Piggy buns

I have been trying to make Chinese buns.
The first batch I made, I mixecd in some steamed pumpkin for an extra vegetable kick. To avoid mentioning the P word (Sam is not a fan of pumpkin), I called them 'Happy buns'. The buns were quite tasty, but they clapsed in the oven so they didn't have that nice "bun" shape. Sam can definitely tell it had something he didn't like in it :(
For the second batch, I filled the buns with chicken mince, vermicelli noodles, carrots and tofu pieces. To make them appeal to the kiddies more, I tried to make them look like pigs and called them "Piggy buns". Kids liked this version, but the buns didn't look like "pigs" after they came out of the steamer:(

I am keen to make some more and hope to learn to make "real" piggy buns soon!

Winter school holiday

Besides the usual school holiday programs and playdates, Lara did some other fun activities during last school holiday:

Baking:
I was trying to get Lara into this kids baking class a friend told me about, but it was booked out for the rest of the year. Luckily, the friend who told me about it invited Lara to join them for a class they booked last year! Lara made some cinnamon and raisin scrolls, a yummy pizza and a koala bear with chocolate paws. The kids were all very creative and there were rabbit, star war battle field and a Roman among the creations. While the kids were busy baking, the adults had some yummy brunch and coffee. A great afternoon!



Origami:
The origami workshop was run by the Janpanese foundation to celebrate "Tanabata, Japanese Star festival. The gallery it was held were decorated with colourful origami from previous workshops. Kids sat down to a story about Tanabata (a love fable originating from China about god/godess meeting over the milky way once a year), then divided into smaller groups to learn the art of origami. Have just recovered from a temperature, Lara only tried simple things like a lantern and a frog. Friend Sue's creative girls attempted a more intricate origami box.

Art Gallery of NSW:
I also took Lara to the Art Gallery for a Torrens Island art workshop during the holidays. I was sipping coffee at the Gallery cafe and waiting for Lara to finish her workshop in the morning when I heard over the speaker about the free guided tours. I decided to join the 'Highlight of the gallery' tour and learned so much about some of the paintings! We had a yummy lunch at the same cafe then stayed on for a free 'how to draw' workshop. All the kids got paper and pens and learned to draw faces in the right proportions. I think the how-to-draw workshop made a great impact on Lara because she now wants to be an illustrator when she grows up!

It's time to think about the next school holiday!