Buckwheat blini

Russian blini (pronounced bleenY) are often made using a buckwheat flour batter and have a pronounced nutty flavor. I know many recipes call them blinis, but blini in Russian is already in plural (one pancake is a blin), so I think the extra S is totally unnecessary.

For about 15-16 small size blini you will need
4 heaped tbsp of standard self-raising flour
4 heaped tbsp of buckwheat flour
2 medium eggs
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
200ml milk
2 tbsp of soured cream (optional), if you don't have soured cream, you might need to add more milk
butter for oiling the pan and for the blini themselves

Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use a blender until you have a smooth batter.
You might want to experiment with the buckwheat/standard flour ratio.
If you want, you might use just the buckwheat flour, but then the flavour will be very strongly on the buckwheat side. They will also be thicker.
I like it at 50/50.
Use a pancake pan, you need to add some butter or oil to it first. Once very hot, using a ladle, add the batter to the pan, or use a tablespoon if you like, about 2 tbsp per one pancake. You can make them big-sized too. Spread a bit of butter on top of the hot blini as you make them.
They are best eaten hot.
Do not use the lemon juice and sugar if you want an authentic Russian flavour. For the savoury blini add a generous dollop of the thick soured cream and a bit of the smoked salmon or caviar, and you don't have to buy the most expensive ossetra or beluga caviar, salmon caviar from Waitrose will be just fine.
For the sweet blini, you might choose either a dollop of the soured cream and sugar, or the honey.

I have been reading recently a little feature on blini in The Observer by some chef called Sasha Belkovich, and she wrote: "Blinis are eaten everywhere in Russia, and by everyone, particularly for breakfast. You'd struggle to find a family that didn't have them a few times a week"
Nonsense.
Some families have them regulalry, some only very occasionally. My brother was visiting recently and I read the quote above to him and we had a good laugh about it. When we were growing, our Mum didn't do pancakes. In fact I cannot recollect her making pancakes ever. She is a fab cook, but pancakes were not something she made for us. I started making pancakes when I was about 11 or older, and remember well my cooking disasters.

Here is Eddie eating two pancakes at the same time.

This will be my second entry to the Flavours of Russia event.

originated by simply.food
guest host by Garnishfood Blog

Honey cake with prunes and soured cream

There are many variations of the honey cake with the soured cream in Russia, I have tried many, and this one is my favourite. I have played with different flavours, substituting soured cream with the whipped cream and butter cream, but realised that the soured cream is the must. It truly enhances the sweetness of the honey and prunes. You will need a good quality soured cream, closer to creme fraiche, as it has to be thick, not runny, otherwise it won't work.

You will need:
100g unsalted butter
80g honey (runny variety but preferably a good quality one not the syrupy substance that often comes as honey in the supermarkets)
400g plain flour
2 medium eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Earl Grey teabag
1 tin of prunes in syrup
200g prunes, pitted
200g caster sugar
300ml soured cream (thick)

Place the butter and honey in a mixing bowl, cream thoroughly, beat in the eggs, add the flour and baking powder, mix together to form the dough. Cover the bowl with a clean teatowel and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
Once taken out of the fridge, leave it for about 30 mins at the room temperature, before dividing the dough into 5-6 balls. Roll each ball on a lightly floured surface to about 3-5 mm thickness. Cut them into large circles, using a plate or a bowl. The variation of this recipe was published in the DK Everyday Easy Cakes & Cupcakes, they didn't make any acknowledgement but this is my recipe, and I blogged about it some time ago. They mentioned using a 14 cm bowl for this purpose. I use a wider plate, hence I have 5 layers, and they have 6. It is entirely up to you, if you want it wider or higher.
Bake 2 layers at a time on 2 trays at about 180C for 8-10 minutes, or until golden.
Here is a stack of honey cake layers without added cream

Make a mug of Earl Grey as usual, and leave it in the mug for 3 minutes, then discard the teabag. Add the pitted prunes and half the sugar. Bring to boil and remove from the heat. Let it cool.
Open the tin with the prunes, remove the stones from the prunes and keep the juice. Remove the pitted prunes from tea and set aside. Add the prune juice to the tea.
Brush each honey cake layer with the prune & tea mixture.
Add the remaining sugar to the soured cream and beat it together. Add a couple of spoons of the soured cream on top of the honey cake layer, spread it evenly. Place the mixed prunes on top (both pitted prunes that were removed from the tea and the prunes from the tin). Put the next honey cake layer, repeat the process until all the soured cream and prunes are used.

Now that your cake is assembled, you might want to add the syrup. To make the syrup boil the mixture of tea and prune syrup until much reduced, leave it to cool, then spoon over the cake.

Don't be tempted to eat it immediately, it needs a few hours for flavours to come together. It is best served the next day. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

This cake is quite time-consuming to prepare, but it is worth it. This is probably one of my most favourite cakes.

The recipe is sent to "Flavours of Russia" Event

originated by simply.food
guest host by Garnishfood Blog

Bakestone journey continues

Our taster journey continues, thanks to Bakestone. The February parcel was full of surprise breads with names that didn't sound familiar like Hoofers and Toothsomes.

Hoofers

What exactly is a hoofer, you might ask. And the answer is "A barmcake with attitude! Ideal for chip butties, yum!"

Chip butties didn't sound very appealing to me, so we haven't tried it. The bread itself was a bit too bland and too soft, but perhaps it is supposed to be like that. It went well as a sandwich with fillings like ham and cheese and mustard. Great for sandwiches, but I would have like a more robust flavour and texture.

Toothsomes

Two long finger style rolls that are great for sandwiches or hot dogs. Toothsome literally means delicious or luscious!

Good idea for hot dogs with plenty of mustard. My toddler loved them, simply sliced and with a bit of butter and jam. Personally I like rolls a bit more crusty for sandwiches, but they were approved by all of my boys (husband and sons).

Nudgers

A long brown roll similar to a large finger roll. A longstanding favourite in Liverpool!

Great healthy rolls. Make perfect filled rolls, and taste good to serve with a soup. We tried them with butter too. Good quality, and oozing health. My toddler was less keen on them, but my husband and I enjoyed eating them.

Poppy Seed Nudger

A tasty and healthy choice for lunchboxes and big enough to satisfy healthy appetities!
I loved poppy seed buns as a child, and still do.

A tasty bun, we all loved it. I think more poppy seeds might make it even better. We tried it as it is and with butter. Lovely! My top choice from the selection.

Here is Eddie, munching on a poppy seed nudger and enjoying it.

Hot cross buns: once you open the plastic bag, the aroma of the hot cross buns is unmistakable. They were soft, moist and lush, very moreish, with a good blend of spices and sweet raisins - just how the hot cross buns should taste. We tried them as they are, sliced with a bit of butter, and also toasted with a thin layer of marmalade. Absolutely delightful.

 

I enjoyed trying new breads and flavours, and this was definitely a discovery parcel.

Justin Fletcher's new CD "Hands Up" (review)

When I read several mummy bloggers' reviews on the new Justin Fletcher's CD, I was dismayed to find out they were apprehensive to start with. How could they? It's Justin! The one and only, inimitable and unique, a hero of all families who have children with special needs.

First it was Sasha who learnt about Mr Tumble at school and started looking for his videos online, later after seeing how interested he is, I started buying DVDs.
I was really looking forward to listening to Justin's new album with my 19-months-old son. Eddie knows Justin Fletcher from the DVD collection that we have and loves his Nursery Rhymes so much that we put it on at least once a day. In fact, Eddie is watching Something Special right now, as I type.

The new album contains 20 songs, most of them are well known children's classic songs like "If you're happy", "The Hokey Cokey", "The Wheels on the Bus".
There are a couple of songs that we haven't heard before: "The Sailor's Lament" (this is a rather melancholic song, beautiful and even poignant if you think about it) and "Justin's Lullaby" (another lyrical piece, very peaceful and slightly philosophical).

The tunes are very upbeat, with a modern interpretation. Easy to listen to and very catchy. Justin's voice is immediatley recognisable. His charisma shines through his performance. The album starts with a cheerful dancing tune and ends with three calm songs.

We listened together with Eddie, we danced and laughed at ourselves. We whirled around enthusiastically, me wiggling my bum and Eddie laughing his socks off at Mum's dance.

This CD will make a lovely present to any pre-schooler. It is available from 5 March.


We love it!

ClassDojo, a digital age education tool

ClassDojo – encourage positive behaviour whilst engaging a classroom in minutes

Have you heard of ClassDojo?
It is a new real-time behaviour management tool for teachers called ClassDojo (www.classdojo.com)

ClassDojo is a behaviour management tool that allows teachers to digitally monitor and record pupils’ behaviour and progress in real-time. For many teachers, parents and students, improving students’ behaviour is a hassle that gets in the way of effective teaching and learning.

Sam Chaudhary is the co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo. He achieved Double First Class Honours in Economics at Cambridge, and his co-founder Liam Don was a PhD candidate at Durham University. Together, they are creating a hugely successful student behaviour management tool based on his own experiences as a teacher. The system has been adopted by tens of thousands of teachers and students in 25 countries in just a few months since it launched; it also won a $75,000 Citigroup Innovation Prize, winning ‘Best Education Technology Startup of 2011’. Sam and Liam were subsequently invited to present their programme live on US national television on NBC’s Education Nation programme with and the Today Show. Here is a video demonstration of the tool: http://youtu.be/b5uihmPlbvA.

ClassDojo will soon engage parents to fix behaviour problems in the home as well. The vision is that rather than the negative approach currently taken to behaviour, there is a huge opportunity for pupils to be successful, ‘whole’ individuals by going beyond building good grades alone, to actually building good character.

ClassDojo is inspired by some of the work on character development done by James Heckman. Heckman’s work shows that good life outcomes are secured by not just the development of cognitive skills, but crucially, of character skills,. This approach is slowly making its way to the UK, with thousands of teachers using ClassDojo on this side of the Atlantic. A focus on character development is something of a shift from the current UK system, but there is a growing school of thought that believes a move to placing more emphasis on character building will prove more effective than measures of cognitive achievement at raising standards and providing the kind of employment skills needed later in life, the premise being that the majority of jobs are not intellectually complex but they do require collaboration, confidence and motivation.

Recent news showed stats that only 59% of children aged five have a good level of child development. There have also been some comments from Prince Charles recently about the need for pupils to build character and for schools to educate the 'whole person' instead of just focusing on academic disciplines and his concerns about the number of young people leaving education with very little life skills such as confidence and motivation. One of the key points about ClassDojo’s vision is that it will encourage pupils to build these skills.

 

 

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I have been asked to add this interesting post to my blog. Inevitably the digital age brings its own tools and ideas. On the whole, I tend to agree we need to move on with the times, and using the digital media can be only a bonus. The benefit of ClassDojo, from how I understand it, is for parents to get the feedback on their children's behaviour in the class.
But at the same time I feel that my expectations of what a school should do are somehow slightly different. For me the school is first and foremost a place of getting an education, and by that I mean an academic knowledge rather than social skills and confidence. Nowadays parents expect everything from school, from potty-training to learning how to use cutlery. The school should not be a substitute for parental guidance. This is not a criticism of ClassDojo, this is more of a disagreement on what the school should be doing. Prince Charles is perhaps not the best mouthpiece to promote life skills, coming from his privileged background and surrounded by servants who do everything for him. Academic disciplines should not be overlooked in favour of the social skills.
I would love to know what you think on the subject.

Wild herb rub (a lyrical review)

An ancient legend tells the story of the young Polovtsian khan: he left his Motherland to help the Caucausian Prince to fight the enemies and stayed behind, being seduced by the beautiful women and wine. His brother kept sending messengers to him, asking to come back home, but the young khan ignored the messengers. Finally a messenger arrived who didn't utter a word but gave a bunch of the dry yemshan herb to the khan. The smell of the dry herb brought back memories of the happy childhood, of his parents, freedom, horses and the wild grassland plains. The khan burst into tears and decided to go back home.
Yemshan (or yamshan) herb is a kind of wormwood or absinth, it has a very strong bitter smell, which is very evocative of the steppe.
Why am I telling you this? I had my own "yemshan herb" moment recently, when I opened a jar of the wild herb rub from Forage. The wonderful smells of chamomile , red clover and wild thyme brought back memories of my childhood. My Mum used to pick wild herbs and dry them, she makes her own herbal teas, and all through my childhood I rinsed my hair with the herbal mixture.

Wild Herb Rub is a fab mix of dried herbs.
Quote: "A wonderful wild flavouring packed with herbs that grow in British pastureland, made with wild thyme, english sage, fennel, marjoram and camomile mixed with with hints of meadowsweet, clover flowers and sheeps sorrel.
Our wild herb rub is inspired by an amazing pasture outside our kitchen window, when it rains the smell of camomile is intoxicating. We are convinced that meat tastes best flavoured with what it has eaten, and this is our theory behind why the rub is so good with british meat. (It's also pretty gorgeous with veg too!) Ditch the herb d'provence and take up with the herbs of our homeland"

I thought it would work well with the straightforward beef stew (without dumplings, as my guys don't like them much). This dish is perfect on a cold day.
For 4-5 servings you will need
about 400g beef, cut in chunks
2 medium carrots
1 parsnip
2 medium potatoes
1 red onion
1 sweet potato
1 can of carrot soup
vegetable oil
2 tbsp of Wild herb rub
plain flour for coating the beef
a handful of raisins or sultanas
about 7-8 dried apricots

Using a clean board, coat the beef with the plain flour and wild herb rub. Heat the oil in the deep frying pan and add the beef, cook it until well browned on all sides. Remove the beef and put it in the big saucepan.
Chop the onion and fry until translucent. Add to the pan with the beef. Chop the carrots and fry a bit as well (you might skip this stage, but the fried carrots give a sweeter flavour to the stew).
Add the chopped parnsips, sultanas and apricots to the pan, pour water. Beef and vegetables should be always covered by the water, so keep checking the level and add more if necessary.
Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer on very low for a couple of hours. Add the potatoes, sweet potato and a can of carrot soup about 20 minutes before the end of cooking.
If you are feeling truly decadent, you can also add a can of the game soup. Your stew will be truly worthy of the king's table.
Experiment with the amount of the wild herb rub, you might want to increase the amount of herbs from 2 tbsp to 3 or even more. The herbs add a special note to this dish and enhance the flavours.

Stay safe with Boomerein

Eddie is 19 months going on 19 years, and he thinks he can do anything. He is not happy to stay in the pushchair all the time when we go out shopping. Since I detest cars and refuse to drive, we walk everywhere in town. Until recently Eddie was happy to observe the world from his pushchair. I can still keep him happy there, if he has his teddy with him and a few snacks, but he is getting more and more restless and wants to walk next to me.

Luckily we were offered to test the Boomerein from Kool Kangaroos, which is a retractable child safety rein that clips easily between you and your children around the waist using adjustable straps, allowing them to stick close to you, while you can carry on using both hands to get on with your day.

As you can see from the photos, my child is very close to me (photos taken with the Boomerein attached to both of us) but still feels he can exercise his independence.

Both belts are fully adjustable for your size which it is a big bonus, since you can wear it with either summer or winter clothes.

I would still advise holding your child's hand when crossing the road (you can never be too careful when crossing the road) or in the busy town centre (so that you are not bothering other people or getting in their way).

We never used the shoulder reins with Eddie, so I can only compare the two theoretically. I suppose the shoulder reins are more suitable for toddlers who started to walk recently and are still quite unsteady on their feet. The Boomerein would suit tots who have mastered the art of walking, as they are not supported by the reins.The Boomerein is a safety product that gives both a parent and a child a good amount of freedom without compromising the child's safety.

It is especially convenient if you have a pushchair with you, as it gives you freedom of using your hands. We have tried the reins mostly in the garden and in the park area.

I can also imagine it is very useful when you go out with two tots.

And if you like the idea of the cool reins, head straight to Kool Kangaroos.

Disney's Club Penguin magazine launch

If you are a Club Penguin fan and member, I'm sure you were anticipating the launch of a new magazine with great enthusiasm.

Disney’s Club Penguin Launches UK Magazine

First print magazine from the largest virtual world for kids is the latest addition to its range of connected experiences

Disney’s Club Penguin has launched its first official magazine: Disney Club Penguin Magazine. Hitting newsstands across the UK and Ireland, from Thursday 9^th February, the new magazine will give kids another way to engage with Club Penguin. The four-weekly magazine will feature richly-illustrated comic stories, fact files, puzzles and activities themed on popular in-world games and events. As with all Club Penguin toys, books, videogames and apps, the magazine will connect to the virtual world through secret codes that allow kids to earn coins and unlock exclusive items offering a truly integrated entertainment experience.

Lucy Woodward, director of Disney Online Studios for The Walt Disney Company EMEA, explains: “Safety, great content and engaging gameplay drives everything we do and this new magazine will deliver children the same quality of experiences they demand in our virtual world. The two are also connected in order to ensure complete continuity.

“In the same way we reward our players online with coins when they complete challenges and quests, kids solving puzzles in the magazine will earn coins they can use to credit their online account. Kids playing our Nintendo DS game, Herbert‘s Revenge, or collecting trading cards, can discover codes that allow them to unlock special items in-world. This kind of connectivity can also be seen with our books, plush and apps and is really important in staying true to the quality of entertainment, narrative and mythology of Club Penguin outside of the virtual world.“

Disney Club Penguin Magazine, published by Panini UK, is launching exclusively in the UK and Ireland. Each issue will include two secret codes that unlock exclusive items online for use in-world and will be available in all major retail outlets priced at £2.99.

Launched in October 2005, Club Penguin has seen more than 150 million registered users pass through the site. With its imaginative play environment, word filtering technology and live moderation, award-winning Club Penguin has built a solid reputation as a safe and secure online destination that provides fun for kids and peace of mind for parents. 

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I have seen Club Penguin annuals in the shops before, and it is only natural that fans would want a magazine which would be catering to their hobby.

The magazine is very colourful, and the 1st issue comes with several free gifts including a free 7 day membership and two codes for two exclusive items. It looks like each issue will have similar free gifts of free membership and codes that you redeem online to receive free gifts.

The magazine costs £2.99, which is an average price for a children's magazine.

You receive 1500 bonus gold coins for solving the puzzles and missions in the magazine. There are free posters, comic strips and exclusive competitions - everything that you would expect from a chidren's magazine.

All in all, a lovely addition to the Club Penguin scheme, and a bonus for all Club Penguin fans.
Sasha liked the magazine, but he is as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel recently every time I try to take his photo, so I wasn't able to do a snap of him perusing the Club Penguin magazine. But as he is interested in it, we'll be certainly buying it in the future.

Where do Mums really want to be this Mother's Day?

Where do Mums really want to be this Mother's Day?

Mother’s day -a time for flowers, R&R, and most importantly- some recognition for the lady who ran around after you for so many years!

Whether we’ve hundreds of pounds to spend or just a few, the one thing we’ll want to do is make sure we give our mums the best possible day this Mother’s day 2012. But what do they really want? Well, experience gift company Buyagift have carried out a survey of 500 UK mums to find out exactly where it is that they’d like to spend Mother’s day this year.

Try somewhere new and exciting with the whole family

While we’d traditionally see Mother’s Day as a time for rest and relaxation away from the family, 41.5% of mums said that they most like to spend the day doing something fun with the children while 15% said that they’d like to spend it outdoors on a visit to somewhere picturesque. Even more interestingly, 27.3% of mums actually view a day out with the kids to be their idea of a relaxing day.

Take her on a relaxing spa day or a day out exploring

Aside from a thirst for adventure with the kids, 40% of the sample would prefer relaxing spa days. And it would seem that UK mums are also after a bit of exploration – 13.1% said they’d like to be taken on a day out exploring the countryside while 8.2% would absolutely love you for taking her out for a day discovering new cities – tea for two anybody?

Really treat her this year

The survey also looked into whether mums were able to find time for themselves. Astoundingly, 40.3% are often unable take time out from being a mum, while 11.3% claim that they never get any time to pursue their own interests. With this in mind, we should make sure that whatever she does, our mum has the very best day possible this Mother’s day 2012!

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Interesting data. Can you relate to this survey? I am definitely one of 40.3%, I forgot what it is to have time for myself. I am probably not a "normal" woman, as I find spas tediuos and cannot think of anything more boring than having a spa day. A tea for two experience would be my idea of fun, and one day I will treat myself to a tea at Ritz. Maybe when Eddie is an adult and will take his old Mum out. I can wait.

I had a good browsing session at Buyagift (www.buyagift.co.uk) and was "choosing" gifts for myself. A medieval banquet, for example. I used to have dressing-up period parties in the BS age (i.e. before Sasha, as we say here, or BC, before children). One of my most favourite parties was a Tudor-themed party. I cooked authentic Tudor dishes. At that time I still had plenty of time to do some research and find the right ingredients.
An evening like this would be a memory to cherish forever. Just look at the happy lady in the photo, she's enjoying every second of it.

Or a chocolate workshop, what could be more exciting?

And though I am pretty good at cooking Italian dishes, I would have loved to go on a day course of Italian Cookery Master Class. I have never made my own pasta, and this could be a brilliant new experience and a great skill to master.

Alas, so far all these days out are not possible for me. Or maybe I should omit the word "Alas" and rejoice at being busy with my two beautiful boys.

My ideal day out would be a trip to the beach in Cornwall. An empty sandy beach with rocks. A relatively mild weather, not too hot and not too cold. My boys running free and splashing in the rock pools. Breathing in the salty air and feeling liberated from all the troubles in the world. Just me and my boys, all three of them (including my husband). And a nice ice cream cone would not go amiss. That's what I really want, and that's where I would love to be.

Whatever you do this Mother's Day, hope you have fun and enjoy it!

P.S. This is not a sponsored post.

Sophia Loren's Ricotta Delight with the rose petal preserve

This lovely recipe has been originally created by the incomparable beauty Sophia Loren, and can be found in her book In Cucina con Amore.

My version is adapted from Sophia's recipe.

For the dessert you will need
250g ricotta
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp rose petal preserve

Dip the top of the serving glass in lemon juice and then in the sugar bowl to get a sugar frosting at the rim. Mix half of your ricotta with the cocoa powder and the sugar. Sophia suggested adding brandy, I didn't add any. Spoon the mixture in the glass. Mix the second half of the ricotta with the rose petal preserve and spoon on top of the cocoa flavoured ricotta.

I have used a Rose Petal Preserve from Forage Fine Foods. I could sing praises about it. If you close your eyes and smell the little bottle, you are immediately taken into an Arabian Nights story. You are in the rose garden. The aroma is beautiful. It also has a very intense sweet rose taste.
This syrup is perfect for delicate desserts. If you want to get hold of one, you'd better hurry. I have an insider information:  very few bottles are left until the roses bloom again!

For the grissini sticks you will need
2 grissini per person (choose plain, you don't want olive or onion flavoured grissini to ruin your dessert)
dark chocolate
dried rose petals (optional)
icing sugar and a few drops of Dr Oetker Bright gel food colour (red to make pink icing)

Mix 2 tbsp of icing sugar with the red gel colour and a lemon juice until the desired consistency is achieved. It should not be too thick or too runny. Taking one breadstick at a time, smear one half of the stick with the pink icing and place standing in a mug or glass for the icing to set.
Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan with hot water, then dip the grissini, one by one, in the chocolate sauce. At this stage, if you have any dried rose petals at hand (I did, as I dried a lot of rose petals from our garden, they are all organic and pesticide-free), crush them and sprinkle over the chocolate part of the grissini. Again let them stand in a mug until the chocolate is set.

Serve the ricotta mix with the chocolate and pink icing grissini.
For an extra wow-factor, you might want to add some edible gold leaf to your grissini.

This is my entry for a February Romance challenge on What Kate Baked.