Twelve days of chocolate (giveaway c/d 12 December 2017)

Chocolate, books and tea are my favourite prizes! In the last couple of weeks I have been buying chocolate bars for my now annual 12 days of chocolate giveaway.

First of all, let me wish all my blog readers a very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!
December is the most anticipated month for many compers, as it brings an avalanche of daily prizes.

As a self-confessed chocoholic, I do love chocolate gifts, and my seasonal giveaway reflects my love of chocolate. I give you Twelve days of Chocmas.

Every day I will offer you a chocolate gift and a little something too, edible or decorative.
For 12 days I will be revealing a part of an overall prize, and each day there will be a new question.

As stipulated in the T&Cs below, the number of winners will depend on how many questions the first randomly selected winner will answer. If they answered all 12 questions, they get the whole lot. If they choose to answer less questions, they'll get less prizes, and the remaining part of the prize will go to the next randomly selected winner.

Day 1 (1 December): Last Sunday Eddie and I went to the cinema to see Paddington 2. We both loved it. Very entertaining family film. To celebrate the release of the film, I bought this cute Christmas tree decoration in M&S - a golden Paddington bear.
The chocolate bar of the day is Thomas & Grace Starburst Peppermint chocolate (rich dark chocolate with peppermint oil, decorated with a stunning metallic starburst pattern). Now I haven't tried it yet (you can buy it in Lakeland for £3.99) but it surely looks festive and pretty.

Day 1 question :
Do you usually take part in daily advent competitions? Did you win anything last year?

(I was lucky to win a wonderful Filippo Berio hamper and a jewellery set on Instagram, plus two lovely Christmas books for children on Twitter. )

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Day 2 (2 December): Christmas is not Christmas without a little bit of festive marzipan. I usually buy a selection of marzipan fruit at the market.
Niederegger Marzipan in dark chocolate and Ritter Sport Marzipan are very seasonal treats.

Day 2 question :
What Christmas gift do you most anticipate giving to someone this year? (Or what Christmas gift that you've given in the past was most memorable to you?)

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Day 3: I first discovered Godiva, when we lived in New Haven, CT long time ago. There was a Godiva shop on the campus, and I could spend a fortune there.
I was delighted to see a range of Godiva introduced recently in Sainsbury's.
Here is a Godiva Salted Caramel chocolate bar and a soft velvet purse for jewellery or some trinket.

Day 3 Question (December 3): What is your favourite Christmas treat?

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Day 4 (4 December): Green & Black's is another chocolate brand I'm partial to. On Day 4 I'm adding a Green & Black's Velvet Edition Dark Chocolate Orange & Almond to my prize stash, plus a No.7 nail polish (Bronze).

Day 4 Question: Do you have Christmas family traditions (or did you have any special traditions as a child)?

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Day 5 (5 December): my boys, big and small, all love white chocolate, so I had to add at least one white chocolate bar to the stash - Lindt Lindor white is creamy and smooth. There are also Christmas stickers which could come handy, when decorating a wrapped gift or making a seasonal card.

Question 5: Christmas jumpers - do you love or loathe them? (Will you be buying one this year? )

Ahem, I couldn't resist buying a Christmas jumper in Debenhams, you might have seen it, it's white, with two cats, one wearing a crown, another one has reindeer antlers. Cheesy but cute.

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Day 6 (December 6): 
This Winter edition Cadbury Dairy Milk is my elder son's favourite. He would happily eat it all in one go. There's also a packet of Bart Wine Mulling Spice for the hot festive tipple.

Day 6 question: What is your favourite Christmas film?

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Day 7 (December 7): If you enjoy dark chocolate, you will be happy with this Waitrose 1 Single Origin Dominican Republic Dark Chocolate - it's 90% cocoa. For festive baking there is a bag of Candy cane sprinkles.

Day 7 question: Tell me your favourite Christmas cracker joke (good or bad)!

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Day 8 (December 8): We're already on day 8, and today's choice of chocolate is Ritter Sport Honey Salt Almonds + a set of 12 gift tags.

Day 8 Question: What do you typically have for breakfast on Christmas morning?

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Day 9 (9 December): It's just over two weeks until Christmas, and though I bought most presents, I still need to get a few for family and friends.
Today's chocolate is Milka Yoghurt + a little spoon rest with a red cardinal.

Day 9 Question: Have you finished your Christmas gifts' shopping or leave it until later? (Or are you super organised and had everything bought and wrapped back in January?)

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Day 10 (December 10):
Galaxy Cookie Crumble is for those who love both cookies and chocolate. My Melting Moment star shaped chocolate made me think of the Nativities my children took part in.
Eddie was a cow in the nursery, a dancing diamond last year, a narrator with one line and something else so memorable that I cannot recollect what it was.
Do you remember that episode from Love Actually, where Emma Thomson's character's daughter announces that she will be a second lobster in the Nativity play? Always makes me smile.

Day 10 Question: If you've ever taken part in a school Nativity play, what was your memorable part? Were you a Mary, Joseph, Gabriel, one of the shepherds, wise men or a more random character?

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Day 11 (11 December): Have you had any snow in your parts of the country? My younger son was ecstatic that he could finally have a snowball fight in the garden.
Here is a cute felt Gingerbread lady decoration. + a delicious Godiva masterpieces Hazelnut Oyster Belgian Milk chocolate.

Day 11 Question:
How cold is it today where you live? Did you get any snow?

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Day 12 (December 12): Green & Black's Velvet edition dark chocolate (70%) and a Waitrose Christmas cracker with chocolate.

Question 12: Actually not a question, just wish a merry Christmas to a poster above you!

T&Cs:
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.

Please leave your name or Twitter name in the comment if you login as Anon, or I will never know who commented.

There will be one or more winners, who will receive all the goodies appearing during the twelve days of the giveaway. If the first winner has replied to all twelve questions, they will receive the whole lot.
If the first winner answered less questions, they will receive the prizes from those days only.
The remaining prizes will be allocated to the next winner(s).
I hope I don't have to send twelve different packages though.

The more questions you answer, the bigger your prize will be.
Only one entry per person is allowed.

If you missed a day, you will have a chance to catch up on any other day until the end of the giveaway, as long as it comes in a SEPARATE comment.

Please note, if you answer 12 questions in one comment, it will count as 1 entry.

Once the winner is selected randomly, I will count their replies.
I will contact the winner, who will have 7 days to reply with their address details. Due to the nature of the prize which I hope to dispatch in good time before Christmas, the time limit to get back to me is shorter than usual.
All the prizes are provided by me, and are in no way sponsored by any brand.
This is my way of saying Thank you to my blog readers.

I will be posting the package(s) at my own cost.
If the winner's away when the parcel arrives and is not able to rearrange the redelivery, and if by some chance it is returned to me, please do not expect me to cover the cost of the postage again.
If that happens, the prize will be taken to the local food bank (foods) and charity shops (non-perishables).

I will send the packet by Royal Mail, tracked and to be signed for.

The giveaway will end on the 12th of December at midnight.

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First of all, many thanks to each and every one of you for taking part and making it a fun event. I have read every comment. Those of you who wondered that they have commented and then couldn't see their comment, it's because of the amount of comments - 670 in total, you just needed to click on "more comments" to see them all. They were all published, none were removed.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

I wish I could give out chocolate to everyone, but there can be only one winner.
And the winner, selected randomly, is...

JODIE "WHOOPS_A_DAISY"

Jodie, big well done! I have tweeted to you. Hope you and yours will enjoy all the chocolate and the other goodies.

Merry Christmas to all lovely people who took part in the competition!

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Night Edition 3D Puzzle (Ravensburger)

I chuckled, reading today's The Observer Magazine: "If you're bored of helping your grandma piece together The Hay Wain then why not blow her mind with a ... jigsaw... Explain to her that doing jigsaws now counts as being mindful rather than a way of filling the hours until Pointless starts". How one can be so casually stereotyping, is beyond me.
I'm certainly not in the nana category, and I've never watched Pointless, yet I do love puzzles. It's one of my favourite forms of relaxation.

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Night Edition 3D puzzle (216pc) is a stylish modern take on a jigsaw puzzle, which will appeal to many age groups.
It would look great on any book shelf or chest of drawers.

We have several 3d jigsaw puzzles from Ravensburger in our collection, and love them - you can find my reviews for Taj Mahal, The Colosseum and Statue of Liberty (among many others).

If you haven't had a chance of piecing together a 3d puzzle, be reassured that they are not that tricky. The plastic pieces are numbered and have a little arrow on the back of each piece, which shows where the next piece should be attached.
First sort through the puzzle pieces. I find it easier to make the columns of tens on the working table, and then use them, building the puzzle up, rather than looking for each piece individually in a big pile of puzzle pieces.
If you prefer your jigsaw puzzles more challenging, don't look at the numbers, and try to find correct details by looking at the printed image.

It uses LED technology to create several different coloured lighting effects which change from red to yellow, green, blue and pink. The lights change automatically.
It's a bit like having your very own mini-disco at home.

If you look up at the ceiling, there is a colourful reflection.

Eddie laughed that he's a monster, when the lights reflected on his face, in the dark room. I think he has a point.

There are 216 pieces in the puzzle, and it measures 29x8.5cm when complete. The puzzle comes with a base, where the LED unit is inserted.

We're particularly fond of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as Pisa is the town where my husband served as a paratrooper (I know, it's difficult to imagine, but it is true). Years ago I visited his old barracks, and we stayed in Pisa overnight. I think it was the first time that I had a latte with a design on top. Lattes were not so popular in the UK in those days, the cafe culture was yet to reach the British shores.

So here is our Leaning Tower of Pisa puzzle with a mini figure of a paratrooper.

This jigsaw puzzle will make a lovely gift for any Italophile, or  jigsaw puzzle fan.

Disclosure: We received this puzzle for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Pearl barley and tuna soup

When I was a student at Canterbury, I had to be frugal and cook budget meals for myself. I was lucky to have a British Council scholarship which covered my degree fees and living expenses, but obviously living on my own I couldn't rely on my parents' help if there was an emergency. They were thousands of miles away.
I lived on soups and sandwiches.
One of the soups that I often made was actually from my student days back in Russia. Pearl barley is a cheap ingredient, and bulks up any meal. Add any tinned fish (better in brine, but in tomato sauce would work well too), some sliced pickles, a potato and whatever you have in the larder - an onion, a bay leaf, a carrot, or a handful of frozen peas. You can vary and swap ingredients, but tinned fish and pearl barley are two main ingredients.
This soup could be also cooked with fresh or frozen fish, but that's more of a luxury version.
I think it's a very Russian combination of flavours - fish and pearl barley. At least I haven't heard anyone cooking them together here.

When I spotted a tin of tuna in the latest delivery from Degustabox, I decided to cook the soup from my Uni days. This was Rio Mare Tuna in oil (I didn't use the oil).

Pearl barley and tinned tuna soup
Ingredients:
4 heaped tbsp pearl barley
1 bay leaf
1 shallot
1tbsp oil
a tin of tuna
1 fish stock cube (optional)
1 small carrot
4-5 cherry tomatoes
2 pickled cucumbers, sliced thinly
2tbsp brine (optional)
1 medium potato

Rinse the barley in cold water, and put in a medium sized pan. Add plenty of water. Barley absorbs a lot of water, so you'll need to top up the soup a few times, while it cooks. The barley will take about an hour to cook on low, simmering.
Add the bay leaf. Bring to boil, then cook, simmering on low.
Fry the thinly sliced shallot with the carrot in the olive oil for 5 minutes, then add to the barley soup with tuna and fish stock cube (about half way through the cooking of barley). You might skip the frying bit, but it adds a depth of flavour. Add the tomatoes, chopped cucumbers and brine.
Add the chopped potato in the last 12-15 minutes of cooking.
Add a bit of chopped parsley, dill or spring onions before serving, or a thin slice of lemon.
I also like to add a teaspoon of Greek style yogurt or soured cream.

I used Polish pickled cucumbers, those which you can buy in Tesco or Polish delis, they are called Ogorki Kwaszone or Ogorki Kiszone. I don't know what the difference is between these two words. I asked in the Polish deli, but they were not able to explain. They are different from standard British pickled cucumbers or gherkins, and I prefer them to too vinegary British pickles.
You can buy them in big jars or in plastic bags. The brine is also tasty, and is fab for hangovers.

And by the way, barley is very good for you - it helps digestion and improves blood sugar levels.

Oreo Cheesecake (baked)

It's not a secret that we love Oreos. This scrumptious biscuit makes a versatile ingredient for many bakes.
I have fond memories of little Sash lovingly twisting each Oreo, licking off the white icing inside and then eating the chocolate wafers. Now Eddie is a big fan of these cookies.

I remember seeing an Oreo cheesecake on Pinterest. I have looked online for a recipe, a lot of them were for non-baked Oreo cheesecakes. Finally I found what I wanted on AllRecipes - see Easy Philly Oreo cheesecake.
I have used a full-fat cream cheese. In the past I used light versions of cream cheese, but I found them too runny for cheesecakes.
I followed the recipe closely, adding a few minor changes, but overall this is not my recipe, all credit goes to Philadelphia for the most delicious cheesecake.
I added a bit of soured cream, as it gives a good tang to cheesecakes, but a Greek style yogurt would be another possible addition.

Oreo Cheesecake
Ingredients:
25 Oreos (16 for the crust and 9 for the cheesecake layer)
50g butter, melted
ground vanilla (optional)
3 packs of Philadelphia cream cheese (280g each)
150g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
4tbsp soured cream
1tbsp vanilla paste

Divide Oreos into two groups of 16 and 9. Then carefully open up each of 16 cookies and scrape off the white icing (it will go inside the cheesecake topping). Place all the black biscuits inside a plastic bag, and bash it with a wooden rolling pin until you get a crumb consistency.
Melt the butter and mix with cookie crumbs. If using, grate some vanilla over the crumbs.
Line a spring cake tin with a parchment circle and oil sides. Put the cookie/butter mix in the bottom of the tin and spread evenly. Using hands, press the crumbs together.
In a deep mixing bowl beat together cream cheese with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then soured cream, white icing from cookies and vanilla and mix well. The cheese has a runny consistency.
Pour a half over the crumb base. Break half of the remaining Oreos over the cheese.
Pour more cheese, and break more cookies over.
Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes. If the cake gets too browned, cover it with a foil.

Remove from the oven, and let the cake cool. It will still have a wobble, when you take the cake out.

Now the most difficult part: waiting for it to set. Ideally it should stay overnight in the fridge.
The next morning you will have the most scrumptious cheesecake.

It would also be interesting to play around with different types of Oreos, maybe use Golden or Peanut Butter Oreos.
If you love Oreos as much as we do, you might be interested in trying to make your own White chocolate Oreo fudge (our family favourite) and Oreo brownies.

Disney Eye Found It! (Ravensburger hidden picture game)

Are you a family who loves playing board games on Christmas, taking it easy after a big lunch? Or is playing games together a more frequent occasion in your family?

I'm all in favour of board games, as they are great fun (and they distract everyone from being glued to iphones, ipads and other gadgety things).
If you are looking for a new board game for Christmas and want to get away from the usual suspects (Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble etc), Disney Eye Found It from Ravensburger will tick all the boxes.
This hidden picture game is suitable for the whole family (ages 4+) and could include up to 6 players.

Disney fans will find many of their favourite characters on a magical journey through 12 illustrated Disney realms, from Radiator Springs to Peter Pan's Never Land and Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood.

What do you find in the box?
1 giant game board which comes in several big pieces
6 playing pieces with stands
1 spinner
12 plastic rings
30 search cards
and an hourglass

First assemble your game board.
You will need a well lit area to play this game, as there are lots of small details which you might miss otherwise. It is probably easier to unfold the game on the floor, or on a big table (our coffee table, which we use for playing games is too short for the base plate).

Choose a playing piece - be a Mickey, Tigger or Elsa - and journey through Disney realms, searching for hidden treasures.

There are over 1,000 things to find (don't worry, not in one go).
The beauty of this game is that you have to work as a team. You don't compete against each other. You win, everyone wins, you lose, everyone loses.
Together with your fellow players you need to beat the clock before it reaches midnight. If it does, off you go to the start to begin your journey anew.

The youngest player begins the game.
Spin the spinner and follow the instructions. If you get numbers from 1 to 8, you simply advance forward along the road. If your spinner stops at Clock Tower 1, you move the hand of the clock tower one hour ahead. If you stop at Clock Tower 2, you move the hand of the clock tower two hours ahead.

Stopping on Mickey Mouse symbol means it's time to search. Turn over the top search card from the draw pile and show it to all the players.

Turn over the hourglass. All participants start searching for the treasure seen on the card.
Each time one of you finds the right image, put a ring over it.
Stop when the hourglass has run through. Count the rings and move forward the same amount of spaces.

You will also see the Mickey Mouse symbol along the blue road as you travel. If you land on the symbol square, start a new search.

The game finishes once all the players reached the castle before the clock strikes midnight.

This excellent board game will make a wonderful gift for Christmas for the whole family.
You can buy this game on amazon, in Toys'R'Us, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Argos etc.

Another brilliant Ravensburger game for Christmas or any other occasion is Labyrinth - we have two different sets - original and Despicable Me 3, and love both versions.

Disclosure: We received the game for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Aubergine Ikra

It's been over a week, since my Mum flew back home, and I miss her so. I talk to her every day on the phone, but it's not the same, is it?! I am trying to think positively, and convince myself that with each passing week it means that it's one week closer to the next time we'll see each other.
The truth is, of course, that we never know, if the next time will happen.
My Mum is in her 70s, her health is not getting better. And due to my circumstances, I haven't travelled to Russia for over 13 years. I cannot fathom taking a long flight with our older son who has autism, and is always anxious travelling. Even a relatively short flight to Italy is fraught with anxiety and stress. Airport check-ins and waiting are stressful even for neuro typical people, for autistic people they are extra tough.
I wish my Mum lived closer to us, and we could see each other often. But it's not going to happen. Thousands of miles separate us. Sad, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Whenever she comes, I ask her to cook some Russian food for me - familiar dishes and flavours that take me back home.

We went shopping together recently, and I picked three beautiful aubergines. I should have probably just chosen three purple ones, as the skins are peeled off for the recipe anyway, but they looked so pretty, I couldn't resist.

Aubergine ikra is a Russian answer to a Sicilian caponata. This Southern Russian dish is known as a poor man's caviar. There are many different variations, and even my Mum doesn't stick to one particular recipe. Ingredients might remain the same, but the amounts differ.
Aubergine ikra is something in between a spread, a side dish and a dip. It could be eaten hot or cold. I prefer it cold. I think it gets tastier on the 2nd or even 3rd day, kept in the fridge, when all the flavours merge together and mature.

Aubergine ikra
Ingredients:
3 aubergines
4 sweet peppers
2 carrots
1 big white onion
tomatoes (mix of 3 big and a handful of cherry)
sunflower oil (about 1/3 bottle)
sea salt

Mum chops and slices all ingredients first, and fcooks them separately.

Skin the aubergine and chop into small cubes. Add about 70ml sunflower oil to a deep frying pan and fry the aubergine cubes until soft and golden, stirring them frequently, for about 10-15 minutes. Once cooked, place the aubergines in a bowl.
Chop the carrots very thinly and fry with a small amount of oil. Once cooked, add to the bowl with aubergines.
Next chop the onions and saute in oil until soft and translucent.
Fry the sweet peppers, chopped into small pieces. Again, add to the bowl with the other cooked ingredients.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the frying pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl, mix all the ingredients well and return to the pan. Cook it for another 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. season with sea salt at the very last stage, when all the ingredients are combined.

Before serving add some chopped flat leaf parsley (optional).

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway

Eddie is a big fan of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. We have them all, and read them together.
He begged me to pre-book the latest release when he saw the poster in Waterstone's, and we ran to the bookshop after school to buy it, as soon as I received the text, notifying us the book was out.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway is the 12th book in the series by Jeff Kinney.
There are inevitable comparisons with the 9th book in the series, The Long Haul, as both stories are about the Heffleys going on a family trip.
This time the Heffleys are off to a tropical paradise resort, where Greg's parents went on their honeymoon many years earlier and have fond memories of.
They are fed up with the cold, and on a whim decide to spend Christmas holidays in the warmer climes.
Greg, who's never been on an airplane before, is terrified of flying. The first part of the book goes into great detail about what you do at the airport and on board the plane. Though recognisable, it is not very funny.
As always, everything is exaggerated for the fun effect.

The men in the family are all fine examples of selfishness and egoism - from Dad who wants to spend the flight in the first class zone to Rodrick and Greg. And don't even start me on Manny, he's the epitome of a spoilt brat, the Devil incarnate.

After an ordeal, they arrive to Isla de Corales, and sigh with relief.
But the paradise exists only in their minds and dreams: the reality soon brings them back to earth. They in turns have a food poisoning, a sun-stroke, battle with all kinds of vermin, and by pandering to whims of the unbearably selfish Manny, have to escape the angry mob at the resort.

The fans of the series will still enjoy this latest installment. Eddie loved it, as for me, the greatest value of the series is that it turns my son into an avid reader.
We take it in turns to read these books. I will read to him for half an hour, then he continues to read to me, while I'm ironing uniforms for the next morning.

When a book turns into a successful franchise, do you keep writing even if you are short on ideas?!

Have you rushed to buy The Getaway?

Birthday lunch at Frankie & Benny's

To celebrate Federico's birthday today, we decided to go out for lunch to Frankie & Benny's in Marriotts Walk. We visit it a couple of times a year.
The menu is a typical American-Italian food, quite heavy on meat, with a big choice of burgers, pasta and pizzas. Most of the things come with fries.
There are some vegetarian dishes on the menu, which I have tried in the past, but they were a bit boring. I don't think salads are their forte.

Going out with Sash is always tricky. If it's too noisy, he might get stressed and want to leave at once, but we decided we'd still go out together, as we wanted to celebrate Fede's birthday as a family.
Thankfully, Sash was in a good mood.

At some point, there was a young child running around and screeching at the top of her voice, and I braced myself, thinking Sash would get anxious, but the child was soon removed somewhere else to annoy the other people.

When the time came to order, first they didn't have prosecco, then champagne was only available as a bottle (at £35+), which we didn't want.
Steak was all gone, except the biggest size.
In the end we ordered a pina colada cocktail, a glass of rose for me, pepsi and blackcurrant drinks for kids.

Bruschetta looked pretty, but I'd prefer it more toasted.

For me pasta is not a celebratory meal at all, but our birthday boy opted for a plate of carbonara.

A Triple Cheese Burger is as full of calories as it sounds. It has mozzarella sticks inside and lots of mustard, and comes with fries. I should go on a diet tomorrow, shouldn't I?! And no dinner tonight.

Eddie wanted burger slides from children's menu, with fries and peas.

Desserts' list was full of temptations. My guys fancied milkshakes with all sorts of toppings, like cookies, waffles and donuts, but I was wondering if the stodgy bits get soggy in milk.
Have you ever tried those Freakshakes and would you recommend them?

In the end we picked a Can't Decider dessert, which is a perfect option for those who cannot make up their minds. You get four small slices of different cakes - a lemon tart, a pecan pie, a chocolate fudge cake and an Oreo cheesecake, and a mini bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Children's meal deal includes a dessert. Eddie liked the sound of fruit skewers with a chocolate dip.

He said he wished there were more strawberries rather than apples.

We enjoyed our meal together, which is even more precious because Sasha was with us and appeared to be happy and smiley. Simple things like that - eating out together - are often fraught with stress for families with special needs children, so we appreciate these times even more when everything goes without any trouble.

Eddie loves going to Frankie & Benny's, and we had a good laugh together, taking selfies and telling jokes.
The bill was £60+ for four of us.
Our birthday boy got three balloons to take home.
On the way home I was singing aloud "Ding dong merrily on high... Hosanna in excelsis" which left Eddie in stitches, though he kept looking back if anyone could hear us. And I only had one glass of rose, honestly.