The HelloFresh Easter box + how to make an Easter terrarium

A couple of weeks ago I did a REALLY LOVELY THING. I went to the HelloFresh headquarters in London, made a terrarium of my very own and then drank champagne and ate the best dauphinoise potatoes I have ever tasted. (Seriously, they were so good. If you’re a fan then you definitely need to read on to find out more about the HelloFresh Easter box.)

Basically I got invited to spend a couple of hours doing my FAVOURITE THINGS.

It was awesome.

We started the fun with a tour of the HelloFresh offices from Patrick, Head Chef at HelloFresh. Their space, as you can imagine, is pretty cool. Imagine that Google did food, and had meetings in an indoor potting shed, just next to a massive library of vintage recipe books. It’s like that.

HelloFresh Head Chef

HelloFresh Head Chef

HelloFresh Easter

 

How to make an Easter terrarium

I’ve been wanting to make a terrarium for AGES, but I’ve never been quite sure about how to do it. What sort of container do you need? What do you put in it? What about drainage?

Turns out I was totally overthinking it.

All you actually need to do is get a glass bowl and chuck in some soil and plants! Who knew? If you’re using succulents you don’t need to worry about drainage, or even watering them other than the odd spritz, as they create their own mini environment within the bowl. Add a few Easter themed decorations (i.e. eggs) and tada!

Easter terrarium

Easter terrarium

Easter terrarium

We were shown the ropes by the wonderful Princess & Ko, who were excellent tutors, even if Princess was a little strict when it came to keeping your bowl clean. He was totally right though, super clean glass made all the difference at the end.

Because we were creating an Easter terrarium, to go with our HelloFresh Easter box lunch, we also added a few spring bulbs. These would need a little bit of watering, maybe once a week or so, and once they go over you can just cut them back and, if you look after your terrarium, they will come back again in time for next Easter.

Easter terrarium

HelloFresh Easter

Easter terrarium

Easter terrarium

HelloFresh Easter

I really love doing stuff with plants and found the terrarium making very relaxing. It was much easier to do than I had imagined, and I’d definitely recommend giving it a try yourself. A terrarium would make a lovely centrepiece for an Easter meal.

Which leads me neatly on…

HelloFresh Easter box lunch

It’s fairly well established that I’m a sucker for a free lunch, and it was the thought of trying out the extra special HelloFresh Easter box menu which tempted me up to London in the first place. I love the concept of HelloFresh – someone else doing all the thinking and planning basically – and I was interested to see what they had come up with for their Easter menu.

Princess & Ko had also styled the table for us on an Easter theme, complete with Lindt bunnies of course, and so we sat down to wait excitedly for our lunch while the chefs got busy.

HelloFresh Easter

HelloFresh Easter

HelloFresh Easter

The HelloFresh Easter box menu did not disappoint.

Let me talk you through it to whet your appetite. First up, herby Chermoula prawns. These were amazing – plump and juicy and full of flavour. I worry sometimes that if I have a starter I will end up too full to enjoy the main course, but this was perfect.

(I just looked up Chermoula by the way, to be helpful. I mean I know what it is obviously, but just in case you didn’t. It’s a marinade apparently, commonly made with things like garlic, cumin, and coriander.)

HelloFresh Easter box

Next up was my favourite course – a succulent aromatic shawarma spiced leg of lamb, served with dauphinoise potatoes, roasted vegetables, broccoli and a delicious gravy. I am not exaggerating when I say that these were the best dauphinoise potatoes I have ever tasted.

Dauphinoise potatoes are one of Belle’s favourite things, so the day after this dinner I made some of my own. They were not anywhere near these, so I’m looking forward to getting the Easter box so that I can recreate the magic for Belle.

HelloFresh Easter box

HelloFresh Easter box

And then, just when you thought you had died and gone to food heaven, and were going to enjoy an eternal afterlife swimming in a sea of warm, creamy potatoes… out came the crumble.

Crumble is one of those things that is so simple in its basic form, yet it’s one of the most comforting, delicious puddings ever. This was a rhubarb and apple crumble and it was immense. It was like I’d got out of the potato sea to look for a towel and found that the sand on the beach was actually crumble topping, dotted with rhubarb rock pools.

*happy sigh*

HelloFresh Easter box

The great thing about HelloFresh is that you get everything you need within the box, in just the right quantities, so you don’t have to worry about buying any kind of exotic spice for a fiver, knowing you’re only going to ever use a pinch of it. If you’re a cheapskate like me, you may normally end up leaving out a couple of the most unusual ingredients in any recipe, and that’s not ideal for flavour.

The HelloFresh Easter box isn’t cheap, but it’s a special occasion and the quality is spot on. Plus, imagine you took a family of six out for a three course meal of the same standard – it would cost you twice as much at least I’m sure. In the HelloFresh Easter box you also get some extra treats – drinks, snack and even table games! Find out more about the HelloFresh Easter box, and how to order yours, on their website here.

Use the code JOMID to get £25 off your first order! Happy Easter from HelloFresh!

Easter terrarium

I was a guest of HelloFresh for the purposes of this post and will be receiving some treats from them but my feelings about the dauphinoise potatoes are totally genuine.

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