A few weeks back I was asked if I would like to try the Ion8 Leakproof Water Bottle. I said yes, and was sent this gorgeous purple 500ml model. It also comes in a larger 1 litre model which is ideal to keep up your water intake without having to constantly re-fill it. The smaller one fits perfectly in a cup holder or a child's backpack. Both come in a variety of colours, and the smaller version also comes in a few different patterned designs. I've been putting it through its paces for about a week and a half now and these are my findings.
It has a handy dandy carrying hook, which makes it easy to hook onto standard sized bicycle bottle cages. You could also easily hook it onto your ruck sack if you are hiking, or your back pack if you are going to school.
It sports an on-the-go one hand, flip lid. with a lock that you can put into place to keep it from opening up accidentally . . .
But once you undo the lock, the lid pops open easily with the simple touch of a finger, ready to drink from.
It has a stylish and comfortable drinking spout . . .
It is also totally leak-proof providing you have screwed the lid on properly. (I didn't once and it did leak, but I was quickly and easily able to readjust it and seal the lid properly.) The smaller size would fit perfectly into a large handbag which makes it great to take to work.
You can carry both hot or cold drinks in it, but do be aware that it will not keep hot drinks hot or cold drinks cold. It is merely a vessel for one or the other.
- no leaks, seal & lock
- fast flow rapid hydration
- on-the-go one hand, flip lid
- safe, bpa free non-toxic tritan
- odour resistant
- hard-wearing and durable
- easy to wash
- suitable for hot or cold drinks
If your preference is for a smaller bottle, the 500ml Ion8 Leakproof Slim, is available also from Amazon in a wide selection of colours and patterns starting at the price of £8.99. This smaller size also makes it ideal for children.
To learn more about them check them out at Ion8 Leakproof.
You can also follow them on Instagram.
I love the colour, feel and size of this smaller one. I often have a drink with me while I am working on the computer and am much more comfortable using this to hold my drink so that I don't accidentally spill it and fry my keyboard. I would highly recommend this drinks holder to anyone.
Note - Although I was sent this drink bottle free of charge, I was not required to write a positive review in return, merely to post my findings. Any thoughts are entirely my own. Many thanks to LeakProof for sending me this bottle for review.
Perfection salad . . . my first memory of what I think is a most delicious salad comes from the early 1960's. My father and his friend Louis used to go hunting and fishing together.
On one particular foray my mother took the three of us and we spent the weekend with Louis's wife Irene, while the men were off doing man-things.
Irene had been one of my mother's friends since her early working days as a secretary and I believe they had roomed together in Truro, Nova Scotia. This whole weekend had almost a holiday feel to it . . . at least to me it did.
We did not often go anywhere as a family. Mom was not a fan of the Great-Outdoors, so in the summer we might spend one day at the beach. That was it.
Getting to stay for a few days at someone else's home was a really big deal.
I remember Irene and Louis had a huge vegetable garden and we were allowed to help them pick peas and beans and lettuces for supper on the first night.
There was also an element of danger involved as several bears had been seen in the area (which was quite remote) and so we were well aware of the need to keep a watchful eye out. On the first night I was sleeping in a small bedroom off to the side of the house.
There was a box of Muffets cereal on the dresser and I remember being awakened by noise and what I felt was a bear trying to get in the open window to get at the Muffets.
I screamed blue murder of course and refused to sleep there the remainder of our stay. My mother's bed was very crowded after that!
Another thing I remember, with much more clarity . . . is that Irene made Perfection Salad as a part of one of our meals, and it was delicious.
So much so that it has stayed in the annals of my favourite food memories ever since.
It isn't perfect . . . its a coleslaw of sorts and has a history that goes back to the beginnings of powdered gelatin way back when. The original recipe was devised by a woman named Mrs. John E Cooke of New Castle, Pennsylvania.
She entered her recipe in a contest sponsored by Charles Knox in 1905 (the major gelatin producer in the US at that time). Interestingly enough one of the judges was the Fanny Farmer of the Fanny Farmer Cooking School fame. (One of my all time favourite cookery books. I have worn out three copies in my lifetime.)
Mrs Cooke won third prize (a sewing machine) and people have been enjoying Perfection Salad ever since that time!
I have seen it created in many versions, most using boxed Jello (another American invention, fruity flavoured gelatin), normally lemon or lime, and they are good.
My favourite version however is this one. The made from scratch one, using all natural ingredients.
The gelatin mixture is fairly simple. Its just some powdered gelatin softened in cold water and then mixed together with a bit of boiling water, sugar, fresh lemon juice and vinegar, along with some seasoning.
That gets chilled in the refrigerator until it thickens somewhat, about the time it takes you to chop all the vegetables . . . .
I like to hand shred and chop my vegetables. Its not that hard and I actually find it quite relaxing standing at the counter with my knife cutting the cabbage into thin shreds.
I think if you were to grate it, it would be too fine and you want a bit of texture . . .
There are also celery and some red and green bell peppers. I also chop these by hand and they are actually chopped quite fine. Minced. Again, I fine this a very relaxing enterprise.
Once I have the vegetables all done the gelatin has usually thickened enough so that I know that when I stir them into it they will be evenly distributed and not end up floating on the top. I also add some coarse black pepper.
You can either put the mixture into a mold to chill for several hours or into a square cake dish/casserole to chill. Either way is very nice.
Perfection Salad
Yield: 6
A type of jellied coleslaw. Crisp cabbage, peppers and celery in a tangy from-scratch lemon jelly. Delicious served on a bed of lettuce with a dollop of good mayonnaise on the side.
ingredients:
- 2 TBS unflavoured powdered gelatin
- 120ml cold water (1/2 cup)
- 120ml boiling water (1/2 cup)
- 50g granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 120ml white or cider vinegar (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1 cup finely shredded white cabbage
- 1 cup finely chopped or sliced celery
- 2 TBS finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1 TBS finely chopped green bell pepper
instructions:
How to cook Perfection Salad
- Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to soften. Whisk in the boiling water to dissolve along with the sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Stir until the gelatin and sugar have completely dissolved. Place in the refrigerator just until the mixture begins to thicken somewhat and becomes syrupy. (from 25 to 35 minutes.)
- When the mixture has become like a thick syrup, stir in all of the vegetables and the black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. You may or may not need more salt.
- Pour into a mold or a bowl. If the salad is to be served unmolded, rinse the mold first with cold water and put the mixture into the wet mold. A square baking dish can also be used and should also be rinsed and left wet. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours until set.
- Serve either from the bowl, or unmold by dipping the mold quickly into hot water, loosening it round the rim with a sharp knife, covering it with a serving dish and then quickly in one fast motion, reversing so that the serving dish is on the bottom and the mold on the top. Give it a firm shake and then remove the mold.
- If it doesn't unmold, either dip it again in hot water or wrap the mold for a minute in a dish towel that has been dipped in hot water an quickly wrung out and try again.
- To serve in cubes, dip the baking dish quickly into hot water. Cut the cubes with a sharp knife, run the knife around the sides to loosen and then remove the cubes with a flexible spatula.
I did some in a mold and some in a square dish. I have to say I prefer the look of the squares rather than the mold.
The mold had little raised bumps around the top and when I dipped the mold into hot water to unmold the salad they kind of melted so my presentation was not as perfect as I had expected. It still tasted delicious.
Tangy, with a touch of sweet and plenty of crunch. Perfect served with a dollop of mayonnaise. YUM!!! I love revisiting my happy food memories.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Most weekends I like to bake a cake or summat like that for Saturday Tea Time. We will usually have some sandwiches or scrambled eggs on toast and then some cake for afters. Its what works for us. A relaxing day with a relaxing supper.
This recipe I am sharing with you today was adapted from a cookery book by Tamasin Day-Lewis. I love her recipes. They are all fabulous. I used to love watching her television programs (Tamasin's Weekends and Great British Dishes), but I haven't seen her on the telly in a while. She is the sister of Daniel Day Lewis, and also writes regularly for a variety of magazines and publications. She is also a film director and producer in her own right. So, very accomplished.
I love and trust her recipes. They are impeccable. I have never cooked one of her recipes that didn't turn out or that wasn't delicious.
In her narrative to this recipe, she speaks of Victorian Seed Cake as being hideous. On that point we will have to disagree I am afraid.
I baked a traditional seed cake on here several years ago and it was lovely. You can find that recipe here. It was said to be William Wordsworth's sister's favourite cake, and it is not hard to see why. Its beautifully delicious.
So is this cake, which like the other seed cake makes use of Caraway seed as a flavouring. Do NOT be tempted to add more than the recipe asks for or you will be disappointed by the almost medicinal flavour of the cake.
The flavour of caraway should not be the predominant flavour here . . . but only a subtle hint . . .
She used vanilla sugar, but I didn't have any, so added 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste to the recipe with perfect results . . .
I also channelled Dorie Greenspan's method of rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar first prior to using it. This really brings out the flavour of the lemon. I have been doing this ever since I learnt it from Dorie. It does make a difference.
Those are the only out of the ordinary ingredients, unless you call ground almonds out of the ordinary. I think in America it might be called almond meal or almond flour. In any case it is finely ground almonds.
You can make your own by grinding blanched almonds in a nut/spice/coffee grinder. Grind only to the point where they are fine. You do not want to release their oils. They should be powdery like coarse flour but not moist.
As you can see this cake has a beautiful fine and even texture . . . flecked with caraway seed . . .
Tamasin enjoys hers with a glass of 20 year old Pedro Ximenez Sherry . . .
We enjoyed ours simply with cups of lemon tea . . .
Caraway Seed & Lemon Cake
Yield: Makes 1 (1lb) loaf cake
A delightful cake to enjoy mid-morning with a hot cuppa. Serve thinly sliced plain, or lightly spread with butter. It is also awfully good served with some fresh berries and a spot of cream.
ingredients:
- 120g butter softened (1/2 cup)
- 120g caster sugar (2/3 cup)
- 3 large free range eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 1 heaped tsp caraway seeds
- the finely grated zest of one lemon
- 170g self-raising flour (scant 1 1/4 cups)
- 60g ground almonds (3/4 cup)
- 2 TBS whole milk
instructions:
How to cook Caraway Seed & Lemon Cake
- Preheat the oven to 170*C/330*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 9 X 4 inch loaf tin and line with paper. Butter the paper.
- Rub the lemon zest into the sugar until very fragrant. Cream the butter in a bowl along with the lemon sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and then eggs, one at a time. Stir in the caraway seeds. Sift the flour over top and then add the ground almonds, folding all together well. Stir in the milk. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. It should be well risen and golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Let sit in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
I haven't buttered this yet to eat, but I strongly suspect that it would be awfully nice with some softened butter, or . . . some honey butter . . . there I go again, my gluttony is showing. Truth be told it is pretty darned tasty plain.
When I lived in Canada I used to love watching the cooking shows on Saturday afternoons . . . well, anytime really. It was my guilty pleasure. I used to watch Julia Child, and The Frugal Gourmet, Cooking from Quilt Country, Lidia's Italian Kitchen, and Martha Stewart of course (to name a few). Another show I enjoyed was one starring Caprial Pence. I can't remember what it was called. I've always been a fan of cooking television. It started with Take Thirty when I was still a teen at home and Madame Benoit, Wok with Yan and the Galloping Gourmet.
Nothing has changed, except at the start the cooking hosts were older and I was younger and now I am old and the cooking hosts are young! How did that happen??? Somehow it did it without me noticing!
I actually don't want a lot of food television these days really . . . I like the GBBO, and on Netflix those shows like Chef's Table and Chef's Table. My guilty pleasure is the Pioneer Woman, but I have to watch that when Todd's not home. He can't stand her voice. He says she sounds like a Duck quacking when she talks. He has a point . . .
So what does any of this have to do with peanut butter cookies??? Nothing really except that this recipe I am sharing is adapted from one I found in a cookbook I own by Caprial Pence.
I picked it up when I was working at the Manor. I always needed good desserts to cook for the dinner parties and luncheons. I could justify buying cookbooks as a working expense. 😏 Not so much now. Now they are just an addiction passion.
Actually I don't buy as many as I used to . . . there really is such a thing as having too many, and with the resources available on line that we have today, there is no need to own as many. I don't buy cooking magazines much anymore either. I only buy books that I know are filled with recipes I think I am going to want to cook and it is the same with magazines. Yes, I am that annoying person who reads through cooking magazines before I buy them.
Anyways, this is a cookie recipe I have had flagged in Caprial's book for some 14 1/2 years now. The book is filled with lovely dessert recipes from just about every dessert genre, but also adaptations for variations on the original theme.
I like that really . . . variations. That is the way I like to cook . . . switching up and changing bits here and there. Its more fun and works well.
The original recipe was for Mother's Peanut Butter Cookies, with this variation for Peanut Butter Everything Cookies.
The variation includes the addition of oats, orange zest, chocolate chips and shredded coconut . . . all things that I love.
I actually cut the recipe in half as there are only two of us . . . and I didn't want that much temptation hanging around my kitchen.
Smart move on my part because these are very incredibly MOREISH!!!!
They are delicious. If you bake them for the longer time you get crisper cookies. Just saying. If crisp is your thing . . . do bake for a tad bit longer. I baked some at the shorter time and some at the longer time. Both were very good, but I thought the crisper ones the best!
Peanut Butter Everything Cookies
Yield: Makes about 48 cookies
Moreish peanut butter cookies that are stogged full of chocolate chips, oats and orange zest. An unbeatable combination! Crisp and buttery!
ingredients:
- 240g cold unsalted butter, diced (1 cup)
- 190g granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup, firmly packed)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180g peanut butter (1 cup) (you can use either smooth or crunchy)
- 245g flour (1 3/4 cups)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 120g old fashioned oats (1 1/2 cups)
- 180g bittersweet chocolate chopped (1 cup)
- the finely grated zest of one orange
- 75g shredded sweetened coconut (1 cup)
instructions:
How to cook Peanut Butter Everything Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a couple of baking sheets with some baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and both sugars in a bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides. Beat in the eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Add the peanut butter, mixing it in well. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until smooth. Stir in the oats, chocolate and coconut.
- Shape TBS into 1/2 inch balls and place on the baking sheets leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Press down lightly with a fork.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown on the edges and set. Let sit on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat until all the batter has been used.
- Store in an airtight container.
These fabulous cookies are like a combination of all your favourite cookies in one . . . oatmeal and coconut cookies, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. You can't go wrong. Do use the orange zest. It really adds a wonderful layer of additional flavour!
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