Rekordelig jelly with raspberries and red currants

In the summer evenings when you fancy something sweet and light, a jelly ticks all the boxes. You can make it in any flavour you want, and the possibilities are endless. We had a big crop of red currants this year, which I managed to save from the ever foraging birds by wrapping the bushes not just in netting but in thin fleeces as well. I have put most of the berries in the freezer, and will make some jelly later, when I have a chance. We also ate some of the sour sweet berries fresh from the garden, while they were still warm from the sun.
I made an adult jelly with Rekordelig, which was one of the products in the last Degustabox.

You will need one sachet of Dr Oetker gelatine. Heat up 120 ml of Rekordelig, then add the contents of the sachet and stir well until the gelatine dissolves. Never add the liquid to gelatine, as it will go lumpy. Then top up with cold Rekordelig and apple juice to make a pint of liquid with gelatine (that is including 120ml). Put some berries like red currants and raspberries in the tall glass or sundae dish, pour the gelatine Rekordelig mixture. Put the jelly in the fridge overnight to set well.

The combination of flavours is very summery. A very enjoyable dessert.

Grilled prawns and courgette salad

Salads, salads every day. Hope you are not fed up with yet another salad recipe, but that's what we've been eating recently, our dinners are mostly salads. And we have been enjoying the salad phase.

Grilled prawns and courgette salad
Ingredients:
1 courgette, cut into long strips
1 medium avocado
180g king prawns
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 Knorr Ginger and Lemongrass flavour pot
dried herbs
salad leaves with fennel tops
2tbsp+ olive oil
lemon juice

Start by marinading the king prawns in a deep bowl, with a juice and zest of 1 lemon, with an added Knorr Ginger and Lemongrass flavour pot. Mix well, and leave to marinade for at least half an hour.
Cut the courgette into long strips. I used an OXO Good Grips Simple Mandoline Slicer to make the job easier. I have reviewed it earlier this year (if you missed it, see my blog post Valentine's Day Menu).
Pour some oil in the hot grill pan and cook the courgette slices for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until you get a grilled pattern.

Remove the courgette from the pan, then scatter the prawns and cook for a few minutes, until the prawns turn pink.

Assemble your salad by placing some salad leaves with fennel tops as the first layer. Cube the avocado (1/2 per serving). Add the courgettes and prawns.
Squeeze some lemon juice over the salad and add a bit of olive oil. Serve while still warm.

Adding this recipe to Cheryl's Kitchen Clearout linky. Do I even dare to confess that I used a flavour pot which expired in February? Well, it looked and smelled absolutely fine when I opened it, and it just proves that sometimes you don't need to rely on the sell-by-dates.

I Heart Merlot

When it comes to wine, I am definitely not a connoisseur. I enjoy a glass of wine now and then, especially if we go out or have guests for dinner. But I tend to stick to the safe choices, and go for those wines which we have enjoyed in the past, or it is from a familiar brand. Most of the wines we buy are either Italian or French, with rare forages into a new terrain. I was glad to expand my knowledge of the world wine and test a new range of I Heart wines by sampling i heart Merlot.

I Heart Wines is what you might call a new kid on the block. The people behind the new brand wanted to turn wine-buying for customers like myself (read: not-wine-experts) into a more joyful experience.
Having sampled wines from various vineyards, the i heart wines team has picked their favourites for each variety of wine.
I Heart Merlot is a Hungarian wine, with the grapes sourced from all over the country. As you might know, the climate of Hungary is well suited to vines.

What did we think of this red? It is smooth and fruity. You get to taste the ripe plum and raspberry with a hint of spices. A very drinkable wine, especially with food. And a good value for money too.
It is suggested to be paired with the roast, spicy pasta and/or a selection of Italian antipasti.
You can also enjoy it with some ripe cheese, grapes and maybe a slice of bread with a pate.

I imagine it would be great for cooking as well, if you enjoy a red wine and mushroom risotto, or a scrumptious Ragu Bolognese. Or what about braised lamb shanks?! So many possibilities to use the leftover wine.
How do you use the leftover wine? Or is there no such thing as the leftover wine?!

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Merlot for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Statue of Liberty 3d puzzle from Ravensburger

The Statue of Liberty is the most iconic national monument of America. This colossal neoclassic sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor was designed by the French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. It was a gift to the USA from the people of France. Now you can recreate your own mini version of a torch-bearing goddess in a Statue of Liberty 3d puzzle. 

Ravensburger is always finding new landmarks to add to their extensive and impressive collection of 3d puzzles.

I have enjoyed assembling quite a few of Ravensburger 3d puzzles in the past, and they are a pleasure to work with.

The plastic pieces are high quality, durable and easy to assemble. Each piece has a number on the reverse as well as a little arrow pointing to where the next piece should be attached to. Of course, you can also assemble the whole puzzle by eye, if you prefer, just looking at the design rather than the number on the back.

Once all the hinged plastic pieces are slotted together, you can display it on a printed base board (or if you don't have enough space, leave it without a board; we put all our 3d great monuments' puzzles on the bookshelves).

There are 108 puzzle pieces, and the end result measures 37.5cm tall when completed.

The statue of the goddess is made of sturdy plastic, with great attention to detail.

The robed Roman goddess Libertas bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) with the American Declaration of Independence. 

It is another beautiful puzzle from Ravensburger which is well known for its high quality, imaginative range of puzzles.

This icon of freedom would make a superb gift for any puzzle lover. And why not give it as a Thank you gift to your favourite teacher?!

If you liked this review, you might like to read about the other Ravensburger 3d puzzles - see
Eiffel Tower
Big Ben
or
Taj Mahal

My younger son was so delighted with the latest puzzle, that he wants to keep it in his room.

Disclosure: I received The Statue of Liberty puzzle for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Witney Carnival 2015

-Eddie, which part of the parade did you like the best?

- Everything, Mummy!

The annual Witney carnival seems to be getting bigger and bigger with every year. This is an event, where the whole family could come. It starts with a big parade or procession at The Leys, and after that there are lots of stalls to visit. All the raised money goes to the local community. All schools, local groups and clubs as well as businesses join the colourful parade. Each year the theme is different. 2015's Theme was Nautical. Both of my sons' schools took part, and while we didn't join in the parade itself, we watched it from start to finish and enjoyed it very much.

Miss Oxfordshire

The parade was led by Miss Oxfordshire. My younger son pronounced her to be very beautiful. She was followed by a band of pipers.
To be honest, I didn't know what's the connection between Witney and the Oxford Caledonian Pipes and Drums group, until I read in the booklet that the band was organised in 1961 by a couple of exiled Scots and two ex-Army pals. They regularly take part in the parade, and play a great tune.

Seeing the pipers brought back memories of the parade five years ago, when I was heavily pregnant (in fact, Eddie made his appearance just two weeks later). My Mum and I were grocery shopping and happened to be in town, when the parade took place. The pipers were so good, I felt like dancing there in the street to their tune, despite my enormous belly. I believe my little man enjoyed it even then, still inside my tummy.

The variety of teams, vehicles and outfits was inspiring. We loved all the vintage engines and decorated trucks.

As the theme was nautical, a lot of people were dressed up as pirates, mermaids, sea creatures and skeletons.

My older son's school was led by the "yellow submarine". Though my son didn't participate (we tried to take him out to join the school, but the crowds were too much for our autie, and my husband took him to a quiet cafe and a bookshop instead). I was mighty proud of our special needs school, and we cheered them on with great enthusiasm. Big well done, Springfield!

The crowds were clapping and cheering.

The cheerleaders did a lovely performance.

Their enthusiasm was catching. We roared together with the fierce Vikings.

There was even a Titanic.

So many teams, so many different ideas!

We really wanted to have a ride on one of the splendid vintage engines.

The procession went all around the central Witney, and everywhere there were crowds, watching and cheering on. It was wonderful to see so many people taking part in the parade and also attending the carnival to watch.

The end of the procession was quite moving, with another band playing music. The fire truck was the last in the long line of participants.

There were all sorts of local characters: from a beauty queen to a bearded mermaid, from pirates to belly dancers, from vikings to Titanic and many more. What a super event! Such a great community spirit!

And the weather was good, very warm but not stifling hot.

Fireman Sam Diecast Vehicle Set

When he hears the fire alarm,
Fireman Sam is cool and glam...

One day Eddie and I were walking in the fields and had fits of giggles, trying to sing the Fireman Sam song. We forgot the lyrics, and came up with the "glam" Sam version. Since then, Fireman Sam is always glam to me. Fireman Sam is of course a much loved TV character. My younger son watched all the episodes on Youtube and DVDs for what feels like 1 million times. If your children are big fans of the hero of Pontypandy, they'll love a new Fireman Sam Diecast Vehicle Set (available from Character-Online toy shop).
It consists of three vehicles which feature extensively in the series - Jupiter, Venus and Neptune. All vehicles in the set are highly detailed and free-wheeling.

Jupiter is of course a famous fire engine. Bright red die cast fire truck will delight all the Pontypandy fans.

Neptune is a rescue boat. Sleek and bright yellow, it just awaits for the signal to go on a rescue mission.

Venus is usually driven by Penny Morris, and carries lots of rescue equipment wherever it is needed.

Your little people can re-enact the events of Fireman Sam stories and invent their own escapades. A great little set for pretend play for children aged 3 plus.
Create your own action packed adventures with three mini vehicles!

Disclosure: I received the toy set for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are Eddie's and mine.

Chickpea and tomato salad

We've been eating salads every day for the last week. I'm trying to vary the ingredients and flavours. The weather has been so warm and close some days, that we don't fancy anything hot. Salads are perfect for summer, and it is a pleasure to have a dinner outdoors, in the garden. I had a tin of chickpeas in the pantry for about six months, I think it was delivered with one of Abel & Cole soup boxes. It was time to do something with it. A chickpea and tomato salad sounded just about right.

Chickpea and tomato salad
Ingredients;
1 tin of chickpeas (400g tin, 240g drained weight)
2 medium tomatoes
a small bunch of parsley
15 mixed olives
4 heaped tbsp of canned sweetcorn
100g feta cheese, cubed
a handful of sundried tomatoes
2tbsp olive oil
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

It couldn't be simpler: drain and rinse the chickpeas in the cold water. Chop the tomatoes and cube the feta cheese. Mix all the ingredients together, with the added finely chopped parsley, mixed olives, sweetcorn and sundried tomatoes. Mix the olive oil with the zest and juice of half a lemon, and pour over the salad, mix it again and serve with a chunk of bread.

What are your favourite summer meals? Are you also eating lots of salads?

Adding my simple salad recipe to KitchenClearout July Linky on Madhouse Family Reviews blog, since I used a tin of chickpeas which was collecting dust in the kitchen for a while.