I’m ashamed to say I didn’t own a single general cook book until Dorling Kindersley very kindly allowed me to chose a couple of books from their recent catalogue to review and Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook arrived on my doorstep. I’m a huge Mary Berry fan and own a couple of her baking books but wasn’t aware she had written more than seventy cook books since her first book was published in 1970 (thanks Wikipedia!). Anyway, my poor family have been eating recipes torn from magazines for years so the Complete Cookbook has been very welcome. I have spent some…
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The toddler is very taken with reading at the moment. He has a very full bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox which he goes to frequently, pulls out a book and brings it to me, saying “Read, mummy”. He was sent two new picture books from Macmillan Children’s Books to review. We read Matilda’s Cat by the fabulous Emily Gravett. This is the adorable tale about a young girl and her beloved cat. Perfect if you are looking for a book about children and their relationship with their pets. Fortunately the toddler has two cats which he frequently terrorises so this was a great book…
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As a home baker with a *very* sweet tooth I was happy to receive a copy of Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever to review. It may be summer but with the wet weather it’s also pretty good to hide indoors from the rain drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. I didn’t ever think of making my own marshmallows but Marshmallow Madness gives you all the information you need to make them at home. The book is well set out with a helpful introduction and a list of key ingredients as well as marshmallow-making tips and techniques. The book…
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What’s on your reading list this summer? Idealo UK have teamed up with Foodies100 to challenge us to share our holiday reads. Once upon a time I read all the time but with two children and no time I have to admit I prefer flicking through cookery books and pattern books to reading a novel. You’ll notice that no. 5 on my Day Zero list is to ‘Read at least one book every month for 12 months’ which I’m still yet to achieve – I might have to change that to issues of Mollie Makes instead! My Amazon Wishlist is…
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Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory is a beautifully illustrated children’s book aimed at children aged 3-6. It is the debut picture book by Sarahjane Funnell. Phillipa loves ice cream. She loves ice cream almost as much as she loves her pet cat Little Miss Whiskers. Little Miss Whiskers is her fluffy white cat with a purple collar and bell. She doesn’t like ice cream at all but loves nothing more than to curl up into a ball and fall fast asleep on the end of Phillipa’s bed. One day Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory and Little Miss Whiskers embark on a deliciously exciting journey.…
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The well known illustrator Rebecca Cobb has recently written her second children’s book – Lunchtime. Featuring an adorable little girl this story tells the tale of one lunchtime. Unfortunately she’s just not hungry. However, luckily for her a visiting crocodile, bear and wolf are. The wolf munches on her apple, the bear slurps her soup and the crocodile eats her sandwich. Who would have guessed but little children taste revolting! My toddler loves this book. I find it really difficult to get him to come near the dining room as he’s always so absorbed playing with his toys. Even if…
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Martha is the ultimate happy bunny: cheerful, upbeat, seeing the best in every situation. And her bunny brothers Monty and Pip absolutely adore her. We were recently sent a copy of Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School to read. The toddler loves looking at books and this was a great story to read as the illustrations are beautiful. The story follows the adventure of Martha and her first day at school as she worries how her brothers will cope without her. This is one book which we will keep reading to help make the transition to school as…
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Big Brother and Little Sis were sent some lovely new books from the little learners range. They are the perfect age for these colourful picture books and we’ve all been enjoying taking some time to look through them together. I often forget the simple pleasures that come from looking through a picture book. Miraculously the three books we were sent kept both the 5 and 25 month old entertained. This was of great benefit as the toddler always wants my attention so it was really lovely to do an activity which we could all enjoy. The three books we were…
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One of my crafty passions is knitting so I was delighted to be sent a copy of Labour of Love: over 20 knitting patterns for treasured girls. This is the first book by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard who studied fashion design at Kingston University. This book is absolutely beautiful! I would be happy to keep this on my coffee table but it is also full of contemporary patterns I would love to make, in fact I’ve already marked a few for my to-do-list! The photographs are gorgeous and really help illustrate each project. The projects are divided into types: sweaters, cardigans,…