Deal Or No Deal?

Apparently 70% of all booze in the UK is bought when on offer. I was quite surprised by this. Until I thought about it, that is. I love a bargain. I can't remember the last time I bought baby wipes that weren't on a three-for-two offer. Crisps on buy-one-get-one-free? Ship 'em in. Washing powder, bags of apples, packs of mince, tins of tuna...you know the deal. When it comes to wine, I'll check out the offers before heading to the rest of the wine aisle. The problem is, the choice of wines on offer seems to be getting a bit same-y. Baby, I'm bored.

Current white in the fridge: Cono Sur Viognier Reserve, £8.35, Tesco
Drank a chilled glass of this in the garden with my darling Ma last night, after watching Eldest Son play a violin solo in the school concert. A very big moment for him, a stomach-turning but proud one for me and Bearded Husband. Anyway, he was fab and the wine was delicious. Rich and bosomy, if you know what I mean. Ample. Voluptuous. You get the picture. The grape's homeland is the Rhone Valley in France but here, it does a brilliant apricot shimmy with a peachy twirl at the end. I should probably give you better food match but we had this with those addictive beef and horseradish crisps from M&S and it worked perfectly. 


Current red on the side: Stockman's Station Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago, £8ish, Tesco
Now this wine is normally double the price but I think Tesco was having a clear out so it was a lovely surprise. Either that, or the price on the shelf ticket was wrong. Whatever, I could. Not. Resist. New Zealand Pinot Noir? From Otago? Yes pur-lease. Silky, silky, silky soft tannins, soft raspberry fruit with smooth tannins (think stewed tea feeling on teeth but in a good way). It is delicious. I was supposed to be wine free tonight, but life is definitely too short not to drink a glass of good NZ Pinot Noir on a Wednesday evening just because I feel like it. 


Chin chin x

No pressure, then.

Now there's a thing. This blog has been named as one of five bloggers to watch by The Guardian, following Saturday's Cybermummy conference. Which is a bit of a nightmare as it implies something interesting is going to happen. So, if you are here for the first time, here's what this blog is all about:

Now I've been named as one to watch I'll try and keep it interesting, learn to tap dance or something. Whatever happens there will always be a couple of weekly wine recommendations on the blog. Too knackered to do them now, I'll post some tomorrow.

KM x

#cybermummy11 - live blog from Rachel Johnson's speech on writing about your life

Here's Rachel Johnson! And me! She's talking at Cybermummy now about the highlights and lowlights of her published career. Specifically, how many people she has pissed off in the process. She started writing The Mummy Diaries with three small children under 5 (her kids are now teenagers) before the world of mummy blogging even existed. She 's written when living abroad in Washington, US and alienated people. She moved to Brussels, wrote a column in the Sunday Times about life there instead and managed to alienate even more people. She says she has crossed that fine line between writing life and real life on many occasions, including writing about her husband's liver transplant. Written for a particular magazine, she then found it was sold by that publication and her husband read it in the Evening Standard (someone else's). Cross words, apparently. No speaking for two days. Ouch. 

Rachel wrote a piece for Vogue on erm, female grooming down there. She wrote candidly about her own daughter's grooming habits. The story went ballistic and Rachel was lambasted in the Daily Mail by Liz Jones. Liz Jones! That obviously hurt. Not as much as the waxing, no doubt. 

However, she says that honest writing about yourself is what people want to read. Andrea Levy was on Desert Island Discs recently and did exactly that, going on to win a major writing award for 'Small Island'. The great thing about blogging is that it has given us mere mortals a voice and a platform. She is a self-confessed technophobe and doesn't blog (but she's got 6,000 Twitter followers - @rachelsjohnson - so she can't be that bad).  

Her parting shot: just remember, friends are friends, family is family and they will love you no matter what. You just might have to grovel. Of course, this is not going to work for everyone, but it seems to work for her brilliantly. 

Rachel is the editor of The Lady (www.thelady.co.uk) and has written a book, Diary of The Lady. Her brother is quite famous too, apparently.

#cybermummy11 - live blog from Sophie King's writing workshop

So, I am live blogging from writer Sophie King's writing workshop. She's telling us how to find our (blogging) voice. She used to be a journalist and wrote about bringing up children for most of her writing life, for Family Matters magazine. When it came to writing novels, she found writing multi-character novels did it for her, weaving lives together. She's written five novels to date and she's just dropped in that she did this as a single mother. Damn, I want some of what she's having...

On the subject of blogging and not rambling i.e making your blog stand out from the crowd she suggests we think about the following:
1) What makes you different? What's your point of difference?
2) Make each blog post a cliffhanger, leave 'em wanting more!
3) Give your blog room to grow, change you blog name if necessary and link back
4) Set yourself a new challenge - give your blog a pep-up! Climb a mountain (Sophie's suggestion, not mine), start running, join a belly dancing class, write about a move abroad...
5)!Find the secret you! Write as if you are that person. Brilliant! Right now, I am about six foot, skinny and wearing to-die-for lingerie (said with French accent). Actually she's got a really good point.
6) What really makes you cross? Go on, rant away people! We all LOVE a rant. Check out Kat at 3 Bedroom Bungalow for Dear So and So...
7) Set your own style. Think about the language you use. Experiment. Go without punctuation (love this one, two fingers to my old english teacher! Actually, I loved Mr Stubbs...). Write from someone else's viewpoint (cat, child, iPhone).
8) Join up with a writing buddy - bounce off each other, kick ideas around, drink wine (ok, the last one was mine).
9) Write rhymes/poems - I do know a limerick, but it is too rude to live-blog.
10) Think of a catchy title. Like, er, say...Knackered Mothers' Wine Club! Oh, it's been done. Bugger. You could use a title for a section of your blog, rather than a whole new blog.
11) Write under a different name - Sophie is really Jane Bidder. Sophie King is her novel name. Mine is Louise Palace, using the middle name/first street you lived in rule. Might have to re-think that.
12) Be funny! Write down the funny stuff your kids do/say. There's no such thing as laughing too much. Unless you slightly wee. If you see her, ask Penny (The Alexander Residence) why she didn't let her daughter go to the moon. So unfair, Penny.

So, now we're doing a writing exercise, we've teamed up with the person next to us and I am with Kirsten. She's hit gold. She is about to start a blog about her son who has autism and the blog will be called We Need To Talk About Jack. Brilliant, Kirsten, I can't wait to read it. Another team have come up with a 'Let's Be Honest' section in their blog, a place to just spill the beans. Love it.

Another exercise is writing a post with the title: I Wish I Hadn't...here's a selection:
I wish I hadn't had children sometimes but then again, if I hadn't I wouldn't have laughed so much.
I wish I hadn't decided to change my baby as the plane was landing.
I wish I hadn't shouted at my kids so much because now they shout at me.

So, parting shots from Sophie:
- If you are currently trying to write a novel consider switching genres. Try historical, crime, sci-fi (mine would be a disaster, I've never even seen a Star Wars film). Get what she means though, the pure romantic novel is a very over-crowded market.
- Write for a few minutes every day without thinking. Shit, she's just asked us to do it now. OK, here goes. Hope the kids are OK. Hope my husband is back from his work trip. Hope lunch is soon. Sorry, mine not very good. Others reading theirs out now are MUCH more interesting.
- Write a haunting teasing first line e.g. It wasn't until she got out of bed until she remembered...' then see where you go.
- Do something adventurous to bring out your adventurous side
- If pace of your writing flags, change tack
- Start at the beginning, write chronologically

Sophie's latest book is 'The Wedding Party'. 

Mutton. Dressed.

So there I was, standing in the middle of an H&M clothes shop and all I could think was I'VE LOST IT. I just didn't 'get' the clothes. Everything looked too small, too trendy, too....too...teenager-y. Still, I refused to give in graciously and picked up something to try on. Then I saw the escalator and the sign above it:

UP TO WOMENSWEAR

I was on the teen floor. I put the sweatshirt back, took the escalator and realised my 'too old for Topshop' moment had come. Luckily I was in a different shop. And on the wrong floor.

Current white in the fridge: L'Hospitalet Viognier 2010, Gerard Bertrand, £4.75/glass, Picture House
You'll have to go to the cinema to try this one. I had a glass last night whilst watching the new film Bridesmaids. Lordy, it was funny. Laugh out loud funny. LOL, in fact. Anyway, the Picture House cinema chain sell this wine so try it if you've got one near you and you're not driving (the glass was huge). It was gorgeously ripe with unctuous, yes unctuous peach fruit flavours. Viognier makes a refreshing change to Chardonnay: more spice and attitude when good. Often slightly higher in alcohol, too. 

Current red on the side: Fairtrade Tilimuque Cabernet/Bonarda 2010, Argentina, £6.99, Waitrose
This medium-bodied red from Argentina is Fairtrade, organic and delicious. Made from a blend of the bright, slightly excitable Bonarda grape and the more serious, firm Cabernet grape, they make a great couple. Clearly in love. Argentina is almost always touted as the next big thing in wine but seems to stay firmly in the shadow of its more seriously commercial neighbour, Chile. Take a punt, though. It usually pays off. 25% off all wines if you buy 6 bottles or more until the end of June.  


Now, I'm off to Cybermummy on Saturday. No, I haven't turned into a blogging robot, this is about connecting with having a laugh with other (mostly mummy) bloggers. I'll be live blogging (no, I've no idea either) from a couple of workshops, including one with Rachel Johnson (editor of The Lady and Boris' sister). I shall be wearing H&M.

Pip pip x

Karaoke Kings

The lovely Erica  - aka Littlemummy - tagged me in a meme a few weeks ago. All I had to do was pick which song I would sing if doing Karaoke. Cue lots of fond memories of countless times singing into a wooden spoon/empty wine bottle fighting for the lead vocal in Atomic Kitten's 'Whole Again'. Needless to say, we sang a slightly ruder version and were miles better than the real kittens. In our heads.

However, if singing now, I would choose one that I sang in Soho's Lucky Voice last year with a group of old girlfriends. Under the influence of wigs, microphones and fizz we belted out this:



We were AWESOME.

You're next, Crumbs (both of you), Bush Mummy, Potty, Nappy Valley Girl and Belgravia Wife.

Wine reccs to follow later this week x

The Demon Drink

Every other week there is an alcohol-related story in the news - mostly the Daily Mail and their obsession with wine and the middle classes - but the last few days have seen a positive binge on bad booze stories. First, a major drinks company got slammed for funding midwives to educate pregnant women about the dangers of drinking alcohol when pregnant. Today there was a report about how the drinking habits of parents affect their children's behaviour with alcohol. Now, I haven't seen my two year old sniffing and spitting a Sauvignon and declaring it 'too grassy' recently, but having read today's report, I am on it like a hawk.

This week's white in the fridge: Villebois Loire Sauvignon Blanc 2010, £9.49, Naked Wines
Definitely not too grassy. The Loire Valley in northern France is famous for producing great Sauvignon Blanc wines - Sancerre is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape - but given the cool climate, some can be cheek-suckingly lean and lemony. Not so this one: it is ripe, fruity but still cool. Very, very summery; the perfect antidote to this shitty weather and match to my pre-supper mood.

This week's red on the side: Tesco Finest Touriga Nacional 2008, £4.75 on offer, Tesco.com

This is made from the Touriga Nacional grape, Portugal's biggest name in terms of red grapes. It is a key component of many Port wines (the fortified stuff that gets blamed for headaches whenever people drink it, forgetting the copious amounts of wine they've usually had beforehand). This one is made by one of Portugal's most famous producers and is rich, dark and loaded with bramble fruit and spice. Delicious with steak, so it was. 

Pip pip x

Dahl-ing

Last night we had our latest Book Club meeting. Yet again, I failed to finish the book so had to ask a fellow BC member to fill me in on the details. I do try, really I do but in the evenings, once the children are done, food is cooked, a bit of telly is watched (sort of) I am done. Some of you might remember me swearing off the trash mags (I'm talking Hello!, not Heat) but they've crept back into my life because you don't need to commit to a magazine like you do a book. Actually, one of the happy byproducts of Book Club has been Other People's Recipes. Here's one of my favourites so far, Jessie's Dahl:

Chop onion, fry in lots of veg oil (1 inch in pan) – add garlic, ginger, black mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander and fresh chillies. In separate saucepan cook rinsed orange/red lentils in lots of salted water and add to pan of spices. Add can of tomatoes or tomato passata. Just before serving add loads of fresh chopped coriander.


This week's white in the fridge: Chilano Signature Series Chardonnay 2010, £4.49 on offer, Tesco
This was a huge success last night, everyone loved it. Made from Chardonnay grapes grown in Chile's Central Valley (which is enormous, btw) the wine is a gorgeous melon and citrus flavoured white with zip and grip. It doesn't shout too loud, but has enough flavour to make you want to swill and sniff, rather than simply glug. Just what you need to get Book Club started and a brilliant partner to sweet chilli crisps, as it happens. 


This week's red on the side: Rosso Del Molise Doc Riserva Gran Conti 2007, £4.99 on offer, Tesco
A mix of Aglianico and Montepulciano grapes from the Molise region in the middle of Italy, this is an absolute bargain. Cherry bright fruit with spice and a touch of smoky bacon (from the wine, not the crisps), this was a great match for the panic-bought lamb I bunged in the oven at tea-time. Three hours later, it was a very happy match for the wine. 


Chin chin x

Why blog?

I vlogged about this not long ago for BritMums but I forgot to mention one of the best things about blogging. Yes, I talked about how much I love the writing, sharing wine knowledge, laughs and meeting good people. But I didn't talk about how I've learned stuff reading other mothers' blogs - really great stuff. The #passiton campaign is an example of that. No matter that when I first saw the hashtag I read it as 'passion', then 'position' (that's a whole other blog post). This is a campaign to encourage world leaders to use 4 hours to save 4 million children’s lives on June 13 at the global vaccination summit in London. Run by Save The Children as part of their No Child Born To Die campaign, they have harnessed the power of bloggers, specifically mothers, to raise awareness and get support. You can add your voice here. Pass it on. 


I'll post a couple of wine recommendations later this week, post Book Club (tomorrow night). I've still got 200 pages to go. It's going to be a long night. 


KM x