A knight tunic

The chinese teacher wrote us an email saying that A1 wanted to dress up as a giraffe and A2 as a horse for the performance this sunday. I asked the boys and A2 told me he wanted to be a knight and not a horse.

 

After searching internet for a knight and giraffe costumes, I decided it would be easier for me to do the dress up myself. A1 and I will do a giraffe mask togather. I think that would be fun. I do need to go buy yellow craft paper. As for A2, I found a few sites on making a knight's costume. These are the two sites which I used to come up with the costume.

http://www.creativepartyblog.com/knight-tunic-costume-party-favor

http://crackofdawncrafts.blogspot.fr/2011/01/knight-birthday-party-make-your-own.html

 

Instead of using felt, I used left overs fabric and before one can say 'Knight in a shining armour', I sewed up a blue knight tunic.

 

A2 was delighted to have his costume. It fitted him well. I am rather please with myself.

 Next post would be about the giraffe mask. I am thankful for generous and creative people who share their ideas on internet.

Tart bag

Since having a Thermomix, when invited to friend's place for a meal, I would bring a home made tart. However, it was not easy to transport a tart so I decided to make a tart bag. I searched on internet and found an easy to do tart bag. Video in French is here:

http://www.prima.fr/mode-beaute/chic-et-pratique-le-sac-a-tarte/799614/

 

I followed the instructions and in an evening, I made this tart bag. I am please with the result and have already used it once.

 

It would make a lovely gift for friends who do tarts.

Home made brioche

I have been trying out recipes from the Thermomix cookbook. Thermomix has a wide range of cookbooks and I was given two with my Thermomix order.

 

I made brioche for the second time. The first time, I made one brioche and it was not pretty as my baking tin was too small though it tasted good. This morning, I made two brioche from the dough and they turned out prettier.

 

Taste wise, it was just as good. The time to make the dough using the Thermomix was less than 5mins. Resting dough time was 40mins in total. I used organic flour and eggs. So it is 99% organic except for 40g of sugar , a pinch of salt and 15g of yeast. Is yeast organic or not?

Without my Thermomix, I would never thought of making brioche. I am not a fan of bread and pastry. Now, if I make them, I will have to eat them.  

Wood replenished

We run out of wood since a week.

 

Today, Seb's father came with six steres of wood. He came twice with a lorry loaded with 30cm timber. The right length for our fireplace. He dumped the wood in our garden and Seb had to carry the wood to the garden shed.

 

This was the beginning of his work.

 

Handsome lent support to his master by staying faithfully beside him while his master slogged away. 

 

After working a total of four hours with a few coffee breaks, the garden shelter was full with timber. Poor Seb was exhausted and had turned in early at 9pm tonight.

Last year, we used up three steres. So hopefully, these six steres can last us two winters. 

Chinese DVD

We ordered a second batch of chinese DVDs from Amazon china and they had arrived.

 

Many months back, I ordered a few Mickey Playhouse and Winnie the Pooh DVDs in chinese from Amazon china. The boys love the cartoons. So this time, I ordered Dora and Sesme Street in chinese as well. I was skeptical about chinese Sesame Street but after watching it, I was impressed that Elmo's voice in chinese is exactly the same in English. The dubbing is good.

 

The DVDs are cheap. However, the shipping cost is almost twice the price of the DVDs. Overall, it is still at a reasonable price compared to the French DVDs. Due to the different DVD zone, I had to find a software that can crack the DVD player to read mutiple zones. 

 

If you are looking for chinese cartoons, I recommend amazon.cn.

Thermomix

Living in the countryside, sometimes I feel like a Stepford wife; being invited to Tupperware parties and Thermomix cooking gathering and having afternoon tea with neighbours while the children play togather. Very docile and tranquille. OK, I exaggerate on the docile side.

 

 Anyway, back to the topic. I have a new helper in the kitchen. Her name is Thermomix and I got to know about her from one of the afternoon teas organised by my neighbours. She can do wonders in terms of french (ang moh) cuisine. I don't do french cusine well. 

 

Now with Thermomix, I can dish up mashed potatoes akin to the one made by a french granny. I make ang moh soup like those poured out from a carton. I make tarts from A to Z; from dough to the fillings and toppings. I make bread too. All done easily and quickly. Just amazing. Thermomix has a steaming function and the family love the steamed corns I do every sunday afternoon.

Before living in this village, I have never heard of Thermomix. It is sold only through reunions, much like the concept of Tupperware. When I first saw the presentation, I thought it would be great for Seb. He likes to do his own dough for tarts. On the second presentation with Seb witnessing the functions, we decided to get it. My neighbour was surprised that I succumbed to it as she thought I was skeptical about it. With me working, it is a time saver. I program it to cook and leave to do other chores. I do lots of soup these days as the weather is turning chilly. When hotter days are here, I will be doing fresh fruits sorbet with the Thermomix.

I made a lemon tart meringue (the meringue) was cooking in the Thermomix in the photo above. It was well received by my invites. I am not a lemon person. Still, I am pretty proud of my new skill, mastering the Thermomix. ;)