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Thrifty Homemade Christmas Gifts – Part 1

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Last year I made a lot of the gifts that I gave to friends and family. It saved me a fortune and everyone seemed to like them. This year the intention was to make all my gifts. It’s not going to happen. I would however like to share over the next few weeks things I made last year so you can try them out for your Christmas presents. Some of these ideas are mine, others I have blatantly stolen from Nigella, Jamie and co or from images I’ve spotted on Pinterest.

This week I want to tell you about flavoured sugars and shortbread.

First up Vanilla Sugar.

This is so easy peasy that you don’t really need an explanation but here it goes.

You will need large jars, golden caster sugar and vanilla pods.

The quantities you use don’t matter, you want to layer caster sugar and vanilla pods cut in half in large jars. Seal for a minimum of a month or for up to a year. If you are gifting these try using pretty jars such as Kilner jars, making your own labels and tying with pretty festive ribbon.

As well as for gifts you should have a jar of this at home in your store cupboard at all times, use it in place of standard caster sugar in all recipes for extra flavour, as you use it simply top up with more sugar and pods.

I buy my vanilla pods from food sellers on eBay as far cheaper and in bulk.

This idea is from the Nigella Christmas book. Which is awesome by the way.

You will use the vanilla sugar in my next gift idea:

Superb Simple Shortbread

You will need:

125g Plain Flour
90g salted butter
40g Vanilla sugar plus extra for dusting

Blend your flour and sugar together before rubbing in your butter until completely combined and forming a dough. Roll into a rectangular piece of dough and cut into 8 lengths. Using a fork prick them several times and bake in a preheated oven on a greased tray for 20-25 minutes. Immediately on removing from the oven sprinkle with vanilla sugar and leave to cool on a a wire rack.

Most recipes ask for unsalted butter but I like the salty/sweet shortbread taste you get when using salted butter.

Gift in a pretty box. These are best made the night before giving as a gift. These quantities are the perfect amount for a gift for one person/or couple.

I made these today with my (almost) 2 year old and we had lots of fun making and eating them!

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Coming up next week:

Jamie’s epic hot chocolate and peppermint creams.

How to spend less

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Last Winter I wrote 6 blog posts on how to spend less, they were really popular and have recently started receiving a lot of views again. I guess we are all trying to be more thrifty these days.

Coming up to Christmas we could all do with some extra pennies so here are the links to the 6 posts ..some maybe useful..some not so much but they definitely helped me and just re reading them today has inspired me to start being more frugal again.

How to spend less. Part 1

How to spend less. Part 2

How to spend less. Part 3

How to spend less. Part 4

How to spend less. Part 5

How to spend less. Part 6

I miss cooking

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Firstly let me apologise for the lack of foodie content on the blog lately. I know a lot of your subscribe just for the foodie stuff and well I’m sorry. I miss cooking, I miss hours in my kitchen. If I get a day when I feel like cooking I go overboard but those days are few and far between lately.
Between the morning sickness which has decided to reappear..the extreme tiredness and just the general crappiness of this pregnancy I just have no energy or inclination to do anything.

If I do cook then I rarely feel like eating it. I can’t believe that in my pregnancy with Izzy at this stage I was making hoards of lasagnes/shepherds pie and curries to freeze for that first manic month of having a newborn. This time around I can’t see that happening. I may have to stock up on takeaway menus instead.

Why does this feel like such a big deal? I feel as though I’ve lost my identity a bit. Cooking is such a huge part of who I am.

For my foodie readers I’m planning to share a few of my favourite recipes with you that I haven’t made recently so you can look forward to that over the next few weeks and maybe it will inspire me to get back in the kitchen.

To everyone else ..sorry for yet another moan. Any tips to brighten my mood?

It’s a matter of Taste – Taste of London 2013 review

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A little while ago I received a lovely invitation from Electrolux to attend the Taste of London food festival. As it came at a time when I was already going to be in London for Britmums I was extremely happy that I was able to say an excited yes!

For those of you who don’t know anything about Taste:

Regent’s Park transforms into a foodie wonderland for four days of summer eating, drinking and entertainment. Create your perfect taster menu from 40 of the city’s best restaurants as they serve their finest dishes for the ultimate alfresco feast. In addition, over 200 artisan producers and premium brands will provide a bounty of the best food and beverages from Britain and around the world.

Doesn’t that sound awesome? Well it really was.

The weather wasn’t exactly splendid on the day of our visit but it didn’t spoil it at all.

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We started our day at the Taste of Thailand theatre, throughout the 4 days they had a really exciting programme of dance and various shows as well as culinary demos. My daughter was entranced by the dancers and it really started our day off with a bang.

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Next on our list was food! We stopped at Barbecoa as it just smelled so delicious and shared:

*Barbecoa burger – Westcombe cheddar, Heirloom tomatoes, Charred red onion

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*Pulled Pork shoulder – Jalapeño corn bread, BBQ sauce & Coleslaw

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Ahh bliss.

I may have also bought a sneaky bag of salted fudge and eaten a few samplers on our way around too – it would be rude not to hey?

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We moved on to the Electrolux chefs secrets area – this was amazing. It was set up with rows of worktops and top of the range Electrolux technology for visitors to take part in cookery sessions led by chefs such as Simon Hulstone – I was so disappointed to discover I had arrived too late to sign up for any as they were SO popular but we watched for a while and it looked and smelled amazing.

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Electrolux chefs secrets

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We visited the Electrolux taste theatre to watch some demonstrations by chefs such as Magnus Nilsson and Simon Hulstone – as the days went on there were some really fab collaborations in store such as Pierre Koffman and Tom Kitchin as well as three generations of the Roux family which I am sure were fantastic – unfortunately we were only there for the one day.

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We visited the San Pellegrino stand where we tried some new flavours and ate some pizza from The Pizza Pilgrims which was stupendous.

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As the afternoon wore on we started to get hungry again .. of course and so we visited the restaurants again for some inspiration. It was so difficult to choose what we wanted to eat but we finally decided on massaman curry for my other half whilst I indulged in another burger from Barbecoa ( I blame my pregnancy hormones and cravings) it was just so good I needed one to myself.

We also picked up some incredible fresh cheese straws for Izzy, some huge american style cookies and some delicious vanilla ice cream made by the guys at the cuisinart stand. YUM.

Time soon escaped us and we had to leave – next time I definitely aim to book into more than one session.

Next up is a Taste of Christmas in November at Tobacco Dock London which I doubt I will be able to make it to seeing as I am due to give birth the week before but hey Iz was 3 weeks early so there is hope 😉 I highly recommend you visit.

Thanks again to Electrolux for inviting us and for making me drool all over their products. WANT.

You make me smile

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You are just 19 months old but sometimes you seem so wise. Like when you put your hand on your chin and say “Hmmmmm”

Every morning when you see my bare belly you point and say “Baby..hiyaaaaaaa” this is normally followed by an air kiss and a big mwah sound. You will be a fabulous big sister.

I can’t believe how much you have changed in the past month. You shock me daily with your new words and your fumbling sentences.

My favourite today: “Maaaaaaam…what you doing?”

You say gone or goned a million times a day. When I pull my top down over my stomach you say “Baby gone” when one of us leaves the room you say “Mammy/daddy goned me” tonight I asked you where daddy was and you said “gone work” – you are so clever.

If you drop a toy or some food you say “Oh no no no” in the saddest voice.

You are so good when we go out and you will eat nearly every piece of food we put in front of you but you are mischievous and stubborn in the cutest of ways. You know when you are doing something naughty and you look at me and say No even before I do – unfortunately this doesn’t mean you stop doing it. I can see your determination already and I can only imagine some of the tantrums that could be in store for us but I love your spirit.

Sleep is still pretty good for us. You still nap for around 90mins – 2 hours at midday and you sleep most nights from 7pm-8am. Most nights you ask to go to bed just before 7.. You don’t stop during the day so you must get awfully tired – just before bed we have baby cuddles where you lie in our arms like a baby. You are a big fan of this. You love your morning play in your cot with your special upstairs toys and it means occasionally we have a nice lie in. Thanks for that 😉

On days when I feel pregnant walking through lead tired and sick of feeling sick you seem to sense it and come over for cuddles and kisses much more than normal – my special girl.

You are so happy when you see us each morning and I hope that never changes.

You love your grandparents and your aunts/uncles and cousins. You are surrounded by love and you revel in it. You know when we get closer to Grandma or Nanas house and you tell us – this is new and amazed us.

You are a big dog lover and I can see us having to indulge this and buy you one when you are older. It also makes me a little wary as you always want to cuddle them.

You have nearly all your teeth and they look so darn cute.

You still love In the Night Garden and Mr Tumble who I imagine you will be so excited to see at Camp Bestival ..you love music and dancing..especially when we say freeze and you hold your pose just like they do on Show me Show me. You like the TV but we limit it and you love to play much more.

Daddy takes you out on his bike and he’s teaching you to skate..most days you are a real Daddy’s girl but I can live with that.. I know you love your mammy.

If Dad leaves to go to work within 5 minutes you will come to me and cuddle for the longest time as if you don’t want me to leave too.

You can now say Clock more or less correctly. It occasionally sounds a bit different. This is amusing.

I can’t wait for the baby to arrive and complete our family but I am loving this time too. With just you being you. I’m glad we have had this time.

I only wrote an update about you a month or so ago and this may never interest anyone else but me and you but this is for YOU. One day I will let you read this so you will know that every day you make me smile, make my heart burst with love and make us both so very proud to be your parents.

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How to spend less – part 1

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I tried to think of a witty name for this blog post but nada came to mind so here it is the first in a series of posts about how I’m going to spend less on everything. This is not a New Years resolution, it started a month or so back with trying to meal plan and the idea is evolving each day.

Today we did the weekly food shop and it came to £95.33, for some of you this may seem to be not too high and for others it will seem extortionate. I think that I didn’t actually overindulge but I wasn’t exactly careful. Far too much money is slipping out of my bank and into Asda, Sainsburys or Tesco and I am still wasting too much food.

Time to change. Drastically ( for me anyway).
I went into my kitchen and did a job I’ve been dreading for weeks – I sorted my cupboards. Forgive me for sounding obsessive here but I wrote down every item in my cupboard and the amount of said item. For example:

2 tins of coconut milk
4 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 pack of arborio rice
3 packs of dried spaghetti

And so on.

Then I did the fridge.. Then the freezer. Sad? Maybe.. Necessary? Totally.

I found items I’d forgotten, items almost or already past their sell by date and well just a lot of STUFF.

An apt notebook ?

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Whilst having a difficult evening with Izzy ( 4 nappy explosions in 30 mins? ) I sat down, worked my way through my many lists and meal planned using only items I already had – for the next 20 days! That’s right I have enough food in my house for the next 20 days between my cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Sooo instead of doing my weekly shop next weekend and spending another £90 I am setting myself a challenge of spending just £20 per week on essential fresh goods ( milk etc) and not doing another large shop for 3 weeks.

Ill give you a quick idea of some of the meals we have in store for us over the next few weeks:

* Thai green curry
* Lasagne
* Vegetable Balti
* Butterbean crisp
* Beef stew with dumplings
* Jerk chicken with coconut rice
* Spaghetti and meatballs
* Sweet potato risotto

Sounds good to me. I’ve broken each meal down to each ingredient and made sure I have it at home so overspending on the weekly budget should not happen.

Reading this back I sound a little obsessive but I want spare money to be used for family fun or meals out to somewhere special.. Or bills on occasion and not on food being thrown in my bin 2 weeks after purchase. As Christmas is now more or less over my weekly meal planner will be back on the weekend and I’d love it if some of you joined in.

There are lots of areas in my spending that I need to start to gain control so any help or tips you may have I would appreciate. We all waste money and I don’t imagine I will stop completely but if I save an extra £20 a week then that’s a day/night out!

Budget friendly recipes will follow over the next few days.

Hope you have all enjoyed the festivities and thank you for reading this year. It’s been fun.

Happy new year 😉

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How much,how often and what?

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The last few weeks I have eavesdropped on a few twitter/playgroup conversations about what people are feeding their babies/toddlers. There seems to be a major feeling of guilt amongst a lot of us parents over just what we feed our children. It’s a bit of a battle for me. I constantly wonder if she’s hungry or if I’m feeding her too little or not enough or just not the right food. I definitely think more advice on this is needed. I don’t mean recipe books although they are great I mean how do we know just what to do? I know when I am hungry and I know what I like to eat but with Izzy it’s a whole new big scary world for me (and for her of course)

Izzy with sweet potato chips when she was unwell

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I decided to keep a diary of what she eats. I then promptly forgot. I blame the old baby brain if I’m allowed I still blame that now that she is 14 months. So I didn’t keep a diary but this is more or less a typical day:

Between 6-7am : 6oz of milk – she’s not yet on cows milk which is something I kick myself daily about. Hoping this changes soon?

Between 8-9.30am : a fruit pot/piece of fruit and a slice of toast (sometimes with peanut butter which she loves..marmite not so much) as a special treat she occasionally has a croissant.

Mid morning: some snacks perhaps including raisins, cubed cheese, toddler crisps/biscuits or similar

Lunch 12-2pm : this differs more than most meals depending on where we are, if we are out and about I will mostly take a pouch but at home she loves pasta dishes, a mini chicken dinner, spag Bol or cottage pie. A lot of the times it’s what we (me and OH) eat the night before and I save her a serving. She normally has a little biscuit or bit of fruit afterwards. It used to be yogurts but they don’t seem to agree with her anymore.

Around this time she will also have a 4oz bottle and some snacks of carrot sticks etc in the afternoon

Tea 4-5pm: on most days this will be something like scrambled eggs/omelette with some baked beans. She also like carrot and potato waffles from asda or perhaps some fish or chicken. I do find that when she has more protein in this meal she sleeps better.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and spinach

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Supper 6.30-7pm : porridge every night. She loves her nightly porridge and its a big part of her bedtime routine as she has it watching in the night garden and getting sleepy.

Bedtime 7.30pm : 6oz of milk which she feeds herself in bed then puts herself to sleep. This is a new but miraculous development and we normally go in her room a little later and put the bottle away.

That’s just a standard day for us. What do you do? Is it rude to ask for your daily diary? I’d love to compare.

What foods do your children enjoy? I seem to have (at the moment) an adventurous eater and she will eat pretty much everything we try. Gnocchi and polenta are just two new dishes to add to her favourites list. She also has a very cute new habit of pointing at food that she likes and saying mmmmm unfortunately this means that my dad who is a sucker for a cute baba always wants to give her cake! I figure I am pretty strict with her sugar intake normally so I let him spoil her occasionally.

I hope to hear from you all soon!

Gnocchi and sweet potato bake- a herby one for Izzy and a spicy one for us

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The BBC Good Food Show 2012 Photo Diary

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I am in the process of writing a review of the BBC Good Food Show but until that is ready I thought I would whet your appetites.. Quite literally perhaps with a photo diary.

I should point out that all of the good photos in this post were taken by my very talented friend Ceri, the other photos were taken by me or Chris Evans as in the Chris Evans – random yes. I’ll explain in my review 🙂

Just a few stalls….

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Watch out vampires

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A light refreshment to start

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I heart olive oil..especially flavoured olive oil

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Too pretty to eat pasta

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The crowds seemed to love this stuff..

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These curry sauces were soooo good

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I am not a fan of Gin but I thoroughly enjoyed a sampler of this

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Say Cheese

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I can’t believe I forgot to go back and buy a jar of this delectable goodness

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Michael Roux Jr

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My lovely man with the also lovely Pierre Koffman and James Martin

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Sampling

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Myself and Chris Evans after Saturday Kitchen Live – he’s a very funny man.

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My lovely friend Dora with Juan Sheet

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Cake

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If you have never been before I definitely recommend going to one of the several shows throughout the years, it’s so much fun!

Foodie Penpals Reveal

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A few months ago I read about the amazing foodie penpals run by @thisisrocksalt in the UK and @leangrnbeanblog in America. It’s a simple enough concept you join up and then each month you are given a name of a foodie penpal to whom you send a parcel, you then receive a parcel from another penpal. So a parcel each month of surprising, new foods to taste.. whilst having a good excuse for shopping for delectable foodie items sounded too good to be true! I had lots of fun making up my parcel for the very sweet Catriona in Glasgow who loved it (thankfully) and has written a lovely blog post about it which you can read here: http://whitecatherblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/spicy-thai-hazelnut-heaven/

I was like a child at Christmas waiting for my parcel to arrive and when it finally did today from Lex @LadyNom1 it was just lovely.. Very well presented minus one spillage and it contained two of my favourite things: alcohol and cheese! Ha.

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I read the letter that accompanied my parcel first which was nice in itself as its been a long time since I have had a hand written letter and it explained all of the items and gave serving or recipe suggestions.

My parcel contained 4 items:

1. Dunham Massey Beer: Lex explained that this is a locally brewed beer and is great for cooking with beef so I think I’m going to save it for a special meal.

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2. Marmalade: This looks yummy. This was homemade by Lex using oranges from her friends orangery. I wish my friends owned an orangery! She advised that this can make a lovely sauce when combined with white wine and coriander for chicken or duck so I will certainly be trying that out.

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3. Port & Duck Liver parfait: Unfortunately this didn’t survive the journey so well and was kinda smushed up out of the pot but some managed to stay in the pot so will give it a whirl later with some toast. This was homemade by Lex so I’m disappointed that it didn’t make it in one piece but that’s royal mail for you!

4. Burts Blue Cheese: Lex wrote that this was handmade by a woman in Altrincham and although I rarely eat blue cheese I’m quite excited about it as I love to try new recipes and she said its fantastic in a souffle which is what I intend to use it for.

All in all I really enjoyed my first foodie penpals experience, it was lots of fun and quite exciting for a foodie like me. I would urge anyone with an interest in food to join in.

I always have two lovely new blogs to follow which is a bonus.

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