Do Your Children Bore You?

I know I know, you feel guilty even reading this one! But let's face it - we're adults and they are children and we have different interests. Me, I like to flop down from time to time and have a quiet cup of tea, and my kids? They want action, action and more action. Not everyone is born with an innate sense of how to entertain children, I mean why else is there a thriving community of children's party entertainers? Now there's a strange lot... So, my hot tip on this one is not to go out and buy yet another book like "1001 Crafts to Make out of Household Garbage on a Rainy Day", but I have been made aware of a pretty useful book called "I'm Bored" by Polly Beard and Suzy Barratt. It's packed full of silly (and inexpensive) games and activities for all sorts of age groups and situations (travelling, outdoors, indoors, etc). After doing one of those you'll feel less guilty about switching on the telly and making that cup of tea...

This is a simple but very tasty side dish, and it's not rocket science.

Roast Squash with Cumin

I use butternut squash for this, but if you can get hold of gemsquash or really any squash, this recipe suits them all. Cut your butternut squash into eight pieces - I use a big cleaver for this and expel a little rage as they are tough to slice and dice. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and chuck them out. Place the eight pieces onto a baking tray, skin side down. Drizzle all of the pieces with olive oil, then sprinkle them with plenty of sea salt, a generous grind of black pepper and a light coating of ground cumin. Roast in a 200 C oven for 35 minutes or until you can stick a knife in with ease, and serve with...well, anything! And yes, you can eat the skin too.