As a mum of 3 boys I am also a firm believer of teaching those said boys how to cook, so that one day their future wives (my future D.I.Ls) will be eternally grateful to me and let me come and visit the grand kids as often as I like. Ok Ok I am getting ahead of myself here and kind going off on a tangent. Funny that - so very unlike me. Bahahahaa.
Anyway the point is my kids have taken a very keen interest in cooking and have done their bit to make the Masterchef masterminds a fortune by buying all their franchise and religiously watching their shows. My guys fancy themselves as contestants one day on the show and good luck to them I say. In the meantime I am just going to enjoy their culinary efforts.
A couple of weeks before Christmas I got an email that seriously very nearly made me poop my pants with excitement. I was invited to take my kids along to a picnic and cooking session with Louise Fulton Keats - daughter of the fabulous Suzanne Gibbs and the granddaughter of the totally iconic Margaret Fulton. Joining us would be some other fabulous bloggers I was just so thrilled to finally meet; Julie from Mama of 2 Boys, Cathy from The Camera Chronicles and Christie from Fig and Cherry.
Hhhmmmm I had to ponder that invite for a while.......HELLOOOOO are you kidding?? I don't think I have ever typed a response so fast. Yes Yes YES! We would love to come.
Due to the threat of rain on the day the picnic idea was changed to a morning tea at Louise's gorgeous home.
My kids were almost as excited as me. I say almost because they had no idea really who they were about to meet, they just picked up on my excitement and my talk of fabulous food and cooking.
Louise welcomed us in to her most beautiful home on the harbour. To say she was just so so fabulous and gracious and warm would just never do her enough justice.
Louise has written a children's cook book called my Grandmas Kitchen and it is seriously the cutest book for kids. It follows the adventures of Lulu and her brother Harry as they cook in Grandma's kitchen. It is such a sweet story for the little ones and the recipes in the book are by her Grandma Margaret and really easy for you to make with the kids.
It was so wonderful to meet the other bloggers and get to know Louise who was just so open and down to earth.
Louise encouraged the kids to make themselves at home, which
believe me they did, and we all got to know each other a bit better.
Louise is the Ambassador for Philadelphia and the scrumptious
food on offer to us for morning tea, had all been made by Louise using the
Philadelphia range of products.
Philadelphia Cheese products have been a round for as long as I can
remember, but I had no idea how many products they now have in their
range and how versatile they are to use in cooking.
We got some fabulous advice and tips on kids food and snack
ideas, and then the highlight of the day came for my children – they got down
and dirty in the kitchen with Louise.
She taught them how to make Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Icing. This was hilarious watching them try and impress their host.
The funniest part was their cupcakes ready to be put in the oven. We all did the right amount of obligatory ooohing and aaahing to satisfy their egos, whilst doing our best to hold our giggles in.
As a wonderful way to finish a fabulous morning, we got to relax with the Fulton, Gibbs, Keats families including Louise's adorable son Harry. We chatted and nattered as woman do and shut our mouths just long enough to enjoy some of the delicious treats that had been prepared for us.
Margaret was just a fabulous as I always imagined her to be and knits a mean blanket too.
Tuna, carrot and Philly Cheese Pinwheels - Perfect for kids lunchboxes.
We have eaten these oh about 13 times since this day courtesy of my kids.
The Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese icing.
No these are not the ones my boys made, theirs were a little less um .... pretty.
Yup, That's Margaret's famous Cheesecake below there. Drooling much?
Stuffed and happy, on the way home in the car Flynn asked if Margaret could be his Grandma too - you wish kiddo! Sammy just wanted to know when we would be going back there again to play with Louise and Harry.
I would say the day was a success wouldn't you?
Now the fabulous Guys at Kraft and Liquid Ideas have a special giveaway for you.
You can win this Simply Heaven volume 2 cookbook packed full with gorgeous recipes using Kraft Philly products AND you get a $7.00 Woolworths Gift card to buy your Philly products to use.
All you need to do is leave a comment below and I will use random org to select 5... Yup 5 lucky winners and a copy of the cookbook and the voucher will be sent out to you.
Entries close Friday 13th January 2012 at 8pm and the winner will be annouced on my blog.
The winner will have 48 hours to contact me to claim the prize or it will be redrawn. Oh and this is only open to Australian residents sorry.
Note: I was not paid for this post, but I did get to attend the most yummy morning tea I have ever been too and I received a copy of the Simply Heaven Cookbook and a pack full of Philadelphia products.
