I was a massive fan of Roald Dahl stories when I was little. I know, who isn’t? But I loved them. I had a tape of Fantastic Mr Fox that I listened to again and again and again, and my favourite books were probably The Witches, Danny Champion of the World and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (The latter was a particular favourite as it had a character in it called Josephine. Which is my name, in case you didn’t know.)

With Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it was never really the idea of a lifetime’s supply of chocolate that did it for me, it was always the factory itself. I desperately wanted to try the chewing gum that was a three course meal. As I read it, I would try to imagine the warm tomato soup trickling down the back of my throat, morphing into roast beef and gravy. I’m doing it now as I type.

I wanted to be there, seeing how things were made, seeing inventions come to life.

A couple of weeks ago I got about as close as I am ever likely to get when I went to visit the Thorntons chocolate factory. (Although I don’t remember them wearing sexy hair nets in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)

Thorntons chocolate factory tour View Post

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I was having a bit of a weird, grumpy day yesterday. Nothing really was wrong, and yet I was wracked with self-doubt and suffering a complete lack of motivation. Fortunately, I had half an Easter egg in the cupboard and eating the whole lot alongside a sneaky lunchtime episode of CSI made me feel much better.

That’s the wonderful power of sugar for you.

A complete addiction to chocolate is the reason that I went and entered the Webloyalty competition to win ten Easter eggs. If I win I plan to change into my pyjamas, lock myself into some sort of cupboard for a few days and devour them secretly, possibly at the same time as watching a Friends box set. Or I might give them as Easter gifts, I haven’t decided yet.

Whatever I do with them though, you have to admit that it’s a really fun prize. Just look at them all!

Easter egg competition

To enter it couldn’t be simpler, all you have to do is visit the Webloyalty blog, vote for your favourite Easter egg, and send a quick tweet, job done. Obviously if you win then you will have to send me one egg as my 10% commission for telling you about the competition in the first place. I will have the Ferrero Rocher one please.

Enter now for your chance to win 10 Easter eggs and live the pyjama cupboard dream.

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post. I need the cash to buy more eggs.

 

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If you enjoy these chocolate and peanut butter cookies why not try my homemade bourbon biscuits?

Belle is a bit of an entrepreneurial baker. Quite often, if she’s feeling a bit short of cash, she’ll whip up a batch of cookies and go door to door around the square selling them to our neighbours. She hasn’t quite grasped the idea of the costs involved, preferring to see the ingredients in the cupboard as fair game, but I admire her spirit.

This weekend we had friends coming over, so I set Belle to work. We decided to make chocolate and peanut butter cookies, a recipe we found on the Flora website. A few people I know have started using Flora Cuisine for baking lately, and singing its praises, so we thought we’d give it a go. It’s basically runny margarine, so is ideal for kids to use in cakes, biscuits and flapjacks as it’s already nice and soft. View Post

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On Sunday we went for a day out at Cadbury World.

I have been before, about three years ago, but Belle has never been. Boyfriend took me there on a date the first time I ever went to visit him in Birmingham. If being taken to a chocolate factory on a first date isn’t a good sign then I don’t know what is.

Cadbury World

On my second visit it felt like there was a lot more to look at and see. I don’t think anything was particularly new, but I do suspect that the first time I went I may have been a little distracted, concentrating on being witty and charming and making sure I always stood at a flattering angle. View Post

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THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

I don’t really need to say anything more than that do I?

This is a chocolate hamper with a bit of a difference though, so while you’re stuffing your face you can feel a bit virtuous too. This chocolate hamper has been very kindly donated by RunNative, an online marketplace for UK social enterprises. Gifts bought from RunNative have a direct impact on communities and lives.

This chocolate hamper is from Chocolate Memories, an emerging social firm, established in 2010 by charity group Autism Initiatives. Based in County Down, Northern Ireland, the business offers training opportunities to people with Autism Spectrum Condition. The team at Chocolate Memories blend the finest quality chocolate with delicious flavour combinations, creating an unforgettable taste experience. All profits are reinvested back into the business to fulfil the social aims and objectives.

Enough about that though. To the chocolate!

This is what’s up for grabs – the large luxury hamper, which includes a selection of products from the Chocolate Memories range presented in a beautiful basket. (Not necessarily the products shown, but they will choose you a good range.)

"Chocolate hamper"

*drools*

There are a few different ways to enter. Each will count as one entry, so the more you do, the more chances you have to win/get fat!

  • Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favourite chocolate treat is
  • Go and like me on Facebook and leave a comment there saying hello
  • Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following – “#Win a chocolate hamper with @mummyblogger http://ht.ly/hBQyk”
  • Sign up to receive new posts by email. (You’re free to unsubscribe at any time if you get bored. I won’t give you a Chinese burn or anything).

The competition will close on 28th February and you can read the full T&Cs here.

Good luck!
As featured on ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

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Wondering what to do with your Saturday night?

Let me tell you about what I did last Saturday, and see if I can inspire you. My last Saturday night in was spent courtesy of Family Bargains. For those of you who don’t know, Family Bargains is like the big sister of 99p Stores, where not everything does cost 99p. It still has though, as the name suggests, bargains for all the family.

There are plenty of good brand names, as well as more unusual products you may not have heard of, but for our Saturday night in, we stocked up on some old favourites, (wine and chocolate obviously), and splashed out on a new board game:

"Family Bargains"

I just had a quick look on the Debenhams website, and the game on its own is still £15, even though it is half price at the moment. We got everything in this picture though – an entire evening of fun – for less than twenty quid. Now that’s what I call a Family Bargain.

(Don’t look too closely, otherwise you’ll see that I have already eaten all the cherry liqueurs all by myself.)

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As well as being a blatant attempt to get search engine traffic from people innocently interesting in watching the In Bruges, this is genuinely where Bee and I were last week.

Here is a picture of a chocolate shop to prove it:

Things to do in Bruges

So there, now you know it must be true.

What do you mean I could have just got that off flickr? How distrustful you are. I see your point though, it is the kind of thing I would do, so here is another one of Bee posing next to a decidedly frozen canal: View Post

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Today has not gone according to plan.

It was supposed to be my day off. I had things planned.

But instead I am at home with a sick child. Sick children really cramp your style don’t they? I know she can’t help being ill or anything, but still.

So I am in a bit of a no-mans-land today. My head was all geared up for switching off for the weekend and being away from my desk, but now here I am, confined to the house for the afternoon, and I am rather at a loss for what to do. Working from home, my daytimes, evenings and weekends tend to get tangled up. I work during school hours but really I am snatching any free time I can find to sneak off to my study. I know I have been working a lot lately, and it has got to the point where I’m not quite sure how to do anything else.

Past about 9pm I can relax a bit, as my brain begins to switch off, but during the day it won’t keep quiet. It’s always buzzing, swirling ideas around, overwhelming itself with possibilities. Often it gets so wound up turning over ideas, plotting and scheming, that it has no energy left for actually doing anything. In fact, if I sit myself down to focus on an idea, my brain starts to panic, worrying that all of the other thoughts will have to pipe down, that they might get forgotten.

All of which of course often results in me doing nothing at all. I can’t bear the thought of having to choose and leave some ideas behind, and I don’t want to start something just to have another task interrupt, so I end up staring blankly at the screen instead.

That’s what I’ve been doing this afternoon anyway, until I gave myself a good metaphorical kick up the backside and wrote this instead. It may be nonsense, but it is words on a page, and it gives me a temporary sense of accomplishment at least. Plus it has kept my fingers busy and stopped me eating marzipan fruits for twenty minutes, which can’t be a bad thing.

I’d be interested to know how other people feel – does your brain brim over, leaving you paralysed to do anything at all? And how do you cope with it, how do you focus on one thing at a time? And more importantly, how do you manage to go into the kitchen without eating a handful of leftover Christmas chocolates every time?

Photo credit: eszter

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