Spiced Chocolate Ripple Loaf and a giveaway

Baking is one of those things that relaxes me and makes me feel like I have something worthwhile to show for my efforts! When I saw the new Simply Heaven Chocolate book in my supermarket, I just had to have it. A few recipes in particular caught my eye, although all of the recipes seemed easy enough to create. One of them was this Spiced Chocolate Ripple Loaf.



I had fun making this recipe, and it looks so impressive for a minimal amount of effort! It was one of those recipes that looks good in the book, and is true to the photo. Mine was a near perfect match to the recipe book photo, which I was very happy about.



The loaf tasted very chocolatey, with a hint of the allspice shining through and a very pleasant texture. The chocolate pieces on top gave it an extra touch that was very indulgent and special. I can see me making this loaf again and again; my coffee group enjoyed it and so did my family.

Would you like to get your hands on a copy of this book?



I was lucky enough to get the very last copy of this book from my local supermarket, and I would love to give it to one of you as I already have a copy due to my love of chocolate :) Enter the below giveaway, which will finish at the end of Chocolate Week. This giveaway is open to anyone, and will be posted on Tuesday 4th June.

Good luck!

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B.M.W.B- Chocolate Foam

Welcome to the first post of Chocolate Week!

My son loves to pretend to cook, take part in science experiments and make a mess, so combining these three things together were his idea of ultimate fun. We have made Gooey Geysers before, but this one was slightly different as it is a chocolate foam that you can play with.

You need:

2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 squirt dishwashing liquid
1 cup vinegar
a bowl to mix the ingredients in, and a shallow bowl underneath to catch the mess.



Mix the baking soda and cocoa powder together.



Add the dishwashing liquid- this creates supper bubbly foam but you can leave it out if you think your child may be tempted to eat the chocolate foam. I found that the smell put Lucas off trying any of the foam.



Then, add the vinegar and watch the chocolate foam bubble up!



The foam created a lovely chocolate lather, and Lucas had great fun exploring the texture with his hands and a spoon.



Lucas' imagination is so fun, he decided that he was baking a chocolate cake and spent at least half an hour pretending to mix the ingredients, put it in the oven, and then cut it into slices. It also became a birthday cake and I had to blow out the candles, and I even got some pretend wrapped up presents!

 

This is a great science experiment, and such fun for kids to create their own chocolate foam. Plus, this allows me to spend some time with Lucas and foster his creative and inquisitive sides.

Kicking off Chocolate Week!

I am super excited to be launching my Chocolate Week feature tomorrow. During the week I will be sharing some chocolate recipes, ways to use chocolate in toddler and pre-schooler play, reviews of boutique chocolates and restaurants, and a few other chocolatey goodies. Plus, there is a giveaway and some of my favourite food bloggers will also be sharing their favourite chocolate recipes.

See you tomorrow for my first Chocolate Week feature!

My Prince Charming

Time has been getting away from me this week, and so I thought I would combine two challenges this week. The first challenge I have been meaning to enter is the Frosted Designs Black, White and one other colour challenge. And as usual, I love entering the CASology challenges!

The CASology cue word this week is:

I immediately thought of some crown embellishments I had, but when I went to find them, all I could find was the cut offs and chipboard negatives. Always thrifty, I decided to use the negative part of the crown chipboard. I inked it up in Not Quite Navy ink, and then cut around it to form my own chipboard embellishment.

 

I was sure I had a Prince Charming sticker somewhere as I am making this card for my husband, but ended up finding some other quotes. I am currently reading A Clash Of Kings (part of the Game of Thrones series) and this quote jumped out at me and reminded me of all the royal battles I have been reading about lately. So my card started going in a slightly different direction but I am still happy with the result!

 

The final piece of my card was adding the sentiment onto a banner, as banners are always a very Royal touch.

 

There you have it, a card for my very own Prince Charming.



Mother's Day Q&A

I saw a list of questions over at Storybook Reality of things to ask your children about their Mum. I knew some of the answers would be great, so I decided to document Lucas' answers about me on a digital scrapbook page. Here is a three year old's perspective of me!



Q&A with Lucas about his Mum.

What is my name? Mum Moore.  

How old is Mum? 7, or maybe 11. 

What does Mum like to do? Do lots of things with me.   

What does Mum like to eat? Chocolate, nuts and raisins. And muesli bars. I suppose that's it.  

What does Mum like to drink?  Water. 

What is Mum's favourite colour? Pink.

 What is Mum's favourite toy? Bowling skittles. 

What does Mum like to wear? Dresses. 

What do we like to do together?  Lots.  

Mum's house is... (he said our address here so I have blanked it out!)

What makes Mum smile? Me.  

What makes Mum sad?  Me going "pppfff" (blowing a raspberry). 

I love Mum because... Just because I do. 

Mommy loves me because... Just because you do!

B.M.W.B- Love Languages

A lot of you may have heard about the Five Love Languages book written by Gary Chapman. The five love languages can be broken down in to:

• Quality Time
• Words Of Affirmation
• Acts Of Service
• Physical Touch
• Gifts

image source

I have never really thought about applying these to my children until I came across an article on how to love your child using the five Love Languages. I thought about this one for a while, and I am very sure that my three year old's language is Words of Affirmation. He always tells me he loves me and says the cutest things, and responds well to praise.

I really enjoyed reading the suggestions on how to use Words of Affirmation to show Lucas how much I love and appreciate him. Too often, my tone of voice can sound very exasperated and he picks up on this and gets frustrated. The tips I put into use were:

• Telling him how proud I was of him for doing things well such as playing nicely with his brother, eating all of his dinner and sharing his toys.
• Saying "I Love You" with eye contact.
• Apologising when I do something wrong.
• Taking more notice of my tone of voice when speaking.

I have found these four things have greatly impacted on how I speak to Lucas. I tell my boys I love them every day, but changing my tone of voice when I am angry or asking Lucas to do something has really helped him to understand how I feel.

Adam was a bit harder to figure out since he was so young, but he loves to be cuddled and held so I decided to use the tips on loving him through Physical Touch. The ways I did this were:

• Cuddling him when reading a book
• Lots of hugs
• Pats on the back

This was a lot easier, as who doesn't want to hug a a baby! Also, my Love Language is touch, so hugging and cuddling are how I express love anyway. Lucas also responded well to lots of cuddles during storytime, and hugs always make everyone feel better.

I also want to focus on Quality Time with both of my boys, as I feel that this Love Language is the secondary language for them. So far I have:

• taken Lucas on a hot chocolate date
• let Lucas help me cook
• Played games with Lucas
• Taken Lucas with me when running errands

Too often, my time is spent multitasking, and focusing all of my attention on Lucas when Adam is asleep has been a great way for both of us to connect again. I also spend a lot of time just with Adam due to his age and the fact that I am usually the one settling him! Reading books to him or just talking to him without looking at my phone or watching TV at the same time have made me realise how special it is to be a mother and how lucky I am.

I really urge you to read this article, it has made me realise that how I express my love isn't necessarily how my sons want to be loved. Using these tips, I can have some ways of showing them how much I love them without just saying it.

Linking up with Becoming the Mama I Want to Be.

Photo Friday

Reading books with Granddad. Such a sweet moment!