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.

I can't believe we are 4 weeks into the summer holidays already. We have had lazy days, staying in our PJ's until lunch. Days out and a fantastic holiday. We have met up with family and had fun in the sun.

Little man had a lovely time in Thorpness and Skegness without his brothers. He finished pre school a few weeks before the other two so my husband and I had some time one on one time with him. As a third child, that doesn't happen that often - especially for my husband. There was no stopping little man at going in the sea at Skegness. And yes he was the only one - it was freezing!


Once the boys finished school we spent a few days at home relaxing, with trips to the park. We had a lovely day out at Burghley with my parents and the boys enjoyed playing in the garden of surprises.


We then had a lovely time at Willows Activity Farm. Little man loved the Peter Rabbit Playground.


We then headed on our Costa Rican adventure and enjoyed some fun in the sun.


When it comes to having fun in the sun, there is one thing that is VERY important to us. As you can see we are a rather pale skinned family. Making sure we have sun protection is a must. Even on a cloudy day. To be honest, my husband and I burn so easily we often use the same SPF50 as the children. I was really excited to hear about the new easy peasy kids range from Garnier Ambre Solaire. They have two new products that have addressed my two main issues with sun screen.



First up is the Garnier Ambre Solaire Anti Sand Spray. When we were on holiday I posted this photograph on Facebook with the caption "I love the fun of splashing in the waves but my the sand gets EVERYWHERE!"


One of the things I hate above all is sand sticking to my skin. Garnier Ambre Solaire's Anti Sand Spray has a special sand-repelling agent that allows sunscreen to be absorbed without sand sticking to the skin. Clever hey?

So what is my other problem? My boys like doing this



and this


and this



Yes, they would be quite happy to spend their entire summer holiday splashing about in water. Which is great, until you need to reapply sunscreen. Have you tried drying children off to reapply suncream? It is hard enough keeping them still let alone getting them dry! Again Garnier Ambre Solaire have the answer. Wet Skin Lotion! You can just spray it on wet skin. And here is the science bit. It contains two hydrophillic gelling agents that render it water resistant, giving your little ones (and you) long lasting SPF 50. You can find out more on their website and it is available to buy at Boots.

So I will be packing these in my bag for the rest of our summer outings. Along with sunhats as my boys noses always catch the sun too. We have some trips to the park planned, a day at IWM Duxford and hopefully a day at Skegness too. Then I hope to have a couple of special days out with little man before he starts in reception. Trust me, blink and your baby starts school!

What are your plans for the end of the summer holidays?