Schleich Dino Set with Cave

Last Easter holidays Eddie and I were glued to the TV screen, watching several seasons of Primeval on DVDs. We loved the time-travelling basis of the series, and the chance to get acquainted better with the most magnificent dinosaurs.
We didn't go to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on the big screen, and but will most likely buy the DVD as soon as it's released in November.

It's not just us who can't have enough of the prehistoric creatures. The dinosaurs are more popular now than ever. I've been recently reading an article about why the dinosaurs are so popular with kids and grown-ups alike.
Seth Dickinson, the science fiction author, thinks the imagination is the key to their popularity: "It;s the first sense we get that Earth is really, really old," he says, "that there were all these things that happened in deep history that we'll never fully understand."

For dino-loving fans around the world, Schleich offer a selection of dinosaur figurines and sets.

Dino Set with Cave (RRP £44.99) is a splendid set, which comes with lots of great features.

It includes a cave, a column, slab with a separate stone, and three dinos - Herrerasaurus, Psittacosaurus and Microraptor, plus you get a scary look dino skull.

The carnivorous Herrerasuarus is roaming around the dinosaur cave, looking for prey. The Microraptor might have a lucky escape, as it is so small and can hide easily, but the Psittacosaurus must run if it wants to live.

The front part of the cave can be transformed into a catapult, when the stone column is moved. Then the stone slab would bury everything under it.

The big stone slab has a super cool fossil print on it.

Schleich fans will be thrilled to see dinosaurs in new poses and designs. Their range is regularly expanded, and the website is of great educational value. You can find a lot of information about the prehistoric creatures.

Schleich toys are well known for their attention to detail. Just look at the dino skull, with its sharp teeth and movable jaws.

The intricate paintwork is high quality, with detailed textural effects.

This new dinosaur set with cave from Schleich will make an excellent addition to any dinosaur figurine collection. You can mix and match them with any other dinosaurs from an extensive range of prehistoric creatures.

For the full range of prehistoric animals, visit Schleich Toys.

Disclosure: We received new Schleich toys for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Photo diary: week 36, project 365

September is a transitional month, you still have very warm days reminiscent of the summer, yet the evenings are getting dark earlier and earlier, and there is a chill in the air in the mornings.
Last week the school started. While Eddie went back to school on Tuesday, Sasha wasn't supposed to go back to school until Thursday.
Unfortunately his SEN officer and transport department made a total mess with the transport request. And sadly it's not the first time they get it wrong.
He is starting a new school out of town, and needs transport to get there. It's unrealistic for us to take him to school, as it would take two buses, and then walking along the busy road. With my husband's work commitments, he wouldn't be able to take him to and back from school. I can't do it either, as that would mean spending my day on transport all the day, going to and fro, plus Eddie goes to a local school. Anyway, for Sasha's safety and anxiety, he needs a school transport. Which didn't happen. We spent hours this week on the phone, trying to sort out the issue.
My hunch is that the person responsible for doing the request back in summer didn't do it until the last moment, and then ignored my messages and calls.
Frustrating, so frustrating...

I recently finished Her Name was Rose, which was promoted as the must-read for summer.
It was a gripping thriller, but I couldn't relate to any character, and found the main heroine extremely annoying.

Eddie was a bit reluctant to go back to school on Tuesday. We got too lazy in summer, getting up and going to bed late, and it was difficult to get ready quickly in the morning.
I cooked cauliflower with flaked almonds, coconut and spices.

We have quite a few hazelnuts in the garden. The problem is either to pick them up now, when they are still ripening, or leave them until later and most likely be eaten by squirrels.

Some evenings I don't fancy cooking. On Thursday we have a market in town, and I bought some beautiful cheese, plums and figs.

Eddie and I are enjoying our evening reading sessions together. We've just finished reading Emma Carroll's Secrets of a Sun King. He loved it a lot, so we moved onto the next book by the same author, called The Girl who walked on air.
The pop-up book in the background is my recent find in one of the charity shops.

Yesterday we went to the swimming pool, and later to Sainsbury's cafe, where boys wanted chips - no surprises here.

Roasted cauliflower with flaked almonds

I'm a big fan of Dan Toombs aka The Curry Guy. He is well known for perfecting the art of a homecooked curry. His books, blog and Youtube channel are a true inspiration.

Last week I was browsing The Book People, looking for Emma Carroll's books to read with Eddie, but of course, I got diverted into the cook books section and just had to buy The Curry Guy Easy - at £4.99 it's a steal.
I've been bookmarking lots of delicious-looking recipes.

The first one I fancied trying was a recipe for Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Almonds and Coconut (<--- click on the link for the full recipe).

I have adapted the recipe, as I didn't have some of the ingredients, and slightly changed the method, as I first quickly pan-fried it and then finished by roasting in the oven.
All my supposedly non-stick frying pans get sticky despite me being careful with them, using only wooden spoons inside, not scratching, not using the dishwasher etc, so frying cauliflower with lots of bits and bobs until it's cooked through wouldn't work on my pans.
I also added a natural yogurt and swapped some of the spices, but otherwise, it is Dan's recipe, and I'm thankful for the inspiration.

In fact I liked it so much that I cooked it twice in just a matter of days. The second time I have pre-blanched the cauli, so it would take less time to cook. And the 2nd time I added a fresh chilli rather than paprika which I used in the first batch.

Roasted cauliflower with flaked almonds
Ingredients:
3tbsp coconut oil with turmeric
1tsp black mustard seeds
1tsp cumin seeds
1/2 big red onion, sliced finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1tsp chilli infused oil (leftover from Domino's takeaway)
1/2 tsp paprika or finely chopped fresh chilli
2tsp garam masala spice mix
4tbsp flaked almonds
3tbps dessicated coconut
1tsp turmeric
1 cauliflower, broken into florets, with the green parts chopped into chunks)
125g coconut yogurt (or natural yogurt)
sea salt

I never throw cauliflower's leaves, and in this recipe I used both florets and leaves. Just chop off the most ungainly-looking bruised bits, and chop the rest.
I was surprised to read in one of the Guardian Feast issues back in summer that "it's only now, with the alarm around food waste, that we are discovering how remarkably tasty its [cauliflower's] leaves are". Who says, we are only just discovering it now? I've been doing it for as long as I remember.

Melt the coconut oil in a large frying pan, when hot, add the mustard seeds and fry till they start to pop. Lower the heat, add the cumin seeds and finely chopped red onion. Fry for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and all the spices.
Add the almond flakes and dessicated coconut, stir together and add the cauliflower, cut into florets (and leaves, if using). Stir fry for about 3 minutes, add the yogurt, then transfer the contents of the pan to the roasting ceramic dish and put it in the oven preheated to 180C.

Cook for about half and hour. You might want to cover the cauli with a foil, so that coconut and flakes don't get burnt. If you pre-cook cauliflower in the steamer, then roasting time will reduce a lot.
I like the cauliflower soft and melty, not mushy, when it still holds shape, but not crunchy either, so it's up to your personal taste how long you will want to cook it.

This dish will make a tasty side dish, or just have it on its own, with a good chunk of bread.
I used a coconut yogurt, so this dish is an accidental vegan meal.

I love cauliflower in most dishes, and Dan's idea of cooking it with almond flakes and coconut is a great one. When I say "most dishes", I mean savoury. I tried a cake once at the food fair, it was made with mashed cauliflower, and believe me, it was very unpleasant. It might make the cake moist, but surely you can achieve that with a variety of other, more suitable ingredients.

Adding this post to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl at Madhouse Family Reviews, as I used the leftover oil from Domino's as well as some of the dessicated coconut which needs using (still have some left).

Degustabox Breakfast Club (August) box

White shirts are ironed, pencils are sharpened, in the morning you start panicking because you forgot how to do up a tie. Yes, the school is back. And to help you focus at school or work, you need a good breakfast.
Breakfast Club is the theme for latest Degustabox.
This food box 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. 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 8EVI8 when you place an order.

What did we receive in the August Degustabox? Let's have a look.

Cereals are a great addition to your diet, and you cannot go wrong with a tasty selection from Dorset Cereals.
Dorset Cereals Spectacular Grains Raspberries & Apple with toasted spelt & popped buckwheat (3.49) is one of 3 flavours from Spectacular Grains range.
Nutritional information: 172kcal and 7.9g of sugar per 45g portion
Ingredients include grains (68%) [wholegrain toasted wheat flakes, toasted sweetened malted barley flakes, toasted sweetened malted spelt flakes, wholegrain malted oat flakes, wholegrain barley flakes, popped buckwheat, sultanas, dried apple slices and freeze dried raspberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and more.
This is a delicious combination of flavours and textures.
You will receive one of three flavours in your Degustabox.

If you are running out of time in the morning and cannot have breakfast at the table, don't skip it, just grab a cereal bar instead.
Boka Cereal Bars (£0.75) are perfect on-the-go meals. They are unique in having four green traffic lights - they are low in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, they are under 100kcal each and taste lovely.
Pop one in a school lunch box or sports bag fora healthy snack.

You will receive two flavours of the Boka bar. We got Choco Mallow (96kcal) and Apple Cinnamon (88kcal).

LioBites Smoothie Bites (£1.99) are new, healthy fruit crisps. They are made from fresh fruit, picked in season, blended and freeze dried to create crunchy bites.
We received Mango, Banana & Passion Fruit Smoothie Bites + Mango& Coconut Smoothie Bites. Both varieties are delicious.
These 100% natural fruit crisps provide1 of 5 a day, and contain no added sugar. They are gluten free and vegan, high in fibre, retain all vitamins.
Nutritional information: 49.5kcal and 14.67g sugar per 18g bag
And if you love baking, these snacks are suitable for home baking and cake decorations.
You can also add Liobites to your breakfast cereal.

If you can't function without a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, open a tin of Illy Instant Coffee (£5.85).
Discover the unique 100% Arabica Illy blend, with its smooth and well balanced taste. It has distinct sweet floral and fruity notes with caramel, toast and chocolate.

Good Hemp Unsweetened Dairy Free Drink (£1.60) is a dairy free alternative to milk that's nutritious and kind to animals. Made from organic hemp seeds, Good Hemp is 100% natural, vegan friendly, free from GMOs, dairy and lactose, gluten, soya and nuts.
I haven't yet tried this plant-based drink, but it's supposed to be good with cereals, hot drinks and smoothies.
Nutritional information: 53kcal per 250ml. It's a good source of Calcium and Vitamin D2.

John West Infusions Tuna Fillets (£2.29) are a range of tender succulent tuna fillets, delicately cut from the highest quality part of the fish and marinated to keep them tender.
Infused in oil that's a perfect salad dressing and available in three flavours: Chilli & Garlic, Basil and Lemon & Thyme (you will receive one of the flavours).

This tinned tuna will make a great base for a salad: add a bit of rocket, olives and diced potatoes or pasta shapes for an easy and tasty lunch. Or top up a baked potato.

Maggi Fusian Sticky Hoisin Duck Noodles (£1.39) is a handy kitchen cupboard product for a quick and easy lunch. Sweet soy, oriental spice and roasted duck flavours combined with sunflower oil and veggoes to create a satisfying noodle dish. Ready in just 3-4 minutes, you can eat it as it is, or add to a quick soup with a selection of vegetables of your choice.
Nutritional values: 273kcal and 4.4g of sugar per 1/2 pack.

You will receive either a packet of Maggi Fusian noodles or 2 packets of Maggi 3 Minute noodles.

Maggi 3 Minute Noodles (Chicken flavour) are ready exactly in 3 minutes. And again, either it as a light noodle meal, or use it as a base for a quick soup, with extra added vegetables and herbs.
Nutritional information: 260kcal and 0.5g sugar per serving.

My boys were pleased to see a bag of Rowntree's Randoms 30& Less Sugar (£1.39).

I appreciate that they are free from artificial flavours, colours and sweeteners but I am always worried about the sugar content. Kudos to Rowntree's for reducing the sugar in their popular Randoms.

Gunna Craft Soft Drinks (£1.09) is a new range of lower sugar soft drinks. You will receive two of four flavours.

The Original is a sparkling blend of natural gingers and cola tonic.
It offers a great taste, and is lower in sugar.
This recipe was inspired by the visit to Cape Town, where Steelworks is famed for its uniquely refreshing taste and natural flavours.
Nutritional information: no artificial colours or preservatives,; 73kcal and 16.2g of sugar per 330ml.

And finally the product of the month - Crooked Beverage Co. Alcoholic Soda (£2). You will receive one of three flavours, for example, we got Mother Moon/ Peach & Pomegranate. It sounds really good - a refreshing, sparkling, alcoholic malted soda made with natural fruit flavours,fruit juice and a lightly hopped finish.
Nutritional values: less than 5g of sugar and 46kcal per 100ml. Made with natural ingredients, without any nasties.

Disclosure: We receive Degustabox monthly for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Her name was Rose by Claire Allan

Her name was Rose by Claire Allan has been promoted on social media as the must-read summer psychological thriller. The hashtags on Insta and Twitter were trending. Marian Keyes called it amazing.
I was delighted to win a copy of the book in the Instagram giveaway. If I didn't win, I'm sure I'd have bought it after seeing all the hype on social media. There are over 500 posts on Insta with hashtag #hernamewasrose.

The novel starts with a gruesome scene of a young mother being run over. Emily who was just a few steps behind the victim, is convinced the hit-and-run was meant for her. After splitting up with an abusive boyfriend several years before, she is paranoid about him taking revenge on her.
Shocked, Emily flees the scene, without informing the police that she was a witness.

Once the news hit the tabloids and social media, Emily feels drawn into the drama. She easily finds the Facebook page of the killed mother and becomes obsessed with the minutae of Rose's everyday life. She studies her photos, she reads the condolences written by her friends and husband. She becomes a morbid voyeur, and even attends the funeral of the woman whom she never knew.

Rose's online persona seems like a shining star of perfection: a beautiful home, a handsome husband and a very cute baby. All beaming smiles and sickly-sweet hashtags #feelingblessed and all that.

Maybe we were supposed to feel sympathy for Emily who has mental health issues, but I found her so annoying, that I'm afraid my compassion for her was spread very thinly. Her stalkerish obsession with Rose and her "perfect" family is bordering on criminal.
You have to be extremely immature to take everything you see online at face value.

Digressing from the book, just the other day I wasted time on reading a long thread on Twitter about an unrealistic portrayal of a morning routine by one of the London-based Instagrammers. You know, people who call themselves Influencers. The lady in question was sitting on a bed, covered with a bedspread with her own portrait, with framed pictures, standing precariously on the bed. There were lots of helium balloons, a stack of odd pancakes (many people made fun of them, saying they were Mexican flatbreads), and the most ridiculous placement of the Listerine bottle on the bedside table. The Twitter people were merciless. And while quite amusing to read, I just don't quite see what's all the hullabaloo is about. Nobody surely is that naive not to realise that most of Insta photos are staged. And why would you feel inadequate or insecure just because someone's bedroom on Insta looks like that?
Just because I have a mountain of paperbacks as tall as me on the little table, with packs of antacids, some cosmetics and an ipad, next to me, with a big poster of Angry Birds (thank you, Eddie) above the bed, occasional Lego on the carpet and not a single helium balloon in sight, I am not going to feel inadequate because someone made an effort to stage a photo shoot. Of course, my bedroom is not very exciting, unless you count an adventure with mice earlier in summer.
But enough of the Insta artifice and guile.

Let's go back to Rose, Emily and all.

Having escaped an abusive relationship, Emily is very needy and insecure, understandably so, but her desire to ingratiate herself with everyone in her new stage of life is distasteful.

Trying to become a substitute for Rose, in her mistaken belief, more perfect than the original, she even presumes to judge Rose as a mother, without having an ounce of evidence.
Some people are like that, delusional, and would convince themselves of the other's imagined sins. She asks herself, while holding baby Jack in her arms: "If she appreciated him - or did she ever lose her temper? Did she ever get cross when she hadn't had enough sleep and he was cutting teeth? Did she ever look at the stretch marks on her body and think they looked horrid?... Did she ever, even for a moment, regret becoming a mother or wish she could turn back time?" That's rich, coming from a woman who's never had a baby, and only babysat the overall placid toddler once in her life.

Emily is a pathological liar, and her credibility is under question. She is jealous of the dead woman and her supposedly perfect life.

The scenes of domestic violence give an insight in the mind of the abused women, who are vulnerable and who find excuses for their brutal partners. Reading accounts of domestic violence, it is horrifying how easy it is for some people to be manipulative and make you believe it's all your fault somehow, that you make them do that, you push them to behave like that.
The book addresses this and other dark issues.

The plot development was rather predictable, though had an unexpected twist. The epilogue was corny and rather out of place, it didn't fit the genre or thrust of the book.

Saying that I spent half a night yesterday, trying to finish the book, when my family was asleep, and nothing could distract me.

Toffee Marshmallow Crispies #ReadCookEat

School is back tomorrow. To sweeten the bitter pill, Eddie and I made a big batch of Toffee Marshmallow Crispies yesterday.
Having read Jane Linfoot's The Little Cornish Kitchen (<--- click for my book review) I've bookmarked a few food descriptions as an inspiration. If you are a foodie and enjoy baking, you will be drooling over numerous desserts featured in the book, from the pastel-coloured macaroons to a decadent chocolate roulade, from lemon meringues to berry sorbets, from the most delicious Eton Mess with lemon curd to a chocolate mousse cake with strawberries...

As Clemmie, the main heroine of the novel, masters the art of patisserie, the food descriptions become more and more sinful. I swear my waistline was expanding, just reading them.

I fancied making lemon cupcakes with blackberry frosting, but my piping skills are rather lame. I might try the idea one day when I'm feeling brave.

But it's the easy Toffee Marshmallow Crispies that I knew would be a big hit with my guys.
I've googled for a recipe, and found one for Toffeee and Marshmallow Rice Crispies on BBC Good Food.

These sweet treats appear in one of the later scenes in the book:

Jenny's beaming at us. "If you'd like to drink to that with tea back at the house, I've made some of Laura's special toffee crispie".
"You have?" Rob and I both turn together.
I'm thinking of the recipe cards. "With the marshmallows in?"
Another of my childhood favourites.
Jenny nods. "That's the one. It must be fifty years since she gave me that recipe..."
Rob's smiling. "I always licked out the saucepan for that."
"Me too." My mouth is watering as I recall the taste. There was nothing quite like that sticky sweetness.

Who could resist such a treat?!

For the full recipe please use the link above, on BBC Good Food site. I followed their recipe exactly as stated.

I didn't have soft butter toffees, and actually couldn't find soft toffees anywhere. Are soft toffees and fudge the same thing? Anyway, I bought a packet of butter toffees (Waitrose own), which are pretty hard and sticky-brittle, the type that when you bite into one, your teeth get cemented to it.

I wasn't sure if these toffees were going to melt, but they did melt.
Use a big  heavy duty pan for this job, and one that you don't worry about scratching later, when you need to clean it.
Melt 50g butter with 200g toffees, then throw in the marshmallows and keep stirring until you have a gloopy sticky mess.

Then add the rice crispies and mix thoroughly. The melted toffee starts to set pretty fast, so you need to act quickly.
Line a square brownie tin with foil or parchment paper and oil a little bit. Scoop the rice crispie into the tin and pat with a wooden spatula to flatten it.

It will be ready to cut in less than half an hour. It will be a bit soft at this point.

My boys loved it, and would have gobbled up the whole lot, if I didn't ration it.

Thank you to Laura and Clemmie for the inspiration - and of course, Jane Linfoot! - for writing such irresistible food descriptions!

Have you read a book recently which inspired you to run to the kitchen and cook to your heart's content?

I hope you are inspired by books to join in the #ReadCookEat challenge.

The idea is to choose a book, either a world classic or modern fiction, or even memoirs and pick up a dish mentioned or described in that book and then recreate it in a recipe. Please say a few lines about your chosen book, and maybe even do a quote from the book.

If you decide to take part, please add the badge to your post and link up back to me, and either use a link-up tool or add the url of your post as a comment. Alternatively, email me with the link to your post (my email is sasha1703 at yahoo dot com).

I will Pin all blog posts taking part in this challenge, as well as RT and Google+

Photo diary: week 35, project 365

To say I was lacking any inspiration this week would be an understatement. After taking hundreds of photos during our trip to Cornwall the week before, I just couldn't feign any enthusiasm to continue with photography. Hence the half-baked attempt at doing a few snaps, mostly of our garden and some food shots too.

While we were away, a couple of friends came regularly to water our potted plants and tomatoes in the greenhouse. As the heatwave has ended, my phloxes have perked up again. I love their sweet scent.

On Monday I popped into M&S and treated myself to a small box of chocolates. They represent the taste of the British Isles, so Scottish chocs are raspberry-flavoured, English have a hint of honey, Irish - cream liqueur, and Welsh - sea salted caramel. I haven't decided which is my favourite flavour, perhaps I should buy another box, just for the purposes of research, of course.

On Tuesday I only snapped a piece of bread with Cornish butter. Very inspired piece, without doubt.
But the butter was good.

On Wednesday I baked a batch of honey and matcha muffins.

We're going to have a big crop of apples again this year. On Thursday Eddie and I watched Titanic, hugging each other for comfort.

Cyclamens are taking over my garden at the moment. They usually bloom twice, in spring and in autumn, and they look so pretty.

Today Eddie and I spent a couple of hours, working on a 3d jigsaw puzzle, a model of the Solar System from Ravensburger. I must pat myself on the head, the puzzle was delivered this morning, and the review should appear before Monday. I've been very good. Now where's my chocolate?!