The Choccywoccydoodah story

Or how my son-in-law's bum ended up in our kitchen in Brighton.
Polly and I have always loved men's bums. So my challenge for their wedding was to give the bride and groom a cake they would always remember, it had to be from Brighton, with a Spanish twist, a bit of humour, include chocolate, be partially gluten free and show a bum...

There was only one place which could help and in Brighton too! Choccywoccydoodah. The best chocolate shop in the world. The plan was hatched just before Christmas with a rough by Dave, the master Choccy chocolatier.
After a tasting meeting with Henry in what can only be described as Willy Wonka's Wedding parlour, surrounded by splendid wedding cakes we agreed on the flavours; Three layers of chocolate sponge, chocolate ganache filling and loads of Belgian chocolate Spanish roses, a beautiful Señorita and a fantastic Matador later, we had us a cunning plan.
It had to be kept a secret, so we even made up a fake cake maker. We told Pol that unfortunately we couldn't afford Choccywoccydoodah. Which was true but hey, how often do you commission this kind of cake? so we had a quiet, inexpensive Christmas, and New Year and Easter, no family holiday...

Even Choccywoccydoodah were great when they knew the cake was a secret apart from when Henry rang and Polly answered the 'phone. I think I told her he was my lover which was fine with her. Not sure Henry would be as convinced... Anyway they arranged delivery to the reception when the happy couple were not around.

To give them their due, Polly and Alex were brilliant about their surprise wedding cake. Given that everything else had been planned, discussed, rowed over, changed, re-arranged, cried about and nearly thrown out of the window, they trusted us magnificently. The mad fools.
And they liked it, they really did. The wedding cake was surrounded by photos of all the grandparents at their weddings which was lovely.

Once the cake was devoured, no one could bring themselves to eat either Polly or Alex which is how come they both ended up in our kitchen. And they are very happy, even if they are on the shelf.



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Pumpkins squashed by the weather

Slindon Pumpkin Festival
It was too soggy today but next week we are visiting the pumpkin farm, even without children, it is a very important tradition.

Every year in the month of October, the sleepy West Sussex village of Slindon holds a seasonal display of hundreds of pumpkins, squashes and gourds. Now in its 44th straight year, the display attracts tourists from as far as Germany, Japan and Australia.

The tradition began in 1968 when Ralph Upton placed his yearly crop of pumpkins on his shed to ripen. The display attracted the eyeballs of the village folk. The next year he tried again, using the roof of his wooden shed as a canvas on which he created a mural with his harvest. Since then the display has been growing larger and more complicated. Each year there is new theme - the Universe, the Pyramids and the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Using helpers Ralph Upton used pumpkins to create boats, butterflies, witches, Noah's Ark and even dinosaurs.

"I can't paint pictures, but I can paint with pumpkins," says Upton. "Originally, we began lining pumpkins along the roof to cure the skins because they don't keep unless they're exposed to the sun. Gradually we worked out patterns and people have come to expect it."

Since the 1950s until his death in 2009, Ralph Upton was growing pumpkins, squashes and gourds in his six-acre plot and planted a staggering 15,000 to 20,000 seeds each spring to produce an organic harvest of more than 50 varieties. He was once nick-named The Pumpkin King - a title he truly deserved.

A beet of greet

If you haven't got a friendly doctor on hand then there is an alternative.

It costs nothing, as long as you give it back to the owner. And I haven't gone loopy! honest.

What you need to do is borrow a gold ring. Rub the ring on your CLOSED eye and the cure is instant.

I haven't a clue why it works but it does.


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Pig, it's a stye

It only hurts when I blink.


The only treatment for a stye is application of warm compresses apparently according to three pharmacists. I thought I had left my teenage years long ago. (You did. Ed) So this is self-care at home, you cleanse the affected eyelid with tap water or with a mild, non-irritating soap or shampoo (such as baby shampoo) to help clean crusted discharge. Cleansing must be done gently and while the eyes are closed to prevent eye injuries. Why do I never read the whole thing? I've just burnt my eye ball. And here's the good news, if a stye bursts, care must be taken to cleanse the wound to prevent reinfection.

You are highly advised not to lance the stye, as serious infection can occur as a result. The infection could spread to the surrounding tissues and areas.

So I'll put away the lance.

Eye stye sufferers should avoid eye makeup (e.g., eyeliner), lotions, and wearing contact lenses, since these can aggravate and spread the infection (sometimes to the cornea).

I've got to throw away all my eye makeup. And I'm ignoring the next paragraph.

Surgery is the last resort in stye treatment. Styes that do not respond to any type of therapies are usually surgically removed. Stye surgery is performed by an ophthalmologist and generally under local anaesthesia. The procedure consists of making a small incision on the inner or outer surface of the eyelid, depending if the stye is pointing externally or not. After the incision is made, the pus is drained out of the gland, and very small and unnoticeable sutures are used to close the lesion. It is common for the removed stye to be sent for histopathological examination to rule out the possibility of skin cancer.

Who knew?




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£188.23

and the winner of the Macmillan great British bake off was Joy with her Nigella buns.

How appropriate.


Trevor and Alexa were just too busy eating...


Joy's Nigella buns on the left. And this was the calm before the noshing.


And Glynn was gambling his beans away just before he and Alexa fell out of the photo. We all had a great time and are now thinking of the next fundraiser.

Many thanks to all who came along, ate, drank and were merry and helped fund good old Macmillan.

9lbs lost so far.

Sometimes it seems like all good authors come from Brighton, they may well do, and here's another one, Mimi Spencer.

When Dr Michael Mosley (an overweight diabetic) filmed his ideas and experiences about fasting last year there was little idea about the impact the film would have. When I featured his findings on my blog, it turned out to be the most popular blog I had ever written. I promised myself I would try the fast diet but didn't. It was only when a very good (skinny) friend dropped his book through my letterbox a couple of months ago that I ran out of excuses.

I have unfortunately been mostly inactive for the last two years and as a result the weight has piled on, about a stone a year. It made no sense for my health or happiness to continue in this way. Cancer likes fat, MS likes fat, DVT's like fat and coating my internal organs with it also makes no sense. Although I swim twice a week and exercise as well, it's not enough to shift the pounds.

Then a couple of months ago I saw 'the fast diet recipe book' at my skinny friends house. It's a great book for the two days a week when you fast. You obviously can still eat something on those days (about 500 calories) it's just important to have nutritious food which is well balanced and the book includes recipes which are delicious. The old man took some convincing but when he could see that the weight loss was making me feel and look better, he started to look at the recipes and stopped scoffing.

Today is fast day and I'm having chicken Puttanesca for my supper.





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