Random ramblings from the Texan in London.

Whose kitchen currently holds two Kitchenaid mixers? That would be mine. *grin* Let me explain. Almost a month ago, I received a mysterious package addressed to Himself. As he hadn't told me he'd ordered anything, I rang him and queried its contents. He was equally clueless and told me to open it. That's when I noticed that the name on the return address label belonged to the male half of my adopted grandparents, the couple who spent years travelling with The Mimi and Granddaddy and still take her to breakfast (and us when we're in town) every Saturday morning. I sliced the packing tape with a growing sense of excitement, removed a layer of brown packing paper, and froze in absolute shock. There was a box inside the box. The inner packaging was emblazoned with a very familiar logo... namely, Kitchenaid. Not only that, it wasn't a case of an old box being used for new contents. There was a genuine Kitchenaid mixer lovingly cradled in its styrofoam nest. S...

That's right, folks, we have seen the face of the future, and it is cute. At least, I think it is. Isn't it? Himself booked the 3D scan a couple of weeks ago, which impressed me no end as we hadn't really talked about it in a while, so yesterday afternoon saw us trundling along to Harley Street to meet JB. That sounds so effortless... let me just say, she's definitely related to her father. Remember the trifold attempts to get all the medical stuff ticked off the list with the scan we had a month ago? Yesterday was a repeat performance. *lol* She simply refuses to pose for pictures. Her hands were in her face for most of the session, which led to the sonogram tech moving me from back to side to back to side to... well, you get my drift. And I had to get up once and drink some Coke, in the hopes that the carbonation/caffeine combo would shift her. Ask me how effective that was. *grin* I finally resorted to child abuse and had a good poke around, and we got a f...

I've heard so much about the health and vitamin properties of kale in the last few months, I finally caved in and bought some. Having brought it home, I immediately started trawling the internet for ideas on how to use it. The two below, funnily enough, I made up, but they were both delicious. The first was a weeknight dinner, the second was to pack and take to the Paul Simon concert tonight along with a huge pot of fruit salad (because I'm a total pig). *grin* Gnocchi with kale and red bell pepper 1. Mince two cloves of garlic and fry in a splash of hot olive oil (I used a wok, as the later stages are easier in a high bottomed pan) 2. Tear the stems from two or three healthy handsful of kale and tear the leaves into roughly bitesized pieces, add to the garlic in oil and stir thoroughly, cook for about three minutes to allow the leaves to wilt 3. Cut a red bell pepper into small chunks and toss in with the kale 4. Add about a cup of vegetable stock, simmer everything togeth...