Surströmming and surströmmingfest (Swedish fermented herring)

There's a popular evening show on Estonian national TV, called Ringvaade. About two weeks ago they had a brief section about the infamous Swedish delicacy, surströmming or fermented herring. There's a krog (tavern) on the island of Vormsi, called Krog №14 and they were holding a traditional surströmmingsfest in early October. On the show, the chef of the Krog was talking about the event and about surströmming, and then offered the host a chance to taste some of the fermented fish. The moment they opened the canned surströmming, the host looked utterly disgusted and although he later admitted that it didn't taste as bad as it smelled, he still named it No 2 in his list of the most awful food he has ever tasted (apparently he had eaten some barbecued cockroaches that tasted even worse).

This brought back "fond" memories. About a year ago we hosted a surströmmingfest ourselves. A colleague of my dear K., a cheeky middle-aged Swedish guy called Lars-Olof, offered to bring back some surströmming cans from Sweden, and K., ever so open to new culinary experiences (and experiments), said yes before even consulting with me. Let me know that this was certainly a culinary experience that will NOT become a tradition in our home.

After opening the first can in our kitchen, we quickly decided to move the surströmming-party outdoors. I could still smell the fish on the following morning, even though we cleaned up thoroughly after the party :)

We had actually about 20 people at the party, all with a Swedish connection - they had either lived or studied there, or they were Swedes living or working in Estonia. Here are three brave men preparing the surströmming:


That's the way to do it: take some tunnbröd or flat wheat bread, smash some "almond potatoes" on top, garnish with finely chopped onions and top with the fish:


One of our guests, Maarja, eagerly biting into the surströmming sandwich:


And we are thorough here over at the Nami-Nami kitchen. We didn't just hold a surströmmingfest, we had a comparative tasting of surströmming. Last autumn, we had three different types of surströmming - filleted fish canned in the same season 2010, whole fish canned in 2010 and whole fish canned in previous season 2009. The adventurous jury decided that the whole fish that had fermented over a year - although it looked most suspicious - was the best, taste-wise. It's like a good bottle of wine - ageing improves - and mellows - the flavour, apparently.



Overall, we had loads of fun and a great party (I didn't serve _just_ surströmming, of course - I'm not some Cruella de Vil, but a kind hostess. However, we did decide that this was a one-off event - the smell of surströmming is just a wee bit too overpowering, and not something we're keen to replicate at our home any time soon.

Sorry, Swedes :)


* As I was pregnant with our second child at the time, I restrained from eating the fermented fish for obvious reasons and acted as the photographer for the event :)

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Fabulous Bakin' Boys Spooky Chocolate & Blood Orange Cupcakes

With Halloween only a couple of weeks away we've been trying out some Halloween themed products.
The first product we have tried is Spooky Chocolate & Blood Orange Cupcakes from The Fabulous Bakin' Boys.

The box contains 6 cupcakes. The cupcakes only contain natural colours & flavours and are suitable for vegetarians.

The cupcakes are made up of a chocolate flavoured sponge and an orange flavour topping. They are really yummy and I think the boys would agree. They ate them up quickly and even asked for more.

Each cupcake has a trick written on its individual wrapper. so you can get some ideas for when you go trick or treating. Because they are individually wrapped they are ideal for lunchboxes or a Halloween party.

You can purchase the cupcakes from all good supermarkets, they are currently on offer at Tesco, priced at £1 a box. Also look out for Blackcurrant and Apple Cupcakes too. We will certainly be trying them out.

We loved the cupcakes and give them a spook-tacular rating of 4/5.

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Sanex Zero Range

We were recently sent some products from Sanex to review. We are really lucky in our family that we don't suffer with many skin problems, the boys have had mild eczema whilst small, I have dry skin when the weather changes (weird I know but has always been the same) and Matthew is sensitive to certain wash powders but other than that I would say we have "normal" skin. I do think one of the main reasons why we don't have many problems is down to the products that we already use on a day to day basis. I use non bio wash powder and fabric softener and when it comes to bath products I try to buy ones that aren't heavily scented and ones that help to protect our skins. I have always used baby products for all 3 boys as they are kind and gentle to skin. Now that they are getting older I would like to try and find a product that we can all use but one that is still just as kind to all our skins.

We were sent 3 products to try from the new Sanex Zero range, these are Sanex Zero dry skin, normal skin and sensitive skin, all 3 are available to buy for £1.89 each. They come in a 250ml bottle. This range is great for all members of our family, as they cater for our different skin types. We have all tried each of the 3 types and they all leave all our skins clean and soft. Sanex Zero only contains ingredients that are needed to make sure your skin is left moisturised. All products in the range contain no Parabens, no Colourants, no Phthalates and no Phenoxyethanol, this is why it is named Zero because it has non of the things that can be harmful or cause irritation to your skin. Not only that but Sanex Zero is kind to the environment as it has a biodegradable formulation and isn't harmful to the water systems when it washed down the plug hole.

Sanex Zero is definitely a range that has everything I want and look for when it comes to skincare products for my family. We will certainly continue to use Sanex Zero in our house as it is great for our skins and kind on the environment too. We give it a squeaky clean 4/5 rating.

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Own Label Vs Big Brands - Aldi Review

Aldi’s core philosophy is to offer shoppers brand quality products at everyday, exceptionally low prices. 


Is this statement true? We certainly would agree. We have never done a lot of shopping in our local Aldi but after trying some of the products that we were recently sent I will certainly be shopping there for some of the main things we buy on a weekly basis. Not only does the quality match the market leaders but in some cases it is better than them too. The diagrams below shows an average shop that you can do in Aldi and how much the same shop would cost in other supermarkets. It is quite unbelievable how much the prices differ.

'Big Price Drop' comparison. Daily Mail. 27/09/11*

*Basket included Loose Carrots (1kg), Loose Red Seedless Grapes (1kg), Semi-skimmed Milk (4 pints), Maris Piper Potatoes (2.5kg), Loose Parsnips (1kg), Back Bacon Rashers (300g), British Mature Cheddar (250g), Italian Pepperoni Pizza, Own-label Cheese & Onion Crisps (6 pack), Own-label Penne Pasta (500g), Medium Chicken (1.6kg). Source Daily Mail Survey 27/09/11. The survey used the nearest equivalent products and comparable weights. For more details visit aldi.co.uk

We were sent a range of everyday products from Aldi to try. We were sent:

• Specially Selected Sweet Harvest Peeled Plum Tomatoes - £0.45
• Village Bakery Soft White Toastie - £0.69
• Bramwells Tomato Ketchup - £0.69
• Vive Lemonade  - £0.39
• Red Label Tea Bags - £1.99
• Belmont Milk Chocolate Digestives - £0.55
• Austin's Summer Drink - £4.99
• Corale Baked Beans - £0.29
• Harvest Morn Benefit Cereal - £1.49
• Magnum Premium Original Washing Up Liquid - £0.59
• Del Rivo Orange Juice - £1.29

I'd like to think that were not a fussy lot and actually eat pretty much anything that is put in front of us. As a family of 5 money is often tight in our house and we do buy a lot of supermarket own branded foods as they seem to go further and are generally cheaper than the bigger brands. We don't shop in just one store and we do try to get the best deals for the money that we have available to spend on food. I do confess to being a brand snob when it comes to certain products such as beans, bread and toilet rolls. When I tried Aldi baked beans and the bread loaf .I had my reservations that they would taste nice but I now prefer them to ones that we previously bought. The beans have a nicer flavour and even look more appealing to eat and the bread is much softer and tastier than the one we normally buy, And im not the only one who thought the same. Research carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) found that "91% of Aldi’s own-label products were just as good as the big brands, with 27% even rated as significantly better than the brands...The research incorporated eleven everyday basket items, including cereal, bread, tea, lemonade, ketchup and baked beans, with one own-label version and one brand version for each. Both products were tested and compared in five key areas: appearance, aroma, flavour, texture and overall liking.


In our house there wasn't one product out of the 11 that we didn't like. I would happily shop at Aldi in the future for these products and possibly buy more of our weekly shopping from the store too. One of the things that makes it so much more appealing is that the items are much cheaper than in other supermarkets and could save the average family £14. Not only that but as the food tastes just as good as the more expensive brands why should we pay more? We give Aldi a fabulous 5/5 rating and suggest everyone should give them a try.

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Book Competition Winners

I can now announce that the 3 winners chosen at random to win the following books are :

* Helen E Harris - Travelling With Children - A Parent's Guide
* Christine V Taylor - Caring For Your Dog - The Essential Guide
* Kerry Harvey - The Terrible Twos - A Parent's Guide

Congratulations ladies - please email herecomestrouble11@gmail.com with your details so I can pass them on for your books to be sent out

Everyone else please don't feel sad as we have lots of exciting competitions coming soon

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Rock A Bye Baby Clothing

Callum and Nathan have both been sent a funky T-shirt to review by Rock A Bye Baby. Callum was sent a T-shirt to fit a 5 - 6 year old and Nathan one to fit a  3 - 4 year old. The T-shirts arrived well packaged and in separate record sleeves. I think this is a great thing for them to do as it fits in well with the companies image.

The T-shirts are made from 100% luxury cotton. The company prides itself on the fact that the T-shirts aren't made in sweat shops and that they use non PVC inks in their clothing. the T-shirts that Callum and Nathan were sent are priced at £16.99 each. Postage starts from as low as £3.

The T-shirts look great on and fit the boys really well, I would say that Nathan is about average in size for his age whereas Callum is taller than most boys his age. The boys say the T-shirts are really comfy to wear and look cool. Nathan has even nicknamed his the "dude" T-shirt.

I will definitely buy from Rock A Bye Baby again in the future both for my boys and for my friends children. I have many friends who love their kids to wear clothes that aren't mainstream fashion or ones of a music base so these would be perfect for them. We give Rock A Bye Baby a rock and rolling 4/5 rating.

The lovely people over from Rock A Bye Baby have been really generous and have given me a code so that all my readers can use it to get 20% off their order. All you need to do is put the code rockabyepress20 in the box on the checkout page.

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Clarks Autumn / Winter Range

Clarks have recently unveiled their Autumn / Winter Range of footwear both online and in their shops up and down the country.

They have added a variety of new shoes, trainers and boots to suit both boys and girls of all ages in their Autumn / Winter Range.

The boys have been asked to review some of these new arrivals. We will be doing a separate review for each of the boys. So we will be able to tell you in more detail about each of their fittings and the styles of shoes that they chose.

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