
Apple Pie with Mackie’s Vanilla Ice-Cream and Elmlea Topping – A Wicked Dessert

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UPDATE: The winner was @jaxbees with the caramel shortcake that my youngest chose as the winner.
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Coming home from school today, we decided to stop off past the local shop and buy a few treaty things for the boys. Instead of buying sweeties, we bought some meringue nests, chocolate and fudge icing in a tub, and some mini chocolate Easter eggs.
To say that the boys enjoyed their messy making of things was an understatement and Appliances Online liked the idea so much, that they have offered a £100 prize for a blogger who enters the linkie on this blog and includes a recipe or a foodie picture of their own. The rules are simple and are at the end of this post.
Back to the meringue nests: the pictures tell the whole story on their own, with lots of mess to clean up afterwards.
Competition rules: A simple food picture or a recipe post will do the job.
Good luck everyone, and if you struggle with the in-link, please just send me a message or a tweet.
This is a featured guest post. Who couldn’t use a little extra advice these days about their energy costs.
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With energy prices still rising from the big six suppliers, it’s hard to know exactly how much you should be spending on your energy bill – and, more importantly, how to lower that. There are so many things that you can do around the home such as turning games consoles off to trim the spending, and through changing provider you can save as much as £420 on your tariff!
The trick to this is that through the right research you can compare electricity prices and hit the perfect sweet spot for your family. We can save on anything from energy bills to travel insurance when it comes to comparison, so have a look here and see how managing your bills better can lead to a reduction in expenses.
How to manage your consumption
Global warming is a hotly debated topic as the UK – well, the world – look at ways of moving to renewable energy. And, while it may not be the right time for your family to move to renewable services there are ways that you can help the environment and your bills at the same time. Have a look at these top four ideas:
Reducing your bill
Because there is no one company that can possibly claim to offer the cheapest electricity and gas services, finding out how to switch can be extremely cost-effective. Once you’ve understood how to use as little energy as possible, you can look at the other options for who should be your energy provider. To do this, all you need to do is follow a three step guide.
This is a Featured Guest Post, and it makes sense to look at our old dusty belongings that simply ship from home to home with us when we move. Perhaps these dusty old relics could be put to better use, and really turn into cash in the attic.
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Many people feel that to make a house a home, they need to fill it with all the earthly possessions they’ve ever come across. And, while it can be nice to be surrounded memories and lovely items, they could probably be put to better use.
There’s a reason that things tend to go in the attic, and it’s not because you want everybody to see them. Sure, photo albums of weddings, your children growing up and Christmas decorations are placed there to save room, but in the attic and across the home there will be items that could add to your pocket-money.
With the economy not looking likely to change anytime soon, cashing in on these things can do anything from helping the kids go on school trips to raising money for the holiday fund. Whether it’s time to get the antiques down to the auction room or you can start selling DVDs with musicMagpie, now’s the time to start the Spring clean. Read on for five of the best items to sell.

Mothers day is a good day for some, and not such a good day for others. Motherhood came to me by adoption, but a mother I am. Warner Bros. came first with a fabulous box of feel good movies for me to watch (when the kids are not here) and sent through Doctor Zhivago, An American in Paris, Gone with the Wind and The Blind Side.
From the kids, came a lovely bunch of flowers, a box of Ferrero Roche chocolate, a little make up bag and a prettily decorated daffodil from my middle boy who made it at his special school. The teachers had spent time to help him write out the card himself, and he is as proud as punch of it.
There were two little golden oscar chocolate figures in the Warner Bros. pack, of which one was a little broken, but it still ate well.
Yum said littlest who was a little worried at first by the gold coating, but it was tasty.
To understand the background, after a very frustrating 5 hours on the phone to Vodafone to sort out the ending of our contracts, my other half with red face, and scarcely controlled temper had decided that enough was enough and tried for the second time to finish the current contracts that were actually ending.
Apparently, with Vodafone, we have to phone to cancel the contract a month before the contract ends, or they charge you another month of payments. We called on the 20th February to make sure we had done everything right to end the contracts when they were finished on the 6th March. We were advised that we had paid up to the end of the contract and could cancel the direct debit, so we did. We were also told that the unlock codes for our IPhones would be with us in a few days.
We had asked about transferring our contract to a sim only deal, as we were on a high IPhone tariff which included a premium for the handset when we first took the contract, but apparently they can’t move us to a new sim only deal when this one ended as it would be cheaper than the rate we were on, and our only options with Vodafone would be to upgrade or stay on the inflated rate once our contract was actually finished. I was speechless. Nobody would listen to the fact that we had paid 2 years of the contract, FINISHED it, and should then be put on a new deal which didn’t include the extra price for the phone.
A few days later, messages began to appear about unpaid charges.
Calling Vodafone – NOBODY – would talk to us about the issues, unless we paid the charges first. FIVE hours trying to sort it out was mind-blowing and nobody would put us through to supervisor to discuss the charges they now said we were due.
We eventually paid them to get to speak to someone who would talk to us, and suddenly the unlock codes would now come to us after apparently not being ordered in the first telephone call. Then after we pay those, they now want to sting us for another month, as they said there was no record of the phone call on the 20th to cancel – that is despite several Vodafone reps saying they could see notes on the system, but that it just hadn’t been done.
Apparently this is all in the small print, but what a pity we don’t have an IPhone contract then? They never sent us one, but we were supposed to know that the terms and conditions from an old contract would apply here too. The calls were passed from department to department, some told us they system was down and others told us it was fine. Very generously a UK rep finally agreed to backdate the contract termination to the 20th, so the message from me is to phone well in advance of your contract ending if you plan on moving, AND put it in writing with recorded delivery.
We were hung up on several times when being transferred and each department told us it was another departments problem. Take note, the staff have a lovely habit of listening to one line of a statement, and then saying something like, oh that’s disconnections, then not waiting and just hitting transfer button, and disconnections would then just say, oh that’s customer service and bang, you’re on hold again. It’s a nice trick to pass people round and round and round and round.
A ranty message on Twitter and a Vodafone rep asked if they could be of any help, but the only topics they will discuss are the unlock and pac codes and they conveniently ignore the question of the EXTRA MONTH AND A HALF OF CHARGES they have stung us for. Nobody would talk about the fact we were told there were no more charges on the 20th February and to be honest, no matter where we move now, I will never, ever go back to Vodafone. They’ve had nearly 20 years of service from us, and this is a poor way to end it all.
So it’s goodbye to Vodafone and I am also moving my son and my mother away too, so they have now lost 4 phones, not that they actually care of course as we are probably just a drop of pee in the chanty pot to them.
AND HELLO TO GIFF GAFF NETWORK
ps – the Giff Gaff link does open to an affiliate page – what can I say, if anyone signs up, we both get a free fiver and I really have to tell you about them later this week.

Making sure our mothers get a present that is fit for the fabulous job that they all do, is difficult. Often, it is the time spent on making something that is more important than what it is that they have received. How can we give our lovely mums something different?
Making handmade gifts lets your mum know that you think she is special and deserves the time and effort it has taken to make it.
We could:
Wooo hooo, did I mention making candles.. Ok, I’ve said before that I was going to help you all with making some basic candles, so here we go.
The very first things to learn about making candles is how to handle the materials.
Before you start making any candles, please read:
Tools for Candle Making
Don’t be tempted to harden your candles in a fridge. They will cool too quickly, and the candle quality will be compromised.
Work Area
Prepare your work area. Weigh out your wax so that you know how much you are using. Make sure you keep records of amounts and weights for the future. Candle making is all about testing what works for you. Remember candles work differently with everyone in their own heat settings and environment.
What works for one may not work for someone else, ie wicks, temperatures and scents. Keep notes so that you can replicate something wonderful and not copy what didn’t work for you. You may think you might remember which wick, how much scent and which wax gave you a wonderful candle, but in two weeks time, you honestly won’t.
Scent and Colour
The general rule of thumb for all candle making with our chips and fragrances is
It is all down to testing your amounts and keeping records so that you know how to reproduce the effect that you want.
Double Boiler Wax Melting Method
This means boiling a pot of water on a heat source. The temperature of the water will never exceed 212 deg. F. The pour pot with the wax inside is then placed inside the boiling water. The pouring pot is never in direct contact with the heat source and the water transmits the heat to the pouring pot quickly and evenly, without scorching the wax and minimizes the chances of a fire. Even with a double boiler, do not leave it unattended.
The Nitty Gritty – Making Tealights – Soy Wax
Materials
To find out how much wax you need for each tealight, simply fill a tealight cup up with water and find out how much it holds.
Place your tealight cups on a flat surface, i.e. an old flat baking tray would do nicely and would catch any wax drips if you overpour. Do not use it for cooking afterwards.
Leave a space between each of them, i.e. not touching.
My children have forced me into learning a little about what all of this is about. Their school has an ongoing project and have a permanent ECO group which works to raise awareness and get children into the mindset of what it is all about and how we can all contribute to making it work.
Our eco footprints give a reflection on how much energy we use as a nation. Officially, it is an estimate of the land and sea area needed to give us the energy we need to use in our lives, which includes the water, transport, food and materials we use up.
Don’t confuse your ecological footprint with your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases we use.
In the UK, we use far more than is sustainable. If everyone on earth lived in the same way that we do, then we would need more than 3 or 4 planets as a minimum to keep us going for the future.
The top tips to reducing your environmental footprint (as well as keeping down your bills) are:
So, that’s about it in a nutshell. If you are over 30, you might only have seen the adverts on TV trying to get us to reduce our footprints, but not REALLY know what it is all about.
If I have missed any good ones, feel free to add them in a comment. Comment anyway, you know we bloggers love them, and commentluv give you a lovely linkie back to you.

Uncovering some family photos, I came across some lovely photographs of my grandmother, that I have not seen in years.
We don’t have many photographs as a family, and there are so few of me that it is shocking. I will go to my grave, as almost the faceless entity, mother of 3 adopted children.
My grandmother – how hip and trendy was she. I wish there were lots more photographs. My grandfather took the photograph so I have no idea who she is posing on the bike with. We Scots didn’t all run around in our kilts and sporrans, even in the early 1900’s !!
My mother – now where DID she put that dress??
And last, but not least (I hope) – me, with awful bouffant hair, but I wish I was still as slim as that.
The appliances online staff read through all the comments, and the winner is the lady who wrote this lovely poem. A fabulous prize for anyone to receive. I hope you enjoy it.
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Five minutes peace and what would I do?
well honestly talking from me to you,
these moments are hard to grab
You will know this if you a Mum or A Dad
Ironing , cooking cleaning the lot, a parents job will never stop
theres homework, reading and dance class
and theres always cutting the grass
and dont forget washing and theres loads of that
With 5 little kiddies and one on the way
I use my washer at least 3 times a day
But this LG your showing to me would chop this in half
its got a massive load you see
And then I might grab that bit of peace
Omg that would be a release
I could take five minutes to sit and think
I could even grab a little drink
oh my god it makes my heart miss a beat
how nice it would be to have a little treat
just the odd five minutes just for me
Natelle Arnold
The washing machine is yours. Please DM me your contact details, including a telephone number for the representative to get in touch with you.
Congratulations, and well done.
Lesley
x
Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I can see I am not going to get away with this one. The lovely ladies over at More Than a Mum, Yummy Step Mummy and Fluffy Dumplings have all tagged me so far.
The gist of it is this. I have to answer 12 questions from each of them – eek. I am going to try to do it in one post. After you have read mine, you’ll find a new list of questions at the bottom from me, for you to answer on your own blog. Then you make up a new set of 12 for your victims. I have amended the rules to save loads of different posts
From Yummy Step Mummy
1. Where are you from and where do you live now? – Aberdeen and Aberdeen – Boring I am.
2. Favourite pizza topping – Chicken, Sweetcorn and Mushroom
3. Favourite childhood story/book/film – Little Women
4. Favourite story/book/film now – Too many to mention them all. Anything with Morgan Freeman seems to be a good film. I tend not to have favourites as such.
5. If you could change gender for a day what would you do? Sack David Cameron & Nick Clegg & put Richard Branson & Stephen Fry in charge of the country.
6. Do you feel you family is complete or would you like more/some children? I am always tempted to go back to adoption panel for a girl, but I’m too old now I think.
7. What do you do/Where do you work and do you enjoy it? – From home. Hard work, long hours, but the coffee is fab.
8. Which three words do you think sum you up? Opinionated, Determined and Self-Conscious.
9. If you were a fairy what magical powers would you possess? The ability to cure disability.
10. If you were invisible, where would you go and what would you do? Why? Sit at home in a comfortable seat and ignore all the shenanigans going around me for a week. Ahhh, the peace.
11. Do you know what meme, blog hop, linky, Klout, Pinterest, Google +, SEO, tags, categories, keywords etc are and what they all mean? Um, yes, I’m a geek. What can I say.
12. Have you ever picked your nose. Of course not. Like royalty, a lady must never divulge any bad habits in public.
From More Thank a Mum
1) What song can’t you listen to without crying? – Angels – Robbie Williams, don’t ask why, I don’t know.
2) Which book changed your life – or at least made you think a lot? – The Trouble with Alex- A Mothers Battle, A Child’s Rage
3) Which of your personality traits do you most hope your children will inherit? – Inherit is impossible but I hope they learn determination to get things finished.
4) Which of your personality traits do you most hope your children will NOT inherit? As above, they can’t inherit but they might end up with my impossibility to stop myself from saying “stop that now or you will be grounded tomorrow.”
5) Why do you blog? Because I love it, and I love the community.
6) What do you wish you’d known before becoming a parent? That taking on 3 moving toddlers at one time is a feat akin to climbing Mount Everest.
7) What is your top ‘me-time’ tip? Leave the house for it. Me time never happens while anyone else is in residence.
8) What can’t you live without? Materialistically – Netbook. People wise – The Kids.
9) Which of all your blog posts are you most proud of and why? I am not proud of the post, but I proud of the actions of the people who the post is about. Read it here.
10) Have you ever met a famous person? Who and where? Prince Phillip at Holyrood when I was 16 and another, but not going to tell, or a friend will stop talking to me.
11) What is the best thing about parenthood? – Seeing them when they are sleeping and knowing I make a difference to their lives.
From Fluffy Dumplings
Questions for my victims – tags:
1 – If you could have chosen your own name, what would it be?
2 – Who do you most admire in life, and why?
3 – What is your most treasured possession?
4 – Are you a glass half full, or glass half empty type person? Give an example.
5 – Tell your favourite funny joke…
6 – What is your biggest fear in life?
7 – What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? What does it remind you of?
8 – If you have kids, do they do what you tell them first time, every time? If no kids, what about your elders?
9 – Prada or Primark?
10 – Jeans or joggers?
11 – Jennifer Aniston or Meryl Streep.
12 – Sean Connery or Daniel Craig.
The Victims
@fightingcat
@bessytweets
@theslummymummy
@loobie16
@bagi1972
@transatlantimum
My old machine said hot or cold water. No way cold water cooks the veggies in my old machine. Actually…
[…] liquid. Using boiling water for stock can speed up cooking, according to user tips published by Scottish Mum (Practical…
Quick, creamy, and packed with zing this is my kind of lunch Thanks for the easy, nourishing recipe, Scottish Mum.