RECIPES
Rainbow Pasta! Such a fun family activity.
Pasta and comfort food go hand-in-hand... so why not bring smiles to faces and make a day out of this delicious family meal. Have a great big pasta making party! We had a 4th birthday and pasta making party with Pasta 'n Play for my son (before London's lockdown) and it was an enormous hit. ...
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FOOD
Put it on a skewer! A lunch box tip to try
Ah...packing school lunches. It always seems so novel and, dare I say it, exciting in September, but come January...perhaps not so much. With four months of school lunch packing behind me and five more months of lunch making to go before summer arrives, I wanted to share a little strategy that works well for us ...
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RECIPES
5 tips for substituting dairy out of baking recipes
Do you have tried-and-tested baking recipes that you love, but that contain dairy when you need to bake for a non-dairy eating friend / family? Have you tried substituting ingredients in the past, but the recipe has ended disastrously? Rest easy, I’ve been in this position for years, working for clients who demand a recipe ...
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CELEBRATIONS
Galettes de Rois -- a goûter of a French tradition in January
A goûter, or a taste, of kings' cake is a tradition in France during January. Traditionally this cake, known as a Galettes des Rois, marks the celebration of Three Kings Day / Epiphany / Twelth Night. Fortunately it is celebrated for the entire month of January, so the good news is that you can still ...
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INTERVIEWS
5 Questions With… Samantha Barnes of Raddish Kids
In this age of female empowerment and the continuous search for balance between work and family, it's so refreshing to read Samantha's 5 Questions With interview below. Her company, Raddish Kids (a monthly cooking club for kids -- more below), values this balance. Samantha supports the parents in her team to be flexible and wants them ...
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FOOD
3 Healthier Ways to Decorate Birthday Cakes
I have a two-year-old, and she has a keen nose for sugar...being that I constantly smell of the stuff, that is unavoidable! However, I try to be a tiny little bit creative when decorating cakes for her birthday, using edible decorations that are attractive, interesting taste-wise, but that aren't full of refined sugar, and I ...
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RECIPES
Smoothie Ice Lollies
These ice lollies are an absolute summer essential. Kids love to help you make them and it's a great way to get them involved and experimenting with different flavours. Whatever combinations you choose, these lollies are packed full of amazing nutrients and purely natural sugars. You can even add some veggies -- carrot and mango, ...
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RECIPES
Funny little face cookies (from 'Bee's Brilliant Biscuits')
Many summers ago, when we organised one of our first ShopUps in London, we had the cutest personalised ShopUp cookies made by Bee's Bakery. Fast forward five years and Bee now has a baby, published two recipe books and specializes in plant-based and allergy friendly bakes! This girl has been busy! Because we all love ...
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FOOD
A cookbook addiction
I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, I am somewhere around a 7 regarding my addiction to cookbooks. Every time I am in a bookshop, an unknown force pulls me over to the cookbook section, where I can spend hours looking at pictures, deliberating over recipes and projecting myself into my kitchen ...
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RECIPES
Bunny Cake -- fun for Easter celebrations and birthdays too!
We recently celebrated a friend's birthday, and surprised them with this fun bunny cake. It is perfect for any Spring celebration, especially Easter, and actually very simple to make. You choose your favourite ingredients, and then simply follow our tips for decorating! Even less adventurous bakers or cake-makers can replicate this idea with success. You ...
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FOOD
Ottolenghi's new 'Simple' cookbook
I received Ottolenghi's new 'Simple' cookbook in a gift exchange on Christmas Day, and it has quickly become our go-to cookbook. I have Ottolenghi's first two cookbooks, but admittedly found the recipes in those books to be too time consuming or they required too many hard-to-track-down ingredients that the recipes were impossible to make. His ...
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INSPIRATION
A Pizza Playdate
With new friends in my daughter's new school, it seems that there are lots of new playdate requests, so playdates are a big part of our social calendar. I have recently discovered the perfect activity (especially on cold wintery days indoors): a pizza-making playdate. It ticks all the boxes: happy, healthy, and fun. Plus, you ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Colourful Papier-Mâché Fruits & Vegetables
I haven't made papier-mâché for years, and almost forgot how much fun it is! You start with such simple and basic materials and end up with an impressive sculpture. Papier-mâché is a great excuse to put on an art smock, and have a bit of messy fun with your children. There are severals steps and a ...
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HALLOWEEN CELEBRATIONS
Tricks and Treats -- a collection of Halloween Ideas
Trick or treat? Do you celebrate Halloween? What do you prefer -- silly or spooky? Funny or ghoulish? In a lot of Europe it is considered a very American holiday. And as an American living in London, I am happy to see that it is becoming more popular each year. Dressing up (fancy dress as ...
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RECIPES
Super easy Quinoa Brittle, a recipe from Lunch Lady Magazine
We've written before how much we love Lunch Lady Magazine. If you aren't already a subscriber to this beautiful quarterly magazine, then I urge you to head over to the website and sign up now! It's one of the only magazines I read (from cover to cover!) these days. Even Michael can be found scanning ...
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FOOD
School lunch ideas
When we lived in London, the children were able to eat lunch prepared and served by their school. We were lucky that the school's lunch options were mostly good and healthy, and we didn't have to think or worry about what they would be eating at lunch time. (Thinking about it now, I don't think ...
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RECIPES
A Fun First Birthday Cake (and it is sugar free!)
I find first birthdays particularly bittersweet, because I love and cherish the sweetness of that first year of life. I think back to those first moments when they were born, and I am utterly amazed by how much the sweet babies grow in just one year! And because the first year of life is so ...
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COOK BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Little Tables -- Breakfasts from around the World
According to this article, Dutch children enjoy one of the happiest childhoods in the world, and one of the reasons given for this is the fact that many of them start their morning with 'hagelslag' (chocolate sprinkles) on their bread. I'm not sure how much influence the exact sort of breakfast has on the overall happiness of ...
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COOK BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Little Dish -- sponsors of our London ShopUp event
A while ago, I was sent a cook book by the lovely Little Dish Team. Honestly, it is still one of my main go-to books for when I need inspiration for a well-balanced, easy to make meal (you know the way you sometimes get into a rut of always cooking the same thing? It happens ...
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PARENTING TIPS
Preparing for baby -- stocking the freezer!
With colourful Autumn produce spilling out of our local Farmer's Market this weekend, I was reminded of this time last year. I was pregnant with an obvious bump on display, and was enjoying the change of seasons with winter drawing ever nearer as I grew ever bigger. I also recalled the yummy feasts of stews and soups that ...
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RECIPES
Mint Syrup -- a video and recipe
This summer in the country Esther and I decided to see if we could create some of our own mint syrup. You see, Sirop à la Menthe is the ubiquitous summer drink for French children. The original version is luminous green and you will find it at every cafe in France. It is oddly refreshing ...
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COOK BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Chicken and Apricot Curry - a family favourite
We are having the craziest Spring weather here in Scotland. We've had snow and hail and bright blue skies all in one day over the past week and we're on a weather warning tonight! My poor baby plants are now snuggled up inside my kitchen sheltering from the frost. We are also feeling the cold so ...
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COOK BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Happy Face Shortbread Biscuits
We love our sugar cookie recipe, but because the recipe calls for shortening (which isn’t always easy to find) and requires that you put the dough in the fridge for an hour before baking, it’s not one of those quick make and bake recipes. I was on the hunt for an easier version when Ivy ...
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