Slumberland CD Review and giveaway

Sleep - the eternal prayer of the new parent. "Please let him sleep so I might." Uttered frequently, with notes of desperation especially at around 6pm in this house.

One of the things I've been keen on since very early days with Harry, is a bedtime routine. From early on I did my best to ensure that there were recognisable signs for Harry that bedtime was coming. A warm bath, quiet story time, a post bath massage, and a breastfeed on our bed. All things that only happen at bedtime. And now we also have a CD to listen to that helps the process along.

Slumberland is a collection of lullabies and classic songs recorded and performed by Humphrey Berney of Blake. Being the musical theatre nerd that I am, I was thrilled at the inclusion of Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Somewhere over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. I've taken to playing them after supper as we begin the wind down process. I really like it myself - which is great from my point of view (I'm sure we all have those baby CDs that bubba loves but that are close to pushing us over the edge? Just me?!) and Harry seems to find it relaxing, becoming less excited as the CD continues and has made the association between finishing the CD and going up for his bath. He does then have to put up with me continuing to sing along so hopefully I don't ruin all the good work the music has done!

I would just mention how pretty the CD cover is - the illustrations were designed by Humphrey's wife and they're pleasingly whimsical. I would love them as prints for Harry's bedroom!

The CD or an MP3 download is available to purchase from Welcome to Slumberland 

I've been given a copy of Slumberland to give away as a competition prize - just complete the Rafflecopter widget below to be in with a chance of winning - and hopefully on your way to a peaceful bedtime. If you can't see the Rafflecopter widget, then do just press F5


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pana chocolate review: Dairy free, soya free, gluten free (CHOCOLATE!)

Pana chocolate is an Australian brand making raw, organic chocolate that's (wait for it) dairy free, soya free, gluten free, and refined sugar free. With flavour combinations such as Goji berry & coconut, Hemp and nib and Sour Cherry and Vanilla it's not only perfect ingredient wise for a CMPA mama such as myself but really lovely. 

I'm not going to pretend that any chocolate is entirely good for you, but these bars of intense and unusual flavour combinations really do hit the free from spot without too much guilt. 

My favourites were Sour Cherry and Vanilla, Mint and Raw Cacao. M wasn't so keen because they are incredibly dark (which meant I didn't have to share, although I did offer) but he can have chocolate any time he likes - it's been a fair old while since I indulged in something quite so intensely chocolatey. 

The only sticking point are that these are £3.20 for each 45g bar (amusingly, portion size is suggested as 2 squares or 15g - whilst it is wonderfully rich, it's not so much so that you can't eat the whole of the Sour Cherry and Vanilla whilst watching the Bake Off final for instance). One for the Christmas list rather than an 8pm emergency dash to the cupboard. That said I'm seriously considering placing another order and asking M to hide them and just get one for me when I'm entirely desperate and sleep deprived. But I have no self control where chocolate is concerned - you might be one of those people still eating your Easter eggs. 

These were not sent for review, nor is this post sponsored - I was just over the moon at finding soya free, dairy free chocolate so bought and ate more than I should have! 

Curry in a hurry - good curry

You know those nights you're late home from work, or in our world - your partner has been attached to the sofa feeding the baby all day and there's nothing that you can just wallop in the oven and be done with in the house? That's where (to my foodie shame) ready meals for me step in. Cheaper than a takeaway, and these days if you're careful you can find those without too many nasties so you aren't overwhelmed by the guilt. Oh the guilt.

A few weeks back - 7 in fact, the nice people at Charlie Brighams got in contact with me regarding trying some of their ready meals. Busy as we were at the time, getting ready for the baby I thought they would be an ideal solution to our busy days - M was working in Birmingham, we were trying to fit in our NCT classes, finish decorating the nursery (nope, still not quite done) as well as sort the house out. They were the ideal way to ensure we didn't succumb to takeaway - too expensive - or toast and marmite - not ideal.

We picked up two of the new curry ready meals - Chicken tikka masala and Chicken korma. Both served two, so my plan was to cook both curries and one set of rice one night, and then the other portion of rice the next to have with the leftovers.

My prevailing opinion of the curries were that they were quite sweet - and even for two curries on the milder end of the spectrum, very mild. That said, they tasted clean and fresh and we definitely enjoyed them. The only other comment would be that portion wise I would dispute each meal serving two - I ended up making a very quick veggie dhaal to go with in order to bulk our dinners out.

I would definitely buy the meals again, but would consider adding some extra spicing, or maybe not the curries - some of the other options looked really interesting.

I should also point out - this was the last thing I ate before I went into labour!

Thanks to Charlie Bighams for sending me vouchers to buy both curries. This post is my own opinion.

Farmers Choice meat box review

Excitingly I've been sent a meat box from Farmers Choice to review. Over the next few weeks, I'll put a star (*) by any meat I'm cooking with that has come out of that box so that you know it has, and link back to this post for your information. 

As you know we don't eat a great deal of meat in the Pantry - because the price of good quality, free-range meat is prohibitive we choose to eat better quality, less frequently. So this in itself is a bit of a treat - the small Family Essentials pack, contained:

• Silverside Parcel
• Rump Steak
• Diced Beef
• Steak Mince
• Chicken 
• Diced Turkey Breast
• Diced Lamb
• Leg Chump Roast
• Diced Pork
• Pork Loin Parcel
• Sausages

Which for us is a vast amount and will keep the resident carnivore content for many weeks to come. As we don't eat meat each week, and when we do, it's most often a roast that we use on multiple occaisions, in several different ways (see my One Chicken many ways posts) hopefully this will be a way forward for us to purchase meat. What has put me off trying out this or similar meat box schemes was the prospect of storing the meat in our tiny, new build freezer. Everything from the family essentials pack fits easily in one drawer, which is perfect. 

However, I don't want you to think that I would have accepted it were I not happy with the quality of the produce. The Farmers Choice website states:

From Aberdeen Angus Beef from Orkney Island Gold Farm, to completely free range chicken from Childhay Manor farm; all our meat has been born and raised in as natural conditions as possible.

which is of vital importace to me, I wouldn't buy battery chickens so it would be disingenuous of me to review it. 

Cost wise, initially the £72.61 charge put me off taking up this offer - would I really be able to write about something fairly that cost that much? We sat and thought about it, and ignoring the potential for the four roasting joints to each do at least 3 meals for the two of us, it still works out at about £7 per piece which is really good value for money. 

Now I could hardly write a post advocating a meat box without cooking something from it first, could I? Well, quite. So last Sunday, M was at archery and I was home alone, happily houseworking. I decided to frighten myself slightly and cook the Sliverside parcel. It's here I have to hold my hands up and say that since living independently I've never cooked roast beef. I'll happily do steak, or a casserole, but never roast beef. It is one of my favourite autumnal meals, served with crispy roast potatoes, creamy cauliflower cheese, piles of steaming greens and lots of gravy. The only thing missing from our plates last weekend were yorkshire puddings owing to a milk deficit in the fridge. 

Having not cooked beef this way before I did as one does and rootled around my cookbooks and google before happily and successfully using the method below:

Roast Beef

Preheat oven as hot as it will go. 

Liberally cover the beef with mustard (i used the seedy type) and put in a roasting tin on some sliced up red onions

Put this in  the hot oven for 20 minutes initially, then turn the heat down and cook for 30 minutes per kilo plus 20 minute for a medium rare joint. 

I basted the joint twice during the cooking, removed it to rest after 1 hr 15 minutes, while I made gravy and finished everything else up. 

This was beautifully tender and juicy. It also did another three dinners and sandwiches (roast beef and horseradish sandwiches are my downfall!) - working out at £1 per portion.

Despite the lack of yorkshire puddings M was definitely won over, impressed by the flavour, the ease of fitting everything into our freezer, and by the fact that I now have no excuse not to make roast beef! 

Going forwards, if all the meat is as tasty as this was then I'll be a happy bunny, and I'd be lying if I hadn't already been looking at the rose veal and contemplating a little order. 

This post has been sponsored by Farmers Choice, however all opinions are my own.

Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it in dew: Cocoa Boutique, a review

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it in dew
Cover it in chocolate 
and a miracle or two?
The candyman

Or should I say that Cocoa Boutique can? A couple of weeks ago they contacted me asking if I'd review their chocolate tasting box. Now, as you know I'm mid diet but I thought - what harm could a box of chocolates do? And then they arrived. Oh dear Lord, the self restraint required not to just fling myself face first into the box is legendary.

My own personal battle to develop willpower aside - I must be one of the last food bloggers in the known universe to have come across the concept of a monthly tasting box. I think it's genius, a really great way to try chocolates that you might not otherwise come across, on this occasion from three chocolatiers: Barry Colenso, Pierre Ledent and Claire Hicklin. 

The chocolates arrived simply and sturdily packed - even Royal Mail and their tendencies towards recreating football matches with my packages had failed to dint, damage or destroy this parcel of loveliness which fitted through our letterbox; a thoughtful touch. 

There was a real variety of flavours - from the banana hints (which even a chocolate dunce such as myself could pick up) within the Ecuadorian dark chocolate buttons, to some white chocolate buttons that M has given 9/10. Yes, we have scored them.  The chocolate notes - not only give you some tasting information as well as information about who made them, but the opportunity to score and send back your feedback. Being from a training background I really appreciate any system which develops excellence by building on customer feedback. 

For me, there were probably a few too many white chocolates in the selection, but that's just personal taste, and with M on hand to hoover them up we can be sure that none were going to waste. I was most excited to finally try a salted caramel, and it didn't disappoint, the salt just there increasing the flavour of the caramel ever so slightly and taking away some of the richness. 

I think my only negative about the box would be that Claire Hicklin's chocolates come under the Freefrom food banner, and as such I'm not sure if what makes them special is slightly lost being in a mixed box where cross-contamination from nut products could occur. That said, by being included in the tasting box I know who to look out for if I want to get my friend Nicki something special! 

The introductory cost of the first box has been discounted to £9.95, with subsequent boxes £19.95 which although too expensive for us to commit to would make a wonderful gift for someone you loved very, very much.

The tasting box was provided to me free for review purposes, but all opinion is my own

Photo credits to M

Global Fusion Taste Team: Garlic, chilli and ginger

There's been a little bit of excitement in the Pantry of late, which should hopefully produce some interesting posts going forwards. Today is the first in a series of posts in my role as a member of the Global Fusion Taste Team. I answered a callout on Twitter for team members (I'm always a bit reticent to do that as I'm never sure I'm 'good' enough - well that's not true, I know I am, I just know that this blog and it's little following *waves* aren't up there with the big hitters) Anyway, this week a big box arrived, which had he been here would have led Mark to roll his eyes and ask if I've been online shopping at Lush again. In it was, a pinny, a recipe notebook (stationery and a pinny - can Worldfoods read my mind?) as well as a huge range of sauces and dips for me to try, work with and feed Mark with over the coming weeks. Excited? I am.

So Wednesday night loomed and courtesy of a meeting at work being cancelled we had a night in together. Off to Sainsos we went with the first challenge looming in my mind. It involved a garlic, chilli and ginger, dipping, or stir fry sauce. Having spent much of the recent weeks in hotels a stir fry really appealed, with lots of veg and some brown basmati rice.

Ginger, garlic and trinity are often hailed as the 'holy trinity' (apologies for the blasphemy) of Chinese cooking, and if I'm just doing a bog standard stir fry I will press or chop a couple of cloves of garlic, grate variable amounts of ginger and chop up a chilli as my base. Initially I thought the jar would work as a sub for these, but on sniff test and finger taste I felt it needed a bit more oomph for my tastebuds. On investigation, the recipe suggestion was to add more, so lesson learned - READ things in advance Penelope. I should also say that the last time I did a stir fry out of a jar it was about 10 years ago and I intially worried that it was going to be that incredibly cloying sweet synthetic taste I remembered, however this was light, fresh and not at all syrupy.

I should point out here that Mark likes things significantly milder than I do so I actually made two generous dishes from one jar of sauce, and both those dishes did two solid meals. Mark had his leftovers for lunch the next day, and mine went in the freezer for a later date.

Pantry Prawns; courtesy of Worldfoods

1 clove of garlic, pressed
Large peice of ginger grated
(to my shame) teaspoonful of lazy chilli
250g prawns (Mark had 2 chicken thighs finely sliced, and cooked until brown)
Red pepper chopped
Courgette chopped
Onion finely chopped
Spinach
Sweetcorn
(I forgot I had edamame beans and green beans in the freezer, but had I remembered I would have added those too)
Half a jar of Worldfoods Chinese ginger, garlic & chilli sauce

In a large pan or wok, heat up some flavourless oil and add your garlic, chilli, ginger and onion. Sweat the onion off, stirring constantly
Add prawns, and cook until they turn pink,
Add vegetables and cook until they just start to soften
Add sauce and reduce down

It took, less than 10 minutes to cook this, bearing in mind I also did a chicken one that was missing the extra spices, and rice as well. Perfect for a quick, easy supper when you've been at work all day and done battle with Mr Sainsburys to boot. You'll see from the pic, that I had got out soy sauce to use as a condiment as I hadn't added salt at any point, but really didn't feel that the dish needed it - I'm terrible for underseasoning things though so do a taste test yourself, and add soy or salt to taste.

The only thing I think I would do different again, would be to add some coriander at the end to freshen it up.

So, there you have it, my first challenge as a member of the Global Fusion Taste Team... watch this space for more installments, including my favourite - Pad Thai!

Drink, drink, Drink some port wine with me: Drink, Shop, Do.

I heard about Drink, Shop Do around a year ago (I know this as I was looking for somewhere to go for my second date with Mark) and have been developing a hankering to go, drink cocktails and eat cake whilst knitting. Because, y'know I can do all those things. At once. Actually, I think I probably can? And who knows what that says about me.

A few times through the year I've planned to go with a friend (Jennifer, I'm looking at you) but the fates have conspired against us. Luckily Ruth and I didn't suffer the same fate. Cake and cocktails were awaiting us on our arrival (I say that like we are people that Drink, Shop Do should have known were coming. We aren't) Arriving at the shop? bar? sadly on an evening when no crafts were planned we declared the combination of cake and cocktails to be perfect. On a wet and cold Monday evening what more can you ask for? Two cocktails?

The inside of Drink, Shop Do is decked out beautifully in a combination of eclectic and kitsch homewares, ornaments and quite randomly - paper aeroplanes. I was very taken by some 60's milk bottles on the shelves above my head - taken and at once terrified that I would stand up and smash the lot. Well my reputation for clumsiness does preceed me. Fortunately I didn't, and the space was so relaxing that I stopped worrying quite quickly. After all, did someone mention cocktails?

Being an absolute sucker for windows I have to just say that the building is such a shock, walking through the front part and upa small flight of stairs up to the most amazingly light, high ceilinged airy room, crammed full of tables, chairs and people. Not what I expected when I walked through the doorway, or from a shop on the Caledonian Road.

Onto the cocktails, Coolers were the name of the game for me, served over crushed ice, with mint, brown sugar and bourbon - these made me feel like I was on holiday somewhere gloriously sunny (and not sheltering from random rainstorms on the Caly Rd) Whilst not being overly sweet and sickly it had a definite kick. Ruth had an espresso martini, something which I always look at longingly but never order as I always think the coffee will be to pervasive. I have to say they're beautiful though, adorned by a circle of coffee beans, we chatted for hours, feeling no pressure to move on, or order anything else.

I have to say that for me Drink, Shop Do is a revelation, the sort of place where I can go purposely for a night of knitting or crochet, but also just to catch up with friends for a drink. As a woman sometimes I just don't want to go to a pub, and this seems to blur the line between independent cafe and bar so that I feel comfortable to sit, drink and chat.

Although my friend and I went in for cocktails, the afternoon teas looked delicious - served in vintage tea cups and pots. Proper tea pots! In central London, thank heavens for sanity. And a quick mention should go to the traybaked cakes - just the sort of thing I make at home and had I not been watching what I eat they would definitely have been an accompaniment to my Cooler.

I would definitely recommend taking in Drink, Shop, Do if you're in the area. I loved it and will be definitely going back to sample afternoon tea - or just cocktails and cake. It's definitely up there as my new favourite place.

The candyman can... Sugar free sweets review

Who can take tomorrow
Dip it in a dream
Separate the sorrow
And collect up all the cream?

Apparently the Sweetjunkie can. A while back, Michael Dickson who runs Sweetjunkie contacted me to see if I'd be interested in taste testing some of the sugar free sweets that Sweetjunkie have to offer.

I'm not a big boiled sweet lover, chocolate tends to be my treat of choice, but for long car journies pear drops are always a must in our car. Lately however, I've been trying to manage daily nausea and have found that boiled sweets are amazing for that. Being a child of the seventies I loved the idea of boiled sweets, they were what we were allowed to take on school trips, and I remember having competitions on the way to grand prix with my dad where we tried to make our sweetie last the longest. To this day I have to consciously think "Don't crunch. Don't crunch"

Opening the parcel (which seemingly did the rounds of High Barnet before getting to me via the local barber's. Don't even ask!) was exciting, both Mum and Mark were practically fighting me for the contents. Each sample in it's own little bag, with a cute label meant that I didn't have to try and work out what we were tasting.

Aniseed twists were my favourite, it's going to sound weird, but being an adult, sweets feel smaller in my mouth and these were pleasingly solid and large, I was kept happily quiet for a good while by these. What I really liked was the strong flavour and the fact that they didn't taste of sweetener, as since cutting out diet coke, I do try to avoid artificial sweeteners where possible. I liked that even though I wasn't eating bucketfuls of sugar neither did I feel like I was eating bucketfuls of chemicals. Looking at the website, Michael explains that:

"...the bulk of the sugar is replaced by 'Isomalt', derived from sugar beet, which our body treats as a dietary fibre, has low effect on blood sugar levels, does not have the dental issues of conventional sugars and has a substantially lower calorie count. Although Isomalt gives the physical texture and characteristics of a traditional boiled sweet it is not actually sweet enough by itself to make a convincing imitation of, say, a cherry twist. Sucralose, a product derived from sugar and discovered almost 35 years ago, is around 600 times sweeter than conventional sugar and passes through the body without being broken down and converted into energy i.e. calories. It is the addition of this product that gives a sweet that has the physical attributes of a conventional sweet whilst being kinder to the teeth, kinder to the waist line and not significantly altering blood glucose and insulin levels. In brief a sugar free sweet has 'no added sugar' as we or our bodies would recognise it but, instead, is made of sugar derived products that will mimic physically and in flavour a traditional sweet made entirely of refined sugar whilst transiting our system unconverted to effective calories, not affecting blood sugar and insulin levels and not attacking our teeth. i.e. a sweet suitable for diabetics, weight watchers and those concerned for dental health alike"

The sugar free sweets have become a staple in my handbag as they're ideal for when I fancy something sweet as they last long enough and are strongly flavoured enough for the "do I want to go and get chocolate?" phase to pass - which is great for me. I wouldn't advocate sweets as a way to lose weight, but certainly for me they divert me from that 11am and 3pm snack attack.

I've still got limes and lun jeelers to go, as well as having the packet of mint and aniseed sweets in my handbag (I bitterly offered to share these yesterday and was most relieved when the person said no). I have to say, that despite my initial reservations these sweets are great, the aniseed twists are definitely my favourites, and if you want a taste of real retro sweeties, then give Sweetjunkie a go. The website has a pleasingly retro/ kitsch feel to it,  as well as being easy to use. The only thing I would have liked would have been paper bags of sweets - how cool would that be? But you can't have everything and anyway, I'm not sure how practical that is for delivery.

Mark and I are off to Skye for our holidays and I will be putting in an order for a quarter pound of some of these. Lots of fun, especially for those of us who are babies of the seventies!