A round of thank yous

Photo credit - q83

I've got a mounting list of thank yous I need to say so I'm putting it right in just one post.

First off, Warner Brothers sent us a lovely box full of Easter films for the family which arrived on Easter Saturday. They included films like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as some Bugs Bunny and Yogi Bear cartoons. Warner Brothers kindly sent us some mini eggs too but they were gone in about 5 seconds flat so they never even made the photograph! Missy Woo was entranced by Willy Wonka when we had a "cinema night" and I was marvelling at the fact that the children in the film are now all in their 50s! The films certainly kept the children amused during the school holidays, so a huge thank you to them. 

Next, Kellogg's sent me a box of their new cereal Mini Max to try. They're baked wholegrain squares, very similar to another brand which shall remain nameless (because I don't buy that brand), with sugar frosting on the top. The children loved them, although cheekily complained they weren't the chocolate version. The disappointing thing is that I noticed they contain beef gelatine and therefore are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. I am guessing this has caught a few people out as it's not something you usually check for and it seems strange they can't find a suitable alternative. It doesn't affect us though and the children are delighted with them, so thank you to Kellogg's, mostly from Monkey and Missy Woo. 

Finally, I met the lovely Ruth from The Pink Whisk last week for coffee. She brought along a little present for me - a signed copy of her new book, The Busy Girl's Guide to Cake Decorating which is fab. I've already used some of the instructions to help me make my husband's birthday cake; her chocolate cake recipe has become my go to recipe for that and the book includes quantities and cooking times for different size tins. I know she won't expect me to blog about it but I am anyway because I love the book (especially the dolls throughout the book!) and Ruth is a lovely person who I'm proud to call a friend. So thanks to Ruth and I hope the book sells loads. 

Thank you again to one and all for the lovely things you sent me. 

(I was sent or given the above items as stated in the post. I have not been paid further for mentioning any of these products in this post. I have not been told what to write and all words and opinions are my own. I have included links out of courtesy.) 

Tots100 Book Club - Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

I don't read half as much as I used to. You can blame the double whammy of having children and becoming engaged in social media for that. When I get into a good book, everything falls by the wayside. I drop everything - I hate having to stop to make tea, housework goes out the window (not that my house is ever pristine anyway) and I even forget about what's on the television. I can't read in short blocks - I need a good run at a book and read it in long sessions. I've been known to read books in a day before now but you can't do it with constant interruptions from small children and when they're at school, I'm supposed to be working!

I'm a huge fan of murder mysteries, whodunnits, crime fiction, whatever you want to call them. I've read the usuals - I went through every book Agatha Christie wrote in my late teens and twenties. Very English, murder with a thin veneer of respectability, which harks back to a bygone age. I moved onto Dick Francis - crime with a strong smell of horses in it! I've read many different mysteries, but over the last few years, I moved onto more contemporary - and grittier - writers.

Having sent me Helen's favourite book and a little extra treat, the Tots100 Book Club have asked me to pay it forward and recommend my favourite book to another reader and so I decided to pick out a book by a writer I have read frequently over the last few years. The book is Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. It is the first book which features Kurt Wallander, a police detective in the town of Ystad in southern Sweden. Being a first book, it's a good introduction to the character and sets the scene for later novels.

Wallander books are never light reads. They deal with difficult subjects and is in part a social commentary on what he sees as a Sweden failing to adapt to modern life. The murders are often gruesome, never pleasant and of course feature many twist and turns. Wallander, himself, is of course a complex character. He drinks too much, is grumpy quite a lot and likes his opera - touches of Morse, perhaps, but he is his own man and  a good policeman, even if he doesn't always get results in the prescribed way.

Faceless Killers opens in a lonely farmhouse in the countryside around Ystad, where an elderly farmer is found beaten and tortured to death early on a cold January morning. His wife is also left for dead, with a noose round her neck. She survives long enough for her last word to be heard -  "foreign". Some believe that the attackers were indeed "foreign" and this gets leaked to the press. The relevation sparks off a series of attacks on immigrants. Wallander is not convinced that the killers were indeed foreign and begin digging into the farmers' lives and starts uncovering secrets from their past.

All this is set against a backdrop of Wallander's personal life - his failed marriage, his fragile relationship with a difficult daughter, a father who disapproves of the career path he chose. In addition, one of his oldest colleagues becomes ill and descends towards death, a man whom Wallander clearly respects and whose counsel he seeks. It is all pretty bleak, but the landscape in that part of the world is pretty bleak for large chunks, a fact overlooked largely by the BBC adaptations starring Kenneth Branagh, filmed mostly in the summer months, making the programmes seem like a travelogue. If you do like the books, I thoroughly recommend watching the Swedish language Wallander series, starring Krister Henriksson because to me, he IS Wallander and I now picture him in my head when reading the books.

Faceless Killers can be a challenging read because it's not just a crime novel - it makes you think. I like books like that and it's why all the Wallanders are my favourites.

I'm going to recommend this book to Nova at Cherished by Me because I know that like me, she enjoys a good murder mystery. In fact, I have recommended the Wallander books to her before so let's hope she's not run off and read them all in the meantime. Fingers crossed she enjoys the book.

(Tots100 Book Club sent me the book recommended by Helen to me, along with a bar of chocolate. I have chosen this book to review and recommend to someone else; all opinions and words are my own.) 

Can a book deliver a mood?

I love a good mystery. I raced through all the Agatha Christie books from the age of 18, I am quite fond of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels and I'm working my way through the Inspector Wallander novels by Henning Mankell. I love the way they make me think about the plot, looking for signs to spot the perpetrator, waiting for the twist that makes me draw a sharp intake of breath.

Crime thrillers are also my favourite type of television programme too (apart from sport), so Waking the Dead was a favourite of ours and I discovered the Wallander books through the television adaptations of the novels - although I have to say, I prefer Swedish series to the one made for the UK.

If you've been following me on Twitter recently, you'll notice I have a new obsession. It's called The Killing (or Forbrydelsen to give its original title). It's a Danish crime thriller in 20 episodes about the investigation into the murder of a young woman. It's been showing 5 nights a week on BBC Four over the last month, in preparation for a new series showing soon. It was shown earlier in the year (which I missed) and it became a huge hit in the UK, gaining around 500,000 viewers per episode - which is a lot for BBC Four. It is brilliant - some of it is gut-wrenching, it's heartbreaking at times and it's really dark, with twist and turns aplenty. It seems like half of Copenhagen have been suspects in the previous 19 hours. I love it for the same reason I love reading mysteries - not only has it been playing with my emotions, I become an amateur detective and try to look for signs and work out before they do whodunnit.

Alongside this in the last few weeks, I've been reading a book to review for the Tesco Books blog. They contacted me with a novel idea - instead of grouping books by basic genres, they have chosen to group books by the mood it creates. The list they sent were grouped into three categories and I chose the "books to make you think and talk" as my favoured category because that is what I like to get out of a book. All I then had to do was choose a book.

Almost without thinking about it, I chose The Suspect by Michael Robotham as it seemed like it was a popular book. Instinctively, I had chosen another mystery. I probably should have guessed by the title but I swear I didn't really think about what type of book it was.

The story is narrated by Joseph O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist with a private practice and a comfortable lifestyle. Joe gets involved in the investigation of a murder when the police ask him for help. The victim turns out to be a former colleague of his. Then, he starts to become concerned about one of his patients who suggests he may have been involved in the murder. Before he knows it, he's drawn into the centre of the investigation when the spotlight turns on him and he becomes a suspect. In order to prove himself innocent, Joe needs to discover the truth about his patient whilst keeping ahead of the police. Not easy when you've recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

I loved this book. The case was very complex; even though you were fairly sure whodunnit throughout, you were kept thinking as you are never totally sure, and there are twists and turns  aplenty to keep you reading. The pace of the book started slowly and then built up, such that the third and final part is conducted at a breathless pace. I couldn't put it down so all other plans got put on ho whilst I finished it and read over 100 pages in one afternoon. And the final twist, I didn't spot in advance and yes, it drew the sharp intake of breath from me when it was revealed. So, yes, it made me think - and talk, as I spent a while explaining it to my husband.

I noticed various similarities between The Killing and The Suspect. In both cases, the central character is wrongfully accused of a serious crime and puts themselves at serious risk of becoming the next victim of the respective killers. Both are quite dark and bleak, making for uncomfortable reading or viewing, tackling difficult subjects, not just murder. Both plots reveal themselves slowly, like scales falling away gradually to reveal the truth. In that respect, they were a good fit to be experiencing at the same time, even though neither of them are particularly cheerful. I finished the book on Tuesday night, just hours before I watched episode 18 which was especially shocking and upsetting that day. Already drained from both those events, I watched United 93 before bed to round off my perfect. I figured I was already depressed, so I may as well watch a difficult film that day, rather than depress myself again another time.

The book definitely delivered the mood. The Suspect made me do nothing but think and talk. Yes, it's uncomfortable to keep reading sometimes but it's like a rollercoaster ride - the adrenaline keeps you going going through the peaks and troughs. As I don't do real rollercoasters, this is MY adrenaline rush.

That's probably why I loved this book.

What books make you think and talk?


(I was sent a copy of this book to read and review. Tesco also sent me a bar of chocolate and a bookmark. I have not received any further compensation and all opinions and words are my own.)

Meal Planning Monday - a week of My Daddy Cooks meals!

If you read this feature weekly, you'll know that last week, I used the Sainsbury's Feed your Family for £50 meal plan after they kindly sent me a week's shopping to test out the meal plan. It went pretty well, although we didn't use all the lunch stuff, partly due to the others going camping. The meals were pretty good on the whole - some could have done with a little more flavour, but the frittata and "carbonara" were gorgeous. The sweet and sour was the only dish that was not nice at all - but it used a jar of cooking sauce and I'm never a big fan of those. The breakfasts were a bit basic in the week, but I found that using yogurt with the muesli, for example, made it more palatable. Some of the portion sizes were HUGE - the tuna pasta bake, for example, was enough for 8 meals, not 4!

We did film ourselves cooking and the children appeared in an advert! It was on Wednesday night during Britain's Got Talent. I would have missed it were it not for Twitter as I got a few "was that your children?" tweets. Thanks to ITV+1 and Sky+, I managed to record it for the children, who were, of course, away camping at the time. You could also see my hands and hear Missy Woo saying "It's a bit gooey" as we rolled sausages into meatballs. So thanks very much to Sainsbury's for giving us the opportunity to try out the meal plan - and for turning my children into stars for 5 seconds.

So, onto this week and again, I'm doing something different. You see, I've been inspired. The other day, I received a copy of My Daddy Cooks by Nick Coffer. Nick is a Twitter friend whose blog - also called My Daddy Cooks - became a runaway success when he started it in late 2009. Nick films his son Archie and himself cooking in their kitchen. Nick's recipes are always easy to follow, great family food and accessible to cook with children around - exactly what I like. And now he's written a book containing 100 recipes.

Photo - Veronique Leplat

When the book arrived, I had a quick flick through and I loved the layout and style of the book - easy to read and follow, with some nice pictures, both of the dishes and of Nick and Archie going. Then I sat down and read through the book - and I read and read and kept reading! I started to make a list of all the recipes that I must cook as soon as possible - and the list ran over two pages. So then, I had an idea to plan my week's meals around recipes from the book. To be honest, I could be planning meals from the book for weeks given the length of the list - this doesn't even scratch the surface of it. Needless to say, I loved the book - it's full of great family recipes that you'll enjoy cooking, with children or without. I cannot wait to try this week's recipes.

So, here we go. This week's meals are going to be:

Monday - Minty lamb and butternut squash tagine
Tuesday - No fry Singapore noodles
Wednesday - Turkey and cranberry meatloaf
Thursday - Chickpea and chorizo soup
Friday -  Burgers and chips
Saturday - Lentil curry with cauliflower
Sunday - Family party so no cooking for me!

And I shall report back next week on how it all went.

Why not pop over to Mrs M's blog for more meal planning entries?

( Sainsbury's sent me a week's shopping so I could try out their £50 weekly meal plan and a camera so I could film making one of the meals. I was also sent, separately, a copy of My Daddy Cooks to review and keep. I have not received any other compensation in either case; I have not been told what to write and all opinions are my own.)

Helping children through tough times

Children, during their early lives, undergo a huge amount of change but thankfully most of them are quite adaptable. Different children face a whole range of experiences, and some of them face tougher times than others. It can be really hard for children to talk about difficult things - like family break-up, bereavement, and bullying, for example.

Partnership for Children, a charity that promotes emotional and mental well-being of children throughout the world, has worked with Book Trust to produce two guides recommending story books to help children cope with difficult feelings or situations. Reading books about a relevant subject is a really good way to start a conversation with a child about difficulties in their life. A story can offer perspective on a child's own situation, open up to parents or carers and help them find a way to cope with it.

I've been sent both guides to have a look at. There's one aimed at children aged 5 to 8, and the other at children aged 9 to 12, and the books are grouped into sections relevant to the age range, with a brief review of each book, an indication of reading age and interest level. All books (in total, over 100 across the two guides) can be ordered from the Partnership with Children website. If you do that, the charity will receive a percentage of the sale price to help support their work with children. PDFs of both booklets are also available on the site,  and paper copies have recently been sent to 23,000 primary schools and over 3,500 libraries across the country.

I think the guides are a brilliant idea. I can see that talking about the story in the book rather than their own situation is likely to be easier for both parent and child alike, and a story about someone else going through the same things will help a child to feel less isolated. I feel grateful that my children haven't had too many difficult situations to cope with, but I'm thinking of getting one book for Monkey called Angry Arthur as we do have occasional problems with anger issues with him, and I'll know where to turn in future if either or both of them face their own tough times. Some of the books are great reads anyway - both Monkey and Missy Woo have enjoyed "I am too absolutely small for school" (a Charlie and Lola book) for some time and still enjoy reading it now.

We all want our children to have happy childhoods and protect them from harm and upset. That's not always possible. What we can do is support them through the tough times - and these guides will help parents everywhere to do just that. Please take a look at the guides on Partnership for Children and support this great project.

(I was sent both guides to review but I have not been paid to write this post. I have written this post because I think it's a worthwhile project that I'm happy to support on this blog.) 

Review: Fun & Games for the 21st Century Family

I was so intrigued by the title and the concept of this book that I couldn't really turn down the opportunity to review a copy. What the authors Steve and Simon have done is give some traditional games a modern twist with the help of the gadgets that we often now take for granted. I will be honest and say that we don't have all the gadgets that are mentioned in the book but that doesn't matter. There are over 200 games or activities so there should be something for everyone except the most dyed-in-the-wool Luddite to enjoy.

I liked the layout of the pages for each game. The left hand column has a key listing what age it's suitable from, the number of players and the type of activity. The set up time and expected play time is also listed for each game, along with what you need to get going, all of which are very handy so you don't discover halfway through you need something you haven't got or that it's going to take longer to set up than your children's attention span. Activities are rated for level of difficulty and how long it will take to complete for the same reason.

The book also includes a 6 step film course, and an appendix "Techno" section with lots of short "How to" articles to do various whizzy things on your PC or Mac that will help the games along. Simon and Steve have also set up a website here with lots of resources to help you play the games - like grids, bingo cards etc. There is also a discussion forum where you can share variations on the game with other readers and the book includes a notes section to write these down if you can't get online straight away. I think that's great as the games they have created or collated will change as families adapt them to suit their needs and it widens the appeal of the book even further. And to top it all, the new games are interspersed with short sections of games from the archives - more traditional games with enduring appeal.

The index makes it easy to find the games as they are all listed by type. I'm particularly pleased that there are lots of car games, as we are driving to Devon and back at the end of the week so no doubt we will be road-testing them then, having never driven that far with the children in the back.

As Monkey and Missy Woo are only 5 and 4, some of the games are still a bit old for them, but that means the book can be used in years to come as they get older and are more suited to the games for older children. I really want to have a go at Hairdryer ping pong (page 36) the next time we have a rainy day so it's perfect for the big kid in all of us.

I think this is a great book, which will be useful to us as a family for years. Monkey and Missy Woo are already adept at using technology in their lives - they had me looking up pictures of cliffs for them only this evening - and the book really shows you how to make the harness the technology around you for the sole purpose of having fun. It might also give you a solution the next time your child says "Muuuuuum, I'm bored" on a rainy day.

Fun and Games for the 21st Century Family is out now and costs £9.99


(I was provided with the book to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)