The festival of Purim is one of the most  joyful on the Jewish calendar. There are 4 commandments; the reading of the story of Esther, festivity and rejoicing, sending gifts (usually food) and giving gifts to the poor. It is customary to dress in costume for the celebration

Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian feast of LEnt. The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Weds, Feb. 22 is Ash Wednesday, in some Christian churches the first penitential day in the season of Lent. In the US, some Christians go to church and receive a smudge of ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penitence.

Here is a promised recipe for our aupairs to do with their kids, compliments of food4tots. com and Washington Parent Magazine.

You will need: 1 thick slice of whole grain bread, 1 pat of unsalted butter, 1 large egg, some salt and pepper and cooking spray

Take the bread and cut a heart shaped whole in it about 3 inches wide. Spread butter on both sides. Heat a frying pan and then spray it with cooking spray; on medium high heat, saute the bread on both sides until golden brown. Turn the heat down and then take the heart shape out of the bread and break the egg into the hole left. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Season and transfer to a plate.

Enjoy!

Make pancakes with your kids today: Prep time is 5 minutes and cook time is about 15 minutes. Try to pour the batter in the shape of a heart for an early Valentine’s Day celebration. This recipe serves 8 and comes from Allrecipes.com. Your kids can help measure out and mix. You should do the actual cooking.

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 3 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, one tablespoon white sugar, 1 1/4 cups milk, 1 egg and 3 tablspoons melted butter

Sift together the dry ingredients, Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and butter; mix until smooth. On a lightly oiled griddle or in a frying pan ove medium high heat, pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve. 

This Sunday, aupairs may be joining their host families and/or friends to watch the Superbowl, a professional football game this year played between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Frequently, fans gather for Superbowl parties, and restaurants with TV sets are filled. Highlights of the game include the halftime show (this year featuring Madonna) and the Superbowl commercials.

Aupairs in our cluster will enjoy several celebrations this month including

Valentine’s Day- celebrated on February 14-

                              and

Presidents Day, – celebrated on February 20

Watch our blog for a Valentine’s Day craft that aupairs can do with their host children.

APIA has an exclusive agreement with SUNTREK Active and Adventure Travel. APIA aupairs receive 20% discount off the published rate. Go to http://www.suntrek.com/_us/aupairs.php to have a look.

 

Your orientation presenter probably spoke of the 5 kilos au pairs typically gain during their au pair year. If you feel your jeans getting tight, try these simple tips:

eat breakfast! Drink water- 6 glasses a day, summer or winter and more if you are exercising- downsize your portions–how much you eat is as important as what you eat

Do you belong to a gym? See our list on the right side of this blog. Aupairs, if you have found another gym in this area that you like and it does not appear on this list, let me know and we will add it.

Here are some of our aupairs on a very cold Saturday after touring The White House.