Monthly Archives: August 2017

Spreading Summer Fun with Macabella

04th August 2017
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of a delivery from Macabella, the makers of the most divine chocolate base spread ever. I’ve featured, and baked with the brand before as well as giving the spread itself a glowing review so I was more than excited to get the chance to work with them again.

By way of introduction for those who don’t know, Macabella spread is a heavenly fusion of chocolate and macadamia nuts which comes in two varities- velvet smooth and crunchy. It’s now available to buy from Ocado at £3 for a jar- and trust me, it’s well worth every penny.

This time the package included a curious selection of baking accessories along with the spread, including some silicone ice lolly moulds that just begged to be used. Therefore the first recipe I present to you today is for some Macabella ice lollies that use just two ingredients- so simple it can barely be called a recipe!
For these I quite simply took 1/3 cup of Macabella Crunch and 2/3 cup of milk the blended it all together until well combined. I then divided this between four ice lolly moulds- although I could have got six from it and popped in the freezer. I think probably these would have worked better with whole milk rather than semi skimmed but it’s really down to preference- they’d probably also work well with cream for a more indulgent treat! I left mine to freeze over night but did take some out after a couple of hours to pop on some decorations.
The second thing I made was these swirly muffins, inspired by my boyfriend musing about marble cake after we saw it in a coffee shop one Saturday. These turned out so well- the spread makes the cakes super moist and provides a good contrast to the sponge and they’ve already been requested again by aforementioned boyfriend. I used a recipe I found online here but obviously used Macabella (velvet this time) instead. They were really easy to do and I strongly recommend both this recipe and incorporating Macabella in to just about anything you might be planning to bake!
Let me know if you try either of these ideas out, or what else you think I should bake with the spread.

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Posted in baking, brands I love, food, lifestyle, recipes

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Bristol Life: The Downs Festival 2017

02nd August 2017
I might not be a festival goer in the traditional sense of the world. It’s a long time since I packed up my tent and headed away for a weekend- mostly due to cost more than anything else, but I love music and a good gathering so I decided that this year would be the year I head to Bristols very own festival- Downs Festival, taking place on Saturday 2nd September from 13:00 – 23:00. Having missed out on a cracking line up last year, I was keen not to be feeling left out this year.
These images are from last years event at which Massive Attack headlined. This year the all day event has Elbow as it’s headline act (the selling point for me!) as well as Seasick Steve (also a big fan), Soul II Soul, The Districts and De La Soul joining them on the main stage.

The second stage will play host to Groove Armada with a show-stopping DJ set that I can’t wait to experience.

Last year’s festival was the first major music event hosted on Bristols Downs for 27 years and proved that Bristol has what it takes (of course) to host something on this scale. This year it returns with more live music, more bars and more independent food stalls.

‘The Information’ stage will also return, offering a dedicated area for guest speakers, question and answer sessions, film screenings, photography and charity representatives. More information on this will follow shortly.

Tickets are on sale now priced at £45. Last year the event sold out incredibly quick so you’ll want to be acting fast.

All online ticket sales will be subject to a £1 donation with funds going directly to the upkeep and maintenance of The Downs, for all of Bristol to enjoy.

There will be a limited number of reduced price tickets at £25 available to anyone unemployed or on income support. These tickets are only available in person from Bristol Ticket Shop and supporting documentation and ID will be required. Children under 4 are free (though must be wearing adequate hearing protection) and a limited number of tickets for children aged 4- 12 years will be available at all outlets for £10 per ticket. All under 16’s need accompanying by an adult.

Tickets are restricted to six tickets per person/per billing address. Please note that in order to protect our audience from ticket touts we are putting in measures to help eliminate them. The lead booker will need to attend the event (or nominate a 3rd party at the point of purchase) with their guests and will need to show photo ID in order to enter the concert arena.

Tickets are available from the following outlets: The Downs Bristol, Bristol Ticket Shop, Songkick, Seetickets and Gigantic

Have you been to any festivals this year? Who would be your dream headline act?

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Posted in bristol, lifestyle, music

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Crazy for Ice Cream*

01st August 2017
I’ve always said that should I ever get married then my one requirement is that I can have an ice cream van at the reception. I’m an ice cream obsessive- although it’s only recently I’ve felt able to admit this (anorexia banned me from admitting to liking any type of food for far too many years). Childhood holidays are punctuated with memories of Mr Whippy, getting covered in ice cream and red sauce and laughing at my Nan as she inevitably was the first to spill hers down herself, so when this graphic about the evolution of the ice cream van came along courtesy of Van Monster I knew I had to share. Fellow ice cream fanatics read on…
I’m a bit of a history geek so it’s great to finally know the origins of one of the greatest inventions of all time, as well as how things differ around the world. It’s definitely true that there are far less vans on the streets these days, although where I live appears to have quite a dense population of them still- there’s always one parked up near work seemingly all year round!

What was/is your favourite thing to get from the ice cream van? For me it’s a 99 flake with a good squiggle of red sauce…I do recall a place in Cornwall that had a whole rainbow of different sauces though, that really ought to be a thing nationwide!

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Posted in food, lifestyle

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