Custard Tart With Summer Fruit ... A Cheat's Version

Summer fruits are so divine in a tart of the lightest pastry and creamy confectioners' custard.

But to be honest, my nerves & time management aren't always up to the production of light and airy pastry and so I resort to a no-effort, impossible-to-mess-up biscuit base.

My version  is just 75g / 0.31 cups of melted unsalted butter and 50g of ground almonds stirred - very gently - into 200g / 1.05 cups of sweet plain biscuits which have been bashed into crumbs with the rolling pin.

You just pile the mixture into a flan tin - I like the biscuit layer quite thick so use a 9" one - compact it down with your fingers and then shove the biscuit mixture into the fridge whilst you get on with the creamy confectioners' custard.

The only thing is - truth be told - my nerves & time management aren't always up to the production of creamy confectioners' custard, or at least an un-curdled one with no lumps!

Recognising Numbers Is Not Maths

The next step after a child counts to 10 always seems to be helping them recognise "numbers".

Recognising "numbers" is important, but I will stick my neck out and say it is NOT maths and it doesn't really help young children understand numbers!

The Friday Baby Shower #15

Welcome to the Friday Baby Shower - the bump & baby party.

Share all your latest posts plus this week your great old posts on potty training.

Last Week's Faves

Thank you so much for all your contributions last week ... so fab as always!

These were just a few of my faves ...

• Fresh Mommy Blog on the bitter-sweetness of our babies growing up
• An uplifting story from Jordy Liz Blogs on the kindness of other mothers
• The challenges of breastfeeding with an older sibling from Accidentally Kle
• Tea Lady Mumbles on what to expect if you are induced
• And the perfect recipe - ! - for chocolate crispies from The Mummy Adventure

You might also like my latest post on ...

• Why you should read real books to babies ...

Why You Should Read Real Books to Babies

When my daughter was born we were treated to two great big bags of books.

One was a set of 10 Hairy Maclary books and the other included Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom .

These were new to me and I thought, from the look of them, they were books to save for later.

But my aunt and my mum-of-three friend who bought them assured me, we could start reading them almost straight away.

To my great surprise they were right!

From the early months, we read stories as part of a bedtime routine and right from the start my daughter was absorbed and entertained by Hairy Maclary and Room on the Broom.

75 Moms Who Will Get Your House Clean!

Drowning in a deluge of housework that never gets done?

Never fear, there's a whole army of moms out there who will help you get on top of it and get your house clean!

When I say "moms" I mean that crack squad of mommy bloggers who share their hard won expertise on everything you need to know to keep the house in order.

And in case you're feeling just a tad intimidated by such expertise, don't be - they're a wonderfully friendly and diverse bunch so you're bound to find someone among them who makes you feel at home.

Empty Your Archive #9

Welcome to Empty Your Archive - the party for all the wonderful old posts in your archive.

A Few Favourites ...

Oh my goodness picking faves from last week was hard this week - all those scrumptious puddings! - I will be featuring so many more in the round-ups to follow ... but here are my top three ...

• A gorgeous bathroom makeover from Golden Boys and Me
• Lemon meringue pie from Bangers and Mash
• Fabulous bubble dough from Creative Play House

... PLUS some faves from people who linked up at the Mommy Archive during the week ...

• The Chicken Chick linked up scrummy cup cakes including this cupcake bouquet
• Navigating By Joy shared this brilliant maths post on fun with pythagoras

Quick Tips to Conquer the Ironing

I don't actually mind ironing.

It's quite relaxing done in front of something absorbing on the TV.

Or at least it would be, if I actually had 3 hours spare to stop and watch something absorbing on TV!

So back on planet reality, I lived in fear - like most mums I know - of the ever growing mountain of increasingly crumpled stuff in the laundry basket.

That was until I discovered the simple tips below, that really do help you conquer it - or at least get it down to about the 30 minutes or so a week which is manageable.

If you've got your own tips for conquering the laundry mountain do add them to the list ...