Rocky Road Extra Thick Easter Egg – Hotel Chocolat

  By Helen | April 1, 2012 - 10:37 pm | Product Review 1 Comment
Large-Easter-Egg-IMG300243m

I’ve broken my own rule. I’ve eaten an Easter Egg before Easter Sunday. All in the name of research you understand? As my 5yo would say, ‘You’re not supposed to do that if you’re a Catholic’. She is very into being a Catholic at the moment and basically says that about everything I do – even when I made her brush her teeth earlier in the week. Anyway, I digress. The Easter Egg that I and Mr Costello demolished earlier in the week. Well, we were sent it by Hotel Chocolat in the hope that we would devour it and love it…and we did. I’ve been sent some lovely items before from Hotel Chocolat but this was by far my favourite, The Rocky Road to Caramel Extra Thick Easter Egg. A massively thick Easter Egg with crunchy, rice krispie treats on one half and a generous selection of chocolates inside. I did think beforehand that £26 was a bit out of the price range that I would pay for an Easter Egg but now I think you’d get rather good value for money. It took us ages to eat as there was so much of it. There’s still time to more »

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Saturday is Caption Day

  By Helen | March 31, 2012 - 9:42 am | Uncategorized 4 Comments
Mini Dog, Big Horse

Haven’t taken part in this for ages but when I took this picture at my brother-in-laws last week, I knew what I had to do with it. Why not pop over to Mammasaurus Blog to join in with the other caption entries – I am sooo rubbish at coming up with something witty. Some people are brilliant!

Foodie Penpal – The Big Reveal

  By Helen | March 30, 2012 - 12:01 am | Meme, Miscellaneous 4 Comments
foodie penpal parcel

There’s a new craze sweeping the nation this month (No, its not queuing for petrol or pasties)..Its sending total strangers packages of food goodies. Carol Anne from This is Rock Salt has co-ordinated us all in joining in with an idea started by Lyndsey from The Lean Green Bean. Basically, we find out what sort of food our foodie partner likes and send them a mystery package. On the same day of the month, we all blog about it. Easy! There’s always an air of expectancy and a slight frisson of nervousness with these things. What if I really hate my package? What if I get my package to send completely wrong and my partner hates theirs? I needn’t have worried – I was really pleased with the package that I received from Rachel. So what did I get? A lovely Recipe Journal with a handwritten recipe for Bara Brith immaculately written inside, and some tea-soaked fruit (which smells divine) which will be used this weekend hopefully. I’ve been meaning to buy some marmalade for ages after going to a WI session run by an expert on Jams & Preserves – I have bad memories of tasting marmalade as a more »

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What would be your synchronised swimming song?

  By Helen | March 29, 2012 - 10:54 pm | Casa Costello, Children, Millie Leave a comment

Anyone that knows my family knows that we go swimming. A LOT! Its 5 days a week at the moment and some days there are up to 4 hours of swimming. I like washing towels Recently, Millie (9) has discovered a new love and one that she seems rather good at – Synchronised Swimming. I used to be a synchronised swimmer when I was younger and loved it and thought Millie would too. So we went along for a trial. She’d only been in the pool 15 minutes when I saw the look on her face that told me she loved it and I was going to be spending even more time by the side of a pool. Well, there’s great excitement in our house this weekend. Millie is now moving on from practising figures and is starting routines. And with routines, comes music. Argh. Last night, Millie & Derm were asked to bring 2 pieces of music that she likes that would be suitable for a routine lasting 2 minutes (I have no idea how to crop music but that’s a conversation for another day). So where do we start? There’s so much at stake here – we don’t more »

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Top 5 Kitchen Inventions Under £5

  By Helen | March 27, 2012 - 4:53 pm | Miscellaneous 1 Comment
Best kitchen utensils under a fiver

I love a bargain and very few things beat the feeling of getting right good value for money. With this in mind, I introduce you to my entranklement drawer and my favourite kitchen utensils under a fiver (Its rather famous around here -there’s nothing that not in this drawer). This little lot might seem harmless enough but they save me so much time and effort. The Egg Separator – Cost £1 Some days I can use in excess of 60 egg whites if I am preparing for a trade fair or charity event. I’m pretty speedy at separating with my hands but this little invention separates eggs in the blink of an eye. A complete impulse purchase from an independent kitchen store about 8 years ago – I think I’ve well got my £1 worth out of it. The silicone pastry brush – Cost £4.85 The most expensive item on my list and the one I resisted buying for ages…until I kept finding brush bristles from my traditional pastry brush on top of my cakes. I never need worry again about those rogue bristles.   The sieve – Cost approx £1.25 A harmless sieve (and rather an old, battered one more »

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How to prevent travel sickness: Sea Bands – A Review & Giveaway

  By Helen | March 27, 2012 - 12:52 pm | Product Review 34 Comments
sea-band-adult

See this picture above? What do you see? The beautiful sea behind and the promise of some warm weather? Yep, all that but so much more …I see me smiling. And up until recently, that was quite rare on a boat. What you can’t see on the picture is that I’m wearing SeaBands to stop me feeling sick. And they really work! For those people who are unfamiliar with travel bands they are an elasticated wrist band designed to stop the feeling of nausea when travelling. They have also been known to help with morning sickness and for some side effects of chemotherapy. I became a convert to the bands when I was having my 3rd daughter – I went on a journey wearing them and just couldn’t bring myself to take them off when we got to our destination – How had I got to my 3rd child before realising how brilliant they are for morning sickness? I have had a few people say that it is ‘mind over matter’ – I’m not sure, I’ve travelled on some pretty rough seas wearing them and still haven’t been sick. I don’t mind not understanding how they work, I’m just glad more »

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Silent Sunday

  By Helen | March 25, 2012 - 7:57 am | Meme, Silent Sunday 2 Comments
Royal Albert Hall

No words, Just a picture to sum up my week…

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How to pack a caravan – Five Go Caravanning

  By Helen | March 23, 2012 - 2:23 pm | Caravan, Five Go Caravanning, Touring 2 Comments
How to pack a caravan

It that time of year already – The Costellos are on the move and preparing for our first trip of the 2012 season. Every winter we completely empty our van (even down to putting the cushions in the loft) so we have to start from scratch on the first trip of the year. If I was organised I would probably have a comprehensive list of everything we need … but I’m not. As you can see from the picture, the clothes cupboards are still very empty (I have got a pile mountain of clothes waiting to go in them but it still seems very empty compared with how it ends up at the end of the season. Our first excursion of the year is always a small one, not too far to travel in case we forget anything major (I did hear last year of a couple that travelled 250+ miles and forgot their caravan keys!) I’m still panicking though that we will forget something vital – we are somewhat lighter than last year anyway as we don’t need the Moses basket or the steriliser but this only adds to the panic! Here are some of the items that we have more »

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The Life of a Toddler – Imperfect Parenting

  By Helen | March 22, 2012 - 12:37 pm | Casa Costello, Children, Meme, Parenting, Tara 9 Comments
Baby eating cat food

I’m good at being an imperfect parent – very good, in fact. I’ve mentioned before on here that Tara is very fond of eating cat food. We have done everything to try and stop her. I’ve tried reasoning and explaining with her (yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds to a 1 year old), I’ve ignored her (thinking she might not like the taste – she does!) and I have been known to raise my voice  bellow like a fishwife. So I’ve given up. When I remember, I move the cat food bowl where she can’t reach it, but this means that Darren the cat can’t reach it either so he is less than impressed. I’m hoping its a phase that she will grow out of …soon! To add to this, Tara has now started another phase – how could you let me forget that toddlers do this? The empty everything out of every kitchen cupboard phase. Its endless – the plastic beaker cupboard cupboard has been tidied away 4 times already this morning, the tin cupboard is now reduced to a holy mess instead of my normal anal, faced up-in use by date order and the biscuit cupboard is more »

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Mr & Mrs Easter Chick – Creme Egg Creatures

  By Helen | March 21, 2012 - 6:06 pm | Aardvark Cakes, Crafts, Creme Egg Creatures, Gifts 7 Comments
Easter Chicks Cadbury's Creme Egg

I’m going retro this Easter with my Easter Chicks. I did this design about 8 years ago and they sold like hot chicks. They were everywhere – up the stairs, on window sills,you name it! I’ll even admit to having the odd conversation with some of them – they were definitely part of the family. 2 more children later and time constraints mean that I won’t be able to make as many this year but if you are quick you can order some of the limited edition chicks for £4.80 As usual, they are made from a Cadbury’s Creme Egg middle and come gift wrapped. don’t forget to say whether you want a Mrs Chick or a Mr Chick. In other news, my Monkey Creme Egg Creatures and Flower Basket Creme Egg Creatures were highlighted in a lovely post by Ruth of the Great British Bake Off fame. Ruth has made her own Creme Egg Chicks too – why not pop over to her place to check them out? Cake of the Week will be back very soon along with news of what I’ve been getting up to. Its been fairly manic (in a good way) – you didn’t think more »

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