icklebabe.com, it’s in the blog

So Summer is in full swing, Big J read recently that its the hottest on record, and I can so believe it. I have been on the verge of boiling point!

What I love about this time of year is the lazy days. Its way too hot to do anything over exciting so the best days are spent  in the garden with a good book, toes dangling in a ice cold paddling pool. Followed by some yummy light, sunshiny food and a tall glass of pimms. Which despite our little fall out at the beginning of summer  ( Where I discovered that yes, you can have to much of a good thing! ) we are now firm friends again.

The books I have been reading this month whilst feet dangling and pool soaking have been fab ones!

The first one I read was Playing with the Grown-ups By Sophie Dahl. I got it by accident really, one of those “you may also like” purchases at Amazon (they get me every time) . I was just picking up a copy of her cookery book and I thought I’d give this one a go too,  being as I have always been completely in LOVE with her grandaddies work, maybe its hereditary? …

And it really is! Not since I read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold a couple of years ago,  have I been so drawn into a book.

Its a coming of age tale about Kitty. Her life with her totally beautiful and equally tragic Artist Mother takes her from rural England to London and then off to New York. Its set in the early nineties and it conjures up the mood and time of teenage years in such a knowing, honest and poignant way.

But the real beauty in this book is the relationship between Kitty and her very flawed Mum.

Its not a your classic chick lit, as  its full of an ample peppering of sex, swearing and drug taking. But its also sweet and innocent somehow, packed to the rafters with bumbling aristocrats, boarding school romances and a large helping of the New york high life!   

I can not tell you how much I loved this book, but  when I had read the last page I was sad, the way you get at the end of  all good books…. like saying goodbye to an old, much loved friend.

So if  you can find time this summer between all the business of crazy toddlers , stinky boys who don’t like to wash  and heart broken teens (no?, sorry that’s just my life ;0) Give it a read, I deify anyone not to love it!

The second book I will save for another post  as Milly is getting a little over excited with handing me the books she wants me to read… Why do they make board books so heavy anyway? …..Toddler weapons of mass head injury destruction, that’s what they are! ! ! … OWCH!!

Okaaaay…  *ties Milly to a chair with skipping rope, sits her in front of telly and an episode of peppa pig* ……Anyway…..the other book I read was literally life changing. If you have problems getting your little one to sleep I have a cure, HONESTLY I swear! but I will save that book review for next time

Now for the yummy food part, its a recipe I made up after a holiday in San Francisco where I had THE BEST crab cakes on the planet.

These ones are as close to them as I can get, and I think they are pretty damn good, hopefully you’ll give them a go too and let me know ;D.  The addition of the prawns gives them a light, almost fluffy feel.

1 tin of crab meat

1 packet of fresh prawns

1 red chilli (or dried chilli flakes)

1 and a half slices of white bread

1-1 /2  tablespoon’s of good mayonnaise

A little squeeze of lime

A little bit of fresh parsley (optional)

firstly set the oven onto warm up at about 200.

Then drain the prawns and crab meat well and put  into a bowl  adding a good 1/2 teaspoon  of fresh red chili, thinly sliced ( just a pinch if using dried, but really its to taste, if you like it spicy add more ) the mayonnaise, little squeeze of lime, the parsley (if using)  and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Then with a hand mixer whizz it all up until you have a lovely pink looking mixture, at this point you can use this for dips or sandwich fillings, which is simply delicious.

But we are going to form it into little crab cakes, just form with your hands until you have little patties that fit in your palm.

Get a large pan of  medium  hot olive oil and fry the cakes in 2 batches, until golden brown on both sides.

Drain on kitchen paper and place on a baking tray in the oven for about 15-20 mins.

Serve with rocket salad and sweet chili sauce…yum!

Oh ps…. I sometimes serve this will a little lentil salad. Its really easy you just need a cup  of cooked  lentils vertes (these are teeny tiny yummy dried green lentils, you can pick up from most supermarkets. I cook up a batch and keep in the fridge as they are great for bulking up meat dishes like bolognese and shepherds pie as well as adding to salads) , a tablespoon of good olive oil, a garlic clove crushed, a good pinch of fresh finely chopped chili to taste (or dried flakes) and some fresh parsley. Just fry the garlic and chili on a low heat then add the lentils and cook for a few min’s till warmed through. Then add a pinch of  sea salt and the parsley ,an  extra drizzle of good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

Serve with the crab cakes, or any other meat dish, so good ( milly loves em) , and healthy too!

I have a little secret…..

It is something I have been hiding for some time, Milly doesn’t really eat. I know allot of you lovely blog friends and visitors have this illusion that I am some kind of earth mother type, (you know who you are! ;D) . And it’s true, I do like to cook and I have an aversion to the taste of Dolmio (and all other weird plastic sauces)  so I make most things from scratch, but that doesn’t mean Milly eats it….

In fact we call her *Milly One Bite* because she will try anything, but only one bite! Then its just pushed around the plate or squashed onto my plate and she’s off, down from the table and onto something different. She seems to get very little pleasure from food which is obviously  a complete alien concept for me!

 We have agonised and fussed and complained to the doctor about it, but what I have realised through having 3 kids is, that it is what it is, and not what its not…. And all the fussing and worrying in the world will not make a toddler do something they are not interested in!

One thing I do try to do as much as possible is let Milly help out with the cooking and that’s where this recipe idea comes from, I know she loves sweet muffins and I know it was something we could bake together so I came up with this savory one. Thinking it would make a great  alternative to our usual lunchtime sarnies.

They turned out beautifully (fluke more than judgement perhaps ;D). They are light and fluffy and buttery, with a slight sweetness from the corn and a lovely salty savoury ness from the bacon and cheese. I have put them in the big kids lunch boxes and I think  they would make a great picnic food. So Please  give em a go, especially if you have your very own little “one bite” at home. You never know they might just like em… Milly had 3 whole bites!!!

Just a note….. As the very lovely and clever (no I am not creeping, she really is both!) @EnglishMum is doing a fab bake-off comp on her blog I thought I would enter it with these as something different to all the lovely sweet things (although I LOVE sweet things too!)  so fingers crossed for the big prize!!!! Its a green & Blacks hamper, ooh heaven!!! XXX

Bacon & Corn Muffins!

• 400g or 2 cups of Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 egg, plus 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup or 75 ml + of reduced fat creme fraiche
• 30 ml or 1/3 cup  of olive oil
• 5 pieces of good smoked back bacon, cut into small cubes
• 100g of strong cheddar, grated
• 20g of Pecorino Romano or any Parmesan cheese, grated
• 5 spring onions, chopped
• small handful of fresh or frozen and defrosted sweetcorn
• 3 sprigs of lemon thyme, chopped (or parsley, whatever you have in)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 200 oc.

Put cases in muffin tin and set aside. (This recipe will usually  make around 18 good sized muffins, so you might need to make 2 batches)

Put a pan on the heat and fry the bacon and spring onion gently. When brown add the thyme, stir and cook for a minute or so and then  take off the heat .

Combine all the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. In another bowl combine the egg and the egg white, the creme fraiche and the olive oil and whisk until combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until just combined and some flour still appears. Do not over mix or muffins will be tough, just a gentle stir is all that’s needed. Add in the bacon mixture, the sweet corn and the cheeses.  If the mixture looks too thick at this point add a little milk, usually around 4 cupfuls will do the job.

Pour the batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 20 Min’s  or until golden.

This week I am calling, The Wilderness Years.

Not nice cozy cabin wilderness, with open fires and warm argyle  fluffy blankets, but more survival bear grylls style.

 This is because,  it very much feels like it has been much longer than a week and I have very much been lost in the wilderness and slight panic of  sick baby. Poor Milly had a really nasty tummy bug for an agonizing seven days. And it was all more than a bit of a worry….

 If it had been a movie the tag line would have gone something like this…. “One Mum, One baby  and the germ , go head to to head in a battle of nappies, vom and will!”….

I know I am being dramatic here, (artistic tendencies) but last night when I finally feel asleep I dreamt I was Ripley from Alien.  I had to get the nasty parasite out of  Milly. It was horrible, but it is a pretty good reflection on how it feels. You just feel so useless.

I also dreamt that Dec (he of Ant & Dec) was hopelessly in love with me and wanted to marry me, which is strange…sleep depravity does funny things to the brain……

Anyway we visited the docs,  she said stuff about hydration and temperature and rashes…blaaa blaa blaa (all stuff I know) but apart from that she just has to fight it through on her own apparently. Somehow that falls short when its your kid….

Its all made worse as I know where this nasty came from (and so, I have guilt..) … its where all Milly’s bugs have come from, the Friday Baby Group.

I love this place, I really do. Its full of toys and fun stuff to do, my best baby mummy pal is always there with Milly’s best pal Henry, and its bliss. Milly gets loads out of it, she always comes home with new words and it seems to help her learn the art of playing on her own rather than the “watch mummy play with stuff ” that we have had till now.

But as well as all the fun and bright shinny things, there is ALWAYS a Sick Kid.

After taking Milly here on and off for about 6 months I have learned to scan and spot said “sick kid” before even getting Milly out of her buggy.

 Then its just the matter of avoiding the poor kid till home time. (and why do they bring em sick anyway???….just asking! )

This means, watching what he/she sucks on, dribbles near or just breathes next to.

This might seem a tad over the top, I am honestly not a Mummy Germ Nazi  but out of  the 6 or 7 times I have been to baby group, 4 times Milly has come home germ-ed up. Usually its a cold but this time it was the dreaded bug of sick. Oh joy!

Sometimes I can even pinpoint the moment when the germ was implanted…… Like  last month, we are at baby *cough* sick group and all  was well,   the designated toys this week  were all food related…what FUN I thought innocently.

But the  problem with a room full of toddlers and plastic food is that they ALL put it in there mouths so each piece of McDonald’s plastic burger and fries has probably, by the end of the session been through about 20 kids. Not a marriage of good health I can tell you.

Anyway, on this particular day *sick kid* was to my left, three kids down and chewing on a particularly yummy piece of plastic pizza. One of the other  mums had already cleaned up his candlestick nostrils, (no sign of mum, maybe behind the bike sheds smoking a fag?..)

After much slurping in bogey consumption that had made some of us wish we had skipped breakfast. He marinaded the plastic pizza liberally with snot and then very polity..(you have to give him that) handed it right to Milly, who before I could reach over ninja mum style had that plastic pizza in her mouth like it was gourmet jelly beans!

The irony of this is she NEVER eats pizza at home..not even the one I lovingly hand make with Focaccia bread and sun-dried tomatoes. Obviously I am missing the secret snot ingredient which makes every pizza addictive to all children under the age of three.

So that was a week of coughing and night time sleep deprivation covered!

Big J says I should never take her there again, but surely if I just keep her at home till school age she will then get every bug going?!

Maybe we could get her a little oxegen chamber to live in…..hmmmm…

What would you do?… Friday baby club ban? or bring on the germs?

Am I just being paranoid or should we protect our kids as much as we physically can? Inquiring minds (namely mine) need to know XXXX

PS.. Please forgive the whingey, rather jaded tone of this post, All normal frivolity, smiles and shiny buttons  should resume shortly, after some sleep and perhaps wine  XXXX

PPs… Milly has now made a full recovery and has gone back to terrorizing her brother and sisters…YAY!!!

Ickle Intro….

I have to tell you all a secret…I have never played Bingo.

 But I am very found of  @bingoreviewer.  And I love the kitsch idea of bingo cup cakes! So when she asked if she could do a guest post I was thrilled!

Who knows maybe we can start a new trend, Bingo cup cake parties? (more…)

Well its Monday dear friend’s and still no sign of the new Icklebabe site.

I spent yesterday being more than a bit gutted about it, and last night having terrible anxiety dreams about it.

 Me and Mr Big J have even fallen out about it. He is not only the love of my life and father of our mini teriorist, but also as my webdesigner and programer the real  life giver to all things icklebabe!

Icklebabe is my little dream but at the moment the new shop is Jay’s.

The truth is,  its really my fault. Trying to coincide the launch of my ickle website with Big J’s first shop opening was never going to to a winner. (more…)

Quick Disclaimer- In the interest of political correctness and neighbourly  harmony I must just say  nobody in the ickle family is at all racist, we all live in harmony with our neighbours..its just some of us are suffering from a touch of world cup fever ;D

The house opposite has a flag up….

We noticed it first on our way home from school….

I said to Ten Boy Jack  ” Look Jack, see how pretty that house looks!”….

Jack said ” Thats NOT pretty, thats a French flag, I am outraged!” (he likes big words at the moment) ” I am writing them a letter saying that they are being highly inappropriated, and if they don’t take it down I’m calling the FBI! ” (more…)

This week I went clothes shopping with Teen Ellie….

Since having Milly this has been a daunting task. The changing rooms seem to have got smaller, a whole lot hotter and the mirrors seem to be of the fun house variety, enlarging my bottom to mammoth like proportions!

I mostly shop Online for myself now, preferring the comfort of my own home with its trusty “kind” mirror. To give me the unwelcome news that I am not as skinny as I used to be!

I have always been very happy in my own size 10 skin. Now I have to get used to a whole new, rounder shape.

Other super skinny mums at school and the dreaded rise of the celebrity mum don’t help either. They seem to have shed their baby weight and now all  resemble cute little Twiglet’s , whereas I am more the shape of a puffy Wotsit! (more…)

So its the school holidays again, can I get a yip?..and a eeee?!…..

(….tumbleweed moment…)

Don’t get me wrong I totally love hanging out with the kids (well, most of the time anyway) . But this time is different, I don’t know if its just me. But it seems only five minutes from the last  and way to close to the long six week summer hols to be at all possible.

But hay ho..holidays it is! I don’t think it helps that my kids are so different in age ( and sometimes it seems,  in species! ), its tough to find something for us all to do together  in the school break.

In case your new to my odd ramblings and random  recipes I will fill you in… (more…)

I made these lovelies a couple of weeks ago and promised to post the recipe, so here it is!

Now,  I know that this one looks a bit mishapped on close inspection. Like all rubbish work men I am going to blame my tools, as my cupcake tray is about fifty years old (and from my mum).  I think its more for Yorkshire puds but I am coveting a new fancy rubber one, in pink.

So hopefully next time they will be peeerfect!

I cannot take any credit for it either as its Women’s weekly  recipe (not very rock’n'roll I know  but too, too fabulous none the less! ;D).

 It is a treasure and well worth the little bit of effort they take to make!

(more…)