Cillet Bang and a Giveaway

I was recently sent the neatest thing to test out. The Cillit Bang All in 1 is the latest cleaner in the Cillit Bang arsenal of cleaning products. The All in 1 comes in a very handy pump dispenser that means every bottle is tough on dirt and economical to use.

I am quite familiar with all of the Cillit Bang products and use them in my home often . . . I use the stuff for in the laundry to make my whites whiter (and it works) and I use the spray cleaner for the bath and also for the kitchen. All of their products work quite well in my opinion and deliver what they promise . . . but could this???



The starter kit comes with one bottle of the all in one surface cleaner, an automatic dispenser and the batteries needed. The dispenser under the tap activitates automatically delivering the exact amount when you wave your sponge beneath it. It's quite neat to watch.

The first thing I did with it was try to tackle the baked on mess on my hob top.



Umm . . . I am almost embarassed to show you this. But . . . well for the purposes of illustrating just how good this stuff is I will! You can see that there is quite a bit of cooked on grime there! Yuck!! It's not hard to tell which burners I use the most!



I simply waved my damp sponge beneath the nozzle and then I applied it all over the top of my hob. I let it sit for about 10 minutes, and then I scrubbed it all off. It took very little elbow grease and this is what I ended up with:



It's not perfect, but it is a vast improvement on what I started out with! I expect it will take more than a few passes to get all of the grime, but I was quite impressed.

Do you remember those tasty oats I cooked ???



Here is the pot after cooking. I even let it sit overnight so that it would dry on even more. You can even see a scorch on the side of the pot due to the gas flame licking up the sides of the pot, from an earlier cooking session. I could never get it to disappear.



I waved the pot beneath the dispenser and got one squirt and then I filled the pot with warm water and let it sit for about 15 minutes . . .



Presto Chango! It looks like a new pot! Even the scorch mark is gone!

All in One has been specially formulated for use on dishes AND surfaces. Its intelligent cleaning agents react to different surfaces, giving you a versatile solution to tackle stains and food residues all over the kitchen.

The result? Sparkling dishes and gleaming surfaces from one product. Gentle enough on your hands for everyday washing up and wiping down, but powerful enough to cut through grease and baked on stains. Even pure oil is no match for All in One Dish & Surface cleaner.

Plus it's concentrated liquid promises to be 2 X more efficient than regular washing up liquid, so you use less.

The All in One Dish and Surface cleaner comes with a clever dispenser which senses your sponge and automatically delivers just the right amount in a measured dose – so no more wastage due to over-squirting. And because the dispenser can be used again and again, all you need to do is order refills once it runs out. Each contains up to another 160 doses.

On surfaces the product cut through dirt just as well as it did on my dishes but 1 pump was enough to clean and any more meant that you were spending time rinsing the lather off. A little goes a long way and as each refill dispenses up to 160 doses the retail price of currently £7.99 for 3 refills it looks like an economical alternative to buying several separate products for your cleaning needs.

All in all I would call this handy product a winner, hands down!

Would you like to be able to try the Cillit Bang All in 1 yourself??? I will be giving one away to one lucky reader who comments on this post. Unfortnately, the UK only. In order to be in on the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post and on Monday, March 5th, 2012, I will draw one lucky winner using a random number generator. Good luck everyone!

Many thanks to Rachel and Cillit Bang for affording me this opportunity!

I am giving away one Cillit Bang All in One Starter Kit to one lucky person who comments on this entry.

Banana and Toffee Cupcakes and a Giveaway

I've been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now. When I started this blog in May of 2009, I had no idea of how big it would grow. I simply wanted a place to be able to talk about my experiences cooking over here in the UK . . . the new tastes I was exploring, the different foods and cooking methods, the traditional and the not so traditional . . . that first month I didn't do that many posts, but I did share some tasty recipes such as Heuvos Rancheros and Fish and Chips . . . you can see that very early on I had a very distinct way of looking at this beautiful melting pot we call the UK and it's cuisine!

After almost 2 years, some 608 posts (including this one) and as many recipes, almost a million hits and a readership that has gone from strength to strength and is now nearing a thousand I thought it was about time I did a giveaway to show my thanks for all the lovin you have shown me over the past months and the inspiration. If it wasn't for you, my lovely readers, I just wouldn't be doing what I am doing and loving it oh so much!

I was going to wait until my followers hit 1000, but heck, I just can't wait. It's close, but not that close and I want to give you something now!



I am giving away a lovely baking set which consistes of a tasty little cookbook, "Cupcakes2 by Sue McMahon. It is filled with over 80 tasty recipes for all occasions and tastes . . . scrummy cupcake such as . . .



Pina Coloda Cupcakes . . . oh so yummy . . . and containing all the flavours of a true Pina Colada!
There are these yummy Banana and Toffee Cupcakes . . . and a whole host of other tasty ideas!



Not only am I giving away this delicious cookbook, but I am also throwing in some really cute cupcake wrappers (complete with adorable little cupcake pick) and a box of hundreds and thousands to decorate them with! What is a cupcake without some pretty decorations? They are a must!



Not only that, but I am also throwing in a set of Typhoon Cooking Scales, so that you North Americans can truly follow along with the weight measurements of my recipes, although to be sure I will still be converting them like I already do! (Never fear!)



To get in on the Giveaway all you have to do is to leave me a comment at the end of this post letting me know that you are one of my followers. I'll give you a week to do so and then on Friday the 4th of March at midnight I will draw one lucky name and then will send all these goodies off to you asap.

You don't need to live in the UK. You can live anywhere in the world. I only ask that you be a follower. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy!

And in the meantime here is that tasty banana cupcake recipe. I'm afraid that when I went to make them I had no evaporated milk in my cupboard! (How did that happen????) I ended up just frosting them with buttercream . . . but they were rather scrummy even without that Toffee Topping . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . good!



*Banana and Toffee Cupcakes*
Makes 12 small ones or 8 medium ones
Printable Recipe

I love it when I have black bananas on the countertop. It means I can bake tasty things like these delicious cupcakes!

3 1/2 ounces of butter, softened (7.06 TBS)
3 1/2 ounces of soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup plus 1 TBS firmly packed)
2 medium free range eggs
3 1/2 ounces of self raising flour (1 cup, less 2 TBS)
1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed

for the topping:
1 quantity of toffee topping (see below)
3 to 4 TBS of chocolate flavour sprinkles.

You will need one 12 hole bun tin lined with paper liners.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and add the eggs, beating all together until the mixture is smooth. Fold in the mashed banana. Divide the mixture equally amongst the paper cases. Bake in the centre of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cakes have risen and are just firm to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven and tip out onto a wire rack to cool.

For the topping, spread some toffee topping over the top of each cupcake and scatter on some chocolate decorations.



*Toffee Topping*
Makes enough for 12 standard cupcakes

3 1/2 ounces of butter (7.06 TBS)
4 1/2 ounces condensed milk (evaporated milk. a generous half cup)
2 ounces caster sugar (1/4 cup)
1 TBS golden syrup (can use corn syrup)


Place the butter in a large bowl and melt it in the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds. Stir in the condensed milk, sugar and golden syrup. Cook in the microwave for 4 to 7 minutes on high, stirring at the end of every minute, until it is pale golden colour. Leave the topping to cool and thicken slightly, then spread ocer the cupcakes using a palate knife.

Alternately you can cook it in a saucepan for 4 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly sso that it doesn't stick!