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Events 2017

May 5, 2017
3 min

Events 2017

List of events in the diary, constantly being added and amended. So check back frequently. **** Date: Wednesday 4th October Event: Monthly ‘hands on’ supper club – ‘Choctails – An evening of chocolate’ Venue: Crockham Hill Village Hall. Time: 7.30-9.30pm. After a popular evening at ‘Temper Temper’ in Tunbridge Wells we will be running something similar here in Crockham Hill. An evening of chocolate with two chocolate cocktails made in front of you (even a chance to have a go

Summer 2017 – Crockham Hill – Cookery Camp August

May 5, 2017
1 min

Summer 2017 – Crockham Hill – Cookery Camp August

This time we will be making some summer recipes : picnic ideas, preparing seasonal fruit and vegetables and summery sweets! “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.” Date: Friday 25th August 2017 Time: 10-3pm Cost: £40 includes all ingredients and lunch Age

Summer 2017 Crockham Hill – Cookery Camp

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

Live life on the veg…

Mar 16, 2017
3 min

Live life on the veg…

Riverford boxes of organic fruit and vegetables have been available for many years, delivered to your door. I would say they were the first company I remember and now they are one of many. I used to have a weekly Riverford delivery when the children were a little younger but cancelled due to work, school and supper time chaos! I loved the fact that I got lots of different vegetables in particular. In the supermarket I would tend to stick with the usual comfort of carrots and

Easter 2017 Cookery Camp at Hazelwood School

Mar 2, 2017
1 min

Easter 2017 Cookery Camp at Hazelwood School

Thursday 19th April – Hazelwood School, Art Room 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.” This time

Friday Foodie – Winter Veg

Jan 29, 2017
2 min

Friday Foodie – Winter Veg

Another week has whizzed past, sticking with no alcohol and watching the calories, who said this was a good idea? I have had to look harder at hardy winter vegetables that are in season and thinking about more adventurous recipes in the kitchen. Love all the swede and turnips particularly butternut squash, sweet potatoes and of course carrots, cauliflower, chard, kale, leeks, and parsnips. So easy just simply roasting these vegetables and I do like Brussel sprouts but you may

Healthier Flapjacks

Jan 26, 2017
1 min

Healthier Flapjacks

We made these at my after school club with the children and they were all voted ‘very yummy’ by the children and all the Mums and Dads collecting. I talked to the children in small groups about refined sugar and the benefits of using dried fruit instead to sweeten naturally, a few of them were not convinced until they tasted… I don’t think many flapjack trays got all the way home for trying later. Irresistible and healthy with no refined sugar. The recipe is flexible you can

Back to January

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

Chocolate Flapjacks

Jan 20, 2017
1 min

Chocolate Flapjacks

Again a non refined sugar recipe, perfect for after school. These are easy as they are no bake but still good for lunchboxes as there are no nuts! Ingredients: 1 cup mixed seeds, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower for example 40g cocoa powder 100g medjool dates pitted 1 banana 6 tbsp maple syrup 250g oats 5 tbsp coconut oil Method: Blitz the dates, banana, maple syrup and cocoa powder in a blender or processor. Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan. Add the oats to the melted oil and st

Tasty Bread Tartlets

Jan 18, 2017
1 min

Tasty Bread Tartlets

Ingredients: A little butter 4 slices of bread 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons milk a handful of fresh mint leaves 2 handfuls of frozen peas or corn kernels small handful of cheddar or parmesan cheese Turn the oven on to 375F (190C) Gas 5. Put a little butter on a piece of paper towel and rub it inside 4 of the holes in the muffin pan to grease it. Lay a piece of bread on chopping board and use the round cutter to cut out a circle of bread. Press it into the muffin pan. Do the same

Lean Leftovers

Jan 13, 2017
3 min

Lean Leftovers

How was Christmas? it already seems a long time ago… It was a flurry of food and family for me but no snow until now! Generally it was a good one for us as a family. Boxing Day meal went very well with ham, quiches and salads which I had tried to prep in advance, and yes it was a relatively relaxed event. I did over cater which is better than under catering. I boiled two hams and we only used and needed one so New Years Eve we had the other ham, which actually worked out well

Crockham Hill School ‘Valentines’ Cookery Camp

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.”

The Christmas lights are on!

Nov 11, 2016
2 min

The Christmas lights are on!

It’s official the John Lewis Christmas ad is out… back in to London with BBC Good Food show today and feeling thoroughly festive. The Christmas lights are on in Oxford Street and I already sense it seems busier, how many shopping days till the day? I have been busy with more Christmas canapés this time beetroot, dill and goat’s cheese cups (yes I know the beetroot is still featuring on my menu!) and Thursday evening my first drinks party for Christmas. My homemade marmalade

Beetroot Chocolate Loaf

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

Beetroot and Cheese Scones

Oct 28, 2016
2 min

Beetroot and Cheese Scones

Ingredients: 175 g unbleached plain flour 2 and ¼ tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 25 g cold butter, small dice 75 g strong cheddar cheese 50 ml buttermilk (or dairy or non-dairy milk with a little lemon juice added) 1 tsp grain mustard 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin’s for preference) ½ raw or cooked small beetroot finely grated extra flour for rolling surface a little milk for brushing on the scones (optional) Method: Preheat oven to 220 (200C fan). Sift the flour an

Chocolate and Avocado Cake Experiments

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

Cheese & Bacon Breakfast Muffins

Oct 3, 2016
2 min

Cheese & Bacon Breakfast Muffins

So its always a rush in the morning! I have a teenager who is up before me and already finished breakfast, so I need something quick and easy for her and then her younger sister later. Occassionally, I make muffins! I make the mixture the night before and either bake them that evening or my eldest pops them in the oven for 20 mins when she gets up! There is nothing like freshly baked muffins, little like bread! They also freeze really well and can be taken out the night befor

Banana and Berry Muffins

Sep 30, 2016
1 min

Banana and Berry Muffins

Towards the end of the week, I go to the fruit bowl and always find bananas looking over ripe and past their best. I hate to waste fruit or food in general, so I try to chop bananas up and freeze them in pieces ready to throw in to a smoothie, sometimes I am past the chopping stage so freeze them whole – perfect for banana bread or muffins. This week I have bananas, raspberries and blueberries that I need to use, so decided to have a go at a sugar-free muffin. I do like spelt

Apple Bread

Sep 27, 2016
1 min

Apple Bread

A fast, healthy apple bread loaded with cinnamon and fresh apples. So easy, you don’t even need a mixer, and your house will smell like heaven as it bakes! Ingredients: 2 cups of cored, peeled and diced eating apples, such as Granny Smith or Red Gala (about 3 medium) 1.5 cups of spelt flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil 2 tablespoons of almond milk 1 large egg 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2

Autumn Schedule 2016

Sep 16, 2016
3 min

Autumn Schedule 2016

Autumn Schedule of classes-Alive with Flavour-September to December 2016 All classes include ingredients, recipes to take home, and everything you need on the day. Thursday 6th October 2016 10-2pm – A Day of Flavours – Join me in the most beautiful surrounds of the Kingscote Wine Estate, Tithe Barn Cookery School. The day commences at 10am with coffee and biscuits while I take you through a ‘fuss free’ Autumn Dinner Party Menu – 3 courses. Part demonstration and part ‘hands o