Bat and Pizza Nights with Wild Intrigue

Being an avid foodie and being curious about wildlife (especially in Northumberland) the idea of a Bats and Pizza Night is right up my street. We were invited by Wild Intrigue to Wild Northumbrian which is a glamping site in Kielder to try this special night.

Dining Options Near Duinrell | Wassenaar | The Netherlands

Disclosure - Mrs Cool was working with Eurocamp who provided accommodation for part of our trip. I was not working with Eurocamp and have not been asked to write this post. We paid for all food and drinks ourselves.

We're just back from our trip to The Netherlands where we spent most of out time at Duinrell, a Holiday Park and Theme Park in Wassenaar. We had the best time, the kids loved the rollercoasters and waterpark. We stayed on site we decided Harry and Heidi were old enough to go to the to the park themselves sometimes while me and Mrs. Cool chilled at the lodge with Jack. As with all of our trips food played a big part in our adventures so here are my top places to eat in and around Duinrell.

Box Pizza | Beadnell | Review

For lunch one day last week Mrs. Cool decided we were going to make a little trip to try a Pizza place she had found on Instagram. Box is a converted shipping container (I love anything like that) in a field in Beadnell (I didn't realise how far away Beadnell is from Cramlington) but it is definitely with the trip.

Handmade Tagliatelle with Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu Recipe

Italian food is probably my favourite and I really love a good pasta dish. For Christmas last year Mrs. Cool got me a pasta maker and I swore I would start making my own. So far I have made ZERO pasta! This weekend I decided to remedy that. I scoured a few recipes online and in my many cook books and came up with what I think is a pretty damn good Lamb Ragu. The pasta was a LOT easier than I was expecting it to be and I think I'll be making my own more often from now on.

Project Bond: Moonraker

"Look after Mr. Bond, See that some harm comes to him."

At the end of The Spy Who Loved Me we were told that James Bond would return in For your Eyes Only but a little film in 1977 called Star Wars changed that and the producers decided to shoe horn a sci-fi/space element in and the result was 1979's Moonraker. Roger Moore returned as 007 along with Bernard Lee as M, Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny and Desmond Llewelyn as Q. Michael Lonsdale played the villainous Hugo Drax with Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead and making his second appearance as Jaws was Richard Kiel.

Game of Cones at Fat Hippo Underground | Newcastle

*Ad - complimentary meal

The epic final season of Game of Thrones is underway and I'm loving it as much now as I did when I first started watching. I honestly think Game of Thrones is THE best TV there has ever been. The sheer scale of the show is like nothing else, the story and intrigue keep you guessing and the acting from everyone involved is really stellar. Tyrion is my favourite followed by Arya and I also like Bronn (I still find it hard to believe he is Jerome from Robson and Jerome) but the whole cast are amazing.

Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns

Easter is just around the Corner and one my favourite treats at Easter is Hot cross buns, but I've never made my own. I like to dabble in baking from time to time but I'm no Mary Berry, I had a search around a few websites and cook books for inspiration and decided to put a twist on mine by adding Chocolate Orange (all baking recipes are improved by adding chocolate orange).

For my recipe you will need:

Buns:

625g Strong White Flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Ground Mixed Spice
45g Unsalted Butter (plus extra for greasing)
85g Sugar
The zest of 1 Lemon
1 1/2 tsp Fast Action Yeast
1 Egg (beaten)
275ml Tepid Milk
65g Mixed Dried Fruit
65g Chocolate Orange

Topping:

2 tbsp Plain Flour
Vegetable Oil, for greasing
1 tbsp Golden Syrup (gently heated)

The Method:

Mix the flour, salt and ground mixed spice and pass through a sieve into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub this into the mix with your fingers. Make a well in the mix and add the sugar, zest and yeast.

Add the egg and milk and mix together to form a soft, pliable dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface and work in the dried fruit and chocolate orange. Knead the dough five minutes or (if you're lazy like me) use a food mixer with a dough hook.

Grease a large bowl and put the dough in and cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours until it's doubled in size.

Turn the dough put onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces and shape them into balls and then flatten into bun shapes. Cover with a tea towel and leave for for 5-10 mins

Grease a baking tray and transfer the buns, cover with greaseproof paper and then put the tray in a polythene bag and leave to rise again for 40 minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 240°C/475°F/Gas 8.

Take the buns out of the bag and remove the greaseproof paper, for the topping mix the flour with tablespoons of cold water. Using a piping bag pipe the flour in the shape of a cross on top of each bun.

Bake the buns for 10-12 minutes until they're the right colour (light golden brown is what you want). As soon as the buns are out of the over brush with the warm golden syrup and leave to cool on rack.

These were really easy to make but it does take a good few hours from start to finish but most of that time is spent waiting for the buns to rise. Not to toot my own horn but the are delicious. What do you think of my recipe? Do you have any traditional Easter recipes you like to make?

Well, that's all for now.

S

You can follow Big Stevie Cool on Instagram here. 

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