Silent Sunday!

Silent Sunday!

Whittard of Chelsea- Hot chocolate review :-)

Hellllooooooo Sparkly bloggers! 😀

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, been super busy basically replicating the ”North Antrim Coast, mountains, cliffs, my house replicated, bridges”…all in my livingroom. Yes, I know sucidal, but as an Art student, well we’re all weirdo’s with no life as Art just takes over.
I’ll actually post some pictures of my sculpture soon, give you more understanding of what the hell i’m taking about haha.

Anyways, I have to make an apology to Kev, from Kev’s snack reviews who’s blog is absolutely epic, he does some wonderful and intriguing food reviews, pleaseeeee, please go check out Kev’s blog. He is a super cool guy and really will save you from eating some dodgy foods….. but also introduce you to the craziest, groovy finds, ever! 😀

for being soooo late with this blog post, stupid Art!

Kev, and as most of you sparkles know, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my hot chocolate and I’ve been wanting to try Whittard of Chelsea’s brand of hot chocolate for such a long time now, and Kev very, very kindly sent me these sachets to try as they aren’t available in Northern Ireland, unless I order online. THANK YOU KEV! 😀

So starting, OF COURSE with the white hot chocolate, because omg, I couldn’t wait, as white chocolate in general is my favourite, I got out my little princess mug, looking goooooood Ariel 😉 Kev suggested to me a small mug = more indulgence.

Boiling up my annoying leaky Tesco’s value kettle….waiting for about half my life for it to finish, I poured it into my cup and instantly smelt the amazing aroma off milky, sweet vanilla goodness.

 

On Whittard’s website, they describe this one as ”One of our best selling hot chocolates – White magic, deliciously creamy, as soft as velvet.”

and myyy goooooooooddddnesss, they’re so right.

It was extremely creamy, even without milk! Though, don’t let that stop you adding extra milk for creaminess.

As soon as I put it into the cup, it was sooo easy to stir up and dissolved almost instantly, which I was really happy about as some instant hot chocolates I find extremely difficult to just get stirred up and mix properly, without lumps. Not in this case one bit, all the sachets actually mixed up so well.

The white hot chocolate was like a melted milkybar in my cup, how PERFECT?! like foreals. It was soooo lush and morish.

If you love milkybar’s or white chocolate in general, I highly recommend this one. It is sweet and incredibly creamy and well, just pure decadence.

Moving onto the ”The luxury Hot chocolate flavour” described as ‘’ Our luxury hot chocolate is unashamedly rich and silky smooth. It gives you a moment of decadence’’

Which actually got a great taste gold award, really was rich and decadent. It reminded me more of a dark flavoured chocolate. It was indeed very rich, more bitterness to it than usual cocoa powder. I do like dark chocolate also, a lot…so this one was scrummy, I fairly enjoyed it!  If you like more of bitterness to your chocolate, rather than super, sweet, this one is for you. Only thing missing? Marshmallows and cream.

                                    

                                  Lastly, Creme brulee flavoured white hot chocolate

I actually let my Dad have this one, as he had been eying it up in the cupboard for over a week! He’s very privileged to be honest, because crème brulee is one of my favourite desserts.

I have actually never heard of crème Brulee flavoured hot chocolate so I was extremely intrigued and of COURSE my Dad was too. So I had to be nice and share.

Luckily enough I was able to sneak a gulp from his cup and oh my word, it was DELICIOUS.

Dad to be honest, just loves anything sweet, or so his diabetes tells us ;D. So his opinion was “aye, taste’s like Crème Brulee” doesn’t it…’’
Silly man, but what I got from my one and only gulp, more incredibly moreish tones of rich caramel and Vanilla. It was fab!

Have to admit though, as you guess, the white chocolate flavour was my absolute favourite. You seriously just cannot beat a flavour that tastes like just pure melted white chocolate.

Whittard of Chelsea basically is a brand that not only sells  over 18 varieties of luxurious hot chocolate, which includes everything from White Chocolate and Strawberry to Chilli?!, (gotta try that one, just to be spontaneous..yep first time I ever used that word.) But, they also sell lots of Tea Varieties….130 to be exact!, coffee and the most gorgeous china, equipment and glassware to go along with their decant products.
Whittard of Chelsea, you’re absolutely divine, cute, wonderful and perfect all at the same time and I hope more and more people discover your wonderful company and products, because your hot chocolate was absolutely one of the best I have ever had. PLEASE COME TO NORTHERN IRELAND.  :)))

Sparkly peoples, please check out Whittard’s website, sit down, grab one of their yummy cuppa’s and read up on how they became a company, their story is really interesting! They’re fantastic company with delicious products and I highly recommend and will be ordering some new flavours from them, very soon!

Verdict:

Overall, these flavours, all of them were extremely decadent and delicious; I really, really enjoy each and every single one of them.

White hot chocolate- 10/10

Luxury hot chocolate- 8.5/10

Crème brulee-9/10

Again, thank you ever soooooo much Kev, for being so SUPER kind and giving me the opportunity to try these fab flavours. I truly, truly appreciate it and it most defiantly cheered me up and got me through the grim art assignment days! J

So, lovely bloggers, thank you for reading this post, defiantly check out Kev’s and Whittard’s website’s here:

Whittard of Chelsea:

Kev’s EPIC blog 😀

and remember to always….

Lots of love, Becca xx

 

My Sister has been shortlisted for a BiB award!! Please vote!

Hello Sparkly bloggers and readers! :))

Hope you’re all having an awesome week!

So, My wonderful fab sissy, who I am so unbelievably proud of this week….well not just this week, she always makes me proud but still, i’m a PROUD little sister, has been shortlisted for a BiB award (Brilliance in blogging) under the family category for her blog!

Her blog is totally awesome and I would appreciate it soooooooo much if you could help out and vote for Lisa’s blog! We would be really appreciate it and lets face it, she deserves to win…but I could be biased tehehe ;D

It’s fairly straight forward to vote however, only take few minutes and I would most truly appreciate it!
Here’s how to vote:

Just go to my Sister’s blog here Thirtymummy

Click on the BiB button, enter in your email/name and vote for her blog under the ”FAMILY CATEGORY”

Thank you ever so much again, I truly appreciate it!

Lots of love and sparkles,

Bex x

A Special package and one of my most favourite treats in the world…Hot Chocolate

A Special package and one of my most favourite treats in the world…Hot Chocolate.

A Special package and one of my most favourite treats in the world…Hot Chocolate

So, some of you sparkly people may or may not know, one of my undoings in life is hot chocolate. Like seriously, if I don’t have my hot chocolate fix everynight, I get grumpy. I am an avid hot chocolate drinker and I can safely say, i’ve tried every type of instant hot chocolate available here in Northern Ireland, except for one flavour ”go bananas” from the options hot chocolate brand……until TODAY!
The options hot chocolate range, is one of my favourites. Especially ”wicked white hot chocolate” as I am insanely in love with white chocolate…. Next comes Cadbury and Galaxy instants, om nom nom. Though in saying that, i’ve been wanting to try Hot chocolate instant from ”Whittard of chelsea” for like evers, their white hot chocolate one looks absolutely amazing! Maybe they’ll find this post and take pity on my ”student-with-no money-who-needs-her-hot chocolate-in-order-to-survive-life-self” tehehehe 😛

So, thank you to the lovely Miss Katherine, from one of my favourite review blogs: Grocerygems  You probably know of her blog from my recent posts, and if not, seriously go check out it out,it’s awesome 🙂
So,  I recommended options hot chocolate range for Miss Katherine to review a couple of weeks back and as we both love Banana flavoured items, we found out options had a limited edition flavour ”Go bananas”. So naturally we HAD to track it down! 😛

You can check out Katherine’s review here:

Unfortunately no luck for me here in Belfast as they are limited edition :(. So Miss Katherine, legend she is, found them at Sainsbury’s and very kindly sent me some today in the post to try! Along with my ultimate favourite chocolate…Malteasers which has been made into a new bar!

How cute is the multi-coloured polystyrene thingy-mah-jigs?! 😀 😀 😀

So, options is fab for not leaving lumps in your mug, however like Katherine mentioned, I also use a small mug to make these sachets in so they stay all chocolately! So, tonight I made it up in my Cinderella mug my mommabear got for me, which I am not ashamed of at all…NOT ONE BIT, NOPE. Do not judge me, I am a princess, afterall 😛
Great part about this range is, they’re fantastic for a chocolate fix if you’re on a diet, seeing as they range from 39-44 calories, or if you want a more moreish chocolate treat, they also have an ”indulgent range”, ranging from 61 calories or less, make them up with milk even for more creaminess!

I loved this flavour so much, of course I knew I would though, because really anything banana flavoured is wonderful, it’s one of my favourites! Chocolate and Banana however? The PERFECT combination honestly.
I love how this flavour didn’t leave a fake banana flavour and leave a bad after taste, as some banana flavour products, unfortunately can do. 
That being said, of course, as always, options done it right, I was left with wonderful strong fruity banana flavours and  indulgent chocolate tones.

Defiantly gets a 10/10 from me 🙂 It is really sad this is only limited edition though, however options have a lot of different flavours and if you haven’t had them, go get some! Foreals they’re yum and can be purchased  in most shops really. Check out their flavours here:

I will be tracking down their new ” Belgian Choc Butterscotch” because it sounds nommy, nom noms!

Options, you are hands down, one of the best products out, I seriously can’t go a night without you in my life….marry me? 😛
I love all your flavours and really wish you would make an ”Irish creme” flavour, just because I’m Irish, biased and well, c’mon, it’s Irish cream and chocolate, sounds divine right? 😛 Or even just let me come work for you….I’ll take much care of the merchandise 😉

Thanks so00000000 much again, Katherine….this was such a lovely treat tonight, after doing lots of crappy college work, I enjoyed it with my GORGEOUS Malteasers bar, it cheered me up so much!

Which by the way is absolutely amazing for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet! Though, my taste test reviewing defiantly needs worked on, so go check out this review by one of my other favourite blog owner’s, Miss Hannah, who if you remember, very kindly sent me a whatchamacallit bar from U.S.A to taste test 🙂  Hannah (the review addict)
She’s awesome and just like Miss Katherine, will save you from making bad decisions on food and drinks with her awesome reviews ;D

So go cheer your sparkly selves up and make a big mug of hot chocolate 🙂

Lots of love and sparkles, Bex!

Nestle Galak Speculoos Review!

So this is the other food item sent to me by the very lovely, Miss Katherine from ”Grocery gems blog”

I first noticed this bar on Katherine’s blog and instantly knew straight away, I wanted to try it! So words cannot even describe how happy I was when I opened my package and seen this beauty inside. White chocolate is hands down my ultimate FAVOURITE chocolate on the planet, however alot of people don’t like it as they think it’s ”too sweet”.

Honestly, in my opinion, nothing beats the creaminess and wonderfulness of white chocolate.

Milkybar from ”Nestle” in fact is one of my all time favourite chocolate bars along with lindt’s very own ”Excellence white chocolate” range and well…kinder? It kind of counts due to the yummy milk center filling…

So, the cool thing about this chocolate bar I thought was the fact it is actually from ”Belgium”, I am fascinated by traveling and food from different parts of the world, especially European chocolate as honestly, it has to be said, the quality and creaminess of European chocolate is genuinely hard to beat.

”Speculoo’s, I believe is a type of spiced shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on or just before St Nicholas’ feast in the Netherlands (December 5). I love these type of biscuits honestly, especially the brand from the UK ”Lotus”. My mum used to buy them all the time when I was younger, so this bar brought back nice memories 🙂

The chocolate is white, delicious and extremely creamy and I love love love love love it, especially because it would put you in mind of a bar here called ”Milkybar”. Let’s face it, how can you not like a Milkybar? It’s like Haribo, everyone..even grown ups! 😀

The speculoo’s biscuit is infused the whole way through the bar which gives it a delicious, cinnamon crunch. I myself, absolutely loves cinnamon so this bar was perfect for me.

I really enjoyed this bar, infact I enjoyed it so much, I nearly took the last two teeth my Dad has from his mouth, as he was suspiciously plotting and eying up my choccie bar! Cheek of him, I do believe he has a death wish 🙂

Verdict? I sooooo wish this Nestle bar was available here, seriously Nestle, get it sorted! I loved it so much, but I knew I would anyway before I even ate it, with the delicious smell alone.

The lovely Katherine also reviewed this bar, this is actually where I first spotted this beauty and knew Instantly I HAD to try it, so check out her review here, she’s awesome 🙂
Katherine’s Review of Nestle Galak Speculoo’s

Thank you ever so much Miss Katherine again, for sending me this, and the rest of my wonderful package. It really has been one of the best food swaps, ever! Thank, you, thank you, thank you! 🙂

I would defiantly buy this bar again….only if I could 😦

Rating? 10/10

Lots of love and Sparkles, Becca!

Silent Sunday!

Two Eejits, One bag of Mozzarella and Pesto kettle crisps and a review!!

So this GLORIOUS bag of deliciousness, was one of the items from my amazing package kindly sent to me by the lovely Miss Katherine from ”Grocery gems blog” !

Katherine knew how much of my love for Italian food and thought this would be a great item for me to try, in which….she was absolutely 100% correct ;D I was soooooo excited to try these crisps as unfortunately, I have actually never noticed this flavour here in Northern Ireland, even up until now…which makes me sad that they aren’t available here, but thankfully Miss Katherine to the rescue….yaaay! 😀

However, my best friend/partner in crime is staying over this weekend and is also a HUGE pesto fan so I figured I’d play nice and have her to do a taste test with me, as everyone knows the meaning of ”taste testing” means a nibble at ONE crisp, comments and verdict….then give the rest of the bag to Becca, right? mwahahahahaha 😀

So first of upon opening the bag, I was immediately hit by the over powering yummy smell of basil, obviously the ”pesto element”.
If you arn’t 100% sure on what pesto is, basically the traditional pesto recipe, at least how I know it consists of: Basil, garlic,olive oil pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.  It really is a scrummy combination of flavours and usually I find works very well with dishes like pasta, minestrone soup, taty’s etc. It really is yum, so if you haven’t tried it, go get some pesto and make Nigella proud! 😀 Even check out some recipes here if you are a:   “I  can’t boil water” type cook 🙂

I loved the garlic element of these crisps, anything garlic is amazeballs, and it keeps away vampires, so everybody wins eh? Well….unless your vampire is Robert Pattinson you’re kinda screwed to be honest but BACK to the crisps Becca…
The cheese flavour, I found was really creamy but quite mild compared to the rest of the flavours, however just enough to balance out the whole crisp flavour. Honestly, i’m not a huge savoury person but these crisps were sooooooo delicious. I have actually never tried any of the kettle brand crisps before but I completely loved how crunchy and non oily they were. I felt like I was eating something just baked from the oven, hence the ”handcooked” part, which makes me want to go for the ”kettle” brand for sure next time when I need a savoury fix! I just loved how much of the love and care actually taken to make these crisps shines through with the flavour, non oilyness and also the freshness of the crunch as a whole!

As for Grace’s opinion:
“There is a very organic and sophisticated element to these crisps, I loved the hand cooked part as I hate anything food wise artificial, I am also a huge pesto fanatic so these crisps were right up my street.”

Our verdict:
As two tree hugging vegetarians, we absolutely loved these crisps! Hopefully seeing as they’re ”seasonal edition” they’re here to stay though….
Smell wise: It reminded us of an Italian restaurant, so now we want to order Pizza hut…..oh dear.
Crunch?: Super crunchy, but edible enough not to break our too many teenager filled bad diet sweet food….as a result ”teeth” 😀
Ratings: For the pesto and healthy elements alone, 8.5/10

Thank you again, so much to Miss Katherine for these nommy nom nom crisps, who also done her very own review on this product, check it out here, http://grocerygems.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/kettle-chips-mozzarella-pesto-review.html her blog is AWESOME 😀 

Safe to say, I’ll be sleeping with one eye open tonight as I’ve a feeling there will be an empty bag of ”Mozzarella and pesto kettle crisps” with mouse crumbs leading up to Grace’s side of the bed, come AM.

If you love crisps, especially anything cheese and onion type, then I suggest going on a hunt and finding these before they go!

Lots of Love and sparkles,

Becca and Gracie

The loveliest, sparkliest package….ever! (Dedicated to Miss Katherine from “Grocery Gems Blog”)

Hello sparkly blog readers,!

So I am super excited to do this blog post, on behalf of my wonderful friend, Katherine! She is the owner of the blog “Grocery Gems” in which she mainly specializes in reviewing food and drink products. Like Miss Katherine says herself, she is “easily enticed by the words NEW or LIMITED EDITION” So, to save yourself moneys and eating nasty food and being completely disappointed to the point where you want to sue Tesco’s, ASDA, Sainsburys and any other (hopefully luckily enough to not live in the arsehole of nowhere to have a supermarket) for dodgy advertising…then Katherine, the legend she is, will save you from that with her awesome blog! 🙂

Recently though, Katherine posted a blog, on which she is currently reviewing “Around the world in 80 snacks” How cool is that? Some of the food/drink on there is super funky and delicious  looking…especially the Irish section, if I do say so myself 😉 Tehehehe.
Seriously though, go check it out!….Which leads me to telling you that, I noticed Katherine actually hadn’t had anyone fill the country of Ireland yet, so I thought it would be such a cool opportunity to be the person to do so! I decided that I wanted to send her something really traditonally ”Irish” and after speaking to my mommabear, she told me….Potato bread was actually quite difficult to find anywhere outside of Northern Ireland, so I came up with the idea to gather a few items together, so Katherine could make her own version of an ”Ulster fry up” Which is a staple breakfast here, in Northern Ireland and it has to be said, her version or so I hear her hubby actually prepared an epic version of our ”fry up” and it looked absolutely scrumptious, props to you lovelies! Nigella would be super proud ;D!

So Katherine, the lovely lady that she is, very kindly sent me a food exchange parcel back, with all my favourite type of goodies! Everything from orgasmic white chocolate (ultimate fav!), Italian scrumptious nommy nom crisps and of courseeeeeeee absolutely wonderful sparkly nail polish, Katherine knew how much I love sparkles, like….seriously, what would life be like without sparkles eh? Which actually, I was going to pick up the exact same polish last week, until I came back down to earth and realized, Becca….you’re a student, enough said, life sucks…get over it.
Potentially I could have ran to the Poppabear, but he hid that “American express years” ago…. 😉

 

 So as a result, we have SPARKLES! Even the beautiful card was sparkly, thank you so much for being so thoughtful, Katherine 🙂

I will most defiantly be doing two separate blog posts on ”taste testing reviews” for the delicious chocolate and crisps” So please keep your wee eyes peeled for that!

Again, Thank you so much for all my wonderful gifts, Katherine. I love reading your blog posts everyday and this was sooo kind of you to do this! I really appreciate it more than you can imagine, and it most defiantly made my Wednesday 100000000 sparkles better 🙂 So thank you, thank you, thank you!! 🙂

Thank you so much for reading this post, lovely bloggers/sparkly people, it means a lot to me that you take the time out of your day to read my blog….I know I do talk shite sometimes, so I do appreciate you even getting this far, to read my admitting to ”talking shite” :D!

Please, please, please go check out Katherine’s blog, it is totally awesome and will most defiantly have you drooling and potentially raging in a good way because there is certain food items that you can’t get in your own country, so in that case…Miss Katherine will keep you in informed on where to pick the yummy food items up!

Also check out Katherine’s, Irish food blog posts, and maybe… why not have a go at making your own version of an ”Ulster fry up”?!

”Ulster fry”
“Tayto-irish-roast-beef-peppercorn-sauce crisps!”

Lots of love and sparkles,

Becca!