An award. And no kittens.

Instead of kittens. 

Here's me, standing next to the very lovely Claudia Winkleman (I know!). The occasion was the inaugural Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards and I was shortlisted in the Online Drinks Writer category. Anyway, thing is, I won. Yes, I did. And I'm holding a little F&M silver hamper with my name engraved on the inside. If you look closely you will see that I'm doing that slightly too familiar arm-round-waist thing but I did hold back tears for fear of streaking the you-know-what. I mumbled a few thank you's before heading back to the crowd and a rather large celebratory glass of Champagne, spotting so many familiar (as in off the telly) faces, my jaw was almost permanently on the floor - Mary Berry! Rachel Khoo!  Monica Galetti! Yotam Ottolenghi! And there were some familiar voices too, including Nigel Barden, the lovely chap who cooks on Simon Mayo's R2 show, and Sheila Dillon from R4's The Food Programme. I was in awe and had to really concentrate on not invading too many peoples' personal space. But the real star was a lady called Jack Monroe. She was given a special award for her blog, A Girl Called Jack. It's an incredible source of nutritious and thrifty recipes, so good they are being handed out by food banks as examples of how to manage on next to nothing. Properly in awe.

Current white in the fridge: Tesco Finest Albarino 2011, £7.99, Tesco
If you've been on holiday in Spain, chances are you will have seen wines by Martin Codax on the shelf of the local supermarket. He's very big over there. Luckily, he also makes stuff for us over here too, and this is really good value for what is essentially one of Spain's smarter white wines. Made from the Albarino grape in the Rias Baixas region in the north, this is peaches and pears in a glass (practically). Refreshingly different, and a great one to have on hand when your mother *looks at mother* turns up on the doorstep to 'help' at bedtime. 

Current red in the rack: Renato Ratti Nebbiolo 2010, £13.99, M&S
Sent to me by M&S, this is considerably more than I would spend on a bottle under normal circumstances. But if you were feeding me, I'd go and buy another bottle and bring it round to yours to share. It is everything that I love about Italian red wines: a little bit rustic but with lots of dark cherry fruit. Intense and moody, like those slightly creepy dudes in the D&G ads. Made from the Nebbiolo grape, this is grown in the Langhe region, in Piedmont, the same area that the whopping great Barolo wines come from (also made from Nebbiolo). Baby Barolo, if you like. Make lasagne, and let me know what time you want me. 

One more pic. Here's me below with Nigel, after that big glass of Champagne...

KM x

My beautiful black silk top and capri trousers were kindly gifted by Winser London. My shoes got cut off in the picture, but they are my best (40th Birthday) shoes. And now my lucky shoes. 

Wine o'clock

There's been a bit of discussion around wine o'clock over the last week, prompted by Louise Mensch posting about it on her blog, Unfashionista. One of the newspapers asked if I might write a response to the idea of taking wine o'clock away, so I did but they didn't use it and I can't bear waste so here it is*.

Wine is an excellent thing. Given that I worked as a supermarket wine buyer for the best part of a decade it is not surprising I’m a fan. But, that aside, after a typical day – school runs, a supermarket trolley-dash and possibly a conference call in which I try not to let on that I have a 3-foot-tall Power Ranger standing before me – I love having a glass of wine.

Before we go any further, I must address the issue of frazzled mums collapsing on the sofa, glass in hand. Hands up, that’s me. But I am a normal person who likes a glass of wine. I’m not guzzling the bottle. They say women should know their limits. Well, I know mine. It’s fourteen units a week. Sometimes I drink less than that, sometimes a bit more, but generally wine is part of everyday (or rather night) life in our house, usually served with food and an episode of Masterchef/Mad Men (delete as appropriate).

Mothers of old drank gin when pregnant and blew smoke in the other direction when holding a baby. We’ve come a long way since then and shouldn't be made to feel guilty just because we love a glass of wine at the end of the day. Motherhood already comes with a side order of guilt, and so on behalf of all of us who drink responsibly I’m sending that particular dish back. I wrote my book because I thought that seeing as we’re (in my experience, anyway) drinking less than we used to, we should make each glass count and drink better.

Any given day with small children generally involves tears, laughter and endless trips to the loo. And that’s just me. The point is, motherhood is a joy but it is also completely exhausting. Along with the sheer pleasure and wonder our children bring us on a daily basis (no laughing at the back) we are also faced with the slightly less joyful tasks of endless piles of washing to sort out, running a canteen and taxi service, wiping noses and bottoms and kitchen tables whilst picking up random bits of plastic on the way. Motherhood ain’t no place for sissies, as they say. It is chaotic, messy and very, very noisy. But when the day is done, and the children are put to bed with clean faces and full tummies, I love the quiet that descends. Like a blanket, it gently tucks itself over the house. And when it does finally happen, the quiet is restorative. It’s grown-up time, and a glass of wine marks the split between the rest of our day and the time we have to ourselves in the evening. I don't have a glass of wine every evening, but more often than not I do. It is usually delicious and crucially it is about the taste, rather than the hit. So I won’t get wound up by those who want to take wine o’clock away. I’ll just pop the kettle on for them.

KM x

*adapted from my book .

Roller Coaster

n. roller coaster

a situation in which there are many big and sudden changes

You know how I was going on about pootling last week? Well, scrap that. Pootling is off. Temporarily, anyway, due to a couple of unforeseens. Youngest Girl hasn't got a place at the same school as her two older brothers. That was a dip, but the corkscrew was my dear mother being taken to hospital yesterday - now thankfully home and recovering but still, a world-stops-spinning moment. And neatly demonstrating just how very important pootling is, especially with the ones you love.

In other news, I asked Twitter which fake tan to invest in, if going DIY. And just like I tell you in my (best-selling!) book to hold a glass of wine against something white to see the true colour, so I give you my face against a white background 20 minutes after applying the tan. I'll post another one showing the results next week. Unless it is disastrous, in which case I'll post a picture of kittens, or something.

Current white in the fridge: Billecart-Salmon Extra Brut NV, £48, Berry Brothers
This one was sent to me by a very kind person at Billecart-Salmon, and what makes it interesting is the Extra Brut bit. This Champagne has absolutely no added sugar, so making it apparently lower in calories than a normal glass of Champagne. We're talking approx. 60 calories rather than 90 calories in a small glass. More importantly, what does it taste like? Delicious, actually. I thought it might taste a bit skinny, lacking the weight and power of a normal Brut (which has a little added sugar). But it is surprisingly weighty and powerful, smelling of brioche and tasting of lemons. What with my fake tan and a glass of this, I'll be doing the school run in my bikini at this rate.*

Current red in the rack: Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2010, £7.79 on offer, Waitrose
This was a bit of a panic buy, to be honest. I was flying around the shelves, had to pick a wine from the shelf at the end of the aisle (I can never venture deep into the wine department when in a hurry, it is like a vortex) and went for the one that I knew. But, as usual with Beaujolais Villages, thought - as I sipped in the garden later - I must buy more from Beaujolais! I must! The grape is Gamay, and it is such a great summer red, with light redcurrant fruits and a bit, but not too much, spice. 

*I was joking.

Chin chin x

Pootling Along

vb. pootle

to move leisurely, with or without purpose

Now, no great shakes but I'm usually in a hurry. Whether it is shouting getting the children into the car for the school run, racing to get a train on my work days or tearing round the supermarket at break-neck speed, the big Countdown clock looms. In my head, anyway. But last weekend, we walked to the pub before lunch, and I had to pootle. Partly owing to the fact that Youngest Girl only pootles and partly because that pesky sacroiliac joint is playing up, but whatever, I found myself pootling. And it was lovely. There's no real finish to this story. It is without purpose. Still pootling, obviously.

Current white in the fridge: Caixas Albariño 2011, £6.99 if you buy 2 bottles, Majestic
This is a properly super white, made by Martín Códax in the Rías Baixas (sound that one out) region in northwest Spain. Made from the Albariño grape, this is peachy - as in fruit as well as that being an adjective - with fresh, lemony flavours too. I had a glass of this as I pootled about the kitchen earlier, before finishing off the leftover smoked mackerel pate with a pile of pitta bread. A cheery Tuesday supper for one indeed. 

Current red in the rack: Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir 2011, £7.99, Tesco
This really is one of the most delicious Pinot Noir wines I've tasted from Chile - in fact, at this price from pretty much anywhere - for ages. It is typically light in colour, with kind of spicy strawberry fruit. Like putting actual black pepper on actual strawberries (like Nigel Slater told me to once, and it was delicious). Anyway, it is a great way to do Pinot without it costing too much. And I like to think the Bicicleta-thing stays with pootling theme. Needs food, but not huge flavours. Roasted salmon fillets, say. Or smoky bacon crisps.  

Chin chin x