Hemsley and Hemsley are our favourite goddesses of good eating. Also known as Melissa and Jasmine, they are heading to the Southwest of England next week to spend a day at The River Cottage so if you’re anywhere near Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s neck of the woods (or you’re not) we highly recommend getting hold of a ticket and going, too. Tickets to both events are available now but selling fast.

The girls are heading out of London to spend July 15th at his River Cottage headquarters on the Dorset and Devon borders where they will be spending the day teaching course guests how to create some of their favourite dishes from their international bestselling cookbook The Art of Eating Well. They will also be sharing a holistic understanding of their philosophy from nutritional benefits to the importance of provenance, making the River Cottage setting so perfect. All will be delicious, nutritious and ideal for the entire family. There are two events to sign up for – the one-off cookery course to take part in by day and then an intimate dinner with a menu created by them specially for the occasion. Jasmine and Melissa have curated the menu with involvement from the River Cottage Head Chef Gelf Alderson and will be there to welcome guests as they arrive, introduce the evening and take part in a Q&A before handing over to Gelf and his team. You can take part in either session but, if you can spend the time there, we highly recommend doing both.

Duck Tamarind Lettuce Wraps.

As Melissa told us, “Jasmine and I are thrilled to be taking over Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage for a day and evening of fun and food this summer. With the chance to teach, cook and talk, we’re hoping guests at both the cookery course and dinner leave feeling inspired, energised and enthused about eating well to feel well. We love sharing our top tips and seeing people’s faces light up when they’ve mastered a knock-out cauliflower rice! River Cottage’s ethos is in line with ours, taking great care to source the best possible produce and while championing sustainably farmed meat and fish.” Amen.

Pep Up Tea.

To buy tickets for this fabulous event click here.

For more information on Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley click here.

To read the wonderful recipes the girls shared with kodomo.com recently click here.

Hillary Graves is co-founder of popular children’s food brand, Little Dish.  Originally from New York, Hillary lives in London with her husband Dean and two sons, Monty, 8, and Ridley, 6.  She set up Little Dish when she was expecting Monty and noticed that no one was making proper, healthy and convenient meals for children.  Little Dish now feeds over 100,000 children every week and Hillary has written two cookbooks.  Her first book ‘The Little Dish Favourites Cookbook’ was published in June 2010 and her second book ‘The Family Cookbook’ goes on sale on 28th August.  The new cookbook is packed full of 101 family-friendly recipes to make and enjoy with your children, and is a must-have cooking companion for parents.

I travelled a lot as a child, but my earliest memories are of my family making the twelve hour road trip from Memphis, Tennessee to Florida. My brother and I were bundled into the back of the car, without a seatbelt in those days, and I remember watching the amazing scenery of the Deep South fly by. My best holiday was a trip to South Africa with my husband before we had children. It’s such a beautiful country and the laid-back atmosphere stayed with us long after we returned home. We climbed Table Mountain, traveled to Robin Island, visited the wineries, ate delicious food and generally soaked up the incredible surroundings.

Our first trip with my eldest son Monty was when he was twelve weeks old. We took him to New York to meet my extended family. To be honest, it was surprisingly easy as he slept most of the way. In fact, we went to the US a few times in his first year to make sure my family didn’t miss out on getting to know him. Of course, once he started crawling it was a very different story! Our long haul trips became much less frequent.

Travelling with children can be a wonderful boding experience and a bit stressful simultaneously. I think it gets easier as your children get older because you have less kit to lug around with you but, as they get older, you have to plan more age-appropriate activities. Now we generally try to stay somewhere with a pool. It means there’s always something fun for the boys to do, and they can burn off their excess energy no matter what else we have planned during the day.

One year we spoilt ourselves and stayed at the Four Seasons hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. We all needed a family holiday with a bit of R&R, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s incredibly family-friendly with a wonderful beach and swimming pool, delicious food and the most amazing kid’s club. The boys were given fantastic welcome packs when they arrived, which they still remember. They did treasure hunts, played football on the beach, enjoyed arts and crafts and other other fun activities. And because they were so happy, we were able to properly relax. In the afternoons, we would all swim together or play Pétanque on the beach.

I also took my eldest son Monty on a city break to Paris when he was six, which was a magical weekend. I let him help plan our itinerary. We spent hours wandering around the army museum, Les Invalides, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and relaxing in the Jardin du Luxembourg, a stunning garden in the heart of Paris. And, of course, eating wonderful French food.

After that lovely weekend in Paris with Monty we went back as a family of four, but it wasn’t such a success. It was half-term, so it was very busy. And I scheduled too many cultural sights and not enough outdoor activities, so we were all a bit on edge. On the last day we escaped to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which ended up being the highlight of the visit. The weather was beautiful and the children just wanted to run around and get some fresh air.

We always travel with a book about the country we’re visiting. We love the ‘This is Paris,’ ‘This is London,’ and ‘This is New York’ by Miroslav Sasek. They are a great way to get children excited about the country they are visiting and help them decide what they would most like to see and do. Of course we also have a bag of tricks with all the usual suspects – pens, paper, books, snacks… and an iPad if all else fails!

To beat jet lag we always try to get the boys on to the new time zone as quickly as possible. This often means encouraging them to stay up as late as they can but it’s well worth it. I would also say, don’t over-schedule your days. It’s tempting to plan in lots of sights, but this can leave everyone exhausted. I think part of the fun of travelling with children is seeing things through their eyes, so take your time and let them help plan the day. And always keep blood sugar levels high – have snacks in your bag and an idea of where you might stop for lunch.

We often take the kids to the food market to help us shop when we are abroad. It’s a great way to teach them about the local delicacies. At restaurants, we order lots of different things to share and they often end up trying things they wouldn’t eat at home. Pudding is always popular and can be a handy reward to encourage them to try something new, if all else fails!

For convenience and ease when on holiday, my kids love pasta and a simple tomato sauce made from chopped garlic and onion, sautéed in a bit of olive oil and a tin of plum tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes and you’re good to go. Your children can sprinkle on grated cheese, or mix in whatever delicious ingredients you’ve managed to buy at the market such as local vegetables, mozzarella, olives, or salami – you can’t go wrong.

Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley are the Golden girls of healthy cooking. Between blogging for vogue.co.uk, writing their second book (The Art of Eating Well is out now and Good and Simple will be out next March), and appearing on magazine covers and television screens regularly, they are seriously busy women. But we are delighted that they have taken some time out of their very, very busy schedules to share three recipes with kodomo.com. All are designed to make you feel your best, they are great options on holiday this summer for parents and little ones alike, and your children will love making them with you. And if they leave us looking half as good as either sister, we’ll make them daily for life. Thank you Melissa and Jasmine.

Lamb Meatballs with Cauliflower Tabbouleh

“We’ve given this Middle-Eastern classic a Hemsley twist by making it grain-free and swapping bulgur wheat for cauliflower. To make your meat go further you can add grated carrot, shredded celery, cooked pulses and even the carrot pulp from your juicer.”

 

FOR THE MEATBALLS

500 g minced lamb or beef (don’t go for lean mince)

1 egg

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

A large pinch of ground cumin and a large pinch of ground cinnamon

1 tbsp ghee, for frying a pinch of ground chilli or a little fresh chilli (optional)

FOR THE TABBOULEH

2 cauliflowers

1 tbsp ghee or butter

2 red onions or 2 bunches of spring onions, finely chopped

4 large tomatoes, diced

3 large handfuls of fresh parsley, finely chopped

A large handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped juice of 1 lemon

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

TOPPINGS

Chopped radishes, nuts or seeds (such as almonds, pistachios or sunflower seeds), to garnish

METHOD

1. First make the tabbouleh. Remove the caulifower leaves and the tough end of the stalk. Grate the cauliflower into rice-sized pieces using the slicing attachment of a food processor or the coarse side of a hand-held grater.

2. Steam the grated cauliflower in a saucepan, lid on, with a couple of tablespoons of water and the ghee or butter. Over a medium heat, it should take roughly 4−6 minutes for the cauliflower to cook (not too soft!). Check there is enough water at the bottom of the pan so that the cauliflower doesn’t burn. Drain any excess water and tip the steamed cauliflower into a large serving bowl.

3. While the cauliflower cools, chop up the rest of the tabbouleh ingredients, then combine everything together. Taste for seasoning.

4. In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients, except the ghee, and mix well.

5. In a wide saucepan over a medium heat, add a little ghee and fry a small piece of the meatball mixture and taste to check for seasoning. Adjust the remaining mixture as necessary.

6. Wet your hands and shape the mince mixture into balls. We use roughly 1½ teaspoons of the mixture per meatball to make about 20 balls, but make them any size you like. Just remember, the larger they are, the longer they’ll take to cook.

7. Heat up a little more ghee and, over a medium-high heat, fry the meatballs in a few batches until lightly browned on all sides and cooked through – this should take about 6–7 minutes. You can always brown the meatballs in advance and finish them off in the oven later if you’re having people round.

Pea and Mint Lollies With Chocolate

(Makes 900ml of ice cream).

“This wholefood, delicious dessert is a hit with children and parents, alike. Sweet, creamy and satisfying, you’d never guess they were packed full of vitamin-rich peas.”

FOR THE PEA AND MINT ICE CREAM BASE

350 g frozen petits pois

1 tin of full-fat coconut milk

150 g full-fat probiotic

Natural yoghurt

4 tbsp raw runny honey

1 tsp peppermint

Extract or 50 g fresh mint leaves and a little peppermint extract, too

A pinch of sea salt

A handful of cacao nibs )optional)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE

50 g cacao powder

80 g raw runny honey

1 tbsp coconut oil

METHOD

1. To make the pea and mint ice cream base, blend all the ingredients except for the cacao nibs together until very smooth.

2. To make the chocolate sauce, measure out all the ingredients into a jug or small bowl and stir together, along with 9 tbsp hot water.

3. To make the ice cream, place the pea and mint base into an ice cream maker and, following the manufacturer’s instructions, churn until you have ice cream. When it is ready, scoop the ice cream into bowls and sprinkle with cacao nibs and drizzle with chocolate sauce to serve. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the pea and mint mixture into ice cube moulds and freeze. Pulse the frozen cubes in a food processor for a soft serve ice cream.

4. To make 12 lollies, make up half the quantity of pea and mint base and add about 4 teaspoons into the bottom of tall shot glasses or lolly moulds and pop into the freezer. After 20 minutes or more, insert a lolly stick into the pea mixture and pour some of the chocolate sauce around it. Repeat with the pea and mint base and finish with the chocolate sauce, freezing for 10 minutes between layers. Freeze the finished lollies for a further 2 hours, then enjoy.

5. Alternatively, mix the half-quantity of pea and mint base for the lollies with the chocolate sauce and pour into shot glasses. Insert the lolly sticks and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

8. Serve the meatballs with the tabbouleh and your choice of toppings scattered over the top.

The Art of Eating Well by Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley is out now. (Ebury Press, £25)

Good and Simple is due for release on 3^rd March 2016

The Hemsley Spiralizer is out now and available to purchase for £29.95. See www.hemsleyandhemsley.com for stockists.