Plutonium Sox
Food and Drink

Rescuing a rainy day

Rescuing a rainy day

Today, we had grand plans for a walk in the sunshine and a picnic. Guess who didn’t look at the weather forecast?  So, our plans for the day went down the pan. But not as much Jamer’s – but more of that later.  The problem was, we really needed to get out of the house. Mainly due to the fact that our bathroom currently looks like this.  So, we headed off to the Guild Brewer’s Fayre in Bromsgrove where they have soft play and activity mornings during half term.  Much as both girls love being outside, Libby would probably spend…

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Food and Drink

A cup of tea to make you feel better

A cup of tea to make you feel better

Drinking tea is a very British solution to everything. I for one find that however bad things get, they seem a little better after a good cup of tea.  As Jamer kindly pointed out, we have all been struck down with the flu recently and it really was tea that kept me going.  In the first couple of weeks of being a lurgy-ridden house, I was lucky enough to be doing a teatox. If you’re not aware of these, they are special teas that you drink morning and evening.  They are made from herbal ingredients that are specially formulated to…

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Food and Drink

Good food on a time budget

Good food on a time budget

I quite enjoy cooking. I wouldn’t say I’m a culinary genius, but I like to cook something nice every now and then.  This is one of my favourite times of year for cooking because there is wild garlic growing everywhere. I remember loving the smell of it as a child but being told it wasn’t edible.  These days, I am rather more aware of its culinary uses. It has an appearance and texture like spinach and offers similar health benefits. And yet it gives any dish a lovely, subtle garlic flavour.  Hence I’d decided to cook with it this weekend before…

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Food and Drink

Eating out with children

Eating out with children

I recently noticed this article about a restaurant who were criticised and even threatened for banning “small, screaming children”. Apparently, there are parents everywhere who are outraged by both the ban on children and the way it was worded.  I am not one of them.  Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t go to this restaurant even if it wasn’t as far away as Nova Scotia. But that’s because it’s a lobster restaurant, not because they don’t want screaming children in there.  I take my children to restaurants. Actually, they’ve been to some rather nice restaurants. This morning I even took the two…

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Food and Drink

Easter chocolate brownies

Easter chocolate brownies

Yesterday morning, hubby made a start on our bathroom upgrade so I had the morning with the girls. This is pretty rare for me at the weekend, because I’m usually working.  So we made the most of the time and baked some chocolate brownies. I love baking but rarely have time to do it. I have to admit though, my brownies are pretty good. Even better with a little help it seems.  So, here is our (very simple) recipe.  You will need:  250g butter 200g fairtrade chocolate. We like them really chocolatey, so we used 85% cocoa dark chocolate. This…

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