Instead, why not pop along to my NEW blog, where I AM posting. Pretty much daily. Honestly, it’s a great blog, you should go visit it. And maybe subscribe to THAT one instead. You can find it here:

Kincavel Korner

So, from now on, you can find me blogging at

Kincavel Korner

Last night, on my way to work, I spotted a tangle of wild raspberry bushes and decided to pick some on my way home. Unfortunately, it was quite dark and I had to pick what I could without being able to see much. I planned to make jam using them along with the pears and plums I had in the fridge.

Sadly, on seeing the raspberries in the light, they were pretty rank and couldn’t be used. Not to be deterred, I pressed ahead and made pear and plum jam (sans raspberries) instead. I was a little worried it wouldn’t set properly, as I don’t add pectin, instead relying on the pectin naturally present in the fruit.

Fortunately, the jam did set and although it’s a little sweet for my personal tastes (it could do with being just a touch more tart), it’s pretty tasty. As you can see from the photo, I got just shy of four jars filled. I look forward to trying some on a slice of toast, or perhaps a home-made scone!

Title:

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis (from Fantastic Fiction):
What if your mother-in-law turned out to be an evil, cold-blooded witch . . . literally?

Ever since fabulously wealthy Malcolm Doran walked into her life and swept her off her feet, fledgling architect Jane Boyle has been living a fairy tale. When he proposes with a stunning diamond to seal the deal, Jane can’t believe her incredible luck and decides to leave her Paris-based job to make a new start with Malcolm in New York.

But when Malcolm introduces Jane to the esteemed Doran clan, one of Manhattan’s most feared and revered families, Jane’s fairy tale takes a darker turn. Soon everything she thought she knew about the world – and herself – is upended. Now Jane must struggle with newfound magical abilities and the threat of those who will stop at nothing to get them.

Review:
If you like paranormal romances that aren’t too gushy and still have a bit of kick to them, then you’re going to love the first book in the new 666 Park Avenue series!

Seriously, I love paranormal stuff, but usually can’t stand the romance side of things, however this more than stands up to even the biggest haters of romantic fiction by having enough paranormal activity and believable characters to carry it off easily. Jane is a very likeable and flawed character; Malcolm is suitably suave and mysterious; and his mother is the perfect socialite matriarch. the settings are lush, the pace is fast, and the story is incredibly entertaining. Honestly, I had great difficulty putting it down and actually missed my bus stop because I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page!

I am now eagerly awaiting the publication of the sequel because I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for Jane!

DISCLOSURE: I was sent this book by the publisher for review purposes, but was not paid for the review.

Title: The Secret Life of William Shakespeare
Author: Jude Morgan
ISBN: 978-0755358236
Publisher: Headline Review
First Published: April 2012
No .of pages: 400

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (from Fantastic Fiction):
The greatest writer of them all, brought to glorious life. How well do you know the man you love? How much do you think you know about Shakespeare? What if they were one and the same? He is an ordinary man: unwilling craftsman, ambitious actor, resentful son, almost good-enough husband. And he is also a genius. The story of how a glove-maker from Warwickshire became the greatest writer of them all is vaguely known to most of us, but it would take an exceptional modern novelist to bring him to life. And now at last Jude Morgan, acclaimed author of Passion and The Taste of Sorrow, has taken Shakespeare’s life, and created a masterpiece.

Review:
I’m a big ol’ fan of Shakespeare’s many beautiful works, so when this novel exploring his early life and his start in the world of theatres and writing, I was over the moon!

Living up to the most famous writer in the world was always going to be a tall order, but Jude Morgan takes up the challenge with great aplomb and does a sterling job of showcasing The Bard’s works while presenting him as a real and very believable character in his own story  – a fallible man striking out in the world on his own, trying to support a wife and family from a great distance whilst living out his dream

This is a beautifully written exploration into the not-so-glamourous world of Elizabethan theatre, where fickle audiences and the whim of Queen Elizabeth could make or break a play, or even a writer’s whole career.

If you’re a fan of Shakespeare, theatre, or Elizabethan historical fiction, give this one a try, and be transported to another time and place, where a young man struggles to prove his words are art and find his place in history.

DISCLOSURE: I was sent this book by the publisher for review purposes, but was not paid for the review.

That’s right, when we hit 50 likes on the Pretty McGorgeous Facebook Page, one person will be chosen at random to receive a free gift from Pretty McGorgeous – any one of the accessories listed at the Pretty McGorgeous Folksy store at the time of the draw!

All you have to do is like the Pretty McGorgeous Facebook Page HERE, and then spread the word to all your Facebook friends.

It couldn’t be simpler! And you can choose from hair clips, scrunchies and hair bands, so there’s something suitable for any length of hair in many different colour combinations.

Get sharing and good luck!

Pretty McGorgeous Facebook Page

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Pretty McGorgeous Blog

Chicken, Spinach and Soft Cheese Stuffed Cannelloni with Tomato Sauce
Serves 5

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

OK, so it doesn’t look very appetizing, but I promise it tastes good!

• 1 small onion (roughly chopped)
• 2 large garlic cloves (crushed or finely chopped)
• 1 medium carrot (finely grated)
• 100g courgette (finely grated)
• 50g mushrooms (roughly chopped)
• 1 x 400g can plum tomatoes
• 500g passata
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/4 tsp oil
• large pinch mixed dried herbs
• large pinch paprika

Stuffed Cannelloni Ingredients:

• 10 – 15 cannelloni tubes (depending on how big they are)
• 180g fresh spinach (wilted)
• 150g roast chicken (finely chopped)
• 1 small onion (finely diced)
• 200g extra light soft cheese

Directions:

• To make the sauce, roughly chop one small onion, crush the garlic, and sautee in the oil till the garlic turns the colour of cappuccino.
• Add the tomatoes, passata, grated carrot and courgette, roughly chopped mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, herbs and paprika, and simmer till you reach the desired consistency and the carrot and courgette “melts” away into the sauce. You may like to add some water and then reduce it.
• To make the cannelloni stuffing, wilt the spinach, then set it aside to cool.
• Finely dice a small onion and the chicken, then stir into the soft cheese.
• Squeeze all the water out of the spinach and roughly chop it, then add to the mixture and stir through.
• Stuff the mixture into the cannelloni tubes allowing 2-3 per person depending on size. Use your fingers – it’s messy, but it’s easier, trust me! (And if your kids like helping in the kitchen, get them to do this bit – they’ll love it!)
• Place the cannelloni tubes in your baking dish, and cover with the tomato sauce.
• Pop it in the oven at 200C for around 30 minutes, till the pasta is cooked.

Nutritional info:
(per serving)

• Calories: 234
• Carbs: 26g
• Fat: 6g
• Sat Fat: 2g
• Protein: 18g
• Sodium: 249g

This nutritional information is based on the brands I used (Asda smart price passata and tinned tomatoes, Asda cannelloni tubes and tomato puree, Kraft Philadelphia Extra Light soft cheese). Using different brands may well result in different nutritional values.

Results:
I made this up in individual portions so I could freeze it (pre-cooking stage) and just defrost and pop it in the oven whenever I fancy some cannelloni. I allowed three cannelloni tubes per serving because the Asda ones are quite small. As you can see, I didn’t mention any cheese sprinkled on top, because I like to leave them without it in case I don’t have enough of my allowances left for the day to have that. It’s lovely with a sprinkling of cheddar melted on top, or even just a sprinkling of parmasan when you serve it. It’s great served with a green salad or some garlic bread, or just alone as a light meal.

Banana Bread
Makes 1 small loaf yielding 12 slices

Ingredients:

• 3 small bananas
• 40g honey
• 2 eggs
• 50g margerine/butter
• 200g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
• Mash the bananas till they’re all fluffy, then add the honey and eggs and mix well.
• Add the margerine/butter and mix well.
• Stir in the flour and mixed spice.
• Line or lightly grease a 1lb loaf tin and pour in the batter.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the banana loaf is golden and cooked through.
• Slice into 12 equal portions and keep in an air-tight container.

Nutritional info:
(per slice)

• Calories: 127
• Carbs: 22g
• Fat: 3g
• Sat Fat: 1g
• Protein: 3g
• Sodium: 19g

These values are based on the brands I used (Asda Smart Price flour, honey and eggs, and Lurpack Lightest). If you use different brands, your nutritional values may differ slightly. The values offered here are merely a rough guide for you.

I think this would also be really good if sultanas/raisins were added, but you’d have to adjust the values for that.

The Results:
A lovely moist banana bread that doesn’t really need anything on it! The honey lends an indulgent slight stickiness that is just gorgeous, and the banana flavour is light rather than overpowering. Just enough spice to give it a little extra flavour. Xan and I both enjoyed this and Xan LOVED mashing the bananas and stirring everything up.

I enjoyed mine with a glass of skimmed milk and I’ll be taking a couple of slices in to work with me this evening so my colleagues can try it out too!

Men In Black 3 (2012)

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Stars: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson

Synopsis: Agent J travels in time to MIB’s early years in the 1960s, to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.

Review: Action-packed fun that gets this franchise back on track! The first film was good, the second was abysmal, but this more than makes up for the last effort. Brolin is superb as the young Agent K (does this man’s talent know no bounds?) and the plot is fast-paced. Definitely worth seeing.

Rating:

The Raid: Redemption / Serbuan maut (2011)

Director: Gareth Evans
Stars: Iko Uwais, Ananda George, Ray Sahetapy

Synopsis: A SWAT team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.

Review: The phrase “High octane” was created specifically to be used when describing films like this! As proclaimed in the poster, this really is the best action movie in decades, with great casting, superb direction, tight plotting, and awesome fight choreography that will literally have you on the edge of your seat, shouting, “Woah!” at the screen. It’s foreign language film (Indonesian) with subtitles, but please don’t let that put you off or you risk missing out on a real treat.

Rating:

Food Fight! (2009)

Director: Lawrence Kasanoff
Stars: Charlie Sheen (voice), Hilary Duff (voice), Eva Longoria Parker (voice), Christopher Lloyd (voice), Haylie Duff (singing voice)

Synopsis:
When the lights are turned off and the doors are locked, chaos reigns supreme for the products in this grocery store.

Review:
See HERE for my full review and rating.

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Stars: Jay Baruchel (voice), Gerard Butler (voice), Christopher Mintz-Plasse  (voice)

Synopsis: A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Review: For some odd reason, I didn’t want to see this film when it was released, but when we acquired it for Xander I sat down to watch and was pretty much blown away with its sheer awesomeness! It’s got a great story, fabulous animation and a wonderful cast. It’s no chore to sit through repeat viewings with small kids who will clamour to watch it again and again – yes, even the adults can enjoy it more than once!

Rating:

Source Code (2011)

Director: Duncan Jones
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

Synopsis: An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Review: If you take all the best elements of films like The Butterfly Effect, Deja Vu, Donnie Darko, Next, and Groundhog Day (minus the comedy) and you might come up with something like this. The subtle changes as the same eight-minute sequence is repeated help keep this fresh throughout and Gyllenhaal is a great choice as leading man for this type of thing.

Rating:

Alice In Wonderland (1999)

Director: Nick Willing
Stars: Tina Majorino, Robbie Coltrane, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lloyd, Pete Postlethwaite, Miranda Richardson, Martin Short, Peter Ustinov, George Wendt, Gene Wilder, Ken Dodd, Jason Flemyng

Synopsis: The wizards behind “Merlin” and “The Odyssey” combine Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” into a three-hour special that just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Review: The cast list reads like a Who’s Who of movie greats, so it’s astounding to me that this little gem was actually made for TV and had no cinema release at all! It’s quite the most faithful adaptation of the classic novels by Lewis Carroll I’ve seen to date and, as such, should not be missed! Absolutely splendiferous on every level!

Rating:

Love Actually (2003)

Director: Richard Curtis
Stars: Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Kris Marshall, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson

Synopsis: Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Review: An ensemble cast that showcases the very best-beloved British talents all mixed up together in a film by one of our best-loved writer/directors. There’s just no way this could miss, really. The interconnected stories weave in and out of one another seamlessly and slowly draw all the elements together in one place at one time. To watch it is to love it, actually.

Rating:

Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate On Top
Makes 6 cupcakes

Banana peanut butter cupcakes topped with chocolate. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 90g banana
• 30g reduced fat peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• 40mls skimmed milk
• 100g self raising flour
• 30g sugar
• 18g chocolate buttons (3 buttons per cupcake)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 200C.
• Mash the banana and mix well with the peanut butter, vanilla essence, egg and milk.
• Add the flour and sugar and mix well so that the cake batter is light and fluffy.
• Spoon into six cupcake cases and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through and golden.
• Remove from the oven and immediately place three chocolate buttons on top of each cupcake so that the chocolate melts, then spread it over the top of the cupcakes.
• Cool on a wire rack.

Nutritional info:

• Calories: 154
• Carbs: 25g
• Fat: 4g
• Sat Fat: 4g
• Protein: 4g
• Sodium: 1g

A nice B-I-G bite!

These values are based on the products I used (Asda reduced fat peanut butter; Asda Smart Price eggs and flour; Asda chocolate buttons), so if you use different brands, the values may differ slightly, but as a rough guideline, this will give you an idea.

The Results:
These only have a very slightly peanut buttery taste, but the banana wasn’t so overpowering as to completely cover it – it was a very tasty combination. There was just enough chocolate on top to make it feel indulgent but without it being too much. Xander certainly enjoyed his! We had a lovely time making them together too!