Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Giveaway

{Win} A Sage by Heston No-Mess Waffle Maker (RRP £99.95)

Hello, I hope you’ve all had a good summer?

As I ease myself back into the swing of things, I’m giving away a Sage by Heston Blumenthal the No Mess Waffle maker (RRP £99.95) – perfect for making classic waffles at home. I’m going to road-testing this little baby next week and we’ve already got a whole host of toppings planned – from breakfast waffles topped with halloumi and maple syrup (trust me!) to sweet banana and toffee waffles with ice cream.

No Mess Waffle

The main features of the Sage by Heston the No Mess Waffle product are:

  • A wide, wrap around moat to catch any mess or excess batter overflow – super easy to clean up, too
  • Browning controls to customise your waffles from light brown to crispy golden brown
  • Made by Sage by Heston Blumenthal (high-quality gadgets that are used and endorsed by Heston)

You can see my review of Heston’s Kitchen Wizz Pro here – I was super impressed with the quality and performance of this.

To be in with a chance of winning this waffle maker, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

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UK Entrants only. Closes on 26th September 2015. Winner will be chosen by random and has 4 weeks to respond with address.

Enter Here:

Good Luck!

Giveaway: Hotel Chocolat – The Christmas Wreath (RRP £40)

All I want for Christmas (literally) is this giant box of Christmas chocolates by Hotel Chocolat – called The Christmas Wreath. Hotel Chocolat tell me that this is,

A show-stopping festive centrepiece to gather round and share this Christmas. Filled with 40 delicious Christmas truffles, a chunky cookie wreath and two large chocolate snowflakes, one cast in gorgeous salted caramel and the other in luscious Peru Pichanaki 75% Milk.

The Christmas Wreath
Image : Hotel Chocolat

The truffles include simple milk truffles, blackcurrant bombes, white champagne truffles, gin truffles, Christmas pudding truffles, a salted caramel snowflake, Christmas gianduja and more. I would actually be in chocolate heaven.

If you’d like to win this selection box, simply follow the instructions in the entry box below and then keep everything crossed!

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This prize will be posted out to one lucky reader in the UK in time for Christmas by the lovely folks at Hotel Chocolat.

For more chocolate-inspired gifts, take a look at the full range here.

With many thanks to Hotel Chocolat for providing the prize in this giveaway.

Giveaway: MrSite Pro Website in a Box RRP £119.99

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but the New Year could be even better because it could see you launching a brand new exciting blog, business or professional website! I’m giving away a really great prize to one lucky winner just in time for you to get your ideas up and running over the Christmas holidays – a MrSite Pro Website in a Box.

MrSite Pro includes everything you need to get a professional looking, mobile-ready website for your business online. Simple to use, Pro comes with essential optimisation tools to help you get higher up Google, a sales-winning online shop and your own dot com. And should you need it, there’s support from the MrSite Team, too. 

Mr Site Pro

To create your own professional website, simply select your template from a selection of modern website designs, drop in text, images and videos and customise with unique features. 

In case you’re interested in adding this to your Christmas list, the standard and pro versions are available to buy at MrSite.com, Dixons, PC World and other good retailers.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE 
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Please note – I have not built a website using this package, yet, so all queries must be directed to MrSite if you win this prize. 

You are the registered legal owner of your domain name. MrSite simply hosts your domain name on its servers.

 

With many thanks to MrSite for facilitating this giveaway. Open to UK readers. 

 

Breville Blend-Active – Review & Giveaway

Our kitchen at home has seen a variety of full-sized blenders over the years, and as the number of blender attachments and features increases, so does the counter space required. I was keen to buy a smaller blender, ideally one that would be perfect for the children’s increased consumption of blended fruit smoothies over the school holidays!

After hearing good things from friends about the Breville Blend-Active blender (also known as the Breville Blend-Active Personal Blender) we purchased one at 10% off the £29.99 RRP (update: at the time of posting this review, they are available at 25% off here). It came with a one-year guarantee, and the bottles are certified BPA-free.

Breville Blend-Active Blender

Included by Breville in the Blend-Active box were the 300W blender motor base, the removable blade unit, and two 600ml bottles with sports-style lockable lids. Extra 600ml bottles for the Blend-Active are available from Breville direct and cost £10 each. As advised in the manual – and you would anyway! – I used soapy water to wash the parts of the Blend-Active where food would make contact, and I wiped down the base with a damp cloth to clean. Useful to know was that the Blend-Active bottles are made of a odour-, taste- and stain-resistant material and are suitable for the dishwasher.

The Blend-Active has a single push button to blend and is incredibly straightforward to use.

1) Add the ingredients to be blended into the bottle in one go – remember not to go above the 600ml mark (or the 300ml mark if you are using the smaller bottles).
2) Screw the blade unit tightly to the top of the bottle.
3) Turn the bottle upside down so that the blade unit is at the bottom, line up the marks on the bottle and the blender, and push the bottle down and clockwise to lock in place.
4) You can either push and hold the blend button for as long as required or use short pulses to blend with better control.
5) Twist the bottle anti-clockwise to unlock and lift, then turn the bottle so the blade unit is at the top before removing the blade unit and fitting the resealable lid.

Importantly, Breville included a safety feature to prevent the Blend-Active’s blade from spinning unless the bottle is locked safely into place.

In the UK, there are twelve drinks recipes included by Breville in the manual for the Blend-Active.

– Protein Rich Shake
– Berry Blitz Protein Shake
– Good Morning Protein Shake
– Chocolate and Banana Protein Shake
– Super Thick Berry Smoothie
– Raspberry Crush Smoothie
– Tropical Fruit Smoothie
– Kiwi and Berry Bliss Smoothie
– Berry Blitz Dairy-Free Smoothie
– Soya Dairy-Free Smoothie
– Vanilla Milkshake
– Carrot, Orange and Ginger Juice

We’ve been using the Blend-Active regularly with fruits (including frozen berries), ice, nuts and vegetables, and I can pass on these tips:

1) Remember you have to add all the ingredients in one go, before blending starts.
2) If you are using the Blend-Active to blend ice or hard vegetables, ensure that you include liquid in the bottle as well to help protect the blades and motor.
3) The cap of the resealable lid that Breville provides is a good size, and copes with thicker drinks very well. But beware – a loose cap will mean a large leakage!
4) The dimensions of the Blend-Active bottles mean they fit well in the bottle-holders on most bikes.
5) This is not a full-size, jet-powered kitchen blender.  Friends who attempted to use the Blend-Active as such learnt this the hard way.

For our family, the Breville Blend-Active was an excellent alternative to using – and cleaning! – a full-size blender to make drinks that were going to be taken out in the garden, on a picnic or out with us on the bike. The blender is well made and has done everything we’ve asked of it – the two bottles supplied were perfect for two young children, and additional (or replacement) bottles are easy enough to get hold of from Breville, if required. The Blend-Active is light enough and has been easy enough to take with us on self-catering weekends away in the UK.

Giveaway

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For your chance to win a brand new Breville Blend-Active blender (£29.99 RRP) complete with a one-year Breville guarantee, please enter telling me whether you will most use your blender for vegetable or fruit smoothies with bonus entries via the Rafflecopter widget above.

Disclosure: Own purchase, I was not asked to write a review, nor offered any incentive. Giveaway sponsored by Ren Behan. Affiliate links included. Giveaway featured on sites including loquax.co.uk and ThePrizeFinder.com

Giveaway: The After School Cookbook by Nick Coffer

As mentioned in my previous post, I recently shot some press images for The After School Cookbook by Nick Coffer – publication date Thursday 5th June 2014.

Publishers Hodder and Stoughton have also very kindly offered me three copies of this great, family-friendly cookbook to giveaway, so if you’d like to get your hands on a copy, simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget below!

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After School Cookbook
Cover image provided by Hodder & Stoughton. Cover design by Bobby Birchall

 

With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing the three giveaway copies.

The After School Cookbook By Nick Coffer
120 quick, easy and affordable recipes for your hungry kids
Published: Thursday 5 June 2014
Hodder & Stoughton Trade Paperback & eBook £16.99

(Disclosure: Amazon affiliate link included)

Salter Electronic Kitchen Scale – Review & Giveaway

There’s very little room left for anything in the kitchen at home, so when I was looking last summer for a new kitchen scale, I knew that bulky, heavy mechanical scales – however iconic – were never going to make the shortlist.

I needed a kitchen scale that I could store with ease, but that was reliable enough to survive being taken out and used pretty much every day. The Salter Slim Design Electronic Kitchen Scale (sometimes sold as the Salter Disc Electronic Kitchen Scale) was cheaper than I had budgeted (update: it was £19.99 last year, but at the time of writing this review is now available for £10 here). It looked smart in the online pictures in black and in white (I chose white), had the features I was looking for in a set of everyday scales, and was advertised with a Salter manufacturer’s fifteen-year guarantee.

Salter Slim Design Electronic Platform Kitchen Scale - Black

When I took the Salter Slim Design Electronic Kitchen Scale out of its box, I was immediately pleased that at 16cm x 18cm x 2cm it was small enough to be stored in a kitchen cubby hole, but not so fragile and wafer-thin that you worry that it will get damaged by a clumsy hand within the week.

The top of the scale is dominated by a large, wipe-clean stainless steel disc platform for measuring ingredients directly. In front of the disc are two usefully large buttons, located either side of a central, easy-to-read LCD display.

You press the left button to turn the electronic scale on and, when held down, off again.

The right button is used to cycle metric and imperial measurements:

– grams (per gram up to 5Kg)
– pounds and ounces (11lb in 0.1oz steps)
– millilitres (per ml up to 5l)
– fluid ounces (175fl.oz in 0.1fl.oz steps)

The left button can be pressed at any time when the scale is on and the reading will promptly zero. This is a huge time saver. Rather than having to weigh an empty bowl and mentally note the weight you’ll need to take off the combined ingredients and bowl, Salter simply lets you put the bowl on the scale and press to zero, before adding the ingredient until the required amount is showing on the LCD screen. If you need to add a further ingredient to the same bowl, zero the weight again before adding away. As often as you need. No maths required.

Having used the scale hundreds of times now, I have two tips to pass on that will help you:

– to keep the scale thin, Salter located the LCD screen on the top side. This means that very wide bowls have the potential to cover the LCD. Most of the time you are fine, but it’s something to be aware about.
– the LCD screen displays the current weight in large, easy-to-read digits but the unit measurement is in small text. You’ll sense quickly which is which but until then, don’t forget your glasses if you require them.

I’ve found my Salter scale to be incredibly straightforward to use. It is accurate and the weight displayed always settles quickly. If you are moving away from mechanical scales for the first time you will be amazed at how much time and hassle you save. Highly recommended.

Giveaway

For your chance to win one of two brand new Salter Slim Design Electronic Kitchen Scales (£19.99 RRP) complete with a fifteen-year Salter guarantee, please enter telling me which colour scale you would like, black or white.

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Disclosure: Own purchase, I was not asked to write a review, nor offered any incentive. Giveaway sponsored by Ren Behan. Affiliate link included. Giveaway featured on sites including loquax.co.uk and ThePrizeFinder.com

 

Giveaway: A Change of Appetite by Diana Henry

Last week I shared a guest recipe for Diana Henry’s orange and pomegranate cake, which I was pleased to see was a really big hit with lots of you over the weekend. As mentioned, I’ve really been enjoying cooking from Diana’s latest book A Change of Appetite, which is packed full of lighter, vegetable, fish and grain-based dishes, with influences from Cambodia, North Africa, Peru, India and the Middle East.

If this book sounds like something you’d enjoy, I also have two additional copies of the book to giveaway. So, here’s your chance to enter and win a copy of your own.

A Change of Appetitie

Here’s how to enter:

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A Change of Appetite by Diana Henry is published by Mitchell Beazley/Octopus Publishing Group RRP £25. I have two additional copies in hand and will be responsible for posting them out to the winners. Cover image courtesy of the publisher.

You may also enjoy reading my interview with Diana Henry here.

Review: Hotel Chocolat Easter 2014 Range

Every year, I look forward to receiving at least a little bit of the Hotel Chocolat range for Easter and there’s always so much to look forward to. I also try to pop into one of their high street shops just after the holidays, too, to scoop up some special offers, since, you know, all the chocolate over Easter isn’t enough. I’ve tried many different types of chocolate over the years and though some chocolate connoisseurs may profess dark chocolate to be the best, I’m more of a fan of good-quality milk chocolate and believe that a little bit can go a very long way to satisfying a sweet tooth. This year, the Hotel Chocolat Easter 2014 range starts at £2.00 for their solid 40% milk chocolate lolly, called an Egg on Toast Lick, stretching to the more luxurious end of the budget, £75.00, for a giant Easter egg called The Classic Ostrich Egg. At the lower to middle end of the range sit some of my favourites of this year – the All Milk Alcohol Free Easter Collection (£28.00) would go some way to satisfying my third-trimester pregnancy cravings, whilst the Goose Eggs (£13.00) in caramel and white chocolate vied for my attention, too. I’m also a big fan of Hotel Chocolat’s caramel milk chocolate, and so The Splat Caramel Chocolate Easter Egg (£12.50) makes it onto my wish-list as well.

HC_Easter
Hotel Chocolat Easter 2014 Selection

For anyone not so keen on an actual chocolate egg, The Easter Sleekster Selection (£24.00) would make a good alternative –  filled with pralines, ganaches and caramels. And, if you are looking for something for a family, perhaps to send in the post, go for the Hotel Chocolat Easter Hamper (£39.00) which offers a selection of bow tie bunnies, milk & white eggs and soldiers, a dozen quail egglets, milk tiddly chicks and two of the egg on toast licks. If you order online and spend over £35.00, you’ll also receive a free gift yourself from the Easter bunny.

Current giveaway

Don’t forget that I’ve got a giveaway up and running until Wednesday 16th April 2014 for the Hotel Chocolat Rocky Road to Caramel Extra Thick Easter Egg (£28.00) so pop over and enter here now.

The full range of Hotel Chocolat Easter Eggs and Gifts can be found online here or within any of their high street stores.

With many thanks to Hotel Chocolat for sending me a selection of their Easter range for review. I was not required to post a review, nor have I been paid to do so. Images my own.

Giveaway Comté Cheese UK Hamper

If you’re a fan of artisan cheese, then this is a giveaway for you. I’ve teamed up with Comté Cheese, produced in the mountains of the Jura Massif in Eastern France to offer one of my readers a hamper filled with Comté cheese – a cheese which has carried the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status since 1958. The hamper contains 4 ages of Comté and as an extra bonus, some Jura region saucisson.

comte_cheese

Fun Facts About Comté

  • Montbéliarde and French Simmental are the only cows allowed for the production of Comté milk. They must only be fed with natural feed and have at least 2.5 acres of grazing pasture.
  • The milk producer, the cheesemaker and the affineur are the three professionals involved in the Comté chain, a journey which has been alive for centuries.
  • Amazingly, every morning, cheesemakers in the 160 fruitières scattered over the Comté production area, process the raw milk collected from the 2,700 local farms practicing non-intensive agriculture before handing it over to the 16 Comté affineurs, the specialists in charge of the delicate maturing process.

At home here in the UK, we love trying out cheese from lots of different places, and whilst a good, strong British cheddar and perhaps a little Cheshire or Wensleydale always feature on the shopping list, it’s always nice to experiment with a good quality, artisan cheese to bring another level of flavour to some of our favourite recipes, such as Macaroni Cheese with Baby Leeks or a super-quick Cheese and Leek Toastie for lunch.

Comte hamper

ENTER HERE

To take part in the giveaway, simply follow the instructions on the Raffelcopter widget below. If nothing appears, don’t forget to try hitting refresh on your page. The closing date is Monday 7th April 2014.

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Good luck!

With thanks to Comté Cheese UK for providing this giveaway prize and some additional samples for review. 

Giveaway: Abra-ca-Debora Pancake Day Hamper

It’s been a little while since I’ve hosted a giveaway, this is the first one of the year, in fact. I managed to miss out on offering anything over Valentine’s Day, so instead I’ve got a lovely hamper full of Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day goodies for one of you to feast on. Pancake Day falls on Tuesday 4th March this year. I really do appreciate all of the comments and support I receive on this blog, and so a giveaway is a nice way of saying thank you.

abra-ca-deboraIt’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I last mentioned  Abra-Ca-Debora pancakes, when I created a tasty Cream Chicken and Spinach Savoury Dutch Pancake recipe, which was also featured on the recipe section of the Abra-Ca-Debora website.  Although it isn’t hard to whisk up a quick batch of pancakes batter, sometimes it is nice to be able to put together a really quick snack for the children after school using Abra-Ca-Debora pancakes and they also make a handy pudding or sweet snack, too.

Pancakes

I’m sure I’ll be coming up with some new ideas for tasty pancake filling again this year. If you missed them last year, do give my Polish Sweet Cream Cheese Pancakes a go, they taste almost like having a pancakes crossed with a warm cheesecake.

Polish-Pancakes

Here’s how to enter the giveaway –
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With many thanks to Abra-ca-Debora for offering this hamper as a giveaway prize. This giveaway is open until 4th March 2014. Good luck!

For more pancake day inspiration follow @Abra_ca_Debora on Twitter

 

Win a Romantic Meal for Two at Formans Restaurant in London

During the lead up to Christmas and the festive season itself, there is always so much to do, leaving us feeling tired, stressed and probably fairly overwhelmed. So, wouldn’t it be nice to win and look forward to a lovely romantic meal for two at the stunning Formans Restaurant in London, close to the Olympic Stadium?

Formans Restaurant London

On Wednesday, I mentioned an exciting Christmas giveaway that I’d be running together with Forman & Field, who sent me a wonderfully romantic hamper for two to try. The giveaway itself launches here today and I’m finishing off the chicken liver and brandy parfait with some fresh bread for lunch as I type!

You could win a romantic meal for two at the Formans Restaurant in London, established in 1905 and very highly regarded within in the industry. The restaurant serves British food, award-winning English wines and Forman & Sons’ famous London Cure Smoked Salmon all from within modern surroundings with a riverside view.

Your romantic meal for two will include two starters, two main courses, two puddings, two coffees and a bottle of wine, too. One of your choices might include a Lake District Fillet of Beef, served with truffled Dauphinoise and a roasted root vegetable puree, or perhaps a selection of British cheeses.

There’s no maximum spend, but you must have your meal by the end of March 2014 and you must be able to arrange your own travel to London.

Wishing you all the best of luck with this one, it’s a lovely prize which I’m sure will make one couple very happy!

The giveaway closes on Monday 23rd December 2013.

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Linked post – Review: Forman & Field Hamper for Two

Mini Pasta Bakes (Proware Kitchen)

I mentioned cooking with Proware Kitchen’s Tri-Ply copper pans on my blog shortly before Christmas, when I tested a set sent to me by Proware Kitchen. They’ve stood up extremely well in my kitchen and so I was pleased to see some new pans added to the range, including a 24cm saute pan, a 24cm stockpot, a 12cm mini frying pan and a 12cm mini casserole. I’ve now tried out the newbies, too and have been equally happy with them – the 24cm saute pan being my most used and loved pan in the range. Lakeland stock the pans exclusively and since the beginning of the summer Lakeland have had them on special offer – 3 for 2, with the lowest price item being free.

Proware 24cm Saute Pan

 A tasty filling for an Easy Chicken Pie – {find my recipe here}

Caring for my Copper Tri-Ply Pans

My Proware Kitchen Copper Tri-Ply pans have been through the dishwasher lots of times, though their website states that where possible, they should just be washed in warm soapy water. Copper does tarnish over time, which gives them a lovely, rustic, well-used look, although I’ve found that either Brasso (an inexpensive metal polish) or better still, half a lemon dipped in salt and gently rubbed onto the copper, brings them back to their shiny state easily enough.  

The photo on the left is before cleaning the pans. On the right, the pan on the top left was cleaned with half a lemon dipped in salt and the pan on the bottom right was cleaned and polished with Brasso.

ProWare Copper Pans

The new mini pans are also incredibly cute. They remind me of a posh meal, with perhaps a roasted chicken breast and some bright green petit pois served in a little pan alongside, or even a tasty sauce. I use mine to make mini pasta bakes in, which can then be served as individual portions. You have to be very careful though, as straight out of the oven the copper is very hot! The mini frying pans are great for single fried eggs, or mini omelettes, too.

Copper pans are excellent conductors of heat. The benefit of using Tri-Ply copper pans is that they are lighter than traditional copper pans, less expensive and have a three layer structure – a copper exterior, an aluminium core second layer and then they are finished with a thin layer of stainless steel inside the pans. So basically, the pans stand up to professional or domestic use, they look pretty and food cooks evenly and without sticking or burning as you can generally use a lower heat.

Here’s a very simple Pea and Bacon Pasta Bake recipe that I often make at home. Below the recipe, you’ll also find a giveaway for a mini frying pan – good luck!

Mini Pasta Bakes

[kitchenbug-your-recipe-appears-here-12784]

ProWare Kitchen Giveaway

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With thanks to ProWare Kitchen for sending me the latest pans in the range to review and for providing a giveaway prize. I was not required to write a positive review and this is an unpaid post.

More Pasta Recipes

Easy Macaroni Cheese with Baby Leeks

Quick Tuna Fish Pasta

 

Win a Cotswold Company Corner Shelf RRP £114

I hope you are enjoying your summer. Things are busy here, but I do have another fantastic summer giveaway to share with you courtesy of The Cotswold Company – a British company offering country inspired furniture.

Perhaps you’ll find the perfect spot for a Cotswold Company corner shelf in your kitchen, utility room or entrance hall. The Montague small corner shelf on offer as a prize for one lucky reader is made of a solid oak frame with oak veneered panels – perfect if you like a country kitchen feel to your home – see image below.

The Cotswold Company have some lovely items on their site, I particularly like their wire baskets* for the kitchen – the smaller baskets are great for storing linens, enamel serving spoons, packets of herbs and spices and the larger ones are great for storing vegetables or pantry items.

Cotswold_Company_Wire_Baskets
*Wire baskets and items above are not part of the giveaway. Image credit: The Cotswold Company

To be in with a chance of winning a Montague small corner shelf (below) which usually retails at £114, please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

Cotswold Company Montague Corner Shelf
Montague Corner Shelf prize on offer

Enter the giveaway here!

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You can also follow The Cotswold Company on Twitter! @CotswoldCo

Good luck!

Entrants must live in the UK.

Review: Little Waitrose at John Lewis Watford plus £50 voucher giveaway

It’s not very often that I hear of neighbouring town Watford scoring a ‘first,’ but this week I visited the new Little Waitrose at John Lewis Watford – which is the first ‘little Waitrose’ to be situated within a John Lewis store. So, if you happen to be in Watford doing your shopping at the local shopping centre – Intu – formally called The Harlequin, you can now stop into little Waitrose as well for a quick grocery shop. You can see (and access) the new little Waitrose on the top floor of the store in Watford, just next door to A Place to Eat, the John Lewis café/restaurant. It’s much bigger than I had imagined and very roomy, using up office and warehouse space and costing just over £2 million pounds to complete.

Some of the little Waitrose in-store features include –

  • A bakery with fresh bread, pastries, cakes and patisserie
  • Fresh flowers
  • A fresh fish and meat counter
  • A large selection of wines and spirits
  • A lottery station, take away coffee machine, newspapers and magazines
  • A store and collect service

You can pick up everything from a pint of milk, to fresh fruit and vegetables, sandwiches, ready-meals and snacks, dried goods and non-food health and beauty items. There are a number of pay-desks, as well as the never-quite-so-quick self-service tills!

We popped into A Place to Eat where the children enjoyed a kiddies breakfast, before tootling around the store to browse and buy a few new food photography props! We then stopped at little Waitrose where the kids chose some treats from the bakery counter to bring home for a tea party.

Little Waitrose John Lewis

All in all, we had a seamless, stress-free shopping experience (apart from a fall-out with a self-service till – own fault!) and I think little Waitrose makes a great addition to the Intu shopping centre in Watford.

Back at home we enjoyed our food purchases from Little Waitrose and our tea party pieces from John Lewis Watford.

Little Waitrose John Lewis

You can find Little Waitrose at John Lewis at –

John Lewis (top floor)
Intu Watford (formerly The Harlequin Centre)
High Street
Watford
Hertfordshire
WD17 2TW
 
You can visit the John Lewis Watford Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JohnLewisWatford
And follow @Waitrose on Twitter
 

Enter the Giveaway Here –

Enter the giveaway below via the Rafflecopter form to be in with a chance of winning at £50 John Lewis/Waitrose voucher to treat yourself too.

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With thanks to Waitrose and John Lewis for the invitation to visit the new store.

Disclosure- I received some gift vouchers to cover the cost of our shopping trip.

Win an £80 Experience Days Voucher

This is the first of two great summer giveaways here on my site – simply enter via the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win an £80 Experience Days voucher to spend on any experience of your choice within the UK. You could uncover a hidden passion, explore the inner foodie within you, learn how to bake, bungee jump, or simply relax in a healthy spa with a nice smoothie.

Experience_DaysGood Luck!

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Disclosure – Thank you to Experience Days for offering one of my readers a voucher. I have personally not attended an Experience Day and this post is not an endorsement of any experience offered.

Images supplied by Experience Days and used with permission.  

Come back tomorrow for a second summer giveaway!

There’s also still a couple of days to enter my Russell Hobbs Mini Chopper Giveaway

Win a Russell Hobbs Desire Mini Chopper

Summer is the perfect time to pick a handful of fresh herbs or leaves ready to whizz up into a quick dressing or sauce. I’ve seen some really interesting pesto recipes recently, with walnuts in place of pine nuts or wild garlic in place of basil. Summer fruits can also easily be blitzed into a fruit coulis, or even a quick smoothie. Fresh herbs with a little vinegar and olive oil added make a quick salad dressing, too.

I have two Russell Hobbs Desire Mini Choppers (RRP £24.99) to giveaway this month. The Mini Chopper is easy to use and store and comes with a glass bowl and handy lid.

You can also read more reviews on the Russell Hobbs Desire Range here.

RH_Mini_Chopper

Please enter the giveaway by following the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below –

 

For extra competition karma you can follow @RussellHobbsUK on Twitter.

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Good Luck!


Giveaway: ASK Italian Cookbook and £20 ASK Vouchers

A little while ago I mentioned the new ASK Italian cookbook, with recipes by Theo Randall and Carla Capalbo. I had made the Spaghetti Carbonara – a winning family recipe in our household always met with smiles. We also recently ate at ASK and we were really impressed by their new 2013 menu, showcasing Italian inspired dishes created by Theo Randall and Head of Food, Jeena Rodrigues.

Theo Randall ASK

We loved the seasonal ‘spring specials’ on offer; asparagus wrapped in prosciutto or Fettucine Primavera Con Prosciutto – a spring pasta dish with asparagus, peas, courgettes and a creamy pecorino sauce. The children were quick to start colouring and to tuck into their pizza with fresh vegetables to nibble on and garlic bread, too.  ASK have come a long way since I worked as a waitress in their Tottenham Court Road branch back in 2000! They now have 118 restaurants and endeavour to source high quality Italian ingredients from local growers in Italy, with Theo and the chefs taking regular trips to Italy for menu inspiration. If you have an ASK near you, try the Panzerottini – baked dough balls with Pancetta and cheese and chilli, a classic Bolognese is served with the more authentic fetuccine, rather than spaghetti. Puddings are tasty too – especially the dessert sharing board…

ASK-Desserts

For a chance to win a copy of the ASK Italian Cookbook and a £20 voucher to put towards a nice meal out enter the rafflecopter giveaway below –

Good Luck!

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ASK Cookbook Cover

With thanks to ASK Italian for the cookbook and vouchers as a prize for one of my readers.

Giveaway: Little Leons (Naturally Fast Recipes) Series

Leon Restaurants are a chain of thirteen branches, the first one having been opened in Carnaby Street. They are owned by John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby and like all good foodie things, Leon cook books soon followed. There are now 4 Leon cook books (book 3 reviewed here) in the main series, and now, they have released some Little Leons – Naturally Fast Recipes –  each containing 64 pages and 40 colour photographs. The Little Leon series includes –

  • Breakfast & Brunch
  • Brownies, Bars & Muffins
  • Smoothies, Juices & Cocktails
  • Soups, Salads & Snacks.

Little Leons

The Leon ‘trademark’ is to offer “naturally fast food” – so there are plenty of wheat, dairy or sugar-free options in baking, super-charged breakfasts, flavour-packed soups, power-smoothies and even a couple of cocktails – including a Vodka Espresso hit!

Hot Chocolate is offered five ways with Mexican, Swedish and Jamaican twists, smoothies are charged with seeds. You can even try sugar-free vanilla cupcakes and vegan vanilla icing if the mood takes you. I’m torn between making Little Leon Breakfast & Brunch my favourite – particularly for the buckwheat Saturday Pancakes – or the Little Leon Brownies, Bars & Muffins for the Salmon & Dill Muffins. There’s definitely something for everyone in this little collection.

Little Leons are published by Conran Octopus and are priced at £6.99 each.

To enter this giveaway simple use the Rafflecopter widget below.

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Good Luck!

With thanks to Conran Octopus for the giveaway copies.    

Giveaway: Maille French Mustard BBQ Hamper – worth £70

I have more superb things to giveaway today, this time a Maille French Mustard Barbeque Hamper worth £70.00 filled with all the essentials for a great barbecue – including a BBQ utensil set, Maille apron, and selection of Maille mustards and sauces, such as Maille’s new peppercorn sauce that goes brilliantly with a barbecued steak. The Maison de Maille was founded in 1720, with the first  Maille mustard being unveilled to the public in 1747! Maille still make vinegars and mustards,  as well as sauces, mayonnaise and salad dressings – widely available in the UK.

Maille Mustards

To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopet form below. The winner will be drawn randomly and Maille UK will be responsible for sending the prize out to the winner.

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Good Luck and many thanks to Maille UK for offering this great prize to one of my lucky readers.

For a second chance to win pop over to Helen’s Fuss Free Flavour blog!

Giveaway: Greenvale Farm Fresh Potatoes & Jamie Oliver Roasting Dish

Another lovely giveaway for my readers to enter – this time, for a month’s supply of Greenvale Farm Fresh Potatoes and a pretty Jamie Oliver baking dish to roast them in. We love potatoes in our house. Any leftovers get thrown into soups to thicken them up or turned into a potato salad the next day. Greenvale Farm Fresh potatoes are sold in a 2kg mini recyclable paper packet (which helps them stay fresher for longer) and they are really good ‘all rounders’ – which means you can roast them, boil them or mash them. With your new dish, you could chop the potatoes into wedges, par-boil them for a few minutes and them roast them in a hot oven with some rosemary, salt and olive oil.

Greenvale Farm Fresh

Entry is via the Rafflecopter form below. The competition is UK only and further terms and conditions can be found on the form, too.

Look out for Greenvale Farm Fresh potatoes in Tesco and Booths.

Good luck!

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With thanks to Greenvale Farm Fresh for providing the potatoes and the dish as a prize.

Don’t forget to enter my Belvoir Fruit Farms and Sophie Conran giveaway here, too.

Giveaway: Belvoir Fruit Farms Hamper (worth £63.00)

I have a lovely giveaway for you to enter this morning – a hamper from Belvoir Fruit Farms, worth £63.00. Belvoir Fruit Farms are based at the Belvoir Castle Estate in Lincolnshire . They make cordials, pressés and fruit crushes from their home and have been doing so since the seventies. They use fresh flowers, as well as fruits and spices and blend them with spring water.  The cordials are lovely and thick and are packed full of flavour, you can also use them in dressings and sauces – my favourite it the Apple, plum and cinnamon cordial. The Blueberry and blackcurrant cordial packs a punch, too.

Belvoir have recently launched a range of five new products with an English garden theme and to tie in with this would like to offer one of my readers the chance to win a hamper filled with Belvoir drinks along with a  Sophie Conran gardener’s journal and matching enamel mug.

Belvoir Fruit Farms

Entry is via the Rafflecopter form below. The competition is UK only and further terms and conditions can be found on the form, too.

Good luck!

 

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With thanks to Belvoir Fruit Farms for providing the prize.

For good competiton karma, you can also follow Belvoir on Twitter @BelvoirCordials or on Facebook www.facebook.com/belvoirfruitfarms

Giveaway: The Amalfi Coast by Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi

I had the pleasure of meeting Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi at their home when I took a pasta class with Katie Caldesi in 2011. At the time, Katie had just published a book called The Italian Cookery Course, which was one of my favourite books of 2011. Since then, Katie and Giancarlo have continued to be super-busy, teaching Italian courses at La Cucina Caldesi and running their restaurants, Caffè Caldesi in Marlebone and Caldesi in Campagna in the beautiful, quaint foodie town of Bray. Katie and Giancarlo are incredibly charismatic and passionate about authentic Italian food. I continue make my Lasagne at home to Katie’s recipe and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of their latest book, The Amalfi Coast, published by Hardie Grant, which they’ve written together.

Amalfi_Coast

I visited the Amalfi Coast in September 2005, with my soon-to-be husband. We ate like we’ve never eaten before and it was our last holiday pre-marriage and pre-children, so I hold onto some very special and precious memories of that trip. Like Katie and Giancarlo, we soaked up the people and the delights of Positano, Sorrento, Amalfi and Capri and this book brings back many wonderful memories for me. The people who live there are known as the Amalfitani, and the coastline is known as the Sorrentine Peninsula or la Costiera Amalfitana.

In her introduction, Katie mentions “the erratic local driving,” and yes, that is a memory I share and hold to this day, too! But I also remember the warmness of the people, the olive groves, the lemon trees, the seafood, and the largest gelato we’ve ever eaten in Amalfi! The ice creams was so large they obscured our faces in one of our photographs – I’ll have to dig it out.

In Katie and Giancarlo’s latest book The Amalfi Coast, you’ll find an overabundance of Southern Italian magic – Antipasti, Soups, Bread and Pizza, Risottos and Stocks, Pasta, Fish, Poultry and Meat, Vegetables, Desserts, Cocktails and Drinks and Cheese. They really have left no stone unturned in their quest to find the best food, the best people and the best stories to share with you.

I’m going to start with the Pasticcioti or Custard and Cherry Cakes as they look too delightful not to make and I’ll be back with a full review once I’ve immersed myself in everything Amalfi.

Here’s your chance to win a copy in the meantime –

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The Amalfi Coast by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi is published by Hardie Grant with an RRP of £25. With many thanks for my review and giveaway copies.

Related Posts

A Pasta Class with Katie Caldesi

Review: An Italian Cookery Course by Katie Caldesi

Giveaway & Review Hotel Chocolat Love Notes

Love Notes Velentine's Day

It’s that time of year again when the shops go into overdrive selling Valentine’s Day merchandise. Expectation levels are high; will we receive flowers, chocolates, a card from the petrol station, an invitation to dinner?! Or none of the above, with the reasoning that true love should be expressed throughout the year and not just on one day…My little boy is making a Valentine’s day card this year. He’s six and there is one particular young lady who has captured his attention. I’ve already received my ‘love note’ from him and a cut out heart, saying “I Love You Mummy.”  I’ve also had an early taste of some Hotel Chocolat ‘Love Notes’ – so I’m a happy girl even if that’s my lot. I also have a box to share with one of my readers, too.

Love Notes Hotel Chocolat

This year, the Hotel Chocolat Love Notes Menu reveals – Amaretto Marzipan, Caramel Praline, Champagne Bellini, Dark Mousse, Lemon Berry Tart and Salted Praline. In this box, you get 12 chocolates, two of each flavour. The box is small but sturdy, you could keep it for your real love notes. Underneath the chocolates, there are twelve love quotes, so as you pick each chocolate out of the box, you reveal a little message. Since I’ve just been to see Les Misérables, I’ll share a Victor Hugo quote from the box – “Love is a portion of the soul itself.”

Love Notes

There’s a clear winner in this box for me – the Caramel Praline. If you’ve ever tasted Hotel Chocolate’s Caramel Button’s you’ll know what I mean when I say it’s almost impossible not to eat the whole packet in one sitting. So, the combination of milk chocolate, praline and caramel in a heart-shaped chocolate was definitely the highlight of the box for me. My husband immediately picked out the two Amaretto Marzipan chocolates, since those are his two very favourite flavours. I’m not usually a fan of fruity chocolates, but the Lemon Berry Tart (white chocolate) offered a taste of rich lemon curd with a spike of berries followed by sweet and mellow white chocolate. The Champagne Bellini has a really good hit of alcohol and a dash of peach, but I didn’t really get any peach flavour. The Dark Mousse was probably my least favourite, but then again, I’ve always favoured Hotel Chocolat’s milk chocolate range, but that’s just me. There’s a Salted Praline, too, and though I’m a little over salted chocolate this one has a good pinch of Fleur de Sel. 

Hotel Chocolat’s Love Notes are priced at £14.00. Last year, I believe that the box contained a little card that you could write a personal love note on, this year, you don’t get a card, only the insert with love quotations.

Love Notes

I also noticed their Lovebirds chocolate (priced at £10.00), which I thought were sweet.

If you are hoping to impress someone this Valentine’s Day, I’d say go for The Affection Collection along with a Revive Treatmeant Candle.    

Here’s how to enter the Hotel Chocolat Giveaway – the prize will be sent out by Hotel Chocolat directly.

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Note – This is a sponsored review, all views and opinion expressed are my own. Many thanks to Hotel Chocolat.

  

 

Giveaway: Bertolli Gold Italian Hamper and Table Settings

As we edge closer to December, thoughts of Christmas start to pick up speed. I’m not so keen on the stress of last minute present shopping, but I do always look forward to menu planning, decorating and oddly enough, to table setting. I’m also on a drive to buy locally this year, so I’ve ordered a Christmas pudding from a local pudding maker made in a local mill and I’ll be putting together small gift boxes filled with goodies from my favourite local independent delicatessen.

Bertolli Table

A beautifully laid table, illustration only

To mark the launch of Bertolli Gold, Bertolli are offering a prize to one of my lucky readers of a really lovely Italian dinner table hamper, containing accessories to create a beautifully made table, as well as some delicious food to eat from it. The hamper is worth over £350 and I’m sure it will make one of you very happy. If you’ve ever looked at a magazine and wished you could create a really stunning table scene, this prize could help you along nicely. A pretty tablecloth, candles and some finishing touches can make all the difference, along with some tasty food.

Bertolli have also created a separate competition on their Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/bertolliuk/ that you can enter for a second chance of winning. Having had a look myself, I’ve found some inspiring table ideas along the way, too – I do love Pinterest.

As to the new product itself, Bertolli Gold is the latest spread in their range of low fat spreads made with Bertolli Mediterranean olive oil. As an olive oil spread,  it has 40% less saturated fat than spreadable butter, but it still has quite a rich, buttery taste. You can find it in the chiller cabinet in a black and gold tub. Bertolli think its stylish enough to even fit in with your Christmas dining table!

Bertolli Gold

One lucky winner will win a host of beautiful gold-themed dining table accessories to decorate your table with, along with a package of luxury Italian deli items and a tub of Bertolli Gold to enjoy.

Enter the Fabulicious Food/Bertolli Gold giveaway here:

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For more information and a downloadable coupon for Bertolli Gold, you can visit the Bertolli website here – http://www.bertolli.co.uk/coupons/

See the Rafflecopter widget for further terms and condition. You must have a UK postal address to enter. Fabulicious Food! are responsible for running this giveaway. Bertolli has provided a prize only.

Note: This is a sponsored post.