Every parent knows how crazy children can become around Christmas-time. Normal routines are disrupted, toy advertising is everywhere, school plays and concerts create nerves and early gifts of sweets and other rich foods can lead to sugar-induced frantic activity before tearful collapses.
Having a plan can really help parents, and nannies, to make the Advent period fun and also educational, so we have four recipes on offer – two for make and eat foods, two for gifts, all based on time in the kitchen. In combination they will give kids hours of absorbed fun, a sense of self-esteem and a good meal!
Crayon gifts
Every household has a heap of snapped or unused wax crayons and you can bet the kids will get more new crayons for Christmas, so why not use up the old ones to make stocking fillers or party gifts?
Do a little test run beforehand, finding out how hot your oven needs to be to melt crayons. For most of us that is between 95-120 degrees celsius. Get the kids to tear any paper off the crayons. Then help them break the crayons up and put the fragments in prettily shaped silicone ice-cube trays. You can either slice the crayons with a knife (make sure little fingers are out of the way). Or put them in a substantial plastic bag and whack them with a kitchen mallet (noisy and fun). Or grate them (see above about fingers!) or use a combination of all three. Blending the colours is fun for the children so let them get creative and then put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes to form new, chunky, multi-colour crayons that can be given as party gifts or even used with a paper tablecloth to keep the kids happy during the long Christmas meal!
Rudolf Pancakes
A special treat for Christmas Eve, there are many recipes out there on the internet to make these clever little pancakes. Here’s our favourite
Your preferred pancake recipe (we use 250 ml milk, 150 g self-raising flour and 1 lightly beaten egg)
• 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil.
• 4 rashers bacon.
• 4 white marshmallows.
• 8 chocolate buttons or chips.
• 4 strawberries, raspberries or red grapes.
Cut bacon rashers length ways and then length ways again to make thin strips, and cook. Put a little of the butter and oil in a large frying pan and pour in enough batter to make one large circle, one small one and two very small ones. Keep an eye on the pan as the little circles will cook much faster than the big one, and flip each circle as it’s cooked. Keep the cooked circles warm while you use up the batter. You need a big, small and two very small circles for each Rudolf. Using a large plain plate, put the large pancake towards the lower edge of the plate and put the smaller pancake on top so it overlaps the bottom edge to make the reindeer muzzle. Make antlers by cutting up some bacon strips to make the knobbles on a longer strip. Cut the two tiny circles to make triangles and use them as ears, then cut each marshmallow in half through the middle and press a chocolate button or chip into each half to make eyes. Finally, use the piece of fruit to make the red nose of the muzzle.
Christmas Pudding Treats
This recipe uses a few indulgent treats, like butter and chocolate, but is also based on common childhood foods like popped rice, raisins and nut butter, to offer a richer than usual snack but one that is still much healthier than shop-bought treats. Get the children to help you, but supervise the stove use carefully.
• 75 grams popped rice
• 40 grams chopped raisins or dates
• 60 grams unsalted butter
• 100 grams milk chocolate
• 2 tablespoons nut butter
• 40 grams marshmallows (either mini or chopped with a knife dipped in hot water)
• 80 grams high quality white chocolate
• Silver sugar balls
Line some egg cups with cling film. Heat the butter, milk chocolate, nut butter and marshmallows in a small pan and heat gently until the chocolate and butter are liquid but the marshmallows are only starting to dissolve. Put the popped rice and raisins in a large bowl and pour the butter and chocolate mix on top then get the kids to stir and stir the sticky mixture – aprons essential! When fully mixed, put about a tablespoon in each egg cup and press down firmly before tipping out of the egg cup (which you can reline and use again) and standing the pudding on a baking tray – flat face downwards. Repeat until all the mixture is used and then refrigerate until firm.
Now melt the white chocolate, but don’t let it become too liquid, you want it just melted, and pour or spoon a small amount over each ‘pudding’ to represent the icing. Leave for about half an hour in a cool place and then pop three silver balls on top for decoration.
Coloured sugar gifts
Using ordinary ingredients and some clean old jars your children can make great gifts for foodies!
• Granulated sugar.
• Food colouring.
• Strong food bags.
• Paper plates.
• Jars.
Put equal amounts of sugar in each bag and add a drop of food colouring. Close the bag very securely and allow the children to shake and massage the food colouring through the sugar. Check the colour and add more if necessary but don’t let the sugar get too moist. Tip out onto a paper plate to dry and then tip back into a clean bag. Sealed again, to gently roll out any lumps or clumps using a rolling pin. Don’t press too hard or you’ll get icing sugar! Using the plates to make funnels. Tip the sugar into the jars make layers of colour. You can create more complex patterns by poking spoon handles down the sides of the jar. Older children can really ramp it up by using wide straws and small funnels to tip vertical lines of coloured sugar around the inside edge of the jar. Requires a steady hand and a lot of concentration but it looks fab!