Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Last week was our first time visiting the brand new Prezzo restaurant at Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield. In fact, it was also our first time visiting the Prezzo restaurant chain which has more than 280 restaurants across the UK in all different shapes and sizes ranging from old libraries to harbour side eateries taking in the view.
Spring into the new summer menu at Pizza Express! We are no strangers to Pizza Express and regularly enjoy their gorgeous and delicious meals. While we love their regular menu and we all have our favourite dishes, their new summer menu looks delicious which they’ve just launched.
Yesterday, we popped by to the Pizza Express in Tamworth, which was opened in 2014 next to the Jolly Sailor Ventura Park. There is limited free parking spaces but you could also park at the Sainsbury’s car park or John Lewis on either side. The restaurant can seat 110 people and they get quite busy over the weekend, so it is best to book a table.
The artwork in Tamworth was inspired by local born Seaman, Colin Grazier, who captured codebooks vital for the breaking of the Enigma cipher from a sinking German U boat submarine. A series of screens and a selection of canvases with coded messages provide an intriguing environment based around the Enigma code.
Bella Italia is now open at Waterfront North Leisure, Walsall. They are surrounded by other restaurants, sports shops, big clothing brands, cinema and many other retailers and there is further development to come. There is plenty of pay and display car parking available and the fee is very reasonable. We paid 2 hours for £1.40, if you required 3 hours, it is only £2!
PizzaExpress was opened at the beautiful Waterfront in Walsall on 12 January 2016. They are surrounded by other restaurants, sports shops, big clothing brands and many other retailers and there is plenty of pay and display car parking available. We did struggle to find the restaurant as our sat nav took us to the wrong place using the postcode. In fact, PizzaExpress is just opposite Crown Wharf Shopping Park.
Both of my children enjoy cooking and baking with me. Cooking and baking is a great way to develop an essential life skill as well as spend quality family time together. It can be stressful at times but I find that preparation is key and also having the right tools for job too. Some of the regular tools in the kitchen are too cumbersome and heavy for them to handle.
Toy company Casdon has teamed up with baby food expert and cookery book writer Annabel Karmel to create a range of cooking tools that work as normal kitchen tools. These high quality Casdon implements are all approved by Annabel who has written special recipes that are easy for young children to make. The range includes baking sets with cake moulds, baking accessories, mixing bowls and decoration tools which have been available to buy from mid-July.
As a regular at Frankie & Benny’s, it is always great to try out a new menu to sample different dishes. Our local F&B is just 5 minutes away and my children always love to eat there. Last week, we were fortunate to get invited to attend Mummy Bloggers Networking lunch hosted at The Fort Shopping Park F&B to review their new Kids and Junior Menu.
Earlier this week, we downloaded Toco Kitchen 2 via the iTunes store and my children loose on it. They instantly took to it and love that they are able to cook for their customers and also tease customers by adding a lot of peppers and chilli sauce. 
Last week, we were invited to Alton Towers to try out Goodfella’s selfie-powered vending machine at Alton Towers. It was to celebrate the launch of the new Goodfella’s The Smiler Pizza named after Alton Towers’ hypnotic 14 loop rollercoaster.
This recipe is for Red Tractor #RTChallenge. This is my fourth recipe for the Red Tractor challenge. This time round I am baking pizza. I had slightly modified my Chinese steamed bun recipe to make this pizza base. Using strong white flour makes the base firmer and chewier. If you prefer less chewy, then add more plain flour. Instead of milk, you could use water instead. As I mentioned I think milk gives a nicer flavour/fragrance.
Experts at Goodfella’s have taken 1,000 children aged 6 – 16 kids’ suggestions and recommendations about what they like to talk about at mealtimes to create a fun guide for parents, including 10 conversation starters that are guaranteed (more or less) to get kids talking at the dinner table.
The research show that there are 31% of parents don’t know what to talk to their kids about and 58% of mums and dads admit that their kids are bored of their tired chat. My husband and I must admit that we always ask the most common but ‘boring’ question: “How was your day at school?”.
Last week, we spent some family time eating delicious Goodfella’s pepperoni pizza. These are the five question most interesting questions to ask children aged 6 to 12 year old.
