Bedtime Storybooks for Little Kids

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!

It's Sumayyah here, and today I'll be showing you 5 bedtime storybooks for kids.

The Fox and The Star

by: Coralie Bickford-Smith

This book is an easy story to read and the illustrations are really nice and unique.

Even my older sisters and mother enjoy looking at all the lovely details.

No Matter What

by: Debi Gliori

This is a sweet story about a mother and her baby son, who tells him that 'no matter what' she will love him forever.

Stormy Weather

by: Debi Gliori

This bedtime book shows all the beautiful animals that cuddle their children to sleep. It rhymes too which is always fun to read.

Lost and Found

by: Oliver Jeffers

This is about a young boy who finds a penguin on his door step. They both set out to help find the penguins home.

The illustrations are lovely and defiantly one of my favourite books when I was younger.

How to Catch a Star

by: Oliver Jeffers

This is about the same boy who loves stars and wants to catch one so it can be his friend. 

It's sweet and simple, and I really like it masha'Allah.

I hope you enjoyed this book recommendations post and see you next time, insha'Allah.

Wasalaam,

Sumayyah

DIY Handmade Envelope Craft

Assalamu Alaikum!

For this week we have a fun and easy craft for you to make. It's simple enough for even little kids to get involved. So lets jump straight in!

You will need:

A4 card

ruler

pencil

scissors

2 thin strips of paper

glue/double sided sticky tap

Method:

First, take your sheet of card and make two folds as shown below. The first fold being half-an-inch from the top (for the flap) and the bottom end folded to the first fold.

Then on the end of the bottom fold cut out the shape shown.

Take two thin strips of paper and fold it the way you would a paper fan.

Glue them down as shown below.

At this point you could be done, but we went ahead and decorated the front of the envelope.

Sumayyah wrote her name on it and plans to use it to store letters in, since the folded strips of paper allows the envelope to expand a little and make more room.

Hope you all enjoyed this post and that you are enjoying your Friday! Insha'Allah, we will see you again next week.

Love and wasalaam.



Sticky Date Loaf Recipe

Assalamu Alaikum!

It's Maryam here this week. Todays recipe is an old favourite of ours and one our mother made often when we were young. It's packed full of delicious dried fruit and of course can be made entirely with wholemeal flour for a healthier, heavier option. So let's begin!

Ingredients:

225g (8 oz) pitted dates, chopped

175g (6 oz) sultanas

110g (4 oz) raisins

110g (4 oz) currents

275g (10 oz) butter

275ml (10 fl oz) water

400g (14 oz) tin condensed milk

150g (5 oz) plain flour

150g (5 oz) wholemeal flour

a pinch of salt

3/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

1 generous tbsp. chunky marmalade

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, 170 degrees Celsius, gas mark 3. Grease and line an 11 inch by 4 1/2 inch loaf tin.

2) Place all the dried fruit in a saucepan, together with the butter, water and condensed milk and bring to the boil. Stir frequently to avoid sticking. Simmer the mixture for 3 minutes and stir occasionally.

3) After simmering, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl to cool (around 30 minutes).

4) While it's cooling, weigh the flours and sift/whisk them into a bowl together with the salt and bicarbonate of soda.

5) When the fruit mixture has cooled stir it into the flour mixture and add a good round tablespoon of marmalade.

6) Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and cover it with some greaseproof paper to prevent the loaf from getting too brown. Be sure to make some hole in the greaseproof paper (about 1 cm in diameter).

7) Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes. After baking let the loaf cool for a few minutes in the tin before turning it out onto a wire rack.

Because we don't have a tin long enough to store the loaf in I wrap ours in foil and it works just as well, and after everyone has had a helping, it's then small enough to store in a tin :).

Alhamdulillah, after all the hard effort we're done and you have a delicious sticky date loaf to have with a nice cup of tea!

This loaf is very filling and our whole family finds that the flavour improves the next day. It can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of weeks, although in our house it rarely makes it past day three!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and that you give it a go someday, insha'Allah. Until next week!

Love and wasalaam,

Maryam