The Tea Route

"A traditional Englishman drinks tea to the point where his blood has long-since been replaced with an infusion of Ceylon, Assam, and Darjeeling"
Fennel Hudson, A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No.1

I often say that I drink so much tea it must be flowing in my veins. My kitchen can compete with the local branch of a famous tea brand. I'm always excited to discover new brands and new blends.

Tearoute is a new online tea shop with a Greek twist, which has been launched by tea enthusiast Milena Bottero.

Its range of over 80 teas is impressive, with such a wide choice there is sure some blend to tempt you.
Tearoute introduces an aromatic selection of whole leaf teas inspired by the Mediterranean and top quality single origin teas from Asia.
The list of teas is extensive - from flavoured and wellness teas to true origin white, green and black teas.
Tea blends include natural ingredients like dried fruit, flower blossom, spices as well as essential oils.
I have tried two of Tearoute teas: Gardens of Bukhara and The Earth Song.

Gardens of Bukhara oolong flavoured tea is fragrant with sweet spice aromas.
I have chosen it because I loved the name and the list of ingredients including Oolong tea, pineapple and coconut pieces, cranberries and orange pieces rose buds and petals, shredded coconut, pomegranate, vanilla and more.
Many years ago when I was a child, my Dad visited Bukhara, and his travel stories made it sound like a magic place. I also loved reading a story of Avicenna, dreaming of visiting this beautiful place one day. Alas, I never travelled that far, but Gardens of Bukhara tea with its beautiful aromas and flavours brought back my childhood memories of the faraway lands.

Gardens of Bukhara tea

The Earth Song is a relaxing fruit tea with such beautiful ingredients as dried Damask rose buds from Rose Valley in Bulgaria, sour apples and pear pieces, freeze-dried strawberry and raspberry, blackberry leaves, cornflower and marigold blossoms, chamomile and more.
The taste of apples is predominant, with the added floral and berry flavours.

The Earth Song tea

This fruity floral tea is pale golden in colour. A real treat for anyone who loves fruity teas.

Having a good browse of the online shop, I loved the names of many teas - Red Square, A Tale of Two teas, Cherry Orchard, Treasure of the Majas etc - imaginative and creative.
Which blend would you choose?

Disclosure: I received samples of two teas for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Fruit & nut chocolate shards with popping candy

This week is all about His Majesty Chocolate (or should that be Her Majesty?!). Chocolate Week is definitely a cause for celebration, whether you cook a lush chocolate cake, bake brownies with the kids or just treat yourself with a box of truffles.

The original recipe for chocolate shards appeared in Sainsbury's magazine in October 2014 issue. I have adapted it a bit, but the major inspiration comes from that recipe created by food director Sarah Randall.

Fruit & nut chocolate shards with popping candy
Ingredients:
3 bars of chocolate - two dark and one milk
100g raisins
50g dried mango
a good glug of apricot brandy
30g pistachios
60g pine nuts
2tbsp honey
100g unsalted butter
2tbsp or more of chocolate covered popping candy (optional)

Soak the raisins and chopped mango pieces in apricot brandy (or rum, like in the original recipe).
Preheat the oven to 180C, put the nuts on the baking tray and toast for about 10 minutes.

I soaked raisins and sliced mango pieces in apricot brandy for a couple of hours
The original plan was to substitute macadamia for walnuts, as we are not fans of macadamia. I put 100g of chopped walnuts on a baking tray and in the oven for 10 minutes. I was watching Poldark on BBC iPlayer, and got distracted by basic anatomy. By the time I remembered about the walnuts, they were a beautiful ebony colour. Quick change of plan then. What do I have in the kitchen? About 30g of shelled pistachios and 60g pine nuts, that would do.
I didn't have any coconut cookies, instead I used one of the dark chocolate coconut bars. Waitrose has recently introduced a selection of dark chocolate bars to its 1 range. In this recipe I used Waitrose 1 Indian Ocean dark chocolate with coconut, Dominican Republic Dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

Place the butter, broken chocolate bars and honey in a bowl set over simmering water and keep stirring until the mix melts. Add in the fruit and nuts and mix well.
Pour into the oiled square tray. I have added a layer of foil first in the tray for the ease of taking the chocolate block later. Sprinkle the popping candy over the chocolate mix.

Once cooled, cover the tray with foil and put in the fridge overnight.
Using a large knife, cut the block into shards.

The shards are very creamy and moreish. Just lovely with a cup of tea or coffee.

Adding my recipe to #KitchenClearout linky run by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews, as I used some odd ends of the nuts' packets.

And it being a chocolate recipe, it fits well with We Should Cocoa linky run by Choclette from Tin and Thyme.

Ninja Kids Morphsuit

Ninjas are all the rage in our house. It's crammed with Lego Ninjago and Ninja turtles paraphernalia. So, it's not surprising that from all the possible Morphsuit outfits Eddie has chosen a Ninja Kids Morphsuit.
If you haven't heard of morpsuits, they are made from polyester and spandex. Not sure if they can be called onesies, but they are a type of a jumpsuit, which covers your body like a giant glove.
You are turned into a striking colourful silhouette. The material is super stretchy and almost hugs your body. Morphsuits come in all sorts of colours and patterns.

The Ninja Kids Morpsuit is black with red and white pattern. If your kids - like my son - are ninja-crazy, this outfit might be a great idea for a Halloween costume.
This costume comes in S, M and L sizes.
You don't have to be naked to get in, a pair of undies and maybe a vest will be just fine, as long as it's nothing too bulky to spoil the silhouette.

Going to the loo is a bit tricky (and so are onesies) as you need to undo the back but it is do-able.
It looks very cool, and a tiny bit scary, when the mask is on.
It is completely breathable. And you can see through very well too.

If Ninja costume is not to your liking, there is a big selection of outfits - just check out Kids Morphsuits.
Personally I'm not overly keen on the gory ones, but the animal morphsuits are fantastic.

Our verdict:
Pros: a cool Halloween or party outfit, very stretchy and fits well, breathable and see-through
Cons: not very easy to take off quickly if you need to use the toilet + might be too scary for younger kids.

Saying that, my 6-year-old thought he looked very cool, and he can't wait to wear it at the party.

Disclosure: We received a morphsuit for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are Eddie's and mine.

Flying Home 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle and Puzzle Handy Storage Foldaway Puzzle Board from Ravensburger

On a peaceful quiet day there is nothing more indulgent for me than make myself a cup of tea and work on a new jigsaw puzzle. Being a big fan of Ravensburger jigzaw puzzles, I'm always excited whenever I have a chance to review a new one.
Flying Home 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle is a fabulous addition to Ravensburger range. It is created by Colin Thompson, one of the most acclaimed puzzle artists. His weird fantasy world is animated with strange little creatures. I simply adore his quirky style.

Flying Home, image credits: Ravensburger

Flying Home depicts several flying machines - you will find here a huge patchwork hot air balloon and a variety of smaller balloons, a zeppelin-like gadget, an UFO and birds. The eponymous home is a fanciful castle with a plethora of towers and turrets.
The flying machines with their busy movements make the surrounding green landscape even more serene.
The puzzle comes in a sturdy box, with an A4 leaflet which is a great reference source. Jigsaw pieces are made from high quality cardboard, with linen finish print to minimise glare on the puzzle image.
Once completed, the puzzle measures 70x50cm.
This wonderfully wacky puzzle is suitable for ages 12+, and will make an excellent gift for any jigsaw puzzle lover. If there is such a person in your life, how about treating them for Christmas. I know I would be delighted to get a new puzzle for Christmas.

I usually finish my puzzles fast enough, but the last few weeks have been so busy and stressful, I haven't had a chance to sit quietly and enjoy my puzzle. So it is still very much a work in progress, as you can see from the photo above.
I love all the little details.

If you do puzzles regularly, or even occasionally, you might have come across a problem on how to keep a puzzle when the work is still in progress. Wonderful if you have a special table where you can keep it unmolested.
To find a big clear space for a big puzzle in our house is a bit of a problem. I tend to use a green mat, which I chuck under the sofa in the sitting room. I keep telling everyone to be careful as to where they put their feet, and warn my younger son not to climb under the sofa.
There are easier ways of course to assemble a puzzle.
Ravensburger offers a great solution for the problem to jigsaw puzzle fans - Puzzle Handy Storage Foldaway Puzzle Board. It arrived a few days later after I started working on my latest puzzle, and I decided to continue working on my old mat.

Next time it will be a new board surface. I love the fact that you can fold it away and keep safe in a box. Once open, it is big enough for a 1000- or 500-piece puzzle. It's manufactured from top quality FSC board, and unfolds to measure 80x57cm.
Unfold the board, add plastic securing brackets on each side to make it stay rigid.

You can use the dotted guidelines as a helpful frame for the puzzle.

This must-have board would be another super gift for any jigsaw puzzle addict.

Disclosure: I received both Ravensburger products for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Thirty three disasters

You might have been wondering why I went quiet again last week, since I said I was going to catch up on my blog a week ago. Unfortunately, we had a rather stressful week, with one disaster after another. OK, perhaps not a disaster in the full sense of the world, but it was enough of a disruption in our personal lives.
Since we have changed our boiler over a month ago, we started having problems with drainage.
I don't know if that's something to do with the cowboys who installed our boiler, or whether it was a coincidence.
A few days ago the ceiling in the hall started dripping rusty water. In panic, we began calling one plumber service after another. Finally someone agreed to come and look at it.
This was the company called Rightio. I should have been wary of anyone calling themselves Rightio.
We were told to expect a plumber between 11am and 2pm on Thursday, I waited all that time downstairs, not even daring to wash the dishes in the kitchen in case I wouldn't hear when they knock at the door. The guy finally made his appearance at 6pm. We went upstairs, trying to figure out exactly where the leak was coming from.
The engineer lifted a few floorboards, which were not fixed properly since the last time they were lifted for the new pipes for the boiler. He complained that they were screwed the wrong way, that he couldn't access the leak and suggested cutting out the hole in the ceiling on the ground floor.
I said No, we don't destroy the ceiling. Imagine how much would that cost to repair. He shrugged it off, saying we should claim the home insurance. As if that was just plain sailing. His lovely note says: "Advised customer that inspection holes are needed to trace leak source. They do not wish me to proceed with this action".
That sounds like a joke.
Can you guess how much this joke cost us? £118.80. For doing exactly nothing.
Our coneversation went as following:
- I'm going to charge you for an hour.
- But you've been here for about 20 minutes.
- It doesn't matter if I stayed for 5 minutes or an hour, we still charge for an hour.
- But you didn't fix the problem, it is still leaking non-stop, and we need to call another plumber to fix it.
- You still need to pay for an hour.

That's Rightio for you. I know who I would never call again for any service.

Back to square one. This time we called the British Gas. The plumber arrived in the arranged slot, lifted more floorboards, found the leak.
Apparently, when the cowboy who did our boiler put the floorboards back, he screwed the screw into the pipe. It was kind of sealed for a few weeks, but because we walked over it, the screw has loosened, the hole in the pipe widened and started leaking.
He repaired the pipe. And no holes in the ceiling were necessary. Do you hear that, Rightio engineer?

On top of that, the drain is still blocked, so every morning we have a mini-pool outside the back door going in the garden. A very smelly pool.

And to make it even more stressful the wall at the rear of the garden has partially collapsed. It is an old wall, with what used to be a door into the farm fields. At the moment, the side over the wall is a completely overgrown land, with trees and brambles. You cannot get through, it all needs clearing out. The trees on the other side push at the wall. We're waiting for the district councillors to get back to us, as to who owns that plot, and tomorrow someone will come to look at the wall and give us a quote as to how much it will cost to repair.
Aaaaannnd breathe...

I'm rather glad the week is over.

Choc chip oat cookies for Flora Lunchbox Challenge

Making a healthy balanced meal for a child's lunch box might not always be easy, if you have a fussy eater. It's even more challenging, when you have a child with special needs.
As you might know from reading my blog, our older son Sasha is an autie. Children with autism often have restrictive diets due to their condition. With Sasha it is literally either a familiar food he would agree to eat or nothing. People who have no experience of autism sometimes give unsolicited advice, feeling superior "If he is hungry, he will eat, he won't starve". Actually, he will.
Last year he stayed for four days on a residential in Bristol with his class. I packed some food with him. They stayed in a hostel, without a fridge, so it was impossible to send enough food to last for four days, and the teachers were hoping he'd be eating with the others when they were going out. I was worried that he wouldn't eat, and he didn't eat much. He had chips and some of his sandwiches, but that's about it. He came home thinner than he left.
When Sasha was younger, we went through a long line of specialists including visits to the nutrition clinic in the children's hospital. When they asked us about the foods he wouldn't eat, I said it would be much easier to say what he would eat. In the end, we decided that though limited, his diet is not that bad, as he does eat some fruit and vegetables, and I cook a "super soup" for his dinner, which is packed with vegetables and pulses.

When we travel, feeding my autie becomes more of a challenge. In Italy, for example, he refuses to eat the local bread. For all the variety of wonderful breads in Italy, they really don't make good sliced bread. So, it might look strange, but one of our suitcases is packed with several loaves of Warburton's bread, as well as enough tuna pate to last a week. Sasha loves tuna pate sandwiches. I don't know what would we do without it.
I have tried all the other possible pates - chicken, mackerel, trout, salmon etc etc - he would sniff them and put back on the plate. Back to tuna pate then.
Tuna pate sandwiches are his staple food, he has them for breakfast, he has them in his lunch box. He has them for his birthday, he has them for Christmas.
It always makes me sad that when we tuck in into our Christmas dinner, he just wants his tuna sandwiches.

To make his lunchbox a bit more interesting, I add some home bakes, like a slice of carrot cake or a multiseed muffin, a few choc chip cookies or a cupcake.
Thankfully, his school is understanding. I often read online about the school lunchbox police who do not allow children to have any sweet foods in their lunchboxes.

Sasha loves my bakes. When I make a batch of cookies, I have to ration them, as he would gobble them up in one go (that happened once or twice when I wasn't quick enough to hide the cookies).

When it comes to cookies, I love baking with Flora. If I use plain butter, my cookies often tend to end up quite flat and spread out. Flora keeps the cookies in a good shape, and they taste delicious too.

For Sasha's favourite choc chip oat cookies you will need:
100g soft margarine
100g caster sugar
65g jumbo oats or one MOMA porridge sachet
165g self-raising flour
1 egg
50g of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Sometimes I also add 1tsp of vanilla essence.

I have tried different kinds of chocolate in this recipe, from Menier cooking chocolate, either milk or dark, to Sainsbury's Basics milk chocolate, so you can make it as budget as you like.
Cream the margarine with sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour, oats and the beaten egg, mix well, forming the dough. Knead lightly on a slightly floured surface, roll out to 6-7mm thickness, cut out the biscuits with cookie cutters, place them on the trays lined with parchment paper or foil and bake for about 15 minutes until golden at 180C. Don't overcook, they are still very soft when you take them out.

These cookies will keep well in a cookie tin for a few days, that is if they will last that long.
They might not be the healthy food exactly, but they are made with oats and Flora light, so actually they are not bad at all.

Flora has developed an inspiring Lunchbox Guide for healthy eating habits. This guide is a helpful source of ideas for creative and healthy lunchbox meals including this lunchbox builder:

Image credits: Flora

There is a page of top tips for fussy eaters, a 5-day lunchbox plan  + a 5-day lunchbox plan for vegans and much more.

This post is an entry for the #FloraLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Flora. Check out their lunch planner and recipe ideas here.

Disclosure: We received a Flora lunchbox and a £5 Tesco voucher to spend on the ingredients. All opinions are ours.

New flavours from EasiYo

Making your own yogurt is a doddle when you have an EasiYo Yogurt Maker. The beauty of this kitchen gadget is in its simplicity. You just need to mix a sachet of a powdered yogurt with plain water, shake the tub, insert it into a bigger insulated tub, add hot boiling water, secure the lid and leave overnight to set. And it sets beautifully.

Image credits: EasiYo

Thick, creamy yogurt for breakfast is not only delicious, it has great health benefits, being a good source of calcium.
What I love about EasiYo yogurts is that there is a big range of over 30 flavours to choose from, and from one sachet you get 1kg of yogurt. Having a big pot of yogurt is convenient for a big(ger) family. You can scoop out as much as you need. With little pots that we buy in the supermarkets I find that they might not be finished in one go, and then I end up binning them.
EasiYo yogurt keeps well in the fridge for several days.

It is not cheap, you can find them in Lakeland for £13.99 per 5 sachets so it comes to £2.79 per kilo of delicious yogurt, which is pretty reasonable. You might compare it to a good quality yogurt (like Rachel's) priced in supermarkets at £2 for 450g. And you can buy them in bulk at Easiyoshop at lower prices.

The new model of the yogurt maker had its first redesign in the brand's 23 years of history. It is simple yet stylish. There is no electricity involved, no moving parts, just two containers. It's very easy to clean, it has an easy grip handle and non-slip feet. The redesign sees the old polystyrene insulation replaced with a layer containing New Zealand wool which allows the yogurt to be fermented at the right temperature.

EasiYo yogurts have no artificial colours or flavours and no stabilisers. EasiYo is also gluten free and vegetarian.

Two new flavours have been recently added to the EasiYo range - Strawberries and Cream and Greek Style Passionfruit.

Strawberries & Cream Yogurt - Fragola e Panna - is a classic combination of flavours. It sets perfectly. It is sweet, slightly tart and flavourful. It makes a lovely dessert or breakfast. You might eat it as it is, unadorned...

...or with fresh or stewed fruit. For example, I served it with a simple apple, dried apricot, vanilla and cinnamon compote, and it was very nice indeed.

This delicious yogurt is 112kcal per 100g. It is gluten free, vegetarian and a good source of calcium.
One 100g serving has a good amount of calcium - 154mg (reference intake is based on an average adult daily diet requirement of 800mg calcium).

Greek Style Passionfruit yogurt is another delicious flavour. The aroma is lovely, as soon as you open the sachet. While I also liked Strawberries and cream, Greek Style Passionfruit was an absolute winner for me. It is so moreish - creamy, smooth, fragrant and utterly delightful.
I must buy another sachet soon. I wonder if I can freeze it and turn into an ice cream.

This yogurt is even less in calories - at 105kcal per 100g.
I would have preferred it to have less sugar - 13.7/14g of sugar per 100g of yogurt is not ideal, as grown-ups are advised by the NHS not to eat more than 30g of sugar per day, but with a balanced diet this should not be a problem.

Visit EasiYo for stockists, information and recipe ideas.

Disclosure: I received two sachets of EasiYo new flavours for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

September Degustabox

We are always looking forward to our Degustabox delivery, which arrives every month and is full of foodie surprises. This monthly food and drink subscription box is an excellent way to discover products which have only just appeared in the shops or those which might have been around for while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the box arrives, it's a total surprise, as you don't know what you might find there. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet and would like to have a go, I have a whopping £7 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time) - just use a code BLDEG15 when you place an order.

What did we receive in September Degustabox? Let's have a peek.

Say Yes to No Bread Chips is a modern brand, most likely founded by very young enthusiastic people. It has loud claims on the packaging - Say Yes to No - artificial flavouring and unappetizing additives, empty promises, photoshopped images and phony advertising. I do agree with all these good ideas and sentiments, but I am a bit wary of the irrelevant information on the food products.
Sour cream & onion toasted bread chips proved to be quite tasty, my younger son loved them and asked to buy more.

Get Fruity oat bars come in six delicious fruity flavours.
Get Fruity Tangy Pineapple, Coconut & Lime bar is made from a wholegrain oats with fruit including dried pineapple, dessicated coconut, natural lime flavourings and virgin coconut oil. It is made in Cornwall. It has no added refined sugar, is gluten free, 100% natural and is suitable for vegans.
It's not just for vegans, of course. These are all my favourite flavours, and I have enjoyed this chewy moist flavoursome oat and fruit bar.

Emily Fruit Crisps - Crunchy Banana - are also pretty healthy. There is no added sugar, additives or preservatives, and the palm oil used in the recipe is RSPO-certified (though I don't know why it has been added in the first place). Being pure fruit, these snacks are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Omnivores will be happy to much on these crunchy sweet banana slices as well. They taste sweet and creamy.

Hartley's No Added Sugar jelly pots come in handy small sized pots. I have recently talked about them - see Lunchbox for my fussy eater post. Eddie loves Hartley's jelly, and you will often find a couple of pots of this tasty wobbly dessert in our fridge.

I was excited to find three tins of Cirio borlotti tins in the latest box.
I'm a big fan of Cirio tomato products, but didn't realise they have beans and lentils as well in their extensive range. Each tin contains 150g borlotti beans in water. They have been pre-cooked in steam and are ready to eat.

Borlotti beans also known as cranberry beans are used in many classic Italian recipes, from stews to burgers.
You can add them to salads or ragu. I used two tins to make a roasted tomato and garlic borlotti beans hummus.

The remaining tin of borlotti was added to a chicken and tomato tray bake along the red onion, canellini beans, garlic and olives. This was one of our mid-week meals, when I chuck everything in one tray with a big glug of olive oil and bake. I also added some Tabasco BBQ sauce (leftovers from the previous Degustabox).

Mrs Crimble's Fusilli is a gluten free corn fusilli pasta with gourmet mushroom and cream sauce. It could be a meal for one or a side dish for two. I am going to pass it on to a friend who is on a gluten free diet.

Chia Bia Whole & Milled Chia Seed Sachets. Chia is one of the super foods, highly acclaimed by the health food gurus. Chia seeds are packed with Omega 3, fibre and are a great source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Saying that, I'm not the biggest fan. I will try to use the milled chia in baking.

Metcalfe's Popcorn Thins are light, crispy and coated with the finest Italian chocolate. What's not to like? A satisfying snack for all popcorn and chocolate lovers.

Cape Drinks are the fruity tea blends. Sparkling Peach and Lychee is a refreshing drink made with rooibos tea, with added vitamins and botanical extracts. A lovely drink, if you enjoy sparkling drinks.
Cape drinks are made without refined sugar and only from natural ingredients.

Teisseire Sirop is available in four delicious flavours - we have tried a fruity raspberry cranberry flavour. You need just a dash of syrup to a glass of still or sparkling water.

Disclosure: We received the latest Degustabox for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are ours.