Aunt Bessie's Saves Dinner!

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Why would anyone go to all the effort of making batter for a yorkshire pudding when someone else has done it for you?

Four eggs? Four?!

Why would you when you can buy a packet of either ready-made, or cook from batter, yorkshire puddings? I certainly don't and that is why I always have a supply in my freezer.

Therefore when I had an e-mail asking me to try some of the Aunt Bessie products, I jumped with glee and agreed immediately. A few days later a very nice chap knocked on my door (having driven from Yorkshire) and delivered this for me…

There are a few things that really stood out to me from the selection above:

  • vegetarian toad in the hole;
  • boat-shaped yorkshire puddings (perfect for The Boy);
  • gravy tablets;
  • apple pie.

These vegetarian toad-in-the-holes are absolutely gorgeous. Yes it's a tray full of batter with two vegetarian sausages in, but they are genuinely some of the nicest sausages I've tasted; herby and succulent, they swelled beautifully while cooking in the batter. I thoroughly enjoyed this and have since bought them to eat again because of the ease and convenience.

The image on the left is of the boat-shaped yorkshire puddings which are a genius idea and perfect for children! I managed to fit two hot-dog style sausages in alongside each other (although one 'normal' thickness sausage would fit just as well) and The Boy thought it was magic! He absolutely loved them floating in the sea of gravy and wolfed the lot down. On the right above is a giant yorkshire pudding which I filled with chopped up sausage, carrots, brocolli and topped with a cheese sauce. It's a really quick meal, incredibly filling and because it's presented in a different way, my sometimes-difficult-eater was far more engaged in eating his meal.

The frozen gravy is something that I know Aunt Bessie's are very proud of, and I'm told by the meat-eaters in the family that it's with good reason. A concentrated gel-like capsule which is kept in the freezer, melt it in hot water over a stove and it is just as good as 'proper' gravy and far superior to granules. And for a vegetarian cooking meat, it's such an easy and fool-proof way of producing a quality gravy.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to apple pie; I don't like crunchy pastry, I like a deep filling and the lightest amount of crunchy sugar sprinkled on top. Unfortunately the bramley apple pie fell apart when I took it out of the oven, and the ability to serve it in a complete slice also seemed elusive. It tasted good, but I would have preferred more chunky apple filling with a bit more cinnamon.

I'm thoroughly impressed with the range of convenience products that Aunt Bessie's produce; I had no idea there were so many different items and some of them are truly imaginative. I personally prefer the yorkshire puddings that cook from frozen batter, but I will be adding the boat-shaped yorkshire puddings, the vegetarian toad in the hole and the gravy to my regular shopping list.

I was sent these products for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Guest-Post: Spotting the Signs of Rare Childhood Illnesses

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As a concerned parent, it’s difficult to know what to do if your child gets sick. While you don’t want to overreact, there is also the chance that your baby or toddler could be suffering from something a bit more serious than a slight fever.

When in doubt, it is always better to take your child to a doctor. Make sure to ask for a thorough check up and look for signs and symptoms beyond the common cold or flu that you may have missed. And in order to avoid the need medical solicitors later (and possibly save your child’s life) remember to ask questions during your child’s appointment. Not sure where to start? Here are some serious childhood illnesses that you may want to encourage your doctor to look for.

Meningitis. You may think that your child simply has a case of the flu when it’s actually meningitis because the signs are so similar. Both can induce nausea, loss of appetite, a fever and exhaustion. However, with meningitis, it is important to look for other less common symptoms, such as a stiff neck and a skin rash, in some cases. In babies under the age of two, you may also notice a knot on the head. This is actually caused by swelling of the brain.

Croup. This is another illness that begins with symptoms similar to those of a common cold. The primary difference with croup is a more intense cough that sounds like a combination of barking and wheezing. While the serious-sounding cough may be unnerving to a worried parent, the implications are rarely serious; a quick trip to the doctor’s office is usually enough to help your child breathe easier as they fight off the virus.

Respiratory syncytial virus. You may have never heard of this sickness before, but your child is actually more likely to get this than to suffer from the season flu virus. The onset can feel just like a cold or flu–complete with a stuffy nose, increased body temperature and a cough — but it can lead to a more serious conditions like pneumonia or bronchiolitis, a condition similar to bronchitis but that affects the bronchioles instead of the bronchi.

Scarlet fever. Sometimes, during a bout with strep throat, children can suddenly develop a red rash on the chest and abdomen. This development, known as scarlet fever, can have other symptoms, too. Sometimes, the person will also become red in the face or his or her tongue will turn white. While scarlet fever sounds serious–mainly due to its historical reputation as a fatal disease — a round of antibiotics can cure it quickly and easily.

Pertussis. This infection, more commonly known as whooping cough, has been less of a risk in the UK since vaccinations are offered to both expectant mothers and to children during their first few years of life. However, it is still possible to catch this bacterial infection in which the main symptom is a painful cough that can lead to shortness of breath.

Christmas Storybooks For Pre-Schoolers #2

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I wanted to share some of the Christmas story books that we've been sent by Walker Books.

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With Love, From Maisy is a fantastic pocket book which would be ideal as a stocker filler for toddlers. With simple text and 'lift-the-flaps' on each page, it's a handy book to fit into a stocker and then keep in a handbag or for in the car.

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We love this book! Santasaurus is a fabulous take on the popular theme of 'child who wants to see Father Christmas' featuring three young, sibling, dinosaurs Ollie, Molly and Milo. They write letters to 'Santasaurus' telling him what they'd like on Christmas Day, but will Milo get his wish to help Santasaurus?

Beautifully illustrated, humorous and a real delight to read; The Boy declared, "That was a lovely story Mummy, can we read it again?"

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"On Charley's first night, Henry tells his new puppy "This is home, Charley". He says that a lot so that Charley will know that he is home. Henry's parents are pretty clear about who will be walking and feeding Charley (Henry will, and he can't wait). They are also pretty clear about where Charley will be sleeping – in the kitchen. But when the crying starts in the middle of the night, it looks like Henry's parents' idea about where Charley is going to sleep may have to change."

Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, Charley's First Night is a gorgeous book with a lovely and compassionate story woven through the pages, explaining how important it is to care for a pet and what they need. The Boy enjoyed the illustrations more than the story, but I suspect it's because he was minimal contextual understanding of having a pet.

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"It's Christmas time at the toy museum and all the toys hurry to the tree, but there aren't any presents! What can they give each other?"

While not the style of book that we would normally choose (because of the illustrations), when we read Christmas at the Toy Museum this morning, The Boy really enjoyed it and it was a great story for discussion about giving and receiving presents.

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No home is complete without a Where's Wally? book and this Santa Spectacular version is the perfect gift to give this Christmas to all observant sorts! There are pages galore of festive puzzles, riddles, searches, trivia and games with over 300 stickers where the reader can create a merry Where's Wally? scene at the end too. The Boy is a little young for some aspects of this book (wordsearches and riddles) but he adores trying to see Wally and complete the sticker scenes.

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The Night Before Christmas is a 'must-read' for Christmas Eve and we already have a version that we tried to read last year. Admittedly The Boy was significantly younger and it's a tricky language for a (then) two year old to digest, but the images were boring as well and we didn't enjoy reading it with him. However, this version is truly magical!

With simple black and white images on each page and cut-outs throughout the book, The Boy has been completely engaged reading this book and listening to the story. The text seems to be a little easier to read and explain, and the way that the story is illustrated really provides the non-reader with picture cues to comprehend the story. As with all interactive books, there is a fantastical end page and I shall go no more in explaining it, but my mum gasped when she turned the page.

Beautiful!

We were sent these books for the purpose of this review, our opinions are honest and unbiased.

Christmas Sensory Box (Learning Through Play)

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It's been a while since I did a sensory box for The Boy (our Autumn one went mouldy when Nana put the lid on the wet conkers) so I decided to create an exploratory festive box for him.

Sensory tray

I used:

  • white rice coloured with red food colouring and baked in the oven for 90 minutes on 90°C
  • cinnamon sticks
  • pine cones
  • red and gold glitter
  • red sand
  • orange slices painted gold
  • gold sequins and jewels
  • a variety of shiny gold and red items; straw circles, jingle bells, chocolate coin covers
  • ground ginger sprinkled all over.

The best bit of this is giving The Boy a magnifying glass and encouraging him to explore the 'buried treasure'. Sensory boxes are great for fine motor skills development and encourage exploration and communication. The Imagination Tree is the grand master of sensory trays and exploratory boxes.

Words With Friends & CityVille: Virtual Games Become Reality

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One of the most fun features of mobile technology and social media platforms are the games that are available; fun and attractive they frequently allow the players to interact with other players regardless of geographical location. Two of the most playable games of the past year have been Words With Friends (which I rock at by the way) and CityVille.

Now Hasbro is responsible for bringing these two Zynga games to 'life' as board games, albeit in a familiar format to current games available.

WORDS WITH FRIENDS

zynga games

Before I go any further, yes it is like Scrabble.

  • The game includes a full-size board, four curved tile racks, tile bag and 104 tiles. And just like Scrabble, players choose the tiles, arrange them in the tile rack and take it in turns to place tiles onto the game board, building upon opponent’s word creations to score as high as possible. Bonus spaces such as Double Word or Triple Letters give opportunities for higher scores and the player with the highest word score at the end of the game wins. So no difference there then?
  • However, purchase of the Words With Friends game also includes a bundle of digital features to enhance online or mobile play, including Word-O-Meter, The Count and Tile Pile. To access the digital features, players must be 13 years or older and have a valid WWF account on Zynga.com or Facebook.

This is a fun game, and while it works along the same theory as Scrabble, for me that's not a problem. The Words With Friends game is more attractive to younger players and anything that gets children enthusiastic about playing with language and broadening their vocabulary is a good thing in my book.

CITYVILLE Monopoly Game

There are loads of different versions of Monopoly out there (I'm pretty sure Mr. TBaM would point out the collection we have!) and variants of the game involving different methods of payments, or locations. Zynga’s CITYVILLE and Hasbro’s classic Monopoly game have joined forces to become the fast-play way to build your dream city! Which is great because, quite frankly, I have the attention span of a gnat nowadays!

  • Become the first mayor to build four skyscrapers to win. Skyscrapers are built by building layers on properties, topping it off with the grey skycraper piece.
  • Combines classic Monopolygameplay with new, creative ways to build:
    • Buy and build a variety of locations like train stations, the toy shop and the bakery;
    • Use stackable buildings to build houses, community buildings and businesses in the center of the board;
    • Give and receive 'Mystery Gifts' to decorate neighborhoods and increase rent value (I don't completely 'get' this bit!).
  • Each CITYVILLE Monopoly game includes a unique code to redeem 85 'city cash' of in-game currency for use in Zynga's CITYVILLE online game so the building adventures can continue online (this is where the age restriction of 13 comes in: Facebook 'members' should be 13+)

We played this last night with The Boy and while we had to adapt the rules quite a lot (fines with a three year old? No chance!) he absolutely loved the basic premis of buying the property and having the receipt for them.

Monopoly is a great game to play with children anyway (I can't play it by myself with Mr. TBaM due to an unfortunate incident about eight years ago where I took pity on him and then he bankrupted me!) and the concept of buying property which can they be built up high and set upon an attractively designed board is great fun. The properties are relevant for children; ice-cream parlour, toy shop, train stations, etc. and retain the original idea of Monopoly well to sustain adults interest.

It is worth noting that both of these games come with a certain amount of credit which can be used online with a Facebook account, and it clearly states on the front of each box that in order to use this players must be over 13 years old, in line with Facebook rules and legislation. I would urge parents to act responsibly and not purchase it for children under this age, e-safety and Internet awareness is an essential aspect of online activity nowadays and it is parents responsibility to ensure they know what their children are getting up to.

I was sent these products for the purpose of this review, my opinions are honest and unbiased.

366 #50

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Not long left now and then the project is all over! Anyone thinking of doing it again next year? I'll confess that I am contemplating it.

I know, I'm mad.

You know the drill, join in with your favourite photograph of the week and show some comment love to everyone else in the community.

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on just a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
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Saturday 15th December 2012 – 'Bedhead' (350/366)

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My poor boy has an ear infection yet again (although the first this Winter) and is so poorly with it. After taking him to the out of hours surgery earlier this afternoon to get some antibiotics, he fell asleep in the car and we carried him in to sleep on Mr. TBaM's lap for an hour or two. This was his rather fab bedhead hair when he awoke.