Christmas Gifts November 29, 2009

We’ve been making Christmas gifts and decorations-what fun!

The kids made and painted their own Christmas decorations. I made salt dough (so easy), they chose the cookie cutters and I put a pencil through the top so that there would be a space to hang a ribbon through. While this was baking in the oven for 3 hours on a slow heat, they painted their own puzzles. This is to send to Oupa and Ouma van As and Oupa and Ouma van Buuren. I did 2 puzzles with their handprints on, and they made 2 pictures each. I also painted my own picture – but won’t be sending this to anyone (the kids can just play with it) hehehe!

We were busy the whole afternoon with painting!

The kids absolutely love painting! I try to vary it a little, some days we do water paints, other days poster paints and sometimes just finger painting!

So now we’ve made some Christmas gifts – OH! they also made their own Christmas cards to go with the gifts! I had to draw father Christmas (Jacqui – it would of been brilliant if you were here to draw for the kids).

It should take 2 weeks to reach SA, so will wait in anticipation for the phone call to say they’ve received their parcel.

ooo so exciting – hehehe!

ps: if you would like the recipe for the salt dough, please email me…

Blackberry Jam August 21, 2009

OK, I am sure most people have tried this already! We gave it a go – rather easy to do!

Reynard actually did all the work. It must be an art to pick Blackberries – way too many thorns for me (and the kids). We just watched Reynard do the picking. I had to stop Zac from doing all the squashing!!!

Jumping on the trampoline, Reynard saw some blackberries in our garden. Been here a year this month and its the first time we’ve noticed! Took a walk round the corner – loads of blackberries!

Zac in the backpack, Christian and Katelyn armed with their buckets – Reynard took them for some more blackberry picking the next day.

To make the jam, all you do is cook it up in a little bit of water and add sugar.

Easy, I told you!

Clay Modelling August 9, 2009

Range sell non-firing air drying clay. It works brilliantly and there is so much you can do.

This is what I chose to do – hand prints of the kids! You have to push rather hard to make an imprint into the clay. Zac didn’t really like this.

You can take their fav small toy and do an imprint of it, you can make things for kids to paint or they can make things to paint themselves.

I really enjoy doing hand/feet prints. And it makes a great gift!

Organic Homemade Yoghurt July 30, 2009

This was so exciting! We made our own organic yoghurt. But before we could start, we had to go buy a food thermometer.

What you need:

* 2l whole milk (preferably organic)

* 2 small pots of live culture yoghurt (we used probiotic live cultures – Yeo Valley)

* food thermometer

* pot

* air tight container

* cooler (or container bigger than air tight one used for yoghurt)

What to do:

* Take 2l organic whole milk and bring to just before boiling point – i.e. 180 degrees

* Switch off plate and let milk cool to between 105-110 degrees

* Add 2 small pots of live culture yoghurt and stirr

* Place in air tight container and put in a container slightly bigger than the one your yoghurt is in

* Pour the hottest water from the tap that you can get and fill container

* Leave to stand for 3-4hours (do not move it about)

You can obviously had honey or whatever fruit you prefer – it’s divine! And oh so healthy!

PS: You only need the live culture for the first batch. After this, use the equivalent from your newly made batch as this is now the culture needed for your next 2l homemade yoghurt.

Experiment in the Kitchen June 3, 2009

I have done this before with the kids but thought I would do it again. As soon as they saw what I was busy getting ready, they remembered about “sink” , “float” and “disappear” ie “dissolve”

What did we do?

I filled a couple of plastic containers with water and then found things around the house that will dissolve in water/not dissolve, sink and float. So, I used salt, flour, oil, sponges and a couple of small stones. You can use anything you think of or want to experiment with (sugar, sand, shaving cream, toothpaste, paint, cornflour – add enough and you’ll have gloop).

They took turns to choose which “item” they wanted to experiment with and add to the water. The surprise on their faces is just priceless! It was a relatively quick exercise to do with them, but they just wanted to do it over and over and over.

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to contact me or leave a message.

Play Dough May 19, 2009

Have you tried to make your own play dough? It’s really simple and very quick!

The kids love making this with me, it’s quick and easy and lasts quite a long time in an air tight container. I had some shop bought play dough which I had just opened, but it was all “gooey” and stuck to their fingers. They enjoyed playing with the home made play dough more. They sat for literally an hour doing play dough! It’s amazing to see what they come up with, how they use their imagination – they are creative! Even Zac played for quite some time but eventually he was packing all the play dough accessories into the washing machine, pretending to “wash” them.

It’s a great way to teach them the alphabet – with the alphabet cookie cutters that is!

Junior Chefs make Rice Krispies Chocolate Clusters May 18, 2009

Junior Chefs make Butterfly cakes, without the Butterflies! May 17, 2009

New Recipes April 28, 2009

Since having the chickens – and so many eggs, I have really been a bit daring (for me) in the kitchen. I generally love baking, but usually stick to what I know. However, lately I have tried new recipes and to my surprise it has turned out really good! Not sure who is going to eat everything I’ve made, but at least I get to use our free range eggs!

Some of the things of I have made recently:

1. Rocky Road (have done this before but with diff chocolate, this time I stuck to the recipe) yummy!
2. Strawberry Meringue – mmm meringue is a tricky one! All in all it turned out ok – a bit of a mess but the taste of the sweet meringue with the strawberry (and cream) mix, compliment each other.
3. Carrot Cake – ok ok, so I make carrot cake for the first time and I must say, it’s really nice! We’ll see what the neighbours think (I made a cake and a loaf).
4. Loaves of bread – plain white as well as parmesan and sun dried tomato – it’s good if you eat it as soon as, otherwise it gets really hard! But there is nothing nicer than fresh bread, straight from the oven, with some butter.

So…now that I am more adventurous in the kitchen, I am excited to keep trying new recipes. If you would like any of the recipes, feel free to contact me.

Junior Chefs make banana, bran and pecan muffins April 22, 2009

They were so excited to wear their “Junior Chef” outfits! It made our baking session even more fun. The kids want to bake every day now! I am trying new recipes with them, healthier options – don’t want cup cakes every day!