Laurie Graham

A Laurie Graham, a cup of coffee and a croissant. There's no nicer way to spend a Saturday morning. Her new book The Grand Duchess of Nowhere is next on my wishlist. The only problem is that I know I'll finish it too soon. Her books are both good and feel-good, the perfect combination.

Cookbooks!

This came in the post today.

Its the first cookbook I've bought in about ten years! Up until now our family has survived mainly on these four. They really have served me well; from one child to four, from tiny kitchen to big one, from Birkenstocks to Havianas to Fitflops and back to Birkenstocks again. Anyway, read on if you want to see the best and now dirtiest pages in each one.

Ok, first I'll look at Jamies Dinners. The pages with the most stains in this used-a-thousand-times book are

Tagliatelle with spinach, mascarpone and parmesan.

and Rigatoni with sweet tomatoes, aubergine and mozzarella.

And my favourite pages in the Avoca Cafe Cookbook are

Shepherds pie and 

Nicki's Chicken Curry. (this one works well in food flasks for school.)

I think the next one was Jamies first book. The Naked Chef.

So young!

Nearly every Saturday we use the pizza dough recipe in this one.

Hmmnnn..not a very inspiring picture - I'm just including it as the stains prove how often it was used. Very, very delicious pizza.

Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, I inherited from my Mum. It's still in print but now jauntily titled Delia's Complete Cookery Course. No need anymore for the surname. Here's the cover of my edition. Its  not actually yellow but my Mum, a teacher, was accustomed to covering books to make them last and Delia was purchased in the year of the yellow sellophane.

Its one of those books where everything works out. My Mum adored her. And now that I think of it, we ate her scones this morning,.Here's the FANTASTIC and easy chocolate icing recipe. 

Chocolate and soured cream filling.

Now that I read through the recipe again, I realise that over the years it has evolved into this:

Melt Cadburys milk chocolate and then quickly add sour cream.

(ingredients; 150g Chocolate and 150ml sour cream - I use about two dessertspoons and a large bar a and a few more squares.) This give you fabulous, glossy chocolatey icing - perfect for any birthday cake. Having said that, you can rest assured that Delia's way would be even better.

Uprooted by Lynne Reid Banks

I've been glued to this since yesterday. It was hastily borrowed from the Children's shelves of our library as I had nothing to read. (We got there just before closing and there was no time for me to run into the adults section.) Its for ages nine to eleven and up and is the story of ten year old English evacuee in Canada during the Second World War, inspired by the authors experience. I never knew people went that far as evacuees, but they did. Its really fascinating and I love it.

Saving Mr. Banks

After mentioning P.L. Travers in this blog post, she was on my mind. So when I saw Saving Mr. Banks for sale in my local Tesco, it seemed like serendipity.

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this film. There's definitely a copy of Mary Poppins coming through my letter box soon.  Surely she's a must in every house? This hardcover is particularly pretty.

The Lone Ranger - a Little Golden Book Classic, I Am Pilgrim, To Kill a Mocking Bird and an Origami Yoda

I love this one. Such a welcome change from Transformers, Batman, Spiderman and all the other characters my boys have had a fixation on over the past decade.

It is exactly what you would expect. Young Tom Mason sits on a rock and waits to wave to his brother, who is due to pass by. He's Bill and he drives the stagecoach. But hang on a second, here it comes, but the drivers seat is empty!

Luckily, the Lone Ranger and Tonto are not too far away. "Listen Tonto!" the Lone Ranger cried. "That youngster's in trouble!" It transpires that a dastardly gang have stolen the stagecoach with its cargo of gold and seem to think they have got away scot free....

"That may not be their fire," the Lone Ranger said. "But if it is, those varmints are mighty sure of themselves. Let's check."

They do a whole lot more than check! They ambush and catch those filthy, no-good thieves! Excellent stuff. For ages four and up.

Elsewhere in the house is more edge of the seat material.

This is currently on sale in Tesco for under seven euros and I am looking forward to getting stuck in.  I've just finished my annual re read of this,

and am hoping it will be a move from the sublime to the ridiculously exciting.

And here we have an actual Origami Yoda...

Do you have kids aged eight and up who have not read this series? Well, you shouldn't. 

Books from our camping trip

 In the days before making friends, reading X Men Misfits and American Born Chinese.

 I read this on the Cork to Roscoff ferry and can think of  no better way to pass a long day.

 We get one of these Drawn and Quarterly Moomin books every holiday. Small, light, easy to pack and read by everyone.

 I LOVED this. Pride and Predjudice from the servants point of view. Really brilliant. Remember how Elizabeth liked tramping through the mud without a care about  her appearance? Well in this book we hear from those who had to clean those boots. And didn't really think it was such a charming habit.

 I think this might have been the best kids book I bought with us. I think all three older boys(13, 11, 8) read it twice. Well, maybe joint first prize with The Great Brain, a lot of which I read aloud with a torch when everyone was tucked into their sleeping bags. Highly, highly recommended.

This was a nice poolside read, for those into American fiction. I had a few very enjoyable sunny days in its company as did another mum at the campsite. Its really nice when you pass a book along to then see it being read day after day on a sun lounger.

The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

It was after reading The Uses Of Enchantment that I knew it was time to get our own edition of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales. They are definitely something every home should have but more, to be honest, I relished the idea of reading something a bit grisly. It’s the Summer holidays and I’m at home with four kids. What can I say, I’m sick of kind and gentle.  So I ordered this lovely Taschen collection. (I heard of it from Danzel at Silver Shoes and Rabbit Holes who know a LOT about fairy tales.)

And when I read aloud the end of Snow White, where the wicked Queen was forced to wear red hot iron shoes (and dance whilst wearing them at Snow Whites wedding!) until she died, I knew I had done the right thing. My eight year olds' response was to find an "even scarier" story to read next. As well as that this edition gives some interesting background on the brothers Grimm and the various illustrations of the stories since the early nineteenth century.

 

For a start, the tales were'nt just for children, they were for everyone, and they did'nt come from the Grimm brothers imaginations, the first collection was the result their documentation of German folk tales (strictly speaking not even German, as the country wasn’t united at the time, that geographical area was made up of many small states) which until then had only been passed from generation to generation orally. That was all they meant to do – just get onto paper this rich tradition before it was forgotten. But just as academics, not really to sell books or gain fame. Their first edition was only expected to be read by adults. But as we know now, it was the kids who really loved the stories. Which in turn led to illustration (usually one per story) which in turn led to the idea that stories with pictures for children was really a very good idea.

In this Taschen edition, the illustrations(way more than one per story, but the way) in date from the 1820’s to the 1950’s. They are all beautiful in hugely different ways and the book at around €20.00 is well, well worth it. It’s worth way more, actually. 

The only criticism I would have is that the cloth cover is purple, and the illustration chosen for the front of it is Sleeping Beauty, which makes the whole book look girly, for want of a better word. Which is unfortunate for those little boys who would love it but may never be given it and for the publisher who surely would sell more if the cover appealed to both genders. I don’t think the cover needs a picture at all, the gold embossed print is magical enough.

 

 For ages five to adult. An essential in every home.

a selection..

If you are looking for something to read on the beach or by the pool order The Liars Daughter now. Its just out in the cheaper type of paperback and, like all Laurie Grahams' books, its funny, interesting and completely brilliant. I can't photograph my copy because I lent it to my friend who liked it so much she passed it on to someone else.

In other news...this is what I've just finished.  Its huge, and a Booker winner, but don't let that put you off. After a little bit of effort initally, I couldn't put it down.

And Stretching is on my husbands side of the bed.This edition is the 30th Anniversary one (it now has "New Computer Stretches"!) and he swears by the exercises. I keep finding it all over the house, wherever he happens to land post run or cycle and can safely say it is read regularly. So, for all the Mamils out there (the means Middle Aged Men in Lycra) I think it would make a practical and welcome Fathers Day present.

And lastly, I just got this one

for my nephews 4th birthday. He has a dog and hens in the back garden, so it will be pretty familiar, but really its a book for all animal (particularly dog and cat)lovers.

My son was angling to keep it, but we have enough books for the moment. And I've a few hidden away for camping, which I'll post on soon.

holiday scrapbooks by Lucy Mitchell

Holiday scrapbooks.

We do this every year. Well, ever since we visited my brother in the States - it seemed so momentous to get all (then)five of us as far as California, that it deserved to be recorded. I learnt then that all you need is scissors, a glue stick and an old-fashioned scrapbook. 25 pages is enough. And just wait for the rubbish/memories to accumulate. A few (quite relaxing, actually) minutes spent sticking each day will result in a book they will look at forever. I guarantee you won't regret it.

We always camp in France these days and below are examples from our last two years efforts. Don't use ring bound notebooks, as we did the first year, they just fall apart. And make it as you go. Believe it or not the kids will actually help.  Empty sweet bags, receipts from the supermarket (holiday shopping is so much more treaty that normal home stuff), any entrance tickets, brochures. Really anything to do with what you did. Two of our boys usually have their birthdays when we are on holidays, so we put a card and a few clues about their presents in too. And they LOVE looking through them afterwards. 

So here we go; A seventh birthday,

 French Macdonalds wrappers,

The playground we camped beside for one night. We arrived late and didn't know the code to open the gate so had to loiter for someone else to open it and drive about an inch behind them to get through. In fairness the French are pretty cool about that stuff. No one batted an eye. We set up camp on the only pitch left and put the tent up in the dark. Once it was up we realised we were almost on top of the communal barbeques where a tattooed gang of muscly men gathered to chat, cook and drink. We feebly attempted to get the kids to sleep and wondered what to do.  Would we live through the night? Hopefully. My husband ventured out to the car to see if there was anything there to eat or drink and came back with a plate of sausages from one of the chefs. 

 My middle boys writing practice and my reading material. Nabilla will be a millionaire by the time she is thirty. At least I think thats what it means.

A bin truck for the birthday boy and a lovely French sweetie bag.

An extra sleeping mat and Lego. And a carambar.

 I didn't make that medieval village. My husband did. With a little help from the kids. Very little to be honest. And yummy biscuits and even yummier beer.

The bag our croissants came in each morning, horse-riding and chocolate milk.

More beer and an Ethni'Cite(Troglodyte settlement) information book. It was closed when we got there. On a Wednesday in mid-August. Because they close every Wednesday afternoon, explained the guide. 

So, I'd buy the scrapbook at home, its not the easiest thing to find abroad, even with the massive stationary sections in the lovely continental supermarkets. Ideally have it, the gluestick and a scissors in a ziplock bag. Then you dump the stuff in there and glue it when you get a chance. Once you start the kids will get involved. Everyone wants their stuff in it. And thats it! Have a lovely weekend!

Presents for an eleven year old. Perplexus and Here Comes Science.

Velocity is speed and direction. I know this (and quite a lot more) thanks to John and John of They Might Be Giants. I mentioned their album Here Come The 123's after Christmas here and should add that it is still listened to regularly. Well, my second eldest turned eleven a few weeks ago and Here Comes Science was in his pile. Danzel of Silver Shoes and Rabbit Holes had mentioned it to me and I'm so glad I took note.

If you are at home these Easter holidays with kids who mooch around the kitchen claiming there is nothing (nothing!) to do other than Xbox or Playstation or Nintendo ds, stick this cd on. (It is of course available in in more modern formats but if you get the old fashioned cd, you also get a dvd with the songs plus their videos, which are great.) If nothing else I guarantee they will shut up for a little while. There's also a good chance this blessed silence will be following by singing.

We also got him this.

Called Perplexus, its a puzzley thing that I got on Amazon.co.uk. It cost about €30 including shipping and I had to get it sent to a Northern Irish Parcel Motel Address as the seller wouldn't post to The Republic. Needless to say I read quite a few reviews before buying and found it received glowing notices on every kid blog out there. Erica on What Do We Do All Day pointed out that as it is 3D, it's the opposite of screentime. That sold me, making the rainy trip up the Parcel Motel where it got stuck in the post box and I had to enter our code about ten times as the rain did something to the touch screen, worth it.

And they have all played with it. As have I, actually. It's not too easy, which is a good thing and if it hasn't gathered dust by the end of the Easter break then I will consider it a success. So far, all activity indicates this will be the case.