Food

4 super books for kids and kids at heart {giveaway too}

by kath_red on June 25, 2011

in Books, Food

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for donating a copy of each of these books to giveaway to Whipup.net readers. I love being able to give stuff to my readers – as a little thank you for stopping by. So to be in the running to win ONE of these books please leave a comment telling me about what sort of things you like to cook for your kids – and what they love to cook too (or if they are too little to help what they love to eat) – I really want to know about your healthy choices not their favourite junk foods! {entries will be open over the weekend and will close Sunday night/monday am}. Winners will be contacted via email – Winners are: Jenny, Inge, Maya and Lisa.

 

Steampunk Softies: Scientifically-Minded Dolls from a Past That Never Was, by Sarah Skeate, Nicola Tedman. Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011)

This incredibly detailed book – is not a kids craft book at all – its for those with a childlike heart, who love to play and experiment and have a little fun. These gorgeous characters, inspired by film and literary imagination, have been created by illustrator and character designer Sarah Skeate and costume designer and model maker Nicholas Tedman. This is not your usual DIY crafty softie toy how-to book. Its more of a guide to entertain and amuse and make these unusual and wonderful characters. They are not necessarily difficult to make – however you will need to have some sewing skills as there are not a lot of techniques explained and there is a huge materials list required. But if you are up for a challenge and you love everything steampunk, nerdy and kinda cool, then you will completely fall in love with this book.

Jurassic Towel Origami. By Alison Jenkins. Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2009)

This is a hilarious book – totally left of field for me – having never heard of towel origami before – but seems like it is a thing that people do. And Alison Jenkins is reviving it! I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this book – but my kids assure me its pretty weird – but in a good way! and off they went with towel and book in hand.

Ready, Steady, Spaghetti: Cooking For Kids And With Kids. By Lucy Broadhurst. Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2009). Originally published by Murdoch in 2007.

This book is a steal – I can’t believe its under $8 at Amazon at the moment. I don’t usually mention how much books cost – but really I was very surprised as it is a big colourful book and great value at twice the price! Most of the recipes are given a double page – with clear step-by-step photos, which are really handy so you can see what the mixture is supposed to look like along the way. The recipes don’t reinvent the wheel – rather they are a timely reminder for busy parents and budding cooks about some simple, fun and healthful recipes that can be made easily and quickly with fairly common ingredients.

There are quite a few recipes that kids can tackle on their own (depending on age) and many more where little hands can assist. There are many healthy choices for busy parents like simple stir fried vegetables and sausage pie and few others that are a bit more demanding time wise but worth a little effort if you have a little more time – like gnocci and fish cakes. This is not a health food book though – its a real food for real families book – there is a treat section and party section – and anything homemade with real ingredients is a step towards teaching kids about real food.

Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food. By Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen. Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2010).

Shannon and Kelly are founders of the kids cafe and cookery school – Bean Sprouts - which looks like fun – anyone been there? This book is sort of aimed at kids – it’s bright and colourful with fun character illustrations perfect in a kiddo book. However as the kids it’s aimed at are preschool age and not likely to be reading yet (unless they are genius children), and older (7+) kids might think this book is a little cheesy (my kids did), so then if this book is really for the grownups it is a little hard to look at. Instead think of it as a book for preschool age (and younger) kids and parents to use together.

But design aside – the recipes, ideas and concepts that it discusses are really good. It is more than a cook book – it is an activity book which includes creative ways to encourage healthy eating and creates a positive attitude toward meals, making food and cooking fun, and using interesting and colourful ingredients. [Woman's day has some sneak peaks of a few of the recipes you will find inside.]

Disclaimer: The publisher provided Whipup.net with a review copy of these books. The Amazon links are affiliate links.

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From Kathreen: What’s cooking {black bean brownies}

by kath_red on June 13, 2011

in Food

I have started up two new regular columns here at whipup – to replace my previous newsletter. My new newsletter will be available via email only and will contain lots of news and crafty links and special offers – so you should sign up (yes it is still free for those who asked) (sign up at the bottom of this post).

To replace my previous newsletter which was available here and via email I am adding a ‘Crafty news and links’ column and a ‘From Kathreen’ column. The Crafty news and links will include lots of tutorials, crafty news, special offers, competitions and all the other bits and pieces that come through my inbox and that I found on my travels through the web. The ‘From Kathreen’ column will be more personal stuff from me – what I am up, my craft, cooking, and kids adventures.

So here is my first in this series – What’s cooking.


Over on my other blog – that I share with my brother – I post the occasional recipe – this weeks it’s Chocolate bean brownies. I know totally weird – but strangely delicious and addictive. I have been researching no-wheat and no-sugar cooking as we are trying to be healthier and eat cleaner. This is part of cutting out all processed foods and getting back to basics with our cooking and eating.

I found the original recipe at 101 cookbooks – a really great cooking blog. I tweaked the recipe quite a bit and my final version is posted here. This is a great recipe for those trying to cut out wheat or who are gluten intolerant. It is a moist dark chocolate brownie made with fiber-and-protein-rich black beans – and it’s wheat-free. Also great if you are trying to cut out sugar! They make an excellent healthy treat for kids too.

But of course being the blog hound that I am – I had to find out a bit more about using black beans in cakes and sweets. Not sure really where this recipe originates – maybe adapted from the Asian use of red bean paste in sweets. And I came upon quite a few other recipes and ideas …

  • This recipe also includes a banana and used agave nectar as the sweetener.
  • This brownie recipe adds choc chips and peppermint essence.
  • This recipe adds apple sauce and muscovada sugar as the sweetener.
  • Here is another flourless and sugarless version - using dried fruits as a sweetener. With a good explanation of the whole no-sugar thing.
  • And here is another one - with the addition of cinnamon.
  • This recipe uses a little kahlua and coconut oil
  • This one has added peanut butter. mmmm.
  • This one is a bit different – with Carob, banana and agave syrup – looks pretty good.

For even more crafty news, tutorials, reviews, special offers and updates subscribe to our newsletter via email.

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Tea party week at Wild Olive

by kath_red on May 25, 2011

in Food

Oh I do love a tea party and Wild Olive is hosting a week of tea party fun – full of guest posts, patterns and recipes – Plus if you head on over Whipup is hosting a giveaway of Action Pack! Along with a recipe for a trio of butter cookies.

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Books: Bedtime reading for knitters and cooks

by kath_red on May 23, 2011

in Books, Food

As you may – or may not – know, I am a voracious reader. And lately I have been reading some novels that have a creative edge – you know – with a cooking or craft thread running through. Here are four books which I took away on holiday with me recently and read eagerly while looking out to sea and drinking tea.

The Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans (Allen & Unwin June 2010).

I love reading books that are set locally and written by local authors – so Melbourne folk you might like this book too. Set in Rural Victoria in a small country town, this book is not what it seems. Full of interesting characters and sidestepping snippets, it is a bit sad sometimes but mostly lovely and surprising. About a girl looking for her father and a father who is hiding from himself. Not a love story in the usual sense – instead it is a love story between a father and daughter discovering each other and trying to help each other. And there is knitting too – yes an eccentric and sweet old lady knits tea cosies – it all fits perfectly beautifully. I sort of imagine this sort of thing when I think of old ladies knitting tea cosies – but I suspect the ones in this book are rather more practical – maybe like this one. I simply love this tea cosy - and this one too.

The Beauty of Humanity Movement: A Novelby Camilla Gibb (Penguin Press HC March 2011). Available in Australia through Allen & Unwin.

The beauty of humanity movement is named after a group of 1950′s Vietnamese artists and writers who paid the ultimate price for expressing their views. This book is stunning, set in the present time but going back and forth to the group of artists in the 1950′s who are at the heart of the story, a young woman in search of her past finds an old man trying to forget his – and their stories intertwine through the classic dish of Phở – a beef broth. Its an interesting premise and I was fascinated by the history of Vietnam, the art, the culture and ultimately the food. Phở is what brings everyone together in this story and has a story of its own – bringing together the history of Vietnam in this one dish. It is a classic street food in Vietnam as the broth needs to be lovingly tended for several hours and is therefore not so easy to make at home. If you do want to try to make it at home – I cobbled together a few recipes – as I am planning on tackling it this weekend. Making Phở at home : Phở Secrets : Phở recipe.

Cooking for Claudine: How I Cooked My Way into the Heart of a Formidable French Family by John Baxter. (Faber short books May 2011) Available in Australia through Allen & Unwin.

This latest book from Australian Expat Film Critic John Baxter is a captivating and romantic memoir. At its core it is about family and food and love, but it also explores themes of living in France and French customs as well as being welcomed into a French family (this interview is interesting). John Baxter describes how in his later years he falls in love and marries a French woman from a traditional old family and throughout the years somehow John has been given the task of preparing Christmas Dinner for the large and extended French family. Each year he goes to great lengths to impress and prepares wonderful and exotic dishes. His most recent Christmas sees him searching out ingredients from local markets and artisan food makers, while at the same time exploring his adopted country and local food customs. Wonderfully written with humour, intelligence and love. (And yes there are recipes – the final dinner included a whole suckling pig!)

Friendship Bread: A NovelContemporary Literature) by Darien Gee. Published by Ballantine Books (April 5, 2011). Available in Australia through Allen & Unwin.

Friendship bread is a bread starter that needs to be nurtured and fed for 10 days before using, then it can be divided to make four loaves. One quarter of the starter is kept and the other three quarters are packaged up and given out to friends to make their own breads. Lovely concept but can get out of hand as you might imagine – which it does in this book too. Sadness and friendship, love and loss are explored in this book – with the friendship bread bringing healing to unhappy souls and bringing together a town to help those in need. A quick read, with lots of cooking and food to feed the soul. As I didn’t have any starter passed on to me I had to find out for myself how to make it and found lots of resources on the net – the best place to start is with the book’s own website – where there is a recipe to make the starter Friendshipbreadkitchen, to make the basic bread as well as plenty of variations.

DISCLOSURE: Allen & Unwin PROVIDED WHIPUP.NET WITH REVIEW COPies OF THese BOOKs. THE AMAZON LINKs are AFFILIATE LINKs.

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Cooking with tea: Ice cream

by kath_red on May 19, 2011

in Food

I have only recently discovered the culinary art of cooking with tea and want to explore more. Today I did some experimenting and researching making tea ice cream. I have often had Matcha tea ice cream – and love it – but wanted to try out a few other tea flavoured ice creams. After a some experimenting I came up with a delicious simple icecream recipe that allowed the subtle tea flavour to be the main attraction and made a trio of tea ice cream: Chai, Oolong and Earl Grey.

You will need:

  • 1 teaspoon of your tea (per 100mls of liquid)
  • 1/4 cup of boiling water
  • 1/4 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of cream
  • 1 teaspoon of sweetener (sugar, honey or palm sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon of powdered gelatin

What to do:

  1. Steep your tea in a bowl with the boiling water for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the cream, milk, gelatin and sweetener and bring to the boil for a minute in a saucepan on the stovetop.
  3. Let the tea leaves sit in the mixture while it cools in the fridge – 1 hour
  4. Strain out the tea leaves and let the mixture stand in the fridge for -2-4 hours (or overnight) – it should go a bit gelatinous because of the gelatin you added. This will help the final texture of the ice cream.
  5. Place in your mixture in your ice cream maker and mix for 10-20 minutes until it is like a thick milkshake – then chill in the freezer until ready to use.

Notes:

  • If you don’t have an ice cream maker then follow David Lebovitz’s directions to make it without. And here are some tips from David for making your homemade ice cream softer.
  • Serve with some shortbread cookies for a refreshing different sort of afternoon tea.

Why don’t you try Jasmine tea, Matcha or Sencha green tea or Tai tea… wait there’s more – I have compiled a list of delicious and different tea ice cream recipes for you to try out.

If you are a tea fan like me – try out our e-magazine: Action Pack for kids – only $5 and jam packed with recipes, crafts and activities for kids and adults.

 

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