Knomester

Thanks for the link to the old thread Bellenden Belle - a great reminder. We're still loving Christmas on Exeter Street and my youngest should be ready for that one this year too. I think I may have to dig our Christmas books out later today...

My 6 year old has Cool Kids Cook by Jenny Chandler. Really well written, real recipes and approachable language.

***UPDATE*** There are a few places left in the Traditional and Alternative Mince Pie categories which we would dearly love to fill to reach our target of raising over ?500 for Peckham Foodbank. If you, or anyone you know, likes baking please join us! We also have quite a few places left in the Children's Bakes category - great prizes to be won including tickets to Picturehouse Cinema. Email [email protected] to register.

***UPDATE*** There are a few places left in the Traditional and Alternative Mince Pie categories which we would dearly love to fill to reach our target of raising over ?500 for Peckham Foodbank. If you, or anyone you know, likes baking please join us! We also have quite a few places left in the Children's Bakes category - great prizes to be won including tickets to Picturehouse Cinema. Email [email protected] to register.

You can find more information about the Mince Pie Bake Off, which is taking place as part of the East Dulwich Christmas Cracker, and how to enter here: https://www.facebook.com/bakeclubselondon/ https://bandofbakers.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/mince-pie-bake-off-saturday-5-december-2015/ Or email us at [email protected] to enter. Thanks

Thanks hollyt

Hello. I hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread. I have just noticed your baking group and wondered whether any of you might be interested in entering the Mince Pie Bake Off which I am organising to raise money for Peckham Foodbank as part of the East Dulwich Christmas Cracker this year? We still have a handful of places left in both the Traditional and Alternative Mince Pie categories. We would love some more local home bakers like you to get involved and every penny raised from the bake off is going directly to Peckham Foodbank (with everyone involved giving their time for free). http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?6,1597694 Thanks [email protected]

We just wanted to share this great flyer which the talented Gourmandizing London have designed for the Mince Pie Bake Off. The Traditional and Alternative Mince Pie categories are filling up (a handful of spaces left in each), but we still have lots of space in the Children's Bakes category if you know of any budding young bakers who might be keen to get involved with the chance of winning a pair of Picturehouse cinema tickets or a Rye Books book voucher. Please get in touch or spread the word or even just donate if you can! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bandofbakersmincepiebakeoff Every single penny is going straight to Peckham Foodbank. Thank you [email protected]

Thanks so much esme and for your PM. I'll be in touch today.

Thanks so much for the offer DulwichPianoFestival - so kind! I think we're OK for prizes at the moment. What we would be really grateful for (from anyone reading this!) is help in spreading the word locally to see if there are any children aged 12 and under who would like to get involved. The adult entries are rolling in, but we need more children to take part so that we can run the children's bake category. We have raised over ?250 already for Peckham Foodbank but we would love to at least double that. If children have other commitments that day, they (and their parents) don't need to be around all day - just drop off some time between 10am and 1pm. Then they can come back for the prize giving on Northcross Road at 4.15pm (which is conveniently just before the Little Kids Disco!). Thank you.

A great little write up about our bake off in Londonist today: https://londonist.com/2015/11/festive-fundraiser-aims-to-find-the-best-mince-pie-in-southwark We'd love some more local entries if you fancy giving it a whirl. We've already raised over ?250 for Peckham Foodbank and it would be amazing to at least double that if we can. Thanks

A couple of additional prizes which have been added: - champagne breakfast for two at Toast E.D. (not a prize for the children's category?!) - ?20 voucher for ed on Northcross Road There will be lots of activities for children of all ages on the day so it would bee great if you have any young budding chefs who would like to join in the festive baking fun and enter the competition. Every single penny raised is going directly to Peckham Foodbank, so it's all for a great cause. I realise the Christmas Cracker clashes with some school fairs (and concerts), but bakes can be dropped off from 10am (or earlier by arrangement) and the winners announced much later in the day at 4.15pm. So plenty time to charge around and fit it all in!

More prizes have been added? - a champagne breakfast for two at Toast E.D. - a ?20 voucher to spend in ed (Northcross Road)

***UPDATE*** There are a few places left in the Traditional and ALternative Mince Pie categories which we would dearly love to fill to reach our target of raising over ?500 for Peckham Foodbank. If you, or anyone you know, likes baking please join us! We also have quite a few places left in the Children's Bakes category - great prizes to be won including tickets to Picturehouse Cinema. Email [email protected] to register. ----------------------- Hello. I've posted this in the What's On section, but as we have a children's category for children aged 12 and under we thought it might be of interest here to. http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?6,1597694 For more details visit our website https://bandofbakers.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/mince-pie-bake-off-saturday-5-december-2015/ or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bakeclubselondon/ If you have any questions feel free to message me here or email me at [email protected] Thanks

***UPDATE*** There are a few places left in the Traditional and Alternative Mince Pie categories which we would dearly love to fill to reach our target of raising over ?500 for Peckham Foodbank. If you, or anyone you know, likes baking please join us! We also have quite a few places left in the Children's Bakes category - great prizes to be won including tickets to Picturehouse Cinema. Email [email protected] to register. --------------------- The Band of Bakers' Mince Pie Bake Off will take place on Saturday 5 December 2015 at Brick House Bakery in East Dulwich. This new event is part of the East Dulwich Christmas Cracker - a festive street event with all the trimmings. Do you love baking? Feeling festive? Could you bake our first ever Best in Show? Email [email protected] to secure your place or take a look at our website https://bandofbakers.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/mince-pie-bake-off-saturday-5-december-2015/ or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bakeclubselondon/ for more information. We have a fantastic panel of talented bakers to judge your bakes: Dan Lepard - Artisan baker, food writer and author Dan Lepard is one of the world?s most widely-read and respected bakers, he?s the easy-going judge on TV?s The Great Australian Bake Off, and for 8 years a columnist at The Guardian. Dan?s books have established him as the alternative baking guru for a generation of young cooks and chefs. His latest book, ?Short & Sweet? has been a best-seller since its launch, and won the UK?s prestigious Andre Simon Award, Cook Book of the Year, 2011. He lives in Tooting with his partner David. Fergus Jackson - Fergus is the baker behind Brick House, a sourdough bakery and cafe in East Dulwich, SE London, which he owns and runs with his wife Sharmin. Brick House specialises in San Francisco style slow fermentation sourdough breads, made using traditional methods and just a few simple ingredients; flour, water, sea salt and naturally occurring yeast. Fergus' Peckham Rye is the current holder of the prestigious Real Bread Campaign's London Loaf award. Suzanne James - Sue is an East Dulwich based chef and the woman behind one of London?s leading professional catering companies, which provides private, wedding and corporate clients with delicious and inspiring food made using Great British ingredients. Suzanne is totally committed to the area and to sourcing food locally. She is fondly known as the Queen of Canap?s. Mayor of Southwark - Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle MBE was appointed Mayor of Southwark in May this year. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and a Southwark resident since the age of three, she has had a varied career which has included jobs in education, managing the constituency office of Harriet Harman MP and a small role in EastEnders. She is poised, ready to eat as many mince pies as she can in the hour she has managed to spare us from her hectic schedule! Naomi Knill - Naomi is a food writer, home cook and co-founder of Band of Bakers who lives with her family in East Dulwich. She writes the successful food blog The Ginger Gourmand. Her recipes have been featured in various publications, including her Cranberry, Orange & Almond Mince Pie recipe which she created for delicious. magazine's article about Band of Bakers in December 2012. How do I enter? If you would like to enter the Mince Pie Bake Off please email [email protected] to register. The entry fee is ?10 (?5 for the Children's Bake category). All of your entry fee will go directly to Southwark Foodbank (also known as Peckham Foodbank or Pecan) by way of a donation. The Mince Pie Bake Off is open to all amateur bakers wherever you are based. There are 20 spaces in each category which will be allocated on a first come first served basis. What happens on the day? You will bake 6 mince pies for your chosen category at home. Then you will deliver your mince pies to Brick House Bakery (1 Zenoria Street, London SE22 8HP) between 10am and 1pm on Saturday 5 December 2015. From 2pm onwards, our amazing panel of judges will taste and deliberate over your mince pies. The winners will be announced from the stage on Northcross Road at 4.15pm. There will prizes for the winners and runners up in each category as well as a special prize for the overall Champion 2015. Your mince pies which are not required for judging will be sold on the Peckham Foodbank stall on Northcross Road to raise even more money for the fantastic work they do. Categories 1. Traditional Mince Pies - 6 traditional mince pies. Pastry case, mincemeat, pastry top. 2. Alternative Mince Pies - 6 sweet pies that you would serve as an alternative to a traditional mince pie (you can include mincemeat). Be as creative as you like! 3. Children's Bakes - 6 traditional or alternative mince pies baked by anyone aged 12 or under. There are 20 spaces in each category which will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Prizes The list of prizes is ever growing, so watch this space for updates... A meal for two at Franklins Restaurant, two tickets for Picturehouse East Dulwich, lunch at Brick House Bakery & Caf?, a book token from Rye Books, a very special design by Gourmandizing London for the 2015 Champion. Southwark Foodbank We are proud to support Southwark Foodbank, a Peckham based food bank which provides emergency food to help people who, for whatever reason, don't have money to feed themselves or their families. It was launched in 2009 and is part of a national network of foodbanks established by The Trussell Trust. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bandofbakersmincepiebakeoff

I just wondered if there is anyone locally who knows the best way to go about selling a double bass? I'd happily exchange some homebaked goodies for your knowledge or help!

Both of my boys have dolls. Eldest took his everywhere (along with a random collection of other cuddly toys) and baby is just starting to play with his now. They both have boy dolls from Imajo (I think you can buy them on Amazon): http://www.imajo.co.uk/sections/1/anisa_collection/ They're lovely simple rag dolls which you can dress, cuddle in bed, etc.

Agree with Goldilocks that you may need to check the movicol dose. Usually a loading dose followed by fairly high amounts to get things moving and then you can adapt to find the right level for your little one. Also, we found that we had to stick with movicol for probably a couple of years.

W have a pocket sprung mattress from Warren Evans too. It cost more than the bed frame itself! But, we sleep brilliantly on it and have done ever since we bought it 7 or so years ago. Definitely worth testing them to see which sort works for you. We also bought a mattress from John Lewis a couple of years ago for our eldest's single bed and again we tested them in the shop. Pillows are another matter altogether...I change mine regularly but still really struggle to find one soft enough that doesn't just completely collapse after a few weeks. Doesn't help that I like the king size ones which many places don't sell.

There is lots of advice on the Dyson website about how to maintain them (as pps says, like cleaning the filter). They also offer a full service option if its a problem you can't sort out yourself which comes with a 1 year warranty I think. I've not done that, but my parents did and we're really happy with the result.

Hello Becca. I am putting together another bag of baby stuff which I would be happy for you to take. It will mostly be 3 - 9 months as the new baby stuff has already gone to the salvation army and my second baby is still wearing the 9+. Do you just want clothes? I may be able to dig out other items too. Please feel free to PM me.

It's easy to say after the event, but however he gets there doesn't really matter. Some children 'get it' and others just don't. It's like everything, different children, different day. It can take weeks or months. We waited until around 3 too. One lesson I would take from our experience with our eldest is don't worry about the wet pants, wet clothes, wet floors. Have buckets and wipes to hand and as much 'pants off' time as possible (if only for less washing...). Day 1 was horrendous. Day 2 was pretty much the same. By the end of week 1 I had probably supped an entire bottle of gin. If there's no trauma, perhaps persevere. But if it becomes stressful, don't beat yourself up about stopping and picking it up again days, or even weeks, later. (Convex - you sound like lovely caring parents).

Perhaps you could try contacting either the Peckham Food Bank or the Salvation Army in Camberwell. Both take donations of other items and may take extras at Christmas time or, if not, know of a charity that does. They have been really helpful when I have wanted to donate items in the past.

Ah I'm so pleased we've shared some love for Christmas books! We've just started on the Michael Morpurgo book this morning - just half way through the first story. Perhaps a touch advanced for my 4yo but lots of wonderful vocabulary for him to grow into!

I have been going to Emma's Beauty for several years now and would highly recommend her. She does a great job, is friendly and polite and also charges much less than the bigger salons in the area. Well worth trying or perhaps considering her if you are looking for vouchers as a gift for Christmas.