Blueberry & Banana Pancakes (American Style) + Oxo Good Grips Review

As a blogger for Oxo I am privileged to receive products which often push me to make things that I haven’t ever thought to make before. So when I received a kit for making pancakes (items actually sold separately) I wanted to do something a little different and inspiration came from watching “This Morning” when they featured Blueberry Pancakes on the show. I happened to have some blueberries but also had a glut of bananas and really thought these two flavours would be awesome together. I researched a variety of both blueberry and banana pancake recipes and came up with this hybrid and it worked! It worked so well that I can’t wait to have these again and the whole family, including my blueberry hating husband wolfed them down. A thumbs up from the whole family makes me a very happy mum! Indeed I think these pancakes would be perfect as a treat for Mothers Day with a nice pot of freshly made coffee (or tea)!

The Oxo Good Grips Batter Bowl was a joy to use with its bright red volume markings and high splatter proof sides. The rubberised handle made holding the bowl whilst whisking really easy. The 11” Silicone Balloon Whisk was really comfortable to use, heat resistant to 315°C and safe to use on non-stick surfaces.  Finally flipping the pancakes was made really simple with the Silicone Flexible Pancake Turner which again is heat resistant to 315°C and has thin flexible edges to glide in under the pancakes easily.

I was also fortunate to be given the new Oxo Good Grips French Press with Groundskeeper to try out, plus 3 bags of Douwe Egberts ground coffee. Although I’m not a coffee drinker myself both my parents and husband are so I have had plenty of experience with making coffee and cleaning out the traditional French Press which is always a dreadful chore. This new one has an innovative silicone ladle which sits in the bottom of the press to collect all the coffee grounds, plus the mesh part that presses down is far easier to clean with just a simple rinse, no nooks and crannies for the coffee grounds to get stuck in. The glass carafe is cradled by a stainless steel frame to keep the coffee hot and the handle and plunger have soft and comfortable non-slip grips. When you’re ready to wash up the press you just remove the filter and groundskeeper and empty all the grounds into your compost/foodwaste bin. We tried out the Café Milano, of which my husband managed to drink 4 cups worth before I’d even managed to take a photograph so a re-brew became necessary. We followed the Top 10 Coffee Tips from Douwe Egberts, one of which was to agitate the coffee grounds in a figure of 8 to release more of their aroma! Hubby was very impressed with both the French Press (rrp £35) and the coffee. I was over the moon with the ease and speed of cleaning it!

As my blog is going to have its 1^st anniversary this month I wanted to celebrate by doing a giveaway from Oxo as they have been with me ever since I answered a tweet about what my favourite Oxo product was. I told them it was my Garlic Crusher which I’d written about in my Kitchenalia section and the rest as they say is history. I’m quite a fussy person and expect products to be fit for their purpose. Oxo never merely meets my expectations but exceeds them and that’s why their products are such a joy to use, they think of everything! To enter go to the bottom of this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am entering my pancakes into the No Wast Food Challenge which is run by Kate at Turquoise Lemons and being hosted by Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Kitchen this month where the theme is eggs. Next I’m entering Javelin Warrior’s Cookin w’Luv Made with Love on Mondays challenge as this recipe is made from scratch. Finally I’m entering Credit Crunch Munch as I bought my Blueberries cheaply in Aldi and use golden rather than maple syrup to serve. This is a challenge run by mysefl and the lovely Helen at Fuss Free Flavours who is hosting this month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To enter the competition to win the Batter Bowl, 11” Silicone Whisk, Silicone Flexible Pancake Turner and French Press with Groundskeeper worth £66 in total, please enter via the rafflecopter. Just tell me what kind of pancakes you’d like to make if you won the prize.

How to enter:
Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, etc.
This giveaway will close on 05/05/2013.
Please read the Terms and Conditions below.
Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
Complete the form – or your entries will not go into the draw.
Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
Do you want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and conditions:
Only open to UK and ROI participants over the age of 18.
There is 1 prize of an Oxo Good Grips Batter Bowl, 11” Silicone Whisk, Silicone Flexible Pancake Turner and French Press with Groundskeeper. There’s no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 5 days then another winner will be picked.
I am running this giveaway on behalf of Oxo who will be responsible for sending the prize to you if you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
Please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted if you haven’t as I will check and fairness is my middle name!
NB: All the views in this post are my own and I have not received any payment from Oxo.