Wild garlic and nettle soup

It was a lovely sunny day today, and I was pottering around the garden, mostly admiring the plum blossom and hyacinths rather than doing anything useful like weeding or seeping the paths. I have also noticed the nettles in the corner of the garden.
Being fed up with sandwiches or leftovers for lunch, I decided to make a light spring greens soup.
I have picked a few green shoots of garlic from the strawberry patch and several leaves of wild garlic.

I have planted wild garlic three or four years ago, and despite people telling me I'd regret it, as it would spread like fire, it doesn't seem to thrive in my garden. It has slightly spread, but in such small amounts, that I would count it as too precious for everyday use. Any tips on making it actually spread? I'd rather have wild garlic than much hated ground elder.

To make a light spring greens soup, you will need

1 small to medium potato
1 small-ish carrot
1tbsp red lentils
1 stock cube (vegetable)
1 celery stick
a handful of fresh nettle tops, chopped
several leaves of fresh garlic greens and wild garlic
1tsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
sea salt

Peel the carrot and chop finely. Slice the celery stick. Peel and chop the potato.
Put all the vegetables and lentils in the pan, cover with hot water and bring to boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the nettle tops, fresh chopped garlic leaves and wild garlic in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Season well with sea salt.
Serve with a nice chunk of bread. It is also lovely with a tablespoon of Greek style yogurt stirred in it.
For a vegan version, skip the yogurt, though it is much-much nicer with the yogurt or soured cream. I haven't tried soy yogurt in soup, so cannot vouch for its taste.

And it was a delightful light spring-flavoured soup, so easy to make.

Oreo Thins

We are very fond of Oreos, they always remind us of the days when our Sash was a little boy. He loved the original, old-style Oreos with passion. He used to twist the biscuit, eat the creme filling and then gobble up the dark cookies. I have been buying Oreos for many years, including mini-sized ones and even chocolate bars with Oreo crumbs.
Recently Oreo has launched a new lower-calorie version of their classic biscuit - Oreo Thins. They come in two flavours - Original and Chocolate Creme.

They are not meant to be twisted or dunked, and are marketed to more grown-up consumers.
This skinnier version of the classic cookie uses thinner wafers and less cream filling. The ratio of cookie-to-filling, however, has not been changed. Four new Oreo Thins contain 140 calories compared to 160 calories per three regular Oreos. Though the amount of calories is less, they are not a diet food or diet snack.
They certainly look more elegant and sophisticated.

For a truly luxurious hot chocolate, add one of the broken Oreo Thins to the whipped cream.

And the right way to eat Oreo Thins, according to Eddie, is to take a biscuit in each hand, bite from two biccies at the same time and compare.

Oreo Thins are available in leading supermarkets - Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons.

I haven't been able to find them locally yet, but will keep an eye on them, as we all loved Oreo Thins.
Have you seen new Oreo Thins in the shops?

Disclosure: I received two packets of Oreo Thins for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

ChillFactor Pull Pops - Create your own popsicles

Eddie is a king of ice lollies, he is happy to eat them in summer and winter alike. We buy different brands of ice lollies, from Fab to Haribo push up lollies, from Rocket to Nobbly Bobbly. I think it's a funky shape as well as the taste that appeal to him.
With ChillFactor Pull Pops you can create your own popsicles. You can even sneak in very healthy fruit and veg smoothies or yogurts. They are fun to make: pull, freeze and pop.

The possibilities are endless, you can experiment with a variety of flavour combinations and textures. Add fresh berries or mashed banana, flavoured milk or yogurt for delicious summer (or any season) treats.

I offered a selection of drinks and milk for Eddie to choose, and he wanted to make an ice lolly with - do I dare to mention it? - blackcurrant & apple Fruit Shoot.

The pull pop works as a big colourful syringe. We struggled a bit to fill in the syringe up to the very top, so in the end just turned it over and poured the juice in, then closed the top, so as not to spill any liquid. I'm probably not the techie-wise person, and couldn't quite figure out how to block the very tip of the lid, and put a Haribo sweetie there as a plug.
It went in the freezer, and the end result was a blackcurrant-flavoured ice lolly.
Eddie loved it, and keeps asking me to make another one with the same flavour.

We also made a popsicle from Rachel's Coconut yogurt, to which I have added three or four little Haribos for the fun effect. And again, the syringe was not filled in easily to the very end. I topped up the yogurt with the spoon.
Eddie, who usually wouldn't eat any coconut yogurt, ate it as an ice lolly with great enthusiasm.

You will aslo find an injector and a bottle in the set, to make a long well inside the popsicle and fill it in with a different flavour, if you like.

Find ChillFactor product at Character Online.

Disclosure: We received the ChillFactor product for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Sudocrem Nappy Rush Game + spring Sudocrem goodie bags giveaway, E: 15 April 2017

A week ago, Sudocrem, one of the UK's most recognisable family brands, launched their brand new fun Nappy Rush Facebook game. There are hundreds of great prizes to win including £100s worth of Nursery prizes, Amazon Kindles, Mothercare vouchers and much much more.
In this fast and frantic mobile facebook game, entrants are asked to take on the #NappyRush timed challenge, where users must apply the correct Sudocrem product at the correct time to earn points.
You'll need to defeat the Nappy Rash gremlins with Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream, use Care & Protect on the clean nappies in order to prevent nappy rash, and throw dirty nappies in the bin to get the best score.
If the users score 10 points in 45 seconds, then they unlock the chance to win an INSTANT prize!
Can you beat the Nappy Rush game?

Prizes include
5 x Amazon Kindle Fire
2 x Tomy TF525 Digital Baby Monitor
40 X Sudocrem goodie bags
3 x BABYMOOV Cosydream
6 x HENGSONG Baby Children's Toy
2 x Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Steriliser Kit
3 x Sensory Miffy Toy
2 x uni-ball Metallic Pens (8 pack)
5 x Posca Pens (6 pack)
5 x £20 Mothercare vouchers


To take part in the Nappy Rush game, all entrants have to do is:
1. Find Sudocrem on Facebook
2. Click on the Nappy Rush competition app
3. The user must enter their details and begin to play
4. If the user achieves a score of 10 points or more in 45 seconds, then they will unlock the instant prize draw
5 Entrants can play every day and earn extra goes too.

Competition ends on 23 April 2017

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To thank me for spreading the word about the competition on my blog, Sudocrem has kindly offered three new Sudocrem goodie bags as giveaway prizes for my blog readers.

These goodie bags include:
Sudocrem Care & Protect
Sudocrem Skin Care Cream
a Sudocrem legionnaires cap (for infants)
a Sudocrem coffee flask
a Sudocrem t-shirt for infants

To be in with a chance of winning, please enter via a Rafflecopter gadget.

T&Cs:
Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflecopter picks the winners, I will check if the winners have done what was requested. I will contact the winners, if they do not reply within 28 days, the prize will be allocated to another person.
Please don't forget to leave a comment, as it is the only mandatory step, I will make sure the winners selected by Rafflecopter have complied with T&Cs.

The giveaway will close on 15 April 2017 (at midnight)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blood and Destiny (The Shadow of the Raven Book I) by Chris Bishop: Blog Tour

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres. For me it offers a form of perfect escapism, as well as a chance to learn more about different historic periods.

Set in Wessex at the time of Alfred the Great, Blood and Destiny by Chris Bishop is the first in the red-blooded and thrilling Shadow of the Raven series.
Novice monk Matthew is the main protagonist and story-teller. His older brother Edwin and he find themselves in the burning settlement after the Vikings' raid. They attempt to warn King Alfred about the Vikings, and state their allegiance to him. The battle against the Vikings at Chippenham is devastating. The Anglo-Saxon army is wiped out, apart from a few survivors, the King included.
And thus the slow perilous retreat to the marshes at Athelney begins.

Matthew is a likable character. Being a younger son, he was meant to join the Church. He is torn between the acceptance of his calling and the inevitable questions as to why God permits such cruelty. A question, which is still unanswered, more than a thousand of years later.
Matthew makes his choice: "I'm just a small part of this group but sense I have my part to play and that God has set me on this path for a purpose. Thus these men have become my life, their cause has become my calling and I would stay with them even though I may well perish if I do".
The retreat with the disillusioned army is a test of his belief and calling. The soldiers are demoralised and weary, nursing their wounds and anxious about the future. Will they be able to fight against the mighty Guthrum who slaughtered their army at Chippenham?
King Alfred is unwavering in his belief that they can win.
He is a complicated personality, not a one-dimensional character of legends and poems. For example, his decision regarding Emelda is truly despicable, when he forces a young woman to become a whore to the camp of his warriors, just because her father was a traitor and thus her honour was forfeited.
At other times he demonstrates the qualities necessary for a leader and inspires his men to achieve what looks like unachievable goals.

This is an epic story, a fascinating account of the brave and bold beginnings of the English nation. Action scenes are masterfully crafted, with enough gore to keep you fascinated and revolted by brutality at the same time.

Blood & Destiny Blog Tour:
26 March @thebookmagnet The Book Magnet
27 March @maximka25 Chez Maximka
29 March @BooksOfAllKinds Books of All Kinds
30 March @ElizrdbthSpeaks E Lizard Breath Speaks

Pear and chocolate cake (Gennaro Contaldo's torta di pere)

Our weekend mornings are not a rushed affair. Even if the kids get up early (argghhh, on a Saturday!!!), at least we are not in a hurry to get out of the house and do the school run. Most weekends we have pancakes for breakfast. For some reason nobody ever gets bored with pancakes, but a slice of cake for breakfast with a big cup of tea is another lovely treat for a leisurely hour with a newspaper.

Recently I was asked to mention a Be a Star, Bake a cake fundraiser on my blog, with a selection of delicious recipes to try.

Bowel Cancer UK is encouraging the nation to join celebrity chefs to bake their favourite cake for their families, friends and colleagues to raise money for the charity for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.

Celebrity chefs - Rick Stein, Tom Kitchin, Brian Turner, Eric Lanlard, Tom Aikens, the Hairy Bikers, Gennaro Contaldo, Deliciously Ella, Mark Greenway - whipped up their favourite bakes in order to inspire the Brits to bake their favourite cake for Be a Star, Bake a Cake.

"This year Bowel Cancer UK, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, is oping more people than ever will hold a bake sale during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April and raise as much money as possible to help fund vital research and lifesaving work to stop bowel cancer.
More than 44 people die from bowel cancer every day in the UK, it's the nation's second biggest cancer killer. However, it shouldn't be. It's treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early"

Steph Mills, Community Fundraising Manager at Bowel Cancer UK says: "Whether you're a whiz in the kitchen or if baking sends you into a tiz, our celebrity chef supporters have a recipe for you. Test your souffle skills with a delicious Chocolate Orange Souffle by the Hairy Bikers, make your chocolate brownies less devilish with Deliciously Ella's sweet potato borwnies or if you're after indulgence, Tom Aikens' chocolate cake will satisfy your sweet tooth. Then hold a cake stall, coffee morning or afternoon tea and invite your friends and colleagues to make a donation and sample the delicious treats".
Your bake will make a real difference - sign up here - Be a Star, Bake a Cake.

All the recipes looked delightful. I have tried the recipe for mini carrot cakes with cream cheese topping (recipe by Tom Kitchin), and they were delicious.
I have also bookmarked Gennaro Contaldo's pear and chocolate cake (torta di pere). I baked it yesterday, having adapted the original recipe. It was a great success.

Gennaro Contaldo says: "Fresh fruit is often added to cakes in Italy and I remember my grandma making a similar cake to this one using apples. It's a great way of adding more fruit to your diet especially for children. Pear and dark chocolate go really well together and this makes a lovely cake for afternoon tea.

In Russia we have a similar cake called sharlotka, usually made with fresh apples.

Gennaro Contaldo's pear & chocolate cake: image by Dan Jones

Pear & chocolate cake by Gennaro Contaldo (recipe taken from Gennaro's Italian Bakery (Pavillion) and reproduced here with kind permission from Be a Star, Bake a Cake)
Ingredients (makes 6-8 servings)
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
85g unsalted butter, softened
300g self-raising flour, sifted
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
3 pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
75g dark chocolate, roughly broken into small chunks
zest of 1 small unwaxed lemon
a little sifted icing sugar
1 round cake tin 20cm in diameter with a loose bottom if you have one, greased with a little butter and lined with greaseproof paper.

For decoration
100g caster (superfine) sugar
1tbsp unsalted butter
2 pears, sliced very thinly
a little sifted icing sugar (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the softened butter and continue to whisk until well amalgamated. Fold in the flour, vanilla, lemon zest, pears and chocolate.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes - insert a wooden skewer, if it comes clean, the cake is ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then loosen, place on a serving plate and decorate with sifted icing sugar if desired.
To decorate, heat the sugar in a wide saute pan over a medium heat. Do not stir, just gently agitate the pan from time to time until the sugar starts to melt; this will take about 5 minutes.
Continue to cook, gently stirring with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes, until a dark caramel forms. Stir the butter through and add the thinly sliced pears, turning to coat in the caramel.
Cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Arrange on top of the cake. Decorate with sifted icing sugar, if liked.

That's Gennaro's full recipe, and this is how I made it.

First of all, I used only two pears inside the cake, three might have made a soggy cake. It took almost an hour for the cake to be cooked, it was still raw inside after 45 minutes. I added orange zest instead of the lemon, as I think chocolate goes better with orange. I also used milk chocolate rather than dark, as I didn't have dark cooking chocolate.
For the decoration, I used a simple chocolate icing made of 50g of milk chocolate, 2tbsp chocolate syrup and 1tsp of butter. Melt it in a bowl above hot water, then drizzle on top of the cake.
It takes less time than making caramel sauce and pear decorations. Of course, the pear decoration adds more of a glamour, but I also wonder if caramel would make the cake sweeter than it is.

It is a delicious cake, which we all enjoyed.

Last minute Mother's Day gift ideas

I have no great expectations for Mother's day. It's not something we celebrated, when I was growing up in the Soviet Union. The 8th of March was the day when the womenfolk of all ages and creeds were feted, and it is still a big celebration in Russia. I'm not going to bemoan the lack of gifts, or breakfast in bed.
In fact, when my younger son mentioned that he was going to serve me breakfast in bed on Sunday, I got alarmed and told him to reconsider.
I'm sure I will have cards my boys made for me at school, and that will be lovely. As for my dear husband, him being an absent-minded professor, he wouldn't even remember when his own birthday is.

Have you left your Mother's Day gift buying to the last minute? Or perhaps - like the Five from Enid Blyton's spoof book - you've forgotten all about it?

Wandering around town today, you couldn't escape all the Mother's day displays and paraphernalia, so I indulged myself in thinking which gifts I would choose for myself.

This little gift guide is based purely on my own likes. I'm sure some Mums would love nothing better than being spoilt by a spa day. I can't think of anything more boring than sitting wrapped in a towel, having your nails painted. Just the idea makes me shudder. Nope, spa days and nail salons are a definite No for me. I don't care for cars, or luxury boutiques, diamonds or the latest gadgets...
This is a short guide on what you might find right now on the High Street, as it's too late by now to order anything online, unless you pay exorbitant prices for the next day delivery or you are an Amazon Prime subscriber.

Bookshops are a magnet to me. Our local little Waterstone's has very friendly staff, and they create imaginative window displays, often hand-painted, or chalked on blackboards. I love it that they sell not just books, but beautiful stationery, plus pretty china and some novelty gifts.

I nearly bought Virgins by Diana Gabaldon, but remembered I had some book gift card at home, so might get it the next time I visit the bookshop. That, and a splendid-looking "Isabella of Castile".

WHSmith has the latest installment of Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah at half price this week. I'd be very happy to receive it as a gift for Mother's Day, as I love Poirot.

Gin and prosecco seem to appear in almost all gift guides for Mother's Day. As much as I enjoy a glass of prosecco, I'd be much happier with prosecco-flavoured gummies (found in Lakeland).

Whittard's is a shop I'm trying actively to avoid, as I end up buying yet another novelty tea from them. I love their range of teas, and china, and for me, anything from Whittard's would be a super present.

White Stuff shop is another "danger zone" for me. Their tops and scarves are feminine and stylish. This silk scarf is perfect for spring, with its delicate pattern.

Marks and Spencer runs a 20% off offer on Roger & Gallet products this week. Le Soin Aura Mirabilis Legendary Cream is made with 18 natural essences, officinal plants and distilled plants. Apparently this formula was patented in 1727. Usually priced at £35, it is £28 at the moment, and that's what I bought myself as a gift for Mother's Day. I love the smell, and how silky the skin feels after the application.

As for flowers, I'm very easy to please. Give me a bunch of tulips, and I'd be eternally grateful.
This bunch is actually from Sainsbury's and costs a princely sum of £2.50.

Are you still looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift? If you are a Mum yourself, what would you fancy on Sunday?

Mini s'more brownie cupcakes with Creme Eggs

When it comes to Creme Eggs, our family is split quite unevenly. They are way too sweet for me, but my boys and husband are always happy to eat a Cadbury Creme Egg. So that makes 3:1 in favour of these classic gooey treats.
In the lead up to Easter, Cadbury has joined forces with Rinkoffs Bakery to create irresistible dessert recipes, using creme eggs.
The Creme Eggs have been back on shelves nationwide and are only available until Easter.

Creme egg fans can enjoy their favourite Easter treat as an ingredient in scrumptious Easter dessert recipes. I knew that my family would approve of the creme eggs-topped brownie cupcakes.

Mini s'more brownie cupcakes with Cadbury Creme Eggs (recipe courtesy of Rinkoffs Bakery)
Ingredients:
125g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
100g unsalted butter
125g light muscovado sugar
2 large free range eggs
75g plain flour, sifted
1/4tsp sea salt
for the marshmallow topping:
1 tub of marshmallow fluff roughly 10g per cupcake (you will have fluff left over)
12 Cadbury creme eggs, crushed into pieces (I used 4 creme eggs, and that was plenty)

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large saucepan over a low heat. When completely melted, stir in the sugar, then the eggs one by one. Fold in the flour and salt, and then spoon into the cupcake cases so they're nearly full.
2. Pipe the fluff onto each cupcake and bake in the centre of the oven for 12 minutes. Leave to cool. Once cooled, add the crushed creme eggs on top.

I didn't pipe the marshmallow fluff, just spooned it over each cupcake. Also I didn't add it before baking, as it would have been too crispy. I added it in the last five minutes of cooking, plus placed the cupcakes with  broken pieces of creme eggs on top for another minute in the oven to soften and melt them.

As I imagined, I was a very popular person today. These brownie cupcakes are a lovely seasonal treat, great with a cup of tea or coffee.

For a full range of Cadbury seasonal treats, check out Cadbury Gifts.

Disclosure: I received a selection of creme eggs and a voucher to buy ingredients for testing the recipe. All opinions are our own.

Birthday cake for Sasha

Come Friday, my Twitter feed is full of competition tweets. I try to intersperse them with recipe links and a bit of chat, so as not to annoy my foodie friends who sometimes frown at the comping RTs.
The thrill of winning though keeps me motivated. Can't say I win very often, perhaps once a month on Twitter. Last month I won a cute red double-decker bus mug, which is a lovely addition to my mug and cup collection.
If like me you enjoy Twitter comps, and what's not to like? - they take a second to enter - you might know that @SpongeCakesLtd offer a cake giveaway every Friday. I have been entering their giveaways for a couple of years, hoping to win one of their super cakes.
Imagine my delight when earlier this month I opened my notifications folder to see a tweet from Sponge Cakes that I won their cake of the month - salted caramel and toffee cake.
It was great timing, as Sasha's birthday was coming in a week.
The cake was delivered by courier the day before his birthday. I had to hide the box, so as not to tempt anyone into sampling it too early. It was well packaged, a box inside a box, and arrived in pristine condition.

It was not the first time we have had a cake from Sponge. A couple of years ago I have ordered a different flavoured cake, and it was delicious.

I have already bought a cake for Sasha to take to school to share with his class and teachers. It was a plain vanilla buttercream sponge with an Emoji icing on top, as I thought it would appeal to his teen tastes in decorating.

The salted caramel and toffee cake which arrived by courier is a different league. It was a generously sized two-layer cake with toffees on the frosting. Both my sons love toffees so this cake got thumbs up from everyone.
Eddie had the biggest slice and pronounced it to be "AMAZING!".

I was a bit anxious whether Sasha would "approve". Being autistic, he is rather particular about the cakes, and foods in general, that he would eat.
We had visitors coming to wish him a happy birthday through the day, and everyone loved the cake.
Looks like it is an inspired flavour, with oodles of appeal for both grown-ups and children.

As for Sasha, he was very happy with his birthday cake.
Thank you, Sponge, for making our boy's birthday extra special!

Check out Sponge for a range of delightful cakes. And keep tweeting, you never know, it might be your turn to win a cake now.

Sea bass with prawns and black garlic ketchup

You would have thought that with over a hundred cook books at home, I would be more organised with the meal planning.
I admire people who plan their dinner menus a week in advance. Though I often have a shopping list with me with ingredients to buy for that evening, there are days when I have no clue as to what I might serve for dinner. I wander around the shop, looking at the ingredients, trying to find inspiration.
Last Friday I stopped by the deli fish counter in Waitrose (they have 20% off promotion each Friday) and decided to buy two sea bass fillets.

Sea bass with prawns and black garlic ketchup
Ingredients:
2 sea bass fillets
3tbsp olive oil
1 medium carrot
a handful of baby tomatoes
a squeeze of lemon juice
3tbsp black garlic ketchup
fresh parsley, chopped
Peel and slice a carrot, and place in the oiled roasting dish. Place the fish fillets on top, scatter the tomatoes around the dish. Spread black garlic ketchup over the fish and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over. Cook in the oven at 180C for about 20+ minutes. Add the prawns in the last five minutes of cooking.
Serve hot, with a bit of fresh parsley sprinkled on the top.

In this recipe I used a Black Garlic Ketchup, an innovative product from Hawkshead Relish. The flavour of black garlic is created with baking whole, fresh garlic bulbs for 40 days at a very low temperature creating an extraordinary flavour.
"Combining the pureed garlic cloves by hand with fresh tomatoes, olive oil & Anglesey sea salt this ketchup sauce is the ultimate addition to cooked meats, tartlets, potato wedges, roast veg, shell fish, stews and glazes".

Image credits: Hawkshead Relish

Maria Whitehead, co-owner of Hawkshead Relish, says: "The flavour of black garlic is exquisite & relatively new to the British palate, although seen on some adventurous menus, we wanted to bring this tremendous innovation to the public in a way that it can be easily appreciated & enjoyed! We've made it in a way that the unadventurous will just love as a dynamic dip for chips, to those who will delight in its versatility in adding luscious flavour in cooking & preparation".
Handmade with optimum quality ingredients & completely natural without any artificial flavouring, colouring or additives, free from gluten & nuts as well as suitable for vegetarians.
It is rich, smooth, sweet, almost treacle-like in appearance and consistency, with a good garlicky punch.

This excellent condiment could be added as an ingredient to a whole variety of dishes.
For example, yesterday I cooked a one-pan chicken and vegetable dish. I have sliced two sweet peppers, a big courgette and drizzled them with the olive oil, before placing a chicken breast joint on top. Drizzle more olive oil over the chicken, season with a bit of salt and pour a mix of 2tbsp of maple syrup, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 2tbsp black garlic ketchup. Cook at 180C for 40+ minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add more black garlic ketchup on top in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Have you tried this innovative ketchup?

Disclosure: I received a bottle of ketchup for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.