To Rhyme Is Divine

Fallen Chocolate Cake

A recipe I stole from Todd English. Use muffin pans to make these. I found ramekins were not good in my oven. They taste great. Very healthy :-)

Chicken Sweetie

Chicken Sweetie

Ingredients

1 medium sized sweet potato

6 strips of bacon

1 teaspoon of freshly chopped basil

1 medium sized onion

1 ½ lb chicken tenders

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoons of marsala

1 cup of marsala wine

8 tablespoons of heavy cream

¼ teaspoon of salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon of sugar

(Should serve 4 people)

Do the potatoes with the onions – only one sweet potato.

Instructions

Slice the medium onion.

Peel the skin off the sweet potato and dice into ½ inch cubes.

Put the onions in a frying pan and caramelize them. Takes about 10 to 20 minutes to caramelize. Remove the onions. In a frying pan with the oil cook the chicken and remove once cooked.

Add the sweet potatoes  to the frying pan and fry them until they are soft but not squishy.

Use cornflour and don’t use a roux !!

Now add in the marsala wine, whisk and put back on high. Keep whisking every few seconds. Once it starts to boil and thicken turn it down. Watch the sauce so it does not burn. Keep whisking. Add the cream.

Add all the ingredients back together with some freshly chopped basil and salt and pepper and a touch of sugar and heat a little more.

Serve with brown rice and peas.

Angel Hair Salmon

Angel Hair Salmon

Ingredients

12 oz angel hair pasta (dry pasta)

4 oz smoked salmon (chopped into thin slices)

½ tablespoon lemon juice

1 clove of garlic

4 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons margarine

¼ cup of flour

2 cups of milk (1% or 2% is fine)

4 tablespoons of heavy cream

¼ teaspoon of salt

freshly ground pepper

(Should serve 4 people)

Instructions

Chop up the smoked salmon.

Get the water boiling for the pasta.

Heat up the pasta bowls if you can.

Make the white sauce by melting the margarine in a saucepan over a low heat. (Stainless steel is best as you can use a metal whisk with it – you need to be able to whisk the sauce.)

Mix the flour into the margarine off the heat with a whisk. Now add in the milk, whisk and put back on high. Keep whisking every few seconds. Once it starts to boil and thicken turn it down. Watch the sauce so it does not burn. Keep whisking.

Once the consistency is thick enough to coat the pasta. Add the heavy cream and half of the parmesan cheese. Keep the sauce warm. Add pepper to taste and the garlic and lemon juice. Then add the smoked salmon and stir in. Keep the sauce on low.

By now the water for the pasta should be boiling. Add in the salt. Add in the pasta. It should only take a few minutes to cook.

Once the pasta is done, then drain it and put it back in the pan. Now mix the sauce in with the pasta heating it a little. (If the sauce seems too thick then add in a little milk. It should gently coat the pasta, but not be too thin.) Serve quickly into the heated bowls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the pasta and extra pepper if you like and enjoy eating it.

Where's My Mummy?

Written for my daughter Sophie when I was on a business trip when she was 18 months and I was sad that she really didn't miss me at all, so I made up a poem as if she did because I missed her :-) 

Where’s my Mummy?

You know she should be here.

Where’s my Mummy?

I want her to be near.

It’s simply not allowed

For her to go away.

I need her to be around

For me throughout the day.

Where’s my Mummy?

I need a hug and kiss.

Where’s my Mummy?

Does she know that she is missed?

I know I have my Daddy

And he really makes me laugh

He cooks me food that’s eggy

And blows bubbles in the bath.

But where’s my Mummy

And the lunches she would pack?

Oh, where’s my Mummy

And when’s she coming back?

What Makes A Friend

Written for my kids to help them spot the good friends and be good friends: 

Sometimes people like to be with other people

Just like cats sometimes like to be with another cat.

They curl up in a cozy spot being companionable

And what in the world could be better than that.

A friend is someone you like to be with a lot

And they like to be with you too. If you

Ask them kindly that something bothers you and to not

Do that, then a friend will try hard to listen to you.

A friend should make you feel the day went better

Just for having them around and being in it.

A friend can make you feel special and clever;

A friend should not make you feel you don’t fit.

Friendship is also about learning compromise,

But keep your view of what’s important to you.

Listen well and you’ll be a friend both great and wise

Because friendships are not made by one but by two.

Poem for my growing Owen

I love to see you as you grow,

And hear your carefree giggle echo

Round the house and know your joy.

You are one amazing little boy.

I believe in you. And what you’ll be

I know will one day so astound me.

Doctor, lawyer, or physicist,

Fireman, policeman, or biologist.

But one thing I ask until you grow –

Learn when to stop and when to go.

Learn how to listen and show respect

And that your family are not there to test.

Use all your kindness to give a hug.

Use your persistence for homework and not to bug.

Use your exuberance to make us all laugh

But not to prevaricate about having a bath.

Appreciation

Written for my husband for when he feels underappreciated:

It’s sad to feel underappreciated

And that no one notices what you do

So here is a poem to be read

When underappreciation is making you blue.

I may not notice that your hair is shorter

But I do notice that there is no brown in the water.

I may not notice that the grass is cut and greener

But I do notice when my car is so much cleaner.

I definitely notice the basement and attic in our abode.

I always notice that each week the trash gets to the side of the road.

I do notice the amazing picture frames you made for Sophie.

And I notice that you never shirk from work that is grody.

I may not seem to notice all the big and little things you do

But I am forever appreciative of you.

The Value of Me

Written for Sophie to help her believe in herself:

I love to be me

For I can be

Anything I want to be.

Look at me

A canvas that is empty

Waiting for paint on me.

Sometimes it seems

That I can’t make my dreams

But I can still be me.

Wherever I am

I always can

Fall back on just being me.

It’s the inside

Not the outside

That makes the uniqueness of me.

Others may not see

But I will be true to me

Because I love to be me.

I can’t always control all

But I can enjoy the small

Little things that make me me.

The Electric Eel

It’s hard to make a friend

With a battery at one end

That gives out jolts

Of up to six hundred volts.

The Best Surprise Ever

Who could have imagined a Sophie Louise?

Or the way that she smiles with the greatest of ease?

Who could have known that she would hate peaches?

Or be so thoughtful about the lessons life teaches –

Wondering why things fall to the ground

And if the same thing will happen the next time around.

Who could have known she would charm with her eyes?

Or bring so much happiness into our lives?

Who could have guessed she would just make us laugh?

Or known how much fun she would have taking a bath?

Who could have told us that she would be our guide

Into learning what is important and what to let slide?

Sloths Go Slow

There are two types of sloth, you know.

The difference is an extra toe.

One has two front toes and the other three

But they both still like to sleep in a tree.

In fact, sloth’s favorite thing to do

Is spend more time sleeping than even you.

If perchance these sloths should wake

It’s slow and measured steps they take.

No rushing round, no speed, no stress

Their life is full of gentleness.

The only sudden move it makes

Is if the branch it rests on breaks.