Tuesday, October 9, 2012

TROPICAL TOPICS


Summer has arrived, with a vengeance!
Temperatures rose to 38C (or 100F) around here over the weekend.

Little Aussie, our first grandson, arrived with his Dad for a 3-day visit.


Here they are, cooling off with our grandpuppy Charlotte!
I know, dogs are not called Fido or Spot these days;
only a proper name will do...



Aussie's favourite TV character is Dora the Explorer.
Recently I found this Dora cooks activity book, with Dora plate and 4 silicone muffin cups.
When I brought it out, his little face lit up with delight - and so did mine!

This is what we made:



Recipe for 4 Banana muffins, just the right size for little hands to mix:

1 large banana
40g soft brown sugar
2 tbsp oil
1 small egg
65 ml milk
100g self-raising flour

Peel and mash the banana in a bowl.  Mix in the sugar and oil.
Crack the egg into the bowl.  Pour in the milk and stir with spoon.
Sieve the flour into the bowl. Spoon into 4 muffin cases.
Bake15-20 minutes.  Cool and consume!

Aussie wanted to add chocolate, so we threw in some cocoa powder.
Other suggested variations:  Add blueberries, apple pieces, nuts, grated carrot, dried fruit .... endless possibilities really.



Lick and scrape out the bowl as you will...



That night, Aussie wore the new pj's I made recently.
No, that is not my hairy leg which somehow made an entrance into this shot.
Note to self:  must learn to crop photos.





Remember the hunt for the third colour to blend with my pale pink and navy linen,
to make Vogue Pattern V8805?
Thank you for all the suggestions, and I thought about them all.
I was hoping to find some orange linen, but was unsuccessful.
This is what I bought today: not quite an accurate reproduction,
but the colour is a very bright pink,
which I have heard referred to as American Beauty.
I'm looking forward to working on this one asap

Meantime, I am hard at work on the black rose floral.
Fingers crossed for a successful reveal, some time soon ...


Note:  dead grass.  When will we get some decent rain?

Hope your week runs happily ....

bye,
xxx

10 comments:

  1. Wow, there's a lot of neat stuff to absorb in this post. Great to have Little Aussie there for a visit and how sweet to see his little hands in the bowl! 100 degrees, oh my; keep cool. Really like the fabric color you chose to complete your dress. Looking forward to the final product. Beautiful flower (first one); is it a camellia? Hope you get rain soon. Enjoy the visit!

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    1. After little hands in the bowl, we had wiping mixture over face, as he squealed with delight. (What happens at Grannie's stays at Grannie's).
      The pink flower is not a camellia, though I wish it was as I can't grow them. It is a very hardy vine, but I don't know its name.

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  2. Some of the most enjoyable times I had with my children was teaching them how to cook simple fare to start with like pikelets and cakes. Little hands enjoy the activity and the eating afterwards. Little Aussie seems to me to be an absolutely adorable little boy and you must love when he comes to visit Patricia.
    I agree about the lack of rain, our lawn is frightfully dry and crackles under foot.
    I have finally learnt to crop photos and I do this on the iPhone with an app. I take all my pics using the phone and the day I learnt to crop was an exciting day let me tell you. I hope Santa brings you a smart phone Patricia because I'm dying for you to join us on Instagram :-)
    xx

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    Replies
    1. Cooking with children is such fun. With the arrival of a grandchild, you get to have a rerun! Discussions are underway about the smart phone, possibly involving how to teach this techno-dill Mum how to use it. Joining on Instagram sounds like a fun game :) xx

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  3. Invite me over and I´ll bring the rain along. We have had massive amounts of rain over here during last month and this month. Great floods in parts of the country = too much rain.
    38°, I bet everyone enjoyed the pool!
    As we are approaching the cool and cold days, it always surprises me, that this is not the case in every part of the round earth.
    Little Aussi is just so adorable: ).

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    Replies
    1. Wow, we have not heard about the floods in Finland, not a country we tend to associate with such downfalls. Hope not too much damage is going on. I suppose after the rain comes the snow?
      Little boy is adorable, this is so true! Cute as a button :)

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  4. I love the color combination you are using for that Vogue dress pattern. It will be very striking.
    I don't have any grandchildren yet, but used to teach cooking to children as young as three for the parks department. The most fun ever. You are lucky to have good eggs where you live. In America our eggs aren't safe to eat raw, so had to adapt many recipes for no eggs, or watch like a hawk to keep children from eating the dough with eggs in it. We had two cooking rules for the youngest children - you can eat any batter before the eggs are added, and always double the vanilla, it will taste better.

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    1. Hi Beryl, I can't imagine life without being able to "lick the bowl" as a kid! But it must have been lots of fun teaching cooking to the little ones. I might try that double the vanilla trick.
      But why are the American eggs not safe? Is it only for children, or must everyone only have cooked eggs?

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    2. Random samplings have shown Salmonella in a high percentage of US eggs - don't know why. It's wrecked many of my recipes that only work with a raw egg white. We're not supposed to serve anything with raw egg to young children, the elderly (which might include me these days - yikes!), and anyone with a compromised immune system.
      My daughter was very confused when she first visited France and found out that raw eggs are safe there. So I don't think you have to worry about yours.

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