LivingwithKids

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, including Global Patron Sarah Brown and WRA Ambassador Naomi Campbell, are asking people around the world to wear white and hold a dinner party in March to celebrate the 100th year of International Women’s Day, which is on the 8th.

Now as I can’t invite all of you round to my house unless you’re happy for it to be standing room only, I thought I would hold a virtual dinner party  - with a little help from some of my talented friends.  I hope it inspires you to host your own.

Here’s what’s on the menu:

Starter Carrot and Coriander soup served with crusty granary bread (created by Sandy from Baby Baby)

Main course
Pan Fried Sea Bass fillets with new potatoes crushed with spinach watercress and rocket (courtesy of Nick from My Daddy Cooks)
or

Tender Sweet Chicken Satay (from My Daddy Cooks) served with Persian Jewelled Rice (made by Carly at Wives and Daughters) or Butternut Squash Risotto from English Mum

Dessert Cheesecake courtesy of Lorraine from Ramblings of a Mum on the Run or Divine Chocolate’s Little Hot Chocolate Mousse. Served with cream.

Mmmmmm. Enjoy!

If you've watched the videos of little Archie from mydaddycooks you'll have seen that the way his dad keeps him safe is in a Little Helper FunPod®. The multi-award winning FunPod® provides a safe environment to get your toddlers up to the kitchen worktop on their own safely constructed platform to help, interact, learn and play.

Heralded as socially responsible, the FunPod® encourages children to learn all about the whole food experience and can encourage parent and child bonding with quality time spent while preparing lunch or dinner. With five awards to its name in just over 12 months, the FunPod® is available in five different colours. The FunPod® is available from retailers including Childalert's Baby Catalogue. Read our review of the FunPod® here.

But if you'd like the chance to WIN one, plus a FunPack worth £7.99 including an apron, child’s wooden whisk, spoon, rolling pin and mixing fork, just enter our fab competition!

How to enter: click here, watch the video on the home page and then send us your answer to the following question from your KidStart registered email address to competitions@kidstart.co.uk by the closing date Tuesday 9 February.

Please note: entries from non KidStart members will be disqualified. If you'd like to register with KidStart, click here - registration is free. Usual KidStart competition rules apply.

Question: What colour top is the little girl with pigtails in the video wearing?

As you know I'm a big fan of encouraging kids to start cooking at an early age, and one of my absolutely favourite recipe sites at the moment is mydaddycooks, featuring stay-at-home dad Nick Coffer and his utterly enchanting two-year-old Archie.

Together the two of them make the most amazing recipes, and Archie has already been dubbed 'the next Jamie Oliver.' Here are a couple of my favourite dishes - maybe it will inspire you to make your own parent-and-child cooking 'vlog'!:

We've got a birthday in our house next week - thankfully we're at the stage now where the party is the easiest thing in the world: a sleepover, video games and a dvd, pizza, maybe some 'midnight feast' snacks. But it wasn't so long ago that we were having to come up with inventive ways of entertaining 20 or so kids for two hours. So here are my top tips for throwing the perfect child's birthday party - please feel free to add your own!

1. Decide on a venue. House parties are easiest for little ones, but if you're worried about the mess then your local school, sports centre or church hall can probably be hired out quite cheaply.

2. Choose a theme. Not so important when the kids are nursery/reception age, but after that a really good idea. Fancy dress, wizards and witches, Ben 10, Harry Potter, Hannah Montana - whatever your little darling and their friends are into.

3. You need some sort of entertainment, but it doesn't have to cost the earth. For little ones, traditional still works - so pass the parcel, musical chairs, pin the tail on Peppa Pig, a sweet-stuffed pinata, etc. Ignore your inner Competitive Mum - just because Lucy had pony rides, a carousel and a ride in a hot air balloon doesn't mean you have to do the same. My brother-in-law has always done homemade puppet shows - he sets them to chart hits and the kids love them. A disco will also work, karaoke if your head can take it, or you can make your own football party. If you do want to spend a bit more, soft play parties are always popular with younger ones, cinema outings can be fun from about the age of 6, or when they're a bit bigger, go karting, bowling, laser quest or paintball.

4. Don't get too stressed about the food. The honest truth is that kids don't want to spend an hour sitting down to a lavishly prepared tea. They want to get up and run around and cause havoc. So a few sandwiches, grapes, carrot sticks, and cherry tomatoes (so it seems a bit healthy), crisps, some fairy cakes and of course the birthday cake (if you want a recipe for a super easy one, click here).

5. Going home presents should be cheap and cheerful (and you don't need them past the age of 10). One simple toy, some sweets, a blower/bubbles, a slice of cake.

Finally, send out the invitations 2 weeks in advance, and if you haven't had an RSVP don't be afraid to ring up and ask. Some parents are incredibly lax about replying to invites which can be incredibly annoying if you're trying to work out numbers. If you're guilty, take note!

We love making Christmas cookies in our house - although admittedly they never last long enough to hang on the tree. This gorgeous recipe for Annabel Karmel's cut-out cookies is taken from her Princess Party Cookbook - you'll need festive cookie cutters, but you don't have to make angels, if you don't want to!

Ingredients

250g (9oz) butter, slightly softened
150g (5 1/2 oz) caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
325g (11oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp salt
340g (12oz) royal icing sugar
pink and blue food colouring
silver balls, white sprinkles, edible gold and silver glitter to decorate
thin ribbon, for threading

Method

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Stir the flour and salt together with a fork in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture. Mix until it forms a soft dough. Form the dough into a flattish disk, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until firm enough to roll out.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Divide the dough in half and roll out one half on a lightly floured surface to 5mm (1/4 in) thick. Cut out cookies with an angel-shaped cutter (or snowflakes, stars, shoes, tiaras etc.) You can make a hole in the top of each cookie using the end of a straw, so that you can thread a ribbon through once baked. Repeat with the second half of the dough, then re-roll the trimmings and cut out more cookies.

Transfer to baking sheets lined with baking parchment, spacing the cookies about 2 1/2cm (1 in) apart. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

When cool, make up the royal icing. Colour one quarter pink and one quarter blue. Transfer the remaining white icing to a piping bag fitted with narrow (no 1 or no 2) nozzle. Some of the cookies can be iced with coloured icing using a small palette knife, others can be left plain. Pipe patterns on the plain cookies and deocrate with gold or silver balls, sprinkles and glitter. Allow the iced cookies to set and then pipe patterns on these. Hang the angels with loops of thin ribbon threaded through the holes.

We've come a long way since A Christmas Present for Dad meant hankies or some socks. But of course unless your partner's surname happens to be Beckham or Rooney, you'll want to get them something special but affordable, whether it's from you or from the kids. Here's my pick of some of the best gifts around this year:

		A new sweater from M&S M&S have some brilliant knitwear this season, but I'm particularly crazy about this lovely Merino wool sweater (£35) - it's super stylish and feels fantastic. Instant huggability!
		Jamie Oliver's America cookbook (available from Play). This is a very masculine cookbook, it has to be said - no frills, just fantastic recipes and fab photography. Perfect for any man who fancies himself as a chef (£12.99).
		A sports car driving experience from buyagift Unless you're one of the Euromillions winners it's unlikely you'll be able to afford a Ferrari or Aston Martin, but I'm sure any man would be thrilled with the chance to get behind the wheel of one. (Experiences start at £69).
		A table football game.  Great fun, easy to tidy away (!) and should keep them going until next season - this one from Debenhams  is only £20.  And the kids can join in too!
		Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, available from Tesco and Toys R Us.  Now I have it on good authority that this is 'the ultimate video game, with fantastic graphics, stunning action and an incredible at sea mission, plus some perfect action movie hero moments.' And I know several dads (and older teens) who would LOVE to find this under the tree. (OK, you may not see them for the rest of Christmas Day, but at least it will be peaceful.) Available on XBox 360 and PS3.

Something to help them smell good. Your man (and you) will love Green People's gorgeous Spicy Energising Trio (£25). And Botanics deliciously fragranced Essentials Kit from Boots  (£25) is fantastic value, and comes in a very handy (manly) tin.

Don't forget if you shop for these or any Christmas presents through KidStart you'll get money back for your kids, and you'll also get the chance to win some amazing prizes in the Grand Draw.

Happy shopping!

We're having casserole tonight - in the winter we have it at least once a week, and according to a new survey, that makes me pretty average, because the average British mum uses nine recipes which she rotates to feed her family.

During the summer we tend to barbecue alot (if it's sunny!) but in the winter we have the following at least once a fortnight: chicken risotto, sausage and mash, salmon/tuna pasta, cottage pie, pizza, stir-fry, and on a sunday, usually a roast.

I don't feel guilty, though, because the thing is when you're feeding kids that you quickly learn what they will and won't eat. It's great to experiment and do the whole Annabel Karmel thing but if you end up with lots of leftovers on a regular basis you start to feel wasteful (and if you pick at them, fat.)

So, which recipes do you like cooking for your family? I'd love to know.

For me, baking is simply a perfect half-term activity - it doesn't cost a fortune, it takes up a whole morning or afternoon, you can teach your kids about weighing and measuring and there will be something delicious to eat afterwards. Get your kids into the spirit (!) of Halloween with these delicious tea-time treats.

Phil Vickery's Web Chocolate Triangles

Makes 20
Preparation time: 15 minutes    
Chilling Time:  30-45 minutes

Ingredients:   225g (8oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces 115g (4oz) butter 397g can Carnation Condensed Milk  275g (10oz) digestive biscuits, coarsely crushed  25g (1oz) raisins   To decorate: White royal icing

Method: 
Line an 18 x 28cm (7 x 11") baking tin with foil. Place the chocolate, butter and milk into a saucepan, heat gently until melted. Add the biscuits and raisins. Stir well. Press mixture into prepared tin and chill until firm. Cut into triangles and pipe three circles using the white royal icing over each. Using a cocktail stick drag from the centre to the edges of the circles to form a spider's web.

For more recipes from celebrity chef Phil Vickery plus a chance to become the 'Ultimate Pud Star', visit www.carnation.co.uk/competition

Halloween Carrot Muffins Preparation: 20mins Cooking: 25mins Makes 12

Ingredients:
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
200ml/7floz sunflower oil
2 medium eggs
200g/7oz plain flour
2.5ml/1/2 tsp baking powder
2.5ml/1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
5ml/1 tsp ground cinnamon
200g/7oz carrots, peeled and grated
50g/2oz walnut pieces, chopped
5ml/1 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing:
225g/ icing sugar, sifted
25g/1oz unsalted butter
75g/3oz chilled full fat cream cheese
food colouring and writing icing

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Line a deep 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases. Place the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl, then beat together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Sift over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon then fold in until well mixed. Fold in the carrots, walnuts and vanilla essence. Divide the mixture between the paper cake cases.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 25mins or until golden, risen and the middle bounces back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. For the icing: Use an electric whisk to beat the icing sugar and butter together in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and briefly beat together again until just combined. Don’t overbeat or it will become runny. Spread the icing over the muffins, then let the kids go mad icing the cakes with spooky characters.

Courtesy of: www.britishcarrots.co.uk/

Now of course I don't really need an excuse to eat chocolate, but this is actually National Chocolate Week, which means it would be positively rude not to indulge. And to celebrate LivingwithKids has teamed up with Divine Chocolate to offer you the chance to win this amazing hamper, which should keep you going for... ooh, three months at least! (Divine have some chocotastic recipes on their site, and you can also find out about special activities they're hosting this week.)

To enter, all you have to do is send an email from you KidStart registered email address to competitions@kidstart.co.uk with the word 'chocolate' in the catchline. And if you're not a KidStart member, simply click here to join. Competition closes October 26. Good luck!

It's an Annabel Karmel day on LivingwithKids today. Not only are we running two brilliant recipes from her gorgeous brand new recipe collection Princess Party Cookbook, which is perfect for party planning and entertaining (read my review of Princess Party Cookbook). You could also win one of 10 copies of the book in our fab competition - see how to enter at the end of this post!

'Every girl - big or little - needs to release her inner princess now and then,' Annabel says. 'By empowering your child to live out her dreams and by nurturing her vivid imagination, you can help her discover more about who she really is.'  (And of course boys, big and little, will love making and eating the recipes too.)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jewelled cupcakes Annabel says: 'Let your party girls create their own jewelled cupcakes, topped with a swirl of icing and a variety of ‘gems’. You could use ready-made buttercream instead of the cream cheese icing, if you prefer.' Makes 10

Ingredients:
125 g (4 1/2 oz) butter or margarine
125 g (4 1/2 oz) caster sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 eggs
125 g (4 1/2 oz) self-raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Cream cheese icing:
110 g (4 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
110 g (4 oz) butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
85 g (3 oz) icing sugar
Edible food colouring

Decorations:
Edible jewels
Jelly beans in bright colours
Jelly Tots
Jelly diamonds
Smarties or M&Ms in bright colours
Sugar diamonds

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 10 paper cases. Cream the butter or margarine in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, then mix in the lemon zest. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour with the second egg, beating continuously. Sift over the remaining flour and baking powder then fold in gently. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool in the muffin tin for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whilst the cupcakes are baking you can prepare the icing. Beat together the cream cheese and butter. Beat in the vanilla, then sift over the sugar and stir in until the sugar is combined. Beat for 1 minute until fluffy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside in the fridge. If you wish, you can divide the icing into two bowls and colour each with a few drops of the different food colourings. Once the cakes are cold, swirl some of the icing on top of them and stick a selection of decorations into the icing. Leave to stand for around 30 minutes to allow the icing to set.

Shortbread sweethearts Annabel says: 'A very delicious way to say I love you.' Makes 8 (easily doubled) Shortbread 55 g (2 oz) butter, softened 30 g (1 oz) caster sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla extract a pinch of salt 85 g (3 oz) plain flour, plus extra for rolling

To sandwich the hearts:
40 g (1 1/2 oz) white chocolate, chopped
Icing sugar, for dusting
Approx. 1 tbsp raspberry jam (preferably seedless)
You will also need 2 heart-shaped cookie cutters, one 6 cm (2 1/2 in) and the other a little smaller

Method:
Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt until combined. Add the flour and stir in with a wooden spoon, then bring the dough together with your hands. If the dough is very soft, wrap in cling film and chill for around 30 minutes. Roll the shortbread dough out on a lightly floured surface to around 2 mm (1/16 in) thick. Cut out 16 heart shapes using a 6 cm (2 1/2 in) cookie cutter, re-rolling the scraps as necessary. Put 8 dough hearts on one lightly greased baking sheet. Cut out heart centres from the remaining 8 dough hearts, using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter. Transfer the shortbread with the hearts cut out to a second lightly greased baking sheet. Chill both baking sheets for 10 minutes in the freezer or 1 hour in the fridge. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Bake the shortbread until slightly golden around the edges – this will take about 10–12 minutes for the ones with hearts cut out of the centre and 13–15 minutes for the solid ones. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the white chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over, not in, a pan of warm water. Stir frequently and watch it carefully, as white chocolate can overheat very easily. Remove the bowl from the pan when you can still see a few un-melted lumps of chocolate and stir the mixture until smooth. Set aside for 10–20 minutes to let the chocolate cool and thicken slightly. Meanwhile, dust the cookies with the cut-out centres with icing sugar. When cool, spread a scant 1/2 tablespoon of white chocolate over each solid heart cookie, leaving a border around the edge (the chocolate will spread as you sandwich the cookies). Put a blob of jam, about 1/4 teaspoon, in the centre of each. Sandwich the cookies with the sugar-dusted tops (hold by the edges to avoid fingerprints in the icing sugar) and add a little extra jam in the cut-out centre, if needed. Chill for 10–20 minutes, until the chocolate has set, then store in a cool place.

*Win! a copy of Annabel Karmel's Princess Party Cookbook To celebrate the launch of Annabel's fantastic new book, we're giving you the chance to win one of 10 copies. Simply email us from your KidStart registered email by the closing date Friday October 16 with 'Annabel Karmel' in the title. If you're not a KidStart member, click here to join. (Please note that entries from non KidStart registered email addresses will be disqualified.)