Pies are such a pain in the neck to make, even when you’re cheating. First it’s the pastry base, then the filling, then the pastry top…but if your kids are old enough (like mine have just become) to understand that they shouldn’t touch the hot, hot ramekin bowl that their pie is served in – well, it makes life a lot easier. There goes those pesky bases, right out the window! Suddenly, pies can become one of the quickest, easiest and of course, yummiest home baked meals.

What you need:

*1 store purchased BBQ chicken. Use the fillets, chopped (yes, of course you can cook up a couple of chicken fillets yourself – but this is the cheat’s version, ok?).

*8 rashers of bacon, trimmed of fat and rind and then chopped.

*1 commercial brand jar of Bechamel sauce (normally used for lasagne)

*Half cup of cream or milk

*1 clove of garlic

*2 cups of sliced leeks

*3 spring onions, chopped

*3 – 4 sheets of commercial frozen puff pastry

*A handful of grated tasty cheese.

*Salt and pepper to taste

*Egg wash – mix an egg with a splash of milk

*5 – 6 small ceramic ramekins, depending on how many people you need to feed!

How it’s done:

Into a hot pan, add chopped garlic and leeks. Allow the leeks to soften, then add your bacon. Once that begins to brown, add chicken, Bechamel sauce and milk (or cream). Allow to simmer and reduce until mixture is thick. Finally, add spring onions (we like ours to stay a little crunchy) and seasonings. Turn your pan off, and allow it to cool slightly, before stirring through grated cheese.

While your mix is cooling, pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C. Thaw out your puff pastry sheets, and cut to size big enough to cover the top of each ramekin. I use a small saucer as a guide. Place a ladle-sized scoop of the chicken and leek mixture into each ramekin, filling it to about ¾ full – allow for some bubbling while it’s cooking. Then, splash some egg wash around the perimeter of the ramekin with a pastry brush, and pop the pastry lid on, pinching it firmly around the edges. Prick the tops with a knife or fork to allow steam to escape, and give the whole thing another go with the egg wash.

Bake for around 15 minutes, or until the pastry tops are golden brown. Serve with chips and vegetables. And don’t forget to remind the rest of your family that the ramekins are hot!

I’ve been following Daire’s journey in the Soul Seekers series since the very beginning, when she was shipped off to the sneeze-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Enchantment in New Mexico.

Along the way she’s made friends and deadly enemies, she’s had plenty to laugh about and more than her fair share of hardship and adversity to overcome. To tell you the truth, if it had been me, I wouldn’t have handled even a quarter of what she’s been through, let alone finding things to smile about.

In Horizon everything comes to a head. The loose ends are tied and the magnificence of the tapestry woven by Alyson Noël is displayed in all it’s vibrant living colour. It is no wonder all four books in the Soul Seekers series have been optioned by Cheyenne Enterprises.

Now you may have noticed I didn’t review Mystic, and this is because I didn’t feel it had the same spirit as the two before it, Fated and Echo. I will be going back over Mystic now the series is finished, so I can find out if it was more to do with my misunderstanding of the book than anything else. After all certain books mean more to us at different times of our lives.

This is a beautiful conclusion to a high impact, truly fantastic series. I will miss the characters and look forward to possibly seeing them brought to life on the big screen and not just playing around in my imagination.

http://www.soulseekersseries.com/

http://www.alysonnoel.com

Paperback, 336 pages

Expected publication: November 19th 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin

ISBN: 1250054354 (ISBN13: 9781250054357)

Chris Kneipp reviews Thor 2 and is suitably entertained!

There is something to be said for going into a movie with low expectations because sometimes you are pleasantly surprised. My most recent experience of this was the latest in the Marvel franchise’s offering, Thor. The Dark World.  Let me begin by saying there is something likeable about the whole Marvel stable, with Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor. Provided you can overlook the boys’ club heroes of The Avengers, most of these movies are a great deal of fun.

The plot of The Dark World is standard Hollywood fair; ancient threat is awoken, threatens all worlds including Earth, where the main love interest of our hero lives. Chaos ensues, cue explosions, etc, etc. What sets this movie apart is it retains its sense of humour.

The original Thor movie lacked the lighter touches of most of the other films in the franchise and took itself way too seriously for my liking, so I’d put it in the bottom two or three of the Marvel movies. I went to see The Dark World expecting pretty much the same again. I was happily proven wrong.

Whilst Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is his usual overly serious muscle-bound self, his co stars inject enough humour to keep us laughing and bring light into what would otherwise be a very standard actioner. Tom Hiddleston, reprising his role as Loki very nearly steals the show in every one of his scenes and the audience loudly cheered when he triumphs. Not a bad response for a charcter you’re never quite sure is a hero or villain. Also great fun is Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig, who adds the insane scientist element that any good superhero movie needs.

Now I saw this movie with my fellow Visionaries from the Vision Writers Group, (Hi folks) and the response to the movie was generally positive. There was some discussion however of the lack of real kickass female characters and rightly so. Natalie Portman did a great job with what she was given, but it was a shame that her character Jane Foster was written to be little more than Thor’s love interest. Jaimie Alexander’s  character, Sif could have been given a much larger role though an injury she received on set could have restricted her from doing any serious action scenes. Thor’s mother Frigga, played wonderfully by Rene Russo, did well holding up the banner for tough mothers

Anthony Hopkins returning as Odin, Thor’s father and King of the Gods, was great as always, lending his considerable presence to each scene he graces.

The villain of The Dark World is Malekith played by an unrecognisable Christopher Eccleston, who you might know as the Ninth Doctor from Doctor Who. He plays the tortured king of the Dark Elves with the right mix of malevolence and pain but is lost a bit in the CGI wizardry that goes on around him.

All in all Thor – The Dark World is a fun film that sits nicely with the other movies in the growing Marvel stable. It is currently playing in Cinemas everywhere, and when it comes out next year on DVD, it will make a must have addition if you are slowly gathering them all in your collection, as I am.

Belinda Hamilton interviews Professor Andrew Whitehouse about his book “Will Mozart Make My Baby Smart”.

 Bel~ Most mothers-to-be in the pre 2000’s would have picked up a copy of What to expect when you’re expecting (book, not movie) and followed the progress of their bundle of joy with each new chapter… Now there is a wealth of information and an even greater wealth of misinformation online. How should parents-to-be best sift through what is fact and what is pure fiction?

Andrew~ The Internet has been such a double-edged sword for new parents. It’s great to have all of the information at your finger-tips, but which information is correct? One of the greatest problems with the Internet is that if people have an opinion, then they could search online and there is bound to be someone who is showing ‘evidence’ to support that opinion, whether it is indeed correct or not!

I always feel that the best advice to give parents is: ‘you know more than you think you do’. Try as best you can to take the fear away from the upcoming years. It is indeed a bit scary, but it is also such a wonderful time full of so manyt unexpected joys. Rely also on the advice of trained health and early childhood professionals. In the vast majority of cases, they won’t have a vested interest, and will be keen just to dispense the best advice.

Bel~ I’m a big believer in kids learning how to be a gracious loser when it comes to sports, games and life in general. What harm do you think we are causing by putting a Freddo Frog in every layer of the pass the parcel and giving every kid a ribbon for running the race, effectively making the win null and void?

Andrew~ Someone far cleverer than me once wrote that education is not about filling a bucket, but about lighting a fire. What a beautiful idea! It means that education is not about piling on top of children each and every piece of knowledge they will need to navigate a life’s journey. No. It means that education is about igniting a passion for a life full of learning.

Emotional education is critical for child development. Teaching children about the highs and lows of the human condition ignites a lifelong relationship with resilience, persistence and humility. Few achieve a happy and content life without a healthy dose of these three attributes.

The mistakes children make are on a far smaller scale than those they will make in their adult years. Teaching children that not everything they do will be rewarded, allowing them to make mistakes, giving them the opportunity absorb feedback – all of this is part of nudging children towards a relationship with their own emotions.

Limiting praise does not mean increasing punishment. It’s quite the opposite. It is about providing children with a safe environment to learn that their self-esteem must be based on their own appraisal of their worth, rather than that of anyone else.

To impart that knowledge, is to truly light a fire.

Saying that, a Freddo Frog for everyone at a party seems like a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Bel~ If a parent has concerns that their child might be suffering Autism Spectrum Disorder, what should their first step be?

Andrew~ Don’t wait. Talk to your GP about getting child assessed for ASD. New research shows that children as young as one may exhibit signs of autism, so recognizing early signs and knowing developmental milestones is important. Early intervention is key.

Bel~ Would you mind sharing with us what you hope to achieve personally in the field of ASD?

Andrew~ My research team has two goals:

(1) trying to identify the causes of ASD

(2) how to help people with ASD and their families live the most fulfilling life possible. It is this second goal that I really want to focus on next. There are so many different therapies that are available for people with ASD, but there is very little hard scientific evidence that they are effective. I’m very keen to find out not only which therapies work, but also which therapies work for which children.

I want to devise a roadmap for families from the moment of diagnosis, to give them every opportunity to life a wonderful, happy life.

Professor Andrew Whitehouse of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research poses those questions that make you gasp, snigger and ponder; the questions that you’ve thrown around over a coffee with friends, without ever reaching a conclusion.

In a wonderful combination of stories from modern parenting, tales from history, and scientific research, Andrew Whitehouse busts open thirteen of the best myths around, and provides reassurance and light relief from the challenges of parenthood.

I think I’ve reviewed this entire trilogy, and I can tell you it’s well worth it. You will be hooked right ’til the last page of the final book.

Clara Gardner is back for one last hurrah. Helping her friends, fighting her personal demons and ultimately making the best of the hand she’s been dealt.

The love triangle between Tucker, Christian and Clara steps into high gear. You’ll be guessing right to the end.

Your heart will be in your mouth and I am trying so hard not to give spoilers away, but you’ll not see certain things coming and, ugh, I dare not say too much.

If you enjoyed the first two you’ll most likely have already read Boundless. If you haven’t, borrow the first, Unearthly, from the library to get a feel for the characters and the plot points, and then get swept up in the magic that is The Unearthly Series. Dare you to not get emotionally attached.

http://www.cynthiahandbooks.com/

Paperback, 448 pages

Published February 1st 2013 by Harper Collins Australia (first published January 1st 2013)

ISBN: 9780732292621