Well, last Christmas we were lucky enough to get a Mr & Mrs Smith voucher as a Christmas present and I can't believe it took us until October half term to actually sort out a weekend when we could cash it in!

We looked at several different places but didn't want to be too far from Suffolk where the girls were staying. We had had a lovely stay previously at Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds which is thoroughly recommended, as well as the slightly quirky Strattons in Swaffham which had the best cooked breakfast ever!

So we settled on Tuddenham Mill in a small village near Newmarket which had good reviews on the Mr & Mrs Smith website. We booked a two night stay with dinner there on the Saturday night. What I had failed to acknowledge until after I booked it was that it was the weekend on the rugby world cup final so we had to plan that in on the Sunday morning!

The room was large and light with a very comfortable bed, high ceiling and a view over the water. I can imaging in summer it is lovely to sit out in the garden over a glass of chardonnay! The bathroom was amazing with the biggest bath ever!

We were looking forward to dinner as the menu looked interesting to say the least. We had a nice cocktail in the bar beforehand and then settled down in the restaurant. To start, I had a Yorkshire hare with pickled celeriac, apple and mint and Jon had the carpaccio of pork with crackling and pickled turnip - both tasty and interesting. For main, I plumped for the lamb rump and shoulder with butternut squash, smoked paprika, and sea veg which seemed like a safe bet but was served with a kind of squash tapioca and wasn't to my liking. Jon went with the special dish which was muntjac deer which he thoroughly enjoyed.

I declined pudding but Jon caved in. The pudding was the most disappointing dish with fairly bland ice cream and little flavour.

In summary, I think they are trying too hard with the food - I found it a little over complicated but with fresh delicious ingredients. With a bottle of house wine the bill was £130 for two.

The stay at Tuddenham was relaxing and lazy (we had a nice country walk on the Sunday morning) but our overall feeling was that it is a little tired and in need of a little TLC. With rooms between £200 - £300 a night you want pure luxury!

Last week at work was all quite exhilarating lets say and I am now moving departments to hopefully a more manageable job in the hours I work (9 till 3). My friend is also moving departments which means our food banter on a daily basis will no doubt come to an end. What a shame!! The good news is that she brought a recipe in anyway and said it was the best thing she had cooked and tasted in a very long time.

We are always eager to try new places to eat so on Saturday were excited to try a new place with our friends Mark and Sarah. It was Mark's birthday and we had all been eyeing up a curry for a good while so ended up at The Wheel in Rearsby near Leicester.

This is a traditional English Pub but with a twist in that it serves only Indian food in the evening.

It was very busy (it was Saturday after all), all tables were full but we received a warm welcome and started the evening with a gin and tonic!

The menu was a little difficult to navigate and there were so many things to choose from that we were a little confused between starters and main course.

Nonetheless we received complementary (obligatory I would say!) poppadoms and pickles while we decided what to have. We started with a sizzling platter of starters as well as a deep fried vegetable that was new to us (the name has escaped me!). These were nicely presented and tasted good although the vegetable dish was a little bland.

We followed with a lamb jalfrezi (this was totally scrummy), a tomato prawn dish and then a chicken tawa, both of which were nice. The chapatis were well cooked and overall we finished up feeling full, satisfied and not much food leftover (always a danger when your eyes are bigger that your belly!).

Mark had a good birthday, we hope, and was very pleased with his Sterck Hot Stripe Apron which will be a must for those summer barbecues that will no doubt commence when the first rays of sunshine appear!

Overall a pleasant evening had by all with my next curry planned at the Spice of India in Syston (who deliver to my village - how fantastic!)

We are very excited this week as we put the finshing touches to our on line shop "Dinner At Home Gifts"! I have always thought it would be great to be able to find great gifts, suitable for a wide spectrum of people for sale on a foodie website that recognises the kind of thing that foodie people might like as a gift.

We went to the Spring Fair at the NEC recently and sourced some very good quality, beautifully designed aprons, oven gloves, tea cosies and textile tableware which will shortly be available to buy at great prices.

The items come from India and are Fair Trade accredited. There are hot stripes, ginghams and traditional stripes and all would make perfect gifts for Mother's Day, birthdays and Christmas for wives, mums, daughters as well as husbands, dads and sons! The hot stripe half apron is perfect for the man of the house to perform his barbecue duties! Stylish , great quality and made to last.

Anyway - coming soon - Dinner At Home Gifts - keep a look out!

We're excited this morning following the arrival of stock for the new Gifts section of the Dinner at Home website.

We'll be checking through the order to make sure that all of the aprons, oven gloves, and other coordinating items are there and then start taking photographs.

Check back soon to see the range of gifts that are available to buy.

Our first delivery has been received and photographed and is now available to buy online.

The initial range includes:

• Aprons
• Oven Gloves
• Aprons for Children
• Coordinating Accessories

We feel that the quality and generous cut of the products make this range stand out as great gifts for all the cooks in your life.  With Mother's day less than two weeks away, we are offering next day dispatch and free, first class delivery - an offer you'd be mad to miss!

Take a good look through the range and let us know what you think.

We heard some exciting news this week with the launch at Penally Abbey of the Pembrokeshire Pasty and Pie Co. My cousin Ollie (Oliver Booth) and his old friend Dominic Spencer-Churchill have been sourcing great local ingredients from the Pembrokeshire area and have come up with some scrumpious flavours of pies and pasties which include the Tenby Treat (beef and stilton), the Friendly Dragon (I think my girls might have this one down as mine!!) which is chicken in a light curry sauce and the Caldey Island (fish in a creamy white sauce with leeks and tarragon). The Traditional Pembrokeshire Pasty sounds my favourite by far, consisting of Welsh lamb, red currant jelly, currants and mint but certainly different to the norm is the Preselli Mountain Breakfast consisting of bacon, sausage, egg, tomatoes and beans!

What is great about this venture is that Ollie has put a lot of research up front to source guaranteed local ingredients, all grown and reared in Pembrokeshire and of doutless excellent quality. They will be baked locally as well.

Following the launch party last week we can all look forward to the first shop opening in Tenby on 1st March (we were in Tenby this weekend and as of last night the sign writer was just putting the finishing touches to the Pembrokeshire Pie and Pasty sign above the shop in George Street!).

This will be followed by a flagship store in Cardiff later in the year and a roll out plan for many more over 5 years.

The motto "Farm Fresh, Farm Made, Farm Filled" says it all with every pie and pasty being its own Parcel of Pembrokeshire Magic.

I really wish Ollie well in this venture and can't wait to try them all - how perfect, en route to the Castle Beach in the summer to pick a couple of these up for lunchtime! That will save Jon having to "nip to the Hope and Anchor for sandwiches" hopefully!!

We've had a really nice weekend down in Tenby over half term - a journey from hell which took over 6 hours in the thick snow (!) but worth it as the weather in Pembrokeshire was glorious.

We had the obligatory fish and chips on Friday night from the Park Road Fish Bar - delicious as ever and then last night ventured to the Ocean Restaurant, overlooking the harbour and with a special offor of "half price food" as advertised in the Tenby Observer. This offer is until 7pm (I think) so we booked in for 6.15pm as the girls were with us.

The atmosphere was lovely - warm, cosy with friendly service. We'd had a larger than planned lunch do went straight for main course. Jon and I both ordered the Rib Eye Steak in a peppercorn sauce and the girls opted for a Tropicana Pizza and a mozarella garlic bread between them. We also ordered a bottle of Valpollicella at £15.95 which was average.

The steaks were delicious and cooked really well - the quality of the meat was very good - juicy and succulent. The sauce was a little non descript - not much flavour but didn't spoil the meal as the steak was so good. The accompanying veg were disappointing - it was served with a few chips, a grilled tomato and a few shallot rings which were OK but also came with veg (new potatoes, broccoli and carrots) which were clearly reheated from a previous sitting and a bit grey and uninviting.

That said, the pizza and garlic bread were very tasty and almost everything got eaten. The "offer" was honoured and our bill (including the wine) came to only £41 due to the half price food. I would certainly go again when the offer is on but not sure I would be happy with paying the real price of £18.95 for the rib eye steak.

We were over in Saundersfoot yesterday visiting family and decided to revisit the Mulberry Restaurant for some lunch as we were all starving! I think the last time I was there was following a funeral when we hadn't eaten all day so ended up there for a steak. Not sure whether it was because we were starving that time but I remember it being an incedibly good rib eye steak!

Anyway, the menu is reasonably priced at around £7 - £8 a dish and they are good sized portions. The menu is fairly traditional with all the old favourites on but that is just what we were fancying!

Imogen ordered the luxury fish at £7.50 which was a good size and came with peas and carrots. It had great flavour and certainly tasted homemade. Jon ordered the beef burger and fries at £7.50 - a good size, cooked well (not overdone) and again very tasty with a good side of fries. I ordered the boiled ham with parsley sauce, mash and veg. Good slabs of ham, plenty of tasty sauce and nicely firm fresh veg. Very good. Scarlett wasn't very hungry so ordered the ham sandwich (£4.95) which was amazing value as it was thick slices of proper ham on thick hunks of white bread served with fries and coleslaw.

The service was prompt and friendly with a nice warm atmosphere generally and with a total bill of £38 including drinks I would thoroughly recommend it.

just had to put a quik note here to say what a great find! Our friends Mark and Sarah took their children over to Eurodisney for the day last weekend and came back on Sunday via Majestic Wine in Calais. Luckily for us they have a big car so were able to bring stuff back for us as well as themselves. What a bargain - way cheaper than the UK - the Lindauer pink fizz that we like is at least £6 in the UK (on special offer) but was only £4.99 in Calais. We even invested in a Marlborough Sauvignon blanc at £2.99 which is damn decent even if I say so myself!
Sarah said they had pre orderd and that the servise was fantastic (as it in in the Uk) and they even give you £20 off your order if you spend a certain amount.
Certainly worth a trip if you are down south!

Her friend Danni came over to stay and I was given strict instructions on what to cook! Chicken stuffed with Boursin wrapped in Parma Ham with a lovely white wine sauce. This was vary naughtily accompanied by homemade chips and a healthy serving of broccoli and went down very well!

Just need to find a house to buy now and all the stresses are over!

Following on from the recent blog post regarding The Garlic Farm, the next store cupboard essential was to source and buy was some vanilla pods.

I do frequently use vanilla in a number of desserts such as Pannacotta, Crème Brûlée or straightforward custard. I prefer using vanilla pods, rather than vanilla essence, as I think that the presence of the tiny black vanilla seeds makes the dish so much more appealing. The downside is that buying vanilla pods from the supermarket can be very expensive. Two small pods costing in the region of £4 - £5 and both used in one dish.

I recently discovered a company selling vanilla via the internet. Vanilla Mart offer 10 premium pods for £5.25, 20 pods for £9.00 or 50 pods for just £16.50. Even more discounts for larger quantities and postage for all orders, is free.

I ordered 50 pods from Vanilla Mart on Tuesday and they turned up today, only 3 days later. I'm delighted to report that they were approximately 20cm (8 inches) lon, twice the size of the supermarket variety, and felt soft and juicy. If their aroma is anything to go by, they will be full of flavour too.

It looks like guests at our dinner parties will be subjected to a variety of vanilla based desserts for some time to come - not that anyone has complained in the past.

Note to self - I must upload some of my favourite recipes soon.

Just a random quick entry here to say that we had the Irish Colcannon Soup (the Glorious range) which was a real winner! The great thing about these soups is that they are packed with flavour and texture and are a meal on their own without having to find a bread roll to go with it!
The Irish Colcannon has lots of leek and potato and is (not quite) as good as homemade (!) but is certainly a great alternative if you are struggling to make your own every now and then.
Enjoy!

Well, it has been an eventful weekend as Imogen sat her entrance exam yesterday to get in to Loughborough High School. Competition is pretty fierce so all we can do now is wait two weeks to see if she gets a place.So, with that out of the way Scarley thought it would be nice to make and decorate a cake wishing her "well done" for taking the exam..I think I've just been conned into making a Victoria sponge with a tenuous excuse!

I tried Delia's Victoria Sponge many years back and was very disappointed. My friend Lolly suggested Nigella so that is what I have used ever since! It is in her "How to Eat" book and hasn't failed me yet!

Here are some photos of work in progress as well as the finished article!

This year, one of our New Year's Resolutions is to find new sources for some of the ingredients we use most often when cooking at home.

First on the shopping list was some garlic, not the small, expensive bulbs that are found in the supermarket, but big juicy bulbs of garlic direct from the producer.

Two years ago at the East Midlands Food Festival we bought a plait of Garlic from one of the exhibitors who had come from their farm on the Isle of Wight. A quick internet search, led us to the website of The Garlic Farm, based on the Isle of Wight.

The website is clear and informative, packed with plenty of tips for growing, storing, and cooking with garlic and of course plenty of garlic to buy.

We ordered two 10 bulb plaits at the cost of £10.90 per plait, plus £4.75 for standard delivery. Sure enough 4 days later, the box arrived from the farm, containing the two plaits, nicely packaged within tissue paper and securely cushioned within the box. An accompanying information leaflet also advised the best way to store the garlic before use.

The plaits were well tied and the large, firm garlic bulbs and I anticipate that they will be juicy and flavoursome. Can't wait to try them out sometime soon.

As we've said on numerous occasions, the secret to dinner party success is all in the planning.

Later today we have some great friends coming for Sunday Lunch. With all of the other stresses of everyday life and Christmas just around the corner, this could be a time for hectic rushing about, but hopefully all will be in control (or will at least appear so for our guests).

We haven't planned a formal "sitting down" starter, serving instead bite-sized nibbles that can be enjoyed as our friends arrive while sipping a glass or two of wine. We have found that younger children then don't have to sit for hours at the table and keeps them happy too.

As a starter, we have minature crab and parmesan tarlets (Heidi made these yesterday while I went to buy the Christmas tree), and prawn and chorizo skewers. The advantage of both, is that they can be made the day before, so reducing the amount of cooking needed as guests arrive.

Main course consists of a large rib of beef, roast potatoes, dauphinoise potatoes and a selection of vegatables. The beef was bought from our local Q-Butcher, Clarkes of Queniborough and they never fail to supply only the best meat - essential for such a key part of any meal.

For dessert, we will offer Vanilla Pannacotta, served with fresh raspberries in a raspberry coulis. Yet again the pannacotta is a great recipe for preparing the day before. The recipe calls for 4 vanilla pods, which can prive expensive if bought from the supermarket, but we have discovered a company selling vanilla on-line, Vanilla Mart and they delivered 10, premium quality vanilla pods, the next-day, for just over £5. Great service guys!

Photos and results will be posted soon.

Do you like to throw dinner parties? Would you like to hold a dinner party with a difference?

We've been contacted by a company who are producing a new TV show and are looking for people who like to host Dinner Parties to get involved.

The show will be fronted by Charlotte Church and include people with fun friends who they would like to set up at a dinner party for the new show.

You must live in a flat or house that has a separate kitchen and dining area and be located within 50 miles of London.

If selected, please do not tell your friends!

To apply, please send an e-mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it including your name, age, telephone number, location and a brief description of your house or flat.

As this is a food blog, I felt the urge to share my new lunch option for those busy days in the office!

I spotted in Asda last week, a range of soups called Glorious, endorsed by the one and only Marco Pierre White. I find tins / jars / cartons of soup normally predictably bland and avoid them in favour of my homemade versions usually rustled up from seasonal ingredients. However, these soups caught my eye due to the fresh and unusual sounding combinations and I invested in the Chicken, Courgette and Orzo Pasta broth variety. Special offer too, so under £1.50 I think.

The flavours were very fresh tasting, with proper chunks of ingredients not overcooked. There was plenty of meat and pasta making it thoroughly delicious as well as filling. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this soup and now just need to get hold of the other varieties to try (I eagerly went back to ASDA but couldn't find them??) which include:

• Irish Colcannon Soup
• Indian Chicken Soup
• Toulouse Sausage and Bean Cassoulet Soup
• Mexican Bean and Tortilla Soup
• Moroccan Tomato and Chick Pea

Stockists include Asda, Sainsbury, Morrisons and Nisa - get yourself down there and try them out!

We've trying to just come back from having eaten our way around the East Midlands Food Festival and are now find space in the fridge and freezer for our purchases which included...

Three types of Chilli Relish from Peperoncino. Their motto "Everyone loves a hot Italian", wasn't quite true as Heidi found out whe she sampled the Lava All'Italiana (labelled Infernal) and then proceeded to sneeze for the next 10 minutes. I'm sure that plenty of people thought she had Swine Flu, and gave us a wide berth, allowing us to get through the crowds more easily - Good work Heidi!!

A Steak and Kidney pudding and Toffee Fudge Pudding, from The Old Fashioned Pudding Company.

Four types of sausage from the guys from Jimmy's Farm, using meat from their rare breed Essex pigs.

Steak pies from Nova Scotia Farm Produce made using Yorkshire prime beef. The crispy pastry was enough to convince us to buy a boxed Baker's Dozen of the pies.

Imogen and Scarlett managed to divide their pocket money between the Chocolate Pizza Company, a skewer for the Chocolate Fountain and some cookies. All our hard work teaching them about healthy eating obviously fell on deaf ears!

Luckily for me and Heidi, the Chocolate Fountain was immediately next to the Somerset cider company selling Natterjack Cider, so our time waiting for the chocolate to be eaten was not completely wasted.

Off then for a Burger for lunch, sitting outside in the October sunshine, such a difference from the rain soaked festival in 2008.

Time now to put our feet up and read all of the literature we picked up, starting with information regarding the recycling products from Recycle for Leicestershire, including the Food Cone and Johanna hot composter for all of our food scraps. Some useful ideas too for reducing food waste from Love Food Hate Waste.

Apologies to all of the people who spoke to that I haven't mentioned, but rest assured I will be reading more and may decide to place and order later.