Not a review. Just a statement of intent...

The entirely fabulous @KnackeredMutha's book, 'The Knackered Mother's Wine Club', is out today.  I was lucky enough to receive a review copy and am currently working my way through it, but will be featuring how the book stands up to the challenge of Moscow wine shopping before too long.

I would have done this sooner but - entirely uncharacteristically - I haven't needed to buy much wine recently.  Sacrilege to say, I know, but since I have a husband who travels through Duty Free every week and the foresight to throw a recent lunch party for 11 lovely ladies, a good number of whom were kind enough to bring bottles with them (some of which didn't get consumed, due to it's being a school day and the subsequent brakes that put on alcohol consumption), wine hasn't been on my shopping list since I received my copy.  (And believe me, given the prices here, you don't tend to buy wine 'just because...')

However.  The cupboard is now practically bare, so after we get back from half term, I will be putting the book through it's paces with the offerings available in a couple of Moscow supermarkets.  In the meantime, I can tell you the book is engagingly written, entertaining, and informative, and that the beauty of having been sent an electronic copy means it's coming on holiday with me.  I will be eagerly looking for entries on Austrian wine in the very near future.

If you can't wait though, and want to buy online now, click here for the link...

As Helen says on her blog: 'Peace out, winos'.

Little Dish & the Russian Ingredients Challenge...

So, it's review time again. Last summer, when I was (sob) still living in London, Little Dish were kind enough to send me some ready meals for my boys to try. The taste test was - mostly - a success, and I blogged about it here. Not so long ago, they got back in touch and asked if this time I would be interested in reviewing the 'Little Dish Favourites Cookbook'.

Now, I live in Russia these days. (You might have noticed - that fact has featured on The Potty Diaries once or twice...) And whilst there are many things you CAN easily buy here, like, um, well, honey... and umm vodka, healthy ready meals are not one of those things. Consequently scratch cooking is majorly back on the agenda in the Potski household (except for Fridays which is religiously Pizza night - I deserve one night in seven off, surely?) and having fallen into something of a rut on the meal-planning front, any and all inspiration is welcome.

So, the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook; how do I rate it?

The opening section on First Tastes contains simple and practical advice on weaning your baby. It probably wouldn't do as the only book in your repertoire, but it contains easy purees and is a great place to start, especially if you're a first time mum and have no idea where that might be.

It does contain a recipe for homemade chicken stock and whilst I have nothing against that per se I would say to all new mums introducing solids for the first time: on the subject of home-made chicken stock; DON'T DO IT. Your house will stink, you will stink, and since Waitrose (amongst other places) now sells a perfectly good salt, additive and preservative free alternative, buy a couple of packs there, stash one in the freezer for when you next need it and save yourself a whole heap of time and effort. (Sorry Annabel Karmel and any other Domestic Goddesses reading this, but life is just too short to make your own chicken stock...).

The main bulk of the recipes come under the Family Dishes section and in the interests of properly reviewing this book, I decided that rather than just reading it and making my mind up, I would walk the walk and use it to cook from. I chose one recipe per day for 5 days this week, and here are the results (It would have been 6 but, come on, Friday is pizza night after all...). So. What did I cook, and how did it go?

Sunday: GG's Chicken Supreme (p 78)

This was easy to make (even when having to substitute Russian ingredients like Smetana for the soured cream), and it was great to know that having put it together the evening before, I had minimal fuss on Sunday evening to pull dinner out of the hat. Plus it was absolutely delicious. We all loved it - even fussy Boy #1. I will definitely make this again.

Monday: Monty's Favourite Fish Fingers (p54)

Not a success. In fact, after my first bite I took pity on my sons and told them they didn't have to eat it, and we dined handsomely on vegetables and ham instead; however, this is much more down to the completely rubbish quality of white fish generally available here than anything wrong with the recipe. In actual fact I would expect this recipe to work fine with most fish you could get from a fish counter in the UK.

Tuesday: Chicken Enchilas (p76)

Pretty yummy. Boy #2 and I wolfed it down, Boy #1 - after initial negotiations concerning non-consumption of the flour tortilla had been concluded - did the same. With the exception of the tortilla, obviously. (What it did contain, which he usually never eats, was cheese. He didn't notice. This is a Result in my book - it's going on my List).

Wednesday: Easy Fish in Foil (p50)

I know, it's not fair to make the book run the fish gauntlet twice but I'm looking for any way I can to make the fish available here palatable. This time I used imported frozen salmon (from Norway), so the start point was a bit better, but I have to say the reaction from Boy #1 was still wholly unexpected. He pronounced the first bite 'Delicious!' and came back for seconds. Yesss!

Thursday: Spanish Tortilla (p122)

No fish today, and I decided to give ourselves a break from genetically modified meat with genetically modified eggs instead (seriously; you should see the size of the average chicken breast here. It would dwarf many turkeys back home...). This recipe was - OK. I enjoyed it, as did Husband who ate more than half of it without pausing for breath, but the Boys objected to the use of parsley and I would probably leave that out when I make it again for them (which I will). Again, it contained cheese and again, Boy #1 didn't notice (or at least, didn't identify that as one of the things he didn't like about it).

Overall then, I would give this book around 8 / 10. I will use it again, and already have my eye on some of the other recipes, so culinary boredom has been postponed for a while longer in the Potski household. Thankyou, Little Dish!

This was a sponsored post. (I got a free copy of the book, in other words).

John Lewis; sheepskin-lined bovver boots and dresses worth die(t)ing for...

I'm not a natural shopper. It's a big effort for me to go out and spend on stuff that I don't need yesterday (other than on clothes for the Boys, where for some reason money trickles through my fingers like water...). I suspect this is based on some deep-seated subconscious memory of there not being a lot of cash to spare whilst growing up (credit cards? What were they?) and painful shopping trips with my mum, looking for clothes for me and where we had vastly differing expectations of the outcome...

I'm not one to hold a grudge, you understand, but to give you an example there was that time she had one idea about what I was going to wear to the 3rd year end of term party (involving taffeta and burgundy), and I had another (involving funky knickerbockers, high heeled boots and a tinsel-threaded scarf, with possibly a glittery band worn Adam Ant-style around my forehead). No need to say who won, I suspect - but I remember the slippery feel of that taffeta to this day...

One of the few shops that seems to escape this unconscious embargo however, and which I am happy to wander around in is Peter Jones, the John Lewis flagship store on the Kings Road. For some reason it seems to be one of the few places where I can almost always find what I need, so when JL offered bloggers the chance to get a preview of their Autumn/Winter Christmas range last Thursday I jumped at it.

Can I just say now that it's a good thing I'm spending most of my time in Russia at the moment? Otherwise I think most of my disposable income would be headed straight for the JL Partners pockets. In the kitchenware department I saw an ingenious soup maker that also blends and crushes ice (Cuisinart, £139), a bread maker that also bakes cakes and makes jam (John Lewis, £60), a cup-cake maker that resembles nothing so much as breville sandwich toaster in the way that it works, and a speaker system that streams from it's own console or alternatively from your i-phone, internet or for all I know, the kitchen sink (Sonos S5, £349).

Then the nice people giving the tour took us down to where the fashion buyers had assembled a limited range of the gorgeous numbers they'll be selling this winter, where I had dark and lustful thoughts about Barbours with English Eccentric linings, a Celia Birtwell dress that looked like it could stylishly disguise the evidence of any pre-Christmas mince-pie excess (£80), and any number of pieces in their Russian Military range (but especially the sheepskin lined Dr Martens which sound awful but aren't, and which would be PERFECT for the snow and ice of the school run in down-town Moscow in January...)

And that's not all. There was a new line by Mint Velvet, some gorgeous 'lounging about' lingerie (which of course has no place in my life but I can dream, can't I?), and lots of reasonably priced evening wear that would even be worth die(t)ing for. Not to mention the 'casual sparkle' pieces to spice up JL's Rebel Rebel themed line which should probably be worn by fresh-faced teenagers and 20-somethings, but which definitely will appear in the wardrobes of some 40+ ladies who should know better (myself included), and a pair of Henry Holland-designed JL tights which feature Big Ben as a motif. (I am a London girl at heart, after all).

And then - and then - they took us to the home-wares section where bloggers from across the land made plans to acquire an Allegra bedspread which was a thing of great beauty (at £60), various pieces of gorgeous Ercol furniture, and a skinny artificial Christmas tree to show-case some Nordic themed tree-decorations.

I would love to have some fantastic photos or footage of all this stuff, but whilst I didn't lie when I told the lovely ladies at reception that I do know how to use the Flip Mino camera they so kindly gave me on my arrival, it turns out - on viewing what I did film - that I'm not actually very good at recording anything worth seeing. Instead I've lifted this photo off it as the best I can offer, which whilst it isn't moving pictures is at least a good illustration of how easy it is to get high quality stills off the hd movies that the Flip takes. Sorry JL - I'm sure that's not at all what you had in mind when you handed it over...

Oh well; maybe by next year I'll have learnt how to use it. And look at the pretty colours!

Time moves on - and now Boy #1 understand how.

Reviews are funny things. I get a fair few requests in my Potty Mummy inbox to take a look at things, view movies, and try stuff out, and I have to say that since most of it is not in the slightest bit relevant to my life or The Potty Diaries, I don't take the bait. Every now and again though, a brand or a pr agency scores a direct hit, and I bite. It happened with Keycamps and Little Dish in the summer, with Dyson last February, and with Disney Blu-Ray over the last few months.

The secret to getting my attention? There is no secret, it's an out and out matter of luck. If the timing's right, and the product's right, I'll probably do it. I'm not sniffy about these things; if a pr agency wants to include me on their mailing list they have every right to do so, just as I have every right to either refuse (or even ignore) their kind offer, and to be completely honest with any readers of the blog about my reaction to a product if I decide to participate.

So when an e-mail dropped into my inbox entitled: 'Aramazu - new way of teaching children to tell the time - proven to work', it was purely a matter of luck that I had just that week been thinking 'I really need to start thinking about teaching Boy #1 how to tell the time'. Mainly because if he can, then those early morning shouts at 6.00am regarding whether it's time to get up yet might stop happening.

I mean, 6.00am? That's just so rubbish. At 5.30am, even 5.45am, you can with justification think; 'loads of time, let's go back to sleep, tomorrow hasn't properly started yet'. But 6.00am? Personally I just lie there thinking 'Must sleep... is the dishwasher going to beep and wake them up again? Better go and turn it off... Must sleep... Got to remember to put the recycling boxes out for collection today. Must sleep... Did I wash Boy #1's pullover? Oh bxgger. Might as well just get up.'

Anyway. Aramazu. I took them up on their kind offer and recieved through the post (which given current Royal Mail performance is a miracle in itself), 3 books and an Aramzu Mountain watch. Of course, we didn't get round to using it straightaway, but on Wednesday afternoon Boy #1 and I sat down and looked at the first book:

'Aramazu; The Learn to Tell the Time Right Now Book' (for children who can count to 60)

Within 20 minutes, using the book and the card clock supplied with it, Boy #1 understood the concept of hours and was able to tell the o'clock and the half past. In fact, it was easier for him to learn that than it was for me understand the instructions on how to attach the card clock hands to the card clock face. But perhaps that's just me...

Two days later, we sat down again after school for 15 minutes, and hey presto, now he can tell the minutes too.

To say I am impressed and amazed is an understatement. This method of teaching children to see hours as mountains and minutes as steps up and down the sides of them (and you really need to see the book to understand what on earth I'm on about, I know) is so tuned in to the way their minds work that they catch on practically instantly. Now admittedly, Boy #1 needs his Aramazu Mountain Watch right now to be able to do so, but when using it he can tell the time. Cue overexcited phone calls to grandparents who frankly completely missed the point and didn't get anywhere near excited enough about this amazing milestone in my genius child's development for my liking. And I'm confident that given practice he will be able to transfer his new knowledge to ordinary analogue clocks.

Thankyou, Aramazu. I'm hoping now that the 6.00am alarm call will be a thing of the past - at least until Boy #2 starts it, at any rate...


This was a sponsored post.

Doin' it for the kids

Here's a riddle for you. Which movie will be demanded when you offer two tired post-school boys the rare chance to watch a dvd after school (in an attempt to get the younger and more exhausted one to drop off on the sofa for a while - as if...) and:

a) one of them is obsessed by dogs
b) the other is obsessed by trains

You won't get it. I know you won't get it. And the reason why I know you won't get it? Because unless you are a Disney Blu-Ray Ambassador (pass me those foil-wrapped Ferrero Rocher, somebody?), there is absolutely no chance you will have 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' in your dvd collection.

But I am. And we do. And guess what my sons wanted to watch for the second time this afternoon?

To be fair, it's actually quite a sweet film, and completely suitable for the 3 -5 year old age-group. I even - whisper it softly - sat down on the sofa for part of it and watched it with them for the second time. Never mind that this gave me the rare opportunity of having my younger son - normally 'he who eschews cuddles in favour of striding around being manly and playing with trains' - snuggled in on one side, and my older son - normally 'he who rarely stands still long enough for a hug as he's usually too busy pretending to be a dog - wedged in on the other... (Hmmm. Maybe I should have seen the writing on the wall regarding which way their choice of movie might go?)

So what's the film about? (You really want to know?). It's a live-action / CGI movie (also available in Blu-Ray format, obviously) that makes dogs talk and of which the blurb on the website says:

'It tells the story of Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), a spoilt Chihuahua enjoying all the trappings of Hollywood from diamonds sparkling on her collar to the best grooming and gourmet food Tinsel Town can offer. However, she finds herself in a perilous situation when events conspire to take her to Mexico, lost, alone and abandoned.'

And it has trains and dogs in it.

And that is all I am saying on this matter.

The things I do for my children... and I don't even have chocolate in the house to reward myself with...

With this post you are spoiling us, Ambassador...

Or, perhaps not...

So yesterday evening I pulled my Marc Jacobs dress out of the cupboard, got myself a mani-pedi, dug the Louboutins out from under the bed, and settled down on the sofa in my role as a Disney Blu-Ray Ambassador again.

I have to admit, the movie I'm about to write about was not one that was high on my list of priorities. In fact, the very thought of watching it sent Husband scuttling away on a business trip to Holland for the night. But still, a deal is a deal, and I turn you to now with Ferrero Rocher smeared lips (as befitting all ambassadors) to tell you all about High School Musical 3.

Before we start though, I have a confession to make. A number of them, actually...

1. I have not watched High School Musicals 1 or 2.

2. I have no intention of allowing my boys to watch any of them (until at least next month when they are bound to start asking due to the High School Musical themed party they've been invited to, anyway).

3. But I want Gabriella's legs. (Although I suppose that they might look a tad out of place on my body, if I'm honest...).

4. Zac Ephron is a better dancer than I expected him to be.

5. Previously I thought basketball players were generally giants but most of the actors supposedly playing them here couldn't have been more than 5'10".

6. I guess that I might be splitting hairs, but that is probably because, in spite of this, I'm embarrassed to admit that...

7. ...I actually found myself getting a little bit carried away by the Wildcats theme tune.

8. Although that might have been the box of Burnt Sugar Original Fudge I ate whilst watching the movie kicking in...

Seriously? The movie was better than I expected it to be, but still not something grown women should admit to watching on their own on Wednesday evening. Having said that, I think it would be fine for tweens to watch, and I know that a lot of parents think it's fine for kids significantly younger than that.

Overall, it's harmless fun, and the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship is handled sensitively without too much physicality (if you worry about that sort of thing, which I do). In fact, there's probably nothing in the film that would make my dad jump up in embarrassment and change channels should the moon turn to cheese and he found himself watching it.

As with the other films I've watched, I can't comment on how this would look on a normal dvd, or the improvements that watching it on the Blu-Ray format make. However, with this new technology it is possible to see every blade of grass, every perfectly groomed hair and every teenage spot. Or it would be, if any of the actors were actually teenagers...

So to sum up, HSM3 was actually alright. (Sorry Disney, but I am so the wrong audience for this one...). And I have no doubt whatsoever that as the Boys get older and I lose control of the remote this sort of movie will appear on our tv with alarming regularity.

Here be Dragons

Around 5 1/2 years ago I was Christmas shopping with Boy #1. Barely 3 months old, he was the perfect companion; unable to complain about the trekking up and down the Kings Road looking for the perfect gift for my 90 year old grandmother who has everything, and ridiculously grateful every time we stopped for a tea break somewhere warm and suitable for either a nappy change (thankyou, Peter Jones, for your 3rd floor baby room), or a light snack.

At the time I was both breast and bottle feeding him, and when it was time for the latter I pulled in at a cafe, parked his buggy, dug out my (still luke-warm) bottle of sterilised water, ripped the top off a sachet of formula, and bob's your uncle, had an instant snack for a hungry 12 week old baby.

As I fed him and cuddled him close, I looked up to see a middle-aged lady picking her jaw up off the floor. She leaned over and asked, in a friendly but almost affronted tone of voice: "When did it get so easy?"

At the time I found this amusing but thought that this was probably something that would never happen to me. I mean, I had all the mod cons for my kids, right?

Well, I had them for then.


But now? Well, twice in one week I've thought to myself; that's not fair. Why didn't I have these when I needed for them my boys...?

Yep, it's review time. Look away now if you're not interested - although if you have babies or toddlers, I think you might be...


Example 1; Silver Cross

Last Sunday Silver Cross sponsored a get-together for some bloggers at a restaurant in central London. You might have picked up on it if you've checked in at the British Mummy Bloggers Ning recently.

Being an industrious little creep I had checked out the Silver Cross website beforehand - only for a moment, I swear - although aside from the Boden-esque visuals (which I quite liked) not a lot about their range of prams, buggies and high chairs had sunk in. The presentation on Sunday from their team, however, did. And as I sat and watched their light-weight Halo buggy collapse down into an easily carry-able kit and oohed over the tactile and yet machine-washable materials used to keep lucky little princes and princesses snug and warm on their travels, I did find myself asking why these 'mod cons' weren't available 5 1/2 years ago.

Things got even more surreal when the head of design at Silver Cross demonstrated the Doodle High Chair. I watched him detach the seat from the base to make a handy small person chair and play table (complete with storage basket, gosh what a good idea, can you tell the madness is taking hold yet?), and I actually found myself thinking ''Maybe it's not too late to do the whole thing again, after all...?'


Example 2; Little Dish

I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit precious about what my Boys eat. 'You're at home with them', the little voice in the back of my head reasons, 'why feed them crap when you can make them a healthy and nutritious meal yourself? And no cheating. From scratch.'

Now, bear with me. I have at least moved on from those mad Annabel-Karmel fuelled days of preparing home-made chicken stock (don't do it; your house will stink, you will stink, and the baby can't tell the difference between that and the perfectly acceptable no-salt Waitrose alternative, I promise), and pizza is regularly on our menu as are sausages and fish fingers, but I still can't bring myself to give them chicken nuggets.

So when a company called Little Dish got in touch to offer me some free 'home-made ready meals' for the Boys to try, I was a little sceptical. I had tried them with similar things before, you see, and whilst the meals were organic and healthy... frankly? They tasted like shxt. (No names, no pack drill, but Whole Foods? I thought you were better than that..). And I am a strong believer in the fact that just because they're children, that doesn't mean my boys should eat boring bland meals.

However, you live and learn, and I figured that if Little Dish were prepared give me a night off cooking for my little angels and to risk a bad review, why not?

Last night the Boys dined on Little Dish's Fish Pie and Cottage Pie. The pocket critics gave mixed reviews; Boy #1 was not keen. However, since he is not keen on most things, people at Little Dish, you can ignore that one. Boy #2 (the critic you want to impress) was delighted, and stuffed it all down muttering 'yum yum' and 'I'm going to be the winner' and 'this will make me big and stronger than Boy #1...' (or similar). And, never one to miss out on a good thing, I tried them too. My feedback? Do you sell the fish pie in adult size?

Having said that, I would say to potential consumers that the consistency of the meals - whilst immeasurably better than most other ready made product in jars and packs for children - is more suitable for younger children than my two. Nowadays they tend to eat what we eat, but if this range had been around when the Boys were first weaned and up to about 2 1/2 years, it would have saved me much angst and late night preparation of chicken stock and similar...

So where were you then, Little Fish? Huh????