Book Review; 1000 things to make and do

The very lovely Book People sent me this beautiful arty children's book to review. It is Usborne's 1000 things to make and do which is aimed at children aged 5 and over. 

The book is filled with creative ideas, mostly things to draw, ideas for collage, cutting, doodling and painting. I was impressed with the range of ideas to suit older children as well as little ones. All the pages are full colour and the book is ring bound so it stays open on the table.

How to draw a jungle scene in silhouette.

There are also ideas to suit both boys and girls, and plenty of seasonal pages which would be great for both home educators and primary school teachers.

Thumbprint snowmen.

I think the illustrations are great, showing a variety of colours and styles.

How to make a collaged doodle page.

I roped in my son Anthony to test one of the ideas; he chose collage robots which involved cutting out pictures from magazines and also sticking on things like safety pins.

Greenhouse feet!

And I also used one of the pages for inspiration and made this card by cutting out rough circles and sewing a button on top.

I really like this book, and can see myself using it both for myself and for the children. It would make a lovely present for a creative child and offers great value for money.

Pooh's Yummy Cookbook - tried and tested!

I'm very excited about this post because it's my first review for The Book People who sell loads of books at great prices, for little people, middle-sized people and grown up people too!

 So here is the first book they sent us - Pooh's Yummy Cookbook which is aimed at children aged 5 and over. Anthony is 7 next week so I quickly enlisted his help.

The book is nice and colourful with wipe clean pages, some Pooh stories, and 8 recipes. These recipes are all child friendly sweet treats, like cookies, pancakes and brownies. Anthony chose to make the "hunny cake."

The first instruction for this recipe was to separate 3 eggs; Anthony loves cracking eggs and did a pretty good job of this. He also weighed out all of the ingredients on his own but these are all recipes which require parental help and supervision.

Look at that speedy stirring!!

Poppy popped by to help with the mixing too.

The egg whites were whisked until white and fluffy, then folded into the yolks, sugar and honey mixture.

Ready for the oven!

Ta-dah!

We decorated it with icing and sprinkles, because all good cake has icing and sprinkles!

And then we all had a slice! Very yummy it was too, which is the most important thing about a recipe book!!

One of the nicest things about this book is that after each recipe there are pages to fill in. Anthony really liked asking everyone what they thought and writing about making the cake.

I think this feature would definitely encourage children to use these recipes.

There are also other pages to write on; about ideas for snacks, drawing pattern designs on a cake, a list of favourite foods.

Now it is a time for a confession... I actually don't like Winnie the Pooh!  I have to say though that this book is rather nice, and would make a lovely present for a child's birthday. 

Clean plate kid's curry sauce

My boys think I should make lots of this curry sauce and sell it in Tesco!

This is enough for 2 - 3 smallish children.

Heat a splosh of vegetable oil in pan and fry a large clove of crushed garlic (or a squirt of garlic puree from a tube.)

Add a chopped tomato or two, about 150 ml passatta (or about a quarter tube tomato puree and some water) and a quarter teaspoon curry powder.

Simmer for 10 minutes or so - if it reduces too much add a bit of water.

Stir in two teaspoons of ground almonds and cook for another five minutes.

I usually use this sauce with chicken, but it also is fine for prawns or vegetables.

Hope your children like it as much as mine do!

Mama made Monday - advent calendar

The children are every excited to see a string of little bags pinned up the stairs.

I bought the string and Christmas pegs in Poundland; they are supposed to be for cards. I needed two because there were 12 pegs in each packet.

I bought the paper sweet bags on ebay; they were just over £2 for 100.

Ours contain sweeties, but you could also fill them with small toys, crayons, erasers etc.

I'm hoping to have time to hand print some labels with the numbers 1 to 24, but no promises on that front!

Big Chocolate Buttons

This idea is from BBC Good Food Magazine November 2010 issue.

You need non-stick baking paper, a cup, a pencil, chocolate, sprinkles and sweets.

Draw around the cup onto the non-stick paper. Good for motor skills; Anthony actually found this quite difficult.

Spread melted chocolate inside the circles; it doesn't matter if they're not quite round!

Decorate with sprinkles and sweeties; Anthony favours the "chuck a bit of everything on" method.

Put them in the fridge to set.

Ta-dah! They look great and taste delicious!

Happy Easter

Home made hot cross buns for Good Friday.

Cornflake nests.

Let's go on an egg hunt!

Happy Easter everybody!

Making a home

I've been thinking lately (much have too much time on my hands!) about how I came to be a housewife.
Obviously I got married. That was way back in 1998. A year before that we got a house - 1997 - when I was twenty three. But at that time in my life looking after a home and a husband were not the main focus in my life. I certainly took on the lion's share of the housework, but my efforts only occasionally reached bare minimum. I did most of the cooking, but our diet included many pub meals, things in jars and liquid lunches!

Our first son James as born in 2003 and this is when I suddenly thought I should become a proper housewife. After all I had just left my proper (ie wage paying) job and really ought to make myself useful all day at home. Except of course I had a small baby to look after, and that was quite alot harder in real life than my wolly pregnancy brain had imagined.. I had a crisis; I was rubbish at this. I was lonely, I missed talking to grownups, I missed getting drunk in the afternoon, I missed spending my wages on shiny shoes and cigarettes. Eventually I found some mummy friends and settled into a routine of playgroup, coffee and watching CBeebies.

Then I got pregnant again and Anthony was born in 2005. I can't really remember what happened next; it's all a bit of a blur. House was still a mess and while I had no desire to return to work I still hadn't really accepted that homemaker was a valid occupation.

I think alot of change happened around 2007. I found Flylady and gradually I realised I was in charge of this house and I was going to accept the responsibility. So not all the mess was mine, but I was the one who had the time to do something about it. I bought a pinny as a symbol of my new found domesticity.  I don't really follow Flylady's routines anymore, but I still visit the website when I need to find some inspiration.

Poppy came along in 2008, my last baby. I decided to really enjoy her infancy, her dependency. I felt secure and confident in my familial role. As she comes up to two years old I am still not the perfect housewife, but I don't really care about that. I feed my family home cooked meals and freshly baked cake. I provide them with clean clothes and cuddles. I take time to do my hair and make up, I buy fashionable clothes and shiny shoes. Sometimes the house is cluttered and dusty but there are more days when it is fairly tidy. Very occasionally I even dust the skirting boards.

Mostly I am happy, and that is what I think makes a home.