Sometimes, you just have to take a risk! #wednesdaywords

Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil.

The first seed said, "I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me and thrust my sprouts through the earth's crust above me... I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring... I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!"

And so she grew.

The second seed said, "I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don't know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts... what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe."

And so she waited.

A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.

The moral of the story... Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.

Patty Hansen

 

 

 



The Logo Board Game review and competition - great family fun!

Logo is a great and really popular game from Drumond Park. We were sent a copy of this family game to review and so here we are... we loved it! The game is suitable for ages 12 and up; both of my children are younger than this but being from a family who love board games, we played with my children being on the 'team' of their choice! Needless to say, I lost out on an extra team member and Nanny and Grandad both gained a bit of extra help!

So, the principle of the game is simple - answer brand-related questions with either pictoral clues, themed clues or just pot luck whilst racing your way to the Winning Zone at centre of the board. The first player (or team, in our case!) to answer their question correctly whilst in the Winning Zone wins! The no die aspect of the game confused my children at first as they LOVE to roll the die(!) but they loved it just as much when they were able to jump their counter a huge way to the next appropriate coloured space!

Overall, we loved the game. To be honest, we're not huge TV watchers and the last time we saw an advertising bill board was probably before Christmas when we took a trip to a large city for some shopping and family-visiting so I had a slight worry that I wouldn't know any of the answers! But, we were fine.... many of the subjects are classic brands and the trivia questions great! Often the answer is on the tip of your tongue and you just can't remember what it is!

The King of Board Games (my Dad) won... of course! Along with his side kick of my daughter... who strategically seemed to swap teams throughout the game, depending on who was winning at the time! It didn't take too long to play and as the questions are varied, the game is fun right to the end!

Logo is available at all major toy retailers (online and instore) and retails at £32.99 but if you can't wait to have a go, why not download the official Logo board game app from the App Store (iPhone and iPad only)? It's free and is published with approval from all the contributing companies. You could even brush up our knowledge ahead of the family challenge... then everyone will be begging to be on YOUR team!

You can keep up with new game releases from Drumond Park on their Facebook page here and join in with the board game conversation at Twitter here.

So, for your chance to win a copy of this game to play yourselves, just complete the Rafflecopter entry below! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be prepared! #wednesdaywords

I've sneaked two quotes into this week's update! The classic 'Be Prepared' motto of the Scout Association long sticks in everyone's minds... but I'd like to add the following two quotes to go along with it!

'It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.'

 

Whitney Young, Jr.

 

And the old classic...

 

'Fail to prepare is to prepare to fail.'

 

Anon.

 

 



Maille Culinary Challenge - Pan-fried chicken with Dijon sauce and hazelnut tagliatelle

Who says that a midweek family meal cannot be gourmet?! Maille (pronounced 'my') is a gourmet brand of perfect accompaniments to make an every day meal something special!

A number of bloggers were invited to try the Maille Culinary Challenge to develop an inspiring dish using some of Maille's products... so here's my entry! I do hope that you make it yourself and imagine yourself dining in an exquisite French restaurant! It's great for entertaining but the secret is that it's quick and easy but deliciously divine! Enjoy!

 

Pan fried chicken with Dijon sauce and hazelnut tagliatelle - serves 4, takes about 30 minutes.

 

Ingredients

Splash of olive oil

4 medium sized chicken breasts, skinned and boned

4 'nests' of dried tagliatelle pasta

500g Greek-style yoghurt

1 level tbsp. cornflour

1-2 tsp Maille Dijon mustard

75g parmesan cheese, finely grated

2 egg yolks

Salt & black pepper, to season

80g diced pancetta

Approx. 20-30 vine cherry tomatoes (still on the vine, if possible)

A good drizzle of Maille hazelnut oil

Rocket salad, washed

 

 

Method

1. First, heat the splash of olive oil in a heavy based frying pan and gently pan fry the chicken breasts until cooked through and starting to brown (about 10-15 mins).
2. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan until 'al dente' (about 8-10 mins).
3. While the chicken and pasta are cooking, make the Dijon sauce. Whisk four tablespoons of the yoghurt with the cornflour and the mustard until smooth.
4. Blend in the remaining yoghurt and bring to the boil, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth.
5. While stirring, add the cheese, egg yolks and season with salt and pepper.
6. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and keep warm. Add the diced pancetta to the pan along with the vine cherry tomatoes and fry over a high heat for 5 mins.
7. Drain the cooked pasta and toss in bowl with a good drizzle of hazelnut oil, cooked pancetta and a handful of rocket.
8. Serve the chicken with the Dijon sauce poured over with the pan fried tomatoes and hazelnut tagliatelle. 

 

 

This dish was enjoyed by all of the family, including the children. You can adjust the amount of Dijon mustard and parmesan cheese to taste - I personally love Dijon mustard, so would go for at least 2 teaspoons of mustard, but the flavour is still there, even with just 1 teaspoon.

 

So, I hope you give it a try! Let me know what you think! You can buy most Maille products are major supermarkets, but all of the range is available in their online boutique - click here to tempt your tastebuds!

The Magic of Believing ~ #wednesdaywords

I just love this outlook on life! We all need to be a bit more like this...

 

'I'm not old enough to play baseball or football. I'm not eight yet. My mum told me when you start baseball, you aren't going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation. I told Mum I wouldn't need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I'll just hit them out of the park. Then I'll be able to walk.'

 

Edward J. McGrath, Jr.

'An Exceptional View of Life' 

docrafts Creativity Magazine Review

docrafts Creativity magazine s a bi-monthly publication which is jam packed full of craft ideas and projects, ranging from beginner/child-friendly makes through to more skilled and technical masterpieces. We received the latest copy to review and let you all know what we think.... so here we are!

The magazine is very well laid out with skill levels and shopping lists clearly shown so that that you can make sure that you have everything to hand before you start! Some projects definitely need specialist equipment or materials, so it is best to check these over before planning your weekend of craft activities! There's a handy list of stockists for the more obscure items that you may need. You can also find this on their website here.

As the magazine is produced every two months, there's a good variety of seasonal craft ideas included - we had things like Easter, Father's Day and general Spring themed projects in our issue. We decided to start by making the 'stained glass effect kite'. My daughter (9) made this with a little help from me, so it shows that the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

 

We were impressed with the finished item and it now hangs in my dining room window, shining in the sunlight!

 

Our next project will be to make the Father's Day cards in plenty of time for the upcoming Dad's weekend! Each issue comes with free gifts - we received some Father's Day card toppers so again, these will definitely come in useful!

 

I like to craft but often find that time runs away with me and I don't get enough time to try new ideas, but with docrafts Creativity, the more advanced projects are easy to follow and so I would feel confident enough to try a new techinique when I've an afternoon to myself!

 

There's also a docrafts website which has a handy forum and lots of further projects and advice, so if there's a query or you just simply get stuck with something, there's sure to be the answer (or someone who can help!) on there! You can also keep in touch with the lovely people who run the magazine along with fellow crafters on their Facebook here. Pop over and say 'hello' - they're a freindly bunch!

 

So all in all, I would recommend this magazine as a general source of craft inspiration. There's so may different magazines out there; some specific and some covering a range of different techniques, but docrafts Creativity is my new favourite 'me-time' read! Why not give it a try and let me know what you think?

Oven Pride....be proud of your oven!

Hands up who likes cleaning their oven?!?! Be honest....! No, me neither, but it has to be done! Now that spring is well on it's way, we've had a good clear out of old toys, optimistically packed away some of our winter clothes and tidied up the garden. So it's the oven's turn for a spring clean!

Oven Pride is an all-in-one product that cleans your oven racks and oven quickly and simply. It's available in all major supermarkets and online at Amazon.

Here's our oven and oven racks before...

And, here's the finished result!

 

One satisfied Mum with a clean oven all ready for Easter baking and generally entertaining everyone!

Some good points worth a mention include that this product does not smell of chemicals at all and it does exactly what it says on the packet! One minor gripe is that there's only one pair of gloves in the pack but you really need two pairs to use the product safely - one to start the cleaning process and another to remove the racks and wipe the oven at the end of the process. So, just make sure that you have some rubber gloves to hand! But overall, I would definitely recommend and use this product again!

Scones anyone....?

Deliciously Simple Scones!

Everyone thinks I'm a bit of a strange one - I like all fruit (with the exception of bananas!) but not cooked fruit in anyway, nor dried fruit! AND, I don't like jam but I like marmalade... orange 'jam', I know but I don't like any other type!

So, to cut to the chase, I really like scones but they have to be plain with just butter and no jam!

Here's my favourite recipe!

Ingredients
450g (1lb) strong white flour
5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
75g (3oz) unsalted butter
150g (5oz) sultanas or other dried fruit - I leave these out sometimes if baking just for me!
75g (3oz) caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
250ml (9 floz) milk plus extra for glazing
Butter, to serve (or clotted cream and jam - whatever takes your fancy!)

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/450F/Gas 7. Grease a large baking tray.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the sugar, sultanas and eggs.
4. Stir in the milk with a wooden spoon, a little at a time, to form a smooth dough.
5. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 2cm/¾in.
6. Dip a 5cm/2in pastry cutter into a little flour and cut out the scones (be careful not to twist the cutter as it will cause the scones to rise unevenly).
7. Carefully brush the tops of the scones with a little milk, taking care not to let any run over the edge.
8. Place the scones onto the baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden-brown.
9. Remove the scones from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve the warm scones as you like them!

These are family-scones, not Katie (fruit-free) scones!

Recipe adapted from > http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sultana_scones_with_98294

Positive Thinking! ~ #WednesdayWords

Short and sweet this week...

'Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!'

Henry Ford



Rainbow Cupcakes - great to brighten your day!

Simple but cute and tasty cupcakes!

 

First, start with my cupcake recipe here.

 

Then, when cool, cover with blue glace icing. Leave to set while you make the buttercream.

 

Pipe 2 small clouds (I use a 1M Wilton nozzle) on top of the set glace icing and carefully form a rainbow with jelly strips (I found these in Co-Op - 3 bags for £1, bargain!)

 

Lastly, share with your friends and enjoy!

Bendi-gedig - THE place to visit in Barmouth!

Barmouth is a lovely place both to live and visit BUT when the sun decides to hide away and the rain comes out to play, there's not much to do with the little ones in your life. I love a coffee and a cake but know only too well that children get bored pretty quickly in a café and there's nothing relaxing about shushing your child every 5 minutes, conscious of what everyone else is thinking of your parenting skills!

So, after a long-ish wait and a great build up, Barmouth finally has a super new attraction - Bendi-gedig! Here's our views, both from a child's eyes and mine!

We spent just over 2 hours playing here - there's two main areas; a toddler section for the under 4's and then the larger play equipment for the over 4's. There's also a games area with a basketball hoop which seemed popular when we were there.

My children enjoyed all of the equipment, especially the slides! My son liked the fact that some of the crawling tubes are clear so that he could see me from *nearly* all of the area... I think he thought I was going to sneak off!

There were quite a lot of children playing but with plenty of space available, there wasn't TOO many children and they all were able to play safely. The pram and wheelchair access was good, with plenty of seating available with tables for the essential coffee and cake for the parents!

The food here was reasonably priced - we didn't eat a meal, just a drink and a snack but I did like the idea of how the children's menu works. Instead of the usual sausage &chips, chicken nuggets & chips or fish fingers & chips, the children can have a smaller portion of nearly anything off the normal menu for a smaller price! This is great for our family as my youngest doesn't like chips! The menu also uses lots of local produce, so that's an extra tick in the box from me!

With the nearest play centre like this about a 90 minute drive away, I'm sure Bendi-gedig will become the leading centre for indoor play on the Cambrian Coast! Entry prices are reasonable.. they could have charged a lot more being quite an exclusive attraction, but with offers such as a family discount card and a loyalty card, these ease the burden on your purse a little making Bendi-gedig somewhere that we will visit often throughout the year.

So, yes we'd recommend this as a great family-friendly attraction in Barmouth and we will be visiting again! My youngest is already planning his party here for his next birthday...

You can check out the Bendi-gedig website here and also why not pop over to their Facebook page and say 'hello'!

*I'll be updating this blog post with photos soon; the ones I have taken have other people's children in them so I can't publish them online! Once I have suitable photos... I'll show you and then you can see how great it is for yourself!

Learning ~ Richard Bach #wednesdaywords

Learning is finding out what you already know.

 

Doing is demonstrating that you know it.

 

Teaching is reminding others that they know it just as well as you.

 

You are all learners, doers and teachers.

Richard Bach