Parragon Books JUNE: 'Project Dad: Make Every Day An Adventure With Your Dad' *REVIEW*

For June's Parragon book review instead of a cookery book, I was sent 'Project Dad: Make Every Day An Adventure With Your Dad' in aid of Father's Day. We had a glorious Father's Day this year thanks to a wonderful BBQ with family and blazing sunshine! More about that later, but first, the book...

'Project Dad' is a hardback and ring-bound book, it's super-sturdy and manual-esque in style, making it appealing to Dads the world over!

Instead of being a cover to cover read, this book is one you can dip in and out of, full to bursting with fun activities your children can do with their Dads (or their mums for that matter!). 

Project Dad is available for £10 from WHSmith

We all want to have fun with our children and make the most of our down time together, but sometimes it is hard to come up with new, exciting (and inexpensive) things to keep them occupied. This book contains 20 exciting projects for weekends and rainy days. There are ideas for things to make, from simple toys, such as a kite or a glider, through to a shadow puppet theatre or a catapult game. There are also activities you can do with your child, such as building an outdoor shelter or having a garden camp out. Each project contains clear instructions and images that guide you through each step. It is a very well thought out and child-friendly book. I'd say it best suits children of around 4 and up. 

The book is divided into two sections 'The Great Outdoors' and 'Fun At Home', then within these categories is loads of ideas for you and your little ones to get stuck into. 

In 'The Great Outdoors' section there's chapters on how to build a bug hotel, how to have a garden camp out, how to make a kite and what to do at the beach - as well as lots of other fun ideas. 

In the 'Fun At Home' section there's chapters on how to make a shadow puppet theatre, how to make a pom pom puppy, how to build a monster trunk and so much more! 

Although full of great ideas, most of the activities were a little out of Bert's age range (he's only 22 months) - so instead I decided to try out the activity that Liam and I could do together, and Bert could enjoy afterwards (munch, crunch) - a little baking (of course!). 

As a family we are mightily fond of biscuits - especially homemade ones and, being the true mud & worms boy that Bert is, he is completely bonkers about dinosaurs (rawr!) - so when I saw a recipe for dinosaur skeleton biscuits, I just couldn't resist! 

Project Dad: Dinosaur Skeleton Biscuits! 

Liam and I got our bake on together in the kitchen while Bert napped, and we had loads of fun creating some dino-skeleton biscuits. Now, they might now be particularly anatomically correct - but close enough, eh? I don't think Bert noticed! 

They were really fun to make, the instructions were clear and luckily I had all the ingredients in my pantry. They were super tasty! Bert roared every time he ate one - bless him!

I'm absolutely sure we will be dipping in and out of this book for many years to come - the  older Bert gets the more of the activities he'll be able to do so it'll become the perfect antidote to a boring rainy day! 

I can't wait until I can start getting him into crafting like his mummy - the first activity from the book that I want to do when he's ready is to make this super-cute caterpillar out of an old sock! 

A sock creature - a genius sewing project for little ones! 

His Daddy on the other hand can't wait to build this awesome cardboard castle - imagine the fun they would have building and then playing in a masterpiece such as this... 

A cardboard box castle - so much fun to be had! 

This year we had a really marvellous Father's Day - we headed over to my Mother and Father-in-Laws' house for a big family BBQ. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we spent the whole day in the garden eating, drinking, chatting, laughing and playing! Good old fashioned quality family time - perfect. 

I hope you all had a marvellous Father's Day too - I can't believe it was 2.5 weeks ago! How the time flies! 

Mrs B

xxx

If you'd like to find out more information about books in the Parragon book ranges you can contact them via their social media platforms:

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Disclaimer: I received this product from the publisher for free. However, they have not paid me for this review, and they do not exercise any editorial control over my review or anything else on this site.

Lucy's Lamb Kleftiko *RECIPE*

Lucy's Lamb Kleftiko 

(Serves 4)

This slow cooked lamb dish is my favourite dinner of all time. Reminiscent of my childhood holidays to Greece, I have developed this recipe over time, having tasted many Kleftiko dishes all over Greece, Cyprus and of course, here in the UK. This final recipe is a culmination of all of the best Kleftikos I've tasted - and I am finally happy to share it with you all. 

Kleftiko is a Greek meal traditionally cooked under ground, or in a clay oven - but these days the Kleftiko is cooked in a parcel using parchment paper or foil.

It's not the prettiest dish ever, but I promise you the flavour it produces is to die for.  

My Kleftiko awaiting a long, slow bake. 

Ingredients

400g boned lamb shoulder, cut into large chunks

8 shallots, peeled and cut in half

8 whole peeled lightly smashed garlic cloves

12 baby plum tomatoes, whole

12 baby new potatoes, cut into quarters or halves

200g feta cheese, diced or crumbled

200g pitted green olives

1 whole lemon, cut into 8 wedges 

1 teaspoon oregano

A generous pinch of cinnamon 

2 bay leaves

2 springs of rosemary 

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped  

1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Salt & pepper to season 

Rapeseed or olive oil to coat

Method

First pre-heat your oven to 130 degrees. 

Next, get a baking tray and line it with foil. You are basically making a giant foil wrapped food parcel, so be generous with your foil. 

drizzle a little oil into the bottom of the foil lined tray and add your diced lamb. 

Add in all your other diced ingredients, drizzle with more oil and mix until everything is combined. 

Add your herbs/spices and seasoning, mix again. 

Wrap your parcel up with a foil lid, so it is sealed on all sides. 

Put in the oven for 4 hours at 130 degrees. 

After 4 hours is up, turn your oven up to 180 degrees and cook for one final hour. 

Serve straight from the oven with a big Greek salad, warm pitta breads and a homemade Tzatziki. 

Kleftiko with warm pitta and homemade Tzatziki. 

Tzatziki 

To make homemade Tzatziki:

1. Coarsely grate half a cucumber, once you've grated your cucumber squeeze it in your hands to get rid of excess water. 

2. Mix a tub of full fat greek yoghurt with a large drizzle of olive oil, the juice of a whole lemon, 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill, 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint and the grated half a cucumber. 

3. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste and serve. 

The Tzatziki can be kept in the fridge covered up for a day or two. 

Happy Greek cooking everyone!!

I'd love to hear from you if you give this recipe a go...

Mrs B

xxx

Choose A Christmas Less Ordinary with Not On The High Street #NOTHSChristmas

Last Thursday I headed to London (Baby! *only F.R.I.E.N.D.S fans will get this*) to meet my gorgeous friend Rhia. We headed out for a lovely treat lunch together at Ed's Diner in Piccadilly, for a well needed catch up - and then scooted round the corner to Not On The High Street's Christmas in July press day. 

My treat lunch at Ed's Diner: a chickpea and quinoa burger, with sweet potato fries and a Root Beer Float - I still tried to make healthier choices, but enjoyed a lovely treat too. 

If you haven't discovered it before, Not On The High Street is the UK's largest online curated marketplace which champions small creative businesses. Every handpicked item on their site is sold and sent directly by their entrepreneurial Partners. They really do stock everything the discerning gift-giver and home-decker-outer needs. Add the odd chocolate teapot (literally!). 

Both Rhia and I are complete Christmas nuts! So, naturally we were majorly over-excited about what NOTHS had to offer us for this coming Christmas. Never mind that it was a baking hot 27 degrees and we were in summer dresses and flip flops! Ha! 

Of course, Not On The High Street didn't disappoint. They had decked out three floors of a beautiful London property in Greek Street full to bursting with Christmas goodies. We spent a glorious few hours browsing the rooms and deciding on our top picks for gifts and decorations this coming Christmas - we seriously wanted all of it - with trends such as copper/rose gold (YES! My favourite!) and Mexican Fiesta - there were so many prettys to admire, and I was brimming with future gift-buying inspiration, as well as compiling a rather massive personal wish list, of course! 

The super-stunning Christmas in July event in London 

I can't show you everything we saw, as I'd literally be here all day - but I've compiled a collection of my favourite items - I wanted to try and fit in as many beauties as possible, so get ready to be bombarded...

My Xmas Gift Top Picks from NOTHS

FOR HER

GIN AND TONIC SOAP £9.85 - SET OF 3 COPPER CONCRETE POTS £19.50 - I DON'T DO MORNINGS COTTON TSHIRT £24.95 - PERSONALISED PENGUIN LOVE LINEN CUSHION £35 - CHUNKY KNIT THROW £200 -  STAG PLATE SET £35 - RICHMOND LEATHER STRAP OWL WATCH £100 - COPPER, SILVER & GOLD FLAT BANGLES BY SACHA JACOBSEN - PERSONALISED YOUR CHILD'S DRAWING NECKLACE £45 - CHOCOLATE TEAPOT £19.95 - SMOKING WOODEN LOG CABIN £25 - PERSONALISED HERRINGBONE THROW £80 - WOODLAND CREATURE BISCUITS BY HONEYWELL BAKES. 

FOR HIM

PERSONALISED WOODEN MIX TAPE - CHOCOLATE CHEESE BOARD £30 - BACON SARNIE CUFFLINKS £25 - ASSORTED HIP FLASKS - ASSORTED MENS JEWELLERY - WHISKY STONES £15  - CHOCOLATE BRUSSELS SPROUTS PACK OF 8 £9.95 - DINOSAUR PLANTER WITH PLANT £19.50 - MEXICAN CACTUS MARGARITA COCKTAIL GLASS £11.50 - BIG KID LITTLE KID TSHIRT TWINSET £34 - MUGLEXIA MUG £15 - YOU SIR WASH BAG £24

FOR THE KIDS

MAKE YOUR OWN CASTLE £138 - PERSONALISED DINOSAUR SHELFIE £78 - PERSONALISED LEGO BAUBLE - WOODLAND PUPPET ADVENT CALDENDAR £85 -  MAKE YOUR OWN FAUX FOX KNITTING KIT £39.99 - PRETEND PLAY FOOD FOR SANTA SET £8 - KNITTED BUNNY JUMPER - RAWR (I'M A DINOSAUR) T SHIRT £14.95 - LEATHER BABY MOCCASINS £29 - DRAW ON ME BALANCE BIKE £64.99 - REMEMBER WHEN WOODEN BAUBLE - FELT ROAST DINNER £25.

FOR FRIENDS & FAMILY

PINKSTER RASPBERRY GIN £30 - GIN HOT WATER BOTTLE COVER - DRINK MORE GIN PRINT £14 - BOX OF 12 CHRISTMAS BISCUITS £23 - PERSONALISED CHRISTMAS BISCUIT - CHUNKY KNIT BEANBAG - ROSE GOLD LOVE LETTER NECKLACE - PERSONALISED WOODEN WREATH DECORATION - HIMALAYAN SALT PESTLE/MORTAR £16.99 & HIMALAYAN SALT BLOCK £24.99 - POLAR BEAR GINGERBREAD BISCUIT SET £9.50 - CHRISTMAS DINNER WRAPPING PAPER - REMEMBER WHEN BAUBLE. 

While wandering round I spotted these gorgeous biscuits and knew straight away they were by local Bedfordshire business-woman, and I'm happy to say, my lovely new friend Nila Holden. I did a little squeal at seeing her biscuits in this stunning setting (much like I did when I saw then in Fortnum & Mason for Mother's Day!)...if you haven't discovered Nila's delicious and jaw droopingly stunning decorated biscuits before, then you must! Her individual personalised cookies would make the most perfect Christmas Day table place settings...

PERSONALISED CHRISTMAS COOKIE BY NILA HOLDEN £6

At the top of my wish list is one of these incredible personalised embossed wooden rolling pins...think of the fun I could have with one of these! 

PERSONALISED EMBOSSED WOODEN ROLLING PIN £26

My absolute hands down favourite item of all was this stunning advent calendar. Each little numbered pouch is just big enough to fit in a small daily treat for you little one as they head through advent. Then, each day you can turn the pouches inside out and it becomes a stunning woodland creature puppet! By Christmas Day you're left with the most adorable collection of 24 woodland creature puppets to play with - how adorable!

WOODLAND PUPPET ADVENT CALDENDAR BY LITTLE BABY COMPANY £85 

As you can see NOTHS provided us with so many wonderful ideas for Christmas gifts, wish lists, the Christmas dinner table, sweet treats and so much more. Immersing myself in all things Christmassey got me super-excited about our 3rd Christmas with Bert and all it will bring...

We even came away with a gorgeous little press goodie bag each containing these wonderful Cocktail Pastilles from Smith and Sinclair, and one of the crazy-awesome air plant Dinosaur Planters! 

What fabulous gifts... thank you NOTHS! 

In our goodie bags: a SMITH AND SINCLAIR COCKTAIL PASTILLES (BOX OF 12) £16.95

In our goodie bags: a DINOSAUR PLANTER WITH AIR PLANT £19.50

(These amazing little metallic dinosaurs come with an 'air plant' which has not roots and needs no soil - you just keep it in a bright place, away from direct sunlight, and spritz it with water every 1-2 days to keep it alive! Amazing! Ours now sits proudly next to my laptop on my desk!)

After our lovely little Christmassey jaunt in London, Rhi and I headed to the best (and oldest) Espresso Bar in London, Bar Italia, for a much need caffeine hit & natter. It was lovely to catch up with my gorgeous friend, and have such a fun day together. Thanks Rhi! 

After saying bye bye to Rhi, I decided to have a good old stroll across London (to burn off some of my Ed's Diner lunch!) and headed to Camden to seek out the Cereal Killer Cafe...a cafe that sells, you guessed it... every single type of cereal you could ever imagine!! 

As a big cereal fan, I'd been meaning to head over to Camden for a peek at this cereal-cafe-wonder ... annoyingly the battery on my phone was almost dead when I arrived (from all that Christmas-happy-snapping at NOTHS) but I did manage to get a couple of shots of the exterior and counter. I ordered a small bowl of an American cereal called Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and it was HEAVENLY! 

Cereal Killer Cafe, Camden

Cereal Killer Cafe, Camden.

After 3.5 hours worth of walking over the whole day, I arrived home at 8pm absolutely shattered - but oh what an awesome day! 

Now I'm all excited and fired up about starting my Christmas shopping - is July too early to start?

Mrs B

xxx

In Sweetie Heaven with The Treat Kitchen, Nottingham. *REVIEW* & *GIVEAWAY*

The Bishop Clan have recently been trying out some sweetie delights from The Treat Kitchen, a gorgeous traditional yet modern sweetshop based in Nottingham and run by husband and wife team Martin and Jess Barnett. The shop has the most amazing array of sweets packaged in the most beautiful way, all of which are also available to buy online - hooray! 

Excitingly, The Treat Kitchen also provides a bit of Willy-Wonker-style magic in store with it's very own Fudge Kitchen, where you can see their amazingly luxurious fudge being made on site. 

They kindly sent us a selection of five of their best selling sweets to try at home, and we've been working our way through them (it's a hard life, eh?)

Although I'm not a huge sweet eater, it's nice to have a naughty little treat sometimes (moderation is the key, of course!) but I'm a true believer in "a little of what you fancy does you good", so I dived straight in! 

What a treat - a fabulous selection of sweeties from The Treat Kitchen, Nottingham. 

I don't ordinarily give Bert sweets like this to eat, I have always been concerned about him choking etc but as he's gotten older, and now has a rather lovely full set of gnashers which are perfect for sweet-munching, we let him try a few of the soft strawberry milk bottles and jelly beans and (of course!) he loved them! A rare treat for his little tastebuds, but what's a childhood without sweets, eh?

RADIOACTIVE STRAWBERRY SOURS (120g) £1.95

Out of all the sweets we were sent, these were my favourite! They are SO SOUR you just wouldn't believe it: eating them took me straight back to my childhood days, where we would all try to outdo each other with our sour sweet eating bravery! These sours soon sweeten up, and if you're brave enough to get through the tastebud-detonation of the first few sucks, you'll be left with a sweet strawberry boiled sweet with just a hint of sourness. 

They're really lush - and in very fun packaging too! 

ENGLISH BLACKBERRY JELLY BEANS (240g) £3.95

AND

POMEGRANATE JELLY BEANS (240g) £3.95

These lovely fruity jelly beans come in the most awesome traditional glass milk bottles, which make them the perfect gift for someone special. I love a gift that has multi-uses, and can think of so many ways you could re-use the packaging once the sweets are finished - I'm thinking milk bottle vase, button storage, pen pot, snack jar...the possibilities are endless!

I've been helping myself to a sneaky handful of these fruity jelly beans every now and again - they provide the perfect sweet hit you crave sometimes, and are truly very scrumptious. 

We tried both the English Blackberry and the Pomegranate flavours - they also sell loads of other interesting flavours such as liquorice, marshmallow, coconut, butterscotch, caramel popcorn and many more! 

STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKES (140g) £1.95

These were Liam and Bert's favourite from our selection - I was lucky to even snap a photograph of these babies, as they were gone before you could say "cavities". As retro as you like, these little milk bottles are soft, chewy, and mallowy with a really gorgeous strawberry flavour - tasting just the same as I remember them from my youth! 

TRADITIONAL NOTTINGHAM ROCK POUCH (200g) £1.95

Rock for me is one of those things that I like the idea of until I try to bite into a stick of it and nearly break my teeth! The clever people at The Treat Kitchen sell their rock already cut into chunks...genius idea! So, you can pick a piece and suck it to your hearts content without breaking an incisior or chipping a canine. 

Their Nottingham rock is full of fruity apple and raspberry flavour and is striped with the colours of the Nottingham flag (who knew Nottingham had a flag?!)

We are loving having these sweet treats on hand at home and we'll be taking what's left with us on our little seaside holiday next weekend to share with the extended family. 

The Treat Kitchen is the ideal place to shop for sweetie-related gifts, as they seem to take so much pride in their awesome packaging and sourcing the best quality sweets around. 

WIN! WIN! WIN! 

The lovely people from The Treat Kitchen have kindly given me this awesome sweetie hamper to give away containing:

1 x 400g tutti fruiti sweets milk bottle

1 x 375g fizzy bubblegum bottles milk bottle

Just use the Gleam App below to enter. 

Good Luck! 

WIN A Sweetie Hamper from The Treat Kitchen

If you can't wait to order some sweetie delights from The Treat Kitchen online then make sure you use the code: BANTER10 at the checkout and you'll receive 10% off your first order.

New Tinware Range from Wrendale Designs by Hannah Dale *REVIEW*

Oooh I've got some lovely stuff to share with you all today. Some inspiration for breathing new life into your kitchen with the fabulous new tinware collection from the uber-talented Hannah Dale of Wrendale designs.

Hannah is the most stunning artist, she captures animals in such a beautiful and unusual way - I've never seen work quite like it! I've been a huge fan of her artwork since discovering her through Facebook a few years ago, and have sent many of her greetings cards over the years. As well as greetings cards her artwork is also available on an amazing selection of prints, stationary, kitchenware and tinware for you to purchase in her online shop. 

Hannah's recent launch of an amazing tinware collection includes cake tins, a biscuit barrel, cracker tin, tea/coffee/sugar canisters, rectangular tin, round canister, and a pencil tin. I knew as soon as I saw them that they would make the perfect addition to my home, and wanted the biscuit barrel, cracker tin and tea/coffee/sugar canisters to liven up my cream country kitchen. I knew that Bert would go mad for the quirky animal designs, as he is just animal crazy at the moment! You haven't lived until you've heard his animal noises, especially 'Baa!" - it's hilarious!!

We were badly in need of a new biscuit tin, as ours had recently broken, so this delivery couldn't have come at a better time. We were sent the kitchen tinware to try out and now they've been living in our kitchen for a few weeks I thought it was time to share them with you!

This collection is so wonderful that I can pretty much let the pictures do the talking...

biscuit barrel priced at £13.99 and cracker tin priced at £8.99 

Each item of tinware uses the classic Wrendale Designs colour-scheme of a gentle green and white: soothing, classic and bang on trend with the shabby-chic/French rustic colours around at the moment. The tins are covered in Hannah's beautifully quirky animal-themed artwork and each stunning animal is full of life and character. 

tea, coffee and sugar canisters priced at £21

The best thing about this tinware collection aside from how beautiful they are to look at, it that they are incredibly well made and robust - plus they are priced very reasonably. Each tin has so much attention to detail with artwork adorning the lids, and inside the tins too! 

So much detail on the tea, coffee and sugar canisters!

Ducks, ducklings, hares and owls smother these fabulous kitchen essentials: Hannah's cheeky animals are full of life and frivolity and I defy anyone who wouldn't smile at seeing these little faces every time they grab a biscuit or make the tea! 

There's nothing quite as glorious as a full biscuit tin! 

We have been using the tinware for a few weeks now and we're super-chuffed with them. Everything is staying really fresh inside, so they're clearly air tight, and they're incredibly well made and sturdy. 

Filled to the brim with Bert's crackers and breadsticks - he loves the duck design on the tin and shouts "duck! duck!" every time I get him a snack from it. 

Without exception everyone who has come to the house to visit since the addition of these new tins, has commented on how lovely they are! So many visitors said they hadn't heard of Hannah's work or Wrendale Designs, so I'm really happy to be getting the chance to spread the Wrendale-word. 

a close up of some of Hannah's incredible artwork featured on her tinware items

The tins have made the perfect finishing touch to my kitchen, I love how well they fit in with my cream shabby-chic units, appliances and existing decor, and the fact that I have multiple matching items pleases me greatly - I love a bit of co-ordination, even in the kitchen! 

I love how they look in my kitchen - the perfect addition adding a little edge of quirky charm - I smile every time I make the tea and coffee now!

I hope you love these tins as much as I do - please do go and check out all of Hannah's fantastic products on the Wrendale Designs website: there are so many stunning animal designs - the website is the perfect place to shop for any animal-lover! 

Next on my wish-list from Wrendale Designs are...

the glass worktop saver

the large placemats

the double oven glove

these coasters

and of course this cotton apron, to make that 20 aprons in my collection! 

Bye for now & happy shopping!!

Mrs B 

xxx

For more information on Wrendale Designs follow them over on their social media channels:

@wrendaledesigns on Twitter
Wrendale Designs on Facebook 

Disclaimer: I was sent a biscuit barrel, cracker tin and tea/coffee/sugar canisters from Wrendale Designs for the purpose of this review. All words, opinions and photographs are my own.