What's For Dinner by Fay Ripley

Mumsnet Best Cookbook winner, Fay Ripley, is back with a no-fuss collection of simple, tasty recipes to take you from Monday to Sunday with ease. Actress, mum of two and passionate home cook, Fay shares 100 of her favourite tried-and-tested dishes. Whether it is midweek and you need good food fast, want deliciously easy recipes that the whole family can share or are looking for tasty weekend meals that don't require hours in the kitchen, Fay's recipes will hit the spot time and time again. What's for Dinner? includes quick-to-prepare suppers such as Roast Tomato and Prosciutto Penne, one-pot dishes such as Chicken and Squash Traybake, 'don't panic' Corner Shop recipes, easy-peasy baking and puds, effortless Friday-night dinners and Sunday Roasts that will encourage everyone to gather round the kitchen table. All the recipes are accompanied by their own mouth-watering photo and don't require an endless shopping list of unusual ingredients you'll only use once. Instead, these are affordable dishes with easy-to-find ingredients, simple-to-follow methods and plenty of tips for feeding babies, freezing, preparation and cooking times. This is a cookbook that's not only inspiring but genuinely useful. Packed with flavour, down-to-earth advice and wit, Fay's second cookbook shows how easy it can be to enjoy delicious home-cooked food every day.

The book is split into eight chapters: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Weekend, Cornershop and Sides. There are 100 of Fay's favourite, no fuss recipes, which are easy to cook and are tasty, simple food.

Each recipe has a full page, colour photograph of the finished dish. Alongside each recipe are suggested number of servings, preparation time, cooking time and, for those recipes suitable, which are freezable. 

There are many different types of recipes: soups, traditional meals, deserts, accompaniments and a number of recipes suitable for vegetarians. Most of the recipes include ingredients which can be picked up in any supermarket or corner store (especially the chapter entitled corner shop). Most of the recipes could be adapted to include whatever you have in the fridge or cupboard. 

I also found that many of the recipes are simple enough that children could help with the preparation, getting them involved in meal times. The recipes are also ones which children are likely to eat - even the most fussy of eaters.

There are many 'Time Tips' included within the book and recipes - time cutting tips which will assist in any kitchen. There are tips for 'Baby Biz' for families with very small children and other tips including hints for veggies or suggestions of variation of ingredients for many of the recipes within the book.

In summary, I think this is a great cook book that would be useful in any family's kitchen library. There are recipes that all the family will enjoy - whether they are fussy eaters, vegetarians or small ones just beginning to have proper meals.

Thank you to Mumsnet who sent me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

The Ultimate Baby and Toddler Q&A (Netmums)

How do I pick him up? Is it OK to bring her into bed with me? Is it OK to give him a dummy? When will she sleep through? When should I start weaning? When will she start crawling? How do I make a start on solids? When will he start talking? When should I start potty training? So many questions for mothers of babies and toddlers - but all the answers are in THE ULTIMATE BABY & TODDLER Q&A, a comprehensive and accessible handbook from Netmums, the fastest-growing online parents' organisation in the UK. This indispensable guide includes hundreds of top tips and suggestions from other mums - it's real advice that really works from real mums who have experienced what you're going through

This is a book that mothers' with newborns could be given and would answer so many of those niggling questions that keep us mums awake at night worrying about. 

There are many questions in the book, which is divided into chapters relating to newborn babies, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, and 12 months +. The questions are by real mums, and so are the answers! There are answers from the net-mums experts as well as some of the net-mums members.

This is the sort of book that can be dipped into at any time and be referred to for advice. There are lots of topics covered, including sleep, bonding, that never ending topic of conversation, poo, post natal depression, feeding, teething to name but a few. 

One of the main things I like about this book is that advice and answers to questions are given by both the experts and by other mothers. Advice from experts are 'normal' in these sort of books, there are many on the market and can give conflicting advice and opinions. However, this book also contains advice from other mothers/carers who have been in the situation, had the motherly instinct, maybe been confused by the conflicting advice - which is best? and gone with their instinct, there are a number of members opinion's given for each question.

Net-mums is becoming a very well known and popular forum, with members or organisers being invited onto television to debate a wide range of topics - this is very similar to the book, drawing on the many differing opinions of its members.

I would highly recommend this book as a great gift for any new mum. It offers support and advice on a wide range of topics that parents and carers are likely to worry over during that first year and beyond.

Thank you to the publishers, Headline, for sending me the book to review.

A Walk in the Park by Jill Mansell

A sweet, funny and romantic novel from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller It's been a while, but Lara Carson's back in Bath and lives are set to change as a result. Because Lara left her family and boyfriend Flynn eighteen years ago without a word to anyone. Why has no one heard from her since? Her childhood best friend Evie is thrilled Lara's back and able to share her happiness. Evie's about to walk down the aisle with her dream man, Joel. Or so she thinks...Then there's Flynn Erskine, even more attractive now and stunned to see Lara again. The spark between them is as strong as ever, but how's Flynn going to react when he discovers the secret she's been keeping from him? Oh yes, there's a lot of catching up to be done...

I had never read any of Jill Mansell's books before being sent To the Moon and Back, which i really enjoyed, and was looking forward to seeing what her next book was like. I have not been disappointed, I have enjoyed reading A Walk in the Park and have found another author who's back catalogue I must read soon.

When Lara Carson returns to her home town following the death of her father, she brings with her a secret she has kept for many years. It is one which will affect others lives too!

I really liked Lara. She had had a difficult life, seemingly thrown out by her father, no one knowing where she had disappeared to and what had become of her. What followed is a great story where family secrets are revealed and people are put in their place in great style.

Mansell has written a book which you can loose yourself in for hours at a time. There are characters which are instantly loved and others which you could never love and hope they will get their just desserts at some point in the book (and most did).

I would recommend this book to any chick lit lovers who enjoy a book that touches on some important topics. It takes you through a wide range of emotions - so get settled in with a glass of wine and some chocolate for a great read!

Thank you to the publishers, Headline, for sending me the book to review.

Florence's River Adventures (Bluebell Woods) by Liss Norton

Welcome to Bluebell Woods, home to a delightful cast of woodland friends. Florence and her friends are walking beside the Babbling Brook when she discovers an old boat tangled up in the reeds. It looks like it's been there a very long time, and Florence suggests that they fix it up so they can sail it. Soon the friends are heading downstream on a river adventure of a lifetime, discovering hidden parts of Bluebell Woods and making new friends. But will they ever resolve the mystery of the boat's original owners?

These books are so pretty! As I have said previously when reviewing earlier books in this series, they remind me of Brambly Hedge. The sketches within the books are beautifully drawn and detail the animals features. I also love the covers of these books - they are like three fold aperture cards, where you look through the window into the cover to see the scene.

This book is about a group of friends who find a boat,which they restore and set sail for an afternoon adventure on the river. 

It is perfect for early readers who have gained confidence in reading alone - I would say age 7+. It is likely to be popular with young girls but with the boat theme, I am sure some boys will also enjoy it.

Thank you to the publishers, Stripes Publishing for sending me the book to review.

The Village Vet by Cathy Woodman

In Talyton St George, vet nurse Tessa Wilde is on the way to her wedding .............

It should be the happiest day of her life. But then her car hits a dog, and though the dog is saved thanks to the Otter House vets, her wedding is not.

Animal welfare officer and part-time fire-fighter Jack Miller spends his life saving animals adn people.  As one of Tessa's oldest friends, he feels he has the right to interrupt her wedding and rescue her from a marriage that can only end in tears.

But does he? Tessa is sure she doesn't need rescuing, least of all by Jack.

When they begin to work together at the Animal Rescue centre, however, Tessa begins to wonder whether being rescued by Jack might bot be such a bad thing after all.

I have been a fan of Cathy Woodman since reading her first book, Trust Me, I'm a Vet. In this book the reader was introduced to life in Talyton St George. Woodman has written three books before this one, two books about the veterinary surgery and the third was surrounding the life of a new village member, Jennie Copeland, who began a new carer as a cake maker. 

This book is again set in Talyton St George, but is centred around a different village member, Tessa Wilde. She has links to the veterinary surgery as she covered maternity leave in a previous book.  Tessa has a drama before she gets to the church for her wedding and it doesn't end there!

I really enjoy Woodman's books, the reason being that they are set in one village and although the vet's is the focus for a number of the books, she also writes books about other characters in the village too. Also the characters are in most books - in this book, although Tessa is the main character, Maz the vet and Jennie (the cake baker) also get a mention in this book, along with other village regulars.

The book is a love story but it is not all boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love. There are uncertainties and also some 'shocks' along the way - one which I had my suspicions about early in the book and was proved right later on. 

I recommend this book to all of my followers. It does not matter if you have read any of Woodman's previous books, it can be read as a standalone book or as part of the Talyton St George series. It is a good read, great for the beach, back garden or  curled up in a comfy chair on a Sunday afternoon.

These books are great to read. Lovable characters who you would love to share a village with. I  would love to be Tessa's friend and I am sure I would be on the lookout for abandoned or stray pets if I could be guaranteed Jack coming to collect/rescue them! Jack was a great male lead.

I have just been looking at Amazon and noticed that Cathy Woodman has a new book, City Girl, County Vet, being published in September 2012, and so I am already looking forward to that one too.

Thank you to the publishers, Arrow, for sending me the book to review.

Phonics - Word Families, three letter words and short vowels

In the news recently, it has been discussed that children may face reading tests as early as age 5 and Top That Publishing have published a new range of 'books' to help children Read, Spell and Learn words. 


This new range of books are very cleverly designed on a spiral bound binding and  have a tent fold in the back cover allowing the book to be stood up on a table. Inside the front cover the pages are split into three sets of flip over pages allowing the children to work with the pages to spell words or create word families.

These books are a great idea and I think they will really help children to learn how to spell short words. Although the children may initially learn how to spell the words by matching the pictures across the three flaps, the repetition will help children to learn. There is a useful page entitled 'Notes for Parents' on the back of the front cover which will give some useful hints and tips for parents.


Each flip book has 20 words or sets of words per book. They are common, high frequency words which the children will be learning at school too. It is a great accompaniment to what the children are doing at school.


I recommend these books as a good idea for Reception age children who are beginning to learn to read and write words and use the phonic system at school.


Thank you to the publishers, Top That Publishing, for sending me the books to review.

The Great Explorer by Chris Judge

When a famous explorer goes missing in the North Pole, his son, Tom, decides he must find him. And so a daring adventure begins across the treacherous icy terrain of the North Pole. Will Tom be able overcome the many challenges ahead and find his father?

This book is perfect for young boys who dream of becoming a great explorer one day. It is about a boy who sets off to rescue his father who has disappeared while on his own adventure.

When I was reading through the book, I was continuously drawn to the beautiful pictures throughout the book and also the ideas and themes covered in the book. The book is set in The North Pole, mentions the Northern Lights, has various methods of transport and includes may animals found at the North Pole. It is for this reason that I think it would be a great book for children to read and then make their own adventures up or extend Tom's adventure. It would make a great book for a class to work with to look at The North Pole as a class theme/topic.

I really do recommend this book to children aged 5-7 years and especially those who dream of going on their own adventure to the North Pole one day.

I received this book as a competition win from the author, Chris Judge, along with two beautiful prints from the book. My review is my honest, unbiased, opinion.