October Bites (and Sips) and Pieces

Over the weeks I get sent products to taste, read and review OXO have added a new 'wet' stock cube to its range - LAMB! Yes now you can add real lamb flavour to your hot pots, moussaka, shepherd pies and more!

If you want to know about the other flavours in the range, ready my last post by clicking here .

Have you ever made a cake in a loose bottom cake pan and the mixture leaked out around the bottom.  I have and then you have to pick the bits off around the cake pan.  Good news, the world's first leak-proof, loose based pan is here - 100% liquid tight with a patented silicone seal base from PushPan.  There are a variety of sizes along with non-stick range and aluminium range.

I was sent an 8cm round cake pan which is perfect for my fruit cake recipe that I have been making for years.

This fruit cake takes 340gm of dried fruit which can be made up of any mixture - a great way to use up the last few glace cherries, prunes, dates or what have you in the cupboard.

I always like to soak my dried fruit, sometimes in brandy for a more formal fruit cake or as in this case in strong tea.  In place of a little bit of milk to get the consistency right I use the brandy or tea that the fruit was soaked in, yummmm!

After the original Qcumber water there is now Qcumber tonic with ginger.  I was sent a Press Release which had a recipe for a Gin cocktail with rhubarb and Qcumber tonic with Ginger.  I just happened to have some Rhubarb Gin that I had started in the early summer when the allotment rhubarb was young and ready to be picked.

I wanted to try a cocktail using my gin and Qcumber tonic with ginger. My cocktail recipe:-

Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.  Pour over the ice 25ml of homemade rhubarb gin

then 25ml vodka. Fill the glass with Qcumber, stir and pop a few pieces of the rhubarb on top.  Ad a straw and sip a really refreshing drink!. Qcumber is also perfect on its own as it is as a mixer with gin and vodka.

If you love clean, refreshing drinks you might be interested in Aspire's new range of refreshing drinks each containing green tea which is full of anti-oxidants however the whole range is free from sugar and full of multivitamins as well and comes in a range of flavours: Cranberry, Apple & Acai and Mango Lemonade.

Green tea extracts have been shown to help reduce body fat by stimulating the metabolism and giving you extra energy (when combined with a low calorie diet plan). There are key essential vitamins inside each can but most importantly there are no calories, no sugars and no carbs!

I love the refreshing taste of green tea with ice and when it is combined with flavours like mango what could there be to not like!!

These are just a few of the things I have been sent for review lately.  There are more coming next month as well as my Christmas Wish List!!

I was not paid to review any of the above items. All opinions and photographs are my own.