I decided to use the crumpets for a weekend brunch. I popped them in the toaster and spread a thick layer of butter on top. I then added some turkey bacon, avocado, vine tomatoes and olives. Easy to prepare and a tasty brunch.



Our hamper also contained some blueberry muffins. Again they tasted like regular blueberry muffins. The boys also enjoyed the fruit loaf toasted for breakfast.

The GBBO is back and week one saw me making these mini jaffa cake bites. As I usually stick to buying Jaffa cakes from McVites, I decided I would stick to this Mary Berry Recipe to make them. However, as I decided I was going to use my mini muffin pan, it made 24 jaffa cake bites rather than 12 jaffa cakes.

To make the sponge bottoms you will need:

1 egg
1oz caster sugar
1oz self raising flour

For the jelly:

1 packet of orange jelly
150ml water
zest of 1 orange

I used plain chocolate cake covering to top my jaffa cake bites.

I started by dissovling the jelly in the boiling water, adding the zest and allowing to cool in a large dish.

I then made the sponge bases.

Here I pre heated the oven to 180C and greased my mini muffin pan with butter.

I then whisked the egg and sugar for 3-4mins before folding in the flour. I separated the mixture between the 24 holes and baked for around 10 minutes.

Once cooled topped my sponges with the jelly.


I used a fish slice to get the jelly out of the dish and then used a piping nozzle to cut a round disc. Once placed on the sponge I added melted plain chocolate on top.

I was pleased with the result but they are a little time consuming to make.

Yesterday I visited ASK Italian for the first time, to review the new children's menu. I am unsure why we have never visited an ASK Italian before as we all enjoy Italian food and it is a safe choice with the children. The new children's menu is £6.95 and includes a starter, main, dessert and babyccino.

The menu doubles as an activity sheet with finger puppets for the children to colour whilst they were waiting. The boys really enjoyed this.


The children's starters were bought quickly as they understand that children don't like waiting. The starter consists of vegetable ticks with garlic bread and dip. All the boys enjoyed this.


For the main they all chose the Spaghetti Carbonara, the portions were large and they all enjoyed this. One thing I was really impressed with was that you are able to ask for an allergen menu. Whilst my children don't have any allergies, I know that it can be hard for friends eating out with children that do. The pizzas (except calzone) can be gluten free as can the pasta dishes.



For desserts there is a lovely choice. If my boys couldn't read I am sure they would have been happy with the fruity ice lolly or fruit. However, big man's eyes lit up at the chocolate pizza and the other two were excited by the toppings for their ice cream.




To end the meal they even had their own babyccino which big man pimped up with his left over sprinkles.

I thought that the selection was fantastic and I it certainly wont be the last time we visit.

I feel I should also add about the meals my husband and I had as they were delicious. In denial that I was no longer on holiday, I enjoyed a sea breeze mocktail, before we enjoyed our sharing platter which was filled with high quality ingredients.


Both my husband and I chose pasta dishes which we enjoyed.


For dessert I had to go for the new chocolate lava mountain. Hot toffee sauce slowly melts a chocolate case over ice cream and chocolate fondant. It was seriously good!


Have you been to ASK Italian before? What dish do you recommend for my next visit?

As it turned out, Costa Rica was extremely kind to us. The rain didn't get in the way. We visited 3 different areas of Costa Rica, each with a different climate. One thing that was invaluable were the waterproof jackets kindly supplied to us by Blacks. As they were lightweight it meant that they could easily be carried around in our backpacks ready for an impending downpour. They are incredibly thin meaning that they don't make you too hot either. Unlike back in the UK, it is still hot when it rains in Costa Rica.


Arenal was the first part of Costa Rica we visited. It is home to an active volcano and many hotels boast heated springs from it. Here the rain was at it's most unpredictable. One day it would rain at 5pm, another all morning. It always rained overnight meaning drying swimming clothes was hard work. This was our going out to dinner style.


We then traveled to Monteverde. Home of the Cloud Forest. Here there was rain in the air most of the time.


You might even need your raincoat if you ate the in quirky Treehouse restaurant. It stayed dry for our horseriding trek, but we were taking no chances and wore our raincoats anyway.


Finally we headed to Manuel Antonio which is along the pacific coast. Here the weather was magnificent. There was rain in the night but the days were beautiful, even though some were cloudy.


As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried about the weather at all. Obviously I can't guarantee that the weather would be the same again, but it certainly didn't ruin our holiday. I think as long as you are sensible and take the right clothing then the beginning of August is a fantastic time to visit Costa Rica. Let's face it, with the UK weather as it is, it is likely that any waterproof clothing you buy is going to be used at home too.

If you would like to follow our travels from planning our trip to the tours we took, then I will be writing about them all on my travel blog A Strong Coffee To Go. You can follow A Strong Coffee To Go on Facebook.

For my friends 40th, we headed to Pennyhill Park in Surrey for afternoon tea. This was my third experience of afternoon tea. Many years ago we went to the Ritz and whilst it was lovely I was disappointed that the sandwiches were stale around the edges. Last year I went for a Mad Hatter's afternoon tea which was extremely quirky and fun. As a traditional afternoon tea, Pennyhill Park was fantastic with amazing customer service.  I called to book and was pleased I could pick any time. Other hotels were only offering set times. I received a phone call two days before, confirming the reservation, checking for any dietary requirements and inquiring if it was a special occasion.

When we arrived we opted for the Royal Ascot afternoon tea. This came with a glass of Nyetimer, English Sparkling wine which again tasted lovely.

The afternoon tea itself was then served. The finger sandwiches were lovely and freshly made. Our waiter then came over to say she had ordered us some more sandwiches.

As I had told them it was my friends 40th they then came over with a plate for her. Including fresh fruit, nougat and a caramel chocolate. I thought this was a lovely touch.



The scones were the best I have ever tasted. They were light and the devonshire cream and jam made them delicious.

There was then an array of cakes to try.


The afternoon tea was served in the bar, and there was a harpist playing from around 2 o'clock.

We had an enjoyable afternoon tea with fantastic service and I would recommend it for a traditional afternoon tea.

It is hard to believe that little man is starting school this year. It seems like yesterday that he was born. However, he is more than ready and excited about joining his brothers. For my Bostik craft this month I decided that I would make a scrapbook page for little man starting school. Obviously it is a work in process as he hasn't started yet.

To make a back to school scrapbook page you will need:


Scrapbook papers in the colours of your little ones school
Bostik glu dots
Scrapbook stickers and embellishments
Bostik microdots


I started by cutting out some yellow pieces of card for the main elements of my scrapbook and securing them to the scrapbook page with the Bostik glu dots.


As it is a work in progress there are still some blanks. I asked little man to draw a picture of what he would like to be when he grew up. He drew a picture of the moon and asked me to write that he would like to be an astronaut. I think Tim Peake might have something to do with his current choice, I will fill in his favourite book and game at the end of the summer and the other spaces are for a first day photo and something he draws at school in reception. Or maybe a photo of  a junk model he makes. (We had a lot of cereal packets with milk bottle tops stuck on coming home with middle man!) I will use the microdots to stick on the photographs.



Do you have a little one starting at school this year? If so you might want to read my top tips post.