Interflora Hampers

Did you know that Interflora do hampers? They have a huge selection ranging from as little as £20 all the way up to the more extravagant hampers. The one that I've tried and tested below is the Christmas Festivities Hamper which is priced at £70.

A beautiful wicker basket, brimming with lots of Christmas goodies....inside it contains:

Bottle of Red & White wine, box of selected teas, choc chunk shortbread biscuits, farm house fruit cake, mince pies, strawberry jam, clotted cream biscuits, box of dark and milk chocolates, sticky onion chutney, cranberry sauce, Christmas pudding, luxury fruit and nut mix, clotted cream fudge and Duchy organic rosemary & thyme Cheddar cheese nibbles.

All of the items are very good quality, the basket alone makes it worth the price and such a lovely present to give a friend or family member. I like the idea of a Hamper for me it has all the little luxuries that you buy at Christmas time all wrapped up just for me.

The website has lots of gift ideas including beautiful bouquets of Christmas flowers, plants and drinks. I'm off to see what I can buy the parents and in-laws.

Happy Shopping!! :D

....and the winner is!!

Awful screen shot I know, but here you go.......

and the
is

Super Lucky

who posted a very tasty recipe for Garlic mushrooms with sherry :D

I've just spotted a tasty hamper giveaway on Emma's Bagladee Review website!
To enter, I need to concoct a recipe using Kerrymaid garlic butter and post it here on my blog - I've adapted one of my favourite Spanish tapas dishes for this! Now I feel hungry, and nothing to eat in the house except Doritos and McVities biscuits... argh!

Garlic Mushrooms with Sherry:
Take 400g of mixed mushrooms (you can use button and chestnut, or try some exciting wild ones like oyster & chanterelles) and chop roughly. Heat two 20g portions of Kerrymaid garlic butter in a pan and add one small chopped onion. Cook gently for about 10 minutes, then turn up the heat and add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes until soft, then add 150ml sherry (fino or amontillado - not Harvey's Bristol Cream!) and a pinch of nutmeg. Finally, stir in a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and season to taste.

Yum!

Congratulations SuperLucky, please contact me at :: emma@bagladee.com so that we can arrange delivery of your lovely hamper.

A big thank you to all who took part, keep those eyes peeled more giveaways to come very soon.

GIVE AWAY - KERRYMAID

Welcome to the first 'bagladee - reviews' give away....if its a success then it'll be the first of many more to come. There's a fantastic prize up for grabs!!

And here it is!! A gorgeous hamper full of goodies courtesy of Kerrymaid. Inside the hamper:

Kerrymaid Garlic Butter, Cabernet Sauvignon 750ml, Black Pepper Irish Cheddar Cheese Truckle, Medium Mature Irish Cheddar Cheese Truckle, Traditional Irish Oat biscuits, Rich Fruity Chutney with Irish Stout, Cucumber Relish, Belgian Chocolate Enrobed Mixed Berries, All Butter Irish Shortbread & Homemade Irish Fudge.

(contents of the hamper are subject to availability)

I was nearly drooling just typing that ;D now who wouldn't want to win this? You do? What do you need to do to be in the running to get your hands on it?

Well, Kerrymaid have launched a garlic butter product and they are looking for recipes that include their garlic butter if you check out the website here they have one example.

So all you need to do is:

1. write a post on your blog of a recipe that includes Kerrymaid Garlic Butter

2. make sure you include the words "garlic butter" which has a link to http://www.garlicbutter.co.uk/

3. pop back here and post your link to your blog post

4. don't forget to include contact details so we can contact the winner

Winner will be chosen using http://www.random.org/, the give away will close Wednesday 23rd September and the winner will be announced Thursday 24th September. Give away only open to UK residents (sorry).

So get your skates on and get posting (don't forget the garlic butter link, that's the important bit).

COMING SOON!! GIVEAWAY!!

My first giveaway on Bagladee - Reviews is coming very soon!! I have a basket full of goodies to give away.....yes it is you who will be trying them this time not me.....

So dont forget to pop back and enter!!

Potted Cornish Crab

Another treat from Abel and Cole......Potted Cornish Crab.

Unfortunately because I was sooooo hungry and my tummy was rumbling I failed to take a photo of the prepared meal SORRY :( But I can assure you it was totally delicious!!! Crusty loaf cut into slices and sparsely buttered, tasty slightly seasoned crab sandwiched between and a light side salad with dressing. Such a simple meal to prepare and very filling. I've had crab before but this was definitely hands down way better. And the best bit is that the crab is sustainably sourced and caught by Cornish fishermen, which is then cooked in small batches and then handpicked. Gorgeous!!!

Fish cake, mash and peas for two :D

My next treat from Abel & Cole to road test are these organic Orkney Salmon fish cakes. Normally when we buy fish cakes they are a bit on the small side and would have to buy two packs so that we could have two each....these however were monster fish cakes. Just ever so slightly small than a saucer.

A perfect size for one each....

Really simple to cook - either wack under the grill until both sides are browned and cooked throughout or pop in the oven for approx 25-30 minutes. We grilled these pair and had them with mashed potato, petite pois and a generous dollop of tarter sauce :D

They were so yummy, tasty, tasty, tasty! The packet said that they might contain bones, but I think they just put that as a precaution because there was nothing other than fresh, meaty salmon with parsley.

A first for me (as I usually clean ever last morsel from my plate - I like food) they were a little on the large side for me to finish the while cake but Chris didn't grumble, he whipped it off my plate and scoffed the lot.

We were both impressed with the size and the quality of the salmon used and cant wait to try the Thai fish cakes!! :)

Abel & Cole really do source the best produce, we are very happy tasters.......go on why don't you give them a try?

Abel & Cole - Do meat too!! Part 2

For all you foodies out there, do you remember this??? If not check out this post, yesterday I cooked Sunday lunch, not a regular activity for me as we normally go to Chris's parents or go out. But since we had this lovely rolled joint of pork I thought I'd give it a go. I say this because I have NEVER cooked a joint of meat EVER!! I know disgraceful isn't it, 29 years old and never cooked a joint of meat.....Ridiculous!!

So after a phone call to my Mam the night before to get some cooking tips.....Pre-heat oven, put small amount of oil in roasting tin, put in joint and cover with tin foil cook for 1hour, uncover and cook for a further 30 mins to allow crackling to go nice and crispy.

Roast some potatoes (Abel&Cole), parsnips (yes the frozen ones again :/), boil broccoli, green cale (Abel&Cole and very yummy!!) and carrots (Abel&Cole, so tasty) and serve up with a gravy boat and apple sauce.

Chris's description of the Sunday lunch was "EXCELLENT!" again he is a lover of pork and me......again was not really a fan. I really cant believe it but again I've been converted. Honestly I thought that it was quite expensive for a joint of pork but have since been reassured by at least half a dozen people that this is a really good price for this size of a joint. And I have to say again as I did with the lamb the quality of the meat was superb. Both of our plates were completely clear.......so that must be a good sign that the meat was definitely worth it.


I have promised Chris that once a month we will stay in and have Sunday lunch, and for someone who was not keen on Lamb or Pork, I cant wait to try the other products Abel & Cole have to offer. Who have thought I would have said but I just did!! Thanks Victoria and Abel & Cole.....YEY FOR ORGANIC MEAT!!!!!!!