Friday 30 August 2013

Sweet Tooth

Since a little girl I have always had a sweet tooth, I loved cakes and sweets. As I've gotten older I've grown less fond of sweets but have fallen in love with more and more cakes and puddings.

Recently we went into town, which is rare to say the least, but during this trip I was determined to visit a cake store I've been passing since it opened. That store is Patisserie Valerie and it's to die for. The cakes are all made in store, they are fresh and so mourish. 
The first time I tried a cake from here was my mother in laws birthday, her daughter had decided to buy a cake and it looked like this: 

This cake is amazing, after one piece I was done in. The cake has a fantastic taste, very chocolatey and the profiteroles on top were a brilliant touch. However, we all felt a little sickly after our slices, this cake is maybe too much but I'd have it again if it wasn't for the price tag of £18.95 to serve six people. 

So on my trip I picked a Double chocolate slice at just £2.95. I personally found this to be a reasonable price as the slice was huge.

 
I commented to my husband that I wished I could make my cakes as light and fluffy as this one, it was perfect. The chocolate cream layers were quite sweet and again there was a profiterole which was delicious. I really have to say that I've not tasted such nice cakes, usually I have chocolate gateau's from our local supermarket for birthdays but these cakes are way above that standard.
I've made it my mission to go into town more often and to try each of these cakes, the next will be the Black forest slice as I was struggling to pick between the two.

So yes, I advise all to take a trip to your local Patisserie Valerie (if you have one!) and try their fantastic cakes! They are also a cafe but as per usual it costs more to eat them inside.


Do you have a favourite cake or pudding? What is it?


Thursday 29 August 2013

Life post

Thought I'd get back on here, I'm feeling so positive lately!

Firstly I'm a new mum(again)! I have a lovely baby boy, he's perfect and is such a good baby. I know that seems silly but he's just so happy all the time, sleeps well and weirdly is already into a routine.

Not only that but my sister has just had a baby girl, she's named her Marnie Freya, at first I found it odd but honestly it's grown on me and I find it to be quite a pretty name now. Both my sister and myself now have three children each, two boys and a girl each. I can only imagine what our future holidays together will be like!

Generally over the last 7 weeks I've been busy, I was breastfeeding my son and he fed very often. I was determined to feed him for at least 6 weeks and I did it! I've now slowly put him onto formula which is for the best, I don't like publicly feeding him, I'm very self concious and found expressing for him a lot easier. Oscar has a tongue tie, it makes feeding him difficult but with bottles he hardly struggles so I expressed for him quite often to make it easier for him and myself.
I'm looking forward to being more social now, going out and enjoying ourselves without me worrying where I'll feed him etc. Another thing I can't wait to do is spend more time with my other two children, now Oscar is bottle fed I'm not 'needed' so much, before I had to be there to feed him when he needed it, expressing increased my milk production and I leaked more which frustrated me to no end. The kids have been fab, they have kept him company, made him smile and helped me out no end. Bed times had become a nightmare, my husband works evenings and it left me alone with three kids to bath and put to bed, I thank goodness the kids were so helpful and patient with me and Oscar.

Just yesterday we got a new car, it's a Renault Megane Scenic, I personally love it, my husband not so much...I understand why of course, he's a new driver and it's a large and unfamiliar car. He's gone out to work in it this evening and is hoping he can get used to it. The car is a 2ltr, I honestly don't see much of a difference...yeah it's speedier on long stretches of road when you put your foot down but otherwise it's the same to me, except the petrol being guzzled of course :P. There are many perks to this car, it has electric windows throughout, I can control the kids windows and lock them from using them, theres AC (not that I will be using it!), a very large boot, the kids seats at the back are big and there is just so much space! I feel like I'm driving a bus if I'm honest! I'm a small person at 5'2 so the room around me is so so strange but I love it.

So what have I been up to? not much. Like I said I've been tied to the house, my own doing really. I've not seen many people, I've visited my friend and my neighbour (and friend) has been fantastic, she's had the kids round and cheered me up no end after a stressful day. I also took a trip to Nantwich where my family live and had a fantastic time. We all travelled to the coast for fun in the sun and really enjoyed ourselves. The best part of these holidays has been that trip, I stayed with my sister. We chatted into the night, had countless cups of tea and had a laugh catching up. I don't see her as often as I like so I really treasure the time I have over there.

Whilst over in Nantwich I make it a regular thing to visit a fabulous Ice cream farm called Snugbury's, it's got the most delicious flavours and every year they make a sculpture out of straw, this year it was a Dalek or as they called it Dalick.
Completely awesome! This Dalick moved and even said 'exterminate!'. The kids really found it funny, we got up close and set off the sensor to make it talk.
Whilst there I enjoyed a triple ice cream Da'Lick cone with Mint Oreo Blitz, Creme Brulee and Fudge Brownie. I adored it and can't wait for the 13th September when I travel back over that way for a final visit before my daughter starts school.

That bring me onto another subject! My daughter is starting school! such an exciting time. We have been lucky enough to have had some of her uniform bought for her but we still needed shoes, tops and dresses which didn't come to much as I tend to stick with Asda for most things. I'm really looking forward to seeing her on that first day, she;s grown up way to fast and I can't believe how much she's changed these past few months! She has such a cheeky personality, so much Sass and is so kind hearted. I know I'll shed a few tears that day but ultimately I will be so so proud of her.

I have so much more I can put but I feel I've written enough for one post! That and I have a fair few kids running around and some dishes screaming to be washed!