LivingwithKids

Recently actress Emma Thompson caused a bit of a furore when she said that she couldn't understand women who don't have a natural birth. I think - I hope - she meant women who choose a C-section so they can have a tummy tuck at the same time.

But in any event, personally I would never judge anyone for how they gave birth. I can always remember one of my friends told me she was going to have a completely natural birth. 'I'm not having any drugs,' she told me piously. 'It's so bad for the baby. I'm going to give birth in a pool with music playing. As long as you've done your exercises, it doesn't hurt.' I bit my tongue. Six weeks later she had to have an emergency C-section, with every drug known to man.

I've never understood why some women feel the need to wear their labour like a badge of honour. The way you give birth doesn't make your baby any less precious and personally I don't get the whole suffering in silence thing.

Sometimes, things don't go according to plan. Like when you're trying to deliver a 10lb 13-and-a-half oz baby and he's two weeks overdue. (If you're pregnant with your first baby look away now). Agony doesn't even come close. My waters broke three days before, so I was bed bound and not happy. My contractions had started, and then they'd stopped. In the end I was induced because it was getting dangerous for me and for baby. 'I NEED DRUGS,' I yelled. 'GET ME DRUGS.' We skipped the gas and air and went straight on to pethedine, closely followed by an epidural. The doctor shook her head and said 'has anyone said anything about the size of this baby?' Alarmed doesn't even come close. In any event, it was too bloody late for a C-section.

He was finally born at 4.45pm on a Wednesday, three days after my contractions had first started, and as he was given to me to hold for a few seconds he bawled his eyes out and both his father and I cried with relief. Instant, total love. While I was stitched up (this took some time, it was like a battlefield down there) his dad took him to the Special Care Baby Unit. Fortunately everything was OK and two days later we were allowed home to start our new life as a family.

Happy Easter! xxx

For those of you not on a diet, here's a gorgeous recipe perfect for Easter. I’ve always loved the look of Simnel cakes – they’re so pretty. The recipe is from the new Divine Heavenly Chocolate Recipes cookbook by Linda Collister (available from Waterstones), and it looks absolutely scrummy.

Ingredients: 230g plain flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder A good pinch of salt 175g unsalted butter, softened 175g soft light brown muscovado sugar 4 large free-range eggs, beaten to mix 50g ground almonds 350g mixed dried fruit 100g glace cherries, rinsed, dried and halved 100g bar Divine dark chocolate, roughly chopped 2 tablespoons milk 450g white marzipan A little apricot jam or sherry for brushing

To Decorate:
Divine miniature Easter eggs
A ribbon
20.5cm/8in round, deep cake tin or springform, greased and lined

Method:
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt on to a sheet of greaseproof paper and set aside until needed.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; you can use a wooden spoon or an electric whisk or mixer.  Gradually beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition and adding the ground almonds with the last egg.  Using a large metal spoon fold in the flour followed by the dried fruit, cherries, chocolate and milk.  When thoroughly combined spoon half of the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly.  Roll-out one third of the marzipan to a circle slightly smaller than the tin.  Set in on top of the cake the cover with the rest of the cake mixture.  Spread it evenly then make a slight hollow in the centre so the cake rises evenly.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/ Gas3 and bake for a further 60 to 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in to the centre of the cake, just down to the marzipan layer, comes out clean.  Leave to cool on a wire rack then remove from the tin and discard the lining paper. 

Roll out two-thirds of the remaining marzipan to a circle to fit the top of the cake.  Brush the top of the cake with a little warm apricot jam or sherry and set the marzipan disc on top.  Shape the rest of the marzipan into 11 balls and arrange around the edge.    Fill the centre with miniature Easter eggs and finish with a ribbon around the cake.

OK, before we get on to the chocolate, I want to show you some non edible items. First of all, M&S  have some brilliant craft kits – I particularly love the Chick puppets (£6). And the sweet Zip-a-Long chick (£5) would be the perfect gift for little ones.

Then, winning the Cutest Toy We’ve Seen In A Long Time Award, is the Tomy Micro Pets-i Chocolate puppy (available from Argos). Isn’t he adorable? Put it this way, he went to school today. That’s how cute he is.

Right, so on with the chocolate.

Easter wouldn't be Easter in this house without a copious supply of Lindt, and their delumpcious (it’s a word, right?) gold bunnies, Lindor Easter Eggs and Fun Bugs and bees, available from House of Fraser , Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda.

For special relatives who don’t live close by, the Easter Bouquet with Milk Chocolate Egg from Thorntons (£35) is just the thing.

If you’re after something ‘almost’ too beautiful to eat, then Fortnum and Mason has an exquisite Rose and Violet Creams egg (£30). And from Hotel Chocolat comes the fabulously witty You Crack Me Up Egg (£22).

Finally, if you’re on a diet, and you only want something very small, then the Malteaster bunny (59p, available from Tesco) , is probably just right. Then again, you might need two or three (*cough*).

Now obviously it’s actually easier to buy Easter Eggs (and I’ll be recommending some of the best ones around on Friday). But when I discovered that Lakeland sell Easter Egg moulds (for £3.49) it seemed like too good an opportunity to resist.

So the Oompa Loompas and I set to work. What we didn’t realise before we started is that you have to melt, then layer and then refrigerate three times to get a lovely hard shell, but once you get the hang of it it’s incredibly easy. And the advantage is that you can choose which chocolate to use – so we went for the extremely good quality Green & Blacks Organic Milk (also available from Ethical Superstore) which worked perfectly. We really did feel like we were working in a chocolate factory – the smell was incredible.

Once the eggs have set (you do have to be patient), it’s time to decorate. Dr.Oetker do icing writing tubes, available from Ocado. (Dr.Oetker also have very cute chocolate bunny making kits, available from Sainsbury's). Then fill them with whatever you choose, and either sandwich together (slightly tricky) or leave as two halves. And there you have it. Homemade Easter eggs. And no you can’t eat them yet. Naughty.