A Strong Coffee: November 2014

Sunday, 30 November 2014

The Book Of Everyone Review

Stuck for a Christmas Present for the person who has everything? Well this might be what you are looking for. The book of everyone is a personalised book that celebrates that one of a kind person. As my Dad is due to celebrate a special birthday at the end of the month, I decided to dedicate my book to him.

The website is really easy to use and takes you through step by step, telling you where you can add personalised details and photographs.

The only problem I had was right at the beginning, when putting my name on the spine. For some reason it wouldn't allow me to write L.Fairweather so I opted for my somewhat shorter maiden name.
The book takes a trip back in time, with the must have toy of the year, number one single and grocery costs.

You are able to personalise the book with hobbies and sayings and the chinese new year and zodiac signs are included.

I think that this would make a lovely gift for someone who has everything this Christmas or for a special birthday. There is a book for everyone's budget. This was the hardcover edition which costs£29.50. Even better is that The Book of Everyone has collaborated with Age UK so that every book you buy this Christmas it donates towards the gifting of a book for an elderly person who may nor recieve a gift at all. After all amazing people deserve an amazing gift.

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Gone Crabbing and Cockling

I wrote this post back in August. Unfortunately I then went and lost my memory card adapter so didn't have the photos. Anyway better late then never, here is what we got up to in France in the summer.

Last week we had a relaxed week in Vendee where we spent most of our days by the pool or at the beach. The beaches are lovely and sandy and at first glance there's not that much to see.

But sometimes you have to open your eyes.

I saw a man digging with a bucket, and I was transported back 25 years when my Dad took us cockling in the exact same place. We watched the man, smiled as he showed us what to do (he was speaking French so smiling was our means of communication as I am only able to ask how to get to the port) and then had a go ourselves. The cockles were found a couple on inches down.

Unfortunately we didn't eat them, as firstly I'm not keen on seafood and secondly I didn't want to food poison any of us. Instead we decided to re home them! We then had a look around the rocks, covered in mussels, limpets and anemones. Big man and I were in our element.

Next we went for a paddle. At first I thought I had lost the plot when I saw a shell walk. Then I realised it was a hermit crab. I then realised there were 100's. How had I not noticed them!?! We collected them in a bucket to have a closer look before once again letting them go.

Just an empty beach with sand becomes so much more when you open your eyes and explore.

Friday, 28 November 2014

Win 1 of 5 Spirograph Studio Sets

I fondly remember my Spirograph set when I was little. I loved making patterns with it. Well the iconic Spirograph is back. Kids of all ages can draw cool geometric creations in bright colours, The new Spirograph now comes with 3D technology so kids can watch their drawings jump out of the page in an amazing display. Sets are availiable from £4.99 TO £24.99 so their is something to suit every budget.

We are offering winners five winners the chance to win a Spirograph Optical 3D Studio Set, worth £24.99rrp

With it's geometric and swirling patterns, Spirograph has helped kids big and small to create beautiful art, stunning designs and wonderful memories for generations.

Spirograph continues this tradition in 21st century style with all new sets. The Spirograph Optical 3D Studio Set also comes with cool 3D glasses that enable you to watch the different colours in your design pop out from the page in cool 3D.

Includes:

· 12 Drawing Wheels and 4 Templates.

· 3D Effect Dual Colour Pen, 2 Florescent Markers, 3 Colour Pens and a Rainbow Pencil..

· Optical 3D Glasses - includes 3 LR44 Batteries

· Spirograph Design Book.

· 10 Drawing Papers and 1 Spirograph Sticker.

· Sealable Storage Bag.

· For ages 5 years and over

You can purchase the set from Amazon here.

For your chance to win just complete the rafflecopter below. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and conditions Open to UK residents over the age of 18 only Entries will be moderated, so please make sure that you comment if necessary. There is 5 prizes of the Spirograph Studio set. No cash alternative. No bulk or automated entries. If you have already won the prize on a separate blog giveaway with the same promoter they reserve the right to redraw a new winner. The winners will be chosen randomly. The winners will be notified by email (make sure you leave your contact details) and will have until 15th Jan to respond with their address. If they fail to respond a new winner will be drawn. No PO Box address Competition closes on 15th Dec at 12.00am . There is no guarantee that the prize will reach the winner by Christmas.

To view all my Christmas Giveaways click here.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/1-5-spirograph-studio-sets#sthash.dyvrDd6t.dpuf

In The Night Garden Book Giveaway

In The Night Garden Snowy Day Book Cover

All of my boys have enjoyed the In The Night Garden Series and we have a collection of their books that little man still enjoys. With winter coming you can now get the In the Night Garden: Snowy Day to share with your little ones.

Experience In The Night Garden in a whole new winter wonderful way! Read this enchanting story and discover whose been leaving funny footprints in the fluffy snow. Snowy Day is available from Amazon and has an RRP of £4.99

If you have an In The Night Garden fan then I am pleased to say that I have 2 copies of the book to giveaway to 2 of my lucky readers. Just complete the Rafflecopter below. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To view all my Christmas Giveaways click here.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/2-x-itng-snowy-day-book#sthash.OCX9piRD.dpuf

The Hive Giant Floor Puzzle Giveaway

Little man enjoys watching The Hive on Disney Junior. I must say that I quite enjoy watching the adventures of Buzzbee and his friends too. I have a lovely The Hive Giant Floor Puzzle from Ravensburger to giveaway to one of my readers. It features the lovable characters Buzzbee, Rubee, Barnabee, Jasper, Miss Ladybird, Debee and Sidney Spider, Snail and Worm. It is cut into 24 large sturdy pieces that small hands will be able to handle and measures 69 x 49cm when complete. It has a suggested retail price of £8.99 and can be purchased from Amazon. You have the chance to win one by completing the Rafflecopter below. UK entrants only. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To view all my Christmas Giveaways click here.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/hive-giant-floor-puzzle-0#sthash.CzZlTVdd.dpuf

Planes 2 Fire and Rescue DVD Giveaway

This heart-pumping, laugh-filled follow-up to last year’s smash hit “PLANES,” shows the journey of world famous racer Dusty Crophopper as he joins an elite fire and rescue unit and learns what it takes to become a true hero. Featuring non-stop action, memorable characters and exclusive bonus content, “PLANES 2: FIRE & RESCUE” is this winters must-own animated family film.

PLANES 2: FIRE AND RESCUE is released on Monday 1st December 2014 on DVD and Blu ray.

I am pleased to be able to offer one of my reader the chance to win a copy of the DVD. Just complete the Rafflecopter below. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To view all my Christmas Giveaways click here.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/planes-2-dvd#sthash.4m3WAX01.dpuf

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Sage By Heston Blumenthal "The Boss" Blender Review

When Sage Appliances contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing a review for them for the, Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Boss Super Blender, 2 Litre, 2200 Watt I was excited for three reasons:

1. I am a huge Heston Blumenthal fan. I like his scientific approach to cooking and was therefore interested to see how good a blender would be that he was happy to put his name on.
2. I blew up my blender recently whilst trying to crush ice.
3. I already own the Heston Blumenthal precision scales and think they are fantastic.

On opening the box, there is the blender itself, some plastic tools and a recipe book. This is a great help giving you ideas of what to make whilst you are getting used to your new blender.

The knob on the right can be adjusted to whatever speed setting you require from stir to mill.

There are pre set programmes on the machine which are designed to make life simple for you. You don't need to think what to do, just put in your smoothie ingredients, press the smoothie button and a minute later you have the smoothiest smoothie you have ever tasted. It is that simple.

There is also a soup button. Here is the blender which I filled with cold water, frozen peas, mint and an oxo cube.

I then pressed the soup button and walked away for 6 minutes (whilst briefly coming back to take this photo.)

Here is the soup. Warmed by friction.

Cleaning again is simple. Just add water and a drop of washing up liquid, press the auto clean button and it cleans itself.

I have made the boys smoothies after school, cocktails for me and frozen desserts. The recipe book is a great start to help you get confident with the blender. (Word of warning, it is also sold in Australia where lebanese cucumbers are common - here a normal cucumber works fine.) The wand/paddle is only needed when making frozen desserts. It does require a bit of (wo)manpower for a minute or so but the results are yet again amazing. The wand is inserted into the top of the machine and used to press down the ingredients whilst the forzen dessert programme is running. You can watch me make the most wonderful Mango, Lime and Coconut Gelato below which shows you how to use the frozen dessert setting.

The Boss does come with a large price tag, however, if you enjoy cooking and want to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables then it is most definitely worth paying extra for a quality machine. It also comes with a 7 year warranty. I think that The Boss is going to change the way we eat in our house. We no longer need to throw fruit away as it can be frozen and used in smoothies. It is easy to use with the pre set programmes, cleans up after itself (if only my children did) and I am totally in love with it.

I was given the blender for the purpose of this review, but all the opinions are my own. It really is that good!Affiliate links included.

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Christmas Food Ideas for Children

This weekend I had a fantastic time at a GUMIXmas event at L'atelier des Chefs. Mark from Funky Lunch helped show us some Christmas themed snackideas that kids will just love. I must admit that I have looked at these kind of lunches before thinking they were lovely but who would have the time? However, now I realise that once you have the hang of it, it doesn't take long at all

We started with a super easy snowman rice cake. spread cream cheese on a rice cake. Add raisin eyes and mouth and the. A piece of carrot for the nose. How easy is that? So easy, I'm planning on giving this a go with my boys.

Next up we had a go at some sandwiches. Here the key was to have a good sized round cookie cutter.

We cut two circles with bread and then you can fill the sandwiches with whatever you choose. By cutting a circle out of a slice of cheese I made the custard. I used. Knife to do the wavy part.

Cucumber made the holly leaves and then small tomato berries were made using a circular piping nozzle. Really simple but really effective.

We then went on to make a penguin. Here you cut a V out of a alice of carrot. The V becomes the penguins beak and the remaining part his feet!

Next up were some sweet polar bear treats. Here we dipped strawberries in melted white chocolate and then rolled them in coconut. A raisin nose coupled with chocolate drop eyes makes a yummy little polar bear.

Last of all were water melon trees. It was suprisingly hard to cut the trees to the right shape! I opted to make an easy star from two triangles of mango and some blueberries cut I half made bauables.

None of these treats took long to make and I am sure my boys will enjoy eating them. I was invited to the event by Growing Up Milk Info who have a website packed full with toddler development information which you can check out here. Which is your favourite snack that I made? Will you be trying any for your children this Christmas?

Monday, 24 November 2014

Little Man Turns 3

How on earth is my baby 3? It seems like yesterday that we welcomed this little chap to the world.

And now look at him!

You wouldn't be mad to think that I already had a 3 year old. I've already written about his party and trip to Cadbury World. However, this Tuesday was his actual birthday. Little man is usually first up in the house. Strangely though he took his Birthday as a lie in! We all woke him up with a rendition of Happy Birthday and he promptly his under his covers unimpressed. He got himself together then popped his head out and remarked "Me eat my Kwazi cake now?"

So at 8am there we were again singing happy Birthday and eating cake!

We continued his Birthday celebrations by going bouncing.

And then on to Alice Holt I search of the Gruffalo's Child.

My husband remarked how easy it was finding the letters hung in trees as we turned the corner and ended the hunt...."Not that easy we are missing 3 letters!"

I can't believe my little man is 3. So what can I tell you about him at the moment? Well it turns out that although the terrible twos have passed he has turned immediately into a threenager. He is extremely independent and wants to do everything himself. Everything that is until you want to go out and then he just wants to scream and shout and watch TV. He loves to play with his brothers, and is currently pretending to be a frog called Jelly when he is with middle man. Middle man seems to like this and walks his frog around the park. Little man is Octonauts mad and spends most of his days looking for particular characters in particular outfits. Apparently Kwazi in a green suit is VERY different to Kwazi in a purple suit! He gives lots of "Huggie Huggie!" and he like to "kiss you on the nose."

Love you lots little man. Happy Third Birthday!

Sunday, 23 November 2014

The Ideal Home Show at Christmas

This weekend I headed up to London Earls Court to the Ideal Home Show at Christmas. I had never been to an event like this before as was intrigued as to what would be on offer. In essence it is a massive selling event from water softeners to coffee machines to Christmas decorations. All with some fantastic on the day deals. Alongside this were shows to watch. Cooking demonstrations ran throughout the day and I learn't how to wrap a jam jar beautifully, so now need to go and buy some jam for Christmas!

There were rooms that had been beautifully styled and I just loved the book Christmas tree.

I had been invited to the show by Kinetico. I must admit that I had never thought of buying a water softener before but after having a quick chat to the Simply Soft Water Softeners stand I could certainly see the benefits.As well as not having to descale the shower, I would have softer fluffier towels and could save up to 12% on water heating bills and maintain boiler efficiency. We live in a hard water area and it is now something I would look into after having a new boiler installed.

I also spent a long time at the Sage Appliances stand. I am slightly in love with their products and now have lots of ideas of recipes for my new blender. I also have a coffee machine on my list to save up for!

There were lots of stands selling delicious food, and I am not sure how I managed to restrain myself at some of the stalls.

I was shocked by how many children were at the event as I would never have thought of taking my boys. Shopping isn't their thing! However, for an additional charge you could take them ice skating and Go Compare had a giant blow up snow globe that they were taking pictures in. There were also lots of photo opportunities. As I was by myself I had to stick to a Christmas selfie instead.

Have you been to the Ideal Home Show? If so what did you think?

I attended the event thanks to Kinetico water softeners.

Friday, 21 November 2014

Tea and Food Pairings and a Tetley Giveaway!

Tea and Curry? Well I would never have thought of that before. However, it appears that just like you can enhance your dining experience knowing which wine matches best, the same can be said for tea. Tetley have teamed up with culinary consultant chef, Lee Maycock, to devise some tantalising food matches for each tea blends.

The full flavour of black tea makes it ideal for pairing with very rich and flavourful foods. Tetley Original goes well with lamb and beef dishes. It’s also great with sumptuous chocolate dishes. Tetley Extra Strong has been specially blended to be a fuller flavour black tea, and goes brilliantly with rich pasta sauces, roast dinners, stews and curries. I must say it was unusal to drink tea with my curry, but it was also nice. My husband was impressed with the taste of the Extra Strong tea saying "it was a really nice cup of tea."

Green Tea is matched to delicate falvours. Seafood, chicken, fruit or salad. Green Tea Lemon is zesty and refreshing and an ideal accompaniment to a light lunch.

Redbush is naturally caffeine free and can be served with or without milk. If you have a sweet tooth why not try it with a drop of honey. It is recommended to be eaten with nutty dishes like my favourite Turkish dessert, Baklava.

Decaffinated teas are great for those wanting to cut down their caffeine intake. I drink these after midday as any more caffeine in my system would keep me awake all night. It is therefor recommended as an accompaniment to evening nibbles and dessert.f you are interested in the Art of Tea blending you can read about it here. Tetley have kindly offered one of my readers the chance to win the Tetley selection below.

Just complete the rafflecopter entry mechanism for your chance to win. Good Luck!a Rafflecopter giveaway

To view all my Christmas Giveaways click here.

I was given the selection of teas above for the purpose of this post.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com- See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/tetley-tea-selection#sthash.OaeGkihG.dpuf

Rudolph Cake Pops

Now I have got the hang of making cake pops, I just keep making them. The boys love them and I love making them. These little reindeer are made using my mint chocolate cake pop recipe. Instead of using dark chocolate to cover the cake pops I used a milk chocolate cake covering.

I prepared the eyes out of icing and also used Cadbury's choclate pretzels and red smarties. I also used brown smarties as noses but they didn't look good as the Rudolph noses.

Once I had dipped the pops into the milk chocolate I immediately stuck on the red nose and the antlers. I then added the eyes, sticking them on with edible glue. I might just have to make one for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Pages

Sunday, 30 November 2014

The Book Of Everyone Review

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Gone Crabbing and Cockling

Friday, 28 November 2014

Win 1 of 5 Spirograph Studio Sets

In The Night Garden Book Giveaway

The Hive Giant Floor Puzzle Giveaway

Planes 2 Fire and Rescue DVD Giveaway

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Sage By Heston Blumenthal "The Boss" Blender Review

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Christmas Food Ideas for Children

Monday, 24 November 2014

Little Man Turns 3

Sunday, 23 November 2014

The Ideal Home Show at Christmas

Friday, 21 November 2014

Tea and Food Pairings and a Tetley Giveaway!

Rudolph Cake Pops

My Taste

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