Grandma's Birthday Cream Tea

Hello! Have you all had a good weekend? We had a really quiet day today which was lovely, good to recharge our batteries. The children both slept for 2+ hours this afternoon which was just what they needed!

Yesterday was slightly busier though - in the afternoon we went out with both my sisters and my Grandparents for cream tea as it was my Grandma's birthday.

I was actually the only person who had a traditional cream tea. Everyone else had cakes or scones with butter/jam. I can't resist some clotted cream though, and the scones were really fresh, mmm! :)

Happy birthday Grandma!

Despite appearances, Grandma did know I was taking the above photo, but chose not to do an Izzy smile! My Grandpa on the other hand was quite eager to have his picture taken...!!

After we had all finished eating, the others all left and we spent some time playing in the gardens by the cafe. We were really lucky with the weather, it has been odd all weekend - sunny one minute, hailing the next - but it was sunny and relatively warm whilst we were outside, then started hailing just as we got in the car!! The children had a great time running around and looking at all the flowers...

We let Izzy run ahead to play hide & seek (ie she "hid" somewhere along the path that we were going anyway) - she was always so surprised and excited at being found!!



Semi-ok photo with me in it...well, the best of at least 10 attempts anyway!!

Izzy had fun running along with Toby, holding his hand to show him which way to go...too cute!

And then Toby decided he needed a nap! He does this a lot at home - just lies down on the floor/sofa and starts pretend snoring. We're not quite sure where he first picked it up from, but now he does it because he knows it makes us laugh - he loves the attention!!

And a final posing photo of Izzy...I can't think why my children are so used to/love being photographed so much...!! ;)

It was a really fun afternoon. Toby was a little challenging when we were inside the cafe, but as soon as we got out in the gardens he had a great time. He just likes to be able to run around and do whatever he likes!!

What was the best thing you did this weekend? Saturday afternoon was definitely my favourite part. We did also go to Sainsbury's for a big shop on Saturday morning - our new fridge/freezer is now fully stocked! :-D

Rainy Day = Baked Oats

Unlike yesterday's sunshine, this morning we woke up to pouring rain. It was miserable. Of course, a great comfort in life is food (!) & daughter and I both agreed that baked oats would be an appropriate rainy day breakfast, especially if chocolate was involved.

Brownie Baked Oats, with a hint of coconut
(serves 2-3)

• 80g oats
• 160ml coconut cream
• 110ml milk
• 10g cocoa powder
• 15g desiccated coconut
• splash coconut extract
• tsp coconut butter
• 20g sweet freedom

I split this mix into 3 mini loaf tins and baked for 20 minutes at 190C. Despite all the coconut ingredients, these weren't actually that coconutty. They were chocolatey though! Toby had half one (but was too impatient to wait for a photo!), Izzy had one (but saved half to eat cold mid-morning) & I had one & half (perhaps too much, but i kept eating!!)

At Izzy's request, we topped ours with a vanilla Alpro yoghurt/pudding, and I also put some more desiccated coconut on mine...

This was so delicious - it tasted like chocolate sponge pudding with custard...

The magical powers of breakfast worked too as the rain stopped mid-morning, yey!

Lunch was quite light as we were going out for food at 3pm, so I just ate some more things that needed using before we go away - 3 oatcakes, a tiny bit of Brie, some creme de St Agur and a nectarine...

Random, but really tasty! The nectarine was perfectly ripe so I had another one later this afternoon, I love summer fruits!

As I said, mid-afternoon we were going out for food. Today is my Grandma's birthday (and my sister-in-law....happy birthday both of you!) so we met her for cream tea. No actual photos as I didn't think my Grandma would like me getting the camera out (indeed, she had a go at me for using my phone to take photos hence only one!!) but the scones were delicious nonetheless...

My Grandma wanted me to ask the question, so... jam before clotted cream, or clotted cream before jam?? As you can see, I put the jam on first, but Liam thinks it is more logical to put the clotted cream first (he only eats the clotted cream, no jam, so doesn't bring practical experience to the question!!)

Once we got back from seeing my Grandma, we spent the rest of the afternoon packing. My Mum offered to have both children at her house for an hour (yey, she usually only has Izzy!) so Liam and I were able to get lots done while they were out, and then Izzy packed her own suitcase when she got back...

She was so cute, folding everything neatly and constantly sighing and wiping her forehead as if it was really hard work!!

Going on holiday with the children is so different from going on holiday on our own - most of the car's boot will be filled with Toby's huge pushchair, and then we need to take his travel cot, plus all of our clothes, food etc...I hope we fit everything in!!

No photos of dinner as we haven't eaten yet - the children had leftover curried cauliflower burgers in sandwiches with ketchup (thanks for the suggestion Sarah!!) as we are off out this evening :) We're meeting my sister and her boyfriend again to see a local band play. But first Liam and I are heading to the food vans - our last chance to get some yummy festival food!! :)