Kids in the kitchen:We all want to help our children consume healthier foods, but how does a parent do this without making children feel either deprived or singled out as having weight issues? Get them involved in meal planning, shopping and cooking.
Talking about food, discussing what makes it healthy or unhealthy and allowing children to experiment in the kitchen helps them to feel in control of their food choices. Two fantastic food books for children have just come out from Usborne, the UK children's book publishers. Why Shouldn't I Eat Junk Food? (£6.99 in UK) explains all the issues involved around what makes processed food bad for kids. It looks at how foods are marketed to children, explains food labelling, and helps empower the young reader to think and understand before consuming a product. An accompanying how-to guide, The Usborne Healthy Cookbook (£12.99 in UK), is packed full of kid-friendly recipes for children to cook themselves, each accompanied by fun facts on nutrients and food groups, portion size and the importance of a varied diet. Recipes include brown rice risotto, chicken fajitas, herby falafels and Thai noodle soup, as well as healthy yet delicious puddings and smoothies. The book is spiral-bound so it sits flat on the kitchen counter with no need to weigh down the corners. Kate Holmquist
Buy the dream
Interest in property investment is still considerable, despite the recent slow down in the domestic housing market. Property Ladder is a six-week property investment course at the National College of Ireland in the IFSC, which commences on Monday, February 11th (7.30-9.30pm). Organised by Mary FitzGerald Public Relations, the course is aimed at both the seasoned investor and the first-time buyer. It covers the Irish market as well as overseas investment hot spots such as the UK, Spain, France, South Africa, Germany, China, Dubai and Bulgaria. Lecturers include Henry Davis from International Property, Eamonn Fallon from Daft.ie and Patrick FitzGerald from Private Property Investor. The cost is €200. Book on 01-6787916 or see www.maryfitzgeraldpr.ie. Michael Kelly
Help with dyslexia
Computers can be of tremendous benefit to children with dyslexia, allowing them to complete tasks with ease, for example, writing an essay or letter, which they might otherwise find very difficult. TTRS (Touch-Type Read and Spell) is a computer-based course introduced to Ireland last year which is designed to develop the literacy skills of children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. The course takes one hour each week and students progress through modules at their own pace, assisted by a trained tutor. Evelyn McGrath from Clane, Co Kildare whose son Jordan has been attending a TTRS course at Scoil Dara in Kilcock, feels the programme has helped him immensely. "He is now able to touch-type and that has done wonders for his self-esteem and confidence. He's in sixth class at school and they are getting lots of essays for homework, that would take him a long time to write. He can type it quicker than he can write it. His spelling has also improved." TTRS courses are priced at approximately €25 per session and are available from the following training companies: Searsol (various locations in Dublin, 01-6303384, www.searsol.com); Maynooth Computer Training (Kildare and Longford, 01-6270631, www.maynoothcomputertraining.com) and Foras Training (Mullingar and Naas, 044-9349400, www.fct.ie). Michael Kelly
Up, up and away
Airport terminals are usually places to get through as quickly as possible and board that plane. Step forward the newly opened T3 at Changi airport, Singapore. As soon as you enter the building, you are in no doubt that this will be a check-in experience like no other. The vast roof features 900 skylights that automatically adjust to sunlight, bathing the interior with a soft natural light. The movement also forms random textures throughout the building. Almost all the walls are glass, including a floor to ceiling gallery, if plane spotting is your thing. Indoor gardens are dotted throughout, including a dramatic five-storey vertical tropical garden which houses four waterfalls. Waiting to board will never be the same again. Phyl Clarke
Sitting pretty
You've spent years kitting out your stylish pad, and then Junior arrives. Suddenly the decor is ruined by a fussy high chair in the corner? Not necessarily. Design-conscious mammies and daddies have cottoned on to the Bloom range, a series of high chairs and rockers that don't look out of place in a streamlined kitchen. Pictured is the classic "Fresco" (€360); the "Loft" version (€440) is a new higher chair for use with breakfast bars. The classic comes in blue and pink, of course, but also red, orange, grey and black, and the adjustable seat means it will accommodate children from birth to school age. "Coco" rockers start at €180, in a choice of seat colours and frames, for babies up to nine months. The new "Nano" chair (€150) is easy to store away, for smaller living spaces. The Bloom range is available in independent nursery stores and in Mothercare. So no excuse for slipping in the style stakes with the new arrival. Clare McCarthy
Class in a glass
Where better than a wine bar to learn about the fruit of the vine? Settle in to the cosy surrounds of La Cave Wine Bar in South Anne Street in Dublin 2 on Monday night at 6.30pm for the first in a series of wine tasting evenings. The opening session, presented by Dale Gatcum, will cover wine varietals. In addition to the wine tasting evenings, there will be food and wine matching sessions on Tuesday, February 12th (wine and food of Spain); Monday, February 18th (Italy); Monday, February 25th (France). The €30 cover charge includes a cheese, salami and pâté plate. See www.lacavewinebar.com, 01-6794409. Marie-Claire Digby
Alive alive-o
There is no place like it anywhere else in Ireland - that we know of, anyway. Alan Beshoff's new fish market on the West Pier in Howth (below) is the closest we've come to having a proper, buzzy, well stocked, fresh 'n' wild modern food hall. The fish counter has been expanded, and the joint is jumpin' with assorted live shellfish in addition to lobster and crab. Asian customers in particular can be seen taking away vast sackfuls of still-moving crustaceans.
The delicatessen has a terrific selection of high class treats, oils, sauces and wines; there are breads from Maison des Gourmets and Cookes Bakery, a small collection of wines, a good choice of organic fruit and vegetables, fresh flowers, newspapers and a few well chosen utensils, gadgets, aprons and cookery books that make perfect gifts.
Alan Beshoff, who started Beshoff's wholesale business in 1996, worked with Sheehan & Barry Architects on this handsome project. "We're building on the accumulated knowledge of a family tradition," he says, referring to the business started by his grandfather Ivan Beshoff, who arrived in Ireland after surviving a stint on the battleship Potemkin.
After a walk around the cliffs or atop the harbour wall you can call in for takeaway coffee and a croissant and do your shopping. If you are feeling more celebratory, you can have a glass of champagne with a few oyster shots or a platter of fruits-de-mer. If you've time, the best option is to settle in for a feast at Ivans, the new restaurant beside it managed by Aidan Mayler (which will be reviewed by Tom Doorley next week). It sets a new standard for Howth cuisine. Beshoffs the Market, 17-18 West Pier, Howth, Co Dublin (01-8397555). Patsey Murphy
Picture this
Is the pen mightier than the scissors? That was the question put to a number of international fashion designers by the author of a new book on fashion illustration. The answers were as varied and diverse as their graphic styles and just as revealing. Most fashion designers start with freehand drawings, others combine them with digital work, while there are only a few who don't draw at all. "Part of the impetus behind this book has been to uncover the unsung and unseen art of illustration by fashion designers," writes author Laird Borrelli, whose previous books have been on commercial fashion illustrators. Fashion photography may have marginalised the role of illustration, but as Antonio Berardi notes "a drawing is more pure and direct. It does not rely on tricks or technology and is perhaps the most sincere way of putting across an emotion." The book celebrates the work of some 60 contemporary designers from Christian Lacroix, Sonia Rykiel and Yves St Laurent to younger up-and-coming names such as Jens Laugesen, Rodarte and Roksanda Ilincic. Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers, by Laird Borrelli, is published by Thames & Hudson (£24.95). Deirdre McQuillan