After a weekend at Center Parcs and a feed the big cats experience, the last part of my husband's 40th Birthday present was lunch at The Hinds Head in Bray. We have visited a couple of times before (including a Sunday when the boys were young) and have never been disappointed. The Hinds Head is owned by Heston Blumenthal and offers really good food, but not as theatrical as that at The Fat Duck.

Well I don't know about you, but I wasn't banking on building a snowman this weekend. It was a poor effort, but little man was happy.



This week see'e the boys doing their karate grading so they will have an extra lesson on Monday nights so an easy meal is needed there. To be honest, easy meals all week are on the plan. I seem to be exhausted at the moment and the last thing I want to do after a day at work is spend hours cooking so, simplicity is the key this week.

Monday: Homemade quiche with wrap base

Tuesday: Courgette and feta frittas. This is a Nigella recipe that I haven't made for ages but tastes great.

Wednesday: Parsnip soup



Thursday: Sausage pasta

Friday: Lamb curry

Saturday: Some kind of salmon. I got a side of it this week and half is in the freezer.

Sunday: Roast chicken.

With Paddington 2 available on DVD from today, I have been challenged to make a marmalade sandwich that would live up to Paddington's high expectations.



If you didn't manage to catch Paddington 2 at the cinema, then I would really recommend the DVD. It is not often that you can say a sequel is even better than the original, but in this case it is. I am not ashamed to admit that I had tears in my eyes at the most beautiful ending.

The film sees Paddington saving to buy a special book for his Aunt Lucy's  100th Birthday. However, the book is stolen and Paddington ends up in prison. It is down to Paddington and The Brown's to unmask the thief. There is a cast full of stars and it is refreshing to see Hugh Grant take on a different kind of role.

So what better way to celebrate the release of Paddington 2 on DVD than by enjoying it with a marmalade sandwich. I asked the boys opinion on how we should do this and it was agreed that we one make one like the star of the film himself, Paddington.

I was keen to use margarine on the bread, however, my eldest said that Paddington would not do this so we left it out. We used a bear shape cutter and then added detail using a slice of banana and some raisins. The perfect snack for when you are watching the film!

Paddington 2 is out now for you to buy on DVD, Bluray and digital download.

Have you seen the film? What did you think?







Disclosure: We received a Paddington 2 Goody bag with the DVD in exchange for this post.

I have been celebrating Mother's Day early with a delicious meal at ASK Italian this evening. They invited us to review their Monther's Day menu which is available this weekend. At only £19.95 for a three course meal and a glass of Prosecco, this is a treat that your Mother will love and it wont break the bank.

My boys love pizza and pasta so were more than happy when I said we would be eating at ASK Italian. On arrival we were treated to a little taster of their cloudy lemonade. Middle man liked it so much that he ordered this as his drink.


For starter, I opted for the butterfly prawns with garlic and rosemary. It was a simple and delicious dish. For main course I ordered Penne Al Pollo Della Cassa. I love mushrooms, but as I am the only one in the family that does, I don't often eat them at home. The pasta sauce was seasoned with black pepper which complimented the mushrooms really well.


For dessert, I opted for a new spring addition that was on the menu, lemon tart with blood orange drizzle. I love a good lemon tart and this was the perfect end to the meal. Sharp yet sweet. A real treat.


As it was a Mother's Day treat, though, it was made by being with these lovlies. The children's meals went down rather well with Middle man claiming his pizza as one of the best ever. With such a claim, and for review purposes *cough cough*, I had to have a taste. He was right - it was full of flavour on a crisp base and was one of the best I have eaten in a long time.


So, if you are stuck for somewhere to take your Mum for Mother's Day this weekend, then I can recommend ASK Italian. It is so nice to have a night off cooking with the ones that you love.

What have you got planned for Mother's Day?

After the success of my slow cooker fudge at Christmas, I decided I would try and make an Easter version. As my preferred Easter treat is a MaltEaster bunny, I decided to opt for a white chocolate fudge this time.


As much as I would like to eat a massive block of fudge with a whole bunny on, I decided that my calorie intake would be huge so I opted to cut the rabbits in half so that you would get either a bunny butt or head on. I also smashed up some Cadbury's mini eggs mainly to add some colour. I felt that having whole eggs would be a bit too hard so crushed them.

White Chocolate Slow Cooker Fudge

• 200g condensed milk
• 375g of white cooking chocolate
• 25g butter
• a few grinds of vanilla or drops of vanilla essence

To decorate:

• 1-2 packets of MaltEaster Bunnies Minis cut in half
• Cadbury's mini eggs, smashed up

Personally, I like the slow cooker method for making fudge as it means I can do other things whilst cooking. Nothing exciting - just washing up and cleaning. However, when I was writing up I saw that the lovely Grace at Eats Amazing has a similar Easter fudge recipe, but uses a microwave instead. Worth a try if you fancy fudge but are short on time.

Well last week went slightly off plan with some unexpected snow days and the boys off school. My husband went to Tesco and bought some emergency pasta!



This week, Daddy is off celebrating his 40th with his university friends so the boys are excited to be having a Dominoes on Saturday. I am happy as it means I don't have to cook! But what about the rest of the week?

Monday: Cheese and onion pork chops
Tuesday: Carrot and butternut squash soup
Wednesday: Salmon and lentils which we didn't have last week (I have some Jamie Oliver microwave lentils)
Thursday: Ham egg and chips
Friday: Chicken and ham pie
Saturday: Dominoes pizza
Sunday: Roast beef (as it is Mother's day, the boys can help Daddy cook it and I can have a glass of red wine!)

What is on your meal plan this week?