CHICKPEAS

This is a very simple dish that works well for lunch with a salad or as garnish for most meats.

You need:
- one tin of chickpeas
- 150 gr of serrano ham ( or any other fired ham; you can also use bacon if you prefer it)
- one clove of garlic
- a little bit of parsley
- olive oil
- salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan (medium heat). Add the garlic chopped into small bits. When the garlic starts getting golden add the ham. Wait for two or three minutes. Take the ham out and reserve. Add the chickpeas, let them fry for 5 minutes, add salt if needed (be careful as the ham is naturally salty) add the ham back, sprinkle with the parsley and done.

You can also add a tablespoon of vinegar as you are frying the chickpeas.

FISH SOUP

This is a delicate soup. It is the kind of soup that Spanish mothers used to prepare for festive meals or on the occasional Sundays. My mother prepares it often for my children and they love it.

You need:
- an onion
- a stick of celery
- 1 clove of garlic
- half a red pepper
- half a yellow pepper
- 1 carrot
- a potato
- salt
- olive oil
- a fillet of white fish ( haddock, monkfish, cod, hake... )
- a handful of prawns
- one squid ( frozen squid is normally very good if you cannot find fresh ones)
- a handful of clams (this is optional, as many children do not like them - mine just do)

Put a pan on the heat. Add the olive oil. Then add all the vegetables cut into cubes. After 5 minutes (when they start getting brown) lower the heat so that they soften. When they are soft ( after another 5 to 8 minutes) add the white fish. Let the fish fry with the vegetables for 3-4 minutes and then take it out and reserve it. Add the salt, parsley and the bay leaf. Add 500 ml of water, bring it to the boil and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Take the bay leaf out, add the fish back to the soup and liquidize it all with a hand held blender (or in a food processor) until you get a smooth soup.

Separately heat a flying pan. Cut the squid into smalls squares, add them to the pan (without any oil) and as soon as they harden (after 1-2- minutes) take them out and add them to the soup.

Then cut the prawns into small squares. Add a tiny bit of oil to the frying pan and add the prawns. Wait for one to two minutes until they get a coral colour and add them to the soup too.

Finally, add some water to the frying pan ( half a glass should do) Add the clams and wait for a couple of minutes until they open up. Discard any clams that have not been opened. Take out the molluscs (discard the shells) and add them to the soup. Then get the liquid of the clams through  colander ( in case they have spelled any sand) and add the liquid to the soup.

The children helped with all of it and enjoyed seeing the seafood changing its texture with the heat. Otherwise I am afraid they found preparing the soup a bit boring.

CARROT CUPCAKES

One of my children is a carrot cake fan. This is the fastest carrot cupcake recipe you could possibly find. We never bother with the icing but you always can mix a couple of tablespoons of philadelphia cheese with two table spoons of double cream and icing sugar and ice a little the cupcakes.

You need:

200 gr self raising flower
250 gr of grated carrots
2 eggs
150 ml sunflower oil
75 gr dark brown sugar
zest of one orange
one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
you can also add some spices if you wish: a teaspoon of cinnamon and some grated nutmeg or a teaspoon of all spice.

Mix together the flour, bicarb and orange zest (and spices if you are using them). Separately mix the oil and eggs and sugar and add it to the the flour mixture. Last add the grated carrots. Line a cupcake tray with paper cases. Put the mixture into the cases and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

PIZZA

We normally use shop-bought margarita bases and add the toping, but it is really easy to make the bases yourself. This is adapted from a Rachel Allen recipe:

You need
- 350 gr white four (preferably bread flour)
- a pinch of salt
- a teaspoon of sugar
- 25 gr butter (cold and cut into cubes)
- 25 ml of olive oil
- 7 gr fast yeast
- 160 ml warn water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar. Rub the butter in like if you are going to make a crumble. Then add the yeast, and finally the oil and water. Mix well.  Cover the dough with a tea towel (clean!) and let it rest for five minutes. Then knead it for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into three balls. Cover them with a little bit of olive oil and cling film and let them rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When you are ready to cook the pizza roll the dough out and put any toping you like on top. We used tomato sauce, ham, chorizo, cheese and basel. Cook in a preheated 200 degrees oven for 10-15 minutes until crispy.

Children love helping with all of this. Mine always use far too many toppings, but that is part of the game...

CARAMEL POPCORN

We did this for the Christmas school party and it was very successful.

You need:
- 1 packets of microwave popcorn (all supermarkets sell this)
- 125 gr of butter
- 250 gr light brown sugar
- 2 table spoons of corn syrup or golden syrup

Prepare the plain popcorn in the microwave. Separately melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup until they reach 130 degrees (if you do not have a thermometer let it boil for 10 minutes more or less). Add this caramel to the popcorns and mix well. Put the popcorns on a tray lined with baking parchment and bake it in a reheated 150 degrees oven for 45 minutes.  When you take the popcorn out of them oven let them cool down a little and break them into small bits.

Be careful when the children help you to do this as they can easily burn themselves with the caramel.

CHRISTMAS MARSHMALLOWS

This recipe is identical to the marshmallows one that we added earlier this year,but we were very pleased with the colours and it is not every day that we do something as fiddly as this so we thought we would show off and add the picture anyway.

To prepare this just follow the marshmallows recipe. As soon as you put the marshmallows mixture on the tray put a few drops of red colouring on the top and extend them around in patterns with a toothpick. It is strangely rewarding.

CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNS

We got this recipe from the Guardian food section. We had a bit of a technical glitch as we poured the melted butter over the dough with chocolate chips while the butter was very hot, so some of the chocolate chips melted a bit making the buns go brown. As it happens they are lovely like that, so feel free to make the same mistake if you wish.

You need:
250 gr chocolate chips
2 pinches of salt
25 g sugar 

375 ml  milk
100 ml water
1 sachet of fast-action yeast
75 g butter 
625 g bread white flour
1 beaten egg

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.
Boil the milk and add the water to it. Add the yeast and let it rest for 5 minutes. Separately mix the flour, sugar and salt and add it to the milky yeast mix. Add the chocolate chips. Melt the butter and add it to the mixture until you get a soft dough. Cover it with a tea towel and let it rest for ten minutes. Knead it for a few seconds, divide it into 15 balls and let it all rest (still covered) for an hour. Put them on a tray lined with baking paper, brush them with the beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes.