A trip out to Bents Garden and Home..

The Christmas spirit is well and truly upon us in our household and what better way to start the festive prep than a visit to Bents Garden Centre in Leigh? It's really easy to find too, just of the East Lancs Road.

 I was invited along to have a look at their Christmas festivities and having never been before, I was very excited! 

On arrival the lovely staff there gave us a warm welcome before showing us through to their restaurant. I chose a lovely looking Salmon from a good selection of hot dishes. 

The restaurant was much bigger than I'd expected and once I'd chosen the fish I was offered several different vegetables and potatoes to go alongside.

 The menu catered for everyone. Pasta dishes, vegertarian dishes, cold sandwiches and cakes. SO many cakes. Delicious CAKES. 

 Did I mention the cakes? They were amazeballs. I opted for the double chocolate....nom nom nom. 

 Following the meal, off I went around the store with some fellow 'bloggers' to have a nosey at what was on offer. There were a few demonstrations on which were fantastic. A young lady demonstrated an effective way to wrap a bottle of wine.. you may be thinking 'Why on earth would you wrap a bottle of wine when you can chuck it in a gift bag?' Well Ladies & Gents, this is why...

 I learnt how to make a Christmas garland, and how to dress a tree - Properly! There was even a free in-store games you could play to try win on the spot prizes from Joules. Sadly I was unsuccessful! 

Bents Garden Centre has the biggest and most impressive Christmas selection I've seen in a long time, it really doesn't matter what you are looking for to decorative your home with this Christmas, whatever it is, they will have it! Waling into the store is like walking into Santa's Grotto, and suddenly you will become a super excited child-like version of yourself! 

 The staff were exceptionally polite & helpful, answering any questions I had or directing their customers to products throughout the store. The store itself is huge, there is a large play area for the children outdoors where you will also find Hot tubs, summer houses and even Birds of Prey! It was a dark evening when I attended, but I definitely intend to revisit so I can take advantage of the things I missed. 

 Overall, I really enjoyed my Bents Garden Centre experience. The food was nice, although a little pricey for the main meals (Salmon was £11.95), and if I'm honest I'd say most things are slightly more expensive than I would like to pay, particularly the artificial Christmas Tree's which is what I had gone to buy.... but the cakes were well worth money so I would certainly recommend them!

Would I go back? Yes I would.

Should you go? Of course! There is so much selection all under one roof! 

If you do decide to go, or if you've been before, I'd love to know what you thought. Please leave a comment below.

 Please note - I was provided a complimentary meal by Bents Garden & Home to do this review, but the thoughts and opinions are truly my own.

What's great where you live?

I'm always up for trying new things and sometimes there are things to do, see & visit that I would have never known about if it hadn't have been for recommendations.

So this little post is an invitation for you to tell me what's great about where you live. 

For example, I live in Prestwich, and there are many great things about this little village, so if you came to visit I would say you have to go for a walk through Prestwich clough, it runs between Bury New Road at St Mary's Flower Park all the way through to drinkwater park and is a lovely circular walk which is child & dog friendly!

Then I would say pop to Cuckoo, a little bar a very short walk from the clough to have some lovely food and drinks.

So if I came to visit your home town, what you recommend i do? Or where do you think I should eat/drink? Is there a MUST see attraction?

Please comment with your local recommendations and let's share the love for our home towns!

My 'Bake Off' nominee is...

It's no secret that I am crap at baking. I have tried (many times) before but the results always leave a lot to be desired. But now my friends, it doesn't matter.. why? I hear you ask. Well, here's why..

 It was a cold November morning when I heard. I was gutted. I really tried hard in my interview but unfortunatly I didn't get the job. Depressed, I went to work... via a rather famous burger chain. I know, i know.. shame on me..but I was sad and it was going to make me feel better wasn't it?.. But no, it didn't. 

I arrived at my desk.. and there she was... like a beacon of light... my work buddy Elaine, holding the most scrumptious homemade chocolate, cherry and hazlenut brownies! 

 Gobble Gobble Munch Munch, gone in a flash. 

Elaine is our shifts' STAR BAKER, and regularly plys us with copious amounts of sugar in her 'Great Bakes' which of course we all enjoy and all the good intentions of sticking to 'the diet' go swiftly out of the window! 

 A couple of days after the infamous brownies she arrived at work with these beauties... 

 Chocolate Orange Macaroons!

 I can safely say that these are THE most amazing thing I have ever tasted! In fact, they were SO good that I managed to make her think that keeping them a secret from the rest of the shift was a REALLY good idea.. that way we could eat them all ourselves! (Sorry shift....but I dont feel guilty... not a bit...not even at all)

 Needless to say by the end of that week I didn't feel bad about not getting the job. I even questioned why I'd wanted to leave this fine baker I sit next to daily?!? *feels own head* 

I have now come to terms with the fact that whilst I work with Elaine I will never be skinny! So I now need to persuade her to apply for next years TV Bake Off!! And if she refuses... I might just have to fill in the form for her! 

 Have you ever nominated someone for something? If so, what was it for? And were they picked?

Pancake Day!!

On my pancakes I like Sugar and Syrup and Chocolate and Marshmallow and...you get it right? ANYTHING sweet and naughty!

My OH likes Lemon & Sugar. How simple.

What did you have on yours??

The Alma Inn for Valentines Day

Last weekend saw the majority of people celebrate Valentines Day, myself included.

We splashed out this year and went to a gorgeous place called The Alma Inn in Laneshawbridge, near Colne, Lancashire. If you are ever in this area – a visit here is a must, not only because the whole place is gorgeous, but the food is up there in the top 10 places I’ve eaten at.

We have been to The Alma Inn before, for a random lunch back in January 2013 and was blown away by every bite. Their menu is exquisite and although the prices are a little higher than you would expect from an eatery that’s in the middle of nowhere, when your plate arrives on your table, you will see why. It’s for this reason we decidced to re-visit for Valentines Day this year, and after looking at their website we chose to stay over too, after all the Inn is a good 35 miles from home. (That would be an expensive taxi ride)

The menu was a set price at £35 per person and this included Canopes & Cava, Starter, Main, Dessert and Coffee/Tea & Fraises au Choclat (strawberry in chocolate). You could also add Cheese & Biscuits for an extra £6.45 per person if you wanted to, but after the 5 courses we’d already had – we were too full to even contemplate it.

I’d remembered the food from my first visit as 10/10, every bite so perfectly cooked and flavoured and so I’d set my standards high for Valentines Day (perhaps that was wrong of me? After all, this was an extremely busy night, with food cooked en masse) Don’t get me wrong, it was still amazing, but for me it was all a little bit rich, and both me and my OH left a heap of braised red cabbage in red wine jue that had accompanied the perfectly cooked fillet steak. The baked camembert was lovely, the Assiette of Desserts were gorgeous, and all provided with great service.

The room was one of the most luxourious rooms I’ve stayed in and at £79.95 the price is unbeatable for this standard. The Inn has an official 4 star rating, and quite rightly deserves it. Whatsmore, The Alma Inn is gay friendly too, catering for civil partnerships and wedding ceremonies alike, so if you are thinking of tying the knot, check out their Wedding Fayre on June 7^th 2014.

Needless to say, we had an awesome Valentines Day. We love The Alma Inn and will definitly be returning - we've already talked some friends into going too!

Have you ever been to The Alma Inn? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

What did you do to show your loved one just how much they mean to you on Valentines Day?

Get Out in Prestwich..Go to Cuckoo

Being a Prestwich dweller I have particular interest in what is going on close to home and with that, I try to support local businesses, so when I saw that a new bar had opened just around the corner I couldn't wait to check it out.

Cuckoo is a small yet stylish bar in Prestwich village centre, just a short walk from metrolink station, and with exposed brick walls and low level lighting it gives a feeling of warmth and welcome as soon as you step through the door. The furniture is 'old school' and with the menus printed on brown paper it trally gives a rustic feel to the experience.

We attended in a group of 4 for some food and drinks on a Friday evening. It wasn't too busy but there were enough people to give it a little 'buzz'.

Amongst other delights from the menu, we ordered the sharing platter of meats, cheeses and breads, and although there was no butter available (my only negative here) the waiter did bring us some oil and vinegar to moisten our large pile of selected breads. 

The food was delicious, and really reasonably priced. My favourite bit quite possibly being the sweet potatoes chips! Sound simple but taste amazing..You have to try them! 

NOM NOM: those famous chips with Iberian pork pinchos!

There is a more comfortable seating area downstairs too where you can relax and chat  to your friends whilst sinking into one of their leather sofas. 

I really enjoyed my visit to Cuckoo, and will definitely be going back to try out the rest of the menu!! Why not check out their Facebook page here to see what others say.

This post was not sponsored in any way and the views are my own.

Have you been to Cuckoo? What did you think?

Do you support any local businesses in your area? Is there anywhere you would recommend?

MSM Charcoal Challenge: Let's have a barbie....

The challenge: Sponsored by Money Supermarket the charcoal challenge was to stretch £50 as much as you could to enjoy the best BBQ!

Being a shift worker I checked my diary to see when I had a free weekend before August to start planning my charcoal challenge! Oh no - there are none.. Well apart from 1 where I am only off on the Saturday, that will do!

Trying to decide what to spend the £50 on was the hardest bit. Would it be a 'finest' BBQ for a couple of people or a 'value' BBQ for many more..?

It turned out to be somewhere between the 2 but of course, with a twist.

The Shopping list: 

Beef burgers with jalapeño - £3

Pork sausages - £3

Salad stuff (inc coleslaw / potato salad) - £5

Petrol - £20

Pitch - £10

Beer - £9

Total: £50.

If you haven't already guessed we went camping! The weather was too nice to waste and I like to make the most of my time off work so why not?

Now then, Naomi is not a camper. she doesnt do cold, or discomfort, or faff. And for that reason we dont own a single camping-related item.

Thankfully our good friends do, and so we set off at around lunchtime via their house and collected everything we might need!

We arrived a little over an hour later in Grange-over-sands & pitched the tent, set the dog up in the shade and got a beer!

    Here we are with our happy camper

    friends!

It was all going so smoothly until it came to blowing up the air bed....

Mum: I think that should be done now.

Naomi: I like it firm though, lets just put a but more in..

"BANG"

Mum: Oh no... It's popped!!!

What could we do? Nothing. Better get another beer!

    Here we are looking like camping pro's

Our charcoal challenge was brilliant! Never underestimate what you can do with £50!! Great food, great weather, great company & a great view...

    Dora & I with the wonderful sea view

    Me & Chef Cath - BBQ Queen

    Naomi showing off her expressive dance moves with a roll of doggy poo bags... After a few more beers!!

Overall our camping experience wasn't too bad, but surely after Naomi having to sleep on the floor, she won't be up for it again?? Watch this space....