make-up (a bit off the subject, but relevent to me)

For the longest time I've had heyfever, ALL YEAR ROUND. I take every possible drug to feel 'normal' everyday, it rarely works. Recently i've gone back to work as a Dental Assisstant, I have to wear a sugical mask most of the day. My allergies seemed to have gotten worse when I re-started back at work. It just occurred to me the other day, it might have something to do with my make-up, foundation mainly. So I didn't wear any for a whole day. This was extremely hard, as I have promenant dark circles all around my eyes.
Guess what?
NO HAYFEVER! and my dark circles faded dramatically. Speaking to someone who knows a little about chemicals revealed, it was probably the micro-minerals in the foundation that soaked into my pores and caused the allergic reactions I was having. Isn't it crazy?!?
One little change of thought can create a whole new life for yourself!!

Burrr its cold outside

I am sitting here blogging while I am enjoying a bowl of my Pea and Ham Soup.
I made it last night and was surprised how simple it was compared to some of the recipes for it I have encountered over the years. 5 ingredients and minimal preparation I actually got the soup on while my daughter was awake! I just made a small version of it so you can increase as you see fit rather than the other way around. Two tips though, don't use stock instead of water because effectively the bacon bones are the 'stock' and for the love of God DON'T add salt - again the bacon bones will take care of that!
I added some thyme to my mixture, but it is really up to you which herbs you put in.
I might add some more peas next time to thicken it up some more, some of the best pea and ham soups I have had one could practically stand your spoon up in!
Anyway must get back to mopping up the bottom of the bowl with my buttered toast, mmmmmmmmmm

Thought on cordial...

Just had a thought about cordials, I remember when I was little and had cordial that the top was always sticky (like the one I just made) - oh that's right we had sugar in our cordial then!
The other interesting thing I noticed is when we used to get invaded by ants they would always be swarming over the cordial bottle, funny how they don't touch it anymore...

When life hands you citrus fruit, make cordial!

mmmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
I finally ran out of bought cordial so I made some of my own!!
Orange and Lemon Cordial is my first attempt at cordial and I am so chuffed with the results. It took a total of 30mins to make and was soooo simple even kids could make it.
In my haste to taste, the fact that it is a concentrate slipped my mind and I had a great big spoonful, much coughing and spluttering later.....
The recipe I got ended up making 3 litres which I think is a bit much for one family so I am going to put a halved version up for everyone. If you have family who will take some lovely fresh cordial off your hands by all means double the recipe.
I am not sure how long something like this would keep so please let me know if you find out (or drink it before then!) - I am going to keep mine in the fridge just in case.
Now I know there is a lot of sugar in there but look at the label on your 'normal' cordial - I certainly don't know half of it AND this was how cordial was originally made! My 'label' says fruit, sugar, acids and water. The actual amount I used in the glass was slightly less than 'normal' cordial - it is pretty strong, oh and wait till you see the colour! It looks like it IS already diluted! Made me think about the amount of colour in commercial cordial which is nearly opaque!