20 Fantastic Fox Cakes That Escaped the Boxing Day Hunt

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Here in the UK we celebrate Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. It was the traditional day when servants received a Christmas box from their employers with food and gifts. These days it's a day of leftovers eating, and sale shopping for some. It's also a day when traditionally fox hunts would be held all over the countryside. I'm pleased to say we now have a fox hunting ban in place in the UK, as it's a cruel and unnecessary sport.

To celebrate the freedom of our foxy friends, here are twenty cakes.

Gingerbread AT-AT from Star Wars. Good, Bad & Desperately Unfortunate Attempts from Around the Web

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I tried a mini gingerbread house two Christmases ago. I didn't even have to bake the thing, just stick it together with icing. It was HORRENDOUS. I ended up with a pile of collapsed biscuit covered in runny icing. I couldn't manage it at all, which means even the worst of these attempts at creating a Star Wars AT-AT from gingerbread is a thousand times better than what I could come up with.

The original which spawned an army of crunchy at-ats

The original which spawned an army of crunchy at-ats

Blogging is Tough Sometimes. Like Having to Eat a Whole Box of Hotel Chocolat Luxury Chocs in Order to Review Them

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I know, I make such sacrifices for you. When Hotel Chocolat offered me a Christmas Wreath to give away to you readers, it wouldn't have been fair for me to accept without testing some of their treats first, right? To make sure they were good, of course. So I tirelessly ate my way through this exquisite box of Classic Chocolates and I can happily report they are beautiful. 

Pistachio, port-infused, mini-eton messes, each sweet has a flavour that explodes in your mouth. If you're looking for a last minute thoughtful, romantic present, or something for someone who fancies themselves a bit of a foodie, then the Hotel Chocolat web store is a great place to click through to now. 

If you're already sold on Hotel Chocolat from a previous gift, then there are half price bargains to be had with their advent calendars packed with chocs on 50% off. Click on any of the following photographs to be taken to the page to buy.

Last day for postage is 23rd Decemeber, so you've plenty of time.

Alternative Mince Pie £1.95

Alternative Mince Pie £1.95

The Gingerbread Crew £7

The Gingerbread Crew £7

The Deluxe Christmas Hamper £150

The Deluxe Christmas Hamper £150

Advent Calendar on half price sale at £6.25 Dark Chocolate variety also available 

Advent Calendar on half price sale at £6.25 Dark Chocolate variety also available 

The H-Box Everything Selection £12.50

The H-Box Everything Selection £12.50

The Rather Large Christmas Cracker £40

The Rather Large Christmas Cracker £40

No Cash? No Problem! Takeaway.com Lets You Order Food Online & Pay by Card, Paypal or Even BitCoin!

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There are several online takeaway websites, but Takeaway.com stands out to me for two reasons. Firstly, their free app actually works really well, and if you're on a smart phone it can pinpoint your location and tell you which restaurants near by will deliver to your current position. Very handy if you're at a party somewhere and don't know the postcode. You can also manually enter a delivery address, and pay using card. This would be a cool idea if you've a son or daughter at university who needs a good feed turning up on their doorstep.

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My favourite Indian in town, The Green Chilli, is on all the various takeaway sites, so I was pleased to see they were part of Takeaway.com too so I could order Indian takeaway tonight. If your local area has many restaurants signed up, you can narrow your search by selecting just the type of food you're looking for.

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Once you've filled your basket with all you desire, you can next pick a delivery time. I was ordering around 5pm, so I didn't pick as soon as possible, I chose 7pm when I knew I'd have our son settled for the night.

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Your method of payment can be cash on delivery, the traditional takeaway route, or you can prepay with a card, or with Paypal. This I was very impressed with and is the second stand out unique point against other similar sites. Until now, if I've had money stuck in Paypal and no card or cash money, the only place I've been able to get food from is Dominos. Now my local favourites are available with Paypal payment, I'll be using Green Chilli even more often.

You can also pay for your order with Bitcoin if you order via the website instead of the app.

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Roll on 7pm. My food ended up arriving at 725pm which was a little odd as Green Chilli are never late, I wonder is there a Takeaway.com specific driver? Or was I just unlucky tonight with a new delivery driver? Anyway, the food was still warm and still as delicious as ever.

Thank you, Takeaway,com, for letting me sample your service.

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Oloves are Your Healthy Pocket Snack Pack

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Oloves are the 50 calorie snack pack that you might have nibbled on mid-flight on a plane, or spotted as an alternative to spicy nuts at a wine bar. Oloves sent me some packs to try, as I am found of popping the odd olive now and then. I ended up eating all three packs in one go. Whoops. Still, that's only 150 calories.

They have got me hooked on olives again. These are soft and slightly tangy and very tasty. 

What if Potatoes Had Tattoos?

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Comber potatoes are the award-winning variety grown around 20 miles from my home town. If you've tasted the amazing Mash Direct, then you've tasted Comber spuds. Comber Potato Festival (shussssh, yes, it's a real thing) happens in June, so we are at he opposite end of the year! but I spotted this photo on the Doghouse Gallery blog and couldn't resist sharing it. 

A novel little promotional tool for the 2013 festival- stick on tattoo transfers for edgy potatoes! Check out the other bounty of our wonderful country at NI Good Food. 

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Win a Curious Candy Hamper

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I hope you guys realise the sacrifice I am going through, by letting you know about this competition I'm pretty sure it means I can't win, BUT, maybe one of my lovely readers will win. Curious Candy is our local, proper, old fashioned sweet shop, here in Bangor Northern Ireland. As well as the classics, they import American candy, chocolate and sodas for us grown ups. To win their hamper, it's a simple Facebook like & share competition which you can find here. Good luck. 

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Darling Spuds' Sweet & Salty Popcorn Tastes Exactly Like Cinema Popcorn

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I could tell you all about how Darling Spuds' new Sweet & Salty popcorn is gluten free, vegetarian, and lower in fat than other similar snacks. I could also mention the corn is popped in small batches and flavoured with simply sea salt & cane sugar. Or that there are no GMOs or other artificial ingredients and each snack pack is under 40 calories.

The real important part to me is- does it taste good? We tried it out and it tastes exactly like cinema popcorn. Some sweet popcorn can be a bit too sugary, and nothing like cinema style, but Darling Spuds is spot on. Adding in the subtle salt to the mix makes it extra delicious.  

You can buy online here, or watch out for packs in your supermarket. 

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