I’m terrible at getting the recipe book out and as a result I often find myself inventing new recipes based on what I think should go together.  Most of the time it is just about edible but that is probably the most complimentary thing you could say about them.  So when yesterday I happened across a most excellent combination of ingredients, I thought I should give it a name and add it to my blog.

Ingredients (serves two):

• A handful of goats cheese, chopped into squares
• A small handful of raspberries
• Half a tin of sweetcorn
• Garlic to taste (i used three big cloves, i like garlic).
• Two large spoonfuls of philadelphia or other creamy soft cheese
• 3/4 of a red onion
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Pasta (however much you feel is enough)

Pop the pasta in the microwave for 8 minutes (covered in boiling water & cling film it)

In the meantime, fry the onion on a low heat in a little olive oil until soft.

Add a good dollop of honey and stir.

Add the sweetcorn and garlic and fry gently until the microwave pings.

Drain the past and add the contents of the frying pan as well as the goats cheese, raspberries and philly.

Give it a stir and pop it back in the microwave for two minutes.

Stir and serve.

Easy peasy and it tastes dead posh.  You can add a sprinkle of sea salt when it’s on your plate but not too much.

Ta-da!

Everybody loves a game of jenga, so when I was asked to review it by Big Game Hunters, I jumped at the chance. When the delivery arrived, I had to push it to the sitting room to open the box, it is that heavy. It is made from 58 blocks of solid wood and when I unzipped the carry bag it filled the air with a delicious scent of freshly cut timber. It is marketed as an outdoor toy but with the weather having been a little on the cold side I constructed the game indoors. I’m lucky that I have decent amount of space on my sitting room floor but it wouldn’t be advisable to play it next of anything breakable or easily damaged.

It didn’t seem as tall as I’d expected but when the game is in play the tower grows to a fair height and any taller would become a bit dangerous when it fell. The instructions state that it is for children 8 and above to play and though I think younger kids could play it, you would have to closely supervise them because when the blocks fall they could hurt if any toes were in the way of tumbling wood, they would need to be savvy enough to jump out of the way.

With its very own carry bag, the website says that it’s a lightweight toy that you can take to barbecues and outdoor parties. I wouldn’t exactly call it lightweight – I struggled to carry the bag full of bricks but this is not a bad thing because it show the top quality of the toy. It might be more lightweight for a man, and it was ok to carry to the car but I certainly wouldn’t try and take it on the bus. I have read reviews of other makes of giant jenga games that have said that the blocks are not very well made and they don’t stack well but these are excellent and stack really easily.

My son is a bit young to understand traditional jenga rules at the moment but he created his own version by stacking the blocks in turn with me until they toppled. Then he lay them end to end to make a railway for his trains, built little houses and roads and generally has a lovely time playing with the large blocks, so the uses of this game are by no means limited to the game of jenga. At £49.99 it is not a cheap game but the quality is superb, the speed of delivery is very quick and it will last the family a very long time – you may even get to play it with your own grandkids.  Fantastic, we are going to have many decades of fun with this Giant Jenga from Big Game Hunters.

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

After my recent struggles, I have decided to give credit where credit is due and make a customer services hot and not list, based on my personal experiences and those of others close to me.  Feel free to comment and let me know if there are any you’d like adding on either side.

It amazes me how some companies do it so well and yet others make you feel as though you’re a conman for daring to complain.  A really great company makes you feel as though you’re their most important customer.

This time last week I woke up full of the joys of spring and the kind of thrill that comes with Christmas day, for I was expecting a very exciting delivery.  I leaped out of bed especially early so that I could walk the dog before any delivery man might be expected to arrive and settled down for a day of play indoors with my lovely son.  As lunchtime approached, the Yodel tracking service said ‘out for delivery’ so I held off putting Cub down for a nap because deliveries inevitably arrive when he is sleeping, the dog barks, he wakes, and then we have a more challenging afternoon.  Nothing arrived, and he had to sleep eventually so we settled down for a rest upstairs, fully expecting the doorbell to ring any time.  Nothing came, Cub woke and we created artwork downstairs, me keeping half an eye on the window in case I spotted an exciting van.  With the nights drawing in ever earlier, I needed to walk the dog again but held off with a sinking heart as the day turned to night, the sun set and still no van arrived.

After four o’clock I emailed Yodel asking what time the drivers delivered until and I got no reply.  I phoned PC World, cursed at the ridiculous number of buttons that I was required to press, cursed again as I pressed the wrong one, had to hang up and start again, swore a bit louder as I found I didn’t have the correct reference number and hung up again to go and find it.  Eventually I reached a human who informed me that deliveries were until five and to wait in until a quarter past.  To be on the safe side I waited until half past and phoned Yodel on a number that PC World had given me.  I spoke to a lovely lady who told me what I already knew, that the item was showing as ‘out for delivery’.  She assured me that she would message the local depot to ascertain the location of the delivery and that they would call me back.

I walked the dog in the cold and dark now, listening out for my phone in case they should call me but there was nothing.  I was pretty angry by now and extremely disappointed at both PC World and Yodel for their lack of concern at a day I had spent waiting around.  The following morning I called Yodel again and explained what had happened the previous day. I asked the young man on the phone if he could call the local depot and find out where my parcel was and when it would be expected, because we have swimming lessons on a Tuesday and I didn’t know whether it was safe to go.  The man on the phone told me he could not telephone the local depot and would again message them and ask them to call me. After breakfast the tracker was showing out for delivery again so I didn’t take Cub swimming and waited indoors again.

The parcel finally arrived at 3pm (so we could have gone swimming – infuriating).  However when I tried to plug it in, the two parts of the charger didn’t fit together.  Luckily I had another charger that did fit, so I used that instead, and tweeted PC World who gave me a customer care number to call for a replacement.  I didn’t bother as I had already wasted £5 in call credit trying to chase the missing parcel for two days and the numbers are all 0844/0845.

No apology was given by either company. I had paid PC World for named day delivery and it failed to honour the contract but this was not refunded.  Yodel didn’t respond to any calls, email or tweets and no reason or apology was given for my wasted time.

I am severely disappointed by the ‘service’ I received – it took the shine off my exciting new purchase and I will never use PC World, Dixons or Currys ever again.  It is appalling that such large company fail so badly to treat their customers with respect, and I suggest that they reconsider their delivery contract with Yodel, about whom I hear nothing but bad reports.

Have you received bad service from these companies? Or good? Either way, please feel free to comment below.

UPDATE: PC World apologised and have refunded me the grand total of £1.99. Err..thanks? Yodel have not responded.