Bakes, Books And My Boys

Making Fruit Fun

2013-05-20T19:54:00.000+01:00

I was watching a discussion on twitter today about how to hide fruit and veg from your children and my first thought was REALLY?! Surely if you’re hiding it in their food you are basically saying its horrible and needs hiding? Surely the best thing to do is to make it fun?

So in the spirit of this MAKE YOUR FRUIT FUN!

Fruit Salad!

By far the easiest thing to do with any bits of fruit you have left. My boys get involved with this an adore making up fruit potions and even having it with ice cream!

Choose your fruits – remember their taste so don’t chuck in too many bitter ones. Apples and bananas are great for making the base to add less of the more expensive ones. Wash and chop. Add a bit of fruit juice..

Serve! With ice cream, with cream, blend for a smoothie. Or just plain unadultered on its own!

Fruit Kebabs

Strawberries and apples are great for this. Cut your fruit into chunks and spear.

Either lightly grill them or drizzle a little bit of melted chocolate over. YUM!

Apple Smiles

Perfect for Halloween. Slices of apple with a little bit of caramel or peanut butter to keep the marshmallows secure and another slice of apple. Simple

Kiwi Choc Pops

Peel and slice Kiwi. Push a lolly stick into one quite firmly. Dip in melted chocolate and leave to set.

As you can see its rather easy. Just use your imagination like these did!

Fish for breakfast

Banana Race

My Favourite by far!

Home Ground Coffee (and discount)

2013-05-13T20:15:00.000+01:00

“I think we all pray to the first cup of the day. It's a silent prayer,

sung while the mind is still foggy and blue"

~Stewert Lee Allen

I think those words are probably the closest I can come to describing my love of coffee. Nothing ever tastes as good as the first sip of the coffee of the day. The first inhalation of a new packet, pure heaven!

We’re rather picky with our coffee. We have a variety of coffee makers in search of that perfect constant cup but continuously come back to fresh ground coffee. No electronic machine can produce the same effect. So we jumped at the chance to review Home Ground Coffee….

Firstly before we were even sent the coffee I decided to take a look at Alastair’s website. Lovely to see his coffee is sustainable and a fair deal for the farmers who produce it. And bespoke coffee? To quote Alastair “Customers can decide for themselves how they want it. They can choose single-origin coffee or we can discuss with them exactly how they would like it blended," he says. "What we’re offering essentially is bespoke coffee, made the way the customer wants.” And it’s true. Each roast is handled individually to get the best out of that blend. You can choose to have Whole Bean, Stove top, Manual filter, Espresso, Turkish, Machine filter or as we did Cafetiere. Hand roasted!

All I can say is I knew what had arrived before I opened the parcel. That smell that only fresh ground beans can produce had seeped through, even our local postman wanted me to open it up to take the name of it it smelt so good.

As to the taste, I tweeted that night as we tried it, you see the wine tasters on TV talking about hints of chocolate, scents of nutmegs etc and I have known what that meant till I tried Home Ground Coffee. Coffee! With proper caramel under currents. AMAZING!!

Not only does Alastair offer ground coffee or coffee beans he is also now offering coffee subscriptions. A selection of fresh coffee delivered directly to your home. Your choice to have as much coffee delivered to your day each month as you like and bespokely how you like! Not only a rather fabulous as gift to yourself I rather like that you can give this to someone as a present. Fathers Days are now not so gloomy on the present front!

So why not take up this offer of 15% off with the code FUELMYCOFFEE and try a Damn Jimmy Espresso for yourself? I promise you, you won’t regret it!

Acer B1 Iconia

2013-05-02T17:20:00.000+01:00

Everywhere you look at the moment tablets are being released from the pricey Apples now down to even Kindle producing one. We have been sent what I think is currently the cheapest around - an Acer Iconia B1 to review. And GOSH!

My husband for ten years was an HP partner and was hugely sceptical about this product at first. But after I’d taken it out the packet his head popped round the corner and it was whisked out of my hands! In his words “amazing device for an amazing price..definitely worth every penny”

I found it fool proof as did my 5yr old who also whisked it out of my hands when I finally managed to get it back. And as you can see from the photos below even my 85 yr old grandma who never touches a computer was soon looking up google and playing around.

Technical bit:

Well over more than half of the price of the IPad mini this Acer tablet covers at least 90% of the functionality of the apple (being lenient here towards the apple!), it covers all the key bases from a technical standpoint, 8gb of storage, duel core processor, 512mb of RAM, a front facing camera, GPS, and 7” screen. One big great surprise is unlike many of its higher priced rivals you add external memory via SD card to this device meaning if you have children and are using it on holiday you can predownload as many videos as you like unrestricted by the tablets memory.

It runs Android 4.1 and with access to Google play already installed you have on here access to all the apps available on android devices and downloading these apps took a matter of seconds. Also the 4.1 system means that you’ll have access to all the latest apps for a fair while yet. From set up to complete fully functioning apps downloaded tablet took less than 5 minutes. The only downside we could find (and that’s with both of us searching) was the back felt a little less sturdy then its higher rivals but quite frankly once you popped it in a silicone case you couldn’t tell!

Hand on heart I can say this is one of the review items we really really did not want to give back so much so that come pay day I think down to the shops we go! At the phenomenal price of less than £100 you cant go wrong!

PS I could gush on and on about this as we used for my eldest schooling as well and I can’t say how fabulous to find a tablet as good as the £400 ones at a quarter of the price. Ps you can run down to your local shops or buy online at -> Argos, Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys or Amazon

An update & World Book Night!

2013-04-23T23:04:00.001+01:00

After long long last (3 years!) we have finally sold up our little three bed semi-detached and are moving out in to the country. Only an hour away but…the supermarkets late night opening is 8pm. I think we might find it a bit of a shock after living with a 24/7 superstore down the road. We are of course beyond excited but slightly in shock as our sale went through in 3 weeks. The purchase needless to say has not gone through so quickly so we are currently without current abode and lording it up living in a local hotel! You can imagine how it is living in a small room with a 5yr old and 2yr old trying to organise a house sale and home educate the 5yr old while entertaining the 2yr old and trying to cook dinner with the aid of kettle and no fridge! Roll on some lovely posts soon about how to provide a 5 course meal with no mention of pot noodles!

Wayward daughters. Missing Husbands. Philandering partners. Curious conmen. If you've got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only - and finest - female private detective.

Now the internet is somewhat sporadic here to hence why I haven’t managed to post very much to you all but I have to say…Its World Book Night folks! If you aren’t a lover of reading please head down to your local giver and see what they are offering up. I’ve been lucky enough to distribute the rather fabulous No1 Ladies Detective agency by Alexander McCall Smith. A superb bit of gentle crime writing blended it with the sounds and descriptions of Botswana which only AMS can offer. Its incredibly easy reading and I think a great piece of work to start on if you’re not an avid reader! If you haven’t read it and you’re curious. Leave me a note. I still have a couple left to pass on!

Ode to a Bath!

2013-04-08T10:56:00.000+01:00

“I emptied my bubble bath into the tub,

Determined to get myself thoroughly scrubbed.
The bottle had said "ONLY ONE CAP OR TWO",
So I poured in the lot to see what it would do!

That still didn't seem quite enough to get clean,
So I followed it up with another fifteen.
Then three bars of soap and a dozen shampoo,
And two broken bath bombs to finish my brew!

I'll cut to the chase, this did not turn out well,
As the burbling, foaming bath bubbles did swell!
It wasn't all bad, I was clean and smelt sweet,
But outside my soap suds had buried the street!”

Gareth Lancaster

I adore baths. I have one every night. Its my sanctuary, my time away from two very gorgeous but pickly boys. In 4 days time we move house from my lovely cosy warm bathroom to a bathroom with a vision of 1980’s “pickness” there’s no other word for it! Its pink. Bubblegum pink! On the walls its tiled pink, on the ceilings and floor the same! Lightened up with a yellow bathroom suite! Add to this a touch of grime and you have my new haven!

So obviously I have been dreaming of just what I would have in my dream bathroom if I could…

…

Obviously my favourite! Do you think we could get this view in the South downs?

I adore the colours and finer details in this.

Now lots of books too and I dont think I'd ever leave!

I could draw the curtains yes so no one would know I was there?

As you can see theres a roll top bath in all of them. I adore roll top baths. They seem to me the height of luxury. To lie back and actually soak every part of your body rather than choosing knees OR chest! So I’m hoping lots that I might just be able to win my dream bathroom through the Tots100 competition with Bathshop 321.

How gorgeous would this suite look with some of the accessories and colours from above?

Hamilton Traditional Suite

Buyagift Young Authors Competition 2013

2013-04-03T21:19:00.004+01:00

I had to bring to the attention of you all my lovely readers the rather fabulous competition Buyagift are running with Make-A-Wish Foundation at the moment! Perfect for any of children who like mine enjoy books and have a brain full of imagination.

Buy a gift are asking your children to put their imagination to use and for your little ones to become a real life published author.

They are currently looking for stories submitted by your little ones up to the age of ten on the subject "The Unexpected Gift"
The winning story's chosen by the rather fabulous childrens author Giles Paley-Phillips illustrated and published into three limited edition books! Head over to here now to find out more and start entering!

100 copies will be for sale with all profits going to the make-a-wish foundation.

Fresh Lime & Avocado Salsa

2013-03-28T15:58:00.001Z

As some of you know I’ve been placed on an incredibly low fat diet (gall stones) and gosh is there little nice food in that region! So I bought a book from work and am in love. Quick cook low fat has every dish three ways from 30 mins down to 10 mins. Great in our house where when the kids say they’re hungry it means now. Aside from some yummy desserts like raspberry yoghurt gratin it has a fabulous recipe for salsa. I’ve been on a hunt for a good salsa recipe for a long time now and oh the first taste of this was heaven. Fresh and tasty its incredibly filling and I could the whole bowl without anything else!

Here it is!

Fresh Lime & Avocado Salsa

250g plum Tomatoes (quartered)

2 spring Onions

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I tend to leave it out)

1 small bunch of coriander chopped

1 ripe avocado

Mix together in a bowl!

Now I add to this to make a filling lunch 1 poached egg and a slice or two of grilled palma ham. If you’re not on such a low fat diet as me I’d recommend bacon. This fills me up for the whole afternoon (quite some feat!) Enjoy!

Interview with Victoria Connelly

2013-03-13T17:20:00.003Z

Have you heard of Victoria Connelly? One of my favourite chick lit writers around she has recently turned her hand to writing the story of how she and her husband up and left London for the call of the country taking their dog and adopting some chickens along the way. I adore reading Victorias book quite frankly regardless of whether its her Darcy novels, general fiction or her non-fiction. Each story is told in such a sublime way you can completely dissolve into the plots and befriend the characters. I was incredibly lucky as well to be able to interview her the other day (she really is charming as you can tell by her answers!

Did you grow up wanting to be a writer?

I did. I started my first novel when I was 14-years old and would pass my chapters to my friends to read – usually during maths lessons! I always had my head in a book whether reading one or trying to write one of my own.

Do you have a particular place to write at home? Or is it that inspiration follows you?

Since moving to Suffolk, I now have my very own study where I write. It’s very quiet and I love the view from my window which looks out across fields full of horses. I write at an old Victorian pine table but I’m able to write anywhere, really, as long as I have peace and quiet.

How many hours a day do you spend working?

My computer goes on at about 8 am and is often still on at 11 pm but I’m not writing for all that time. Rather, I aim for 1,000 words a day when I’m writing a first draft and that’s spread out over the day. I write best in the mornings and late afternoon and my day is punctuated with dog walks, gardening and baking.

How do you get your ideas?

Ideas come from all sorts of places. Junk mail inspired ‘Molly’s Millions’, my husband being sent to a war zone inspired ‘Flights of Angels’ and my own obsession with Jane Austen inspired ‘A Weekend with Mr Darcy’ and the other books in the Austen Addicts series. I’m often inspired by beautiful places too. ‘Three Graces’ came about because I love visiting historic houses and ‘Unmasking Elena Montella’ was written after we visited Venice.

I adore reading your books to relax and drift away. What books do you read to relax?

My favourite authors are Miss Read and H E Bates and I turn to their books time and time again but I also love romatic comedies by writers like Sophie Kinsella, Deborah Wright and Ruth Saberton and, when I’m in the mood for something darker, I love Scott Mariani’s Ben Hope thrillers and those of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Your major theme of work is based on Jane Austen conferences (the ones I read) Have you been to one?

I’ve been on a wonderful weekend run by ‘Pride and Prejudice Tours’ where we stayed at the house used in the 1995 adaptation of ‘Sense and Sensibility’. I’ve also attended the Jane Austen Festival in Bath which is amazing. There are talks, walks, readings and dances. But I don’t believe we have Jane Austen conferences here in the UK although I think they’d be very popular.

I’ve started reading ‘Escape to Mulberry Cottage’ and I heard it was the first of a few instalments. When will the next ones be released and are they sequels?

I’ve just finished the first draft of the second instalment – ‘A Year at Mulberry Cottage’ – which should be ready for publication in the autumn. I hope to write more in the series. They will all follow on from each other but will work well as standalones so you don’t have to read them in sequence.

Are you planning on writing more Darcy books in the mean time?

My second novella sequel will be published as an ebook in September. It’s called ‘Happy Birthday, Mr Darcy’ and features a wedding at Purley Hall. I have already started making notes for another novella - ‘Summer with Mr Darcy’ - where the Austen addicts go on a trip to Chatsworth in Derbyshire. I can’t seem to stop writing about these characters!

I love ‘Molly’s Millions’ so I guess I’d love to know what would you do if you won the lottery?

Well, like Molly, I’d love to give a lot of it away – to friends, family and good causes. But I’d keep a bit for me and my husband and probably buy us a cute cottage in Dorset or Devon where we could run away to every now and then and paint and write in solitude. Oh, and I’d more than likely end up with a few more animals! And it would be wonderful to indulge my love of antiques – I’d adore a really beautiful chiming clock! I love clocks.

Pop over to her site now to check out her other books and see what other authors have answered her top ten!

Victoria Connelly’s Top Ten

Book – The Darling Buds of May by HE Bates

Film – Truly, Madly, Deeply

TV programme – Supernatural

Actor – James Stewart

Song – I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing by The New Seekers

Quote – ‘If you dream – dream big.’ The Bad and the Beautiful

Holiday destination – Dorset or Italy

Animal – Dog

Dessert – Chocolate ice-cream

Pastime – Walking in the countryside

Trisha Ashley & Mothering Sunday

2013-03-07T16:39:00.000Z

As you know I'm a huge fan of the lovely Trisha Ashley and am over the moon that she has a new book coming out! She has very kindly shared with us some quick and easy recipes to make for Mothering Sunday (I am tempted by the meringues for myself!) So here is a little guest post from her and little bit about her new book!

Trisha Ashley

I always think that homemade presents are by far the nicest and what better way to guarantee your mum a happy mother’s day than by baking her something delicious? I myself have no formal cookery training; I learnt all my recipes from my mother so I though sharing some of my recipes with you would be appropriate for Mother’s Day. The recipes below are easy to follow and delicious (if I do say so myself!).

Baking is very often a key theme in my novels. Believe it or not, I didn’t actually set out to write stories full of food and recipes – those elements just crept in, reflecting my keen interest in the subject! I then added the recipes into the back of my books in response to requests from fans.

Happy Baking! And do remember to clean up the kitchen; it is Mother’s Day after all...

Fairy Cakes

Who needs a big heavy, greasy muffin when they can have a delicious little morsel like this? And don’t lather on an inch-thick layer of sugary ‘frosting’ until you have eaten one straight from the oven to remind yourself how good home-baked cake can taste.

Ingredients.

You will need paper cake cases – you can get small ones for fairy cakes and even tinier, bite-sized ones. If you haven’t got a cake or muffin tin, just stand them on a baking tray.

4oz/100g butter or margarine

4 oz/100g caster sugar

4oz/100g self-raising flour

2 medium eggs

Half level teaspoon baking powder.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200C/400 F

2. Soften the butter and place in a large mixing bowl.

3. Sieve the flour into it and then stir in all the other ingredients.

4. Mix well for a couple of minutes until you have a smooth mixture.

5. Divide between about eighteen paper cases for normal sized fairy cakes (the mixture will rise a lot so don’t overfill!). If using the tiny ones, then a level teaspoon of mixture should be more than enough.

6. Bake for about fifteen minutes, until a nice golden-brown colour, then leave to cool on a wire rack.

Variations

1. To make chocolate fairy cakes, add a level tablespoon of cocoa powder while stirring the ingredients. You could also decorate the top with a little melted chocolate.

2. To make the butterfly cakes, slice off a disc from the top of the two cakes and cut them into two halves.

Put a blob of jam and another of butter cream or whipped cream on top of each cake. Place two half circles of cake on top of each one to make butterfly wings.

3. Fruit fairy cakes: add about 1oz/25g of currants to the mix while stirring.

4. Decorate each cake with a little water icing (literally icing sugar mixed with water).

Microwave Meringues

There are lots of recipes for these but they are all more or less the same- just sugar and egg white. Easy to whip up in minutes you can use them to base other desert recipes on.

Ingredients.

One large egg white

12 oz/300g icing sugar

Method.

1. Cover a microwaveable plate with baking paper.

2. Lightly beat the egg white in a large bowl and then sieve the sugar over it.

3. Stir well until you have a thick mixture a little like soft fondant icing. You may have to add a little more sugar or beaten egg whites to get this consistency, but if so, do it a tiny bit at a time.

4. Roll into 8 balls and microwave them on the paper-covered plate two at a time for about a minute- watch them swell up like magic!

5. Let them cool, then eat them as they are or sandwich together with whipped cream.

Good Husband Material

Trisha Ashley

Published 28^th March buy it here!

‘One of the best writers around!’ Katie Fforde

Another warm, wise and witty offering from Sunday Times bestseller Trisha Ashley.

James is everything Tish has ever wanted in a husband – she’s married a man who even her mother approves of. He’s handsome, dependable, and will make an excellent father – unlike Tish’s first love, the disreputable Fergal. Her teenage sweetheart abandoned her for a music career and now lives a typical celebrity lifestyle. Fergal broke her heart – James helped mend it.

Now, they’ve bought a cottage in the country. The next step – kids and a lifetime of domestic bliss. Well, that’s the plan. And even if James has a slight tendency to view the village pub as a second home, their relationship is still in pretty good shape after seven years of marriage. So why is marriage to Mr Right making her long for Mr Wrong?

WIN your dream room with Nursery Paint

2013-03-05T11:59:00.000Z

As you’re probably aware I have a lovely sponsor this year in the fabulous Nursery Paint Company. They offer the most amazing range of British made paints for you. Not only will they brighten up your nursery (or quite frankly any room you choose) but they are safe for YOU, your BABY and the environment! Pretty amazing hey? Well they’ve decided to show just how amazing but giving you the chance to decorate your room! The winner of this competition will win 5 litres of matt and 1 litre of semi gloss of your choice of colour. Enough for you to decorate your own room in your own style!

UK entrys only please and good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunshine Smoothie

2013-03-01T08:35:00.000Z

Have you heard of Almond Breeze yet? Well being a dairy and gluten free house I’d heard of it but hadn’t yet tried it and I have to say I was rather amazed as its more dairy tasting then anything yet we’ve tried. Heres my entry for their competition with Foodies 100. Unfortunately there isn’t a photo as with 2 boys and an extra grown up one on the house anything made which is yummy disappears instantly!

Peach & Raspberry

sunshine smoothie!

(Gluten & Dairy free)

1 cup of Almond Breeze milk

1 peach; pitted, peeled, and quartered (I cheated and used tinned peaches)

1 cup raspberries

1 small cup of coconut milk

1 cup fresh lemonade

½ cup crushed ice

Add all ingredients except ice to blender. Blend until very smooth. Add ice , blend again until creamy. Serve with feet up and a straw!

Coconut & Lime Cake

2013-02-28T16:35:00.001Z

An amazingly scrummy cake! I stumbled across is by accident on Pinterest and it turned out to be Kirstie Allsops and I adore Limes so had to make it. And having made it and tasted it needlessly had to share. Its pretty simple to a case of shoving all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking and then admiring your cake an hour later! Any how give it a go and let me know what you think. (ps if you're making it for adults why not add a shot of tequila for a Margarita flavour)

Ingredients

175g (6oz) butter, softened

3 large eggs, beaten

250g (9oz) Carnation Condensed Milk

40g (1½oz) desiccated coconut

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime

175g (6oz) self-raising flour

5 mls baking powder

100g (3½oz) icing sugar, to decorate

zest and juice of 1 lime, to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C, (150°C for fan ovens), gas mark 3.

Grease and base line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.

Place all the cake ingredients except for decorating ingredients (ie the zest and juice of 1 lime and the icing sugar) into a large bowl and beat using an electric hand whisk until just smooth and pale. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 55-65 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. If the top becomes too brown near the end of the cooking time, cover with a piece of parchment.

For the icing, simply mix the lime juice into the icing sugar until you have a thick pouring consistency – drizzle over the cake and finish with strands of lime zest.

20 tips to keep you toasty!

2013-02-28T16:26:00.000Z

This infographic is provided by www.everest.co.uk. Find out how you can make your home warmer & save money by installing double glazing here

2 Step Chicken

2013-02-27T15:59:00.002Z

While I was hospital last week for my appendix they discovered I also had gall stones (honestly? at my age?!) and therefore I’ve been recommended to follow a low fat diet while they monitor them. From someone who lives during the day off mars bars and baked Camembert it’s a little bit of a shock. However my husband has searched high and low (he and the boys have taken over the cooking for a bit) and came across this recipe and had to share it with you. Its low fat but gosh its tasty and incredibly easy. Personally I added a bit of mash potato as well to bulk it up! But each to their own. A friend I know uses rice….

Ingredients

· 4 large or 6 small skinless chicken thighs or fillets

· 3 shallots , quartered

· 1 carrot , sliced

· 8 new potatoes or salad potatoes, skin left on and halved or quartered if large

· 500ml chicken stock , fresh, cube or concentrate

· 1 cupful peas

· a small bunch of tarragon , chopped

Method

1. Put the chicken thighs, shallots, carrot, potatoes, some seasoning and the stock in a wide casserole and bring to a simmer.

2. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then add the peas and tarragon and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the potato is tender.

See fairly easy! We’re having it again this week so I’ll pop a photo on then. In the mean time do try it! Its yummy!

A Request from Peter Rabbit!

2013-02-22T18:50:00.000Z

I know you're all just had a guest post but having just popped out of hospital (appendix!) and I saw this awaiting me in my inbox and had to share it with you! The lakes just pop Swallows & Amazons in my head and of course the wonderful amazing world of Beatrix Potter! Who wouldn't want to go?

‘Hop to it’ and sign up to this year’s Jane Tomlinson’s Lake District Walking Festival. That’s the

message from family favourite Peter Rabbit.

The cuddly character officially kicked off the countdown to the 8 th September
event which will see around 1,000 people get into the great outdoors while raising funds for their
favourite causes.

The launch took place at The World of Beatrix Potter™, the home of Peter Rabbit, which is just a
stone’s throw from beautiful Lake Windermere – the picture-perfect setting for the festival.

The day-long event is being staged by Jane Tomlinson’s Walk For All and is one of the centrepieces
of the organisation’s newly-launched Wake Up to Walking campaign, which encourages people to
explore the countryside in a safe, fun and friendly environment.

This year’s Lake District Walking Festival – which features 5, 13 and 22 mile courses suitable for all
ages and abilities – will raise thousands of pounds for deserving causes.

The routes take walkers past the area’s most picturesque spots, including Jenkin Crag, Loughrigg Fell
and Latterbarrow.

Event lead organiser Tristan Batley-Kyle said: “With walks ranging from 5 miles to 22 miles, there is
a route to suit all abilities and everyone can enjoy the stunning scenery of this wonderful national
park.

“Last year’s event was a great success and we’re sure this year’s will be even bigger and better as we
know lots and lots of people have been telling their friends and families what a fantastic time they
had.”

Andy Poole, Chief Executive at The World of Beatrix Potter™ Attraction, said: “We’re delighted to be
supporting the Lake District Walking Festival which will not only be a great day out for all ages, but
will also help local charities doing valuable work in our area.”

Proceeds from the Lake District Walking Festival will go to support the Jane Tomlinson Appeal, which
in turn, shares funds, primarily, between children’s and cancer charities. Walkers can raise funds for
any cause of their choice but are particularly encouraged to support the festival’s partner charities
which this year are: Macmillan, Fix the Fells, RSPCA, RSPB, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Parkinson’s
UK, Great North Air Ambulance, Shine and Jane’s Appeal.

Rebecca Brown, Assistant Events Manager at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “It’s lovely to see
Jane Tomlinson’s walking festivals expand into such a beautiful part of the country and we’re really
excited to be a charity partner for this event. Walking is such a fantastic way to keep fit and by taking
part in the Lake District Walking Festival, our supporters will be able to make a huge difference
to the cancer research we fund in the north of England at the same time. We can’t wait to cheer
everyone on as they make their way round their chosen route.”

Mandy Drake, Head of Fundraising at the Great North Air Ambulance Service, said: “We are proud
to be associated with this event, which is taking place just a short flight from the base of our Pride
of Cumbria aircraft near Penrith. We hope as many of our supporters as possible take part in the
walk, which promises to be a great opportunity to explore this beautiful area while raising money to
support the local air ambulance.”

Penny McMullen, Fundraising Assistant for Fix the Fells, said: “One pound from each entry to the
Lake District Walking Festival will go to help the Fix the Fells project through Responsible Tourism
charity Nurture Lakeland’s Visit, Give, Protect scheme. Fix the Fells is working to repair and maintain
the upland paths in the Lake District, to protect them from erosion and keep them fighting fit for the
future, for everyone to enjoy.”

Amy Smith, RSPCA North regional fundraising manager, said: "We couldn't be more excited to be
involved in this event in the beautiful county of Cumbria and we hope our supporters will sign up,
get loads of sponsorship, and have a great day out in the fresh air with their dogs and other like-
minded people. The money our supporters raise by signing up to walk for us will go towards some of
the most-needy animals in the North of England and, at such a difficult time, every penny really does
count.”

Victoria Lamb, Community Fundraiser for the RSPB, said: “Jane Tomlinson events always attract
great support from a wide variety of people and we’re extremely pleased to have the opportunity to
be involved with the Lake District Walk For All event. We hope lots of people taking part will support
the RSPB, so we can continue our work to save threatened wildlife in the UK and overseas, and
create a world richer in nature. If people choose to support us, every step they take will be a step for
nature.”

Nicola Jones, National Events Programme Manager (East Midlands and Northern England) for
Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Macmillan Cancer Support are delighted to be involved with Walk
for All for the second year running. The Lake District is a beautiful location to enjoy a lovely walk and
by signing up with team Macmillan your fundraising can really make a difference to the lives of those
affected by cancer. One in three of us will get cancer and it’s the toughest thing most of us will ever
face. With your help we can provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better
cancer care, making sure no one has to face it alone. Help us to help even more people.”

The Lake District Walking Festival is supported by the Lake District National Park, Nurture Lakeland,
the North West Evening Mail and BBC Radio Cumbria.

Entries for the Lake District Walking Festival are now open. To sign up go to
www.forallevents.co.uk/walk-for-all/ Prices range from £8 to £20 depending on which course is
chosen. Family entry for the five mile course is priced at just £5 per person.

Guest Post: Are we losing touch with the countryside?

2013-02-13T15:13:00.001Z

As you know on this blog we’re huge advocates of all things outdoors and preferably playing in the countryside. Who doesn’t love the idea of playing down at the river? And with the National Trust bringing out 50 things to do before you 11 ¾ last year there has been a surge in countryside fun however it appears many of us still aren’t enjoying the joys of the English countryside:

YHA: Are we losing touch with the countryside?

One in four of us have never been to a river and one in 10 couldn't identify a badger, according to

new research from the youth hostelling charity YHA (England and Wales).

Many of us look back fondly on youthful days spent climbing trees, exploring woodlands and looking

for bugs in the great outdoors, however it seems many of us are losing touch with the countryside.

With school holidays just around the corner, YHA is now urging families to get out and explore the UK

countryside.

The *survey also found that nearly four in 10 UK adults have never climbed a tree, while nearly

a quarter of respondents claim to have never even been to a lake and 16% have never been to a

woodland!

As for flora and fauna, many of us have little idea what's out there. Eleven per cent of those polled

believe they might bump into a wolf or a skunk on their ramble through the British countryside, while

one in 10 wouldn't recognise a badger if they saw one. Additionally, 60% of UK adults are unaware

our coastal waters are inhabited by sharks, whales and dolphins.

In total, 38% of respondents have either never been to the countryside or go only once a year or less

- something that YHA wants to change.

YHA (England and Wales) Chief Executive Caroline White said: "This survey shows that a large part

of the population are losing touch with the countryside - and missing out on so much. England and

Wales has an abundance of things to explore and discover – better still; most of it is free or low cost,

which, in the current economic climate, can only be good news.

“Giving people the chance to experience the great outdoors means more of us can find out all about

what is out there and is also good for our health and happiness."

For more information about YHA, or to make a booking at any of its hostels, visit www.yha.org.uk.

A way with hearts....

2013-02-11T17:38:00.000Z

With thanks to Weibo

I found this on pinterest and just had to share! How amazing are these felt hearts? Why not make either the bunting as you can see to your left or make it in a chain which drops down?

Step 1, Fold your chosen felt in half length ways

Step 2, stich along in a straight line, about half a centimetere away from the fold along the fold line.

Step 3, Fold the felt out on its self. These are marked with one inches line to show you where to cut when finished.

Step 4, As you did before. Stitch along the edge, again about half a centimetre in.

Step 5, Cut in to one inch strips and you'll notice the felt pops in to heart shapes.

Step 6, Do it all again until you have enough hearts. Mix up with white or pale pink or for add interest go multi coloured!

Step 7, At the widest point thread though with a needles and thread and add little felt balls between the different colours.

Step 8, Voila! Hang up!

Why not the same effect with paper and staples? Once you've learnt the technique its amazing what you can accomplish.....

Guest Post: Chefs Knife and their myths...

2013-02-08T18:46:00.004Z

How many of us out there have expensive chefs kitchen knives and no idea how to use them? Hmm well hopefully this guest post will get you back into the kitchen and enjoying them!

Cutting to the facts: Four kitchen cutlery myths dispelled

Whether we are seasoned chefs or humble home cooks, our cookery knives are important to us. We use them for so many things – from slicing and dicing - to deboning and chopping - and we know just about everything about them and how to take care of them. Or do we? Here, leading cooking accessories retailer chefsknivesonline.com cuts straight to the facts to dispel four common myths surrounding our cooking knives.
You can use any chopping board – it won’t matter
Wrong. This is actually a common misconception, but in actual fact, it does matter. While marble and slate might look attractive in your kitchen, wood, bamboo and plastic are actually better for your knives because they are less likely to scratch or chip them.

Steeling sharpens your knife
Not true. When you steel a knife, you are actually only straightening the edges. You should only really steel after around 10-15 cuts (although many of us wrongly think that it needs to be done more regularly). If you want to sharpen your knife properly, you need to remove the old edge and properly reshape the blade. With just a quick search on YouTube, you’ll find a number of handy how-to videos, but any cook worth their salt will tell you that you need to sharpen them 1-2 times a year.
It’s fine to wash your best knives in the dishwasher
Only if you don’t mind ruining them. The harsh temperatures and detergents will eventually erode the blade – something that would be particularly concerning if you had invested in an expensive set of, say, professional chef’s knives. And aside from damaging the knife itself, the sharp edges could also knick the inside of your dishwasher.
An expensive knife is always better quality than a cheaper one
This simply isn’t true. Would you spend hundreds of pounds on a blunt knife? We thought not. It’s not always about the price, but more to do with how you look after them. If you don’t sharpen your knives properly (1-2 times a year), or store them properly in specific knife blocks, then you risk serious injury – every single time you use them.

Fabulous Vegetable Soup

2013-02-08T18:16:00.002Z

I had friends over for lunch last week and with the weather being so awful decided to whip up a chunky vegetable soup. A long standing favourite in our family it diverted from minestrone soup to a smashing half soup half stew and is an amazing meal when covered in grated cheese and served with toast! It also most definitely gives you your five a day!

2 Large Potatoes

3 Large Carrots

3 Sticks Celery

3 Medium Onions

Can of Tomatoes

1 1/2pt of stock

Can of baked beans

2oz pasta (fusilli or penne NOT spaghetti!)

Oil

Grated cheese to serve

Dice all the vegetable’s. Sauté onion in oil for 5 mins. Add other veg (inc tinned tomatoes) and water/stock.

Simmer 20 mins until tender. Add baked beans & pasta. Season with salt & pepper. Serve as soon as pasta cooked!

Now I add into this frozen peas and sweetcorn and frozen spinach at the same time as the pasta for extra taste and veg count!

Simple no?

Britmums Sponsor 2013: Nursery Paint!

2013-02-08T18:05:00.001Z

Just how beautiful are these colours?

I cannot wait to introduce you to my Britmums sponsor this year. Last year I went to the Toy Fair in London and in the entrance was an amazing display of paint and painted furniture. Advertised as safe to babies I was amazed by the gorgeous colourings (they looked like something out of a designer display) and the diversity of what could be painted! One pot would do the walls and furniture or toys! I am of course talking about the rather delicious Nursery Paint Company and the lovely owner Helen.

Helen knew when she was pregnant that you want to do the best for your child, you eat carefully and look after yourself for them so why not doing the same for the room they’ll sleep in! After struggling to find a paint suitable not laden with fumes or full of harmful chemicals she discovered the natural paint abroad was ok but severely lacking in the beautiful colour and she also wanted it sustainable and antibacterial. So with a magic wave of her hands she created the wonderful Nursery Paint made from soya beans voc free (safe while pregnant and for those all-important years to follow) and anti-bacterial! Pretty cool hey?

Both wall & furniture are Nursery Paint

I cannot describe just how luxurious these paints are and look. So much so that despite trying to sell our house to move I can’t keep my hands off their beautiful range and will be decorating for the boys. Now not only can this be used on the walls as I said it can be used on furniture and toys. So if you’ve inherited some lovely but plain wood furniture that might have seen better days why not smarten it up safe in the knowledge its safe for your little ones? Over the next couple of months that’s what I’ll be doing and showing you on the blog just how diverse this paint is!

Ps Why not follow her and say hi over on twitter and facebook? And just check out her gorgeous range here!

Colours for boys....

and girls!

Eggspress yourself

2013-01-29T20:27:00.004Z

Last week I discovered a rather cute and funky website called Mustard. They stock some amazing and fun gifts such as the……..They’d read my Breakfast post and in all manner of breakfast things asked if I’d like to try review one of the eggspress moulds for their blog.

Now with Valentine’s day just round the corner how cute and perfect are these to make your feelings eggspressed (sorry couldn’t help it!) to a loved one with breakfast in bed? Or hide it in their lunch box for a little surprise!

This rather adorable and cute silicone mould turns your ordinary hardboiled egg into something a little more special! Dishwasher safe, the instructions are incredibly simple to follow as my boys discovered today and weren’t happy just making one!

Mustard have very kindly offered a competition so that two of you can win one of these rather nifty eggspressed moulds to make your own loved one a fun and loving breakfast on Valentine’s day! Simple enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Combi Oven Microwave. I'm in love!

2013-01-25T16:41:00.002Z

So if you’re a regular reader here you’ll know I’m a Panasonic intelligent living mum and that recently they sent us a combi oven to try out. I fell in love with one of these back at the Brit mums live event when their incredibly good sales guys mentally sold one to me. However at the time we had done without a microwave for over a year and were unsure about whether to get another. Needless to say I am over the moon we did get one! We had a lovely day at the Panasonic HQ and I fell in love with it all over again but this time from a practical point of view. We (Emma) and I made chocolate brownies (recipe here)(the easiest thing I’ve baked in years!) and they are melt in the mouth divine! And I watched on in awe as the others cooked up a roast chicken in 45 mins (one of the first things I tried when I got it home..Perfection!) and a scrummy couscous vegetarian dish.

The one thing I wondered about these was if you use them for cooking will they dry out your food and can you consistently get the same results…..Well take a look at this salmon. It took 4 mins in the microwave, perfectly cooked and incredibly moist. Brownies…perfectly moist and incredibly every time. A bit I have to add in here is that baking in it is easier (once you figure out the relevant settings) and my cakes don’t have the crisp edges you sometimes get in the oven as you wait for the centre to cook.

It has meant as well in our house hold that I’m piling on the weight as the baking’s spot on every time! And it’s so much simpler to do plus and get this…I can put metal in it! I know!!!! They have included a special little tray and spark ring which prevents the fires (the cause of death of my last machine) and therefore you can chuck your baking tins in, cake trays, roasting pan, you name it and you don’t have to buy extra. I have mentioned the settings. It took me about three attempts to get these settings sorted in my head which is a pretty good record and I’ve even had friends pop stuff on and pick it up immediately. Its very simple and easy to follow!

Valentines Indulgence - Image from the Ideas Kitchen Panasonic

Recipe here for the Valentines Indulgence

A week after we had our machine our oven broke so I can say with all fairness and trial that these machines are indispensable. We cooked regularly 3 times a day (3 boys = cooked breakfast) plus the baking almost daily and not once did anything go wrong or did I burn or undercook a single meal or dish. When we joined Panasonic we were given Daniel Galmiche recipe book created in union with a microwave and I have been using it as a bible. Daniel Galmiche by the way used Panasonic microwaves in his Michelin star kitchen before he became associated with Panasonic! That’s how good these products are.

I could waffle on for hours about how good this machine is and although we were obviously sent one I would now go out and purchase one for myself in a heart beat if they took it away! If you’re still in any doubt or you have a microwave and don’t think you’re getting your potential out of it take a quick look here at the Panasonic kitchen ideas site. Any product you have they have recipes, hint or tips to try out even if you purchased your product second hand it doesn’t matter, head over and see what you think!

Wake up with Denhay Farms

2013-01-21T09:25:00.000Z

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 20th-26th January

Today is the start of breakfast week and with the snow and ice outside what better way to start it than with a good proper farmhouse breakfast!

Breakfast is of course the more important meal of the day and yet the one that most of us skip if in a hurry! We’ve were lucky to be sent a Denhay Farms’ Ultimate Breakfast Box to see what we could whip up!

Of course since it was so rather rotten yesterday we did have to start with a proper farm house breakfast.

Now bacon is of course the staple to any hot breakfast! Either as fry up or sandwiches or even as muffins! Denhays bacon is outdoor reared and cured by hand with seasalt. They never have water added and are never frozen. The difference?! The most amazing tasting crispy bacon I’ve had! So much so that after having it on our delicious fry up yesterday we went to buy more to add to our breakfast muffins! Recipe for those here!

We also have Spoiltpig sausages and you can guess from the name the pigs are rather spoilt! Freedom food and raised to a strict standard they added a very flavoursome scrummy touch! To add to this fabulous hamper we had Clarence court egg and Tracklement Ketchup & Chipotle salsa, both of which are gluten free so huge round of applause! The Chipotle salsa is rather great with crisps but oh my gosh does it add something to a quick bacon sandwich!!

Tomorrow along with the Denhay baon and leek muffins I think I might also try the 8 min Hot chocolate & Raspberry smoothie!

So what do you all have for breakfast in the mornings? Porridge? Smoothies? Let me know!

Ps to make your own:

Denhay dry cured bacon is available in smoked or unsmoked, back or streaky at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s stores nationwide from £2.99 for a 200g pack

spoiltpig sausages are available at Ocado in Pork & Herb with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme and Pork sausages with black pepper and mixed spices (£2.89 for 6 sausages/400g)

spoiltpig bacon is available in Morrisons and Tesco stores at £2.89/184g pack

Bakers Day Cake Review!

2013-01-20T18:45:00.002Z

Just...Cute!

Now if someone asks you nicely would you like to review a cake there is of course only one response! Add in the fact that they offer gluten & wheat free cake and you’ll see me drooling over the key board as I type!

All joking aside when it comes to other people’s wheat and gluten free cake I tend to be a bit Meh to be honest. They have a tendency to be dry and well just urgh. Baker days must have someone coeliac trained on site because their cake really was rather amazing!

I was incredibly impressed it fitted through our letter box as out postman has an inclination to leaving anything that isn’t bill size behind for collection. But nope it duly arrived and landed on the door mat! Obviously since it contained cake I rushed to open it and gosh how cute was the package once opened! Rather than just a cake covered in bubble wrap Bakers day provide a very stylish tin inside, card and even a packet of love hearts (it was a valentines cake) birthday cakes have balloons!

See the air bubbles?!

My mum, my grandma and youngest are all coeliac so a knife was immediately produced to cut it up…. immediately we were impressed. While small enough to fit through the letter box the cake was fluffy! Look at the texture in the photo. Just enough icing to cover as well rather than the cheap heavy handed approach so many poor companies have. You really could taste this cake and my goodness was it good! My grandma who barely touches cake managed a good half and I think had it not been for her great grandson would have managed the other half too! It was delicious, truly delicious, scrummy cake! A big Thank You to the folk at Baker Days who came up with that recipe!

Perfectly packed!

As to the ordering it couldn’t have been more simple. Log on to their site and there a clear list of categories on the left. A simple click and the range is there for you. Once you’ve chosen your cake design the next step is flavour and personalisation. Its step by step incredibly easy. There’s over 400 designs to choose from and 5 yummy flavours and for the extra pizazz it comes complete with little extras, cards, balloons, sweets, and a horn! I have to say these letterbox cakes are a fabulous idea.

Aside from being scrumptious tasting and pretty darn cute on arrival what a wonderful idea if you can’t be with someone for their birthday or something important and no hanging about or having to stay in to wait for a courier! Starting from £14.99 I am so glad they sent me one of these to review! I will be sending one up to my brother (also coeliac) who has had to put up with balloons (no flowers he is male) being delivered for years and no cake!

Personalised books for little ones!

2013-01-15T17:52:00.001Z

I was recently asked if I would like to review a personalised book for Jack from Asda. Jacks just started learning to read and I thought this was an excellent idea. For a start it’s incredibly personalised with not just his name and birthdate but his description, where we lived, his family, his best friends etc.

You can also include a dedication in the book if you’d like to (all part of the price) We had a huge range of books to choose from Peppa pig, Spiderman, Snow White straight through the old fashioned lady bird classic like Three Little Pigs and you if you wanted them for older children why not try Pride & Prejudice or for boys a personalised Football archive book. Personally I like the thought of my own personalised Hound of the Baskervilles!

Anyhow when Jack got his book he was over the moon. We quietly read along with the first two pages and suddenly he recognised his name! Not only that the next page his brother appeared! Needless to say by the next page we could barely wait to read and find out what the words said. A big bonus I must say since we’re getting very bored of reading biff and chip books!

Now I’m rather impressed by these as the prices start from as little as £9.50 and he’s now quite happy to read the book on his own and try and learn the words he isn’t so sure of yet just so he can find out what happens to him in a story! A perfect selection of personalised books for little ones, do check them out here!