In The Irish Times Today

Single mum, would like to meet...

Another article in The Irish Times today by yours truly. It's all about dating as a single parent. The difficulties of meeting people and why I'm not rushing into anything!

Christmas Cake Recipe

There is no nicer smell than that of a Christmas cake in the oven. 

175 g (6 oz) Glace Cherries

225 g (8 oz) Raisins

75 g (3 oz) Currants

150 g (5 oz) Sultanas

50 g (2 oz) Chopped Candied Peel

100 ml  Whiskey/Brandy

225 g (8 oz) Softened Butter

Finely Grated Rind Of One Lemon

225 g (8 oz) Soft Brown Sugar

4 Eggs, Beaten

30 ml Black Treacle

225 g (8 oz) Plain White Flour

5 ml (1 tsp) Ground Mixed Spice

I'm slightly allergic to nuts so I left the next ingredients out:

125 g (4 oz) Roughly Chopped Brazil Nuts

50 g (2 oz) Ground Almonds

1. Wash the cherries in cold water, make sure all the syrup is off. Chop them into quarters. Chuck them in a bowl with the raisins, currants, sultanas and candied peel. Pour over the whiskey, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight to soak.

2. Line a 20 cm (8 inch) round deep cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper.

3. In a big bowl, beat the butter with the lemon rind until pale and very soft.

4. Gradually beat in the sugar until completely blended. Add the eggs a little at a time. Then add the treacle. Make sure everything is evenly blended.

5. Sift the flour and mixed spice together. Add half to the mixture (add the nuts here if you are using them). Fold in the fruit gently. Then add the rest of the flour. 

6. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, level the surface and tie a double layer of brown paper around the outside of the tin.

7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 2 (150°C) for 3-3.5 hours or until a fine skewer can be inserted into the middle and come out clean. I usually check it after 3 hours. If it needs longer I place a sheet of brown paper over the top so it doesn't burn.

8. Leave cake in the tin to cool for about an hour then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Prick the top with a fork and spoon over about 45 ml (3 tbsp) whiskey. Allow to soak in.

9. When completely cold, cover with greaseproof paper, then with tin foil and leave in a cool dry place. It needs to mature for at least 2 weeks or up to 3 months before icing is applied.

I'll be icing the cake about a week before Christmas. Beth wants to decorate it with snow (royal icing), snowmen and Santa. That'll be fun!

Free today!!

Tell everyone!! The Secret Beneath Bleeker Avenue is free today on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Free Kindle ebook

The Secret Beneath Bleeker Avenue is free on the 16th and 17th of October (Tuesday and Wednesday of next week). Please take the opportunity to grab a free copy as the three months of Kindle Select Publishing ends soon.

I was on the radio a few weeks ago talking about life as a single parent. You can listen to the interview here

I miss the sun!!

Cala De Mijas (I Love Mondays)

On Beth's actual 3rd birthday my sister, Beth and I flew from Dublin to Malaga. We then took a bus to a gorgeous small village called Cala De Mijas along the coast of southern Spain. It was eight nights spent in a fantastic 4* hotel situated right beside the beach. The room was lovely and spacious, the breakfasts were amazing (buffet style and lots of it) and the facilities were second to none. However, the staff, in particular the reception staff, were often rude and always unhelpful. In truth though, it did little to dull the week. 

The unfortunate element to the week was Beth's cold. She was often narky and tired. The photo above was taken five minutes before she dropped an orange juice all over herself. Thank God she had a swimsuit underneath. In the 30 degree heat the dress was dry before we finished our drinks. Poor pet just wanted to be home in her own bed but we did our best to keep her happy. So much so that now that we are back she is being really cheeky if she doesn't get her way! 

Roughly 1 minute before the juice incident :-)

Besides the little hiccups we managed to have a good time but I think I'll wait a few good years before taking Beth away again! And yes, both of us are still as pale as we were leaving rainy Ireland :-)

It's back to writing full steam today. I have a short story in my head bursting to get out. When I've a first draft I'll get back to the sequel of The Secret Beneath Bleeker Avenue. I'm hoping to have it finished by December and ready for self-publishing in the new year.

Have a lovely Monday! :-) 

Princess Birthday Party

On Saturday we had Beth's 3rd birthday party and it was brilliant. She is a very girly girl now and I knew she would like a princess theme so I went all out! The table looks a little messier than it did at the start but you can get the idea. I got the palace scene setter from www.thebigparty.ie and it looked fantastic. I also got 4 princesses that hung on the wall. Aurora is to the left of the table, bit of a glare from where I was standing but she looked great. Cinderella was at the front door, another princess at the back door and one to the right of the table.

There were lots of sweets, pink marshmallows, pink lemonade, sandwiches, rice krispie buns and some hot party food.

Of course, the cake was the centrepiece of the table, the big pink thing! it was a rainbow cake and here are a few photos of the making of it.

 Cake mix done, I separated it into 6 and used a different colour for each one. I used liquid food colouring. The experts suggest using gel food colouring but I did a trial run a few months ago and was pleased with how it turned out so just stayed with the liquid ones.

After baking I sandwiched the layers together with buttercream. It was delicious. Butter, icing sugar, a few drops of vanilla essence and a little milk. Yum :-) 

Another photo of it stacked. 

My little princess taking a breather with a bag of sweets. 

The finished product. I know it was a little lumpy but hey, I didn't mind. I was just worried how it looked inside. Everyone knew I had attempted a rainbow cake and were gathered round as I cut it.  

And here it is. Not bad if I do say so myself :-) 

 Tasted quite nice too!

Beth had a great day and got loads of presents. I really enjoy putting a big effort into her birthdays. Kids parties are so much fun!!

In The Irish Times Today

I wrote a piece for The Irish Times on my experiences as a single parent. It was a hard article to write and I'm a little nervous about baring my feelings so publicly.

Still, it's a piece I wrote and it's in a national newspaper :-)

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2012/0905/1224323609974.html

Hope you like it!