Surprise Playdough

So, there I was sneaking around the kitchen this morning while the girlies played, hoping that they wouldn't catch me preparing this activity. All was good, they were busy in play.

I made one batch of plain play dough and once it was finished I kneaded it. Then, I put the dough into two blobs and prepared it for the big surprise. This IS called "surprise play dough!"

I pressed my fist into the centre of each blob to make a hole and to add the surprise part, I took some coloured powdered paint and sprinkled it in. For this dough I put red and yellow together so the girls could make orange. Once the powder paint was ready, I covered it up again so the dough looked like the original plain blobs with no sign of colour anywhere.

When I took the dough to the girls they seemed very excited to have some new dough to play with. Little did they know the activity would get more exciting than that. Once they started to play and roll and knead the dough, the colours started to come out and mix. This really captured Miss M's(4)interest. She worked at it 'till she had a beautiful orange colour. What a fantastic, fun-filled surprise!

For the Love of Baking

A cake made for "Aunty Symon" (Uncle Symon)
by my littliest, Miss H, with some help from me.
Both girls had a great time decorating it.
It's a layered chocolate mud cake - the cheat's version!

I have a passion for cooking that is absolutely unstoppable! It's what gets me up in the morning (like this morning) to try a new pancake recipe (for us). 1 cup plain flour. 1 cup milk. 1 egg. Mix and cook in a warm pan 'till golden.

It's what has me buying new recipe books and trying out the recipes.

And,it's what keeps me up late at night decorating chocolate cupcakes for the next day's function. 11/3 cups SR flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 125g butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 11/4 cups caster sugar, 2 eggs and 2/3 water. Mix, pour in greased cake tin and bake in moderate oven. (Women's Weekly Kids Party Cakes Recipe Book)

I just LOVE to bake but where my passion is growing deeper is when I'm passing on the great love of cooking to my girls. We read cookbooks, borrow cookbooks, talk about cooking and all the different ingredients. We discuss how things work, what ingredients will do to the taste of the food and then of course, the best part....we taste. Sometimes our cooking experiences are spontaneous and sometimes they are well planned and you'll find our ideas on the shopping list. One thing I've found though is the more we cook, the more I can start to step away from the bowl.

It's such a joy to see the girls love to cook. Will it be a case of "like mother, like daughter"? We'll have to see but for now I'm enjoying this time with my baking beauties.

Do you enjoy baking experiences with your kids? What's their favourite recipe?

Five Creative Ideas with Cookie Cutters

We collect cookie cutters. Sometimes we find a few when we go on treasure hunts and add them to our container and I have some great ones I have been given as gifts or have purchased over the years. Here are five creative things that can be done with cookie cutters....

1 + Play with play dough +

There is nothing better than having a big blob of play dough kept in the fridge ready for use at any time. We use all kinds of different things with our dough but I like to have the cookie cutters available for a spur of the moment play dough play. This recipe is perfect for play with cutters.

2 + Bake some biscuits +

Here's an easy peasy recipe we like to use for baking biscuits and here it is being used with cutters. Cookie cutters are great for little hands that like to help with cooking.

3 + Print on paper +

Printing with cookie cutters is easy to do and the effect is so wonderful you can use what you create to make wrapping paper. Put some acrylic paint (we use washable) onto trays or disposable plates. Dip the cookie cutters into the paint and print onto sheets of paper. We like the effect of printing on brown paper. Any size paper will work. Why not try making some beautiful gift cards.

4 + Trace around +

With this activity we took three sheets of crisp white easel paper and joined them together with tape. I tipped the cookie cutters out and the girls used felt pens to trace around the shapes. This was a good activity to do while I cooked the dinner. The girls were kept busy creating.

5 + Sandwich shapes +

Making sandwich shapes from cookie cutters is as simple as buttering the bread, adding the filling and making shapes in the bread using cutters. I find the best bread for this is the bread you can purchase at the supermarket. As lovely as fresh bread from the bakery is, the bread shape doesn't allow for many cutter shapes and you want to try and get the most out of the bread without wastage. Of course there isn't any wastage in this house as I'm happy to eat the in-between bits, especially when it's fairy bread!!

For an even prettier shape you can use tiny cutters to cut the centre out of the top shape which will reveal the spread. Jam looks particularly good. If only I could put my hands on our tiny cutters after our move!

We play games with our sandwich shapes. We count them and talk about their shapes. We sing songs and guess which ones are the odd ones out. I enjoy presenting the girls lunch creatively, the girls learn something in amongst the fun and hopefully the sandwiches look good enough to eat. Cookie cutter lunches don't just have to be reserved for party time.

Make Your Own Hamburger Meal

I've mentioned before that we are living in a reno house. The kitchen has been a quarter of the way done since I don't know when. This means no oven or stove so we've been using a two burner electrical stove top. I have to be creative when it comes to cooking.

This was a meal which was able to be made with the appliances we do have and it was a creative activity for the girls as well. My little helper was little Miss H who had a great time being busy mixing mince meat in flour. (So much messy fun!)

Make Your Own Hamburger

We followed this rissole recipe which was perfect for littlies. Next time though I might add a few herbs from the veggie patch to add a bit of extra flavour.

You may also like....

Wholemeal rolls

Tomato or BBQ sauce

Butter/ Margarine

Carrots

Lettuce

Tomato - from our veggie patch

Cheese slices

I sliced up and arranged all the ingredients into separate bowls on the table and we each helped ourselves to what we would like on our own hamburger. This was a great activity to encourage independence, which Miss M is asking for all the time now. It involved spreading butter on the bun, picking up the rissoles with the tongs (this was tricky) and squeezing sauce (always a favourite).

The hamburgers tasted quite delicious and were an easy way to put a bit of fun into our night time meal.

Just talking about food has made me hungry. What's on your dinner menu tonight?

Pumpkin Soup

A little bit of soup can be perfect, especially with all the rain we've been getting here in Brisbane. The winner in our house is pumpkin soup. It's definitely a favourite for me because it's packed with flavour, it takes little effort to cook and makes heaps so there's always leftovers to stick in the freezer for another no effort meal or two. Let me share our very simple recipe with you....

Pumpkin Soup

You will need...

1 onion
2 potatoes
1 pumpkin - medium size
2 litres chicken stock

Cut up the pumpkin - you can either keep skin on or off but be sure to wash the skin if you're keeping it.

Peel and roughly chop the potatoes.

Peel and roughly chop the onions.

Put all the vegetables into a large pot with the lid.

Cook on the stove top on high heat until the vegetables are soft.

Take off the heat and cool.

Wizz the vegetables and stock in a blender until smooth.

The soup will be delicious at this stage but if you want to be a little bit naughty you can add about 1/2 a cup of cream.

Tastes even better when you serve it with crusty or garlic/ herb bread.

Here's our little pumpkin after she has eaten a bowl of her favourite, Mum's pumpkin soup. As you can see, it really is delicious!

Bouncy Outside Balls and Apricot Balls

This morning has been fun. After a weekend away with family it was just nice to spend time at home. We didn't have anywhere we had to be except in the garden PLAYING! I love it when we all seem content just to enjoy our home space and the things we have.

Outside we played with the balls, bouncing them on the wall. A great gross motor skill to work on! We also played with blue coloured water in the water trough, fly swat bubble blowing (I'll post a blog on this another time), bikes and scooter riding, trampoline games, chalk drawing and small coloured balls in the baby bath. This kept us busy for a long time as we played together in the shade but what a hot day it was so eventually we came inside and made a lovely batch of apricot balls together.

From a very young age Miss M has loved eating apricot balls for morning or afternoon teas but when we've bought them from the supermarket we've found that we don't get too many, they come in a lot of packaging and cost a bit too. I decided a long time ago that I would hunt down a recipe and start making them myself. This recipe is great! We have used it ever since Miss M was little and now Miss H (aged 1) loves it also. It makes stacks of apricot balls, they keep well in the freezer and are delicious. Let me share the recipe with you.

Apricot Balls

You will need...

1 1/2 cups apricots (finely chopped)

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 cup of dessicated coconut + some extra for rolling

Put the apricots through a food processor until they are finely chopped.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Using clean hands, roll the mixture into little balls and dip in the coconut until they are coated.

Best step of all - EAT!

You won't want to stop at one, as Miss M could tell you. These apricot balls make fantastic additions to kindy or school lunches, as long as they are accompanied by an ice-brick. Both my girls are able to help with this recipe because it is simple to do. You may have an older primary school aged child and they should be able to do most of the steps by themselves. (except for using the food processor)

Enjoy using this recipe.

Chocolate Balls

'Tis the season for doing a little bit of baking but here is a recipe that doesn't require any baking at all.

Chocolate Balls

You will need...

8 Weet-bix

1 tin condensed milk

2 tbsp cocoa

2 tbsp coconut

Extra coconut for rolling

Crush the 8 Weet-bix in a bowl.

Add the condensed milk, cocoa + coconut.

Mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Using your clean hands make balls from the mixture and roll them in the extra coconut.

Refrigerate until firm.

These chocolate balls are great to put out on the Christmas table. They are so easy to make that older kids will have a ball making them all by themselves and littlies will have some messy fun giving them a go with the help of an adult.

Jingle all the way....celebrate Jesus' Birthday!

Mini Chocolate Christmas Puddings

I have a cousin who is a bit older than me and when we were kids I remember looking up to her a great deal. One Christmas on the farm she taught me the new version of 'Away in a Manger' and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. (Did we say coolest in the 80s?) Last year she shared a great idea for Christmas and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I think I still look up to her a bit! I thought I would share her recipe with you. I'm not sure who created this idea in the first place but it's just so cute and is the perfect thing to take to a Christmas party....as long as it's in the air con.

Marshmallow Christmas Puddings

You will need...

• Arnott's Dark Royals Biscuits - they have a biscuit base, a marshmallow inside and dark chocolate coating - YUM!


• White chocolate melts


• Green snake lollies or mint leaf lollies


• Red Mini M+M's

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave - you won't need a lot, just a 1/4 of the packet will do.

Using a teaspoon put the white chocolate on the top of the Royals Biscuits - see picture.

Add a Red Mini M+M to the top middle of the biscuit.

Cut leaves out of snakes or mint leaf lollies - I used kitchen scissors to cut thin triangular pieces out of the snakes.

Add two of the little leaf shapes either side of the M+M. The biscuits should look just like little Christmas puddings now.

Refrigerate until the chocolate sets and then enjoy.

You can package these up individually to be gifts or just present them on a lovely platter. Thanks to my very cool cousin for this great recipe idea - you're still the best!

Jingle all the way....celebrate Jesus' Birthday!

A Picnic Made With Love

It's been a happy week trekking here and there to the Ipswich Art Gallery, Queen's Park and visiting friends. Today however needed to be a quiet home day so the morning was spent playing in the yard. (Lots of end of the week washing to be done!) Before we ventured down stairs I collected a few things to make and do and meanwhile Miss M kindly packed a morning tea picnic for us to enjoy. I gave her a little basket and she did the rest. There were 2 cups, two butterfly biscuits and two napkins. She also made sure to include some mushy food for Miss H. Maybe next time we can invite the teddies. I love having a 3 year old!

Butterfly Biscuits

Much of our weekend was spent baking cupcakes and biscuits for a Thailand Mission fundraiser so I guess I was on a roll when I asked Miss M if she would like to bake biscuits this morning. My little baker had been given the loveliest little bakers outfit for her birthday and so this was a chance to put it to use for the first time. So cute!

I have been told that the simple biscuit recipe I like to use (5 cups SR flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tin condensed milk, 500g softened butter) could also be used with cookie cutters so I thought we'd give it a go. We had lots of smarties left over from the weekend's cooking frenzy so we made beautiful butterflies which Miss M was able to cut out and decorate herself. Lots of satisfaction for a new 3 year old in this activity!

They turned out well and we saved half of the mixture to put in the freezer for another baking morning. Thanks to Nardi for sharing this idea with me. I'm very keen to give it a go. We have a few special outings this week with our friends and mums group so these biscuits will be good to take and share around. I'm looking forward to eating one myself!

You could extend this activity by.....

• baking other shaped biscuits
• read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'
• making butterfly stain glass for the windows
• collage butterfly cut-outs
• do a butterfly hunt
• play with play dough
• look at the life-cycle of a butterfly
• do the butterfly dance off 'Wiggles Safari' dvd
• dress up like a butterfly
• sing 'How does a caterpillar go?' + 'How does a butterfly go?'
• making biscuits to give to others as a gift

Fruit On a Stick

Sometimes morning teas and afternoon teas become a little boring around our house so I've been trying to think of some new ideas, especially ones that involve eating fruit. Now that Miss M is 3 (a big girl!) I thought she may like to try and make her own for something fun. She LOVED the idea! Miss M made fruit skewers.

Fruit Skewers

You will need...

A few different types of fruit
Wooden skewers
Plate
Knife
Bowls

Cut up the fruit into pieces - you can get creative and use small cutters but rough cutting works too.
Put the fruit into bowls.
Demonstrate how to thread the fruit carefully making sure the tip is away from the threading hand.
Let your child thread the fruit on to the skewers.
Cut the pointy tip off the skewers before eating.

EAT - as Miss M would say, "They are t-licious!"

To extend the activity you could...

• Serve with yoghurt as a dipping sauce.
• Make the skewers in a particular colour ie. all green fruit or all red
• Sing the traffic light song from Playschool's 'On the Move' DVD, using red, orange and green fruit.
• Create a pattern to copy with the threading for something fun.

Mixin' It Up

A home day to start the week this week. The girls and I spent a lovely time together downstairs in the garden this morning. We did sand play, swings (hanging upside down), chasing, reading books and quiet fine motor activities at the table. A friend gave Miss M a bag she had to decorate as a gift for her birthday so that was a lot of girlie fun to do together too. We have recently purchased a new round kids table from Ikea which has opened up more opportunities for different types of play downstairs. I enjoy varying the girl's play settings sometimes....books in the garden, play dough in the shade etc.

We need to head back upstairs most days for an 11 o'clock feed for Miss H so I set up some more quiet activities for Miss M to keep her busy while I did that. Easel painting, threading cards, chalk drawing and Mega Bloks were on the list of fun today but the best fun was a cooking activity that I thought Miss M could try all by herself. Really it was just a whole lot of fun and sensory play mixed in together.....literally.

I set up bowls of flour, cocoa, icing sugar, rice and coconut. Then I found measuring spoons, a wooden spoon, a small jug of water and the salt shaker. Miss M was beside herself with the chance to mix whatever she wanted to and use the twisty salt shaker all by herself. Of course the end result wasn't at all edible but the fun came from creating. Actually a BIG sloppy mess was made but thankfully most of it was kept to the bowl. Miss M played with this activity for a very long time so Miss H was able to enjoy a quiet, long feed.

To extend the activity.....

• Sing 'Stir Up the Pudding' - from It's Playschool CD
• Try different ingredients next time around
• Read 'Spot Bakes a Cake'
• Bake something together - a cake or biscuits
• Do measuring activities
• Pouring fun in the water trough

The Great Bombe Alaska Bomb-out

There's been a theme running around a few blogs lately since SquiggleMum wrote a piece on un-bloggy bits. Diffferent mummy bloggers are sharing their not so presentable parts to the week and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having less bloggable moments either. The things I blog about are generally positive and happy. Right at the start of my blog I wrote a post called 'On the Brighter Side' to share with you all that I wouldn't usually be posting about the un-bloggy bits but believe me our days are filled with those, whether it's a messy house, toilet training fun, tantrums, slackness in cooking dinner, a baby who won't go to sleep when she needs it and the list could go on. *sigh*


I thought I'd get in on the theme and quickly share with you a kitchen disaster I had earlier this evening. It's been a busy week in our house with two events being held here. The first was a Learning Ladder Party on Monday. A number of my mummy friends and their kidlets packed into our little house to enjoy some shopping, chatting, playing and eating. It was a lovely morning and the first time I'd had such a large group over in a long long time.


The second event was held tonight. Once a month a special group of my girlie friends meet for what we call our "girls craft night". Again I have to be honest and say that we haven't always done craft but it is a great excuse to get together. We don't get to do it all that much otherwise so this group has been a blessing. Tonight it was my turn to host. (And lots of craft was done - well done ladies!)


I love to entertain. Before my girls came along I used to entertain a lot and found it easy to make a few different things to offer the guests. Tonight I crazily thought it would be good to make two different desserts. Miss H had to be a good little sleeper for this plan to go well. The first was brownies which I cooked while my girls slept today. Thankfully Miss H did sleep well in the middle of the day. The brownies turned out well. (Thank you to cousin Karen for the very easy recipe) The other dessert I chose to do was Bombe Alaska. I'm not sure if you've ever made these before but they are reasonably simple to do, well at least they seemed to be the last time I made them!! This time the meringue was a disaster. It dripped all the way down,exposing the ice-cream which then melted while it was in the oven. (Just check out the picture) I felt terrible serving them to my beautiful guests but they still said they wanted to eat them.


This was truly a complete Bombe Alaska bomb-out and definitely not one of my finest bloggiest moments!

Ice-creams or Cupcakes?

It would be easy to make the mistake of thinking these are delicious cold ice-creams but they are actually cupcakes. This is a recipe I've used time and again and it can either be made using a cheap cupcake packet mix or mixing up a batch from scratch. You can refer to the cupcake recipe from my June blog posts or under Cupcake blogs for a very simple recipe. (Australian Animal Cupcakes)

Ice-cream Cupcakes

You will need....

Small ice-cream cones - with a flat bottom

Cupcake Mix

Icing - I buy Betty Crocker's Frosting

Lollies

Follow a recipe for making cupcakes.

Instead of putting the mixture into patty pans, put it in to ice-cream cones on a baking tray.

Cook in a moderate oven until golden. It's really important to check that the cakes are cooked on the inside. To do this stick a skewer down the centre. If it comes out clean they are ready.

Cool cakes on a cooling rack.

Decorate with icing and lollies.

Eat!

These are great for a morning baking activity together or for children's parties. Kids will have fun making, baking and eating these sweet treats.

Playdough Recipe - Easy as 1,2,3, Simple as Dough Re Me

Sorry for the corny MJ reference in the title but as I blog along I am listening to one of my favourite Jackson Five albums, 'The Very Best Of The Jacksons'. I thought I'd share with you how to make playdough. Thanks Mel for the question. It's a timely follow-up to yesterdays blog - 'Playdough Three Ways'.

Before I get blogging with this recipe I might just mention that the Playdough Three Ways blog is found back in a blog from a few weeks ago. I started it way back then and finished it yesterday. (Look in the archives under arts and crafts) There are a few different ways to make playdough. You can make a cooked or uncooked version but I have to say that I prefer the texture of cooked playdough. Making it is easy and storing it for a long time is just as easy as all you have to do is keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for ages as long as you pack it up as soon as you're finished playing with it.

The recipe for cooked playdough is found on the side of a McKenzie's Cream of Tartar container - simple! Great for those trips to the supermarket when you've forgotten the list! Here it is anyway. I suggest you keep the ingredients on hand in your pantry so you can always have some playdough ready for your kids. Playdough is a good time filler. It can be a lovely quiet activity when you need one, a wonderful fine motor development builder, is fantastic for role play and just great fun for littlies...and parents too.

Cooked Playdough

You will need...

2 cups plain flour

4 tablespoons McKenzie's Cream of Tartar

2 tablespoons cooking oil - I buy a plain brand one

1 cup salt

food colouring - I use powder paint for stronger colour

2 cups water

Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan over a medium heat.

Stir with a sturdy wooden spoon until the mixture congeals; a ball will begin to form. (muscle building stuff!)

It will probably start to catch on the bottom of the saucepan (mine usually does!) but this is the time to take it out and knead on a floured board.

Once the dough has cooled down it is ready for play...play...play. Enjoy!

Caring With Cupcakes

This is the face of my little baker after we finished baking some chocolate fudge 'n' flake cupcakes last week. Don't worry Miss M is not allowed to lick the spatula until the cooking process is done! She loves to lick the "patula" and as she does she makes a pretend licking sound just as if she was pretending in a game in her own little kitchen. I have to giggle.

My husband and I are keen for our girls to grow up with a veiw of others in the world and the needs they have. We try and keep our eyes open for opportunities to let the girls be part of caring for others. Baking seems to be a way that we can easily help out while the girls are so little and Miss M really enjoys cooking and dropping off the finished product to where it has to go. These cupcake were for some leaders who we think are pretty special. Although they're not people in need these leaders take a week of their holidays to care for 380+ kids at a holiday program in our church so we thought they might like to eat some chocolate cupcakes and some yummy vanilla freckle ones too. Caring with cupcakes is a little ministry that our girls can do along with me. There are lots of other opportunites out there, we just have to find them. Is there something you do with your littlies to care for others? I'd love to hear some ideas. While you think, here are the cupcakes.

Mexican Madness

I promised to post this a few weeks back but as it turned out we all were sick so we couldn't have our Friday night fun that week. We decided at the beanie night that we would make the next Friday night fun a Mexican themed night.....just so we could enjoy some Mexican food.

My sister and I made the most delicious nachos and tacos to enjoy at our fiesta - what a Mexican treat! We began the meal with a team race. I recently purchased a world map to teach the girls some geography and teach myself some too since I'm terrible at it. My sister and Miss L raced my husband and Miss M to find where Mexico is. Thankfully the countries were all different colours so it was easier to find when they knew they had to find a purple one. Hooray for Miss L who won!

To end our Mexican fun we had a pinata which I had made on Friday while the girls were asleep. You're probably thinking that it would take more time than this to make a pinata but this time I did a cheats version. I've made a few pinatas in my time and they can take forever to make, putting each layer on and letting it dry out. Here's how I made the pinata for our Mexican night....

Simple Pinata

You will need...

A cereal box

Masking tape

Wrapping paper - you can buy this at Crazy Clarks for 50c a sheet - what a bargain!

Glue stick

Small toys or wrapped lollies to go inside - I purchased some plastic jewellery for the girls

Paddle pop stick

String

Stanley knife

Something to hit it with

Put your prizes inside the box.

Seal the ends of the box up with masking tape but don't be too particular.

Cut up your wrapping paper into medium sized pieces.

Cover the box in the wrapping paper adding pieces 'till it's all covered.

Carefully cut a slit in the top of the box.

Tie some string around the paddle pop and fasten with some masking tape.

Put the paddle pop inside the box and give it a pull - it should sit up against the lid of the box.

Hang up your pinata to dry and then it should be ready for fun.

Don't forget that you need a stick to whack your pinata. We used a sturdy wooden spoon because we only had a little space to play with and the girls are young. (little hands and arms) It's important to make sure that everyone stands back and waits their turn so that they stay safe. Our pinata took quite some time to break open which was a huge laugh. You can use the same process for making a balloon pinata. They are great but you need to do a few more layers of paper and it takes days to make it before it's ready to go. Use news paper for the lower layers and add the lovely wrapping paper to the top.

All we needed to really make our Mexican night extra extra fun was some colourful ponchos and sombreros to do the Mexican hat dance. Oh the fun could be endless!

Big Bikkie Baking

This week is a big baking week. I am in the middle of baking big batches of yummy biscuits which are part of a blessing bomb project our Mums on the GO group is working on together. I absoloutely LOVE this recipe and have always pulled it out when I need to bake in big quantities, so I thought I'd share it with you. These biscuits are delicious, so easy to make and you can bake 60-70 from the one mixture. It is the easiest, yummiest biscuit recipe I know and I found it years ago in an old fundraising recipe book from a kindy I used to work in. The book was the kind where everyone contributes their favourite recipe. This one has become my favourite.

Yummy Biscuits

You will need...

5 cups self-raising flour

1 cup sugar

1 tin sweetened condensed milk

500grms butter

Pre-heat oven to a moderate heat.

Mix all the ingredients in mixer until they are combined and smooth in texture.

Line oven trays with baking paper. (I like to keep a few trays on the go)
Roll the mixture into balls.

Put the balls onto the trays and press down slightly.
Leave enough room between the balls of mixture to allow for them to spread in the oven.
Decorate the tops with your choice of decorations. I like to use the following...

Either....1 freckle in the middle OR 4 smarties OR 4 peanut M+Ms OR 4 plain or crispy M+M's.

Put the biscuits in the oven until lightly golden.
Take the biscuits out of the oven and rest them for a few minutes on the tray before lifting them onto a cooling rack.

Once cooled these yummy biscuits are ready to eat but the best thing to do with them is package them up and give them to someone who needs a great big blessing bomb.

Tea Cups For Tea Parties

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon, playing ladies at a girlies afternoon tea party. This occasion was a Grandma's Girls Afternoon Tea which was for all the girls on my mums side of the family. My cousin and I had fun organising this event together. We asked everyone to bring a plate so I made little tea cups. I thought you might like to see them and find out how they are made. Note how I also made sure to get my cousin's beautiful flower cupcakes in the photo too. I was in cupcake heaven! This simple tea cup recipe was passed on to me by my beautiful sister-in-law. It doesn't involve any cooking just sticking together.

Tea Cups

You will need...

Arnotts Tic Toc Biscuits

Icing made to a paste or use Betty Crockers Vanilla Frosting

Pascalls Marshmellows

Musk Lifesavers

Allens Freckles

Use your icing as the glue to hold the tea cups together.

The biscuit will be the base/saucer. I like to use a different colour to the cup.

Stick a marshmellow in the centre, it will be the tea cup.

Add a freckle on the top for a froth effect.

Cut the musk lifesavers in half and stick one to the side as a handle.

These sweet tiny treats are as cute as can be. They are perfect for little girls parties....and as I found out yesterday, the grown up girls like them just as much!

Hot Dogs for Lunch

It has been a cool day in this cute but cold old house. Time to make something warm for lunch.

Mini Hot Dogs

You'll need...

Little dinner rolls from the supermarket - to go in the oven

Cherios

Butter

Grated cheese

Tomato sauce

Follow the instructions on the rolls packet and cook as many rolls as you need

Butter the rolls while warm

Heat up the cherios in the microwave - 30 seconds is good

Butter the rolls

Add the cherios and tomato sauce

Grate some cheese and add on top

This is a very simple lunch idea, one that most little hands can create and little mouths can eat. Miss M assembled her hot dog all by herself today, as you can see by the picture. That made the cooking experience all the more fun but it seemed like the most enjoyment was found in eating it.