Archive for December, 2010

provided by Matthew Ballenden, dad to Isabella & owner of the Fresh Earth Food Store, an organic health store and vegetarian restaurant with a  great online store.  Visit their website to find out more.

Makes 2 x 23cm cakes

Ingredients:

8g Xantham gum
15g Bicarbonate of soda
300g Cherries
600g Raisins
400g Sultanas
125g Mixed peel
50g Chopped almonds
500ml Sunflower oil
80g Apricot jam
2 Lemons zest large
430g Rice flour
5g Salt
3g Ginger
10g Nutmeg
4g Cinnamon
330ml Milk stout
5 Large organic eggs
4g Mixed spice
50ml Lemon cordial
80g Flaked almonds

Method:

1. Combine fruit, almonds and oil and mix well.
2. Add the jam and rind, juice of lemon and cherries and put into a pot and lightly cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the spices and add to the cooled mixture.
4. Beat the eggs and the stout together and add to the mixture to form a moist but not a sloppy mixture.
5. Add the mixture to your grease proof lined baking tin.
6. Cover the cakes with foil.
7. Place the cakes tins into a water filled tray (like a double boiler).
8. Bake for 2 – 3 hours at 180°C.
9. When the cake is ready pour lemon cordial over the cake to soak.
10. Allow to cool.

Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for 2 days to mature.

by Charmaine Viljoen, Project Manager when she has to earn the money, mom to 3 kids, social network addict, compulsive runner (to keep sane), still waiting to marry well and co-founder of  Alex and Alexa, a children’s clothing range.

Firstly I would like to make it clear that I am not the world’s most organised mother and neither does our life run as smoothly as it is going to appear in this blog post! However, with three children under the age of ten I have to combat my normal personality tendencies of ‘lets just see what happens’ and attempt some type of planning to prevent lurching from disorder to chaos.

This year we have decided to continue with some sort of schooling throughout the holiday and so the children have selected books that they want to read (Reader’s Warehouse in Broadacres Centre in Dainfern is fantastic for inexpensive children’s books) and are taking turns to read stories to the others. My youngest is just six and cannot read yet but can spin a good yarn if given a picture book story book. My kids also enjoy learning phonics and reading at www.starfall.com which has a lot of free stuff. We are also registered on www.ixl.com for math practice (mathletics is also a good website for this) and they all enjoy getting their certificates emailed for each math level that they achieve.

Since I am very determined that each child will play a musical instrument that forms part of our normal daily routine as well. I do dream up novel and interesting ways to make music practice fun and there is a lot of simple music available off the internet so that the four of us can harmonise through Christmas Carols (harmonise does range in meaning…)

I have had an interesting year financially, definitely looking up now but it does mean that there is not a lot of money to spend on presents or holiday experiences. Without scaring the children (I hope!) I have explained this to them and we have decided that we will have one outing which they can decide upon – they are currently debating between artjamming in Lonehill or going to see a play at the Children’s Theatre. It has been very interesting to watch them go through a decision making process that is still not finalised! (We use the JoziKids website for any social happenings that we want to attend)

We are also working on sorting out clothing and toys that they no longer use. These will get repaired and cleaned and wrapped for delivery to our local children’s home. (I am not allowed to go because I tend to come back from these expeditions with another baby…my mom takes them instead!)

A new exercise for us this holiday season is that we have decided, as a family, to learn to speak a different language. After much debate we decided on French and I have found a fantastic audiobook that we all listen to and have a lot of fun seeing who can remember the most. The kids were hoping that I would not be able to focus on this and that they would be able to speak to each other without me understanding them and I think that this is still the secret driver that is in play. Luckily I have a bit of a commute to work and an iPod. Languages such as Spanish or French have a wealth of materials to support children and make this engaging and fun.

We are not a regular TV watching family so every few days in the holidays we do go to the local DVD shop and catch up on kids movies as a treat.

And of course, because we have the best weather in the world we get to do lots of cycling, swimming and going to the park.

Have a happy holiday season!

by Barrie Bramley , a father, a husband and an eager student in the art of loving life. His passion is to create and see the world differently. From time to time he writes for ‘‘Jozikids’. Visit Barrie on his  web or twitter page.

Meet Jordan and Carli. Ages 10 and 7 respectively. This is an important piece of information. Important because it’s Christmas time. Important because the odds of a 10 year old and a 7 year old still believing in Father Christmas are remote. With respect to these two beautiful little girls, I’m afraid that this is the case.

I’m Barrie. Father to said beautiful girls. 41, and afraid (see above). Afraid because I have learned that once children work out that Father Christmas doesn’t exist, things change. And when it comes to purchasing presents around Christmas time, everything changes. Dramatically.

I long for days gone by when my two girls looked to that rather portly man, with the long white beard, from the North Pole to meet their Christmas present needs. Those trips to the local shopping mall to sit on his lap and feed him specific hints and clues as to what they expected he’d drag down our chimney to be opened on Christmas morning. And the letters we wrote together, and then posted, and recently e-mailed to him, in his mystical toy building city in the snow.

And on Christmas day, as we gathered around the tree at 04:30 in the morning, there was always a sense of amazement and magic that he’d delivered anything at all. It didn’t matter that their entire list hadn’t been executed. He was a busy guy. He had a lot of kids to visit last night. That he stopped in at our particular geographic location was beautiful and fatty with the beard deserved all the gratitude my girls could muster.

<deep sigh> Those were the days. The good old days as many might say.

This Christmas things are different. This is the first year that Jordi and Carli have both known that fatso with the whiskers is a hoax. A cute fantasy invented by parents to create a romantic and magical energy around Christmas time. Together, I have learned, their new found worldview is powerful in it’s double pronged attack on me.

I have also learned that whoever invented tubby-in-red, didn’t do it for romance and magic. They did it for economic health and safety. This year, instead of a letter to his majesty of the north, they have a wish list for me. Two wish lists. And honestly, they’re not wish lists as much as very direct shopping orders with a double helping of expectation thrown in for good measure. I have nowhere to hide. I have no-one to blame when half of Incredible Connection and Toys R Us aren’t sitting under our Christmas tree on the 25th of December. I’m exposed. Naked. I have no escape from having to face the consequences of keeping this lie alive for so long.

I feel wronged by parents who have gone before me. Why didn’t they warn me of the regret I would one day have to face? I know why! They’re in the same boat as me, except with teenagers. They’re facing bankruptcy this year once again, and the only amusement they have is knowing that an entire new class of 2010 is being inducted as they were so many years ago.

Still it’s a wonderful time of the year in my home. I’ll recover financially by October 2011. And even though they know Father Christmas isn’t real, there’s still a magical feeling in the air. And why shouldn’t there be? When we stop for a while and think of those we love, and do our best to find some treasure that will light up their souls for a while, there can only be magic in the air. You’re a good guy St Nic. I just wish you’d survived for a little while longer in my home.=

by Laura-kim Allmayer, co-founder of Journey2Joy, mom to two little people, compulsive blogger and twitter addict. When she’s not blogging she’s planning baby showers and helping moms prepare for their new babies.

CHRISTMAS DECORATION BISCUITS

625ml flour
125ml icing sugar
5ml cream of tartar
2ml bicarb
Pinch salt
250g butter

1. Sift the dry ingredients together, work in the softened butter to form a stiff dough.
2.  Lightly flour a flat surface, roll out the dough about 5mm thick, then cut out your shapes.
3.  Place on a lightly greased baking tray and bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes

Royal Icing

250g icing sugar
1 egg white
Squeeze lemon juice
Colouring
Decorations – silver balls, 100 & 1000s

1.  Sieve the icing sugar.
2. Place the egg white and lemon juice in a bowl and gradually add the icing sugar.
3. Mixing with  fork until peaks form.
4.  Colour the icing as required and then pipe decorations onto the biscuits.

I let the kids decorate them for their teachers

GLUTEN FREE PECAN NUT COOKIES

125g butter
250ml gluten free flour (I use Natures Choice Self raising flour)
125ml chopped pecans
5 ml vanilla
50 ml icing sugar

1.   Beat all the ingredients together well.
2.   Roll into balls, flatten with a  fork
3. Add a halved pecan on the top.
3.   Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes.

CUP CAKES (this is the best recipe I have used)

125g self raising flour
125g castor sugar (I used brown and it worked fine)
125g butter
2 eggs
3 TBS milk
1/2tsp vanilla

1.  Beat the flour, sugar, butter and eggs together.
2.  Slowly add one tbs of milk at a time.
3.  Add the vanilla and mix well.
4.  Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
5.  Ice as required.

provided by Merle Dieterich, passionate mom and businesswoman whose 2 beautiful children, Lerato and Marvin never cease to amaze and teach her about what counts. You’ll find her at  jozikids.co.za

The smell of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, vanilla and the taste of freshly home baked Xmas biscuits are the senses most evocative for me and my family for this time of the year.

The following biscuit recipes have been  tried and tested by my kids and  I.  I discovered them when I lived in Germany where the culture of home baked Xmas biscuits is widespread and deeply rooted.

Enjoy them and please add your favourites to this list.

CINNAMON STARS /  ZIMTSTERNE

Quantity: 70 stars
Oven temperature: 160 degrees
Baking Time: 7-8min

Ingredients:
500 g ground almonds
5 egg whites
450g icing sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbl rose water

Icing sugar snow for stars

Biscuit mixture

Making the stars

GERMAN LEBKUCHEN /HONEY CAKES

Quantity : 35 biscuits
Oven temperature: 220 degrees
Baking Time: 35-40 min

Ingredients:
200g honey
200g sugar
2 eggs
Freshly grated peel of a lemon
100g chopped candied orange and lemon peel
70g almond sticks
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of:
salt,grated  nutmeg, cloves, cardamom
500 g flour
2 tsp backing powder

by Gina Jacobson, a wife, a soon to be mom of 2 , a leo, a procrastinator, sushi lover and Kindle fanatic. Her blog is made up of A Bit of This a Bit of That.

So, its December, my 3 year old is now on holiday school until 15th December when he will be home with me until school goes back in January, our nanny is going away for 3 weeks on 10th December and I am going on maternity leave on 10th December and expecting our little bundle sometime in the next 4 weeks.  To top it all off, Paul is working through December.

To say I am slightly freaked out is an understatement.

Hopefully the baby stays where she is until January when our nanny is back.  Hopefully if she does come early it wont be too difficult for Paul to work from home so he can help me with both kids.  Hopefully I will be able to keep my super charged, energetic 3 year old boy happily occupied for 2 weeks without breaking my bank account and without subjecting him to too much TV baby sitting.

I know in my heart of hearts that it will all be fine.  We have an amazing park down the road that Aaron and I can play in, my mom is around the corner and only working part time through December so she can help out if I need her, Paul is able to work from home as he doesn’t need to be in an office all day.

I also know that many many women stay home and manage to raise their children, clean their homes, cook meals and that I am fully capable of doing the same thing.  Im just not used to it and that makes me nervous.

One things for sure though… This December is going to be very interesting!

P.S. The beautiful pic of me and my boy was taken by Jeanette Verster

by Mo Hassem,  a Systems Architect and a father of four beautiful children. Having no manual he does the best I can in the parenting department.  His bantering on life the universe and everything can be found at OPotB

Driving through the traffic on the freeway, completely engrossed in my own world, the silence is broken by my son Adam, strapped into his booster chair on the back seat.
“What is that?”, at two and a half he asks the age old question, asked by all children of his age, when he sees something that catches his eye.  I glance over my shoulder trying to figure out what exactly has caught his eye (this is done in the flash of an eye as my mind unconsciously observes the direction he is looking in, compensates for the speed of the car, sifts through the traffic and spots the most outstanding object, applies some statistical analysis and assesses the probability that, that would be the object he would be referring to, as only a parent can-who said all that stuff you learn at school is useless).
“A big red truck”, I reply.

When talking to other parents, many a times I hear them say, how their lives have changed when the children arrived.  I have often thought about it, and no doubt they have changed my life.  I guess in my younger days, when my eldest son was born, just witnessing the miracle of a perfect human, in miniature, fascinated me.  My youngest son, born just two and a half years ago, has a totally different impact on me as an adult.

As an adult, tempered by experience, it seems as though other things have become more important and priorities have changed.  So much so that my life has been defined by these and my judgement has been tainted, and I find that it is more and more difficult to see the beauty in things.  And this is what my son has brought back into my life.

I have rediscovered the joys of the simple things in life. A pretty little flower growing on the roadside, the petals of the roses as they unfold revealing the bud of the flower. The smell of lawn freshly cut and watered, or the freshness of the soil as the rain drenches it.  The fresh scent of a bed of flowers, the smell of herbs cooking and infusing food with its delectable aroma and taste.  And by far the most pleasurable of all, the love in those little arms as they fold around me, hug me and hold me close.

Thank you my son for being such a great teacher.  Has anyone seen the big red truck on the highway?