Lego Nativity

Well, we are coming up to Christmas. We are very nearly in December now and if I'm honest I'm not feeling very Christmassy at all. In the UK this was my favourite time of year. The days are getting shorter, it's getting cold and crisp outside and all the fairy lights start appearing. I love the whole atmosphere of everyone getting ready for Christmas. I don't like the shops trying to make everyone spend and spend and spend, but I love that everyone gets together.  Families and friends all try and meet up and make the effort to find out how each other is doing. And the fact that it usually involves food is always a bonus!

But this year the days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, there are no fairy lights to be seen and we have no family around. So... We are making new traditions!

To try and get in to the Christmas mood I have created our own lego nativity as a surprise for the kids.
Here it is...

It was pretty easy to do actually. First just find some bog standard lego people. You'll need one lady for Mary, then about six men; Joseph, 2 shepherds and 3 wise men. Then an extra head and round white block for baby Jesus!

 

I found an all blue body for Mary, then cut out a rectangle of material for the headdress.  I needed to use a little bit of blue tac to keep it in place because the material kept slipping on the hair.

 

For the shepherds you can use the cloaks and hoods from Star Wars figures if you have them (I used  the emperors for one of my shepherds) or you can cut out a rectangle for the headdress and a separate piece for the cloak...

The Wise men also have cloaks.  I was able to get some turbans from the Lego shop (in Cardiff) but if you don't have a local Lego shop you can try www.bricklink.com or you may have a crown or two in one of your own Lego sets. I then found some interesting and colourful shaped pieces for the gifts.

And of course there are then the animals. We already had horses for the wise men to ride, so I just needed to make a sheep for the shepherds.  After a quick search on Pinterest I created this sheep.  Lets just ignore the fact its twice as big as the shepherds!

 

Embracing the Kiwi life

Yesterday I felt very kiwi.

I went to a Turkish spice shop for my curry spices, an Asian store for my sushi ingredients, the bakery for my bread, the butcher for my meat, the post office for my stamps and the supermarket for everything else! In the UK I could have just gone to Asda for everything so it's a totally new way of life now!

Last night I tried out some of my new curry spices. Mmmmm curry!
And I made our own roti to go with it. So simple and such a great alternative to shop-bought naan bread.

Ingredients:

200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp oil
180ml warm water

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together into a dough. Separate out the dough into 8 balls, then roll out into 14cm (ish) discs. Fry in an oiled pan for a few minutes each side until they go golden. Yummy!

I tried sushi for the very first time just a few days ago and I absolutely loved it! As with most things I then thought "I could make this" so today I gave it a go...

Doesn't look too bad for a first attempt does it?!? And what's better, it was delicious. Even the ladybug ate it! I'm so pleased :) I just need to get the munchkin to eat it and we'll have another lunch box option!

And here's how to do it...

You will need:

A sushi mat (it was $2 in the Asian store)
Nori (the seaweed sheet)
Rice (2.5 fluid oz per nori sheet)
Sushi vinegar, 1tsp sugar and pinch of salt to flavour the rice
Whatever you want to put inside!
Woy sauce

Method:

Rinse the rice before you cook it to get rid of some of the starch.  Cook the rice in a non-stick saucepan with double the amount of  boiling water to rice (if 5 fl oz rice then 10 fl oz water).  Cover and cook on low heat for approximately 10 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.

Next flavour the rice. I'm not sure how much vinegar you should put in as you can get powdered stuff (which I have) or liquid. I just sprinkled a little in.

Then place some cling film (plastic wrap) over the sushi mat and put your nori sheet on top.  Spread the cooked rice over the sheet leaving a little gap at the end furthest from you.

About a third of the way down place your filling in a line across the sheet.  I used cucumber and carrot strips because that's all I had in the fridge.  I then drizzled a small amount of sesame and ginger sauce over the strips.

Roll your nori using the mat.  You will need to peel back the cling film and mat as you roll.  Then wrap it in the cling film and place in the fridge for a few minutes before slicing (with a very sharp knife).

Enjoy your homemade sushi! :)

Anzac meets Wales

Being in New Zealand, I thought I'd give a NZ recipe a go. I have a Kids in the kitchen cook book (which I think is actually from Australia, but I'll pretend it's Kiwi!) so I flicked through for a suitable recipe. Anzac Slice looked pretty good so I got the ingredients ready. Now we hit two problems. Firstly, it has coconut in it and I really don't like coconut so I just left that out, and secondly, it needs golden syrup, which I don't have, so I swapped for maple syrup. I also adjusted the quantities a little as I'm not very good at following recipes!

So really it's not a Anzac slice anymore its more of a Welsh/Canadian slice, but it's really yummy so I don't mind what it is, I'm going to eat it!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 ½ cups rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

125g butter (I always use diary free spread in baking as I have a milk allergy)

2 tbsp. syrup (I think any will do, maple was very good!)

1 tbsp. water

½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda

 

(if you want to add the coconut its was ½ cup coconut and just do 1 cup of oats)

 

Method:

Pre heat oven to 170°C and line a brownie or flapjack tin with baking paper so that the paper sticks out on 2 sides for easy removal from the tin.

Put the butter, syrup and water in a bowl and melt in the microwave (or in a saucepan and heat on the hob). 

When all the butter is melted add the bicarb (it may fizz and bubble a little- which is normal, don't panic)

Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. 

Pop the mixture in the tin and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

It should be brown on the top and firm to touch.

Cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before you try to take it out, you don't want it to crumble when its removed.

Then slice while it's still warm, and eat! :)