I was recently sent a copy of Misty Ricardo's Curry Compendium by Richard Sayce for review. This is a mighty cookbook, which is full of recipes, hints and tips, but possibly more importantly, explanations and alternatives. It doesn't just give you the 'how to', it covers the 'why', and 'what difference will it make?'

Very differently to any cookbook I've ever used before, many of the recipes also feature a QR code, which will take your smartphone straight to the accompanying YouTube video, so that you can cook along with Richard himself...

Richard Sayce is the man behind Misty Ricardo's Curry Kitchen, and this is a compendium cookbook full of British Indian restaurant recipes which featured in his previous books. I may not get out to a restaurant very often, but take away Indian is a massive treat in our house, and I cook a curry from scratch around once a week, so this has to be a winner for us. 

Oliver's Kitchen sell cookware that is elegant and simple, easy to clean and use, and which will hopefully encourage the whole family to cook and enjoy food together. They have sent me a bundle to review - and I am genuinely incredibly happy with them, so I'm delighted to say I'll be giving the same away to my readers too! 

Oliver's Kitchen are a family business, and family cooking is their thing. The first thing that struck me was how elegantly attractive their products are, with shiny metal surfaces, black rubber trim and classic style - and all very well designed. 

Inside our box we had some of the brand new Miracle Cake Bars - Chunky Double Chocolate. We all tried them straight away, and I'm very pleased I split one between us because they do qualify as a small meal. 

They're lovely. Incredibly filling and containing just 131 calories which seems to be mainly comprised of fibre (over 1/3 of your recommended daily intake). They also only have 0.7g of sugar each, and you'd never know it. This is sweet and chocolatey goodness.

I was sent the ingredients to recreate a Leek Recipe by the British Leek Growers Association in time for St. David's Day this weekend. This is a rare occasion where a recipe post doesn't feel like work, because Leeks really are one of my all-time favourite vegetables and they are very under-used in the modern day UK.


I particularly like the look of the Leek and Garlic Twist Bread and I was sent everything I'd need to create the recipe. My 11 year old son was chef and I just gave him a little advice (and kneeded the dough, and did the sticky bits, and the oven).

We all know that what you put into your mouth has a massive effect on your health. That can include your immune system, and your strength to fight any bugs that come your way. December to March is flu season in the UK, and obviously we are currently unaware whether COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will become a widespread issue in our area of the world.

Flu is nasty, it can make you really ill and it can take a long time to recover, as we found out when we all caught real flu last Winter. It was 4 months before we were all back to full health.



Don't 'feed a cold, starve a fever'. You need some fuel in your body to fight, and heating up is a way your body fights intruders. Eat small amounts of easily digestible foods, such as runny soup or broth. Fever is actually helpful to a point, but any patient with fever of 93.4C (103F) needs to be referred to a doctor.

1. Water. It's not a food, but clear, clean water is necessary to prevent dehydration and you will not get better without it. If your patient is struggling to drink or keep anything down, try to sip 2oz an hour, every hour, until the situation improves. Ice cubes or ice lollies can be a great way to keep someone hydrated when they are hot and struggling to drink.

2. Garlic. People have known garlic has benefits since before your Gran's Grandmother was born. It gives a great immune system boost, although it will NOT prevent you becoming ill or cure any illness by itself, including the 2019 Coronavirus.

3. Mushrooms are an amazing anti-viral immune-system booster. They contain B vitamins as well as the antioxidant Selenium and Beta-Glucan (see Oats). They actively help your body fight flu. Try light mushroom soup if you are struggling to eat.

I home cook a lot, and I use a good variety of different seasonings for different meals. Schwartz asked me if I'd create some dishes using my favourite seasoning from their extensive range, and as I use it in potato dishes, pasta dishes, curries, stir fries, barbeques, mayonnaise dips, chilli and a host of other meals, I chose Smoked Paprika.


I love Smoked Paprika because it adds depth of flavour and a little heat to your dish really easily, as well as adding colour, throughout the food, or sprinkled over the top. It's ridiculously versatile. It goes very well with potatoes, pasta, rice, beans and vegetables, as well as your protein - chicken, fish, or a substitute. Just don't burn it, or it'll taste bitter. Unless you are roasting, add it during cooking or afterwards...

Ahead of Manchester's Festa Italiana, which takes place 26th-28th July, we were all invited to a very special Family Pasta Master Class at Salvi's Mozzarella Bar in the Corn Exchange, with Carmela Serano Hayes of Carmela’s Kitchen.


Italian food is very much family orientated and there is a whole programme of events during Manchester's Festa Italiana especially for families with children. One of the highlights will be the FREE Kids Pasta Master Classes with Carmela, where children can learn first hand just how easy it is to make your own pasta and have a go at creating some different shapes and textures to match with different dishes and sauces.


I'm a firm believer in cooking with children from a young age, so we were all excited about our Pasta Master Class. This was taking place downstairs at Salvi's, a restaurant and deli in the Manchester Corn Exchange.

It's been a little while since I reviewed a cookery book, but I've dusted off my apron for Karen Burns-Booth's debut cookbook, Lavender & Lovage: A Culinary Notebook Of Memories And Recipes From Home And Abroad. I think the title pretty much says it all really...


I read Karen's blog even before I had The Brick Castle and her food is good, unpretentious, tasty fare. Born in South Africa, she's lived in countries all over the world and has soaked up the food from every one. This is a gigantic recipe book with around 160 recipes. Alongside are snippets giving history, origins or a short tale about the recipe or it's ingredients. They're short and sweet, and really do add to the dish, often giving useful hints for home cooks too.

Back in September we waved 3 of our young people off to uni, 2 of them as Freshers starting their 1st Year. Before she went I had a special 'goodbye tea' with my daughter and last Friday we turned the tables. It was my turn to visit her at Uni and she had to cook for me. I also had a peep in her kitchen cupboards to see if she really is eating healthily...


My daughter had mock exams until late afternoon, so I met her straight afterwards at the Student Union. There's a Co-op food store really close by and we headed over there and picked up the ingredients. It's a gorgeous Co-op with loads of space...


The Co-op are working with MOB Kitchen and you may have seen one of the crew, Ben, in the October issue of Co-op magazine (found in-store). They've put together a collection of recipes that are easy to make, healthy and filling, and so we decided to choose a recipe from the list.

I have 3 young adults off to uni this September and 2 of them are freshers in their first year. It's a scary time for them, but also for me, and I've tried to prepare them all for independence as best I can. This includes making sure they can cook themselves something hearty and filling without breaking the bank or missing out on the nutrition they'll need to stay healthy.


I'm delighted to be working with Co-op Food on a campaign to get students cooking and eating healthy meals. It really is something I'm passionate about and I've even put together all of my family's favourite and most-used recipes, as well as a few others, on my recipes page. I have tried to keep costs down, skill levels easy and nutritional value high. There is rarely a prouder moment than when I discover one of my young people cooking from one of my recipes.


The Co-op meanwhile show their commitment to students by offering a 10% discount at over 2000 stores nationwide with a TOTUM card (previously called NUS Extra). This starts at £12 a year, so you can get your money back very quickly just on Co-op food shopping. That's on top of the regular Co-op member rewards.

Today I'm delighted to be taking part in the My Little Sous-Chef Blog Book Tour. I'm the second blog in the tour, check out the list towards the bottom to find the rest. As it's Easter, we took one of the recipes and added a little Easter twist....


My Little Sous-Chef is a brand new cookery book release from Caterina Falqui, Francesca Grassi and Laura Pantaleone. Completely unlike other cookery books, My Little Sous-Chef is actually two books.


One book is for children and the other is for their grown ups. Both books have exactly the same recipes, but one has all the boring stuff like oven temperatures, and the other focuses more on those tasks that children can take charge of.

Tofuture make a great little tofu press that you can use to press bought tofu. This makes it a firmer consistency which will soak up marinade better and be more suited to stir fries. This will give you a tastier meal, but you can also use the press when making your own tofu from scratch.


The press comes in 3 parts - a deep outer tub, the insert with perforated base to let the whey drip out and the clip on lid. The lid clamps on securely at the sides using rubber bands, which have 3 different positions depending on what you have in your Tofuture press at the time.

Steenbergs Organic are a family-run Yorkshire company passionate about the environment and those who live in it. They are committed to Fairtrade and provide organic spices, loose leaf tea and organic cooking ingredients full of flavour and aroma, each with a known provenance, so you can be assured you get only the best. And they're one of my favourites.


I am truly delighted to have been sent the gorgeous Taste Of Baking Jute Bag gift set, which arrived beautifully packaged and opening it felt just like Christmas to me! This is not only a practical jute shopping bag, it is crammed with exciting goodies.


The Taste Of Baking bag is full of of Steenbergs baking ingredients, as well as a set of 3 very special T&G /Sophie Conran designed wooden spoons and a huge Steenbergs Tea Towel.

Chicago Town have added 4 new pizzas to their range with The Pizza Kitchen. These deli-style pizzas have thick toppings on a unique, freshly-baked deli-crisp crust. They asked if we wanted to take part in their promotion. I didn't even have to put it to a family vote.


My family love pizza and Chicago Town are a regular choice here. I know everyone will fill their bellies and I will receive no complaints! It's the one guaranteed all-round crowd-pleaser, plus cooking and washing up are a breeze. Pizza night is an even bigger treat for me than it is for everyone else...

Black peas are a local delicacy to us and really not to be missed. Around this time of year they're all over the shops and everyone is talking about them. If you haven't been to Lancashire or North Manchester though, you may never have even heard of them...


Just like green peas, black peas are a legume, and they're eaten boiled into a mushy pea. They've loads of names including Parched Peas, Mapple Peas, Chestnut Peas and Pidgeon Peas, but generally they're just Black Peas. They're actually Purple Podded Peas and they are slightly less sweet than green peas, with a hint of nuttiness and a firmer texture, so they maintain their shape better. Their skin is soft and thin and breaks down well when they're boiled, which is another benefit over mushy green peas.

Pickles And Ice Cream by Vicky Jacob-Ebbinghaus and Juarez Rodriguez is a cookbook with a difference - all of the recipes are cravings that real pregnant women have had, and they've been lovingly recreated to share with you, alongside a short story from the inventor.


I'm not pregnant just now thankfully, but I have been 5 times and I had some pretty interesting cravings. Mainly I just wanted beetroot and boiled brussels sprouts, but with my 3rd child (and only daughter) I dreamt of eating coloured glass. Whenever I saw coloured glass I felt I could taste it and it was so delicious. I did manage to beat that craving by eating boiled sweets, but I would wake up having dreamt I'd eaten the glass and in a panic about it. NEVER eat glass.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited down to the Vegetarian Society Cookery School in Altrincham for the launch of the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan trademark. Our day was spent participating on the Vegan Toolkit Workshop - one of several courses on offer at the Cookery School.



I've been Vegetarian for 32 years and I've spent most of that a keen cook for a large family, so I didn't know how much I'd learn on the Vegan Toolkit Workshop. In fact I learned plenty and all in a really friendly, relaxed atmosphere - despite the fact that the 8 of us cooked (and ate) over 20 dishes in only 6 hours!

On Thursday last week, to take our minds off the General Election, the Vegetarian Society invited a small group of bloggers to their Cookery School in Altrincham, Manchester. We were there as part of the launch of the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan trademark to support the highly successful Vegetarian Society Approved trademark.


I was well aware of the Vegetarian Society and it's charity status because I joined when I was a teenager. I also knew where the Cookery School was because I've been past several times. In fact, when we reviewed Ayuda House B&B and drove past, I actually said "I'd love to go to one of their classes". My wish has been granted.

Oxo have recently added more products to their Good Grips Kitchenware range, including some great Squeeze And Pour Measuring Cups. They have sent me a selection to review, and it seemed a great excuse for a cake. My youngest wanted to help, so I let him take over...


The first item we used is the 2.8l Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (£13). Lightweight, yet a good size with a really impressive rubber base, it holds position really well while you are whisking and stirring. A lovely shaped bowl and your mix comes out easily

There's nothing better in Summer than eating outdoors. Sadly living in Manchester the rain does it's very best to prevent us, but we waited for a drizzle break amid the downpours, and managed a barbeque the other evening - on our back porch. Well, we'd promised the kids...


Paladone distribute all kinds of quirky and fun gadgets, gifts and household products, and they have sent us their 12inch Grill Sergeant Portable Barbeque to review. I thought he'd just have a fancy paintjob, but it turns out he's a well-designed barbeque that works really effectively.


Your Grill Sergeant arrives in a box and you have to assemble it yourself. You only need a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, and about 10 minutes. 25 minutes if you have a 6 year old assistant.