I am enrolling to do japanese flower arranging the end of this month...so looking forward to that.......as it goes hand in hand with my pottery....as i will be making different bowls to accomodate the flowers.....ooh i cannot wait......

i love floristry and am keen to do some more courses....i have the Jane Packer gbooks and others which i have forgotten the names of.....there is quite an array of different British flowers...so i am looking forward to using them in my arranging....

now here we can discuss our likes and dislikes as well as what kind of pets we have at home and what we saw on the Discovery Channel...well done...!!!!!!!

I see the those who advocated this diet in escpecially the US of A are now warning that the fat content of this diet may be far too high and that this diet poses serious health threats.
Although the original author has passed away, this thriving "business" is very worried about claims regarding the suffering of ill health after following this diet.

Talk about having the most ecstatic and disheartning two weeks rolled into one!


After very recently having found out I was pregnant, I was determined to do everything in my power to make this pregnancy work .. having suffered a miscarriage 2 years ago which was both a very physical and mentally traumatic experience, particulary the first of me knowing I was pregnant was because I loosing a baby .... I just knew something wasnt right, and when I passed out after loosing so much blood, the hospital confirmed what I thought - so you can imagine what i went through, blaming myself thinking maybe if I knew I was pregnant at the time, this wouldnt of happened ....

... anyway within half an hour of finding out this time I went down to Boots to get my Folic Acid tablets, the thought of drink made me sick and I cut down from 20+ ciggies a day to five within 24 hrs (to those of you who smoke will know what a feat this is!)

Everything was going fine for the first few days of me finding out .... without becoming graphic ... and to cut a long story short .... I lost the baby this weekend.

I have to go for a scan tomorrow at 9am

I feel so so quilty (for what I dont know) and hopeless ... what is wrong with me that I cant carry a child. I feel absolutely mortified.


The only consolation I can give to newly expectant mums though, is that according to the doctors I have seen over the past couple of days ... blood loss ... brown or red ... doesnt necessarily mean a miscarriage .... each case is different.

If anybody has been through a similar thing ... talk to someone ... more so to those who have been through it .... we seem to be forgotten about sometimes.

Just been reading through The Mail while hubby is in the kitchen cooking dinner and saw these great deals being offered by Virgin, so thought I'd share them with you guys !

Johannesburg Return £399 including taxes.....for travel time between now and March.

Here's the link:

http://www.virgin.com/mailonsunday

They are also offering return flights, including all taxes to Washington and New York for £179.....

Worth checking out !

Ingredients:

300g Mature sirloin steak
50ml Clarified Butter
25ml Cognac
1tbsp Garlic
50ml Red wine
50ml Good beef Jus
150ml double cream
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 large Egg
I slice smoked country ham/ Peppered ham
1 portion Game chips

Method:

Season the sirloin with salt and pepper. Seal in a med-hot pan in clarified butter. Add the garlic and flambé with the brandy. Remove the steak and reserve to one side for further cooking. Moisten a little with the red wine, add the beef jus and reduce slightly. Add the cream and reduce till required consistency.
Return the steak to the pan, along with any of the juices and cook till required.

In a warmed earthenware dish, place the steak in the centre, with a piece of ham as a blanket. Rest the fried egg on top of this; arrange the game chips around the steak “guarding it”. Pour the reduced sauce liberally over this and serve immediately.

Ingredients:

500g Sweet Red bell pepper
500g Strawberries
500g Philadelphia cream cheese
6Tbsp Demerara sugar
4Tbsp Brandy
2Tbsp Lemon juice
1Tbsp Cracked black pepper
200ml Sweet Thai chilli sauce


Method:

Remove all pips from the bell peppers. Dice roughly and place in the food blender. Prepare strawberries as per usual, and place in blender. Blend with all the other ingredients except the Cream Cheese.
Once the pulp is smooth in texture, add the cream cheese slowly to the mixture, ensuring that the cheese is able to hold the pulp in a “mousse”.

Remove from the blender and pass through a fine sieve. Pour into a clean and sanitised bowl. Cover with Clingfilm and refrigerate until set (approx 4hrs).

Note:
· Can be served with any Game fish dish, especially wild Irish salmon
· Fantastic with diver scallops from Australia

If you want that extra special 'snob' factor.. this recipe was featured on the Carlton "Africa 2000" Food series, along with Chef Aldo Zilli

Ya ya.. 15 minutes of fame and all that :haha:

Ingredients:

8Lrg Egg yolks
100g Castor sugar
250g Mascarpone cheese
500ml Double cream
300ml Chocolate mousse
5pkt Boudoir biscuits
100ml Kahlua
4 Cups Strong coffee (Filter and espresso mixed)
Cocoa Powder

Method:

Separate eggs. Add sugar to the yolks and whisk till a sabayon. Add in the Mascarpone cheese and mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cream till semi stiff. Fold in the sabayon.

In preparing for the layering process:
Lightly soak the biscuits in the Kahlua coffee. Arrange in layers: Biscuits, Sabayon/Cream, Biscuits, Chocolate mousse, Biscuits, Sabayon/Cream.
When finished, lightly dust with cocoa powder. Refrigerate until set.

Note:
· If cream is too stiff, will cause separation
· Grated/Flaked dark chocolate can be substituted for the cocoa powder
· Marsala can be substituted with the Kahlua

I went out this morning and all over the grass were Robins. They're back
Does that mean winter is over for us - this early? In the past, we have had big snowfalls in January. Lately our temps have been between 13 - 17 C. That's not warm weather, even for birds.
In the northeast they're having record cold temperatures at the moment. Do the Robins know something we don't know or has mother nature fooled them?

I heard that this is possible?? If its true, can somebody PLEASE tell me how to do it!!!


Fanx!