Desperate Anglo Housewives : Bordeaux > she's back and dating in her 50s

Rich in nutritional vitamins and antioxidants,berries are a must to boost morale and energy levels before going back to school. Here is an easy to prepare berry pudding...with lashings of whipped cream ( calcium!!) Very Berry Summer Pudding Punnet each of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, handful of blackberries Balsamic vinegar 2 - 3 Lemon verbena/Verveine herb tea bags 4 - 5 tablespoons sugar 18 sponge fingers/biscuits cuillers 500ml whipping cream sachet vanilla sugar chopped pistachio In a pot bring to boil 300ml water, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add 2 - 3 lemon verbena teabags. Turn off flame, allow 5 mins for infusion. Let this syrup cool. Clean berries thoroughly and toss them in about 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, this will bring out all their sugars and fragrances. Whip cream with vanilla sugar and set aside. Once syrup is cool, dip  6 biscuits/sponge fingers in syrup and line the bottom of your serving bowl.  (as you would for a trifle or a

  Summer hols are nearly over, archived for another year.     Time to bite down, reorganise our relaxed and tanned selves into action for the forthcoming "rentrée" /school year start. I pretend to feel motivated, rejuvenated, ready to run head on into the new school year... This morning my husband set the alarm for seven-ish - a practice run for next week when reality kicks in on a daily basis.  My alarm went off and I moved my feet...there are still grains of sand in the bottom of our bed. I went back to sleep. My mother-in-law told me that as a child she worked further into July and returned to her school-desk late September.  That makes such good sense!  Is it me going hormonal or is there a heat wave in Bordeaux right now. I had 37° in my garden this weekend.  Wondering how my dreamy children will do "concentration" next week in this heat...wondering how their mother will motivate her own students?? Yes, I am primed for that sea of w hat-the-hell-am-I-do