Cottage pie: step by step

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Cottage pie(By all means skip the waffle and scroll down for the recipe)

It’s my fervent wish that when my offspring finally leave the nest and head out into the wide world, they will be able to feed themselves. I’m not talking pot noodles here either - I’m just talking about good, basic food. Recently, we were watching the Comic Relief version of the Great British Bakeoff and one of the challenges was lemon meringue pie. ’Pfft’, muttered my youngest from behind the screen of his laptop, ‘easy’. Because the thing is, he’s done it before - yes, with me helping, (and I’m not for one second bigging them up, here - they’re the laziest sods ever, and I tend to be quite stabby in the kitchen, I like my space) but they’ve done enough cooking (even if a large percentage of that is getting the munchies and making themselves chocolate brownies) to know their way round the kitchen and - more importantly - be able to follow a recipe.

So, if you’re kitchen-phobic, new to this cooking lark, or just plain curious to see how someone else makes it, here’s a step by step guide to one of the best basics you’ll learn. From here, the world is your oyster.

Moving on from cottage pie

Stir in a tin of tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato purée and you’re well on the way to spaghetti bolognese (and not far at all from lasagne). With the tomatoey version, add a tablespoon of chilli powder while you’re cooking the onions, maybe a finely chopped red pepper, and a tin of kidney beans five minutes before the end of cooking, et voila, chilli con carne. Oh, and if you use lamb mince, then you’ve made shepherd’s pie - so there’s another one to add to your repertoire right there.

Personalising your pie

Loads of recipes start by frying the onions, a couple of chopped carrots and maybe a stick or two of celery, also chopped. But I think the carrots are too ‘mushy’ after the 45 minutes cooking time, so I just serve carrots with it. Personal preference is king - if you want to chuck them in with the onions, feel free. You can also add a tablespoon of tomato purée… tomato ketchup… Worcester sauce… have a fiddle until you find the flavours you like.

Buying your mince

As usual, buy the best mince that you can afford, but don’t buy stuff that’s too lean - you need a bit of fat in there for flavour AND texture.

Easy Cottage Pie

1-2 tablespoons oil (I use rapeseed)

1 large onion, finely chopped

500g minced beef

1 tablespoon plain flour

About 300g beef stock (cube is fine)

For the mash:

About 1kg floury potatoes

Butter and milk

First, preheat the oven to 180/gas 4 and sort out an ovenproof dish to hold your pie.

It’s actually easiest to start with the potatoes, so get them peeled, chopped and cut into even chunks and put them in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water, add a teaspoon or two of salt, and get them on the heat. Bring them to the boil while you’re cooking the mince, then turn down to a simmer.

Make sure the mince is completely brownedFor the mince, start with a heavy based frying pan. Add the oil, then pop in the chopped onion (plus carrot and celery if you’re using them). When the onions start to soften (they don’t need to brown) add in the mince, breaking it up and stirring it around. Colour equals flavour here so try and get it nice and brown.

Give the mince a season with some salt and pepper, then sprinkle over the flour - this will thicken the finished gravy. Stir this round to cook out the ‘raw’ taste of the flour. Add in a few dashes of Worcester sauce here if you fancy it. Stir in the stock, then transfer the meat to the dish.

Now, drain the potatoes and mash them well, adding a couple of knobs of butter and a good slosh of milk. Pile the mash on top of the mince and level the top. Bake for about 45 minutes until the top is lovely a crisp and brown.

Mince really does need this cooking time as otherwise it can be a bit chewy, which is often where people go wrong with a shepherd’s pie - bunging the mash on and serving it straight away. In fact, English Dad’s famous ‘dad mince’ (the only thing he ever cooks, and only when I’m away) gets a good couple of hours in the oven, and is deliciously tender and savoury as a result.

 

 

 

Review: the new Elements range from Breville

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Breville Elements kettleI love a gadget, me. So when Breville asked if I’d like to try out their new Elements range, I was very happy to say yes.

I tested their new kettle, and am happy to report that it not only satisfied my inner kitchen snob in the looks department, but it gained top marks for functionality too.

I do seem to have a habit of buying incredibly noisy gadgets (remember the iron from hell?) but this one was is really nice and quiet and boils very quickly. It also takes a whopping 1.7 litres of water - handy for me as I tend to boil the kettle to fill pans when I’m cooking vegetables or pasta, rather than wait for the water to heat on the hob.

The lid comes right off, something that drives me bonkers with my current kettle as the hinged lid gets in the way when you’re trying to fill it from the tap, and it’s got one of those 360° rotating bases, a must when you live with a left-hooker who is constantly turning everything round to suit them!

Handily, for those of us who live in horrendously chalky areas, there is a filter (that’s easy to take out and wash) and the bottom is completely flat thanks to a concealed element, which means it’s easy to get a (non-stick) scourer in there if there is any sediment build-up inside.

The Elements Premium Stainless Steel Jug Kettle has an RRP of £79.99 and is available to buy exclusively at John Lewis stores and online at www.johnlewis.com.

Many thanks to Breville for sending me the kettle.

Giveaway: win a gorgeous Valentine’s bouquet (and more) from Prestige Flowers

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prestige-flowers-bannerPeople seem to be really torn about Valentine’s Day. There are definitely those who see it as a cynical marketing ploy dreamed up by greeting card companies and florists (or is it restauranteurs and wine retailers?), but I personally think it’s no bad thing to remind your loved one how much you care once in a while.

Dozen red roses

With this in mind, I’ve teamed up with the lovely bunch (geddit?) from Prestige Flowers to help you spoil your valentine. Just comment below and tell me who you’d treat and why, and we’ll arrange for a gorgeous bouquet of red roses, a bottle of wine, a teddy bear and a box of chocolates to be delivered to the object of one lucky winner’s affection in time for Valentine’s day.

And hey, if you’re not lucky enough to win, you’ll find loads of perfect Valentine’s Day flowers at Prestige.

Usual English Mum competition rules apply. Prize will consist of one dozen roses, one bottle of red wine, Belgian chocolates and a cuddly bear. Competition closes 11th Feb 2013.

 

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED- CONGRATULATIONS TO KATE GOODALL WHO WON THE PRIZE FOR HER FRIEND.

How to make barbecue sauce - an easy step by step guide

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Like many things in cooking, barbecue sauce is one of those things that you buy, until you finally make it yourself, then instantly realise that home made is ten times better than bought.

This sauce gets made all the time in our house. It’s scrummy poured over meat, like pork belly strips, or sausages, before you cook them, or you can bubble it away a little to thicken it up, then serve it as a condiment with any sort of roast meats, burgers or chicken.

It’s delicious and really easy. I promise once you’ve made it once, you’ll be making it all the time! If you’ve got lump-phobic children, you can give it a quick whizz with a hand blender for a smoother finish too.

You will need:

1 tbsp oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

About 1 tsp fresh ginger

4 tbsp cider vinegar

4 tbsps runny honey

2 tbsps brown sugar

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 tbsps soy sauce

4 tbsps tomato ketchup

Pinch dried chilli

1 tbsp tomato purée

So firstly, pop the oil in a saucepan, and gently fry the onions until they’re starting to go a bit translucent. Grate in the ginger (I keep my ginger in the freezer and grate it straight in), then basically just add in all the other ingredients.

If I’m cooking sausages, lamb chops or belly pork strips, what I do now is spoon about half of the mixture over the meat (make sure you line the tray with foil as the sauce does caramelise), and pop them in the oven for about half an hour.

With the rest of the sauce or if you just want it to serve with burgers or at a barbecue, just simmer until it thickens. It will keep in the fridge for a few days too.

 

Review: The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club by Helen McGinn

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Helen with her brand new bookI’ve known Helen McGinn for donkey’s years. And if you’re a regular reader, you’ll have seen her appearing several times right here on this very blog, recommending wines for Christmas, wines for Easter, food and wine combos… all sorts of stuff. Helen is my ‘go to’ person when it comes to wine. I’m really interested in wine, but I’m often not sure what I’m doing, and am not confident tasting wine either. She’s always very patient when I bombard her with stupid questions and the recommendations on her fabulous blog, Knackered Mother’s Wine Club, go straight onto my shopping list every week. She’s never let me down.

Muchos excitement was in the air, then, when she told me she was writing a book. Happily it’s written exactly like Helen’s blog - with a hearty dash of humour, a ‘we’re all in this together’ chumminess, and an utter disregard for any kind of wine-based pomposity (is that a word? That’s a word, right?). Oh and I’m quoted on page 45, don’t you know?

This isn’t really a review because I haven’t read it yet (I’m saving it for a long flight I’m taking in February), but I can tell you that it’s full of Helen’s tips for choosing, tasting and food-matching wine - from lovely reds to sip by the fire, to fabulous treats for Christmas and New Year, and will go a long way towards making wine less mystifying for all of us. This is a book for every one of us who says ‘I really like that wine’, but don’t really know why. This is a book that will get us trying new wines, finding out what we really like and stop buying stuff that we don’t. Because, as Helen says, life’s just too short to drink bad wine: “people were always telling me how overwhelming they found the supermarket wall of wine (or the wine list) terrifying. This book is about giving you the confidence to navigate that wall of wine and break out of your wine comfort zone. Think of it as loading up your internal wine sat nav. There’s also loads of useful stuff too - tasting wine, food & wine matching, myths explained - I like to think of it as everything you really need to know about wine.”

I quite like the idea that you can treat this book as a bit of a wine course: you can work through it, discovering more about wine and, next time you’re at a dinner party, can flummox your fellow guests with your new-found winey knowledge.

So what are you waiting for? BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW (well, when it’s released on 14th February)

In the words of Helen: ‘peace out, winos’.

The yearly thank you card debacle

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Thank you cardI’m not a harsh parent, I don’t think (well, English Dad is always telling me I’m too soft), but I do like my children to be polite. They’re really lucky in that they have a pretty large (and slightly fragmented) family, so they get pressies from all over the place, and even if it’s just a tenner in a card, I do like them to say thanks.

Trouble is, we get later and later, and it causes more and more hassle and nagging (on my part) and annoyance (on theirs) every year. My nephew and niece, lovely Turtle and Jackson, are a pretty good alarm system for thank you cards. When theirs drop through the letterbox, regular as clockwork, in about mid-January, it’s my signal to go hell for leather at the ‘HAVE YOU DONE YOUR THANK YOUS YET?’ reminders, generally yelled from the bottom of the stairs in the direction of closed bedroom doors. And so it goes on.

Them: ‘Lucky I spent my HMV vouchers before they went bust…’

Me: ’That reminds me, have you sent your thank you cards yet’

Them: ‘Sigh, I’ll do them tomorrow…’

or…

Them: ‘This is the t-shirt I got for Christmas’

Me: ‘That reminds me, have you sent your thank you cards yet?’

Them: ‘Sigh, yeah I’ll do them later..’

Frankly, it makes us all a bit stabby.

This year, we’ve negotiated a few ‘modern’ changes, including:

  • If they’re friends with the present giver on Facebook, they can say thank you via Facebook message.
  • If the person who gave them a present has children for whom we buy presents and that don’t send a thank you, then they’re let off with the verbal thank you (the ‘they don’t thank us so why should we thank them?’ rule).
  • If they opened the present in front of the person and said thank you PROPERLY, then we’ll accept that as enough.
  • With Grandparents and those of the non-electronic variety, it HAS to be a thank you card. It must be written nicely, it must acknowledge what the present was, and it must be done, preferably, before about June.

Sigh.

Am I being old fashioned? Is the time of the thank you card gone, along with letter writing and licking stamps?

Anyone got any tips or opinions on the matter?

Afternoon tea at Royal Horseguards Hotel with Royal Caribbean International

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This week, I travelled into London to meet up with a few of my blogging buddies and the lovely chaps at Royal Caribbean cruises. We were there to hear more about the fabulous facilities that Royal Caribbean can offer families on board their fleet of cruise ships.

Royal Horseguards afternoon teaFirst, though, there was the matter of a rather delicious afternoon tea, complete with champers! There were plenty of ‘ooh, posh!’ type exclamations as the terribly polite (and spookily stealthy) waiters appeared with stacks of dainty finger sandwiches, savoury choux pastries, pretty macaroons and teeny tiny mini cupcakes. After that there were fresh scones with home made jam and Cornish clotted cream.

While we were scoffing, we heard more about the Royal Caribbean fleet, including the fact that one of the ships, the ridiculously huge Allure of the Seas can carry over 6000 people (6000!) and has a ‘central park’ area with over 12,000 live plants and trees. plus two ‘FlowRiders’, which are basically on-board wave-machines where you can body board and even surf! Oh, and did I mention the zipwire? Yup, really.

The ships travel around the Caribbean (the clue’s in the name), but we found out you can also travel to Canada, Alaska, Asia and even Australia and New Zealand. For families, Royal Caribbean have teamed up with DreamWorks so you can see plenty of Shrek (on a huge screen, in 3D) and Kung Fu Panda, with plenty of opportunities to meet the characters while on board too.

I’m really looking forward to learning more about Royal Caribbean (we’re launching a new #RoyalMums ambassador programme soon) and hopefully I’ll be heading out to sea shortly too (well, I need to know EXACTLY what it’s like so I can report back to you. Right?

If you want to follow us on our journey as Royal Caribbean ambassadors, check out #royalmums and @myroyalUK on Twitter.

 

Slow roasted garlicky leg of lamb with rosemary potatoes

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Slow roasted garlicky lamb

 

Lamb is one of our favourite Sunday lunches. I think with lamb chops, they’re nice when they’re tender and pink in the middle. With a leg of lamb, though, especially at this time of year, we all prefer it slowly cooked and really falling off the bone. I serve mine with rosemary potatoes and some of my apple and mint chutney. Delicious.

Slow roasted garlicky leg of lamb

1 leg of lamb (or a half leg, to be honest - works just as well)

Rapeseed oil

2 or 3 cloves of garlic

Preheat the oven to 160 (170)/gas 3.

In a pestle and mortar, bash up the garlic with a generous pinch of salt and pepper until it forms a paste, then add about a tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Smoosh this paste all over the lamb.

Pop the lamb into a roasting tin and put it in the oven. In his 2005 recipe for slow roast lamb with chickpea mash, Nigel Slater recommends adding about 250ml of water after about half an hour, which works really well and helps to make a lovely gravy at the end of it. I cover it for the first few hours with some foil, too.

Then, just leave the lamb alone for a good five hours. If you want to leave it longer, turn the heat down a little. It won’t spoil.

For the rosemary potatoes

Floury potatoes

Sprig or two of rosemary

Peel enough largish potatoes to feed your crowd. Cut into quarters and bring to the boil in some salted water. Simmer until tender, then drain and set aside.

When the lamb has about 15 minutes to go, drain off all the liquid into a jug. Skim off all the fat and pour it into a roasting tin (reserve the rest for the gravy). You really don’t need THAT much, as the potatoes just need to be tossed in it, not drowning in it, but by all means add a bit of extra oil if you want to.

Whack the heat up to gas 7/220 degrees (the lamb will be fine in there just as the oven is heating up) and put the roasting tin into the oven. After the five hours, take the lamb out, cover with foil and maybe a tea towel and leave it to rest. Add the potatoes and a tablespoon or so of chopped rosemary to the hot oil. Remember to wiggle them about occasionally - they’ll take 30 to 40 mins to crisp up.

For the gravy

2 tbsp plain flour

About 250ml lamb or chicken stock

To make the gravy, pour a couple of tablespoons of the leftover meat juices into a saucepan (there’ll still be some fatty stuff in there). Add a tablespoon or two of plain flour and mix well. Cook this pasty stuff for a couple of minutes, then start to add the rest of the juices, whisking them in slowly, then you can add in the stock. Bubble away so it thickens slightly.

And there you have it. Delicious, falling apart meat, crispy potatoes and yummy gravy. Happy Sunday.

PS: If you want an idea for any leftovers, try this lovely lamb tagine from Rubbish Wife.

Slow roasted lamb

… and just to prove that it works just as well with a half leg of lamb…

 

WIN Jo Whiley’s handpicked travel essentials courtesy of the American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Card

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Jo Whiley

I’ve teamed up with American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Card to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a selection of family travel essentials, as chosen by radio DJ, mum of four and ambassador for the Gold Card, Jo Whiley.

This exclusive prize includes an iPod Shuffle and headphone splitters so that two of you of can enjoy your favourite tunes at the same time (brilliant for kids while travelling), a Trunki ride-on suitcase to keep little ones entertained at the airport, a stylish Trilby, a sun cream kit to protect you from the hot weather and a Lonely Planet guide to 2013, so that you can start planning your next trip and have something to look forward to!

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card gives you and your family the freedom to travel on your terms with its flexible rewards programme. Points can be spent with over 30 high street and online retailers and can contribute to flights, hotels and car hire with an extensive range of partners. Cardmembers also receive 24 hour global assistance for when outside the UK. The Card offers families amazing choice, flexible travelling and peace of mind. For more information click here.

To be in with a chance of winning Jo Whiley’s handpicked travel essentials, just comment, answering the following question:

Which celebrity handpicked these family travel essentials?

  1. Jo Whiley
  2. Victoria Beckham
  3. Jude Law

Usual English Mum competition terms apply. The closing date is Sunday 20th January. The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card prize includes the following: 1 x iPod Shuffle, 1 x Trunki, 1x trilby hat or equivalent, 1 x Lonely Planet guide book, 1 x earphone splitter and 1 x Nivea Holiday Sunshine Pack.

 

***THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - CONGRATULATIONS TO EMMA, COMMENTER #12 WHO WAS CHOSEN BY RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR***

Ever visited Tenerife? Maybe you can help with my top tips for Tenerife holidays

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Me at the Teide National Park

Me at the Teide National Park

When you’re planing a holiday, it’s really handy to be able to chat to someone who’s been to that destination before - even better if they can give you a few hints and tips to get the most out of your holiday.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

The destination

Tenerife, for me, is the stuff of childhood holidays: my first experience of holidays ‘abroad’, warm sunshine, sandy beaches, blue sea and fantastic food. Tenerife is a great place to bring the family as the flight is a manageable length and, whether you want a beach holiday, or want a more active holiday, there is such diversity here, there’s something for everyone. The climate is amazing all year round (it’s known as the ‘Island of Eternal Spring’) and even in the winter, you can experience temperatures in the 20s, with very little rain at any time of the year.

What to pack

Packing for a Tenerife holiday is easy as the temperature stays pretty warm during the day. During winter and into the spring, night time temperatures can dip down to 16 degrees, so pack a few extra layers for when you’re out and about during the evening. Tenerife has excellent shopping right across the island, so, especially if you’ve got small children, consider buying some of your essentials, like nappies, when you arrive rather than clogging up your suitcase. Suncream, hats and full-cover swimsuits for the youngsters are a must all year round and especially during the summer and autumn months when temperatures can climb into the high 20s (and have been known to hit the 30s).

Hand luggage helpers

  • When travelling with children, pack them a little rucksack of their own with interesting things to do on the journey. It’s also worth packing a few ‘surprise’ items in your own hand luggage to whip out if they start to get bored.
  • Make sure you’ve photocopied everyone’s passport, your tickets and any other information, such as travel insurance. Pop it into a different bag, just in case one gets lost.
  • Don’t pack enormous hand luggage bags – your fellow passengers (and your family!) won’t thank you when you take ten minutes to squeeze it into the overhead locker, and generally, once it’s there, you won’t want to bother taking it down again. Think about what you’ll really use: iPad, headphones, maybe a book, and leave the rest at home.

Getting around

Tenerife really is an island of two halves. There are resorts in the very south of the island, and some in the very north. If you want to explore, think about hiring a car (consider arranging it with your travel agent when booking). The main road between the north and south circles the island and is well signposted and easy to navigate. If you’re heading ‘off piste’ be aware that some of the roads may be less well cared for (and marked), especially if you’re heading up towards Teide when there are some mountain roads next to steep drops (worth attempting, though, as the scenery is amazing). Public transport is really good: the bus system is modern and inexpensive, plus you can buy tickets called ‘Bono Bus’ for discounted travel if you’re planning on using the bus system quite a bit.

Sightseeing

In the south of the island, don’t miss beautiful Siam Park, a huge Thai-themed water park. For well-priced tickets, try www.attractionticketsdirect.com - also look out for the free double decker buses that run from most of the major southern resorts. Try also to head up to Teide National Park, where the strange lunar landscape has been the backdrop of many a feature film. If you want, you can head up to the summit (well, within 500ft of the summit – you need a permit to go all the way up) in a cable car, but go prepared: wear sturdy shoes and take warm clothing – it’s very cold up there!

In the north, head to Loro Parque. I find the best way to see the parquet is to do all the animal shows back to back as soon as you get to the park : sealion, dolphin and then orca. The shows are more crowded, but the atmosphere is fantastic and this then leaves you with the whole afternoon to tootle about the rest of the park, which is beautiful. The food in the park is very good as well: try the barbecued pork skewers – delicious!

Dining tricks

  • Don’t visit Tenerife without trying the lovely salty papas arugadas (literally ‘wrinkled potatoes’) and the delicious accompanying mojo sauces
  • Tenerife also produces some stunning wines (mostly exported to the USA, sadly), but you’ll often find small producers selling their wares locally.
  • Kids will love another local delicacy called simply ‘flan’. It’s similar to creme caramel and is served in moreish custardy slabs, sometimes with the dark caramel sauce but often just plain.

Like a Local

In Tenerife, locals don’t tend to invite people into their houses, so often you’ll see families and friends congregating in local squares in the evening, chatting and laughing together. They’re incredibly friendly people and will often chat to you – especially If you have small children! It’s worth looking out for where the locals drink as they’re often much cheaper than the tourist bars.

Do remember, especially in the older, less touristy parts of Tenerife, that businesses will close in the afternoon for a siesta, reopening at about 4.30pm for the evening. If you’re buying postcards, ask in the shop for stamps to save you visiting the post office separately.

Tipping in restaurants is about the same as here In the UK – about 10% should be fine. If you’re drinking at a table in a café or bar, the waiter will tend to wait for you to finish before bringing you the whole bill, rather than paying for drinks as you buy them. Rounding up the bill or leaving some loose change is always appreciated.

Phrases you should know

I do recommend that you take an English/Spanish language book with you. Although most locals, especially in tourist areas, speak excellent English, they always appreciate it (and will often help you with pronunciation etc) if you have a go at a few simple phrases like: sí (yes) – it’s just no for no- buenos días (good morning), por favor (please) and gracias (thank you).

So there you have it, these are my top tips. Anything to add?

Gorgeous nutty golden syrup flapjack

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Flapjack

Ahhhh golden syrup. Is there a nicer smell? I wondered aloud recently (well, on Instagram) why someone had never created a perfume based on the sweet scent of it. I mean, come on! Someone’s already done a gin perfume..

Talking of gin, alcohol free January is miserable. Last year, I said never again, and yet this year here I am nursing a sad, lukewarm glass of squash every night, instead of a sparklingly refreshing glass of mother’s ruin. It’s no life, dearest reader.

Anyhoo, to keep me company on my alcohol free quest, Charlie, the Death Wish Dude has vowed to give up crap. As long as I stay off the gin, he’s promised to stay off the crisps and chocolate. A noble deed, but one which leaves him sadly lacking in snackage when he gets home from school hungry enough to look at the Ninja Cat of Death in a whole new light. So I decided to make him some healthy-ish snackage until he’s back on the Frazzles. Flapjack: gorgeous golden syrupy, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle nutty flapjack…

Nutty Golden Syrup Flapjack

So this is another one of those recipes that, as long as you stick to the basic proportions, you can fiddle with endlessly… Add nuts, sultanas, dried cranberries, chocolate chips… whatever you fancy. Don’t like golden syrup (what’s WRONG with you?) use honey. Like it plain? Covered in chocolate? That’s fine too.

For the basic recipe, you’ll need:

170g butter

115g brown sugar

4 tablespoons golden syrup

400g rolled oats

Melt the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan on a low heat until it’s all runny and combined, then take it off the heat and stir in the oats. And that’s it. This is the time to add your extras: dried fruit/nuts/chocolate chips/whatever. I used a large handful of almonds, roughly chopped, but whatever you use, a good handful will probably be enough.

Now press the mixture into a buttered cake tin and bake at gas 4/gas 180 and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the tin or it’ll fall apart. Fab for lunchboxes, rushed breakfasts and after school snackage.

Mind you, I’m tempted just to buy him a six pack of Walker’s crisps and a Double Decker and be done with it. Gin o’clock, you say?

A Week of Walt, day five: news, plans and gossip for Disney Parks and Resorts

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Disney Parks and Resorts Avatar

So that’s it, then… my Week of Walt is nearly finished. I couldn’t end, though, without giving you a little whisper of some of the biggest Disney secrets going, snaffled during my week in Florida at the launch of New Fantasyland especially for you!

There are TONS of things in the pipeline at the moment for Disney Parks… with New Fantasyland now open, they’re concentrating on getting the last couple of bits ready (the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train that I mentioned as well as the Princess Fairytale Hall where you can meet all your favourite princesses). There’s also new Limited Time Magic - a new concept which will see exclusive themed surprises for every week of 2013 - whether they be special character meet and greets, exclusive Disney merchandise, or experiences (for example, Valentine’s week will see special romantic dinner menus and photoshoots with famous Disney couples).

Cars Land is now open at Disney California Adventure. The colossal 12 acre site brings good ol’ Radiator Springs to life, and includes the incredible Radiator Springs Racers - a high speed driving attraction where you can race each other through Radiator Springs! There’s also been a lot of refurbishment in Buena Vista Street (California’s answer to Main Street). My cousin Deb visited recently so I’ll be leaning on her hard to give us a review!

Disney’s beautiful Aulani Resort in Hawaii (very high on my bucket list) is also being improved and expanded. Next summer there’ll be a new grotto pool and a brand new splash zone.

Disney’s Cruise Line (do have a look in my travel section for reviews and information from my trip on the Disney Dream) have introduced new routes for 2013 - cruises now depart from Galveston, Texas and there are also a huge choice of Mediterranean cruises with destinations including Croatia’s Dalmation Coast, Venice and the Greek islands.

Adventures by Disney might not be as well known as either the parks or the cruises, but these incredible holidays take guests on amazing adventures, from China to America and from South Africa to Scotland, where you can relive Disney’s Brave by having your own Scottish adventure!

Lastly, but by no means leastly, the most exciting news of all is that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are hard at work with none other than James Cameron in the designing and planning of a whole new land to go into Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are no fixed dates as yet, but the rumour is that we could see the gates to the new Avatar Land open at about the same time as Avatar 2 hits the box office (2016?). I absolutely can’t wait to hear more news about this Avatar-themed adventure, and rest assured you’ll be the first to know if I hear any news!

 

A week of Walt, day four: a review of Disney’s new Art of Animation resort

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A surprising amount of people planning a trip to Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, and the surrounding areas often miss out by thinking that they can’t afford to stay in in a ‘proper’ Disney hotel. The luxury resort hotels are phenomenal - the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa springs instantly to mind, as does the eye-popping Animal Kingdom Lodge - but there’s a whole host of other Disney properties at all price ranges and to properly immerse yourself in the Disney experience, you can’t beat staying at a Disney resort hotel.

Disney have several ‘value’ options when it comes to accommodation, the newest of which is the Art of Animation Resort where I stayed at Christmas. The resort is HUGE, with giant characters dotted everywhere. It’s split into four main wings: there are three family suite wings: a Finding Nemo themed wing, a Cars-themed wing where we stayed, and a Lion King wing, plus there is also a wing with standard rooms, with a Little Mermaid theme.

The styling and attention to detail in all of these areas is frankly enough to take your breath away. We were drawn to the ENORMOUS Crush (whom I love, with a passion - don’t miss ‘Turtle Talk with Crush when you’re visiting Epcot - you can have a full-on chat with the cool surfer dude. It’s totally AWESOME, duuuuude!) and the Cars themed wing where we stayed had huge, lifesize Cars characters and a complete recreation of Radiator Springs. Mindblowing!

The staff are, as you’d expect from Disney, absolutely wonderful and go above and beyond the call of duty, especially with the little guests. We were late to meet up with the others on the trip one day as we were transfixed by one of the gardeners who was showing a group of children how to draw Disney characters with a brush and water on one of the baking hot sidewalks.

Inside the family suites, the incredible theming continues - there are two proper bathrooms, a kitchen area, a dining area that magically transforms into a pull-down double bed at night time, and another leather sofa, themed like the rear seat of a car, that also folds out into a double bed. It’s all such good quality, you’d never believe they call this a ‘value’ resort.

The reception area is absolutely fabulous, with different lights as you go down the row of desks, and iconic framed artist sketches of the characters on the walls, and the pool area is frankly magical, where you can actually hear the Disney tunes being played UNDER THE WATER!

My only negative, if you can call this a negative, is that personally, I wasn’t massively keen on the dining area, which is huge and a bit complicated to negotiate. Still, if you’re staying in the suites it’s far easier - and cheaper- to self cater and just pop in occasionally to treat yourself to breakfast (with nice coffee) before you head off to the parks.

There’s a fact box below with an example of pricing, but as always, if you’re planning a trip and need any help or advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch via my contact form. I’ll be able to help (or if I can’t, I’ll know someone who can!).

 

Seven nights in Orlando from £935pp

Seven nights in Orlando with Virgin Holidays, including scheduled flights with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick direct to Orlando, accommodation at the 3V Disney’s Art of Animation Resort on a room only basis with car hire included. Price is based on 2 adults travelling and sharing a standard room, price includes all applicable taxes and fuel surcharges which are subject to change. Prices are based on departures in March 2013.

Start your holiday before you’ve even taken off in the v-room at Gatwick Airport… Adults £20, Kids £12

Virgin Holidays is a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected

To book: www.virginholidays.co.uk, 0844 557 3859 or visit one of our 100 stores located in Debenhams, House of Fraser, Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores nationwide.

A week of Walt: day three - it’s all about Disney food, from quick service to fine dining

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I recently made a promise to myself that I would stop taking pictures of food in restaurants. My husband hates it (especially when I slap his hand away from his plate) and I’ve lost count of the times my friends have sighed as I snap away at their plates, trying to get the best angle by practically sitting in their laps. Annoying, much?

But it’s SO hard. I did, for example, break my rule for this AMAZING starter at one of my favourite Disney fine dining restaurants, the Flying Fish on Disney’s Boardwalk

So, as Roz would say in Frasier, I must attempt to ‘use my words’. So here goes - my all-time top ten Disney dining experiences (so far):

Breakfasts

Disney do breakfast REALLY well. If you’re heading to Florida, make sure you book at least one character breakfast where you get to meet some of Disney’s stars up close and personal. My favourite character breakfast is at Tusker House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom resort. The setting is amazing - you can just imagine you’ve stopped for a quick break from your African safari - and the food is just fabulous. As well as all the usual breakfast choices - Mickey waffles (my personal favourite), bacon, eggs, etc, there are some traditional African choices to try (Bobotie for breakfast? Why not?) and don’t forget a yummy glass of Jungle Juice to wash it all down.

Another favourite of mine, both in terms of the resort itself and in particular The Wave restaurant, is Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The setting is great - a brief monorail ride straight into the parks - and, as the name suggests, the resort is modern and very classy. I’ve had both dinner and breakfast in the stunning Wave restaurant and can’t decide which I like best, but the delicious cheese and bacon grits and sweet potato pancakes both take some beating in the morning. They also serve a range of addictive smoothies too.

Lunches

Onto lunch then, and this is often a case of grabbing something at one of the many quick service dining options. If you get the chance, though, do try and stop off at the iconic Hollywood Brown Derby based at the Hollywood Studios park. I know I’ve talked about the Brown Derby before, but its Cobb salad (it’s enormous - order one between the two of you) - a chopped salad made from avocado, blue cheese, turkey, tomatoes, bacon… you name it, is an absolute must, and the setting, based on the original Vine Street Brown Derby in Hollywood is proper old school glam. The waiting staff are amazing and although you can wander in dressed in your cut off shorts and t-shirt, half way round Hollywood Studios, you’re always made to feel really special.

If you’re grabbing lunch on the run at the Magic Kingdom, pop in to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café in Frontierland and stuff your face with one of their scrummy barbecue pulled pork rolls. You add your own salad at the little salad bars, which I really like too.

Fine Dining

Disney excel at fine dining. I’m finding it really hard to pick my favourites here, but Citricos at the utterly beautiful Grand Floridian resort has to be experienced to be believed. The service is absolutely faultless (the waiting staff know EVERYTHING about every dish and even change your white napkin for a black one if you’re wearing dark colours and don’t want to risk getting any white lint on your outfit), the cocktails are exquisite and the wine list is incredible. The panadas, a starter of delicately spiced beef in a filo pastry shell with a sweet/sour tamarind dip were crisp on the outside and rich and meaty in the middle. The braised short ribs entrée is one I’ve had a couple of times and is always meltingly tender. Their steaks are always amazing and cooked perfectly, and don’t you dare eat so much that you miss out on one of their intricately decorated decadent chocolate desserts.

My final choice (touch and go between this one and the equally fabulous Kouzzina (you can read a previous review here) also on the Boardwalk is The Flying Fish Café. I adore the Boardwalk - there’s nothing nicer than wandering along by the water, watching the sideshows, then after your delicious dinner, wandering back to your hotel under the stars, pausing to watch the fireworks at neighbouring Epcot. Every evening I’ve had here has been magical, and everything I’ve ever eaten has been incredible: crispy sesame calamari, crunchy coated Jonah crab cakes… sea bass, salmon… it’s all perfectly prepared and wonderfully presented. If you’re not massively into fish, don’t despair. They also do a ridiculously tender New York strip steak. Oh and before you waddle out? Force down a slice of the Florida Tequila key lime Margarita Pie. You’ll thank me.

If you’re about to travel to Walt Disney World Resort Florida, or need any help planning your journey, or need more recommendations for dining or park options I’m always happy to help. Drop me a line!

 

New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort, Florida

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One of the things I love about Disney is that they never stop. There’s always something new and exciting in the pipeline (more of this later in the week) - their teams of designers (or ‘Imagineers’), work tirelessly to keep Disney fresh, new and exciting. At Christmas I was really lucky to be invited to the opening of New Fantasyland - a project that doubles the size of Fantasyland, an area of the Magic Kingdom beyond Cinderella Castle. There’s no party like a Disney party, and stars like Ginnifer Goodwin and Jordin Sparks were on hand to make it go with a bang.

The party was AMAZING - the food was incredible (check out the cupcakes!) and there was an actual, flying DRAGON. If you don’t believe me, check out the video here!

I adore the Magic Kingdom. I sometimes think the perception is that it’s more for the younger guests, but there are some real classics there that every visitor should do: The Haunted Mansion is just fabulous, and Pirates of the Caribbean is probably my favourite ride of all time, it’s just so atmospheric. And I don’t know anyone that doesn’t get off Big Thunder Mountain and want to go straight back on!

We also had the chance to check out the new attractions. As you’ll see from yesterday’s video, I absolutely loved Enchanted Tales with Belle. If you’re a fan of Beauty and the Beast, you’ll love it too. It’s a really lovely experience where guests get to act out a story with Belle, the Wardrobe and Lumiere (an absolute triumph of animatronic technology). The little girl that we saw was so entranced with Belle, her face was a picture. Wonderful. And yes, I cried again.

There’s also a lovely ride called Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid where guests get to ride in a clamshell and see lots of the characters from the Little Mermaid (including scary Ursula), and you can meet Ariel herself in Ariel’s Grotto too.

One of my very favourite rides, Dumbo, The Flying Elephant, has had a makeover and now there are DOUBLE DUMBOS: two rides, one going clockwise and one going anticlockwise, halving the waiting time! There’s also a fabulous big top where you can hang out and get involved in lots of circus activities while you wait your turn.

The Great Goofini is a lovely family coaster ride, and you can pose for photos with the Disney gang at Pete’s Silly Sideshow too - get up close and personal with Minnie Magnifique, The Great Goofini, Madame Daisy Fortuna (Daisy Duck) and The Astounding Donaldo too!

It’s not all about the rides, though, as one of the biggest parts of New Fantasyland is the fabulous Be Our Guest restaurant. We were completely overwhelmed by this beautiful restaurant, themed to look like the ballroom of Beast’s Castle (and it really does - right down to the chandeliers!) - you can even see the enchanted rose, floating magically in its glass case. During the day, this restaurant serves Disney’s trademark fast lunch service menu, but by night, it transforms into a full-service, reservations-required restaurant serving a French-themed menu and, unusually, as the Magic Kingdom is a ‘dry’ park, alcohol at dinner, bringing a much more grown-up feel to this beautiful setting. You can look out of the windows and watch the ‘snow’ as well, which is really quite magical.

Gaston’s Tavern is a more casual experience, but nonetheless beautifully themed and finished, with a roaring fire and an amazing antler chandelier. The food has been specially created for the tavern (it’s mostly snacky, but different - try the roasted pork shank - gnawed straight off the bone!) and there’s yummy LeFou’s brew to drink too. I think it’s a nice place to pop into after you’ve spent the afternoon tramping the park, to sit down with a pastry and a lovely hot chocolate.

The magic doesn’t stop here, though - the Princess Fairytale Hall will be opening this year - a lovely place where you can meet all your favourite Disney Princesses - and then next year, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will finally open - an amazingly clever musical coaster ride through the mine where the Imagineers are attempting to recreate the swinging motion of the individual buckets - and there are rumours of interacting with the dwarfs (Disney don’t say ‘dwarves’) too! I’ll just have to go back for another visit to find out, I guess!

A week of Walt on English Mum: Christmas at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida

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I was having a conversation with my Disreputable Dad recently about crying. ’Oh I well up all the time’, he said. ’Watch out, it gets worse as you get older’.

This can’t be good, as I seem to cry plenty already. Just before Christmas, I was lucky enough to be invited to Florida for the grand opening of a brand new section of the Magic Kingdom: New Fantasyland. I seem to have spent most of this trip either choking back tears (happy tears, I’ll explain later) or wiping away proper big fat ones (again, all happy - there’s just no room for sadness at Disney World). But who can blame me - who WOULDN’T blub in a place where there are princesses (and a staff member who asks tiny princesses-for-a-day for their autographs), where you can get a hug off Mickey Mouse and there are fireworks with light shows and pyrotechnics that take your breath away. Add whizzy rides, Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear, a kiss from Woody the Cowboy and… if you go at Christmas there is snow - REAL SNOW! - on Main Street… it’s no surprise that I was a wreck.

In fact, there’s SO much fun, and SO much stuff to tell you that I’ve decided to take the whole week to tell you all about it. Brace yourself. There’ll be roller coasters, Belle and the Beast, scrummy food, waterslides, motor boats, wonderful new themed hotels and loads of news of fabulous new Walt Disney World rides and attractions - secrets that I’m going to share only with you (shhh!).

To give you a little taster of what’s to come, here’s a video of my amazing New Fantasyland week. Make sure you keep popping back all week. WARNING: I might say ‘gorgeous’ and ‘fabulous’ quite a lot!:

In which I finally get to be a model (with a little help from Special K!)

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I am a lucky girl. I get some wonderful invitations. One dropped into my inbox recently, though, that sounded too good to be true: did I want to get a proper, modelly makeover and star in a Special K advertisement at Westfield Shopping Centre? HOLD ME BACK!

The day started with coffees and catching up with old friends (plus making some new) - my ol’ Disney muckers Exmoor Jane, and DDs Diary were there, plus Claire, my Yeo Valley chum and I met up with friend of a friend Simone from The Bottom of the Ironing Basket - a blog that I’ve read for years!

Next, we were all given a colour consultation from lovely Charlotte - turns out I have ‘soft’ colouring - meaning basically that I should avoid extremes, ie black and white, and go for softer, more muted colours like grey and cream, and for example raspberry pink instead of red. I really enjoyed it and afterwards went shopping with a new appreciation of what really suits me.

The best bit was the makeover - we got to be ‘done’ by a team of make up artists and hair stylists. I picked up loads of tips from my lovely makeup lady and actually felt genuinely pretty when it was done (us girls know that THAT doesn’t happen very often!). After that it was off to the photographer, who schooled me in the art of standing in a flattering way (‘chin up!’) and the resulting photos were sent off to be made into the finished adverts.

It really was quite incredible to stand and look at a MASSIVE billboard of yourself in the middle of a shopping centre. As Jane and I stood and watched our adverts, a man came up to us and said ‘is that you?!’. It was fab, and we actually felt quite famous!

Here’s my finished advertisement. Massive thanks to the team at Kellogg’s UK, who are endlessly patient, and proper fun to be around too (that’s without mentioning the enormous bag of Special K goodies that I took home!).

Special K’s wonderful new campaign is designed to encourage women to think about the positive aspects of losing weight. Their twitter tag #Iwanttogain focuses on sharing the pluses of feeling healthier. I chose ‘sparkle’ as my word.. Pretty appropriate seeing as I felt pretty darned sparkly up on that billboard!

Happy New Year! And another alcohol free January.

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New Year's Eve

We had a such a lovely new year. Turtle, my gorgeous niece, made the most amazing cocktails, we had a scrummy dinner cooked by my very clever sister in law (the sweet potato and chorizo was a revelation), and then Sam, Charlie, Jackson and even, hilariously, my brother IJ and I had a mad dancing competition on the Wii. A fab time. It ended with champagne and cuddles with velvet nosed doggies on squishy sofas watching the New Year fireworks on the telly. I couldn’t have been happier.

Last year at this time I vowed to be completely alcohol free in January. I’ve got to be honest, it was tough, but I DID end January feeling amazing (and a whole 8lb lighter - without even trying!). I also said I’d never do it again (and I got a special edition bottle of Bombay Sapphire for Christmas - sob…), but here we are again after two back to back holidays during which I overindulged in both the food AND the booze, and then Christmas and its associated gluttony. And frankly, after my disgusting behaviour on Christmas Eve (there was singing. And I don’t even remember going to bed), I probably owe it to my liver to give it a holiday.

If you’d like to join me - and my friends Laura, Dellers, NotSupermum and, I think Rachael (yes Rach?) - doing alcohol-free January, do let me know (or tweet me @englishmum).

Bring it on, then, 2013, I’m ready and raring to go!