Mums Lasagne!

I'm cooking this recipe tomorrow and it's the best Lasagne I've ever had, Mums recipe is from her Mum, and hers from her Mum... blah blah, you get the idea. So, I thought you should all know it...

LASAGNE

Meat layer -
2lb Minced beef
2 Cloves garlic
1lb Chopped onion
2 OXO cubes
2oz Streaky bacon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 oz Flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Sticks celery chopped
2 tsp basil
3/4 pint water
2tsp oregano
7oz tomato puree
1 tsp italian seasoning


White Sauce -
3oz butter
2oz flour
2pts milk
1tsp mustard
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 ground black pepper


Cheeses -
1lb grated cheddar
4oz emmanthal or gruyere
(grated)

2 packs of LASAGNE SHEETS

DIRECTIONS - Cook meat and bacon and drain fat. Add flour, stir, add all other ingredients. Bring to the boil. Simmer for approx 1 hour...

Then make white sauce; Melt butter, add flour and stir, add milk and other ingredients, bring to the boil. First layer = WHITE SAUCE then
CHEESE
MEAT
LASAGNE Repeat, finish with white sauce on the top, cook in oven for approx 1 hour until golden. Gas 3 -4 Electric 225.

Mmmmmmmmm!!

What a scorcher

It's May... not even summer, and we've had temperatures up at 28 degrees!! - A very hot weekend, so in true Australian style we decided on a barbie... (that's BBQ, not the blonde plastic type).

Trevor annoyed everyone running around, but finally settled on a place next the the BBQ, only for us to find he'd been licking the fat from the floor... Mum warned us it might give him an upset stomach, he's had a slice of bread all day and as mean as I feel, he's not having any tea, I don't want to get home from work to what I did today.

I ran the Race for Life on Sunday at Broughton Hall, in memory of my Uncle Dennis, and all proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK when all you scrooges have paid me! It was red hot, I've burnt my shoulders and back but managed a decent time in the circumstances.

Archie has had his injections today, he didn't like them, not that I was expecting otherwise.

Grace has been a madam to the full this week, she'd argue black was white, it's been very testing, and she's been put back to bed on numerous occassions. 2 year olds are so hard to reason with, I'm sure I was never like that! If i was, Mum, I'm sorry.
The saying 'when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid' is very true!

(pic to the right is my nephew Joshua)

BBQ's - 1

Tantrums - 32

Sweets offered as bribes for good behaviour - 3 *shame*

Fun in the forest...

We're back. I'm a year older, well, not a year only a couple of weeks but I'm now 27 and to me, that's old.... It means I have to act responsibly and can no longer use my age as an excuse.

Whinfell forest is a wonderful place, took us the best part of 3 hours to get there! Maude, the Sav Nat (that's what she's been named) is, an idiot, in actual fact I'm starting to detest her, she avoids motorways at all costs, on our return journey, instead of going down the M6, she took us to Hawes, near the Wensleydale cheese factory - driving on country lanes through the Yorkshire Dales National park for approx 2 hours, we made a left turn, upon which Maude announced we were on this twisting country lane for the next 26 miles... I hate you Maude!!!

Anyway, we did make it home, all feeling sick.

The Forest was fantastic, utterly magical, I forgot my good camera though (gutted) - so I can't show you! - The children loved it, the fresh air, animals running around, little robins singing in the garden, felt like I was in a disney film... We all miss our holiday house, we had so much fun, just wish I was still there.

Dean quote of the year - Upon spying a pheasant on the roof of a lodge we both agreed that we'd never seen one flying, conversation as follows;

D - I didn't know they could fly..
E - Yes, they must be able to, I'm sure penguins are the only birds that can't fly.
D - Penguins.......penguins CAN fly.
E - They can't, I'm sure.
D - Then how do they get on roof tops?
E - Penguins?
D - Oh, no, sorry, I was thinking of pigeons.

Grace and I have spent today doing nothing, other than painting. We've bought Uncle Ross a bird house for his garden (for his birthday, I'm a twin) and Grace has been painting it, although she mixed all the colours together and it's now a mucky purple-ish colour!

My darling bud of May...

May is here! The best month of the year.

We've had a very busy week, Trevor is 'no longer a man' after his visit to the vets, he returned feeling very sorry for himself, I could tell by the look in his eyes.

It's Archie's birthday today and we've had a lovely day - I still can't believe he's 1, the last year seems to have flown, and I've realised my baby is a baby no longer, my 7 week old neice was very cuddly today, made me feel very broody, although there's no chance of any more (Dean is 'no longer a man'). The picture above from L to R, my nephew Joshua (my bros little boy), my neice Emily, who's holding Maisie (Deans sisters children), then there's my two, Grace and Archie!

Archie got some very lovely presents :) and clothes, that we can take on our holiday!!

Dean has been very funny this week - he announced the other day ' Do we have the same pulse throughout our body'...

The children have been as entertaining as ever - Archie still very happy, Grace getting rather bossy at the moment, if I sing she tells me to stop, I swear I'm a good singer.


I've decorated at the top of the stairs, it looks lovely, Cath Kidston wallpaper (Love her!) - Just decided on Tuesday that neither of us really liked the paper we had, especially Dean, so within two days, paper had been ordered online and delivered and I'd stripped the wallpaper and put up the new, with help from Grace, although to be honest she was more of a hindrence.

Trevor would love it upstairs, I've painted the skirting boards and the doors in white... not sure if he's keen on eggshell though.

Anyroad, I'm off, to drink wine and Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake :)