Our Final Pick! Christmas 2016 Advent Calendars for Smix, Me, & for Mrs Meow!

We are so excited for Christmas! These two rascals are sorted for advent calendars, and my choice has just arrived too. So let's have a look at 2016's picks for the World of Kitsch household. 

Duvet from Asda online

Smix picked the Tesco Hot Wheels calendar. I bought it for £15 last week in store, but it appears to be £12 this week on the website.

Behind the doors are 8 cars and the rest of the days are fun Christmas accessories to pair with the vehicles. 

The second calendar is one for us to share, which I won via a competition on the fabulous, local, culinary website Eating Ideas (check them out if you don't know them already).

It's the Hotel Chocolat Truffels for Two calendar, which costs £26 & which has two mini chocolates for each day.

Mrs Meow's calendar is next, and a rarer find than a doggy advent, it's a cat treat calendar from Lidl which cost £4.99 Its pretty hefty though.  The contents look kibbly, and I'm hoping she will eat them, you never know with her.

Last is my own choice, and rather than go for a makeup advent calendar this year I splashed out on the  Sanctuary Let Go Days of Christmas advent. It costs £25 and it's packed with travel size minis of their top products, and home fragrance items too. I buy from the range throughout the year, so I'm looking forward to finding some new favourites.

It's another hefty calendar, but the £25 price tag is softened by the fact it's included in the yearly Boots 3 for 2 Christmas gift offer. So I bought two similarly priced presents for other people and then got the calendar 'free' as it were. Merry Christmas to myself!

So which calendar are you after? The only other one that's tempting me is the £250-worth M&S Beauty calendar, which you can get for £35 when you spend £35 in store on home or clothing. If any of you get that, I will be so envious! 

Sneak a Little Slice of Christmas into Everyday. Xmas 2016 Launches at M&S.

31st October, Halloween, 1st November, its Christmas. The population always seems split this month. There are those who think it's far too soon to think about Christmas, then there is festive loving folks like myself who are ready to dive straight in to turkey and cranberry everything.

Marks & Spencer's food hall is starting to turn holly berry red, with their Christmas party food and festive flavours appearing in every department. So I visited the Sprucefiled store to choose from the little items you can start adding to your day now, without having a full on turkey dinner. There are dozens of products you can pick for lunch and dinner to get you in the Christmas mood. 

Pigs in Blankets £1.75 : Scotch Egg £2 : Mince pies £1.20 : Turkey wrap £3

Every year M&S bring out a Christmas lunch menu for their takeaway food. That includes sandwiches, salads, sausage rolls, wraps, juice and mini desserts for one. This is the 11th year that they have partnered with the charity Shelter, donating 5% of every sale to the homeless charity.

Soup £2.50 : Turkey feast sandwich £3.25 : Sausage roll £1.75

Club sandwich £4.50 : Juice £1.50 : Rolls £3.25

Profiteroles £2 : Cheesecake £2 : Macaroons £1.75

Moving on to the rest of the Food Hall, we see the traditional M&S crazy crisp varieties.  Prosecco or Bucks Fizz handcooked crisps are pretty unusual, as well as turkey & maple syrup, but the flavour I'm most excited about is Blackstick's Blue cheese. I already love the blue cheese itself, and the spreadable cheese you can get too, so these are right up my street.

Crisps all 2 for £3

Christmas flavours are also reaching the shelves of the confectionary and biscuit aisles. Even Percy has had a Christmas makeover. 

Jaffacakes £1 : Marzipan £1

One last deal I have to mention. It's just arrived in store & I anticipate it selling quickly, so if you think it's a suitable gift you should think about buying it while there is a good choice available. 

You get a lovely, thick felt stocking, which you can fill with three items of your choice for £10. There are sacks of minty sweets, chocolate skittle games, chocolate gingerbread men, snowball sweeties, winter caramels and various Christmas themed games. 

All 3 for £10 plus free stocking

I choose the decorate your own lolly kit, decorate your own biscuits, and the crazy chocolate cracker. For £10 you could divide the items as three separate presents, or use the stocking as a gift bag to give the selection of your choice to someone. Or, like me, you could pick them for yourself! 

What's your favourite M&S Christmas product?  Check out what else is in store on the M&S website.

Pork Scratchings, Beard Oil, Tattoos & More: The Alternative Bunch of Adult Advent Calendars

Some weird and wonderful alternatives to chocolate, toy or beauty advent calendars, all on  Not On The High Street.

Pork scratchings

Beard oil

Ales

Ales

Tea

Chocolate sprouts

Seeds

Beers

Temporary tattoos

Biscuits

Charm bracelet

Tea

Beer

Candles

Fortune cookie

Train set

Pillow

Liquorice  

tea

Coffee

family sized chocolates

Visit World of Wonder This Half Term - Northern Ireland's Newest & Most Impressive Adventure Play Centre

World of Wonder in Carrickfergus  is Northern Ireland's newest kids' play and party centre. The global adventure themed soft play has one of the country's largest main play frame & one of the biggest areas for under 4's including the ever popular ball pit, and a baby only section.

We went along this morning to check out World of Wonder, as Smix is plane and airport mad right now, and I knew they had a plane as part of the play area. The adventure centre is part of the Loughshore Hotel complex, so I had pictured a modest size soft play, but we were blown away when we got there.

The World of Wonder section is located in its own building, with the entry marked 'Arrivals' and a plane to begin your child's adventure from the moment they get out of the car. You 'check in' and go through to the large, bright, open play area. There are three frames, the main one for ages 4 and above, the toddler magic castle for under 4's, and a separate sports section for basket ball & football. 

There has been no expense spared in making this a really special day out. The attention to detail and themeing is the best I've seen anywhere. The walls are painted with landmarks from all the corners of the world, including Belfast City Hall and the cranes! At kids' eye height along the walls are illustrations of children from around the world in traditional dress saying 'hello' in their native language.

How many world landmarks can you spot? 

The main frame, one of the largest in Northern Ireland, is decorated with huge 3D models of the leaning tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, a giant hot air balloon,  and the worldwide sights continue with panels decorated with penguins, camels and the Statue of Liberty. Your child will have been around the world in ninety minutes in Carrick!

There is plenty of seating for adults with tables and chairs filling the remaining space. The Market Cafe offers coffee, tea, snacks, slush puppies, juice and all the usual food and drink you would expect at a soft play area. There are large TVs for adults to watch, and of course free wifi. 

To get all the information you need in one place, you can visit World of Wonder website, or download the app from Podium apps on your iPhone or Android phone. They offer party packages at different tiers for four different themed party rooms, complete with mascot visits from characters like Pikachu, Paw Patrol, Minions and Olaf. Parties include themed invitations for whichever room you choose, beach, superhero, animal or princess.

Smix declared it the best soft play place ever, and I have to agree, it is pretty darn impressive. 

Let me know if you visit World of Wonder this half term. My Twitter is @rudedoodle and you can get in touch with World of Wonder @WorldofWonderNI

Quad area £1 a ride

Toddler area

Beach party room

Superhero party room

Sports area

My Top 5 Northern Irish Food Brands - 20 Years of Tesco in Northern Ireland

It's 20 years since Tesco arrived in Northern Ireland. Back then it was the first big U.K. supermarket to make a move to our shores, buying over the Stewarts/Crazy Prices chain and creating jobs by expanding the stores throughout the province.

 Over the past 20 years, Tesco NI has strived to engage with local suppliers and consumers to show their ongoing commitment to local food and drink.

 With 90 local companies currently supplying food and drink in Tesco NI stores, here are some family favourites, and my top five Northern Irish food brands.

5.  Genesis Crafty- that's their lemon bakes above. The bakery range makes scones, buns, pancakes and lots of lovely treats.

4.  Ormo- first baked in Belfast on the Ormeau Road, this brand keeps the traditional recipes for the classic Ulster Fry soda and potato farls, alive.

Ormo sodas and Clandeboye Estate yoghurt

3.  Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt- this is produced a mile away from where I live, and close to a Game of Thrones filming location. Plus it tastes really, really good.

Tayto crisps and Mash Direct Chilli Baby Bakes & Carrot, Parsnip & Turnip

2. Mash Direct- It was a real toss up between the top two brands because I love them both! I visited Mash Direct back in 2013 touring the factory & seeing where the spuds and cabbage etc grow, just outside Ards, in the shadow of the Scrabo Tower. Their mash and veg are all fresh, with no additives. It's as if you bought the potatoes, carrots or parsnips yourself, boiled and mashed them.

1.  Tayto crisps- specifically their cheese and onion crisps. It's the taste of home that Northern Irish people who move away crave. In fact there are Tayto vending machines in both our airports! The classic, unique cheese and onion recipe they use has just been extended to popcorn. It's unusual, but like the crisps it's addictive. And of course there's always the fact the crisps are made in an ACTUAL castle.

Whats your favourite NI brand? Let them know with the hashtag #HappyBirthdayTescoNI to the Twitter account- @Tesco_NIreland

Super Cool Halloween Ice Cream From Quinn's Gelato, Available All Over Northern Ireland

We discovered  Quinn's Gelato over the summer, when one of their beautiful concessions opened in our local Maxol petrol station, Bryansburn Road, Bangor West.

Quinn's is a local brand, lovingly made in County Tyrone. What sets Quinn's apart is the presentation of the trays of ice cream that are on show to buy. They are always piled high in fluffy clouds of soft whipped deliciousness. There are sparkling toppings, fresh fruit, glitter or chocolate pieces.​

There are over forty flavours but your nearby stockist will have between eight and twelve flavours at a time. The Maxol station we go to like to mix it up, but we've seen Raspberry Ruffle, Strawberry, Kinder, Bueno, Nutella, strawberry, honeycomb, bubblegum, blue sky, Flake, Jaffa Cake, and the strangest but one I tried and loved- Red Bull sorbet.

Two other places I have seen Quinn's for sale- Hillmount Garden Centre in Bangor and the petrol station on the Gransha Road.  You can visit the Quinn's website for your nearest stockist.

So this morning I was in the Maxol getting my Barista Coffee and noticed they had just put out fresh new trays in the Quinn's counter and they were all Halloween themed! The flavours include Apple Pie and Toffee Apple.

Let me know if you try any and if you love Quinn's. 

Here are a few close ups from the Quinn's FB Page. 

#SparScarefest : Which Came First? The Turnip or The Pumpkin? The Facts Might Surprise You!

Ask any thirty something or above in Northern Ireland about their childhood Halloweens & in particular what designs they carved into their pumpkins and they'll reply the same thing, "pumpkins? You mean turnips, right?". 

Because in the 80s in October a nation of spoons would get bent out of shape trying to scoop solid, rock hard turnip insides out. A very simple face would be cut into the vegetable and a candle placed inside filling the whole house with a very 'organic' smell, to use a euphemism for the holiday scent Yankee Candle need never produce!

Then, about ten years ago we seemed to take a funny turn and Halloween went from a one night affair into something closer to how the Americans celebrate. Home decor, garden signs, spooky themed food and drink, and ... pumpkins. We knew the States used pumpkins rather than turnips from watching their tv and movies, but what I didn't know was that turnips came first there too. 

Spar NI sent us a Halloween care package today, with locally produced foods to get us in the mood for half term. Inside with a carving kit was both a pumpkin AND a turnip, to keep everyone happy. Also included some facts, and I was very interested to know that it was us Irish emigrating to the States in the mid-19th century that brought the Halloween celebrations, including turnip carving. Here's where it gets interesting- when they were unable to find the turnips, instead they use pumpkins- so turnips always were first, even there.

They would hang the lit up lanterns on their door to ward away lost souls and evil spirits. 

You can buy Armagh grown turnips or North Down pumpkins at your local Spar, as well as a selection of locally produced treats.  Your traditional monkey nuts are from Portadown, as are the toffee and chocolate apples made by Fosters.

£1 each

If you are feeling adventurous why not visit the  Spar NI recipe page, where there are several Halloween themed foods to make yourself.

Love Yankee Candle Silver Bells But Can't Buy It Anywhere? I've Found a Dupe.

Christmas time smells a certain way in your household, and when I first got married and had my own family home, I wanted to create a scent for us that would always remind us of holiday times. So that when Smix is a grown up, just smelling that scent would make him happy for the days of waiting for Santa. 

I picked a certain Yankee Candle that reminded me of my own childhood, not that Yankee was around at the time, but because the classic, realistic scent I chose smelt like the real Christmas trees we would have year after year. The dark green, festive jar candle I picked was Silver Bells, but then, something really annoying happened. 

Yankee discontinued the scent. So no matter where I went, garden centres, cute little homeware stockists, I couldn't find any Silver Bells jars, votives or tarts. For the next few years I would buy Silver Bells on eBay when I could, but as the years passed the rare remaining candles people found increased higher and higher in price. 

Yankee would bring out a couple of new Christmas range scents a year, but nothing matched Silver Bells. They even had a Christmas Tree smell candle, but it wasn't quite right, and Apple & Pine Tree didn't make the grade either. 

But today, today's found Silver Bells again. I was browsing the range of Yankee Candles in Ballyholme Post Office, as they had great prices (£15 for a large jar). I decided to smell some of the dark green candles, just in case they were similar, and that's when I found out that Christmas Garland is Silver Bells reincarnated! 

I'm not sure if it's a new scent for 2016, or if it was available last year too, but I'm so pleased to have my home smelling of Silver Bells again. So if you loved that discontinued range, you know what to do! Get shopping!