I've just finished making 13 of these for the children's teachers at school and nursery, and they all seemed to love them....and they only cost me 50p each!! :)
Each one contained a shower puff and a coloured bar of soap...
I wrapped them in cellophane and tied with ribbon and/or string...to alternate it a bit I cut some tissue paper slightly smaller than the cellophane and then wrapped them up, it's hides what you are giving and also adds a bit of colour if needed. Cellophane is one of the best things I've ever bought to fancy things up a bit, definitely worth the investment...I bought a roll of clear wrap from my local florist.
I made a DIY stamp for the tags, click on link for my DIY foam stamp tutorial and then just wrote in pencil the word 'pamper' underneath. The kids then wrote a message to their teachers on the back. Yeahhh, job done...and since it's now the summer holidays I think I might just treat myself to one of these pamper kits too :)
My lovely Portuguese friend is a fabulous cook and constantly tantalizes my taste buds with her dishes. The other day she forgot I was coming over for lunch and so she quickly threw a dish together with me watching trying to take mental notes of everything she was doing. Needless to say it was delicious and is now a favourite in our home too. In our house we call it 'Maria's chicken'.....for some reason we name our dishes after the people that introduced us to them, so we also have a Tait cheesecake, Sister Win's soup and Nanna's noodle soup!!
Ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks or 4 chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
freshly ground salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
flat leaf parsley, big handful
Put the chicken in an oven proof dish and do a couple of little cuts into each piece of meat to help the flavours infuse into it. Add the chopped onion and garlic.
...I like to use a pestle and mortar to grind my garlic for this recipe (cause that's the way Maria did it, and somehow for me adds to the yumminess of the dish). It's also a great way to relieve some stress!!
Next add your potatoes to the dish, then throw on your 1-2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp vinegar and give it a good stir to make sure everything is coated.
Sprinkle your 1 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp of paprika, with your freshly ground salt and pepper and a big handful of flat leaf parsley (cut up ever so slightly....I quite like mine big, but do it however you like), then give it a good stir again.
Now this is the best bit, cover it over with cling film or foil and let it marinate for at least 1/2 hr...I love making this dish in the morning and having the wonderful aroma just waft through my house all day...it's worth making this dish just for the smell alone lol!!
Once marination is complete and you've wiped the dribble from your chin, put in the oven on Gas Mark 6/200C for 20-30 mins till chicken and potato are cooked through. This is one of those meals that once you've cooked it once, you can literally glance at the recipe card next time and just quickly throw it together, it's great for so many reasons...hope you enjoy it as much as we all do xx
