Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom: Elf Games DVD

Today we received a copy of Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, Elf Games DVD in the post, it was released 14th May and is available to buy online for £8.99 from www.littlekingdomstore.co.uk.


The DVD has been released to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics (something I personally can't wait for), this will hopefully get younger children interested in the Olympics too. 


My boys love Ben and Holly and are always watching it on TV. For those of you who have never seen or heard about Ben and Holly you should check out their website to see just what goes on within the Little Kingdom - http://www.littlekingdom.co.uk/, here you can see videos, read stories, play games, enter competitions and lots more.


The DVD includes 10 other episodes from the Little Kingdom, these are:

• Nanny’s Lesson
• The Elf Factory
• Mrs Witch
• Elf Joke Day
• King Thistle’s New Clothes
• Elf School
• The Royal Golf Course
• Morning Noon and Night
• Gaston’s Visit
• Trip to the Seaside

Nathan and James both sat glued to the TV the whole time whilst the DVD was on, this is a rarity in our house so I was glad of the peace and quiet that it brought, it allowed me to get on with a few chores I had been putting off.

Nathan said his favourite episodes were the Elf Games and Elf Joke Day. He said he liked these as they were funny. When I asked him what they were about he said that The Elf Games was about sports day like they have at school and that Holly wanted to use her magic to win but Ben said she couldn't as it wasn't allowed.  He said Elf Joke Day was funny as the Elves were playing tricks on each other, Nanny Plum turned The Wise Old Elf into a snail as he played a trick on her and he didn't like it.

We give the Elf Games DVD a rating of 5/5, it is a firm favourite of ours.

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Thomas and Friends 4 Large Shaped Jigsaw Puzzles

The boys were recently sent their fourth puzzle from Ravensburger to review. This month they were sent the Thomas and Friends Four Large Shaped Jigsaw Puzzles.  There are four individual puzzles in the box and are of the characters, Percy, James, Charlie and Thomas. Both James and Nathan are huge Thomas fans so were really happy when they saw what we had been sent.

This month James asked to do the puzzle, it is the first time he has really shown an interest in doing a puzzle properly and as he is only a month off being three years old I thought that it would be good to see how he did. I wasn't really expecting him to be able to do the puzzles but he managed them really well with a little help from me (making sure they were the right way round mainly or making sure they belonged to the correct character). 

 The puzzles are cut into 10, 12, 14 and 16 pieces and are colour co-ordinated, this makes it easier for a child to differentiate between the puzzles and the pieces within each of them. Nathan could easily pick out which pieces belonged in which puzzle, whereas James couldn't. But with a little help from myself and Nathan he did just fine.

The puzzles are suitable for children aged 3+ and priced at £8.99, they can be purchased from all good toy shops and retailers. We highly recommend Ravensburger puzzles, they are made from good quality materials and the pieces fit well together even when played with over and over. These are definitely puzzles made to last.

We cant wait for our next puzzle to arrive.

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Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich Recipe (Surimi)

In the ideal world, of course, I would use freshly picked and cleaned proper crab meat to make this open sandwich. However, good-quality crab meat (actually, any crab meat) is hard to come by here in Estonia. Instead I have to settle for imitation crab, or surimi.

Here's a quick and simple topping for a slice of toast or soft roll that I quite happen to like.

Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich
(Lumekrabist saiakate)
Makes four

120 g packet snow crab (surimi; make sure you use the best one around with highest surimi percentage)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 soft rolls, halved or 4 slices of toast

Break up the snow crab sticks. Place into a bowl, fold in mayonnaise. Season with lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt.
Serve on a halved soft roll or on a slice of toast, garnish with fresh dill and season with black pepper (and perhaps some finely grated lemon zest).

More surimi recipes:
Open-faced surimi and egg salad sandwich @ What's Cookin, Chicago
Surimi Maki @ Inspired Bites
Imitation Crab Salad @ Karen Cooks
Russian Style Crab Salad @ Natasha's Kitchen

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A Girl's Worst Nightmare...

Over the last few weeks it seems I have had the worst luck ever. They say bad luck comes in three's well I've had my three and I'm hoping that's it for a very long time, I will go into detail of two of these in another post as they are both similar and are both to do with Facebook - which is slowly but surely turning into a horrible place to be.

However the worst of the three happened only a few days ago. I lost my beloved engagement ring. It  wasn't very expensive compared to some rings but it was MY ring. It wasn't very old and I hadn't realised how loose it was. I can't recall hearing it drop. 

I have looked everywhere for it, the bedrooms, bathrooms, retraced my steps to the boys school and even the shop where I went for a loaf of bread. I've looked in the garden, in the kitchen under the sofas and even in the vacuum cleaner - I can't think of anywhere else it could be.

As you can imagine Matt isn't best pleased about it but what else can he say, it wasn't intentional, there's nothing I can do but keep looking for it. I'm hoping it will miraculously turn up but as my luck seems to have done a run and bunk I'm not holding my breath! For now the search continues - its either that or wait for a new one but as its taken 6 years to get the one I had I could be in for a long wait.

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Canteen classics: Solyanka, Estonian style

 
(This recipe was originally posted in December 2006. Fully updated in May 2012).
 
Here's a recipe for a soup that must have frequently featured in one disguise or another in every single canteen and many households across the former Soviet empire: solyanka (see also this informative article about Russian soups). A hearty soup originally from Russia and Ukraine that can be just as humble or elegant as you want. If you're a flashy Slav, you use seven types of meat (incl. kidneys) and throw in a handful of black olives, a slice of lemon and a generous pinch of capers. If you're a more modest Estonian, you stick to sweating onions and a choice of sausages. You can add cabbage or other vegetables, make a vegetarian, fishy or meaty solyanka.

Whatever you do, you must use salted/brined cucumbers (aka pickles), which give the soup its characteristic salty-sour note.

Solyanka, Estonian style
(Seljanka eesti moodi)
Serves: 4

3 large onions (about 400 grams in total)
4 Tbsp oil
100 ml boiling water
100 grams of concentrated tomato puree
1 litre beef stock (use boiling water and 2 beef stock cubes, if necessary)
3 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
3 salted cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced
300-400 grams of cooked lean meat products (choose a mixture of Frankfurters, Polish kabanos or Krakow sausages, sliced cooked beef, mild chorizo sausages etc - 2-3 different types)

To serve:
sour cream or smetana or thick plain yogurt

Quarter the onions and slice thinly crosswise.
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan, add onions and fry gently for 5 minutes. Add peppercorns and bay leaves alongside 100 ml of boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes, until onions have softened.
Add tomato puree and stir until combined.
Add the hot stockm sliced cucumbers, and chopped meat products.
Bring slowly to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer gently for about10 minutes, so the flavours can develop.
Taste for seasoning - you can add some lemon juice to sharpen the soup.Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some rye bread.

More solyanka recipes:
Salmon and wild mushroom solyanka @ Nami-Nami
Frau T's solyanka  @ Urban Foodie
Solyanka @ Eastern Europan Food (About.com)
Russian meat solyanka  @ Food.com
Solyanka @ Pavel Chuchuva (in Melbourne)
Simple Solyanka @ Windows to Russia

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Wild Garlic Hummus Recipe

The wild garlic season has began here in Estonia. For almost a fortnight I see people foraging for the pungent wild leaves in a nearby forest, and I've been picking a small brown paper bag full of leaves twice myself. The other day I was browsing on Pinterest for lovely wild garlic ideas, and came across this lovely recipe for wild garlic hummus on Shaheen's blog Allotment2Kitchen.

I used my regular hummus recipe and simply added a generous handful of wild garlic leaves. The result was a vibrant green dip/spread, that had a wonderful garlicky element, but its Lebanese/Israeli heritage was still there.

Note that wild garlic is also known as ramson (Allium ursinum). It's closely related to wild leeks or ramps (Allium tricoccum). Very generally speaking, the first is common in Europe and the latter in North America. You can easily substitute one for the other in this (and other Nami-Nami's wild garlic recipes).

Wild Garlic Hummus 
(Karulauguhummus)
Serves four

400 g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 handful fresh wild garlic leaves, rinsed
couple of spoonfuls of water
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain the chickpeas and place to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until you've got a smooth paste (or slightly coarse, if that's how you prefer your houmous). Taste for seasoning - if you wish, add some more lemon juice or salt.

Excellent with toasted pita bread, or on a slice of toast, or spread on crispy crostini or as a dipping sauce with some crudités. We enjoyed ours with some Georgian bread, pictured.

More Wild Garlic recipes:
Wild Garlic Pesto with Almonds @ Nami-Nami
Wild Garlic Pesto with Pinenuts @ Nami-Nami
Wild Garlic Tzatziki @ Nami-Nami
Mashed Potatoes with Wild Garlic @ Nami-Nami
Wild Garlic Butter @ Nami-Nami
Ramson-Almond-Pesto  @ Küchenlatein
Creamy Wild Garlic Soup @ Cinnamon and Thyme
Wild garlic, courgette and mint soup by Angela Hartnett

More hummus recipes:
Harissa-spiked hummus @ Nami-Nami
Beetroot Hummus @ Nami-Nami
Hommus with pomegranate syrup and tahini @ Anissa Helou
Basil hummus @ Simply Recipes
Hummus en fuego @ 101 Cookbooks
Roasted jalapeno and lime hummus  @ The Kitchn
Beet Hummus @ Chocolate & Zucchini

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A wonderful coconut and rhubarb tart

I admit that this is basically a re-posting - recipe was already featured on Nami-Nami back in 2007 - but it's been a while and I've tweaked the recipe during those years. Hope you'll forgive me :) I liked the original version quite a bit, but think this modified one is even better. Curiously, I've halved the amount of coconut. If you let it cool completely before tucking in - preferably overnight - it's still immensely coconut-flavoured, yet delicately letting the rhubarb shine as well. Double the coconut - and it's all too sweet and just not right..

So here you go, Rhubarb and Coconut Tart, version 2012.
(Rabarbri-kookosekook)
Serves 8

Crust:
180 g all-purpose flour (300 ml)
2 Tbsp caster sugar
a pinch of salt
100 g cold butter, cubed
1 egg

Filling:
300 g rhubarb, chopped into 1-2 cm chunks

Topping:
75 g butter, softened
170 g caster sugar (200 ml)
1 tsp vanilla sugar or extract
250 g plain yogurt or sour cream
2 eggs
100 g unsweetened shredded coconut

Start with the crust. Sift flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and pinch until crumbly. Add the egg, combine the pastry quickly. Wrap into a clingfilm and place into the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Butter a 24 cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, making the circle about 34 cm in diametre, then line the bottom and the sides of the cake tin with the rolled-out pastry.
Blind bake at 200 C/400 F for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden.
Meanwhile,  cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until combined. Add the yoghurt/sour cream, eggs, and coconut.
Cut the rhubarb into chunks.
Take the pre-baked tart shell out of the oven, spread rhubarb on top.
Spoon the coconut topping over the rhubarb, smoothing out the top.
Return to the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until the tart is lovely golden brown.

Cool (a little or completely) and cut into slices to serve.

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