After a very busy morning we came home and baked. We are a family who loves to bake so everyone helped making White Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Cupcakes. We were kindly sent a selection of products from Dr. Oetker so used their white chocolate chips and handy baking powder sachets. They smelled delicious and the children enjoyed licking the spoons whilst the cakes were in the oven. As the children were ‘helping’ they really wanted to decorate them with everything we had! We made a milk chocolate and white chocolate ganache using bars of the Fine Cooks’ Chocolate, covered the cupcakes and let the…
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With an all-star cast led by Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams, The Big Wedding is an uproarious romantic comedy about a charmingly modern family trying to survive a weekend wedding celebration that has the potential to become a full blown family fiasco! To the amusement of their adult children and friends, long divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin (De Niro and Keaton) are once again forced to play the happy couple for the sake of their adopted son Alejandro’s wedding after his ultra conservative biological mother unexpectedly decides to fly…
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If you’re the parent of a pre-schooler you are probably familiar with the magical world of Tree Fu Tom and Treetopolis. My son loves the programme and can often be found sending magic to Tom in his own unique way! He was pretty excited to receive a copy of the new Tree Fu Tom magazine which launched last month. The magazine is packed full of activities to keep little ones busy. My children enjoyed the stickers, colouring, learning about ladybirds and playing the games. There was lots to do so they kept returning to it and I think it represents…
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Now the toddler is at school during the afternoons I find feeding him a little tricky. Although we live near school he starts at 12.25 so I need to fit in lunch, clean him up and get him changed into his uniform before leaving the house, it can be a rush! Sometimes a lie-in or just playing before breakfast means there are only a couple of hours between breakfast and lunch and he’s not very hungry. Fortunately he’s always really hungry after school so I ensure he has a really healthy meal for his evening meal. my dirty school boy!…
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Packed full of 100 tasty recipes, the first ever Ella’s Kitchen Cook Book (The Red One) encourages kids of all ages to get hands on and messy in the kitchen and make mealtimes fun. The book is packed full of ideas, I reviewed it here, and we’ve been busy working our way through the recipes. Some of the recipes would be great for Halloween parties, and they’re great for all the family to enjoy making together, including a Swirly Whirly Cheesecake, Awesome Orange and Ginger Cake, and Smiley Spiral Apple Tarts. This morning we made the Swirly Whirly Cheesecake which can be decorated with…
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So we’ve all heard about the great Spring Clean but does your house need an Autumn Clean too? We had a lovely autumnal walk to the library and back today. The toddler is curious about the seasons so we try to collect as many little treasures on our walks as the size of his pockets allow. When we get home the treasures are pulled out of pockets to be examined and if possible ‘crafted with’. As I sit and write this I can see a pile of leaves, nuts and shiny brown conkers on shelves and window sills. I’d like…
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The toddler and his sister are both obsessed with taking photos on my iPhone so when I heard about a fun challenge to help children capture the colours of red, blue, green, yellow and white while on their summer holidays, well I knew they would love to take part. The toddlers’ selfies are famous around here but fortunately they don’t fit into any of the colour categories so instead whilst we were exploring the Great Western Lego Show the toddler got busy with the camera.* The Great Western Lego Show takes place at Steam so he was kept busy snapping…
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I know I shared a book review with you yesterday but it’s time for another – Spaghetti with the Yeti by Adam and Charlotte Guillain. “Hurrah!” shouted George, “At last it is you. I’ve been looking so hard for the Yeti.” The monster looked down with a horrible howl… “Are you bonkers? My name is Netty!” Join George, a young and courageous explorer, determined to track down the elusive Yeti against all the odds. With only a map, a woolly hat and a tin of spaghetti in his rucksack, George sets off on his quest up the steep mountain path…
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I love a challenge so was pretty excited to be asked to try out TOTAL Greek Yoghurt. Apparently the recipe hasn’t changed a smidge since 1926 when it was first made in Athens. TOTAL Greek Yoghurt can be used in lots of recipes – whether it’s used as a replacement for cream in a fresh, strawberry gateaux or transformed in to a zingy slaw to accompany juicy pork chops or burgers! I was sent a tub of TOTAL Greek Yoghurt and the ingredients to make Jumbo Italian Spiced Chickpea Burgers. Now a meal without meat is a bit of an anathema…