Cancel Prime Minister’s Question Time …..

Following our disastrous Cadbury Minis Mix Review Darrell decided that we really ought to make our disappointment known to Cadbury, so got onto their online Customer Contact Page.

He was extremely polite, if not almost apologetic ……

……. and unbelievably, had a reply within five minutes of sending it despite Cadbury “…….currently experiencing a particularly high level of correspondence”, which was swiftly followed by this ……

Needless to say, Darrell was more than willing to oblige them …….

…….  furnishing them with our evidence.

……. and then within another few minutes of his submission, he received this …….

……… so well done and thank you Cathy G at Cadbury and Darrell for his measured complaint ……

……… any intervention from Parliament or Question Time with the fragrant Fiona Bruce will no longer be required, thank you very much, result!

Easter Comestible Review – Cadbury Minis Mix - Mini Eggs

These, I will admit,  were very much an impulse buy while I was wandering around the big B & M Bargains just up the road ………

I thought they might be a generous seasonal mix of egg shaped confectionary to proffer to any visitors we may have over the Easter holiday.

They cost the princely sum of £2.99 for which we got a total of 23 eggs (238g)  – not a number equally divisible between three, but as I said, these were intended to share with guests and not our sole consumption.

The assortment was shared between 9 small iconic crème eggs, 5 solid Dairy Milk eggs, 4 Dairy Milk Daim eggs and 5 white hazelnut crème eggs.

We were sadly very, very, very disappointed! It was either impossible to bite into the Daim or Dairy Milk eggs without them falling apart and making an unseemly mess or they were already crumbled within their foil wrapper.

The iconic Cadbury Crème Eggs, certainly did not have a soft, gooey centre as expected, as, to be honest, they were positively hard boiled!

And the White Hazelnut Crème eggs?  Well, we know we all have an incredibly sweet tooth, but yuk, yuk, yuk, these were just tooooooooooooo sweet and the creme (???) was more of a fondant!

I think it’s pretty obvious that we were not at all impressed, but grateful that we’d the foresight to try them beforehand, because can you imagine the shame and embarrassment that would have befallen us had we served them to visitors first!

We’ve checked the best before date which is 31.07.2022 so I think Questions need to be asked in Parliament and by Fiona Bruce, on our behalf on Question Time

So ……. a thundering and unequivocal null UK Eurovision points on our World Famous Richter Scale of Noms for Cadbury Minis Mix,  which also means that we’re now on the search for another more suitable Easter offering for our festive guests ……. although I think we’re best ruling anything of a Cadbury type nature out this time.

Taking A Festive Break

I’m never sure what the rules are regarding Easter comestibles particularly if there are certain days you when can or cannot partake in them …….. so if there are, I’m pleading innocent m’lud…….

……. because while both Darrell and Nigel were out and The Towers was quiet ………

…… I decided to throw caution to the wind………

………. got my Easter mug and plate out for the very first time this year and indulged myself with a warm hot cross bun and a couple of mini foil wrapped eggs on the side for my morning coffee.  It was emotional!

It all went down very nicely indeed ……… just that touch of sticky cinnamon-ness and morsel of chocolate gave me an Easter sort of feeling ……..  I was almost away with the bunnies for a while …….. what am I like?

And There Was Light

The time Nigel has been yearning for since last October finally came in the wee small hours of yesterday morning, when one o’clock instantly became two o’clock and we lost an hour in bed! The clock going forwards always seems to leave me a little jet lagged for a couple of days, but it soon settles down.

For Darrell it means that it won’t feel so cosy at night without all his fragrant candles and tealights as the nights become lighter, but then again, we do get long, balmy evenings where we can take our deckchairs down to the river for a cheeky jug (or two) of his wonderful full bodied and fruity Pimms ….. but I digress.

For Nigel it’s much simpler, because tonight he got home for the school run for the very first time this year in the light ……

….his little face said it all, the birds were still singing, he didn’t need to rush the very last stretch of his journey, past the bridge, where it’s always creepy and very, very dark, as there are no street lights….. and he swears, he even caught a whiff of barbeque in the air.

What is he like, except one very happy, sunny, little bunny!

Darrell Dabbles ……… Tiburica's, Evesham

We have a new Filipino shop and dine experience just opened in Evesham that Darrell has been champing at the bit to have a mooch round ever since he saw them moving in.

There’s a small area at the back selling all sorts of wonderful ingredients for when he fancies going all exotic of a Friday/Saturday night.

On popping in he availed himself of some noodles, monosodium glutamate and a packet of cheese snacks, but said, next time, now he knows what they’ve got, he will go in with a proper list and shop ‘till he drops!

At the front of the shop is a small seating and catering area with hot and cold Filipino comestibles, to eat in or take away, unfortunately it was closed on the day of his visit, something to do with new gas pipes being fitted across the way …… which was sad, as he’d intended on bringing back something “nice and unchartered for us”,  as a treat for our tea, but still something to look forward to for another day …….

To slightly misquote Arnie Schwarzenegger, he’ll be back ……..

…….. as we NEED to try, on a very urgent basis, at least one, small slither of Ube Macapuno Cake (Filipino Purple Yam Cake) for pudding!

We Review ……. Galaxy Enchanted Eggs ……..

With Easter fast approaching we’ll admit to being more than a little remiss in not reviewing some of the new festive comestibles we’ve been seeing in the shops of Evesham, despite most being on the shelves since just after Christmas.

However in the next couple of weeks we hope to rectify this situation by sampling some of the more unusual chocolatey goodness available and, to start us off today, we would like to present a pack of Galaxy Enchanted Eggs (£1 from Iceland, but probably not available in Mexico, Mr D, sorry).

To quote from the packaging “Galaxy chocolate with crunchy caramel rolled in rose gold” – just how romantically palpable and impossibly tantalising does that sound?

This was, we have to say, indeed  reflected in the eggs appearance, for just £1, out of the bag and served on an appropriate, seasonal platter, they could easily be mistaken for a much more exclusive product, in all their shiny, rosy gold loveliness.

We wouldn’t actually describe the coating as dusted, as it says in the bumf,  perhaps more “varnished”, but the chocolate was unmistakably Galaxy, smooth and rich, dotted with hints of small, very crunchy pieces of caramel, which were more subtle and discreet in their inclusion rather than in in your face chunks.

With 18 eggs per pack, we were afforded an equal 6 each in which to cogitate and mull over our scores for our world famous Richter Scale of Noms ……

…… we thought we would keep it simple……. so, as there were 18 eggs to the pack, we decided to award each of them 100%, making a grand total of 1,800%, with not a single dropped percent.

We are absolutely convinced that if decanted from their bag, Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor of all things of a luxe type nature, and who shops almost exclusively at Harold’s and occassionally  F & M Florence & Fred would pronounce, that said Enchanted Eggs had undoubtedly been flown half way round the world by private jet, after being rolled exclusively on the thighs of Tahitian maidens!  Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Viva Las Evesham ……….. ?

As we’ll be in Minehead for Easter, Young Master Bertie’s most favourite place in the whole wide world, no doubt a trip to one of their amusement arcades will be de rigueur.  Nigel has been saving his 2p’s for months now.

In Evesham too, we have recently acquired a “slot shop”, which when Nigel first saw it, thought it said “Meercat Slots” which, he mused, had a comfy sort of ring to it, what is he like?

However, we all remain very much strangers to it’s pleasures, although Darrell did say that it had crossed his mind as to whether it would be a place to hone his skills in preparation for being up against Iris and Bertie, the demon 2p players in Minehead.

Though slot curious”, I have gently persuaded Darrell against venturing past its portals, as he may very well find that it’s a very different place to those we like to frequent on our holibobs, the distinct lack of flashing lights, fair ground type music and familiar kerchink of dropping coins might be a clue.

I don’t think it’s one of those places that would welcome a “newbie” wielding a plastic bag full of 2p’s, let alone provide a lucky strike pot to empty them out in ……. perhaps best wait for Minehead instead?

Another Lovely Festive Window Display …….

According to Nigel ……….

…… Silver Birch, our Evesham florist of floral choice ……….

……. has triumphed and pulled out all the stops, yet again, with their window “homage” to Mother’s Day.

Nigel may not have ever known his mum, but he’s sure whoever she is, she would very much appreciate the sentiment too.

He might not be able to tell her to put down her broom, throw off her pinny and take the weight off her feet this Mothers Day, while he puts the kettle on and breaks open a brand new packet of chocolate covered Hob Nobs ………

…….. but she’s there, always in his thoughts …….

……. and no doubt she would be soooooooo proud of the little fella, as indeed we are, bless his little orphan socks!

The Evesham Da Vinci Code?

There is a very romantic cottage we pass frequently, that we all quite admire and despite it being right next door to the undertakers wouldn’t mind a nosey round, should it ever come up for sale ……..

However, for the moment, it is its front door in particular that holds us in a certain thrall ……..

……. as it had some sort of Da Vinci Code chalked across the top of the front door for some months now ………

…….. giving it a great air of mystery and intrigue. What, if anything, does it add up to and/or what could it possibly mean, subcutaneous quadraphonic equations not really being our sort of thing?

Mr D, fountain of all knowledge ……… over to you amidst the sweltering climes of Mexico to solve for us perhaps?