We were given an opportunity to review the James Martin Spice Grinder from Wahl – and the most appealing thing to me was making my own spice mixtures and being in full control of what’s going in our food.
Firstly I checked through the various mixes in the recipe booklet. I’m vegetarian, but Shaun and H eat meat so it needed to be compatible for both.
Actually – and this is where something like cookery or chemistry would have interested me had they taught it like this at school – I was really impressed how the same spices can make such different flavours.
We’ve tried the Garam Masala and the Spicy Cajun recipes – though we adapted the latter so it wasn’t too much for H (and I didn’t have any oregano) – and was impressed with the results.
My next plan is to work out the ingredients and quantities in spices we use a lot such as the Schwartz Garlic Italian and make our own – my problem is time and having any, so it needs to be quick. My herb and spice collection is looking pretty good right now and is being used a lot more.
This morning we used it for some coffee beans and found it ground them up as finely as you’d get if you bought from a shop – and all the way through. This took 30 seconds of pulsing. Lovely!
The Spice Grinder is small and doesn’t take up space in the cupboard, the power cord wraps around the base and stores away with no bulk. As far as cleaning goes, it’s really simple to clean – though I wish there was a spout to channel your blended spice into containers (as I get it all over the counter). There’s a small attachment which can be used for smaller quantities too.
The question is, why have a spice grinder if you have a blender? I like how compact it is, you can do small batches (using the attachment on the top) and it also works on coffee beans. The spices will be blended finer too, and of course buying your spice in fresh means it smells better too. We used to use a pestle and mortar but time was our biggest issue. It grinds cinnamon and cloves well too and is controlled by pulsing rather than you leaving the mixture to blend.
Write To Read is a new app which encourages children to learn to read. We’re finding it really interesting too, surprisingly so!
This is going to be a two-part review – Write To Read is a new app from WriteReader which encourages children to learn to read. Now, H is almost four and already knows a few words – so I was curious to find out more.
What you get is a really straightforward app and one which I can see how it works – H is doing this at a very basic level (one word descriptions – ‘mummy’ rather than ‘this is my mummy’ sort of things). She starts school in September so I fully expect her to get a lot more from this towards the end of the year, which is when I’ll post a follow-up.
Essentially, you’re creating an online photo book and your child will explain what each picture is – in their own writing and spelling. You (as the adult) then type in the correct sentence underneath so the child knows what the correct words are and this in turn helps them learn to spell – you’re working together making your own story. We’re actually doing something quite similar – a couple of months ago I started a photo blog for H which has one new photo a week which she describes and I type up – and this app takes the learning a step further. She will often try to spell words, so the formation of them is there – and I feel like this complements what we do really well.
Also – Write To Read has no Comic Sans!
It’s really clearly explained and straightforward to work, and I’m looking forward to using it as her spelling progresses.
Once your child doesn’t need help from a parent they can create their own books without the repeated spelling, so this does have a long life ahead of it – you’re spending a fair amount for something which could last you seven years or more.
The Write to Read app is aimed at 3-10 year olds and completely revolutionises the way children learn to read. It has been phenomenally successful in Denmark where it is used in more than 300 schools and nurseries. Write to Read encourages children to learn to read by physically writing and spelling words on the iPad rather than reading the printed word on a page.
We’ll post a follow-up later in the year, but right now I think this is brilliant and has a lot of potential. For the month of July Write To Read is available at a cheaper price as well!
We were gifted this app to review, all opinions are our own and honest.
See that there? Saturday and Sunday are going to be W-A-R-M! Hot! Sun! (Friday too, but I’m at work so I kind of pretend it isn’t there really). If you’re near here then this weekend is the Mayfield Lavender Festival – and it’s free! It runs from 10am to 6pm.
We love Mayfield Lavender as it’s fields of the stuff – you can wander around and I’d like to think the aroma has a calming effect – then spend a bit of money on some bunches to take home and make your home smell good too, and I’m tempted to try a bit of baking with some this year.
This area of Surrey used to be the main place lavender grew when it was first introduced to the UK way back in time – you only have to drive through Wallington at Christmas to see the lights – lavender shaped ones of course!
There’s loads of parking, though it can often get full in nice weather – so bear it in mind, and there’s not a lot of shelter if the sun is really intense so take water (though there is a cafe area – and the Oaks Park is over the road which has some shelter too)
Coming up at the end of the month is the Stanley Park Allotments pick your own Annual Harvest weekend too.
We’ve just renewed our insurance policy, and as I was about to pay the nice chap on the phone said “would you like to take out Personal Possessons cover which would cover your valuables outside of the home?”
Big gulp.
You mean we hadn’t already? It was an oversight, but one we’ve put right now. On the plus side this cost us £40 for the year so I can cancel our monthly phone insurance policies I’ve been paying for the last god knows how long. I had no idea we had no cover and had assumed it was included in the policy.
So really just a heads-up – make sure you’re covered! If something had happened to our phones, iPads or laptops we wouldn’t have been covered – and that doesn’t bear thinking.
BritMums Live 2013 was a week ago, and it’s taken a week to catch up on sleep (as well as then catching a stinker of a cold which hasn’t helped). Here’s a quick summary of the brands I saw:
Panasonic had all their latest gadgets out on display – and of course I had to check out the breadmaker – and yay! – you can make jam in it now! My old Panasonic one doesn’t have that function, and while there are lots of new things you can do, it’s something I’m familiar with. There’s also a slow-yeast release section – which was interesting as that would be for when you put a loaf on the timer and don’t want the yeast and water to be mixed together. There was a combi oven which looked fantastic – a good microwave replacement for baking cookies and brownies and a lot more – which also works out energy-efficient compared to a regular oven and heats up really quickly. I may have taste-tested several of these cookies and brownies to make sure; I can report they were very good.
As well as the kitchen gadgets there were cameras on display – as mentioned on the previous post I love my Lumix camera – the zoom on it is great. The camera has progressed a lot since I bought mine in 2008.
We’re currently planning a break with H’s best friend before they start school and Butlins is on the shortlist – so it was nice to chat to the people on their stand to find out more. I hadn’t realised we only have three Butlins in the UK now (the last time I went was 1980 to the one in Pwllheli which is now Hafan-y-Mor the Haven place), but I do know Butlins have amazing entertainment, especially for almost four-year olds. Oh, and they have eighties weekends too!! (I may have got a little bit excited about Madness)
Argos had a stand, where I gushed about their new system and how I’ve started to enjoy shopping there again in the last year (as it’s so quick) – there isn’t really a lot to say as everyone knows Argos – it’s just a much better shopping experience in there nowadays! I just need to remember you can redeem Nectar points in there too…
I got a personalised Diet Coke bottle and learned some facts about the caffeine amount in each bottle (it’s more taste related than caffeine related) which was interesting – especially as I have had Diet Coke when I’ve felt like I need a caffeine boost – anyway, a personalised label! Can you believe no shops near us had a Jo one? Crazy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter as I have one now. It’s a brilliant idea. Coca Cola have a caffeine calculator too which is handy.
Having had about two hours sleep the night before I was on the strongest coffee I could find by this point (so already the calculator was helpful), and found myself at the Visit Orlando section where this video was made: (this is why I could never be an actress)
I would LOVE to go to Orlando, but our biggest problem is having family in another country (Australia) that would always take priority. One day, maybe. H loves Disney and I know would have an amazing time. There is so much to do in Orlando that there’s a handy planning tool over here.
I saw a Vitamix! They are SERIOUSLY impressive. If I didn’t have all the gadgets I do in the kitchen I’d be saving up for one – hummus in two minutes? Ice cream in not much more? The food tastes so good too. I made the mistake of asking if it was dishwasher-friendly and was looked at like I was crazy “you just rinse it with water, it’s self-cleaning” – like I said, impressive. That’s my kind of gadget which involves easy cleaning. There may have been margaritas too, they may also have been amazing.
Fox’s Biscuits had a coffee lounge, including the most expensive coffee which was SO good (and strong) – and plenty of samples of their new Caffe Thins range designed to be eaten with a cup of coffee – and just the right shape to dunk too. We had a pack in our goody bag so got to try the hazelnut variety (which I wouldn’t normally have chosen, but they’re really quite yummy).
Parragon Books had a stand (and delicious cupcakes) and we received two books from their range suitable for H – both are fabulous books – ‘Goodnight Little One’ and ‘Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs’ (set for release here this August). Keep an eye out for a We Love Books for these – plus the Egmont titles we got in our goody bags (which includes a William and Kate story, much to Shaun’s anti-royal horror – I like it though, back in my day it was factual Penguin books about Charles and Diana! plus a new one from David and Carrie Grant – more on those soon too). We’ve joined Parragon’s blogger club which is really exciting.
Warner Brothers had a room, and we got an entire series of Speedy Gonzalez which I’ve introduced H to and she’s enjoying – that’s one for the iPad and handy to have when we’re out and about. We also got to meet the owl (not literally, stand next to him) who was Hedwig in the Harry Potter films as well as hold a wand. I was a bit nervous. Warners gave us a goody bag which also included the disgustingly marvellous Bertie Botts Beans in there – I had to pick out all the bad flavours as they are truly vile (and as one friend pointed out, how do I know what grass or dirt tastes like? The flavours are way to accurate and I never knowingly have eaten any) – brilliantly done.
We got a Kattoo sample pack which we’ll be using at Lollibop on H – so a review of that to follow in due course, but I think they’re a brilliant idea! Then there were the Pilot Frixion pens we got – ones you can rub out the ink if you make a mistake? Genius. I’m won!
I think that’s everything, there was a lot to get through. I’ve come out having spent lots of money in my head for things I know we need, and things I’d really like! Thank you BritMums Live! Also, as a footnote, the wine was provided by Asda – and it was seriously good. Now if only I’d remembered to take a photo of the wine names….
Weetabix Cake is really simple to make, and we decided it was about time we involved her in the kitchen a bit more.
Weetabix cake isn’t something you’d think of when thinking about cake, but H made this at nursery the other day and after chatting to her key workers about how it’s made we decided to give it a go. They use butter where we used sugar, so it’s very adaptable. I’m thinking about adding bananas next time.
Get your pinny on… (hmm, could that be the theme for all my random cookery things?)
Get two Weetabix. Crush them in a bowl.
Add a cup of raisins
Add a cup of sugar (this does seem a lot)
Add a teaspoon of mixed spice (we used cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger)
Mix the dry mixture together well
Add a cup of milk
Mix into a dough. Splodge into a pre-greased tin and put in the oven at 160-170°c/325°f/Gas Mark 3 for 45 minutes. The Weetabix cake tastes yummy – I think next time we’ll use less sugar and more spice, but it was lovely and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside – and you’d never know that it was made with Weetabix… I’m now pondering whether we try using a Weetabix cake for H’s birthday cake this year… hmmm!
with thanks to most of the internet for all your various recipes which we adapted slightly!
In September H will start in reception, properly starting school for the first time. Tonight we had our first visit to her classroom to meet staff and have a look around and get to know other parents. As luck would have it I recognised a few which has made everything feel much more reassuring.
So the next thing we need to think about is school uniform. Gulp. Four years old and in uniform… I had a look in the shops near work, mainly as I wanted to see what was available but also I want to check what the sizing is like. All my local shops in Wandsworth FAIL! I tried Sainsburys (who to be fair are having a refit, so have removed all clothes), Next (order online only, which I’ll happily do if I know they fit), H&M (some polo shirts and some skirts but not much, and really only bigger sizes) and Primark (“sorry, we have nothing in at the moment”).
What do people do when they need to buy emergency school clothes at this time of year then?!
As it was, advice on Instagram said M&S who are also doing 20% off for the rest of this week. Yesterday H and I went to our local one in Sutton and took a load of clothes into the changing room. She loved doing the dressing up and I looked at my grown up baby about to head into the world of school for the next fourteen years. Asda also had a range in, though not a huge amount – good prices though.
So right now I have uniform basics in – polo shirts, dresses, skirts and trousers. I need sports things, shoes, school-branded sweatshirts and tights.. then we’re done. Then it will be time.
My nerves are frazzled though things are slowly calming down. Roll on September, I think we’re nearly ready… what am I going to forget? What did you forget? Please share!
Mick Jagger by Philip Norman was recently published by HarperCollins.
Shaun here, having stolen Jo’s book to read on the condition I review it here. I’m going to sprinkle in a few Rolling Stones song titles (see if you can spot them)…. so start me up!
The author has one a good job of covering the formative Mick Jagger years, and the 60’s/70s era Stones – this period makes up most of the book. It’s interesting to learn that Mick comes from such mundane surroundings as Dartford and later went to the London School of Economics (although he didn’t graduate – he chose to see how far the Rolling Stones would take him), and how he met Keith Richards on a train platform one morning, as he happened to be carrying around some blues records and Keith spotted them. We can also see how the Rolling Stones started off with Brian Jones as the leader and driving force, then Mick taking the mantle later on as Brian succumbed to drug and health problems.
Mick Jagger by Philip Norman generally portrays Mick as a fairly ruthless unsympathetic character – he doesn’t treat the (many!) women in his life well, and also had a child with singer Marsha Hunt and strenuously denied it was his though it was eventually revealed he was wrong. I had no sympathy (for the devil) (Sorry!).
On the other hand it was clear he was the driving force behind the Rolling Stones – they wouldn’t have got as far or done as well had it not been for him. He is also given a lot of credit for staying on stage in very difficult circumstances during the Altamont concert in 1969.
It doesn’t go into any detail whatsoever about creating music or recording the albums, and just tends to say something like (to paraphrase) “and then they went in to record ‘Exile on Main Street’ in the south of France” without any depth – so look elsewhere if you’re looking for any great insights into the recording process or music writing process.
About 7/8 of the book brings the reader up to the mid-seventies, with the last eighth of the book covering then until now – it’s very abbreviated to say the least – obviously the sixties and seventies are going to be more interesting than later on, but I found it a little disappointing how quickly the last 30 years was covered. You can’t always get what you want, I guess…
Overall the book does succeed in describing the events, people and comings and goings in Sir Mick Jagger’s life – although you are left with a feeling that he is a somewhat aloof figure, not particularly interested in reliving and going through his past life. It’s a long book and took a while to read – it’s a comprehensive read and I did find it enjoyable.
Wild Horses wouldn’t have prevented me from finishing this book (sorry again!)
We received this book for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.
So we have our Ice Cream Maker – the Silvercrest one from Lidl, and have used it a few times now. The mixture is the same basic base for the cream, now it’s just the different flavour before we’re going to try things like sorbets and so on…
So, that’s two egg yolks, 70g icing sugar, 200ml milk and 200ml whipping cream (1) – and same as before, mix the yolks and sugar together, add 200ml of milk (2) then whip the cream until stiff (3) and add to the mixture (4).
Now comes the fun part as you add your flavour (5). This time I went for blueberry and pear, and blended it up – the pear kept quite bulky in parts and I found the blueberry left a few speckles – but that made the finished mixture look better.
I had 200g of blueberries, 100g of pear.
As ever, I forgot to leave the mixture to be chilled for four hours before adding to the maker, and put it in immediately. After 30-40 minutes it was ready, and was pretty darn good – for something I had no idea would work, the two flavours were really subtle together. I actually made it to share with my pals who were staying over on the Friday after BritMums but I forgot (SORRY!) – we tried some today and it is still pretty good.
Shaun has spotted the ice cream gets quite icy – and reading up on it, this is due to a lack of ‘oily’ substance – or rather, something which won’t freeze. I’m not keen on adding anything extra, another suggestion was to remove it from the freezer 20 minutes before serving which we think may work. We’ll see…
Anyway, we’re pleased with the results – now I need to work on getting more milk and less cream into the recipe – after chatting with Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art about making ice cream in a can with just milk and fruit, as well as ice and salt for the chemical reaction to make the mixture work – so stay tuned!
See that there? Saturday and Sunday are going to be W-A-R-M! Hot! Sun! (Friday too, but I’m at work so I kind of pretend it isn’t there really). If you’re near here then this weekend is the Mayfield Lavender Festival – and it’s free! It runs from 10am to 6pm.
I got a personalised Diet Coke bottle and learned some facts about the caffeine amount in each bottle (it’s more taste related than caffeine related) which was interesting – especially as I have had Diet Coke when I’ve felt like I need a caffeine boost – anyway, a personalised label! Can you believe no shops near us had a Jo one? Crazy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter as I have one now. It’s a brilliant idea. Coca Cola have a 
