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Orange & Cream Cheese Mince Pies

Ingredients:
450g/1lb plain flour
150g/5oz icing sugar
350g/12oz chilled unsalted butter, diced
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
Milk for glazing
Icing sugar for dusting

Filling:
Mincemeat
225g/8oz cream cheese
30ml/2tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Sift flour and icing sugar into bowl and rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add orange rind and stir in just enough orange juice to moisten, gather into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to Gas 8 or 230c. Beat together cream cheese and caster sugar. Roll out pastry to thickness of 3mm. Using a 7.5cm/3in fluted cutter stamp out rounds and fit in bun trays. Half fill each with mincemeat and top with a tsp of the cream cheese mixture.
3. Use a 5cm/2in cutter to stamp out lids. Brush edges of the filled pastry cases with milk then set the rounds on top. Cut a small steam vent in the top of each.
4. Glaze the pies lightly with milk. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden. Cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

If you have time to make your own mincemeat it's really simple:

Mincemeat

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb cooking apples
8 oz vegetable suet
2 lb mixed dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currants)
10 oz brown sugar
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
4 tbsp orange juice
½ tsp mixed spice

Cook sliced apple with no water until mushy. When cool add remaining ingredients and leave overnight before use. Freezes well.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

...your branches green delight us! It's finally Christmas in the Miles household, all is well.

Random

Ethan's Christmas present arrived in quite possibly the most oversized packaging I've ever seen! The box is deeper than it looks and it took me a while to actually find the thing!

Getting The Christmas Spirit

This morning I watched Ethan's class Nativity. (He's behind Mary's left shoulder slightly shadowed!) As the children attend the village Church of England school they get to use the church along the road. I always feel there is something special about being in an old church with stained glass windows, sitting on a hard pew listening to carols echoing from the tall ceiling. As much as I love them, LDS churches just aren't built the same! Today I finally felt festive.

Yesterday Noah had his Christmas production (I guess that's what they call them these days) and it focused on Christmas celebrations throughout the world before ending with the traditional Nativity. His class had the country of Australia and after singing 'Kookaburra' they finished with 'Sun Arise', complete with actions. It was the sweetest thing and it really touched me... maybe because I used to sing it when I was a child!

At Laaaaaaaast!

I knew it would get worse before it got better, but I didn't think the stress would be so bad! I have spent the last 3 1/2 weeks moving boxes and furniture from one upturned room to the next, and back again. Monday mornings are bad at the best of times, but this week I had to clear the living room and move all the furniture into the centre of the room BEFORE I took the children to school!
When the workmen leave each afternoon I spend an hour cleaning dust and mess to make my home habitable for the evening, only to do it all again the next day. The weekend before last was a treat, it was full of highs and then an awesome low... I think lack of sleep and illness played a large part! I left home Friday night in a minibus of youth for our temple trip, and returned Saturday afternoon. A short while later we set off for west Wales to meet our new niece Beth and witness her blessing. Isn't she adorable?The children had so much fun meeting up with their cousins and we enjoyed an early Christmas meal with the family. We returned home late Sunday night and after putting the children to bed, had to empty our bedroom (I seem to be able to store a lot of things in a very small house!) and take the bed apart as we had the builders coming first thing to replace the floor. After 19 hours of travelling over the weekend and very little sleep I was just about done with everything... and may have let a few tears loose!

As of this morning the last of the building and decorating is finished! Hurrah! The only thing we have to wait for now is the new carpet, and that won't be here in time for Christmas, but I am finally able to put up our Christmas tree and get cooking... orange mince pies, here I come!

Baby Boy

My little man is five! Noah is our last baby and he has been a wonderful child to raise. Noah started life kicking and screaming (the back of his head had been cut by the surgeon’s knife) but he was soon sleeping and eating well and observing the passing world and loud siblings without much fuss.

A year later he still had the perfect cheeks to smother in kisses:
Noah turned two in Provo when we visited Auntie Jay and Uncle Nate. He had a stomach bug and didn’t eat anything that day, but he had fun in the snow:
I still see those cheeks at three:

By the age of four Noah had mastered the art of getting away with anything by saying 'I wove you the bestest mummy!':

Today Noah is sick again, he has a cold and cough but he carries on like he always has, with smiles and enthusiasm (but with a voice to rival Barry White!) He paused halfway through opening a present to wipe his nose... I don't think I could have done that! Happy Birthday Noah!

Bah Humbug!

I love to put up my Christmas tree on the first of December, but until the ceiling gets fixed and the carpets replaced I can't. But I did not spend the last few weeks sewing tree decorations for nothing... here's my sad little contribution to the festive season:

Ten Today!

One minute he arrives like this:
...the next he looks like this:

Happy 10th birthday Ethan!

Hallelujah!

Today hot water and heating returned to the Miles household. Welcome... we've missed you!

Update From Ghetto House

These last few days have brought mixed emotions ranging from frustration over our upturned house and the cost of replacing a boiler, to a little bit of excitement at the thought of new carpets. We have home and contents insurance so we knew that would cover the water damage to our home, but not the cause: our boiler.  Thankfully James found a fault and managed to get the insurance company to foot the bill for a new one! We hope to have hot water and heating by the weekend. Next task: try to get it all done by Christmas! (I don't honestly hold out much hope for that one!)

Oh Dear

I came home from picking up the children from school on friday to find that our boiler had decided to leak itself all over the house. I set to ripping up carpets and throwing towels down, but alas, it was all in vain!
I knew I'd lost the battle when water fell through the living room ceiling!

The verdict? New carpets and floorboards are needed in our living room, two bedrooms, and landing. A new wooden floor for the hallway and kitchen, a replaced ceiling for the living room and new bookcase and beds for the boys. For now we get to live with only cold water, no heating, industrial fans blowing and parts of our carpet cut out as a lovely design feature:

And guess what? The work won't be finished by Christmas!!!!!!!!!!

Rock, Religion & Rain

Last friday found the Miles family (and Nanny Holland) setting off on our road trip in the rain and gale force winds, which followed us the whole four hours to the London Temple. The children were so excited to stay there overnight, it had been a couple of years since they last visited. The rain paused long enough for us to walk around the grounds and admire the nativity scene and lights. Late afternoon James and I set off to meet my sister Amy and friend Hannah at the O2 in London to see Muse, this was the first time James and I had been to a concert together in the 14 years we've known each other! Ben loves Muse and was ever so sad that he couldn't come with us, he made me promise to record it for him on my camera. Here's one of the videos, it's rather wobbly... c'mon, it's hard to rock out and record!



I was rather conflicted during the gig; the rocker in me longed to be down in the standing area jumping about, the over 30 part of me was ever so thankful for a comfy seat! It was an amazing show, the lighting and staging were brilliant! My stand out songs were (so hard to choose!) Plug in Baby, Uprising, Map of the Problematique, Hysteria and the epic Knights of Cydonia to close. AWESOME!

What Will You Do With All That Free Time?

This question has been asked of me many times lately, and is usually followed by ‘Are you going to work?’ I want to reply that I am still a mum and just because all of my children are now in full time education that doesn’t stop, and hello… being a mum is work! But I don’t, I grit my teeth and mumble some sort of answer and go away boiling inside.

I chose motherhood to be my full time ‘job’. We are blessed that James has been able to support our family without me needing to leave the home to work. He is the hardest working person I know, he leaves the house by 7.30am (sometimes earlier) and isn’t usually home until after 7pm and the younger children are in bed. He doesn’t stop all day and puts 100% into his work, six days a week. He also fulfills a demanding calling at church which involves him travelling to other wards on Sundays. Do we have every luxury in life and a big house? No, but we have what we need and have done some amazing things I never thought possible.

It almost makes me laugh (almost!) that some people would think I have nothing to do with my time now that Noah has started school. For me, part of being a mother is creating a home, a place where my family can be happy, safe, comfortable and clean!! Does my laundry pile suddenly disappear? Does my house tidy itself? Do meals not need to be cooked anymore? NO! I will do these jobs day after day, they will never be completed. I am thrilled that for a few hours a day I can tidy a room and someone doesn’t come behind me and untidy it. I am grateful I am able to do the boring things that detract my attention from the children while they are at school so I can give my time to them when they return.

I have also learned the value of taking time out for me. A mother is a 24 hour a day job that doesn’t end; there is no clocking off at 5.30pm and finishing for the day. There are times when it is hard to see the rewards or feel any accomplishment from doing this work, and times when I feel inadequate and unappreciated. But there are countless rewards if I look out for them and I know I am appreciated!

A few years ago I felt I had lost my spark, that thing that made me… me. I had devoted so much time to the care of my babies and husband; I didn’t do anything just for me. I don’t regret it; I wanted to do this… I had just put myself on the back-burner for too long. I rediscovered my love of music and filled my home with it. It made washing the dishes for the umpteenth time bearable; it made rainy Saturday mornings fun dancing with the children, it helped lift my spirits after a long hard day. As the children grew older, I started to go out and see live music. It invigorates me and tops up my soul! I now have a little time to do other things that I had given up, I can go on long walks with my friends a couple of times a week, I can get back into my art without resenting little hands ‘helping’ me, I am trying to achieve a childhood wish of being able to play the guitar.

I have to say that all my good intentions of redecorating, gardening, baking up a storm in the kitchen and having an immaculate home have not yet come to pass - you’d be surprised how quickly the hours between 9:00 and 3:15 fly by! I love being a mother, and am glad I still get to be one while my children are at school.

Remember, Remember, The 5th Of November

Dear Jay,

I'm sorry you don't get to celebrate Bonfire Night any more (darn those Provo firework restrictions!!) but you can be assured we carry on the tradition. James will always be found doing this on the 5th:

And you can never be too old for sparklers:

I wish I had a picture of mum with her sparkler, she had an extra large one and was enjoying making pretty shapes way too much!! Miss you all,

Love Naomi x

Apples

Would you like to hear a song about shiny apples? Here's Noah singing the song he sang in his first school assembly:

Need an interpretation? "I can see apples high up in the tree, shiny and red they look juicy to me. Come, let's see apples, 1,2,3,4, shake the tree, shake the tree, I would like some more!"

Oh, Look What You've Done

We've been a little busy this last week, it's been half term and we've managed to keep entertained by squeezing ourselves into boxes:
The children really wanted to see where I hike twice a week, and despite the rain and distance they insisted upon donning their raincoats and exploring the countryside. I was so proud of them all, the six miles usually takes me two hours and the children managed it in just under three, with only one five minute break and no moaning! We saw possibly the smallest pony ever:

...had a brief sit down:

...and enjoyed looking at a randomly placed propeller:

The children then had the pleasure of my mum looking after them while I took a road trip here for a couple of days:

With the gorgeous Gemma and Asenath:

During our journey home we stopped at Fleet services for dinner, and I spied this AWESOME homemade knitted top and skirt which I just had to share with the world:

We managed to squeeze in a photo shoot of the children on friday and a few hours at a play centre. I spent the whole of Saturday with the youth at convention... and we ended the evening with a medieval feast and a dance. (Check out the little video of the hall we decorated below, complete with a real pig's head in the middle!) The children spent the day with daddy and enjoyed a Halloween party in the evening. They declared it to be the best half term ever, and I have to agree!

Tuesday's Smile Lines:

I walked into my kitchen this afternoon to find Noah rocking out... hmm, where'd he get that from?

A Postcard For Jay

Dear Jay,
As you couldn't make it across that darned ocean to go to Longleat for the day with us, I'm sharing with you the things you missed! We explored Lord Bath's house (above) and decided we could quite happily live in such a grand place...

We roamed the gardens: Laughed at the bandy legged giraffes:

Compared the wobbly camel humps to my own:

Shut our windows to drive by the tigers and lions:

We took a train ride, saw a parrot rollerskating (he even did some spins!), willingly walked into a room full of bats, and had a go on the teacups ride:

Time to go home... don't you miss this?:

I'll leave you with a video of me and Noah on the teacups getting dizzy. Wish you were here!

Love Naomi xxx

Monday, Monday

This morning I rolled over in bed feeling depressed, the rain free September has gone and it was dark and wet outside. Then I remembered that these two albums are out today and jumped out of bed!

Brandi Carlile, Give Up The Ghost:

Kill it Kid, Kill it Kid:

You’re Part Of The Life There, You’re Part Of Something Good

I love where I live! A few friends and I have started to walk a couple of times a week along the country lanes just around the corner from our houses. It's six miles of unadulterated beauty (and 70% uphill… rather good for getting sweaty!) We walk and talk and point out sheep, cows and horses to the children in pushchairs and before you know it we have exercised for two hours and had fun in the process! Want to join us?!