Mother’s day brunch with Gradz bakery

As I was sent a lovely package of fine artisan breads from Gradz bakery right before mother’s day I thought it would be perfect for having our own celebratory brunch rather than going out and spending lots of money at a restaurant.

Our delivery, which was lovingly gift wrapped, contained the six varieties of bread that are currently stocked in Ocado. You can also find the bread in independent delis, health food stores and health conscious cafes and restaurants.

• Spirulina & Pumpkin Seed Bread
• Handcrafted Amaranth Bread 
• Oats and Flax Sourdough 
• Rye 100% with Honey
• Gluten Free Dark with Seeds
• Gluten Free Dark with Sunflower Seeds

As a family of six we manage to eat our way through a lot of bread so rarely treat ourselves to anything fancy, it was nice to try different flavours and I didn’t feel so guilty about adding that extra slice to my plate knowing how healthy the bread is compared to the normal white loaf.

The packaging is full of information and the first thing I noticed was how soft and bouncy the bread felt when I picked it up.

Here is a statement about how the Gradz bakery was founded:

The Gradz Story
Master bakers Agnes Gabriel and Romuald Damaz have always been passionate about making healthy, delicious bread. When they discovered a treasure of family recipes hand-written by Agne’s Grandfather, they were inspired to establish the Gradz (Gabriel Romuald Agnes Damaz) bakery and share their tradition of continental-style baking with Britain.
Each numbered recipe in her Grandfather’s book brought cherished memories and baking ideas to Agnes and Romuald. By adding their knowledge, skill and expertise, the Gradz master bakers have developed traditional bread with today’s tastes and health benefits.

For our Mother’s day brunch we had a selection of toppings to go with the bread, including cheeses, pate, salad and the quintessential dish on any brunch menu; avocado and poached eggs!

The bread was really delicious and considering my kids had a bit of a moan that they don’t like seeds in their bread they seemed to consume a fair amount of it! It is no surprise that Gradz have been winners at the world bakery awards!

Considering all the normal motherly duties didn’t disappear on Mother’s day I still had a lovely time and received lots of thoughtful gifts. How did you spend Mothering Sunday?

If you want to find out more about this artisan bread maker then checkout their website!

Columbia road flower market

I have wanted to visit Columbia road flower market for a while and with my recent photography project documenting the journey of the flower, I thought it would be the perfect time to go and take some photos.

On the bus journey over, the streets were empty as it was a cold, drizzly afternoon, that is until I reached Shoreditch and there was a real buzz as the streets were lined with people carrying bunches of flowers and Christmas trees.

The flower market is open from 8am until around 3pm and I decided to go in the middle of the afternoon because I wanted it to be busy. I don’t think I was prepared for just how busy it was and trying to navigate through the market while taking photos is no mean feat. The road is quite narrow and the pavements have even less space, so although they are filled with what looks like quirky little shops and cafes it is hard to have a proper look when you are fighting your way past other people.

I had plenty of photos of flowers from my trip to New Covent garden market so what I really wanted to capture was the people.

Being a flower market and with a street lined with cute shops it obviously attracts people with their cameras but a lot of the market traders don’t seem too impressed by this, one asked me to delete his photo as he was “fed up of people taking photos to put on Facebook” I was going to tell him that they would more likely end up on Instagram but didn’t think he would appreciate it either way!

The market obviously attracts lots of customers but I think a lot of people also go just to have a look and take photos. I didn’t actually buy any flowers but the prices seemed pretty reasonable. I would like to go back in the Spring when it’s a bit warmer to buy some flowers but I think I will go a bit earlier or later in the day when it isn’t so busy.

Have you visited Columbia road before?

Chimasu – Asian snack box

Subscription boxes seem to be the thing of the moment, you can get every type from beauty, stationary, food and toys. They are a great way to try a wide selection of things that you may not necessarily purchase individually or even know about and the Chimasu box is no different.

I pass Asian supermarkets all the time but probably wouldn’t know where to start looking if I went inside so I have never bothered. I love eating out at Asian restaurants or ordering a takeaway so when I was asked by Chimasu if I would like to try out there subscription snack box, which contains snacks from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore… I couldn’t say no!

When the Chimasu box arrived I was surprised it was so small but it was definitely packed full of stuff and contained both sweet and savoury goodies.

As my kids love to try new foods we decided we would all do the taste testing together. I am quite fussy with what I eat and some of the flavours did worry me a bit…Cuttlefish, soy sauce, shrimp and seaweed are not the flavours I normally pick when choosing snacks!

We started with the savoury snacks

The Soy sauce rice crackers reminded me of those round almond bakes which I love, this meant I got a bit of a shock when I bit into it and it was a completely different texture and taste. I actually really liked the crunch of it but wasn’t too keen on the flavour. My eldest son was probably the biggest fan of those and finished them off.

The Yummy flakes just reminded me of fish food but they were like miniature prawn crackers and were really cute, didn’t last long though as they were so small.

I was a bit worried about the cuttlefish snacks as I wasn’t sure what cuttlefish tasted like but was pleasantly surprised. These were actually my favourite snack in the box, not too overpowering and we decided they were a cross between Skips and Pom bears.

The seaweed and the wasabi peas were both something I hadn’t tried before and I found them both really strong, especially the wasabi peas! They taste just like peanuts flavoured with mustard and although I am a fan of mustard I can only take it in small doses. We all kind of felt the same about these except my eldest son who finished them all off!

We always have noodles in the house as the kids love to snack on them, the ones we were sent were spicier than normal but still just as tasty and there were no complaints from the kids.

Sweet Snacks

The Pepero sticks are one of South Korea’s favourite snacks and are long crispy biscuit filled with smooth chocolate, they went down way too easily and I could have done with another box.

The small panda biscuits were covered on one side with chocolate and a panda face, very cute and we all loved them. We expected the koala bears to be similar but they were filled with a fruity flavour and although they were just as cute I found them a bit too sweet.

Most of the Asian snacks, both sweet and savoury, were very light and flacky in texture so I was surprised by the black thunder chocolate bar that was dense and really chocolaty – my kind of snack!

The Chimasu box is available to purchase online as a one off box or a subscription and you can update your preferences to make sure you will get the snacks that you enjoy. We loved having the opportunity to try out things we have never tasted before and it was fun seeing all the expressions on everyone’s face as they tried something new. I’m not sure I loved all the things enough to make the most of a whole box for myself but I’m definitely considering it as a gift for my son who seemed to finish everything off!

If you would like to purchase a box for yourself or someone else as a gift then you can use the code PRETTYCITY122 which will give you £6 discount off your first box and a bar of Japanese KitKat!

*I was sent a Chamasu box for review purposes, all opinions are my own!

 

 

 

 

Southbank centre street food market

If you happen to be around the Southbank between Friday and Sunday and are struggling to decide where to eat you may want to head towards the Southbank centre’s street food market.

Whether you are looking for a snack, cooked food, a sweet treat or even just a tipple then there is likely to be something here to tickle your tastebuds. We decided to check out the market after our meal at The Archduke down the road. We were looking for dessert but there was so much food to choose we actually thought we should have just went there to begin with.

We were hoping to find a stall that did waffles and crepes but didn’t see any, there was however loads of cake!

We chose a selection of these cupcakes from sweet tooth factory (which I had to unfortunately share with my kids) and the they were delicious. We didn’t get to sample anything else but if I happen to be around there again when it is open I would love to try out some other dishes.

Where is your favourite food market?

A gift guide for the traveller in your life

I don’t know about you but I find it really difficult finding the perfect gift for my friends and family. I am not really fussy with what I receive myself but when I buy presents I want them to be thoughtful and suit the recipient (I mean there is only so many Lynx body spray sets one person can use!)

I have noticed so many more people are embracing travel and using their money to buy experiences than ever. Well who can blame them with so much out there to see! I have put together a few gift ideas that you are not likely to find on the high street as they are from the uncommon goods website and would suit anyone with a zest for adventure.

The travel stub diary £10.00 is a perfect keepsake, not only for travel tickets but little pieces of memorabilia you pick up on your journeys.

The set of women’s travel organising bags £40.00 (men’s also available) are a great way to find everything you need in the suitcase without pulling everything out.

We all know how boring it can get playing eye spy on long journeys so this Game night in a can £20.83 containing 30 original games would fit nicely in your hand luggage to keep the whole family entertained

Coconut is one of my favourite scents and this travel beauty kit £56.67 looks so indulgent, great for keeping your skin in tip top condition while away from home.

For those unable to get out into the big outdoors then just give them the scent of it with this great outdoors national park candle set £33.33

As well as looking ultra stylish this Anti-theft rucksack £79.12 uses clever design to deter pickpockets from accessing all your important contents.

Last year I gave my brother a scratch map as a gift because every time I go onto Facebook he seems to be in another country. As well as stocking them on uncommon goods they also have this really sweet map called a world of I love you £20.83 which tells you how to say I love you in 50 different locations across the world.

I have never thought about bringing a journal with me on holiday but thinking about it, it’s a great idea to jot down those moments and memories that seem a distant memory when returning back to reality. If I had this Travel journal £12.49 I would keep notes that I could use to write travel blog posts once I return home.

The uncommon mission

As well as having innovative and attractive products, uncommon goods strive to be more environmentally friendly, socially responsible and an ever-more rewarding place to work. Treating their staff with dignity and respect by offering health care insurance to all full-time staff and a fair wage for all. Uncommon goods work with artists and small manufacturers to produce handmade, recycled and organic products and are committed to selling products that don’t cause harm to people or animals meaning they don’t contain any leather, feathers or fur.

It is not just travel gifts that are available at uncommon goods, they cater for all occasions whether you are

Attending a wedding

Buying a gift for a babyshower

Helping somebody celebrate their anniversary

I definitely have more gift ideas for my loved ones (and for myself) and with my baby boy turning 20 in a couple of weeks it means I won’t be looking at the kids section, boys section, not even the teen section anymore, but unbelievably I’ll be scouring the gifts for men section to find him the perfect present.

Have you seen any products from Uncommon goods that would make a perfect gift for you?

 

*Written in collaboration with uncommon goods, all thoughts my own