Perfect Picnic Partners Fit For The Queen !

There's something about a Union Jack-bedecked street party that brings out the best of British so hopefully, even if the rain lingers, The Patron's Lunch will be a lot of fun next weekend to celebrate Her Maj's 90th birthday in style. If you fancy going along to soak up the atmosphere on the big screens in the nearby parks, or just joining in the fun in front of your telly at home, here's a quick round-up of some picnic fayre that is fit for a queen !

You can't have a street party or a picnic without sandwiches and for a limited time, Stork have given their margarine tubs a royal makeover to celebrate the special event. Perfect for preparing cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off !

Not to be outdone, Birds Eye have also come up with special commemorative limited edition packaging for their fish fingers. Their Cod Save The Queen packs feature Union Jack bunting and Captain Birdseye wishing “Happy 90th Birthday Ma’am” ! Available from 6th June at Sainsbury’s Tesco, Asda and Morrisons with a RRP of £2.49

Heinz have also recently launched a brand new picnic-friendly product - Heinz (Seriously) Good Mayonnaise - which contains no added colours, flavours or artificial thickeners. It has a beautifully thick and creamy texture and consumers are being encouraged to ‘upgrade their mayonnaise’. In fact, Heinz are so confident that customers will love the taste of their new [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise that they are offering a money back guarantee to any customers who don’t. Consumers can choose from two varieties, Standard or Light, available in both the Heinz glass jar, with wider mouth and curved edges allowing you to extract more product, creating less waste, and the familiar top down squeezy bottle. Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise will be stocked at most major supermarkets with RRPs between £1.69 - £3.99.

Tyrell's, the premium English crisp company, has rolled out a Coronation Chicken flavoured summer seasonal in honour of Her Majesty’s magnificent milestone. Coronation Chicken is an iconic British flavour, based on the delicious pairing of roast chicken and mild curry, which was originally created especially for the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Tyrrells is bringing it back for a limited time only, using real chicken and curry flavours for a fruity, fresh and fragrant combination. The perfect addition to street party spreads and picnics, especially around the Queen’s 90th birthday, Coronation Chicken crisps will be available from April through to October. Hand-cooked in small batches, using locally-grown Herefordshire potatoes, Coronation Chicken is available from Waitrose and Ocado with an RRP of £2.00 for 150g sharing bag and £0.75 for 40g on the go pack.

Finally, Walkers have also released a new line, Bugles, which come in three flavours : Cheese, Southern Style BBQ and Sour Cream and Black Pepper. The crunchy cone shaped snacks are new to the UK but have been popular for years throughout Europe and North America so I already knew how scrummy they are. Walkers say that the fun cone shape makes them perfect for families getting a bit silly with them, making them in to claws, fangs, horns or using them as building blocks. I would say they're also ideal for a pretend royal salute bugle call to kick off the royal birthday celebrations ! Walkers Bugles will be on sale nationwide in all major supermarkets from May 2016. Available in 110g sharing bags with an RRP of £1.99, multipacks of six 20g bags at RRP £1.50 and single 30g bags at RRP £0.57.

If you want some recipes to try out for your picnics and street parties, how about Fruity Union Jack Cake, Carrot & Goat's Cheese Muffins, British Ploughman's Pies, Onion Tartlets with Reblochon Cheese or Hairy Bikers' Meat & Cabbage Buns ? 

Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.

I Love London Ravensburger Gift Collection review

I've just got back from a three-day school trip to London and it was lovely to take in all the sights, despite dragging round 57 grumpy fourteen-year-olds with us and despite the pouring rain ! We managed to fit in a lot (and I'll be sharing some of the snaps with you over the coming days) - a boat trip along the Thames, trips to the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the Museum of London, a shopping spree in Covent Garden (the kids' favourite part, obviously !) and finally a trip to Dicken's World in Chatham on the way home.

We managed to spot lots of the unmissable iconic things that London instantly brings to mind for tourists, such as the Queen's Guards and the Beefeaters, Tower Bridge and red double deckers.

There was even a pink one parked up on the South Bank, which the kids took more pictures of than the London Eye which was just a few yards away ! 

They did all take snaps of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament though, because that was apparently THE London snap that they all had to have !

What I always love about London is the way the old and the new stand side by side, such as The Shard and Southwark Cathedral rising up majestically next to each other.

It was interesting to see which iconic images Ravensburger had picked for the I Love London 170 piece puzzles that they recently sent us to review. The blue box is called London Bobby and features a policeman surrounded by Tower Bridge, The Shard, Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and The Natural History Museum, as well as the classic London black cab and the new Routemaster Bus. In the red box, the London Guardsman puzzle features a Grenadier Guard on duty at Buckingham Palace, alongside The London Eye, the Gherkin, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, a traditional red telephone box and a London tube train. All things that we managed to show to the pupils on our trip so I think we did a pretty good job !

The puzzles measure 15.3 x 36.2cm, have an RRP of £4.99 and as they're only 170 pieces, they're not too challenging, making them a great family activity for a rainy Sunday afternoon. I'll be taking them into school for the end of term so that the pupils can have fun putting them together and remembering the things we saw on our school trip. The scrapbook style of the designs means that they serve as a wonderful souvenir of our time in the capital.

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.

#KitchenClearout May roundup and June linky

I always love seeing what's been cluttering up your kitchen cupboards and what you made with it, but I thought we were exceptionally creative this month, using up everything from half a bag of pecans and a glut of cucumbers to black pudding ! Without further ado, here's this month's round-up of eco-friendly and economical offerings :

Hoi Sin Chicken. A delicious meal made with leftover cooked spaghetti and the end of a tin of hoi sin sauce, along with some chicken breasts and veggies - who'd have thought leftovers could be so tasty ?!

Another classic fridge-dive masterpiece from Jane over at Onions and Paper - Tomato & Egg Tart. I definitely have to try this becaise it looks delicious.

Claire over at Ninja Killer Cat created these Broccoli, Sweetcorn & Feta Cheese Fritters with the contents of her fridge. I love the bright colours and they certainly pack in the 5-a-day too.

Good Old Fashioned Country Chicken - broccoli went into this dish too but it made its way into #KitchenClearout because it used up a packet of stale crackers that had been lingering in the cupboard for far too long.

Moving on to the sweet treats, I have a cupboard full of Ready Brek that nobody is eating so these Cinnamon Raisin Ready Brek Muffins were a great way of using some up. I wonder what else I can make with it - any ideas?

Proving that #KitchenClearout recipes can also be incredibly tasty, these Mini Pecan Pies were a triumph and used up the end of a bag of pecans. I might have to buy some more now though to make some more.

If you're wondering what to eat this Sunday and want a twist on the usual roast chicken, how about Galina from Chez Maximka's Whole Roasted Curry Chicken? It looks amazing and I can imagine the wonderful smells wafting around the house as it cooked.

When I ended up with two and a half cucumbers in the fridge, I knew I needed to take action ! The result was a light, refreshing Creamy Cucumber & Tomato Salad.

I wasn't the only one with a glut of cucumbers though and Alison from Dragons & Fairydust got incredibly inventive, making Braised Cucumber in Orange Sauce. Apparently they were very tasty.

I'd won some black pudding in a haggis hamper a few months ago and put it straight in the freezer because I was feeling a bit squeamish about trying it, so these Black Pudding Stuffed Potatoes were perfect for making it more palatable.

The non-black pudding version was a hit with the kids too - Mexican Stuffed Potatoes. Great for using up half a tin of red kidney beans.

That brings us to the end of another great collection for turning the leftovers and odds-and-ends into belly-fill rather than landfill, which is always a good thing! Thanks to everyone who linked up and I look forward to seeing what you come up with this month.

Fancy joining in? Have a rummage through your kitchen cupboards, spice rack, freezer or fridge and see if there's anything that needs using up then come and share your creations with us. Or if it's way past its sell-by date, throw it in the bin and come and tell us what you found ! It would be great if you could add my badge and a link to this post for anyone else who wants to get involved.

What's Cooking at The Madhouse? menu plan 3/6

I'm back from my 3-day school trip to London and finally into the home straights for this school year - in a month it's all over - phew ! I'm trying to ignore the fact that I have a couple more hectic weeks to get through first though. I was planning summery meals but it's turned into winter again so I may have to get the slow cooker out again.

Saturday 

lunch - probably McDonalds - I want a chance to chill out !

dinner -  egg-in-a-hole toasties sound fun, but they might end up as regular cheese and ham toasties if I run out of time. I've discovered that the Optigrill is great for making toasted sandwiches

Sunday

lunch - roast dinner or BBQ depending on the weather (I'm guessing roast dinner!)

dinner - sandwiches or smorging if we're hungry

Monday 

dinner - after school meetings tonight so I'll be in late and need something quick - leftover roast/BBQ meat in sauce with pasta should fit the bill

Tuesday 

dinner - Turks & Caicos Islands-inspired rice and peas (for a #readcookeat post)

Wednesday 

lunch - hash brown burgers with grilled tomatoes - we had these at the school canteen and I know the Madhouse kids would approve ! You replace the burger bun with hashbrowns.

dinner - Senegalese Yassa chicken

Thursday 

dinner - spicy sesame beef with stir fried veg & noodles

Friday 

dinner - Locro, an Argentinian potato, meat and vegetable stew

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Lip-smacking lip balms with zero calories ! (review)

I'm very low maintenance when it comes to make up. If I'm making an effort, it'll be a quick bit of mascara and lip gloss but most of the time, I go bare-faced. In fact, my 14-year-old daughter has a better stocked makeup bag that I have and I invariably pinch hers if we're getting ready for a special occasion together ! However, there is one thing that I am never without : lipbalm. I always have several on the go - in my coat pocket, on my bedside table, in my desk drawer at work, in my handbag, ... I'm in good company apparently. Katy Perry sang about kissing a girl and liking it, thanks to the taste of her cherry chapstick, and Khloe Kardashian has revealed her gym beauty must-haves, including popping on a bit of cherry lip balm.

Why stick to cherry though? I recently received these fabulous selection packs of sweetie-flavoured lip balms and I am totally incapable of picking my favourite because I love them all. It's supposed to be a nostalgic reminder of our fave teen products and a #ThrowBack to the 90's (erm I was way out of my teens by then !) so I may have to go back to another 80's throwback and have a different flavour each day, like the multipacks of knickers with a different day of the week on each one ! 

In the Jelly Belly pack, which has an RRP of £12, we (yes, we, I'm a nice mum and shared them !) discovered Berry Blue, Wild Blackberry,  Strawberry Jam, Very Cherry, Tutti Fruitti, Tangerine, Buttered Popcorn and Mango. 

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans just happen to be my ultimate favourite sweet, but I am partial to a bit of chocolate too, and the whole family love American imports, so the Hershey's pack (RRP £6) really appealed to us. In this triple pack, you have the choice between Hershey's chocolate, Hershey's Kisses and Reese's - a particular favourite of ours in its real chocolate form.

The kids love playing at closing their eyes and seeing who can correctly identify the most flavours and we have discovered that they are quite easily identifiable and do indeed smell like what they are supposed to represent. In terms of lipbalm, they're not as moisturising as "proper"grown-up, more expensive lip balms but they are a lot of fun and they taste great. A few of them are lightly tinted so we keep those ones for night time (because I usually apply lip balm blind and don't want to risk walking aroud with it all over my face !). The multi-packs make great little gifts for fans of lip balm, Americana or jelly bean lovers/chocaholics who are trying to cut down on the calories !

Available at various stockists, including Claire's

Disclosure : I received the products in order to write an honest review.

Making a fairy sized easel for our fairy visitor #FairyTaler

Hello again, fairy lovers ! You may remember last time, I showed you our little fairy land in the corner of Pierre's bedroom where our magical Irish Fairy Door is surrounded with all the lovely play equipment that we received in our #FairyTaler welcome package. Our cheeky little night-time visitor has been having great fun using it ever since and Pierre is always delighted to see the seesaw in a different position or the little bicycle in a different spot in his room, proving that she has been visiting while he was asleep or at school !

This time around, Pierre got even more excited because not only was his special fairy friend about to get something new to play with but HE was the one who was going to make it ! The Irish Fairy Door Company posted a lovely little crafts activity on their blog to make a DIY Fairy Easel and asked us if we'd have a go at making one.

All it needs is six wooden pegs, a wooden skewer and some glue, so whoever came up with the idea is a total genius because it looks great when it's finished.

After leaving it to dry overnight, we were delighted in the morning to see that it was perfect (OK slightly wonky but that just makes it unique and extra special !).

It's the absolutely perfect size for the pad of fairy notes so we're excited to see if our fairy friend will leave us a picture on one of her upcoming visits !

 Pierre rushed straight off to put it in his room and pointed out that we'll need to find her a tiny paintbrush. Hmmm I've got my thinking cap on now trying to think of what I could use for a fairy-sized brush - any ideas ?!

Disclosure : As Fairytalers, we'll be receiving exciting parcels of Irish Fairy Door Company goodies and magic to share with you.

#readcookeat recipe : Tropical crunch cake (Deadly Deceit)

Since I've been taking part in the #readcookeat challenge, I find myself eagerly looking out for foodie mentions in the books I read and, as I have a passion for globe-cooking and trying out exotic cuisine, I was really looking forward to some great foodie references in my latest read, Deadly Deceit by Jean Harrod (click through to read my review), because it is set on the Caribbean islands of Turks & Caicos. There were a few references to dishes that I jotted down as I read : 

p46 "They're conch shells. The islanders cook the conch's edible muscle in soups and stews. It's a local delicacy."

p100 "It's chicken, baked with tomatoes. One of my own recipes"

p129 Roger Pearson helped himself to another spoonful of coconut fish curry from the bowl in the centre of the table.

Well, there was no way I was eating giant sea snails, even if I could find somewhere to source them from (!), chicken and tomatoes didn't sound particularly inspiring and coconut fish curry sounded very similar to a Brazilian dish that I have already made, Moqueca de Peixe. I therefore decided to use the exotic setting as inspiration instead and go googling for Turks & Caicos Islands cuisine. One recipe that I came across was Banana Crunch Cake, which sounded promising. The original recipe needed ripe bananas but the ones in my fruit bowl were still more green than yellow, so I decided to try with an overripe mango instead. I tweaked the recipe quite a bit though, so do go through and look at the original. Tastewise it was lovely but it sunk when I took it out of the oven and the middle stayed soggy. I'd leave out the coconut water next time as it definitely didn't need the extra liquid.

Tropical crunch cake

ingredients :

75g butter

85g sugar

2 eggs

 juice and zest of a lime

pinch of salt

115g self-raising flour

1 ripe mango

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

(1/2 cup liquid - see below but with hindsight I would leave this out)

a handful of coconut chips

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the eggs, one at a time.

Mash the mango flesh. (You can see from the colour that it was well on its time, but it still tasted fine.)

Add the mango to the mixture, along with the salt, vanilla essence, lime juice and zest, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add some coconut chips or dessicated coconut.

Mix in the flour.

The original recipe made me smile because it said to add 1/2 cup (well, 1 cup but I'd reduced all the quantities by half) of evaporated milk, pasteurised semi skimmed milk or whatever you have available. In other words, any liquid you want, so I used coconut water, to stick with the tropical theme and also because there was a carton in the fridge that needed using up. I think this was my downfall though because the cake batter was wet enough already.

I ended up with a smooth, runny cake mix.

Transfer to a greased loaf tin and cook for ... well, the original recipe said 70 minutes and I'd halved the quantities so I started keeping an eye on it after 40 minutes. 

After an hour and a half, it was finally starting to look cooked and a knife stabbed in the middle came out pretty much clean (like when making banana bread).

However, as I put it on the side to cool, disaster struck. Within 5 minutes it had sunk in the middle and when I tipped it out, the outside was cooked but the inside was still molten. I put it back in the oven for 20 minutes more which firmed it up a bit but it still stayed soggy in the middle, so I'd definitely reduce the amount of liquid in the batter and increase the cooking time. Using dessicated coconut instead of coconut chips would help absorb some of the moisture too and I'd raise the oven temperature from 180° to 220°. (Hindsight is a wonderful thing !).

It may have looked a mess but it tasted nice, with a definite tropical flavour coming through from the coconut, lime and mango.

Linking up with the #readcookeat challenge over at Chez Maximka.

Also adding to #KitchenClearout linky because it used up an overripe mango and a carton of coconut water that was lurking in the fridge.