Avengers Infinity War XXL100-piece jigsaw puzzle from Ravensburger

Avengers' fans are eagerly counting days and hours until Avengers: Infinity War is released later next week. Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the other Avengers will be united once again to fight their most powerful enemy - the evil Thanos.
If you are one of the Marvel fans and can't wait for the release of Avengers, you will enjoy a brand new product from Ravensburger - Avengers Infinity War XXL 100-piece jigsaw puzzle which is out just in time for the film release.

Eddie is a big fan of all things Marvel, and he is not pleased that the film's rating is 12+ and he won't be able to watch it in the cinema. According to him, "it's not fair" (said in Horrid Henry's voice).
He was happy to work on the new puzzle though.
The puzzle - unlike the film - is suitable for ages 6+.

We knew most of the characters on the finished puzzle (well, Eddie knew more than I did).

The puzzle consists of 100 XXL sized pieces, which are big and easy to find and connect.
Like all Ravensburger puzzles, it is made from strong premium grade recycled cardboard with a linen finish to minimise the glare on the puzzle image.

It took Eddie about 15 minutes from start to finish, and that, with pointing to the characters and discussing who is who and complaining that life is not fair because he won't be allowed to see the film in the cinema.
The puzzle measures 49x36cm when complete.

It is an excellent jigsaw puzzle and will make a fantastic gift for any Avengers Infinity fan.

Disclosure: We received the puzzle for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Photo diary: week 16, project 365

It was another tough week for us. My dear husband was off gallivanting again for almost a week, and I was left to hold the fort. Sash was still quite unsettled, and didn't sleep well for several nights. He can function on a couple of hours of sleep a night, but I can't. I plod along like a zombie, hence blogging has been infrequent.

On Sunday we didn't go out at all. I baked some muffins, using Stork Ready to bake classic cupcakes. I spotted this new product, while doing grocery shopping from Tesco, and wanted to try it. Basically, you just cut the pouch and squeeze the dough into cupcake or muffin cases before baking. They were not bad at all for being ready-made, both boys enjoyed them. The decorations are Eddie's handiwork.

Monday morning was very hectic. After 17 days of no school, we found it hard to get ready in the morning. I haven't done any photos except a few shots for a tea review.

I love that magnolia tree by the Windrush river, it's in full bloom right now.

With so many days of rain, our garden is a kingdom of snails of all sizes. They might look cute, but these buggers have ruined so many of my plants, including potted lilies.

Market day on Thursday, and again running to meet a friend for coffee, I snapped this bread display.

On Wednesday my parrot tulips were all green monsters, then overnight several of them opened up in a riot of red colour. So beautiful! Thank you, Mum (she planted them last autumn around the garden).

Today is the National Tea Day, so of course, I had to celebrate. Out comes my favourite Russian porcelain teapot, which I had for over 22 years; and also Cornishware mugs. I have only 4 Cornishware mugs in my collection, two blue and two red.
In my "dream house" (one I'd love to have) I would have an open dresser with a big collection of Cornishware.

Fruity aubergine and chickpea curry

It was the hottest day of the year yesterday (so far), and I was cooking a curry for dinner, rather than having a light salad and an iced tea. I had two aubergines in a bowl on the kitchen window, and quite a few tins in the pantry to choose from. This is a variation on a curry I cook quite often, changing and swapping some ingredients, like a dairy-free coconut yogurt (or just coconut-flavoured dairy yogurt) instead of coconut milk, adding flaked almonds or cashews, raisins or tinned peaches etc, so it's a very much flexible recipe, depending on what you have and like.
It could be either vegetarian (if you use milk-based yogurt) or vegan, or if you can't live without meat, chicken would be really nice in this curry too.

Fruity aubergine and chickpea curry
Ingredients:
2 red onions
6tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
1tsp mustard seeds
2 aubergines
2tsp Sri Lankan masala
1tsp turmeric
a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
about 100g soft dried peaches and mango
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (Polpa finely chopped tomatoes)
1 tin (400ml) light coconut milk
1 tin (400g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Start by frying finely chopped onions in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the mustard seeds, garlic and chilli, as well as aubergines. Slice aubergines in half, then in half again lengthways, and then chop into chunks. As these aubergines are young, I didn't peel the skin.
Add more oil, and season well with sea salt, then sprinkle with all spices. Cook stirring for another 5 minutes, until the aubergines chunks are coated with the spices, oil and onion mix.
Next add the halved cherry tomatoes and chopped dried peaches and mango slices. After cooking for another couple of minutes, pour in the contents of tinned tomatoes and coconut cream.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas before adding to the curry. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and cook, simmering, for about half an hour, stirring from time to time. The aubergine chunks should be very soft, but still hold the shape.

Serve hot, with rice or without (I'm trying to cut down in carbs, so ate my curry without any rice).

This is a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth curry, not too hot, but very fragrant and flavourful.

I didn't specifically plan for this meal to be vegan, it just happened that the products I used were all vegetables and the cream is plant-based too.
I used the last of the Sri Lankan Masala curry mix from Steenbergs in this recipe, but any good masala mix will work. Next week I'm planning to go to the garden centre, where they have a lovely food shop, and I've seen Steenbergs' products there. If I can't find it there, then I'll have to order it online. Love the fruity flavours and aroma of this curry mix.

Mutti Polpa (Finely Chopped tomatoes) is one of the products from the latest Degustabox. This is a new Italian brand for me. Usually I buy Cirio tomato products. Mutti are winners of a prestigious Great Taste Award. Tinned chopped tomatoes were sweet and ripe, and worked beautifully in a vegetarian curry.

As I've finished the delicious curry mix, I'm adding this recipe to #KitchenClearout at Madhouse Family Reviews, hosted by lovely Cheryl.

Happy Days at Work - The Hairdresser, 500-pc jigsaw puzzle from Ravensburger

"Pieces of jigsaw puzzle might all be different but when fit in, complete the story..." (Harrish Sairama).

This quote might well be a motto or a slogan for Ravensburger, since its jigsaw puzzles tell many a story.
Ravensburger Happy Days at Work series of jigsaw puzzles takes you on a trip down the memory lane.

Happy Days at Work - The Hairdresser is the 14th in a series of retro-style puzzles, created by the Yorkshire-based artist Trevor Mitchell.

The lady in the centre has the most elaborate hairdo, she is clearly getting ready for an evening out. Her make-up is amazingly "loud", and she looks very pleased with herself.
The hairdresser behind her seems to be delighted with the result. I can imagine it took hours to finish such an intricate hairdo.

You see the other customers in the back, sitting under the dryers and reading magazines.
The posters on the walls show the glamorous images.
It is a cheerful scene from the days gone by.

The 500-piece jigsaw puzzles measures 49x36 cm when complete. It is suitable for ages 10+.
Like all Ravensburger puzzles, it's made from strong premium grade cardboard, with linen finish print to minimise glare on the puzzle image. All the pieces are cut out, using Soft click technology, which ensures the precision and accuracy as well as the variety of shapes.

The nostalgic image of the hair salon made me think of my Mum in her early 20s, when these hairstyles were en vogue.
There are a couple of photos in our family album which show my Mum and her friends with the glam and spectacular beehives and babettes.

This lovely puzzle is an easy and entertaining one, and will make a great gift for any jigsaw puzzle fan.

Disclosure: I received the jigsaw puzzle for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are my own.

Photo diary: week 15, project 365

16 days of Easter holidays, and counting. Not that we love school so much, but it's been two weeks of stress in our family. Sash has been very unsettled with a change in his routine, and I'm utterly exhausted. Roll on, Monday.
Last Sunday Eddie and I stopped in Gregg's for the weekly treat. Here's Eddie, rocking the Gregg's sausage roll.

It's been such a miserable week weather-wise too, raining every day. Still waiting for the parrot tulips which my Mum planted last autumn to reveal their colour.

More rain...

Experimental salmon fish cakes with kimchi on Wednesday for lunch.

It's the season of hyacinths and muscari in my garden at the moment. Such a beautiful blue colour.

Our local Waterstone's has very enthusiastic team, and we enjoy their book displays.

We start the week with Eddie's photo, and end it with yet another photo of Eddie. He is a big Ninjago fan, as you can see, and loves his new tshirt.

Salmon fishcakes with kimchi

Some time around Christmas I have seen a small feature in one of the food supplements, on what to do with leftover kimchi. I remember thinking that it was not exactly an ingredient that would be so easily found in many kitchens. I think it was a recipe for potato cakes with kimchi, but rather than that I don't remember much. It was most likely The Guardian's Feast, but looking through my boxes of recipes from newspapers, I cannot seem to find it. It might have been recycled, or is hidden somewhere until Doomsday in our house. I tried to google, but couldn't find the one I had in mind.
If anyone remembers that recipe article, and knows what I am talking about, please let me know.

I recently opened a jar of kimchi to cook a tinned tuna and kimchi soup, but there was still 2/3 left.
One of the possible recipe ideas was to use it in fishcakes.

I had a small pack of two salmon fillets (220g), which needed using. I have removed the skin, and chopped the salmon into small cubes.

Salmon fishcakes with kimchi
Ingredients:
1 big potato (580g with skin)
220g salmon, cubed
1tsp mustard
1tsp ketchup
1 medium egg
3tbsp self-raising flour
2tbsp finely chopped parsley
kimchi (about 1tsp per fishcake)
Breadcrumbs

Peel the potato, slice into quarters and cook in salted water until soft. Drain the water, mash the potato. Once cooled, add the mustard, ketchup, chopped salmon, egg, flour, kimchi and parsley and mix well.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up a biggish lump of salmon potato mix and drop into a plate with breadcrumbs, carefully turn it over, so that the fishcakes are covered with crumbs on both sides.
Place the fishcakes on the griddle pan, which has been lightly oiled. Place the griddle in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 20 minutes.

Skip kimchi, if you don't have it. I actually didn't put it in all fishcakes, as I thought my guys might not like the idea.

In this recipe I used Sainsbury's pistachio & herb crust breadcrumbs (they also have dried onion in the mix), but any decent breadcrumbs will work.

Serve hot, with a salad, or roasted peppers and olives. It is also lovely in a bun, like a burger.

Lime coconut cake

Today is my Mum's birthday, and also the Russian Easter, two good causes to celebrate with a cake. And while my Mum is thousands miles away from me and cannot sample my cake, I'm sending her big warm hugs across the sea and land. I so wish I could hug her in person, but it's quite impossible right now. Sigh.
I wanted to bake something not too heavy, without lots of frosting or decorations.
Having a good look around what I had in the kitchen, I got two limes (left from a week before, when I bought limes for Easter), a bag of dessicated coconut, a half-full bag of ground almonds...
There is a lovely recipe for Lemon, lime and poppy seed cake in DK Everyday Easy Cakes & cupcakes book. I didn't have any poppy seeds, they would have been nice, and I must try that recipe one day.
Dancing off the book recipe as a rough guide, I started mixing, adding some extra ingredients like coconut and ground almonds, and reducing the amount of sugar a bit.

Lime coconut cake
Ingredients:
3 medium eggs
165g caster sugar
zest of 2 limes
2tbsp lime juice
170g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
30g ground almonds
40g dessicated coconut
180g butter, melted
for the icing
60g icing sugar
3tsp lime juice

In a big mixing bowl beat together eggs and sugar with lime zest. Add the lime juice, sift in flour and baking powder, mix well. Add the ground almonds and coconut, as well as melted butter. Mix everything well to thick smooth consistency.
Pour the cake batter into a spring cake tin, lined with parchment and lightly oiled at the bottom and sides. Place the cake tin in the oven preheated to 180C. Bake for about 40+ minutes.
Check readiness with a wooden toothpick.
Mix the icing sugar with lime juice for a rather runny icing and spread over the cake while still warm. Decorate with little jellies (optional).

I think next time I'll add more lime juice for an extra zingy flavour. It is a lovely delicious cake, and it won't last long (my guys have already demolished a half of it).

Adding this post to this week's #CookBlogShare linky at EasyPeasyFoodie blog.

Photo diary: week 14, project 365

We're just over half-way through Easter holidays.
Last Sunday we invited our friends over for the Easter lunch. The egg is a symbol of new life, and I wanted to make a small centrepiece for our table. I cooked the quail's eggs and placed them in a little nest I bought last year.
I cooked and cooked half of the day, while Eddie went to the Easter service with his father. He came home happy, with chocolate eggs and a little embroidered cross.

There's a vintage shop in town, which sells all kinds of oddities, from truly antique to XXc junk. You never know what you might discover there. Eddie and I enjoy visiting it, more for the entertainment than actual shopping. I think the only few bits I ever bought there were pieces of vintage china.
Eddie fancied this old designer chair, saying it was very comfy. But at a tag of almost £300, I told him he'd have to win a lottery and buy it himself.

The rains were non-stop for a few days at the beginning of the week, and the Windrush river's levels were going higher and higher. We actually couldn't get through the flood fields on the way into town. To walk through you'd need wellies, so we had to turn back and choose a different route.

My Mum is a keen gardener. Last year, when she stayed with us in October, she bought lots of tulip bulbs and planted them in pots and planters around the garden. I don't know which colour or variety this tulip will be, but love the carved edge of the leaf.

Thursday was finally a sunny day. Our friend Jen took my boys and me by car to the Burford garden centre, which we know so well and visit almost every holiday. Eddie couldn't resist lying on the grass in the playground of the garden centre. I didn't think it was that warm.

Today we stayed at home most of the day, as our Papa didn't arrive from his trip until 6pm, and then we rushed to buy some fresh bread and a few other bits and bobs. We often stop outside the Teddy Bears of Witney shop, as it's on the way to the town centre, they change their window displays regularly. The last one, with the cat, is a cause of merriment every time we look at it. It makes me think of zombies, as it's rather realistic but also creepy