Recipe: Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

I am late to the party when it comes to chocolate brownies. I’ve always found them to be either a bit too gooey, or a bit too dry. I’ve discovered that the secret to the perfect brownie is to bake them yourself, that way you are in control of how gooey your brownie is. This week I baked a batch of Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies and after years of being entirely indifferent to brownies, I ended up making the best brownies ever!

Baking brownies is such a lovely thing to do with children, my son loves stirring the chocolate and butter and watching them melt over the gentle heat of the bain marie. He’s 8 now, so only just trusted to do this job knowing the dangers of naked flames, hot water and inattention.

After school on Tuesdays, the boy and I like to have a couple of hours of baking and crafts together. It’s my favourite time of the week, his too I think. Of course, the secret to craft and baking success is planning, something I entirely forgot to do. Thankfully I had everything we needed to bake our usual chocolate brownies with cherries, everything that is apart from the cherries. No fear, I thought, I’ll improvise.

Recipe: Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Hiding in my coffee cupboard was a bag of marshmallows which I sprinkle on top of hot chocolates. I wondered how they’d be if I used them in the brownies, it turns out they were excellent. You could stir them through the brownie batter, or you can just sprinkle them on top before they go in the oven. They go all toasted and gooey, just like round the campfire.

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Ingredients:

250g milk chocolate
250g unsalted butter
4 medium eggs
250g sugar
2 heaped tablespoons self raising flour
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
60ml of vegetable oil
2 handfuls of Marshmallows

How to make your Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies:

Pre-heat your oven to 185° and line a deep sided baking dish with baking parchment.

In a bowl, over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and the butter together until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and the eggs, whisk them until they’re light and fluffy.

Pass the flour, cocoa powder through a fine sieve and add to the eggs and sugar. Gently whisk the ingredients together until combined. Then mix in the melted chocolate and the vegetable oil to combine.

If you want to stir your marshmallows through the batter, do that now. if you want to sprinkle them on top, pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle them all over the top.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the brownies have lost their wobble but are still a bit gooey inside. Take out and leave to cool. You want to almost under bake them so they are still soft in the centre.

Once they are cool, cut them into squares, sprinkle them with icing sugar if you prefer. These are my favourite brownies ever. I urge you to give them a try.

Recipe: Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Crafts: Celery Rose Print Valentine’s Cards

Make hearts flutter this Valentine’s Day with these Celery Rose Print Valentine’s Cards and gift wrap!

Crafts: Celery Rose Print Valentine's Cards

The first Valentine’s cards were sent in the 18th century. These were handmade cards, covered in romantic symbols of the age, such as flowers and love knots. The cards often included riddles and poetry. Cards were slipped secretly under the door of your beloved.

These days, although cards and poetry are often emailed to those who have made your heart flutter, a handmade card is still a lovely thing to give and to receive and in so many way, infinitely more preferable.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we had a weekend of painting and experimenting with printing with various things. I’d seen people printing roses with celery stalks on Pinterest and decided to give it a try – it really works!

How to make Celery Rose Print Valentine’s Cards

You will need:

Some blank cards
The root end off a bunch of celery
Red paint
Blue paint
A nice black pen
A plastic plate, or somewhere to blob your paint

Crafts: Celery Rose Print Valentine's Cards

How to make your Celery Rose Print Valentine’s Cards:

Tidy the end of your celery with a sharp knife so that it’s flat. Put a dollop of red paint on your plastic plate, dunk your celery in it, scrape off any excess paint on the edge of the plate and practice printing your roses on some scrap paper until you get the right effect. I found not having too much paint on my celery was best.

Once you’re happy with your printing, take your blank greetings cards and print your roses on them. I did two designs, a bouquet of roses on one; and a roses are red, violets are blue on the other. To print the violets I get my son to dip one of his fingers in blue paint and showed him where to press his fingers to make petal shapes.

Crafts: Celery Rose Print Valentine's Cards

We hung the cards up to dry for a few hours, whilst they were drying we took some brown packing paper and he set to work printing roses and violets in a repeating pattern until the paper was covered. The effect is really very good, and ideal for wrapping Valentine’s gifts. Leave your gift wrap for a few hours to dry, when it’s dry you can wrap your gifts.

Once the cards were dry, I grabbed a nice inky pen and drew thorny stems and embellished the violets with leaves and a stamen. All that was left to do was for us to write romantic messages to the people we secretly, or not so secretly admire.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try these other Valentine’s Crafts:

Crafts: Celery Rose Print Valentine's Cards

FREE Snow Day Colouring Printables

When we woke up this morning, outside was strangely silent. I peered outside and the road was covered in a few inches of snow. We live 5 minutes walk from school, but I had a feeling we’d be getting an email to say it would be closed for the day. With an 8 year old to entertain, I started thinking about what we could do, apart from build a giant snowman!

I decided we would probably do some baking, maybe do some crafts and I’d try to get him to do some homework. But I knew I’d need a bit of quiet time to get on with a few of my own things. So I quickly put together some snow day colouring sheets for him to do.

It’s always nice to share, so here are three snow themed colouring sheets to print off and colour in. It’ll keep the kids occupied for a little while at least!

Download your FREE Snow Day Colouring Sheets here!

What kind of things can you do on a snow day to entertain the kids?
  • Build a snowman
  • Go sledging
  • Have a snowball fight
  • Make snow angels
  • Do some baking
  • Do some crafts
  • Read a book
  • Build a den
  • Have an indoor picnic

What else could you do on a snow day?

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try –

FREE Snow Day Colouring Printables

Book Review: Paperscapes – The Incredible World of Bugs

In February, Carlton Books are publishing a new range of books, specifically designed for curious children (and adults). There are four books in the series –  The Incredible World of Bugs; The Fearsome World of Dinosaurs; The Spectacular Journey into Space and The Amazing World of Animals. Today we take a look at The Incredible World of Bugs by Melanie Hibbert.

Paperscapes - The Incredible World of Bugs

The Paperscapes books are beautiful hardback books, each page is filled with details about insects and each of the die-cut pages is an artwork in itself. Each insect has perforations around it, meaning you can carefully press out the surrounds, revealing the insects and helping them to really stand out.

The illustrations in The Incredible World of Bugs are just beautiful. They’re full of detail and make even the creepiest of crawlies into something special. Each insect featured in the book has two pages of accompanying information which includes their size, what they eat, lifespan, how dangerous they are and what their conservation status is. Each entry also gives a details description of the insect and a number of “did you know” style facts.

Paperscapes - The Incredible World of Bugs

The book is squarely aimed at children aged 7+; but I think it would appeal to bug loving children right into their early teens. The facts are pitched at just the right level and the language used is fine for a good reader aged 7 and not too simple so that a teenager can enjoy reading it. It’s packed with facts and my 8 year old positively devoured it. It’s exactly his kind of book.

Paperscapes – The Incredible World of Bugs by Melanie Hibbert is published by Carlton Books and costs £12.99. It is available online and from good bookshops.

Paperscapes - The Incredible World of Bugs

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of  The Incredible World of Bugs for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Baking in style with Babahoot Personalised Aprons

We were sent this Babahoot Personalised Apron for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Over the last few months we’ve managed to shed some of my son’s after school activities and we now get to spend three after school afternoons together each week. For me these are precious hours together. Sometimes we do some homework or reading and sometimes we grab a bag of popcorn and watch a film together. On at least one of these three afternoons a week, we put on our aprons and bake together.

I love baking anyway, but baking with him is a lot of fun too. It’s lovely to be able to work with him, teaching him some baking basics and pulling delicious cakes and treats out of the oven. He’s really starting to get the hang of it lately and we’ve made some brilliant cakes.

Baking in style with Babahoot Personalised Aprons

Being 8, he is instinctively quite messy in his baking habits. He’s always missing the bowl when he’s tipping the flour in; or pulling the electric hand mixer out while it’s still going – and splattering cake batter all over himself and the kitchen. He lives to lick the spoon and scrape the bowl, but then, so do I.

Last week we were sent an absolutely gorgeous handmade personalised apron from Babahoot. Babahoot make personalised aprons and chef hats, pencil cases, toy storage trugs and knitting bags in their workshop in rural Herefordshire. Every item is made to a unique Babahoot design and finished with bright individual appliqués. They can be personalised with names and they are constructed with strong overlocked seams and good quality, brightly coloured fabrics.

Baking in style with Babahoot Personalised Aprons

Ben was sent this beautiful design, covered in cars, with a handy pocket and a comfortable elasticated neck strap. He put it on and immediately said it was awesome, which is praise indeed. This design, which was specially made for his 8 year old body, using a fabric he would love and personalised with his name cost £18, which is good value for such a high quality, bespoke item.

Children’s aprons are always a godsend; whether you’re baking or crafting, or doing any number of messy things, an apron is a huge step towards keeping him clean and tidy. This apron is so colourful and appealing, he wants to wear it, which is half the battle towards cleanliness!

Baking in style with Babahoot Personalised Aprons

If you’re looking for a lovely homemade, personalised gift for a child, you can find the Babahoot aprons and more on ETSY.

Health: Could you live without deodorant?

Last week I conducted a bit of a personal experiment. I gave up deodorant. It’s a bold move for someone living in a civilised society, but I thought I’d give it a try.

Over the years I’ve become increasingly aware of, and concerned about the chemicals I apply to and rub into my body. Deodorant has long had a slightly worrying reputation, many contain aluminium and parabens which have been linked to cancer.

I’m also trying to reduce the number of products I use and as a household we are trying to reduce waste.

Health: Could you live without deodorant?

Before I began my experiment, I ran a quick audit of my lifestyle, just to gauge how much I was likely to sweat.

  1. I work from home on a laptop, most days my physical activity is a quick walk to school and back and some light housework.
  2. I’ll take a bath or shower every day and give myself a good scrub.
  3. I go to the gym twice a week for a swim and an aqua class.
  4. Sometimes I walk the dog for an hour.
  5. I change my clothes daily.
  6. I don’t drive, so most local journeys are done on foot.
  7. I’m not an excessively sweaty person.

I surmised that I was unlikely to get too sweaty, and if I did I could just have a shower. It’s also January which is the least hot and sweaty month of the year, if I did this in August I suspect there might be problems. I’ve added a Smell Rating for the end of each day.

Day 1

Got up, showered and spent the day toiling over a laptop. No school run for me today, just a quick dash out to Cubs and back. Smell rating 0.

Day 2

Tuesday is usually a bit of an out and about day for me. Showered, did some work, walked to the shops, picked my son up from school, took him for a haircut, went home, cooked etc. Late that evening I detected a slight odour, but only if you got right up in my pits, but the boys said I was fine. Smell rating 1.

Day 3

Off to the gym this morning, skipped my shower as I’d have one before I got in the pool. Hopped on the bus because it was chucking it down, but there’s still a 10 minute walk at the other end. Noticed that my armpits were smelling a bit, but figured the shower, 90 minutes in a chlorinated pool and another shower would fix that. Chlorine is an excellent deodorant. Smell rating (eventually) 1.

Day 4

Another quiet at home day. Realising that deodorant is a necessity for me. Scrubbing keeps on top of things and not inviting people to sniff your pits is helpful. Feeling a bit self-conscious now. Smell rating 2

Day 5

I’d like this to stop now. It’s Friday and I went to the gym again for another shower/swim/shower session which does help to keep on top of things. I’m careful not to choose an overhead locker for fear of wafting unwelcome smells around the room. Smell rating, back to 1.

Days 6 and 7

Weekend and that brings with it a whole change of pace for me and the family. There’s a round of kid’s parties, shopping, housework, meal prep and dog walking. I’m feeling really aware of myself now; real or imagined I feel like I’m smelly. The boys assure me that I’m perfectly acceptable, but I’m bored with it now and just want to stop fretting about being socially unacceptable and put some deodorant on. Smell rating, it feels like 10 but it’s probably 3 or 4.

Conclusion

I like to look, feel and smell clean. Even with showering every day, it took me right out of my comfort zone and it’s going to take more than a week for me to break this habit. Standard deodorants might not always be the most healthy; so I’m going to look at changing to one with fewer chemicals, or an organic one from a company like Weleda.

These days more and more people are switching to solid deodorants; like the deodorants from German company, Ben and Anna which is vegan and cruelty free; or dusting powders from Lush. Finding a deodorant which works for you, fits with your lifestyle and keeps you comfortable in your own skin is so important.

I’ve also realised that the deodorant I’m currently using (it’s a Dove spray one) is fine for two days, even with a good scrub between those days. The chemicals in it keep me dry and odour free for 48 hours, even though it’s not a 48 hour one. So perhaps I can halve my deodorant use without too much of an impact on my social acceptability.

For me there are a few options on the table for where I go from here. At the start of the week I asked the question, can I live without deodorant? My answer is no, but I can change my deodorant habits and find a balance that works for me and my lifestyle, and I can move to a product with fewer chemicals.

Could you give up deodorant? Could you?

Health: Could you live without deodorant?

Frugal Recipe: Slow Cooker Pork and Baked Beans

This year, for various reasons we are tightening our belts. I’ve been looking to cut costs in the kitchen, and one way to do this is to batch cook dishes and freeze in portions. Another way to do this is to eat more beans and lentils. This week, I’ve done both and made a huge batch of slow cooker pork and baked beans.

This dish does take a bit of planning ahead, but at £1.12 (current price at Morrison’s) for 500g of haricot beans, it’s a pretty frugal way to feed the family. Sure, you can buy baked beans, but this recipe is worth trying at least once. It’s like the baked beans we get in a tin, but a little different. Lighter and less stodgy perhaps, they are certainly tasty.

I’ve used diced pork pieces in this recipe, but I think it’d be just as lovely if you swapped the pork for sausages or chipolatas. I like it served on thick buttered toast, but it would be great with a pile of buttery mash or on a jacket potato.

This recipe makes so much food, it’s great for batch cooking and freezing and really economical too. There’s probably enough for two good-sized meals for a hungry family of four.

Slow Cooker Pork and Baked Beans

Slow Cooker Pork and Baked Beans

Ingredients:

500g dried haricot beans, soaked for 24 hours
1 tablespoon oil, I used vegetable, but use what you have
450g diced pork (or swap for sausages)
4 rashers of smoked bacon, finely chopped
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs
Salt and pepper
1 pint of stock, made with a stock cube

How to make your pork and baked beans:

The day before you want to cook your pork and baked beans, soak your dried haricot beans in plenty of water, following the instructions on the back of the packet. Once they’ve soaked for 24 hours, change the water and boil them for half an hour, or until they’re not chalky inside. Drain and set aside.

In a frying pan, add your oil and cook the diced pork until it is browned. Once brown put it in your slow cooker. In the same pan, fry off the bacon pieces (you can buy packets of lardons which are cheaper than bacon slices if you prefer). Once the bacon is cooked, add that to the slow cooker.

Turn the slow cooker to high and add the beans and rest of the ingredients, but leave the salt out until later. The economy stock cubes I used were pretty salty, so it’s worth waiting until near the end to taste and see if you need to add more salt.

I cooked the pork and baked beans on high for two hours, then checked it and gave it a stir. It looked watery and I wasn’t convinced it would work. I then went out for two more hours and while I was out, magic had happened in the slow cooker. The sauce had thickened, the beans had softened and the pork and smoked bacon had given out their flavours. It had in total about 4 and a half hours on high, but cook it until the sauce has thickened and it looks, smells and tastes good.

Taste the sauce. Add more of whatever you think it needs. I added a bit more ketchup and it didn’t need any extra salt. Serve it however you like, it’s great on toast for lunch or piled on top of mashed potato.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, this works just as well in the oven. Put it in a lidded casserole dish on 160° for 2-3 hours, stir it every so often and when the sauce is thick, it’s done.

This is a great dish to cook in the depths of winter. I’m pleased as punch to have several tubs of this in my freezer for a rainy day.

If you enjoyed this, you might like to try these slow cooker recipes:

Slow Cooker Pork and Baked Beans

50 Themes to Inspire Craft Bloggers

If like me, you regularly write craft blog posts and tutorials it can sometimes be hard to come up with a topic. I write a craft post every Thursday, so I need about 50 new ideas each year. To help inspire me and to help me plan ahead, I’ve put together a list of general themes for Craft Bloggers.

I blog about all different kinds of crafts, as I write this I’m really into paper crafts, but the beauty of a list like this is that you can just us it as a general prompt and create whatever crafts you’re into. Where events and occasions are fixed I’ve included the date, but many vary from year to year.

50 Themes to Inspire Craft Bloggers

50 Themes to Inspire Craft Bloggers

New Year – 1st January
Burns Night
Chinese New Year
Valentine’s Day – 14th February
St David’s Day – 1st March
Shrove Tuesday
St Patrick’s Day – 17th March
Mothering Sunday
April Fools Day – 1st April
Easter
St George’s Day – 23rd April
Shakespeare Day – 23rd April
May Day
Father’s Day
American Independence Day – 4th July
Bastille Day – 14th July
Halloween – 31st October
Bonfire Night – 5th November
Remembrance Day – 11th November
Thanksgiving
St Andrews Day – 30th November
Christmas – 25th December
Mardi Gras
Eid
Ramadan
Diwali
Hanukkah
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Gardening
Harvest
Space
Pirates
Mermaids
Teacher presents
Animals
Insects
Castles
Weddings
Handprint crafts
Diwali
Unicorns
Dinosaurs
Seaside
Back to School
Robots
Crafts inspired by stories and books
Sports (football, tennis, cycling, rugby etc)

Craft Bloggers, have I missed anything major? Do let me know in the comments if there’s anything I should add.

I’ve added a few links to some of my craft posts and tutorials on some of these subjects. I know I’ll be dipping in and out of my list as the year goes along for inspiration and ideas. I hope you too will find this list useful. Happy crafting!

50 Themes to Inspire Craft Bloggers

Book Review: The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod

This term my son will be learning about the Vikings at school. Always keen to do a little extra reading and learning at home, this week we’ve been reading The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod.

For the last few years I’ve been completely obsessed with the Viking drama, The Last Kingdom. Although it’s not a documentary, I’ve picked up a few Viking facts over the last three series and my son (who hasn’t watched it, he’s far too young) is also a Viking fanatic. The World of Vikings covers all the bases when it comes to Vikings and is ideal for children aged 8+ with an interest in Viking history.

Book Review: The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod

The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod is divided into chapters and covers the following topic areas;

  • The Age of Vikings
  • Viking World
  • Viking History
  • Exploring the World
  • Viking Ships
  • Traders and Merchants
  • Viking Attack
  • Viking Warriors
  • Ship of War
  • Weapons
  • Life in Viking Times
  • Towns and Farms
  • Legend and Lore

This 80 page, colourfully illustrated history book is full of facts about the Viking age. Each page is lush with illustrations and images, which really bring the facts to life. With maps, timelines, photographs of relics and illustrations about what life was like for Vikings, it’s filled with detail which will really capture the imagination of readers.

It’s a great book and very well worth having on your book shelf to dip in and out of when you need to know some Viking facts. I really enjoy learning about Viking life, but the legends are always very interesting and my son loves to read about Thor’s hammer and the sagas.

Author, Robert Macleod lives on the remote Scottish coastline and has a passionate interest in the Viking age. The chapters begin with a paragraph or two from the diary of Tom Macleod, Robert’s grandfather who had discovered Viking relics in Scotland.

Book Review: The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod

The World of Vikings is a genuinely interesting book. Whether you’re learning about Viking life in year 3, or you’re an adult wanting to learn more about it for a TV series you’re a bit obsessed with, The World of Vikings is an excellent starting point. Rich in detail, lots of great images and all of it pulled together by the discoveries of the author’s grandfather.

The World of Vikings by Robert Macleod is published by Carlton Books and costs £9.99. It is available online and from good bookshops.

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of  The World of Vikings for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

10 family friendly things to do in Cheshire

Living in South Manchester, we are lucky to have the whole of Cheshire virtually on our doorstep. It’s a beautiful, lush green county, with bags of history, acres of natural beauty and more interesting things to do than you could shake a stick at.

When it comes to days out with the family, Cheshire has a diverse range of options and something to suit everyone. I’ve pulled together a list of 10 family friendly days out and things to do in Cheshire which are ideal if you’re visiting for the day, or if you live there and want to explore the county a bit more.

Days Out: Lymm Historic Transport Day

10 family friendly things to do in Cheshire

Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo is a world famous attraction; famed for its commitment to conservation, the zoo has a large and diverse collection of animals. It’s also got a monorail and each December hosts The Lanterns, a wonderful night time walk where the zoo dazzles with wonderful light displays.

Delamere Forest

Delamere Forest is managed by the Forestry Commission, there are recreational trails, a visitors centre and a cafe. There’s a nearby train station too. Plus there’s a Go Ape there for the more adventurous members of your family.

Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston

Owned by the University of Liverpool, Ness Botanic Gardens is home to a fantastic horticultural collection which includes show gardens, a Victorian-style potager and an Alpine house and cafe.

Jodrell Bank Discover Centre, Macclesfield

Jodrell Bank is owned and run by the University of Manchester and it is the home of the Lovell Telescope, the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world. It’s open to the public and has a visitors centre, exhibits and gardens to explore, as well as the chance to have a look at the Lovell Telescope up close.

10 family friendly things to do in Cheshire Jodrell Bank

Blue Planet Aquarium, Ellesmere Port

The Blue Planet Aquarium is a marine and freshwater aquarium located by the Cheshire Oaks retail and leisure complex in Ellesmere Port. It’s a fabulous day out, lots of fun and an interesting under-sea adventure for everyone.

Roman Tours, Chester

Take a fascinating walking tour of the ancient city of Chester with an authentic Roman soldier as your guide. Learn all about Roman history in this informative, educational and interactive experience for all ages.

The Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall

On warmer days, a trip to The Ice Cream Farm in Tattenhall makes a refreshing change, with over 40 flavours of ice-cream to try out, children’s play areas, farm animals and quad bikes, there’s no better place to chill out in the summer.

Just So Festival, Congleton

Now in its 10th year, the award-winning Just So Festival is the most wonderful family festival; with weird and wonderful things around every corner, lots to stimulate young minds (and not so young minds). Just So is the highlight of our summer, go for the day, or camp in the grounds of the wonderful Rode Hall. It’s the perfect way to unplug yourselves and let go for a weekend.

Lymm Historic Transport Day

Each summer, the ancient Cheshire town of Lymm is host to the Lymm Festival. Alongside the main festival, the Lymm Historic Transport Day is a real highlight for transport enthusiasts across Cheshire. With steam engines, vintage vehicles, diggers, bikes and even batmobiles; Lymm Historic Transport Day is a real treat, the Spitfire fly-over last year was a real highlight!

Days Out: Lymm Historic Transport Day

Dunham Massey

Cheshire is spoilt for National Trust properties, one of my favourites is Dunham Massey. It’s got long flat footpaths which are great for walking, scooting or cycling on; plus a magnificent hall, beautiful gardens and a deer park. It’s got a fairly new visitors centre and cafes galore. Wrap up for a winter walk, or slap on the sun-cream in the summer. Year round, it’s a great place to visit!

There’s so much to do in Cheshire; we have friends and family over the border, so we visit often and it’s definitely on our list of places to move to when we retire.  If you’re going on a family friendly day out in Cheshire, where are you planning? I’d love to hear your suggestions, pop them in the comments box below!

10 family friendly things to do in Cheshire #ExploringCheshire