Tag / Parragon Books

by jo

Introducing Glitterbelle!

Glitterbelle is a princess, and she has a set of books that Parragon have just made available. We’ve been sent two of them, and H took to them immediately.

glitterbelle books

Glitterbelle is a sparkly glittery princess, and H loved the books straight away – while Glitterbelle isn’t too girly and has some attitude, she does a lot of normal stuff. We were sent ‘Glitterbelle Me and You’ which for a five year old is possibly the best thing ever – it’s a diary with fields that need to be filled in. For H there are all kinds of things, wishes, dreams, what you want to be when you grow up, secrets, best friends, loves, favourites and more. Every night when we get in from school she sneaks into a corner with a pencil and fills in things in her Glitterbelle book – which is top secret! We’ve been told we may be allowed to see what she’s written, but it’s a diary and I’m being very good and respecting her privacy.

glitterbelle diary

In turn, she’s been writing things down in each section. Okay, I had to have a little peep just to make sure she had, but also to see exactly what is asked in there. She loves that it’s ‘her’ little book of secrets where she can write what she wants, and I love how it’s adding to her creative side.

The other book we received was Glitterbelle Dazzling Dress Up, which is lots of stickers you can decorate and dress up Glitterbelle and her friends with – again, perfect for H when she wants to get creative. There are also 30 nail stickers included which are saved for half term.

Glitterbelle sticker book

Parragon has a Glitterbelle mini-site, as well as a free e-book you can download when you enter a code from the main story books. While I’m not a fan of girly princess things, this sits nicely in between – normal things that appeal to young girls without being too princessy.

The Glitterbelle books are targeted at 5-8 year olds. The mini site can be found here.

We received both copies for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own. 

by jo

On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking

I’m very short on time daily. Since going back to work five days a week I’m missing my day off to get things done – one of those being baking. On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking is a new book I’ve been sent as part of the Parragon Book Buddies group I’m in – which suits me perfectly due to the aforementioned lack of time!

On the Table in 30 minutes - baking

On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking has sixty super speedy recipes. H and I looked through the book with plenty of ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaah’ and ‘mmmm!’ kind of noises until we agreed on what we’d like to bake. I changed my mind when I bought blueberries earlier today – our recipe of choice was to make blueberry scones.

I’d never thought about making them before – and we eat a lot of blueberries too and have enjoyed making scones in the past. I know they’re quite easy to make, so thought it’d be a good place to start. You need –
250g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
85g butter (chilled)
70g golden caster sugar
115g blueberries
1 egg
100ml buttermilk
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Grease a baking tray. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and get the mixture to a breadcrumb like-consistency. Stir in the caster sugar and blueberries. Beat the egg and buttermilk and add that. Roll mixture into a ball (mine was pretty wet so I added more flour). Knead gently and shape into an 18cm round. Cut into eight slices and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

Voila!

baking at home

H enjoyed making these as it involved mess and she got to wear a pinny. I didn’t get to take photos as they involved mess. I like On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking because it tells me what to do and breaks it up into small sections so I don’t get distracted.

Blueberry Scones

So how long did it take? I would say a little over 30 minutes – but mainly due to having H read the ingredients out to me, and help me count them on our scales. Once everything was measured it was pretty quick from there. I can see On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking being a book we’ll get a lot of use from – for the speed of the recipes and the variety in there. The recipes are broken into sections – Quick Cookies, Speedy Small Bakes, Fast Family Cakes and Bars, Presto Pastries and Desserts, plus lots of useful information at the back of the book, and plenty of delicious looking photos which inspire you to give it a try.

We’ve actually tried a few more recipes since I wrote this – all with great success!

I received my copy of On The Table in 30 Minutes – Baking for the purpose of review – all opinions are my own.

by jo

Super Chicken! – The Best Chicken Recipes

Super Chicken is the latest book we received as a Parragon Book buddy. This would be another review where Shaun (chicken lover) steps up and tells us his thoughts but he claims he can’t review things very well, so instead I’ll do it and he can dictate.

Super Chicken

Super Chicken! isn’t a superhero, it is in fact a collection of dishes which have one thing in common – they include chicken. Having been vegetarian for over 30 years, this isn’t my kind of cookbook. However, that isn’t to say dishes can’t be adapted.

Shaun and H had a good scan through the book to find a dish for our evening meal tonight, and opted for Chicken Satay Skewers. I had the same dish but with Spicy Quorn pieces to replace the meat.

Super chicken skewers

With a prep time of 15 minutes and a cook time of 10 minutes (plus soaking the skewers time), this was an ideal dish for our Sunday evening – we don’t really do traditional Sunday dinners in this house.

Shaun found the instructions easy to follow, and the final results looked like the pictures. I found the satay sauce to be pretty good too – easily one of the best ones I’ve tried (aren’t home made ones always the best anyway?). It’s something we will definitely make again.

Super Chicken Satay

If you’re in a vegetarian and meat eating house, this book has some good ideas. I checked and all the sauces seemed suitable for vegetarians, and are prepared separately anyway.

Super quorn Satay

Super Quorn Satay

Back when I first met Shaun and we went back to Australia, his mum brought out some writing he’d done from around the age of ten. He declared a big dislike for girls (ha), but big big love for chicken, so I know Super Chicken is a book he’ll be using a lot more as unlike the former, his opinion hasn’t changed.

Shaun did say he’d like to do a few more recipes from the book before I posted a review, so I’d say that was another good sign, chicken-lovers.

Super Chicken! contains several recipes broken into sections – Starters, Snacks and Sides, Lovely Lunches, Chicken Dinners and Food for Friends, with several choices in each section.

Super Chicken! is available now from all good bookstores, rrp £6.00 The Parragon page for it is here.

(contains an affiliate link)

We were sent the book for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

by jo

Baking With Fruit

Baking With Fruit is the latest book we were sent as a Parragon Book Buddy. With a tagline of ‘Delicious cakes, pastries and desserts’ we were won over immediately!

Baking With Fruit

Baking With Fruit comes from Parragon Books Love Food range, and is a collection of classic and new recipes using fresh fruit in all seasons. Actually, the best thing about the book was getting it out at the table with Shaun and H and watching them both coo over it, they look delicious!

We did a spot of foraging last year, and this year I want us to do some Pick Your Own from local farms. There are plenty of recipes in here which will cover the various fruits we can get too – from the complicated looking to ones which look quite simple.

We haven’t had a chance to try any recipes yet, but on the list is the Lemon Sponge Roll (although it includes gelatine so I need to find a vegetarian option), the Mandarin Cheesecake looks especially good, and I know it’s almost time, we need to buy a ring tin as the Cherry Marble Cake looks divine!

Oh and don’t get me started on the Lime and Raspberry Tart… yum!

As we head out of the post-Christmas slump, we’ve been inspired by the Great British Bake Off. H loves it too thanks to them repeating it over Christmas and the Comic Relief version in the new year. I think H fancies herself as a bit of a Mary Berry, and this book features the kind of recipes I know H will like to do too. There’ll be no soggy bottoms around here!

Baking With Fruit will sit perfectly alongside the Higgidy Cookbook which we bought and reviewed last year. While we’re still being very weight-conscious, I’d like to think these recipes aren’t going to be too fattening – plus it’s all down to portion size!

Baking With Fruit is available now, published by Parragon Books and has a rrp of £8.

We were sent the book for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own. The book image at the bottom contains an affiliate link.

by jo

Recipes from an Indian Kitchen

We received Recipes from an Indian Kitchen last year as part of our Parragon Book Buddies programme – and this is a book which has made me excited. With over 100 recipes from across India with photographs to accompany them, this is the kind of book I’ve been waiting for – we love curries in this house!

recipes from an indian kitchen

Recipes from an Indian Kitchen is part of Parragon Books Love Food range. Way back in time someone told me the perfect curry recipe with the correct blend of herbs and spice. I forgot it immediately, but it opened up a new world to me, how to make a good spicy blend without going for the shop-bought option.

Since then I’ve fancied trying it out, but never got around to getting the elusive cookbook, instead using passata and various blends but not getting it right. Which is where Recipes from an Indian Kitchen comes in – while it doesn’t break down each stage, the instructions are easy to follow. We tried Garlic & Chilli Flavoured Potatoes with Cauliflower – which has ten minutes prep time, 30 minutes cook time.

The Tomato Kachumbar salad has been an easy one to make as well – though we substituted peppers for the tomatoes – this has a 10-15 minute prep time.

One we haven’t tried yet but is ‘on the list’ is the South Indian Yoghurt, Pomegranate and Peanut Raita – which looks delicious and again a very simple dish to prepare.

The pictures on each page make you want to try the dishes – though there are a lot of meat and fish ones, they’re easily substituted with vegetarian options.

Recipes from an Indian Kitchen is broken into easy colour coded chapters – with Basic Recipes, Raitas, Chutneys & Pickles, Snacks and Appetizers, onto Main Dishes, Pulses, Rice & Breads and finally Desserts & Drinks. There’s a good large selection – and actually if I’d had a book on Chinese food for the recent new year, which was laid out like this I think we’d have had a great healthy feast.

This is a book I know we’ll use a lot and indeed is something which has dishes H can help with! We love it, and would recommend buying.

We were sent a copy for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own. The final image is an affiliate link.

by jo

Underpants Wonderpants by Peter Bently and Deborah Melmon

Is it an eagle? Is it a plane? No – it’s Underpants Wonderpants to the rescue again!

Underpants Wonderpants

Underpants Wonderpants is a dog with amazing underpants, who helps people out when they’re in trouble.

We’ve never read the previous book , Underpants Thunderpants so it’s a new one for us – and is quite similar in style to Julia Donaldson’s ‘Superworm’ – a book which H really enjoys.

I asked H what her favourite thing about the book is, and she tells me it’s “when they do the rescues” – she does like to help people out, so it’s good that appeals to her.

I like that it’s an easy read – now she’s at school and we’re learning how to read in reception I know books like this will be fun for her once more words are recognised, plus it’s silly. Silly books are good books and are fun to read.

The text in the book is by Peter Bently (an award winning author who has written over 30 books for children) , with colourful illustrations by Deborah Melmon(who has illustrated many books for kids). It gets a big thumbs-up from us!

Underpants Wonderpants is available now, published by Parragon Books. It’s currently available at Amazon (affiliate link) for £4.44, and has a rrp of £5.99. I think it’d be a good one for Christmas if you’re looking for fun book ideas!

We received this book as we are Parragon Book Buddies – all opinions are our own and honest! 

by jo

Vegetarian Step By Step from Parragon Books

Vegetarian Step By Step from Parragon Books is my kind of cookbook. I’m definitely a visual learner, rather than reading pages that describe what to do and getting a bit lost.

Vegetarian Step by Step from Parragon Books

Vegetarian Step By Step from Parragon Books is taken from their Love Food range, and features loads of meat-free meals grouped into Soups & Starters, Salads & Light Meals, Midweek & Family Suppers and Special Occasions. The recipes are presented in a really good way, lots of pictures so you can see what you’re doing, and written clearly so even impatient people like me who miss instructions don’t go wrong.

Lucy recommended the Spaghetti with Fresh Pea Pesto and Broad Beans, so that was our first stop as she’s a good lady who knows her food. I love how the recipe is set out and it’s based on ingredients you’ll probably already have. I know good cooking is based on good photo presentation and this book makes me want to try everything. Like the other Love Food book we’ve reviewed, it’s presented in a really uncomplicated way.

For this recipe, the pesto is made from cooked peas blended with garlic and cheese until it makes a paste, with added almonds at the end, plus salt and pepper seasoning. All you do after that is boil the broad beans, remove the skins and add to spaghetti. Toss the pesto in there at the very end.

Oh my, it’s good. This is where I’d normally have a photo, but I was horribly disorganised and didn’t take one. So instead see the presentation of the recipe, and you’ll see what I mean.

Vegetarian Step by Step recipe

I’ve been a vegetarian for 30 years now, and I’m happy this book isn’t packed with mushroom or tomato recipes – my two least favourite things. So many places seem to assume vegetarians like them, and it drives me mad. Where there are recipes which feature them, I’ve found they’re not the main part so can be substituted with something else easily.

Now I’ve got more time in the evenings with working shorter days, I can see me trying out more of these recipes. The Roasted Root Soup with Ginger and Créme Fraîche looks particularly good!

Vegetarian Step By Step is available now, and is currently £9.86 at Amazon, with a RRP of £16.00

I received my copy of Vegetarian Step By Step as I am a Parragon Book Buddy. All opinions are my own and honest.