--e! Maybe we could have a cup of tea when you're over!

That'd be lovely Penthe. Gosh I'd kill for a nice cuppa and a slice of proper Cake (nice patisserie in Italy, but I miss those big, fluffy cakes with icing that are so delicious in the uk. And scones!!!). Will keep you posted about our movements.

as expected, little monster's up already....

We could go to The Orchard - a veritable Mecca for tea-drinkers and cake/scone-eaters!

My LO has just woken too... And now I feel like tea & cake... Harrumph.

I grew up near Cambridge, I miss it sometimes, last time I was there was when pg with DD, so xmas 2003! I want to take DCs at some point, my sis is still there but my parents have moved somewhere completely different, and it's not easy logistically.

Funnily enough my DH was talking about renting a camper yesterday too. I'm not sure myself, we always used to camp in a proper tent and viewed campers as something for softies!

Sunflower: climate, fruit and veg are the things that keep me in this country. I am sort of reconciled to the fact I will never actually feel at home anywhere though, as I've been here early all my adult life and certain things feel strange when I go to the UK.

Brange, thanks for the heads up re easyjet.

LOL at the fitness maniacs on here . Brangelina please take it easy you could do yourself an injury !!!
My Wii fit is still in its box and I must get it out I rather fancy teh hula but seeing as I don't know how to turn the wii on I think it will be a workout for me just to get the thing on .
Franca you too can make the cakes with fluffy icing ..I make them for birthdays and celebrations etc . It is easy honest ! Dh loves them but he also loves lemon meringue pie ..which I would make for him if I could actually be bothered ( and had the time).
Brangelina come to COrnwall this summer and we can sit on the beach in jumpers and pretend its warm . We were looking at this summer flights / dates but not sure how I will do 2 dc and cases and checking in at LGW as BA not flying to the west country this summer so cannot check bags straight through its a bummer. ALso not sure on dh work so its a bit early for us to book. After this start to 2009 - I want a holiday !!

Oh gosh rosa, I wouldn't know where to start either if I had to connect a wii to a television set

Sputnik you are right, I prefer tents as well. But I'm a softie when the weather is concerned .

Penthe, I've been to the orchard, beautiful place! (I also went to Cambridge for a few days in 1997, in the late 90s lots of friends of mine were living in the UK. I also went to the University library to make some photocopies, what a magnificent place )

Ok, so if people wants to give me yummie recipes for proper english cakes, I'm all ears

You're right Rosa, am no longer a spring chicken! I must reconcile myself to the fact that middle age (and relative spread) is upon me. I dont envy you with 2DCs and cases at Gatwick. Where do you have to fly to? If you can get to Verona you can fly direct to Newquay apparently, is that any good to you? I'll try and find you a link if it is. I'd love to come and shiver on a Cornish Beach, surely it can't be as shivery as the dunes at Great Yarmouth or any other Norfolk beach?

Like Sputnik, I too am drawn by the seasonal fruit and veg, although being in Milan less so for the climate. At least we do get some sun in the summer, however.

In the summer there are also charter planes from verona to exeter.
I went to Cornwall twice in July when I was a teenager (Penzance) and it was really nice and warm. I even got a tan, I went to the lido everyday!

at a tan in the UK. Mind you, I actually got burnt at Brighton recently, so something is definitely amiss.

I have a friend who used to go to the Scilly Isles every year for her summer holidays, and in all her photos everything was very windswept.

The scilly isles are beautiful. I went there on a day trip from penzance. I must have been very lucky, I remember it was hot and I even swam (for 2 mins) in the sea!

I must have been very unlucky in my yrs in Exeter, as most of the summers (until july, when we went to italy) were disappointing. Apart from 2005, there was a mini heat wave

finally 5 minutes, she just doesn't like sleeping! or being by herself...

Penthe, we'd love to move around kings lynn, to be close to the coast too. so are norfolk beaches always cold? mind you, the last 4 times I've been to italy, I've carried Bristish weather with me.... it's always "oh, the weather has been so good til yesterday" and "you know, we only had rain the week you were here, after that we've had a brilliant summer"

franca, work's ok, though people come and go very quickly, but since having DS I only do 2 days in the office, rest I work from home as childcare is so expensive... not sure what we'll do when I go back, but I'm taking 12 months ML so that at least I don't have to pay for childcare over the summer hols and by then DD will be 1 so cheaper childcare. it's just one of those days, guess the pouring rain doesn't help morale either...
right, guess a cup of orzo and maybe a couple of choc oat ikea biscuits will cheer me up, promise won't be so miserable later!

Yes, childcare is awfully expensive in the UK

mmmm those biscuits sound mmmmm yummie.

I don't know what to have for dinner. The dc will have a bistecchina (ma di filetto) with roman cauliflower and raw veggies, but what can I make for me and dh? A curry? I don't have any yogurt or cream. I want something different!

Raining here too if that's any consolation Sunny.
Re beaches, the whole of East Anglia is blessed with fierce east winds from Siberia. That said probably the best holiday I ever had as a kid was in a place called Burnham Overy Staithe i Norfolk, it was fantastic.

Brangelina if you can find me a link that would be great . Many moons ago there used to be a Exeter Verona ( Thomson / Crystal charter flight) but I have never heard of a Verona Newquay unless its new this year.
Any Ikea biscuits are yummy I am trying to talk to DH to go there and get me the train set for dd but he hates the place with a passion as he can't cope with how it works and he went for the first time without me!! Hence I went back 2 weeks later with a friend to get all the stuff he did not get !
I have never been to teh Scilly isles but sis and parents have - they say it is lovely but rather pricey esp in high season. Summer 2005 I missed but 2006 was superb pity dd1 was too small to beach it every day but we managed with a pool ( bucket !!) in grandmas garden
I can't wait to eat curry again I will give dd another month or so as it does give me aria and just don't want to give her any . I don't put yoghurt or cream in curry always ..But Brange is teh expert. Will look up some cake ideas.. Remind me as brain full of holes!

I am being very frugal and having brown lentils. We had them at New Year and I thought actually they are pretty tasty, why do I never make these?

Siberian winds?
Yes, lentils are yummie, but I need something that cooks quicker for tonight. And I need to go and steam the cauliflower. I'd love to have my own chef...

Rosa, some friends of mine managed to travel on the verona/exeter flight, but only cause a friend of theirs - a travel agent - got them the tickets. Sounds dodgy.

right, I'm stir frying courgettes, a bit of chicken with garlic and ginger. I'll boil some black rice.

ohhh, holidays talk, not sure we are going anywhere this year, credit crunch has hit our household very badly. anyone know of a cheap campeggio down south?
where are you from originally Sunflower, sorry i cannot remember....
feeling quite depressed today, for the first time since dd born, hope it is not here to stay. she sleeps like a ghiro, so cannot blame sleepless nights. damn!
scilly islands sound wonderful, but the artic winds somehow don't appeal to me...
didn't know ikea's biscuits were good!!!! will check out next time round...
ciaoooo

Ciao Hot, I think it's a depressing time of year really. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Hot will have a look at cheap campings down south.
Like Sputnik said, this is a very depressing time of the year, with at least another month and a half of bad weather ahead.
Bad weather (and possibly snow) has been forecasted for the next few days here. To be honest, I'm seriously fed up.

January blues setting in all round then Hot have you looked at some of the Eurocamp or similar kind of places they do not look that bad and have lots of facilities?
Re the Exeter flight - It is hard to get seats purely as it is a Uk charter used for Lake Garda so they don't like selling returns from Italy as you block up seats for them to sell the other way ( I used to work for them !!!!!!!) Plus that flight turned into a W meaning it did double touches and most of the time was terribly late!
No idea what we will do we dream of a week in the mountains in June. I dream of the Uk in the summer and a beach break in Sept ...hmmmm Keep dreaming I think.
Franca you ccok with such imagination I would boil the zucchini - or maybe slightly fry with a bit of salt and pepper and not even dream of doing black rice ! DH after a hard days work had minestrone ( packet ) and a steak !!
DD1 had a good day - ok with a massive sleep think I will send her to nursery tom and keep everything crossed.
Is your ds ok Franca ?

hoping to go home for easter in time to see the 4 babies together before they grow too much, but then I'll probably do 4 wks end of july/beg august, so hopefully I'll find some good beach weather (DS asks at least once a day when are we going to mare?).

hot, I'm from near Portogruaro, so cold in winter there too, but great for both beach and mountains... my DB was skating in the Dolomites yesterday

I wish DD would let me have more time to cook, when I had DS I had a tidy house and nice meals every day... just had left over pasta in bianco with prosciutto & spinaci...

Ds seems fine, apart from the massive wobble he had after losing at snakes and ladders .

Oh no, no imagination, I always cook the same 4 things. I discovered black rice this summer, as a friend of mine made a posh version of insalata di riso with it (black rice, tomatoes, melon and other things I can't remember) and I loved it, as it has a nice texture and a nutty flavour.
I find that courgettes are easy to stir fry, cut them thick and stir fry in the wok. I like them croccanti.
mountain-uk-beach sound like ideal summer months!

at dolomites.

Sunflower, it is difficult to find the time to cook/tidy when you have two!
I honestly can't remember how I managed when my two were little (they have 22 months gap). Boh!