Ingredients:

300g/10 oz./2 cups self-raising flour

a quarter teaspoon baking powder

a quarter teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100g/4oz/half a cup golden caster sugar

5 tablespoons of sunflower oil

1 cup of soya milk

the juice and rind of one orange

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

100g. bar of Green and Blacks dark chocolate

Whizzers mini eggs or other sweets to decorate

Paper cake cases (this makes about 25 small cakes)

Preheat oven to 190C/380F. Combine the dry ingredients then stir in the oil, soya milk, juice and rind and vanilla essence. Put a couple of teaspoons of mixture into each cake case (if using small cases) and bake for about 15 minutes or until done. Allow to cool, then melt the chocolate and spread on top of the cakes. Decorate each cake with one mini egg or other sweets of your choice.

Another good idea for Easter is to make your own sweets. Specialist baking shops stock chocolate moulds - last year we bought mini eggs, large eggs and mice moulds. They also sell coloured foil for wrapping. Remember you can use these moulds again and again over the years so it will save money in the long run.

A few years ago year our children had been admiring the cuddly animals holding a net bag of little eggs that are so prevalent in shops at this time of year. We bought suitable, small cuddlies and make our own net bags filled with Lindt mini eggs and Whizzers and then attached this to the toy with a couple of stitches. You can either buy net or save the netting that citrus fruit is usually packaged in. You could also make your own eggs and/or even your own cuddly animal if you like!

Pink! by Lynne Rickards. An endearing story of a small penguin who wakes up pink one morning. He deals with the challenges of being different, taunting, seeks medical help, finds others who he perceives to be like him and ultimately accepts himself as he is. A nice reminder for us all, for who isn't different in some way? Margaret Chamberlain's humoresque illustrations add to the charm of the book.

'The Spring Equinox - celebrating the greening of the Earth' - stories from different cultures and traditions - also hands on activities for children.

'Billywise' by Judith Nicholls and Jason Cockcroft - an incredibly beautiful book in both text and illustration. It tells the tale of a baby owl from hatching to daring to learn to fly with the gentle encouragement of his mother - quite breathtaking pictures.

'Baa humbug! - a sheep with a mind of his own' by Mike Jolley and Deborah Allwright - a rather irreverent story of a sheep who is not afraid to be different. He doesn't like sheep dip or being sheared and saves his friends from becoming lamb chops! Age 5-8

'Vegan Planet - 400 Irresistible Recipes with Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World' by Robin Robertson. With a forward by Neal Barnard of PCRM this newly published (February 2003) cookbook is like several books rolled into one. If you only want to buy one vegan recipe book maybe this should be the one - with recipes for breakfasts, sandwiches, sauces, mains, burgers, puds and lots more, a large diversity of cuisine styles and additional facts on the sidebars this is a jewel of a book!

'Chocolat' by Joanne Harris. When Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk open a chocolate cafe and shop opposite the church in a small French village they start a battle between paganism and Christianity, in the mind of the local priest anyway. Chocolate itself has a leading role here - a wonderful mix of magic and food. The book culminates with an Easter festival. Don't start reading this book if you have no chocolate in the house!

One year we made Easter baskets for the children containing little chocolate eggs, bunnies, carob bunnies in an egg shaped gift box, crayons, pencils, notebook and toy bunny, chick and duck - a great success! Another year we had our own little egg hunt round the garden with eggs that we had made the day before in chocolate moulds. We then went to a local country park and joined in a large egg hunt for painted wooden eggs - both Daniel and Charlotte found one and were very pleased.

Good Friday 2002