A Modern Mother

Seize the day! (and the Mayflies)

There's something about a nice day that makes you want to take it by the hand and roll around in the grass. We spent Sunday evening picnicking in our secret spot on the Thames: a farmer's field perfect for frolicking. It was an impromptu meal made of what I could find  --  sticky sausages with honey and whole-grain mustard, a crusty loaf, Stilton and salad. I filled a pitcher with Pimms and lemonade, and panicked slightly when I couldn't find any cucumber (we made due with some cut apples and oranges.) Added a sprig of mint from the pot in the garden. Perfect.

A Modern Mother's Lean BBQ Burgers

 

The weather is starting to warm up and the Modern Family wanted burgers for dinner! Hubby recently failed the cholesterol test, so I've been on the look out for low-fat, unsaturated alternatives to our usual favourites. I've been working with the Lean on Turkey folks, and have been experimenting with using fresh turkey mince. This recipe jazzes up turkey by adding lean beef mince, onion, garlic, spices and BBQ sauce.

A Modern Mother's Rigatoni and Turkey Meatballs

BritMums are hosting a Lean on Turkey competition and are searching for original recipes that use fresh turkey. Six people will win £250 cash, PLUS a master class with Marco Pierre White! *Scream*

As a founder of BritMums, I can't officially enter the competition, BUT I couldn't resist creating a leaner, meaner version of my usual rigatoni and meatballs, using turkey. So here goes...

Nights out, Olympic rowers and The Duchess of Cambridge's green gown

On Friday I was a guest of BP at the Our Greatest Team Rises gala event at the Royal Albert Hall. My main mission was to chat with five time Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave!

A Modern Mother’s Super Easy Med-Inspired Fish Stew

The fabulous Fish Is the Dish peeps sent me over a load of fresh Haddock via @ukSeafoodchef. 

So what to make with it?

The wet weather inspired me to create this really easy fish stew, with a Mediterranean influence.

Here goes...

A weekend getaway in Santa Cruz

I don't know why we haven't done this before. Santa Cruz. It's only 40 minutes from where we stay in California. There is sun, surf, restaurants that serve local lobster and an Edwardian Boardwalk. We go on day trips all the time ... but until now, never made a weekend out of it.

My perfect day in San Francisco, kids included

Everyone has their own idea of a perfect day in a favourite city-- a secret haunt, restaurant, coffee shop or that special view. If you get it right, it's like putting on your favourite sweater. I lived in San Francisco in the 90s when I was single, upwardly mobile and thought I was the luckiest person in the world. If I squint, I can just about remember it. Now I live in the UK and have three gorgeous girls (ages 5, 6 and 8). Of course I wanted to share my favourite city with them. Oh, just an aside, please never say Frisco in my presence.

So what's my perfect day in San Francisco?

 
Drive down Lombard Street. Enter at the top of Greenwich.

The modern family goes to the new Legoland Hotel

The Modern Family were lucky enough to get invited to the launch of the Legoland Hotel in Windsor, which included a complimentary night's stay and a day in the park. Little did we know celebs, like Vic Reeves, Tim Minchin, Michael McIntyre, Emily Maitlis, and Zoe Ball would be there too. The girls could not believe their luck and told all their school friends they had the coolest mummy in the world.

My top money savings tip -- marry a Scotsman!

I know, I know. Two blog posts in a week from me. Don't fall off your chair. I just couldn't resist my own entry for the BritMums Virgin Money Piggy Bank Tales competition. 

This isn't a "real" entry, as I am the BritMums founder, i.e. I can't win my own competition. Plus *FULL DISCLOSURE * BritMums is running this competition as a paid project.

HOWEVER, when I think "saving money" -- my poor ailing Scottish husband comes to mind. Plus I haven't written about him for a while, so here goes...

You need a BiB!

I don't write that much BritMums here, the parent blogger network I founded nearly four years ago. Actually I don't seem to be writing much here at all! BritMums is keeping me very, very busy.

 For one, we just launched the Brilliance in Blogging Awards - aka The BiBs. They celebrate the best parent blogs in the UK on a wide variety of topics and styles. There's a category for newbies, there's a category for foodies, there's even a category for daddies (although we expect we'll see them in some of the other categories as well...fashion, anyone?).