Little yummy snippets…
Tilda Vintage Basmati
I have been a fan of Tilda basmati for some time, I wholeheartedly support their brand, ethics and policy of making a difference to their growers. I first found out about vintage basmati a few years ago, like a good wine fine basmati improves with age and is kept and is a much prized product. Tilda have a limited edition of the 2006 basmati, £4.99 for 500g in Waitrose, John Lewis and Ocado. Super sweet and nutty it is well worth experiencing and would make and excellent present.
Libertié Yoghurt
A new kid on the yoghurt block with a range of strained Greek Yoghurt. Thick and creamy. We liked the blueberry pots – yoghurt on top of blueberry compot, the perfect size for a snack or lunch box. Monica Galetti is working with the brand developing recipes for them. From Sainsburys.
Cadbury’s Crispello
The latest in a range of new products from Cadburys, these are little (well a generous bite size) crispy wafer parcels filled with chocolate paste and coated with Cadbury’s chocolate, we found them slightly too sweet. I think they look like mini chocolate treasure chests. Individually wrapped so perfect for lunch boxes. The best comparison is to think of them as nut free Ferrero Rocher alternative.
Løv Organic Teas
A delightful range of organic teas (in Scandinavia løv means leaf). We enjoyed green rooibos – different and very refreshing, and Løv is Beautiful a refreshing blend of white, green and rooibos with peach and apricot. Both blends are equally a good brewed hot or cold for a more refreshing drink in the summer. I adore the pretty coloured tins with a bird on them (my only quibble is that secures the tins is not that secure), and think that any item from the range would make an excellent present. Around £8.50 for a 100g tin depending on the tea.
Ilumni
Ilumi is a range of nut-, gluten- and milk-free ready foods; a total of twenty four soups, sauces, casseroles, vegetable and rice dishes, with choices for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. The pouches don’t require refrigeration; we can see two situations where they’re particularly suited. First, in places where you don’t have access to a fridge (camping, boats etc), and secondly, for those of us with friends who with allergies, it’s great to be able to serve something without any worries about cross contamination. Amongst other we tried the slow cooked chicken casserole, and were pleasantly surprised to find a rounded, tasty dish, that would also be perfect to keep in the cupboard for when you simply can’t face cooking.
Sophie Conran Homewares
New from Sophie is this very pretty range with lots of bright cornflower blue and deep pink perfect for the summer, both prints and solids in lovely heavy linens (I want several yards of all the fabrics to sew a new wardrobe from). The range includes tea towels, napkins, aprons, pot holders and would look good in any kitchen.
Hiddigy
Hiddigy send a few products to my mother for review whose overall view of the products she tried was very good and to be recommended. Crustless Smoked Bacon and Mature Cheddar Quiche was deemed better than the majority of shop quiches – although with the lack of crust she thought it would be impractical for a picnic if eating with your fingers.
Slow cooked steak and red wine pie was full of flavour with just the right amount of red wine, chunks of steak and whole baby onions which made for a good texture and filling.
Seed & Bean Chocolate
Glastonbury has just past, which for us involved watching it in comfort on the telly until the small hours over the weekend, whilst a small part of us lamented that we had not been about 20 years ago, before it got too big. British company Seed & Bean who make organic and fairtrade chocolate (with biodegradable wrappers) were the official chocolate suppliers. We loved their Sicilian hazelnut bar with the nuts ground throughout the chocolate.
Castello Cheese Mini Selection
Last week the Castello PR team sent me a lunch in a mini picnic hamper to tie in the launch of their mini cheese selection to National Picnic week. It was one of the best thought out and charming things that I have been sent this year. An adorable mini hamper with everything you needed for a “desk picnic”, with a mini cheese board, napkin & cheese knife, two cheeky mini bottles of wine and a pop up wine glass with a sheet of printed grass to picnic from. The new Castello mini cheese selection pack is available from ASDA for £1.50. (Watch out for that mini cheese board and knife in recipe posts in the future).
Nutribox
The Nutribox is another in a long line of gourmet food boxes, this time focussing on healthy and delicious snacks. I received a mini box costing £12.95 (postage is inc) containing the 8 treats shown above. Given the selection changes monthly a review of each seems unnecessary, but I was impressed with the range of types of snack and the number of brands featured, and enjoyed treats such as spicy nuts, raw chocolate from Mulu and the more regular fruit and nut based bars. These are the type of healthy snacks that are good for long journeys (I took some on the plane on my recent trip to Washington) and it appeals to my “green and crunchy” side. Nutribox promise that the normal retail value of the contents will always be more than the price you pay. All boxes are gluten free and vegetarian and you can order a vegan box. I’ll certainly be buying one in the future. Highly recommended.
Nutribox - Mini box with 8 to 10 items £12.95 (£10.95 on a 6 month subscription), standard box with 16 – 20 items £25 (£21 on a 6 month subscription)
Mini Moo Cards
Moo cards are business cards with character where you can select your photos to appear on the back of them. As you would image they are particularly suited to bloggers and the hardest part of the ordering process was to select which images to pick for my cards. Designing your cards is very easy and you can save the process and continue another day with ease. My only niggles were changing the font required you to do it one line at a time and that the cards have come out slightly darker than I thought they would. Overall I am delighted with them.
Many thanks to all the brands featured for samples and invitations. All images; apart from Liberte Yoghurt, Ilumi & Seed & Bean are my own.
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