Baking with small children is slow. Sugar gets spilt. Flour goes on the floor. And you often have to move the mixture out of reach of sticky roving fingers. 

But damn it's fun. Small children practice pouring and sieving and measuring and pressing and greasing and weighing and icing and so many brilliant things. 

And when we're over playing with real food we can play with the pretend stuff! 

My lovely mother in law got tired of holding her breath this week as Tilly walked around the house with real eggs, so bought us these play ones. Fantastic fun.

We're about to undergo a get-rid-of-the-stoopid-amounts-of-toys phase… My friend Vanessa used to say six toys, that's it. That's all they need. Any more gets in the way of imagination. She didn't stick to it, and neither did I. 

(But when the rest of the toys go, the play food stays.)