Love Stone

If you think I am talking of the engagement ring sparklers, you are wrong. :)
The feature below is an interesting insight into the female psychology.

Love is in the air, and in the belly…

90 per cent of women put on weight when they settle down with a long term partner, with the average female gaining 16 lbs, a new survey has revealed.

The study showed that a 56 per cent majority started to gain weight four to six months into the relationship; with most citing that this was when they reached the ‘comfy’ period.

Of the 1000 women surveyed by weight management company LighterLife, 35 per cent cited an increase in cosy nights in as a key reason for their weight gain. One in five women said it was because they felt comfortable enough not to worry about their figure, whilst one in ten blamed more calorie-laden romantic dinners in restaurants. 19 per cent said that it was due to matching portion size with their partner.

Mandy Cassidy, Psychotherapist for LighterLife, comments: “I regularly hear women say that their weight crept up a few months into a long-term relationship.

“When single or in the courtship stage, butterflies and a desire to look you best mean that staying trim is high on the agenda.

“As soon as things start to get serious many women realise that their partner will be there for them no matter what they look like. This, combined with lifestyle changes and matching male portion sizes, all result in excess weight.

“We have coined the term “Love Stone”, as something that embodies the extra pounds British women associate with the comfy stage of a relationship.”

Of the 90 per cent who said they gained weight after meeting their long-term partner, two thirds put on between one and two stone. A quarter gained less than one stone and a worrying 12 per cent put on over two stone, placing them firmly in the overweight or even obese category.

And whilst diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, this stone most definitely is not. More than half of the women are still trying to lose the extra weight one year on, whilst 28 per cent have already shed their ‘love stone’. Of this 28 per cent, one in three lost weight to look their best on their wedding day.

Practicing GP and TV personality Dr Hilary Jones says: “There’s nothing wrong with a few treats now and then and it’s important to feel comfortable with your figure whatever size you are, but eating portions that are too large or not healthy will ultimately have an impact in the long term.

“Women need 500 less calories a day than men, but when meals are prepared together it is easy to match the size of the portion. Just a few extra calories a day is enough for weight to creep on over time, as this survey demonstrates.”

The LighterLife programme is for people with a stone or more to lose, and combines weekly counselling sessions with nutritionally complete food packs and a management programme to help people maintain a healthy weight after reaching their goal.

LighterLife has seen an increase in couples starting the programme, whether to lose weight in the run up to their wedding or simply to support each other in their quest to get healthy.  Realising men and women want different things from their weight loss programme, they offer a specifically tailored ‘man plan’ for men who wish to shake off their excess in an easy and quick way.

Men and women are subsequently able to stay a healthy weight for life, whether married, single, or in the first flushes of love.

Now if that is something that is important to you, there is a nice opportunity to discuss all the relevant issues on Twitter.

The live Twitter chat with Dr Hilary Jones @LighterLife takes place on Valentines Day from 1-2pm so I am encouraging you to tune in and have your questions ready.

Personally I think that gaining that extra stone is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are comfortable with your body weight, then there is nothing wrong with a curvaceous body. All bodies can be beautiful. Think Nigella versus skinny models. I know who I would rather look like (and if you want to know, neither in my case). I can totally relate to the article above, but in my case the weight has crept after having my first child. Not to start with. I was very skinny when Sasha was a baby, to the point that my legs looked like sticks, and if anything, I was less in size than my pre-marriage body. It is later, when Sasha got diagnosed as a special needs child, and I went through a depression, that I started to crave sweet things. It was comfort eating for me, a second of pleasure after a particulalry stressful day. I am fine with my weight now, though it is not perfect. But is anyone perfect?


This Twitter event could be very lively and intersting, but it will be so, if you come and join in and ask your questions. Come on, make sure you could join in!

Sunday pancakes

Our Sunday is typically a noisy affair. Boys being boys, don't stay still for a second.
For breakfast I have made a batch of pancakes. Of course, everyone fancies a different filling.
The big boy had his panckake with a sliced banana and whipped cream.

Sasha had only whipped cream, without a pancake.
Eddie had his with a bit of honey.

I wanted to try a new rose petal preserve, and it worked beautifully with a pancake.

Lavender's blue...

...dilly-dilly, lavender's green, when I am king, dilly-dilly, you shall be queen.
And that's the theme of my latest cookies.
Lakeland has a new set of cookie cutters in store - 3 Crown cookie cutters. And of course, I could not resist.

The cutters come in 3 different shapes and colours, they are quite easy to use.

The red cutter was a bit fiddly, as the top kept breaking off the dough crown, but I did manage to cut a few perfect shapes with it.
I used the most basic recipe for butter cookies (you will need 200g granulated sugar, 225g butter, 1 medium egg, 335g flour, a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla (optional)). Once mixed, the dough should be chilled for about an hour before you start working with it. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden. They are still a bit on the soft side, when you take the tray out of the oven.
Decorate with Dr Oetker icing.

I added sprigs of lavender as a reference to the song.

Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue,

If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you.

Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, And the lambs play;

We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, out of harm's way

And as this song is a staple of Valentine lyrics, I am offering my Royal cookies as a tribute to Valentine's Day.
English Mum is doing another bake off challenge, this time it is called Baked with Love. Come and join in, it is always a fun occasion to see other people's creative work, be it art or cakes.

I am also submitting my Valentine's cookie to the Baking Mad Valentine's Blogger competition. Looking forward to seeing all entries.

Sudocrem Skin Care Promotion

If you ever lusted after an expensive handbag by Diane Von Furstenberg , here is your chance to win one.
Instructions

– Go  Like the page www.facebook.com/SudocremTube and ‘Like’ the page
– Click on the Diane Von Furstenberg & iPhone 4S Competition page
- Follow the competition page instructions: Enter your email and answer the three product related questions correctly
- Keep your fingers crossed that your name is drawn from the hat of correct entries on 25^th February 2012

Competition Finish Date– 25^th February 2012
Competition winners announced– 29^h February 2012

The Sudocrem Skin Care Cream competition prizes:
1^st Prize: Diane Von Furstenberg Handbag, iPhone 4S (16GB) and 12 tubes of Sudocrem Skin Care Cream
2^nd Prize: 50 runners up will receive a tube of Sudocrem Skin Care Cream

I will definitely keep my fingers and toes crossed.

Pukka Night Time tea review and giveaway (c/d 7 March 2012) CLOSED

I've been good with my January resolution to cut down on caffeine, and it is easily done with Pukka teas, they have a selection of teas for any occasion. I have written about Pukka Refresh, Three Mint and Love tea recently.

Today I want to tell you about a tea called Night Time.

It is a blend of an organic oat flower, lavender and limeflower (plus chamomile, valerian root and other herbs).

This blend is beneficial for a peaceful sleep.

The smell of the limeflower blossom for me is one of the memory triggers. Lime trees grow in abundance in my home town, and whenever I pass by a lime tree in blossom, I am doing a trip down the memory lane. I am ten again, and sitting on the tree in the school yard.

This is one of my most favourite aromas, beautiful and gentle.

This restful tea lulls me to sleep.

It has a delicate taste, not too grassy and not too flowery either.

If you haven't tried yet any of Pukka teas, here is your chance to win a selection of three teas that I reviewed recently. One winner will get a pack each of Refresh, Three Mint and Love teas. This prize has been kindly sponsored by Pukka.

I will also add a Lindt Chocolate bar - A Touch of Sea Salt.

Don't worry, you will get 3 boxes of tea, not 3 sachets, I only placed the sachets for the purposes of taking a photo. :)

To be entered in the draw please:
  Answer the question by leaving a comment below this post

You do not have to follow my blog to be entered in the draw. If you decide to follow my blog, I will be thrilled, of course, but it doesn't give you any extra brownie points except my gratitude.
Please leave me some means of getting in touch with you if you win: your Twitter name, or forum name (if you come from any of the comping forums), if you use a Blogger, make sure there is an email address in your profile.

And the question is:
Do you like herbal teas and/or which one is your favourite?

Good luck!

The winner will be selected from all entries after the closing date (7 March 2012).

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Wow, what an amazing response! Thank you for all your comments, I have enjoyed reading them.

All the names were added to the Raffleking.

And the winner is ....

HAPPYSOULS

Big well done! I am getting in touch with you on Twitter, and once I have your details, I will pass them on Pukka. I will post the chocolate separately.

Emma Talbot's enchanted world

Emma Talbot, a talented illustrator and mixed media artist, has joined John Crane Ltd. Now, if you have kids, you must have heard of John Crane's fab toys.

This year all new Tidlo toys from John Crane will feature Emma's illustrations.
Emma Talbot has been working as a designer for over 14 years after graduating with a B.A Honors Degree in Graphics Illustration.

On her blog she says that she loves making people smile with her work.
Her little bunnies, birds and other little creatures are very kind, gentle, gracious, warm and charming. They would appeal to both children and adults alike, as they open the door to the kind-hearted world, where magic things might happen. Entering her art portfolio is like joining in the enchanted world of fairy tales with happy endings.

I saw an appeal to bloggers on John Crane's FB page to review Emma Talbot's limited edition print, and was delighted to be one of the lucky bloggers who received a lovely print.
Eddie was smitten, as the print shows a very cute panda. He keeps pointing, saying Bear, bear.

As you can see, our little Panda bear has soulful eyes and a warm smile, and this print will look lovely in any nursery room or child's bedroom. We are going to frame it for Eddie's bedroom, so that when he wakes up, a kind Panda will smile to him.

Having browsed through Emma's illustrations, I kept thinking that they would make perfect stamps (like Stampin'Up kits) when you stamp several layers of colours one over the other.

I think John Crane Ltd are very lucky to have Emma working with them.

All images were provided with John Crane's and Emma's permission.

Cappelletti in brodo

This dish always reminds me of my husband's gran, Nonna Elsa, who would spend the whole Christmas eve by the stove, making the brodo (broth), adding three types of meat, herbs and veg in a special order, stirring, skimming the foam from the surface.
The wonderfully rich flavours and aromas of this dish, its warmth are just the right remedy to stay warm in this cold weather.
Tortellini in brodo is a speciality of Bologna, in Ferrara they cook cappelletti, which is in my understanding the same type of filled pasta, only in smaller size, sort of mini-tortellini (please forgive me, if I am simplifying it).
Pasta in brodo is a real comfort food, and is perfect on a cold snowy day like today.
To prepare the authentic brodo you will need
1 chicken leg (or 2-3 drumsticks)
1 piece of beef, about 400g (or 2 beef shanks)
1 marrow bone (optional)
1 celery rib
1 medium carrot
1 onion
a rind of Parmesan
salt
First add the beef and the bone to the stockpot with the cold water, parmesan rind and vegetables (just peel the carrot, and cut into 2-3 big chunks, slice the celery into 2-3 pieces, peel the onion but add it whole to the pot). Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for a couple of hours, keep checking the level of water, add more and skim the foam. Add a piece of chicken and cook for another hour or more.
Add salt, once cooked, pour through a fine mesh strainer into the other pot.

As I mentioned above, the marrow bone is optional. You can make the broth without it. It adds to the depth of the flavour, but the broth is also much more fatty with the marrow bone, so if you count calories or your stomach is too gentle, don't bother with the bone.

You can eat the cold meats with the mustard or horseradish the next day. My in-laws usually serve the cold meats with the mostarda di frutta, which looks very pretty and innocent, but its looks are deceptive, as it has a very strong bite. Basically this is an Italian relish of sugared fruit in mustard.

Mostarda di frutta is available from Waitrose, it costs £5.99. It is a lovely alternative to the English mustard, and looks much prettier too.

Returning to our dish of cappelletti: you can of course make your own pasta, and if you do, I salute you. I don't. As far as I know, my mother-in-law doesn't either. Of course, in Italy it is common to buy the homemade pasta from the pasta makers, who have small businesses of making their own pasta and selling it in the neighbourhood. As we don't have anyone in the neighbourhood with the enthusiasm for the homemade pasta, so our cappelletti come from the supermarket (Waitrose and Sainsbury's both sell pretty decent fresh pasta).
To prepare the cappelletti in brodo, bring the broth to the boil in the big pot, add cappelletti and cook for about 4-5 minutes (taste them, they should be al dente).  Serve in deep soup bowls. If you want, add a bit of grated parmesan on top. enjoy!

You can also swap the cappelletti for tortellini.

Adding my dish to the Slow Sunday on Lavender and Lovage blog.

Can we do a messy look? Yes, we can!

Eddie is a king of "messy". Creating mess and chaos is one of our favourite activities.

This is Sasha, slightly older than Eddie now. Love this photo, Sasha looks so cheeky, his eyes are full of mischief. He still loves a chocolate fudge cake and can still be as messy, well, maybe a bit less.

Here he is again, enjoying his favourite cake in a cafe in Woodstock. Used to be our favourite spot for a cuppa tea and a slice of cake.

'This is my entry to the Appliances Online messiest kids competition, check out all the other entries over on Me, The Man & The Baby.

It's a piece of cake! (Cake Ring/My Kitchen range from Lakeland review)

Having a Lakeland shop in town is a "dangerous" business for my pocket, I am forever tempted to pop in and buy some new kitchen goodies. Just the other day My Kitchen range was on offer, and as my cake springform tins are very dated, I bought a couple of cake tins.

Cake Ring from My Kitchen range (25cm dia/10") has fluted sides and a thick anti-wrap base.

Image credit: Lakeland

 I didn't read the reviews online on the Lakeland site before I made my purchase, and glad I didn't, as they would have put me off.
I wanted to bake my semolina carrot cake in the ring shape, and I have to say I had no problems whatsoever with the cake coming out perfectly ring-shaped.
It was very easy to use, and I am pleased with the results.

The heat is distributed evenly in the cake ring. Cleaning was easy as well, I only had to wipe it clean with a moist tea towel.

The tin was slightly too deep for my cake, but next time I will adjust the quantities or use it for another bigger cake.

Endive boats

For a colourful meat-free snack or a great appetiser to go with drinks make these tasty little boats of endive, Dolcelatte and pine nuts.

Endives have boat-shaped leaves that are perfect for teeny-tiny bits of cheese and other fillings. As endive could be quite bitter, I suggest leaving the endive leaves in the container with the cold water for at least an hour, which helps to take off the bitter edge.
For 2-3 endives you will need
100g Dolcelatte, Gorgonzola or any other creamy blue cheese (I also tried this recipe with the Cornish blue)
50g pine nuts
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Arrange the endive leaves on the platter, scatter crumbled cheese into the boats, add pine nuts.
Mix the olive oil, honey and vinegar in a clean small size jam jar, add a lid and shake well. Drizzle over the boats.
You might want to experiment with different cheeses and nuts. You might also toast the pine nuts before adding them to the boats.

Another variation on the theme: use feta cheese and walnuts.