June 08 - a Coalition for all (even those with May or July 08 babies).

[DomesticGoddessInTraining]

Abdn liked the title so I just went ahead!

Neenz - are the DT's birthdays in May? Apologies if they're earlier - they're welcome to join the Coalition

great title Goddess

New thread!

Biscuits really hope C is feeling better, poor little mite.

Spider glad to hear the scan went well. You are very good to not look. When I had ds2 (dd) they wouldn't tell me the sex at the sex and I was so upset I cried all the way home and tried to get dh to pay for a private one. I didn't even care what sex the baby was, I just wanted to know!

Deb anyone househunting at the moment has my total sympathy. I think you always have to have some compromise on the house itself, and would agree with Neenz that location is more important.

Thats for the thread DG

DH is away this week which meant there was the usual scamble to get in his side of the bed last night. I was still sending ds1 back to bed at 10.00 as he was insisting he would only fall asleep if he was in my room, and then J was up from 1.30-3.30 and ended up in my bed. Obviously I blame DH for this completely, especially as he rang me this morning to tell me how big his bed is in the hotel and how well he slept last night. Git.

Sorry to hear you had a rough night Sybil.

Question for Valium and other domestic goddess types... We're having a family party on Sunday with around 18 adults and 5 toddler/pre-schoolers. Last year we had a bbq, but DH ended up stuck cooking all afternoon, we were falling over people in the kitchen trying to 'help' and DS was grouchy because we weren't giving him any attention. So this year, would like to go for a prepare ahead type buffet - preferrably with things we can make on the Saturday that will keep till the Sunday afternoon. All suggestions/recipes would be welcome. So far on the menu we have:

Large picnic pie (thank you Waitrose)
Selection of cold meats
Crudites and dips
Potato salad
Baked potatoes
Chicken drumsticks (which we'll cook in the morning and serve cold)
a make ahead dessert (strawberry and white choc type affair)
Crusty bread
Home made coleslaw type thing
Also thinking a tomato type pasta dish and a rice dish.
Choc fudge cake and a victoria sponge cake (in lieu of birthday cake)

Anything else? Particularly something good for the littlies?

Also - on the cake front - I'd like to make on the Saturday. If I did the sponges only and iced on Sunday should I store in fridge or not? Could I ice on the Saturday? Buttercream and sprinkles on the choc fudge cake (I think from memory) and jam/dusting of icing sugar on the victoria sponge (maybe cream, haven't yet decided).

Domestic the food sounds good. Cocktail sausages are always a hit with kids, that all I would add!

Re the cakes, usually butterbream iced cakes don't need to go in the fridge but if it's very hot then they probably will. I bought some chocolate cupckaes from the primrose hill bakery last week and the icing melted into a pond within an hour due to the heat! Definatley put the cream cake in the fridge but just jam will be okay if iced on the day.

Amber not usre I can be any help but can understand it's really stressful to think about having twins. DP works long hours so I do most of the parenting alone, if you accept that he way it's going to be (which iit sounds like you have) then it's easier to cope.

Dp went away at the weekend and will be back friday next week which is managable. A week after he returns he is away for two weeks again which is not manageable as the girls finish school a couple of days after he leaves. After ll his globe trotting our holiday in Norfolk will seem very dull to him and I'm sure he will actually want to stay at home!

C seems better today, thanks for all the good wishes.

deb dewin I didn't realise that 'selling a dummy' was a colloquialism - it kind of means to fake something, so I thought she was better, but she was just faking it, and was ill again the next day IYSWIM?

Spider I am an excellent patient at scans! Most general radiologists don't do any obstetric scanning, so I leave it to them - I have several colleagues who have scanned themselves/spouses, but I feel that as it's not an area of expertise for me, I'd rather not do so and frighten myself if I couldn't see a HB or something. Also, they often don't know what my speciality is - though it does tend to have doctor written on the notes, which I have to say I prefer them to know, as it changes the way that they speak to you (in medical terminology rather than in patient speak, IYSWIM, patient speak is great, but really annoying if you speak fluent medical goobledegook!)

going and sybil sounds like a nightmare with DHs away - hope they give you lots of time to yourself to make up for it when they get back!

DGIT sounds yum. Is that S's birthday party? I'm not having one - my sister is making a cake for C at the weekend as we are visiting her, then we're awy visiting friends in lots of different places next week, so having a birthday tea with the grandparents a week on Sunday which my Mum is hosting in Dumfries at their house. [lazy]

Thanks going - good idea re cocktail sausages and thanks for the cake tips.

Also meant to say if anyone has some winning tomato pasta or rice dishes that can be prepared ahead and served cold I'd love it if you could share!

Yes, birthday party for S. DH's parents would love to host for us, but we're kind of bang in the middle for everyone on both sides of the family so it sort of suits us.

Am also having a very small toddler type thing on his actual birthday which seemed like a good idea ages ago when I thought I would have time to make loads of stuff and have it in freezer...

DGT - sounds like you have your bases covered, but you could do a Greek salad. Jamie did one on his latest series "Jamie does..." I have the book and have made it twice. Obviously there are thousands of Greek Salad recipes on the Internet but it might be on his website. For puddings I made Delia's "Cheats chocolate trifle" for a BBQ at the weekend, and it all got eaten and got lots of compliments. After my terrible cakes in recent weeks it was a relief to do something easy. I think the kids didn't like the rum that the cherries were soaked in but you could skip that bit. That is definitely on the Delia website. HTH

Sybil - that is really sad about you crying after your scan. Did you get the private one done?

Biscuits - pleased to hear that you are an excellent patient.

I think I've missed a load of posts somewhere, things aren't making sense, but that could be because I've been really tired the past few days, I managed to get a nap in this morning and feel a lot better, but perhaps the brain function is slow to catch up

Amber - Glad to hear the scan went well, I suspect my DH would react in a similar way if I was expecting twins, he'd be terrified.
You will cope just fine, when I was pregnant with H I was chatting to a lady who had a baby a few weeks old and a 13 month old, I asked her how she was coping and she said "If you imagine the worst it could possibly be, it's not that bad ". I've found second time around a lot easier, although of course I just had the one, but it makes a lot of difference that you know what you are doing and know what to expect.
We haven't had any help and you just get on with it and manage.

DG - I can only think of mayonnaise based cold pasta dishes, I find that tomato ones go a bit odd when they are cold.
I make a chick pea thing which is nice cold as a salad, or warm on toast, bit of olive oil in a frying pan, chuck in some spring onions, crushed garlic, chopped peppers and mushrooms, let them soften a bit, put in a drained tin of chick peas, a sprinkle of cumin and a bit of seasoning. Fry for a few minutes. I've also been chucking in some baby broad beans and teeny tiny baby carrots from the garden.

I should be getting the boys up now. H rolled off our bed this afternoon, he seems fine. J didn't really roll around at all but there is no stopping H, if I turn my back for one second I find he's got right across the room and jammed himself under a piece of furniture. He's desperate to play with J and his toys and he gets really frustrated that he can't.

biscuits my notes say Dr too and often I feel like they're more honest and I get more information. I do fess up to just being a physicist though when they get too technical. dewin can you pull this off too?

deb I like the allendale house and loft rooms for teenagers wouldn't really bother me. They're better at bending than us creaky adults anyways. What about the £345 one that's listed as a character house? Is it too character-y?

food - cheese sandwiches for the kids (simple, white bread with butter), cucumber cut into sticks, breadsticks...

I'm no help with adult food though - we eat all children's meals and I'm starting to get quite sick of it after three + years.

Although a kid-friendly pasta dish is just pasta+pesto+pinenuts+cooked chicken. Mine love it....

sybil DS1 always climbs in with me when DH is away too - it's sweet, but not always good for sleep!

waves to ktpie, going, rolf - I feel like I've not commented to you in ages!!! Who've else have I missed lately?

Hi, I am here as always! Always lurking that is if not posting.

Biscuits, hope C has indeed got rid of whatever nasties she's had. B was ill during the night on Saturday, but right as rain by Sunday morning (at 6am grrr). I think there must have been something going around though, because I had a very sudden and severe stomach thing last night for a few hours, which thankfully stopped as quickly as it started.

Deb, Barney, as the locals call it, is very nice I seem to remember. Good luck with house hunting. I have been advising a work colleague on good places to stay in the NE, but he's a wee bit further north than you - closer to Newcastle.

Goddess, we're also doing a party on Sunday; all that food sounds fine to me, it sounds like loads of choice in fact! But WHERE IS THE CHEESE AND PINEAPPLE HEDGEHOG??? Surely surely no party is complete without??? You could bake your cakes the day before and keep in airtight containers, and make buttercream/whip cream in advance, keep in fridge and assemble at the last minute.

Sorry for not commenting on everything else, if I started I wouldn't be able to stop, and right now I'm trying to make dinner, supervise B and his sisters and email something to work...

Thanks for the new thread Goddess, I would definitely add crisps to you lovely buffet!!

Spider - great news about your

Biscuits - thank you for the dummy explanation,

Abdn - we got the details of that house, but thought that it was expensive for a semi but the rooms with the bays are lovely , don't know how much garden either but if it's still available in a months time then we'll view it!!It's empty though so I assume open to offers.

oh yes - forgot to say congrats to spider on the scan!

deb it sounds lovely and I can see that the bays and features could make up for it being a semi but something about it makes me a bit sceptical. It would be interesting to view anyways.

Great news on scan Spider; I'm seriously impressed with your not finding out. I couldn't stand not knowing[takes seat on OCD couch next to Dewin]

ktpie- chick pea thing sounds yum!

Debs- must have missed the bit wqhere you started house-hunting. I am of no use as the North Of England positively terrifies me

DG- boo-fay sounds yummy. I would second the Hedgehog though. No Boo-fay [am channeling Margot from The Good Life] is complete without one.I usually do cocktail sausages on sticks. We had 70 people for C's christening. I cooked 150 sayusages and they were all gone in an hour! You can bake sponge in advance and keep in airtight tin or swaddled in cling-film until icing. I don't usually make icing/cream ahead of assembly but if you have a reliable husband who won't do something stupid with it, then do (I do swear by Betty crocker Choc Fudge frosting if you fancy an easy life though) I'd also add chips/crisps/breadsticks to nibble on. If catering for kids I have found the pic-nic-style food the way to go: i make sandwiches and cut them into shapes (I do one slice of white and one of brown in each sandwich- you could always cut them in squares and make them into a chessboard) mini-cheddars/organix puffs, mini tomatoes and grapes and teeny-tiny muffins, yogurt pouches, Humzingers/other fruit-based snack bars etc. They'll probably just eat all the sweet stuff anyway!

Dewin- I'm around. I need to thank you for the bunting that S bought home last night too

Waves to all and dashes off to feed self before she has to feed baby!!

Deb what about a few miles outside Allendale? This house looks like quite good value. Not sure whether the "business opportunities" it provides would be any use to you though.

Lol Spider, I asked the estate agent what this sentence meant - The location is within the Burnlaw complex, opening opportunity for a diverse range of possibilities for business use. Turns out that Burnlaw complex is this Buddhist community

Ooh, lots of good ideas. Have made a note of them all - many thanks! Vallium I love the chess board sandwich idea.

I've found this which I'm going to order for S's toddler plus mums hungry caterpillar party next week. Your picnic type ideas are perfect for that party too Vallium.

What are these hedgehog type things you speak of? And how does one assemble one?

With sausages - how far in advance can I cook? On the day or day before? Do I just bung them in the oven? I usually stick to those tubs of ready to eat cocktail sausages (well, I am a domestic goddess in training, not a fully fledged one like some of you )

Oh, biscuits I knew what sold me the dummy meant! But then, I am from the Weege...

Have found the choc fudge cake I'm going to make here. Do you think I should wait till the day to do the icing?

c'mon DG, surely you know what a cheese and pineapple hedgehog is? here

Goddess, google 'cheese and pineapple hedgehog' and you will see plenty of examples! I use half a melon as the base, with raisins on cocktail sticks for eyes and nose. That chocolate cake looks fab, icing the day before would be fine as long as you can keep it in a fairly cool place. The only thing is that sort of icing is usually quite glossy when it's first made, so it might lose its shine a bit. But hey, it's got sprinkles and it's chocolate, so who cares??!

You could cook the sausages the day before, cool them down and refrigerate. However, I think they're nicer served warm/room temp, so I cook them just before I want to eat them. You can bung them in the oven, use a foil tray so no washing up afterwards, maybe with a touch of honey or maple syrup and mustard - dead easy!

Deb - wow, Buddhists!!

Oh, and also forgot to say congratulations on the scan Spider.

Oh! My phone and my wireless () weren't working after the huge storm. DH complained about the phone and an engineer was coming in 4 days. I then fixed it (!), and phoned about the wireless which still wasn't working, and I'm getting a new box. But it's spontaneously started working... It was totally dead before.

This will be a quick post saying hi to all - I want to go to bed, but also wanted to connect to people (it's dreadfully lonely without the virtual world and even my parents are away!).
Nothing much to add to the party food - I'm not much of a cook but have a fab potato salad recipe. BUT, can I beg you all to make lunch suggestions for me which are not sandwiches?
Ktpie's chickpeas would work.
I have no means of heating anything, only a kettle for boiling water. (Please, no pot noodles! ) I'm also vegetarian.

Abdn (and Biscuits) yes indeed, I'm only ever Dr - don't have another title (obviously not Miss now that I'm married, but never Mrs because I haven't changed my name so it would be wrong to call me Mrs Roberts and more wrong to call me Mrs P.). I have excellent intelligent conversations with GPs and other medical experts because they assume I'm medical. My dentist also went into great detail, and I really wished he hadn't. The downside - I've been asked to help out on a plane (I was so tempted to try! ), and I've been shown a dreadful rash by someone working on the till at Tesco.

Valium join me on the OCD sofa. I have Dyson-ed it, sprayed it with lavender oil, and aligned the cushions so that they are equidistant from each arm of the sofa, and they form a perfect horizontal line along the top.