Pop Chef

As soon as my children saw this product I had been sent to review, they were desperate to try it out.

The product is called Pop Chef from Character and is basically a set of six different shaped food cutters with an added fun factor. The fun part is that the cutters connect to an air bulb via a stem which means that once the cutter has been pressed into the food, the shapes can be 'popped' out using a blast of air.

Every time my children asked the question Can we do the Pop Chef today? - I would put them off saying that we didn't have the right sort of food to do it with. Eventually (as the deadline for the review loomed ever closer), I decided to just go with what I had in the larder rather than buy specific ingredients to use.

We started with bread (we always have bread in the larder!) Dylan chose the heart shape cutter which we connected to the bulb. The cutter pushed easily into the sliced bread and sure enough, made quite a pop as we pressed the bulb to expel our little morsel. The texture of the bread meant that the result wasn't a very well defined heart but when we used the same technique with a slice of cheese, we achieved perfect results. Dylan enjoyed assembling tiny heart shaped cheese sandwiches and eating them!

Next we tried cutting shapes out of potato. This worked well but there's always someone who sees the potential for mischief and turns your Pop Chef into a spud gun!

The children loved having little fried  potato circles for their tea, although the shapes did distort slightly in the process of parboiling.

The Pop Chef comes with a supply of wooden skewers along with ideas about how to transform a selection of fruits into works of art. I will definitely have a go with the children when our fruit bowl contains more promising ingredients than a few 'seen better days' apples.

I am really looking forward to our next home made pizza night. I think the Pop Chef will be fantastic for encouraging the children to be more adventurous with different toppings rather than just piling on the grated cheese. Who could resist flower shaped yellow, green and red peppers?

The kit does include a dislodging tool for those deeply disappointing moments when instead of a POP! you get a whistle and the food stays put inside the cutter.

Pop Chef from Character

Dora's Little Cooks Party Special

Some time ago I wrote a post about Dora the Explorer's Little Cooks Partwork and the banana muffins my daughter and I made together from a recipe contained within the colourful pages. Recently, I was sent a complementary copy of the Party Special from the same series.

If I'm honest, the price (£9.99) would have put me off a bit but the silicone moulds provided to create Dora Party Pops seem to be of a good quality and could be kept and used over and over again. They could also be used to make shaped ice cubes (if filled to the level just below the hole for the Party Pop sticks!)

Having just come back form a week's holiday and about to go off again for a further few days, we have not had the time to spend cooking but my four year old has thoroughly enjoyed looking at the stories and doing the activities in the magazine. She has had a good look at the instructions for how to make the Party Pops so we will be ready to go with that as soon as we get the chance. I will let you know how we get on!

Easter Sunday Farmyard Cake Fun

This is what happens when you let your six children plus one boyfriend and your husband loose with buttercream, sweets, fairy cakes and inspiration from your Cake Decorating Partwork.

Chicks, sheep, cows and pigs

It's been a lovely Easter Sunday:  teamwork in the kitchen to get the dinner prepared, Easter Eggs well and truly hidden by Liberty and Taylor's evil boyfriends, hours spent rediscovering retro board games from the depths of the games cupboard and of course the farmyard cakes.

Unlike last year, my husband even remembered to get me an Easter Egg!

It's 9.30pm now. The little ones are asleep in bed, and the big girls have retired to their room to multitask with TV and computers.

I still have a little sparkling Chardonnay to finish and the rest of the evening to relax and enjoy.

Life is good.

Cake Decorating

Earlier this year I blogged about my love hate relationship with Part Works.

There is a new Part Work out now entitled Cake Decorating. I saw the advert for it on the telly and wanted it badly. The next day, I handed my 99p to the lady behind the counter at WH Smiths and became the proud owner of Part 1, complete with butterfly cutters, pink sparkle glitter (non toxic but not recommended for consumption!) and a cardboard, two tiered cupcake stand.

I have pored over the pages of the magazine so many times already that it is starting to look a little tatty. Recipes, clear instructions, advice, tips - it makes everything look so do-able ... stunning cakes within my grasp.

The lavishly illustrated pages are practically pornographic in their explicitness (that really is how carried away I get about cakes).

I love baking cakes and have always dabbled in cake decorating. Although I have made some memorable attempts, my skill never quite matches my enthusiasm or vision. I was starting to convince myself that subscribing to the new Part Work might be the equivalent of taking a course in cake decorating. I could hone my skills to a professional level and be in great demand whenever there was an occasion that warranted a centre piece of a sweet and edible nature. I imagined all the Birthdays, Anniversaries, Graduations, Weddings, Births, Christenings and more that would be in my near future and saw myself providing spectacular creations that would be greeted with the oohs and aahs of appreciation. I really shouldn't let my imagination wander off like that!

I was very close to subscribing there and then.

However, I have an invisible companion that sits on my shoulder. I am undecided whether it is more aligned with demon or angel but it does NOT like me to spend money on myself. I am getting much better at silencing it but it still whispers in my ear. Part Works add up to a ridiculous amount of money over the weeks and months. Could I really justify that expense? Would I even gain any benefit? Were my dreams of becoming a cake maker in demand simply fantasies that had no foundation in reality?

There was one way to put all of these doubts to rest and that was to have a go at making some of the treats featured.

I had a really good time making iced butterfly butter cookies and white choc chip cupcakes decorated with buttercream and carefully crafted, sparkly, flower paste butterflies. It didn't feel like cooking, it felt like making art. I was quite proud of the results for a first attempt and I did learn a lot from my mistakes - mostly in terms of the importance of getting the correct icing consistency for different applications and having the right food colourings. The kids were very happy with my efforts and enjoyed the taste testing.

My little ones wanted to get involved  so I did let them have a go too which was lovely.

My older girls are very supportive of me subscribing - I am guessing that the idea of a different baking project every week would influence them quite strongly! Even my mum gave me the words of encouragement "Go for it!"

I shall sleep on it but don't be surprised if the QWERTY Mum blog starts to feature a lot more in the way of decorated fancies.

Cooking with Daddy

Partworks

One of the things that I like about this time of year is the flood of Partworks that land on the magazine aisles of my local newsagent. It never ceases to amaze me how many random topics are covered by this particular style of publishing - 'The Art of Quilting' being one that I noticed recently.

I have been seduced by the Partwork appeal in the past, collecting You and Your Camera, Changing Rooms, Build Your Own Dolls House, How My Body Works and Horrible Science over the years. If you stop to add up how much these collections cost in total it is quite horrifying and as invariably happens, the publication overtakes ones ability to keep pace with it. The issues remain unread and an embarrassment to my usual frugality.

Nowadays, I enjoy the Partworks in a simpler, more immediate, considerably less expensive fashion by only ever purchasing the first issue at the introductory price. My little Addy has thoroughly enjoyed part one of Dora the Explorer's Little Cooks Collection complete with silicon cake moulds and plate for the bargain price of 99p. The banana muffins she made were delicious.

Pizza Express Passata - Review

We all love Pizza.

Pizza nights at our house always have a party atmosphere. If we ever eat out as a family, a Pizza restaurant  is a good option.

Pizza Express make a very good Pizza.

After our Session in a Recording Studio in Birmingham last week, we all descended on The Bullring in search of lunch and made our way to Pizza Express.

It was very busy but they managed to find us a table and the girls buried their noses in menus to make their selections. Everyone enjoyed their meal.

Margherita, Quattro Formaggi, Padana or Funghi di Bosco?

Catering tins of Pizza Express Passata

Making the pizzas

Lunch is served - mmmm

I was very happy to find out that Pizza Express are making their Passata available for purchase in supermarkets and even happier to be sent one to review.

It comes in a 400g tin bearing the same eye catching design as the catering tins with the addition of the distinctive Pizza Express logo. It would certainly stand out on the supermarket shelves.

The back of the tin explains:

Our famous tomato sauce used in our kitchens since 1965, is made by the Greci family, near Parma, to a recipe perfected by Pizza Express founder Peter Boizot. 
Peter traveled to Italy at harvest time, securing the sweetest sun-ripened tomatoes to be crushed into sauce within 12 hours of picking. After seasoning with salt and pepper, the finishing touch was a fresh basil leaf added to every can.

To trial the Passata, I decided to make Calzone. This was an ambitious undertaking as I had never attempted it before. I can't honestly say it was a resounding success recipe wise but the Passata was gorgeous.

You can watch the Calzone Video on YouTube but be warned, it will take 13minutes and 44seconds of your life! For the edited highlights (ie the moment when we actually use the passata) see below (a mercifully short 2 minutes 22seconds!)

Despite the disastrous appearance of my Calzone, it was really tasty and everyone cleaned their plate. The Passata was sweet, thick, tomatoey and fresh tasting and transported me back to our Saturday lunch at the Pizza Express restaurant.

I still had half a can left after making the Calzone so I had a second attempt at making a cookery video. My little helper was with me again as we used the leftovers to create an open pie.

I don't think I am about to break into the world of TV chefs but I did enjoy our cookery project and the Passata was outstanding as an ingredient. What we lacked in skill and finesse the Pizza Express Passata more than made up for in taste.