flanerie.org

A month later we have finally received feedback from our 3 day fostering induction course. And we passed. It would have been difficult to fail, to be honest, since it was very basic, but we now have a certificate of attendance to frame and mount on the loo wall.

The next step is home interviews where that pick apart your motivations for fostering and try to uncover your secret history as a member of staff in a Jersey children's home.

I am determined not to crack under interrogation.

Last weekend we attended the Cornbury Music Festival, which is a middle-aged, middle-class, frightfully respectable music festival.

How respectable? Paul Simon headlined and David Cameron attended. THAT is how respectable.

It wasn't so respectable that it avoided the shite weather. It rained a lot and having decided to camp, that wasn't so good. We being three adults, four children, two tents and three cuddly rabbits.

Children being children, they didn't mind the weather and we spent a bunch of time in the family tent where, and I am not proud of this, I heckled the Mister Men.

If I go again next year I am taking a proper big family tent. On wheels.

Sally has already tried to kill me twice, with snowboarding and skiing holidays. And this is before I have even named her as the beneficiary on my life insurance.

Her third attempt will be sailing with a week in Greece learning how to drive a dinghy.

It will be something of a miracle if I manage it and I reckon I will still be in the swimming pool in an inflatable on day 5, with all the kids in the 'Snappers Club' laughing at me.

Verity will be in the Snappers Club and is quite excited about it, without any knowledge of what it actually is. Ahh, the exuberance of youth.

My aquatic adventure commences on 31st August.

[Found on UKTV]

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2.5 cm fresh ginger root, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small red chilli, chopped
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
3 mangoes, eeled and diced
225g soft light brown sugar
225ml Cider vinegar
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground coriander

Method:
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add in the ginger, garlic, chilli and lime zest and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the lime juice, mango, brown sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and coriander, mixing well.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the mixture thickens and becomes jammy. Set aside to cool.