Shabby and French

                                                      One of my very favourite blogs

                                                                   Dreamy Whites 
                                                           French Farmhouse inspired 

Choco- selection- part 2

chocolates

Old classics- Creamy Fish Pie

Recipe source 

• 400g skinless white fish fillet
• 400g skinless smoked haddock fillet
• 600ml full-fat milk
• 1 small onion , quartered
• 4 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 eggs
• small bunch parsley , leaves only, chopped
• 100g butter
• 50g plain flour
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1kg floury potato , peeled and cut into even-sized chunks
• 50g cheddar , grated

Poach the fish. Put the fish in the frying pan and pour over 500ml of the milk. Stud each onion quarter with a clove, then add to the milk, with the bay leaves. Bring the milk just to the boil - you will see a few small bubbles. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 mins. Lift the fish onto a plate and strain the milk into a jug to cool. Flake the fish into large pieces in the baking dish.

Hard-boil the eggs. Bring a small pan of water to a gentle boil, then carefully lower the eggs in with a slotted spoon. Bring the water back to a gentle boil, with just a couple of bubbles rising to the surface. Set the timer for 8 mins, cook, then drain and cool in a bowl of cold water. Peel, slice into quarters and arrange on top of the fish, then scatter over the chopped parsley.

Make the sauce. Melt half the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min over moderate heat. Take off the heat, pour in a little of the cold poaching milk, then stir until blended. Continue to add the milk gradually, mixing well until you have a smooth sauce. Return to the heat, bringto the boil and cook for 5 mins, stirring continually, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then pour over the fish.

Assemble and bake. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Boil the potatoes for 20 mins. Drain, season and mash with the remaining butter and milk. Use to top the pie, starting at the edge of the dish and working your way in - push the mash right to the edges to seal. Fluff the top with a fork, sprinkle with cheese, then bake for 30 mins. Make up to a day ahead, chill, then bake for 40 mins.

  Served with  peas and mizuna leaves

All for the Boys - toddler activities

All for the Boys - All for the Boys - TODDLER ACTIVITIES:

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  Great blog- bursting with activities ideas for  busy little men ( and not only)

The Homeschool Den: Math--Division

The Homeschool Den: Math--Division:

'via Blog this'
 Maths are fun!
 Great game ideas for learning

My French Country Home, French Living - Sharon Santoni

My French Country Home, French Living - Sharon Santoni:

'via Blog this'

Rustic Living: Antique Dresser

Rustic Living: Antique Dresser:

'via Blog this'

                                                               with  basic  tutorial

Jjigae : Korean Hot-pot

 It is a very reach yet easy dish and ingredients can vary. Here we used some beef and fish as base but it can be also made with chicken meat& tofu or  as vegetables only variety

  Veg preparations and neat arrangement by Miss O

Recipe source 

Soondubu jjigae (hot and spicy soft tofu stew)

Ingredients:

• 12 dried anchovies
• 1/3 cup of kelp, half onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 3 shiitake mushrooms
• 100 grams of beef, 1 cup of mixed seafood, 3 shrimp
• 2 green onions, 1 green chili pepper
• 2-5 tbs of hot pepper flakes
• olive oil, sesame oil, 2 tubes of soon du bu
• 2 tbs of fish sauce, and 2 eggs

Prepare stock to make tasty Soon du bu:

1. Pour 5 cups of water into a pot and add 12 dried anchovies after removing intestine part.
2. Add half onion, some dried kelp (about 1/3 cup), 3 dried shiitake mushrooms, 5 cloves of garlic and boil it over high heat.
3. Approximately 10 minutes later, lower the heat to low medium heat and boil it for another 20 minutes.
4. Set aside the stock and take out the mushrooms and chop them into small pieces.
5. Heat your earthen ware (or ceramic pot) on the stove and put 2 ts of olive oil.
6. Chop 100 grams of beef and put it into the pot and stir it.
7. Add the chopped shiitake mushroom and stir it.
8. Add 2 tbs – 5 tbs (1/4 cup) of hot pepper flakes and keep stirring for 1 minute.
   *tip:
   2 tbs—mild
   3 tbs—medium
   4 tbs—hot
   5 tbs (1/4 cup)—suicidal hot ! : )
9. Pour 2 cups of the stock you made. It will be sizzling. Don’t be afraid! It’s just TOFU stew! : )
10. Add 1 cup of mixed seafood and 3 shirimp.
11. Add 2 tbs of fish sauce.
12. Cut the 2 tubes of Soon du bu (soft Tofu) in half and squeeze it out into the pot and break the tofu with a spoon several times in the pot.
13. When it boils, add 2 chopped green onions and 1 green chili pepper.
14. Crack eggs and drizzle some sesame oil before serving.

                                                                 See: Video 

photo curtsy of Maangchi.com

           




                                            And a simple chicken, kimchi and veg variety
 

Full-size sample photos from Nikon 50mm F/1.8

Full-size sample photos from Nikon 50mm F/1.8:

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  Beautiful images - photos taken with Nikon 50mm F/1.8

Curtsy of pixel-peeper

Fast Sea Food

  fresh seafood improvised

 ( for a quick dinner)

Grilled lobsters & squid with red pepper, tabasco, black pepper, parsley, balsamic vinegar and olive oil

St. Valentine`s reminiscence

Romantic candlelight Dinner for Eight ! :)

 

Winter garden

  

Sunflower and peas sprouts 

                                               Wheatgrass plantation ( growing like crazy!)

Wheatgrass -day 4

Suzuki- Witches`Dance Paganini

                                          Witches Dance Suzuki Violin  Book 2, No 8


                                                      Springing Arpeggios


                                           AllysonsViolinStudio bowing tutorial
                                          AllysonsViolinStudio -playing through
                 
                                                      Slow Practice Tempo

                                                         Niccolo Paganini

greatest virtuoso violinist ever—did not begin until relatively late in life. Born in Genoa in 1782, Paganini received his first musical instruction from his father, a devoted amateur musician. Niccolò's rapid progress on the violin, however, was such that his father (who was in fact a mandolinist, and thus little suited to train his precocious son) was soon compelled to send his son to Giacomo Costa, maestro di capella of the Cathedral at San Lorenzo, for further study. Although he quickly gained some local fame and even embarked on a minor tour of Italy in 1797, it would be many years before Paganini consented to perform outside his native land. 

                                                    source: Classical Archives

Niccolo Paganini

  in a nutshell 

Born: 27-Oct-1782
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Died: 27-May-1840
Location of death: Nice, France
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Cemetery Della Villetta, Parma, Italy
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Violinist, Composer
Nationality: Italy
Executive summary: Italian violinist and composer


 see more



Also see
Paganini.com
Wikipedia

Tea-total

                                     an additional  Valentine`s gift- arrived just in time!!!

Ecstatea containing: Ginseng, Damiana, Chamomile, Nettle Root, Ashwagandha

"Dale Pinnock, medical herbalist says: “I created this tea in response to the ever increasing demands of our modern condition. This tea is designed to be a one shot supportive brew to help support you on all levels.”
Use two teaspoons per mug, or two teaspoons per person in a pot, oh and one for the pot! Enjoy up to three cups per day.
This is specifically for men. We love it, we think you will too!"

Source

Must-reads

           

born to read ( and learn)

To be continued...

New readers

 `I wish`    Bel Moonet
 The Sheep-Pig Dick King-Smith
 Noah`s Brother   Dick King-Smith
 Sam- the wee fat dog  Ann McDonagh Bengtsson
 Big Sir B and the Monster Maid
 The Monster Crisp Guzzler Malorie Blackman



A  Dog for Life L.S. Matthews
Pirate Detective   Sam Hawkins
The Worst Witch Jill Murphy
 How to write Really Badly Anne Fine
Lily Dragon  Mary Ellis
 Olga  da Polga stories  Michael Bond
 The upside-down Mice Roald Dahl
My Naughty Little Sister  series






Classics

` Five Children and It `   Helen Cresswell
   Moomins series by Tore Jansson
Farthing Wood series by Colin Dann
A Cat Affair by Derek Tangye
 Mary Poppins P.L Travers

Anne of Green Gables Series L.M.Montgomery
Watership Down by Richard Adams

Frances Hodgson Burnett

 Little Princess
The Secret Garden 
Little Lord Fauntleroy  
The Making of a Marchioness 
Esmeralda ( free Kindle edition)
The lost Prince (free Kindle edition)
 The Shuttle (free Kindle edition)

Emily Fox-Seton Being "The Making of a Marchioness" and "The Methods of Lady Walderhurst"(free Kindle edition)

 The White People  (free Kindle edition)
The closed Room ( free on Kindle)

Sara Crewe: or, What happened at Miss Minchin's boarding school  (free on Kindle)

Theo A Sprightly Love Story   (free on Kindle)

 My Robin ( free on Kindle)

 Eleonore Hodgman (Porter)

  Polyanna 

Polyanna Grows up  (free on kindle)

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Across the Years ( free on Kindle)

Miss Billy (free on Kindle)

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The Turn on The Tide (free)

 Tangled Threads -free

 The Road of Understanding free

The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch free

 Oh! Money! Money! free

Susan Coolidge

What Katy Did (free on Kindle)

What Katy Did Next (free Kindle edition)

 What Katy Did at School  (free on Kindle)

  Clover  (free on Kindle)

Enid Blyton`books
cherry tree farm
nine cousins
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 secret seven
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 Martin Rides The Moor Vian Smith
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Mystery at Winklesea Helen Cresswell
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  Laura Ingalls Wilder
      On the Banks of Plum Creek
      Little House in the Big Woods
      Little House on the Prairie
     Little Town on the Prairie
Old Town in the Green Groves: Laura Ingalss Wilder's Lost Little House (Little House (HarperTrophy)) by Cynthia Rylant (1 Jan 2007)
Going to Town: Adapted from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (My First Little House Books) by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Renee Graef

  By Louisa M. Alcott
Little Women( free on Kindle)
Little Women Letters from the House of Alcott (free on kindle)
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 Eight Cusins ( free on Kindle)
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Silver Pitchers and Independence  
 The Spinning Wheel stories
 Aunt Jo`s Scrap-Bag: an old-fashioned Thanksgiving
 Work : a story of experience
Mountain- Laurel and Maidenhair  
 Pauline`s Passion and Punishment
The abbot`s Ghoast or..
 Lulu`s Library
Comic Tragedies Written by Jo
 Mysterious Key and what it opened



  Nesbit

 Railway children
 Five Children and It ( free on Kindle)
 The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet
The Enchanted Castle
 The Story of the Amulet
The House of Arden
T




 The Vine-Clad Hill  Mabel Esther Allan
The Key of Rose Cottage   Margaret Baker
 Devon Venture  Catherine Bell
 Ballet for Laura    Linda Blake
 The House by the Sea Hilda Boden
 Windmill Hill  Wyn Brocklebank
All Because of Gina Elsie Gambrell
 The Harveys See it Through Phyllis Gegan
 A Mystery for Ninepence Phyllis Gegan
 Dancing Star  Gladys Malvern

Little Town in the Ozarks   Roger McBride

Little Town at the Crossroads (Little House the Caroline Years) by Maria D. Wilkes 

Sarah, Plain and Tall  by Patricia MacLachlan
 Sea star
The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner
The  Thanksgiving on Thursday  Mary Pope Osborn
So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl
Moby-Dick Herman Melville
The Clue in the Crumbling Wall (Nancy Drew Mysteries
Phantom of Pine Hill (Nancy Drew mystery stories / Carolyn Keene)
The Bobbsey Twins' Visit to the Great West

 Babysitters
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   Pinky Pie- Eleanor Estes


 Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

 The Buccaneers

 Jerry West  at Mystery Mountain

 The Story of Scotland Yard
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 The Emerald City of Oz  Frank Baum
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 Doctor Dolittle Circus Hugh Lifting

Hilda Annersley: Headmistress 

Lesley Green

 One End Street

The Family from One End Street (Puffin Modern Classics) by Eve Garnett (3 Jun 2010)

Jo of the Chalet School  "Elinor M. Brent-Dyer"

  Chalet school   Caroline German


 Jane Shaw
Susan at School
Susan Muddles Through
 Susan`s Trying Term
No Trouble for Susan

 Noel Streatfeild
Children of Primrose lane
Party Frock  Doreen Swinburne
 Jean Tours a Hospital
Jean s.r.n.
Jean Becomes a Nurse Yvonne Trewin
 If it Hadn`t Been for Frances Parner




 Thursday`s Child  Noel Streatfeild


Horsey books
 Christine Pullein-Thompson`s books
Diana Pullein-Thompson`s stories
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Black Beauty Anna Sewell
The Christmas Pony  Sylvia Green
 Ponies on the Heather Frances Murrey
Pony Pals series Jeanne Betancourt
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 Flambards K.M. Peyton
 Jill`s series by Ruby Ferguson




Lucy Daniels
 Animal Ark
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   Spiritual
Joan`s Crusade  by Eleen Heming
 the story of Grace Darling -the Heroine who inspired Generations by Helen Cresswell


 Poetry

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Matters of Spirit - Resources

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Family Home Evenings


Bible
Divine Principle
Divine Principle in plain language
 Dress code
Jon Quinn`s publications
On modesty and fellowship- guidance for women
 Bible and modesty

 Some UK sites offering modest clothes, wedding dresses etc
Sunflower Bridal

Sunflower Bridal specialise in selling modest bridal and formal wear. We are firm believers that modest does not have to mean plain or dowdy. On the contrary, all Sunflower dresses make a bride feel special, gorgeous and glamorous.
Interestingly, after placing our first order for dresses, we were watching a TV program about weddings where the bride was trying on a wedding dress, just coming across the bust with no sleeves. As the bride tried the dress chosen for her, she said she was so uncomfortable with that amount of flesh showing. In ‘straw polls’ amongst friends, the majority have said that they would prefer to be able to wear a dress with a little more coverage than most now provide. And so, Sunflower Bridal was born.

  EAlso:
Ebay guide on how to choose a modest wedding dress


Most women may not really be comfortable wearing sleeveless gowns so you can go in for an attractively styled modest wedding dresses that comes with puffed sleeves. 


 How to Help Teen Girls Choose Modest Clothes 

 Modest clothing channel

Chocolate factory -raw chocolates

our very first hand made raw chocolates

 Unbelievably quick and easy to make.

And they taste heavenly!!

                                                              My very keen helper
                                               Here adding some raw cacao to melted cacao butter

               


                                                   various silicon molds

                                               Production line and all the willing samplers

                                                                  And here we go!

                                                            and for the Recipe ...

 we followed the instructions attached to the kit soooooo....

 Melt 100g Raw Cacao Butter in a bowl over a pan of water on a low heat
Add 6 tbsps Raw Cacao Powder
Add 2-3 tbsp raw honey/ real maple syrup to sweeten and mix well with a metal balloon whisk ( taste and add more sweetener if you prefer a sweeter taste) I added a pinch of salt which brings out the sweetness so the amound of the sweetener can be reduced

Spoon into plastic tubs to make bars of chocolate (makes 3 bars) or into silicone ice cube trays (makes up to 34 small chocs) and place in the freezer for 20 min or leave to set in the fridge for around 2h

Remove from freezer/fridge and enjoy!
  Get creative and add fruit and nuts, chilli powder, peppermint, vanilla, pure food grade essential oils ( orange, ginger, geranium, bergamot, lemon, violet, rose etc or any combination of flavours) to make your own, unique chocolates


I used half of the mixture to make plain chocolate hearts and added 2 tbsps of maca and 2 tsm of acai berry powder to the rest of chocolate mixture - it worked exceptionally  well in this combination