Silent Sunday
Festival Fashion – Part 1.
It’s time to start planning my Camp Bestival wardrobe and where better to start than with festival favourites Joules.
I have been sent a gorgeous Laria maxi dress:
And some truly bootiful (see what I did there) Evedon wellies:
The dress has already been worn three times.. I’m sort of in love with the pockets and the easy drape material. PLUS I can breastfeed in it so that’s a huge bonus for me. I will be uploading lots of pics of it when I’ve worn it at Camp Bestival but it’s such a lovely dress that I couldn’t resist wearing it before. Here is a pic of me wearing it on a visit to Bluestone to visit the lovely Franglaise Mummy and family:
The wellies have been worn around the house a fair few times and I’m itching for some heavy rain so I can go stomp in muddy puddles with my girls. They are without a question the slickest boots I’ve ever owned. And the packaging alone makes me want to order from Joules every week. It’s so pretty.
Whether it rains or shines at Camp Bestival I will be wearing my wellies at least once. It would be rude not to share them with the world.
Look out for more festival fashion over the next few days and about a million photos after Camp B!
* I was gifted these items from Joules for the purpose of a review.
When I am 3…
Every day. At least once a day. I hear the words “When I am 3..”
When I am 3.. I can go to school
When I am 3 .. My cousin can sleep over my house
When I am 3.. I can eat more chocolate.
When I am 3 I can have this toy.. Or that toy.
I’m a bit worried that being 3 is going to be a huge anti climax.
I don’t want her to be 3. She’s my baby.
I can’t believe the wanting to be older issue has already reared its head. I want to sit her down, hold her tight and tell her to live in the moment. I don’t because she would look back at me and say “Why?.. I live in your house”
Some days she seems so grown up and others well she is very much still a toddler. When she is feeling a bit down and says “hold me?” It melts my heart. When she just falls asleep in the car after fighting it for so long..
The past few months have seen big changes for Izzy. Apart from the huge addition of another little human to our family 7 months ago, she has just recently moved into a big girls bed, given up her bedtime milk and we are potty training.. This is an ongoing thing. She has almost mastered it but not quite.
She seems to cope with everything really well. She loves the freedom her new bed allows and every night I find her asleep with 2-3 books tucked around her.
This time next year she will have completed her first few terms of nursery school. In ten years she will be a teenager. Arrggh. I can’t make time go any slower. I can however take my own advice and live in this moment.
Our biggest girl.
Orchard Pig – Cider and Juice Review
We were recently sent a bundle of ciders and juices from a Orchard Pig.
Orchard Pig, cider rooted in Somerset, was awarded Best Local Cider at this year’s Bristol Good Food Awards.
So did we want to try the best Cider? Of course we did.
And some of the epic juices? Well why not.
Don’t they look pretty?
Here’s what they say about it:
Bursting with West Country bittersweet cider apples, expertly crafted to our own special blend and slowly matured for a great taste with real character. With more apples and less bubbles, our bottled ciders are gently carbonated, leaving room for…. more cider!
The ciders were very cidery. For some one that normally drinks a rather pop like fruit cider the taste was a bit woah so that’s what cider should taste like.
I enjoyed the medium more than the dry but my OH enjoyed them both equally. It’s proper cider.
Now onto the juices.
What they say:
Inject some hard- core into your drink! Our orchard apple drinks are full on fruity flavor bursting out the bottle. Muddled to perfection, these drinks are the perfect refresher when you’re looking for something honest-to-the-core!
These I truly loved. You can’t beat real apple juice so I loved the apple and elderflower presse but the juices with twists of different flavours really were special. My favourite was probably the pink grapefruit, mint and lime.
My OH really liked the ginger and chilli with a twist of fennel. Will be looking out for these in my supermarket.
I’m thinking the grapefruit, lime and mint would make a great mixed up mojito – must try that.
You can buy them in various places including Waitrose and Tesco. Ciders are approximately £2 and juices around £1.29.
Check out them on Twitter and their website where you can also find handy tips on what food pairs well with each cider because as they say: Orchard Pig without food is like pigs without blankets… unthinkable!
* we were sent these products for the purpose of this review.
It’s Camp Bestival Month
Woohooooooooooooo. Feels like we have been waiting forever for Camp Bestival to swing around but we can finally say it’s this month. YAY.
I know lots of my readers are going so just wanted to say if you want to meet up with me and some of the other official bloggers we will be in the Bollywood tent from 2pm ( ish ) on the Saturday. Would be great to see lots of you. Be sure to say hi.
We are just starting to plan what to take so watch out for a post on that next week and also what we are going to dress up as..
We are trying to decide whether to camp or glamp. Big decisions.
We have had more news from CB headquarters. This time about the National Trust bringing their 50 things Meadow to Camp Bestival.
So many fun and natural activities for kids and adults alike to join in from building dens, climbing trees and stargazing. We really can’t wait.
Image from campbestival.net
Look out for a post all about festival fashion tomorrow and for my packing list next week.
And BUY your tickets if you haven’t already. You know you want to.
* I receive a family pass to CB as part as my role as a super important blogger 😉 I then talk about it all year around as I love it so.
Summer Nights At The Park Plaza Cardiff
The Park Plaza hotel in Cardiff has a fantastic new summer terrace menu and we were invited along to sample it. I know its a tough life being a food blogger.
Myself and my mum went along with Chloe for a late lunch/early dinner on a beautifully sunshiney day. The terrace is really pretty and I imagine totally amazing for a few cocktails on a night out with your friends or loved ones.
The menu is small but pretty perfect with dishes ranging from superfood salads, risottos, burger and good old fish n chips. There are also sharing dishes..small plate meals and some appetisers such as bread and olives.
There are cocktails jugs, dessert cocktails and a super sweet dessert menu of which I will rave about later in the post.
The service is friendly and not just to the reviewers ( us) but to everyone who we saw being served that day. Courteous, informative and full of smiles. 10/10 on that count.
The hotel itself is pretty luxurious from what I saw. Not the kind of place you would typically think about taking your children to but they made Chloe feel more than welcome and there is a clean, spacious baby changing area. I think I’d like to try an overnight stay one day. Would make a lovely treat.
From the a terrace menu I chose:
The Welsh Handmade Burger served with skinny fries, a sweet chilli jam and a little pot of olives ( which had a super kick to them) the burger itself contained lettuce, tomatoes, baby gherkins and American mustard and I chose to add Swiss cheese.
Sorry for the not so great photos. I realised on arrival that I’d forgotten my memory card for the camera so they are iPhone pics and I’ve somehow hidden the pot of sensational sweet chilli jam behind my fries but it was there and I promise it was good.
The burger was full of flavour and cooked just the way I liked it. I can never finish burger buns as bread just fills me up too much but the roll was really fresh and tasty. The gherkins ( which I normally remove) were a delight as was the Swiss cheese. Yum. The fries were crispy and fluffy all at once. The olives were a lot hotter than I expected them to be but so good..just enough heat without burning my mouth off.. And the jam was lip smackingly nice. I’d return for this dish. Although next time I’m thinking the steak with béarnaise sounded like a contender.
My mum chose:
The LBK Fish and Chips served with thicker cut chips ( or you can opt for skinny fries) mushy peas and tartar sauce with a half lemon wrapped in a pretty gauzey parcel ( my mum was impressed with this..as was I)
She said the fish was really tender and the batter was perfect. The chips were really good but a few too many for her ( which isn’t exactly a complaint) – she just wanted to save room for dessert ..I can hardly blame her as the dessert menu makes you drool.
For dessert I chose:
Strawberry Pavlova
This is not something I’d ever normally choose as I’m such a chocolate girl but it’s summer and I decided to ask the waiter what he thought and he loves the pavlova. Thank you waiter ( sorry I didn’t get your name) it was incredible, I can quite often be disappointed in desserts but this was outstanding. I was too full to finish it but I HAD to finish.
My mum chose:
Peach Melba Knickerbocker Glory
This was on recommendation of someone else at the hotel and it was pretty and fresh and perfect. My mum loved it and Chloe had a taste and loved it too. So much fresh fruit. Silken cream and rich, creamy ice cream. The Queen of Knickerbocker Glory ice creams the world over 😉
We didn’t try any of the cocktails as I had a meeting to attend afterwards which is a shame but next time for sure.
If you are in the Cardiff area or planning to visit, I encourage you to visit.
Find out more on the Park Plaza Website, they are also active on Twitter here.
If you fancy something a bit different Park Plaza also offer a Gentlemans afternoon tea with items such as venison burgers and chorizo scotch eggs in place of dainty sarnies. Find out more here.
Food Hacks. #1
The online world is full of hacks at the moment. Life hacks. Technology hacks and most important ( to me anyway ) food hacks.
Hacks are ways of cutting corners, saving time, doing brilliant things in ways you hadn’t thought of before and using gadgets for things you don’t normally use them for.
This particular one has been spinning around Pinterest for a while.. I’ve no idea where it originated but I read about it on a A Healthy Slice and as I love that blog I will credit her 😉
Shredded Chicken in a Kitchen Aid ( or any stand mixer)
You will need:
A kitchen aid or similar ( I use an Andrew James stand mixer which is awesome)
Cooked chicken breasts or thighs ( I used thighs which had been cooked in sous vide)
If the breasts are large cut in two. Thighs are fine whole. Place in food mixing bowl using the attachment shown in my image and turn on low until shredded. Easy peasy.
It’s super simple but saves so much time.
I used my shredded chicken to make a sandwich filler adding The Garlic Farm mayonnaise, mild curry paste and some mango chutney. Was delicious.
What are your favourite food hacks?
Meal Plan Monday
It’s been a few weeks since my last meal plan – sorry!
We have been away and things have been just chaotic.
This weeks meal plan is going to be made up of using things up in my cupboard. My maternity leave budget is dwindling so thrifty meals ahoy.
Monday:
Burgers with homemade chips
Tuesday:
Chicken Thighs in a succulent sauce with sweet potato mash.
Wednesday:
Red Lentil Curry with homemade flatbreads
Thursday:
Spag Bol
Friday:
Veggie Soup with croutons ( using up any stale bread)
Saturday:
Cheese and Potato Pie with a giant salad.
Bye Bye Bednest
This week we said a very sad farewell to the Bednest. Very sad as we loved it, it made our lives so much easier and also sad because my baby is no longer a teeny one anymore.
Luckily she doesn’t seem to hate her new cot too much so fingers crossed that continues.
You can read my review on the Bednest here
Here is Chloe in her new cot:
And in her Bednest:
I do have some good news for you. The very lovely people at Bednest have given me a 20% off discount code for you off any standard rentals or purchases from their site. That’s a bit good yes?
If you have any questions about the Bednest please email or comment and I will answer as well as I can. Otherwise check them out on twitter: @bednest as they are always willing to help.
Taste Of London – The Secret Ingredient
Last week we were very happy to be invited to attend The Taste Of London festival for the second time. We were returning as guests of Electrolux and what was almost more exciting than the festival was the fact we got to take a close up peek at their brand new Combi Steam Sous Vide oven.
As you may already know from the blog I use a Sous Vide water bath at home and I’m a huge fan of this method of cooking so an actual oven which does everything that a normal oven does, also has the option to cook sous vide AND has smart phone capabilities well wow.
Anyway back to the festival.
From just one show in London eleven years ago, Taste has rapidly grown to become an essential part of the social season for foodies, restaurant-lovers and chef-groupies. Today there are 22 Taste festivals in cities throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Wherever it is in the world, Taste represents foodie heaven: stunning food prepared by the city’s greatest restaurants, world famous chefs, superb drink and outstanding entertainment, set in stunning outdoor surroundings.
I’ve only attended the London events so far but I think at some point I will have to take in some of the other shows too. Taste of Milan anyone?
It’s a real feast for the senses and a little more exciting, a little more grown up than some other festivals. There’s an air of gourmet glamour as people tend to make a day/evening of it. The food is the best in the area with the very top restaurants competing against each other for the best dish.
We ate too much, sampled some delightful drinks including this gorgeous Pimms cocktail from the Singha beer bar:
Pizza from Rossopomodoro:
We also had some delicious salted caramel ice cream from Purbeck ( who we always try to visit at these festivals) you can see the cone in our giant deck chair pic lower in the post but I didn’t get a close up.. Naughty food blogger.
And then I had some real foodie treats from past Masterchef winner Tim Anderson at the Electrolux Secret Ingredient stand:
Tim demonstrated how to use the fancy new Sous Vide oven from explaining how to use the vacuum sealer drawer ..(which I’m a little in love with) to the way he uses the sous vide to get maximum flavour and texture.
Here’s a little info about the oven:
The Electrolux CombiSteam SousVide oven is incredibly multifunctional. As well as three low-temperature sous-vide settings it can also steam, roast, bake and grill. Combining these cooking methods gives home chefs an unsurpassed cooking repertoire.With the Electrolux CombiSteam SousVide oven, ingredients are first combined and then sealed in the VacSealer drawer. Vacuum sealing is an extremely versatile process that far exceeds just a cooking method. It allows food to be pre-cooked then refrigerated or frozen, so it can simply be finished off when necessary. This provides greater cooking flexibility as elements that are more time-sensitive can be prepared in advance and simply finished off closer to serving. During the next stage, food is steam-cooked at temperatures ranging from 54 to 80°C depending the food and desired result. These lower cooking temperatures lock in vitamins and nutrients and longer cooking times ensure herbs and spices infuse directly into the dish, delivering deliciously moist melt in the mouth food whilst retaining textures.
Advanced technology, inside and out:
The cooking technology found within this oven overflows into its design. The CombiSteam SousVide oven features a TFT interactive colour screen which holds an archive of 90 cooking recipes as well as providing users with a smooth and precise interaction with their oven. This ‘smart phone’ style touch screen guides users intuitively through the ovens settings so the correct functions can be selected with ease. The Electrolux VacSealer drawer is so precise; it removes 99.99% of all air, whilst the CombiSteam SousVide oven’s temperature can be controlled within a tenth of a degree for consistent results, every time.
And some pics to make you drool…if you are kitchen nerd like me:
If you are on the hunt for a new oven which can do pretty amazing things then look no further. Did I mention my oven has recently started to sputter and moan..the hints have already started dropping at my house.
And back to the festival again..
With what feels like a hundred places to eat..just as many to drink and lounge:
*baby not included.
Demos from the very best chefs..
And of course food products and gadgets galore.
The next Taste event ( in the UK anyway) is Taste Of Winter which is held in London’s Tobacco Dock in November. For more info click