Growing your own in pots (plus you get to eat the yoghurt first)

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I’m not a green fingered girl. My gardening skills currently run to rushing to my Mum’s every so often (usually when the grass in my back garden reaches Serengeti dimensions) to borrow her mower. So when Yeo Valley challenged me to get creative in the garden, I was a little stumped. Still, I love a challenge, and a quick trip to the garden centre later saw me armed with multi-purpose compost, a selection of seeds and a can-do attitude. Here’s what I learned:

Growing seeds is easy

First things first, have a quick recce around your outside space. If you’ve got a balcony, then consider keeping it small with, say, a few pots of herbs and maybe some salad potatoes in a little tub. Salad leaves take up little room and you can grow peas purely for their shoots, which are lush in salads.

Grab any available containers (thank you Yeo Valley) and fill them with compost. Pop in your seeds (read the instructions) and remember to water the little chaps occasionally and you’re in with a good chance that things will grow. It’s that easy.

BUT feel free to cheat

Don’t fancy growing things from seed? Garden centres and markets are currently full of all sorts of seedlings. I picked up two heritage variety seedlings for just £1.00 each at my local market, and now the chances of frost are past, the stallholder assured me they’d be fine in the garden.

So how did I do?

As you can see from the pictures, I had terrific success with my sweet peas, which I’ve now transferred to a larger pot in the garden, complete with some canes, optimistically added for them to climb. My herbs are also thriving: I’ve got basil, coriander, thyme and mint all doing wondrously. For some reason, my salad potatoes didn’t chit (they’re supposed to grow shoots when left on a sunny windowsill – mine sulked and did nothing of the sort), but I’m not beaten that easily so I’m starting again with a fresh batch. I also now have a beautiful Nigella plant which will add lovely flowers and delicious scent to my little patio.

More inspiration

If you’d like to know more, why not try Laetitia Maklouf’s wonderful book, Sweet Peas for summer, which has all sorts of hints and tips for the novice gardener, or try and get down to one of Yeo Valley’s gardening lectures with gardening greats such as Bunny Guinness and Jekka McVicar. Find out more here

 

Union Jack biscuits for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

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So hopefully you’re planning your big Diamond Jubilee party about now. We’re hoping to have a barbecue with the fam, and obviously I’ll be decorating the outside of the house with little flags (because that’s how I roll), but also I wanted some special sweet treats for my guests. These little flags (I originally made them for William and Catherine’s wedding) are perfect. And no, it doesn’t matter if the icing splodges a bit. In fact, it just adds to their charm:

You will need:

150g butter

50g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

250g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas 4. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper (or use a silicone product like Bake-o-glide).

Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s really light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla, then the sifted flour. Bring the dough together with your hands (it will seem crumbly at first, but soon comes together).

Roll the dough out on a floured surface until 1/2 cm thick and cut into rectangles. Place on the prepared trays and bake for about 15 minutes, until just golden. Allow to cool completely, then prepare your icing.

You will need three bowls of icing: red, white and blue. Or pink, white and pastel blue look really nice too. It’s best to just make a mahoosive bowl of white, then split them into three. Just pile icing sugar up, then splash water in until you get a nice thick consistency (too runny and it’ll be a disaster). To colour the icing, it’s best to use food colouring pastes as they’re stronger and less runny than liquids so they won’t dilute your icing too much.

For the icing

Firstly, as I’ve already said, don’t worry too much. After several messy attempts (that you can see above), we found that it’s best to cover the whole biscuit with white icing, allow it to dry completely, then pipe on a red cross, then a red X, allow to dry, and then add the blue accents. But hey, they’re your biscuits - experiment! A red +, then four white squares, then blue accents worked quite well too. We put our icing into disposable plastic icing bags and cut off a tiny corner, to save ruining my cloth piping bags. It’s definitely worth having a picture of a Union Jack flag there for reference. Here’s one I made earlier.

So whatever you’re doing, have a great party! I’ll be lifting a gin to Her Maj and I hope you will too :)

My Florida diary, part 2: Clearwater, St Pete’s and segway madness!

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Next stop on our whirlwind tour of Florida was Clearwater. Driving across the Frankland Bridge from Tampa, we were all struck dumb by the beautiful turquoise water, with the fabulous waterfront homes gleaming on the shores. Our first stop was Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of ‘Winter’, the dolphin made famous by ‘Dolphin Tale’, the movie. The poor creature got caught in a crab line when she was just a tiny thing and was rescued by the CMA. Sadly they couldn’t save her tail but have helped her with a permanent home, physical therapy and a succession of prosthetic tails, kindly donated by a company that usually makes human prosthetics. At first sight, it’s a little saddening to see her bobbing around (she doesn’t wear the tails all the time), but the staff love her with a passion and give her the best life possible, and of course now she’s famous, everyone wants to come and visit:

After visiting Winter (and the miriad turtles, otters and other dolphins), we stopped in the utterly gorgeous St Petersburg (think white sand beaches, Riviera chic palm-lined streets and sun-drenched outdoor cafés) for lunch. The Cassis American Brasserie is something of a St Pete’s institution, with a famous bakery attached (apple tart TO DIE FOR) as well. We worked off the excesses of the previous night’s lycheetinis and karaoke (another day, I promise) by diving in to gorgeous fresh oysters, bloody marys and mahoosive burgers. Everything was delicious and the location, right on the sidewalk on Beach Drive, shaded by enormous umbrellas, was just fabulous:

Fully restored, we took a gentle sunny amble along Beach Drive to the Chihuly Collection where lovely director, Wayne Atherholt, showed us around these frankly stunning glass pieces. If you’re around St Pete’s you MUST visit. I promise you’ll stand awestruck in front of these phenomenal, complex glass sculptures:

Another quick drive took us to the amazing Dalí Museum. Our wonderfully eccentric and terrifically knowledgeable guide, Janice (complete with Dalí inspired shoe hat) steered us around hundreds of Dalí pieces, pointing out specific things in the paintings we would never have spotted, and explaining the thinking behind the paintings. Without a guide, you’ll still have a great time, but trust me when I say I learned more than I ever thought possible with Janice’s help. Don’t miss the beautiful gardens, cleverly named, of course, the ‘Avant Gardens’, with the enormous Dalíesque moustache and Wish Tree, where people have been writing their wishes on scraps of paper and tying them to the tree for years. By the way, if you want to add a wish to the tree, the museum will do it for you if you tweet your wish to #Daliwishtree.

We fell in love with Janice. In fact, so much that we couldn’t bear to leave her at the Dalí and persuaded her to join us (after a slight altercation between her car and a bollard - the bollard won) on our segway tour of St Pete. The segways are a little tricky to master, but with the help of the wonderful David Boston from St Pete’s guided segway tour company, Gyroglides, we were soon whizzing along in a happy troupe along St Pete’s pier, Janice merrily shouting explanations for her Dalí shoe hat as we glided past stunned passers by. Here I am looking utterly ridiculous on a segway:

And here’s Janice. In her multicoloured coat. On a segway. With her shoe hat on. Surreal (Dalí would surely have loved it):

After all that excitement, we were delighted to check into our evening accommodation, the delightful Sunset Vistas Beachfront Suites, located smack bang on the gorgeous Treasure Island beach, and chill on the balcony overlooking the ocean, sipping a cold glass of champagne generously left in our fridge (the condos are huge and really well equipped with washing machines, huge kitchens and two large bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as a sofa bed (three bed apartments are also available).

The condos are a fab idea if you want to go to Florida and have a bit more freedom. Self catering is a breeze with a café on site plus a huge supermarket within half a mile and plenty of lovely restaurants within easy walking distance (I highly recommend Sloppy Joe’s - order the firecracker shrimp - you won’t be disappointed!). If you’re staying a little longer in the area, George Hoch, the General Manager, recommends a trip to John’s Pass village, a lovely historical fishing village with loads of things to do and some fabulous seafood.

Here’s the inside of our condo:

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And here’s the view from the balcony. With my cankles:

For more information, visit the St Petersburg/Clearwater Facebook page, or the Visit Florida Facebook page.

I travelled to Florida with Visit Florida and Virgin Holidays. If you’d like to recreate my trip, here’s some information about a very similar seven nights in Orlando from £949.

Seven nights in Orlando with Virgin Holidays, including scheduled flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick or Manchester direct to Orlando, two nights accommodation at the 5V Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, two nights accommodation at the 3V+ Sunset Vista Beachfront Suites, two nights at the 5V Longboat Key Club & Resort and one night at the 5V Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Hotel, all on a room only basis with car hire included starts from £949. Prices are per person based on two adults travelling and sharing a standard room, price includes all applicable taxes and fuel surcharges which are subject to change. Prices are based on departures 12 - 14 Nov 2012.

Start your holiday before you’ve even taken off in the v-room at Gatwick Airport or Manchester Airport; Adults £20, Kids £12

Virgin Holidays is a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected

To book: www.virginholidays.co.uk , 0844 557 3859 or visit one of our 90 stores located in Debenhams and House of Fraser stores nationwide.


 

 

My Florida diary, part 1: Orlando and Universal Studios including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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I have so much to tell you about our trip. This means that it’s probably best to break it into several sections to prevent you falling asleep at your laptop and waking up with little keyboard-shaped indentations in your forehead.

First stop, then, was the fabulous Virgin V Room at London Gatwick Airport. I met up with a couple of my fellow travellers, Kash from Budget Traveller and Victoria, otherwise known as Pommie Travels, plus Claire, our lovely and long-suffering PR. We started as we meant to go on with enormous plates of eggs benedict and a refreshing 9am cocktail (what? we were on holiday):

A very comfortable flight and a very sweaty queue through US immigration later and we were reunited with Laura, and met Lily from Visit Florida, our guide for the weeks’ adventures.

First stop was the Hilton Bonnet Creek. The place is enormous (1000 rooms!) and sits next to its twin, the equally fabulous Waldorf Astoria. Here’s my room, already becoming sullied by the contents of my somewhat overstuffed suitcase. The bathroom had a gorgeous double width/wetroom shower thingy (a thing of beauty) and possibly the biggest, most comfy bed ever:

We ate in the beautiful La Luce restaurant, created by the very famous Napa Valley chef, Donna Scala, where I nearly died and went to heaven sampling the crispest, most delicious frito misto with a crunchy, sweet, beet salad (sigh):

There was also a butterscotch dessert so gorgeous and so heavenly that there was total silence around the table apart from the odd contented sigh. The dessert is so amazing it even has its own Facebook page (I kid you not):

The next day, we were very excitedly heading out to Universal Studios. The studios are split into three main areas: the City Walk, which is an amazing strip of all sorts of bars, shops and restaurants before you get to the main entrances, then the Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Our absolute faves were:

Islands of Adventure

The Incredible Hulk Coaster - just amazing (and a bit scary)

The Jurassic Park River Adventure - fab dinosaurs and whooshy raft action - be warned, you get wet!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Dragon Challenge - a feet-dangling-free terror ride upon a dualling dragon

Butter beer - taste it and immediately fall in love (oh, that frothy topping…)

Top tip: ask the guard of the Hogwart’s Express where he’s from!

Seuss Landing

If you’re a fan of Dr Seuss you’ll love this whole area - it’s like being dropped into the set of The Cat in the Hat

And at Universal Studios:

We spent far too long at the Islands of Adventure to properly check out everything at Universal, but don’t miss:

The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - my neck STILL hurts (this is my own fault - I didn’t want to take my hair clip out so rode the entire vertical-up and vertical-down section of this terrifying ride craning my neck away from my headrest. What a dunce.)

Universal’s Superstar Parade: check out the parade, if only for Spongebob and the dancing Minions from Despicable Me. Hilarious and gorgeous.

Next up is beautiful St Petersburg, the bonkers Dali Museum and some unseemly horsing about on segways. Stay tuned, viewers!

 

I travelled to Florida with Visit Florida and Virgin Holidays. If you’d like to recreate my trip, here’s some information about a very similar seven nights in Orlando from £949

 

Seven nights in Orlando with Virgin Holidays, including scheduled flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick or Manchester direct to Orlando, two nights accommodation at the 5V Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, two nights accommodation at the 3V+ Sunset Vista Beachfront Suites, two nights at the 5V Longboat Key Club & Resort and one night at the 5V Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Hotel, all on a room only basis with car hire included starts from £949. Prices are per person based on two adults travelling and sharing a standard room, price includes all applicable taxes and fuel surcharges which are subject to change. Prices are based on departures 12 - 14 Nov 2012.

 

Start your holiday before you’ve even taken off in the v-room at Gatwick Airport or Manchester Airport; Adults £20, Kids £12

 

Virgin Holidays is a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected

 

To book: www.virginholidays.co.uk , 0844 557 3859 or visit one of our 90 stores located in Debenhams and House of Fraser stores nationwide.


 

 

 

 

 

Turkey kebabs

Sticky sweet chilli turkey kebabs

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You might remember that I took part in a little challenge a while ago with Lean on Turkey, supporting our fantastic British turkey farmers, to create a turkey dish for a family of four for under a tenner. The result was my Moroccan style turkey with Ras el Hanout. This time, and happily for us it coincides with this gorgeous weather, my challenge is to cook a low fat, healthy turkey recipe, again costing under a tenner. It has to feed a family of four and can’t be a roast dinner.

So I got my thinking cap on. When I was in Florida (oh how you’re going to get fed up with me saying that), we had some amazing prawns that were both sticky, sweet and delightfully spicy. So I had a fiddle and came up with these: lovely sticky sweet chilli turkey kebabs. We ate them with a fresh salad of avocado, cherry tomatoes and olives, some crusty bread and that old summer favourite, potato salad - bit of a mish mash really, (some call if ‘fusion’) but it all came together really well and made for quite the most delicious al fresco supper.

Here’s how I did it.

For the sticky sweet chilli turkey kebabs:

1 pack turkey breast steaks

1 red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

Squeeze of lime

In a pestle and mortar, squish the red chilli and the garlic cloves with a little pinch of salt. Make sure they’re completely mashed into a paste, then add the runny honey, soy, fish sauce and lime.

Cut the turkey breast steaks into slivers and drop them into the marinade. Allow them to marinate for at least an hour.

Thread onto skewers or bamboo sticks (make sure you soak the sticks first to stop them catching fire) then grill for 10 - 15 minutes until cooked through, giving them a little baste every so often with the leftover marinade.

Serve with a fresh salad - anything you’ve got in the fridge/store cupboard will do: avocado, cherry tomatoes, olives, Feta, cucumber… Season, then toss with some rapeseed oil and a squeeze of lime.

For the potato salad, just boil the potatoes until tender and coat in a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise. I may or may not have added some spring onions here as well which I may or may not have left off my costing table below. Ahem.

And the verdict on the kebabs? AMAZING! Clean plates all round.

The verdict on the salad? ‘What’s this green stuff?.. and ‘ugh, I hate olives’.

Ah well. You can’t win them all…

For more information on the Lean on Turkey campaign, head to leanonturkey.co.uk

Jetlag, sausage feet, flamingos, missed exams and discovering Florida

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So we’re back. After an hour delay (and an upgrade!) we finally touched back down at Gatwick at 10am this morning. My legs are a bit wobbly (and enormous - stuffing my feet back into my Birkenstocks after we landed was akin to wedging a large sausage into a thimble) and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep against the shoulder of a man I was sitting next to at Clapham Junction, but apart from that it’s all good.

We had such a wonderful time in Florida - I can’t wait to tell you all about discovering amazing new places (St Pete’s and Sarasota spring to mind - the BEACHES!) and visiting old friends (down on the Boardwalk at Disney and new attractions at Seaworld) and fabulous food (firecracker shrimp *drooool*).

Our group bonded amazingly well and apart from the odd car accident or two (minor) and small screeching session when it was discovered that a teenager back home had slept through his A level (mine - ‘WHERE ARE YOU?!’), the whole thing went incredibly smoothly. The boys were delighted with their chocolate frogs from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, their freeze dried astronaut ice cream from the Kennedy Space Centre and their watermelon chewing gum (from the service station) and nobody’s burnt, destroyed, broken or maimed anything or anyone in my absence, which is always a bonus.

Back soon with excitement, things to make you go ‘ooh’ and about 15,000 pictures of flamingos (you know how I love those salmon pink beauties). You’ve been warned.

Tell me your disgusting secrets and win a car seat from Argos!

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So I’m off on my travels again on Friday. This time I’m heading off with Visit Florida to find out all about what Florida has to offer for families (I know, right, the things I do for you? You’re welcome).

Anyhoo, to keep you occupied while I’m away, Argos have very kindly offered me a fabulous car seat to give away.

I ummed and I ahhhed but I couldn’t think of a good question for you to answer, so I opened it up to Twitter and as usual, my lovey followers came to my rescue. So here goes (thanks to Emily at Never Bored of Bubbles for this question): all you need to do to be in for a chance of winning is leave a comment and tell me:

What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever found in your car?

And then just in case you’ve never found anything disgusting in your car, but really need to win a car seat, I’ll allow anything remotely car-related. Person that makes me laugh the most wins the seat.

And here’s the small print:

This competition is open to UK residents only and will close at midnight on 24th May. The winner will be chosen by me and no cash alternative is available.

This prize has been supplied by Argos. Visit them today for a great range of car seats and nursery furniture.

 

******THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED******* THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES AND CONGRATS TO DAWN REGAN - CAR SEAT ON ITS WAY :)

 

 

Tenerife part 4: the May festivities and the firework wars of Los Realejos

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So I can’t quite believe it, but this is my last post on my wonderful trip to Tenerife. I’ve saved the best until last for you, though, our wonderful opportunity to celebrate with the locals at the fabulous Baile de Magos in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is Tenerife’s capital and wowzers do they take their festivals seriously. During the May festivities the streets are decorated with flowered crosses and in the evening, everyone dresses up in traditional costume and takes to the streets to celebrate.

We joined in the fun, dressing up as ‘Magos’ (here we are looking slightly embarrassed):

… and here are the boys, dressed as ‘farmers’:

Heading out onto the streets, we were somewhat overwhelmed with the sheer numbers of people out celebrating. Families set up tables heaving with food and everyone presses glasses of wine and plates of food upon you as you wander the streets. The atmosphere is incredible - there is laughter, singing and shouting and there are impromptu bands and dances everywhere you look. There are literally THOUSANDS of people:

By 2am we’d lost each other in the crowd and I wandered around enjoying the fun (and sampling all sorts of delicious goodies and wine!)…

…feeling completely secure (and somewhat tiddly), chatting to friendly strangers (who were more than a little amused that a random English woman had joined them, dressed in full costume) even, I seem to recall, joining a family barbecue at one stage… until I finally managed to fight my way through the throng to a policeman who pointed me in the direction of a taxi rank. What an amazing evening.

The next day was May 3rd, the Day of the Cross and time for the traditional rivalry between the ‘farmers’ vs the ‘rich families’ in a firework battle that dates back to 1770.

The evening starts with the Procession of the Cross where locals carry the cross from the local church through the local streets. It’s an incredibly moving sight - the sheer noise of all the drummers and the brass band, plus the amount of people thronging the street. I loved every minute:

Again, we were welcomed by the locals and we ended up standing with a family, drinking their rather delicious wine on their rooftop as the ‘battle’ commenced. I assure you I’ve never seen anything like it: 45 minutes of possibly the most incredible fireworks I’ve ever seen. My ears rang for hours afterwards!

Finally, it was time to go home to the beautiful Hotel Botanico (one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in) for a last drink with the group before we headed to our stunning (but hardly used!) bedrooms. Here’s mine:

The next day, I had a flying visit to the oriental-themed spa for a quick swim in the pool and to watch the beautiful koi carp in the little waterways that surround it (again, utterly gorgeous)…

…before catching my taxi back to the south airport. What an incredible experience. Massive thanks to Visit Tenerife for arranging our trip. I’ll be back to see you very soon :)

I travelled to Tenerife with Monarch. Here’s some more information about travelling with Monarch to Tenerife:

Monarch, the scheduled leisure airline, operates year round flights to Tenerife from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports with fares, including taxes, starting from £58.99 one way (£99.99 return).

In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a bespoke “build your own class of travel” range of products and services both on the ground and inflight. All customers are allocated a seat at check-in; however seats can be pre-allocated on scheduled Monarch flights for £5.99 per one-way flight to ensure that families and groups are seated together. For customers looking for added comfort, extra legroom seats are also available offering up to six inches of extra space from only £24.99.

Customers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid booking charges by paying for their flights using a debit card or a PayPal payment option (which can be funded by a credit card for free). There is a small 4% fee for credit cards transactions, with a minimum value of £5. This fee, which covers the airline’s cost of processing the credit card payment, is applied per transaction and not per person.

They can also take advantage of online check-in, which is available between 18 days and four and a half hours prior to departure. With a great range of tasty hot and cold meals that can be pre-booked or purchased onboard, flying with Monarch really couldn’t be simpler.

In addition to flights, Monarch also now offers a huge range of great value holidays, accommodation options, car hire and travel insurance.

For further information or to book Monarch flights, Monarch Holidays or Monarch Hotels, please visit www.monarch.co.uk

In one day: five things to photograph in Rome

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When it comes to sightseeing on your holidays, Rome is up there with the best. There are hundreds of sights to photograph and things to do in Rome but you’d need a fair few weeks to see it all. Instead, for those who are in the city for just a weekend or for a short break, I’ve picked five of the best things to see in just a day.

Geographically, these attractions are close to one another, meaning that the tour can be done in a day, leaving time to photograph the sights and stop off for lunch. At the bottom is a map showing your journey. The walking time of the route is just over an hour, giving you a good amount of time to get snap happy.

1. Colosseum

The Colosseum may be the most iconic landmark in Rome – so where better to start your tour? Work on the Colosseum, the biggest amphitheatre of Roman times, started in 72AD under the rule of Emperor Vespasian. Although no longer in pristine condition, the Colosseum is one of the best preserved examples of Roman amphitheatres left in existence, making it well worth a visit.

2. Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is a must visit. Its name is derived from its location at the meeting point of three roads (tre vie) and marks the ending point of one of Rome’s most ancient viaducts. Despite original plans for the fountain being drawn up in 1629, it wasn’t until 1732 that construction began, lasting 30 years until completion in 1762. The stonework depicts the scene in which Rome’s water source was discovered, allegedly with the help of a mythical virgin, and it’s mandatory to throw a coin into the fountain for good luck.


3. Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi is one landmark that tends to go under the radar. Its architecture is quite magnificent and its intricacy spectacular. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was responsible for the design in 1651 in honour of Pope Innocent X. The fountain represents the four continents that the pope’s influence had stretched to; the Ganges for Asia, the Danube for Europe, the Plate for the Americas and the Nile for Africa. The story goes that the original idea for the fountain was snubbed by the Pope, but when a scaled down version of the fountain was placed in his living quarters by the plucky Bernini, Pope Innocent X was so awestruck that he immediately commissioned work to commence.

4. The Pantheon

The Pantheon is widely regarded as one of the most innovative pieces of construction to grace the ancient world. From the magnificent columns that adorn the front facade to reportedly the world’s first self-supporting domed roof, it’s one of those rare buildings that captivates even those with little interest in architecture. The name itself, Pantheon, is derived either from the statues of Gods surrounding the temple or the similarity of the domed roof to the heavens. The Pantheon was one of ancient Rome’s most important buildings so, as you would expect, the interior is littered with architectural delights and intricate artwork.

5. St Peter’s Basilica

Work on the current structure began in 1506 and was completed by 1626. The basilica was built on the site of an old church that predates the 4th century. It is believed that the location of the basilica stands over Saint Peter’s burial place, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles. Although not officially the mother church of Roman Catholicism, St. Peter’s Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church worldwide. It’s more than worth a visit!

Here’s the route. It should take just over an hour at an average walking pace, which leaves enough time to take some decent snaps and stop off for lunch.

 

Tenerife part 3: it’s all about the food: mojo, papas arugadas and flan

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The afternoon we arrived at Bodegas Monje was utterly stunning. The sky was a shimmering turquoise and the rows of vines glowed emerald green, rolling down towards the sea. What a gorgeous place.

First up was a tour of the winery (meaning that we had to head into the gloom of the cellar… boooo.) Still, I learned absolutely loads about wine making (the winery produce a stunning range of wines, mostly exported to the USA).

Next, it was upstairs to the rather beautiful cookery school, to get a crash course in Canarian cooking and test some of those stunning wines as well:

First on our menu was that Canarian staple (and my Disreputable Dad’s absolute favourite): papas arugadas (meaning literally ‘wrinkled potatoes’). We had a bit of a laugh when we discovered that the type of spud used is ‘Quinegua’ - pronounce it in a Spanish accent and you’ll see exactly how it got its name: King Edward!

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We watched as the small potatoes were barely covered with boiling water and an eye watering amount of sea salt was added (at least two handfuls, but don’t worry, the potatoes will only absorb as much as they need - we tested this theory). The potatoes were then covered and boiled for about 20 minutes, depending on size. When tender, they were then drained and returned to the heat where they were tossed and shaken until all the remaining water was gone and they took on their traditional wrinkly, dusty appearance. Delicious.

Next we moved on to the sauces. Traditionally, red mojo sauce is served with meat and green with fish. We were on the green team (the green can be coriander, but is just as often parsley or a mixture of the two) and set to work. Mojo is traditionally made entirely by hand in a pestle and mortar and takes LOADS of elbow grease. I bet there aren’t many bingo wings to be seen on the island, what with all that pounding!

For Green Mojo

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp sea salt

1 green pepper, deseeded and finely diced

One small (and very hot) green chilli

1/2 bunch fresh coriander (or parsley)

2 tsp cider vinegar

2 wine glasses of olive oil

First, crush the garlic with the salt, then slowly add in the green pepper, pounding until it’s all completely pulped. Now add a tiny piece of the green chilli (to taste, but if they’re as hot as the ones on Tenerife, a teeny tiny square is all you need), then add in the coriander and keep pounding. When everything is completely pulped, add in the vinegar ad the oil.

We added a handful of crushed almonds and sultanas, which adds a little sweetness and thickens the sauce, but this is optional, as is an avocadeo, which adds a lovely creaminess.

For Red Mojo

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped

1 red chilli (again, as much as you like, but a small piece if they’re the very hot fiery ones)

1 slice toasted bread

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 wine glasses olive oil

1 tsp sweet paprika

Again with the red, the garlic is pounded with the salt before the other ingredients are added one by one, making sure they’re completely broken down before the next ingredient is added. The toasted bread works as the thickener in the red mojo. Both were absolutely delicious. We ate the red mojo with some pulled pork and those gorgeous potatoes.

We also had a demonstration of how the locals eat Gofio, the baked corn flour from the mill we visited in La Orotava. The Gofio is mixed with ground raisins and almonds, milk, a splash of water and local honey. It’s worked into a firm dough and that’s it. It’s eaten sliced with goats’ cheese, and maybe even some mojo sauce. We were divided on the gofio but I thought it was really lovely.

I adored the food on Tenerife: the seafood was delicious and very fresh (the ‘wreckfish’ was delicious, but I’m struggling to find out whether this is just local to Tenerife, or if it’s called by another name elsewhere), and obviously we ate an enormous amount of flan (I suppose we would say creme caramel), delicious custardy slabs, sometimes served with the dark caramel sauce, or sometimes with other little drizzly sauces, but often just plain.

Muy delicioso!

If you’d like to see more foodie photos from my trip, check out my Facebook page.

The great bathroom purge of 2012

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And so it came to pass that I dropped a contact lens in the bathroom. Ick. Said contact lens was instantly too fluffy to use (pink fluff - it’s our towels) and had to be thrown away. Ew, I thought. I’d better wash the floor.

And so it also came to pass that I learned one of life’s truer lessons: if the water in the mop bucket smells vaguely of ponds, it’s too long since you last washed the bathroom floor.

And this led me to thinking: if this is the state of MY bathroom, then… *cue ‘Twilight Zone’ music* … what on EARTH was the boys’ bathroom like?

Now don’t get me wrong, The Prof is quite handy with a sponge and a bottle of Cif. He’s a tidy chap (possibly the tidiest in our house) and generally I avoid their bathroom unless I’m changing towels or replenishing toiletries (one of those self-preservation things you learn early on with parenting teenage boys) or the toothpaste build-up on the sink needs to be chipped off. Generally, I rush in occasionally, hurl a bit of bleach around, then run for my life.

This time, though, I crawled in. Literally.

Oh. Dear God.

Now I apologise if you’re eating or whatever, but here, dearest reader, is a life lesson for mothers everywhere: never, NEVER check your childrens’ bathrooms on all fours.

Armed, then, with fresh bucket of water (the pond water went on the tomatoes), bleach, mop, spray, sponges and cloths (my Twitter followers suggested scuba mask and snorkel, but they’re in the loft) and a seriously large helping of housewifely guilt, I scrubbed that sucker until it shone. Nobody tells you about the sheer amount of ick that teenage boys produce. And hair. God how I HATE hair. It makes me want to barf if one of my own sticks to my face, so swimming around in the discarded hair of my offspring was something I never want to repeat. I may never eat again (ha, don’t be silly).

Seriously: there should be some sort of users’ manual for these things. I need a chocolate brownie. Stat.

Tenerife part 2: Mount Teide

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Leaving Siam Park behind, we headed back to our ‘blogger bus’ and soon we were winding up and up on our way through Teide National Park, through weird lunar landscapes, enveloped in mist and clenching our buttocks slightly when passing cars on the narrow roads with a sheer drop on one side. Soon, we emerged into the sunshine, looking down on the blanket of cloud below

Pronounced ‘teh-ee-deh’, not ‘tidey’ as I thought, the still-active volcano is the third highest in the world (12, 198ft to be precise) and the highest point in Spain.

We soon arrived at the Parador, part of a chain of Spanish hotels consisting of refurbished historic buildings: fortresses, convents, palaces and castles, all lovingly restored and available to stay in.

The Parador atop Teide (the only hotel within the National Park) is a odd-looking mishmash of original 60s ‘ski chalet’ looking building, with some more modern looking bits added on. The rooms are basic, but comfortable (mine smelt a bit like my Grandma’s house used to smell: a mixture of boiled cabbage and moth balls). From my room I could see right up to the summit of Teide, but, and I have to be honest here, that really was its only redeeming feature. Everything needs refurbishing, the staff are surly and unhelpful and the food’s not much either. My advice? Come early, do the cablecar up the volcano, enjoy the experience and then leave. You really don’t need to stay. Even our stargazing experience was somewhat dampened by taking place in the hotel carpark (a slightly unromantic setting), but our astronomy expert was gratifyingly bonkers and we got to see Saturn’s rings through his enormous cannon-like telescope, so it wasn’t a total washout.

The next morning, we were up and out early to catch the cable car up to the summit (well, within 500ft of the summit - you need a permit to actually walk right up to the top). The view is incredible, but be warned, it’s hard work walking at altitude, the paths are rocky and a bit wobbly, and it’s darned cold up there. If you’re going to go, even if it’s warm at the bottom, you’ll need sturdy boots and a decent coat.

Do go, though, because the view is spectacular. You can see right across to Gran Canaria and also to La Gomera and the landscape is astounding:

Heading back down afterwards, we stopped to see where Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans were both filmed. The peaks of black frozen lava topped with glistening obsidian give the whole place an almost otherworldly beauty. It’s a wonderful place to take children - they’ll never have seen anything like it and the myths and legends (as told by our fabulous guide, José Ramón) attached to Teide are magical beyond believe.

In fact, the actual stories of Tenerife’s past are pretty fabulous too, from its original inhabitants, the Guanches, to its subsequent occupation by the Romans and finally through to the Spanish conquest and the failed British invasion (it’s where Nelson lost his arm) - the history of the island is fabulous, and a good guide will keep you (and the kids) enthralled.

Next up, it’s the May festivities (in which we dress up in local costume) and food, glorious food!

 

 

Red lentil and tomato stew (enhanced with some big fat sausages)

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We LOVE lentils. The texture is almost creamy, satisfying in that way that only a big dollop of mashed potatoes is usually satisfying, plus of course they have the added bonus of being VERY good for you and low fat too. This recipe is one of our favourites - I often make double and blend the leftovers with stock the next day to make soup. It’s best, though, served with some big, fat, meaty sausages: our favourites being the ones from Jimmy’s Farm. Nommers.

You will need:

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 carrots, diced

1 leek, finely chopped

1 tin chopped tomatoes

150g red lentils

500ml chicken stock (or I often use leftover gravy from a roast dinner topped up with water)

Salt and pepper

So heat up the oil in a big saucepan and bung in the chopped onion, carrots and leek (any old veg will do, really). Give them a little sprinkling of salt and a quick stir around then leave them on low for a good ten minutes to soften. A little sprinkling of dried chilli flakes wouldn’t go amiss at this stage either.

After that you can just bung everything else in, really. Leave it on low, pop a lid on and go and do something else for half an hour. Oh and don’t forget to pop your big, fat sausages in to the oven - they’ll take about 30 minutes too, at 200 degrees/gas 6.

Check the seasoning and away you go. I’ll warn you, it’s very moreish, so it’s best that you make double.

 

Review: Barclaycard’s amazing May deals

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So do you have a credit card? Not being fantastic with money, I’ve always resisted. But with the better weather on the way, we’re all tempted to splash out - maybe on a few new summery bits for the wardrobe, or even a nice holiday to grab some guaranteed warmer weather.

Barclaycard have announced a nice range of new offers. And as I don’t currently own a credit card, I was tempted by the offer for new customers of 0% interest on all purchases for the first three months: a perfect way to afford that holiday, and an incentive to pay it off as quickly as I can too, thus making it a nice easy introduction to owning plastic. The card has an APR of 29.9% (5 percentage points lower than the current Capital One Classic) and new cardholders will be offered a manageable starting credit limit as well as text and email alerts to help them manage their account. Not so scary after all, then?

If you’ve already got a credit card, there are some other offers that might suit you better, such as

· 22 month 0% balance transfer with £30 off the transfer fee (for transfers over £2,500)

· 15 months 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers

· Low fee (1.6%) balance transfer for 17 months

David Chan, chief executive of Barclaycard Consumer Europe said:

“We’re very excited to be offering even better value and such a huge amount of choice to new customers; from those wanting to manage their money better, to those who are seeking to build a credit history.”

If you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll have to move fast, though. The improved deals will close to applications at midnight on 31st May 2012.

To find out more and for full details of cards and to apply online, just click here.

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Viral video by ebuzzing

Tenerife part 1: the lush north, La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz

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Hola chicas!

Okay, so now I’ve demonstrated the only two Spanish words I know (oh wait - and gracias too), I thought I’d give you a little insight into the gorgeous island that is Tenerife.

I flew with Monarch into the south airport (nearly four and a half hours with a strong headwind from Gatwick), the first time I’ve visited since 1977. Tenerife is known as the ‘Island of Eternal Spring’, with temperatures in the 20s all year round and is the largest of the Canary Islands, situated off the north west coast of Africa (a little bit further down than Morocco). Tenerife covers about 2034 square km and has about 358km coastline with more than 4.7 million tourists (and rising) visiting every year. Crops grown on the island include bananas, potatoes and, with more acres devoted to their production than any other: grapes.

Okay, geography lesson over, we headed to the northern part of the island which is greener and a little less built up than the south, with some beautiful old towns, wonderful architecture and some pretty awesome food - all of which I sampled on your behalf. I know, right? You’re welcome.

We stopped off at the gorgeous little town of La Orotava. Once upon a time Puerto de la Cruz was the port for this pretty (and very hilly) town, but is now a resort in its own right, with a lovely harbour and some very high end shops too. We spent a sunny afternoon ambling around La Orotava. We visited the little mill where they make Gofio, a flour milled from roasted corn (and delicious it is too, but see my post on the food a bit later):

… and bimbled around the delightful public gardens (the tomb you can see is a masonic one - built years ago for the son of a local family who were, so legend has it, banned from burying their child in the local Catholic churchyard, so they did it bigger and better and built a huge tomb which looked over all the Catholic churches in the area. Owned. Intriguingly, the body was buried elsewhere and nobody knows what’s in the tomb):

Also worth a visit is the lush botanic garden behind the town hall, a former convent, but honestly, the whole town is beautiful and the flowers are just amazing:

The Casa de los Balcones (house of the balconies) is a beautiful example of the island’s unique architecture, with canaries tweeting in ornate cages, and lots of traditional crafts, wines and foods on offer in the little shops inside:

So that’s La Orotava. Next up, it’s the really exciting Siam Park, Loro Parque and the journey up to Mt Teide.

Back from Tenerife!

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I have SO much to tell you that I just don’t know where to start. Undaunted by his first ever ‘alone in the house’ time, the Mad Professor actually managed to keep the place tidier than I ever do (and not burn it down OR kill any of my baby plants) so I’m feeling rather a lot of parental pride. The Dude spent the week with his Grandma and threw up the whole time, still Grandma handled it like a pro (she’s used to vomit - she’s got three kids and seven grandchildren after all).

So until I can download photos, whilst simultaneously loading the washing machine, unpacking my suitcase, paying bills and opening mail, I shall leave you with a few photos of the highlights of my trip.

More soon.. promise.

Firstly, here’s my cabin at the Yotel in Gatwick, where they very kindly put me up before my trip (thanks guys!). I had a wonderful sleep in my space age pod, complete with bed (with VERY nice bedlinen) that moves back to give you more room, desk, flat screen TV, WiFi and amazing wet-room shower and loo. I slept like a baby and the pillows were lush. This is my second stay and I love it just as much. Brilliant way to catch an early flight - just drive there the night before and stay at the Yotel. Sorted! For more info, check out Yotel.com.

And here’s just a glimpse of what turned out to be one of the most amazing, unforgettable (and deafening) nights of my life: the ‘firework wars’ in the town of Los Realejos. More of this later. As you can see we were on someone’s roof watching the display. Mind boggling.

And finally a glimpse of the gardens at the Hotel Botanico, possibly one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed in. Pure luxury (and again, more of this later):

Until then, I’m off for some hard labour. Serves me right, really…