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The McDonald’s Restaurant Evolution

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One of my first jobs was working as a crew member at a local McDonald’s restaurant, I was 16 years old and incredibly keen to start making my own money, I remember my first day and how exciting the whole experience of it was. In fact, looking back some 16 years later ( seriously ..where does the time go? ) it is probably the most fun I have had whilst working, there were a large group of crew members who I had just left school with and some of whom I was now attending college alongside. We worked together, socialised and made new friends along the way too.

I was recently invited to take an in-depth look at another local store and I immediately said yes, I was interested to see the changes and relive my teenage work experience!

It’s funny because the time at which I worked at McDonald’s was probably one of the only times in my life I wasn’t actually interested in cooking, I was interested in going out with my friends, buying new clothes and music but food was on the back burner for a short time. Now I would find it fascinating working around food all day I am sure and the day at McDonald’s was really interesting. We first met with Ron Mounsey who owns 16 stores in the local area, he talked us through the evolution of McD’s and explained some of the changes I have already seen in my local stores – yes I am a food blogger and yes I still eat McD’s, I don’t spend every day slaving over a hot stove and I am a sucker for a Big Mac as much as the rest of you are.  My girls think McDonald’s is a big treat as I did when I was a child, they enjoy the play area and the free toys in the happy meals – it is also one of the few places I can grab something on the go for Chloe who has multiple allergies as she can enjoy a fruit bag and the fries.

There have been some dramatic improvements to the stores recently and the main changes in our area are:

 
Revolutionised kitchen design – with fast service and freshly prepared food

When I worked there back in 1999-2000 we prepared food in bulk ready for the influx of orders, burgers and nuggets would then be allowed to remain for 20 minutes before being discarded. This meant that there was often a lot of food waste and also if you had a burger towards the end of its allotted time then you had the potential for limp lettuce and slightly soggy buns. I am SO glad that McDonald’s have now addressed this. Did you know that every order is now made to order? The difference in quality is incredible. They have also changed the design of the kitchens and it really does run like a well oiled machine, it is so busy back there and constantly moving yet every member of staff knows exactly what they should be doing and it is like a second nature to them – so much so I couldn’t get an action shot of the burgers being made up  as it was so quick!

Digital experience with self-service kiosks and tablets available to customers

The self service kiosks make life a lot easier on both the customers and staff, no more long winding queues around the restaurant. Customers can quickly and efficiently order their meals using a number of kiosks in the lobby of the restaurant. The benefits of this are also that you don’t rush your order at the till so you can take your time to browse the menus and the swap options available to you, I always choose this option where available. The iPads in store are great to occupy older children but also for people who want to work through their lunch or just browse for leisure. I enjoy the super fast wifi in store especially as the closest restaurant to us has a play area which means I can grab a coffee while the girls play and update my social media channels while they are busy having fun.

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Ron Mounsey showing a fellow blogger how to use the kiosk:

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Table-service availability

My local McD’s has table service and this makes life so much easier when you have small children with you. It means I can order quickly at the kiosk and then grab a table, some crayons and the huge colouring sheets and relax with the girls while we wait for one of the lovely staff to bring our food to the table.

 

 Choice – in the food you order and how you order it

The menu at McDonald’s continues to expand and there is more variety in what you can choose to have with your meal, for example perhaps you don’t want your child to have fries on every visit so you could swap it for carrot sticks or swap the fruit shoot for a bottle of water. Whilst at the store we learnt a lot about what goes into the food and I think some people would be shocked to know that all of the meat is 100% beef or chicken breast, the salad is fresh and the eggs are free range.  You read some pretty horrifying articles online about what goes into some fast food options so it is really good to be assured of what you are eating.

All in all it was an interesting experience and at the end of the day we also got a chance to try out the Signature Collection burgers which launch in 40 stores in Wales today. There are three options, The Classic, The BBQ or The Spicy and the latter gets my vote for sure with jalapeños and pepper jack cheese, it has a real kick.

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After our tour of the restaurant we got to work in the kitchen making our own Big Mac:

making a big mac

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That Big Mac tasted pretty good let me tell you!

It was nice to see as well that after all these years and all of the changes that some things remain the same, the staff ( or crew as they are called ) work hard together and seem to have fun too, Ron Mounsey mentioned how much he likes to see how the staff become friends and stay friends years later. Everyone we met was friendly, helpful and happy – lots of pleasant memories from my time there resurfaced afterwards! It is far from the easy job as it can be seen by some, when it gets busy and it always does the staff don’t get a moment to stop yet the customer service doesn’t seem to falter. I will probably be calling in more often now.. my waistline may not like it but now that I have tried the Spiced Cookie Latte I think I may struggle to stay away!

Perhaps you haven’t visited McD’s in recent years, go see for yourself, you may be quite surprised.

  • This post is in collaboration with McDonald’s and I was compensated for my time in attending this event. Thanks to Ron Mounsey, Lisa Rees- Operations Manager, Jayne James- Group Supervisor, Adam Phillips and Miles Jenkins ( shift managers ) for your time and looking after us so well.

Rosemary & Chocolate Biscuits With Lemon Icing

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I made these Rosemary Chocolate biscuits just as Summer was drawing to a close, I noted the recipe down as I enjoyed them so much and then promptly forgot to share them. Oops. Better late than never. I really like adding Rosemary to sweet bakes, it adds such an incredible level of flavour and the kitchen smells so good while they are baking. They are perfectly tasty unadorned but the lemon icing adds a crisp, fresh balance to the chocolate biscuit.

Rosemary & Chocolate Biscuits With Lemon Icing

You will need:

For the biscuits:

225g Self Raising Flour

100g Golden Caster Sugar

50g Cocoa Powder

100g Softened Butter

60ml Full Fat Milk

1.5 tbsp of Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary

For the icing:

100g Icing Sugar ( sieved)

25ml Warm Lemon Juice ( add a little more if required for desired consistency )

Lemon Zest to decorate

Preheat your oven to 200c. Prepare two flat baking trays.

Add your flour, sugar, cocoa and rosemary to a bowl and mix well before rubbing in your butter. Add your milk and mix well, use your hands to form a dough. Place on a floured surface and roll out to desired thickness ( about 1.4 inch is best ) and use a cookie cutter to shape your biscuits. Bake for approximately 8 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.

To make your icing, pour your icing sugar into a bowl and slowly add your lemon juice a little at a time until you have the right consistency. Ice your cooled biscuits and sprinkle over a small amount of lemon zest.

rosemary chocolate biscuits

Food Thoughts & Quotes – Food As Medicine

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I apologise for the almost silence that has taken over the blog this past week or so. I had to have a minor operation recently and I have been spending some time recovering from that and trying to let my body rest and fight all of my natural instincts to be busy all the time. It’s hard. I am so used to be on the go constantly between my day job, the blog and the girls that it is difficult to just make myself stop that and let my body heal.

But I am trying.

When I am ill or stressed I tend to lose my appetite quite a bit, when really it is the time at which I should be focusing on eating heartily and well. So I don’t eat enough or I eat the wrong things – I mean that Terry’s Chocolate Orange just slipped into my online grocery shopping basket…

This time though I am really keen to get better and back to normal health and energy levels as soon as possible and although my days are not very structured at the moment I am making sure I get regular meals and a balanced diet. Whilst binge watching The Crown and incredibly cheesy romantic comedies on Netflix of course.

By balance I mean that last night I had a Chinese takeaway and a glass of coke and today I have my mums veg packed homemade soup for lunch with a glass of fresh orange juice. Tonight one of my elder sisters is making me a home cooked meal – having a big family is definitely beneficial at these times. I am upping my intake of fruit and veg, eating porridge for breakfast to stop mid morning energy slumps and definitely also allowing myself some chocolate or the delectable salted caramel fudge that my sister bought me.

I thought it was an appropriate time to share some quotes about food as medicine:

“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” Ann Wigmore

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates

I am very much looking forward to getting back in the kitchen as I have some new recipes that just need a little fine tuning before I share them with you.  Including this giant custard tart:

custard-tart

Triple Chocolate Pretzel Brownies

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I’m a bit of a fan of brownies. I didn’t used to be. But over the past year or so I must have made them about 20 times…or maybe even more! Probably not a good thing but everytime I make them they just get better and better.

Gooey, fudgey and heavy on chocolate. Sometimes I do find that brownies can be overly sweet and if you want to change this and mix it up a little then this is the recipe for you. I have tried lots of salted caramel brownies, or normal brownies with sea salt flakes on top but these ones with pretzel sticks on top are my current fave.

Using three different types of chocolate as well as vanilla bean paste and the all important salted sticks.

You can of course use normal pretzels on top – I use these sticks called Paluszki as they are incredibly cheap in the world food aisle and so addictive. Anyone else a bit in love with the World Food aisle? Same products, packaged differently ..way cheaper.

Triple Chocolate Pretzel Brownies

You will need:

275g softened salted butter
375g golden vanilla caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste/or extract
75g cocoa powder
100g self raising flour
35g white chocolate chunks/chips
35g dark chocolate chunks/chips
35g milk chocolate chips
25 pretzel sticks

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4/180 and line grease a 12 by 9 traybake tin.

Put all ingredients aside from your sticks and icing sugar into a stand mixer and blend until thoroughly combined- the mixture will be a bit lumpy due to your choc chunks. Pour into your tin, lightly press your pretzel sticks into the top and bake for 30-35 mins or until the edges are starting to come away from the sides but there is still a wobble. The perfect brownie has a slightly crisp top with a gooey middle.

Leave to cool slightly then dust with icing sugar and cut into squares. This keeps very well for a few days ( if you can resist).

pretzel brownies

Panasonic Smart Food Processor MK-F800 Review & Simple Mushroom Soup

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Over the next 12 months I am acting as an Ambassador for Panasonic. This means I will be trying out the latest products and giving them a thorough testing before telling you what I think of them.

The first product which I have been testing over the past month is the Panasonic Smart Food Processor MK-F800. This is a pretty impressive piece of kitchen kit. It boasts 13 attachments and 30 different uses. It has a touch screen glass menu so it fits right into a modern kitchen.

panasonic mk-f800sxe review food processor

So far I have used the dry mill to grind spices, the blender to make soups, the knife blade to make bread dough and peanut butter and the salad drainer to ..well drain my salad. It’s fair to say I have given it a good testing!

Mostly this past fortnight I have been using it to make soups, they make it a breeze. I tend to use the food processor to dice my vegetables prior to cooking and I use the blender at the end to puree it.

There is something very comforting and indulgent about a simple mushroom soup. The earthy, almost meaty taste of the mushrooms in this soup combine with vegetable stock, potato, garlic, onions and butter to make a really warming dish. A perfect starter for the colder seasons or a really satisfying lunch. Serve it with a loaf of homemade soda bread and you will impress anyone.

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I have made it with and without the double cream, it is delicious without but I like the rich taste you get when adding the cream. The baked potato can again be omitted if required but it makes the soup a little thicker, a little tastier and I like the texture.

It is also worth noting that this makes an excellent sauce for meats or for pasta as well as being served as a soup.

Super Simple Mushroom Soup

You will need:

350g mushrooms ( I used chestnut ), diced

1 small red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large baked potato, skin removed and potato scooped out.

50g butter

1 tbsp olive oil

500ml vegetable stock

50ml double cream

1 generous pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper

Melt your butter and oil together in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add your onions and garlic and sauté until softened. Add your mushrooms and fry until they are golden brown.  Pour into a blender and add your scooped out potato, vegetable stock, seasoning and cream.

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If you do not have a suitable jug blender, pour in to a jug and use a stick blender to puree.

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Blitz until smooth.

Serve with a drizzle of cream on top and swirl in.

simple mushroom soup

Couldn’t get much simpler. Enjoy.

I will be getting to grips with my next Panasonic kitchen toy this month, you can look forward to my review just before Christmas.

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• As part of the advocacy programme I am sent products to try out at home, I am being compensated for my time.

10 Hot Drinks You Need In Your Life

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I am a hot drink fan all year around, a cup of tea can refresh you even on a boiling hot day. I love hot chocolate during the summer while I am camping or at festivals but Autumn through to Winter is when I up my hot drink game. I have rounded up some great options which may make you stray from your old favourites..

Starting with my perfect Chai Latte:

perfect chai latte

Or perhaps you are still yet to try my Nutella Hot Chocolate Hack?

nutella hot chocolate

Next up is this Spiced Turmeric Milk With Manuka Honey from Fuss Free Flavours:

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Or if you are counting calories .. Diet Friendly Eggnog from The Crafty Larder:

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A more traditional Chai Tea from Recipes From A Pantry:

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AH I love Irish Cream in hot chocolate so this is right up my street Slow Cooker Baileys Hot Chocolate from Lovely Appetite:

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Clementines are my favourite winter fruit so this sounds amazing! Warm Pear and Clementine Juice from Recipes From A Pantry:

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I like how thick and indulgent this Honeyed Rose Hot Chocolate from Tin & Thyme looks!

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I have already had my first Mulled Wine of the year.. OOPS. I am definitely feeling the need to try this Spiced Cherry Mulled Wine from Emily’s Recipes and Reviews:

cherry mulled wine

Last but not least is one of my all time favourite hot drinks, the Jamie Oliver Epic Hot Chocolate:

jamie oliver epic hot chocolate

Healthy Treat Time With Yeo Valley

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As a parent I think one of the hardest parts is knowing that you are responsible for the health of your child. Up until a certain age you pretty much have complete control over what they eat and drink – apart from when they visit their grandparents of course!

I know I will often question myself over whether they have had a balanced day of meals. I suppose some would consider me to be slightly strict with regards to giving too many sugary treats but what has somehow ( luckily ) become ingrained in both girls is that fruit and even certain vegetables ( they love peppers and olives ) are treats. Our local greengrocer in the high street close to where we live is their favourite shop and they think they are so lucky when they get to choose their own special fruits, typically grapes for Izzy and some form of berries for Chloe. I don’t expect this to last, teenage years will have their own temptations with fizzy pop, haribos under the desk at school and fast food on days out with their friends and that’s fine – its life and its about balance.  All I can do is continue to look after their health at home for the most part and hope they grow to be strong, healthy girls.

That’s not to say we don’t have special treats at home, the occasional McDonalds and sweets on our cinema days out, I am not a mean mum I promise. We mostly bake cakes and biscuits to enjoy together and I like that it’s also about the experience and the time together in the kitchen with the end result of goodies and perhaps a film under a blanket.

Izzy is at an age where she seems to have a constant hunger, she is tall for her age and has seemingly limitless energy – she can make me tired just watching her. After school is the HANGRY time or so it seems and the questioning for food begins in earnest. We were asked by Yeo Valley to have a think about what healthy treats we could incorporate into our day and also try out their organic yoghurts made just for children ( HA ..just for children..I’ve had at least two ). Find out more about what Yeo Valley make for children here.

So our slightly cooler Autumnal afternoons have been spent enjoying carpet picnics ( picnics don’t have to end with the summer – just move them indoors )  and have included a variety of after school snacks:

Sticks of fruit with a yoghurt dip

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Frozen yoghurt drops – such an easy and tasty treat.

Yoghurt topped with granola – Izzy enjoys this and I love the apricot flavour topped with tropical granola for breakfast too.

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The peach and apricot flavours also work really well as an addition to a mild curry for children, it adds the slightly sweeter, creamier flavour that they seem to enjoy whilst also introducing them to new spices and textures.

Yoghurts are such a convenient product to keep at home, filling and healthy, a good source of calcium for your growing child. You can always feel confident in the knowledge that Yeo Valley products do not contain a long list of ingredients you won’t recognise and it’s all organic too.

What healthy treats do your children enjoy?

  • This post in in collaboration with Yeo Valley and I have been compensated for it.

Candied Bacon With Nutella Dipping Sauce

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Recently I was chatting to a friend about the wonders of Bacon and Nutella, we debated which was better and failed to come to a conclusion. This of course led onto the thoughts of Bacon and Nutella together. Specifically Candied Bacon with Nutella sauce.  A match made in heaven or a major disappointment?

I had to test it out. The seed was planted and it was just a matter of days before I was in the kitchen experimenting. Let me tell you, this is a relationship which works – they compliment each other perfectly. The sweet and salty bacon, the nutty and indulgent Nutella. YES. It works.

Now I often warm Nutella to use as a dipping sauce for strawberries, I have also poured it over ice cream and pancakes but you know it can get that slightly gritty texture when it starts to cool? I hate that. So I made this sauce instead, by adding a little double cream and golden syrup it is transformed. It still tastes exactly like Nutella but its smoother and possibly even more indulgent. I plan to use this sauce for lots of other dishes and definitely as my strawberry dip.

Candied Bacon

10 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

4 tablespoons light muscovado sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 200c. Mix your sugar and cinnamon together well, coat your bacon in the mixture on both sides. Place on greaseproof paper on a baking trip and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown and slightly crispy. Remove and leave to cool.

Nutella Dipping Sauce

150g Nutella
50ml Double Cream
50ml Golden Syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Warm your Nutella, cinnamon, double cream and syrup in a pan over a low heat, stir slowly until the ingredients are combined and it is heated through. You will left with a silky, indulgent sauce. Remove from pan.

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Find more Nutella recipes here.

Belgian Chocolate Choux Buns With Vanilla Pastry Cream

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I first shared my recipe for choux buns here on the blog in 2013, I had only just begun to experiment with choux pastry and whilst the results were good, I can tell you now that this new improved version is a hundred times better.

The main difference is that I now use pastry cream or creme patissiere as a filling over the standard vanilla whipped cream that I used to use. It makes for a denser filling so no soggy pastry, they last longer and they taste pretty incredible. This last batch that I made were my favourite yet so I thought it was about time I updated the recipe and photos to share with you.

Now choux pastry can seem fiddly and complicated but give it a go, you will be surprised by how quickly you will master it. I never pipe it after numerous messy attempts, hence the buns rather than the long perfectly shaped eclairs. I have always been a taste over looks person with food although I am starting to work more on the aesthetic appeal as we do eat with our eyes first and well..Instagram.

When making any dish I urge you to use the best quality ingredients you can afford, that means pure vanilla extract ( no essence please ) and top quality chocolate in this case. I use Callebaut chocolate for most of my bakes so I can recommend that.

Belgian Chocolate Choux Buns With Vanilla Pastry Cream

You will need:

For the pastry:

125ml water
50g butter
60g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten

For the filling:

200ml double cream
50ml whole milk
3 large egg yolks
250g golden caster sugar
30g plain flour
20g butter
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the topping:

100 g dark belgian chocolate

Preheat oven to 200c.

Pour the water into a saucepan over a medium heat and add the butter, as soon as the butter melts, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.

Add your flour in one go and take your pan off heat.
Beat quickly with a wooden spoon until the flour has blended in and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and makes a ball. Do not overbeat  or your pastry will be heavy rather than light and airy as it should be.

Leave to cool until its just lukewarm to the touch, start to beat in your eggs, a little at a time beating well between each addition – It’s best to use an electric mixer as the more you beat the better your pastry will be. Your pastry should now be very glossy and have a soft, almost dropping consistency.

Lightly oil and flour a baking tray and evenly space a tablespoon or so of pastry in dollops over your tray. Sprinkle lightly with water.You should have enough for approx 10 small buns. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown and well risen.

Remove from oven and pierce immediately with sharp knife to let steam escape and avoid a soggy bun. Leave to cool on wire rack while you make your filling.

Whisk your yolks, sugar and flour together and set aside. Heat your cream, milk and cinnamon together in a pan until boiling, remove a small amount (approximately 75ml ) of the mixture and whisk into the yolk,flour and sugar mix, add some more and whisk again before pouring carefully into the cream and milk in the pan. Whisk together and cook over a low heat until thickened ( should not take more than a few minutes ) now whisk in your butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool – pop a layer of clingfilm on top of the mixture so it is touching the top to avoid a skin forming.

Now careful fill your buns with your pastry cream, use a piping bag or just a spoon like I did. Melt your chocolate and use as much or as little as you like to top your buns.

 

choux-buns

Now try to stop yourself eating them one after another. It’s hard I can tell you.

These are so indulgent and moreish that you have to try them! The filling is incredibly sweet and well creamy, the pastry is light and the chocolate topping is literally the icing on the cake.

Food Thoughts & Quotes – Erma Bombeck

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Erma Bombeck was an American writer, most well known for her humorous newspaper column talking about her suburban home life. Along with over 4000 columns, she wrote 15 books ( many of which were bestsellers ).

“I am not a glutton, I am an explorer of food”

I love this quote. I read it from the part of my mind that always links up food and travel. I know this is not what the quote is actually about but it’s how you read it.

If I travel anywhere new I will always think, where will I eat, what will I eat..what MUST I try? Even exploring a supermarket in a new country is like Christmas for me. The new ( to me ) products or the exciting variations on products I already know and love make me happy. When I think of holidays I have been on, food is always a highlight. I remember pink and white striped ice cream from seaside holidays in Wales as a child, the most perfectly cooked steak with béarnaise sauce served in a tiny restaurant in Notre Dame and many others with more to come I hope.

This photo taken by my super talented friend Ceri shows some of his foodie explorations in India:

Indian food cooking on street

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart”

Now most of us can’t get away with succumbing to the dessert cart every night ..if only.. but life would be a lot sadder without pudding. Seize the moment is what I take from this quote. Not necessarily in relation to food but just in relation to life. I am trying really hard to do just this, in every aspect of my life. I have stopped telling myself that I can’t do something – because I know that I can always try. Perhaps I will fail and for the most part I probably will but I will know that I tried. I don’t want to look back and say if only I had tried that new avenue of work, visited that new country or eaten that enormous slice of chocolate cream pie ( of course I ate the pie ).