Sweet Strawberry Shake

Stop what you're doing, I've sussed it. Here is it, the ultimate, insanely perfect, impossibly wondrous (AND SPOOKILY HEALTHY) strawberry milkshake. That's by anyone standards. Beauty is in the eye of the mason jar holder.

Wherever you are look up your nearest supermarket, head to it and buy the following ingredients (if you are somewhere strange and horrid, such as in a forest or on holiday somewhere that doesn't offer WiFi or 3G then, I hate to break it to you, but you're going to have to use a map and compass and get walking. It's worth returning to the old-age methods of travel for.)

Ingredients:

1 cup of frozen strawberries
5 pitted dates
1 dessert spoon of manuka honey
Almond milk to the max line, if using a nutribullet (if not, it's approx 200ml)
2 Tsp of strawberry Nesquick (optional. A baddy, but a goody)

Whizz up, pop in a pretty glass, decorate how you wish (or don't bother if the anticipation becomes too strong. You can find what I did with mine below: the milkshake, old fashioned paper straw and a slice of strawberry on top, all served in a mason jar. Ladies love mason jars) and enjoy, preferably in your favourite sunny spot in the garden.

It's thick, sweet and with a heavenly natural taste of proper, Somerset-grown (depending on where you hail from) strawberries.

Hello, British Summertime. As always, we're angry you left us for so long but we must forgive you, as we have of course all missed you so much and we love you even more.

Nutribullet

For months now I've been seeing photos people who are actually managing to get horrible things such as kale and spinach and raw beetroot into their systems, with what I had assumed to be ironic hashtags such as #Yum and #Delicious.  I thought it was high time to see if my friends were trying to make us all feel bad for not eating veg, or whether there truly is a way to make salad enjoyable, so it's time to step forth and take a bullet and see how I get on.

I'll be posting recipes I try, good or bad, and be genuinely honest about whether this is a money making scheme or a waist-shaping tasty invention and ALL your comments, words of encouragement (especially on days when I'm downing things that are lurid green) and also any tasty recipes you have tried, will be welcome.

Celestial Seasoning Teas

Two of my favourite things in life are tea and quotes, so one of my newly favourite things is Celestial Seasoning Tea, which combines the two.

With each cup of fabulous tea, anything from Raspberry Zinger to a way-above-standard cup of Earl Grey, there is also a quote which will either make you smile, make you think or make you cry a bit. It offers the thinking woman's cuppa.

It was my darling Grandma who first bought me this adorable set which also came with a cute little linen bag with "Kettle On, Feet Up" brandished across it (my sort of instruction) and a coaster filled with spices, which exudes a fabulous smell when warmed up and various teabag flavours which I have been slowly picking my way through over the last few days.

She bought it from the American History Museum in Bath, one of my favourite spots on the planet, hence it being an import but I have already found these being sold on ebay at a reasonable price, which has consequently meant I have spent a little more than was initially intended on fruit tea, but it's all worth it if I get inspired from a mug of hot loveliness each day.

I raise my mug in your general direction and say, "Cheers!"