Fruit & Nut Salami, Chocolate Olives, Sparkling Rose and Coffee Flavour Drinks, & Nougat That Looks Like Gourmet Sushi- Curious Candy For Your Sweet Tooth From M&S Spirit of Summer 2017

Gastro Book £5

We are at the half way point of the summer holidays, but there's still plenty of time to be adventurous and try the inventive treats from the Marks & Spencer Spirit of Summer range for 2017. Mediterranean inspired goodies are to be found in every aisle and every food department. 

This week we were invited to try the sweet delights of the confectionary, dessert and drinks ranges. What struck me about the choices in the colourful fridges and tempting shelves were how unusual some of the products were. There are 'chocolate olives', which are milk chocolate coated almonds. 

Chocoate Fruit & Nut Salami at first sounds crazy, but then thinking about it- yes please. Peach Bellini Truffles and a Mocha, Lemon, Pistachio and more selection of Gelato Truffles make up the Spirit of Summer confectionary selection.

Summer Nougat £4

Jellies £3 : Fudge £4

Of course my eye was instantly drawn to these beautiful little packages of nougat and fudge. They look like gourmet pieces of hand rolled sushi, but sweet! Heaven! The nougat has apricot, pistachio & rose flavours, while the fudge has pecan, ginger & Valencian Orange nibbles to enjoy.

Smix just loves watermelon anything, so the selection of watermelon and lemon & blueberry juice jellies are perfect for his dessert. 

Lemon & Rose Presse £2

Agua Fresca £2.20 : Yoghurt £1.50

Continuing the watermelon theme, we picked up a freshly squeezed Agua Fresca.

If you like your flavours unusual, the Spirit of Summer drinks choice is inventive also. You can be adventurous with a sparkling lemon & rose presse, a coffee spritzer, or for a party with some surpirses why not serve some Olive Vodka, Murcia Lemon Buck's Fizz, or Peach Frizzante?

Chocolates £2 : Drinks x4 £2.30

For grab from the fridge & go, handbag-sized chilled cans, there are Spirit of Summer Sparkling Grape, Sicilian Lemon & Grapefruit mini-cans. There's also an orange flavour if you prefer. 

There are some more interesting flavour combos in smaller snack packs, like the Hazelnut Coffee Vanilla Custard Chocolates. 

Lastly, for the ultimate summer dessert, it's got to be cinnamon sugar dusted, oven-warmed churros, with a side of hot chocolate sauce.  Hopefully those will stick around after summer 2017 is gone.

Churros £4

More Sausage For Your Sizzle- 3 for £10 BBQ & Grill Delights From M&S

Much as I love a good old fashioned sausage, I'm rather partial to the wealth of fancy BBQ treats Marks & Spencer have on offer each year. King prawn skewers, chilli & halloumi kebabs, smoky ham & cheese warmed on the BBQ grill.... I'll take one of everything please!

Handily, M&S have a number of offers on right now that means you can try more of the products. The BBQ Grill meats are all 3 for £10 mix and match, so for one bundle I got the two different skewers above, plus the Lemon & Herb Salmon Flatties. Then a second £10 selection of 12 Cornish Cove & Bacon Posh Puppies (hot dogs), BBQ Beef Brisket in a chilli glaze, and the Mixed Slider Selection- 4 chorizo pork & 4 Moroccan spiced lamb mini burgers.

Chorizo sliders, Moroccan lamb sliders & Cornish Cove and bacon Posh Dogs on the grill!

M&S also have a range of delicious BBQ Grill sides, which fall under the 2 for £4, or 3 for £6 offers. I picked the Smokey Spiced Potatoes (above) and the Sweet Potato Wedges (below). These can simply be placed in the oven to cook while the meat is BBQed.

Weird Judy, BBQ Defender

Marks & Spencer is the home of exotic salads, and their long running 2 for £4 offer on the mini boxed fresh salads includes the new recipes for Spirit of Summer 2017. The Orzo Pasta below is excellent, it will be a summer-long repurchase for me. 

Hopefully we will have lots of sunny weather for BBQs! 

M&S Spirit of Summer 2017 is In Store Now- 20% Off Meals, Deli & Salad Offers, Plus a Summer Meal Deal for £7

Spirit of Summer has arrived in store at  Marks & Spencer and there are a selection of offers to take advantage of to try the new dishes and meals.

The first is the £7 Summer Meal for Two. It's a main, a side and a salad, for two to share. There are chicken, fish and meat options, but I really found myself fancying the vegetarian offers. I chose the tomato & mozzarella stuffed peppers, above, but there were also very tasty looking stuffed aubergines. It was tricky to choose, which became the theme or selecting items for this blog post. There is a lot of fab new products on the shelves in the Spirit of Summer 2017 range, dishes and ingredients I haven't seen in supermarkets before even, so choosing is tricky, due to wanting to try everything at once!

After oven cooking and trying the mozzarella stuffed peppers, I HIGHLY recommend them. The pesto drizzle was heavenly. I'll be buying them again. 

So it's handy to be able to choose from the deli 3 for £7 deal, and the new Spirit of Summer deli dishes are included. There are also summer meat selections in the 3 for £10 offer and I had to try the new calamari with pomegranate dressing. 

The new summer deli items are from all over the world so there are a lot of exotic tastes to try. Last summer season the ranges seemed fixed in the Americas for flavours, but Spirit of Summer 2017 is all new, and already I'm loving the variety this year a lot more. 

Another deal you can take advantage of right now is 20% off a wide range of the summer meals and desserts. This includes much of the range that doesn't fall under the deli or meat deals. For example the lamb flatbread was only £2.40 with the offer, which is a bargain for a fancy pizza for one. 

The new desserts I haven't investigated too much yet, but there are cakes, cupcakes and fridge desserts in the 20% off deal. The Valencian Orange & Almond cupcakes are a delight. I'm fond of anything with almond, and the flavours balance each other nicely. Perfect for afternoon tea.

Finally, the small square salads are 2 for £4 and there are a good half dozen new dishes to choose from. The feta, tomato and morello cherry salad was a must try for me. The green courgette salad was fresh and light and would make a great side for an early BBQ.

Let me know what Spirit of Summer treats you've tried this week, @rudedoodle on Twitter.