I went back to full-time study a few weeks back and life has been hectic to say the least.  After my first week it became clear that my family could not live on fish and chips and spagetti on toast everynight of the week.  So I went out last weekend and bought a slow cooker (also known as a crockpot).  I have to say this new kitchen appliance is a life saver!  I can put my evening meal in it at breakfast time and by the time I come home my house smells of a lovely home cooked meal and all I need to do is dish it up. Not only does it cook casseroles, you can put whole chickens in there too! If you struggle to get a meal on the table in the evening I recommend this appliance even if you use it only a couple of nights a week.

Steph xo

If you do not happen to be coming to Paris in the forseeable future, don’t worry, a lot of the Marie Puce label is also available on-line. I guess it is a bit like a virtual shopping trip to Paris!

- Emilie

Food plays a big part in our family life, but having a 3-year -old means we don’t always experience meal times together. During the week, my husband usually gets home from work between 7-8pm. This is too late for dinner as a family, but he usually does story time. I sit with Scarlett at the table in the kitchen/diner while she eats dinner at around 5pm. She has a very healthy appetite, and snacks on fruit, nuts and raisins during the day (as well as odd treats). By dinner time she can be quite tired, so although she will sit down, it can take a long time for her to finish!
Luckily Scarlett will try anything and loves strong flavours. She prefers a choice of foods on her plate, rather than a one-pot dish. So, typically she will have pasta or chicken/fish/omelette with two types of vegetables such as home-made potato/butternut squash wedges, peas and she has cucumber batons with every meal! Some fruit, yoghurt or a lolly finish off her dinner with something sweet. We have recently gone through a phase of lolly-obsession, which made dinner rather prolonged! Scarlett loves to pick herbs from the garden to put on her dinner, and her Grandparents have a big vegetable/fruit patch so she has a good understanding of where some food comes from.

On Friday evenings, we are much more relaxed and we have a long aperitif with Prosecco and tapas-style dishes on the sofa all together. Scarlett will almost have a second dinner and picks at her favourite olives and chorizo happily whilst we all chat, and build Lego towers.
Nick and I eat together at the table after Scarlett’s story time. Lately bedtime is a bit fraught, so we often eat at 8.30-9pm. I cook during the week, and Nick cooks at the weekend. He is an experimental cook. He gives us exciting dishes using weird and wonderful equipment, which Scarlett helps him with-she is an expert egg cracker!

We often have a starter, then a main course. I have carried this on from eating meals made by my French mother, and my father being a French teacher and embracing every part of French culture. Though, when younger (1980’s) my sister and I ate standard chicken nuggets and chips when friends came over for tea, as a family and at the weekend it was different. We would have a salad/charcuterie starter, a main course and then cheese with green salad and dessert. My friends found this very funny and strange, though it was the norm for us. My mum’s home-made fries, gratin and vinaigrette managed to win most of them over! It was just fresh, simple food and not extravagant as it sounds. Mum still shops every couple of days like the Parisian she is. I love passing this heritage onto Scarlett, as well as the traditional English side which she enjoys at her paternal Grandparents. The best of both worlds!

At the weekend we have relaxed meals, the three of us or with friends/family over. As soon as the weather is nice enough we bbq some meat/fish and have with home-made bread and a selection of salads. Mexican wraps are also great for everyone to get stuck in. Home-made pizzas are great on the bbq too, and Scarlett enjoys putting the toppings on (and nibbling). These are our favourite meal times for catching up and relaxing. Eating outside is fantastic, when the weather is in our favour. We have dessert at the weekends, maybe a quick to make apple tart and Nick’s ice cream. I look forward to dinner times all week together as a family (soon to be of 4) in the near future.

We don’t eat out in restaurants much at dinner time, unless we are on holiday. These aren’t always relaxing outings as Scarlett doesn’t like sitting down for long. Although I want her to get used to this, I don’t see the point in making it a torturous experience for everyone. She loves food, cooking and family meals, and for now that’s enough for me!

Quick To Make Apple Tart

I don’t follow recipes generally (apart from baking), or always measure ingredients so I looked up another tart recipe to make sure the quantities were about right!
This serves about 6-8, and the tart is delicious cold so good for lunches the following day. Alternatively, use a smaller sheet and 1 less apple. Of course, you can always make your own pastry!

• Jus Roll Sheet of ready to use Puff Pastry (320g).
• X 6 Cox Apples
• 150g Unsalted Butter
• Tsp Cinnamon (or more if you like)
• Juice of half a lemon
• Seeds from inside Vanilla pod
• Caster sugar

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C/Gas Mark 7. Core, peel and thinly slice the apples. Squeeze lemon juice over slices and set aside. Melt butter with cinnamon, squeeze of lemon juice, vanilla seeds and tbsp of caster sugar. Allow to cool.
Use sheet of pastry in rectangular shape it’s in (or you could use dinner plate to cut around as template for round tart). Do this on silicone/ normal baking tray as it is difficult to transfer otherwise once apples are on! Roll out a little thinner, prick pastry base to stop it puffing up. Make a little ridge around tart with your fingers, to make a crust. Put a few dots of soft butter on base. Layer apple slices in rows, overlapping slightly. Brush the butter etc onto the slices, saving some to brush on in middle of cooking. Sprinkle apples with caster sugar.
Bake for 10 mins, then brush on rest of butter. Cook for about another 10 minutes or until apples are golden brown. Allow to rest for about 10 mins. Serve with vanilla ice cream, or cream.

- Laura

I just spent a good long time on Pinterest filling my brain with images of stylishly dressed pregnant women. Not sure if I feel better or worse! On one hand, when I look at photos of gorgeous pregnant women I feel optimistic that it’s possible to be stylish in pregnancy… but in reality, I don’t have a supermodel’s body (shame!) and I find it really tricky to be stylish and comfortable.

But… with a growing baby bump and clothes which are getting tight and uncomfortable, I spent the past week investing in a few maternity pieces which I’m hoping will help keep things somewhat fashionable around here. Here are a few good maternity pieces I found:

• I invested in a pair of Koka-Mama black leggings. They are the best! They’re nice and thick, so you feel more like you are wearing a trouser, but they’re as comfortable as a legging (I wear these practically every day).
• I also pulled out my old Séraphine secret support vests and bought myself a new white one to wear under all my tops. These are a must have (I sleep in them too!).
• I went to Topshop and got this swimsuit and these jeans, both necessary maternity items. I love Topshop jeans — they’re cheap and they fit well, even the maternity ones.
• And of course I picked up a couple pairs of these leggings (for lounging around the house 24/7). They come up over the bump, so there’s no awkward elastic anywhere near your lower belly.
• I love the look of the entire Hatch Maternity collection (pictured above)…but so far haven’t bought anything. It’s hard to spend money on maternity pieces when you know you’ll only wear it for a few months. (Although the clothes at Hatch are meant to be worn both during and after pregnancy… so maybe it’s worth the investment?!)

What about you? Do you have any must-have maternity pieces I should know about? And… are you like me — do you immediately take your jeans off the minute you walk in your door and swap for something comfortable? Or am I just a major slouch?! (I think my postman thinks I only wear leggings and a big jumper!)

x Courtney

PS – Images from Hatch.

Petitonet is a small online boutique based in London which specialises in iconic children’s shoes and accessories from Spain. They have the most adorable selection of Spanish shoes — I just got my daughter the grey pair of canvas Mary Janes and they are so sweet with so many little details like stitching on the inside, a durable rubber sole, and a charming little buckle. I also love the velcro versions for boys. (And the price tag is quite good too!) Perfect little shoes for summertime…

x Courtney

Here’s the recipe:

• 125 self-raising flour
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, separated
• 150 ml milk

Put flour and a little seasoning in a bowl, and drop in the egg yolks. Add a little milk and whisk, gradually pouring in the remaining milk to make a paste. Whisk egg whites until peaking, and gently fold in paste to form a batter. Heat a thin foil of oil in a frying pan. Take a spoonful of batter and drop in the pan so it spreads to about 8cm in diameter. I could fry 3 scones at the same time in my frying pan, of course it depends on the size of your pan how many you can fit in at the same time. When golden flip over and cook for another minute or so. Keep warm while you prepare the rest (this recipe made me 10 scones).

For the topping, mix crème fraîche with fresh parsley and chives (chopped), and a bit of black pepper. Serve the scones with the crème fraîche, smoked salmon, and a squeeze of lemon.

Bon appétit!

xxx Esther

Do you ask your children to take off their shoes when they enter the house? It wasn’t a rule for me when I was a kid (unless I wore my wellies), nor was it a common thing in other households. Even still, adults won’t take off their shoes when they step inside a house here in the Netherlands, so I don’t ask my grown-up guests, but I do ask kids (visitors and mine) to throw their shoes in a basket next to the front door when they enter. My kids and I always wear slippers in my house — it’s so much more comfortable, and hygienic, I feel!

Collegien is a French brand  with the most wonderful slippers imaginable. I love these slippers for my kids, so cute and easy! There are many great designs and models — how cute are the short summer ballet flats in the bright colours and happy stripes. Adult sizes are also available, so you can treat your husband to a pair (it’s Father’s Day soon), and you probably could use a pair for yourself as well! These slippers are also great for babies who are just starting to walk — warm, comfy, and anti-slip.

Don’t you love all those sweet designs?

xxx Esther

Fact: In Paris it rains – a lot (sometimes it feels it is never going to stop!). All kids need a raincoat… Not just one of those flimsy little numbers out of cotton, but a real, waterproof raincoat that can withstand the elements.  And there is one classic raincoat that has been around here in France for years and years and years. The classic, yellow Petit Bateau “Ciré”, based on the coat the Breton fishermen wear out to sea. It is kind of the child equivalent to a Burberry trench — not cheap but a classic that can be handed down from sibling to sibling.

I love it, bright yellow, great for girls and boys, practical and classic. I actually have two different sized ones hanging in my hallway right now! (Oh, and they make one for women too!)

- Emilie

Remember this book? And how much we LOVE it? Well, the Ministry of Letters has just come out with a new (and equally great!) ipad app. It is literally… a SINGING alphabet! So much fun, and so perfect for my daughter who is now learning the sounds of the letters. The two of us are dancing in our chairs as I type this with the sounds of letters singing their letter sounds loud and clear. It’s catchy, it’s cute and it’s educational in such a marvellous way. (Available from itunes here, and they are soon to release an iphone version too.)

x Courtney

We finally had some nice weather, here in Montreal last weekend and we were able to dress in some of our new summer outfits. My little one just learnt how to twirl, so she was more than willing to take some photos to show off her new skirt… I hope your head isn’t spinning!
We just love this little outfit by Le Petit Lucas du Tertre, courtesy of Clara de Paris, the skirt is made from the softest & lightest cotton, perfect for hot summer days and I am most impressed with the quality of the tank top. I just love how the colors go so well together although they don’t really match! I also really love the photo campaign for their summer collection; they always find a creative way to showcase their clothing.

If you love French Design then you’ll love Clara de Paris, it’s an online boutique filled with only the best French children’s brands, you will find labels such as Troizenfants, Baker Made With Love, Les Enfantines, Anton et Zoa, Baby Version Rock and the list goes on. They ship internationally and I strongly suggest you follow them on Facebook as they often have great promos and even giveaways.

P.S. I only just found out, but Karine, the owner is practically my neighbor, it’s a small world!

-Celina

Carrots, radishes, salad and rocket are best sewn in the full ground (outside). If you don’t have a garden or balcony, you can also easily grow these vegetables on your window sill. Just one word of advice (we keep doing this wrong!) — don’t sew the seeds too close together, or the carrots, radishes etc don’t have room to grow! Plain salad and rocket are also super easy to grow (even in the windowsill), and you can keep cutting their leaves for a long time.

Of course we set the children to work immediately. They love gardening! Obviously the small scale of our vegetable garden-to-be will far from feed our entire family, but it’s a real pleasure to harvest our own grows, little as it may be, and it’s educational for the children. Here are some really fun ideas for gardening with kids:

Sara received this super cute Gardening Giftbox (from French brand Moulin Roty) as a gift and it comes filled with little pots, compost, seeds, a watering can and gardening tools — all packed in an adorable little suitcase. So cool! Sara and her friend spent hours working in the garden, preparing the soil, sewing their seeds, watering the plants, etc.

I got some bags of seeds at the Balcony Gardener. These bags are really pretty and also make gorgeous gifts (I just ordered a few more of them!). They also sell beautiful quality kid’s sized gardening tools which we love.

Finally, if you live in the Netherlands or Belgium (or speak Dutch), this little Moestuinkabouterpakket is such fun and so very, very cute. It comes with seeds, bags to sew them in, labels, a little book about the garden gnomes that will help you to look after the seedlings (provided you make sure their hat and coat is hanging ready for them to wear!).

xxx Esther

The flowers are blooming in Los Angeles and it’s really starting to feel like summer. We spent the past weekend in Malibu and one of the first things I threw in our beach bag was a pair of sunnies for Elodie. When I saw this line of glasses and sunglasses by Very French Gangsters I immediately wanted a pair for her (and myself!) The cutest kids wearing the cutest frames. And the names are…very bombe!

-Elizabeth

In my house we have dinner in ‘shifts’. We are all together, my two boys, my husband and I, but the boys have dinner first around 5:30pm or so while my husband and I sit at the table or kitchen countertop to have a drink and a snack. We have an open kitchen that directly connects to the dining area. Since we both work full-time, this is our moment to blow off a bit of steam and share the day’s war stories. After the kids have gone to bed around 7:30pm we sit down and have a quiet dinner, sometimes with friends or family who are visiting us in Malaysia. All sounds pretty organized? Not so organized actually; getting the boys to sit still for more than a few minutes and finish their dinner is quite a challenge! As a measure of last resort, we promise a reward, mostly ice-cream or a frozen yogurt-stick, if they finish their veggies. What is a mom to do?

My secret weapon, chef and backbone of the household, is lovely Ruth. Ruth is our live-in nanny and cook in Kuala Lumpur. She is simply amazing. Ruth left Myanmar when she was 15 years old and has been working as a private cook since. First, ten years with families in Bangkok and now she has been with us for almost a year. We are very lucky to have her and enjoy Thai cuisine every day; she also makes wonderful what she calls “non-spicy and a bit boring Western” dishes, such as Shepherd’s pie and lasagna. Ruth’s homemade secret recipe spring rolls are to die for! As you know, it is quite common in Asia to have a live-in nanny. To me, living in Malaysia without the support network of my family in the Netherlands close by, having a trusted pair of hands to help run the household is truly a blessing, allowing me to work at home and run my Bloesem blogs.

Of course, I do dabble in the kitchen myself in the weekends and make a few decent Italian dishes. I really envy the Italians, such a beautiful tradition of food and family dinners. So I try to instill a bit of that traditional family dinner culture in my house – time out for all to simply enjoy mom’s home cooking. If I don’t feel like cooking in the weekends, we eat out in one of the many restaurants in Kuala Lumpur; our favorite one, Chinoz, is only a short walk from where we live; they make excellent fresh sushi that even the boys enjoy; their favorite is the “cucumber maki”. Eating out with the entire family, including young kids or babies is a very normal thing to do in Malaysia and most restaurants are fully equipped with baby chairs, coloring sets and all sorts of other distractions for the kids to help them sit through a long dinner. This is one of the things I like about Asia: kids are allowed everywhere, all the time, the more the merrier.

Thank you ladies from Babyccino for this lovely invitation. I simply love Babyccino and all the inspiring things you do so it is a treat for me to be a guest here. xxirene

Last but not least a recipe… well actually I don’t really have one. But here at BKids you can find some handy ones!

xxx Esther

We discovered The Magic Paintbrush while visiting friends in Hong Kong last month. At first I thought it was a famous, old Chinese fable, but then I realised it’s written by Julia Donaldson (of The Gruffalo fame)!! What was this? A Julia Donaldson book we didn’t already know? Yes!

Apart from The Gruffalo, of course, The Magic Paintbrush might actually be my favourite of her books. Told with her recognisable, simple rhyming schemes the story is about a little Chinese girl who is given a magic paintbrush — everything she paints becomes real.  She then puts the paintbrush to good use, refusing to let greedy people benefit from the paintbrush.  Such a beautiful, touching story, and such stunning illustrations (by Joel Stewart). The book is available from Amazon (UK and US).

x Courtney

Here is my theory for kids shoes: Children grow so fast there seems to be no point to have more than a pair of sneakers, a pair of boots for the winter, a pair of sandals for the summer, and a simple shoe that can go with jeans and dresses and can be worn with a multitude of colours. A limited amount of shoes means that shoes have to be simple and that is hard to find. Most children’s shoes are way too complicated  (in the case of my girls — appliqued flowers, butterflies, sequins and different shades of pink!). I also have a problem with overpriced shoes since, as I mentioned earlier, children do grow so darn fast.

I was very glad to find out that I am not the only person who feels this way. The founders of Clotaire, a new children’s shoe label, wanted to design a simple, reasonably priced shoe that works in all situations, and have done so very successfully. They have exactly two shoe designs: a derby and a low boot in several great colours, which can be worn both by girls, boys (and I reckon by their mums too). I have to say, I am completely won over by the simplicity and style of the designs!

- Emilie

Our New Earth is a completely organic line of baby clothes and accessories, and Hugh has passionately told me how he’s constantly striving to find the cleanest and most honestly fabricated materials for his collections. He’s now for instance working with gorgeous 100% organic and natural dyed denims for his upcoming winter collections.

In the meantime I’ve completely fallen in love with the simplicity and timelessness of the Our New Earth designs. It’s all just so adorable! The little sunsuits (see photo of Ava featuring one above), the sweet embroidered and smock dresses, all with the sweetest details, the adorable dress shirts and jackets and pants, the easy bloomers and tank tops…

You can find Our New Earth on our shopping portal here, with a great 15% discount this month — and the prices are already so very, very pleasant!

xxx Esther

The Olympics buzz is starting to hit London, and it seems everywhere I turn these days I see hints of Olympic fever.  I love these cool Olympics-inspired Reversi-Ts from Green Baby. Get this — the Reversi-T is FOUR tees in ONE! So there are four cool designs (my favourite is the giraffe wearing the gold medal), and all you have to do is fold over the top layer to reveal the next.  The tees are remarkably light-weight and streamlined, and of course are made from organic cotton! I got this one for my 5-year-old and he thinks it’s the coolest thing he’s ever seen — a magic t-shirt!

x Courtney

The village is a pleasant 20 minutes walk and there are a few nice restaurants, a little harbour, and some touristy shops — it makes for a lovely little outing. We greatly enjoyed the local market with the most amazing fruits, vegetables and textiles on Thursday!

A trip to Bodrum was fun with the local mini buses (dolmus). We spent most of the day visiting the 15th century Bodrum castle with in it the underwater museum with treasures and ship wrecks, a worthy visit — the castle is beautiful, with great gardens, peacocks roaming around, and amazing views over the city and the sea. We also visited the insignificant (but still impressive!) remains of one of the seven ancient world wonders, the Mausuleum of Mausolus. The Bodrum daily market was fun with stalls filled with spices, fruits, veggies, housewares and some handmade wooden toys and utensils.

We booked the 4 Reasons hotel through I-escape and stayed in one of the ‘functional’ rooms, which was not at all big but very nice, fresh and functional, with a separate bed and bathroom area for the two bigger children (5 and 6). We had Ava (1) in a cot in the room with us. We took a flight to Bodrum airport and the ever so nice and helpful hotel staff arranged transfers to and from the hotel for us. All in all, this was a vacation I can totally recommend if you like to go somewhere relaxing and beautiful with little children in tow (or without!). We’ll certainly be back.

xxx Esther

Every once in a while I can get very excited about a new child related invention. My latest discovery? The Bubble Bum. I grant you, it is a bit of a silly name, but check this out: it is an inflatable car seat, that rolls into a tiny bag when deflated. For non-car owners like me this invention could be the answer to a lot of problems: I spend my time dragging car seats around with me when I am renting cars which, though necessary, is such a pain.

Especially since I have started using the Autolib’ service, the great new Parisian electric cars, I have been trying to figure out the car seat situation for my girls and the Bubble Bum is a great solution!

- Emilie

P.S. The photo is of the girls on their Bubble Bum car seats on our latest outing in an Autolib’. Good times!