The British Homemaker - One day at a time

Last July, I took the plunge and set up a simple blog to share the short stories that I'd written over the years. It wasn't until I was having a clear-out on my pc that I came across them. I have tended to write them, stick them in the folder and then forget them. So, over time, there has been quite a lot built up. Through July and August, I shared summer and generic themed stories, but with September already upon us, I have themed back-to-school and autumn stories to keep in line with the moment. As you may see a pattern setting here, I will also be adding Halloween, winter and Christmas stories through the rest of the seasons too. All the short stories I share on A Writer's Journey are free to read. They are also included in compilation books that are currently being added to Kindle Unlimited and Amazon. The books have extra stories, as well as there being longer stories. The current average word count for the regular free stories is around 5000 words, so it makes for a g...

Ingredients Cake 1 cup cake and pastry flour 1 cup granulated sugar 8 large egg whites, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Frosting 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup water 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/8 teaspoon salt 4 unbeaten egg whites 1teaspoon vanilla Directions Preheat the oven to 325 F. Sift the flour and granulated sugar and set aside. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until foamy, then gradually add the icing sugar, whipping until the whites hold a medium peak when the beaters are lifted. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour to the whipped whites in 2 additions and using a whisk to fold in the flour evenly and easily. Scrape the batter into a 10-inch ungreased tube pan, spread it to level. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until it springs back when gently pressed. Let cool completely. For the frosting, Combine the sugar, water, cream of tartar and sal...

Last year was the only year I've really liked Halloween and that's because Charley got into it and wanted to do something slightly ever so scary but even though it rained it still turned out to be a great evening round here. This year I'm adding to our Halloween goodies and was looking for some ideas, {these are not credited to the rightful owners but I'm happy to if anyone knows whose they are} So lets begin....  1. Any old jar with what I assume to be a small candle inside. Raid your first aid kit for bandages {99p shop will also have some I'm sure. Add a couple of googly eyes and off you go. I'd be inclined to add some wire round the top to form a handle. Naturally not suitable for young kids. 2. Sausage mummies. If they make it to the table I congratulate you! 3. A collection of cakes, sweets and cake pops. Who wouldn't love these? 4. Yep I'm craving the sweet stuff this year. 5. I bought a baby pumpkin just for this purpo...

I meant to post this on 1st December to see if it could be added to and/or altered for other fun crafts. My teen isn't huge on crafting but the dude is, he will sit for hours making, drawing, designing, writing, colouring and creating something from almost nothing. Add that to the fun of Christmas crafting and it makes for a happy mommy! Every year we have our own little routine in preparation for Christmas, quite simple really and it keeps the kids happy on the colder days and longer nights. Goes something like this: 1st - Tree goes up and decorated 2nd - Decorations around the house From here on we have a rough sketch of what we want to do each day up to Christmas Eve: Make window decorations paper chains operation Christmas child boxes {between 2 ad 6} paper bunting felt ornaments bread and pastry goodies soap/hand lotion gifts teacher/church teacher gifts salt dough decorations personalised baubles chocolate and marshmallow chocolate gifts cookies, cake...

Ok I cannot sing but that’s ok…I aint planning on auditioning for X factor anyways! :P What you up to today? Tell me what you’re doing, who you are with and what is great about your day. I wanna know. Seriously. I am still nursing 6567 degree burns on my hand. Yesterday I decided that Charley and I was going to do some homemade lollipops, lots of them. And we did. But I got a shot of the shakes, the mixture tipped over my finger and thumb area and burnt me. Prior to that I burnt the same finger with the hot glue from the glue gun as I made a quick cake stand. I done that twice. It hurt both times. If that wasn’t enough I reached into the top oven for the batch of cherry and almond biscuits and I pulled out the shelf tray as well as the baking tray, which quite meanly hit my knee, pausing for a second to leave a burn mark before landing on top of my cutesy Eeyore slippers. Good ole Eeyore, forever the man looking out for me! :) So I had 6567 degree burns and once I diagnosed I was...