Tea Infusions From Your Garden

Herbs play an important role in cooking, medicines, and even in a spiritual sense. I often infuse two or three lemon balm leaves in hot water if I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and need to re-balance my emotions. Alice Hoffman, in her novel Practical Magic writes:

There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.

Rosemary for protection, cleansing and remembrance. Rose for attracting good luck and avoiding conflict. Lemon balm for cheering the heart, sage for healing. Whether you use herbs for these purposes or simply flavouring your food, don't overlook the delicious infusions to be made as an alternative to your usual tea or coffee.

Mama Bamboo - Biodegradable Bamboo Nappies and Wipes - Review

As a family, we try our best to embed environmentally responsible products and practices into our day to day life, from reusing and recycling to eco bricks and zero waste shopping. That's why I am so pleased to share my experience of using Mama Bamboo biodegradable nappies and wipes, which are made from the softest, breathable bamboo fibres and chlorine free wood pulp.

Homemade Christmas Gifts To Impress

I'm ashamed to admit it, but many of the homemade cakes, bakes and boozes I make don't make it out of the house. Especially the food. I swear, from the moment it goes in the tin, it dwindles by the minute.

So, Christmas really is my opportunity to share some of the products of my labour. Recipes for jams and chutneys in particular result in such a large number that there's plenty to go around and you can't beat the feeling of pride you get, handing over something you labelled yourself.

Here are a few ideas for edible homemade gifts you can make for your friends and family this Christmas.

1. Spiced Cranberry and Fig Chutney

8 Ways To Engage Your Children With The Natural World

Engaging children with the natural world can mean so much more than just a trip to the park or an episode of Mr Bloom. But it doesn't have to cost you a week at Center Parcs either. Here are 8 low/no cost ways to encourage your children to engage with the natural world.

Top Tips For Baking With Your Children

Baking with your children always feels like such a good idea to begin with, doesn't it? There's something wonderfully wholesome about donning an apron and showing them how to make food. And if that something happens to be sugary and buttery, then we've already fast-forwarded in our minds to the post-bake sample session that with any luck will involve a hot cup of tea and two minutes peace. To me, that's the point of no return.

The actual process of baking with children though? That's a minefield fit to test the courage of even the bravest soldier. Luckily for you, I've a few brilliant tips from my blogging buddies to hopefully make the experience more #instabaker than a scene resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster, with the attitude to match.

The Mother Next Door

The coiffured banker's wife puts the children to bed, then sits alone in her mansion waiting for a husband who'll be home late again. Her fingers are painted and her handbag Dior, but she risks more than a broken nail if she questions his absence.

She must have the perfect life, thinks the new mum who sits sobbing in the dark, desperately searching the internet for an answer to why her baby won't stop crying. She tries to comfort him, but he seems to sense her anguish and the misinterpreted rejection cuts deeper into her fraying inner strength.

8 Top Tips For Keeping Everyone Safe On Fireworks Night

As we approach Winter and the nights draw in, this is a fantastic time of year to enjoy the spooky, sweet and spiced delights of Halloween and the wonder of Fireworks Night. But much as it's a great way to spend a evening together as family, attending a fireworks display comes with some obvious risks. 

Here are some tips for keeping everyone safe this Fireworks Night.

How To Make Homemade Red Gooseberry Wine

When my mother-in-law passed me the massive bag of red gooseberries, I had two choices: I could either make them into something to eat, or something to drink. Taking the vote to social media, the response was overwhelmingly in favour of the latter (no surprise there).

My next choice was whether to follow the recipe in my 'Drink Your Own Garden' book which happens to be as old as I am (no googling, please!) or to just ask my mum who, by all accounts, has been home-brewing just as long. 

Maybe it was giving birth to me that turned her onto it, who knows?

Anyway, again I chose the latter. Mainly because I find mum's method much simpler and also it requires less jiggery-pokery involving enzymes and other chemicals I've never heard of.

8 Fashion Trends I'm Glad To See The Back Of

We've all had our 'off' days, the fashion world included. Here's a few gems that I'd be more than happy not to stumble across in Vogue ever again (Okay, you got me - so not Vogue, maybe Look or the fashion page in the Evening Standard...):

1. Harem pants

Just – nope. You know who they look good on? Aladdin. And his genie friend. Certainly not me, that’s for sure.

8 Alternative Ways to Spend Valentine's Day

It’s that time of year again: the minivan flower-sellers are out, Clinton’s shop-fronts glisten, red-glittered and teddy-beared, on the high street and you can’t buy your M&S lunch without having to skirt the mountain of champagne bottles in the walkway (how very middle-class, daaarling).

Oh yes, what a wonderfully lovey-dovey, cuddly-wuddly time of year, a chance to snuggle down with a glass of plonk in front of a roaring gas fire and Love Actually. An opportunity to spend some quality time with your partner/spouse/family member/dog/cat/Xbox/that-bloke-from-Take-That’s discarded fag butt you traded your Discman for, back in 1994.

What You Need to Know Before Buying a Diamond

Hoping for a Christmas or New Year marriage proposal? Does your other half need a not-so-subtle nudge in the right direction?

Will you be the one doing the knee-bending? Want to make sure you're savvy enough to put any swindlers off trying to sell you a Christmas cracker prize? 

Or maybe you just feel like treating yourself to a bit of diamond-based 'frosting'?

Luckily, there exists an internationally recognised system for grading diamonds, developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which can help you distinguish between a rock that demands a 'yes' and bargain basement rubble.

Read on for my guide to the '4 Cs': carat, colour, clarity, and cut. 

The Day 'We' Made Apple Pie

Today, I made an apple pie, with the 'assistance' of my three year-old. I know. Brave.

My neighbour had kindly passed on to us a bag of apples and so had my mother-in-law, so I was keen to use them in some way before they turned brown. Admittedly, I didn't make as big a dent in the pile as I'd hoped, but it was a start. I may make jam with the rest.

I chose to follow a basic double-crust pie recipe which mainly exists in my head, but is loosely based on a number of recipes I've picked up from perusing the jumble of books that reside on my dresser.