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Westfield Stratford Rhythm Kitchen Cookery Workshop:)

A lot of you will know that I am a huge fan of Carribean cooking, so jumped at the chance of attending a cookery workshop at the Rhythm Kitchen restaurant at Westfield Stratford.  The place is vibrant and fun, and since opening last September has proved a huge success for owner Delroy.

We watched the Sea Bass being stuffed and cooked and then sampled it afterwards, it was to die for!   You can watch the video by clicking to the right of this blog, and watch some other Food Explorer demonstrations here!

Vibrant and fun

Beautifully presented

I have the Sea Bass recipe myself now, so watch this space for my attempt at cooking it :) or better still get yourself down to Rhythym Kitchen where it is now on the menu every Friday!

To keep in touch with all the Westfield food news, check out the website here :)

Pancake Day

Today is Pancake Day, so we've all had a go, here is Jasper flipping his pancake!

Last year I posted a peasy pancake recipe here!

Have a good one, still pondering on what to give up for lent - red wine and beer me thinks!

Enjoy!
Annie x

Mushroom Burger and Cretan Mess for BBC Three Counties Radio

I was lucky enough to be asked back onto Nick Coffer's Weekend Kitchen on BBC Three Counties Radio.  It's a fab Saturday lunchtime show with some great guests *coughs*, great food, fab conversation and a mixture of music.   Its a two hour show, but when you're on it it goes by very quickly, as you're having so much fun!

As the "home cook" I was asked to take in 2 courses.  Being near Valentines Day we were asked to shun the whole Valentine thing and provide meals for one!   As my husband plays football twice a week I am quite used to this, and was happy to provide my Mushroom Burger", followed by "Cretan Mess"!  The latter was a variation on a Greek Dessert which myself and Emma the Producer came up with, and it really worked!

If you've never tried the mushroom burger I would urge you to do so, it is so tasty and meaty - ironically - and its a healthy twist on a favourite dish!

Mushroom Burger

Ingredients - Mushroom Burger
Olive oil
Portobella Mushroom
Cream Cheese - I use Philadelphia Light
1 Garlic clove chopped
Roll of choice
Lettuce, tomato etc. or whatever you wish to load it with!

Brush the mushroom all over, lightly, with the oil, and place under a medium grill for 6 minutes each side.   Mix the garlic into 2 tbsp of cream cheese then place the mixture around the stem.   Put mushroom back under the grill for a further 6 minutes and its done.  Load it into a roll, with whatever you like, and enjoy! :)

Cretan Mess

Ingredients - Cretan Mess
Greek yoghurt
Merinque cases - bought mine from Sainsburys
Runny honey
Dried apricots, chopped

Mix the yoghurt and meringues together until you have a consistancy you like.  Pour into glasses - I have sundae ones - top with runny honey and chopped apricots :)

You can catch Nick Coffer on twitter at @mydaddycooks he also has a fab book of the same name, and is busy writing his second :)

Would love some feedback if you give either of these dishes a whirl!

Enjoy!
Annie

Space saving idea for kids hats, gloves, scarves etc.

This is an unsponsored post!

If your household is like mine, I find this time of year we are scratching around looking for hats, gloves and scarves etc. for the kids.  They are not usually where they should be, and it's stressful enough getting them into coats and boots without this on top! 

I therefore had a look around, and came across some lovely personalised "pump" bags on ebay.  At £6.99 plus minimal p&p I believe they are worth every penny!  I now have them for my own children and for my clients too!  Although they are currently only in gingham Izzy has sent me some materials she will be using in the future, including stars and hearts The kids know to put all their stuff in their own bag, then their coat on their own peg!  It makes for a happier Winter :)

Tidier hallway :)

Johnny English Reborn Movie

My little Jasper English :)

We were lucky enough to be invited to a screening of the Johnny English Reborn film - click the link below to enjoy the trailer!  I wanted to go cos the kids had seen adverts for it, love watching Mr Bean in cartoon form, and so were very excited.  I was a little concerned it would be too Mr Bean like for me to enjoy but boy was I wrong!  It was the perfect mix of a send up of Bond, and for me an almost Clouseau type character, with a chinese women acting like Clouseau's Kato!

I laughed out loud and more importantly so did the children.  Scarlett who is 4 got a bit fidgety in the middle, but 7yo Jasper was with it to the end, and in fact his loud YESSSSSS at the demise of the baddy was the highlight of the screening!  I will have to now go and watch the first one and can't wait, just brilliant :)  The DVD is being released on the 13th February and I will certainly be in the queue!  Johnny English Reborn here I come!

Moshi Monsters Demystified :)

This is my Luvli called AnnieQPR - of course it is!  I didn't name it a luvli it is the name of the type of Moshi Monster I have adopted.  My son has a Furi and my daughter a Poppet. This is the latest crazy to hit the children at our school, but I have to say it has been around for a while now and doesn't appear to be losing interest anytime soon.  I knew that it was interactive, as all the kids in Jasper's class have all made each other "friends" on their friend tree, so I wanted to ensure I knew all the whys and wherefores!

Anyone can adopt a monster, which is free of charge.  They can play all sorts of games on it, but need membership to access all areas!  For any type of login you do need to create a password, and my first advice is to keep the password secret from your children!  That way they cannot access their monster without your help!  One 7yo boy has managed to change his password, but you can access each others monsters if you are "friends" so you can still keep an eye on them!

The point of the monster is for you to feed it, entertain it and keep it happy by buying it things!  The currency is Rox, and you can earn Rox by playing daily challenges, amongst other games.  The daily challenges do in fact have an educational element as they are mathematical, or challenge countries flags, or ask you to choose correct spellings - there are some more challenging than those too - trust me!

You can also keep your monster happy by getting it pets, called moshlings.   These can be bought from either planting the right seeds in your garden or by completing fairly challenging "missions".  This does require them to read dialogue, so again there is an educational point to it.   In my picture you can see a couple of my moshlings, namely "Lady Goo Goo" and "Snookums".  The missions can be fairly entertaining for adults too - well me anyhow, as my last mission involved Simon Growl stealing Lady Goo Goo's voice :)

By doing all of these things, they then proceed up levels.  I am currently level 5 but my children are level 7 - hmmmm - I haven't been buying as many things for my moshi's house, so am guessing that is where they are gaining on me - I'll get back to you on that!

The only potential danger I can see is where the "friends" can send each other messages, or gifts with messages.   The children are adding friends without checking them out, and they are loving the "following" - sound familiar!! However they are not as discerning as an adult may be, and this is the only area where I can see where they could receive unwanted attention!   So as long as you can access their messages and gifts - very simple to do as it is on their front pages, then I believe it is safe!  You can also block unwanted attention and delete messages should you need to - though I haven't had to to date!

As a tweeter I feel it would be hypocritical to deny them this form of social networking!  I would also say that their ICT skills are way ahead of what their school is offering them in any form of learning!
Happy to help with any further questions you may have!
Annie x

The Moshi Monster map they navigate around