Best ever pickled baby cucumbers

We are not talking here the little vinegary monsters that you usually buy in the shops which taste of nothing but vinegar. Today I am inviting you to try a very easy recipe for the mildly pickled cucumbers.

I was delighted to discover that Waitrose started selling baby cucumbers recently, yes, they are pricier than the big sized comrades, but perfect for my recipe. In fact, I haven't tried it with the huge cucumbers. I don't know why with such a huge variety of tomatoes of all sizes in the shops you almost never see any variety in the cucumbers. They are all a standard size of a small weapon.
I tried growing my own a couple of years ago, but lost the crop, and switched to growing tomatoes.

This recipe is called Malosol'nye ogurtsy in Russian (lit. little-salted cucumbers) and they are ready to eat the next day. I've been consulting my Mum over the phone, as she often makes this dish for my nieces.

For 1 jar of pickled cucmbers I used

2 and a half packs of Waitrose baby cucumbers (150g each)
20g dill
peppercorns (about a dozen of different sizes)
1 clove of garlic
a couple of black currant leaves

For the salty solution you will need
for 1.5 litre of water
3 heaped tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
Please note that I did several jars of pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, so if you are making just one jar of pickles you will be left with lots of the salted water.

1. Bring the water to boil, add to a biggish container and disslove sugar and salt. Let it cool, it might be tepid, but not hot.
2. Prepare a big jar for pickles by putting it in the oven preheated to 180C for 10 minutes, take it out and let it cool.
3. Start the assembling process by adding a few leaves of the blackcurrants at the bottom, one clove of garlic and peppercorns. Chop off the "bums" of cucumbers to speed up the pickling process. Add several cucumbers, then a layer of dill, don't chop it, just tear in half. More cucumbers and more dill until the whole jar is filled in. Add the pickling liquid - it should cover the cucumbers, put the lid on top and place the jar in the fridge.
4. You can eat the cucumbers the next day.

They are deliciously crunchy and have a lovely mild pickled taste. They are best served with the boiled baby potatoes. They keep well for several days, but the longer they stay in the salted liquid, the saltier they become, so I suggest doing a small amount of pickles at a time.

More fun with Ben and Holly (Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom: Big Star Fun app review)

All fans of Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, rejoice!

The first ever official Ben & Holly app called Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom - Big Star Fun has been released for iPad, iPhone and iPod.

This is a high quality app for pre-schoolers, and it features all the original characters from the TV series as well as the music and sound effects. Young fans of Ben and Holly now have an interactive kingdom of their own.

When you open the app, you are presented with an option of playing (and flying, of course) as Elf Ben or Princess Holly.

There are four magical games to play and each game comes with different difficulty levels. As Eddie is 2 years old, we go for the Easy level. And even this level needs a certain amount of skills and dexterity of fingers when you move the figures around.

So, what games can you find in the Little Kingdom:
 
You can start by Collecting Stars which involves flying through the air, trying to avoid the obstacles (I think Eddie didn't quite grasp the concept that he has to avoid the obstacles, because each time his chosen character bumps into things and I say Ouch, he laughs like a little bell).

You can excel at Throwing Sticks and play fetch with the colourful Gaston.

Hiding is another fun activity. Ben and Holly are hiding in the Elf Tree, you have to be quick, catch them if you can, or they disappear. Eddie and I both enjoyed this game.

Sweeping the leaves: you have to help Ben or Holly to clear the ground, the leaves keep falling from the big tree and you need to finish the job before the time runs out. So far we haven't managed to clear it completely, and we are supposedly on the Easy level.

Apart from the four games above you receive a bonus game: a Sticker book. There are several backgrounds to choose and numerous stickers to add. Eddie loves this game, but he can be over-zealous in his stickering. He loves ladybirds, so as you can see, he has generously decorated the background with the ladybirds.

If your kids love Ben and Holly, then I would certainly recommend this app.

Saying that, Eddie prefers Peppa Pig app at the moment (I reviewed the app recently and wasn't sure how long Eddie was going to enjoy it, but so far he wants to play with it every day).
He is probably a tad too young for all Ben and Holly's games, as for example, cleaning the grass from the leaves requires quite a bit of patience, and I'm afraid that is not one of our virtues.
This app is probably best for a one-to-one session between a child and a parent, with parent explaining the rules and helping to navigate the games.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom: Big Star Fun app is available from the App Store for £1.99.

P.S. We were sent a code to try the game for free.

September blues giveaway (CLOSED NOW)

I have been counting days until September as the summer holidays are always quite stressful in our household, but now that it finally arrived, I feel a bit sad that the summer is over. The dark evenings are creeping on us already. As of Tuesday, we are back to the school routine and, fingers crossed, to some semblance of normality.

To mark the end of summer and the start of the new academic year, I am offering my blog readers a few chocolate bars. I bought two batches of chocolate: Lindt and Green & Black's. I am partial to the dark chocolate and also loves all nutty flavours, hence my choice.

Green & Black's set includes 3 bars of dark chocolate: Ginger, Dark 70% and Burnt Toffee.

Lindt Creation's set includes 3 bars: Divine hazelnut, Velvety vanilla almond and Luscious caramel.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these sets, please follow two easy steps:

1. Leave me a comment on any other post (excluding the other current giveaway) and let me know which post it is in the comments here.

2. Let me know which set you would prefer: Lindt or Green & Black's (or if you don't mind either, just say either).

I will add all the names to the Raffleking after 27 September.

Good luck!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many thanks for all your comments! I have added all names to the Raffleking and the two selected winners are

LINDT: Cheryl P
GREEN & BLACK'S: Hazel R

Well done, winners! I will get in touch with you to ask for your address details. Hope you will enjoy your choccies.

A pretty Quakeress cake

Why a Pretty Quakeress? This cake is baked with Quaker Oats, hence the name.

Ingredients:
150g Quaker oats, finely ground
160g granulated sugar
120g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 medium Granny Smith apple
1 medium carrot
150g yogurt
2 bags of flavoured redbush tea (I used Charbrew Tropical rooibos flavour)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp melted butter

For the sauce:
200g blackcurrants
80g sugar
1 tsp strawberry jam

Start with adding the Quaker Oats to the coffee grinder and grind them until they are finely ground.
Make a cup of tea with 2 teabags of the redbush tea, leave it to cool.
In a big mixing bowl grate 1 apple and 1 carrot, add flour, ground oats, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, melted butter, about 1/3 cup of tea and yogurt.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour the cake mix in a buttered cake spring form. Place in the oven for about 50 minutes +. Check with a wooden skewer if it's ready. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven, and out of the spring form. Dust with the icing sugar.
You can eat it hot ot cold.

For the sauce: pour 2/3 mug of tea in a small pan, add the sugar, let it boil and slightly reduce before adding fresh black currants and a spoonful of the strawberry jam. Cook for about 5 minutes.

To serve the cake, pour a few spoons of the sauce over a slice of cake.

And here it is, a Pretty Quakeress.

A taste of India from Warburtons (Baked Naan Chips review)

 

 

 

When I think of India, I picture myself as a little girl, sitting on my Mum's lap in the cinema, watching a Bollywood weepie like Seeta Aur Geeta (anyone else knows what I am talking about?).

 

 

 

My Mum loved the Indian cinema, and in the days of my childhood it was very popular in Russia. Later I've been reading memoirs of travellers to India and dreaming of visiting it one day. Alas, my dreams have stayed dreams.
What first springs to your mind when you think of India? Colourful clothes, delicious cuisine, cultural traditions?
If you enjoy Indian food, you might like to know that Britain's famous baker Warburtons has launched a new range of products that are inspired by India - Baked Naan Chips.

Warburtons explains: "Made from a unique naan bread recipe, the snacks are inspired by iconic British-Indian dishes and come in three great flavours - Creamy Korma (mild), Classic Tikka (medium) and Fiery Madras (hot), to suit the tastes of all your friends and family. Available in big sharing bags (150g), not only do these Indian treats taste delicious, but they’re also guilt-free, as the whole range is baked not fried, with 33% less fat compared to standard potato crisps, and containing no artificial ingredients."

Creamy Korma (mild) was the first bag of naan chips that I opened for tasting.
What you notice immediately is an aroma of the coconut milk and Korma spices. Among the ingredients you will find wheat flour, sunflower oil, korma seasoning, coconut milk, yoghurt powder, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cayenne, pepper, garlic and more. The chips are very crunchy and mildly spicy.

Very pleasant Korma flavour, mild enough for younger children. Eddie had a few and asked for more, he really enjoyed them. You can munch them as they are, or use a nice dip to go with them.
As they contain no artificial ingredients, I am happy to give them to my children. Another bonus: they are a nice new food to tempt and develop your child's palate.

Classic Tikka (medium)
If you look at the list of ingredients, you find wheat flour, sunflower oil, Tikka Masala seasoning, yoghurt powder, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, coriander, ginger, cardamom, cumin.
Tikka chips are definitely more spicy than Korma, but not too hot.

I decided to go full Monty and serve them with a Tikka and side-dishes. I think they are a good competition to poppadoms. Eat them with different toppings, dips and condiments. And again, these chips were very crunchy.
My personal favourite. They go well with a glass of cold beer.

Fiery Madras (hot)
I am not very keen on hot curries, so tried to postpone tasting the last bag of chips. In comparison to the other two flavours, Fiery Madras has a real kick, as it is made with the Madras curry seasoning (the one that I usually avoid if I eat in an Indian restaurant).
They are very aromatic. I placed a bowl of chips in the kitchen, and every time I enter the kitchen, I can smell the spices. Nice but too hot for me. It would suit those who love their curries hot.
A friend of mine came earlier today and I mentioned to her that I am writing a review and asked if she'd like to taste the chips. She tried all three flavours and her verdict was that the Madras chips were not as hot as she presumed from my description, so I suppose it depends on a personal taste. they were too hot for me. She also commented that all three flavours were really nice.

If you'd like to try the new Warburtons Baked Naan Chips, they are available at Morrisons (RSP £1.79).
For further information and also recipes created by TV chef Monisha Bharadwaj visit www.facebook.com/warburtons
I have also noticed that they are running a competition to win a curry recipe kit.

 



Back to school healthier swaps with Popchips (giveaway c/d 20 September 2012)

Are you dreading the start of the school? Or perhaps you can't wait and are counting the days until the academic year starts in September? With such a rainy summer in the UK it hasn't been an easy task to keep the kids happy and entertained at home, if you haven't had a chance to travel.

Do your children take lunch boxes to school? Do you find it difficult to come with the healthy options?

With the start of the school year looming in the very near future, nutritionist Azmina Govindji put together some ideas for the lunchbox swaps.

1. Trade a regular bag of crisps for Popchips, they are literally popped with heat and pressure, so there's no fat used in frying and kids will love them (ahem, not just kids. After I reviewed Popchips a couple of months ago, I have been regularly buying them for myself, I am particularly addicted to the BBQ flavour).

2. Go for squeezy yoghurts over ice cream for a good fix of calcium and protein.

3. Leave the chocolate on the shelf and opt for jaffa cakes as a lighter sweet treat.

4. Stir up a calcium-rich milkshake and forget those sugary soft drinks! (that's better for the after school treat).

For two big glasses of milkshake you will need a glass and one third of semi-skimmed milk, a small tub of fromage frais or yogurt, a handful of blueberries, one small banana, a small scoop of vanilla ice cream (Haagen Dazs is the best, but we also love the Cornish style ice cream). Put all the ingredients in the blender and whizz well. Serve at once. If you use fromage frais, the milkshake will be creamier in consistency and slightly sweeter. If you prefer to use the yogurt, the taste will have a sharp note. Experiment with different yogurts and ice cream, add strawberries or raspberries instead of blueberries.

5. Choose low fat cheese spread as a source of calcium and protein over processed meat, which can be higher in salt.

 

Popchips has kindly offered a selection of 24 single-serve bags as a prize to one of my lucky blog readers. For a chance to win the prize, please fill in the rafflecopter form.
Leaving a comment is a required step, all the other steps are optional.



a Rafflecopter giveaway Good luck!

Ave, Londinium (sea bream baked with herbs and white wine)

Unlike many food bloggers, I often have no idea what I am going to cook for dinner, until I am in the supermarket to see what takes my fancy. On Saturday as I was rushing through Sainsbury's, I stopped by the fish counter and decided that the sea bream looked very appealing. That's my dinner sorted.

I decided to bake it with the herbs from the garden and white wine.

This recipe is a homage to London, to its Roman past and multi-cultural present.

This month's Best of British Challenge  is hosted by London Unattached. If you want to find out more about the challenge and peruse the last month's write-up have a look at The Face of New World Appliances (link removed as expired).

Sea bream baked with herbs and white wine

For the recipe you will need (for 2 people)

1 sea bream
1/3 bottle of white wine
herbs (basil, sage, fennel, chives)
1 sweet pepper
a handful of small tomatoes
4 tbsp cooked farro
green olives
cheese for peppers (that would melt well)
salt with coriander and rose petals (optional, just use sea salt if you don't have any fancy salt)
a good dollop of butter
a splash of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the cleaned fish in the deep ceramic dish, drizzle with olive oil, salt well, add sliced tomatoes and add chopped herbs in the splits on the side of the fish and inside. Pour the white wine over the fish, add more herbs and olives.

Place in the oven for about half an hour. The wine will be reduced and will make a lovely dipping sauce.
 At the same time bake the halved pepper drizzled with the olive oil. After 15 mins of baking, take them out, add some cooked farro. Add some chopped cheese. Put back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

I have already written about farro, the grain of the legions, if you want to find out more, please have a look here. The Roman legionnaires carried farro with them, and I would imagine they had their meals with farro and whatever local produce they could get their hands on: fish or any game, with the local herbs.

I picked the herbs from our garden earlier that day. And tomatoes are also from our greenhouse, chemicals- and pesticide-free (and for that pleasure I have been struggling with the caterpillars who found my tomato plants much to their taste).
Of course, historically, the Romans in Londinium would not have had any tomatoes and sweet peppers which were introduced in the Old World many centuries later. But in the modern multi-cultural and diverse London you can find anything.
My husband who doesn't like fish very much, said it was delicious. I enjoyed the fish, and the sauce was very tasty and fragrant.

So here it is, my Best of British/London recipe.
Oh yes, if anyone guesses what the cheese is, I'll crown you with laurels.

Make me smile: Sudocrem Funny Faces contest

Are you taking zillions of photos of your baby? Does your baby's funny face make you smile?
Share your giggles with Sudocrem, the nappy rash cream and be a winner!

Sudocrem has just launched its latest Facebook contest.

UK parents are encouraged to share a photo of their baby's funniest face. Baby must be under 2 years old.
The winning entry will receive £500 of Babies R Us vouchers and a professional photo shoot, and will also become the star of Sudocrem's facebook Timeline banner for 12 months.

About the Funny Faces competitionOpen to all UK parents, the competition is simple to enter and designed to bring a smile to Sudocrem’s rapidly growing Facebook community of mums and dads. Judged by Sudocrem’s own midwife, Nikki Khan, and the Sudocrem brand team the competition promises to be lots for fun for all involved, with a fantastic prize awaiting the winning entry.
Entry into the competition couldn’t be simpler; go to www.facebook.com/Sudocrem and select the ‘Funny Faces’ contest applicaton. Have your chosen image ready to hand, submit your contact details and then upload the image when prompted. Then just sit back, enjoy viewing all the entries and keep your fingers crossed that Sudocrem will announce you as their winner on 19th October 2012.


 

The competition dates are as follows:
Entry submission commence date - 22^nd August 2012
Entry submission complete date - 15^th October 2012
Judging commences - 17^th October 2012
Competition winner announced - 19^th October 2012


Instructions to enter the Facebook contest:

1. Have your chosen image ready to hand
2. You will be required to ‘Like’ the Sudocrem Facebook page and submit your contact details when prompted
3. Upload your image when prompted
4. Share the contest with your Facebook friends and cross your fingers that you bag this unforgettable prize.

Alas, we won't be entering, as Eddie celebrated his 2nd birthday, and he would be aghast at being called a baby. He's a big boy now. Two going on fifteen, to be precise, and very strong-willed too. Everything has to be his way. Are there any contests for Terrible Twos, I wonder?

Piadina with goat's cheese

"Nothing speaks more of Romagna than this bread of ours - it is a symbol that speaks of devotion to our land" (Giovanni Pascoli)

Piada or piadina is a traditional soft flatbread from Emilia Romagna. It is sold in specialised kiosks called Piadinerie and is filled with cured meats, cheese and vegetables.

You can make your own Piada (Two Greedy Italians book have a lovely recipe for a Parma ham and stracchino cheese filled piadina).
However, if you don't fancy baking your own flatbread, you can buy Crosta & Mollica's piada in Waitrose now.
These thick soft flatbreads have a pronounced olive oil aroma and taste.

"Traditionally they would have been made with lard but these ones are made with extra virgin olive oil which are becoming more popular as they are lighter and healthier."
I love Crosta & Mollica range of breads and biscuits, and as soon as I found the pack of the flatbreads in Waitrose, I wanted to try it. I also wanted to surprise my husband who comes from Emilia Romagna.

For the recipe you will need

1 pack of Crosta & Mollica Piada (there are 3 flatbreads in a pack)
1 Capricorn goat's cheese
1 Galbani mozzarella cucina (a vacuum packed mozzarella in a smaller size of 125g)
a handful of rocket
3 slices of prosciutto
olive oil

It's very simple. Just add a slice of prosciutto on top of the piadina, sliced goat's cheese and mozzarella, drizzle with the olive oil and add a few sprigs of rocket. Fold in two, place in the oven preheated to 180C and leave in the oven for about 5-8 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
You could also put it under the grill if you prefer (our grill is ancient and I prefer to use the oven).

Eat hot. For a vegetarian version, skip the prosciutto, use the vegetraian mozzarella and add some grilled vegetables and chopped herbs.

I am glad that Waitrose is expanding its range of Crosta & Mollica products, have a look in the international breads section. Temptation, temptation!

A palette of memories (Capture the Colour competition)

When it comes to photography, I am very much in the ranks of the amateurs. I take zillions of photos, as if trying to say "Stop, moment! You're so beautiful". I don't have a sophisticated camera, so don't expect any professional results.
Travel Supermarket.com is running a photo competition, asking you to submit 5 photos that in your opinion represent the colours White, Blue, Red, Green and Yellow. You can find all about it here.

All the images I have chosen are about our trips to Cornwall, my favourite destination, and about my family, my Universe.


White
This photo was taken last July. I saw this fleck of white on the vast blue, and it reminded me of the famous poem by the Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov.

A sail gleams in foggy morning
A lonely stranger in the sea
What does it seek in country foreign,
What kind of trouble does it flee?

The waves are swelling, wind is whistling
The mast is bending with a creak
It isn't happiness it's seeking
And not the happiness it flees

The stream beneath as bright as azure
Above the Sun sends golden rays...
Rebellious it's seeking tempest
As if the storm will bring it rest.

(translation from Russian by M.Mostov)

Blue

These gorgeous blue hydrangeas caught my eye in one of the private gardens in Cornwall. There are so many hues and tints of blue, very Impressionist in spirit.

Yellow

This is my son Sasha, admiring a statue in the same garden, where I took the photo of the hydrangeas. Sasha has autism, and is in the world of his own most of the time. The sun was so bright on that day that the lawn looked yellow. I call this image "Art appreciation", and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

Green

This is Eddie in green, looking very determined, set on finding the new adventures on the beach in Perranuthnoe. Drops of sea water on his face from splashing. That's my boy.

Red

This is one of my favourite photos of 2011, when Eddie was 1 year old. My Mum and Eddie are very much alike, they have the same personality and share the same stubborness. The red colour of Eddie's jumper is a bright spot among the calmer hues of green and blue.

I have seen some spectacular entries to the competition, and I do realise that indeed my photos are not in the same league, but they are meaningful to me, I cherish them as memories of the times we enjoyed together and for me they truly say "Stop, moment! You're so beautiful".


I would like to invite my blogging friends to take part in the competition.

Life, Ninja Cat Killer
Dragons and Fairy Dust
Tarnished Silver
Attachment Mummy
The ramblings of a formerly Rock-n-Roll Mum