party poopers and a few leftover macaroons

About ten years ago I lived in a wee flat with my friend and work colleague, we'll call her Bella, because that is not her name. Across the landing was the flat of another friend and work colleague, we'll call him Bazza, because that is not his name.

It was all very Friends. Except that we lived above a sandwich shop rather than a coffee shop... oh, and it was in a small, skanky armpit of a Scottish town rather than NYC. So not at all like Friends really.

Anyway, after every jolly evening down the pub, we would end up back at Bazza's flat, playing loud Indie music, getting more and more sozzled while we moaned about the state of the place we had to work in. In certain ways it was great. But the greatest thing about the whole set up? I would excuse myself for a wee bathroom break, and then without the others noticing I'd nip back across the landing to my flat and go to bed. Bella and Bazza would continue with their party, too pissed to realise that I'd been gone for hours. We'd all feel like death warmed up the following morning, but I'd have the rosy glow borne of a few hours more sleep and a few hours less beer. The very definition of smug.

So, I admit it, I'm the party slope-er-off-er. Have you ever done it? Has anyone ever done it to you? I can only imagine how annoying it is to realise that your friend left hours ago without saying goodbye, and is now fast asleep (in pyjamas, with her make up taken off) while you got so plastered waiting for her to return from the bathroom (three hours ago) that you can't even say pyjamas, let alone contemplate the whole face-wash/tooth-brush caper.

I sense that your opinion of me has fallen somewhat. What can I say. We were young, and I'm a pain in the arse.

But I am determined not to be the party slope-er-off-er from this here blog shindig. I feel it would be rude, after all this time, and after we've had so much fun, to just disappear without so much as a by your leave. And so I have some finale posts planned, this being one of them. There's a Yarn Along or two in the pipeline perhaps, certainly a final fling with a Random Recipe. I keep you (literally) posted.

So "why has the blogpost cupboard been so bare recently?" I hear you ask in your best faux-sincere, head-tilty lilt. A neurosis shared is a neurosis indulged after all, and I do ever-so like to indulge.

Well, it turns out that sometimes it's best to take the plunge and commit to something wholeheartedly, rather than to dither about. And so it is with the illustrating lark I've found myself in. I have taken the plunge, put my name behind it and a tiny wee bit of money too.

So instead of planning a lovely, theoretical, perfect creative business where everything's just "so" before I begin (and therefore will never actually exist) I realised, for once in my life, that I had better just bloody well get on with it. Full steam ahead.

And none of it is perfect, none of it matches, and I haven't found my own personal illustrative style yet, but the process is great fun. Precious few hours are left for my witterings about cake, and wool, and cake, and my apple trees (and did I mention cake?). But while I may seem to have disappeared altogether, I'm actually all over the place. Just not here.

For example:

• I'm building a portfolio here. 
• And you can read a little about my background here, and my latest larks here. 
• And you can buy things from here and here. 
• And you can vote for my latest contest entries here and here.
• And I'm Pinning things here, and Spoonflowering things there. 

And what I'm trying to get at is that I would love to connect with you in all these online places. Because otherwise we'll not bump into one another all that much any more, and that would be an awful shame. (But, don't worry, I still read your blogs, so I'll continue sticking my beak in where it's not required in the comments sections, thank you please very much.)

Anyway, while you're filling your glass and having a wee browse through those links, it's getting late so I must just nip to the bathroom. I may be some time...

Click through to cast your vote for my scarf design on the theme of "Cabinet of curiosities"!

Click here to buy a cushion, it's available until 11th November at ohhdeer.com!

midsummer update

Isn't this pretty? I love the crinkliness.

So, I've been busy studying and drawing and studying and drawing. And, six months in to the year, on midsummer's day, I achieved my New Year's resolution for, I'm pretty sure, the first time in my life. (My resolution was to make something to sell - deliberately vague.)

Do a little search for greeturchin on the deigners tab of Spoonflower, and you'll see my Midsummer Night's Dream design, entered in the fabric of the week contest this week, and available now as fabric, wallpaper and giftwrap. (Yay!)

In the absence of a job or any design briefs or confidence, I'm using competitions and contests as my clients. Adobe Illustrator isn't the most intuitive package, and I know from my days in publishing that if you don't use it - and use it every day - you lose it. So the weekly Spoonflower contests, as well as some others, seem like a good way to discipline myself into frequent illustrating.

And to keep a track of my nascent digital skills, I've started a little online portfolio here.

So, sorry I've been a bit absent lately. To be honest, though I love writing, I was even starting to annoy myself. So I'm guessing below par wisecracks about cake, children and knitting were probably getting a bit old for you too. Thanks for being kind enough not to say so though.

But if you'd like to follow what I'm working on, do link up with my fledgling portfolio.

There's an Etsy shop in development too (as soon as I have cards to put in it, which could be soon or could be... ummm... never at this rate). Just don't buy any Christmas cards from anywhere else yet is all I'm saying (as if you were buying Christmas cards in June anyway).

So, now that you're all in the loop-dee-loop, ta ta for now, and enjoy your Summer.

the one with the makeover

Don't panic, I haven't spawned yet, but in preparation for the big day it feels like time to get rid of my old strapline "jack of all trades, mother of one". Sadly I'm such a filing div that I can't find the original photoshop file of my old banner, so simply changing it wasn't an option. In the meantime, there's a new banner that rather sums everything up at the moment.

it rains all the time in Scotland... honest

47th party menu :: happy birthday Singapore

As holiday celebrations go, this may be a bit niche, but please indulge a big ol' heavily pregnant girl for just a few minutes.

Singapore celebrates its birthday on the 9th August every year with National Day. As an outside observer over our past few green-card-holding years, it appeared to be a display of military might (think Edinburgh Military Tattoo x 10), combined with an outpouring of National flag-waving pride (think Queenie's jubilee), and a great excuse for family gatherings that veer dangerously close to woozy schmaltz (think Hogmanay). Singapore's a young nation, with a harrowing twentieth-century history, and a hugely varied population (both in race and religion), so celebrating a common patriotism actually has a critically important role to play. National Day is wonderful.

In addition (for me at least) National Day marks the start of an endless season of festivities. One set of decorations, lights and school projects barely makes way for the next from now until next Easter: mid-autumn (lantern) festival looms, followed by the roaring arrival of the Formula 1, Deepavali, Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year... and many more besides.

And so, thousands of miles away, in a suburban Scottish garden on a warm weekend afternoon, we tried to bring a little bit of the National Day fun home. There were lanterns, Good Morning towels and bags of kopi-O. There were little girls in cheong-sam and sarong kebaya, and little boys in merlion t-shirts. There were henna tattoos and faces painted with the Singapore flag. My hormonal nostalgia levels were cranked up to the max. But naturally, the most important element was the food (and whether my new kitchen would stand its first major test). And since nearly all the food was gleaned from the pages of some most delightful blogs, I thought I'd share some pictures and links with you here.

If you need to cater for 10 adults and 10 grazing kids, this menu works - I've done the test drive so that you don't have to!

Double quantities of these braised pig cheeks from North 19, using divine meat from Donald Russell online. This was an absolute triumph. I wasn't brave enough to attempt genuine cha siu bao, but if there was ever a wonderful, effortless second best, then this is it. 24 hours marinading in the fridge and then four hours in a low oven. With the gravy seeping into a white bread roll, it was simply delicious. Not authentically Singaporean perhaps, but I should've made double the double quantity. This recipe is a keeper.

marinade for the pig cheeks

And on the side? A huge double-quantity sized jar of Shu Han's Nonya achar. Now this really is Singaporean. And it was the absolute winner with the three guests who had actually lived in Singapore - proving that their spice tolerance has been well and truly recalibrated. My husband has been eating the leftovers straight from the jar since the last guests left.

pig cheeks on the left, achar in the yellow bowl

On the BBQ were three times the quantity of this Singaporean satay recipe from Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan's website (author of the wonderful "Tiger in the Kitchen" - a beautiful memoir of Singaporean home cooking). Spicy and delicious and served with hacked up cucumbers and red onions.

satay and braised cheeks

A few sausages on the grill, salads brought by friends, platters of watermelon, BBQ pineapple skewers, and cones of Jamie Oliver's frozen mango yoghurt covered all the bases.

Jamie's frozen mango yoghurt, from his 30 minute book

And once everyone had eaten their fill and gone home? We were, in true Straits style, famished! For more food, more festivals, and more Singapore.

Majulah Singapura!

rebranding wedding anniversary gifts seven = marshmallow

A couple of (dozen?) kilos. A home big enough to merit actual internal doors. Parenthood. An epic globetrotting adventure. Just some of the things we've made in the last seven years. I've yet to experience a party to equal the one we had. I really hope that's how all married people feel reminiscing about their wedding.

In Britain, seventh anniversaries are, for some reason, symbolised by wool (the cause of the seven-year itch perhaps?) Now I love wool as much as the next wifie, but luckily Mr Breadwinner ignored the woolly tradition and gave me a six-month subscription to a marshmallow club. Let me repeat that slowly: a marshmallow club. I know. Such a thing actually exists, and I'm now a fully paid-up member! If anything's better than wool, it's definitely marshmallow (here's how to make them plus a critical cautionary tale - don't say you weren't warned).

Edit 18 July: Gratuitous droolly photo added. I'm officially sorted 'til Christmas. Happy days...

www.zukrboutique.com

It's also exactly one year since little macaroon came about. A year! How did that happen? My life certainly seems very different from then; card-carrying, highlighted, manipedied, tropical tai tai, to heavily pregnant, worsted housewife with swollen feet enduring the worst Summer since records began.

For now, I'm all about eating marshmallows nesting the bump. I finished a wee jumper this week that had been languishing at the bottom of the bag. Puerperium is a pattern that I was introduced to via about twelfty bajillion Yarn Along participants. With good reason too, the little dragon baby will look a picture in it.

for once, I think I chose the right buttons, it's never happened before

A few other newborn sartorial creations (non-knit) are in the pipeline this week. So if you like making stuff and wonder what the dragon baby will be mostly wearing with his/her tiny sweaters this Winter, check back in a day or two for categorically the. most. awesome. baby. gift. idea. EVER. If you've ever wanted to give an easy, unique, handmade gift to a special newborn (and let's face it, who hasn't) then you do not want to miss this. Word.

Joining in with Yarn Along a wee bit early this week because I won't get time tomorrow. On the reading front, I'm waiting for my local library to get a hold of Love in the time of cholera. Meanwhile dipping in and out of The Road Home by Rose Tremain.

And, apropos nothing at all, here's a pretty picture of a rose that I rescued from the rain yesterday. I wish you could sniff it. And I wish I'd cleaned up the crumbs from the breakfast table.

Happy woollyversaries all round. Here's to the coming year.

rose Baron Girod de l'Ain

food bloggers unplugged!

Lovely Shu Han tagged me in this food bloggers unplugged thingummy, which is kind of annoying actually, because she's one of my favourite food bloggers and I would definitely have tagged her back given the chance. Go and see her site if you need some tropical spicy food in your life (and who doesn't?). Anyhoo, this is the first time I've done something like this, so here goes... (bearing in mind that I don't consider myself a food blogger, I just happen to eat rather a lot, so food has found itself being one of my main topics of conversation).

1. What, or who, inspired you to start a blog?
A few things.

• feeling a need to document our Expat adventure while fully aware that I cannot stick with a written diary for more than two weeks
• my friend at PDNFTA who told me it was fun
• smart-arsed vanity and a liking for words
• the "opt-in" social networking option as opposed to the people-I-knew-at-school-and-didn't-much-care-for-then-and-haven't-seen-for-twenty-years-ramming-it-down-yer-neck "opt-out" variety. If you know what I mean.

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wins hands down. Man's a genius.

3. Your greasiest, batter-splattered food/drink book is?
A plastic lever-arch file containing all my clippings and notes that I'm in the (long drawn-out) process of sorting out. I use it as much as all my other cookbooks put together.

4. Tell us about the best thing you have eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?
A bowl of noodles in Kyoto last Christmas (near the corner of the road that leads up to Kiyumizu-dera Temple). The restaurant (whose name I didn't even know at the time, since it wasn't written in English) had one long table, about a dozen seats, and about six items on the menu. I had udon in soup with wild greens and two pieces of inari sushi. It was sublime. 

5. Another food blogger's table you'd like to eat at?
Easy one, Dr Leslie Tay of ieatishootipost is a legend in our household. He guides our culinary journey through what must be the most complex and extraordinary foodie country in the world. I'd ask him to give me a roti prata-making lesson, and then I'd ask him approximately three gazillion other questions about Singaporean food.

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?
I'd do (almost) anything for a Kitchenaid countertop mixer. But I'd settle for a Dualit hand mixer. I've heard tell of a mysterious and marvellous new invention recently too - an induction hob with a hollowed out area for your wok - GENIUS! I think I would spend a lot of time stroking it.

7. Who taught you how to cook?
The Guardian/Observer newspaper columns circa 2000-2010. Possibly my Mum instilled a few basic skills before that.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner, what is your signature dish?
In Singapore, nothing. We're going out because you'd be crazy to want to eat at home. In Scotland, I'd probably make you green masala chicken and stuffed peppers (recipes from the Guardian columns by Vicky Bhogal who is amazeballs). With a bit of dhal.

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?
I could probably eat my own body weight in marshmallows.

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?
I can't poach an egg to save my life. I don't drive on principle... and because I'm really crap at it. I've done many things to earn an honest wage, from busking to root canal therapy. One of the most painful things I've ever done was, many years ago, to spend a day dressed as a maiko (apprentice geisha). Those girls are hard as nails.

And now, to tag 5 others!
Okay, apologies to these here listed if they've already taken part in this event (or decided to pass on it - that's okay too). Here are some food bloggers I really like:

• Please Do Not Feed The Animals cos she's the loveliest gourmet I know
• Sharkey Oven Gloves who writes a lovely, thoughtful blog
• Me, My Food and I , what this boy doesn't know about chocolate cakes isn't worth knowing, and he knows about lots of other tasty stuff too
• Joyful Baker whose recipes WORK, I've tried 'em
• The Little Teochew whose blog I can't get enough of because it's about Singapore's wonderful food (and I love the story behind the blog's name)

apologies, misfortune cookies and a big mac

So my computer broke. I wrote this whole metaphorical love story about my dependable G5 being replaced by a spiv of a new iMac. And then I deleted it because it just wasn't funny or interesting at all. Do you ever do that? Wonder why you're having to work so hard on a few words and suddenly realise that it's because they're just entirely crap?!

Anyway, the transition hasn't been a smooth one, so I suppose I was just trying to make a joke to cover the stress. In the week between the old box failing and the new box arriving, I used a nasty little old PC netbook to keep in touch with far-distant family and read all the blogposts I follow. I wish I hadn't. It seriously messed with my eyesight and had a severe negative impact on my bloglife. The netbook wouldn't allow me to leave any comments, or even to respond to comments on my own pages; words disappearing before my eyes nine times out of ten. Apparently it's something to do with cookies, or lack thereof.

But worse was to come!

Sites began to spontaneously disappear from my dashboard, and I couldn't access other pages at all (Barefoot Crofter, thank goodness I can at last read about your lovely new piglets!). But worst of all, and perhaps due to all my perceived bad blogger etiquette, I lost a couple of followers. Which wouldn't matter, except that they were such lovely ones who always said kind things. I hope they come back...

So a quick apology, if I've failed to respond to your comment, un-followed your page, or caused you to delete mine, I'm sorry, it was unintentional. The arrival of the Big Mac means that normal service can now be resumed (fingers crossed)!

And it's Wednesday again already, and so it's Yarn Along day. With all this technical time-wasting I can't seem to be bothered making time to read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet that I was so prejudiced against last week. I feel that this should be a sign to cut my losses and move on, but it came so highly recommended (and was an anniversary gift from 'im indoors) so I know I must persevere. My Stripe Study scarf is onto it's last stripe before the long slog of the final border. I think it's going to look great, but I'm looking forward to finishing it, as those long rows of garter stitch are quite slow towards the end. But just look at that beautiful ball of wool - there's no way this could become anything but fabulous when it's finished (which I hope will be this week).

Linking in with the lovely Yarn Alongers, who I'm hoping to engage with more fully this week!