Today wasn’t just Mother’s Day but also Big Brother’s 2nd birthday. We had piles of presents (far too many!), a birthday outing to the RAF Museum at Hendon, our handmade birthday card was read out on cBeebies and we made and ate a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake. Happy Birthday to my darling son!…
baking
Valentine’s Day gingerbread house (Ikea Pepparkaka Hus)
Last year it was all about the felt, this year it’s all about the edible gingerbread house! I had an Ikea Pepparkaka Hus which I had bought to make over Christmas and never got round to building so it seemed like a good time to make it and decorate it for Valentine’s Day. The kit…
Gingerbread for your valentine
A couple of weeks ago I came across a great challenge – the PinAddicts Pinterest Challenge. The idea is to choose something from your Pinterest boards to create and link up each month. As I am addicted to Pinterest I just knew I had to join in, the only choice was what to make? I…
Biscuits fit for a Queen
There’s a whiff of patriotism in the air today at the gingerbread house thanks to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I picked up some fantastic new cookie cutters at the weekend from Lakeland. The 3 crown cookie cutters are, according to their website, the ‘crowning’ glory of any afternoon tea table, cookies made with our trio…
Home-baked treats for your Valentine
I don’t normally go overboard with Valentine’s Day but this year I haven’t been able to stop baking. I’ve been whipping up batches of cakes and biscuits and working on improving my decorating skills. They say the way to a man’s heart is via his stomach so I baked some heart shaped gingerbread for my…
Stained glass biscuits
I’ve wanted to try baking stained glass biscuits for a while and with Valentine’s Day fast approaching I thought I would have a practice run! Big Brother loves to bake with me so we made a simple gingerbread dough and cut out the biscuits using a heart shaped cutter. We then cut a smaller star…
Limited edition love?
Roses are red, violets are blue, give your partner a Love Heart tin that says ‘I love you.’ Swizzels Matlow, the makers of Love Hearts, are launching a new Valentine’s Day collection including a limited edition heart-shaped retro tin full of Mini Love Hearts and an ‘I Love You’ tube of sweets. The British confectionery…
Wright’s Ginger cake mix
My husband hates the fact that I occasionally buy packet mixes. I think they’re perfect for keeping in the cupboard and whipping out if you need to produce some cake in a hurry (and they’re usually better than shop bought cake!). The latest addition to my cupboard has been Wright’s Ginger cake mix which I…
(Messy) cooking with a toddler
Big Brother takes a real interest in the kitchen and food which I want to encourage. So when I spotted a delicious looking recipe for Chocolate-Beet cupcakes in the latest issue of Gurgle magazine I thought we would try it together. It required a bit of thought as we needed to buy raw beetroot, cook…