I am always wary of supplements even though I tend to be a sucker for them. Sounds like a contradiction? It is, but I won’t put just anything into my body. I had heard of Happy Mammoth and the reviews I have read are brilliant. So I jumped at the chance to review their Hormone Harmony supplement.
I can’t say how impressed I am. I have had three babies and the youngest is two. Losing weight has been hard, especially around my belly. I had an emergency C section and I also have an underachieve thyroid. I exercise as much as I can and try to eat enough protein. I took Happy Mammoth Hormone Harmony for a month and my stomach is flat. It definitely reduced my bloating and fluid retention. While supplements aren’t for everyone this one definitely worked for me. I loved it and I’m considering using it long term. Great stuff.
Contains a blend of plant extracts shown to relieve symptoms of Menopause, decrease symptoms of premenstrual tension, and support reproductive hormones.
Reduces bloating and fluid retention in 1 to 3 days
Eliminates hot flashes in as little as 4 to 7 days
Tracklements. How do I love thee, let me count the ways..
As evidenced in previous reviews for Frost Magazine, I have a long-standing love affair with the range of chutneys and relishes produced by Tracklements, so, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was already anticipating that the new Special Edition Chimichurri Chilli Relish was likely to capture my heart, not to mention my taste buds.
Chimichurri Chili relish is a popular, green sauce originating from Argentina and Uruguay, this is a veritable flavour fiesta of coriander, oregano, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and Bird’s Eye Chillies. This versatile relish makes a wonderful addition to a variety of dishes, as well as an excellent cooking ingredient and table condiment.
I am a vegetarian and I have yet to find a dish that this doesn’t enhance. I have used it to pep up sandwiches, cheeses, and it provides a real boost to a plate of antipasti. I will definitely be trying it with hard boiled Quail’s eggs. It’s an exciting dipper for a double fried chunky chip, adds bite to a grilled halloumi wrap. and a burst of fresh zesty flavour to sliced tomatoes or liberally spread on warm bruschetta.
Traditionalists may say it should be reserved for complementing the richness of Churrasco – grilled or barbecued meat, but in my opinion, it deserves a seat at any table.
My non – vegetarian friends tell me that Chimichurri Chilli Relish gives an herbaceous kick both spooned on to barbecued steak or drizzled over chicken, fish and roasted mixed veg., and satisfies all lovers of a Sunday roast leftover sandwich. It also makes an elaborate foil for ceviche.
Aromatic, herby, citrusy, tart and garlicky with a chilli kick, this versatile relish makes a wonderful addition to a variety of dishes, as well as an excellent cooking ingredient and table condiment.
I will be ordering more as I expect that this love will last for a long time, unlike the fast disappearing Special Edition Chimichurri Chilli Relish.
Tracklements Special Edition Chimichurri Chilli Relish RRP £4 10 for 170 g, is available from fine food delis, farm shops nationwide and online www.tracklements.co.uk@tracklements
Image of Tracklement Relish courtesy tracklements.co.uk Image of crackers Michael Rowan
The largest Spring gathering of the international publishing industry assembled at Olympia today, as The London Book Fair kicked off its first day. Thousands of exhibitors and visitors from the UK and around the world gathered to do business, share expertise, network, and attend sessions covering topics including platforming marginalised voices, sustainability, tips for writers, social media, and new global trends.
Gareth Rapley, Director of The London Book Fair,said: “What an amazing opening day of LBF! It’s been brilliant seeing global publishing all under one roof and the excitement in the room has been so great to see. the buzz has been incredible. From our International Author of the Day, Taylor Jenkins Reid, to the Selfie Awards and incredible talks from authors including Gavin Esler, Lemn Sissay, Kit de Waal, and Joe Haddow, it’s been an incredible first day. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back across the next two days.”
Clockwise from Top Left to Bottom Right: Gavin Esler, Lemn Sissay, Kit de Waal and Joe Haddow on Author HQ, A busy Olympia for The London Book Fair 2024, Taylor Jenkins Reid, International Author of the Day, Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster in conversation with Porter Anderson
Jonathan Karp, President and Chief Executive Officer at Simon & Schuster, and Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief at Publishing Perspectives, held the opening keynote address, which explores S&S’s outlook on the evolving world of content and the innovative directions they envision for the future.
Jasmine Richards, Founder of Storymix, Vicky Palmer, Creative and Marketing Director, Hodder & Stoughton, Ken Wilson-Max, Publisher at Kumusha Books and HarperCollins Children’s Books, and Hannah McMillian, Director at Midas, delved into their expert advice on how to prepare for the publication of your next book, with
Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President Executive Director of Creative Development at HarperCollins Publishers, Ain Chiara Bensenouci, Publishing Consultant, Jojo Schlattner, Senior Social Media Manager and Ashley Baugh, Associate Director at Midas, shared how authors can use social media to boost their brand and promote their books.
International Author of the Day, Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times and Sunday Times Bestselling author of Mailbu Rising and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, joined Leonel Teti, Editorial Director at Urano World on the Main Stage to discuss her career and inspiration behind the strong women featured in her popular quartet. Guests at The Fair were excited to hear that Reid’s new project will involve “a good love story.”
Jaclyn Swope, Senior Account Manager at Nielsen BookData, provided an insightful talk of the local and global factors driving varied book markets in 2023, through the combined data of Nielsen BookScan and GfK. The talk revealed that there were over 1bn book purchases in 2023, the top three countries for book sales were France (325m), UK (199m), and Italy (105m)t, and Colleen Hoover remains on all top five bestseller lists across EU and outside.
During the How I Write panel, authors Gavin Esler, Lemn Sissay, Kit de Waal, and Joe Haddow, shared a glimpse into their writing life, and offered insight into how they wrote their best-known books and poetry, find creative inspiration in the everyday, value feedback from the people around them, and how important it is to uphold the human voice in all writing.
Alexander Buchler, Director at Literature Across Frontiers, Dr Richard Davies, Publishing Director at Parthian, Bianca Bellova, Author, and Shelia O’Reilly, Board Member at European & International Booksellers Federation celebrated the European Union Prize for Literature and its evolution and impact on translation across European literacy scenes over the year.
Sir Chris Bryant, Shadow Creative Industries and Digital Minister visited The Fair, adding: “It was a pleasure to visit The London Book Fair and to see the UK’s publishing industry in action. The sector is a huge driver of economic growth in the UK and we are proudly the largest exporter of books in the world. We need to address publishers’ concerns so the industry can thrive and continue to contribute to the wider success of the UK’s Creative Industries.”
The 2024 BookBrunch Selfie Awards winners were also announced with Julia Boggio, taking home Best Adult Fiction for Shooters, Jill Michelle Smith and Jennifer Watson taking Best Children’s Book for Extraordinary Extinct Prehistoric Minibeasts: A First Guide to Fossils, and J F Penn winning Best Memoir/Autobiography for Pilgrimage: Lessons Learned from Solo Walking.
The Final Party by A. A. Chaudhuri was one of my books of the year when it was released last year. Fantastic writing and a brilliant plot made her one of my new favourite writers. When Under Her Roof dropped through my letterbox I was excited. Taking a very real issue (housing) and making a twisty stalker thriller that grips from the first page. It’s perfect for fans of dark thrillers. If you liked You you will love this. I didn’t see the ending happening. The novel is gripping and dark. Under Her Roof is a fantastic thriller that is tense and keeps you guessing all of the way to the end. I was fully immersed from the first page and the book has stayed with me. A. A. Chaudhuri has made her name as one of the best thriller writers today. Brilliant.
It seems too good to be true…
When struggling writer Sebastian finds a room to let in a palatial Hampstead residence he cannot believe his luck. The rent is ridiculously cheap and he immediately feels a connection with his beautiful widowed landlady, Adriana.
It is.
Things take a dark turn when he finds out what happened to the last lodger. Could this be why the house is a fortress of security, and why Adriana seems so fragile? Adriana doesn’t want to talk about the death and sadness that seem to follow her wherever she goes and Sebastian has secrets of his own.
Now someone is watching their every move and there is nowhere to hide.
This house of light becomes a dark nightmare as the threat ramps up – what does the watcher want? And how far will they go to get it?
A gripping, twisty thriller perfect for fans of B.A. Paris, Shari Lapena and Lucy Foley. If you were hooked by Netflix series You or The Watcher then you will love this. Out June 13th.
“There is a plot twist that made the audience sit up and pay attention”
Set at the turn of the Millennium, London Zoo is about the prejudices that exist in the workplace – focussing here in the press and newspaper world, covering editorial and company acquisition. If that sounds a little boring – it is! It’s about the figures and the manipulation of those figures to impress the board, who’s in and who’s out, who’s being fired and who is doing the firing… blah blah blah.
[Anirban Roy, Dan Saski, Simon Furness, Harris Vaughan and Natalie Lauren]
What life there is springs up when characters suddenly outrage us with their views of the world. Sexism and racism keep raising their ugly heads. There’s bullying and entitlement, too, thrown in for good measure. It’s all here on show for us to dislike.
[Simon Furness and Harris Vaughan]
Farine Clarke has written and directed a play that somehow feels a little dated. Unsure within itself whether to portray the unlikeable characters as grotesques in a dated world and go for laughs, or to play for the reality of it all which runs the risk of tedium – do we care enough about any of these people? It’s a fine line to tread and I’m not sure she knows but as it is London Zoo can’t be both.
[Odimegwu Okoye]
There is a plot twist that made the audience sit up and pay attention. Everyone left the theatre buzzing, which is an amazing feat for any production to achieve. There is a lot to talk about from London Zoo, but I’m not quite sure it’s what Farine Clarke wanted or expected…
Photography Lidia Crisafulli
Writer/Director Farine Clarke
Special Advisor Linda Marlowe
Designer Rebecca Pitt Designs
Running Time 90 minutes – which includes a 15-minute interval
Age Restrictions 12+
Dates until Saturday 30th March 2024. Check with the theatre for show times
Venue Southwark Playhouse Borough, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London
Yesterday could have been a dreadful day. Margaret and Dick walked their two girls, Rosie the Cockerpoo and Polly the Cavachon and then Margaret took a neighbour’s lovely Cockerpoo for a walk, then there was a dash here, a dash there. Finally, perfection, into town they went with Dick driving, Margaret on the back seat with Rosie and Polly. Well, Margaret knows her place.
‘Has Dada seen that car is stopping, Mama?’
‘I will save us,’ said Mama. ‘Stoppp! Brakes lights ahead.’
‘I saw, ‘ said Dada in that strange voice that sounds as though someone is strangling him. ‘That’s why I have a foot on the brake, gently, coasting towards the car with the red lights on.’
Goodness, Margaret thought. Dick is talking a lot this morning. The girls thought he was too. ‘Why are his knuckles often white in the car, Mama, when we are helping him?’
Margaret didn’t know and couldn’t understand it.
They walked into town from the carpark near the church. Dick waited outside a charity shop because Margaret wanted to buy a £2.00 DVD of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which she hadn’t seen for ages, and wanted to. She found one, and was very very pleased. Then they walked along a bit and into The Golden Fleece on the Market Place. It was very busy. Someone was at Table 23. Oh dear. Someone else was in the Writing Room at Margaret and Dick’s second best table, the one which also had comfy armchairs. Well, they all do, but these are the best.
Finally they were in the bar, and there was their third best table – free. They sat. Dick ordered coffees. Margaret gave the girls treats.
The lovely bloke brought the coffees. Ooh, a lovely lot of chocolate sprinkles on Margaret’s cappuccino. Then she looked, stared, searched, but no, there were no Maltesers. How could that be, for everyone who had coffee in The Golden Fleece had three Maltersers in a spirit glass? Had Dick chomped them all quick as a flash and then hidden the little spirit glasses?
Dick was shocked too, though, so Margaret called to the lovely bloke who was behind the bar, making more coffees.
‘Did you forget our Maltesers, lovely young bloke?’ She didn’t call him that aloud, she is fibbing)
‘No,’ the lovely bloke said, staying behind the bar, as though he was seeking protection. He is a big young man. He shouldn’t get frightened. But Margaret thought he really was, because he was wiping a cup as though he was going to polish it to nothing.
‘We have none. We have run out.’
Those terrible words one never expects to hear, especially in The Golden Fleece, the most perfect of hotels. None? No Maltesers? ‘Tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Would you like a digestive?’
Margaret pondered, because now she realised why there were more chocolate sprinkles than usual. She accepted the digestive. It was kind of the lovely bloke, but frankly, it was not three Maltesers – well, four, because Dick always gave Margaret one of his.
It was a nice coffee though. This lovely bloke makes almost the best Margaret has had but it’s not the same as… Dick told Margaret she was becoming obsessed.
The drive home was quiet. Margaret and the girls couldn’t even raise the will to remind Dick of the roundabouts. But as they drove down their road, Margaret remembered the amazing hot Maltesers drink she had bought herself for Mother’s Day. Oh yes, that would save the day because it is truly truly delicious. She knows because she had bought herself a jar the week before.
Into the pantry she looked. And again, because the Maltesers drink was not there, not anywhere. Margaret told Dick. Dick said, ‘I hid it, for your own good. I thought you might drink much too much of it because you love anything Malteser much too much, and then the girls and I would have to lie and say you were no fatter than you are now.’
‘Fatter. Fatter,’ shrieked Margaret. ‘Are you mad? I am not fat. Or am I? Really. Oh, am I fat?’ Margaret understands Dick. It does not take much to break him.
The Maltesers drink was ready in no time at all. It is not quite the same as the Maltesers that everyone in Thirsk looks forward to in The Golden Fleece, you know, the little choccy brown thingies that you put in the mouth, suck the chocolate off, and then crunch the honeycomb – but it was very nice. Tomorrow she will see if the Maltesers have been delivered. She is hopeful because Margaret is an optimist and a sweet natured, kindly, positive soul, or so she tells herself, one who lifts the world for those around her. Dick does not tell the flagpole about Margaret being sweet natured, kindly, positive. He certainly does not tell it that she lifts the world for those around her, but that’s quite another matter and one Margaret will address another day.
Frost Magazine’s editor, Margaret Graham popped in with Dick for a catch-up with the CCA last Friday, and guess what, we were in time for the raffle, and Bingo. Not to mention a piece of Birthday cake. Just look at Linda spoiling Red Shoes Bob with a surprise birthday cake. A modest number of candles had to be blown out, and there were quite enough slices for us all to enjoy. Then it was onto the Bingo which was huge fun. We all had to stand, Bob told us a word. As your number was called, you yelled (and I mean yelled) the word and sat down. The last one standing won a prize. Then there was another round, another word… another prize… And always so much laughter and chat…
We had all bought raffle tickets, and the lucky winner was presented with a basket of goodies. How the time flew, but Margaret managed to catch up with wonderful Marion and Bob, who steer the ship. They filled her in on just a few of the CCA activities.
Everyone loves the Quiz night held every couple of months.(above) This involves a wheel, 14 prizes and if your number is called, you get to spin the wheel for another number. Honestly, the fun these wonderful people have is splendid.
Do you like music? Well, how about the Guitar group for senior citizens on Wednesday evenings 7 – 8. Here at Frost Magazine we long to hear they have written a rock number which has topped the charts. You can be sure there’d be another party with a massive cake. Margaret feels that the ladies should be considering producing a WI type calendar in good time for Christmas, complete with carefully placed fruit of course. The heating would have to be on high. Should she mention this? She will mull. And no, there will be no suggestion that Margaret should be involved, as, she, after all, is not actually a resident of Brady Square, so very there.
Yoga classes are held weekly, with the ‘armchair’ session in the morning and the more energetic session from 2-3 in the afternoon.
Aimee’s dancers are going from strength to strength with classes during the week from 4 – 6.30 and such is the size of Aimee’s following that there is also a larger class at a larger venue on a Saturday.
Of course, there are the war gamers, and the sitting room just for chilling… Heavens, Frost Magazine could go on and on for there is a cornucopia of sessions to choose from at the wonderfully renovated Columbia Community Centre. None of which would be happening without the efforts of Marion, Bob and all their wonderful friends. How proud Frost Magazine is to be associated with them, and it’s just so wonderful for Margaret Graham to be able to whizz up the road to Washington from Thirsk, and in particular Brady Square, where her mum was born, and grew up, and where Margaret often stayed during the summer holidays, in her Uncle Stan’s off licence, which had been his and Margaret’s Mum’s father’s, (Percy) called the Long Pole, or the Long Pull – recollections vary!
On the subject of recollections. Marion is hoping that people will get their memory hats on and jot down any memories they have of Brady Square, and memories they remember their parents’ talking about. So do just jot them down, let Marion have them, and they will all be kept at the CCA for anyone to read, and enjoy.
One morning Margaret will come to the CCA and make notes, and record anything that people remember over a coffee – oooh, yes, and cake please. Date to be advised.
World Book Day is upon us and The Gruffalo a first read for 1 in 8 children.
The Gruffalo most popular first read for British children as nation prepares to celebrate World Book Day
One in eight children have The Gruffalo read to them as their first book
The Very Hungry Caterpillar and That’s Not My… series complete the top three
44% of parents read to children from birth
However, those parents who were late to reading themselves could be stunting their own child’s progression
As the nation prepares to celebrate World Book Day on March 7, a new study has unveiled that The Gruffalo is the go-to book when it comes to reading to our children for the very first time.
The survey, commissioned by The Works, aimed to uncover reading habits among parents and children and whether our own experiences of reading influences how we read to our children, as well as the top books we read to children today.
And the results proved overwhelmingly favourable towards Julia Donaldson titles, with The Gruffalo taking the crown as the number one read book to children. Joining The Gruffalo among the most popular, but just outside the top 10 were the likes of Zog and Room on the Broom, meaning one in five children have a Donaldson book read to them as their very first story.
Donaldson books were joined by some old favourites, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is still the second most read book to children as a first read despite being over 50-years-old, while the That’s Not My… series, written by Fiona Watt, is the third most common set of books read to children as their first reads.
The full top 10 first books parents read to their children:
The Gruffalo
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
That’s Not My…
Guess How Much I Love You
Peppa Pig
Spot
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Dear Zoo
Winnie the Pooh
Harry Potter
When it comes to the age in which we’re reading to our children, book lovers will be pleased to see that 44% of parents pick up a book to engage their children in storytime from birth, while a further 27% of parents do so from under the age of two.
However, the study also revealed that 10% of adults today don’t remember reading their first book until they were in secondary school, resulting in parents 20% less likely to read to their child under the age of two. Alongside this, less than one in five parents that don’t recall reading until after the age of 12 will introduce reading to their own children from birth.
World Book Day takes place on Thursday March 7, 2024. The Works are supporting the charity and are encouraging children and parents to bring their £1 book token into stores between February 15 and March 31 to exchange their token for a book from the World Book Day 2024 range.
