Meeting Steve Backshall at Mountain Warehouse

If you have a young child in your house who is interested in all things nature, then you will have probably heard of the thrill seeking adventurer that is Steve Backshall. He has been a bit of a hero in our house for some years now, with my son watching and re-watching every episode of Deadly 60 as often as possible.

So when we were sent some t-shirts from the lovely guys at Mountain Warehouse a few months back, which not only had a wolf on but were from the Steve Backshall range, it seemed like life couldn't get better for him. That was until they invited us to meet him at their Fulham Broadway store last Saturday.

Donning his favourite wolf t-shirt, we headed on the train down to the big city, we got there early so the wait for him was agnoising, eventually, I relented and went to the store. The staff met us and said he'd popped for a coffee so we had a look round the store for a bit and then took our places and waited with the other adults and children there.

The other children with us had all entered and won a competition with Steve and Mountain Warehouse in the prior months and had been chosen to come and see their idol.

As he walked in and greeted everyone, a sea of smiles and excited faces erupted, both from the children and the adults, for us all to see our children with such excitement on their faces was a wonderful experience and I am not going to lie, I am a huge fan of his too, his kind and playful nature has always made him easy to watch and he has given my son so much focus on, so what’s not to like.

We weren't entirely sure what to expect but with a box of some interesting looking creatures in the room, it was clear we were in for a show. He introduced himself to all of the children, asked their names and put them all at ease.

The first critter he bought out he hadn't expected anyone to know what it was, but I knew it was in one of my sons favourite books so I gave him a nudge and he was the only one to put his hand up, he confidently told him it was a whip spider and Steve was amazed that he knew. Even more amazed that he knew where they lived, it is this kind of knowledge my son has learnt from watching Steve's shows and reading his books.

Following on from this we got to see a Corn Snake, Scorpion, Chilean Rose Tarantula which I got to hold, a Blue Tongued Skink, Bearded Dragon, Carpet Python and King Snake (at least I think that’s what it was).

Even with so many animals to discuss and talk about, the time seemed to go so quickly and when it came to the end and Steve asked if anyone had any questions to ask him, the hands went up. My son had a few that we'd prepared (that is the blogger in me) and Steve duly answered each one.

He did some book and t-shirt signing with his amazing signature, and I can't help thinking that it comes back to haunt him at these things ;)

He stopped a while longer to chat to both the adults and children, I couldn't help but tell him how much of an impact he's had on my sons life when it comes to the love of animals and the outdoors. 

I wasn’t telling him this to give him an ego boost, I was telling him this because he had done the job he had set out to do, inspiring the next generation to adore animals the way he does, to protect them and to be interested in them and their welfare, to not be afraid of them just because they are deadly.

We live in an age where the internet and information is much more accessible and hopefully the children of today will have a greater understanding of why animals do what they do, like us, to protect themselves and their species.

If you haven't seen the range at Mountain Warehouse, then I highly recommend taking a look, with everything from shorts and trousers, to t-shirts, backpacks and water bottles this range has something for every animal loving Steve fan.

And a huge and I mean huge thank you to Mountain Warehouse for inviting us down to meet Steve, it was such a privilege, and Steve on the off chance you read this, thank you so much for being such an inspiration, we look forward to seeing you on your tour in October.

Healthier Halloween Treats

Halloween is a time where there are lots of sweets and treats. So, to try and cut down our sugar intake, Sykes Cottages have invited me to come up with some healthier options to serve this Halloween.

For the younger children, these banana and choc chip eyeball cakes are the perfect afternoon treat at Halloween. They are really easy to make, so it's a good time to get the children involved with the baking.

For the cake:

100g Butter, softened

2 eggs

175g Light brown sugar

225g Self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons milk

2 ripe bananas, mashed (use a fork to mash the banana)

50g Chocolate chips

For the decoration:

125g icing sugar

15ml warm water

Smarties, buttons, icing

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assisted and line a muffin tray with 12 cases (spooky ones if you have them!).

2. Place the butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and banana in a mixing bowl and using a hand held mixer, blend until smooth, add the chocolate chips and stir in with a spoon.

3. Spoon the mixture equally between the cases and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

5. Once cooled, make the glacé icing. Mix 125g icing sugar with a teaspoon of water at a time until it reaches a smooth and thick consistency. Try not to make it too runny or it won't stay in the centre.  Place a teaspoon full of your thick icing on the middle of a cake and spread into a round(ish) shape.

I used some renshaw candy melts for the iris and a chocolate chip for the pupil, but you could use a smartie and some black icing, or a raisin. For the red around the eye I used a streak of red food colouring on the end of cocktail stick and just squiggled it through the icing before it set.

Once you have done this with all of them, there you have it, a spooky healthier cake.

Next up is a recipe I have made several times, it is a mix of raisins and nuts blended up. These bites are full of natural energy and perfect for slightly older children, although my three and six year old both enjoy them, I know some people like to be careful with nuts. They are blended into tiny pieces though so should be fine.

Ingredients:

100g Raisins
30g Cranberries
30g Cashews
30g Brazil nuts
30g Flaked almonds
20g Mixed seeds
1-3 tsps Honey
Liquorice Catherine Wheels for decoration.

1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Place the raisins, cranberries, cashews, brazil nuts, mixed seeds and flaked almonds in a mixer or chopper and blend until chopped and mixed, add a little honey at a time until it becomes wet enough to roll into balls without breaking apart.

Once you've rolled out the spiders bodies, cut the liquorice in half lengthways so you have thinner strips to make the legs. Add these to the tops of the bodies whilst still squidgy, once you have done this you can add little pieces of cranberry as eyes or leave as is. Place in the fridge to firm up and then  serve.

Together these treats look great displayed next to a pumpkin and some cobwebs...

This is my entry into the Sykes Cottages Healthy Halloween Treats challenge.