Hoorah, the weather’s looking more promising as the half term hol gets underway. Hopeful of a scorcher (or some blue skies and sunshine, at least), we couldn’t resist passing on an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. recipe for ice-cold Gazpacho soup which we stumbled on in Tana Ramsey’s book home made. The perfect hot weather, bung-everything-into-the-blender meal solution, it couldn’t be healthier, although you might want to halve the quantity of chilli pepper (or experiment), as children will almost certainly find it a bit too authentically picante (we can hear hoards of Spanish nonstopmamas protesting right now).
Tana’s latest offering, Tana’s Kitchen Secrets, has just been published and looks fab, too (we have our eye on the recipes for pizza and cauliflower cheese with a twist – in case that heatwave doesn’t happen. And you can catch Tana talking about the book on an exclusive Amazon video, here). But what follows is her amazing gazpacho, featured in home made, which she recommends serving with sliced French bread, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and baked in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. (Nonstopmama short cut confession: we skipped the fresh tarragon, used the white wine vinegar option, express-chilled in the freezer and it was still too yummy).
Gazpacho
Serves 6.
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus chilling, preferably overnight
1 green pepper, deseeded
1 red pepper, deseeded
1/2 cucumber
3 tbsp tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
3 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil
10g pack of fresh tarragon, leaves only, finely chopped
400 g ripe tomatoes
1 red onion, peeled
1 mild red chilli, deseeded
1 garlic clove, peeled
750 ml/1 1/4 pints good-quality tomato juice
salt and black pepper
6 ice cubes to serve
1. First, reserve one quarter of each green and red pepper and a 2cm slice of the cucumber. Put into an airtight container and keep in the fridge until just before serving the soup. When you are ready to make the garnish, finely chop these vegetables and place in a small bowl and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Stir the chopped tarragon through and set to one side.
2. To make the soup, put the tomatoes, the remaining green and red peppers and cucumber, the onion, chilli and garlic in a food processor and roughly chop. Pour in half the tomato juice and process for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are finely chopped.
3. Add the remaining tarragon vinegar and oil and blitz for a few seconds. Season well with salt and pepper and taste. Pour into a large bowl, stir in the rest of the tomato juice and put in the fridge to cool thoroughly for up to 24 hours. (If you need the soup in a hurry, place in the freezer for 30 minutes instead).
4. When ready to serve, pour the soup into six bowls and divide the chopped garnish between each bowl. Finally, add an ice cube to each and serve.
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Ah, ice pops. As integral to a Seventies childhood as Spangles, Sindy dolls and the get-busy-with-the-fizzy Soda Stream (not that we had one, but how I coveted my friend Katherine’s …).
… or, an express round-up of the yummier new treats nonstopmama has been sent to, erm, ‘look at’ (crumbs? What crumbs?). Ahem. Those that disappeared most quickly are, in no particular order:
• Set to relieve family fridges of sticky inside doors and no space for the 6-pinter of milk, 
Calling all nonstopmamas looking for a bit of cake-y inspiration. In her new book
Xanthe, the self-made Cookie Girl, started out selling her treats, dressed in a Nell Gwynne-esque dress, to offices and studios in London’s Notting Hill. They were a hit, her wares were snapped up by Selfridges and Xanthe now runs cupcake decorating classes, too – popular for both hen and children’s parties – which she plans to roll out nationwide (learn how to create the perfect frosting swirl in Xanthe’s 
Confessions first: nonstopmama aspires to setting a table like this one. We’re more muddled than Martha (lots of mixmatched crockery going on, not necessarily in a clever way and feeding more than six usually incurs the use of Disney Princess/Bob The Builder melamine ‘back-ups’). But, sigh, there’s nothing like a bit of inspiration – and especially when it’s all for a fantastic cause.
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