Chinese New Year

Today we thought about Chinese New Year by watching the story in the CBeebies website. P then made dinner by cooking chicken chow mein.

Ingredients:

• thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 red pepper
• 5 spring onions
• 200g beansprouts
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 nests of egg noodles

Method

1. Peal and grate the ginger. Put into a bowl with ketchup, oyster sauce, soy sauce with 3 tablespoons of water. Crush the garlic cloves and add. Mix together.
2. Cut the pepper and spring onion into strips.
3. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
   
   
   
4. Follow the instructions on the noodles and cook them.
5. Heat some oil in a wok and fry the chicken. Once it is cooked add the pepper and cook for a minute.
6. Add the sauce. Once it has thickened add the cooked noddles, spinng onions and bean sprouts.
7. Stir to coat everything and then serve!  
   

Victoria and Albert Museum

Today we went to London to visit a friend. I asked the girls what they wished to do and they suggested the V and A. WE started in their wonderful (but expensive café) for lunch before spending a few hours looking around.  WE loved the collections of jewellery (no photos allowed) which tell the story of jewellery in Europe from ancient times to the present day.We all decided which pieces we would take home!

We also discovered the Theatre & Performance collection where the girls enjoyed looking at the costumes on exhibit and dressing up!  We also liked looking at the different models of theatres.

They also had, as part of the Get Creative Family Arts Festival, a change for the girls to make a placard for something they wanted to protest about! 

Diwali

Today we read the story behind Diwali.


We also made clay diva lamps (which were lit of guide Rama and Sita home). We used air-dying clay. The girls made a hole for the tea light, shaped the clay and then decorated with with sequins.

 We lit the lights, ate curry and tried different Indian sweets.

Hannukah

To find out other religions, the girls and I enjoyed sharing this book:


 

It explains the reasons for Hanukkah including the story of  the Maccabees battle and the story of the oil. The girls enjoyed listening and then helped me prepare and eat Latkes and Sfenz. 

The recipe for Sfenz I got from the bbc website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sfenzlibyanhanukkahd_87526)

You need: 

For the syrup

• 150ml orange blossom honey
• 50ml/2fl oz water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp orangeflower water (although I didn't have any)
• few drops vanilla essence
  
  

For the doughnuts

• 2 eggs beaten
• 50g sugar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150g plain flour
• the zest of 1 orange
• 50g chopped almonds

Method:

1. For the syrup, mix all of the syrup ingredients in a pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the honey is dissolved.
   
2. Bring to the boil, but avoid stirring until the syrup has thickened (this should take about 30 minutes), then keep on a low heat until needed.
   
3. For the doughnuts, mix together all the doughnut ingredients in a bowl e, adding a little more flour if necessary to make a firm dough. Knead for a few minutes until smooth.
4. Roll out the dough and cut out about 12 circles with a round pastry cutter (8cm). Use a smaller pastry cutter or glass to form the inner hole of the doughnut.  
   
5. Heat a deep pan, half-filled with oil, to 180C or until a small cube of bread sizzles and turns golden when dropped into it. Carefully place a few doughnuts at a time into the oil to deep-fry (they will puff up so don't overcrowd the pan). (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
   
6. When the doughnuts are golden-brown on both sides, remove and drain on kitchen paper and then place on a wire cooling rack positioned over a plate or more kitchen paper.
   
7. Remove the syrup from the heat and spoon over both sides of the still-warm doughnuts, turning them with a fork or tongs.
   
8. Serve straightaway.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

world tour of neighbourhood walks

 

Because I am nosy and love looking at other poeple's lives I was very keen to sign up for a photo walk round the world. Today is the start of the world tour of neighbourhoods - each day a different blogger posts a series of photos taken around his or her local area! The lady who is hosting the whole thing is a lady who I have never met, but whose blog I enjoy reading. She is English living in Japan with her family. Check out her blog and the first of the walks (I love the man hole covers):http://www.jojoebi-designs.com

(hope my photos will be as good - I have the kids writing lists about what we should include)