So following on from my great big Christmas gift guide, it’s time to concentrate on our lovely food-loving friends (my favourites!) and get cracking on a great big foodie Christmas gift guide. As usual, my gifting philosophy is to err on the side of practical, useful and useable, and foodie gifts slot in very well here. I’ve added a couple of wines, some fab books and a couple of wonderful dining experiences too. Enjoy! Read more
Last week we were invited down to one of my very favourite places, the gorgeous Copper House Bar in Berkhamsted, for a cocktail making class with Belvedere Vodka. If, like me, you don’t really think you like cocktails, you might have been surprised to hear our host, Belvedere Ambassador and cocktail expert, Mark Tracey, tell us all about how cocktails have evolved. Mark mentioned that mixed drinks are now much more nuanced than they used to be, with less sugar and better ingredients like Belvedere vodka, not the neutral spirit that we normally think of, but with a more complex flavour that stands up to being mixed. We had such a fun night - I felt like I learned a lot, and it’s definitely made me want to try cocktails again, plus we inadvertently discovered the perfect Christmas cocktail!
Nothing beats chips and dips and a movie with your favourite people, so when the lovely McCoy’s asked me if I fancied coming up with a few delicious accompaniments to their lush new crispy Mexican tortilla snacks, Muchos, I knew exactly what everyone would love: Mexican movie night! These delicious puffy, crispy, folded half moons are packed with flavour and absolutely perfect for sharing (and dipping), so I laid on a big spread of the different flavour Muchos: Smoky Chilli Chicken, Cool Sour Cream and Onion and Nacho Cheese, and accompanied them with some of our favourite Mexican dips: a fresh, zingy salsa fresca, creamy guacamole and deliciously cheesy warm queso dip. So pile up the Muchos (happily for us, they come in big sharing bags), grab some beers or mix up those Margaritas (fizzy lemon with a sugar and lime zest frosting is perfect for the kids) and settle down for Mexican movie night. To accompany our chips and dips, we’ll be watching Pixar’s Coco, of course, and the completely hilarious Jack Black in Nacho Libre.
I know lots of people are really sceptical about Valentine’s Day, calling it a ‘Hallmark holiday’, but I don’t see that there’s anything wrong in reminding your other half that you care. When I was a kid, my Dad marked every Valentine’s Day by sending me a card with ‘gess who?’ written in it - I think it only stopped when I actually got married. It used to make my day to know that someone cared enough to send a card, even if it was just my dear old Dad. If you’re treating your loved one to a special meal, I thought I’d do a quick roundup post of recipes that are perfect for a Valentine’s Day, so whether you’re going all out with posh food and bubbles, or you just want something simple and delicious so your other half doesn’t have to cook for once, I hope I’ve found something for everyone.
Oh. My. Days. Did you love cherryade when you were a kid? I have the most wonderful memories of sitting outside the cricket club on balmy summer evenings with a bottle of Corona and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. I adored it, even if it stained your lips pink, and if we were super lucky in the school holidays, we got to pop a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it and make delicious ice cream floats. I think I’ve probably been fantasising about cherryade since about 1980-something, so imagine how flipping chuffed I was when these little beauties arrived in the most lovely packaging from craft soda firm Dalston’s. And it tastes like the best cherryade in the world.
How’s your January going? We’re just hoovering up the last of the Christmas goodies, but we’re also eating much more healthily (lots of healthy food inspo to come) and I’m back running again, so I feel I can forgive the odd Cadbury’s Hero (or three!). I mentioned in my plans for 2018 post that I’m really going to start concentrating on my health and wellbeing this year: looking after my body and my mind, and a big part of this for me is cutting down on my drinking, staying within the recommended guidelines and getting lots of alcohol free days. We’ve spend an enjoyable few days researching some healthier substitutes our usual drinks, and while lots are just hideously sweet and horrid, there are a few really good non-alcoholic alternatives:
So that’s it, Alcohol Awareness week is over, and I promised to tell you about how I got on with my challenge to stick to the recommended weekly guidelines: that’s 14 units a week, spread across the week, evenly over three or more days with a couple of alcohol free days. I continued to keep a track of my units with the help of the Drinkaware app, and alongside it, kept a diary of what I had to drink and the circumstances in which I was drinking. Here are a few things I learned:
Let’s be honest, one of the best bits of being on holiday is getting to try ALL the local cocktails, am I right? When the lovely bunch at Travel Republic asked me to contribute to their cocktail-themed travel guide - packed with information about destinations and their signature cocktails - I was happy to oblige and I knew exactly which city (and cocktail) to champion. Mr E and I absolutely love Paris, and to us, the French 75 (or soixante quinze) is synonymous with our favourite destination: chic, stylish, and just a little bit outré. It’s Paris to a T. Here’s how we make our perfect French 75 cocktail at home.
Where’s your head at? I feel like mine’s usually like the scene in the Wizard of Oz (it’s a twister!’) where Dorothy bangs her head and then everything starts lifting off the ground and whooshing past the window. If, like me, you feel your thoughts and tasks and mental to do lists all start to become too much, I’d like to recommend a little ritual. Something that I find comforting and grounding, especially when I’m really busy. I’ve started to replace my morning cuppa with a coconut chai tea. I take my time, stirring the ingredients together and really trying to clear my head, then take it back to bed and sip it slowly.
I’m just not really a breakfast person. I’ve tried hard to change this, but the most I generally eat before about 11am are copious cups of tea and maybe a biscuit or a banana. So when Breville came along with their Blend Active Diary Challenge, bandying about phrases like ‘a smoothie a day’, and phrases like ‘lesser used vegetables’ and ‘superfoods’, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t enjoy my challenge week. Still, I’m always up for a bit of experimentation, and let’s face it, an entire healthy meal in a glass sounds like a lazy person’s dream come true. Here’s how I got on:
At this time of year, there’s an awful lot of hot chocolate being consumed here at Number One. Of course everybody knows that the best hot chocolate comes with a big dollop of whipped cream and loads of marshmallows. Not as many people know that the absolute best hot chocolate comes with a big dollop of frozen whipped cream and loads of marshmallows. ‘Wait, can you freeze cream?’ I hear you shout. Oh yes. Whipped double cream freezes really well, and if you freeze it in handy dollops, it’s ready to be added to the perfect hot chocolate at any time, as well as topping hot mince pies, desserts… loads of things. Here’s how to do it.
So we’ve dressed up as witches cats (was that just me?), trick or treated, eaten all the leftover sweets and now it’s full speed ahead to Christmas. But wait, there are all those cute little pumpkins and squashes we bought to decorate our home (and, if you’re me, adorn your Instagram feed)! And it’s such a shame as most of them will get thrown away. Before they go in the bin, though, consider the beautiful, autumnal thing that is pumpkin butter. Even better, consider using it to make the very delicious, frothy and warming pumpkin spice skinny latte with new Arla BOB milk.
I adore my Dad. I love it when he emails me ALL IN CAPITALS and rings me and updates me on what he’s been up to, which seems to be mostly falling over, or sleeping:
‘I’ve just had a nap’
‘Dad, it’s 9am’
‘I know, but I got up at 5 and I get tired’
And I love his outlook on life:
‘I’ve been saving £200 a month. And then I said to myself ‘Alan, you’re 80 years old, what on earth can you possibly be saving for?’
Today, he rang to complain about the raspberry thieves. It seems the birds are eating all his raspberries. He’s hung CDs above them, to frighten them off (I should imagine Elaine Paige’s Christmas album would be enough to deter most of them), added netting and fake birds of prey, but still they come. Now, thwarted by all the aerial fortifications, they’ve taken to just tootling up the path and eating the low ones.
‘Smile, Dad!’ ‘I am smiling. Bloody cheek’.
‘It’s a hawk’. ‘Does it work?’ ‘No.’
Anyway, he’s got far too many raspberries, and even though he doesn’t want to share them with the birds (‘I don’t grow raspberries to feed the local bloody bird population’), he’s quite happy to share them with us, so Sam I and I popped round to help him pick some.
His garden is absolutely beautiful, and while we were having a chat and playing with Alfie (well, Sam was having a chat and playing with Alfie and I was actually doing all the work picking raspberries), I started thinking about raspberry cocktails. With mint, and maybe other summery, garden-based things like roses. It just so happens that we got sent some elderflower and rose cordial recently so I decided to experiment.
To make it extra special, I froze some rose petals and raspberries in ice cubes to decorate.
Summer rose and raspberry cocktails:
5 or 6 raspberries per person
2 or 3 fresh mint leaves per glass
1 measure gin
A dash of elderflower and rose cordial (just elderflower is fine if you can’t find it - mine is by Belvoir)
Sparkling water or soda
So just muddle the raspberries and mint leaves in the glass, then add the gin, elderflower and rose cordial, and then top up with sparkling water.
Delicious! It’s his birthday next week so the boys and I are going to take him for a pub lunch. More shenanigans will ensue, no doubt. Cheers Dad 🙂
If you’re a ‘last minute Larry’ like me, there are still plenty of wonderful things to buy, and often, if you hang around for a bit before ordering, you’ll find there are quite a few deals to be had. First things first, though, you need a mince pie and a glass of fizz….
There are now just nine weeks until Christmas (sorry). I wouldn’t normally be bandying the C word about so early, but in this instance, it’s necessary - if you want to make sloe gin, you need to do it now. Sloes (sometimes called Blackthorn berries) are perfect right now, although there’s a school of thought that says they’re better after the first frost and I couldn’t honestly tell you if there’s been a frost yet. I’d say not as it’s been a really mild start to October. No matter, pick them and shove them in the freezer overnight. It does the same thing.
It’s been an absolute bumper cherry harvest this year. We’ve scoffed cherries all summer and they’re still in our local farm shop even now, as fat and juicy and gorgeous as ever. As they’re coming to an end now, look out for bargains and ‘two punnets for the price of one’ deals, as cherries freeze really well. If you’ve got a glut right now, may I suggest the cherry mojito? They’re pretty scrumptious!
