Tag: blogmas

Blogmas Day Twenty Five: Christmas Fun đŸŽ„đŸŽ…đŸť

The Big Day is finally here!

For the final day of Blogmas I thought I would share some of the Christmas fun we’ve been up to on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve

Me and my sister continued our tradition of meeting up for a burger with our friend.

Obviously being 2020 we had to get it takeaway and outside 😷

So we incorporated a walk around the park and it was really nice (except the rain shower!!)

I had the Caffe Nero Mint Hot Choc finally, and it was so delicious and festive too

We also have a tradition of going around our local town to look at the christmad lights.

We keep an eye out in the weeks leading up to Christmas eve and there are a few that are always good too.

There were some brilliant lights on display this year.

Keepin’ it COVID secure by going in our separate cars and we just chatted over a voice call, worked pretty well 🤣

Left my Stocking out for Santa, obv!

Christmas Day

Me and Tim started the day with a delicious and festive nutella pastry Christmas tree & a cuppa!

Followed by present opening 🎁

My father in law provided a lovely Christmas lunch for us, we had my brother in law on Zoom, at the dinner table with us… very 2020!

We enjoyed a bit of a relax and a TV break before another family Zoom with a game of birds names.

We had the standard Christmas day buffet in the eve with the other half of our bubble, my twin sister, brother in law and nephews.

We had fun opening presents, had a bit of a dance and enjoyed some yummy food.

It’s been a strange one in the sense that we are all (hopefully) being more cautious than usual this year, but it has been fun to be able to keep some traditions alive and to get together, where possible, to celebrate

I really hope that you’ve all enjoyed your day 🎅🏻

Tier Four tomorrow! But we still have Boxing day Skype fun planned with a Christmas themed family quiz.

Stay safe and thankyou so much for joining me again for another fun, festive and unforgettable Blogmas.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Twenty Four: An Easy Christmas Day Dessert đŸŤđŸĽ§đŸŽ„

ONE DAY TO GO!!

The penultimate post is here.

As I said a few days ago, I have one more recipe for you! And it’s perfect for a special Christmas day occasion.

It’s a delicious, and relatively easy and quick, Salted caramel (do I need to say any more?) and chocolate tart.

It doesn’t require a lot of ingredients which is great! And apart from time for it to set it doesn’t take too long either. It only took me an hour or so one evening so its great as a fancy, last minute showstopper.

Don’t let the making caramel stage scare you… it’s not as horrendous as you’d think and, if you have a food thermometer this will really come in handy.

I will link both of the recipes that I used below.

I used pre made shortcrust. Remember to bake it blind for 15 mins before removing the baking parchment and beans (or whatever you have, I used dried pasta) pop it back in until it starts to turn golden.

Chocolate Ganache

Caramel

I had some nice flakey salt that I added during the caramel recipe process (as stated but I doubled it) and I sprinkled more salt on, generously, once I had poured the caramel into my cooled tart.

Leave the caramel to set and then add your silky smooth ganache on top. Good quality Dark chocolate is the best.

As someone who likes baking, I enjoyed this recipe because it uses lots of different techniques that perhaps I wouldn’t bother to try usually.

And it looks impressive too!

This is going to be our Christmas day dessert, served with some thick double cream, YUM!

Give it a go!

It’s indulgent but you won’t regret it.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Twenty Two: Winter Walks đŸŒ˛

• 3 days to go! •

Autumn/Winter are my favourite months and I have really enjoyed my new found appreciation for walks, especially during these seasons.

So, thanks for that 2020 (because there isn’t alot else fo thank you for)

❄ Winter Walks ❄

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Nineteen: Mince Pie taste testing đŸĽ§

Only 6 days to go guys! Less than a week 🎄

During December, me and my friend at work have been trying out different mince pies. We work together two days so on a Monday I would bring one in and on a Thursday she would bring one in.

We got to try six different mince pies during this time, and we rated them to see which ones we preferred.

We tried the following Mince Pies:

  • Aldi Specially Selected
  • Gregg’s Bakery
  • Sainsburys Shortcrust Bakery
  • M&S Puff Pastry
  • Waitrose Extra Special
  • Co op Locally Sourced

• The Rankings •

We went for a few categories to score each mince pie on, these were:

  • Appearance
  • Overall Taste
  • Pastry
  • Fillage

And then we gave them an overall taste each.

• The Results •

Aldi Specially Selected

Appearence: 9/10 & 8/10

Overall taste: 7/10 & 7/10

Pastry: 7/10 & 7/10

Fillage: 8/10 & 7/10

Overall Rating: 7/10 & 7/10

Gregg’s

Appearance: 8/10 & 8/10

Overall taste: 5/10 & 7/10

Pastry: 6/10 & 7/10

Fillage: 8/10 & 7/10

Overall rating: 5/10 & 6/10

Sainsburys Bakery

Appearence: 8/10 & 8/10

Overall taste: 8/10 & 8/10

Pastry: 9/10 & 9/10

Fillage: 5/10 & 5/10

Overall rating: 8.5/10 & 9/10

M&S Puff Pastry

Appearence: 6/10 & 6/10

Overall taste: 6.5/10 & 8/10

Pastry: 5/10 & 3/10

Fillage: 3/10 & 3/10

Overall rating: 6/10 & 7/10

Waitrose

Appearence: 8/10 & 8/10

Overall taste: 9/10 & 6/10

Pastry: 8.5/10 & 8/10

Fillage: 8/10 & 8/10

Overall rating: 8/10 & 8/10

Co-op Locally Sourced

Appearence: 6/10 & 6/10

Overall taste: 10/10 & 10/10

Pastry: 8/10 & 9/10

Fillage: 10/10 & 9/10

Overall rating: 9.5/10 & 9/10

So, the winner of our taste testing was… (drum roll please)

The Co-op Locally Sourced !

These are my favourite and even with trying others that hasn’t changed, and my friend agreed too.

Which Mince pies are your favourite?

Have you tried any of these ones?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Eighteen: My favourite Festive Snacks đŸ˜‹đŸŽ„đŸ˝

I LOVE festive food (& food in general) and Christmas is one of those times of year where we indulge a little more, enjoy a few of our favourite snacks and have a nice time.

… I like having some of these, particularly, at Christmas as they make me feel super festive, but obviously alot of them can be had at other times of the year!

Here are some of my favourites…

A absolute festive staple.

This is one of my favourite chocolates. I would of course eat this at other times of the year but, I often just get the grab bags or bars, saving the actual chocolate orange for christmas time.

It always feels so festive, perhaps it’s the Christmas/clementine similarity.

And thanks to old Saint Nick, I always get one in my stocking.

Now I do only eat these ones at Christmas! Mince pies.

These are a treat that I have started to like only over the last five years or so, and I love them throughout November and December.

Me and my work friend did a mince pie taste testing this year so look out for that in a Blogmas post to come.

Shortbread is my favourite type of biscuit and I LOVE them at Christmas. I especially love the M&S Christmas, musical tins. These little packs of Chritmas trees are delish too.

Tesco’s Christmas shortbread selection tins are my favourite in terms of taste, super delicious and with lots of sugar on top.

PRINGLES! The ultimate crisps.

I try not to eat tooooo many because they really are addictive!! So I always get these for Christmas as they are a buffet essential 👌🏻

Sour Cream and Chive are my absolute fave.

Hot Chocolate is a Christmas must have!

Perfect for the cold weather and these are a couple of my favourites.

I recently discovered the Cadbury hot chocolate and how good it is. I’m sure I’ve tried it before but not made it well, because I can’t get enough of it now!! I was definatly making it wrong Haha.

Mint hot chocolate is my favourite flavour and there is something about the minty taste that makes me feel super festive.

Hot chocolates are so cosy 🥰

Crackers & cheese are a Christmas must have. Great as a little snack or part of an epic buffet.

& finally…

Our tipple of choice!

It’s got to be a nice, ice cold fruit cidar. I don’t really drink casually, but I do love to have a few of these in the fridge, ready for the festive period 🎄

It’s one of the times of year that I do actually fancy a casual one here and there.

What are your favourite festive snacks?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Seventeen: Stocking Filler Ideas đŸŽ…đŸť

• Stocking Fillers •

I love stockings and finding little bits to go in them, (helping out Santa obv!)

I generally go by the rule of something edible, something to do something to wear, something to pamper and something fun/silly!

I feel like the fun/silly present is easier to be more specific, depending on who the stocking is for…

So, here are some general ideas for you!

A book 📚 Festive theme optional.
Because is there anything for festive than a Chocolate orange ?!
A pampering face mask!
A useful item but also nice to receive, u think they are handy and its always nice to try new ones.
Something fun! A little game like Top Trumps, Uno or Dobble are great for Christmas morning/day time for a bit of fun. I love Dobble.
A new Christmas decoration. Little personalised or initial ones are cute.
A CLASSIC. No explanation needed.
A little filled bauble with some treats! Cute and a little different.
Christmassy socks! Or cosy ones. Either way, who doesn’t love a sock (and they are always handy hey!)

Another little pamper product such as a bath bomb or something similar. Lush have some funky, festive ones.

I hope this helps!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Sixteen: My Favourite Festive drinks â˜•

• My Favourite Festive Drinks •

I love a Coffee or drink from a Coffee shop and especially the festive flavours around at Christmas time.

So, here are some of my faves…

Costa: Terry’s Chocolate Orange Hot Chocolate

This was yummy.

If you were one of the first wave of people who ordered this you also got a Terry’s choc orange segment with your drink.

This was a really, yummy, creamy hot choc… it could have done with a little more orange flavouring though!

Costa: After Eight Mint Hot Chocolate

This is my favourite festive drink by far.

Because what’s more festive than a hot chocolate.

And the mint syrup is super festive too.

Me and my twin sister get this every year, its sooooo good.

I think it’s usually just called a mint hot choc but, it’s been branded around After Eight Mints this year… I could be wrong though (it could always have been)… anyway, you also got a After Eight Mint on the side of your drink.

Again, I think there were limited number of these.

Starbucks: White Mocha Frappe with Peppermint Syrup

This is a new discovery this year thanks to Zoe Suggs Vlogmas! & my sisters recommendation.

The White Mocha Frappe is super delish and flavourful on it’s own, and the peppermint flavour makes it super festive.

It’s a really tasty drink.

This is great if you prefer a cooler, refreshing drink.

I’m really hoping I get a chance to try the Caffe Nero ‘Salted Caramel Latte’ & their ‘Mint Hot Choc’ before the christmas season is over!

Caffe Nero is my fave.

What’s your favourite festive drink???

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Fourteen: My Harry Potter Christmas tree âšĄđŸŽ„

So, a couple of years ago I had a Harry Potter themed tree, but then disaster struck and my second tree broke (sad times)

This year, my twin sister who also loves Harry Potter, created a Harry Potter themed tree and it made me reallllly want one again..

Plus, we went to the HP tour and they had so many Christmas decorations that injust couldn’t resist. See yesterdays post for the ones I picked up.

I used a plain 6ft tree, and added some plain/glittery red baubles as a base (I’m going for a Gryffindor theme, Obv.)

I purchased some Gryffindor ribbon at the HP tour and I made this onto bows… I popped them on first.

Then I added my Harry Potter baubles that I already owned, and my new ones from the tour (see yesterdays post)

I had house baubles of the 4 house colours, 4 clear house baubles filled with gold glitter, purchased this year and a large glittery Hogwarts Crest bauble that my mum got me a few years ago.

These all came from Primark.

Finally, I added a few little extras that I have in my collection, some HP glasses, a couple of tickets for the Knight Bus and the Hogwarts Express, as well as a few little characters (Can you spot Ron & Dobby?!)

All in all, I’m really happy with how it came out.

And now our room looks super festive too 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Thirteen: Harry Potter Decoration Haul âšĄđŸŒŸ

Hi guys 👋🏻

So, ever since Primark started selling Official merch such as Harry Potter, I’ve managed to pick up some really cool baubles at Christmas time.

This year I have bought some lovely clear baubles. They are a set of four and each has one of the different house crests printed on it. They are filled with gold glitter.

They look really pretty and go well with my red and gold theme.

Also…

At the Harry Potter Warner Bros tour in London, last weekend, I picked up some more decorations.

Let’s take a look…

They sell ribbon that comes in four colours, one for each house.

I went for Gryffindor as that’s my favourite house.

You can use it to either drape around the tree as tinsel or tie it to make little bows, to decorate your tree.

I went for bows.

I also picked up a couple of other baubles, at the tour.

I went for a couple of Gryffindor themed ones.

I really had to hold back because there were so many awesome ones.

I went for a red Gryffindor bauble with a lion topper.

This is really cool.

I also picked up one of the stain glass effect house shields.

Gryffindor of course. I think these are really pretty and were probably the most reasonably priced ones tbh.

A great little stocking filler for any HP fans. They are available in the fours houses too.

The final one I picked up was this…

It’s a general Harry Potter one. Its has a ‘H’ for Hogwarts on a little Crest, with a Hogwarts silhouette, on the front. It is a clear bauble, so it goes nicely with the Primark ones I bought (mentioned above).

It is filled with little shavings of confetti that are the house colours.

Super pretty.

They did have a Hogwarts castle in a snowglobe style, which I kinda wish I had bought, but it looked rather heavy.

They also did some other more specific ones such as the little Yule ball outfits.

They had a Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry Crest topper, for the top of your HP tree… again very tempting but I have another idea for the top of mine, that I used last time I embarked on a HP tree.

Check out tomorrows Blogmas post to see my finished HP tree, complete with these baubles and decorations on it.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas Day Twelve: A festive, but productive day đŸŽ„đŸ›đŸ›

So, here we are! Day Twelve.

Today has been both festive, productive and fun.. my kind of weekend in the run up to Christmas.

Me & hubby had a little lazy start, followed by a yummy breakfast because there is no better way to start a weekend.

After that I went Christmas shopping with my sister, which was fun!

And we well and truely shopped until we dropped.

But, I managed to get the everything that I needed!! Which is awesome.. I mean, I nearly lost an arm under the weight of my bags, but its all good because the Christmas shopping is done!

When I got home from town I had a nice, relaxing, festive bath.

Gotta love a Lush Festive Bath product.

This one smells so good and is a reusable bubble bar! ‘Elfie Stick’

It was so nice to chill after a fun but hectic time in town.

Feeling refreshed, I have now spent the evening sorting out what I bought, wrapping some more presents.

Super festive!

I’m now about to start decorating our second tree… because I decided one was enough and so I grabbed another one today, in town.

What’s your idea of a fun, festive day?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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