Cheesy pigs in blankets 

These couldn’t be any easier. They require just three ingredients, don’t need any prep and are mess-free.

Not the Christmas variety of sausages wrapped in bacon, these are instead an American version where hot dog-style sausages – along with cheese – are encased in a puff pastry blanket.

Ingredients

(Makes 18)

• One sheet of puff pastry (approx 320g)
• Six hot dogs
• Six slices of cheese

We use Herta Classic Frankfurters, and Emmental cheese slices as they’re not too gooey but still melt really nicely. Cheddar slices would also work well.

Method

• Preheat oven to 220˚C (200c for a fan)
• Cook hotdogs as per packet instructions
• Get puff pastry to room temperature and slice into six rectangles

(Method continues after pictures)

• Place a slice of cheese on top of each rectangle leaving a margin of pastry
• Put the cooked hot dogs on top of the cheese and roll it up
• Slice each of your rolls into three even pieces and arrange on a baking tray lined with parchment paper

Grandma’s Biscuits

This is another very easy recipe with just four ingredients. It’s a great way to get the kids to eat oats. Mine aren’t huge fans but when incorporated into a biscuit, it’s a different story! You can ice these, but we don’t feel the need as they are nicely sweet just plain.

Ingredients

(makes 20)

• 55g of oats
• 110g of soft brown sugar
• 170g of Flora margarine
• 225g of self-raising flour

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180c (160c for fan oven)
• Mix all the ingredients together and then roll the mixture into a sausage shape
• Cut discs about as long and thick as an adult’s little finger
• Press very gently onto a baking tray. Rustic is good!
• Bake for a maximum of 15 mins and allow to cool

Easy Baking Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 100g plain flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 40g unsalted butter
• 120ml of milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Preheat oven to 180c (160c fan)
• In a mixer, add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter. Beat until well combined. You could also use an electric hand whisk.
• In a jug, mix the milk, egg and vanilla extract. Gradually add half of this mixture to the dry ingredients while beating. Increase mixer speed then add the rest of the liquid. Mix briefly until smooth.
• Fill paper cake cases two-thirds full with the mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean).
• Leave to cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool
• Make your favourite chocolate or plain buttercream icing (or buy one!) to top your cakes

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What are your go to baking recipes? Would love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Easy Baking Recipes for Kids appeared first on The Parent Social.

Pigs in blankets US style

Unlike the traditional festive treat of sausages wrapped in bacon that we’re familiar with in the UK, these are a US version where hot dog-style sausages are wrapped in a puff pastry blanket – sort of a sausage roll. These ones also have a cheesy twist.

They make a perfect snack for all the family and also a great party food idea (see also our pizzette recipe).

Cheesy Pigs in blankets: ingredients

This recipe makes 18 little pigs in blankets.

• One sheet of puff pastry (approx 320g)
• Six hot dogs
• Six slices of cheese

We use Frankfurter sausages and Emmental cheese slices as they melt really nicely and are not overly cheesy or gooey. You could also use cheddar slices.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220˚c (200c for a fan) and cook your hotdogs as per packet instructions
2. Get the puff pastry out of the fridge and to room temperature. Then slice into six even rectangle and place a slice of cheese on top of each leaving a margin of pastry

3. Place the cooked hot dogs on top of the cheese and roll it up

4. Slice each roll into three even pieces and arrange all pieces on a baking tray lined with parchment paper

5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and flaky

As a variation, you can use croissant dough instead of puff pastry, and as mentioned before you can use different styles of sliced cheese.

…..

Thanks to Cath Kidston for the inspiration!

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Covid Christmas

In 2020 we had a far more quiet Christmas than usual due to restrictions. It was just my dad, who was in our bubble, that came over. My gregarious dad is like having three people all at once so it still felt quite lively, but even he couldn’t come over this time.

It would be the first time we’d have Christmas just us five. The Boxing Day plans, which should have seen my brother and his girlfriend, my mother-in-law and brother-in-laws all coming over had to be cancelled. I won’t lie, it was hugely disappointing.

The kids took the news better than us. They were buoyed, no doubt, by the prospect of presents. They were also happy that I’d taken off the days running up to Christmas Day. Proof yet again of their resilience and positivity.

Thankfully neither had symptoms beyond a mild cough/cold; and that’s the main thing I had to bear in mind to help quell my disappointment. My husband and I felt rather deflated, especially Matt who loves cooking for people. We had all manner of culinary treats stacked up in the fridge, freezer and cupboards ready to feed a lot more than five people over the two days.

Getting busy in the kitchen (just for us)

In the run up to Christmas Day, we made some of the kids’ favourite nibbles of Pizzette and created our first ever gingerbread house (thanks Lidl). We even attempted our first ever ‘Cheat’s’ churros Nutella Christmas tree, which was fun, pretty simple to make and very, very tasty.

Games and puzzle

Isolation meant that the annual Christmas puzzle challenge was completed far quicker than usual. We played even more games than normal. The kids have stayed up really late pretty much every day of the holidays, which has meant we’ve watched loads of films.

Me time

What was meant to be a family pre-Christmas day out, which included the annual tradition of getting our Christmas cheese from La Fromagerie, meeting my uncle, and having a general mooch about London was cancelled. I ended up going to get the cheese on my own. After being in isolation for 10 days I decided to make the most of it and took myself out for lunch. It was surprisingly nice and I enjoyed it.

I was able to get some last minute stocking fillers and do other Christmas bits and bobs super efficiently. However, I felt huge remorse whenever I saw something Christmassy that I wanted the kids to see too. This dissipated when I was greeted with the below scene on my return. They’d spent several happy hours on the Nintendo Switch with dad!

Christmas Eve

Cleaning the house (for Santa?) was followed by more games and a fire outside in the evening where we had some nibbles by candlelight. Then it was linguine alle vongole (linguine pasta with clams) as part of my nod to the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes.

Later the girls opened their Christmas Eve box, which included treats we could tuck into whilst we watched more films and Christmas TV! It also included a few little pampering items, cosy socks, BrainBox game and ‘Christmas dresses’ for them all to wear the next day. In the evening Matt and I treated ourselves.

Meals on wheels

My dad gets our annual Italian Christmas cake. He brought it over and we cut it in half as he was now going to spend Christmas Day with my brother.

In return, Matt provided pre-prepped beef Wellington, dauphinoise potatoes, and lobsters that he’d cooked that day. Alongside this he also provided some very good wine! It was nice to know that we’d still be a part of their day even though we weren’t going to be together. Matt was happy that he had cooked for people in addition to us five.

Christmas Day

The morning started off as usual with stockings opened in our room. We had a lovely breakfast and then began opening the main presents.

Lunch was fabulous as always. We took time to savour it and the girls remained sat down for over two hours. We interspersed with crackers with their silly jokes and games.

After lunch we took proper time out to play with presents and play more games and watch more films! We extended this into Boxing Day. Though we missed having guests, we filled the day with lots of fun and laughter. We also FaceTimed relatives Christmas was saved!

The post Covid Christmas – Festivities in Isolation appeared first on The Parent Social.

The bake along – a beautifully simple idea

A group of us are involved with our children and take it in turns to host. The host chooses a recipe and sends everyone the ingredients list in advance. On the day, the host organises a Zoom meeting. Once we’re all online they demonstrate the method for the recipe and we have a lot of chat along the way.

The recipes are quite straightforward so that the children are able to do most of the steps. It’s a really nice social thing for the adults and children alike; we get to learn new recipes and obviously get to sample the fruits of our labour.

What we’ve baked so far

Week 1 – Grandma’s biscuits

My friend Eleanor’s old school recipe is in imperial measurements. It’s very, very simple and despite my kids’ initial reservations about oats they absolutely loved them (recipe above).

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together (you can add some finely chopped stem ginger if you want)
2. Roll mixture into a sausage shape
3. Cut discs about as long and thick as a little finger (should make approximately 20)
4. Squish very lightly onto a baking tray (they can look very rustic)
5. Cook for a max of 15 mins at 180c
6. Ice with plain icing if you want (we didn’t bother)

Week 2 – Pizzette

On our first week of hosting, the kids wanted to make one of their favourites: pizzette. These are mini puff-pastry pizzas. You’ll find the recipe in the below post.

Week 3 – Banana bread

Mary Berry’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe was used for our week three bake.

• 1 ripe banana 
• 1 tbsp milk
• 50g soft butter/baking spread
• 75g plain flour
• 75g caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 free-range egg
• 50g dark chocolate chips

This made a lovely light bread, which had a perfect level of sweetness. Click here for the method.

Week 4 – Garlic cheese scones

Ingredients

• 100g plain flour
• 100g wholemeal or rye flour
• 2 tsp English mustard powder (optional)
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne (optional)
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic finely mashed
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200g cheese cut into cm cubes (Manchego, cheddar)
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons of plain yoghurt

Here’s how to make them: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/26/foodanddrink.recipe1

Week 5 – Gingerbread biscuits

Ingredients:

• 180g plain flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 55g unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
• 85g soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 beaten egg
• tubes of icing or icing sugar for dusting

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 190c
• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a bowl and rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs
• Gently heat the sugar and golden syrup in a small pan until melted and gooey. Pour it into the bowl and add the beaten egg
• Mix it all together with a wooden spoon (if too sticky add a bit more flour)
• Wrap dough in cling film and chill for half an hour
• Flour your work surface. Roll out dough to a depth of approximately 4mm and cut out into whatever shapes you like (re-roll the offcuts)
• Put your biscuits on a lined baking tray, bake for 12-15 mins and then allow to cool
• Decorate as you want

Week 6 – Chocolate cupcakes

• 100g plain flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 40g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 120ml whole or semi-skimmed milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Here’s the method.

Week 7 – Pineapple upside down cake

We went 70s retro this week with a recipe that none of us had attempted before. It was very easy to follow and we unanimously had great results. We used a BBC goodfood recipe.

Week 8 – Pancetta and cheese muffins

These make for a great weekend brunch and were loved by the kids (two out of three preferring them to chocolate chip muffins!).

This makes approximately nine muffins.

• 2 x 77g of diced pancetta
• 85g of cheddar (grated)
• 170g plain flour
• 130ml of milk
• 45ml sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt  

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190c (Gas mark 5) and line a muffin tray with muffin cases (you can use cake cases)
• Fry the pancetta until brown and crisp
• Mix the oil and milk together and separately mix the flour, baking powder and salt together
• Add the milk and oil mixture to the flour and fold together (don’t mix too much)
• Fold in the pancetta and cheese but keep back some of the pancetta for sprinkling
• Put mixture into the cases and sprinkle remaining pancetta on top
• Cook until golden brown. They should spring back when pressed if they’re done (about 20-25 minutes)

Week 9 – No Bake Orange Cheesecake

This was a great one for the kids as there were plenty of enjoyable jobs for them. The favourite was probably crushing the biscuits! I should have segmented the oranges properly so it looked prettier… next time.

Ingredients:

• 15 digestive biscuits
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 400g curd or cream cheese
• grated zest 3 oranges (save the segments for the decoration)
• 200g mascarpone cheese
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 184ml (small pot) double cream

Here’s the method: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/no-bake-orange-cheesecake

Week 10 – Jumbo sausage rolls

We can’t claim these to be made from a five generation’s-old family recipe; They are completely copied from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. We cheated and used puff pastry, which worked perfectly. We also cooked for a little longer than the 35-40 minutes suggested. Fantastic picnic fare and actually easier to make than I thought they’d be.

Here’s the recipe and method: https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/big-sausage-rolls

Week 11 – Sticky Toffee Pudding

This week was a husband takeover. The initial plan of malt loaf received a bit of a lukewarm response. However, it was fever pitch excitement for this classic British dessert, which was recently crowned the nation’s favourite.

This was Nigella decadence at its best. I think arteries were hardening with every bite of this, but it was sublime and loved by children and adults alike.

Here it is; you’re welcome: Nigella’s sticky toffee pudding

Week 12 – Brandy Snaps

One of the bake along gang happened to mention brandy snaps last week. It might be July, but we all agreed on how much we loved them and that they shouldn’t just be for Christmas.

They were actually easy to make and lovely and crunchy and light. They tasted great and were perfect for taking on a picnic.

Here’s the recipe from BBC Good Food.

You might also like:

Salmon and Gruyere quiche

Family meal inspiration

Rice dishes for children

The post Bake alongs with friends on Zoom appeared first on The Parent Social.

Pizzette ingredients (and equipment)

(makes 21 pizzette)

• One Jus-Rol Puff pastry ready rolled sheet
• One egg (for egg wash)
• Tomato passata 500g
• Oregano
• Salt & pepper
• Self raising flour for dusting surface
• Toppings of your choice
• Pastry brush
• Pastry cutter (or a glass) roughly 6cm diameter
• Baking parchment or foil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c (this is what I do for a fan oven)
2. Using the pastry cutter/glass, cut out 21 circles from the ready rolled pastry. You won’t be able to fit all 21 in one go so just re-roll the offcuts and go again

3. Place on the baking parchment/foil and onto a baking tray

4. Beat the egg and brush over each circle

5. Put the passata in a bowl and add oregano, salt and pepper to taste – you only need half a tablespoon of sauce on each disc so gauge how much passata you want to use. We do the lot and then turn the excess into a pasta sauce

6. Put half a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of the disc leaving a border all around

7. Add your toppings (suggestions below)

8. Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the borders of the pizzette are nice and golden

9. Let them cool a little before serving

Topping suggestions

You can mix and match here. The girls like plain tomato ones, ones with a sprinkle of grated cheese and ones with sliced black olive. I add a tiny pinch of extra oregano to each of these.

If you can get hold of it, a few cubes of provolone cheese makes a great topping. A small piece of ham, an anchovy, a couple of cubes of pancetta, mushrooms…whatever you want, just don’t overload. You can even leave off with the tomato sauce and use half a teaspoon of pesto in the middle with a little cheese.

You might also like:

• Bake alongs on Zoom  
• Easy Taralli recipe
• Family meal inspiration  

The post Pizzette Recipe – Cooking with Children appeared first on The Parent Social.

If we haven’t had any green veg that day I do some green beans with it, otherwise it’s just crusty bread to dunk. We also love to have the leftovers the next day served with rice.

The children love helping out in the kitchen, but this requires some quite difficult cutting so you may want to just get the older ones involved.

Pork, Chorizo and Cannellini Bean Stew

Ingredients (serves 5) 

• 850g pork shoulder steaks/pork shoulder
• 400g tin cannellini beans
• 250g of cooking chorizo (chorizo ring or several packs of the ready chopped)
• 2  x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 large red onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 teaspoons paprika

Method

1. Slice the pork into strips and fry off in a casserole dish (which has a lid) until brown all over. Remove from the pan and drain off the fat
2. Cut the chorizo into small chunks (or use the ready cubed) and add to the pan, brown off for two minutes then add the chopped onions, four teaspoons of paprika and the chopped garlic. Fry for a further two minutes until the onion has softened
3. Add the pork back to the pan along with ½ a pint of water and the tinned tomatoes. Season to taste
4. Simmer for one hour on a low heat with the lid on. Then remove the lid, add the cannellini beans and simmer for a further 30 minutes

Check out some other great family meals here

You might also like:

Bake alongs with friends on Zoom 

Easy Taralli Recipe (savoury) 

Fuss-free Food for Children – Salmon

The post Pork, Chorizo and Cannellini Bean Stew appeared first on The Parent Social.

1) Soft play centre 

Bank holiday Monday was a wash out. We headed to Eddie Catz in Wimbledon, South London – a soft play centre that caters for babies, toddlers and children up to about 12 years old. It offers classes and workshops under the ‘edutainment’ umbrella, but we were there purely for the kids to release plenty of energy, and boy did they. Some soft play venues that are aimed at that sort of age spectrum can be extortionate. I find Eddie Catz reasonably-priced. The facilities are good and the food went down very well, and again was reasonably-priced. All three loved the sizeable main play frame with all its scramble nets, tubes, slides etc, but my husband started getting a bit nervous about the two-year-olds disappearing out of reach and sight and took them to the tamer toddlers’ frame. The disco room was also a big hit.

2) Designed a Father’s Day mug

Last year’s effort (complete with wear and tear). It changes colour with hot liquid!

It has become a bit of a custom: the personalised photo Father’s Day mug. Each year for Father’s Day we design a mug for my husband using some of the family photos from the last year. It’s lovely to go through the year’s photos together and choose which ones to include. It’s really easy to do and there are loads of different options. We do get him another gift/s in addition, but my eldest likes giving this present the most (mainly because she loves photos of herself).

3) Baked and decorated biscuits 

Look at the concentration

I found the easiest recipe for biscuits ever on Netmums; it consisted of three ingredients (though I made it my own by adding Vanilla Essence) and all three girls were able to get stuck in with the creaming, mixing and kneading. Sofia had been bought Eddingtons Cinderella Cookie Cutters, so we used those. Like their older sister, the younger two are obsessed with anything fairytale and princess-related (bleugh!) so these caused much excitement. I let them all watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates whilst they baked and cooled, so it was a dream come true for them. I’d bought some squeezy tubes of coloured icing, so much time was spent decorating them. Then after dinner they ate them.

4) Arts and crafts 

I gave our arts and crafts box a Spring clean. Then doing our grocery shop (I’d say weekly shop, but I spend what seems like half of my week in the supermarket), I discovered that Sainsbury’s stocks loads of really well-priced arts and crafts items and sets. I bought sticky shapes for collages, paintbrushes and foam paint brushes, fancy pipe cleaners and a great canvas with a fairy design with paints and sparkly bits included for Sofia. The girls didn’t fight or moan for ages, so a definite hit and Sofia was super proud of her artwork, so we put it on display.

Sofia’s handiwork

5) Half-term play dates 

The perennial favourite: Simple, but effective. We went to someone else’s house armed with both healthy snacks and treats. The change of scenery and company works wonders.

The weather’s shaping up to be ok, so we’re off to Godstone Farm tomorrow… and here we are:

That poor rabbit!

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