A visit to Leith’s Cookery School with Asda and an Extra Special Christmas giveaway!
So last week I headed up to London to Leith’s Cookery School to check out Asda’s new Extra Special Christmas range. There’s a new train service which goes straight from my local station to Shepherd’s Bush. You literally step out onto the very threshold of Westfield Shopping Centre. I nearly died happy right there and then. It was actually really lovely to be in London and I enjoyed all the hustly bustly and twinkly lights. And then it started to rain and I was quite pleased to find my taxi driver and get to Leith’s.
It’s an amazing place. All sparkly stainless steel, stark white and wood. It looks really clean and professional – I SO fancy doing a course there (not the £18,000 Diploma in Food and Wine, you understand, just one of the smaller ones!). First of all we had a glass of champers and listened to lovely Camilla, Managing Director of Leith’s (you might have seen her in the new adverts for the Extra Special Christmas range) tell us why Leith’s decided to team up with Asda to develop the range. I have to say, I was really impressed. Basically she said that everyone needs a cheap supermarket, especially at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that we all can’t indulge a little at Christmas:
“We have a shared passion with Asda that good food should be accessible to everyone, whatever their budget. We believe, like Asda, that good quality ingredients are at the heart of great cooking which is why we’ve chosen to collaborate with Asda Extra Special for our first ever supermarket partnership. We’ve been really impressed with the quality of Asda’s Extra Special food and wine and we’ve had great fun creating some wonderful Christmas recipes and tips using the delicious ingredients which really will help make this festive season extra special for everyone.”
She also said, and I totally agree, that there’s a snobbery about food that – now, more than ever – shouldn’t exist. What better than good food, simply made?
I was quite surprised to learn that we’d actually be in the kitchen cooking. It was enormous fun – and such a privilege to be cooking in a real working kitchen. They set us working in teams of four on a menu using lots of the Asda Extra Special ingredients (do email me if you want any of the recipes):
Canapés
Hot smoked salmon pate crostini
Goat’s cheese, walnut and honey crostini
Cocktail sausages four ways (sweet chilli, mango chutney and greek yoghurt, harissa, honey and mustard)
Starter:
Warm seasonal salad of butternut squash, tenderstem broccoli and feta
Main Course:
Venison rack with parsnip and creme fraiche mash
Brussels sprouts and chorizo
Dessert
Yule log
I was really impressed with the ingredients. The whole rack of venison was all trimmed and ready to cook – you can crust it with breadcrumbs, rosemary, mustard and thyme, etc, or just roast is as is, and it serves 8. Absolutely amazing. And some of the cheeses were out of this world as well. Here’s some photos from the evening. I know I’ve said it before but honestly, food bloggers are just the nicest people. I met up with Katie, Kavey and Helen again after meeting them before at Jimmy’s Farm, and Sarah from Maison Cupcake too. We’re planning a boozy blogger’s lunch in L0ndon. Wehay!
Oh and the best news of all? I’ve got a mahoosive hamper of the Asda Extra Special range to give away, including brandy-soaked rich fruit cake, smoked Scottish salmon and vintage Champagne as a competition prize. Just comment to enter (sorry, forgot that bit!) x
Competition finishes midnight Friday 9th December 2011. No cash alternatives. The judge’s decision is final.
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES. CONGRATULATIONS TO SARAH BROADHURST WHO WON THE HAMPER 
Review: grown up Disney! The beautiful Imagination Winter range
So straight on with the Christmas Countdown, then… this time I’ve got some gorgeous, and distinctly grown-up gifts from Disney. The Imagination Winter range is a scrummy set of products to scent your home. And, even though I’m the biggest Disney fan EVER, there’s not a Mickey in sight. The candles and spray contain festive cinnamon bark, nutmeg and clove and I love that they should ‘transport you to a winter wonderland of enchanted pine forests lying under a blanket of snow ‘. Count me in!
And the verdict? Gorgeous. Even with the spices, the scent is not at all cloying or ‘Christmas puddingy’ – I’ve had the candle burning in the evenings for the last couple of nights and the fragrance is actually really light – almost herbal… I think the hint of orange helps here. The packaging is beautiful and would make a really lovely pressie, not just for a Disney fan either!
The range consists of mini candles (£10), a large candle in a glass (£12) and a scented room spray (£8). All are available from Disney Stores and via www.disneystore.co.uk
English Mum’s Big Christmas Bakeoff!
Altogether now… ‘Chriiiistmas time…. mistletoe and wiiiine…’
Yes, it’s now December so all mentions of Christmas are totally justified. YAY! In your face, bah humbuggers!
And so, henceforth, forthwith and without further ado, I give you a BRAND NEW BIG CHRISTMAS BAKEOFF!
Leisure Range Cookers have been working with gorgeous chef Jo Pratt and have produced some fab, easy ‘how to’ videos, including this one for some amazing, crumbly topped aromatic mince pies:
… and they’ve kindly agreed to donate prizes to the winner, too!
And for the kiddies there are these GORGEOUS Hallmark Story Buddies - an exclusive new range of interactive cuddly toys that bring story time to life and I’ve got 5 to give away (worth £19.99 each).
It’s a Christmas bakeoff so everything and anything remotely Christmassy is fair game.
The Rules
Since we scrapped the ‘send English Mum a piece of each one’ rule *sniff*, the rules are few and far between, to be honest, but such as they are:
1. You’ve actually got to bake something (although see below re: sneaky rule breaking)
2. You must take a picture (there’s none of those dodgy ‘I baked it, but then I ate it’ excuses…)
3. Email it to me at english[dot]towers[at]gmail[dot]com, telling me what it is and who you are. Entries must be received by midnight on the closing date (see below).
The Cheaty Bit
As usual, a healthy bit of downright sneakiness is to be encouraged, and any entertaining reason why your entry should be considered will be looked upon favourably. For example, if your trifle is beautiful, but obviously not exactly baked, let me know. I’m a flexible type and I’ll probably allow it. No lying though.
Okay, a bit of lying then, but not too much…
The Techy Bit
If you’re a blogger, please link back to this post, and if you’re a tweeter, please use the hashtag #bigChristmasbakeoff - if you’re neither, then just ignore this bit completely.
The Exciting Bit!
The lovely and frankly wonderful chaps at Leisure range cookers have vey vey kindly agreed to give the winner brand spanking new copies of both Jo Pratt’s books: In the mood for entertaining and In the mood for food, along with other goodies like Leisure tea towels and oven gloves. Visit Leisure’s video recipe gallery here for more amazing recipes from Jo.
And for the kiddlies, there are 5 Jingle the husky Story Buddies, complete with their very own storybook. Both engaging and educational, Jingle is perfect for bringing families together. For more information on Jingle and the rest of the Story Buddy range, visit www.hallmark.co.uk
The Judgy Bit
Entries will be displayed in one enormous blog post and accompanied by the usual descent into hysteria while I wrestle with pixels and uploading and all that other complicated stuff. Follow me on twitter to witness the carnage as it happens.
My lovely, wondrous mum, English Grandma has foolishly agreed to be the judge. All attempts at bribery and approaches of a dubious nature will be well received (knowing my mother) and are to be made directly to her and not via this blog. The judge’s decision is final, or you’ll get one of her hard stares. And trust me, you don’t want that.
So that’s it, then. You’ve got loads of time, plenty of inspiration, and some very ambiguous rules. Let’s get baking!
The Small Printy Bit
This competition is open to all comers, regardless of location. The closing date will be 18th December at midnight. There is no cash alternative to the prize.
