I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before – a karabiner to anchor together the monstrous shuffle of book bags and discarded coats and other bags of shite I need to cart around on the school run!
I have got two smallish ones so I have been using those to stop coats from falling into puddles, (guaranteed a child will then clumsily step on coat, forcing further into puddle), or book bags from bloody sliding and slithering around. WHAT IS WRONG WITH A RUCKSACK? Book bags are the devil’s doing.
But I am so in love with this idea that I went on Amazon and bought the largest karabiner I could find in the hope that if it’s big enough, I can just hook my children on there, too.
The second thing I’ve discovered is on recommendation from my sister, which is Spice Tailor curry sauces, which you can get off Ocado or in Waitrose. When my husband is away the temptation in the evening to have not dinner just do vodka shots and eat cashew nuts while watching Ray Donovan and texting my friends is really tempting. And some nights that is exactly what I do BUT it’s also, I think, quite important to actually eat dinner sometimes.
I used these sauces twice to make myself dinner but they both looked so genuinely revolting in the photo as I am no food stylist, (though very tasty, promise), that I haven’t included a picture here, just a screen grab of the actual thing. Plus I interviewed Anjum Anand for a thing a few years ago and she is adorable.
Also handy to give to my husband. I’m no good at making curry sauces myself- they always come out all tasting the same – but Giles is a massive fusspot about everything pre-bought sauces, says they leave a funny taste in his mouth – I mean I guess I know what he means but these really don’t and won’t.
Laughed out LOUD at that post. If only I hadn’t been in the pedicure massage chair when it was doing its pummelling thing… came out as a deeply sinister ‘wahahaha’.
Ha! Thanks Emma xxxx
Massive YES to Spice Tailor, years ago I loved something similar called Kitchen Guru and was gutted when they discontinued. Indian food is a major faff to make (although I do often go back to a fab fish curry you have on Recipe Rifle!) Love the hook idea.
I love these sauces and even my children will eat the korma version (leave out the spices at the start and add some extra greek yog)
I got them a rucksack anyway and just put the book bag inside it. I do still somehow end up with a massive extra bag. The other day it had coats, a paper mache thing, a ukelele, a bike pump, a toy hairdryer, “the loveheart of doom” and a small jewelled box containing “dog treats”, or stones as I have called them up until now. Now I know why some of it had to be there in theory, but all a bit mystifying when you stop to think about it just to go five minutes up the road.
I have crisps for dinner when my husband’s away and I’ve stopped eating lunch on Tuesdays – now my youngest has it at nursery I just don’t bother. Can’t be arsed with all the getting stuff out, putting it away again, chewing, clearing up, it’s enough to make you want to reread The Bell Jar, if not actually write it. I tend to make sauces most of the time, but so hit and miss with curries. Jamie let me down for the first time ever with that fish one in his new book – did anyone make it and like it? It went down like a lead shit here, I’m never going to be allowed to utter the words lime pickle in my house again.
“The loveheart of doom”. Esther’s right, Cindy. Why don’t you have your own blog????
I know. Cindy is amazing. But – I know if I offered her a guest post, as I have been increasingly tempted to do, I fear she might clam up and not be able to freeform as she does in her comments. I occasionally have the same trouble when writing for newspapers. So I leave her be in comments, where she continues to delights us all, effortlessly x
Well I just came in to blush and thank you for saying such nice things, then retreat back to my real life where no one talks to me in the playground xx
Question: what do you anchor the carabiner to once loaded? Hope the answer is the saddle of your school run packhorse/Shetland pony. Fear it is actually yourself. I put it all in a soft wicker French shopping bag in the delusion that this will save my shoulders/fingers/back. Gah!
person, I just hold the karabiner – I accept that I cannot abscond all responsibility for The Shit – my rage and anger is that it slides around and falls on the floor – if it is all in once manageable bundle that’s enough for me
I just discovered Spice Tailor while on a business trip to the UK last week. Ended up buying 20 of them at Waitrose to bring back to the U.S. with me. These are perfect for those nights when you really can’t be bothered with anything fussy, especially if you have an insane 2-year old to manage! The Keralan Coconut curry is nice as it’s fairly low in sugar, 2g I think.
Funny sauce taste in mouth = usually garlic. I mean, not in a ‘filthy foreign muck’ way but garlic changes its flavour once cut after a very short time, I suspect if you don’t cook it immediately. As in, my homemade pesto *makes wanky face* is fine frozen and then thawed, but I don’t crush the garlic hours in advance.
Karabiners are wonderful. I lust after that gert biggun.
gert biggun! Sophie you can stay
Spice Tailor gets a yes from me, as does alcohol and dried snacks when you’re flying solo. You’ve nailed it yet again Esther x
We get Spice Tailor here is Oz too, and they are literally the only ‘packet food’ I buy. So good! There used to be a spinach one which has sadly disappeared, but that Keralan coconut one is fab with green veg and fish or tofu – and is a great way to disguise the tofu, of which my husband is not the #1 fan!
I love Anjum. I have all her cook books which are really good. I also like the Spice Tailor sauces but have stopped using them because they made my entire house smell of curry for days. I tried everything and just couldn’t get rid of the stink.
Giles is right. They either leave a funny taste in your mouth OR they taste delicious once or twice and you think “HURRAH! FINALLY CONVENIENT AND NOT DISGUSTING” but then about the third or fourth time you have them, you feel a little bit reluctant to put the sauce on the food. Then you serve it up and dutifully eat the first mouthful. Then the second. And then, before you can grudgingly lift the fork for a third time, bile rises in your mouth and you realise that you can never eat this sauce again. With bad cases, even the thought makes you feel a weeny bit sick.
Also, listen up, I have cracked curries. Mix the following ground spices: 1 tablespoon on corriander; 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric; 1 scant teaspoon of cumin and between 1- 1.5 teaspoons of chilli powder depending on how much you want your mouth to sing. mix this up and add a drop of water.
Then add it to your onions which should have been prepared as follows: add some peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks into the hot oil before you put the onions in, put the onions in and fry them for and hour or two (for a good curry, the onions need to cooked and cooked and cooked). Ten mins before you add the spices, add some garlic and ginger.
Add the spice mix to the onions. Fry for 5-10 mins.
Then add some chicken/ beef/ lamb/ whatever and brown in the pan. Then add 200ml of stock and some tomato depending on your taste and allow to cook down slowly. Then add some coconut cream (NOT COCONUT MILK).
Trust me – this curry works and takes very little active management.
Elena this is great!!!!
It is my number one dish. It can feel like a faff the first time but then it becomes second nature and no work at all.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. Thanks Elena, I will try this when they forgive me for the last one x
Do! This really is the only curry recipe you’ll ever need. Oh, and you should know how to make Dahl but I’ll tell you about that another day!