The blethering goes on...thread 2

[ElephantOfRisk]

Still plenty to chat about. Remember this isn't fight club. Nice chatting required.....

We've got a light frosting of snow too had to hold ds1 back until 9am before I'd allow him in the garden. Now he's off for a walk with dh & ddog

Thanks @ssd. I suspected it was the flu one or maybe just the combination of both at the same time. I know I'll be fine soon, just hate feeling like this when there is lots to be done.

I've got my jabs tomorrow and a very very busy week after that. Am a bit worried as I was totally floored for 24 hours after my first one (although to be fair was fine after the second).

Fingers crossed you'll be fine @BlameItOnTheBlackStar.

I didn't get mine together as I'm a big fearty with needles and couldn't face 2 together

Im watching young chorister of the year with Aled Jones. Have an empty house so no eye rolling. The wee boy called Cormac is just adorable. All boys have amazing voices.

Oooooh. Young chorister of the year. I discovered it last year and really enjoyed it. Thanks ssd.

Our tree is up, we are knackered, kids are eating pizza. What a day! Jammies and take away for us.

Wouldn't usually put it up so early but the next few weekends are busy, so it was now or something like the 19th...

Ive got a few twinkly lights up but not the tree yet, it'll look like santas grotto once im done

No tree for us yet. We'll get an outdoor one next weekend and the big one the weekend after I think. I'm very excited now we're nearly at December though.

Hi can I pull up a chair? We had snow this morning but it’s all melted now, two youngest DC were straight out building a snowman bless them. I haven’t crossed the threshold all day I have been knocked for six with a horrible cold but managed to get the trees up (there’s a long story why we’ve ended up with two) were artificial here as we have 4 cats.

Very welcome @sweetkitty.

Preparations going on apace with all these trees going up. I have a minimalist lighted twig effort but my usual space for it has been used for another purpose. There isn't really anywhere else it could go so I'm a bit unsure what I'm going to do this year.

It's wee shouldi's first birthday this weekend! So we'll go to buy our tree during the week one day, maybe Tuesday as big shouldi has swimming on a Monday. He's desperate to get the decorations up, any time he sees someone else's he loudly proclaims "it's not fair!".

Next week that should say *

When you say mini @shouldi is one it seems like a quick year. Hope he has a lovely birthday when it comes.

We'll be treeless until the middle of the week I think. Not ideal but it'll have to do.

I know, I can't believe he's turning one. I go back to work in just over a month. I'm looking forward to it but dreading leaving him for 3 full days and not being able to pick big ds up from school those days. I think we're going to struggle to get all of the homework finished when I'm back too.

Welcome sweetkitty. Hope you're feeling better soon.

We put up our tree yesterday too. I like to do it on the last Sunday in November. It's a new one for us - someone in our development was giving it away, just when DH & I had decided to make do with our old one this year and look for a new one in the January sales. Perfect timing.

What do you do when the supermarket sends you a giant cauliflower that really needs to be eaten today but most of your weirdo children don't like cauliflower cheese? Or indeed curry.

@GrouchyKiwi use it as a print to paint with? Like a potato print?

Although it will last a few days past it's date

Our tree is up, now just to stop the mad labrador from eating the decorations.

It's bloody freezing here in Ayrshire today.

What a criminal thing to do to a cauliflower! (They'd totally love that, will save it for future.)

It's not that it's near the date, more that it has sections with black spots on them. Usually I'd send something in that condition back but I really wanted cauli. I'll cut those bits off.

I'm probably going to go ahead and make the cauliflower & cheese, but just roast some cauliflower for the weirdos. It's cold, I want comfort food.

Cauliflower lasts much longer than you think if you have space for it in the fridge.

Ideas for what to do with it:

• Have you tried microwaving cauliflower florets with butter (2-3 minutes with a generous slab of butter, then shoogle, then another 2-3 minutes and then season)

• roasted cauliflower florets (try with a pinch of cumin and coriander)

• cauliflower soup

• cauliflower mash with an egg, cream/yoghurt, some cooked thinly sliced leeks (apparently this makes it more potato mash like - although I've not tried it myself but I trust who has advised that ) , Parmesan, all blitzed together

• cauliflower "rice": blitz raw cauliflower to wee bits, then sauté in a generous amounts of butter with extra seasonings of your choice

I like cauliflower and eat a lot of it while I'm on Mumsnet BootCamp (High Fat Low Carb).

I hate cauliflower

Those ideas all sound great, prettybird. I see I'm going to have to get more creative with my cauliflower cookery.

I always hated cauliflower, and then we had fancy spicy roasted cauliflower when some vegetarians came for dinner and I liked it. Not as much as roast ham, beef or chicken, but still, tasty.