Water Melon Pops

Refreshing and delicious water melon pops that make perfect summer coolers.

Ingredients:

1/2 watermelon
2 tablespoons icing sugar

Method:

1. Cut the water melon into pieces and remove all the seeds.
2. Place the water melon pieces into a blender jug and add the icing sugar.
3. Blend the water melon to form a smooth pulp.
4. Pour the watermelon pulp into small glasses and push into the centre of each glass a lolly stick.
5. Freeze the pops for 5-6 hours.
6. To serve the pops, remove the pops from the freezer and dip the glass into some warm water, the heat from the warm water will release the pop.
Eat immediately.

You may like:
Water melon smoothie

Review ~ Walkers Mighty Light Crisps

My family love potatoes and crisps is one snack that we cannot be without. I strongly believe in healthy eating and there has been many occasions when I have left out “crisps “ from the weekly shopping list due to the fact that they are fried with many additives included in the flavourings. This only resulted in moans from my family as they all love their bag of crisps in their lunch boxes together with their sandwich and fruit. I have tried replacing them with the baked versions too, but this again resulted in complaints and groans from my family. Apparently I have been told that no lunch is complete and satisfying without sandwiching some crisps in between your sandwich for that perfect bite!!!

My crisp dilemma had become a nightmare so when Walkers offered me to sample their NEW Walkers MightyLights ridged crisps I jumped at the chance. The crisps are ridged and have 30% less fat than your average packet of crisp. They are available in 3 flavours Cheese and Onion, Lightly Salted and Roast Chicken. Furthermore the crisps are made from real potato with no artificial colours or preservatives and no MSG, they're perfect for lunch boxes.

Being vegetarians we only sampled the cheese and onion and the lightly salted flavours although Walkers say that the roast chicken flavour is suitable for vegetarians but we chose not try them. The crisps were crisp, with a lovely crunch, the ridges on the crisps meant that they were perfect for dipping into salsas etc for serving at parties. .

The lightly salted crisps were not too salty and perfect in taste, the cheese and onion were not as strong as the normal cheese and onion crisps and frankly I preferred the delicate flavour compared to the original pungent cheese and onion crisps. I also found the crisps did not feel too oily to touch and they did not compromise in texture or flavour in anyway. When I packed these crisps in my families lunch boxes, I had no complaints about the taste, the only disappointment was that we all love salt and vinegar so please Walkers introduce this flavour to the range too.

Thank you to walkers for introducing us to these healthier versions of crisps, my family loved them and we will definitely make the change to these healthier option. Mighty Lights are available in shops nationwide and currently retail at approximately £1.80 for a multi-pack of six. These were slightly more expensive than the Walkers originals, but I guess its worth paying a little extra for the health benefits.

This is a sponsored post and all the views and opinions are my own.

Free Giveaway ~ Tickets to cake International NEC Birmingham 8th -10th November 2013

CAKE INTERNATIONAL RETURNS BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER!

NEC, BIRMINGHAM, 8^TH – 10^TH NOVEMBER 2013

Cake International – The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating and Baking Show will be returning to the NEC, Birmingham from the 8-10 November bigger and better than ever before!  Celebrating its 20^th anniversary show, visitors can spend three days in cake heaven exploring all the latest ideas, supplies, competitions, demonstrations and workshops from the industry experts.Baking legend Mary Berry and cake decorating extraordinaire Mich Turner will be officially opening the show on Friday 8 November

The world’s largest sugarcrafting, cake decorating and baking show will feature more than 100 exhibitors from across the globe offering the very latest in supplies and ideas.  With everything you need including cutters, moulds, stencils and sugarpaste – your passions for sugarcraft, cake baking and decorating will truly be indulged! Find some of the greatest sugarcraft and cake decorating talents from home and abroad showcasing their skills in the three Demonstration Theatres.

Paul Da Costa Greaves will once again be whipping up a range of irresistible quick and easy-to-bake recipes in the newly named Cake International Theatre.  Pop along to the Authors’ Kitchen for more inspiration where some of your favourite cake authors will be demonstrating their recipes from the bestselling books.If you have always wanted to take up sugarcraft but don’t know where to start then pop along to A Taste of Sugar Mini-Workshops where you will find a hands-on experience designed especially for newcomers and juniors to the craft.  Chocoholics will be flocking to the sinfully tempting Chocolate Workshops where you can get top tips and creative ideas in the art of chocolate!  If you want to make your cake extra special, head to The Renshaw School where you can learn how to create your own cake toppers, coverings and sugarpaste figures.  Admission is free and on a first come first serve basis.   

For the first time, The National Cupcake Week Championship finals will be taking place live at the show.  With individual competitions for both professional and home-bakers, the categories include Classic, Themed, Free-From and Made with Alcohol.  The finalists from each category will be put through their paces by a panel of top judges to go head-to-head to contend for the coveted title of National Cupcake Champion.

Wallace and Gromit will be launching their BIG Bake at the show, which will be supporting Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity, helping children in hospitals and hospices across the UK.  Keep an eye out for our new friends who will be making a special appearance at the show.

In the Cake Decorators Kitchen’, Knightsbridge PME will be offering inspiring demonstrations with all the latest ideas and delicious creations. The exciting live PME Cake Decorating Competitions will be returning to the show with the Cupcake Challenge on Friday; PME Student of the Year on Saturday and PME Cake Decorator of the Year on Sunday.  Competitors will go head-to-head in a bid to produce the most creative and artistically decorated cake and cupcakes, while competing for the £1000 grand prize!  

With all this and much more, make sure you put a date in your diary to come to Cake International – The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating & Baking Show at the NEC, Birmingham this November.

FACT FILE:

Cake International - The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating & Baking Show
Friday 8 - Sunday 10 November 2013

Open: 9.30-5.30 Fri, 9.00-5.30 Sat, 9.00-5.00 Sun

Ticket Prices:

On the Door:  

Adult £14.00 (Advance £12.00)

Senior £13.00 (Advance £11.00)
2 Day Ticket (Advance Only) Adult £18.00 Senior £16.00

3 Day Ticket (Advance Only) Adult £25.00 Senior £23.00

Children free if accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket, otherwise £5.00

All advanced tickets need to be ordered by 5pm Monday 4 November

For more information please visit www.cakeinternational.co.uk.  Book tickets online www.cakeinternational.co.uk or phone Ticket Hotline 01425 277988.

simply.food has teamed up with Cake International - The Sugarcraft & Cake Decorating and Baking Show to offer 10 lucky readers a chance to win a pair of tickets to this fantastic show. Taking place at the NEC, Birmingham from 8-10 November, visitors can spend a day in cake heaven exploring the latest ideas, supplies, competitions,demonstrations and workshops from the industry’s experts.  

How to participate:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
• Closing date - 20th October  2013 6.00pm .
• Prize 1 pair of tickets per winner only
• This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only.

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
• Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf. For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Eggless carrot cake baked in I heart cake silicon mould and a giveaway

Delicious aromatic, spicy rich and moist carrot cake.

Ingredients:

150 ml sunflower or vegetable oil

200 g soft light brown sugar

300 g peeled and grated carrots

75 g walnuts, chopped

175 g plain flour

2 eggs or egg replacer

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

A pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 35O°F /180° C.

2. Brush some oil all around the silicon mould making sure bottom and all sides are well oiled

3. In a bowl whisk the oil and sugar, next add the grated carrots and chopped nuts and mix well.

4. Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt in to a bowl. Stir in the egg replacer. Gently fold the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together. Do not over mix.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared silicon mould smoothing the surface with a palette knife. Bake in the oven for 60 – 75 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

6. Allow the cake to cool in the mould for about 30 minutes, once cooled carefully pull away the mould. (Do not be tempted to un mould the cake whilst its hot as it will break)

7. Once cake is fully cooled place it on a plate and sieve some icing sugar over it.

Serve with cream or ice cream.

I was sent this I heart cake silicon mould by Mustard .The mould is made from silicone and incorporates a unique petal design which enables you to divide your cake into 6 equal heart-shaped slices as you can see in the photo above.

The mould is fairly large and will make a generous sized cake, I also used it to make jelly and a large flower shaped icecream so that when I de moulded the ice cream  I could serve slices that were heart shaped.The mould retails at £ 15.00 and you can purchase it from Mustard on line.

I would like to thank Mustard for sending me this mould, all the views and opinions in this post are my own.

Mustard have been very generous and they have agreed to bring some romance in to simply. food readers lives They have provided two I heart cake moulds for prizes for two lucky winners.

This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only.

How To Enter:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
• Closing date – 5th October  2013 6.00pm .

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
• Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf.
• For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here. 
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ~ Easy Cake Decorating Book

Easy Cake decorating is a beautifully illustrated cake decorating book by Parragon Books. The book has 4 main sections:

• Cupcakes ad small cakes
• Cakes for all Occasions
• Celebration Cakes
• Templates

Each section is well written with beautiful step by step instructions, guidelines and  tips and is very informative.I love all the cake designs in it. It is one of my favourite books on my self.
If you would like a copy of this cook drop by Citrus Spice my new blog as I am hosting a giveaway for it there.

Round up ~Lets Cook with Cheese

Thank you to everyone who participated and sent in their delicious entries.Here is the round up of all the entries.

Announcing event ~ Flavours of Carribbean

The Flavours of series has been running strong for a couple of years and I have had many wonderful Blog friends who have guest hosted the events. Today I would like to Introduce Tina of  The Spicy Pear, I met Tina at the FBC5 blog event I attended this summer.I immediately loved her jovial personality and her amazing blog which has a wonderful collection of multinational cuisine.
This month Flavours of series 4 is making its way to the Caribbean. I can vision sun, sea, sand and tropical shores. Tina is guest hosting Flavours of Caribbean Event so please I would like to request all my lovely foodie friends to drop by her space and check out the event post. Of course it would be even better if you can cook up some Caribbean fare and link it to the event also.