Wednesday 31 August 2016

Toronto ... Dundas Square and the Hotel

Hey everyone :)


Apologies for the absence on my blog recently - I think this is the quiet I have ever been since starting it. My excuse ... work is hectic ... and I'm on holiday for a week now. If you haven't already guessed by the title or the first picture ... we're in Toronto (when I saw we ... I mean Dave and myself).

It's our third day so far and I love it ... city life here is hectic, fast-paced and crazy! We've done so much already and there is still lots to do!

Monday was our travel day so we left the UK at around 08:30 (went back in time 8 hours) and arrived in Toronto at 11:10ish. We got a 25 minute taxi ride to the hotel - we are staying in the Trump International Hotel and Tower. The hotel is 5 star and exceeded my expectations! This is the first 5 star hotel I've stayed in (having worked in one for a year - I kinda knew what to expect). We were offered cool lavender towels at the check in desk. I 'think' we were severed by the General Manager and he offered us little tips/hints of things we were thinking of doing (such as getting the water taxi to Toronto Island instead of the ferry, it costs a bit more but faster and less crowded). We checked in and then were escorted upstairs to our room.









We dumped our things, showered and left to go find some food and to have a wander around our new home for the week. We first went to Tim Hortons as Dave wanted a coffee (he apparently got addicted to it while he was here last year). I ended up with a fizzy raspberry lemonade drink, he a coffee and he bought some little mini doughnut balls. We then wandered along the harbour and sat down with a nice view of Tornoto Island.


We then headed to a shopping centre for a wander - I think it's this areas biggest one boasting 250 shops. I found my first Canadian Starbucks :)


After much wandering we headed back to the hotel, grabbed a Subway (I know ... Subway - it was good though) and chilled out for the evening. We were shocked to find though (as I forgot) that the hotel does a 'turn-down' service so our room attendant - Marjorie had been in and tidied up our entire room and left water, little chocolates, the breakfast menu, slippers and other little things. So we felt slightly bad ... but we were tired so after eating our Subway and watching an episode of Friends on Netflix ... we fell asleep and that was our first day gone!


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Friday 12 August 2016

Tanya Bakes

Hey everyone :)


I did a review on Tanya's first book 'Love Tanya' and if you remember I said that my favourite chapter was the baking section. It seems it was also a lot more people's favourite too and Tanya ended up making a whole new book dedicated to recipes she loves, made or found over the years.

I've already made a few from the book and I love it ... I did spill some mixture on one of the pages ... which has annoyed me ... but anyway I digress.

The book is full of simple and easy recipes and some more complicated recipes - so there are recipes of all kinds of bakers!

From what I gathered on Tanya's vlogs while she was making the book - she made every single recipe for the pictures and the team shot them with her. The pictures are amazing and well thought out and a favourite part of the book for me. I find myself always drawn to a recipe with a picture than without.


There are several favourites already for me in the book - one being the flapjack recipe ... Tanya's has smarties on but I didn't have any at the time so I made the recipe without them and it still tasted just as good.

I also loved the Mary Berry's chocolate fork biscuits - so quick and easy to make.








Did you pre-order Tanya's book or did you buy it recently? Have you made anything from it yet? Let me know in the comments below.


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Sunday 7 August 2016

Rekorderlig Cider Cocktails

Hey everyone :)


I am always on the lookout for new drinks to try and when I saw these - I just had to get my hands on them ... queue trip to Tesco ... Tesco don't do them yet ... queue trip to Asda!

I have been a fan of Rekorderlig now for ages as their ciders are sweet but not too sweet or sickly. The have a range of fruit flavoured ciders and just recently they brought out cider cocktails which are amazing!

There are three different flavours:

Passionfruit Gimlet Cider Cocktail 
A citrusy blend of our unique Rekorderlig Passionfruit Cider, gin and a hint of lime - the ultimate refreshing cocktail combination.

Wildberry Bramble Cider Cocktail
A dark, fruity mix of white rum and our famous Rekorderlig Wild Berries Cider; a delicious cocktail bursting with flavour.

Swedish Punch Strawberry-Lime Cider Cocktail
Flavours of mint, lime, cucumber and elderflower  blended with our much loved Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime Cider and vodka for an extra twist.

All the cocktails are a 5.5% ABV.

My favourite had to be the passionfruit - it's sweet and flavourful.

Dave was also with me and his favourite was the wildberry bramble flavour. It was very fruity (he doesn't say much lol).







Let me know what you think in the comments below! Have you tried them yet? If you want to find out any more info then check our their website HERE.




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