London Mums Blog

Crazy for Cupcakes

2010-02-01T20:00:37+00:00

The most selfish Christmas presents I ever made? Vouchers for a cupcake decorating class for the sisters-in-law. Of course, I had to get one for myself, too. After all, it was about spending time together. Decorating culinary delights and stuffing our faces was just the icing on the cake.

During one of my daily strolls around Islington, I was walking past The Make Lounge – a little workshop that offers crafty day and evening classes to ‘meet people. make stuff.’ Peeking inside through the huge front windows, I felt like a little girl pressing her nose flat against the sweet shop’s window display.

The shop is a girl’s dream. Gorgeous printed fabrics, cute-as-button buttons, beautiful trimmings, delicate cake decorating tools, craft kits, embroidery motives, jewellery making tools and much, much more. The best thing about it: If you, like me, have absolutely no idea what to do with the vast majority of these gorgeous items, their workshops will give you just the right amount of guidance and insight to get you going.

Having a sweet tooth and a weakness for all things pretty and girlie, the cupcake decorating workshop had written ‘Christmas present’ all over it. The sisters-in-law were delighted (in fact, only one is an actual in-law, the other one is living in sin. Shocking, I know!).

10:30 on a Saturday morning is manageable – even for the childless. Jennifer, who founded The Make Lounge in 2007, greeted us with tea, coffee and biscuits. Coats and bags stowed away and hands washed, 11 ladies and one gentleman gathered around the long table and eagerly listened to Leigh, who happens to be pastry chef at Michelin-starred restaurant Sketch in London.

We learned how to scoop. How to make a piping bag. How to use food colour. How to use marzipan. How to colour marzipan. Not to lick the stick you used to stir the blue food colouring. Lots of lots of helpful icing tips!

They just both had a big bite. Cheeky!

This is a recipe Leigh shared with us. Custard icing, mhmm…

French Buttercream

500g cold butter cubes, 120g milk, 93g egg yolks, 120g sugar

Making the custard base:

Place yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk till thick and pale.
Bring milk to boil in a saucepan.
Pour HALF the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking mixture as you are pouring the milk to avoid cooking the eggs.
Return the other half of the milk to low heat and pour the egg, milk and sugar mixture into it.
Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir the mixture until it is 81 degrees or it becomes thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon.
Once the custard is ready, quickly remove from heat and pour the custard into a mixing bowl through a sieve, to remove any cooked bits of egg.
Whip the custard with a paddle attachment and add the cold butter & beat till thick and pale, till you get the consistency of buttercream.

Leigh runs her own little company called Craft Cakes. If you are blessed with two left hands when it comes to baking, consider one of her designs. Or visit her Facebook page and try one of her recipes.

A new mum based in London, Metropolitan Mum is on a mission to find a decent way into motherhood without losing herself.

The inspirational Jacqueline Wilson

2010-01-26T20:07:56+00:00

Nothing ever seems to go on in sleepy old Chiswick so when I heard that there was going to be an influx of great authors, I just had to pop along and see what all the fuss was about.

Luckily I managed to grab a few £3 tickets to a talk from a very popular children’s writer. And off we went to the Chiswick Book Festival last Sunday and attended a session hosted by Jacqueline Wilson.

She was very inspirational. She told the story of how as a teenager she went to study to become a secretary and then found a newspaper ad which was looking for articles from teenagers. She wrote in. She sent them stories. She got paid. She wrote a lot more and then, they gave her a job. It was a job with D C Thomson and she was to write for a new magazine. In fact they named it Jackie magazine, after her sweet self.

She was very engaging and even read from her tattered old diary which must be years old now. Then she began saying that she was initially inspired by reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – which is actually what Miniminx and I are reading together at bedtime. That drew a gasp from both of us in fact.

Armed with books to sign, Miniminx and her two little friends joined the queue and waited patiently to get the signature of their favourite author.

It was lovely to watch their faces throughout the whole thing – they were full of anticipation, rapt when they spoke to her and delighted when she signed their books.

And, so was I!

This post was written by Nixdminx, a single mum in London trying to find a work during these credit crunched times.

I love London

2010-01-11T06:30:44+00:00

As a Londoner, I often forget to do ‘London’ things with the girls. I am so used to seeing the Houses of Parliament from the train when I’m off to buy deadly boring stuff like netball skirts that Pugin’s amazing building has all but lost its charm, while, on a clear day, you can catch sight of the Gerkin on the school run – enough to make anyone a bit blase.

Last month, though, the magic went back into London living. I went to see the Lord Mayor’s Show for the very first time, with the girls.

The show is a throwback from medieval times, when the city’s tradesmen first got organised into guilds, and then would have a procession through the city once a year to show off to potential customers, rivals and each other. The Lord Mayor is not the same thing at all as the Mayor of London – Boris Johnson is a politically elected figure (unbelievably) whereas Nick Anstee, the current Lord Mayor, holds his post for only a year and has an apolitical role.

Our day out was all organised by a lovely friend who grew up in the heart of London’s Inns of Court, which are tucked away behind some of the busiest streets in the capital but which preserve the calm and quiet of the city as it was a hundred years ago.

My friend, who used to watch the parade every year as a child, told me the perfect spot to watch from, right opposite the Royal Courts of Justice at the top of the Strand, and we were all set to meet there at 11.30. We got there, astonishingly, bang on time – despite having to pass TopShop, Paperchase and Jigsaw on the way, no mean feat with a teenager and a tweenager in tow – and straight away the procession kicked off. But where was my friend? It turned out that she’d left fashionably late, and as a result was stuck on the wrong side of the road down a bit from the heart of the action!

‘Random’ is one of those words, like ‘innit’ or ‘whatever’, which is never far from teenage lips, and during the parade it was used heavily. To be fair, there did not seem any particular rhyme or reason why a giant inflatable rack of lamb should be prancing down Fleet Street, followed by a brigade? platoon? squadron? from the RAF, with a pirates’ ship close on their heels. But after a while, we stopped asking ourselves why, and just enjoyed the spectacle.

One of our favourite floats was this space prawn:

As I am always threatening my girls with vegetables, I also appreciated this float:

But the piece de resistance was definitely this beautiful Cinderella-style coach, which the Lord Mayor rocked up to the Courts of Justice in:

The last time I saw a coach that beautiful was in Disneyworld, and it did belong to Cinderella – but I suspect it may have been made out of finely wrought plastic. This one definitely wasn’t.

Despite dire weather predictions of 70 mile an hour gales and torrential rain, we did pretty well, lasting out most of the procession in drizzle and only ducking inside the Apostrophe cafe when it got really, really wet. The staff of the cafe were amazing – friendly and welcoming to the huge throngs, not batting an eyelid when people stood on the stools to get a better view of the doings outside, and maintaining their smiles during what must have been their busiest Saturday ever. And they made a great cappucino, too.

A lovely day out. And, of course, we spent many hours in TopShop, Paperchase and Jigsaw on the way back, so everyone was happy.

Dulwich Divorcee is a fortysomething mother of two blundering through the legal system, Dulwich Park and life, in search of True Love. She's just like you - but maybe a bit sadder and trying to get wiser. Her first novel, Hot Chocolate, is due out in Autumn 2009. You can also read her column, Diary of a Divorce, in The Times.

Paper dolls ... and other snow day activites!

2010-01-06T08:09:35+00:00

First, check out the best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival, it's up over at A Modern Mother.

And while you are reading blogs, your kids can do this:

Paper Dali.

It's a great site that features FREE historical paper dolls. Choose from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Biblical Times, American Revolution, King Arthur or the Wild West.

They were created by a home-schooling mother who loves history and doodling. When she couldn't find any colouring books to go with the era, she created her own.

So check it out, it will surely kill at least a half hour...

And if you get bored doing that ... make snow ice cream!

There are ten more tips for educational snow activities here.

This post was written by Susanna, a London Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.

Where is Santa? And the official naughty and nice list...

2009-12-24T07:39:41+00:00

Finally, Christmas Eve arrives and to encourage children to go to bed there is a website that tracks Santa's journey. Noradsanta.org tracks Santa's journey with video clips featuring Mount Fuji, Sydney Australia and Egyption pyramids.

There is an official time and very official sounding newsclips with some NASA styled commentary with beeps that give weight to its credibility. Perfect for the doubters. Apparently, the tracking of Santa has gone on for over 50 years and started by accident.

It's very fun to prove that Santa is on his way.

On a less official website, emailsanta.com there is a naughty and nice list. Answering a few questions helps the elves to determine what list you may be on for Christmas. Lighthearted fun but the kiddies have taken to it and are quite concerned where they are listed.

Merry Christmas!

This post written by Charlene, a London Mums Blog founding contributor.

What to do this weekend? How about the drive-in movies?

2009-12-06T20:50:27+00:00

Over the past few months Pinewood Studios transformed its water filming facility into a retro Drive-In showcasing some of the best films it has helped to create over the years, including Bridget Jones Diary, Harry Potter, Mama Mia, Slumdog Millionaire, Mission Impossible and Notting Hill.

We took the girls to see a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory matinee on the last day of these special screenings and felt like VIP's whizzing through the studio grounds and parking our SUV in front of one of the largest movie screens in the UK. The sound system was loud enough that we didn't have to tune into the suggested radio station to hear the soundtrack (so we didn't risk running down the car battery). Hot dogs, hamburgers, pop corn, Maltesers and other munchy snacks were available throughout the movie. A few chaps even walked around in uniform during the performance offering more.

After a bit of repositioning the car so everyone could see the HUGE screen, the girls were totally engrossed in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We are all Roald Dahl fans, and this adaptation with Johnny Depp is very entertaining. It's a bit weird, but that's so Roald Dahl. The girls loved it.

Well done again Pinewood for bringing a bit of Hollywood to the UK, with bags of style of course. Please do it again next year.

This post was written by Susanna, a London Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.

Question time

2009-12-04T10:43:10+00:00

As I pulled into the dreaded Sainsburys carpark at 4pm when all the other disgruntled and tired mothers of the day have decided it’s also a good time to zip in and buy milk, Eliza pipes up from the back seat…

For people such as myself who get lost easily. I’ll colour code the conversation. Eliza is Pink and I am Blue

“What’s a Birth canal mum”

(me thinking) why the hell is she asking this now, and would the stupid idiot in front of me get the f**k out of the way so I can park my car.

” erm it’s the er canal the baby comes from”

“where is it? Is it in my foo foo?”

Yes I am one of those mothers using the incorrect term for a body part. shoot me.

“Yep”

“can I see it? Not right now. But why mum? Well right now it’s a little hard as we’re at the grocery store” God sake I hope she has forgotten by the time we get home, I am not helping her see her own, let there be a diagram on google images that’s child friendly. Thankfully that was the end of that.

Stupidly the other day I said to my husband about someone I forget a famous person was “sexy”. Eliza was busy colouring. I forgot like a blog widget they are always listening.

Last night we sat down to watch X factor. Eliza says

“what’s sexy?” Um, it’s um OK you know boobies, well sometimes you see a lady and you can see some of her boobies? Well this is sexy” Then I thought, no this isn’t right sometimes you see old woman and their cleavage and this is far from sexy” So I then had to say , Mummy doesn’t know what sexy is, ask your father.

“Sexy is something you don’t have to worry about and it’s going to take me 12 years to explain, so I will tell you when you 18″ “OK”

Great that’s all done

“what’s sex?” “lets watch X-factor”

Goodness me!!!!

I totally don’t mind answering these questions but I really wanted time out last night. If any of you have had a 3.5 year old or you are about to, then you know, or you will do. They ask a lot of questions ALL the time. It never ends

Why is the table round? Why is the Table brown? Why does the table have four legs? Why do we have placemats? why do we have cups?

Why do I need the toilet?

why do you tell me to stop asking questions? Why are you grumpy, why are you shouting at me, why do you put your hands on your head? why do you count to 10? why why why

“why don’t you go play on your own for a little bit”

Why do you tell me to play on my own, why do you want me to go…..
Getting the picture now?

Why did I have kids?

Suburbanmummy is a 32-year-old British/Australian that loves to travel and see new things and take photographs. She is a professional portrait photographer but mostly a SAHM.

Kids bored this Christmas? Put on a Panto!

2009-12-01T07:12:00+00:00

Panto season has officially begun and to celebrate Robinson's has created Put On A Panto -- a cute web site that gives children everything they need to stage their very own Pantomime -- from planning, to practising to performing. It even includes invitations, posters and suggestions on making costumes.

Come on, I know you want to try it.

A Foodie Saturday or Sunday: Take the Kids to a London Farmer’s Market

2009-11-29T07:11:38+00:00

There is no better way to teach children the enjoyment of fresh fruit and vegetables than an inspired trip to a London Farmer’s Market; all of which feature a very high standard of quality.

All the fruit, vegetables, meet, cheese, jams, juice and are locally grown or hand made by the farmers themselves. The markets are not solely organic, but the food is fresh and local with some farmers selling organic crops. Though the harvest season is waning, there are still plenty of fresh, root vegetables to make into a comforting feast to keep the seasonal malaise of Daylight Savings Time at bay.

What makes the London Farmer’s Markets particularly well-suited for families, aside from their wholesome appeal, is their close proximity to fun things for our little ones to do. If you bring a rucksack to carry your bounty from the market, you and the kids can not only enjoy healthy produce, you can go on to enjoy some near-by attractions.

My all-time favourite Sunday in London: Marylebone Farmer’s Market:

Sundays, 10 – 2pm, just off Marylebone High Street, in the Cramer Street parking lot behind Waitrose, between Moxton and St. Vincent streets. www.lfm.org.uk/mary.asp

The Marylebone Farmer’s Market is one of the largest in London and is set equidistance from the Paddington Gardens playground and Marylebone High Street. If you have another set of hands, the day can be really fun for all. Begin with a family shop in the market, and then take the children to the playground, which has interesting equipment for babies right up to big kids. Further, the playground has one gated entrance, two or three picnic tables and even a covered area to shelter in the event or rain. There are clean public toilets at the end of the gardens on Paddington Street. One person can stay with the kids while the other has a wander through the charming shops of Marylebone Village, which include, among other things, my favourite foodie delights of The Ginger Pig, La Fromagerie, and Rocco Chocolates.

Another great day trip is the Notting Hill Gate Farmers Market:

Saturdays 9 – 1pm, located just off Kensington Church Street, accessed by Kensington Place, in a parking lot behind the Waterstones. www.lfm.org.uk/nott.asp

The Notting Hill Gate Market is in very close proximity to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, otherwise known as the Pirate Ship Playground owing to the enormous pirate ship in the middle. After a shop through the market, you can go to the monitored gated playground in Kensington Gardens that promises to be busy on a Saturday with nice weather, but really fun. In addition to a mammoth and authentic looking pirate ship that doubles as an extremely challenging climbing frame, there are areas for the big and small. There are sand areas, small houses to climb in and out of, swings for big and small, ladders and slides, a music area, a water pump and a tunnel. Also, there are loads of picnic tables, a coffee and snack stand and clean toilets in the playground. After the kids have had their fun, you can wader up to antique-filled Portobello Road and find the spice shop where they have every possible mixture of spice on the planet or down to High Street Kensington to the Whole Foods Market, in addition to the enormous selection of clothing stores. You are not far from the Museum Campus which include the Science Museum, The Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert, all of which have free entrance.

For yet another London neighbourhood, The Pimlico Road Farmer’s Market:

Saturdays 9 – 1pm, Orange Square, corner of Ebury Street and Pimlico Road. www.lfm.org.uk/pimlico.asp

This small, but well-stocked market is located in the charming surroundings of Orange Square which boasts a three-storey Daylesford Organic, the recently re-done Orange Brewery and scores of antique and decorative shops down along Pimlico Road. After the market, you can head off towards the Royal Hospital Grounds for a real autumn play in the hilly brambles of the gated Ranelagh gardens, or head to the other side of the Hospital Grounds and see if the Chelsea Adventure Playground is open (the playground has tentatively been reopened, but do check before you leave to head out as I have not been able to get in touch with anyone there 020 7730 4093). If the weather is wet, walk along a bit further and check out the Kid Zone in the Army Museum (ring ahead as it is sometimes booked for parties on the weekends 020 7730 0717) or head towards Duke of York Square and go to the Saatchi Gallery. All of which have free entrances.

This post was written by Laura Vogel, a former primary school teacher and full-time mother of two who is enjoying every minute of her life in London discovering the city with her children on her extended maternity leave.

Photo credit

On the Victoria and Albert Museum

2009-11-25T07:42:29+00:00

The Victoria and Albert Museum doesn’t expect many visits from the Star.

I’m not sure why this is true, given that its sumptuous cafe – there are glittering chandeliers, high ceilings, domes, columns, impressive interior tiles on the walls and the floors and the ceiling, as well as stained glass windows – was full of families with young children yesterday.

But having sculptures of interestingly textured stone at floor height is an invitation to disaster. Of course you are now so very into your toddler game that, as you saw the Star heading delightedly for a particularly inviting looking East Asian dragon, you reasoned that, as they had put these statues out on display within easy touching distance of all and two-year olds, they must expect, nay, perhaps encourage, a bit of tactile investigation.

And having run a mental check on how sticky he was likely to be, you let him get on with it. But as the Star gave the priceless piece of work a few energetic pats, out of the corner of your eye you saw two museum workers give identical jerks of involuntary horror, came to your senses and dragged your boy away. And thereafter spent an energetic, although by and large succesful, half hour chasing the Star through the galleries, heading him off whenever he looked like he was getting too close to something irreplaceable. You did have a slightly anxious moment when the Star started playing peekaboo around the bases of some busts. You were leisurely strolling towards him, having ascertained that none of the sculptures were in reaching height, when you distinctly saw George Wyndham* wobble.

Surprisingly flimsy, those plinths. George Wyndham, before his nose was mysteriously broken off. With nightmarish visions of a Rodin masterpiece in pieces at your feet, you sprinted the last few feet and attempted to grab your son. Who thought this was great fun and commenced playing hard to get. The bust wobbled again, and I swear time stopped for a second or two. However, the Star was retrieved without further incident in the end and escorted from the building, tucked firmly under one arm. You will be going again, but perhaps you will stick to the collections behind glass.

The problem with that is just as your heart swells with pride as the Star lets our a howl of obvious delight and sprints towards a display case is what he is actually interested in is the little placard describing what’s on show. And the one in the case next to that. And the one next to that. That Star, in fact, remained distinctly underwhelmed by the art and design masterworks, being far more interested in the fire extinguishers, the way his voice echoed when he shrieked, the marble steps in the Raphael gallery, the slipperiness of the floor and the pull out rope barrier dispensers on the walls. *Although it could have been Honore de Balzac. Adrenaline surges really interfere with your ability to read plaques.

This post was written by Solnuska, who spent a lot of the last ten years living and working in Russia. Moscow, to be specific. She is married to a Russian. No, he doesn’t own any football teams. Or drink vodka for breakfast. She has one small boy. You can read more at her blog Verbosity.