Blueberry yuminess

A few days ago the eldest fancied baking something, (each week I bake something for them but this week the eldest wanted to).

So after thinking about it, she declared she wanted to bake a blueberry pie. Yum. This is what she baked, I was very proud of her.

It was so delicious, the hardest part was waiting for it too cool down enough to eat! We had a slice with vanilla ice cream.

If you'd like to try a slice of this yuminess here's what we did.

Made shortcrust pastry

250g plain flour
50g icing sugar
125g cold butter

Sift the flour and icing sugar, add the butter and rub it in till it looks like breadcrumbs.

Add an egg and a splash of milk. bring it together roughly, do not over mix it, it should look like the wet ingredients aren't properly mixed in with the dry. Pour onto your work top, pat it down and together, wrap in cling film, and put in the fridge for 30 mins.

Roll your pastry out between 2 sheets of cling film to make it easier, line your dish with the pastry, trim off the edges. Put the dish in the fridge for 30 mins.

Roll remaining pastry out and cut into strips.

For the filing

570g blueberries, fresh or frozen, or any other berries you fancy.
50g caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp corn flour

Mix all together. Take the dish out of the fridge and pour the filling straight onto the uncooked pastry. Then make the criss cross pattern with the strips of pastry. Brush pastry with milk.

Bake at 180 for fan ovens for 20 mins, then turn down to 155 for 35 mins.

Should be served at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Will keep for 2 - 3 days at room temperature.

Enjoy!

My search for the perfect shoe

As some of you know now, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I've had it for a few years and I've now reached the point in the disease where I need to wear much more comfy footwear.

This is quite difficult for me to accept, my background is in fashion and I have always been the one that was trendy and fashionable in my family and amongst my friends.
Having said that though, I have now accepted that I need better footwear with support and comfort. So I recently embarked on what I now know as a mission in its own right, to find a pair of comfy shoes.

When you think of comfy footwear, your mind goes to the likes of Clarks, or Hush Puppies, or perhaps even Russell and Bromley. But when shopping there, I found that Clarks shoes were comfy, but so ugly even with my new found acceptance, I could not bare to wear them, they were the kind of shoes my mum would wear, and that's fine for someone in her 70's, but not for me.
Hush Puppies are pricey, but ok, I'll spend the extra money if they're good, I was disappointed there too. Forget Russell & Bromley for the same reason.

I have searched high and low on the high street for the perfect pair of comfortable shoes that will offer me support and comfort and not be too ugly to look at either.
Since my high street search proved unsuccessful I decided to hit the internet in pursuit of the perfect pair. I have tried a brand that John Lewis carry called Gabor, ordered a pair I liked but they were too big, so sent them back and they didn't have the next size down.
I have ordered Gabor shoes from another site I came across called Javari and they seemed lovely, fitted well, and thought, yes, the end of my search has come, I finally have found THE pair. So I wore them out in my local area, and they dug into the back of my heel so much that my feet bled. So that was no good. I ordered another pair, and they too were no good.
Then I tried shoes by Scholl, I never knew they did footwear, I thought they only did foot cream and soles and corn plasters etc, but these shoes were apparently very good, they offer support and comfort in all the right places, they relieve your legs of that tired achy feeling after a long day on your feet, and they are gentle on your joints, perfect for me right? Wrong. I can not believe I am in between sizes and they don't do half sizes, and the width is too narrow, I am bigger than a standard width but narrower than a wider fit in the Scholl shoes.

I have ordered more than half a dozen shoes now and sent them back and I do not know what to do now.

Is there anyone out there that can help / advise on what shoes might be good for me?

Allah's Blessings

How is it that in this day and age, it takes around 86 days to cap an oil well leak.

If I recall correctly BP were aware of a leak before the explosion happened, the explosion just made the leak worse.

To think of all that oil gushing into the sea for almost 3 months now. I hate to think of all the devastation to the poor wild life that's been caused. This is the worst oil spill in history.

It is amazing though, Allah (swt) has placed oil beneath land and sea and has given us the brain power and capability to reach it and find so many uses for it. His mercy is boundless and He has blessed us with so many things.

Kids & food

It isn't always easy getting kids to eat fish.

My step children are lovely, they never complain about what I cook them, they happily eat it even when they're not keen on it. With the eldest its easier, but the younger one is a bit more particular, for example, she's not keen on fish, but she will eat it. Even if the poor thing's still sitting at the table finishing after everyone else has left.

But I have found, white fish, without skin and without bones (obviously), goes down much easier! Its even better when you make the plate of food look colourful. This is what we had last night.

I baked the fish topped with a spoonful of sliced black olives, chopped pickled red peppers, a clove of garlic sliced, salt & pepper and a good glug of olive oil. Then wrapped it in a parcel of greaseproof paper.
Asparagus and a big salad on the side.

No complaints, went down before you could say "chargrilled asparagus" .

Summer hols 2010!!!

The school holidays are fast approaching and this is about the time I start thinking about what to do with the kids.

I work for home and find having a white board great for creative thinking, brainstorming and organizing myself, but as the holidays approach, I always give the white board to the kids and tell them to list all the things they would like to do during the holidays and we'll do as many of them as we can.

So far for the Summer holidays we have on the white board:

Picnics in various parks around London.
Cycling, walking, jogging.
Shopping.
Visiting the Science Museum to see the Butterfly House.
Experimenting with photography.
And one that I'm adding in is baking! Hey come on, you gotta have some cup cakes and things during the Summer hols!!! ;-)

Has anyone got any suggestions or ideas on what else to do with teenagers during the hols? It's easier to do stuff with kids when they're younger, but it's harder with teenagers so would appreciate any tips you may have!

The NHS

A few years back, exactly one week after I turned 29, I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The studies tell you that anyone from 20 to 50 years old can develop this, but the odds that someone as young as me will develop it are minimal.

It came on very quickly, literally over night. I went to sleep feeling fine and normal and woke up with a body full of pain and stiffness. At first I thought I had caught a chill during the night, perhaps the duvet had come off me and it was winter time. So I kept warm all day and had a hot bath that evening. The next morning, I woke up feeling a fraction worse.

After a week of this I went to see the Doctor. My regular GP was on holiday so I saw a Locum. He did some preliminary push / pull tests on me and said, you're too young for Rheumatoid Arthritis, it can't be that, you've probably picked up a virus that's all. Rest and if in 2 weeks you still feel the same, come back and have this blood test done, he handed me a blood test form, and off I went. Feeling a little fobbed off and not convinced by his exam and assessment I slowly walked home, crocked and crouching because it was too painful to stand up straight. But I decided to give his advice a fair chance and follow doctors orders.

Over the next week, I deteriorated even more. I was developing more and more symptoms and my husband was worrying a lot and started googling my symptoms.

I had the blood test done, after a week. But before I could get the results back I went to see my usual GP. I was in so much pain that I just could not wait any longer, and had to see her because the amount of pain I was in was just not normal. I couldn't sleep, could barely dress myself, struggled to shower and squeeze the shampoo bottle, I was struggling to work and started taking the odd day off. Even breathing would hurt my joints, just the slightest movement was painful. I was so stiff it was difficult to put my arms through sleeves.

My Doctor, as usual, was excellent and recognized immediately things weren't right, she repeated my tests, and gave me anti-inflammatory pain killers. Less than a week later, my results were in and it wasn't good, it looked like Rheumatoid but she referred me to a specialist for a full and proper diagnosis.

I got to see the specialist within a couple of weeks. She examined me and ran lots of blood tests, asked a million questions and had two strong theories about my case. She prescribed me some more serious anti-inflammatory pain killers and I saw her the next morning, (yes, they got the blood test results back that quickly). She confirmed, it was Rheumatoid Arthritis. She also suspected I had Sjorgren's syndrome which after a biopsy was ruled out Alhamdolilah.

My treatment started immediately, I was given a specialist nurse to contact with any questions either by phone or email. I was given all the details I needed to contact my specialist as well. I had access to a wealth of support and knowledge and understanding.

The first thing they teach you about this disease and they tell you to explain to your friends and family so they can understand, is that with it, you experience a new level of tiredness and fatigue, like nothing you've ever felt before.
Before I could run for 5 miles and feel good at the end of it, I would have the energy to go home and prepare a feast, cook for hours, clean the house, entertain and would still feel good at the end of the day. But now, I have to take baby steps and pace myself, and even now, I still struggle to find the right balance, and knowing when to stop isn't so easy. With this disease every aspect of your life changes, and things you took for granted before, are now not always possible.
On bad days its debilitating and hideous, you feel utterly useless and even making yourself a cup of tea is a mission. Forget about chores, and if you haven't got something easy prepared for dinner, even cooking for the family is a nightmare. Sleep is constantly disrupted because every toss and turn is painful and you pray to Allah to make your struggle easy to bare and to give you strength. Prostrating in prayer is impossible and on those days I would have to sit on a chair to pray, like the elderly do. Even brushing your teeth is painful and can bring tears to your eyes. (Alhamdolilah I haven't had a day like that in a while now). On good days you can just about manage to do the things you need to do, like work a little bit, run your household, a few chores and cook food for your family, at the end of that day you're exhausted but you know sleep will bring you some respite.

My situation would be miles worse though if I didn't have the support, understanding and advice of the NHS. They have been amazing, efficient, pro-active and so on-the-ball that I can't credit them enough. Often we hear horror stories about the NHS, about the lack of cleanliness and hygiene in hospitals, about when medical professionals have dropped the ball big time, but we never hear about how well they do, and to be honest, the horror stories are the minority and most of the time, they're brilliant.

My GP, Specialist, and Specialist Nurse are all amazing people and may Allah Bless them for their good work and the help they provide for people like me.

Thai Beef Salad

With all the hot weather we've been having lately, even I lose my appetite, (I know, hard to believe). So as a result we've been having more salads, but I don't mean a bit of iceberg lettus and tomatoes and cucumber, I mean serious salads like this one.

Thai beef salad, I found the recipe on-line and decided to try it, my husband LOVES steak, so do the kids, especially the eldest, so went down a treat!

If you fancy trying it to, here's the recipe.

For 4 people

2 steaks, weighing total weight of 500g, cut about 1 inch thick.

1 Chinese leaf
2 carrots
4 spring onions
10 radishes
2 tbsp chopped coriander & mint
hand full of roasted peanuts

Dressing:
6 tbsp thai sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 lime, zest & juice

Heat a griddle pan till its smoking.
Brush the steak with olive oil and grill the steak for 3 - 6 mins on each side, depending on how you like your steak.
Take off pan, let it rest for 5 mins.

Finely chop the Chinese leaf, chop your carrots & spring onions into sticks, slice the radishes, add half the coriander and mint.

Mix the dressing, pour half over the salad and give it good mix.

Plate up, top with sliced steak, drizzle remaining dressing and sprinkle remaining coriander & mint, throw on some peanuts. Yummy, spicy and fresh.

Fruit is such a blessing

Recently one Saturday I made what can only be described as a giant fruit breakfast.

We had sweet waffles and chocolate croissants which were only additions to the main thing, which was fruit, and lots of it.

We made platters with chopped watermelon and pineapple, and a platter with red grapes, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, passion fruit, kiwi, mango & banana.

We placed whipped cream on top of a waffle and piled on the fruit, this is the one I made.

The kids loved making it, loved creating their own combination's and loved eating it! We talked about the abundance of fruit Allah has blessed us with, so many different types, colours and flavours, and we thanked Allah for Blessing us with all this fruit.

Loving hijab

I love wearing my hijab and couldn't dream of life without it now.

I reverted to Islam in 2002 Alhamdolilah, (I say reverted because of course we are all born Muslims, pure and sinless). In 2007 I decided to start wearing hijab, I know it took me five years getting to that point, but that's another story.

When I first started wearing it I noticed immediately how people start behaving towards you. Generally men give you more respect, a wider berth in shops etc, drop their gaze and speak politer, and this applies to men of all races and backgrounds. With women however, I found many would often judge me and assume I was an immigrant and didn't know how to speak English. When wishing to communicate with me for whatever reason, they would gesture with their hands and facial expressions, only for me to reply, "oh I see, you would like me to ...." whatever the case may be. They'd stare back at me dumbfounded thinking, oh, she speaks fluent English.

I was recently out with 2 ladies who are Muslim but don't wear hijab, (at least not yet anyway inshAllah), and a Iranian hijabi Muslimah was standing at the same bus stop as us and started giving me a strange look, she kept looking at me and then my companions and just could not help herself from giving us what I frankly can only describe as a dirty look. It made me feel very uneasy and uncomfortable and I knew why she was doing it. It was because I was wearing hijab and they weren't. I couldn't decided whether I should ask her about it or just ignore it. Before I could decide, our bus came and since I was in a rush, I took the bus and went. But since then I have been wondering what the right thing would have been to do. Should I have politely asked her why she was doing this, or just ignored it?

I believe hijab has to be something the individual decides. They need to want it and chose it and love it. And fellow Muslimah's should encourage this through love, kindness and insight. Not through forcing or ordering someone to do it.

Chocolate brownies

As you can see from the little piece about me, I love baking.

So I thought why not share some of the recipes I have with anyone out there interested in trying them.

Here's my recipe for chocolate brownies, which whenever I make never last for long, and everyone who tries them absolutely loves them, especially my step children, (what bigger compliment)!

200g dark chocolate
150g butter
225g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder

20cm square tin lined with greaseproof paper.
180 degrees or 160 degrees for fan ovens.

Once you've switched your oven on and prepared your tin, melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water.

Once completely melted, take the bowl off the pan and add the sugar, stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the eggs one by one and mix after each addition.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well.

Pour into your prepared tin and make for 35-45 mins.

The surface should be crispy and the centre should be moist, check its cooked by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean, its down. Let it sit in the tin for 10mins then remove and cut into 9 squares.

Make yourself a cuppa and sample one whilst still warm from the oven to quality assure your batch! ;) Be warned, these won't hang about for long.

There were only 2 left by the time I got round to taking a pic!

My first post!

Asalaamulaikum,

I've been thinking about blogging for a while now but something happened recently to make me get a move on.

I decided I needed an outlet to talk about my thoughts, opinions, share my ideas and recipes with you and sometimes I suppose to just have a rant.

So lets hope this is the first of many posts to come! Looking forward to blogging.