The Matilda Mae Auction is Now Open!

Two weeks ago we met with a group of fellow North West bloggers and others to walk and remember Matilda Mae, the beautiful daughter of Jennie and David, who fell asleep as a result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), three months ago. The day of the walk was grey and wet but we walked, we talked and we blew bubbles up to Matilda Mae in the sky.

Sarah from A Party of Seven took some amazing photos of the day and I wanted to share these stunning shots of my little family.

Walks took place all over the country to raise money for the Lullaby Trust which researches SIDS and aims to ensure that no families feel the agony that Jennie and David are. This was the first in a series of events to raise money and remember Matilda Mae. Some bloggers will taking part in a parachute jump soon but there is a great way to contribute to the fundraising going on right now.

The Tots 100 has come together with a huge amount of companies and individuals to organise an auction to raise money for the Lullaby Trust, a few items have already ended but more are still being added. All items are brand new and have been donated for the auction. Why not click through to the Matilda Mae Auction and see if you can grab a bargain and raise money for a fantastic cause.

For more information on the auction please read Ghostwriter Mummy's post - An Auction to Remember Matilda Mae or, of course, Matilda Mae's beautiful mummy Jennie's blog Edspire.

Fennel Gratin and the Pyrex Impressions Square Roaster

I received a veg box the other week and, contained with in it, were two bulbs of fennel. I'm a big fan of fennel so knew exactly what I would do with it. On the same day I received a Pyrex Impressions Square Roaster which I knew would be the perfect receptacle for this recipe.

First, the roasting dish. Pyrex' Impressions range is made of 100% stoneware, oven proof up to to 250 degrees.The dish we received has an attractive red glaze and vintage styling which, in addition to protecting the dish from heat, makes it look great. The Impressions range is designed to be used from oven to table and saves on washing up as you don't need to use separate dishes for serving. You can also cover leftovers in the dish, pop it in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave. Anything that saves on the washing up is a hit in this house! You can also freeze this dish, but personally I don't think I could stand to have it in the freezer for too long as I'm using it all the time. It is also safe to use in the dishwasher if you have one (we don't sadly). 

Anyway, back to the Fennel. I love gratins, as an occasional, indulgent side dish, and we quite often use potato or cauliflower to make them. I have used fennel in the past though.

Fennel Gratin

You will need:

1 bulb of fennel per person (unless they are really large in which case 1 for 2 people)

Nutmeg

150ml fresh cream

2 cloves of crushed garlic

50g Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan if you can't get that)

Heat oven to 200°C

Thinly slice the fennel and place in a pan of boiling water, par boil for six minutes then drain thoroughly.

Place the sliced Fennel in a roasting dish (the Pyrex Impressions Square Roaster is perfect for this)

Grate nutmeg over the dish (or sprinkle if you are using ground nutmeg), I like quite a lot of nutmeg but feel free to use however much you like, or miss it out if you aren't keen on it.

Pour the cream over.

Sprinkle the garlic across the cream and fennel mix.

Top with the Pecorino Romano

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden.

Serve with fish, or I'm told it is great with Roast Lamb too. For vegetarians, or a lighter meal, serve in larger quantities with a mixed green salad.

The best part is that the Pyrex Impressions Square Roaster's glaze made it easy to wash off the baked on gratin when the dish was empty!

Pyrex is a trademark of Corning Inc, used by permission.

Disclaimer: We were sent the roasting dish for the purpose of an open and honest review.

Plum Baby Food Stage One Savoury Blends - A Review

I cook a lot of Little Miss' food myself and try to experiment with different textures and flavours as much as possible, however, if we're out and about or in a hurry, I do reach for pouches as a quick and easy meal. I have a small number of trusted baby food brands that I use regularly and Plum Baby is one of that number so when they offered to send me some of their new range of savoury blends for Little Miss to try we were pleased to do so.

Plum have launched their new range of savoury-led flavours to answer the concerns of parents that their children may be developing a sweet tooth at an early age. The new range is packed with interesting ingredients like quinoa and purple carrot and smoothly blended to create a first weaning food.

We were sent all three of the new flavours:

• Sweet Potato, Corn and Apple
• Broccoli and Apple
• Pear, Blueberry and Purple Carrot

All three blends incorporate a mixture of fruit and vegetables.Some of them are a bit more unusual blends but Plum can always be relied upon to go for less obvious mixes that work really well. I was pleased to see the inclusion of broccoli in one of the recipes as Little Miss had spat this out the first time I tried her with it as a purée and I wanted her to try it again. Plum choose their ingredients to maximise the nutritional benefits of the meals (hence the inclusion of purple carrots rather than orange, which have a higher level of antioxidants) and all of their blends contain quinoa which is high in protein.

So what did Little Miss make of the meals?

We've tried all of the flavours so far and all have been successful. Little Miss likes her food and she has enjoyed sampling these pouches. The photos show her trying the broccoli and apple flavour, the one I was most concerned about if she would like it, I needn't have been, she loved it. When she really enjoys a food she smacks her lips while she is eating, it's so funny, there was plenty of that going on with all three flavours. I think her favourite flavour was pear, blueberry and purple carrot as she actually cried when this pouch was finished! It's quite an alarming purple colour but, as I generally associate purple with being high in antioxidants this wasn't a concern. The sweet potato, corn and apple had a slightly thicker texture, perhaps due to the corn? As sweet potato is one of our weaning staples she enjoyed this too.

I am a firm believer in not feeding my child anything I wouldn't eat myself (except bananas which are the devil's food and make my partner feed them to her!) I've tried all three blends. They do have a sweetness offered by the fruit but the vegetables give an earthier, savoury undertone which is missing from many prepared baby foods.

The consistency of the pouches is very smooth and perfect for first weaning. Little Miss is just moving on to fork mashed food now but  I would definitely recommend these to the parents and babies who are just embarking on weaning. We've used up our samples now but I would buy this range again to mix with baby pasta, as a more substantial meal for an older baby. I did this regularly with Bud and, again, it offered a simple, quick meal or one that could easily be prepared away from home (we used to take cold pasta in a bowl and mix a pouch with it when needed).

Disclaimer: We received a range of Plum baby food for the purpose of an open and honest review.

Play Foam from Learning Resources - A Review

We all know that sensory and creative play is a great experience for our children but, usually, this kind of play means messy play and it can be tricky to find the necessary time and space to get stuck in with it.

Learning Resources have a product that really takes the mess out of both. Their Play Foam aims to offer creative, sensory play straight out of the box, with no mess and no waste as it doesn't dry out like other types of dough and foam.

We received a pack of Play Foam which contained eight different colours of foam. Four plain and four which  included glitter. The packaging is really bright and it's clear to see the colours included. I didn't actually like the packaging as, once it is opened it has to be thrown away, I would prefer it to provide somewhere to store the play foam for future use.

The foam itself is made up of tiny polystyrene balls which are stuck together. You can compress them and stretch them apart in order to mould them into different shapes.

The texture of the foam is quite unusual. It isn't sticky or wet and for me has the consistency of marshamllow rice krispie squares! 

Bud got stuck into it straight away and really enjoyed exploring the foam and making different shapes with it. 

Throughout the time he was playing with it he was talking about the different colours and the different ways in which he was separating the foam, for example he said he was tearing and ripping. He loved that some of the foam was sparkly and this added an interesting dimension to his creations as you could see the glitter twinkling.

Bud didn't manage to make anything really recognisable apart from this flower 

This photo does show how easy it is to stick the colours together to create a multi-coloured design. This is great as it really enhances the design but, once you have mixed the colours it is virtually impossible to separate them out again. You end up with a great big multi-coloured ball of foam to play with. This isn't a bad thing as you can see the distinct colours in the mix rather than it going that horrible sludge brown colour that mixed playdough goes.

Of course I had to play too and I came up with a caterpillar, it seemed the perfect use of all the different colours of dough before Bud mixed them thoroughly together. The second photo here is what happened after Bud collected it all together.

I think the Play Foam is good value for money and is comparable with play dough. Obviously it not drying out means that it is likely to last a little longer. I do wish the packaging offered a way to store the foam after opening as ours is now just up on the shelf and I'd like to be able to put it back in the box.

If you'd like to try Play Foam for yourself then pop over to the Learning Resources Facebook Page to enter their competition to win one of five packs which ends on 7th June.

Disclaimer: We were sent this Play Foam in exchange for an open and honest review

The Foodies Festival at Tatton Park

Last Sunday we were invited to attend the Foodies Festival at Tatton Park with Blogs Up North. Foodies Festivals are a series of events which take place in outdoor settings across the country during the Summer months. They combine a mixture of suppliers, chefs, exhibitions, masterclasses and pop up restaurant tents.

We took both sets of parents with us and had a wonderful day browsing the stalls and sampling all the delights on offer.From cheese to curry spices, to artisan ciders and kitchen ware. There was a huge programme of demonstrations and exhibitions available to book on to but, in the end, we decided to pass on them and just take our time wandering around the stalls, picking up a few interesting purchases here and there.

I had a VIP ticket which gave me fast track entry into the demonstrations, access to the VIP lounge, a goodie bag, a free glass of Champagne and a meal. This would ordinarily cost £38 which I felt was over priced for the value it represented although the opportunity to sit and chat to Jen from My Mummys Pennies and Jenny from The Brick Castle over a glass of Champagne was lovely.

There were lots of opportunities to sample some wonderful produce and it was great to see the wide range that was available. Many of the stall holders were really pleasant and happy to chat about the history and development of their products. We'd actually met a couple of the stall holders at previous events elsewhere and it was great to see them again and stock up!

I'd definitely return to the Foodies Festival at Tatton Park, I really loved the surroundings and the variety of stall holders was terrific, I think I would pass on the VIP ticket next time though. I was pleasantly surprised at how family friendly the festival is with lots of child-friendly food and workshops which got children cooking. I think if we were to visit again I'd definitely book Bud on to one of these sessions as he loves helping in the kitchen at the moment.

Foodies Festivals are taking place throughout the UK during the summer, check out their website for dates and times and the opportunity to win some VIP tickets of your own.

We finished our day by wandering down through Tatton Park where Bud had his first proper trip on a Carousel, he loved it!

Disclaimer: We received free tickets in exchange for an open and honest review of the event.