● Laura Thornberry ●: food

If your favourite thing about Easter is the chocolate, this post is perfect for you and you may want to keep reading!

Before we get onto the chocolate, it's important to look at the story behind Easter as it is the one of the most important festivals in the Christian calendar. This holiday is simply commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and celebrated with meaningful traditions such as sunrise services and Easter lilies. As well as these, there are some other traditions that have been incorporated into this holiday, with things such as the Easter bunny and giving Easter eggs.

If you're looking for luxury Easter eggs or even Easter hampers for the whole family, Hotel Chocolat is definitely worth checking out for your next Easter egg delivery for your nearest and dearest. You simply wont be disappointed! The founders of Hotel Chocolat wanted to make the start of a revolution in British chocolate, and were on a mission to make chocolate exciting again, and that's exactly what they have done. With plenty of Vegan Easter eggs, luxury Easter eggs, personalised Easter eggs and even Easter hampers, there's so much choice, it'll be tough to decide to to get. With delicious Easter eggs and Easter themed treats suitable for the whole family, with amazing flavours and incredible designs at an affordable price, what more could you want?

FOR THE CHILDREN

Hotel Chocolat offer a great variety of Easter eggs and sweet treats, perfect for the little ones in your family. The ideas and designs that are aimed towards a younger audience are simply sensational and add a sense of fun into the Easter celebrations. Whether you're looking for Easter eggs for your own children, younger brothers/sisters, or your nieces/and nephews, the products featured here would make amazing Easter gifts.

Firstly, the Elizapeck Hollow with Tiddly Pot* is the perfect duo gift that any child would absolutely love. This boxed Easter egg features a hollow caramel-milk chocolate chick on top of a pot of mini milk chocolate drops. This adorable chocolate chick was "originally sketched, painted, then hand-carved to create this exclusive treat" - simply amazing! It's not your average Easter egg, it's just cuter and a lot more fun!

If you're on the look out for a couple of smaller gifts, Hotel Chocolate also offer products perfect for that. The Elizapeck Tiddly Pot - 40% Milk Chocolate* is the ultimate chocolate snack for on-the-go and definitely an essential for when there's a chocolate craving. Although small in size, our drops are big in flavour consisting of 40% milk chocolate. Another chocolate treat is the Egg on Toast Lick*. This is a super fun themed Easter treat that is bound to be a winner. A 40% milk chocolate Easter lolly, with a white-chocolate egg that will bring a smile to anyone's face, and is a great alternative to a traditional Easter egg. A child friendly snack that wont cause any mess and you won’t end up with sticky fingers!

FOR THE TEENAGERS

As well as Easter eggs, Hotel Chocolat also offer a selection of Easter hampers designed to share and are suitable for the whole family, but they are also a great option to buy and share amongst your friends/family. One of my favourites from the site is the Easter Family Favourites Collection*, featuring a great selection of chocolate treats, perfect for any teenager in your family. The 40% Milk Chocolate Easter Egg* would be a firm favourite of mine. This Easter egg has a naturally-coloured decorative yolk, and features right amount of sugar and cream to make this a decadent treat but without detracting from the rich cocoa flavours.

A slightly more special, yet fun item is the Chocolate Spread Easter Sandwich*. Made with 40% milk praline half-eggs sandwiched with 50% milk chocolate, it's not your average egg-sandwich! To finish off the perfect Easter treat for the teenagers are these adorable White Chocolate City Bunnies*. These 16 little bunnies are the perfect snack-sized chocolate that are deliciously creamy, with a sweet and velvety texture.

FOR THE ADULTS

Hotel Chocolat also offer luxury Easter eggs and treats suitable for adults. The packaging looks more grown up and has that sophisticated feel to it. Starting with the 16 Milk Chocolate City Bunnies*, perfect for sharing if you're gifting this to parents or couples. The Salted Caramel Easter Egg* is one of the most gorgeous looking Easter eggs I have ever seen, and the combination of milk chocolate and salted caramel is a match made in heaven! Make your Easter egg gift stand out, not only with the incredible flavour combination, but with this sleek and contemporary design.

Finally, The Happy Easter H-Box*; an Easter gift box brimming with 15 chocolate tiddly eggs, perfect for those who aren't fussy and love to try new flavours. This is a truly special gift for your parents/grand-parents, with flavours ranging from sumptuous caramel to a tipsy fruit cake, from Champagne to strawberries & cream, this is an ideal luxury Easter egg treat for your special loved ones!

If you're looking to treat yourself, your family or someone special this Easter, Hotel Chocolat is the place to be! Offering a delicious range of Vegan Easter eggs, luxury Easter eggs, Easter hampers and even personalised Easter eggs, whatever you choose, it's definitely going to be a great chocolate surprise. Be quick and get your Easter egg delivery now!

What are your favourite Easter eggs? Have you checked out Hotel Chocolat?

ad* | Items marked * have been gifted for review purposes.

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With my first recipe post of 2021, I wanted to start focusing on sharing some of my favourite, "healthier" recipes to help inspire those looking to try out new things. With the start of the new year, many of us are looking to change our lifestyle habits, change our diets and improve the way we eat. Rather than making drastic changes to our diets, smaller and more maintainable adjustments can be better overall, as we are more likely to stick to them and they are a more sustainable way of living. Something I'd like to focus more on in 2021 is creating new recipes and using new ingredients in order to branch out my culinary skills and to try new foods.

Luckily for me, I'm not very fussy when it comes to trying new things and there isn't many foods that I actually don't like, so it's extremely easy for me to find a new recipe and follow it. But for this post, I wanted to share a favourite of mine for when you're lacking inspiration and want to make something super quick, doesn't require many ingredients and is pretty tasty too!

For me, avocado toast is a great alternative snack for when you're in a hurry or struggling for new ideas come breakfast or lunch time. If you need your meal ready in under 10 minutes, this is your go-to recipe for sure! There's so many options for additional toppings, you'll be spoilt for choice. Sometimes I like to have it plain as shown in this recipe post, other times I can enjoy it with smoked salmon and boiled eggs, with chargrilled vegetables and balsamic glaze, but you can make it over and over again, and the recipe will never always have to be the same. If you're looking for a super quick and easy healthy snack option, look no further. Bursting with flavour, give this lightly spiced and super garlicky Avocado And Feta Toast a try and tell me what you think!

Prep time: 8 minutes Cooking time: 2 minutes

Total time: 10 minutes Serves: 1

Ingredients:

2 medium slices of bread

1 ripe avocado

dried chilli flakes

garlic granules

salt

black pepper

lemon juice

2 tbsp feta cheese

Olive Oil

Optional extras - smoked salmon, eggs, sliced red onion, cherry tomatoes, black olives or chargrilled peppers

Method:

1. Cut your avocado in half and add into a small bowl. With a fork, slowly start to break the avocado down.

2. Sprinkle over the garlic granules, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and mash until chunky.

You can also add a splash of oil olive too if you prefer it creamier.

3. Place your slices of bread in the toaster, cook until golden brown.

4. When toast is ready, spread avocado mixture over each slice. Add your optional extras here.

5. Top your toasts with crumbled feta cheese.

Add a drizzle of Olive Oil, and an extra sprinkling of chilli flakes for that extra kick!

Enjoy your Avocado And Feta Toast!

What are you current go-to breakfast and lunch recipes?

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Whether you a fan of Cappuccinos, Lattes, or Mochas, there's just something so energizing and refreshing about having a cup of coffee in the morning, especially if you haven't had the best night's sleep. Instead of having your daily fix from Starbucks, Costa or any other coffee shop, wouldn't it be nice to have luxurious and gourmet coffee delivered to your door? Well with Blue Box Coffee, you can do just that! Blue Coffee Box was born in 2017 as a speciality subscription for devoted coffee lovers.

"Handpicked speciality arabica gourmet coffee from 22 countries, selected for your taste preference, freshly hand-roasted in the UK, and delivered in a sleek, letterbox friendly box with origin and tasting notes."

I was kindly gifted one of the luxury coffee subscription boxes* from Blue Coffee Box which features two full-size bags of coffee* in a signature presentation box, and leaflets about what coffee I had received with details of the source of the product. An interesting and thoughtful touch so you can read about the origins of the products in your box! From the moment I received my box in the post, the aroma of fresh coffee hit me straight away, and I hadn't even opened my parcel yet. If you have any coffee lover friends or family members, this would make a great gift! You can receive the coffee with whole beans, or have it prepared for a cafetiere, dripper, aero press or espresso - whichever works for you!

"Once your taste buds have experienced gourmet coffee, they won't want anything else."

I received coffees from Brazil and Ethiopia which definitely makes a change from your standard shop bought instant coffee. The Brazilian coffee is produced by the Posses community in the Minas Gerais region. Featuring sweet nutty flavour and chocolatey notes, this coffee is simply delicious! The perfect choice if you prefer a more simple coffee flavour but with a delicious aroma.

The Ethiopian coffee is produced on a private farm in the Yirgacheffe region by Israel Degfa. The coffee features unique flavours of Blueberry and Palma Violets, making it very unusual but very aromatic and flavoursome - if you want to try something new and interesting, this coffee is a must have!

What are your favourite coffee flavours?

ad* | The products marked * have been gifted for review purposes.

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Take a trip to Spain without leaving your kitchen! Spanish food is one of my favourite cuisines to recreate at home because of the amazing flavours and vibrant colours found in every single recipe, you'll be spoilt for choice!

For a few little pre-dinner snacks, these Perello Gordal Pitted Olives* are perfect. Gordal olives are one of the finest Spanish olives – bright green, plump and crisp. These Gordal olives are canned in brine with Guindilla chilli – giving the olives a little kick.

Torres Black Truffle crisps* are also a great alternative when looking for some snack ideas. These luxury crisps pack an intense black truffle punch and will leave your guests wanting more and more. Either eat the crisps by themselves, with dips or as part of a meat/cheese platter.

Pan con Tomate is a small starter type dish and for something with so few ingredients – just toasted bread slices, tomatoes, garlic, salt and loads of olive oil – it’s absolutely delicious and so easy to make at home.

Gambas al Ajillo - Another quick and easy dish that you can have made in minutes and will be a great success with your guests. The key ingredients here are prawns, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. The combination of all these flavours are to die for! I would simply serve them alone with some fresh crusty bread.

Last but not least, the real star of the show, we have Paella, which is perhaps one of the most famous Spanish foods in the world. It's definitely one of the first that would come to mind when thinking about Spanish cuisine. I opted to make a Seafood version with prawns, squid and mussels, but you could probably use any meat, fish or vegetables that you prefer. I also added chorizo, garlic, onions, peppers, peas, sweetcorn and green beans to make this dish super colourful. This type of dish is perfect for a dinner party as it's great to make in bulk and can allow all your guests to dig in to one big pan of food!

This distinctive sweet Smoked Paprika* was the perfect addition whilst making my delicious Seafood Paella. Introducing rich colour and flavour to the paella, as well as adding a warm smoky heat which really complemented the chorizo in the dish.

What are your favourite Spanish recipes? Have you heard about Sous Chef before?

ad* | items marked with a * have been gifted by Sous Chef for review purposes

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