21/52

a portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2013

// 2/152 can't believe we're getting close to the half way mark!  i think one thing that is being documented every week is Ava's growing hair!!  everyone i see comments on how much hair she has and she gets some amazing bed head hair these days.  love those curls.  she's becoming quite cheeky {in a cute way so far} lately and has funny "chats" with herself in the mirror.  so much personality already.

so i am late with my 52 project photo this week as yesterday was a bit of a disaster.  i lost my phone and so spent much of the afternoon and early evening checking and checking again that i definitely don't having it and calling my friends {from the landline.  how old skool?!} and asking them to check their houses and handbags in case one of our children secreted it somewhere during our meet up.  so far no luck.  i am LOST without my phone.  looks like i'll be waiting for a replacement and will be well and truly unplugged for a few days.  boo.  anyway, after all the drama of the lost phone i finally sat down to post my 21 picture and couldn't get onto our server where it was saved.  sigh.  one of those days!   

but here it is at last and i am loving this project so much and i like looking at other people's 52 project photos just as much as picking and posting one of my own.

thriftin'

after reading soulemama's post on her visit to an antique market, i found myself itching for a little thrifting.  now as far as i am aware we sadly don't have anything nearly so amazing round these parts {although anyone who knows of something similar in or around dorset please correct me!} but i thought we would check out the local car boot sale instead.  for anyone not familiar with a car boot sale it is basically an event where people turn up in a large field and sell things out of the back of their car boots {or trunks as you might say}.  so you get all kinds of stuff for sale but a large proportion of it is tat and some of it amazes you that people would even consider selling that ugly/broken/grimy {or all three} item.  it's even more amazing you when you see someone buying some such thing.

however, it has been years since i have been to a car boot sale and what i learnt last weekend was it is AMAZING for toys.  what i have found so far with toys is that Ava gets bored of them pretty quickly.  there are some favourites that she plays with again and again but most of the rest fail to amuse her or are too simple for her fairly soon after acquiring them.  so there is no way i could afford to keep this child in toys by buying them all brand new {and nor would i want to as i like to buy second hand whenever possible/suitable}.  charity shops have been a pretty good source of toys but it turns out the car boot sale is where it's at.  i will be making regular visits i think.

so what did i buy?  well i bought some toys {of the regular brightly coloured plastic variety, not photographed} but i also found a few treasures:

// 1. i bought two of these vintage serving dishes: ideal for sunday's cookies {in place of cake this week}.
// 2. love this slightly retro casserole.  it is pretty wide and shallow and the lid makes it perfect for keeping taco/fajita/burrito filling warm on the table i think
// 3. a sweet old lady was selling hand knitted items {new} for an absolute steal.  i bought this cardigan for Ava {a little big so it will go away until autumn} for a mere £3.50 which seems so cheap it's wrong really.
// 4. the same lady sold me this wonderful wooden ark complete with noah and pairs of animals - Ava loves it already!

the good thing about being short {and some pictures from the park}

don't know if you know this about me, but i'm short.  the blog isn't called this little mum for nothing.  a mere 5'1" is as high as i stand.  there are of course pros and cons of being small.  amongst the advantages are things like being able to wear killer heels without towering over anyone, or being able to shop in the children's clothes sections from time to time.  the disadvantages are the obvious things like not being able to reach stuff or not being able see when standing at gigs or concerts.  however, it was only when i was editing our photos from the park yesterday that i realised a new benefit of being short specifically relating to motherhood.  and i realised it because of photos like the one above.

so in this photo i'm bending over holding Ava's hand and now that she is walking, this is how you'll generally find me {evidenced further below}.  now although i am having to bend, i'm not having to bend a lot.  and this is because it isn't so far for me to bend.  having a taller than average child adds to the effect.  with my shortness, Ava's relative tallness and the rate at which she has been growing, i figure that it won't be long before i don't have to bend at all.  so compared with someone tall, i won't be stooping as far or for as long.  AND i don't have so far to bend to lift her up or put her down.  at any rate i think that being small will help minimise the back strain that comes along with being a mum.  hurrah!

granted, this isn't an earth shattering discovery but i like to find the positive in the small things {ahem} where i can ;)

happy friday to all, both small and tall!

and here's some more photos from the park:

// cuddles at the park //

// tickles at the park //

// see? that's barely a bend //

// now here's someone tall: my mum.  also known as the lady behind the lens when i am in shot.  sadly i didn't inherit her tall long legged genes //

// she likes to hand me fistfuls of sand //

 

THE lemon and polenta cake

so it was supposed to be sunday's cake and it never happened and then it was intended for monday's cake but ended up being a tuesday cake.  sometimes the days just escape you when you are running around after a one year old.  delay aside, here it is: THE recipe of the cake i ate at the tickled pig and HAD to recreate at home.  and i have to say, i am not disappointed.  i do think it looks a little more home made {but hey, they have a chef baking theirs and i suspect they don't have a toddler demanding attention and wanting to "help"} and it does taste slightly different.  maybe less lemony?  not sure.  but - and this is the most important thing i think - the texture was the same.  which is to say divinely damp and dense without being heavy.  deeeeelicious.

if you fancy making it yourself, the recipe is here.  the only thing i did differently was to substitute ground almonds instead of ground pistachios.  partly because there were no ground pistachios in the supermarket and partly because i suspect they would be a tad on the pricey side if there were.

so now i have this recipe {and cake} in my life, i feel complete.  thanks, the tickled pig for sharing!

20/52

a portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2013

// 20/52 ok so i'm cheating a bit this week as this photo was actually taken last week {there's no way i could get away with claiming this was taken recently: just look at all that blue sky.  summer, come back, we miss you!}.  however, i wanted to include this photo as i just love the serious look on Ava's face coupled with the piece of rice cake stuck to her chin which undoes all that seriousness.  and i just love those chubby toddler cheeks.

this little person... at almost thirteen months

i have only just gotten used to referring to Ava as one year old and then realised she's actually nearly 13 months.  how the time flies when you're having fun {and your impending work return looms ever nearer}.

so as usual, i thought i would document the cute and the quirky:

this little person...

// ... when put to bed of an evening likes nothing better than to squeal herself to sleep.  i call it singing, but really it is just shrill shrieks and squeals.
// ... has become so affectionate.  from being a decidedly un-cuddly baby previously, she now gives extra cute hugs complete with tipping her head to lean on your shoulder or chest.
// ... doesn't limit said cuddles to humans and stuffed animals.  has also been known to hug her own foot and a ball amongst other unusual hug subjects.
// ... is fond of cleaning.  likes to pretend to wipe the floor, dust and now sweep {just bought her her own dustpan and brush}.  surely any day now i will be able to delegate all household chores to her...
// ... when asked a question she doesn't know the answer to, will raise both hands palm up and shrug her shoulders in the universal "i dunno" pose and accompany it with a kind of "huh?" noise and raised eyebrows.  i must get this on camera, it cracks me up every time.
// ... likes to make a very loud open mouthed "ahhhhh" sound after every sip of water.
// ... is obsessed with trying to put on shoes, stealing and drinking from other babies'/children's beakers, and rummaging through any handbag that crosses her path.

what are your little people up to?

more pavlova

 

oh. my. days. this tasted good.  even if i say so myself.  not the prettiest and slightly sloppy looking, but did i mention how tasty it was?

as i talked about before {here} i have been trying to make, rather than buy, dessert on weekends as it's cheaper and, well, home made stuff is just often better.  i had four egg whites lurking in the freezer, emploring me to whip them into a meringue whenever i opened the freezer door; so this weekend i gave in to their pleading.  for anyone who has never frozen egg whites before: do it.  any time a recipe calls for just the yoke, pour the white into a sandwich bag and throw it in the freezer.  i'm not sure why, but frozen and thawed egg whites seem to make the best, most pillowy and marshmallowy meringues.  oh and label the sandwich bag with the number of egg whites it contains as you'll have no idea once it thaws.  i tend to freeze them in twos and defrost by leaving the bags in a bowl in the fridge overnight.  just so you know.

so, egg whites thawing, i knew i would make pavlova as it is my go-to dessert {as evidenced here and here} but i wasn't sure what fruit should grace its top.  then i spied some rhubarb in the supermarket and was reminded of a delicious rhubarb fool recipe of nigella's i have made a few times before {you can find it about half way down in this article if you're interested} and thought that the stewed rhubarb from that recipe would potentially be excellent heaped on top of a meringue base and lashings of whipped cream.  and guess what?  i was right.

if you fancy making one yourself, here's how:

// ingredients

4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

400g rhubarb, chopped into chunks
120g caster sugar
spash of vanilla extract {i use a cap full - the cap from the vanilla's tiny bottle}
250ml double cream

// method

1. preheat the oven to 180 degrees {celcius} and whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form
2. whisk in the sugar a spoon full at a time until the meringue is glossy and stiff
3. fold in the cornflour and vinegar with a metal spoon
4. pile the meringue onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper and spread into a fat disk shape {make it high and small as it will spread and widen as it cooks and cools}
5. place into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 150
6. bake for 45 minutes, turn the oven off, open the oven door a bit and leave it to cool
7. meanwhile, put the rhubarb, sugar and vanilla into an oven proof dish and cover with foil.  bake at 190 degrees for 45 minutes and then leave to cool
8. when the meringue and rhubarb have cooled, whip the cream until soft peaks are beginning to form.  transfer the meringue onto a serving plate and pile the whipped cream on top before spooning over the rhubarb.  some may spill over the edges.  so much the better.