Laura Thornberry : food

Let's Talk Tea - Shibui Tea Pyramids*

By Laura Thornberry - 09:00

We all love a cup of tea now and again. But sometimes you might want to switch things up and pick a new flavour tea to try. That's where Shibui Tea come to the rescue! If you've not heard of Shibui Tea before, here's a brief overview. Shibui Tea are a family run business with over 35 years of experience. The company have their head offices split between the UK and Canada. With two brothers who run the operation - John in the UK and Paul in Canada. With a large range of loose leaf tea with flavours to suit all palates, from premium classics through to fun and modern concepts. The companies teas are sourced from all over the world, primarily from China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, and Taiwan.

"Shibui is a Japanese word which has no direct translation into English. It is a way of describing something which appears simple but has actually an underlying complex nature. We feel that this sums up our perception of tea perfectly. Tea is just tea, surely? Ah – but look into it in a bit more detail and it’s a lot more complicated than that!"

I was kindly gifted a selection of their Tea Pyramids* in a variety of delicious flavours.

The tea bags are made from a biodegradable corn starch and contain no plastic. The tags are sealed to the bags using an ultrasonic method so no glue is used. The wrapper that the tea bags come in inside the tube looks like it's made from plastic but it's actually made from a clever material called Natureflex - this is made from wood pulp and is compostable and biodegradable. Super environmentally friendly!

- English Breakfast -

Everyone loves a good cup of tea, and English Breakfast tea is definitely a winner with everyone. You just cannot go wrong with it!

Brewing: 3-4 minutes at approx. 100°C

- Matcha & Sencha -

This flavour has a really strong green tea scent with a hint of sweetness. It smells very earthy and natural.

Brewing: 3-4 minutes at approx. 80°C

- Earl Grey -

On first impressions, this Earl Grey tea has a very warm and earthy smell to it. With a blend of rich Assam and Ceylon black teas flavoured with citrussy bergamot, it's definitely a tea for the more adventurous and those who like their cuppa a little bit stronger.

Brewing: 3-4 minutes at approx. 100°C

- Rooibos & Orange -

A zesty tea blend of organic South African rooibos with refreshing citrus fruit flavours. It definitely has hints of juicy oranges that really bring this tea to life. This tea is full of sweetness and bursting with fruity flavours.

Brewing: 5 minutes at approx. 100°C

- Chocolate & Ginger -

With a delicious blend of warming ginger and rich chocolate, this combination sounds very odd to be made into tea, but it definitely makes a great drink! You get just the right balance between the warming ginger and the rich, velvety chocolate.

Brewing: 5 minutes at approx. 100°C

- Tropical Green -

If you're a lover of fruit flavoured teas, this one's for you. Bursting with fresh, fruity aromas, this tropical green tea is packed with juicy pineapple and peach.

Brewing: 3-4 minutes at approx. 80°C

- Mulled Spice -

All the Christmasy feels with this cup of tea. With fragrant hints of berries, orange, cinnamon and clove, it has a very deep sweet and warming scent making it a perfect flavour tea for a cold winter's night.

Brewing: 3-4 minutes at approx. 100°C

- Gingerbread-

With a warming scent of gingerbread, this tea has such spicy yet sweet notes to it. You can really smell the ginger coming through with some fruity hints.

Brewing: 5 minutes at approx. 100°C

Apart from a good cup of English Breakfast Tea, my favourites from the selection of teas was definitely the Tropical Green and the Rooibos & Orange. I love fruit teas and think they make a great alternative from the traditional cuppa!

By visiting Shibui Tea online, you can browse and choose from over 200 teas!

Have you tried Shibui Tea? What are your favourite flavours of tea?

* This post contains PR Samples sent by Shibui Tea for review purposes

All thoughts are 100% honest

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Tempting Valentines Treats from Thomas Fudge's*

By Laura Thornberry - 09:00

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The Perfect Valentines Gift with Lir Chocolates*

By Laura Thornberry - 09:00

When it comes to Valentine's Day, finding the perfect git can be really hard, but if your partner has a super sweet tooth, Lir Chocolates could be the perfect place to look. Lir was created in Dublin in 1987 by Connie Doody and Mary White and began on Connie’s kitchen table with a food mixer and a bowl. Those early days instilled a spirit of creativity and attention to detail that are still integral to Lir Chocolates today.

To mark Lir's 30th birthday celebrations, they have created the beautiful Discovery Collection* which I was kindly gifted. Wrapped in rose gold, delicate pink hues, the packaging alone is simply stunning. The Discovery Collection showcases eight exotic and creative flavours that will excite your taste buds. This new range brings together Lir’s delicious chocolate exteriors with mouth-watering exotic centres, such as Persian lime oil, Spanish pistachio and vanilla from Tahiti in the South Pacific.

"We are constantly exploring, constantly experimenting, and constantly pushing back the boundaries of what is possible at the hands of the modern chocolatier."

With 16 decadent chocolates in eight luxurious flavours, this is definitely the perfect selection box to gift this Valentine’s Day.

Persian Lime Truffle - A surprising black and white combination of rich dark chocolate and white chocolate truffle infused with Persian lime oil.

Dark Chocolate Torte - Vanilla from the South Pacific is set within a crisp dark chocolate shell in this rich intense dark chocolate torte.

Chewy Pecan Caramel - Just wait for the generous covering of creamy milk chocolate to dissolve to reveal a chewy caramel centre with crunchy salted pecan nuts.

Hazelnut Gianduja - A creamy white chocolate exterior slowly and teasingly dissolves to reveal the beautifully smooth taste of a hazelnut praline.

Cinnamon & Raisin Cream - Exquisite Belgian white chocolate ganache, infused with aromatic and warm cinnamon, juicy raisins and velvety Irish cream liqueur.

Coffee Crunch - Delve beneath our blonde chocolate to find a deeply creamy white filling with coffee and caramelised cocoa nibs.

Irish Sea Salted Caramel - Two worlds collide delightfully when Irish Atlantic sea-salted caramel combines with Tahitian vanilla in crisp dark chocolate.

Raspberry & Pistachio Duo - An intense explosion of taste from a fusion of fruity raspberry compote with Spanish pistachio paste hidden in creamy milk chocolate.

These chocolates are seriously unreal. A collection of handcrafted gems created to surprise and delight, and they definitely did that.They are like nothing I have ever tasted before. All the flavours were spot on, so fresh and such high quality - I couldn't even pick a favourite as they were all SO good!

Pick up Lir Chocolates’ Discovery Collection (180g / £10) from selected Morrisons, Tesco and Co-op stores in the UK. To find out more about Lir Chocolates visit the website at www.lirchocolates.com

Have you heard of Lir Chocolates before? What flavour from their Discovery Collection would be your favourite?

* AD - This post contains PR samples gifted for a feature and for review purposes

All thoughts are 100% honest

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food

AYA Lebanese, South Wimbledon - Restaurant Review

By Laura Thornberry - 09:00

"From a Gourmet Chicken takeaway restaurant in 1994 to the Gourmet Express charcoal grill in 2000. Husband and wife team Ali and Amira invite you to their latest food adventure in South Wimbledon."

Last week, I dined out at the extraordinary AYA Lebanese restaurant in South Wimbledon. I had been to this restaurant before once, but this time I wanted to share my experience, my thoughts and photos. I am yet to do restaurant reviews, but they are definitely something that I would love to start doing more as I am always reading reviews to find places to go and new cuisines to try. For me, Lebanese food is one of the freshest, most flavoursome and most delicious cuisines on the planet and AYA definitely ticks all of those. The restaurant have a BYOB system in place that allows you to bring your own alcohol into the restaurant, so you can bring your favourite drinks that will complement your meal. Otherwise they have a selection of soft drinks and fruit juices available if you prefer.

My recent trip to AYA was on a Friday night with my Dad and 2 of my brothers. From the minute you walked into the restaurant, you are greeted by such warm and welcoming staff. Small things like this make a restaurant experience 10 times better and really gets the evening off to a good start.

Within a couple of minutes of being shown to your table and seated, one of the lovely waiters brings over some delicious and fresh warm Lebanese bread, alongside a duo of delicious dips. The dips consist of a delicious garlic sauce and a spicy tomato based sauce. Both of which are so delicious and addictive. We managed to munch our way through numerous servings of these, as the staff regularly top these up for you when they see them empty. Isn't this great?!!

After we had some time to look through the extensive menu, we all decided on a few starter dishes to begin the meal. AYA has a good range of starter dishes ranging from cold starters or warm starters which gives you the chance to sample many difference dishes and flavours. Between us, we opted to choose four starters to get our taste buds tingling.

Starter number one was the Soujouk. This is a warm dish of spicy pan fried sausages stuffed with lamb, garlic and chilli, served with some tomatoes and a wedge of fresh lemon. The sausages have such a spicy, warming taste, you can really taste the fresh garlic coming through.

Starter number two was the Calamari. Pan fried squid with garlic, chilli, peppers, coriander and lemon. The Calamari is hands down one of my favourite starters I've tried from AYA. The squid is cooked to perfection. No rubbery, chewy texture. It simply melts in the mouth. The accompanying flavours really enhance this dish and bring it to life.

Something new to try on this visit to AYA was the Lamb Sambousek. These are deep fried pastries filled with minced lamb, spices and onion. These were incredible, especially dipped into that delicious garlic sauce! The pastry was so crispy and golden, and the filling was so juicy and soft. It was a match made in heaven. I would definitely have these again!

Finally we opted for the Kraidis. Another of my favourites from AYA. These are pan fried prawns with garlic, chilli, pepper, coriander and lemon - the perfect flavour combination. The prawns were so fresh and meaty and juicy. I could eat a whole plate of these pretty easily!

After the starters had been devoured, we were given some more bread and dips to nibble on whilst we waited for the main courses to be brought out. Three of us opted for the AYA Mix Grill and my brother picked out the Kharouf Mehsheh.

The Kharouf Mehsheh is one of AYA's speciality dishes. You receive a deliciously juicy and soft lamb shank served with carrots and minced lamb rice. The lamb shank is to die for. So tender and juicy, it literally falls off the bone. On a bed of fragrant spiced rice, the flavours just merge effortless together to give you a real taste of Lebanon.

The AYA Mix Grill is not for the faint hearted. You are served up skewers of lamb and chicken shish, minced lamb kebab and slices of lamb and chicken shawarma. It's every meat lovers dream. Cooked to perfection, the meats are so juicy and tender, they just melt in the mouth.

We then chose to order some traditional Baklava. A sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and honey. These were absolutely beautiful. So light yet sweet and crunchy. The perfect way to end out meal!

If you're looking for a new Lebanese restaurant to try in London, you need to visit AYA. AYA offers sophisticated dining with a trendy atmosphere, warming hospitality and a delicious, creative menu. There is a great choice of fantastic dishes, each one fresh and tasty. The hardest part will be going through the amazing menu and deciding what to order next!

Have you tried Lebanese cuisine before? What are your favourite Lebanese restaurants?

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The Ultimate Lasagne Recipe

By Laura Thornberry - 09:00

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food

bakerdays Letterbox Cake Review*

By Laura Thornberry - 10:00

Would anyone turn down an opportunity to review cake? Because I surely didn't!! The lovely team over at bakerdays got in contact with me, and kindly offered me the chance to pick out one of their amazing letterbox gift cakes to try and share my feedback. If you haven't heard of bakerdays before, here's a little bit about them -> The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur Alan Hawkes, whose passion for cakes (mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.

On the bakerdays website, there are a variety of cakes you can choose from. From birthdays and christenings to graduations and mother’s day and much much more. You name the occasion, they'll have a cake for it. You'll be spoilt for choice! Whether it be a traditional sponge, a rich chocolate chip, a luxurious red velvet, gluten wheat free sponge, dairy free sponge or a fruit cake. There really is something for everyone and their preferences.

For my letterbox cake*, I picked the 5 inch Letterbox Gift cake with the Christmas Stockings design and I opted to have the traditional sponge recipe filling with jam & buttercream. You really can't go wrong with this classic combo! The design of the cake was super cute, bold and colourful. You can opt for a personalised version, but I wanted to try to keep it as simple as possible.

Packaging wise, the cake arrived in a really sturdy cardboard box, that did indeed fit nicely through my letterbox. I was really impressed with how much care and attention is put into how well it was packaged, it felt very secure and the cake was kept in perfect condition. No damage whatsoever.

In terms of taste, I couldn't fault it. It was beautifully moist, light and fluffy, with a good balance of cake and icing. The buttercream was super smooth and flavoursome, with added bursts of fruity and zingy fresh raspberry jam. For a simple and traditional sponge cake, it was a very good one.

Overall I think that the idea of bakerdays Letterbox Cakes is great – and I know that I’d definitely love to send a personalised cake to friends or family for a special occasion with the knowledge that it would be waiting for them when they arrive home. It's a super cool and genius service where you can pick, customise and personalise sweet treats for any occasion. However, I think that the pricing of £14.99 is a little bit expensive for what is essentially a small cake in a gift tin by post, but the care and attention that goes into the finished product is definitely worth it.

Have you heard of bakerdays before? What is your favourite type of cake?

* AD - This post is in collaboration with bakerdays and contains PR samples sent for review purposes

All thoughts are 100% honest

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Gousto Spiced Seekh Kebabs, Rice & Zesty Salad*

By Laura Thornberry - 10:00

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Winter Warmers | Fiery Prawn and Coconut Curry*

By Laura Thornberry - 10:00

In collaboration with ALDI*, I'm sharing with you the final recipe in my Winter Warmers series. For today's recipe, I'm sharing with you my quick and easy Fiery Prawn and Coconut Curry. This is completely homemade, full of authentic spices and beautiful flavours, you'll never want to use a ready made jar of curry sauce again! So let's get started!

For this fiery curry, you will need the following ingredients;
Frozen Prawns, defrosted

1 can of Coconut Milk
1 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
2 small Potatoes

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 White Onion, sliced

2 Chillies, red and green, sliced and deseeded
1 Green Pepper, sliced

Fresh Ginger, chopped

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Cumin

1 Lemon

1 packet of Basmati Rice

Coriander (fresh or dried)
Butter

Salt
Curry Powder

Olive Oil

Naan Breads

Step 1 - Marinate the Prawns with the Turmeric, Cumin, Garlic, Chillies and Salt in a bowl, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes.

Step 2 - Chop your Onions, Peppers, Ginger and Garlic. Peel and diced your potatoes and rinse.

Step 3 - Heat a splash of Olive Oil and knob of butter in a pan and add the sliced Onions. Fry gently for 5 minutes on medium heat. Then add the fresh Ginger and Garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring regularly.

Step 4 - Add a splash of cold water to your pan, and the chopped Green Pepper. Cook this for 5 minutes until soft. Meanwhile, place your diced Potatoes in a saucepan and boil until tender.

Step 5 - Followed by the Chopped Tomatoes and Coconut Milk and stir and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Once mixed, add your Curry Powder and cooked Potatoes.

Step 6 - In a separate pan, heat the remaining Olive Oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the spiced Prawns briefly for a minute or two.

Step 7 - Once the Prawns are cooked through, add them to your curry sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 8 - Whilst your delicious curry is simmering, I like to prepare my Basmati Rice and warm Naan Breads. I love Garlic and Coriander Naan, but you can also use plain or Peshwari.

Step 9 - Plate up and ENJOY!

If you missed the previous recipes in my Winter Warmers series, I've made a gorgeous Spiced Butternut Squash Soup and some Super Sizzling Chicken Fajitas!

What are your favourite curries to make?

* This post is in collaboration with ALDI who kindly gifted me vouchers to spend in-store.