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'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.

What a day! With school broken up on Wednesday I have a couple of days off until Holiday club starts on Monday. As both girls got great exam results I asked what they might like to do as a treat. This used to cinema / Twin Lakes leisure park / a trip to the village play area so was quite horrified to hear at 8 and 10 years old.."Mum, what we'd really like is to go clothes shopping"!!
This is my worst nightmare - I'm a "shop to live" girl, not a "live to shop"! Anyway, we got in to Highcross (Leicester) by 10am and shopped for England! Luckily peer pressure pushed us down the Peacocks and Primark route so no bank balances were damaged and with the sales in full flow I'll be amazed if we spent £100 between the three of us!
Anyway, we needed lunch - do we do a sandwich at M&S or do we take a welcome rest from the shops with a sit down lunch? The latter won hands down and we headed towards Ask in the middle of Leicester.
The weather was lovely and sunny and we were led to sit outside which was glorious! We ordered drinks and garlic mozzarella bread as a starter (Imogen was starving for a change!). Scarlett chose a tropicana pizza and having looked at the kid's menu (and dismissed it) Immy chose the ravioli filled with crayfish and smoked salmon in a butter and dill sauce served with fresh rocket. This was delicious - I would have liked more sauce but Immy enjoyed it. I ordered a starter portion of chill prawns in a tomato sauce served with crisy bread and rocket. This had a good kick with good chunks of green chili, juicy prawns and turned out to be enough once I'd had one of Immy's rather large ravioli! The portion of chips were not really required in the end but were still delicious served with a generous portion of garlic mayo.
The service was good and our waitress Kate looked after our every need. £36 for 3 seemed reasonable and I would definitely go back....can I give the shopping a miss next time??!

I've been meaning to write a bit more about fantastic shops instead of restaurants and living in the heart of Leicestershire there are plenty about, but I couldn't possibly start with any other shop than Clarkes of Queniborough! This is the best butcher you will find for miles around and luckily for me is only 3 miles from my home.
Clarkes is a member of the Guild of Q Butchers which, according to my Dad when he was alive, means it is damn good! Apparently Eynons of St Clears in Wales (or Eddie Eynon's to me when I was a kid!), where we used to get our meat as a treat, were a Q Butcher and although Dad used to moan every time about the price of everything the meat was always fantastic!
So Clarkes is the kind of place where you can't expect to nip in and out. Everyone is served by the friendly staff in the same way - nothing is too much trouble. If you want meat dicing, slicing, chopping, de-boning - whatever you need will be done with patience and willingness.
The sausages are all homemade, the bacon is the best in the world and once in a while when we have steak it practically comes with a pedigree of where the cow lived and what it's name was!
Everything they do is worth paying that little bit more - they do great minted lamb chops, great peppered steaks, a whole variety of stuffed joints for a Sunday and marinated meats for the barbecue (don't worry about checking the weather forecast - you know if Paul's barbecue range is out that the weather is looking good!).
Ian Clarke also does an amazing range of ready meals which will be delivered all over the UK. My Dad always used to stock up when he came to stay and would ring me on a nightly basis thereafter with a full review by dish!
Anyway - do yourself a favour and if you are anywhere near Queniborough check it out - this is not just a shop, it's a whole experience!

So much of our time can be spent preparing meals for our friends and family, that could be saved by having the right tool for the job.

We have listed our Top 10 Kitchen gadgets, but this list is by no means exhaustive, and we're always on the look out for a new time-saving piece of kitchen equipment. Feel free to comment at the foot of this post with your own suggestions.

Our current list:

1. Hand-held Blender - Far and away the most useful piece of equipment in our kitchen. We have used it for blending the children's food when they began eating solids, for making soup and smoothies, chopping herbs or onions, making breadcrumbs and whisking. Choose one with plenty of attachments, you won't regret it. One word of warning, check which attachments can be put into the dishwasher.
   
   See Hand Blenders on Amazon


2. Espresso Coffee Machine - Nothing beats the smell of a fresh cup of strong espresso coffee or the luxury of a authentic cappuccino or latte. Prices for a coffee machine can vary hugely, but our Gaggia Cubika 74511 Espresso Coffee Maker, has served well for many years. Choose one of the well-known makes such as Flavia, Krups, DeLonghi, or Gaggia, but don't be seduced by the larger commercial coffee machines (unless you intend opening your own café) as most entry level coffee makers will suit any domestic kitchen.


3. Coffee Bean Grinder - We have two coffee grinders in our kitchen. The first is used for the obvious task of grinding coffee beans, the other is used to grind spices for curries. See more Coffee Grinders.
   
   Once you have your coffee grinder, have fun trying out new varieties of coffee bean or perhaps combine two separate blends to find one that suits your tastes.


4. A good set of knives - A good quality cook's knife and paring knife are essential, as too are a carving knife and a bread knife. In our opinion, it's much wiser to spend as much as you can afford on a small number of general purpose knives, rather than buying a large expensive set containing knives that will receive little or no use.



5. Knife Sharpener - Sharp knives are safer than blunt ones, so it's worth making sure you've got a good knife sharpener too. We tried plenty, including a traditional sharpening steel, but this Chantry Knife Sharpener is the best we've ever had.



6. Roasting tray - The more solid the better and make sure it's suitable to use both in the oven and on the hob. The best we've got is this Hard Anodised Roasting Trayfrom Silverwood.


7. Blow Torch - Perfect for browning the topping of a crème brûlée. Instead of buying an expensive chef's version from the local kitchen shop, head to your nearest DIY or hardware store and pick up something for a fraction of the cost.


8. Saucepans - Our cast-iron Le Crueset pans have served us well for fifteen years and still look as good today as when they were new. The only downside is that they are not recommended for use in the dishwasher, but they hold the heat well and food does not stick so they are worth this little sacrifice. For a budget option, Ikea produce an excellent range of saucepans ideally suited to students and anyone setting up a new home.


9. Cork Screw - How else can you get the cork out of the bottle while waiting for your meal to cook? We have a Vacuvin Winemaster Corkscrew which has served us well for many years. You might also want to consider the Vacuvin Vacuum Wine Saver , although we admit that ours isn't used as much as it should be!


10. Cast Iron Skillet - for frying steaks. The heavier ones will hold the heat and the raised profile gives the appetising seared lines.