aka: stuff I like.
It’s that time of year again already! Plans are being made (real tree vs. artificial?, chicken or turkey?, visit the family or just stay home for a quiet one?) and gifts are being bought. I’ve compiled together a collection of things I like. Some of them I’ve been sent over the last year to review and some I’ve purchased myself. All of them are part of my life right now in one way or another, and perhaps, hopefully, you might glean some inspiration from them!
Please note links in orange are Amazon affiliate links, and if you make a purchase through them I will get a small commission. I am also a Froothie ambassador and a Pomora olive oil ambassador, so any purchases of these products through my links will also help support my family.
Food & Drink
The Snack Organization Presents…. their newly launched rice crackers in lightly salted, sweet chilli or teriyaki flavours. Ideal for Christmas canapes or simply for late night, low calorie snacking! The sweet chilli ones are so very good! £1 from Tesco.
Bailey’s Chocolates – a fusion of Bailey’s, the Original Irish Cream Liqueur, enveloped in a smooth milk chocolate casing. What’s not to love? The new Bailey’s Glittering Collection Box is available at most major retailers. £9.
Sirianni Preserves – an irresistible trio of traditional Calabrian preserves, ideal for entertaining or just for scoffing on your own with cheese, olive and crackers in front of the telly. £14.96 (inc P&P) from Artimondo, or fill in the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win!
Indonesian Long Peppers – from the Peppermongers. Largely unheard of in western cuisine these peppers really pack a punch. £5 for 32 grams from Amazon. A stocking filler idea for the foodie in your life?
Shetland Reel Gin – from Britain’s most northerly gin distillery in Unst, Shetland, this quality gin contains locally grown apple mint. They’ve just launched an Ocean Sent variety too, infused with bladder wrack harvested off the Unst shores.
Press’d Coffee Shots – pure Arabica concentrated ‘coffee in a squeeze’. Made for coffee lovers who are pressed for time, each squeezable pocket-sized bottle makes 16 smooth cups of coffee at home or on-the-go. RRP £2.99 from Ocado.
Pomora Olive Oil – Adopt an olive tree from small, selected family olive oil producers in Italy and receive quarterly shipments of oil, plus updates. This is the only olive oil I use now. Fantastic stuff! I get a small commission from each adoption made through my website. Upon checkout, enter the exclusive discount code: EKD25 for a 25% discount on the first two quarters of a tree adoption!
Yogi Tea – Choco. A virtually calorie free Ayurvedic blend with cocoa shells, liquorice and cinnamon (and a motivational tea tag quote!). Drinking this tea is part of my evening routine now. £5.29 for 17 teabags from Amazon, or check your local health foods store.
Kitchen
Froothie Optimum Thermocook – the 20-in-1 professional cooking assistant. This is my latest new kitchen toy and a full review will be following soon. Read all about it on the Froothie UK website! RRP £895 but currently on offer for £549 until midnight Saturday the 28th! If you are in the market for a high powered blender or slow juicer, check out their range!
Hansell’s Yogurt Starter Kit – for those who love yogurt. Simply add the contents of the sachet to water, leave for 12 hours, and voila – home made yogurt! RRP £22.60 Currently on offer for £14 from Amazon.
Magimix Le Glacier 1.5 Litre Ice Cream Machine – ice cream bombe for Christmas pudding? The bowl of this ice cream maker is kept in the freezer so you’re never more than 20 minutes away from home made ice cream! RRP £60 from Amazon.
Salter Heston Blumenthal Dual Platform Precision Scales – does everything you want a scale to do. Sleek and stylish too. RRP £45 from Amazon.
Entertainment
Amazon Prime Video – My early birthday present to myself. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Black Sails, Vikings… all at the touch of a button! I’m not moving from this couch! £79 for a yearly subscription, but I bought mine on special offer for £59.
Amazon Fire TV – this digital box and remote control means no more having to log into my iPad to press pause while streaming digital tv! I might have bought this for myself for my birthday. £80 from Amazon.
Outdoors & Fitness
P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout DVDs – I was 2 stone heavier this time last year. I’ve just started my third run through the P90X and I’m loving it. Just press play! RRP £105.99, currently on offer through Amazon.
Beets Blu Heart Rate Monitor – keep track of calories burned during your workouts and stay within your desired heart rate zone with this handy bluetooth heart rate monitor. RRP £29.95 via Amazon.
FitBit One Wireless Activity and Sleep Tracker – keep motivated with this frightfully addictive step counter. Do you own the FitBit or does it own you? RRP £79.99, currently on offer through Amazon.
SoundPEATS Q800 Magnetic Wireless Neckband Style Headset – tired of your headphone cords getting caught in your jacket, hair or scarf while out hillwalking? This really snazzy bluetooth headset sounds great and there are no cords to get caught! RRP £39.99, currently on offer from Amazon. Alternatively, enter via Rafflecopter below to win a set!
Cartography Vacuum Flask – from Wild & Wolf, sold by Flamingo Gifts. A stainless steel flask with a 500 ml capacity and push button valve keeps hot hot and cold cold. Ideal for outdoor adventures. RRP £18.99
Evo Stunt Scooter – get the kids active with this sturdy stunt scooter. House of Fraser has a wide selection of outdoor toys to keep the kids entertained. RRP £59.99 from House of Fraser (but keep an eye out for sales!).
Books
Spice I Am – Make your own Thai recipes at home under the guidance of Australian chef Sujet Saenkham. Includes authentic recipes for light meals, soups, rice and noodles, stir-fries, salads, curries, favourite dishes and desserts. RRP £16.99 from Lantern Publishing. Available in the UK via Amazon. Enter via Rafflecopter below to win a copy!
Tasty by Tony Singh – I had the pleasure of meeting Tony at the Shetland Food Fair last month, and I bought a copy of his book. The only cookery book I own autographed by the author! It’s a fab book. £20, but on offer via Amazon.
Superfood Christmas – featuring yours truly! I’ve got a six page feature in this magazine with all sorts of healthy Christmas breakfast ideas. You can buy a print or digital copy of this magazine through their website, or find it on the magazine shelves in most supermarkets in the country (except Shetland, where the only place you can buy it is the village shop in Dunrossness!).
Storm Force Magazine – something entertaining for the kids under 11, but also helping raise vital funds for the RNLI who rely entirely on donations from the public to help save lives at sea. Join Storm Force and get a welcome pack, badge and quarterly magazine for only £10 per year.
The Cass Lynch Series – A Shetland murder mystery series of four fantastic books by my lovely neighbour Marsali Taylor. Her ponies regularly make an appearance in my Instagram feed. Go on, buy it for your Kindle. It’s only £6.49. It would make her smile. 🙂
GIVEAWAY
Lantern Publishing, SoundPEATS and Artimondo have all offered my readers the opportunity to win a copy of Spice I Am by Sujet Saenkham (worth £16.99), one SoundPEATS Q800 Magnetic Wireless Neckband Style Headset (worth £39.99) and three gorgeous traditional Calibrian preserves worth £14.96, respectively. Simply fill in the Rafflecopter form below to enter.
HOW TO ENTER
For your chance to win a copy of Spice I Am by Sujet Saenkham (worth £16.99) or one SoundPEATS Q800 Magnetic Wireless Neckband Style Headset (worth £39.99) or three gorgeous traditional Calibrian preserves worth £14.96 enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Come back and tweet about the giveaway every day for more chances to win!
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This giveaway is open to UK entries only. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winners (three will be chosen) will need to respond within 30 days of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.
The prizes are offered and provided by Lantern Publishing, SoundPEATS and Artimondo, respectively. The prizes are to win a copy of Spice I Am by Sujet Saenkham (worth £16.99) or one SoundPEATS Q800 Magnetic Wireless Neckband Style Headset (worth £39.99) or three gorgeous traditional Calibrian preserves worth £14.96. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.
There is no entry fee and no purchase is necessary to enter this giveaway. The promoter (Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary) reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice.
Entry into our giveaways will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the three winners at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries and any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory!
Closing date is midnight (that’s 00:00 hours, 12 am on Sunday night/Monday morning) on Monday 14 December 2015 (GMT) and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards.
Don’t forget to check out my other fab giveaways!
UK competitions at ThePrizeFinder
If you want to be kept up to date on my recipes, occasional craft tutorials, adventure stories and giveaways then please subscribe to my weekly newsletter; it gets sent out every Monday morning if there is new content. Your email address won’t be passed on to anyone, you will never be spammed and you are free to unsubscribe at any time, no questions asked. Make sure you confirm your subscription or you won’t receive the newsletter – if it hasn’t arrived check your junk mail folder.
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With thanks to Press’d, the Snack Organization, Yogi Tea, Bailey’s, The Peppermongers, Pomora, Artimondo, Froothie, Magimix, Salter, Hansell’s, Beets Blu, SoundPEATS, Flamingo Gifts, House of Fraser, Lantern Publishing for the samples. This is not a paid post and all thoughts and opinions are our own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links, highlighted in orange, which means if you click through and make any purchase at all via Amazon we will get a small commission and you will be helping to support our family.
Merry Christmas to all
Mary and Joseph, now they had a stable relationship
Xmas – Its over before y0u get time to enjoy it !
hope you have a fun and loving christmas
What song do you sing at a snowman’s birthday party?
Freeze a jolly good fellow! haha xx
My daughter just told me a festive joke…What did Santa say when Mrs Claus asked him what the weather was like? It looks line rain-dear.
Thank you for your great blogs. Merry Christmas x
Let it snow, let it snow,let it snow xxx
Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal (love HomeAlone)
Merry Christmas to one and all
Keep smiling its nearly over
Have a wonder Christmas. Enjoy time with your family and stuff yourself with food!
Happy Christmas
Great Prizes. Merry Christmas all 🙂
I wish you a merry christ,as and the best new year
I love spicy food and have tried suggesting that we could have curry for Christmas dinner. No one else seemed to like the idea though.
Just put the wrong tweet in the 2nd tweet box in the rafflecopter, sorry!
Why does Santa have three gardens?
So he can ‘ho ho ho’!
Merry Crimbo
Great giveaway 🙂
Have a happy christmas & a new year x
How does a snowman get to work – By icicle
My Christmas wish is to have someone to share Christmas with
Christmas dinner is a place where you can really talk turkey.
Merry Christmas
Hopefully this will make you laugh! What kind of motorbike does Santa ride?
A Holly Davidson!
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and all the best for 2016
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose
Why does Santa have 3 gardens? So he can ho-ho-ho.
Bah humbug!
Lovely giveaway … panicking now though as think i should start my Christmas shopping !
two polar bears eating a clown one says to the other- does this taste funny to you ?
Well that’s all the Christmas shopping done, time to start on next years.
Wishing you the very best for christmas and the new year. Thank you for this great comp x
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing it loud for all to hear! xx
I am so full! I can’t wait for Christmas to be over.
I’m looking out for a Santa outfit for my house rabbit Herman
Great prizes!
What do reindeer hang on Christmas trees? Horn-aments.
What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?
A carrot
Merry Christmas – have fun
Merry Christmas, sending smiles
What does Miley Cyrus have at Christmas?
Twerky
Merry Christmas! How about a bad cracker joke? What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas Quacker!
Have a brill time,enjoy the holidays and eat lots of chocolate for breakfast, it’s the only time it’s not frowned upon.
What is the best Christmas present in the world?
A broken drum, you just can’t beat it!
How did Mary and Joseph know that Jesus was 7lb 6oz when he was born?
They had a weigh in a manger! :))))
Keep an eye on your little ones and don’t let them put frozen sausages on the tree for decorations. Doesn’t make a good look.
Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?
A mince spy!
Thanks for holding this awesome comp, it must take a lot of time and effort to hold them!
We also have the same name which is obviously the best name ever ;D
Q. What do you get if you cross Santa with a detective ?
A. Santa Clues!
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Frostbite!
Hope this one hasn’t been posted yet….
What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck?
A Christmas Quacker!!!
Why couldn’t Santa sell Rudolph and Prancer on Ebay?
Because they were two deer!
its only 18 days until christmas x
Wishing you the best for the holiday season and may the New Year bring you joy and happiness.
Wow what a lovely lot of prizes and here’s wishing you a great Christmas x
Q: What do you call an elf who sings?
A: a wrapper!
What a great gift guide! I’d certainly love to receive amazon prime and that lovely Baileys gift set!
Great gift guide a present on there for everyone, a few where usual gifts.
Sophie
xx
http://www.pocockins.co.uk
Q) What’s brown and sticky
A) A stick
Q: What is Claustrophobia?
A: The fear of Father Christmas! 🙂
Why is Christmas just like a day in the office?
You do all the work and the fat guy in the suit gets all the credit.
Dear Santa ,
Please could you bring me a fat wallet and a slim body.
Please don’t mix it up like you did last year !
Merry Everything and Happy Everyone.
Here’s a little note
Just for me to say
I really hope you have
A fantastic Christmas day xxx
I love your blog
Have a wonderful Christmas! Blessings to you and your family.
It’s Christmas! Thats enough to smile.
Merry christmas … eat drink and be merry
Ho ho merry christmas
Have a very Merry Christmas & a Blogging New Year
Why was the snowman looking through the carrots?
He was picking his nose
Ho Ho Ho merry Christmas!
jingle all the way
What does the Queen call her Christmas Broadcast?
The One Show!!
What goes OH OH OH?
Santa walking backwards
Merry Christmas x
Knock knock, whos there, Wencelas, Wencelas who? Wencelas bus home on Christmas Eve?
merry christmas xx
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas from me and mine on this wet November morning in Nottingham xxx
Ho Ho Ho merry Christmas xx
Have a peaceful, joyous Christmas.
It’s Christmas time in just 26 days!!!
what do elves do when they are ill ?
use the national elf-service
merry christmas
What does miley cyrus have at Christmas?
Twerky!!
The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things.
Thomas S. Monson
I am going to magically win all those gift. Mine, all mine…..
Ho Ho Ho and Festive Cheers tahnks to all those lovely Xmas Beers, Hic Hic Ho
No Reindeer pooping, Violators will have their red noses rubbed in it xx
Get your jingle, it’s Christmas
Good King Wenceslas’ favourite pizza? Deep pan crisp and even
What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations ?
Tinselitus 🙂
santa claus is coming to town
apparently we share about 45% of our DNA with a sprout!
Ho Ho Ho!
favourite Christmas saying in our house is “bingle jells” it was on a Christmas decoration I bought when we lived in Indonesia. They only have Christmas there as a marketing strategy in the shops
IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!!!
say cheese and don’t look at the flash xx
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!
the long peppers looks really interesting! this gives me good ideas on what to get a friend who loves to cook
baileys chocolates…! Say no more
Nicola, xo
Wow, fab collection. Congrats on being in Superfood again! I’m useless at jokes but hopefully the thought that it’s now less than a month til Christmas will make you smile anyway 🙂
This is a good gift guide. It can be tricky deciding what to buy people x
This is a good gift guide. It can be tricky deciding what to buy people x
Q: Why is Christmas just like your job? A: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.
source: http://www.jokes4us.com/holidayjokes/christmasjokes/christmasjokes.html
Are you a star girl or a fairy girl?
Whats on top of your Christmas tree?!
What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa?
A rebel without a Claus. 😀
What’s the most popular Christmas wine? :
‘I don’t like Brussels sprouts!’
Merry Christmas!
I would bake something to leave out for Santa on Xmas Eve night but my standard of cooking might poison him at the moment!
What happened when Santa when speed dating?
he pulled a cracker!
When I was 15 I was left in charge of the cooking turkey on Christmas day while my parents popped out to visit someone. It caught on fire and was ruined. I swear it wasn’t my fault, but as a vegetarian I was accused of sabotage. Decades later and nobody lets me forget it!
oh that’s made me chuckle so!!! 😀
its gonna be a white xmas
amazing giveaway never seen a better prize merry xmas to you
I love Bailey’s chocolate and have always fancied owning an ice cream maker. Tx
Somebody would be very lucky with all your brilliant present choices Elizabeth!
What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck?
A Christmas Quacker!
Only 4 weeks until Christmas when nostalgia will return, we’re bigger kids than them and we’ll never learn! It’s just too much fun!
why does santa have three gardens
because he likes to HO HO HO
There was a young turkey called Reg,
Who went with a lady turkey in a hedge,
along came the farmers wife
with her big carving knife
served him up on a plate with 2 veg. 😉
What is Santa’s favourite pizza? One that is deep-pan, crisp and even.
My daughter once used my leather gloves as hands for snowman they got ruined but I couldn’t help but laugh we still joke about it now every Christmas. We had the classiest snowman in the street lol xx
Q: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office ?
A: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.
Ho Ho Ho
Thank you for all the wonderful competitions you run throughout the year.Have a fabulous christmas!
Why do cows have hooves instead of feet?
because they lactose
Who is Santa’s favorite singer?
Elf-is Presley!
What did the salt say to the pepper?
Season’s Greetings.
Christmas is nearly here ho ho ho
Why did the cow cross the road? To go to the mooooovies
What Do you call a donkey with 3 legs
A WONKEY
Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?
A mince spy
As a little girl climbed onto Santa’s lap, Santa asked the usual, “And what would you like for Christmas?” The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped, “Didn’t you get my E-mail?” By Adam Sandler
What song do you sing at a snowman’s birthday party?
Freeze a jolly good fellow!
why does santa have 3 gardens cos he likes to ho ho ho
How about a Cracker Joke:
Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Arthur
Arthur who?
Arthur any mince pies left?