Dora's Little Cook

If you've been to our house recently, you would know that it could quite accurately be called "Dora Central". Like many families with young girls, we have Dora toys, Dora DVDs, Dora clothing and pyjamas, and Dora wall decorations.

The most recent Dora item making its way into our home is the Dora Little Cooks Collection.

If you haven't seen it, the Dora Little Cooks Collection is a series of magazines, which come accompanied by various items of cooking equipment and dinnerware. As is usually the case, the first issue is cheaply priced, with subsequent issues being much more expensive.

The first magazine was prominently displayed in several shops at our local shopping centre. I initially resisted Grace's pleading for a copy, until Neil suggested it might be nice to get it for her. I'm glad we did. She loves it!

Issue One included a poster of fruit and vegetables, which we have displayed in the dining room. We do actually refer to it during our meals to see if what we're eating is on the chart.

Our dining room decor.

The magazine contained a recipe for banana muffins, and came with a Dora plate and four silicon muffin moulds. Grace cooked the muffins last week, and we each had one for afternoon tea. She was very pleased with the results.

One proud chef and her muffins.

I subscribed online, to make sure we receive the magazine regularly, and also to get the free gifts that are promised (including a Dora apron and chef's hat). There was great excitement on Friday when Issues Two and Three arrived in the mail.

Yesterday Grace made the Butterfly Cheese Biscuits from Issue Two. The recipe is illustrated with pictures of each step, which she followed carefully, even down to the placement of her hand on top of the grater.

Grating the cheese just like in the picture.

I helped roll out the dough then she cut out the shapes and put them on the tray. While they were in the oven cooking, she even washed and dried all her "Dora cooking things" ready to put them away for next time.

Washing the dishes after cooking.

The recipes are designed to make quite small quantities, and are reasonably simple. This one only had three ingredients. But the biscuits were absolutely delicious, and didn't last very long at all.

Some of the cheese biscuits.

I think Issue Three's recipe is a strawberry sundae, so we've got that to look forward to next. It isn't so bad having a budding chef in the family!

Health Update

Cancer is a nasty thing. You can never be quite sure you've seen the end of it.

On Tuesday I had to see my plastic surgeon and his nurse, as there are two areas of my scar that haven't healed. It turns out I am too healthy, and have overgranulation, or "proud flesh". Silver nitrate was used to burn the excess back (ouch!) to enable the wound to close over. A troublesome stitch was also cut out. They may have to repeat the procedure a few times, but hopefully healing is not far away.

The surgeon commented on my significant hair loss near the scar, saying that the hair follicles are sometimes damaged beyond repair by the tension the skin is put under. He spoke about hair transplants and other procedures to address this, but said he wouldn't consider anything like that for at least 12 months, as we need to monitor the area closely to see if the cancer comes back.

It seems that despite the fact that the pathology indicated all of the tumour was removed, I have a reasonably high risk of it recurring. I've since studied it online (as you do!), and the risk is increased if the tumour is large (greater than 2 cm) or aggressive (in my case, infiltrative and morpheaform).  Also, the risk of a new, separate tumour appearing within the next five years is 50%. So I probably need to prepare myself for the likelihood I'll be doing this again sometime!

That said, I know I'll never have another tumour this large. I'll be monitored every six months for the rest of my life, so anything new will be caught quite early.

On a brighter note, I visited the hairdresser today. I've been going to the same salon for 11 years. My original hairdresser has left, but the other (Grace) is equally skilled in the way she cuts my hair. I knew she'd be up to the task of hiding my scars and bald patches.

What I didn't know was that since I saw her last she has begun making customised wigs for people with cancer. She had breast cancer a couple of years ago, and lost her hair after chemotherapy. She now sees people in similar circumstances, and has developed the art of enhancing what is there and hiding the problem areas. So I was definitely in good hands!

Here is the end result:

This is by far the shortest my hair has ever been. She even used the shaver on my neck! It is a graduated bob, like I've had before, and she manages to make the hair look much thicker at the back by encouraging it to curl under at the bottom.

I was a bit disappointed, because I've spent the majority of my adult life avoiding a block fringe. But it is the only way to effectively hide, and protect, the damaged areas on my scalp. She brought the hair forward from quite a long way back (there was a technical term for it which I can't remember) to make the fringe. But as you can see, it does the job of hiding everything!

My days of wearing my hair in a ponytail may be over, but at least I don't need a wig!

Lucinda's Smiles

Lovely Lucinda is growing up fast. She's nine weeks old now, and full of smiles.

She weighs 4610 g, and is 56 cm long.

On Sabbath afternoon she had a great time hanging out on the play mat with Daddy and Grace while Charlotte had her nap.

With smiles like this, you're bound to see plenty more photos of her in posts to come.

A Day at the Zoo

We had another great day out at Melbourne Zoo yesterday.

High on the agenda this time were the monkeys and gorillas.

Grace and Charlotte check out a gorilla.

Wasn't there only one a minute ago?

Hanging around.

We discovered Keeper Kids - a building full of activities for children. Grace and Charlotte played there with Neil while Lucinda and I made use of the five star parent's room.

Playing with the animals.

A three year old with a chainsaw - scary!

A hard hat is definitely a good idea!

That big sister of mine can be very noisy!

Yes Dad, my heart is still beating!

Looking for animals in danger.

Animal rescuers on their walkie talkies.

We were all very impressed with the sea life displays.

Grace watching the seals.

Who needs the Olympics to see synchronised swimming?

Getting up close to the fish.

Sea horses.

If I can strike a pose ...

... so can you!

Daddy enjoying a day out with his two big girls.

The lion's roars could be heard all around the zoo, and meant we had to drop in and see them.

A lion eating his lunch.

We had some lunch at the take away kiosk, and the girls delighted in feeding their sandwiches to the many sea gulls flocking around. So did every other child in sight!

Next time we'll go on a bear hunt (Grace and I only had a quick glimpse of a bear this time) and visit the butterflies.

Picture Perfect

Well, almost!

I have a very large collection of recipe books. I love them! I do a bit more reading and planning than I do cooking, but I enjoy preparing new dishes, especially when entertaining.

However, if you search my collection, there is something you are not likely to find. I very rarely buy a recipe book without pictures.

I need a picture of the finished product to pique my interest, inspire me, give me guidance about 'plating up', and provide a yardstick against which to measure my effort.

On Friday night Nicole came over for dinner, and among other things I decided to make the "Tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad" from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'River Cottage Veg Everyday!' cookbook (2011, Bloomsbury Publishing). The publishers thought the photograph was so inspiring it is featured on the back cover of the book. (It is a great recipe book too, by the way).

I couldn't locate any yellow zucchini at this time of year, but otherwise I thought I didn't put in too bad an effort. What do you think?

The tahini dressing (with ingredients including crushed garlic, lemon zest  and orange juice) was absolutely delicious, and I'm sure I'll make it again.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, but in recipe books they often paint just one. Yum!

Sleeping Beauty

I took a photo of Lucinda asleep on her Daddy's lap the other night.

It looks like she's having sweet dreams.

What a cutie!