Weekend Cooking: The Actually Delicious Slow Cooker Cookbook by Poppy O'Toole

Last month, the Lambs Ears Cook Book Club chose Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious One Pot Cookbook by Poppy O'Toole as it's March selection. I tried to get that one from the library but they didn't have it, so instead I borrowed Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious One Pot Cookbook instead. 

We haven't had much luck with British chef  Poppy O'Toole. I love watching her, and I like her voice and attitude. The intros to her recipes are always a lot of fun, but the two cook books I have tried from her before were interesting, but there wasn't much that I wanted to cook from them. 

Poppy is a Michelin trained chef who gained popularity on the socials during the pandemic when she started sharing all the different things you can do with a potato. It turns out that there is a lot and so the first book I looked at was her potato one, and then I borrowed her air fryer cook book because we are still looking for better ways to use the air fryer. 

If it hadn't of been for the cook book club, I wouldn't have even looked at this book, and I would have missed out, because there are quite a few things we have made from this book and they are all good. So much so, I am contemplating buying this book so we can keep cooking from it!

The book is set up in a pretty standard format with chapters covering Soups, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Pork, Turkey, Veggies and Desserts. As you would expect from a cook whose passion is potatoes, there is a whole chapter on potatoes in this book as well. 

We have a combo slow and pressure cooker all in one, and we tend to use the pressure cooker function more than the slow cooker. With the weather becoming cooler, it was a good time to try some of these hearty slow cooked meals.

So far we have tried Beef Bourgignon, Marry Me Chicken, Chicken and Chorizo Orzo and Tomato and Paneer Curry which is the recipe I am sharing today. All of them have been good, with nice flavour which sometimes can go a bit missing when you are cooking things in the slow cooker. 

There are so many recipes that I would like to try though which is why I might need to purchase this book. Some I want to try include 

Soups: Spicy Gochujan Noodle Curry, Laksa, Ramen, French Onion Soup, Hearty Whole Chicken Soup

Chicken: Coq au Vin, Teriyaki Chicken, Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs, Fajita Chicken, Chicken Korma and more 

Beef: Beef Rendang, Stroganoff and more

Pork: Char Siu Pork, Overnight Apple and Cider Pork Bap

Veggie: Potato and Aubergine Curry, Breakfast Home Style Potatos

For the record, we also tried a recipe called Chicken and Orange Tray Bake which comes from the One Pot book and is available on her website. It was delicious too.

Today I am sharing the recipe from the Tomato and Paneer Curry which was really good. Before I went to India last month, paneer isn't something that I would normally have gravitated to. While I was there we ate quite a few curry dishes which featured paneer so now I am looking forward to experimenting with it more.

Tomato and Paneer Curry 

1 red onion, thinly sliced 
4 fat garlic cloves, grated or crushed 
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 2cm slices 
thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated, or peeled and julienned or finely chopped
 1–2 green chillies, thinly sliced (or 1–2 teaspoons chilli flakes) 
450g paneer, cut into 2–2.5cm dice 
25g butter, cubed 
1 x 600g jar of passata 
1 tablespoon tomato purée 
1 teaspoon caster sugar 
1 teaspoon garam masala 
1 teaspoon cumin seeds 
1 teaspoon salt, plus extra to season 
150ml single cream 
1 lime, juiced 
150–200g spinach 
small handful of coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped 

1. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, ginger, chillies, paneer, butter, passata, tomato purée, sugar, garam masala, cumin seeds, teaspoon of salt and lots of black pepper to the bowl of your slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours, until the veg are completely tender and the paneer is pleasantly soft, but hasn’t completely fallen apart. 

2. Stir in the cream, lime juice, spinach and coriander stalks, until the spinach has wilted. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust as needed. 

3. Divide the curry between four bowls and scatter over the coriander leaves. 

Weekly meals

Saturday - Swedish Meatballs
Sunday - Marry Me Chicken (new)
Monday - Pork chops with mash and broccoli
Tuesday - Spaghetti Bolognaise
Wednesday - Away
Thursday - Away
Friday - Away

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour : New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

Since his wife died 9 months ago, chef Guy Lyon has shut himself away from the world. He has closed down their food and boutique hotel business in the villa they owned, Villa Celestia and refuses to see anyone. It’s not just grief though. Guy doesn’t really know why his wife was in the taxi that day.

Sandy and her husband Romain run retreats. They hire lovely villa’s, provide themed events and good food and let groups of people with shared interests come together and thrive. When the owners of the villa that they had rented for an upcoming writers retreat pulls out at the last minute, they only have two options. First is to cancel the retreat. The second is to see if Guy will let them use Villa Celestia. Originally he is set against the idea but he finally agrees on one condition. He will cook simple food (not the fancy food he is known for) and he will stay in the background.

The attendees are a varied bunch. There is successful novels Liz James who is trying to find her voice again after going through a difficult divorce, there is Lorraine a successful self published author who wrote romantasy before it was a thing, Isobel is polishing her book, Helena and Mandy are friends who want to write a book and don’t know where to start. Finally there is Becky, instagrammer, influencer and wannabe fiction author

Helena has been in love with her childhood friend, Teddy, for years, but they have only just gotten together and she hasn’t told anyone yet, especially not her mother and brother. She does feel a bit guilty going on the retreat as it will be the first time in years their mother won’t be able to celebrate their birthdays today with either one of her children.

When her brother surprises her with a visit from their mother, it sets in chain a series of events which is life-changing for several people in the story. This was a lovely part of the story for me.

There were some interesting dynamics at play. For example, Becky was busy living her best Insta life and often left the group to go and do other things. She also thought she would be able to write a best seller but just working with AI

Several of our characters start to see life differently thanks to spending their time at the writing retreat including Guy, Sandy, Liz and Helena and her family.

This was once again an enjoyable visit to France through the eyes and pen of Jennifer Bohnet.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and Bookish Books challenge hosted at Blogging ‘Bout Books. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour below too!

Can a grieving chef and a group of writers find their own happy endings?

Eight months after his wife Jacqueline died in a tragic car accident, Michelin stared chef and proprietor of Villa Celestia, Guy Lyon’s life has been in freefall. Consumed by grief and plagued by questions as to why she was in a taxi that fateful day, the doors to Villa Celestia have remained closed.

When a good friend, Sandy Thoreau, asks to rent the villa on the French Riviera for a fortnight to hold a women’s writers retreat after being let down, Guy reluctantly agrees.

All the women at the retreat are looking forward to being inspired. Helena and her friend Mandy are writing debut novels, Isobel is editing a cosy crime story, Liz is desperate to kickstart a new book, self-published author Lorraine is looking for advice and Becky, well Becky is a law unto herself.

Over the course of the next fortnight, two of these women will change the course of Guy’s life forever and new chapters - hopefully with happy endings - will begin for all of them.

The perfect tonic and escapist read to the South of France full of warmth and second chances.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/NewChaptersontheFrench

About the Author

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 14 women's fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @jenniewriter1

Twitter: @jenniewriter

Instagram: @jenniewriter

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JenniferBohnetnewsletter


Bookbub profile: @jenniebohnet

Top Ten Tuesday: Have you heard what they are saying about Margaret?

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life (Example titles: Well Traveled could describe you if you like to travel, Hotshot Doc could describe you if you’re an awesome doctor, Falling into Place could describe a life where things are starting to work out, An Infinite Love Story could describe your relationship, It Could Have Been Her could describe a thing you’re happy you avoided or a path you could have taken but didn’t. You can explain your choices or not, and they can be as specific or as abstract as you’d like.) (Submitted by Susan @ blogginboutbooks.com)

I am taking a simpler approach to this topic by sharing authors/books/characters with my name! Let's start with authors I have read whose name is either Margaret or similar/derivative to Margaret

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble

Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George

My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

And then move onto others

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan

Summer in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Are you there God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I couldn't resist including the last two. The reason for the first is likely obvious, but the second not so much. The main female character in North and South is called Margaret. And my post title is a paraphrase of a line that comes from absolutely fantastic mini-series adaptation of the book!

This week

I'm reading

Don't you love it when you have occasions of reading serendipity! 

I am currently watching a renovation show which is set in Corfu. Last week I read two books in a row set in Greece, the second set in a hotel by the sea in Corfu.  The next book I am reading's title is literally Hotel by the Sea!

The first book I read was a WWII novel call The Islander's Daughter by Patricia Wilson which I reviewed here. Then I read Summer Ever After by Mandy Baggot which is set in a beachside hotel on Corfu. My review is here.

I then started The Hotel by the Sea by Julie Caplin. However, I realised that I had another book due before that one so now I am reading New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet. The review for that one will be up later this week. 

I am currently trying to list the books I want to read while I am on holidays in priority order. I think the Julie Caplin will be my plane reading on the way to Turkiye at least

I did finally finish listening to The Lost Brides by Nora Roberts, which is the last book in the Lost Brides trilogy. 

I then started The Names by Florence Knapp on audio. I got to the end of the first chapter and stopped, mainly because I am wondering if it might be a bit heavy for now, but if I stop now that means that I have to figure out what I need to listen to instead. Maybe it is easier to just stick to the decision I already made

I'm watching


Last night I watched the first seven episodes of The Other Bennett Sister and I am hooked! I can't wait to watch more, although I am a bit concerned that I might need to wait for a few weeks to watch the last couple of episodes.

The Other Bennett Sister focuses on the middle Miss Bennett. Often overlooked because she is plain, it is only once she gets out from under her mother's thumb that she truly blooms! It's so much fun!




Life


We went to two comedy shows at the Melbourne Comedy Festival over the last couple of weeks. First, we saw Wankernomics and then Nurse Georgie Carroll. Wankernomics basically takes all the things that happen in corporate workplaces and then makes fun of them. Here's a clip that I recognised. My boss says she has a hard stop quite regularly!

Nurse Georgie Carroll talks about a lot of medical stuff, the joys and trials of being a nurse in the healthcare system. Both of these shows were very, very funny!

The countdown in on to our holidays. After the indecision about whether we should go or not, I am really looking forward to getting away! The holiday nails are done. The pre-holiday haircut is scheduled for tomorrow night. Just have to get through three frantic days at work now!

I am not sure if I will be able to post my This Week posts or not. We'll see!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Island Time!
Blog Tour: Something in the Air in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen
Blog Tour: The Islander's Daughter by Patricia Wilson
Blog Tour: Summer Ever After by Mandy Baggot
Weekend Cooking: Le Assaggiatrici (The Tasters)



I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - March statistics

 Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.

In terms of the books read in March, there were 46 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 17 participants. There were 43 individual titles reviewed, written by 42 different authors. There were 4 reviewers who reviewed 4 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 5 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in March? There were 3 and coincidentally I read and reviewed 2 of them.

The first book that was linked up more than once was James by Percival Everett which was one of the most popular books for the challenge last year. Bree from All the Books I Can Read and I both read it, which probably isn't entirely a coincidence. You can find Bree's review here and mine is here. 

The second book as The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams which was read by both Kim on Goodreads and Laura from Laura's Reviews.

The final book to be read twice this month was The Strawberry House by Rachel Burton which both Helen from She Reads Novels and I read. I can confirm that this is totally unplanned!

Bev from My Reader's Block read two novels by Manda Collins this month, being  A Lady's Guide to Mischief & Mayhem and Portrait of a Nightingale. Something that is a bit interesting is that we had 4 books reviewed by authors with Collins in their name!

I added several titles to my TBR pile after visiting all the posts this month. Goodness only knows if and when I will be able to read them though! One post I did find interesting was about a book The Colony of Good Hope by Kim Leine which is about the Danish colonisation of Greenland, which is not a subject you see very often!

If you enjoy reading Historical Fiction why not join us? You can find all the details here.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Hopewell's Library.

Weekend Cooking: Le assaggiatrici (The Tasters)

 

In 2012  a German woman named Margot Wolk shared a story that before then was unknown. She claimed that she was one of a group of 15 women who were forced to be the taste testers for Hitler's food, and that she was the only one of the women to survive the war. Some have cast doubts on the story, but whether it is true or not, it does make for an interesting tale. Le Assaggiatrici is an Italian movie which tells that story.

Rosa is a young woman who moves to a small town in what is now Poland to live with her in-laws. Her husband is a solder. They have been married 4 years but in that time she has only seen him for a few weeks as he has been off fighting the war. The letters have become at first infrequent and now non-existent so she is not sure if he is alive or not.

Not long after arriving, there is a knock at the door and Rosa is ordered to board a bus by soldiers. She doesn't know why or where she is going or who the other women already on the bus are. The women on the bus arrive at a facility where they are taken to a dining room where they are ordered to eat. At first the women are reticent, but food is food. It is only after they have eaten that they are told that they have now been conscripted to be the tasters of Hitler's food as the Fuhrer is paranoid of being poisoned.

Each day they are bought to the dining room and they have to eat. They then have to wait for a prescribed period of time to see if they are ill after eating. Only then will the chef give the all clear for the food to be presented to Hitler. It is easy how this could absolutely affect your mind. After all, if someone is going to try to poison him, you could also be poisoned. The guards are very alert, and even if you aren't hungry, or not feeling well for other reasons, you must still eat or face the consequences.

At first, the women are wary of each other, especially of Rosa who is an outsider. These women are doing the best they can to survive a brutal war, to raise children, and for those who are single hoping for the opportunity to find love. Some of the women are also trying to keep their secrets safe, some more successfully than others. Over the course of the film, the dynamics between the women shift constantly from rivals, to uneasy friendships and strong bonds.

I wasn't sure about one aspect of the film which is when Rosa began a passionate secret affair with one of the lieutenants who was in charge of the group. It did add additional tension into the movie but it did seem like an odd decision. 

As the war progresses, the desperation of the soldiers increases as well as the fear of what will happen  if and when the Russians arrive.

This is a WWII movie which focuses predominantly on the experience of a group of women, which makes it unusual given that so often women are on the outside of the story. It is based on a bestselling book called The Wolf at the Table by Rosa Postarino

This movie was originally shown here as part of the German Film Festival in 2025. However, I missed it then so I was pleased when I saw it as one of the options on the plane when I was travelling recently and that I took the opportunity to watch it! I quite often watch foreign movies on planes. Given that we are travelling again soon it will be interesting to see what I find to watch on these flights!

Here's the trailer

Weekly meals

Saturday -  Away
Sunday - Away
Monday - Tomato and Paneer Curry and rice (new)
Tuesday - Spicy Pork and Beans Noodle stir fry 
Wednesday - Grilled cheese on toast
Thursday - Enchiladas 
Friday - Swedish Meatballs and mash

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: Summer Ever After by Mandy Baggot

It is a complete coincidence that I read two books set in Greece in a row, and I am also watching a TV series set there as well. Or is it? Maybe it is fate telling me to hurry up and go and visit Greece! If I was to visit Greece any time soon, then Mandy Baggot has convinced me that Corfu would be worth going to.

When Faye Lawson's marriage falls apart she finds refuge and purpose at one of her favourite places on Earth. She moves to Corfu and becomes the hotel manager at the family owned hotel Margaritari. Here she deals with the hotel guests, manages the team and budgets and so much more. She lives at the hotel but her dream is to find a small beachfront home to call her own. 

When Dimitria, her friend and the hotel owner, announces that they have an important guest, his name means nothing to Faye. Kostas Petsas, twenty-something ex-professional basketball player, is a Corfiot hero. There is even a statue of him in the town square.  Unfortunately, the love and pride the people of Corfu feel for Kostas is not really reciprocated. He blames the community for the demise of his father. Now, he wants to build a massive tourist development and marina right in the unspoilt area near the hotel.

Despite their 15 year age gap, Kostas and Faye are immediately attracted to each other, but it's complicated. He's a famous former athlete, she's an older divorced mum to a nineteen year old daughter who seems to still think that there is a chance for her parents to reunite, even though that is the last thing that Faye wants.

When she hears that her beloved hotel might be up for sale, she also has to worry about whether her Corfu dream might be coming to an end. And if she find out what Kostas real intentions are, could their fledgling relationship survive?

I have read a number of Mandy Baggot's books and I do enjoy them. Sometimes, there is an element of madcap in the humour, but this was not one of those books. There is still humour for sure, but you can tell that this book is talking about topics that are important to her.

I loved the characters of Dimitria and Kyriaki, Kostas' grandmother who he had long believed to be dead. Kyriaki lives in a tree house with no electricity or other mod cons, which doesn't mean to say that she doesn't know what is going on in the world around her. As she says, "Here I am away from everything I do not want and in the middle of everything I do."

I also loved the epilogue. I can't tell you why, but just the way that everything played out showed that Kostas really got Faye, her history, her dreams and more. In a way it surprised me to see that, despite his age, he really understood her. 

A key part of the story is the locals opposition to the full scale development that Kostas is originally proposing. In the afterword, Mandy Baggot talks about how this is a very real campaign in the area that the book is set, which is near her home. The video below, which comes from the Save Erimitis page, shows how beautiful the whole area is, and why people are keen to ensure that it is preserved in it's current state.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour too!

Rating 4/5

About the Book

Summer Ever After

Forty-year-old Faye Lawson is falling back in love with life at last. Finally divorced from her cheating husband, she has turned her back on the UK and has been living the Greek dream in Corfu managing a beautiful traditional boutique hotel.

For Kostas Petsas, twenty-something ex-professional basketball player, life as he has always known it is over. Having to take early-retirement because of injury, he’s at a loss as to what to do next. But when a piece of land in Corfu comes on the market, it seems this might be the perfect fit. There’s just a couple of things in the way… an area of natural beauty and… a little hotel on the beach.

Kostas has never met any woman like Faye before – she doesn’t behave around him how women usually do, and, when conflict starts to surface, it seems they can’t see eye-to-eye on anything. Or perhaps, when things get body-to-body, both of them begin to wonder if it can turn into heart-to-heart.

Escape to the beautiful island of Corfu with Mandy Baggot - queen of Greek summer romance!

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/SummerEverAfterSocial

About the Author

Mandy Baggot is a bestselling romance writer who loves giving readers that happy-ever-after. From sunshine romantic comedies set in Greece, to cosy curl-up winter reads, she's bringing gorgeous heroes and strong heroines readers can relate to. Mandy splits her time between Salisbury, Wiltshire and Corfu, Greece and has a passion for books, food, racehorses and all things Greek!



Social Media Links –

Facebook: @MandyBaggotAuthor

Twitter: @MandyBaggot

Instagram: @MandyBaggot

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MandyBaggotNews

Bookbub profile: @MandyBaggot