The sunny weather has returned, just in time for Picnic Week! Northern Ireland’s own delicious sandwich, sub and salad range DELI-LITES popped by with a little picnic for me.
Their newest food-to-go range includes dairy free, vegan and gluten free options, as well as superfood bespoké bowls, filling subs, and traditional much loved sandwiches.
You can find DELI-LITES in Sainsburys, convenience stores and coffee shops across Northern Ireland.
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, so that makes today Pancake Day. The day to use up all the ingredients that people adhering to Lent will be avoiding. The day to ruin a frying pan or two, and set off the hall smoke alarm.
Whats your choice though? Thin, European style crepes? Or thick, fluffy, American breakfast pancakes?
I asked Twitter for their favourite pancake accompaniments.
@RaphaRat "I'm French but I definitely go for the big, fluffy, thick ones!! #yum"
@TheSarahStoryNI "I *may* do mine with bacon and Nutella today!"
@SummerRay "Bacon & Maple syrup all the way".
@RichardJohn "Golden syrup, banana".
@LeStewpot "Lemon & Sugar or icecream & raspberries".
@Foppyish "Chocolate, peanut butter and banana. ALL AT THE SAME TIME".
@JayneKitsch "Weave bacon into a lattice and bake with a layer of brown sugar and cinnamon. It'll go beautiful and is amazing for pancakes or as a burger topping".
I'm lucky to know several really amazing bakers who create beautiful, delicious cakes for their family & friends' celebrations.
One of the absolute best who has gone professional with her talent is Claire from Lily Pink Bakery. You may have ooh'ed and ahh'ed over Claire's cupcakes at St George's Market, but now if you want a slice of the action you can order directly from her website.
Here are some of her shows topping creations.
Birthday Cakes-
Fresh fruit-
Wedding designs-
And finally Claire's speciality, rainbow cakes
I'm a bargain hunter, it's in my genes. From my Gran Phillips teaching me the ways of the reduced counter, to my own mental map of every local supermarket in the area's mark down product section, I'm all about the savings, and rarely care about the packaging.
However, put something in a retro style design container & I will buy it despite not even particularly liking it- see the 1970s' 7-Up tins that have been available over the summer; I never drink the stuff otherwise.
Thats where today's product comes in, with its colourful, mid-centuryesque, simple design. I had them in my basket in Sainsburys before I'd even read what they were properly.
What are they then? Fancy rice puddings, with the puntastic name Naughty But Rice. The flavours are Raspberry & Coconut, and Chocolate Orange. There's also a Salted Caramel variety, but Holywood Sainsburys didn't have it in stock.
I wasn't mad about the raspberry one, despite being a coconut fan, but the chocolate orange is AMAZING and is getting bought again.
As with traditional rice pudding you can serve hot or cold, and they are so filling they could even be a sneaky treat of a breakfast. They also might make a good break to send in to school. Let me know if you try them what you think.
£4 for these classic pudding inspired sweets
M&S is one of the truly uber British brands that I would miss terribly if I ever moved to another country. Whilst they do offer worldwide tastes like sushi, Indian foods & Chinese delights, what they do really well is finding the absolute best of British farmers & producers products and bringing them to us at a great price. For example the famous Cornish Cruncher cheese, in its distinctive black packaging. Its an award winning cheese that Marks & Spencer discovered and now sell all over the UK.
This summer M&S launched their Tastes of the British Isles range, which covers almost every section of the Food Hall. They have curated speciality foods from every corner of the UK, including classic puddings, regional bakery items and a whistlestop tour of British cheese varieties. It's a range to be proud of, as it shows the world that Britain has such a wide selection of amazing foods and dishes, with tastes for every palette.
Every few weeks M&S invite me along to Sprucefield to pick items to feature on here, so it seemed about time I shone a light on some of the Taste of the British Isles products.
First, the sweet treats. I know any time I want to bring a dessert along somewhere I always head to M&S. The quality of their cakes is far superior to other supermarkets. Saying that, I'm not a huge fan of their own brand chocolate. My Scottish pal Michael advised I bought the giant chocolate buttons, but sadly even those didn't do it for me. I do like their fancy little bars, like the lemon mousse or cappuccino flavour bars, and you can't deny that Percy Pig is the King of the Gummies.
I'm a sucker for a scone with cream and jam & in the fridge section I came across a scone pack that came with both jam & clotted cream. I also liked the look of these strawberry & cream infused scones. All I need is a big pot of tea with these and I'm set.
Scone selection £3 : Pack of two scones £1.35
Whitby buns are doughnut shaped buns with a lemon curd filling. We had tried the berry version last time, so picked the lemon this time around.
Buns £1.30 : Drink £1.30
I've never seen a blackcurrant Swiss roll before, but if it's from M&S it's bound to be delicious. The little stripe in the cake is very cute and the £2.50 price tag is brilliant value.
£2.50
I'm not a frequent yoghurt eater, but sometimes I just take a wee notion and have a yoghurt week! I love some of the unusual flavours here, treacle & clotted cream, rhubarb & custard, and as for the 'Sussex lemon pond pudding', well I'm not very sure what that is, but I'm sure it will taste great. There are further flavours in this range I haven't featured, and they are all on offer at £3 for five.
West Country yoghurts 80p each or five for £3
Sometimes you want an after-dinner dessert but not something humongous, so these little tartlets are just the ticket. They are also available in a lemon meringue variety and cost £2.50 or are two for £4 mix and match with lots of other bakery items.
I chose the Eccles cakes not for my own house, but for my Dad. He's been buying Eccles cakes from Marks and Spencer for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately as a child I was put off them for life by my Dad trying to discourage me from eating his supply, telling me they were called 'Flies' Graveyards'. So I can't eat raisins or sultanas to this day, funnily enough!
£2.50 each or two for £4
The Tastes of the British Isles range also has a wide variety of savoury offerings. M&S stock more different types of Scotch Egg than I've seen anywhere else! After the success of the Cornish Cruncher cheese, they've expanded the products its a base for. I picked up this delicious Cornish Cruncher terrine, which will blow your socks off.
Terrine £2.40 : Scotch Egg £2
The Marks & Spencer cheese aisle is a place of wonder for cheese lovers. If there is such a thing as a cheese enthusiast, then they'll love the range of British cheeses M&S currently has on offer. I picked a twist on the classic Cornish Cruncher, a block with balsamic onions though it. My absolute favourite cheese right now is the Blacksticks Blue variety. They also sell it in a soft spreadable cheese, and I've been known to demolish a tub of it within 24 hours, it's just too good!
Juice £2 : Blacksticks Blue £2.20 : Cornish Cruncher £2.50
And look! Blacksticks Blue sausages! I'm not really sure how cheese infused sausages work, so if you want to see how they turn out, keep an eye on my Instagram as I'll show you how they turn out on there when I've cooked them.
Tastes of the British Isles sausage are £3.50
M&S are famed for their Lochmuir salmon, and these BBQ glazed fillets are perfect for late summer dinners. Served with a big green salad its a good option for healthy eating folks.
£5 or buy as part of a 3 for £10 deal
If you're feeling more like fish and chip shop style grub, they have a wide variety of different battered or breadcrumbed fish. You can buy family sized packs too.
£4.50 or 3 for £10 mix and match
Finally, also part of the three for £10 deal on meat and fish, how tasty does this gammon look with its ale chutney flavouring? Well done, M&S, always something new and wonderful to try.
£5 or three for £10
The sushi continues. Bored yesterday I searched for all the posts on Buzzfeed about sushi, and these caught my eye. So if you hate sushi could you still eat these doughnuts? Or would you forever be tainted by imagining raw fish? I'd be willing to eat a tray, just to make sure of course...
Some photos from the Buzzfeed article, the rest from good ol' Google.
The chopsticks! you can even eat them!
I am so hungry
I say Bangor, but more correctly the Cairn Bay Lodge guesthouse is slightly on round the coast in picturesque Ballyholme. I don't know about fellow Bangor West dwellers, but I often forget there's a beautiful stretch of water with rows of colourful Victorian houses and a beach walk way, just a short drive away on the other side of town.
Recently I've been slowly drip fed these gorgeous photos of kitsch interiors, smashing sea views and the odd picture of a plate of mouth-watering grub, on my Facebook timeline. The account behind these tempting photos was Cairn Bay Lodge, a guesthouse overlooking Ballyholme strand. So Michael and I decided it was time to make a trip over town and visit The Starfish Cafe ourselves!
Parking is free and plentiful on the road outside the Lodge, and the cafe spreads through two rooms, with plenty of seating. We visited at 11am-ish and it was busy, but we had a choice of seats.
The interiors were what tickled my fancy initially to prompt the visit. Absolutely splendid interior design, with taxidermy, fairy lights, prints by my very own logo designer Handdrawn Creative Neal McCullough and retro pieces which give the whole lodge a vintage feel without being tacky or gaudy in the slightest. It's kitsch done the North Down way.
The menu all looks delicious, with lots of seafood and high quality produce sourced locally. I went for French toast with mascarpone, crispy bacon and maple syrup. Michael just wanted some icecream, as he had had breakfast at home. This wasn't on the menu, but they kindly gave him a big bowl of vanilla icecream and only charged me £1. We also had coffee and fresh orange juice. The food was excellent. I was really impressed. If you are local and want a really good quality breakfast, or to impress a visiting guest, The Starfish Cafe at Cairn Bay Lodge is the hidden gem of a eaterie you're after.
For our four items I think we paid around £11.50 that's a little more than breakfast elsewhere, but the produce is very high quality. Next time I visit, probably this week coming, I want to try one of the crab dishes.
I had told the owners on their Facebook that we would be calling so we had a brief chat after eating. They are a lovely couple, who's names I didn't remember, I'm sorry! But I can imagine staying at the Lodge would be just as plesant as eating there.
Porridge option- photo from Cairn Lodge website
Photo from Cairn Lofge website
Photo from cairn lodge website
Photo from cairn lodge website
Photo from cairn lodge website
Photo from cairn lodge website
J H Lynch & Dallas Simpson prints, photo from Cairn Lodge Website
Menu image from www.nosebagni.com - a local foodie blog worth checking out
Five years ago asking someone in Northern Ireland for iced tea would be met with a blank look, but now we are all slugging coconut water, ice cold coffees, and the European mainland staple, fruit iced tea. Try as I might I just can't get into coconut water, even the local brands I sadly can't truthfully rave about as I don't have the refined taste, or health kick persistence to drink it. Iced tea is another story. Hampstead premixed teas aren't wishy washy, they are punchy and refreshing.
They come in four flavours, three of which Michael and I tried and loved. I simply didn't ask to try the elderflower variety as I for some reason just don't like the flavour in any drink or food, but I'm sure if you do like it the Hampstead tea will probably be delicious, as the other three certainly are. They retail in Tesco for £1.39, or you can bulk buy on the http://www.hampsteadtea.com/ site. If we get another heat wave I'll be stocking up, as they really are far more refreshing than fizzy drinks.
http://www.hampsteadtea.com/ site. If we get another heat wave I'll be stocking up, as they really are far more refreshing than fizzy drinks.
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
