Trick or Treat!

It would be remiss to go without posting something about Halloween. My little Black Cat, smaller Wizard, and smallest of all, Little Witch have had a wonderful evening Trick or Treating with their cousins. 

We live in a great street with lots of young families, and an sprinkling of the older generation, who embrace all things community spirited. Halloween is one of those times. A little note is popped through the door indicating that Trick or Treating will take place between 5.30 and 7pm, and if you wish to participate, please leave a Jack-o-Lantern outside your door. We also live on a street with a huge mix of nationalities - one of the things I love most about living in London. When it comes to Halloween, you can always spot the Americans. Their houses are totally covered in cobwebs and spiders, with a selection of magnificently carved pumpkins lining their walls and invariably a skeleton or witch hiding amongst the mele. One of my friends reported that their American neighbour had built a graveyard in their front porch, complete with a door mat that groaned as you step on it! The Europeans are less adventurous, but perhaps more understated, with chic decorations and one magnificent pumpkin. As for the Brits, well we just do with what we've got. Usually a large selection of home made stuff, mixed amongst a few pumpkins varying from excellent to really rather rubbish (I speak here in general, not wanting to offend any Brit who has a penchant for decorating their house and/or pumpkins, or any American who doesn't!). However we excel when it comes to fancy dress. There's no getting away with a simple hat or a mask. No, we Brits have the whole chebang: full costume, hat, face paint, wig, accessories, perhaps some glow sticks, and a large bucket for sweets. Our street is renowned for participating on Halloween, and we always get children from all around the borough coming to us and the neighbouring roads. Booty is bountiful, and this evening the children, hoarse with the excitement of yelling 'Happy Halloween!' came home with even more sweets than we distributed. Rather amusingly, Cici (22 months) came home with the most - her little mitts clearly having been forgiven for grabbing handfuls - hardly surprising as she does come out with the cutest 'DaaDoo' (thank you). I love this time of year - everything is so exciting for the children and there is nothing better than seeing that joy on their faces (along with smeared chocolate and congealed lollies).

I also took the opportunity today to do something with the pumpkin. Every year we make the lanterns, and I wonder what to do with the left over pumpkin flesh. I had some defrosted chicken breasts that needed eating, so did a google search for Chicken and Pumpkin dishes and came up with the following:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1079/chicken-with-pumpkin-and-chickpeas

It was very easy to make and tasted delicious, although the recipe does not mention salt, and I definitely think it needed some, so I added it to mine whilst cooking. Harissa is quite hard to find (Waitrose prob best bet), but if you added some chilli flakes I think it would still be nice. I was lucky enough to get some from a very foodie local friend of mine. I served it with rice, but it would be lovely with cous cous too.

Keeping in the theme of the evening, my little sister Lydia described it as "Entrails with Eyeballs and Flaked Frog Skin, served on a bed of Maggots". Picture below - you decide!

Mx

HALF TERM arrgggghh - Stage 2 and teeth

Finally it is Sunday evening, the children are in bed, Half Term is over.

Strangely, after the initial panic of 'how will I entertain them?', it has been a really good one. We were lucky enough to be invited to stay with one of my best buddies in her parents' house in Aldeburgh - husbands left in London. For those of you who might not have been before, Aldeburgh is a seaside town in Suffolk (north east of London). It is a pain to get to from the Capital, as you have to pass through the City (the confusingly named business district of London for any foreign readers) and take A roads all the way there: a journey that is short in miles and long in hours. But boy is it worth it! A pretty town teeming with lovely little shops and wonderful art galleries, with the North Sea running parallel to the High Street and deliciously fresh air blustering around you. It also helps that the house we were staying in is beautiful: deceptively large with stunning views across marshland to the sea. Our children get on very well, being similar ages, and they had a whale of a time. We visited the local sports centre with children's play area, the local farm (wonderful!) with animals to feed, rabbits to cuddle, and tractors to pull you along and we went to the (pebbly) beach to paddle in the sea. In the evenings my friend and I sipped wine and put the world to right. It was great, but exhausting. 

Returning to London late Thursday afternoon, the question in the back of the car arose 'What are we doing tomorrow?'... 'Play with your toys and do your homework!' I barked ... But actually we again had the good fortune of being invited to a Halloween party at a local gym with some of Leonora's friends. What is more, no parental guidance needed! (Don't get too excited, it means I got to do the washing.)

Friday slipped into Saturday, and bad behaviour from Johnny meant he missed biscuit decorating in fancy dress organised by a local shop (sometimes I love local shops!). Today entailed Church, checking out the local Farmer's Market, a fly by visit to the Fun Fair on the Green, me cooking a roast (sucker for punishment), pumpkin decorating ready for tomorrow, and a visit from uncles and aunts. I forget to mention that the clocks went back, so we had an extra hour in bed (theoretically. The reality is that the children wake up at the same time, and come and pester you to get up anyway). Fortuitous in my case, as I got to Skype my best friend in Australia, which was wonderful and a great reminder of the power of technology to cross Oceans and time.

So Sunday evening is here. However, I am feeling sad. We had a momentous moment at bed time. Leonora has her first wobbly tooth! She was so excited. Dancing around her bedroom like a maniac, and pulling all sorts of strange faces as she fiddled with the tooth with her tongue. But me, I feel like my baby is slipping away. Five and a quarter, as she likes to say (although more like a half) - she's growing up. And she's so desperate to be grown up, whereas I would love to reverse the years and do it all again. I know there will be many more special times to come, and I look forward to watching her grow into a fine adult, but I have a heavy heart today.

Mx

Not wanting to leave on a gloomy note, here are our pumpkins and my wobbly-toothed girl with her little sister at the fair today: