Eating out is one of my very favourite things to do. As a family, food forms the basis of most of our outings.

‘What do you fancy doing today?’ one of us will ask another.

‘How about we go over to Wells?’ the other will suggest.

‘Shall we meet at midday? Just in time for lunch?’

And then we’ll meet and have lunch and look in a token shop or glance at Wells Cathedral so it feels like we actually HAVE had an outing, and then we go home again.

I think you get the idea.

I’m always pleased then when I get asked to try out a new restaurant, and I was SUPER pleased to get to visit Symonds at Redwood as the menu looked LUSH.

Symonds is set within Audley Redwood village, a luxury retirement village just outside Clifton in Bristol. The minute we got there I wanted to retire – the setting is beautiful and the apartments look lovely. There’s a fitness centre with loads of classes, a swimming pool, hair salon, and even a library. A library!

There’s also a bar and Symonds restaurant. It’s basically everything I need. I could picture myself at the bar mid-afternoon with a gin and tonic, hair done, library book in hand. Bliss.

Unfortunately you have to be at least 55 years old to actually live in one of the apartments, which is not that far away really, so it was basically a retirement research trip.

You do NOT have to be 55 though to visit Symonds. The bar and restaurant opened to residents at the end of last year and then to the general public in January. It’s beautifully decorated and opens out onto the gardens where you can sit in warmer weather. As well as evening meals Symonds do lunches and afternoon teas, which I’m sure would be lovely in the summer on the terrace.

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If you like the look of this homemade party rings recipe, why not check out my homemade Jaffa cake recipe or homemade Tunnock’s tea cakes too!

Nothing says party like a party ring does it?

When I said out loud in my office today that I thought I might go home and experiment with a homemade party rings recipe, the response was overwhelming. Much discussion ensued about the key foods that make up a good party – egg sandwiches, pink wafers etc – but the consensus was that if you turn up to a party with a packet of party rings then you win. You get the girl.

Can you EVEN IMAGINE then how popular you would be if you turned up to a party with HOMEMADE party rings?

Having already experimented with homemade Jaffa Cakes, homemade Jammie Dodgers, and a rather dubious batch of homemade Chocolate Hobnobs, which didn’t make the blog as I didn’t want to be sued for the cost of your resulting dental work, I thought I would have a go at making my own homemade party ring recipe.

Follow my simple party rings recipe and you too can wow your party guests as you present them with a beautiful plate of Instagram ready treats. View Post

If you enjoy this homemade jammie dodger recipe check out my homemade party rings or homemade bourbon biscuits too!

While I was stuck inside last week hiding from the snow I developed a new hobby – making biscuits that look a bit like biscuits you might see in the shops.

It’s fun.

Basically you think up a biscuit you like, and then you try to make your own. I started with the Jaffa cakes, which were super fun and very tasty, especially on the second day when the jelly had soaked into the sponge a little bit and made it lovely and moist.

Next up I had a go at a homemade Jammie Dodger recipe.

Check out those bad boys!

Now although I do like a Jammie Dodger in real life, I do find they can sometimes be a bit MUCH. Do you know what I mean? They’re pretty thick and full on. (Like some boyfriends I’ve had.) For my homemade Jammie Dodger recipe then I wanted to make something a little bit more delicate, so I used a simple shortbread style recipe for the biscuits and made them thinner than regular Jammie Dodgers. View Post

In association with McDonald’s

Ever since I went to McDonald’s in Exeter recently to make a Big Mac live on Twitter, (as you do), I’ve been trying to remember the first time I ever ate a McDonald’s.

I know that we didn’t have a McDonald’s in our town when I was young, but I couldn’t remember when it did open. I asked my sister Annabel, who is four years younger than me but has a much better memory. She reckons it was the early 1990s, which would have meant I was probably at least 14 or 15.

‘I remember being very excited it was opening!’ she told me. ‘I also remember the smell of the chips being so irresistible that Grandad (Eric) had taken me to the drive-thru after school once for some reason and actually asked if he could have a chip WITHOUT CUTLERY AND WHILST DRIVING.’

Our family WhatsApp group did NOT know what to do with this information. My Grandad (Eric) was not the sort of man to do anything whilst driving, let alone eat a chip.

‘MY LIFE IS A LIE,’ wrote Bee, unable to process the information.

Needless to say that I can’t remember a time when a cheeky Big Mac has not been a part of my life.

McDonald’s has changed a lot however since I used to take Bee in as a toddler. View Post

Post in association with Princes

Take a minute if you will to think about a can of mackerel.

(Stay with me.)

What are you imagining? The classic old mackerel on toast at your Granny’s on a Sunday afternoon? Well, THINK AGAIN. It’s time to look at mackerel in a whole new light.

(Yes, this is my actual job.)

If you don’t have a stash of canned mackerel in your cupboard then you’re missing a massive trick. You know how you always have tins of beans and chopped tomatoes? Well mackerel should be like that – a store cupboard essential that you can grab for a quick and tasty lunch whenever you’re in a rush. View Post

Post in association with Breville

I seem to have become a bit obsessed lately with roasted cauliflower. Often when I’m pottering about in the mornings at the weekend, doing fun stuff like emptying the bins, I’ll chop up a cauliflower, pop it in the oven and then casually nibble a floret or two every time I go past.

GET ME.

(NB: an entire cauliflower is a bit much to eat all at once and can give you tummy ache.)

I just LOVE cauliflower so much though. If you ever want to impress me through the medium of roast dinner, then include a side of cauliflower cheese. That’s literally all you need to do.

When Breville got in touch recently then to ask if I fancied using the Breville Blend Active Accessory Pack to make my own hummus, I was like ‘Cauliflower? What?’ I had my roasting tray out before you could say ‘creamy cheese sauce’.

I’ve written before about the Breville Blend Active, when I came up with four unusual smoothie recipes, and the accessories pack works in combination with this to give you a whole load of extra features, including:

• a compact food processor
• a grinding mill
• a whipping disc (ooer)
• and a citrus juicer

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Here’s a scenario that may sound all too familiar…

It’s 7.45am. You’re behind schedule already, still have cats to feed and a child to ‘encourage’ to school, and you’re making yourself a piece of toast. It’s a good piece of toast too – thickly sliced and real butter.

And then the worst happens.

You drop the toast on the floor. Fortunately it lands butter side up, so you quickly swoop down and pick it up. Five second rule right?

I KNOW this is going to sound familiar because I did a poll on Twitter and rather worryingly, a shocking 46% of people believed that the five second rule was a legitimate thing. Like there is some kind of unspoken law amongst floor bacteria that if you see food fall on the floor you have to count to five in your head before you’re allowed to clamber aboard.

(Note to self: do bacteria have a concept of time? Probably not.)

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this does NOT HAPPEN. I don’t need to have done an online food safety and hygiene course to know that for sure. It doesn’t even help if you blow on the toast, or sort of brush at it with the back of your hand. The research is pretty conclusive on this one. I’m not saying I don’t DO it, but it’s not SCIENCE.

The ‘five second’ rule when it comes to dropping food is true.

— Slummy Single Mummy (@mummyblogger) January 9, 2018

I did the poll on the back of research from FoodSaver Fresh, which identified some of the top food myths around storing and eating food. I thought it might be fun to compare the FoodSaver Fresh research results with the results of my own polls – surely the kind of people who follow my witty, intelligent thoughts on Twitter are the kind of people who are going to be clued up when it comes to food hygiene right?

WRONG.

In the FoodSaver findings, only 25% of respondents believed in the five second rule. We were not off to a good start. View Post

Post in association with Tenderstem® broccoli

I don’t know how normal it is to have a specific memory associated with Tenderstem® broccoli, but it always makes me think of my Gran. After she had a stroke in her late 70s and couldn’t drive any more we’d take her food shopping every Saturday morning. Tenderstem® broccoli was something that I remember always being in the trolley, along with moussaka ready meals and rich tea fingers.

I mean sure, my memory is poor, and sometimes I forget entire conversations that happened only a week ago, but I’m going with the whole broccoli thing because it leads me so nicely into this post. Also I checked with my mum on our family WhatsApp group, (which I’m sure you can imagine is a veritable PARTY IN A PHONE), and she said ‘I can’t say I remember particularly, but I like it!’ and that’s good enough for me.

‘Broccoli is brilliant as part of Slimming World,’ she added, ‘as it’s a speed food and full of good things! I’ve eaten a lot of it over the last 18 months!’

‘Well,’ I said, smoothly, ‘you want to get to Iceland then, as they have just become the exclusive stockist of frozen Tenderstem® broccoli!’

‘I will make it my mission!’ replied my mum.

Oh the fun we have.

(My new found love of Iceland has become a bit of a family joke of late. Sometimes I say ‘hashtag ad’ when I talk about it. I seriously think my family might disown me if I bang on about the Sicilian Lemon Tartlets once more, but they weren’t complaining when I bought our entire New Year’s Day buffet lunch from Iceland were they?)

Anyway.

I was challenged to come up with a recipe using frozen Tenderstem® broccoli, and I decided on linguine with a homemade pea and mint pesto, (because I love peas), topped with Tenderstem® broccoli and a poached egg. The poached egg is where the challenge element comes in, as I am RUBBISH at poached eggs. You don’t get good at something without practice though right?

*makes nervous face* View Post

I had a BAD morning yesterday.

We’ve been away quite a lot over Christmas and New Year and as a result my fridge has been a little neglected. I had a bit of clear out on Sunday and had to throw away the following items:

• Half a bunch of celery (bendy)
• A box of mushrooms (mushy, forming a puddle in the drawer)
• Half a punnet of grapes (shrivelled like my face in the mornings)
• One kiwi fruit (Yuk)
• A bunch of coriander (sad times)

It made me feel bad.

My fridge

In my defence, I did balance it out a bit by using half the celery and a lot of slightly iffy tomatoes to make accidental* homemade alphabet spaghetti, (recipe below), but it still made me feel terrible.

Top food waste culprits

Do you remember me writing recently about the FoodSaver Fresh system? The FoodSaver Fresh is a vacuum sealing solution that keeps food fresh for twice as long as conventional fridge methods like zip seal bags, foil and cling film. View Post