Which wine you serve with turkey very much depends on the type of dish you are serving.
it is not a case of ‘one wine fits all’. Having said that, turkey has a natural wine partner in the form of Chardonnay. Traditionalists may point you towards serving turkey with white wine from the famous Burgundy region. New World wine fans might steer towards Australian Chardonnay as a good food match with turkey too.

Playskool step start walk and ride

K, 18months, is keen on anything with wheels. When he swiped a storage box on wheels to site in and use as a car I knew it was time to get him a little ride on for indoors. We were pleased, therefore, to test the Playskool step start walk and ride for the Toylogists programme.
It was easy to set up, despite K helping, and he was keen to get on and ride as soon as he could. He likes the little ‘trunk’ at the front …

This is an attractive little kit for a girl. D described it as ‘exciting’. It took a little while and my help to set it up, and weaving was 50% d, 50% mum! We were able to complete the first project within a couple of evenings, although it took me longer to get round to sewing it up.
D, 8, says, “Cool, I like the phone-bag I made.” This is for age 8+ and is available from Toys R Us. The Weaving-Loom costs £9.99.

Galt Cute Cupcakes
Another winning craft kit from Galt for a very reasonable price. D and I got very carried away making cupcakes: there is enough plaster in the pack to make 4 cupcakes and one stand. We went freestyle and just used all the plaster (plus some from another kit) to make millions of cupcakes. They are going to be part of D’s Christmas gifts to her friends. Decorated with pretty colours and sparkles they look good enough to eat. (Actually, next door’s 2 year old had a wobbly when …

With Christmas just three weeks away, visit Family Friendly Working every afternoon to get our reviews of all sorts of toys, and a book or two too. According to the Cost of a Child study from insurance, investment and retirement group LV=, parents will spend a bumper £2.2 billion on festive presents for their children this year which averages out at  £148 to be spent on gifts and £20 on stocking-fillers.  There do seem to be lots of bargains out there so do shop around.
Thanks to the Toys  R US …

This is a cute ‘paintpot’ that talks! You ‘tip’ plastic pots of paint into the pot and it tells you which colours are which, and what you get when you add a combination of two colours. K really likes this one, and is passionately attached to the yellow paint pot. For me, I think it is quite alot of money for not an enormous amount of function. OK, it is cleaner and less messy to let your child learn about colours using Mr Colour Maker than real paint, but any …

The Leapfrog tag is a handy, handheld, ‘reader’. D, 8 and J, 5, are really enjoying using it. J is very interested in learning to read and it is really helping him tie up which letters combine to make which words. The games are simple, straightforward and ‘cool’ according to my little testers who have also got very excitied about getting ‘rewards’ when they complete a game.

We liked this cute toy from playschool. In the way that happens, I suspect that the 5 year old liked it just as much as K, 18 months. There are little gears too which you can slot in and out: they have kept K and J fascinated. A great gift for a little one, probably best for the crawling stage as your baby can push it along as he crawls.

Galt Bouncy Balls Kit
I have mixed feelings about craft kits: my daughter, 8, gets far too many of them and quite often their contents are relatively few compared to the packaging. I’d recommend the Galt Bouncy Ball kit wholeheartedly, however, as a great kit for a boy or a girl. At £5.99 it is within my birthday present budget (just about!) and even J, 5 got into making bouncy balls with a bit of help.

Christmas isn’t exactly just around the corner… but it’s not far off either!
If you’re starting to think about Christmas presents for the little people in your life, here are some of our favourite gift ideas from the shop.