Halloween Wreaths

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!!

Now I know all your guys’ decor is complete by now and your themes would make me proud, but I wanted to share with you two recent spooky finds I got last week.

You’ll know from my Halloween at Stonemanor post that Halloween decor is a lot harder to come by in Belgium compared to the US or UK. But at the end of September I was already keeping an eye out and while browsing Jour de Fête (a partyware store great for props) I came across their half-put-out Halloween stuff and amongst gross brains and organs (I personally prefer pretty or cute for Halloween) was this beautiful wreath (above).

As I was so early there was only one and no price tag so I wasn’t sure if it would turn out to be only a display piece. Decided to give them a few weeks to properly set everything up and come back unless I found something prettier in Stonemanor or Delhaize (our local supermarket), not that the latter has had any Halloween wreaths in the past.

Only made it back to Jour de Fête this last week and happily it was for sale AND there was another wreath design with lights that was just as pretty…so I got BOTH!!! Wait, I can explain!!!

As I live in a flat and wasn’t about to drill a hole in my front door nor use a metallic wreath holder as there isn’t enough space for it to fit in the gap above said door, my solution? Get two wreaths; attach a white ribbon (or the best colour to blend in with your door colour) to either ends of the wreaths, pass the ribbon in the gap (for which there is enough space) and balance both wreaths on either side of the door (try and get wreaths that are about the same weight or this won’t work). That way, not only do you get to have a wreath without drilling, but you also get to have one on either side of your door and no longer have to make the decision of who gets to enjoy your wreath, you or your neighbours.

Voilà, simples! I obviously chose the light-up wreath to be on the inside so I could switch it on and enjoy it more, but if you live in a house with the outside of your front door being exposed to the elements I would do the same (unless the lights are specified to be for outdoor use).

Gotta say these are my two new favourite Halloween decor pieces, it’s a shame I only got to hang them up for a couple of days before they became no longer socially acceptable.

But you bet that next year, October first, they will be the first things I’ll put up! And now my neighbours have a small inkling into the level of crazy I decorate my flat #noshame

Had we not been put straight back into lockdown as of Monday here in Belgium, you bet I would be heading straight to Jour de Fête in the hopes of scoring a few discounted Halloween items because these wreaths (here and here) were a whopper at nearly €18 each #worthit

I had my eye on a couple of small ravens as well as some beautiful potion/poison bottles (although I could probably DIY the latter myself). Maybe when things re-open I’ll be lucky then. Although last year when I went to Ilea (a fancy-dress costume store) in the hopes of finding discounted Halloween goodies I discovered that if the shop is dedicated to costumes/partyware they aren’t likely to ever put the merchandise on sale as it’s their bread and butter.

On the other hand, our Delhaize becomes the perfect place to hit as the little section of seasonal goodies becomes 50% off, although generally all the good stuff is already gone.

There you have it, my last Halloween post! Hope you guys all had a great day despite everything.

If you’re wondering where the two red circular cushions are from they came from H&M Home this year (here and they also have a cream version here) - while mainly for Christmas they suited my Halloween colour scheme just as well.

Any awesome Halloween wreaths that you have your eye on?

Do you go all out decorations-wise or are you more of a minimalist?

Do you have colour schemes? I mainly implement mine through cushion covers as they are an easy and quick fix and have a big impact especially if your couch and furniture are in neutral colours.

xxxemma

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Halloween Trick-or-Treat?

It’s nearly Halloween!!!!! So I thought I would share with you my top snacks (a.k.a treats) to have this time of year.

HOT WHITE CHOCOLATE ORANGE

When I saw that Terry’s Chocolate Orange had added a white chocolate version to their famous line in Stonemanor I just knew I had to make the white chocolate version of my orange hot chocolate featured in my Hot Chocolate 3 Ways post (plus you finally get to see the other side of the orange mug!).

Same recipe as for the other one; for one mug of white orange hot chocolate you’ll need:

• A packet of Terry’s Chocolate Orange White (7 slices to be precise)

• Milk (of your choosing, I used coconut milk because I’m lactose intolerant)

Fill the mug (similar here) of your choosing with “milk” till 2cm from the rim then pour that amount into a saucepan. Add 4 slices of white chocolate orange and whisk till melted then add more to your liking. Personally, I went up to 7 slices, but this will vary depending on your taste and mug size.

I thought that since the chocolate slices themselves weren’t as orangey flavoured as their original milk chocolate orange (to me anyway) I would need to add an orange syrup or flavouring of some sort but actually it’s quite orangey on its own when made into a hot chocolate.

Let your taste buds be the judge! ;)

DELHAIZE HALLOWEEN CHOCOLATE

As I live in “The Land of Chocolate” that is Belgium, you’ll be hard pressed to find bad chocolate anywhere, hence even our mass produced cheaper “themed” chocolate is delicious.

These pumpkins and chocolate coins were amongst Delhaize’s (our local supermarket) Halloween decorations section as we only get a small isle dedicated to this candy holiday every year…sniff

The orange pumpkins were actually dyed white chocolate, which I should have guessed and as my brother is much more of a fan of white chocolate than I am (I’ll make an exception for the delicious hot chocolate above), I gave them to him to enjoy (I may have had an eyeroll or two because they are just that adorable! #justjealous).

Halloween is just not a thing here, in mainland Europe anyway, but we’re progressing slowly but surely thanks to American movies and influence.

LIDL HALLOWEEN CHOCOLATE EYEBALLS

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, …
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
- Shakespeare

Could there be a better quote? I remember having to act this scene out in groups in English class, hilarity of course ensued!

Again, even from Lidl no chocolate can be subpar here so you might run out of this precious witches’ brew ingredient before you know it!

LEONIDAS HALLOWEEN SUCRE POP

Now for the crème de la crème of Halloween chocolate (it does exist and I’ve done my very scientific and elaborate research #spoilt #dedicated #chocolatefiend), Leonidas’ Sucre Pop!

You’ll know my love for these delicious beauties from my Easter Nutella Cake post, and although these Easter eggs are limited edition Leonidas does come out with the same recipe come Halloween with this chocolate ball version…heart eyes!

MCVITIE’S JAFFA CAKES

Spotted these in Stonemanor and not going to lie the packaging totally got me, Día de los Muertos anyone?

Apart from the packaging being stunning the cakes themselves were delicious especially the blackcurrant “fruity” one, and I was more than happy to break my gluten free rule for them (guilty foot twisting I’m not coeliac…technically just intolerant #worthit)

If you’re not as much of a sweet tooth as I am, then you like my next recommendation;

LIDL HALLOWEEN VAMPIRE SNACKS CRISPS

These Lidl Halloween Vampire Snacks crisps R.I.P. nummy nummy, tasted exactly like Monster Much crisps (which you can get year round). They also have a Halloween Snacks version which are bat and spider web crisps which have a more herby flavour.

LIDL HALLOWEEN PRE-FILLED BUCKET

Let’s be real, Halloween is pretty much cancelled this year (again not that we get much of one in Belgium anyway), so Lidl is knocking it out of the park with their pre-filled Halloween bucket which is bound to keep any child (cough…adult…cough) happy, don’t mind if I do!

P.S. Only the most eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that one of the sweet packets is missing, I had to taste test okay! What do parents call it? The “Candy Tax”? Yap, I’ll go with that even though I’m not a parent, it’s not in any way shape or form my complete lack of will power…shifty eyes (proud that there were any left to photograph to be honest…nods in satisfaction). ;)

There you have it, my top Halloween snacks/treats this year. You could also try making your own Gluten Free Halloween Sugar Cookies if you have the time and energy. Don’t worry you’re bound to be on a sugar high in no time!

BON APPÉTIT!!!

xxxemma

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Halloween at Stonemanor

On the 17th of September my Dad and I went to Stonemanor - The British Store in Everberg (a shop selling English goods here in Belgium). I was excited to see whether or not they had set up their Halloween floor yet (3rd floor) or if I was too early…as you can see, I was not disappointed. Freshly opened, I had the whole floor to myself and took all the photos!!!

If you’re American you probably don’t get what a big deal this is, but here it’s the only shop that I know of that goes full out for Halloween. This holiday has only been “celebrated” in mainland Europe in recent years, myself only ever having been trick-or-treating once when I was 13-14 ish (technically already too old), a) because it wasn’t a thing and b) our house was a bit remote.

Thankfully, now I have JadeTheLibra and Midge Munster (a newcomer this year) to keep me endlessly entertained with their Halloween decor hunting videos!

As an adult (soon to be 30…sniff) with a major sweet tooth I can buy all the candy I want - and do!!!…innocent angel eyes, but that doesn’t stop me from fully participating in this “candy worship holiday” anyway (I mean let’s not kid ourselves, I think all holidays are candy holidays!), but this one is purposefully so. I will have a post specially dedicated to all those yummy sweet treats coming soon…YAY!!!

But back to decorations, I have amassed quite the collection over the years (Delhaize, our local supermarket, also have a small seasonal section of goodies and decor), so I didn’t need much and only picked up some glittery spiders this time around (featured here), but I have bought some fake spider webs before (which I’ve used for the first time ever this year!).

They do offer a few costume choices but since I don’t really dress up and at the most would go for one of my 3 Easy Halloween Makeup Looks as we never have trick-or-treaters to dress up for (again Halloween is not really a thing unless specially organised). Plus, Jour de Fête and Ilea have plenty of costumes to choose from (year round), should the need ever arise.

Therefore, I’m sticking to cosy pjs again this year, although I really should get myself a spooky pair!

Now for the pièce de résistance of Stonemanor - The British Store in Everberg, the Halloween animatronics scene!

Spirit Halloween in the US is famous for their animatronics (watch Midge Munster’s awesome walk through here), but here this is all we get. And every year I’m excited to see their different set up, they’re always amazing!

I know this year there isn’t going to be much of a need for spooky tableware (because no parties are happening for obvious reasons), but I do have my eye on those skeleton hands champagne glasses (top right), they would be a perfect finishing touch (pun totally intended!) to any table. ;)

There you have it, my Halloween themed visit to Stonemanor. Although I’d say hurry as when I went again today, they were already taking things down…sniff

What are you going to be doing for Halloween this year?

Any Halloween decor hunting spots you need to hit every year?

Favourite Halloween decor piece, go!? Mine is a cute little ghost that wobbles and goes booooooo when you switch it on, it’s just adorable!

xxxemma

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McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Roermond

On the 1st of July our lifting of lockdown rules entered a new phase here in Belgium (done in stages so as to be able to take a step back at any time), and since we were allowed out of the country again we took advantage and headed out for a day trip to the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in Roermond mid-month.

KATE SPADE NEW YORK

My first stop had to be the Kate Spade New York store as soon as I spotted it, where I was lucky enough to snag this bunny necklace at over 50% off (second to last one in the shop). They also had a lot of other cute pieces of jewellery but that one in particular caught my eye. Kate Spade is well known of course for their fun and colourful accessories of which there was plenty! I just wasn’t personally in the market for any new handbag or wallet splurges.

BURBERRY

If I ever get the chance to own a Burberry trench (isn’t it on every girl’s wishlist?) it’s going to come from an outlet, never going to pay full price if I can help it! And who cares if it’s a few seasons out of date, the Burberry trench coat is a CLASSIC and literally never going to go out of style!

If you’re thinking from the photos that “no way were these taken during a pandemic?!”, you are wrong my friend! We were basically the only ones there wearing masks (easy to spot the out-of-towners). But we were following the Belgian guidelines which were clearly different from the Dutch, better safe than sorry!

Social distancing was half-heartedly followed, even though all the stores, I went to had all the facilities in place (hand sanitiser, stickers on the floors and one way systems). Any stores with massive queues at the front of them I just vetoed, but luckily enough all of the ones I wanted to visit were pretty much deserted.

THE COSMETICS COMPANY STORE

The Cosmetics Company Store was a must on this visit and I was able to get three Mac lipsticks; in Taupe, Twig and Derrière (I don’t think using the French word for this last one makes the fact that you named your lipstick “behind” any more fancy lol).

I also hit the L’Oréal Outlet where I got a couple of discounted Essies and The Body Shop where I stocked up on my soaps and body butters. Very happy with my beauty finds that’s for sure!

LIEBESKIND BERLIN

My Dad has slowly but steadily grown my watch collection over the last couple of months with his junk shop (thrift store) finds. And since he got an Amazon “watch first aid kit” nothing stands in his way…except watches that when opened up have no battery inside, that’s usually a bad sign and means the watch has stopped working altogether.

Other than the obvious luxury brands like Gucci, for example, a lot of the fancy watches including a beautiful one from Liebeskind Berlin don’t get recognised by the store clerks (and hence don’t have their price hiked up). So, I didn’t even have to step into this store to get a wonderful new bargain watch; I did of course as I am a magpie and wanted to check out the competition… but nothing bested my Dad’s find!

Although my brother did get me for my birthday a beautiful Calvin Klein watch (this one here) from the Hour Passion store where my Dad also had a good find/purchase. So…technically I didn’t leave the outlet without a new watch but shhhhhh ;)

The outlet also had a few food stands. They had a churros one that my Dad and brother enjoyed, as well as a macarons one that I was tempted by but I had my eyes on the doughnut one (I do make rare exceptions to my gluten free diet as I’m not coeliac). Sadly, there was a bit of a queue and lots of flies flying around the displayed doughnuts which put me off, maybe next time.

There you have it my McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in Roermond outing. Some very good bargain finds and a trip we have to repeat! Although I recommend you go when the weather is nice as it’s mostly outdoors you don’t want to get stuck outside especially in the spaced-out queues in the pouring rain…not as pleasant.

Do you have any outlets you would highly recommend? We also love the McArthurGlen Ashford Designer Outlet in England but that’s a lot harder to get to, especially at the moment.

Any good bargains you’ve found as of late?

Are you excited for the upcoming summer sales? In Belgium, by law, they are usually only allowed to happen during the month of July but this year, for obvious reasons, they’ve been pushed to August.

xxxemma

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Galimard Perfume Workshop

As you’ll know from my Galimard Perfume Factory & Museum post, last September we had a family holiday in the South of France, and on that trip, we booked a “make your own perfume” workshop with Galimard in Grasse.

Held in a separate but close-by building to the actual factory and museum (where the free tours are based), the workshop laboratory was located behind a small Galimard store featured in my Galimard Perfume Shops post.

The choice for our perfume workshop ended up being between the Galimard perfume house and the Fragonard one (love their perfumes too). Personally, since I was in charge of making this decision I went with the surprisingly less publicised Galimard; it’s cheaper (€55 per adult instead of €69), allowed an accompanying person for only €10 extra (not offered with Fragonard), lasted longer (2 hours instead of 1h30), offered in more languages (not a factor for me but might be for you) and you get a whole organ of 127 notes to yourself. You also got to customise your bottle and cap design for your final 100ml creation.

To begin with everyone got their own graduated cylinder and form to be filled in during the workshop at their designated organ, it was like I was right back in lab chemistry, always fill till the bottom of the meniscus guys!

Starting our composition off with the base layer for which 50ml was dedicated, we could select from the 127 notes of the organ (mostly accords in eau de toilette concentration not raw materials) that were colour coded by their layer rank (top notes, middle notes and base notes). The notes were further distinguished by their gender (typical female and male notes) but these gendered notes, contrary to their ranking position, could be mixed and matched as you pleased (my Dad enjoyed sniffing the male notes as my accompanying extra, I sniffed a few but didn’t like any of them).

Once you had picked out between 4-5 notes your Galimard expert (apprentice “noses” allocated to 5 or 6 other people in the workshop) calculated your ml percentage per note and then you just poured the amount suggested into the cylinder. This process was repeated for all 3 layers (top notes 25ml, middle notes 25ml and base notes 50ml).

Needless to say, my composition went quickly down the sugary sweet route and while I loved the scent I had created by the middle notes stage, the top notes choices were a bit limited for my liking (not enough fruity and sugary notes that could be used as top notes sadly) so I had to make do with the more floral smelling choices (to me anyway) for my top notes. This layer took me the longest to perfect, but we got there in the end, honestly those 2 hours fly by!

Curious as to what I picked? Head over to my “Make Your Own Perfume” with Galimard post to find out my final choices.

Once finished we got to pick our bottle shapes, nozzle colour (silver or gold) and lid, then came the naming of the perfume. Both my mum and I named them after ourselves (unoriginal I know) but I overheard one German workshop participant name hers L’Exigeante (French for hard-to-please) which made her group and expert laugh…brilliant!!!

Your perfume then gets numbered/labelled and entered into the Galimard database to be able to be recreated upon request (with worldwide delivery). Equipped with your new perfume and official certificate d’élève-parfumeur you now have to hard task of waiting an excruciating 2 weeks for your concoction to properly mature together before being able to use it. No…shaking the bottle doesn’t speed up the process and is obviously not recommended!

Very satisfied with my overall experience especially as my first workshop ever (let’s do lipsticks next!). Furthermore, whilst writing this post I came across another happy customer here (a writer for Fragrantica no less), who amongst two other perfume workshops in Grasse picked Galimard as his favourite, and he’s a connaisseur! ;)

Have you ever done a perfume workshop?

What notes do you think your perfect perfume would have? I knew vanilla and praline (Hello…? Chocolate!!!) were a guarantee for me.

What perfume has your favourite bottle design? I think Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire has to be mine. ;)

EDIT: During this time of COVID the Galimard staff have also taken all possible precautions for your safety; spacing out participants, disinfection of the organ and all equipment used between sessions plus plenty of sanitiser at your disposal as well as, of course, mask wearing assistants.

xxxemma

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Galimard Perfume Shops

I’ve already spoken about the fantastic Galimard Perfume Factory & Museum tour we had whilst on our visit of the perfume house in Grasse, the culmination of which is an amazing shop!

Now there were in fact two Galimard shops, the bigger multi-level one located in their factory and museum building (at the end of the tour) and the second smaller one in a different building (close-by) which held the Galimard Perfume Workshop. In this post I’ll be showing a mishmash of both stores.

Both shops had various elements of the manufacturing process as display pieces. In the factory/museum building’s shop there was a glassed-off organ (like a piano but with perfume notes) which gave any non-participant of the Galimard Perfume Workshop a good idea of how a nose would work.

In the smaller Galimard shop you could see a lovely copper concentrateur sous vide (vacuum concentrator) with soaps displayed in faux enfleurage wooden trays at its base as their centre piece.

When you enter either store you would be forgiven to believe you’ve entered an old-timey confectionary store with all their wonderful array of colours and smells. And although some soaps have been moulded into fruits like lemon slices or candied apple…something tells me they wouldn’t be as delicious!

The bigger store in the photos is the one with the rounded glass counter on its second level, with an assistant and plenty of perfume paper strips at the ready to aid your perusal.

The smaller store (photographed below) may have been smaller but was no less well stocked. And whether you find yourself in the bigger or smaller Galimard shop, it is bound to be a feast for the eyes and senses.

Whether you do one or both, these stores are definitely worth experiencing for yourself if you can.

What shape would you mould your soap into if you could? I’d want to do a chocolate bar like Zoella’s Fizz Bar.

Any confectionary you would love to be made as a soap? Palmolive’s Chocolate Passion has me covered! ;)

Have you come across any non-edible products that you really wish would be? I know dessert-shaped candles are having a thing at the moment and I’m all for it!

xxxemma

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Galimard Perfume Factory & Museum

Last September we had a family holiday in the South of France, and on that trip, we booked a “make your own perfume” workshop with Galimard in Grasse.

As the Galimard perfume house has two buildings very close to each other, we mistakenly showed up at the Galimard Perfume Factory & Museum first, which is the more obviously signposted of the two.

We were kindly informed of our mistake but since we had arrive in plenty of time before the start of our workshop (held in the other building 5 minutes away) we were offered a quick free tour of the factory/museum (all the tours are free and offered in several languages).

Once past the velvet rope (which feels very VIP), you’re immediately greeted by a whole slew of copper equipment. The process of perfume making starts here; with the raw material.

There are a few different ways of extracting essential oils from flowers; enfleurage, maceration, steam distillation and solvent extraction. While Galimard did have a very helpful diagram on their wall, I didn’t capture it, instead here’s a link to someone that did.

An adept summary of the history of perfume and its different production processes can be found on How Products Are Made here. Have a quick read before continuing as I found it super informative and helpful!

Essentially, after the introduction of perfumes to Europe (which had been till then an Oriental art) through 13th century Crusaders; France (from the 14th century onwards), namely Grasse, quickly became the epicentre of perfume production for the continent. And to this day, the country remains a powerhouse in the industry.

In the above photo you can see the many stacks of wooden frames which are part of the enfleurage process. This procedure developed in the South of France in the 18th century, hence the name, still remains a pride and joy. Although a less efficient extraction method than the steam distillation process (the most common one), this more traditional method produces the highly sought after absolute (also produced by the solvent extraction process) which is a higher quality and more concentrated oily substance than essential oils.

All these copper stills (part of the steam distillations process) and vacuum concentrators (used in the enfleurage, maceration and solvent extraction process) were quite a sight to see. The copper sadly being replaced in the modern day by industrial grade stainless steel of course.

Speaking of out with the old and in with the new, once past the factory/museum part of the building (but still part of the tour) you get a glimpse of the modern-day laboratories.

After all, noses (graduating from being an apprentice for a minimum of 6 years) have to have a good understanding of chemistry as well as being un artiste! The science of perfume is an art. ;)

Finally, the pièce de résistance of the tour; the organ. An orchestra of notes and accords from which a nose will make his symphony. And if you’ve opted for the Galimard Perfume Workshop too, you can have your very own organ to play with without the 6 years of training (granted, results may vary lol)!

That’s it! The end of the tour has the mandatory goodie shop which you can see in my next post Galimard Perfume Shops, see you there! :)

For a better visual idea of the perfume making process I highly recommend the movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Minus the dead bodies #spoiler it’s a good representation of this art form.

Been to any good factories or museums lately? Although not a chocolate factory #Heaven #goals it was just as fun and not as calorific! Although now I’ve made myself want to rewatch Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (the original one).

But don’t worry, there is still plenty of Galimard content to come…

xxxemma

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Hot Chocolate 3 Ways

It’s here!!!! Merry Christmas everybody!!! I know everyone is going to be a bit too stuffed today to attempt any one of these recipes, but come dreary January these will be a perfect little pick-me-up to indulge in.

After all, ‘tis the season where you can cosy up by the fireplace (or the TV with a fake fireplace) and enjoy a nice hot drink. Obviously, I prefer my drinks to be of the chocolate variety (not a coffee drinker) and after years of experimenting, these are my top 3 ways of making a hot chocolate:

MINT HOT CHOCOLATE

I’m very particular when it come to my mint hot chocolate, I’ve often been disappointed with too little of a minty taste from these if I don’t make them myself. Although to this day, one of the best ones I’ve ever had was from a Costa Coffee in Edinburgh, perfect ratio of chocolate and mint!

For one mug of mint hot chocolate you’ll need:

• 20ml of mint syrup (which is 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon), quantity may vary depending on the syrup (see below)

• Cécémel (a premade chocolate drink made with UHT milk)

• Candy Cane (optional)

• Whipped cream in a squirt can (again optional)

• 1 minute 30 in a microwave power 900W

Personally, I like to use Teisseire’s Green Mint syrup for which I need 20ml (1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon) per mug. But I have tried Monin’s Mojito Mint syrup before, which is much more sugary and therefore you just need 1 tablespoon of that one per mug (although it does also have less of an overall minty taste).

Basically, the perfect mint hot chocolate for you, will depend greatly on the type of syrup and quantity you use. I can’t say much more than “get experimenting!!!”. I know, all those hot chocolates…truly suffering for your art! ;)

NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE

I’ve gotta thank Ingrid Nilsen for this recipe, as she is the one that introduced me to this concoction back in 2010 with her How To: Make Nutella Hot Chocolate video, major throwback re-watching that one.

For one mug of Nutella hot chocolate you’ll need:

• 2 generous teaspoons of Nutella

• Milk (I like to use coconut milk, but you might have a different preference)

• Sprinkle of cinnamon and/or nutmeg (optional)

• Whipped cream in a squirt can (again optional)

• Festive sprinkles (also optional)

One of my favourite hot chocolate recipes and the one I’ve been making for the longest thanks to Ingrid.

Pour a mug’s worth (filled to about 2cm from the rim) of your preferred milk into a saucepan. Whilst heating over the stove add two generous teaspoons of Nutella and whisk till melted, then pour the mixture back into the mug you started from. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon and/or nutmeg and decorate to your heart’s content!

HOT CHOCOLATE ORANGE

This recipe I’ve been thinking about making for a while but had to wait till I could get my hands on some Terry’s Chocolate Orange (milk version) and control myself long enough not to eat it all beforehand.

In Belgium, orange chocolate just like mint chocolate isn’t really a thing, so I can only get Terry’s Chocolate Orange when it comes to Stonemanor (The British Store here in Belgium) and even then it only comes in during the festive season (I’d say about late October to December). I have also seen it in our Waterstones but with a mark-up of €7 I’m not desperate enough to pay for it at that rate I’m afraid.

For one mug of orange hot chocolate you’ll need:

• A packet of Terry’s Chocolate Orange (7 slices to be precise)

• Milk (of your choosing again I used coconut milk)

Just like with the Nutella hot chocolate, fill a mug of your choosing till about 2cm from the rim, then pour it into a saucepan. Whilst heating add 4 slices of Terry’s Chocolate Orange and whisk till melted, then add further slices till chocolatey enough for you, tasting along the way (I went up to 7). Pour the mixture back into mug of choice. This is going to be one of the richest hot chocolates from this trio, so you might want to indulge in this one a good while before dinner, otherwise you won’t be hungry for the latter.

Now I know what you’re thinking, these all sound delicious and look easy to make but where are your cute mugs from?

The Starbucks Christmas mug was from a hot chocolate gift set in Boots, that I got back when I was in Edinburgh for Uni, so about 2012-ish.

The Santa and Snowman mugs are much more recent purchases, that I got early this December at Maison du Monde. While I’ve still seen them in store (in their Christmas mug selection) they have disappeared from their website (hopefully they’ll make a comeback next year).

Finally, the orange one, is in fact a jack-o’-lantern that I’ve turned around for the purpose of the photos so that it looked more like an orange and matched the theme. But that was also a recent purchase from Hema in October.

The little mug earrings were from Claire’s years ago, and although I found them on their website they seem to be out-of-stock.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help for the links but have no fear, ‘tis the season of cute mugs galore, so I’m sure you can find some really adorable alternatives.

Fun trivia fact; did you know that whipped cream in food commercials is in fact shaving foam? Not so yummy now, right?! But totally get this food styling secret, because using the real stuff, let me tell you, the struggle is real! I had under 2 minutes to get my shots and that was with the added advantage of no hot lights and ice-cold water underneath!

What’s your favourite hot chocolate recipe (shaving foam optional)? Or do you prefer a different kind of hot drink?

What’s the most impractical mug you’ve ever bought because of cuteness factor? I’ve been lucky all my mugs have been pretty easy to drink from. ;)

xxxemma

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Strawberries 3 Ways

Happy Valentine's Day!!! In honour of this special day of love, I thought I would share my favourite three ways to eat strawberries with you.

CHOCOLATE & COCONUT SHAVINGS

I mean this one was a pretty obvious one if you know me...chocolate can be eaten with anything!!!

Usually in the summer I like to melt mint chocolate on my strawberries; it's super refreshing and delicious. The unexpected combination is definitely unique, but I urge you to try it nonetheless! However, do be careful when selecting your mint chocolate; don't pick the ones with a creamy mint filling but rather the ones where the mint has been incorporated into the chocolate.

Mint chocolate alas isn't a popular flavour here in Belgium (pralines are ruling this country!), so while I wait for my next trip to Stonemanor (a British store here in Belgium) I make do! I found this ready to melt Guylian chocolate fondue dip (FYI my favourite brand of chocolate) the other day in my local supermarket and after adding some coconut shavings you get a quick and simple luxurious snack ready to eat in no time!

ICING SUGAR

The quickest and easiest way to eat strawberries! Although I would suggest you prepare this a good few hours before eating and leave in the fridge (which I clearly didn't do for the photos soz!). This will give the icing sugar plenty of time to soak up the strawberry juice and create a lovely syrupy concoction at the bottom of your container, ready to pour when you're ready to serve.

All you have to do is clean your strawberries, cut off the stems and sprinkles with icing sugar (the quantity is entirely up to you and how sugary you want your strawberries to be).

VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE

Okay, so this one might be slightly more complicated to make and a bit of a cheat as I'm eating the strawberries in the form of jam. Also, I'm adding fondant icing for decorative purposes which technically doesn't make this a Victoria Sponge cake, but hey ho pOtato potAto!

I took Delia Smith's Classic Sponge Cake recipe from her Delia's Cakes book (which I've already featured in my Gluten Free Banana & Walnut Loaf blog post). And cooked it in a special heart-shaped mould I got from Ikéa.

Ingredients for sponge cake:

• 115g self-raising flour (I used Doves Farm gluten free one)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 115g spreadable butter (a.k.a. at room temperature)

• 115g golden caster sugar

• 2 large eggs (I only had small eggs so I did 3)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I did 2, because you can never have too much vanilla!)

Preheat oven at 170°C (I did 200°C because my oven is non-fan and also a bit special). Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, then add all the other ingredients. Whisk until you have a smooth creamy consistency. Pour mixture into a buttered mould or cake tin and cook for 25 minutes.

I cooked it for 30 minutes but when I took my cake out of its mould to put on a cooling rack some cake got left behind (I know; wipes away tear...sniff!). Not unsalvageable however, but since I had never cooked with a silicone mould before, I made the rookie mistake of assuming it would be non-stick enough to not need butter, but I was wrong! Always butter your moulds and cake tins kids!!!

Once cooled, I cut the sponge cake evenly in half using this handy dandy cake slicer. Then I spread a layer of jam (a.k.a. "strawberries"), and whipped cream on the bottom layer (from a can coz #lazy), then covered with the top layer. To stabilised the "structure" for the fondant icing (which I got premade in Casa) I added a few toothpicks here and there. Roll out your fondant icing and decorate as you please!

There you have it, three ways to eat your strawberries! I'm totally counting these as one of my five a day.

If you like strawberries, how do you like to eat them?

Any fun plans this Valentine's Day?

Let's be honest here, how many heart-shaped chocolates have you indulged in today? definitely not judging! ;)

P.S. I you're wondering what's on my nails, it's Essie's Altitude Attitude from their Winter Collection 2015. But Watermelon, which is in their permanent collection, is also a gorgeous pinky red... although slightly on the more pinky side than Altitude Attitude it's still a good alternative!

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Pancakes

Happy Mardi Gras everybody!!! Also known as Shrove Tuesday, this can only mean one thing...bead necklaces!!! I kid, PANCAKES!!!

Although some of you might be wondering why I'm showing crêpes? Here in Europe, this is generally what we mean when we order/make pancakes. I know in America they have a smaller thicker version that is generally eaten with Maple syrup for breakfast, but these are not they (sorry if I've disappointed any of you!).

Now after many years of trying to make my own version of gluten free pancakes and failing miserably, I decided, this year, to find a recipe online. Thanks to this lovely lady, I realised that I was going wrong when I was adding xanthan gum. Thinking I would need it for the pancakes not to tear whilst cooking I was actually hindering my efforts to a sticky mess...lesson learnt!!!

Ingredients for pancakes (makes about 12):

• 245g plain flour (gluten free, my favourite is Doves Farm)

• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

• 3 eggs at room temperature

• 28g of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 475ml milk at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (if you want to make your pancakes sweet rather than savoury)

• 43g confectioner's sugar (again for sweet rather than savoury)

I made the mistake of not adding vanilla extract or sugar to my recipe (not realising that Nicole's original recipe was to make "neutral" pancakes. If you want to have savoury pancakes then it's fine, but for sweet ones I found that it made them quite bland. So definitely add your vanilla and sugar guys! Then simply follow her instructions, which are basically to add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and whisk until well combined.

But now for the fun part...HOW TO EAT THEM?!!!

SUGAR

Let's begin with a true classic, plain sugar! Need I say more? Honestly, it's a classic for a reason; you could also add vanilla ice cream if you're feeling particularly indulgent.

LEMON JUICE & SUGAR

This I feel is a rather British combination. In Belgium (where I grew up), this was never an option on offer. Not that I minded of course, since I don't particularly like the mixture of sweet and sour. My mum on the other hand can't get enough of this combination. You could also try lime juice if you fancy a bit of a change.

BROWN SUGAR

Speaking of Belgium...a true classic addition to pancakes is Cassonade (finely milled brown sugar). This is delicious!!! Although you might have to finish your brown sugar rather quickly once you've opened your packet as it tends to solidify into a brick, fast! I've heard that storing the brown sugar with marshmallows stops this problem, but I've yet to test it out.

NUTELLA

I've left the BEST for last!!! In case you didn't know, Nutella is GLUTEN FREE!!! Yes, you've heard right my little chocolate addicts; you don't have to give up Nutella if you're gluten free! Which thank the heavens! Because I could eat the stuff by the tub! And on pancake day, I just add a bit of pancake to my habit/problem! ;)

There you have it, my “pancake day” post. I know what you're thinking: I truly suffered for my art today; eating all these delicious gluten free pancakes...what can I say, someone had to make sure they were alright!

Bon appétit!!!

How do you like to eat your pancakes on this special day?

Do you have a different tradition that you celebrate?

P.S. I you're wondering what's on my nails, it's Essie's Altitude Attitude from their Winter Collection 2015. But Watermelon, which is in their permanent collection, is also a gorgeous pinky red... although slightly on the more pinky side than Altitude Attitude it's still a good alternative!

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Bûche de Noël

Finally, for my last blog post of Christmas Day, I present; the pièce de résistance...my take on the bûche de Noël a.k.a. the Yule log!

As a kid, when faced with the two choices of dessert; from the UK's traditional Christmas fruit cake (beurk!) and the delicious Belgian gooey chocolate sponge cake or ice cream that is the Yule log, I'm sure you don't need much guesswork to know which one I preferred. But sadly, "the parents" always bought the fruit cake (sniff).

While my taste buds have changed since then and I don't actually mind the fruit cake that much anymore, I wanted to try my hand at making my own Yule log. So when my aunt asked me if I could make a tiger cake (a Scandinavian dessert Tiikerikkakku) that bares a very similar recipe/resemblance to the marbled effect of the Yule log, I knew what I was going to do. One Christmas present later (a Yule log pan bought from Nordic Ware on Amazon) and I was ready.

These photos are all the result of my very first attempt at this recipe so bear with me, I would definitely change a couple of things:

Firstly; buttering this pan (then flouring to make it non-stick) was a nightmare!!! Because of all the ridges butter gets left in clumps (as you can see a bit in the photos). So if I could find a spray can of butter (which I've seen used before in America) I would definitely recommend that over the normal technique.

Secondly: I followed this British Vogue recipe but the quantity was not quite enough to fill my whole pan, although it did rise quite well for non-self-raising flour (gluten free plain white flour from Dove's Farm, my favourite!).

For the ingredients, I'm calculating half as much again from the original recipe because of the size of my pan. But when I next attempt it, I shall confirm whether that was indeed enough or whether I should have just doubled the original quantity.

Ingredients for cake (Serves 12):

• 450g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 375g caster sugar

• 4 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 8 small eggs or 7 big ones

• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 450g plain flour (gluten free)

• 4 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

• 27ml (little bit less than 2 tbsp) double cream

• 1 1/2 xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 180C° on fan oven (I had to do 200C° with my normal oven) and grease the pan (try to find a spray can of butter or oil, otherwise...may the force be with you!).

Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with a handheld electric whisk until pale and fluffy (careful, this is not the point where we add the actual cream). Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one by one, whisking well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift the baking powder, flour and xanthan gum together, then fold into the egg mixture.

Spoon about a third of the mixture into a separate bowl (I did a bit more because I wanted more chocolatey parts in my cake), and fold in the cocoa powder and cream.

Alternate spooning in both mixtures into your pan however you want and level the top with the back of your spoon when done. I attempted piping to try and make a stripy wood-like pattern, but when both my vanilla and chocolate piping bags burst within minutes, I gave up! Spooning it in at random hoping for the best actually works quite well! :P

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes (I did 65 minutes and it was a bit dry). It does say until firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean, but I would recommend aiming for the 50 minute mark to keep things moist.

Whatever you do, try and get the cake out of the pan (especially the non-flexible Nordic Ware ones) while it's still a bit warm (I made the mistake of putting it straight in the fridge while still in the pan after cooling and had to re-pop it in the oven for 5 minutes to loosen it up again, because that thing wasn't budging!).

The cake tastes best the day after baking and is also suitable for freezing.

For the icing, I just used a couple of Wilton Sparkle Decorating Gels in red and green that I found in Lakeland. Or you could just sprinkle some icing sugar on top, to make it look like snow on the log. But the decorating is always the most fun part, so I leave it entirely up to you.

There you have it, my first attempt at the Yule log! I'm definitely going to be doing this recipe again if only to try out the multitude of decorating ideas I have for the finished product.

What do you traditionally eat on Christmas Day?

Does your dessert involve chocolate? :P

Gotta go and indulge in my food coma now. I'm sure we can all agree that whatever it is we eat; we all end up feeling like stuffed turkeys by the end anyway! :P

xxxemma

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Edinburgh

At the end of September, my brother and I (both graduates of Edinburgh University) took a trip down memory lane and spent a quick weekend there.

Now while there was a specific reason we went (see below: McEwan Hall) we also had a day and a couple of hours to spare to enjoy the city again.

VICTORIA STREET

Arguably the most Harry Potter-esque street in Edinburgh (I mean the whole of Old Town Edinburgh did influence J.K. Rowling, so these scenes are easy to find at almost every corner); a new Harry Potter shop has opened since both our graduations and we were keen to check it out.

Diagon House (also located on Cockburn Street), is a shop full of trinkets, prop replicas and gifts that would make any wizard feel proud. Although rather crowded when we went - it was September after all, so the start of a new school year full of Hogwarts students in need of fresh school supplies, I'm sure. I saw this gorgeous Hogwarts Crest Wax Seal Kit that I was very tempted to buy, but as my brother pointed out I tend to avoid real paper mail (I mean it's always bills so my owl has a hard time trying to deliver those to me). So I resisted, but if you're more mail inclined than me just know that it's there, along with every school house (Gryffindor represent!).

THE VIEW

As any student or former student will know, there are multiple university buildings that offer a great view of the city and with the advantage of being protected from the cold and wet. Armed for entry with my alumni university card, I knew where to go (my secret I'm afraid) and I managed to get these great shots!

McEWAN HALL

Now for the real reason we went on this trip to Edinburgh. As I've mentioned above; both my brother and I are graduates of Edinburgh University, so when it came time to donate to restore McEwan Hall (where all the graduation ceremonies take place), we chipped in. As a thank you to all donations above £115 everyone got to get their names put on the wall of the new "Pathway to Enlightenment", and we were all invited to see the end result on this particular weekend.

Although I did go on Sunday after the event, to get a new official Edinburgh jumper (in red cause #Gryffindor) from The University of Edinburgh Gift Shop located opposite McEwan Hall at the visitor centre. I noticed that some scaffolding had suddenly been put up (right in the picture above), so not quite finished yet, but well on its way, plus they said they still had to install a lift that November. :)

The end result of the restoration is breath-taking and well worth the £33 million it took to get there! Having had both an exam and my graduation ceremony in there, it's much more pleasant to be in there now (not so cold and draughty). The windows in the dome that used to cast an unfortunate spotlight on seated audience members have now been dimmed using a blue toned shading effect, combined with the new lighting and chandelier, along with all the painting restoration, you really feel like you're in the middle of a giant Fabergé egg...not an unpleasant feeling actually!

So, there you have it, our quick trip up to Edinburgh. I leave you with this gorgeous old pic that I took from where I used to live as a student (before the days of my trusty DSLR I'm afraid, so this is one of the very few in focus and of good quality).

Have you ever donated to a restoration? Were you pleased with the result?

Have you spent a lot of time as a student or simple wanderer in a city that you really miss now? Would love to hear your stories. :)

xxxemma

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Marbella - Mountain Towns

I know what you're all thinking...how many more Marbella blog posts are there?! I promise you this is el último! But in case you haven't seen the others yet, then I do have a Fuerte Hotel, a Casco Antiguo and of course an Evening Outfits one for your viewing pleasure.

As I'm currently suffering from my second cold of this winter season, let me tell you these sunny photos make me miss the warm weather so much! And I'm an Olaf through and through, i.e. I love bundling up when it's cold!

HOTEL HACIENDA PUERTA DEL SOL (IN MIJAS)

Ugh...some of these photos had ridiculous amounts of cable wires and road signs ruining my shots, but now we can all play a game called "see if you can spot the touch-ups?"

Anyway before we went up to visit Mijas Pueblo, we stopped for lunch at the gorgeous Hacienda Puerta Del Sol located not too far from the village. We saw some spectacular views from there too.

MIJAS PUEBLO (IN MIJAS)

Mijas Pueblo is a white village located high up in the Marbella mountains with knockout views over the Mediterranean. As I've mentioned before in my Casco Antiguo post, Andalusians are very fond of the whitewashed walls combined with hanging blue flower pots, and this place was no exception!

Just off the main square there is a multi-storey car park, which makes it easy for tourists to drive up to this mountain town and drop off their cars and have a wander through the quaint cobbled streets of the village by foot. Unfortunately, on the day we went, the lifts of the multi-storey were out of action, so instead my dad dropped my brother and I off for a few minutes to wander around (and so I could take photos).

Despite the large amount of tourists that come through this village, it has still kept its calm and old Spanish ambience (but again we went during the more "off season" that is mid-September). Beware, this picturesque village is not to be confused with Mijas Costa, which is a standard tower block hotel resort on the coastal strip nearby.

PLAZA DE TOROS (IN MIJAS)

Now I'm not a big fan of bullfighting hence why I didn't go anywhere close to inside this building, but apparently this bullring dates back to the 1900s and has a unique and uncommon shape not found anywhere else in the world.

This lady was dressed in gorgeous Flamenco attire and kindly posed for my camera. She appeared pretty much out of nowhere, but her husband and child were dressed in normal/casual clothing (and hence didn't make the cut, muahaha!) so I'm guessing she's one of the performers opening the bullfighting "spectacle".

However, the village had lots of Flamenco restaurant names and posters so I could be completely wrong. Either way, I was super lucky to capture this moment and it really made my two little Flamenco dancer figurines (bought for my souvenirs cabinet), that much more special. Again, spot the sneaky blue flower pot.

BUDDHIST STUPA (IN BENALMÁDENA)

Roughly translated, stupa means spiritual monument and at 33 meters high this building is certainly not going to be missed. The shape also intrigued my family and I (designed to represent a Buddha sitting in meditation), out of pure curiosity we drove up to it to see if it was an art gallery of some sort (it also has great parking for the breath-taking views over the Mediterranean). No such luck on the gallery but being the largest Buddhist stupa in Europe and with free entry it's certainly worth a visit (if not for the views alone).

But if that's not your cup of tea, there was also a butterfly exhibition next door (alas pure torture for a lepidopterophobe like me! Yes...I know they are harmless! But I still maintain that some have a personal vendetta against me; especially those hungry-looking ones!).

CASTILLO DE COLOMARES (IN BENALMÁDENA)

Unlike the look of it, this castle is actually super modern and isn't really a castle but rather a monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus (the largest in the world which also contains the smallest church in the world) and built between 1987-1994. Combining numerous architectural styles from the Byzantine to the Romanesque with some Gothic and Mudejar, this real conglomerate of styles makes it quite a beauty to behold.

So there you have it, my last Marbella post (I can hear your sighs of relief from here) but guess what?! Now I can do all my Christmas themed posts...YAY!!! (I'm ignoring that collective eye roll; you know you love it!).

Which was your favourite Marbella post?

Which was your favourite view of the Mediterranean? Some pictures flip so look carefully!

Finally, have you guessed which photos have had the most manipulation? (hint: one contains a red car, the other palm trees!)

xxxemma

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Marbella - Casco Antiguo (Old Town)

If you haven't seen it already then check out my Marbella Fuerte Hotel post first, for a better idea on where my family and I were staying on our summer vacation. Anyway, literally a five-minute walk away from our hotel was this lovely gorgeous little old town called...wait for it...Old Town!!! Ba-dum-tish!!! Well that was slightly anticlimactic...but the Spanish makes it sound way more exotic, so we'll go with that; Casco Antiguo (with the fancy accent if you please :P).

CASCO ANTIGUO (OLD TOWN)

PLAZA DE LOS NARANJOS (ORANGE SQUARE)

Continuing with the literal and as the name would suggest, this town square is full of orange trees. Now while I was there the oranges weren't in fruit, but you could still sit down and enjoy some freshly squeezed orange juice by the fruit stand while relishing the nice cool breeze. Or wander around the many little shops and boutiques, like I did, lined with all sorts of pretty things...art, Flamenco skirts and toys! Oh my! And an authentic churro stall - but sadly not for a gluten-intolerant like me (all that yummy melted chocolate sauce, wasted)!

VIRGEN DE LOS DOLORES (VIRGIN OF SORROWS)

Along my promenade and located in the old quarter, I came across the Virgin of Sorrows very much by accident and captured this beautiful shot (which I later realised was the typical touristy shot, but I don't care, I still love it!). Niched on a balcony of a house that can be dated back to the 17th century (much like the Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation, see below) its main role was to bless the people and the city.

You'll soon come to realise while wandering the little passageways that the contrast of blue flower pots with whitewashed walls is a favourite in Andalucía...

Look, even THE PEOPLE MATCH!!! (Now that's my kind of town!). I kid, I was super lucky that this man walked past, and I captured him in time just before he rounded a corner.

I must say I really love this colour combination; it reminds me of the likes of Santorini #wishlistdestination.

In any case you know you're somewhere hot when they can afford to decorate their walls with flowers and flower pots!

Oh look, someone else's clothes match the pretty flowers (heart eyes emoji)!!! Honestly, it's like they were waiting for me on purpose?!!

As you can imagine merrily walking down these little alleyways smelled divine, let alone seeing them.

I really highly recommend doing this if you're ever in Casco Antiguo. Plus, it's also mostly residential areas, so it's super quiet and relaxing.

Most of the hustle and bustle is rooted (excuse the pun) in Orange Square and even then it's not that busy to begin with (but we did travel to Marbella in more of the "off season" that is beginning/mid-September so my opinion might be a bit biased).

Every alleyway had a hidden gem of some sort; from delicious looking tapas restaurants to breathtaking hanging plants (more like Amazonian forests!) and even cute, secluded and quiet residential squares. Really, it's just up to you to find them!

IGLESIA NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA ENCARNACIÓN (CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE INCARNATION)

Because I can't write a touristy blog post without some sort of history thrown in, be prepared to get bored...I mean highly entertained and intrigued (got to make my History of Art/Architecture degree worth it somehow?!!).

The Church of the Incarnation started construction in 1618, and was restored after the Spanish Civil War. The main entrance made out of ochre stone, located by the Calle Caridad, was built after 1750 and features the Rococo style, a late Baroque style; not as political and more playful and witty. However, the interior which is divided into three sections (apse, transept and nave), is basilica based.

The bell tower is projected to be 33 meters high, restored in 1977 and equipped with a new clock. You can learn more about the church's fascinating history here (my high-school Spanish works for me, but if you're stuck there's nothing a little Google translate can't fix) and here.

As a certain Cogsworth would say "if it ain't Baroque, don't fix it!" and this is pretty much the church in a nutshell (who else is looking forward to the new Beauty and the Beast movie starring Emma Watson?). If you know anything about the Baroque style in question, then you'll know it's all about the drama and exuberant detail. And this sumptuous, and most eye-catching altarpiece I think I've ever seen, doesn't disappoint! This man kneeling and praying in front of the reredos (distinguished from the retable counterpart by the fact that it rises from the floor and not from the altarpiece itself or the surface behind it), really gives the viewer an idea of the scale and grandeur.

However, not to be outdone, this isn't the only masterpiece of the Church of the Incarnation as every corner you turn contains another gilded beauty (yes, as you may have guessed, we're in a Catholic church!!!). Even the organ dubbed "órgano del sol mayor" (organ of the greater sun) is a treasure in itself, completed in 1975 it is one of the most important organs to be built in Spain in the last 125 years, sadly I didn't get to hear it play, but I'm sure it is Heavenly (pun totally intended)!!!

So there you have it, my visit to Casco Antiguo.

What was your favourite part or picture from this post?

Do you like to wander around old European towns while on holiday and make little discoveries along the way, or do you prefer the hustle and bustle of more touristic destinations?

What has been your favourite place to visit as of late?

xxxemma

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Marbella - Fuerte Hotel

Now that it is nearly winter and a lot of you might be missing the sun, I thought why not do a couple of posts about my Marbella family holiday? Well that, and I had about a thousand photos to go through (sadly I'm not even kidding!), so it took a bit of time to edit.

Relax, sit back, and pretend you're back on your summer holiday (drinking a cocktail is completely optional too)!

You might recognise the inside of this gorgeous Fuerte Hotel located on the Costa del Sol from my Marbella Evening Outfits post. However, now you get to see it in detail, woop...woop!

THE BAR/LOUNGE

During the day, the actual bar area was usually empty. As you can imagine most people preferred to lounge in the sun, and with plenty of seating available (both inside and outside) you could chat away and have a relaxing lunch without straying too far from the poolside.

But if you do want to be inside, you'll find yourself in good company...while taking these snaps I came across a little bird that had wondered into the bar (clearly thirsty). Unfortunately, I scared it away before I could get any good photos (my Snow White dreams have yet to be realised) ...I know what you're thinking, no...it didn't even send me a tweet!

For non-alcohol drinkers like me, do be warned though, despite the cocktail menu clearly stating what goes into every cocktail, they aren't actually made from scratch. So when you ask for a mocktail suddenly everyone gets a bit confused, and since they might not have all the ingredients at hand, you might find yourself with a Piña Colada that's really just an expensive pineapple juice!

In the evening, the outside lounge area became a stage for the themed performances that happened every night; from Flamenco dancing, to singing or Paraguayan harp playing, there was something for everyone. And if you're lucky enough to be in a room overlooking the stage (like I was) then you can enjoy it all on your balcony whilst wearing your pyjamas and none would be the wiser. Best of all, they always stopped by 11h30 pm so no night's sleep was sacrificed.

THE READING AREA

There is a small bookcase filled with old guests' books, kindly donated to the hotel. From German to I think Slovak, there were quite a few options. Yes, I even spotted the discarded copy of Twilight that seems to make an appearance in every bookcase of this kind.

So if you haven't prepared any reading (or you're armed with your Kindle) and you want to take a break from the sun, there are plenty of comfortable seats to choose from. You'll also find the occasional guest snoozing in one of these seats, they are that comfy! And despite this area being located next to the kiddies' day care room (the Forti Club), it's surprisingly quiet.

THE DINNING AREA

Both breakfast and dinner were buffets. Because people tend to come down more or less at the same time for breakfast, getting a seat in the area outside was near impossible; on a 12 day stay we (as a family of four) only managed it once. But for dinner there was no such difficulty as people ate at very different times.

BREAKFAST

As you may have sussed out by my previous recipes on this blog, I eat gluten free. This is always a test for any restaurant.

Breakfast was AMAZING though!!! They had a little alcove full of gluten free cakes (delicious orange jelly filled sugar cakes...still dreaming about those to this day). One morning they even had Schär's hazelnut croissants (which I can't find here in Belgium) so I nabbed them and asked the chef making the omelettes on demand to warm them in the oven for me.

Unfortunately, bread had the same system (you have to go to the chef for him to warm them) which is rather time consuming having to wait 15 minutes every morning. Plus, the two tiny rolls you get in one bag (no risk of cross-contamination here) aren't really worth it. But if you're prepared to go to the local Supermercado you'll find Schär bread no problem. So you too can avoid that annoying wait by just bringing your own bread down to breakfast.

LUNCH

Since I tended to eat quite a big breakfast (a gf ham and cheese sandwich and gf pastries) I wasn't hungry for lunch and tended to skip it, so I can't really attest to the hotel's option there. And well, I may or may not have sneaked a few pastries from breakfast up to my room to eat if I really got hungry during the day...

DINNER

When it came to the dinner buffet, the gluten free options were pretty limited. The chef present was there to freshly grill meat or fish per request and had no real idea as to what had gone into the separate dishes in the buffet (not his job). So I ended up eating plain grilled chicken 12 nights in a row (good thing I'm not vegetarian too otherwise I would have been eating air for dinner). I mean they did have a salad bar to be fair, but I'm not fond of salads but I did find happiness with their delicious green olives.

I did also have some gazpacho too, for the last couple of nights anyway, but I was just assuming there was no gluten in there (the croutons were in a separate dish). No one actually knew for sure its content (it's important to note that I'm not actually Celiac, I'm just gluten intolerant, so my risk factor is a lot less than yours might be). Plus, there was a language barrier to contend with, but if you mention "Celíaco" they'll know what they are dealing with, even if it unfortunately doesn't broaden your buffet options.

Desserts were the worst, every single dessert had some sort of sponge thing in it, only one night did they have a strawberry mousse without any. So I stuck to their ice creams (the Neapolitan choice). Where one of the kind French chefs took pity on my struggling to try and make a ball with a scoop and showed me how it is done...I'm now an expert ice cream scooper!

THE GARDEN/POOLSIDE

Now if you're a fan of tanning then you have three choices when it comes to the Marbella Fuerte Hotel: the garden, the poolsides (there are two, one of which converts into an indoor pool) and the beach.

The garden is gorgeous and if you're lucky enough (or pick your moment right) then you just might get a tanning bed in the garden overlooking the sea (and get a wonderful breeze too).

The garden also comes with 5 patio poster beds that you can rent at €20 a day. Personally, I didn't book one (because there was ample space on the other normal tanning beds). But my favourite ones are seen in the picture above, with prime location near the pool and in the garden, with a view of the sea, what more could you ask?!!

However, my favourite tanning location had to be the beach! For the simple reason that it had the best breeze and therefore you didn't end up sweating buckets whilst trying to tan.

From the garden/poolside there is easy guest access to the beachfront walkway via a key card secured gate, and to the beach via an underground tunnel.

P.S. I tried my best not to get anybody in shot while they were in swimwear (at least their faces). If I'm not prepared to show myself in a bikini on the internet, I'm not going to subject a stranger to that fate either. Hence, I couldn't get any good photos of the pools. But the Fuerte Hotel's website has some good pics, so head on over there if you're desperate to see them.

THE BEACH

The beach was gorgeous, I spent most of my tanning time there. However, do be warned, since the beach is free to the public you will get some people walking up to you trying to sell you cheap knock-off designer handbags and the like. Although if you're busy listening to music or reading a book and don't have your handbag in sight (I hid mine under my tanning bed) they think you aren't carrying cash on you and leave you alone pretty quickly.

I also enjoyed collecting seashells and bits of corroded coloured glass, what can I say I'm a kid at heart! However, I never actually went swimming in the sea for two reason a) it was way too cold and b) it's the SEA!!! I have no idea if what's touching my leg is a bit of seaweed or a girl-eating fish...we've all seen that first scene in Jaws!!! So I keep my swimming to nice and calm chemically poisoned, sorry I mean "chlorinated" pools!

THE BEACH RESTAURANT

I didn't end up eating anything at this restaurant since I skipped lunch most days (as you'll know from above), but it was always busy so it must have been good?! Open to everyone not just hotel guests, you can get to it from the beachfront walkway (via stairs) or directly from the beach itself.

THE BEACHFRONT WALKWAY (EL PASEO MARITIMO)

Full of cute little souvenir shops, restaurants and typical touristy stuff...I spotted an inflatable Dolphin that I was really tempted to buy (I'm naming him Swimmy!). You definitely need to stroll down this walkway at least once during your stay. Personally, at night it got a bit too crowded for my tastes but if that's your thing, go for it!

So there you have it, the gorgeous Costa del Sol hotel that my family and I stayed at for our summer vacay. I leave you with these two last gorgeous sunset photos (the first one flips into a sunset).

What's your favourite thing to do on holiday?

What your favourite cocktail (or mocktail) to drink on holiday? And favourite food?

Are you more of a pool or sea person?

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Halloween Sugar Cookies

Last year I attempted to make these cookies, but it was a horrible crumbly mess, in my defence I had used a non-gluten free recipe and converted it myself...wasn't great. This year I learnt my lesson and searched for a gluten free recipe to begin with. I found this amazing recipe on the Betty Crocker website (for my American readers just follow the link for your preferred unit of measurement but I'll stick to my grams).

COOKIES

• 200g granulated sugar

• 226.8g butter

• 2 teaspoons of vanilla

• 1 egg

• 320g gluten free all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

ICING

• 300g powdered sugar

• 5 tablespoons of milk

• food colouring

Now I didn't have any shortening but after a quick Google search I found it could be replaced in equal measurement by butter. This just changes the texture a bit because it contains water, meaning your cookies will spread out more and lose a bit of their shape while baking, but as you can see from my photos this wasn't by much!

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat granulated sugar and softened butter in a large bowl until creamy

2. On low speed beat in vanilla and egg

3. Stir in flour blend, baking powder and salt until well mixed (don't feel tempted to add xanthan gum, the dough is sticky enough as is)

4. Divide dough in two (makes it more manageable later on) make them in a rough ball shape and wrap in plastic wraps placing them in the fridge for an hour

5. Heat oven to 200°C (for fan oven 180°C)

6. Work on clean surface dusted in gluten free flour (the dough is extremely sticky so use generously including on rolling pin and both sides of the dough itself) roll out dough to approx. 1/2 cm

7. Cut out desired shapes and place on non-greased baking paper (on oven tray) about 3 cm apart

8. Bake until edges are lightly browned; this should be about 8 to 12 minutes but because my oven is "special" it took 20 minutes for each batch

9. Repeat steps 6-8 until all dough is used up

Armed with my Halloween cookie cutters (alternatives here) I was ready to begin.

For the icing I had never thought of using milk before, I've always just added water to my powdered sugar (a great alternative if you're lactose intolerant) but the milk does make the icing a bit richer and creamier...nummy nummy!

The measurements I have given below are very approximate, I did it more by eye than anything, getting the right icing consistency takes practice; here is a link which you might find useful if you're a novice. For my food colouring I used Dr. Oetker Gel Food Colours, great array of colours!

The Pumpkin

The less sugary biscuits of the bunch since they don't have so much icing. I used 20g powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk and orange food colouring for the outline of the pumpkins. I added the eyes and mouth with left over black icing (see below) and added further green for the stems (5g powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of milk and green food colouring).

The Bat

For the black icing I used approximately 150g powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and lots of black food colouring (enough that it doesn't look grey). I knew I would need a lot of it as I needed to glaze the bats, the black cats (see below) and add detailing on the pumpkins and ghosts.

Once I had done the black glazing all over the biscuits, outlining my shape first then filling in with a zigzag motion, I put them in the fridge for 15 minutes or so. Once that layer had hardened, I added two big white blobs for the eyes, and two small white ones for the fangs. I then added the final black blob for the pupils without putting it in the fridge in between that layer and the white one (I wanted it to blend a bit).

The Ghost

BOO!!! Admit it, you were scared?!! For the ghosts I used 125g powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk approx. No added colouring since the sugar is already white. Again, I did the outline first then filled in, put in fridge for 15 minutes then added the black small blobs for the eyes and slightly bigger more arched shape for the mouth.

The Black Cat

For the black cats (nod to all the superstitious folks out there) I only did a black glazing without any further detailing. I would have added some green cat eyes but the angle of the head made it very hard to determine where their placement would be, and since I only had four left (a lot had burnt tails or lost them in the baking process) I didn't want to ruin the last survivors...R.I.P. to the ones that didn't make it, you were still delicious! :)

There you have it a rather more successful attempt at the gluten free sugar cookie (Halloween shapes are optional).

Now my delicious cookie army is ready to be eaten...bon appétit!!!

What is your favourite Halloween candy/treat?

What's your best Trick or Treating memory?

How are you celebrating Halloween tonight? I'm thinking scary movie while eating a bunch of these cookies :)

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Easter Nutella Cake

Happy Easter!!! Or as I like to call it; Stuffing Your Face Full of Chocolate Day!!! (what too long?!). Whatever you might be up to today (hunting for eggs in your garden, admit it!) today feels like spring has finally sprung, and what better way to celebrate it than with a green cake! But not just any green cake, no, a Nutella filled gluten free, chocolate cake!

While living in Belgium and being lucky enough to have access to some of the best chocolate in the world (Switzerland...I see you) it is also a truth universally acknowledged that when it comes to spreadable chocolate, Nutella is the one to beat. Plus, you guys will find it a lot easier to get your hands on it than coming all the way over here to the land of chocolate (and it's cheaper too).

For this recipe I combined the decoration from a cake decorating inspiration book with the inner cake based off of a recipe from a 30 culte Nutella recipes mini book. Now I would show you the photo I used for inspiration, but in comparison my cake doesn't look half as good. What can I say, they actually had flower cutters, I had to make do with my hands and the one flower cutter I do own. (Since baking this cake my mum has been very generous and ordered me two sets from Divertimenti, can't wait!).

Ingredients for cake (Serves 8):

• 2 sandwich tins 9 inch (greased and floured with gluten free normal flour not self-raising)

• 175g sifted plain white flour (Doves Farm gluten free; don't add xanthan gum as it will make the mixture too sticky)

• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

• 175g butter (soften to room temperature)

• 175g brown sugar (I used Cassonade which is quite a finely milled brown sugar, but I don't think it makes much difference)

• 4 eggs (I used medium sized; which do look quite small to me, but they were enough)

• 4 tablespoons of Nutella (the recipe originally called for just 2 but that was with a very rich chocolaty icing. Since I swapped my icings for a plain but coloured one, I put in 4 tablespoons, unlevelled...think more like tablespoon scoops, and it was just chocolaty enough)

• 1 big jar of Nutella for the "icing" in the middle of both cake layers (the jars are labelled gluten free)

The book's instruction says to fling all the ingredients together into the bowl of a food mixer, but as I only have a hand held mixer, I first put all my dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, sugar) added my softened butter, blended a bit. Then I added the wet ingredients, the 4 eggs and blended till the mixture was well combined. Lastly, I added the 4 tablespoons of Nutella and blended again.

Divide the mixture equally between 2 greased and floured (gluten free) 9 inch sandwich tins, level with a palette knife and bake for 30 minutes (although keep an eye out after 25) at 180°C in a fan oven or 200°C for a non-fan oven.

My oven is a particularly difficult one (non-fan) so mine cooked for about an hour at 200°C with me swapping over the tins half-way through (from top shelf to bottom) then taking them out of their tins and putting them back in (upside down) each for 5 minutes (the bottom wasn't properly cooked. I wouldn't recommend this technique (if you can call it that) as it made my cakes rather dry, but better than un-cooked right?

Once you have taken the cakes out of their tins, let them cool on a cooling rack. Cut the top of the cake you want as your top layer (try to get the thinnest one on the top if possible) as they do tend to rise a bit in the oven. Spread a generous coat of Nutella on the top of your bottom layer and place the top one on top. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes (you don't want hot cake melting your icing).

Ingredients for Icing/Decoration:

• 2 packets of 250g Ready-to-Roll green icing

• 1 packet of 250g Ready-to-Roll pink icing

• 1 packet of 250g Ready-to-Roll yellow icing

• 1 packet of 250g Ready-to-Roll white icing

• Smarties for the coloured centre of the flowers (or mini M&M's)

Knead both 250g of green icing and try and make it into a ball, then roll it out into a circle as best you can. Keep rolling it out till you have achieved the circumference of your cake plus enough to drop down over the edges. Place over cake, centre as much as possible and cut off the edges (I had to cut them off using "cooking" scissors because my knife wasn't getting through the thick icing). Glue down the edges as best you can with Nutella (use a knife with Nutella on it and scrape off on the insides of the edges).

Knead and roll out small chunks from your other coloured Ready-to-Roll icing packets (I had tons left over) then cut out the flowers and place as you wish. Add the Smarties to the centre of some of your flowers (again as your creativity dictates).

And Voilà, Bon Appétit!

Alternatively, if you can't be bothered to bake on this relaxing day, then Marks and Spencer have made some very cute Easter Chocolate Egg Baskets, which I checked and the ingredients are in fact gluten free (Belgium chocolate, although delicious, tends to also contain gluten unfortunately, so unless you've specifically checked with your chocolatier don't risk it).

But Belgium wouldn't be Belgium without wacky chocolates. I'm not sure about the gluten content of this next recommendation, I haven't had any problem with it though. Leonidas is one of our top fancy chocolate brands (Godiva, Neuhaus and Galler are the others off the top of my head) and last year they came out with little milk chocolate eggs containing...wait for it...popping candy!!!

So now, not only are the eggs delicious, but they are fun to eat too! Plus, if you're gluten free you get the crunch of a biscuit filled chocolate without the actual biscuit, amazing invention Leonidas! Very happy that they brought them back again this year, they are called Sucré Pop and are only available Easter time, so go, go, go, while you still can!

So there you have it, a new post full of deliciousness! I'm sorry all chocolate haters (I know there are some of you out there), but what did you expect from someone who called herself LilacChocolate (previous blog name)? Honestly my chocoholic problem was pretty obvious! :P

What are you doing this Easter?

Do you bake Easter cakes? This is the first year I've done one. :)

What's your favourite chocolate egg to buy this time of year?

Now I'm off to nummy...nummy :)

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Coffee & Almond Cake

A couple of days ago was my Mum's birthday and what better way to celebrate than following tradition with her favourite family recipe passed down to her from her own Mum (my maternal grandmother)! I have however adapted the recipe to make it a gluten free version.

I wouldn't say this cake is solely for coffee lovers out there, on the contrary I'm not a coffee drinker but I very much enjoyed this cake back when my stomach could still tolerate it, that is! Don't worry, normal stomachs are fine, mine's just "special". I did have a morsel though just to make sure I didn't need to alter anything and without tooting my own horn, this has the be the best one I've made yet (toot...toot!).

Ingredients for cake (Serves 8):

• 2 sandwich tins 9inch (greased and floured with gluten free normal flour not self-raising)

• 227g self-raising flour (gluten free; no need to add xanthan gum as it will make the mixture too sticky)

• 170g castor sugar (I used ultra-fine, but it works with plain too)

• 170g margarine (or butter, whatever the preference or what's in your fridge at the time)

• 113g ground almonds

• 4 eggs: 3 large, 1 standard (I used 4 large eggs because they looked rather small for being large)

• 6 dessertspoons of COLD black coffee (I used vanilla flavoured, but normal works fine too)

• 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

• Pinch of salt

Make 3/4 of a cup of instant coffee (or other coffee of choice) and leave to cool (put in fridge for faster result), take out butter and eggs from the fridge to let warm to room temperature whilst coffee is cooling (approx. 1 hour).

Sift flour and salt. Cream margarine (or butter) and sugar with vanilla essence in bowl. Add warmed eggs (i.e. eggs at room temperature) at 10 second intervals (assuming you are using a food mixer, I just used a beater) then beat hard for 1 minute. Add the ground almonds and beat till almonds are blended in mixture (about 10 seconds). Then add 1/2 the flour and 3 dessertspoons of coffee and beat again (about 10 seconds), then remainder of the flour and another 3 dessertspoons of coffee and beat making sure everything is well blended together.

Spread evenly in 2 greased and floured (gluten free) 9inch sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes (although keep an eye out after 25) at 180°C in a fan oven or 200°C for a non-fan oven.

Ingredients for Icing:

• 170g margarine (or butter)

• 312g sifted icing sugar

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (had I used normal coffee I would have added an extra teaspoon for a more vanilla-y flavour)

• 3 tablespoons of COLD black coffee (I added an extra tablespoon of my vanilla flavoured coffee because my family loves coffee, but start off with 3 and taste test to see if you want to add more)

Mix together margarine (or butter at room temperature), icing sugar, coffee and vanilla essence. When the cake is cool, sandwich the rounds together, retaining some icing for the top of the cake (and sides if that's how you wish to decorate).

Decoration (Optional):

• Chocolate sauce

• Coffee beans (real coffee beans are not edible so if you can find chocolate ones, even better)

• Brésilienne (chopped caramelised nuts)

Squeeze the tube of chocolate sauce in a zigzag motion over the cake, swivel cake 90° and zigzag again, you get this lovely asymmetric grid pattern. Add coffee beans in whatever pattern you like (make sure to warn your guests if they're not edible though, don't want to ruin that lovely cake flavour). Add the brésilienne all along the edge, this is the first year I did this (to cover up the uneven edging of the icing for the photos) but it gave the cake an extra "biscuity" crunch that was much enjoyed, to repeat!

So there you have it, a much loved family recipe modernised "à la gluten free" for you to enjoy and decorate as creativity inspires!

Have you got any family recipes that have been passed down through generations?

Are you a baking wizard that has come up with new yummy cake combinations? If so, do share!

What's your favourite part about making a cake? Mine is definitely the decorating :D

xxxemma

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Gluten Free Afternoon Tea?

Now I've already talked about my love for Marks and Spencer's clothes in a previous fashion post, but I have yet to mention their food. Having recently re-opened their store in Brussels (we've had to live without them, here in Belgium, for 14 years people!) their main attraction is their GINORMOUS Food Hall! Amongst which, is their great "Made Without" range, visit any of their Food Halls in person and you'll be sure to come across it and love it as much as I do.

As a gluten free eater this, of course, is the little niche I like to head for when I go every so often for a food shop. Now I know I've enthused about the joys of baking (especially Delia Smith recipes) in a previous post but sometimes you just can't be bothered to bake from scratch. Being a gluten free eater, this rather limits your options especially concerning baked goods. This is where Marks and Spencer can't be beaten, it has a range of fresh gluten free cakes at your disposal, including decorated celebration and birthday cakes (which don't have to be eaten on said special days..."A very merry unbirthday to me, To who?, To me, Oh you!") and of course if you don't follow the Mad Hatter's philosophy on life (who wouldn't, I say "let them eat cake!") there are also your standard combinations to choose from; Carrot & Walnut, Coffee & Walnut, Chocolate Fudge, Lemon Drizzle and the classic Victoria Sandwich (featured here).

So now you can enjoy your cuppa with a nice slice of cake, hassle free (important to note that they're not egg or dairy free). Bon appétit!!!

What's your favourite cake to eat with your tea?

What's your favourite tea? I'm currently loving Twinings' Decaffeinated Earl Grey :)

And a very merry unbirthday to you!

xxxemma

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Christmas at Bluewater

Ever since the Bluewater shopping centre opened in 1999 in Kent England, I've been going there to shop. Seeing as I was only 8 at the time my parents might have had something to do with it, but needless to say I grew up with this shopping centre. Now, why not just shop in Belgium for all your Christmas shopping I hear you ask? Well, it's not quite the same, we don't have such a huge shopping centre here in Belgium (I'm sure Americans are wondering why I'm making such a big deal about a mall, but imagine not having one...I know, right! Shock Horror). And customer service is near to non-existent here in Belgium. I once had to stand at a till (first one in-line) for twenty minutes being ignored with my goodies in hand at a Lush store (known to have excellent customer service) ...as I said, not the same! 

Bluewater always goes full-out for Christmas, and the whole centre gets decorated. This year was the first year I personally got to witness the Christmas lights being turned on, I know in 16 years how have I managed to miss that? Well we (my parents and my brother) usually do our week of shopping coincidentally a week before or after they are due to be turned on (second week of November) and hence we always manage to just miss the turning on event. So this was my lucky year and I brought my camera with me!

But what else is on offer at Christmas? For adults and children alike (we all know adults are just big kids really).

• Santa's Grotto: which I can confirm was a magical experience albeit a bit scary...it might have been the early 2000s but being scared of Santa is timeless...I mean he's the one who decides if you get presents that year...nerve-racking for any kid!)

• An Ice Skating Rink: having only ever been ice skating three time in my life as a fully-fledged adult (the rink wasn't a thing in Bluewater when I was a kid) and nearly concussing myself in the process (I know who would have thunk it...ice is one slippy little Son of a Biscuit!) I'm not sure who would want to attempt this dangerous sport. I kid, you will find your butt to be an excellent natural cushioning to anything you might face! It takes some getting used to, but (pun intended) I hear it's incredibly freeing when you get the hang of things (which I have yet to achieve unfortunately). And with lessons on offer, who can deny this magical slippery dance a chance (P.S. kids have much less of a distance to fall, combining this with their fearless attitudes be prepared to be overtaken by mini Speedy Gonzaleses every slide you take).

• A Giant Snow Slide: again as this has only appeared at Bluewater in the last five years, I have not had a chance to experience it (or even see it) but what doesn't sound awesome about a Giant Snow Slide!

• A Family Photobook offer: so now all your ice skating fails can be forever immortalised in print! Nah…I'm assuming this is for the very important meeting with Santa (I'm sure I have a photo stashed somewhere of my brother and I with Santa in his Grotto dating back to the early 2000s, but just use your imagination for now).

• 4D Cinema: the film, "Sleigh Ride". This is a 3D film with the added benefit of experiencing snow and wind through your hair as the film progresses (nooo...it's not just held outside!) I'm sure a lot of fun for the kids :)

• And of course, Light Night which is the turning on of the Christmas Lights in the second week of November (there's always next year…soz) which is a completely free event.

Now for the big kids: shopping!

• The Giving Tree: the idea is to give to less fortunate kids this Christmas. You go to the tree in question (near M&S, Upper Mall) you select a girl or boy's name tag which will give you an age, and it's free rein from there. Buy any, appropriate, gift from the Bluewater shopping mall (obv!) and deposit it back unwrapped to the Drop Box by the Giving Tree and voilà, it's that easy to make a little girl or boy, under less fortunate circumstances, smile this Christmas!

• Christmas Gift Wrapping Service: if you aren't as nit-picky as me then chances are you don't already have a wrapping paper colour scheme already picked out (I know...total weirdo!), in which case you might need a little extra help; open from the 27th November to 24th of December

• There are a lot more Christmassy activities organised by individual shops, so go take a gander via this link to what might take your fancy :)

Maybe it's the time of year (obv!) but you will notice Christmas shops popping up here and there, i.e. glitter tree decoration Heaven! My personal favourites; “Flutterbyes at Christmas” and the “Christmas Magic” shop.

Now for beauty bits and bobs which I know you’re all here for:

But first an announcement has to be made: KIKO has made an appearance at Bluewater…this is not a DRILL; I repeat it is NOT A DRILL!!! Who am I kidding, run girls…RUN!!! No but seriously, I talked to one of the retail assistants whilst paying for my goodies (couldn’t resist: watch out for a post on their Rebel Romantic Collection) it’s been there for the last two months. So now you don’t have to trek all the way to London. Kent will do :P

Right beside it: Lush! Because what is Christmas without one of their awesome Christmas box sets (cruel is what it is!), my personal choice; that I hope Santa will give me “The Christmas Bathtime Favourites” solely comprised of Bath Bombs which are my favourite products from Lush.

Although to be honest I’ve only really tried their Bubble Bars and Bath Bombs. I’m still nursing my wound at their decision to discontinue Space Girl, my favourite Bath Bomb (that I could get all year round), now I’ll just have to stick to Cinders come Autumn/Winter (I’ve stocked up…MWA HA HA!!!). I’m hoping the box set will introduce me to a new favourite scent, as that’s after all the job of these tasters :)

Really any beauty obsessed person knows that Boots and Superdrug are a must when going Christmas shopping, or just stocking up on essentials.

Luckily when I went to Boots this November, it coincided perfectly with their bi-annual 3 for 2 on all makeup, God I love their 3 for 2s! Ladies (and gents) this is the time to test out products you might not usually go for at full price or even just the very hyped products you’ve been dying to try.

In my case, this is when I stock up on Revlon, Rimmel and Maybelline products because only certain Di's here in Belgium carry Rimmel (forget Revlon and Maybelline) and it’s never the full line. But it’s not all bad, Di carries: The Balm, Essie, L’Oréal, Orly, Sleek and of course Real Techniques’ brushes (YAY for the Pixiwoo sisters Sam and Nic!) amongst other brands I’ve not really heard much about. Anyway, back to Boots. They also have an amazing selection of 3 for 2s on gift sets; and this is not just for the beauty lover, you can find amazing gifts for everyone in your family and friends.

P.S. Don’t forget to get yourself a Boots Advantage card, your points accumulate money and before you know it, you’ll have a lovely nest egg to spend.

Now, I don’t go to Superdrug as often as Boots, but their many collaborations with YouTubers is certainly pulling in the crowd! So if you’re beauty guru obsessed like me, or have a little sister or friend who loves beauty gurus as much as I do, then head to Superdrug before the limited Christmas edition gift sets get sold out. Unfortunately, it was too late for me (even in early November), Zoella’s lip balm duo was nowhere to be seen :/

Topshop beauty is also a must see, when shopping for a beauty obsessed person or yourself; their beauty range is fantastic! I highly recommend their velvet lips which only seem to come out in the autumn/winter season (some people like matte velvet lips all year round, you know…Topshop!)

The next one is a bit tricky and has me rather confused. This time last year, the Next at Bluewater was carrying NYX Cosmetics and I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. I finally got to get my hands on their "Butter Glosses" and try them out (quite a bit stickier than most describe, but my tolerance for sticky lipglosses is quite low…I’m a lipstick girl through and through). Having talked to a sales assistant at the time she seemed rather unfazed that they were there, hence I naively thought it would be a permanent fixture. Nope! This year NYX is nowhere to be seen, I guess you’ll just have to stick to their website :/

All your M.A.C. Cosmetics and Urban Decay needs are of course covered by House of Fraser. But if you’re looking for Too Faced unfortunately you won’t find it in any of the stores mentioned above. They are carried by Debenhams which is in the Intu Lakeside shopping centre (in Essex, half an hour from Bluewater, via the Dartford crossing). Unfortunately, not a big selection but I found the “Shadow Insurance” I was in desperate need of (I may or may not have been still using a very out-of-date one at the time).

Now if shops aren’t quite your thing there are also some stands along the lower mall walkway, including a giant Maybelline stand, also offering 3 for 2.

As for fashion:

New Look is my beacon of light when it comes to shoes (I swear I can hear a chorus of angels singing each time I walk into their shoe section). I first discovered their excellence in that domain when I was looking for the perfect shoes for my prom dress (sparkly gunmetal grey if interested for my "Ball du Bac" as we called it) which I bought before I even found my dress in Oriental Pearl (also in Bluewater). Needless to say, I wandered in New Look and my shoe addiction has only grown ever since. This year I bought a lovely pair of glittery gold heels for the festive season…gorgeous!

For accessories who else to turn to but Accessorize! I really have to commend their effort on their Christmas window displays, they always do an excellent job. For that glittery accent to your outfit, Accessorize is your best bet. Jewellery, clutches and shoes, oh my!!!

Clothing wise:

Dorothy Perkins have a very feminine aesthetic which I love. I stocked up on lace tops (all discounted…score!), because they are my way of living vicariously on the set of Reign (awesome TV Show, the dresses are to die for; the designs are a perfect blend of the historical with a twist of modern silhouettes and patterns…truly stunning!)

As someone who tends to stick to the shops I know and love (anyone else guilty of that? leave it in the comments), it’s rare that I step out of my comfort zone to explore new shops. Here in Belgium we have a small shopping centre in Louvain-La-Neuve called the “Esplanade” where I have what I call my “triangle of doom”: C&A, H&M and Zara.

But last year; I took one small step for woman and one giant leap for shoppingkind and I discovered “Apricot”. Have you ever walked into a store and seen yourself wearing every single piece of clothing? Well, that’s what happened to me, if you’d like a better idea of my style then head over to their site, because Apricot is basically me in a store :P Plus they are reasonably priced, cheaper than Topshop, I’d say around the New Look mark.

Finally, my last clothing destination is Marks and Spencer. I don’t really like Topshop for clothes because I can never seem to find anything that flatters my pear-shape body plus "daz essspensive!" to quote KathleenLights. As for H&M, I can find them easily in Belgium.

After a quick look at the M&S shoes (I’d say my shoe collection is comprised of 40% M&S, 40% New Look and 20% miscellaneous) I go for the clothes, sometimes I find a lot of things I like, other times; nada de nada! This time I found a gorgeous faux-suede plum/burgundy biker jacket (sold in beige now) and an adorably cute pink jumper with polar bears on it, can’t wait for those as Christmas pressies!

Homeware and miscellaneous:

John Lewis and M&S are the go-to for most people, I think, when it comes to homeware and I can’t disagree. Furthermore, JL had a small selection of Delia Smith’s Silverwood baking utensils as suggested by her book, (seen in the previous post) I personally went for 2 muffin tins, as I can’t seem to find consistent sizing across brands (some look like fairy cake sizes others like mini pies; but all described as muffin tins?).

Also, if you’re looking for gluten-free food then JL’s Waitrose on the basement floor has an excellent, albeit small, selection of goodies and M&S has all your Christmas cake and mince pies needs covered (or mice pies as I recently texted my mum, I know sounds squeaky)! Christmas decorations are definitely a must in both shops too.

Books :

Waterstones, what else? I always love the atmosphere of bookshops, so calm and relaxing. I still miss the huge Borders located by the Lakeside shopping centre all those years ago. Anyway, Waterstones is great because this time of year they offer special collectors' editions, as well as quirky Christmas gifts or even relaxing adult colouring books; the choice is yours!

So there you have it; Bluewater’s Christmas schedule and guide to Christmas shopping for any newbie that might not know English shops, or those simply interested in a new perspective :)

Let me finish this post with the magical lights of Bluewater...

What are your favourite shops to shop in at Christmas time? I’m interested, even if you don’t live in the UK.

Have any of you experienced the New York Fifth Avenue Christmas window displays? I know that’s on my bucket list.

Who turns on the lights in your town or village?

Now I’m off to prepare my Christmas decorations extravaganza as my brother (or as I like to call him – the Grinch) banned me from decorating anything until the 1st… and guess what today is…MWA HA HA or should I say HO HO HO! :D

xxxemma

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