blog

Baylis & Harding Valentine Competition

February 2, 2016 by Erica Hughes 145 Comments

Baylis & Harding are one of my favourite brands as they specialise in those simple luxuries and provide them at a price that means we can enjoy them every day. Their Valentine’s Day range has really caught my eye this year and it’s well worth considering if you are looking to give someone special a pampering gift. Their Pink Magnolia and Pear Blossom Large Heart Box Set is a real treat, with lots of pink magnolia and pear blossom scented items, in a lovely heart shaped box. The pampering goodies in this giftset are a 300ml Bottle Shower Creme, a 300ml Bottle Body Lotion, a 130ml Tube Body Wash, a 100ml Jar Body Butter and a 100g Jar Bath Soak Crystals.

Some fragranced candles make the perfect complement to a relaxing, pampering bath. Baylis & Harding have the perfect set too with three lovely, fragranced candles to pick from.

In our latest giveaway I have one of each of these sets on offer, so the first name drawn will get the choice. Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. The winner will be notified by email and will have a week to claim their prize. Should they fail to respond within this time, an alternative winner will be selected.

5. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

6. Competition closes on 9 February 2016.
B&H Valentines Little Lux

Degustabox December

January 20, 2016 by Erica Hughes 9 Comments

It’s so nice to get some foodie treats through the post each month. Our bundle of good things comes from Degustabox and there’s always something new, different or just plain tasty to enjoy.

This month has a healthy new year theme and I got right into that by incorporating Betavivo into my breakfast. I had half my usual portion of muesli and added the Betavivo for the other half. The crispy oak hearts are a tasty addition and have a positive effect on cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Hip Pops are a healthier option if you enjoy crisps as a snack or for lunch. Hubby has had these in his lunch box and reports back that they are tasty. He likes the fact they have less than 50% of the fat of normal crisps and are better for the waistline. Nothing But makes you feel very virtuous about snacking, but without losing out on flavour. These are handy for when you are on the move. The Pineapple & Grape flavour was my favourite. Complete Energy is great for those days when you feel you are running on empty. These are low-calorie chocolates with the caffeine equivalent of a large coffee in each bite. The Fabulous Bakers Mango & Pineapple bars have been my favourite with their tropical taste and oaty goodness.

We’ve tried Barilla products before and these live up to the quality standards we have come to expect. We tried the Barilla’s Mediterranean Vegetables Sauce with Barilla’s whole-wheat Fuseli. The whole wheat pasta is better for you and teamed up with the vegetable rich sauce, it makes a tasty vegetarian meal, which is good as we are trying to eat more vegetables this month.

Always nice to get some nice new drinks to try out. Ginger beer is perfect for cold days, but I’m used to ginger beer being non alcoholic, so it was nice to try this alcoholic version called Crabbies Light. Delicious! Another welcome alcohol treat was the Red Square Toffee Mini, again perfect for winter evenings. Drink Me Chai wasn’t really my thing as I don’t really like Chai Latte. Love Kombucha with its simple organic ingredients and probiotics was a healthy winner. Koko was a bit of a revelation as I had thought I wouldn’t like a milk substitute, but this had a better taste that I find I get from UHT milk, so we might use that again.

Heartsease Farm Festive Selection

December 28, 2015 by Erica Hughes 11 Comments

If you are planning a party over Christmas and New Year spare a thought for those who are driving or who aren’t drinking for other reasons. Often the non-drinkers are overlooked at parties and get left to drink something fairly uninspiring: orange juice or a lemonade perhaps.Looking ahead to January you might want to get some nice soft drinks in if you are cutting back on alcohol.

So this year we have been trying out the seasonal selection from Heartsease Farm. We’ve tried their sparkling pressès before and very much enjoyed their fresh tastes. First up for sampling was Fiery Ginger Beer which is just the thing for a cold winter’s evening. This ginger beer really packs a punch and makes you feel warm to the pit of your stomach. Apple and Rhubarb is a lovely refreshing drink with a hint of tartness from the apple and the rhubarb, a great combination. Spiced Winter Cranberry is exactly as it sounds. It’s almost a mulled wine taste with all those Christmassy spices. The cranberry stops it from being over sweet and it’s a lovely red colour. Very much recommended for something a little bit different.

Travalo Giveaway

November 17, 2015 by Erica Hughes 29 Comments

Travalo lets you carry your favourite fragrance with you wherever you go. You can pop it in your handbag which is handy if you are out all day at work and want to go out straight afterwards. You can pack it in hand luggage and take it on a plane which is good news if you are planning a festive getaway. It makes a lovely stocking filler or small gift if you buy the Classic or the Milano. The Divine is a more indulgent limited edition piece with a price tag to match. All the models look great though and earn a space in your handbag.

The Classic is the popular every day model, and is the perfect stocking filler, offered in 10 vibrant colours and available online (and elsewhere) at www.travalo.com with a RRP of £12.50.
The Milano is elegant and luxurious, offered in a range of eight elegant colours to match any look or style. Available everywhere and online at www.travalo.com with a RRP of £35.
The Divine is the ultimate in opulence with over 500 individually hand set Swarovski crystals and is presented in a beautiful black gift pouch with a year’s warranty. The silver is available at RRP £250 and the limited edition gold for £400 exclusively from the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie, Harrods.

The new generation has interchangeable inner bottles which means for the first time in the history of the perfume atomiser you can alternate all your favourite fragrances from one case to another in a matter of seconds without the need for cleaning or waiting for your Travalo to run empty, so you don’t need to wait for your favourite case to become free.

Travalo have teamed up with me to offer readers the chance to win a set of 2 Travalos: the Classic and the Milano. Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. The winner will be notified by email and will have a week to claim their prize. Should they fail to respond within this time, an alternative winner will be selected.

5. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

6. Competition closes on 1 December 2015.

Travalo

Rekorderlig Winter Cider

November 2, 2015 by Erica Hughes 13 Comments

Now we are into November, it seems properly the time for some hot toddies (also known as hot totty and hot tottie if you are north of the border). One of my favourite drink memories is of having hot toddies as the drinks on arrival at my sister’s winter wedding, and it seemed so much better than champagne. Recently, Rekorderlig got in touch as asked me to try their winter cider. They suggested that you could drink it hot or cold. I’d not really thought about heating cider before, although I guess why not we have mulled wine or glühwein quite regularly through the winter. So I decided to give it a try.

It was very easy to do: just pour into a pan and heat gently for a few minutes. I added it to glasses (heat-resistant ones) with a little sliced orange. It was lovely. In fact, it slipped down very quickly and easily, possibly a little too quickly and easily. I guess you could add spices to the cider and mull it a little longer for a heavier taste, but I don’t think it needs it really. This is one to drink on a chilly evening in front of a real fire with a cosy blanket if you can.

Restaurant Review: Praza

October 28, 2015 by Erica Hughes 15 Comments

We’ve driven past Praza numerous times, but never ventured in, so when we were invited to review, we were eager to try out the food. Generally on A Little Luxury For Me, it’s just the two of us trying out the food and if it’s a family focused restaurant we try it out on Nine to Three Thirty. Our son though is well used to dining out and has no problem with different cuisines and being a bit adventurous, so on this occasion we ended up bringing him along. It’s certainly a welcoming restaurant for a youngster and we were given good advice by the waiting staff about what food to order for him. H loved the decor especially the big black chairs that almost dwarfed him. That’s enough on the family perspective though and on with the gourmet view.

Praza is conveniently situated on Hagley Road (A456) on the way out of the city centre, just a little beyond Five Ways. It’s the sister restaurant Pushkar, another upmarket Indian restaurant with an established reputation. Praza is housed in an elegant, white stucco, Georgian building in Edgbaston. There’s a spacious car park at the rear and you can enter the restaurant there as well. Inside Praza’s decor is modern and sophisticated with a mostly monochrome palette, enlivened with copper tones. It’s not the decor of a standard curry house and it has a real, modern vibe. The service is attentive, but not obtrusive and we were made to feel very much at ease. It’s the sort of restaurant you could dress up a little to go to, but you’d be very welcome if you were more casually dressed.

Generally, I think beer goes well with Asian food as a refreshing contrast and my husband ordered one with his meal. As I was driving, I opted for the Mango Mohito, which is a blend of fresh lime wedges and mint, churned with mango and apple juice, and topped with ginger beer. It was very refreshing and we ended up ordering another for our son as it was a big hit. We loved that popodoms were brought to us pretty much alongside our drinks with a selection of 3 dipping sauces to go with them.

To start we choose the Praza’s Kebab Platter to share. This was a great way to try out three different dishes from the tandoor: chicken tikka, duck sheekh kebab and Arctic char tikka. The seasoning was nicely judged and there was a range of heat between these dishes, which made for a varied starter. It would have been nice to either to have still had the poppadom sauces on the table or had some more sauce provided as an accompaniment to this dish as there wasn’t very much on the plate itself.

I chose a Butter Chicken Delhi Wale for my main course. I like the idea of trying this dish as it’s apparently developed from the street-side eateries of Northern India. It was a dish of tandoori cooked chicken, simmered in a subtle creamy tomato and cashew nut gravy with dried fenugreek leaves, ginger and honey. This is fairly mild fare, which is my preference, but it was seasoned with a complex and complimentary mix of spices with the depth of flavour that you expect from a tandoori cooked meal. My husband ordered Laal Maas, which is a red curry of diced lamb cooked with onions, red chilli paste and yogurt, flavoured with cloves, chilli and garlic. It’s a traditional lamb dish from the state of Rajasthan. This was described as spicy in the menu and so it proved. It wasn’t heat without flavour or subtlety though, as is sometimes the case, but the heat built through the meal. We loved the richness of this dish, which envelopes your taste buds as you eat.

For dessert we went for two contrasting dishes. I went for a traditional Indian dessert: Kulfi. This dish was trio of Kulfi with pistachio, malai and mango flavours. The different tastes went together quite nicely, although I wasn’t very keen on the malai. I’d never had it before, so it might have been a dislike of the flavour rather than how it was prepared. The dessert was sprinkled with toasted almonds which provided some contrasting texture. Our other dessert choice was a western favourite of Chocolate Brownie with Cappuccino Ice Cream. The brownie was rich and dark, with just the right amount of gooeyness for a brownie, and the ice-cream was silky smooth without overpowering the chocolate with its coffee flavour.

We will certainly be dining at Praza again as we love Indian food and it’s nice to be able to sample high quality food it in a modern and stylish setting.

Foraging For Food

October 26, 2015 by Erica Hughes 14 Comments

Last week I went on a blogging event that was very different to any I’d been on before. Forest Holidays invited a group of bloggers for two days of food and foraging in the Forest of Dean. I love the idea of using wild foods in cookery, but I’ve never been too sure about how to go about it. I’ve tried the obvious things cooking with blackberries, apples and so on. One year I branched out and tried making a Haw Ketchup from hawthorn berries. It was a lot of hard work and I only ended up with one bottle of sauce for my efforts, so I felt I was i some need of some expert help.

We went on a foraging walk around the Forest Holidays site. What was really impressive was the range of plants available and the richness of the bio-diversity of the area. We learnt about leaves that we can eat like plantain (bitter to start with, but surprisingly mushroomy after a while) and sorrel. We found sweet chestnuts in some abundance. Further round the walk we discovered mushrooms and rosehips (used during the war years to keep up our vitamin C levels).

Later we found quite a large patch of Himalayan Balsam which is quite an invasive plant. It’s not native to this country and it has spread due to the fact that the seed pods explode when ripe to scatter the seed. We gathered some of the seeds and flowers to use in the cocktails we were planning to make later.

Our last task of the foraging walk was to gather some pine needles and light a fire, so that we could make pine needle tea. This is really easy as you just need to infuse the needles in boiling water. Apparently it has a lot of health benefits, but it’s also quite pleasant to drink (or at least it would have been if I’d had a way of straining out the pine needles).

Revolution Bar Birmingham

October 20, 2015 by Erica Hughes 12 Comments

This week I went to Revolution Bar in Birmingham to sample the new menu. I have to confess that despite having walked past umpteen times I’ve never been inside and I guess I’d always seen it as a place to go for drinks rather than for food.

Inside though is a quirky, interesting decor with spacious high ceilings, somewhere really pleasant to spend a little time. In the central space there’s a double height ceiling, but around the edges of the room, it’s a bit cosier with lots of lovely, comfortable booths to hide away in and catch up with the latest gossip.

Enough of the decor though we were there to sample the food and the drink. We had a mooch through the extensive cocktail menu. I had a Superfruit Nojito, as I had to drive later in the day, and it was delicious and refreshing. It’s lovely when a mocktail makes you feel that you aren’t missing out by not having any alcohol and this one certainly made me feel I was having a treat. It’s full of strawberries and blueberries and other healthy, delicious things: wonderful. My guest had a Halle Beri, which is a mix of Stoli and Stoli Razberi vodkas with amaretto, strawberries and apple juice. I sneaked a sip of that and can confirm that it is as good as it sounds.

Before we consulted the menu, we were told that they didn’t have any beef burgers, now I do like a good burger, so that was a pity, but so much better to know before you set your heart on a particular dish. We both ended up opting for the chicken burgers instead and we tried the Blackened Chicken and the Brooklyn Chicken burgers, one with normal fries and the other with sweet potato fries. The front of house service was very attentive, but it did seem that the food took quite a while to emerge from the kitchen. It was clearly freshly cooked and the quality was high, so it might just be that it will take a bit of time to pick up speed on the new menu. My Brooklyn Chicken consisted of buttermilk fried chicken piled high with streaky bacon, smoked cheddar, fried pickles and chipotle BBQ sauce. It came served in a brioche bun with the fries and some red slaw. The chicken was moist and flavoursome and the fried pickles added a little spice without being overpowering.

Pudding was a sharing affair and this sundae was certainly big enough for two. There were lots of lovely chucks of chocolate brownie in there amongst the vanilla ice cream and the cream topping.

Revolution Birmingham is now very much on my radar as a place to get a good meal in Birmingham and they have special offers on a lot of days, so popping in for a lunchtime meal with friends during the week is very much an affordable option.

Degustabox September

October 14, 2015 by Erica Hughes 14 Comments

For me this month’s selection in the Degustabox was strongest on the drinks front. This month we have enjoyed some very refreshing cider from The Good Cider of San Sebastian. This brand was new to us, but we’d happily pick it out again when we are buying cider. Sweet Sally Spiced Tea was the one that had my name on it as I am a big tea drinker. I liked the mix of refreshing tea and autumnal/wintry spices, plus a hint of citrus.

I really like the idea of breakfast in a drink, especially for days when I have to catch an early train to a blogging event or similar. These ones from Up&Go are less sweet than some, because I have found other brands to be a bit too sugary for my taste first thing in the morning.

The extra virgin oil from The Olive Shop is just the thing for late summer/early autumn salads with its strong, almost fruity taste. Perfect for a quick weekday lunch the Kent’s Kitchen Spicy Szechuan Posh Noodles have filled the middle of the day hole for me in a very tasty fashion. Friends and family have enjoyed helping us sample some sweet treats including Bassetts Jelly Babies ‘Berry Mix’ and Maynards Reds and Blacks Wine Gums (there’s a reason why these two flavours are everyone’s favourite). Mallow and Marsh provided an indulgent treat for those with a sweet tooth and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have been a popular choice.

COMPETE® Energy Bites are low-calorie chocolates infused with caffeine (1 bite = 1 large premium coffee) and have gone into work with my husband to help him through late nights in the office.

Fenjal

October 13, 2015 by Erica Hughes 11 Comments

Wednesday night is bath night is bath night for me (don’t worry the other days are showers days). Trying out these goodies today. #fenjal

A photo posted by Erica Price (@ericaprice6) on Oct 7, 2015 at 12:18pm PDT

I shared a picture the other day on Instagram featuring a brand I was about to try out for the first time. I’m not sure why I’ve never tried Fenjal before, after all I’ve seen their products in the shops many times over the years. Another puzzle is why I hadn’t realised that they were a Swiss company. I lived in Switzerland for four months and developed a taste for lots of Swiss products, but I hadn’t realised that Fenjal was developed in Switzerland.

In fact, Fenjal was developed in Switzerland by leading skin care experts, using natural ingredients to create products with nourishing and skin-protective properties. They have clearly built up quite a following over the years as lots of fans came forward on Instagram when I posted my picture.

So for a relaxing mid-week pamper evening I tried out Fenjal Crème Bath Oil. It was really easy to use as it completely dispersed into the water. The bath and the room were scented with a spa like scent. Sinking into the soft, welcoming, warm water was a joy and I felt thoroughly pampered.

Once I’d prised myself out of the bath, I tried the Sensuous Body Spray on my freshly washed and dried skin. This was so easy to apply because you just spray on. It’s light, but it left my skin feeling very soft and once again it had the same relaxing, spa scent.