goody bag - Travels for Taste

Blossom Hills new Sun Kissed Red and White wines – a great way to enjoy fruity wines in the Summer!

July 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 9 Comments

Hope all you folks are making the most of the sunny climate! Bbq’s ,picnics and loads of great days out with the family! Am sure most of you have enjoyed drinking Blossom Hills wines , I certainly have and am now a great fan of the fruitier newly launched summer ready wines called the new Blossom Hill Sun Kissed Red and White wines.

When I was invited to a blogger launch party I walked into a pretty room all done up like a fab picnic in the park , a faux green grass carpet included !

One sip of the chilled fruity red wine and I was sold! It makes drinking red wine for those just starting out especially so much easier because these wines are much lighter ,sweeter and taste great with all the usual summer party essential and will go well with barbecued meats and grilled veggies as well. I also think because the red is so light on the system it makes it way easier if you enjoy say one glass of red every evening while catching up say Midsomer Murders on the telly …my way of unwinding after a long day!Traditional Rose wines enthusiasts in particular will enjoy this new red.

A mixture of ripe summer fruits and strawberry flavours envelope your palate making the red wine a light and easy drink.

This table with nibbles was so much fun and I loved the jelly a lot 🙂

Moving onto the white which I loved too, I am quite the white wine fan and this light white with luscious juicy fruits and peachy notes was so good ,it almost made me want to plonk onto the fake grass on one of those lovely picnic blankets and grab one of the books and enjoy the rest of the afternoon just sipping chilled wine and reading!

But more hard work lay ahead 😉 , a pamper session by Illustrated Nails where I got a complimentary manicure in a dark chocolate nail colour, we even got 2 lovely white and red nail colours in our goody bags 🙂

These red and white summer wines are best enjoyed chilled , a great way to enjoy the long summer evenings.What I like most about lighter fruitier wines is that they are great to serve and gift to those that drink only occasionally and regular wine enthusiasts alike.Because they are not as heavy as traditional wines they are just perfect for the hot summer weather , in fact I’d say they are the new summer picnic basket essential!

Blossom Hills Sun-Kissed Red and White wines are available nationwide in ASDA,Morrisons and Sainsburys.

*Many thanks to Blossom Hill wines for the invite .

French Glace Cherries – Baking Masterclass

March 14, 2014 by manjirichitnis 37 Comments

When someone says cherries all I can think of is one tempting cherry sitting majestically atop a very fancy portion of Black Forest gâteau for dessert and its only the dexterity of your hands that will guarantee you get to pop the tasty little treat, of course, cherries have very many applications in baking as I was to find out at the baking day for bloggers organised by French Glacé Cherries(FGC).

We baked delicious Valentine’s treats developed and demonstrated by French baker and blogger Cindy Robert from Petit Gâteau and Food for thoughts.

To get us settled in we had some rather innovative sweet and savoury nibbles – FGC chutney with blue cheese, FGC oatcakes, FGC & chocolate brownies, mini smoothies, mini cheesecakes and my new favorite party nibble idea – crispy bacon rolled around a cherry – it’s so so good!

Images above Courtesy French Glace Cherries

A few interesting facts about French Glacé cherries They retain their flavour, shape and texture throughout the baking process. As such, they offer unbeatable quality, and reliable results every time. Good To know that they are not just apt in a traditional fruit cake, but equally at home in savoury recipes.

A Slice of History

The love affair between French confectioners and the UK goes back as far as 1868.It was then that business man Mathieu Wood, who was travelling in Provence at the time, discovered candied fruits from the Apt region and decided to import and sell them in his shops. It didn’t take long for the quality reputation of Provence glacé fruits to spread to the UK and beyond.

Images Courtesy French Glace Cherries

Around the same time, the British love of the outdoors and the development of the picnic and camping trends encouraged a preference for food that was easy to carry around. The fruit cake became very popular as it was easier to carry than the traditional pudding and offered something a bit more original. Candied fruits and French glacé cherries in particular are fun, novel and allow for a great amount of creativity in recipes. No surprise they quickly became a perfect addition to the fruit cake, and thus an integral part of British baking culture.

We were to bake along with Cindy, who had created two exclusive treats: French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes (a cherry twist on the traditional Jaffa cake) and FGC and Pistachios financiers (also known over here as friands).

I must say baking in a group is really fun vis-a vis’ my usual solitary experiments and that too at the venue which was Central Street Cookery School, at St Luke’s Community Centre was an utterly enjoyable experience.The cookery school is exceptionally well equipped and is a perfect place for all sorts of lovely kitchen experiments ! That is a very happy me melting some chocolate chips -ummm

An attentive audience we were …

My French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes progressed quite well and we got to carry back our bakes home, such fun I say , I had a lovely tea session with my neighbour H and her 5 year old daughter she thoroughly enjoyed the taste of these Jaffa cakes !

But my heart was in the FGC and Pistachios financiers, their eggy aroma and perfect for valentines day shape ummm ,lucky us we got the cute moulds to take home in our rather generously stuffed goody bags with the most cheerful apron I’ve got so far in bright cherry red 🙂

1-French Glace Cherries Goody Bag Deconstructed on 8th Feb'14

Did you know that it takes about 10 days for a tray of fresh cherries to become glacé cherries

Image Credit: French Glace Cherries

Disclaimer: I was invited by French Glace Cherries to attend the event and bake with Cindy using recipes developed by her. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

House of Coffee – Panasonic Espresso Machine Launch event

October 14, 2013 by manjirichitnis 3 Comments

Last week Thursday I was invited to the one day launch event for Panasonic’s new bean to cup Espresso Machine. It was a very cold and rainy day and I was mighty glad that this event called the Panasonic House of Coffee was at a pop-up cafe in a place ”The Caves” – just what I needed – cradle a hot cup of coffee in a cosy corner inside a cave. Besides it was near Farringdon station which is a very quaint place.

As I entered ”The Caves”, thankful that it kept the nasty, persistent wind away, I was pleasantly greeted by a wall with the most stunning Coffee Art by artist Cosmo Sarson. His work a nod to heyday of the disco and club scene of the ’70s. Sarson has worked in many big productions including Pirates of The Caribbean.

I really would have liked to go in the evening and try some of the amazing coffee cocktails on the menu by Sam Pager – Steavenson – The Rum Runner but had to make do with cakes and coffee since I had another cocktail event to get to in the evening *grins*I’d say I choose the wrong week to abstain from alcohol, only I can pull off such a stunt during the London Cocktail week *sigh*(Would have loved to try the Mean Bean – Cardamom infused vodka with Araku Coffee liqueur, fresh raspberries, and espresso coffee – Cardamom is so Indian and I absolutely adore coffee liqueur … (also maybe the MADRUGADA – Blanco Tequila with dark chocolate, fresh mint, and espresso coffee – am a crazy fan of dark chocolate **sighh**)

There was D.J Cam Brott in the evening too, who would definitely have made this area of House of Coffee come alive with his Brazilian,Afro and Vintage tunes!

The coffee didn’t fail to impress nor did the sleek good looks of the new Espresso Machine – NC-ZA1.It’s dead easy to use and easier to clean as well, no complex function selection menu or fancy gizmo thingy happening – just good old honest coffee! This compact and smooth operator is guaranteed to satisfy self-styled baristas and coffee connoisseurs – says Panasonic.From the same extraction its possible to select a finer grind,add more or fewer shots and vary the milk ratio.

Do check out the unique features and read in detail about the Panasonic new Espresso Maker NC-ZA1 by visiting the official U.K website.

I had a latte and chatted up the lovely Poppy, a lifestyle blogger, why not err pop over to her blog at Poppy Loves.

Although, I am largely a tea person I do enjoy my occasional coffee, am going to have mine today in the lovely Limited Edition coffee cup with coffee art on it which I took home in my goody bag along with a pack of hand-roasted Union coffee beans too:)

Panasonic Coffee Maker angle GLASS (Copy)

Above Image Courtesy – Panasonic

Blossom Hills new Sun Kissed Red and White wines – a great way to enjoy fruity wines in the Summer!

French Glace Cherries – Baking Masterclass

House of Coffee – Panasonic Espresso Machine Launch event

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