So earlier this week I was up and about at some ungodly hour, puzzling as to where exactly the car park spaces were supposed to be under several inches of ice in a windswept train station car park.

Still, it got better, as when we got to Yeo Valley’s beautiful organic garden and tea rooms in Somerset, they’d got the log fire burning and tea and biccies laid out ready for us (home made chocolate and mint – very yummy indeed).  The gardens look beautiful even in the winter:

As you might know, I work with Yeo Valley Organic as an advocate, (along with Laura, who nearly missed her connecting train and managed to catch it by an ungainly sprint across the platform, hurling people out of her path as she went).  We work with them on new ideas, feeding back information from a consumer’s point of view, and basically loll around eating as much of their yogurt as possible. Yup, it’s a tough job.

This week, then, it was all about the new look.  Most of us already know that Yeo Valley’s farmers are British organic family farms, (which are more sustainable than intensive mass dairy production) but they really want to get that message across.  Let’s face it, they have SO much going for them: beautiful organically-run farms in gorgeous Somerset, the stunning organic gardens and tea rooms, amazingly committed staff and fantastic organic products too.

So in their quest to be ’100% Yeoganic’ (which is obviously much more than just ‘organic’) they’re going back to their roots, with fab new flavours, lovely new packaging and a gorgeous new website to match.  The yogurts have all had a ‘facelift’ too, with an amazing new.. erm… bacterium or something? (sorry, I was too busy eating yogurt during this bit) which is much creamier (without being ‘fattier’).

Here’s our tasting table.  You’re jealous, right?

My particular favourite was this little beauty – a limited edition flavoured with blackcurrant and a fragrant hit of elderflower.  Absolutely delicious:

There are also some brand new products, which we’re probably not supposed to tell you about, but hey, you know I’m an oversharer.  Talking of oversharing, how about these new Top Notch yogurts, with a layer of fruity conserve on the bottom.  The sticky fig and honey is TO DIE FOR:

And you can see the gorgeous new packaging for the milk and butter in the background there.  Here’s a close-up:

and here’s all the new packs of pots and the cute new children’s products (including Yeo Tubes with some fabulous cow jokes).  I think the smoothies are great for older children – they have bigger pots and more sophisticated flavours like peach and passion fruit, and mango and pineapple.  You can take the outer carton off and inside you can cut out and build a 3D cow.  I tried to bribe them into giving me one of the 3D cows, but they’re not out yet.  Boo.

Stuff to look out for:

• the new ‘Mild and Creamy  Natural’ – a lovely creamy version of Yeo Valley’s natural yoghurt. I can see this being a great substitute to cream, dolloped on apple crumble and splodged on warm chocolate brownies… mmmmm.
• new 0% fat yoghurts all thicker and creamier
• Fab new recipes including even yummier strawberry and raspberry flavours, blueberry with a hint of lime, a scrummy rhubarb flavour and a very posh raspberry and passionfruit one too.
• the Greek Style yogurts – so thick the spoon stands up in them (check out my fave: coconut)
• there may even be (shhhhhhhh!) some really creamy rice pudding in the pipeline.

All this lovely new stuff will be appearing in the shops very soon.  Last photo is probably my favourite pot of all.  The classic strawberry.  Whoever thought you could look at a pot of yogurt and think ‘wow, that’s pretty’, but it really is:

Thanks, as always, to the fabulous team at Yeo Valley, for endless tea, delicious grub, heowge amounts of yogurt, tons of laughs, and ‘Yeo Em Gee!’ those puns xx

Still in pursuit of the perfect chocolate brownie, then, I made these while my children were out making giant… erm.. appendages out of snow.  I would show you a video but they’re all disgusting and their grandparents might see.  I don’t know where they get it from.

These brownies are utterly lush and slightly more ‘grown up’ than the version I usually make (George’s chocolate brownies) but the recipe is mostly the same.  I think they benefit from being served warm as the ‘oranginess’ comes out more.

You will need:

200g dark chocolate (as dark as you dare – see below)

170g salted butter (MUST be salted – or add a pinch if using unsalted)

3 tablespoons marmalade (I used rindless for a smooth result)

3 eggs

200g soft brown sugar (caster is fine if you don’t have any)

110g plain flour

Preheat the oven to gas 4/180 degrees.

Melt the butter, chocolate and marmalade in a bain-marie (you know the drill… bowl over a saucepan of just-simmering water – don’t let the bottom of the bowl come into contact with water).  Don’t use the microwave – I’ve no idea why but melting chocolate in the microwave REALLY offends me.  Turn the water off when it’s just bubbling and stir the mixture gently until it’s combined.  Take it off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and frothy, then pour in the cooled chocolate/butter mixture, stir well, then add in the flour.  Stir briefly until the flour disappears.

Pour into a well-lined baking tin (I use a lasagne tin, but a square cake tin will do).  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is cracked and shiny.  The centre should still be slightly soft.  Serve warm or allow to cool and place in an airtight container

For the orangettes, choose a really dark chocolate – try Green & Black’s or Montezuma’s do a brilliant, rich Ecuador 70% dark chocolate that I’m just slightly addicted to.  Melt two or three squares in a tiny jug and just dip small pieces of Orangette into them.  If you have any trouble buying the orangettes (basically, candied orange peel – I got mine in my Good Fork hamper), you can make your own, or try Amazon (believe it or not).

These would be beautiful served at the end of a dinner party with the dark chocolate orangettes, little cups of very strong espresso coffee and maybe some freezing cold shot glasses of Cointreau too.

(Best get rid of the snow willies on the front lawn first, though).

So finally… FINALLY!  alcohol-free January is over.  It seemed like a really long month but I stuck to my guns and not a drop of alcohol, nor a single fattening thing passed my lips the entire time.

It was tough.  That’s an understatement – it was really tough.  For someone whose routine is to finish clearing up from dinner, then head straight to the fridge for a glass of wine before collapsing in front of the TV, it took some getting used to.

I found that half the battle was having something nice to sip, so the norm became diet tonic with loads of ice and a slice of lime.  This really seemed to do the trick and I actually started to enjoy waking up with a clear head.

And then I went to the Gatwick Passenger Panel meeting and lovely Penny Haslam said ‘wow, you’re looking fantastic – your skin looks great’, which made me feel fab (especially coming from someone so gorgeous).  Another side benefit was that I lost 8lb. In one month!  Yes, okay, after December’s excesses I was always going to lose a few pounds, but the combination of not wanting to snack (a terrible side effect of drinking wine) and not eating cakes and biscuits really did me good.

Would I do it again?  Honestly?  Probably not.  Especially in the light of a report released in January by the Commons Science and Technology Committee which says it’s much better for you to drink in moderation and make sure you have at least two days a week completely alcohol free than a blanket ban in January which can often mean you go back on it ‘large’ in February!

But it’s changed my attitude to drinking.  My first day back ‘in the saddle’ as it were, English Dad and I had a couple of glasses of red wine each.  Not an over-indulgence, you’d think, but the next day I woke feeling groggy and headachey… and I’m really beginning to believe that a glass of wine or two should be an occasional treat rather than an everyday occurrence.  I love a gin and tonic occasionally, and this doesn’t seem to have such a bad effect on me, so maybe that should be my drink of choice…

A friend also told me that sometimes that initial craving for a drink can be because you’re thirsty too – so I’m forcing myself to grab a glass of water and sip that first, before jumping on the booze.

What about you?  How much do you drink, and did you abstain in January?

Don’t forget to check out my friend notSupermum’s take on alcohol free January as well.

My lovely friend Taralara over at Sticky Fingers runs The Photo Gallery.  It’s a fab idea – there’s a theme each week, and loads of people join in, taking pictures and sharing them with each other.  I dip in and out, but this one really caught my eye: me.  Right now.

‘We’re terrible for ‘posing’ for photographs aren’t we?’, says Tara.

‘Making sure we look our best, have our hair brushed, our make up just so and turning just so to ensure the camera captures our best side.
But it’s the impromptu snaps which tell the best stories – they mark out our every day lives and show how we live and what we are ‘really’ like.’

So the challenge was to take a photo right that very second, as you read the prompt.  So I grabbed a child and said ‘quick, take my picture’.

And here it is.  Me.  Right now.  Slightly scary and rather too close-up, with my cluttered desk, my Minnie Mouse mug, messy hair and… a bottle of Febreze on the printer (not sure how that got there).

To see more entries to Tara’s Gallery, just click here.

So it’s bakeoff time again!  I wanted to do something around Valentine’s day, because you guys always bake the most amazing things, BUT I don’t want to limit you all to just heart-shaped things, oh no.  So our theme for this bakeoff is ‘baked with love‘.

If you’re not loved up, but just want to bake yourself a big mahoosive cake to eat in bed while watching a film, that’s fine too.  First, then, to the housekeeping:

The Rules

Because we’re rebels who ride with the wind in our hair and laugh in the face of danger (or something), the rules are few and far between, to be honest, but I know some of you love a rule or two, so just for you:

1. You’ve actually got to bake something – preferably connected to the theme (although see below re: sneaky rule breaking)

2. You must take a picture (you won’t get far with any of that ‘the dog ate it’ nonsense)

3. You must 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, which is, of course, the day before Valentine’s Day, the 13th February.

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.

BUT…

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 #madewithlovebakeoff . If you would like to display the ‘baked with love’ badge, you can download it from the links below. There are two sizes to choose from.

‘Baked with Love’ badge – 200px

‘Baked with Love’ badge – 150px

If  you’re neither, then just pretend this bit never happened.  Moving on, then… nothing to see here…

The Exciting Bit! (and the judgy bit – they’re combined this time)

That most wondrous and luscious of wine experts: the fragrant, and frankly fabulous Helen from Knackered Mothers’ Wine Club has very kindly agreed to be our judge.  Not only that, but she’s also offered to provide the winner with a bottle of pink fizz!!

Entries will be displayed in one enormous blog post and accompanied by the usual descent into hysteria while I get all hot and bothered about uploading and labels and all that other complicated stuff. Follow me on Twitter to witness the carnage in real-time hissy fit tweets as they happen.

The Small Printy Bit

As usual, all attempts at bribery and any dubious approaches must be made direct to the judge (hint: she likes wine) and not via this blog.   The judge’s decision is final.

This competition is open to all comers, regardless of location, although if you live in Outer Mongolia we might have a bit of trouble posting you a bottle of fizz, but hey, we’re triers so don’t let that stop you.   There is no cash alternative to the prize.

So that’s it, then.  You’ve got loads of time, plenty of inspiration, and some very ambiguous rules.  GO TO IT, TEAM!

Waaay before we were good buddies, on our first trip to Disneyworld Florida, my fellow bloggers, the Disney 7 (well, the other 6), were most perplexed by the fact that any time anyone from Disney mentioned the ‘hidden Mickeys’ placed all around the resorts and parks, I dissolved into snorty cackling.  It didn’t matter  how much I tried.  One mention of a mickey and that was it – my shoulders would shake… tears would spring into my eyes… It’s so much worse when nobody gets what you’re even laughing about.

The thing is, in Ireland a mickey is a… well, it’s a willy.

Hence, ‘searching for hidden mickeys’ brought a whole new mental picture to mind than gaily flouncing about trying to spot little mouse shapes.

Anyhoo, I digress.

Recently, I was the recipient of a very solemn phone call from school.  Apparently the Death Wish Dude had been caught defacing another pupil’s book.  Three of them were involved.  The others being George (of George’s brownies fame) and another of the Dude’s buddies, a girl.

Reader, I was shocked.

He’s a silly bugger, but he’s a good kid.  And I can’t imagine him doing anything malicious.  I told this to the teacher.  She agreed.

Apparently it wasn’t malicious at all:

The crime – this terrible crime that warranted a telephone call to his parents?  He’d drawn a willy.

A willy.

It was all I could do not to laugh.  However, I solemnly accepted that this behaviour was not to be encouraged, and promised to give him a stern talking to.

I did.

I said to him: ‘you tit’.

Anyhoo, this incident has set in motion a willy-themed madness in the Dude and his mates, culminating in his whipping up a little present for them in the kitchen last night.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…

The willy cookie.  Or ‘cockie’ as it became known on Twitter last night.  Or for you Irish people, the ‘mickey bickie’ (thanks to Aoife for that one).

His father took one look at it and said ‘blimey.  If that’s what he thinks they look like he’s not been paying enough attention in biology’.

So the weekend was somewhat traumatic.  I won’t fill you in on all the events, but needless to say being trapped in a packed train carriage all the way from Shepherds Bush while the three teenagers I was escorting serenaded their fellow commuters with loud renditions of My Horse is Amazing (seriously – don’t bother watching it, it’s that bad) and then being politely told that we were, in fact, accidentally in the first class carriage, shall remain with me for a long time and was one of the lesser traumatising events of the weekend.  Read out of that what you will.

Anyhoo.  In other news, I’m still on the lookout for a lovely breakfasty-type recipe that’s also quite healthy (I know, I know… giving up alcohol and vowing to eat healthily for the whole of January was a BIG HUGE MISTAKE – I have learned both that I could never be teetotal, and that I can’t live without cake) still, it’s nearly over now).  Yesterday I came across possibly one of the prettiest blogs I’ve ever seen: Eat Yourself Skinny.  It turns out that not only is the blog pretty, but the writer, Kelly, is ridiculously pretty as well.

So I thought, well.  If I eat what she eats, surely I’ll wake up looking exactly like her.

Right?

Oh.

Anyhoo, on to the trial and error.  I noticed that lovely Kelly’s blueberry and lemon bread was adapted from  Joy of Baking, so I went back to the original recipe to have a look.  Here’s my version.  I had to change it all from cups, and I decided to use rapeseed oil instead of butter (similar calories, just much better for you).  The result was yummy, although the inside of the cake was a bit too stodgy, presumably because beating the butter and sugar together introduces air into the mixture.  So I say stick with butter (the calories are the same).  I will say, though, that cutting it into the recommended 12 portions proved to be too much of a challenge.  Still, if you do manage it, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s just 159 calories a slice (might be better to cut it into 6 slices, then cut each in half). I also used a sugar substitute to keep the calories down (I know, I know, but honestly you can’t taste the difference).  Lastly, I used a whole punnet of blueberries which is a bit too much.  Stick to 150g.

You will need:

80g butter

6 tbsp granulated sugar substitute (try the new Truvia one – I haven’t been able to get hold of it yet)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

225g self raising flour

125ml milk

So preheat the oven to 180/gas 4 and spray a loaf tin with cake release (or butter it very lightly).

Beat the butter in a mixer (or by hand if you’re feeling butch), then add the sugar and beat until the mixture’s really light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, beating between each addition, and then the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Stir in the flour and then the milk.  Finally, stir in the blueberries

Pop the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for about 50 minutes.  Pop a knife tip into the centre to check that it’s done, otherwise leave for a bit longer.

Allow it to cool before slicing into your minute portions.  It really is surprisingly lush though – and the blueberries make it quite jammy and sticky too.  Top tip: freeze your slices (with a piece of greaseproof paper between each one). Then they’re easy to pop into the toaster for a quick and healthy breakfast.

As the parent of teenagers, there are certain opening sentences that strike fear into the bottom of my bottom. One of these, used by both de brevren on a regular basis is ‘Mum… you know you love me, right?’ to which I have to dutifully reply ‘yeeeees’? and wait, cringing slightly, for the bombshell that follows.

The answer can be a miriad of different horrors… a recent selection include:

‘Well, that’s good because I got an F in my Maths mock’

Shiiiiiit.

‘Well, that’s good because I think I lost that tenner you gave me. What? I put it in my sock for safe keeping…’

‘Well that’s good because I want you to take me to that big skate park in London on Saturday…’

Yup. That sort of thing.

Very occasionally they keep me on my toes with:

‘Good. ‘Cos I love you too’

And then I have to look all non-cringey and pretend I wasn’t expecting something really bad.

So I was back at Gatwick today for the next Passenger Panel Meeting. As you probably remember, I’m a member of the panel and I’m there to represent families.

We’re a funny bunch, us families.  The trouble is, we need so many different things to make us happy… we’d like our journey through the airport to ‘flow’ (this is a word that crops up a lot), and we’d really rather not cause a big fuss (nothing guaranteed to get you worked into a tizz faster than someone standing behind you rolling their eyes and tutting as you struggle with a toddler and a pushchair).  We’d like a bit of help on occasions, yes, BUT we don’t want to be seen to be making ‘a fuss’ or to be singled out for ‘special’ treatment exactly… it’s a tough one.

Before the meeting, I asked around my friends and on Twitter about what parents really want when travelling, and how Gatwick (and the other airports – this panel is designed to help everyone, really) can help.  Several things came up, so let’s deal with them one by one:

Getting through security

This can be a nightmare (see aforementioned struggling and tutting).  It was mentioned in our last meeting and happily, Gatwick listened and did something about it.  Something brilliant.

They’ve now introduced a new ‘Assistance/Family’ security area, where families, disabled travellers and others needing a bit of help will get one to one service, friendly help and, in conjunction with a local school, they’ve even designed a special body X-ray machine that looks like a castle!  The scanner thingies are extra large to accommodate buggies (no more levering your buggy through one-handed while clutching a child with the other) and at busy times, Gatwick provide extra people to help.  The area has been open since December, so make sure you look for the signs.  Spot on, I reckon.

Something for children to do while waiting in the departure lounge

Lots of people asked about soft play areas/toys, etc, to keep children occupied while you’re waiting to go.  Few people know that there are already ‘kids zones’ in both terminals with a separate area for the children to have a play, and watch TV and plenty of seating for parents too.

In the South Terminal, the play areas are upstairs in the departure lounge opposite Café Rouge, and in the North Terminal they’re behind  Boots.  Seek them out!

We also talked about the possibility of providing children’s entertainers and other special events during busy times like the school holidays, something that Gatwick have done before with great results.

Returning home – buggies and Immigration

Picture the scene: you’ve just dragged yourself off a night flight.  You’ve got a grumpy toddler (or two) and an older one that’s tired and irritable.  You get off the plane with your hand luggage and have to carry the toddler all the way to the baggage area to collect your buggy.  This is made worse by the fact that the baggage reclaim is packed and you daren’t put them down in case they disappear in the crowd.  Sound familiar?  Thought so.  One of my friends, Catherine, said: ‘it can be a very long walk from gate to arrivals, especially when carrying a toddler and with the long queues seen recently’.  Also, someone else pointed out that, annoyingly, they’re often the very last things to come through.

The problem, apparently, is that once something is in the hold, protocol says that it can only be unloaded with the other baggage and picked up on the belts.  This is obviously too late for parents, who need a buggy when they get off the plane.  Gatwick are working hard with the airlines to provide a solution for this.  One idea, which I quite like, is to provide free ‘airline buggies’ for parents to borrow that they can then give back at the terminal once they’re reunited with their own buggy.

And that dreadful queue at Immigration?  Well this isn’t directly managed by Gatwick Airport, but they do work in conjunction with Immigration and have already implemented assistance lanes to help families get through faster.  And obviously new technology being introduced (the new ‘chip’ passports in particular), will also help to speed up transition through Immigration too.

And finally…

Next time you’re at the South terminal check out their new toilets.  Gatwick have spent loads of time and effort (and a good few quid too) making the toilets absolutely blingy and fabulous.  Each cubicle has tons of room, plus its own sink and hand dryer too, so you don’t even have to share tap space with anyone.  Awesome.

If there’s anything you’d like me to bring up at the next meeting, do let me know.  And do check out Gatwick’s information about flying with children on their website.  You’ll even find a few little hints and tips from yours truly!

Moving swiftly on from healthy eating, then, we must remember there are those of us at English Towers (the gangly, floppy haired ones and the skatery types) that still want a little something after school or dinner and demand treats, preferably piled up in an ungainly, chocolatey tower when doing A level revision.

This, and I don’t say this lightly, is my best chocolate brownie recipe ever.  I make it such a lot that I know it off by heart.  Oh yes, it’s been tweaked and added to (pistachios, chopped up Cadbury Fudge bars, rum-soaked raisins), but the plain old dark chocolate version is the one we love.  I also have to make this whenever the Death Wish Dude’s lovely mate, George, comes to visit as he’s a bit of a fan.  You’ll need:

200g dark chocolate (I swear by Bournville – already in a handy 200g size, dark but not too bitter)

170g salted butter (MUST be salted – or add a pinch if using unsalted)

3 eggs

200g soft brown sugar (caster is fine if you don’t have any)

110g plain flour

Preheat the oven to gas 4/180 degrees.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie (you know the drill… bowl over a saucepan of just-simmering water – don’t let the bottom of the bowl come into contact with water).  Turn the water off when it’s just bubbling and stir the mixture gently until it’s combined.  Take it off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and frothy, then pour in the cooled chocolate/butter mixture, stir well, then add in the flour and any extras you’re adding (nuts… raisins… smarties… whatever).  Stir briefly until the flour disappears.

Pour into a well-lined baking tin (I use a lasagne tin, but a square cake tin will do).  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is cracked and shiny.  The centre should still be slightly soft.  Serve warm with ice cream (or if you’re serving as a dessert, whisk some cream with a bit of icing sugar and a slug of booze) or allow to cool and place in an airtight container

One word of warning: cut them small.  They won’t last long.