It’s Tuesday and last weekend I was lucky enough to be at one of the best shows of the month. BBC Good Food Show Summer and Gardeners World Live. If you purchase tickets to one of the shows, you get access to the other show for free.
If you’ve never been before, it is definitely an event that you should place into your diary for next year running from 13th – 16th June 2019 (the Good Food Show is back at the NEC on its own from 29th November – 2nd December for Christmas). I currently feel as if I am about a stone heavier in weight. I ate so much good food and drink.
For a Family Blogger like me, one of the stand out bits of this four day event was the way it was made child friendly.
Not only was there a creche for children aged up to 5 years old (£4 for 90 minutes) there was also a section run by The Little Folks Day Nursery who provided free children’s activities.
Jemima was in heaven in the huge sand pits (sponsored by Bathgate) and spent a good twenty minutes or so playing in them.
Jemima enjoyed decorating a plant pot,
Painting using vegetables
and looking at the Donkeys from The Donkey Sanctuary.
There were other activities to do including colouring, making bird feeders, fathers day cards and texture rubbing. Children could take part in cookery lessons by Food at Twelve.
The shows both had plenty of places to sit down, inside and outside, to eat and drink or just rest your feet. With a large number of food stalls and stands for you to refuel.
Cashpoints were readily available and there were numerous toilet facilities.
BBC Good Food Show Live
The Show had numerous stages with well known celebrities sharing inspiration and their amazing skills.
On Thursday I had the pleasure of watching Tom Kerridge at 11:30am on the Big Kitchen stage.
Tom with his friendly demeanor and excellent cooking abilities (having gained two Michelin stars) treated us to a demonstration of him cooking a three course meal.
Starter: Salt and Pepper Squid with Yuzo Mayo
Main: Spicy Moroccan Lamb Burgers.
Dessert: Frozen Red Fruit Yoghurt and Basil
Tom currently has a book for sale called Lose Weight For Good and considering he has lost 11 stone now, I’d guess this is the book to buy if you wanted to shed a few pounds yourself. If his three course meal was anything to go by, the book will be full of healthy, yummy and nutritious meals that won’t make you feel like you are on a diet.
On Friday we watched The Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers who also cooked a three course meal in 30 minutes.
Starter: Garlic Chicken with cannelloni beans, kale and cherry tomatoes
Main: Mussels Alghero
Dessert: Lemon and Blueberry Mug Cake
The Hairy Bikers were their usual funny selves and Jemima even got her face up on the big screen when they asked if any children were in the auditorium and then proceeded to apologise for their bad language and any new naughty words she may go home with.
It was a great show from two men who have also lost weight and kept the weight off. They have a book out at the moment called The Hairy Dieters Make It Easy – definitely worth a look through.
The BBC Good Food Stage also had some fantastic shows on including Interviews with Tom Kerridge, Raymond Blanc, Dan Doherty, Hairy Bikers, James Martin, Nisha Katona and lots more. Also lots of demonstrations and masterclasses. All within the cost of your entry to the show.
The Summer Kitchen Stage, hosted by Chris Bavin had a variety of sessions acked full of ideas and recipes for healthy alternatives, seasonal dishes and baking favourites.
And if you wanted to learn a new skill and get your hands dirty or involved, The Skills School was where you could pay between £4 to £15 to learn how to make sourdough with Cassie Best, a naked cake with Miriam Nice or learn some knife skills with Zwilling.
Other exciting areas were the Lindt Excellence Chocolate and Coffee Masterclass and The Botanical Gin Lounge Masterclass.
But the best fun is walking around the huge selection of food and drink stands, finding out about products, testing samples and purchasing the goods that you really like. Here are a few of my favourites from the show and ones I recommend you look into:
The Online Cake Company www.sponge.co.uk
The company that delivers mini sponges to you at home and also slices of cake in cards. I’ve signed up for a free trial so look forward to reporting back what it is like.
Handmade Fudge by Chocolate House Blackpool
Instagram @chocolatehouseblackpool
This is the best fudge that I have ever tried. We purchased three very large chunks for £10. So many different flavours.
The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company were such a friendly stand.
www.gourmetchocolatepizza.co.uk
This company send chocolate pizzas in the post, perfect to send people as thank yous, happy birthdays, valentines day and even just as a treat. With a variety of flavours including Jelly Bean Jumble and Ultimately Orange Chocolate Pizza. These are pizzas that you don’t want to miss.
Happy Down supply the best crafted sparkling cocktails, all natural flavours, zero preservatives, gluten free, hand blended and only 44 calories per 100ml.
Available to purchase at Tescos.
www.happydown.co.uk
Mary Berry had a stand with a number of delicious summer salad dressings and vinaigrettes. We purchased a Mango Lime and Chilli dressing which tastes delicious and is perfect at a summer Bbq.
The Tea People www.teapeople.co.uk were demonstrating a variety of tasty teas. They have over 50 different varieties and as a none tea drinker, I can say I have now been converted and purchased my first ever tea as an adult at the weekend. Jemima quite liked it too.
My review was for BBC Good Food Show but as the show tickets give you entry into both shows, I was lucky enough to be able to walk around the Gardeners World Live Show and enjoy seeing what the show had to offer.
There were numerous theatre stages, including BBC Gardeners World Live Theatre which saw famous people such as Alan Titchmarsh, Monty Don and Carol Klein.
I have to admit I don’t know much about flowers and horticulture but we had an amazing time looking over the displays.
There were some beautiful selections
So even if you’re not an avid Gardener, the opportunity to look around the show is one not to be missed.
Overall, we had an amazing time and I will definitely be coming back again next year.
Disclaimer: I was given complimentary press passes to review the show. All views and opinions are my own.
Hey, if you liked this review or maybe were inspired to try this out because of my post, you can always buy me or the kids a drink or a slice of cake on our next big trip! Just hit the button below, if you want to. 🙂
Buy me a coffee