#margaritaparty: My pomegranate margarita recipe

I love to throw TexMex dinner parties in London. Everyone raves about the food, which tends to be cheese, smothered in cheese and topped with sour cream. It also helps if you force a margarita into their hand the minute they walk through the door. That was (kinda) the premise to the margarita party I held today with my BritMums co-founder Susanna, our BritMums Live ladies Maddy and George and a group bloggers. The...

The problem with thank you cards

The gifts are unwrapped, the leftovers are in the fridge covered in foil, and Christmas songs have lost their lustre. That means only one thing in our house: the race to complete thank you cards is on. On my husband’s side of the family, we draw names and everyone buys one “big” present for someone else. This is good, since there are 5 siblings along with their partners and children. That also in...

Join #healing4kerry to share prayers

Usually on this blog I write about travel, expat life or London. Today however I’m going to write about Kerry from Multiple Mummy. Earlier this year Kerry experienced a brain hermorrhage and recently experienced a setback that’s affected her rehabilitation. She’s battling to regain the ability to give hand squeezes and as her husband has posted on her blog, there is limited response on family...

The #HalfTermFood Linky Challenge

Over at BritMums, we’re running a fun and easy #HalfTermFood Linky Challenge – you list the items in a favourite quick and easy family meal including an Aunt Bessie’s item. No need to list recipes, just the dishes that are part of the meal, and you could win 1 of 5 £200 Tesco vouchers! As co-founder of BritMums, I can’t actually enter, but dreaming up meal plans is my favourite part of...

How do you pack for a life-changing trip? #ONEMums

You could say I’m a great packer, if only because of the amount of stuff I cram into a suitcase. I never want to be caught without a cardigan/the “right” jeans/my trusty swimcap. That means that I lug 26 kilos of shoes and shirts around the world and wear a fraction of them. Now, preparing for my trip with ONE.org, for the first time I’m facing a whole new raft of challenges. On Saturday I...

Do school prize days really celebrate success?

This is the time of year when parents clear their daytime calendars and start attending sports days, end-of-year plays and recitals, and of course prize days. This year after our prize day there was a casual picnic with parents from every school year, and prize day prompted a lot of debate. The biggest question was “do they really celebrate success”? “If they all get a prize, what’s the...

Jenography’s turkey and ham pie

Over on BritMums we’re hosting a #LeanonTurkey competition sponsored by www.leanonturkey.co.uk – you enter by posting your recipe including fresh turkey. Six people will win £250 plus a cooking masterclass with Marco Pierre White. Yes, *the* Marco Pierre White. A Modern Mother and I met Marco in California last year, where we watched him oversee a group of food bloggers and I can tell ya, he can brown...

How to do Union Jack face paint

Union Jack face paint: it’s not just for football fans. Whatever else the Jubilee has brought us – hagiographies of the Queen’s dress sense, forced street parties – it has produced an eruption of British flags and bunting on an unprecedented level, and that includes my daughter’s face. Yesterday, the school Jubilee day necessitated last-minute, early morning face painting. To the...

The Joy of Swimming

  On BritMums we’ve just launched our Joy of Swimming Linky Challenge, sponsored by British Gas. You could win a year-long family pass to theme parks and zoos or £250 to spend in JJB Sports. While as a founder of BritMums I can’t compete, I love this theme. The smell of chlorine and the percussive sound of a bellyflop transport me to summers in Texas. The cement around the swimming pool turns...

The latest great American import: the doggy bag

The list of things America has given the food world is substantial: Velveeta, the Hard Rock cafe, the list goes on. But now one of our most widespread contributions has finally gained purchase on English soil: the doggy bag. So simple a concept. After your restaurant meal that you’ve paid for, you take home what you haven’t eaten to enjoy later. That might mean having yummy leftovers after a late-night...