Kitchen Archives - Page 2 of 3

Children’s Birthdays: My Favourite Things

One of the best parts about being a nanny (in my opinion) is the children’s birthdays.

Birthdays have always been one of my favourite celebrations. Not for the material reasons, but as a time for family to come together and enjoy the moment. This year I was super excited to celebrate the birthdays with the kids I nanny for. Partly I think it’s the excitement and the party games and the pretty decorations. Hello balloon confetti! But mostly it’s because I feel incredibly privileged to be able to share in the special moments. Moments that are most often reserved just for family members.

Back in April we had a busy month. In the space of seven days we strayed from the norm for a non-traditional Easter egg hunt, did Anzac Day commemorations, and enjoyed four birthday celebrations. Yes, that’s right, I said four! Baby Viv turned one, Miss6 moved up to Miss7 and The Twins turned 12. Oh hey pre-teen adolescence stage, you’re going to be fun!

The week of endless cake and candles just happened to fall bang in the middle of school holidays. Whilst we tried to do most of the shopping online beforehand, I still found myself trawling the shops at the last-minute with a pram and a begrudging child. One of the more memorable items on the wish list had me fanatically trying to track down a particularly rare species of fish to match the aesthetic of the other fish already in the tank. Yep, true story. We also had to restock the elusive candles and matches, which had no doubt fallen victim to abyss that is “that cupboard” in the kitchen. I’m sure you have one too!

| “Making children’s birthdays special!”

This year the girls gave me quite a challenge for their birthdays. As well as the usual rattling off random items onto their wish list based on whichever ludicrous T.V. advert they’d just sen, I’d suddenly been promoted from nanny to cake pâtissier. Because apparently baking the trusty never-fail muffin recipe and banana bread each week implied that I was in fact a pastry chef. Of course I accepted the challenge with grace and gave it my best shot, although I don’t know if I’ll be volunteering my services for the task again next year. It might just be better to leave it up to the professionals.

So I know all of this happened way back in April, and ermahgerd we’re already in July. Seriously, how is it July already? My plans are way behind schedule and I’m freaking out! But just as I had the opportunity to share in the special family moments and celebrate the birthdays, and just as I have celebrated many milestones on seemingly ordinary days prior, I also want to invite you in and share these with you too. If only so I can get some feedback on where I went wrong with these epic cake fails!

1st Birthday Milestones

Baby fingers got to the icing before we could snap a picture!
Baby Viv’s 1st birthday was a pretty special moment for us. I’ve cared for this little precious girl since she was 7 weeks old and I’m thoroughly attached, perhaps overly! I was there when she first giggled, when she first could hold her head up and when she began scooting around on the floor. I was there that time she was feeling adventurous and fell off the couch giving me a heart attack!! And I’ve been there, day in day out, in the never ending battle of power over food and eating preferences. So it was truly special to be there to celebrate her 1st birthday with the family too.

We decided on a handbag cake for her special day. Baby Viv has long had a penchant for hand bags, sparkly things, pretty colours and anything that can be put over her head. From an early age she’d play with my scarf as I rocked her off to sleep and now that winter is here she’s enjoying them once again!

The 7th Birthday

Much to my panic and horror as I thought ‘how on earth am I going to make that?!’ Miss7 requested a puppy dog cake for her birthday. Miss7 and her puppy Beansie have a truly gorgeous relationship, and she and her sisters are very lucky to grow up with the benefit of pets. They truly provide so much love and care, not to mention responsibility. And I admit, I too am quite take with little isha-beansie-puppy-hat as she is lovingly referred to.

In the end I think the cake didn’t turn out too badly. Athough after 7 eggs, 1.5kg of flour, an entire evening in the kitchen, and a whole lot of chocolate icing I think I was happy to accept any attempt.

The Twins: Double Trouble Birthdays

A few days later it was time to don my chef hat once again to whip up something for The Twins. Thankfully they’d made it somewhat easy for me by requesting an old favourite; these Holey Moley Gooey Chocolate Brownies. I did make a short lived attempt to suggest that maybe brownies weren’t “birthday” enough, but I didn’t put up much a fight as they stood their ground. I did have fun with these though. Because given that we were all drowning in chocolate easter eggs (and by this stage completely done with gorging ourselves on birthday cake), I decided to melt some chocolate down to put into the brownies. The result was amazing, if I do say so myself. I threw some chocolate ganache and icing sugar of the top with some sprinkles and ta-da; the Birthday Brownie Cake was done!

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How do you make children’s birthdays special at your place? And is anyone else getting ready to live with teenagers?

Opening image, before edit: Poppytalk

This post is linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

Savoury Sweet Corn + Cheese Muffins

Put four kids and a nanny in the kitchen and what do you get? Chaos and mess!

Leave the nanny to finish cooking in the kitchen and let the kids ‘spread out’ into a compact 2 bedroom apartment and then what do you get? An even bigger mess!

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Recipe: Savoury Sweet Corn + Savoury Muffins

This was the scene I faced one day this past week. Boss Mum had been working from home and within an hour of attempting to wrestle the kids into a semblance of organised activity (and failing miserably), I decided the best option was to get them out of the house. A quiet environment would help Boss Mum meet her deadline, it would ensure the house stayed clean and tidy and it would do the kids good to have a change of scenery.

The only problem with this solution was that it was beyond cold outside. It was raining and due to gale force winds and sever weather warnings, people were advised to stay indoors. So it seemed the only remaining option was to pack the kids into the car and head off down the road to my house!

Seeing as they’d all been dying to have a play-date at “the nanny’s house” for a while now, and given I’d left a load of washing in the machine in my rush to get to work that morning, it seemed like a great idea. However, after an unfortunate accident with a glass of milk and a sofa and an explosion in the craft box that saw my carpets “glitter bombed”, I wasn’t sure why I’d thought it was a good idea to let four kids loose into a once neat and tidy 2 bedroom apartment.

We did have some fun though. In between fierce games of chess and scrabble, renditions of nursery rhymes on the piano, some serious crafting and a Disney movie, we did manage to get some cooking done. Thanks to my life-saver Thermomix and this Tomato Sausage Pasta recipe from Five Degrees Of Chaos (one of only a handful of things the kids will eat), we got dinner sorted and out-of-the-way. We then used the peaches and strawberries I’d snatched from the crisper on our haste to leave the house to re-work this Kid Friendly Yummy Berry Muffin recipe for a tasty afternoon snack.

By this point their attentions spans were waning and I’d been left alone in the kitchen to deal with the mess. As it turns out, and much to my good fortune, this meant I had some free time up my sleeve. So I played with a new recipe I’d had floating around in my ‘food brain’ for a while now.

These Savoury Sweet Corn + Cheese Muffins are the result, and despite the younger two kids not being true fans, they were big winners with the rest of us!

[gmc_recipe 2353]

>>> How do you like your muffins – chocolatey and rich or fruity and light? Savoury muffins – yay or nay?

P.S. This post is linking up with Bake Play Smile and Create Bake Make for Fabulous Foodie Fridays!

Holey Moley Gooey Chocolate Brownies

Today I’m sharing this decadent chocolate brownie recipe. In the nanny family, these brownies are a bit like how I’m addicted to coffee. Meaning they can’t go without them for long. Not only do all three kids request I make them every few days, so do Boss Mum and Dad.

Recipe: ‘Holey Moley’ Gooey Chocolate Brownies

Actually, these Chocolate Brownies also rate pretty highly on the boyfriend’s list of requests. Although to be honest, so do berry muffins, apple tarts, banana bread, fresh-baked bread, a solid man’s dinner every night and if I had time to make him lunch everyday, he wouldn’t complain either. So, scratch that. I’ve not got three kids requesting these, but four.

Personally I’ve never been a huge fan. I’m not saying I don’t like them and never eat them, because that would be a lie. Just that I’m more inclined to munch on the chocolate buttons (hello, chocolate!) before they end up in the pot melting into treacle-like goodness with the creamy butter. The result is this rich, gooey sludge that looks like heaven on earth. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

The best part of baking is the quality control! #tastetest #foodie

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When the kids jump up on a stool and help stir the pot, both literally and figuratively sometimes, they get this dreamy look on their faces that I imagine freshly washed dogs get at the sight of dirt and grass. They just have to roll around in it.

The skeleton of this recipe is originally inspired from this Kids Choc Brownies recipe I found on Kidspot long ago. Although I think it’s fair to say that after many years of improvising with whichever ingredients I could rustle up from the pantry at short notice, these gooey chocolate brownies have gradually become my own.

The best part of this recipe is that its super quick and easy to do. Most times I find myself making these gooey chocolate brownies late in the afternoon at the request and insistence of the girls. They’ll usually help out which saves on time but also means that they kitchen looks as though a flower bomb just hit.

In reality, I make these one-handed with a baby on my hip, with a pot of spaghetti on the stove for dinner, with school lunches for the next day laid out ready to go, with a puppy scratching at the bench going crazy for chocolate and most likely completing some form of school homework.

If that doesn’t convince you how easy it is to whip up, I don’t know what will!

[gmc_recipe 1647]

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>>> Do you love gooey fudge-like brownies or cake-like brownies?

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

This recipe is more bread-like than cake-like, makes for a great breakfast (either toasted or fresh) and can be altered to suit preferences.

Miss 7 loves this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe. It’s pretty much a one-pot type method and easy enough for the kids to jump up and lend a hand.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup Rolled Oats
300ml Milk (I use almond milk, but anything will do)
up to 3 overripe bananas, mashed
240g Self Raising Flour (You Can Use Wholemeal)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 cup Soft Brown Sugar (I often leave out the sugar and add more honey)
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3 tablespoons Honey
1 Lightly Beaten Egg
1/4 cup chocolate chips
roughly 85g Roughly Chopped walnuts (can use almonds, banana chips, cranberries, raisins etc.)

Method

1. Put the oats in a bowl, pour the milk over them and leave to soak for up to 30 minutes (give or take a bit depending on how distracted you got by kids trying to smash eggs together)

2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).

3. Lightly grease and line a 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) loaf tin with baking paper.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the rolled oats, banana, sugar, cinnamon, honey, egg, chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix together well.

5. Spoon the mixture into the tin, level the top and sprinkle with the extra almonds. Bake the loaf for 45 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and cooked through.

6. Leave it to cool a little in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Chocolate with banana is the best kind of combo! #bananabread @hopefornannies

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>>> Banana bread is such a great staple for busy families, perfect to freeze and have for snacks!

Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Is there seriously anything better than a double choc cakey bite topped with gooey creamy chocolate icing? Nope, didn’t think so.

This recipe is great to whip up easily and quickly and the cupcakes work perfectly as mini-cupcakes for quick lunch-box fillers and freeze well to last.

Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup coconut sugar (can easily use a sugar substitute e.g. stevia)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla or vanilla essence
80g butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk