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Recently received a bumper box of apples to help sponsor a school for $25
We randomly picked Fuji apples and they are just yummy. Maybe it’s because these apples are from this season and not like the apples we buy that are last seasons. I don’t know but I love them and so do the kids.
Big guy and I wrapped them in newspaper and they are stored in the garage.
But I had some Granny Smiths left over from some pot luck desserts I made this weekend for church so I was busy searching for a kid friendly recipe for cake.
I made dutch apple pie and raspberry apple crumb pie delicious but not lunchbox material.
Here’s the recipe.
Wholesome moist apple cake
180g/6oz Wholemeal Flour
125g/4oz Soft brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
125g butter, melted
150ml/1/4 pint cold tea
1 egg, beaten
180g/6oz apples, skins on and grated
75g/2 1/2oz walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
Makes1 1kg/2lbs loaf
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
Lightly grease and line a 1Kg/2lb loaf tin
*************************************
Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices in a large mixing bowl
In a separate bowl mix together the butter, cold tea and beaten egg.
Beat the mixture into the dry ingredients. Stirring until smooth.
Fold in the apples, sultanas and nuts.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the over for 1hour, or until the cake is well risen and not wet in the middle when tested with a skewer.
I substituted the tea ( We don’t drink it.) I used a herbal tea bag- peppermint although it was supposed to be ginger and lemon. It must have got mixed up. I didn’t notice until I could smell it steeping. Still tasted great though.
Also didn’t have enough butter so substituted the last 20g for 3 tablespoons of flax seed as suggested on the flax seed box.
Used mace instead of nutmeg and crushed whole cloves to get ground– you use what you have right!
It was too hard to take pictures and do the recipe with so much flour going everywhere and two helpers weighing and measuring. I gave up. But we had a good time- not so good on the clean up but hey they had fun.
It’s really moist and crumbly- at least this one turned out that way.
To convert the recipe from grammes to cups etc try this nifty converter. I didn’t use it for this but see how you go.
Jury is out with the oldest one on whether the cake is a hit. Little guy loves it.
Welcome to the Carnival of Family Life –Bonfire edition
“Remember, remember the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.â€
In the UK tonight there will be bonfires, sparklers, guys and hot soup. However most of the celebrations were early this year; conveniently over the weekend.
Since I’m missing out this year on Guy Fawkes Night due to location Let the Carnival take you there…virtually.
I enjoyed reading all 55 posts this week and what a smooth transfer from Kailani who did such a brilliant job of starting and promoting this carnival over to your new host, Janie at Colloquium.
When you visit a post, leave a comment if you enjoyed it. We have quite a few new bloggers this week- and we all love comments. Helps us know we’re not alone. If you prefer, try using your social networking sites like Stumble upon, delicious, Twitter,Digg or Sk*irt to spread the word about these wonderful posts. You are a talented lot!.
……..Grab your passports and fly!
History In 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up a government building, “The Houses of Parliament”. He was hoping to kill King James I and all the King’s leaders. Guy Fawkes was one of a group of men, who felt that the government was treating Roman Catholics unfairly.
Alta presents I Gotta Think Simpler posted at Love Country Living saying, “Sometimes numbers just disappear. I tell my boys all the time that we have gremlins and they like to eat things. When a sock is missing, the gremlins took it. When their bedrooms get messed up, the gremlins did it. Last week the gremlins took some of MJ’s numbers. “
Gunpowder On the 5th of November, the king and his leaders were about to meet. So, Guy Fawkes men placed barrels of gunpowder in one of the cellars beneath the building where the king was having his meeting. Guy Fawkes was to light the fuse that would set off the explosion. But the plot was discovered before he had a chance to do this. The king was saved, and Guy Fawkes was hanged.
Brip Blap presents rich mom, poor mom posted at brip blap saying, ” Robert Kiyosaki introduced the world to his Rich Dad, Poor Dad concept – but what about Rich Mom, Poor Mom?”
Bonfires The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.
Jen presents In Memory of My Nanny posted at Jen’s Genuine Life saying,”This is a post in memory of my grandmother, who died of breast cancer 9 years ago, encouraging people to do their regular exams. This is my first time participating in this carnival.”
Mina Togonon presents A Tough One posted at 24 Hour Paradigm saying, ” We bid goodbye to my dear younger sister who flew to Brunei for her employment. This is one of the major changes we’ve had as a family and I personally take the matter seriously. Facing the days, months and possibly years of being separated with my dear sister is never an easy thing.”
Tupelo Kenyon presents What God Wants posted at Tupelo Kenyon saying, “What if the earth’s major belief systems, religions and cultures are based on an inaccurate assumption? What if the fundamental idea, upon which everything else is based . . . is simply incorrect? We have been trying to ‘fix’ the effects of this error for centuries . . . millennia. This life-changing book asks a pivotal question in the spiritual journey of mankind: ‘What does God Want?’ This simple, yet profound question implies another: are we spiritually mature enough to hear the answer? “(Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article all free.)
Silicon Valley Blogger presents 8 Lessons I Learned From The Cheapest Family In The Nation posted at The Digerati Life saying, ” This story is about how the Economides family works as a team to acquire the title of “cheapest family in America.” They’re an inspiration to us all, championing living simply under $35,000 a year after taxes! “
Henry Cate presents First Day of School – Part 2 posted at Why Homeschool saying, “Janine writes about the first day in kindergarten for a foster care child we are taking care of.”
Towns and villages light huge bonfires, let off fireworks and burn a ‘Guy’.( A homemade man traditionally made by children.) The English have been burning effigies to mark Guy Fawkes’ treason for almost 400 years. The tradition started in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder plot failed. In these first bonfires, called ‘bone fires’ at the time, it wasn’t an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, but one of the Pope. It was not until 1806, two centuries later, that the people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead.
Guy Fawkes
Cathy Loewen presents Family Generosity & Fun posted at Joy Thru Generosity saying, ” When you take the Banana Gang Pledge “you pwomise” (among other things) “to twy to have some fun evwy day”. Here’s an example of how easy it can be.”
Children make a Guy by stuffing some old clothes with newspapers, craft a head out of material, and either draw a face on it or buy a special cardboard Guy Fawkes mask. For a few days beforehand children are pushing guys around in prams, push chairs and go-carts, saying ‘A penny for the guy’. Adults then give them money – how much depends on how good the guy is. The money is then spent on sparklers, or at least it would be, if children were still allowed to buy fireworks in the UK, so it is probably spent on sweets instead.
Penny for the guy
Carole G. McKay presents an honest look at the pressures and expectations placed upon children and what we can do about it. Extracirricular Insanity posted at McKay Today.
Other popular bonfire fare include, hot apple cider or mulled wine; Parkin cake, thick homemade harvest soup or my favourite Hot chocolate with Cadbury’s flake crumbled on top. ( The Flake is my addition. )
Kailani presents a interesting discussion on the hidden vegetable phenomenon Deception vs. Nutrition posted at An Island Life saying, “Is it ok to deceive your child if the end result is in their best interest? What do you think?”
Megan presents WIN $250.00 cash for Christmas posted at Imaginif child protection became serious business saying, “WIN $A250.00 just by talking about child safety? Are you for sure? Yep, child safety and child protection are so important that Imaginif has decided to offer a healthy cash prize for our November competition. Open to international participants too.”
The weeks leading up to this festival the schools and fire service do a lot of talks about the dangers of fireworks and safety as many firework display are done in the back garden by mum and dad. The firework code is repeated, drawn, enacted and learnt every year.
Firework safety
Aparna presents Burning incense and candles bad for health? posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, “Burning incense and candles for long has been a part of religious ceremonies and rituals in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and other major religions of the world. The pleasant aroma emanating from the smoldering incense sticks might send you into a state of ecstasy and trigger the spiritual mood in you but did you know that it causes the release of some harmful pollutants that is hazardous to your health?”
Derek Brown presents Omega-3s can aid mental and emotional disorders posted at Omega 3 Investigations saying, ” The brain’s need for omega-3 fatty acids does not go away post-infancy. Omega-3 deficiencies in adults have been linked to various mental and emotional disorders. In fact, some doctors even think the epidemic amounts of mental illness in modern societies can be traced back to the omega imbalance in the food supply, according to Eat and Heal, by the Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing.”
Thank you for all the submissions this time. It was fun being your host. Don’t forget to submit your posts for next week’s carnival over at All Rileyed up before Saturday Midnight Pacific time ( Note: the new time).
Teaching thinking skills is in the National Curriculum and has been since 1999 but no systematic study of how to teach effectively until this study.
The early years from preschool on up through to early schooling the primary focus on improving how children think is through dialogue- asking questions etc so the teachers are doing well.
My son’s preschool sends home information on what he’s been doing at school. One of the sessions said “…participated in a group session on ‘how to invite a friend to play’ dialogue?”
It’s easier at school to set up special moments like this; perhaps this was a discrete part of the curriculum or something that came up that the teacher knew needed addressing. ( Children feeling left out?, new children in the class? Particularly bad session with children excluding others? who knows?)
But how does that translate to the parents of those 3 year olds. How do we encourage the beginning of thinking skills?
Try introducing thinking language E.g. ‘think’, ‘know’, ‘guess’ and ‘remember’
Use questions like “How do you know?”
“Why?”
“What might have happened if…? ( you had picked up the lego when you’d finished?- I could have played the puzzle with you. ) Past idea
or
“What would have happened if..? ( you had run into the road.) Past idea
What can you do if you spill your juice? ( I can clean up with a paper towel) Future idea
Build in fun thinking times when your child knows it’s not real but thinking time. I tried it on the walk to the park today.
Use story times to talk about the character using thinking language.
Note: the research says that by the age of seven children can use the above thinking language. There wasn’t the expectation they could do these ideas at three this is where the thinking skills process starts, during the preschool years.
Page 40 gives and excellent example of appropriate questioning techniques to use with a story.
Helping toddlers become problem solvers
An excellent article excerpted from “Using Everyday Materials to Promote Problem Solving in Toddlers” by Laura Segatti, Judy Brown-DuPaul, and Tracy L. Keyes – an article in the NAEYC journal, Young Children.
Thinking skills in the early years
-Inovative project between parents/guardians and the school to develop the quality of questioning being used at home with the children.
Visit the downloadable pdf activities page for a list of books and great question ideas produced by this collaboration.
List of articles on thinking skills produced by the National Association for the Education of Young Children
Sign up to our play-activities email and you will receive a new, fun, educational activity to try at home with your child each week. Best of all, it's completely FREE!
Let the Carnival take you there…virtually.
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