My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

On this day, the 24 March 1944 my Grandfather Joseph Robinson climbed in to the small and cramped tail gunner post of his Lancaster Bomber with his crew. The Wedding of Joseph Robinson to Irene Baum  Joining the RAF when war broke out and worked his way up for Flgt. Sgt.  He had been flying for a year by this point.  Married one day shy of six weeks he lift his wife at home in his native Sunderland and returned to his squadron at Elsham Wood. Joe was ideal as a tail gunner, a strong man, a confident man but he was short enough and small enough to fit in to the plexi-glass turrets of Lancaster Bomber.  The problem with being a Tail-end Charlie, wasn't just the cramped conditions where many couldn't wear the parachutes or even boots if they wanted to fit in, neither was it the loneliness of being so far removed from the rest of the crew, but the real kicker would be if you needed to escape. The tail turrets while the most important defensive position c...

I love comfort food, there are certain meals that are just so homely and warming that they just make you feel at home. Carbonara is one of my go to comfort foods, I love the richness of the cream sauce and the saltiness of the ham.  I also love to add vegetables to my dishes in any way I can.  Usually in carbonara I add mushrooms, garden pea, seasonal veg such as asparagus and so on. So the other week I was watching Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night with top chef Jamie Oliver.  One of his recipes was taking traditional carbonara and turning it in to a cake.  once cooked it looked delicious and I remember seeing something similar before done with spaghetti Bolognese. I had some time this week so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, Jamies Recipe can be found on his website here: www.jamieoliver.com I adapted it slightly to suit my taste - you will need a loose bottom cake tin and set your oven to 180c (fan) Ingredients olive oil to line the tin 90g of m...

The world is a busy place so sometimes it's nice to slow things down and catch up with the important people in your life Every month or two I get together with my closest friends and have a girls night in.  Going out is great, I love going to restaurants, to the theatre, to the movies but sometimes being out socially doesn't give us a lot of time to catch up fully on what's going on in everyone's lives. So we will do things like; Have Afternoon Tea A 'formal' meal A buffet with board games This Saturday we had decided on a Games Night, so this is how I prepare; Generally cleaning my house  Setting the table  Preparing the food  - baking cakes, cooking pastry etc.   As we use the evening to catch up and relax I tend not to cook a formal meal, I create more of a buffet that we can snack on throughout the night as we talk.   I love cooking and baking so this gives me a chance to try out new recipes and relax in my kitchen I make su...