We're back home in Cornwall after a lovely week away in Tenerife. We stayed in Los Gigantes, a stunningly picturesque resort on the west coast of the island and couldn't have asked for better weather, food and scenery. Most importantly the kids had a fantastic time, were well behaved (usually!) and really enjoyed sampling traditional Canarian cuisine (particularly the papas arugardas or Canarian potatoes, which they had with EVERY SINGLE meal).
The highlight of the trip (other than relaxing by the pool) was most definitely our ascent of Mount Teidi (the 3rd largest volcano on the planet) and despite a bit of altitude sickness, the views from the top of the cable car were out of this world. I'm not usually one to return to the same place twice but I have a feeling we will in this case. There is so much more of the island left to explore and 7 days just wasn't long enough!
The hotel we stayed at was the 3* Globales Taimamo Tropical and I have to admit to being a bit apprehensive about staying here after reading some less than positive reviews on trip advisor. As it was, I'm not sure they stayed at the same place as we did! The staff were lovely, the pool area was fab for kids, accommodation basic but clean and the food very tasty. The moto of the story is don't always believe what you read on the internet!
Back to reality and now that I've got through the 7 loads of holiday washing, I thought it was about time I updated the blog with a brand new recipe. It looks like we've bought the sun home with us as the weather forecast next week is for warm sunny days. Therefore, I thought these summery fruity blueberry and orange cheesecake bars would fit the bill. I made these cheesecake bars originally on a rare sunny day back at the beginning of March, born out of a need to use up some cream cheese and creme fraiche in the fridge. They turned out lovely and light with the fruity blueberries and orange zest complementing the creamy cheesecake perfectly.

These cheesecake bars really do make the perfect weeknight dessert for those warm sunny evenings around the corner.

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING THE CHEESECAKE BARS

OTHER CHEESECAKE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

• Baked Raspberry Cheesecake from Jam and Clotted Cream
• Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars from Jam and Clotted Cream
• Lemon Curd Yogurt Cheesecake Bars from A Mummy Too
• Low Fat Blackcurrant Cheesecake from Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Taming Twins

BLUEBERRY ORANGE CHEESECAKE BARS

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No Easter would be complete in this house without our annual Easter Egg hunt involving copious amounts of chocolate eggs of varying shapes and sizes. This year we were lucky enough to receive some yummy Cadbury Easter Eggs to include in our hunt and let's face it, Easter wouldn't be Easter without a Cadbury egg of some description (the Cadbury Easter Egg Super Hunt Pack -RRP £6.99- is particularly handy for all your Easter Egg Hunt needs!).
As well as the traditional family favourites, this year Cadbury's have added this super cute Peter Rabbit Dairy Milk Egg to the range, to celebrate the release of blockbuster motion picture Peter Rabbit (released on the 16th March). The Easter Egg retails at £6.99 which is amazing value considering you get a soft toy included too. My almost 11 year old still has a 'thing' for soft cuddly animals so took Peter under her wing straight away!
This time last year we were on holiday in the Lake District exploring Beatrix Potter's House and surrounding countryside which inspired her series of famous children's tales.
Lowen and Rory loved exploring her small farmhouse (Hill Top House) and seeing with their own eyes the views that were depicted in her much loved books, including Peter Rabbit. It was absolutely beautiful and no wonder that it inspired Beatrix so much.
Getting back to this years egg hunt, and hubby LOVES nothing better than hiding our family favourite Cadbury Mini Eggs around the garden for the kids to find. Luckily our much loved mini eggs now come in handy treat size packs so we don't have to worry about health and safety issues (like the time he hid mini eggs in the guinea pig hutch - the guinea pig is still alive you'll be pleased to know!).
To round off our early Easter celebrations we cracked open a Cadbury Egg n Spoon and held our very own egg and spoon race around the garden. The Oreo Egg 'n' Spoon eggs in particular are YUMMY.
Obviously I hid the Cadbury Creme Eggs from the kids so I could devour them all by myself once they had gone to bed.....I also found they go surprisingly well with red wine.
To help get you in the Easter spirit don't forget to download the brand new book - Tale of the Great Easter Bunny - which is a collaboration between Cadbury and Saturday's star Frankie Bridge. The downloadable book is a re-adaptation of the same story created by Cadbury 20 years ago and celebrates the Easter Bunny story over the Easter season. The story follows siblings Jack and Molly as they discover a series of mysterious clues and embark on an enchanting Easter Egg Hunt with the their parents Tom and Sarah....my kids loved it!

Cadbury are also holding lots of Easter Egg Hunts throughout the country over the Easter weekend. Here in North Cornwall there is one running from the National Trust shop in Boscastle (down by the harbour). To find out where your nearest Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt is then just enter your postcode on their Easter page.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Cadbury. All thoughts are my own.

It's chocolate egg time of year again and if you're looking for Easter Eggs that are a little bit special, you needn't look further than these gorgeous chocolate eggs and bunnies from M&S.

We were lucky enough to review a selection of their luxury Easter Eggs from big ones to really small ones. Here's what we thought of the selection we were sent.

Hand Painted Belgian Chocolate Egg £12

Have a look at the whole range of hand-crafted eggs here.

Dippy Egg £10

Quails Eggs £5

Milk Chocolate Bunny

Disclosure: I received a selection of Easter Eggs from M&S. All thoughts are my own.

This year is flying by! I really can't believe we're less than a month away from Easter. During the recent snowy weather, the kids and I got creative in the kitchen and developed some yummy Easter treats with our all time favourite Easter confectionery, Mini Eggs! These cute marshmallow krispie nests were one of our creations and they make a great rainy (or snowy!) day activity for kids. We filled the nests with chocolate spread and mini eggs but of course you could try other fillings and sweets.

The nests will keep for up to 5 days in a sealed container (if they are left out too long the krispie bits will soften), so a great one for making ahead of time.

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING THE MINI EGG NESTS

OTHER EASTER RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

MINI EGG MARSHMALLOW KRISPIE NESTS

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We've decided to do something a little different for my Mum this Mother's Day. Instead of taking her out for our usual roast lunch, the kids and I have decided to invite her over for Afternoon Tea!

My eldest two children are getting quite proficient in the baking department so I've given them the job of preparing and making a Mother's Day Afternoon Tea for their Nana. As you can imagine their offerings are mainly cake based, so to give things a bit of balance I've developed these cute savoury Comté ploughmans scones in association with Comté cheese.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Comté is a french cheese made from unpasteurised milk in the Franch-Comté region of southern France. The region is home to over 2,500 family run farms dedicated to producing the highest quality raw milk that is required to make Comté cheese. Today, Comté's methods of production are still based on the original co-operative approach and artisan traditions it was founded on over 1,000 years ago. Each day it is lovingly crafted in 153 small village cheese dairies known as fruitieres. Often situated in the heart of the village, these dairies receive milk from farms within an 8 mile radius to guarantee freshness. Due to its distinctive nature, cultural value and economic importance, in 1996 Comté was  awarded the exclusive Protected Origin Nomenclature which recognises it's reputation around Europe.

The unique nutty, peppery notes of Comté work so well in these ploughmans scones and complement the chutney and apple perfectly. I'm sure my Mum will love them and they will make the perfect addition to our Afternoon Tea on Mother's Day.

 TOP TIPS FOR MAKING CHEESE SCONES

OTHER AFTERNOON TEA RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

 Comté Cheese Ploughmans Scones

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Comté cheese. All thoughts are my own.

It feels like Mother's Day has crept up on everyone this year. It falls on Sunday 11th March 2018 which is NEXT SUNDAY!! If you're a bit stuck for what to get your mum, then look no further than these beautiful Mothers Day hampers from Hamper.com.

I was lucky enough to be sent a Mothers Day Luxury Hamper to review, which I guarantee will be a hit with any mum next Sunday.
The hamper comes beautifully packaged in a turquoise blue gift box and contains the perfect mix of foodie treats and the all important bottle of wine!
 The Strawberry and Clotted Cream Shortbread is made by Simply Cornish and uses Cornish clotted cream, Westcountry butter and strawberry pieces to make a scrumptious light crisp treat. There is also a Belgian chocolate bar with a 'best mum in the world' wrapper, some fluffy pink heart marshmallows and some creamy Scottish fudge.
The wine is a yummy pink Pinot Grigio Rose, the perfect wine to enjoy on those long hot summer evenings that will hopefully be here in the not to distant future (I'm typing this whilst the temperature is minus 5 outside).
Next day and named day delivery is available so you have plenty of time to order a hamper for your mum before the big day next weekend. What are you waiting for?

Disclosure: I was sent a Luxury Mothers Day Hamper to review. All thoughts are my own.