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Jo Banks
- Apr 12, 2019
- 2 min
Chocolate season
Is there a season for eating chocolate? I personally don’t think so. Chocolate for me is the ultimate comfort food, a sure-fire stand-by in times of stress and a mood enhancer. If you eat lots, of course, its not good for you, but if you eat a few pieces of fine dark chocolate there are many health benefits. When I suggest dark chocolate this would be with a cocoa percentage of around seventy per cent or more – proper ‘chocolate’ not confectionary which I am afraid most of t

Jo Banks
- Mar 17, 2018
- 3 min
Chocolate or Raw Chocolate
With Easter fast approaching, the supermarket shelves are piled high with chocolate eggs of all shapes and sizes. One of the different eggs I have already spotted this year and that has stood out from the usual Cadburys, Lindt, Kinder, Ferrero Rocher, and bags of mini eggs offered are the Waitrose Chocolate Avocado. Exclusive to Waitrose the dark shell and ‘stone’ are made with 70% cocoa Belgian chocolate, while the white chocolate middle uses natural colouring to imitate th

Jo Banks
- Mar 2, 2018
- 3 min
Has Fairtrade Fortnight gone quiet?
Maybe its because our children are finished at Primary School or maybe it is because this week we have had so much more exciting news with the weather, but I haven’t heard anything about Fair-trade Fortnight. I normally come across a few articles in the local papers, food news and magazines! According to the Fairtrade Foundation Website, the first fairtrade labelled goods were sold in in 1988. When we buy bananas, chocolate, coffee and sugar do you support Fair-trade? “The pr

Jo Banks
- Dec 15, 2017
- 2 min
Week 3 – Prepping puds
Another busy week has rushed by and as I write this the house smells delicious with gingerbread cooking and cranberries simmering ready for sauce. Our wreath and entertaining workshop went really well and I was so impressed with my first ever attempt which looks amazing on the front door. We talked through lots of savoury canapés, healthy too – avoiding pastry, bread and lots of frying, also plenty of time saving tips. I served a turkey wellington and winter salad for lunch a

Jo Banks
- Sep 8, 2017
- 3 min
Another busy week …
Back to school too, I hope you all got my blog from last week which I focused on snacks and lunchboxes, where did the summer go? If you missed it click here. Tuesday was a day spent at London Olympia at my favourite of food events, Speciality Fine Foods, I know this is for trade only but it really is the most worthwhile from my point of view. A chance to see some brand new ‘baby’ companies launching, the chocolate company Bean & Pod just three days old to companies we saw th

Jo Banks
- May 5, 2017
- 1 min
Summer 2017 Crockham Hill – Cookery Camp
This time we will be making some summer recipes : picnic ideas, preparing seasonal fruit and vegetables and summery sweets! Date: Wednesday 26th July 2017 Time: 10-3pm Cost: £40 includes all ingredients and lunch Age Group: Boys & Girls aged 8-12 years Location: Crockham Hill Village Hall, TN8 6RP Please REMEMBER to bring a snack/drink and a container for you to take your goodies home in! For further details email jobanks@alivewithflavour.com Places are limited and need to

Jo Banks
- Apr 21, 2017
- 2 min
Chocolate and Cheese
Yes it sounded very strange to me initially – chocolate and cheese? really? You may be surprised, but chocolate and cheese are rich, savoury, and delicious served together. I have been lucky enough to try some great combinations. Cheese and chocolate share many of the same flavour qualities—rich, bold, robust, creamy—so pairing these two indulgent favourites is not as outlandish as you might imagine. It is quite easy to do; there is a chocolate – cheese pairing for every tast

Jo Banks
- Apr 7, 2017
- 2 min
Friday Foodie – Farm Shops and Easter
We have been so lucky with this beautiful Spring weather the past few days. Normally it never happens in the school Easter holidays! As a family we are getting ready for Easter with visiting National Trust properties and gardens last week and even joining in the egg hunts. Note that the National Trust are now advertising the ‘Cadburys Egg Hunt’ rather than the ‘Easter Egg hunt’ what do you think about the word Easter being dropped? I understand the reason behind it but still

Jo Banks
- Mar 2, 2017
- 1 min
Easter 2017 Cookery Camp at Crockham Hill School
Wednesday 5th April – Crockham Hill School, Crockham Hill, TN8 6RP After 8 years dedicated to food, Jo Banks brings creative recipe ideas together through fun, clear, interactive presentations and hands-on workshops/classes. “Cookery is a life skill and a subject I feel very passionate about! I have two daughters and I feel the more children can be involved in preparing food – from the beginning – the more likely they will enjoy eating and exploring adventurous tastes and fla

Jo Banks
- Feb 24, 2017
- 2 min
Fairtrade Foodie Friday
Fairtrade Fortnight 2017 starts this Monday 27th February and runs till Sunday 12th March 2017. It is a massive worldwide campaign that raises further awareness of where these key products are sourced. Selling Fairtrade-certified products ensures that producers in developing countries are given a guaranteed minimum price, which is especially important when market prices fall. Producers also receive the Fairtrade Premium to invest in business and community development. I am ma

Jo Banks
- Feb 10, 2017
- 1 min
Beetroot and Dark Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients: 275g cooked beetroot
250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
250g butter
3 eggs
200g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
Makes 15 Grease the base of cake tin or brownie pan. Place the beetroot in a food processor and whiz for a few minutes to form a smooth puree. Set aside Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, taking care that the bowl does the

Jo Banks
- Jan 20, 2017
- 2 min
Back to January
So January is quite a dull month. Short of money as we are paying off credit cards and Christmas expenses, weather is very cold and then in this country very wet… and certainly in our house we are trying to be good with cutting back on sugary, fatty snacks and its the 19th and I have not had one glass of wine, which has to be a record… With this I have had a busy week of looking at healthier after school snack options. Both of my daughters come in starving after school and of

Jo Banks
- Jan 13, 2017
- 1 min
Crockham Hill School ‘Valentines’ Cookery Camp
Thursday 16th February 2017 – Crockham Hill Primary School After 8 years dedicated to food, Jo Banks brings creative recipe ideas together through fun, clear, interactive presentations and hands-on workshops/classes. “Cookery is a life skill and a subject I feel very passionate about! I have two daughters and I feel the more children can be involved in preparing food – from the beginning – the more likely they will enjoy eating and exploring adventurous tastes and flavours.”

Jo Banks
- Nov 16, 2016
- 2 min
Macaroons
A few years ago I went on a course to learn how to master macaroons. It is not an easy skill and quite time consuming but if you have time and energy a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Ingredients: 350g icing sugar 250g ground almonds 215g egg whites (use older eggs) 150g caster sugar 5g powdered food colour For the macaroon shells: Preheat the oven to 155’C. Sift the ground almonds and the icing sugar together. Whisk the egg whites until white and fluffy and then

Jo Banks
- Oct 28, 2016
- 1 min
Beetroot Chocolate Loaf
Ingredients: 2-3 vacumn packed beetroot 2 ripe bananas 120ml cooking oil 160g coconut cream 275g plain flour 50g cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150g caster sugar Method: Preheat oven to 180C. Pop into a blender your beetroot, bananas, oil, bicarbonate of soda, and coconut cream. Pulse to a pink paste. Scrape pink mixture into mixing bowl with flour, cocoa powder and sugar, mix well. Grease a loaf tin and scrape the batter mixture in. Pop into the oven on the middle sh

Jo Banks
- Oct 15, 2016
- 2 min
Chocolate Chocolate and some more Chocolate!
A busy week for me. I have been working on my Halloween cookery and practising a few ‘pink’ recipes for the Cancer Research day I have in the half term at Reigate Grammar School. Tuesday, I spent the day experimenting with a couple of healthy recipes with low sugar, no gluten or fat – cakes made with chocolate and avocado you can see how I got on here: Alive with Flavour – Avocado and Chocolate Cake Experiments This week has been CHOCOLATE WEEK and its finishing this weekend

Jo Banks
- Oct 13, 2016
- 2 min
Chocolate and Avocado Cake Experiments
As its Chocolate Week I have been busy experimenting. I have been meaning to do this for a while, baking with avocados! It really is the fashionable thing and as a family we love avocados, so the combination intrigued me… and so I went the whole hog, much to my 10 year old daughters disappointment… no sugar, no gluten, and no fat! So what is in this cake? I experimented with two different recipes and I know the one I prefer. Firstly can I just talk about ingredients… as Waitr

Jo Banks
- Sep 20, 2016
- 2 min
Rococo Chocolates with some Scrumdiddlyumptious Chocolate
Last Friday thoroughly enjoyed an excellent evening at the Vaults, underneath Waterloo. I have never ventured down Leake Street (sounds something out of Harry Potter books) but we found the ‘downside-up cocktail bar’… again another first! ‘Rococo Chocolates was holding a Scrumdiddlyumptious event to celebrate Roald Dahl 100 – celebrating 100 years of the world’s number one storyteller and the launch of their 8 new artisan Roald Dahl chocolate bars inspired by his wonderful st

Jo Banks
- May 22, 2016
- 1 min
Chocolate Souffle
This great recipe comes via Ruth Hinks and you can watch the video on You Tube. Makes: 6 ramekins Ingredients 225g 70% dark chocolate 50g Unsalted butter 6 Medium egg whites 130g Caster sugar 3 Medium egg yolks Butter for lining the ramekin Caster sugar for lining the ramekin Pre-heat your oven to 200°C. To prevent your soufflé from sticking, brush the sides of your ramekins with soft (not melted) butter. Then coat each ramekin with caster sugar and tip out the excess. Place
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