D is a massive fan of 'Bake off Tent' as he calls it and so this year's calendar had to be one made in promotion of that. It has a monthly recipe that I plan to make with D. He's particularly excited about the Easter biscuits! This month's recipe was clearly designed to appeal to the slightly more health-conscious in January - carrot cake muffins.
I found it interesting that the recipe called for All Bran (although it's labelled as 'shredded bran cereal' which generated a little bit of head scratching) although the other ingredients were as expected - carrots, spices and a bit of orange zest. Another element of interest was that that cream cheese icing was instead incorporated as a filling. D and I had a bash at these on Saturday morning and I'm fairly pleased with the results. They spread a bit and were a little darker than they should be thanks to using dark muscovado rather than light muscovado sugar.
D greatly enjoyed having a go at zesting an orange and munching on the carrot.
After this, it was off to Maidenhead where Brickies were holding an open session. D is a little young for it at four months shy of the correct age. However, he held his own well. He is rather keen on Lego - just needs a bit of help with some of the smaller pieces.
All too soon it was time to get the baths started and the clothes set out ready for school. Hopefully next weekend will be as good!
After this, it was off to Maidenhead where Brickies were holding an open session. D is a little young for it at four months shy of the correct age. However, he held his own well. He is rather keen on Lego - just needs a bit of help with some of the smaller pieces.
There was a good variety of activities there, including make your own penguin under timed conditions. He did rather well at this ending up a bit quicker than some of the older contestants. It's an interesting concept and we'll keep an eye to see if they pop up in Reading at any stage.
After that, it was time for a quick pop round to see friends and watch D and their two year old chase one another around the living room. Slightly manic on occasion but all in good fun. Having not really properly planned the menu for the weekend we ended up picking up chow meins on the way home. D was utterly taken by this wondrous meal and has asked for Chinese again soon - with the caveat that I'm not to give him any seaweed next time.
Sunday featured my Dad. Before D was at school he used to spend a day a week with Grandad and he misses him. It was great to be able to go out for lunch with him and then play a game together.
Lunch was at Handmade Burger Company - somewhere that I always feel I ought to review (in fact - I have a review mostly written from ages ago that I just didn't quite finish) but just haven't. We do go regularly though and there really aren't many places we can say that about. It was good to introduce Dad to the large menu and the rather excellent chips. D, as ever, wanted to have more ketchup than chips. He's being restricted! Roo slept throughout the meal which was lovely.
After this we popped to Eclectic Games to purchase Dino Race for D after he chose it as a reward. We then all played it. I'm going to review it at a later date but it made for a lovely afternoon.
All too soon it was time to get the baths started and the clothes set out ready for school. Hopefully next weekend will be as good!
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