Anthony Horowitz Live Q & A

You can watch a live stream Q & A with Anthony Horowitz, the man behind the Alex Rider books and Power of Five series, where he will be answering questions and reading from his new novel Russian Roulette.

Show date: 16th June  Show time: 2pm  Who: Anthony Horowitz

The aim of the show is to get more children interested in reading and it will be live streamed from Sadler’s Wells Theatre into over 500 schools around the UK as part of an English lesson in association with the National Literacy Trust. The show will start on Monday at 14:00. During the show Anthony will talk about the importance of reading, in front of an audience of hundreds of school pupils.  Top children's TV presenter Barney Harwood will be hosting the show.

Anthony Horowitz and Barney Harwood will be live online at http://www.alexrider.com/horowitzlive or watch it right here!  You can even pose a question for Anthony Horowitz using the form below.

Last Minute Father's Day Gift and Card Ideas

Gift ideas from Asda

You can pop into your local Asda store and easily pick up something for dad this Father's Day.  You'll find gifts at pocket money prices to top of the range high tech gifts, so there is something for every budget. Perhaps dad would like a bottle of whisky or maybe you could buy the ingredients to cook him breakfast in bed?   Maybe socks, pants, T-shirts and PJ's would fit the bill or how about a box of chocolates. CDs, DVDs and games make great gift ideas.There is so much choice.

The Mr.Men merchandise from George is a fun gift idea for dads. Dads will love feeling like the Mr Strong of the family.

Or how about this Star Wars notebook and light sabre pens for the Star Wars loving dad in your life? Maybe Luke Skywalker could get this for Darth Vader, who after all is his father!

The Dog's Doodahs Cards

There is still time to order a card for your dad from The Dog's Doodahs.  Orders made before 2pm are posted the same day by first class post.  There is a range of cards from the sentimental to the downright rude!  So whatever the age of the kids and the taste of their dad, there will be a card to suit.

We were given a code to make one and the kids chose this lovely photo card for their dad.  It is a lovely design and the photographs will make it very precious to him.  There are loads of other designs they could have chosen including one that suggests he was "mum's bitch"!

The Dog's Doodahs is an all-occasion online card and gift shop selling a host of traditional, cute and funny cards alongside some rather cheeky ones which feature jokes about alcohol, sex and getting old.  Many can be personalised with photos and text on the front and the inside, so you can tailor the card to the recipient, bringing a smile on their special day.  The site is fun and friendly and perfect for anyone looking for something a bit risque!

A standard size (A5-ish) card is £3.99 delivered from www.thedogsdoodahs.com


Give Dad A Hug and Say Thanks

A recent survey commissioned by Wilkinson's Sword says 49% of dads won't get a hug or kiss this Father's Day and 44% of people admit to not thanking their dads for everything they do for them.  Women are more open with their emotions than men, who on a whole, find it more difficult to express their love to their fathers.

That is so very sad.  We're a very touchy feely family who tell each other how much we love each other on a daily basis. Ian used to be a bit uptight about his emotions, as he doesn't have very demonstrative parents, but after 20 odd years with me, he is now as gushy as it gets!

Wilkinson Sword are asking for us to express our love through making a #Dadication on Facebook or Twitter, telling our dads what we are grateful for.  I really like this campaign, giving good dads the recognition they deserve.


             

So don't forget to dish out the hugs, kisses and thank yous this year...they don't cost a penny and will mean more than any gifts!!

Creamy Mushroom and Parsnip Bake Recipe #mushroommeals

Being a vegetarian mum with a vegetarian family means that I am always on the look-out for family friendly recipes that everyone will love.  One of my favourite ingredients to use is mushrooms.  They are quick to cook, simple to prepare, very versatile, tasty and add a 'meaty' texture to meals.   

We have been challenged by the Mushroom Bureau to make a recipe for a tasty family meal, which incorporates cooking with mushrooms. I chose to make a Creamy Mushroom & Parsnip Bake.

Ingredients

450g parsnips cooked and drained

8 teaspoons oil

1 onion chopped

2 tablespoons fresh coriander chopped

2 small beaten eggs

3 tablespoons double cream (I used soy cream)

ground pepper

275g open cup mushrooms sliced

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

8 slices brown bread crusts removed

margarine

Method

Blend the cooked parsnips in food processor until smooth.

Heat 2 teaspns of oil in pan and fry onion.

Turn into processor with with parsnips, coriander, eggs, cream and seasoning and blend until smooth.

Heat the remaining oil and cook mushrooms and cumin seeds for 5 minutes until moisture evaporates.

Spread the margarine on the bread and cut into triangles.

Oil 4 300ml ovenproof dishes and line each with four triangles of bread.

Spoon on parsnip mixture, then some mushrooms in layers.

Repeat, ending with mushrooms on top.

Bake at 190 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The Parsnip and Mushroom Bake was absolutely delicious and perfect dish for the summer.  It had a similar texture to a quiche or a souffle with layers of lovely chunky mushrooms, seasoned with cumin, running through it.  The wholemeal bread base held the bake together and made a nice change from pastry, and added fibre to the dish. 

  

It is a very quick and easy dish to make.  The sweet parsnip cooks quickly and makes a lovely creamy puree, which is the basis for this recipe.  The mushrooms fry up in minutes too.

The kids enjoyed the Parsnip and Mushroom Bake very much.  The sweetness made it very kid friendly, and as my family all love mushrooms we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.  Serving with baked beans made it an extremely easy meal to put together, giving us at least two of our five a day.  The bread base and the parsnip was sufficient carbohydrate, so we didn't need a portion of potatoes on the side as well.

This is definitely a recipe I will use again. Instead of making individual portions, I think I'd make a family sized one and cut it into slices.  I might also experiment and use sweet potatoes in place of the parsnip and use chestnut mushrooms in place of open cup.  

Finding family friendly recipes like this one, is a great way to get extra vegetables into the children's diets.  Introducing children to a wide variety of vegetables is the best way to encourage them to eat their five a day and nurture a life long love of veggies.

Mushrooms are a great source of  B vitamins, antioxidants and minerals, plus they are fat free, low in calories, cholesterol free and gluten free. They can be added to everyday dishes or served as a side dish, they can be stuffed or made into a delicious pate for sandwiches.  They really are versatile, which is why they are on my shopping list every week!

www.justaddmushrooms.com

Check out the Twitter feed @moretomushrooms using the hashtag #mushroommeals for some mushroom inspiration!

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Celebrating the FIFA World Cup with a Big Match Family Night In

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. 

Brazil 2014 is tantalizingly close. In a matter of hours families across the world will be preparing to celebrate a summer of football and enjoying every big match of the FIFA World Cup.  It is an opportunity to come together with family and friends to support your team, cheer for every goal and hold your breath at every penalty shoot out.  It's a time to throw fun-filled parties or enjoy nights in together watching each big game and enjoying the excitement of such a huge sporting event as a family.

To get us in the World Cup mood and to build excitement for the kick off, we held a #BigMatchPlanner family night in with #CollectiveBias.  Tesco are currently selling a World Cup branded four pack of 1.5 litre bottles of Coca-Cola for just £4.00, which was a great place to start when it came to planning our event. (This super special offer is available until June 17th.) They were easy to find, on a promotional display in the entrance of the store, and the 'Celebrate Together' message definitely tied in with my plans for our family football themed night in.  It's lovely to see so many big brands and retailers getting into the spirit and supporting Brazil 2014.  They are helping to get the ball rolling, inspiring us all to get involved!

I decided that it would be nice to embrace the flair and favour of the host nation Brazil, and bring a touch of its South American influence to our night in.  So on the menu was Cachurro Quente - Brazilian street food, consisting of hot dogs served with a variety of toppings including five bean chilli, deep fried sweet potato noodles, salsa, cheese and sweetcorn.  We used veggie hot dog sausages for our meal. This style of DIY party food is a lot of fun, especially for the children who get to help themselves and create their very own bespoke dinner in a bun!

For dessert, I made a selection of World Cup-Cakes.  They included some Chocolate, Coca-Cola and Marshmallow Muffins served with a mini marshmallow kebab, limited edition Brazillian M&M's or chocolate footballs. The addition of the Coca-Cola in the batter makes them sweet and light.  I also made some Vegan Cupcakes with Coconut Chocolate Frosting topped with a selection of fresh fruit as a tribute to Brazil's rainforests!

I hung some world nation's flag bunting alongside Brazilian flag bunting to really set the scene.  I challenged the children to identify the flags, matching them to the correct country.  Who knew football could be so educational?!!  I also displayed a Brazil 2014 wall chart so we can follow the progress of the tournament and keep scores.

It was lovely to see 4 year old Freddy take such an interest in the World Cup.  His older sisters reminisced about football tournaments of the past, recalling the days of Beckham, Seaman, Bergkamp,  Roger Miller and Thierry Henri, and remembering the heartbreak of watching England lose a penalty shoot out to the Germans.  This year Freddy will be making his own memories to talk about in the future.  I hope they will be good memories... just imagine if they went on to be memories of England's first World Cup victory since 1966! (We can dream.)

The food went down a treat with everyone, who thoroughly enjoyed making their own Cacharro Quente. To quote a rather awful football pun...it did get rather "Messi" but this Brazilian dish will definitely be on the menu again during our World Cup get togethers.  It was such a fun dish.

And of course, serving up ice cold Coca-Cola in England cups quenched our thirsts and raised out patriotic spirits.  There may have been a few renditions of 'Three Lions' complete with Nobby Styles's famous dance moves that took place during the evening!

Every year we have our own sweepstakes, picking names out of a hat, so we have more teams to support should England fall at the first hurdle.  Of course we'd be overjoyed if our home team do well, but the prospect of more penalty shoot-outs brings me out in a cold sweat.  So it's nice to have a few other teams, which we are less emotionally invested in to cheer on too. Anyone who picks the team that goes on to win the tournament wins a prize, so it keeps everyone excited.

Freddy, draped in one of our national flags (I think it's Croatia), looking like a little World Cup themed superhero,  picked out South Korea as his sweepstake team.  He was most delighted with his choice especially as I told him that that was where Psi came from, prompting a rendition of Gangham Style!

The girls made a poster to display our sweepstake teams alongside our World Cup 2014 champion predictions.  This year, my money is on Brazil to win with the home advantage.  I still remember the genius of Pele and the infamous Maradonna 'Hand of God' incident.  Brazil are always memorable in the World Cup. I hope they impress this year.

This poster and all the other World Cup decorations will be staying up until the winning team hold the Jules Rimet cup aloft, at the end of the tournament.  The World Cup will be a wonderful excuse for many impromptu nights in, big match parties and general footballing fun!  We are so excited!

We enjoyed a game or two of table football and I bought some official FIFA World Cup tattoos that we had fun applying. We did plan to end the evening with a football related movie such as Bend it Like Beckham, She's the Man or Escape to Victory, but as England was playing a friendly against Ecuador on this night, that provided the perfect entertainment to get us all match ready.  It may not have been the most scintillating match, but a draw is a draw and I hope the teams are saving themselves for the real thing!

This taster of the fun and excitement to come when the World Cup kicks off , has really made us all feel match ready!  We've got our World Cup themed t-shirts to wear and our flags ready to wave. Come on England!!

Why not have your own Big Match Family Night In, serving up food from one of the nations playing, singing football songs and enjoying some football related activities?

It's a great way of making some fun, family memories.

Which team do you think will win this year's World Cup?

Visit the Coca-Cola Big Match Planner website for inspiration on hosting your own nights in with ideas on themed recipes, music and entertainment.

Getting old isn't all bad!

I'm getting old.  But it isn't all bad.  It definitely has its perks.

Seeing the results of my years of parenting all grown-up and doing so well, makes me feel every single moment was worth it.  From the sleepless nights to the tantrums to the school runs to the heartbreaks and beyond, I know it has all worked out OK and I must have done a pretty good job for the past 26 years. My three grown-up kids make me immensely proud.  Joe balances being a career man with being a family man. His hands on approach to being a dad is wonderful to witness. Seeing your own child as a parent is such a humbling experience.

Megan is following her dreams and is involved in TV and film production. Just a few months ago she took a huge gamble and quit her job in marketing. It hasn't taken her long to make her mark in the industry, starting off as an unpaid runner, gaining a good reputation and being recommended for work.  She's currently working for the BBC and can add working with John Hurt to her CV. Her determination and ambition inspires me so much.

Ella is in the middle of her A'Levels and is off to university in September. She's got an exciting future ahead. Our house will be so much emptier without her, but I am so excited to see her take this huge step and will be supporting her all the way.  I'll still have my two youngest at home to keep me busy, and we will enjoy visiting everyone at weekends!

Not only am I a grandparent, I am also an incredibly proud Great Auntie (aka Grauntie because it sounds so much cooler!) I am loving the new generation of little people who are taking their place on my family tree, and the promise of future grandchildren, great nephews and great nieces thrills me to bits.

However there is absolutely no denying the fact that my body is ageing, changing and entering a new phase of my life.  My hair is gradually losing the battle of the grey but I absolutely refuse to start dying it.  My natural hair colour is almost black and the root/dye contrast will be just too stark. So I have to get used to the white hairs sprouting where once dark hair grew. I convince myself that the interlopers, stripped of their youthful tones are silver highlights.  It sounds so much more glamorous!

I look at Ian, the man I have known for over 30 years, my husband of 17 years.  He has crinkles around his eyes, his beard is salt and pepper and his back doesn't hold out as well as it did a decade ago.  But when I look at those laughter lines and grey hairs I see someone I am honoured to grow old with.  He always told me he wanted to grow old with me, and here we are hitting our mid forties together and still very much in love. We are still both young at heart, we adore our family and we pride ourselves on still being "down with the kids"!

We don't plan to let the onset of old age bulldoze over us anytime soon.  We have embarked on a huge overhaul of our vegetarian diets.  We eat cleaner now and actively embrace healthy eating.  We have ditched all the processed rubbish, the refined sugars, dairy products and chemical additives and opened our eyes to the joys of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, cooking meals from scratch and finding healthy alternatives in our choice of carbohydrates. We are really enjoying getting creative with courgette 'noodles' and cauliflower 'rice'!

In the scheme of things, these are small changes but they made a great difference to our lives.  I have lost weight without 'dieting' and some health issues I was having such as dizzy spells, extreme tiredness and hormonal imbalances seem to have completely gone. (I blame too much refined sugar and a Pepsi Max addiction for the symptoms, so eliminating both from my diet has helped enormously!)

Our advancing years are not something to fear or dread.  They hold the promise of many more wonderful adventures.  Watching our five children forging their paths in the world, embracing the next generation of our family and enjoying entering the autumn of my years with the man I love.

The Fault in our Stars - It's a Metaphor

My 18 year old daughter Ella has been a huge fan of John Green for years.  The YA author, VidCon founder, Vlog Brother and Nerd Fighter, is a huge influence in her life, and vicariously, mine too. Back in 2012 when The Fault in our Stars was released, Ella added it to her collection of John Green books.  She read it and raved about the heartbreaking, yet uplifting love story of teenage cancer sufferers Hazel and Augustus. She urged me to read it, which I did, completing it in one day.  I couldn't put it down and I sobbed my heart out.

TFIOS made it into my "top ten books that will change your life".  Its tragic, raw and heartbreaking premise is offset by its celebration of life, making you determined to rewrite your own story and embrace every living moment as if it were your last.  It is beautiful, poignant and deeply moving.  The characters stayed with me long after the final page was turned and the tears I shed had dried up.

It may be fiction aimed at young adults, but the story of love and loss transcends age barriers. The story's relevance is as powerful to teens as it is to me as a mother.  A mother who still remembers what it is to be young, fearless and in love.  The cancer storyline, although pivotal to the plot does not overpower the human relationships that develop under its dark shadow. In fact, its evil presence makes the love story all the more powerful and beautiful.

This year, came the announcement that The Fault in our Stars was to be made into a movie with John Green himself taking a hands on role to protect his story and the characters and help create a film worthy of the book he had crafted.

Ella has counted down the days, hungry for information, finding photographs from the set and details of the production.  Now, the film is about to be released in the UK and we are going to a special advanced screening on Thursday, before its release next week!  We are so excited as we have heard nothing but praise for this project. It has been hugely successful at the US Box Office and book sales have soared.

The Fault in our Stars OST is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and moving film soundtracks I have heard in a long time.  Featuring original songs from Birdie, Ed Sheeran, Jake Bugg and Kodaline, it is the perfect musical accompaniment to the story.  The Kodaline song "All I Want" makes me cry everytime it plays.  It's so bloody moving.  It was also used in Amy Dyer's funeral scene in season 2 finale of  "In The Flesh".  I bawled my eyes out at that too.  So much emotion!  The video is pretty cool too.

         


Meanwhile, 11 year old Kizzy is getting into The Fault in our Stars mood by creating outfits inspired by the book on Polyvore.  She's made some great boards featuring TFIOS merchandise teamed with other items of clothing.  I think she has definitely got a flair for being a stylist and an eye for fashion!  It's lovely to see her so inspired by a book.

She is looking forward to seeing the film with Ella and I.  The special screening includes a special pre-recorded Q&A with the stars ... perfect for my TFIOS geeks and John Green fangirls.

I am so excited about seeing the film on Thursday.  If it is as good as the book, it will be amazing.  If it is as sad as the book I'll need plenty of tissues!  It is guaranteed to be beautifully heartbreaking.

I'll leave you with the official trailer.

       

Meet The Latest My Blue Nose Friends

There are four new additions to the My Blue Nose Friends family.  The lovable, beautifully made collectable soft toys bring the total in the collection up to 135.  Each has the trademark blue nose along with some patchwork detail.

Soprano is a Shetland Pony who loves to sing and believes everything is better in harmony.

Denzil is a chilled out Komodo Dragon who stays cool, even when the heat is on.

Tatty Puppy is on a mission to make you love with his cheeky pranks.

Pandora the Pearl Oyster loves to hide, but dazzles you with her surprises when you find her.

We love My Blue Nose Friends.  Each has its own personality which shines through via the design and detail.  Our favourite is Soprano with his furry mane and tail.  they are so soft and cuddly.

They cost just £5.00 each.

Available online from Carte Blanche.