BBC Good Food Show: Summer LIVE

 

ERMAGHERD. For two long months- since I purchased the tickets- I have been excited about this day! I enjoyed the Winter Good Food Show so much my cousin Abbie and I, along with 2 of my friends, decided that  another trip to the NEC for a celebration of everything delicious, and TV chef like was necessary.

BUT GUESS WHAT?!!?!? We got to see my ultimate all time favourite Foody Celeb, The One, The Only, Mary Berry…. Not only did we get to see her and the winner of The Great British Bake Off 2012, John Waite in the Super theatre. Oh no! I got to actually MEET her at a book signing! I tell you, I have not been this excited in a LONG time!I felt like a kid at Christmas driving along the M6 this morning! And come 10am we were in our Super theatre seats waiting for Mary and John to come on stage.

She demonstrated her deliciously fruity sounding recipe of Whole Orange Cake with Orange Mascarpone Icing for the riveted audience, and trust me, from how moorish it looked on the big screen, this will be attempted by myself in the near future, so watch this space! Whereas John demonstrated a more savoury, cheesy, oniony flatbready creation.

Following this, Mary and John had a short interview with Lotte Duncan with questions derived from the audience. And then the excitement…A book signing, with Mary Berry herself! Oh yes! A semi conversation with the Queen of Cake! By conversation I generally mean I said “I think you are wonderful.” Smooth as always. Either way, I ended up with my newly signed M.B. Cookbook, and was full of the joys of Spring! And yes, yes that is John Whaite but for only £3.50 I could be my own M.B . Best £3.50 I have ever spent. Even if it was an incredibly surreal experience for everyone involved. Lol….I honestly did not spend the entire day being some kind of crazy stalker. For the most part, my chums and I investigated, explored and enjoyed all of the gastronomical delights that the show had to offer!

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The Brownie Bar VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Brownie Bar is a small company run by two Entrepraneurs Rachael and Sarah and is based in Northern England. They “bake a delicious selection of gorgeously gooey rich chocolate brownies and white chocolate blondies in a variety of flavours” which is taken from their <website>. And I tell you, those brownies are simply to DIE for! My choices from the vast selection this time consisted of, Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondie and a Nutella, a Malteser, and a Salted Caramel Brownie.

So when I got home, my parents and I cut each delectable into thirds, and we tasted and devoured each morsel. Some of the flavours were more detectable than others, and I admit that I was not a fan of the Salted Caramel Brownie, as it as too salty (stupid statement), but I genuinely do not think that I have eaten a nicer Brownie dessert in a long time. If they were closer to me I would DEFINATELY persist to eat my body weight in brownies on a regular basis! Cost: reasonable! £7.50 for 4! They also sell a very intriguing caramel sauce accompaniment, as well as a very clever “Make your own Brownie” in a Kilner Jar! Check out their website for yourself!!

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Fudge Kitchen VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Fudge Kitchen was born in 1983 and they now have 7 stores all across the UK. These dashing and charming gents worked their hardest to entertain and entice the punters to their fudge stall, and 2 members of my group both succumbed to their charm and bought some of their delicious fudge. I can honestly say, out of all the fudge stalls there, and trust me, there were a fair few! I found this stalls fudge the nicest texture, and the samples I tried all had delicious flavours. Just a snippet of the flavours on offer are; Eton Mess, Maple Walnut, Mississipppi Mud Pie, Lemon Meringue and Dairy Free to name but a few! Clickity click on this linkity link to find out more about this quirky and traditional company.

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Some more tasty treats… VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Here is our loot and bounty for the day. And what a wonderful day we had! For a full list of stalls and trades who have sold their wears this weekend, see the Good Food Show Website. I would recommend this show to any dedicated foody, or even those that just like to go for the free nibbles, alcohol and atmosphere!

All images are Copyright of Amy Fellowes 14/06/13 unless stated otherwise.

Possibly the Nicest Ice cream in the World

 

Date: 11/5/13

Background: When food shopping on Thursday (at good Ol’ Morrisons) I spotted this little beauty on an amazing offer! It had to be done!

What: Ben and Jerry’s® Core Blondie Brownie-

A soft salted caramel core surrounded by chocolate and vanilla ice creams with chocolate and blondie brownie pieces

How much?: £2.34 instead of £4.99!

What was Good: OH.MY.GOODNESS. This ice cream was simply divine! Double chocolate brownie ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s® is my favourite ice cream usually. So when I saw this but with the added variety of vanilla ice cream, blondie pieces and the sticky salted caramel core, I HAD to buy it. The chewy, rich, chocolaty brownie pieces were like little hidden treasures, and the thick semi solid ice cold ice cream was so creamy and decadent that it made every spoonful a treat in itself, a pivotal quality that Ben and Jerry® desserts have. The core of salted caramel sauce was the real speciality within this dessert. It set it apart from other “normal” Ben and Jerry’s ice creams, and it is the reason that I will look forward to the next time I buy a tub of this confection!

What was Bad: The blondie pieces were not as scrummy as the chocolate ones, but regardless they were still very tasty. I cannot think of another bad thing about this pudding. Other than the sheer calorificness of this tub of joy made me reluctant to eat the whole thing!

Would I buy it again? I cannot wait until I can buy it again! As long as it is still Better than Half Price!

Waffle-O-Meter:

Pudding is what it is all about

 

I know I have been more than useless in posting blogs as of late. It has been a little tricky! But BOY I have enjoyed some delicious treats recently! I still find I turn to pudding in times of stress! Because that feeling of a warm, comforting ball of happiness in your tummy is a very life affirming experience! Over exaggerating? Never!

THIS is a Cherry, Chocolate and Red Velvet cupcake. It was bittersweet, and soft, yet substantial, with a beautiful cherry flavour!

My friend Nikki made these, and quite frankly, I would happily eat them again!!!

Red velvet has really hit the pudding scene (if such a thing exists) lately, and I would be quite excited to try out the recipe myself!

ERMAGHERD! This was possibly the most deliciously decadent and stupendous Sticky Toffee Pudding known to man on this good earth.

We bought it from Lidl. YES! Lidl! So not only was it incredibly cheap and cheerful. It was outstandingly delicious.

As me and my mother and father were sat eating this there was a hush of content silence within the room. An unspoken rule that this pudding requires out full, undivided attention. The treacle was thick and sticky, and the cake soft and moist. When served hot with vanilla ice cream, what more could you possibly need in life?

Picture this. King’s Heath’s very first Yum Yum Market. Set up in the centre of King’s Heath, Birmingham. An array of food stalls selling their goods, with queues across the square despite the weather. I saw a stall, this stall stood out to me immediately and grabbed my attention. Fresh Belgian Waffle!!!! OH WOW! So yes, I did queue for around 20 mins. And yes they did give me a waiting time for my waffle of a further 20mins (this extended to nearer 40…) BUT I was so so excited for my ‘Half n Half’ Chocolate Cinnamon and Chocolate Brownie Belgian Waffle. If you remember my last German Market Belgian Waffle experience was simply divine, so needless to say my expectation was high.

Sadly I was disappointed. It was a bit stodgy, and as my friend Nikki said, I probably didn't give it long enough to “settle” lol. But if the queue were shorter, waiting time was less, then I would probably still return! The clawing seduction of pudding will always attract my attention!!!

DUN DUN DUN!!!! The return of the 5 Waffle pudding! And yes, another waffle. AND YES, It is the Frankie and Bennie’s Waffle for the very beginning.

I want to say it was as good as I remember. It was not. In fact it looked and tasted like a different pudding all together! Still a good 4 waffles obtained for this desserty goodness!

Certainly less disappointing than my King’s Heath Waffle Drama!

 

 

I DIDN’T EVEN BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SHOP! BUT IT SOLD PUDDING! AND IT IS A SHOP CALLED “FANNY’S”!!!!!!!!!!

Considering how much I enjoyed writing my pudding blog before, and how successful it was, I really hope that this will be the start of my second wind of pudding blogs! After all, I am still in love with all things Pudding. And I would like to express this to my lovely and very loyal readers!!

BBC Good Food Show: Winter LIVE!

 

Background:

I went to the Summer good food show in 2008/09 with my Grandparents. So now I am an official money earner as opposed to a stinking student lame-o I jumped on the opportunity to go again! So with my first pay-check I bough myself a ticket to go, and with me came my Grandparents again, as well as my Auntie, Uncle and cousins, Abbie, Tom and Jordan.

What did we do?

We arrived dead on 09:00 for doors opening, and we instantly hit the stalls! Free samples of breads, crackers, cheeses, meat, sausage, wine, spirits and confectionary to name a few! How many miniscule cubes of cheese I ate today is completely unknown… But it was so so nice to be in one place with so many unique, niche and newcomer shops and businesses was really exciting! We got to sample new brands of product, new varieties and often new products entirely! Chocolate wine?! White chocolate whiskey?! Haggis, sea salt and cracked black pepper crisps?! Ever stall posed a new opportunity to taste something very exciting!

Not only were there stalls posing free samples of food and drink, but there were many demonstration stalls, advertising their kitchen utensils, gadgets, ovens, and experiences as well.

The HIGHLIGHT of the day was getting to meet Paul Hollywood! YES! PAUL HOLLYWOOD! He was kind enough to sign my programme, and have his photo taken with me next to the Great British Bake Off theatre. If I had been there when Mary Berry was later that day I may have just passed out.

What did I buy?:

I spend my money on some exciting things. I bought some AMAZING looking brownies from a stall called “The Brownie Bar”, 4 for £6.50 which is probably very expensive, but I will let you know my verdict with a blog post later! I also bought a chocolate panetone (watch this space), a vintage butter knife for my mum, an exciting Seychelles Yellow Curry and some toast-a-bags- cheese sandwiches will forever be easy from now on!

Would I go again?:

I have every intention of going to the Summer AND Winter Good Food Show Live’s in 2013!!

Advice:

• Book early!
• Make sure you get there early because around 12:00-13:00 it got MANICALLY busy and it was actually really quite difficult to move around and go to the different stalls without losing a limb or being nearly trampled.
• Take your own shopping trolley! I do not care how “uncool” they can be, they save your arms when you buy allsorts of goodies and have to carry them round for 5 hours!
• Shop around for the best product at the best price!

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		BBC Good Food Show: Winter VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

All images on this page are Copyright© of Amy Fellowes 01/12/12

“Happy Anniversary To You..” is that even a song?

 

Happy Anniversary To You, Happy Anniversary To You.. No it is not a song, but when your grandparents are presented with a(beautiful) cake with candles to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary (50 blinking years! That is half a century! More than double my age!") What song are you supposed to sing?

My wonderful grandparents are the centre of our family (my maternal family anyway). It is quite emotional to think that absolutely none of us would be sat there if it wasn’t for them. They have been a couple for over 50 years, and in their time together they have lived in 3 houses, birthed 3 children, who have consequently gone on to all marry and have 6 grandchildren between them, and to top that off, they are “Great-greats” to 2 great-grandchildren (my beautiful nephews).

So to celebrate this, as my Grandma did not want a ‘big fuss’- despite them both more than deserving one- they both paid for us all as a family to go out for a meal at a fantabulous carvery restaurant in Dunchurch, Rugby- The Huntsman.

My A.A. (Auntie Andrea) works there you see, and has done since before I was born, and and so this is a lovely place to go if we have have a family meal because the atmosphere is always lovely and light, and the food itself is delicious!

So after a scrummy starter, and generous, tender, superbly cooked carvery dinner, we all enjoyed tucking in to one of a tasty choice of puds.

I was a bit too full for my usual choice, Mississippi Mud Pie? Coffee Panna Cotta? Warm Chocolate Brownie? Crème Brule?…. all a bit warm and stickily filling after such an extravagant meal, so I had homemade soft dairy ice-cream, and hot fudge sauce. My, my, my, after all my years of coming to the

Huntsman Carvery, I never get disappointed by that pudding. That hot fudge sauce has a flavour like no other! Sweet, but not too sweet, bitter, but very tasty, chewy but smooth, and it combines so well with that substantial soft, silky, dense ice-cream perfection. I swear, if I could have a constant supply of this ice-cream and sauce I would be a happy happy person! FYI, as you can probably see from the picture, Hot Fudge is not the only flavour they do! Toffee, Chocolate, Strawberry, Butterscotch, Raspberry… and the list goes on, AAAAND you have the option of fluffy whipped cream and chopped nuts!

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And if that still isn’t enough then they EVEN do take-away!!! My brother being the delicate flower that he is decided to take away is homemade Warm Chocolate Fudge Brownie with chocolate sauce!

So for a fantastic evening, with absolutely second to none company, all accompanied by food that tastes even better than it looks, I would definately give it 5 waffles!

And a final word, see that stunning professional looking anniversary cake? My cousin Abs, who is studying catering at Rugby college decorated that. Very proud of her