Win a pair of tickets to BBC Good Food Show Summer 2016

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Fiona Martin

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If you enjoy food, (who doesn’t) then the BBC Good Food Show for Summer 2016 is the place to be. With two major events in Birmingham and London I have a pair of tickets to be won by one lucky reader to a venue of their choice – see further down.

To whet your appetite a little I’m going to share this recipe for a rather cute Coconut Cake by James Martin who is due to make appearances at both shows.

cake

* Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

* Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

50g coconut cream
50g coconut oil
175g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g desiccated coconut

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
125g butter, softened
40g coconut cream
250g icing sugar, sifted
50g–75g coconut shavings
3–4 sprigs lemon verbena

TOP TIP: For the filling and decoration, I would always use fresh coconut rather than dried, as the latter tends to dry out the buttercream, but you could toast the coconut shavings first, if you like.

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line two 17cm deep-sided cake tins.

2) Gently heat the coconut cream and oil together in a small saucepan until liquid, then set aside to cool slightly.

3) Put the butter and caster sugar into a kitchen mixer or large bowl and beat until lightened and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one. Add the vanilla extract then sift in the flour and baking power and fold together. Add the desiccated coconut, cooled coconut cream and oil and mix well, then divide between the prepared cake tins.

4) Smooth the tops over and bake for about 20–25 minutes until golden brown and risen. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean – if it doesn’t, return the cakes to the oven for another 5 minutes and repeat.

5) Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before turning out of the tins and cooling completely.

6) Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter, coconut cream and icing sugar together in a food mixer or a bowl with an electric whisk until really light, fluffy and almost white in colour.

7) Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a 13mm plain nozzle. Pipe swirls of coconut cream all over one sponge, then scatter some coconut shavings over the top, so that they stick out around the edge of the cake. Gently lay the second cake on top. Pipe small peaks of cream all over the top of the cake and finish with some more coconut shavings and small sprigs of lemon verbena.

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Both BBC Good Food Show events are jam packed with things to do, a food stage, shopping areas, celebrity chefs and much more. This really is a great event to see live demonstrations, sample the latest foods and treat yourself to some tasty goodies!

If you’d like to win a pair of tickets to a venue of your choice, either Birmingham or London, just fill in the Gleam form below:

BBC good food tickets

Brown Sugared Vanilla Shortbread

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Baking Mad is a recipe database website with endless pages of scrumptious looking things to make, all alongside mouthwatering pictures to tempt you into a spot of baking. It really is the place to go if you are looking for something to bake and I do like the way you can search with just a few key ingredients in mind. There is also a “How to” section which is really handy for getting to grips with methods, hints and tips as well as video demonstrations.

With an array of baking goodies sent to me including flour, sugars and Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract, I wanted to make something that included most of them so searched with the words, “brown sugar, vanilla, flour” and I was faced with a delicious array of sweet treats wondering what to make.

I decided on the Brown Sugared Vanilla Shortbread, we all love shortbread and this one looked really tasty with the crunchy brown sugar and it’s deep golden colour. And it was so simple to make, all the ingredients put together in the food processor which does the hard work for you then bake in the oven.

I let all the family have a taste and the verdict was a resounding “delicious”. They all wanted more and now are eager for me to bake it again. It has a really soft crumbly yet crunchy texture that just melts in the mouth, perfect with a hot drink to dip it in.

I’m really pleased with the outcome of the Brown sugared vanilla shortbread and now want to try some other recipes from the site, with so many tempting options I’ll have to be careful but I’m sure my family will enjoy tasting them with me.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received some ingredients in order to write the review.

Shopping with Morrisons

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Morrisons supermarket entered a new battle of the prices last weekend with over 2000 products being made lower. This was just in time for the May Bank Holiday and to get some feedback from families across the country, we were sent £80 of vouchers to try out the new lower priced Morrisons.

I do shop at Morrisons for a medium sized shop most weeks, purely because it is quite convenient to get to and does have some good offers although I do feel the choice can sometimes be limited.

As soon as I arrived at Morrisons last weekend I could see lots of yellow “I’m cheaper” posters, banners, balloons etc, so it was sure to catch everyone’s eye and I found particular items that had been reduced were clearly flagged on the shelves.

I’ve always found some good prices on the fruit and vegetables at Morrisons and was pleased this time to find things like a pack of three peppers for 99p, vine ripened tomatoes 69p, bags of apples and pears for 99p each and a whole cucumber for just 49p. I also found a large box of nice looking strawberries for £3 which I though was good value for strawberries and a nice treat for Bank Holiday weekend.

I easily filled a trolley with plenty of fruit and veg, as well as some other items to make a few meals over the weekend including some nice lunches. I also bought some weekly essentials such as washing up liquid, loo roll and some white wine. Being Bank Holiday, I picked up a bottle of prosecco for a treat, which was on offer for just £6 instead of £12!!

Here’s just some of my Morrisons shopping:

For our family meal on Sunday we decided to have Roasted Vegetable & Pesto Puff Pastry tarts. The children aren’t too keen on roasted vegetables, so I adapted their versions to include chicken which they love, although I don’t eat myself due to being vegetarian.

Roasted Vegetable & Pesto Puff Pastry Tarts
to serve 4

1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry
2 courgettes
2 red peppers
2 red onions
8 vine cherry tomatoes
8 teaspoons of green pesto
1 and half balls of Mozzarella cheese

1. Slice/chop the courgettes/peppers/onions into chunky pieces and roast in the oven with a light drizzle of oil until softened and roasted
2. Unroll the pastry sheet and cut into 4 rectangles
3. Spread 2 generous teaspoons of pesto across each piece
4. Lightly score a rectangle approx half inch from the edge
5. Layer the roasted vegetables on top of the pesto
6. Add slices of mozzarella on top of the vegetables, then top with halved cherry tomatoes
7. Oven cook until the pastry is risen and golden and the cheese is sizzling

I served this with a green salad of leaves, cucumber and black pepper dressing and I’d estimate the total per portion to cost around £1.40. Personally for me, this meal is lush, the pesto makes it so tasty and I really enjoy eating it. Being simple to make and adapt to different peoples tastebuds, this makes it a great Bank Holiday meal that requires little effort!

On Bank Holiday Monday itself, the husband was working, so I decided to go with the children up to my parents house and take lunch that I’d bought from Morrisons.

The bakery from Morrisons is something I’ve always thought was rather good, the smell gets me everytime, fresh bread, pastries, you name it, carbohydrates are my downfall!! We came home with a bargainous 80p tiger loaf on our initial shop!!

On BH Monday we picked up some cheese scones and a delightful honey and sunflower loaf for lunch and took up some cheeses, ham, salad and crisps to my parents. We also picked up a fresh cream chocolate sponge that was at the cheaper price of £1. I also took up some fresh strawberries and raspberries from to decorate it along with some other Morrisons bakery cakes.

We served 6 with this fresh cream chocolate sponge and fruit, working out around 25p per portion!!

I laid out a buffet style lunch that we all enjoyed including fresh breads, cheeses, salad, houmous, crisps, dips and cakes. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all. I also bought some ice lollies as afternoon snacks for the children.

We really enjoyed shopping at Morrisons and did notice some of our usual items at a lower price. I will still continue to purchase here on a weekly basis, although would like to see an increased range of some lines, my favourite Twinings tea had a discontinued sign up by it, the store I go to doesn’t stock Warburtons wraps and no other wholemeal varieties and I was a little disappointed to see that the only “I’m cheaper” signs on the eggs were for the caged variety! Poor chucks!!

Overall Morrisons will still feature in our weekly shopping, they do offer competitive prices and have a good selection of weekly offers that are worth shopping there for. Not to mention great house wine and a fabulous bakery!!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received we received voucher in order shop at Morrisons and write the review.

Secret Ready Brek Cookies

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Fiona Martin

We love baking and I remember many years ago making Secret Cookies with Ready Brek. I knew my children would love these so thought we’d give them a go as something to occupy Miss M during the summer on a rainy day.

Mister B wanted to assist too and insisted on wearing Miss M’s Hello Kitty apron rather than his own – but whatever makes him happy! Miss M carefully followed my instructions to mix the ingredients herself and was very excited by the ‘secret’ part of the cookie. A hidden square of white chocolate pushed into the centre of each cookie before it is baked.

Here’s the recipe we used for Ready Brek Secret Cookies:

5oz butter
5oz caster sugar
1 egg yolk
4oz Ready Brek
3oz self raising flour
2oz cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
15 squares of white chocolate (enough for 1 per cookie)

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. And in egg yolk and beat well
3. Add the Ready Brek, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder
4. Mix to form a dough then break into 15 balls, flatten each ball down pushing a square of white chocolate into the centre and covering completely within the cookie
5. Bake for approx 15 minutes on 190°C

The best way to eat these cookies is when they are still warm, so take them out the oven, let them cool slightly then take a bite and you’ll find the white chocolate square in the center is all gooey!

These are deliciously yummy, I have to say our plateful of cookies didn’t last long although we did manage to save a few until the next day. They are almost as delicious cold as well, although if you pop them in the microwave for a few seconds it gently warms them up and they taste just like they’ve come out the oven again.

Why don’t you have a go at making these, lots of fun for children whatever the weather?

Richmond Mini Meatballs – Quick recipe ideas

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Being a working mum with two young children, there is nothing more I like than a quick simple meal to cook for the children in the evening that may not be perfect but gives them a bit of nutrition and is something that they enjoy. We were sent some Richmond Mini Meatballs to try to come up with some quick easy meal ideas.

I wasn’t sure whether the meatballs would be a success with my two as with myself being vegetarian we normally have meat free meatballs although I do like them to experience meat flavours when they can and make their own choices about the food that they eat. With the Richmond Mini Meatballs coming in a ready to cook bag and taking just a few minutes to heat and serve these are ideal for children.

Meatballs in Tomato Pasta (to serve 2)

Half a pack of Richmond Mini Meatballs
Half a jar of tomato and basil pasta sauce
150g pasta
2 tablespoons of frozen sweetcorn

1. Cook the pasta as per instructions
2. Add the sweetcorn just before the pasta is cooked through
3. Heat the meatballs either in the microwave or in the oven
4. Drain pasta and sweetcorn, add pasta sauce and heat through continuously stirring.
5. Serve pasta in bowl and add meatballs on top

This meal can be cooked and served within 10 minutes – ideal for those evenings when time is short. So how did the taste test go? Well check out my children’s bowls in the picture below – I think you can tell they throughly enjoyed this dish and the meatballs went down a treat!

The next day they wanted meatballs again for tea and were playing nicely outside so I thought I’d do something different with the other half packet of meatballs and let them eat al fresco seeing as the weather was nice.

Tomato & Meatball Snake with Broccoli Trees and Cloud Mash

Half a pack of Richmond Mini Meatballs
2 small potatoes
8 small broccoli florets
6 cherry tomatoes
a small piece of cheese and brown sauce to decorate

1. Heat the meatballs either in the microwave or in the oven
2. Boil or steam the broccoli under tender
3. Boil and mash potato’s

To serve add mash to plate in shape of cloud, alternate meatballs and tomatoes to form a snake, place one broccoli either side of plate to represent trees, break the other broccoli pieces up under snake to form grass, finally cut a small piece of cheese to form snakes tongue and add two brown sauce dots as eyes. This can be prepped and served within 20mins.

My two thoroughly enjoyed Richmond Mini Meatballs and I’ll definitely be buying them again as they are so easy to quickly incorporate into mealtimes.

This post is an entry for BritMums’ Hungry to Happy Challenge sponsored by Richmond Mini Meatballs

Miss M’s Homemade Cheese Scones – Recipe

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Fiona Martin

With the half term upon us and 5yr old Miss M’s love of cooking I promised her she could make me some cheese scones for lunch on one of the days I wasn’t working. She was so excited and couldn’t wait to get making and baking. She loves to cook things she can get her hands into so scones are an ideal choice.

We decided to make cheese scones using a simple recipe with just the ingredients we had at home already.

To make a batch of 6 generously sized scones we used:

8 oz self raising flour
1½ oz butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ pint of milk
5 oz of grated cheese (we used cheddar)
A generous grinding of black pepper

1. Rub the butter and the flour together (Miss M’s favourite bit as she got to get her hands in and play with the mixture)
2. Stir in baking powder, black pepper and cheese (save a little cheese back to sprinkle on top)
3. Add milk and combine to form a ball of dough
4. Divide into approx 12 balls, flatten slightly and sprinkle with remaining cheese
5. Bake for approx 10-15 mins at 220°C

We let them cool off for about 5 mins and then ate them warm, absolutely delicious they just melted in the mouth!

Miss M’s verdict: “These are super yummy, can I have another one after?”

Chocolate cupcakes with Miss M – easy recipe using drinking chocolate

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Miss M loves baking so with an excess of eggs in the house I decided to let her make some cupcakes this weekend. We were also short on cocoa powder but having loads of drinking chocolate in the house we decided to substitute that in our recipe instead of cocoa powder.

For 12 small cupcakes we used:

4oz self raising flour
4oz castor sugar
4oz margarine or butter
1 heaped tablespoon drinking chocolate
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of milk

Icing sugar, food colouring and decorations to finish

1. Cream margarine and sugar in a bowl
2. Add eggs slowly with flour/drinking chocolate and milk until all combined
3. Put in oven at 180 degrees for approx 20-30 mins
4. For icing mix icing sugar with boiling water and add relevant colourings.
5. Decorate to your hearts content!

Miss M loves baking and got completely stuck in mixing the ingredients, cracking the eggs and pouring in the flour. Mister B sat on the sideline eagerly awaiting the finished result! They had barely been out of the oven for 5 minutes when Miss M wanted to ice them but we let them cool down a little more before I made her up two bowls of icing, one pink and one blue (on her request of course!). I gave her full creative control about the designs and left her to come up with her iced masterpieces!!

As you can see Mister B remained chilled out while his sister did all the hard work. They both couldn’t wait to pick a cake and tuck in although poor Mister B was under strict instruction from big sister as to which cake he was allowed to choose. These cakes did have a moist hot chocolatey taste them and my two described them as “Mmmm yummy”!!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Discovery – Review & Recipe

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican festival celebrated with singing, dancing, fireworks and most importantly fantastic food. With celebrations happening on 5th May each year across Mexico and parts of the US, Discovery foods kindly sent us a bag of Mexican culinary delights to try out and help us celebrate the occasion. With Mexican being one of my favourite cuisines I couldn’t wait to get cooking.

Here’s what we were sent:

A Perfect Fajita Kit including flour tortillas, fajita seasoning and salsa
The *new* garlic and herb sour cream
A jar of Cajun Cooking Sauce

I decided to try the Cajun cooking sauce first and being vegetarian went for some lightly roasted vegetables covered in the seasoning then added the sauce and served on a bed of wild rice.

To make this you’ll need:
1 jar of Discovery Cajun Cooking Sauce
2 Red Onions
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
2 courgettes
250g cooked Long grain & Wild rice
Discovery Garlic and Sour Cream to serve

1. Chop the onions, peppers and courgettes and add to a roasting tray with a drizzle of oil and place in oven for 20 mins
2. Add vegetables and spices (in top of jar) to a pan and stir through letting the spices absorb into the vegetables and then mix in the Cajun sauce
3. Serve on a bed of cooked Long grain and Wild rice and drizzle with Discovery Garlic and Sour Cream to serve

The Discovery Garlic and Sour Cream is a NEW addition to the range and comes in a squeezy bottle. It’s suitable for vegetarians as well as being gluten and wheat free. The handy bottle can be stored in a fridge for up to 7 days once opened which gives you a few more days to use it than a fresh sour cream. We found it a handy, cooling topping ideal for hot dishes and I particularly liked the added garlic and herb as opposed to plain sour cream.

Keen to try the other Discovery goodies we were sent, the next evening we decided to try the Perfect Fajita Kit which comes with flour tortillas, fajita seasoning and salsa. To this we added Quorn pieces, red and green peppers and some salad leaves and not forgetting a drizzle of Discover Garlic and Herb sour cream to cool down the spice.

We found the spices in this the perfect heat for us and accompanied by the Garlic and Herb sour cream perfectly delicious. A thoroughly tasty meal that we all enjoyed.

We have really enjoyed trying the Discovery range of foods, particularly the ones we hadn’t used before. We have had a truly Mexican week for Cinco de Mayo with several inspired meals adding in some tortilla crisps and guacamole while we were cooking! Oh and the odd glass of wine 😉

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

Where’s my cupcake? game by Orchard Toys – Review

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Fiona Martin

When we were sent Where’s my cupcake? game by Orchard Toys for izziwizzikids.co.uk to review, Miss M’s face lit up immediately. The girly pink box is covered in cupcakes – she couldn’t wait to play.

The game consists of cupcake shaped cards in 10 different varieties and the object of the game is to match cupcake cards and end up with the biggest pile on your plate!!

Miss M loved the different cupcake cards and when it was her turn always described the cards by the topping whether it be the chocolate one, sprinkles, strawberry, sparkles, lemon etc etc. This in itself proved a very entertaining part of the game that is different and fun compared to usual card type games. It also adds a girly element that is hard to find in games for younger players.

An added learning element to the game was “manners”. During the game if you pick up a card that you are unable to match and keep, you can offer it to other players if they have a matching card on top of their pile. To do this the player with the card is encouraged to ask “Would you like a cupcake?” to which the recipient replies “Yes please” and “Thank you” once given the card. Miss M really enjoyed doing this and it reminded her of manners. Not only did it encourage verbal manners but also the act of sharing and giving the card to someone else – something a lot of young children are reluctant to do.

Also included in the box is a cupcake recipe card which Miss M was really excited by and couldn’t wait to make them so the next day we followed the instructions and had a fun baking session that resulted in some delicious cupcakes.

This is a fun, girly game that we have played over and over again. We’d definitely recommend it and know it would make a lovely gift for any little girl.

Below is a video of Miss M & I playing Where’s my cupcake? compiled by izziwizzikids.co.uk:

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

Easter Baking ideas for children

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Fiona Martin

We were challenged by izziwizzikids.co.uk to come up with an Easter activity video for children and decided we would love to do some baking as this is one of Miss M’s favourite pastimes.

I wanted to keep the recipes really simple so that Miss M could really feel like she was baking on her own without mummy interfering every 2 minutes. So this is what we came up with:

Firstly we chose to make some Easter chocolate nests using Shredded Wheat:

6 Shredded Wheat
180g Milk Chocolate
60g butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
Mini eggs for decoration

Step 1: We crushed the Shredded Wheat into a bowl
Step 2: We melted the chocolate, butter & golden syrup over a low heat
Step 3: Add the liquid ingredients to the Shredded Wheat and combine
Step 4: Spoon the mixture into cake cases and add decoration – leave to set in a fridge for a couple of hours.

Next we made some Easter bunny and flower biscuits:

100g butter
100g castor sugar
1 egg
275g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla essence

Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar together
Step 2: Add the vanilla essence, a beaten egg and the flour to the creamed mixture and combine to form a ball of dough
Step 3: Roll out the dough and use cutters to create your biscuits
Step 4: Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 190C
Step 5: Once the biscuits have cooled, decorate using royal icing or ready made icing tubes and a variety of sweets/decorations

These recipes are very quick and simple and are ideal for children to follow. Miss M even cracked the egg perfectly herself without the numerous shards of eggshell mummy normally has to spoon out of the mixture!! A fun element of baking for Miss M is that she loves to get her hands stuck into the mixing bowl which we achieved when crushing the Shredded Wheat and mixing/rolling out the biscuit dough.

Miss M’s favourite bit was when mummy let her loose with tubes of icing and a plate full of sweeties to decorate the Easter biscuits. It kept her occupied (and quiet) for a considerable amount of time and she had great pleasure and pride in showing us her finished results.

I think baking is a great activity to do with the children, one that gives them a sense of achievement with the finished result and gains them valuable skills in the kitchen. Baking for an occasion is always added fun and helps with creativity. Any cakes and biscuits made for Easter make ideal gifts for the children to give to friends and family – particularly grandparents who are always proud to see their grandchildren’s homemade efforts. We tested out these recipes on Grandad and Miss M proudly wrapped her handpicked selection of goodies for Nanny to take back for him after her visit to us last week. His verdict – delicious!

Here is our video: