Recommendation: Out of the Box Catering

Valentine's Day came and went at the weekend, and I like nothing more than an Afternoon Tea.  If you ever want to get me a 'special meal', the poshest afternoon tea, preferably with cheap bubbly (I don't like champagne, would much rather a big bottle of lambrini) would be me happy for ages.

Rather than wait for my other half to pick up on the million of hints, I decided it was easiest if I booked it myself. I have seen Out of the Box Catering recommended on Facebook, and though the food looks fab, it has always seemed on the pricy side.  I have considered it for catering events as that seems more reasonable to me (I'm planning my 40th birthday next year, but all the venues that have got back to us so far, have said we have to use their in-house caterers).

Anyway, I don't usually make a big fuss about Valentine's Day - my husband and I love each other, and don't ned a special day to say it - but in Lockdown, when this past year has been a bit rubbish, I wanted to do something a bit special.  Out of the Box Catering were doing a Valentine's Day hamper, and I decided to go for it - and I was very glad I did.  I also bought the kids' hamper for my girls.

First of all, when it arrived, it came in these lovely hessian bags.  I was not expecting that at all - when I have ordered from other places, it has always been boxes, or maybe boxes in a paper bag.  This delivery was presented really well, and we have a reusable bag to keep.

Then, when I opened the bag, not only did it contain boxes of food, but it also had a cake stand for the afternoon tea, and individual place settings of plate, cutlery, napkin, salt and pepper - everything you could need!  It made me dream of warmer weather when we could order a hamper, and then go for a walk with the kids and the dog, and take a picnic.  (Picnics are another thing I love - I chose to have a picnic with friends to celebrate my 21st birthday. I don't know why I love them so much? I suppose I'm a romantic at heart - either that, or I read too much Enid Blyton as a kid!)

Even within the individual boxes, the food was presented beautifully, with a fresh side salad too.  Inside the kids' boxes were simpler flavours of sandwiches and instead of vegetable crisps, they had a bag of cheese puffs.  We also had separate boxes with canapes, sweet treats and a cream tea.  I laid it all out on the table, proper fancy like, and it looked a feast! 

So would I recommend? Unequivocally, yes.

It is on the expensive side, compared to other Afternoon Tea Deliveries, however, it is definitely worth it.  The taste of everything was beautiful, and all the little extras (I forgot to mention earlier, that there were also individual heart chocolates with the cutlery!) make it worthwhile.

Weekly Update

My weight has gone up this week.  Which is a bit annoying, as I've been getting better at eating mindfully and stopping before I'm too full.  Yesterday we had an Afternoon Tea for Valentine's Day and I was able to stop eating (though I could have eaten more) when satisfied, and then was able to eat the rest for tea.  I only needed a yoghurt to supplement it and I was done for the day.

However, I haven't been out for a walk as often as I should, and perhaps that is doing more than I thought.  We think our pup is in her first heat, so have kept her inside (and it's been soooooooo cold that I cba to go for a walk by myself).

I also had a lot of fried food on Friday.  DD1 was doing a project for French about Djibouti and wanted to make some food from there - sambusas (bit like less spicy samosas).  I don't deep fry very often, so was going to make the most of having my deep fat fryer out, so DD2 decided she wanted to make doughnuts.  So, Friday and Saturday ate lots of food that I don't normally, that didn't seem to have an impact on the individual days, rather made my weight jump up this morning.

Our veg box is due this week, so hopefully I'll start eating Veggies Most again.  I am doing well with the water.  I'm using my smaller 70oz/2litre bottle this week, and seem to be refilling it all the time.

Genesis Code by Eliza Green

Genesis Code is G in my series of A-Z of Fiction Titles. It's a story that focusses on 3 different locations: Earth, Exilon 5 and beneath the surface of Exilon 5.

The blurb says:

Investigator Bill Taggart will stop at nothing to find his missing wife. But standing between him and the truth is a secretive alien species on a distant planet. When his government pushes him to observe the species ahead of plans to relocate Earth’s population, Bill veers off course and straight into the path of one alien.

The surprising confrontation forces Bill to question whether the investigation into the savage species is needed. But when official government intel disagrees with the cold hard facts, he worries there might be another reason for the relocation plans.

A snap government order leaves the investigator in limbo and facing off against a new enemy that is more dangerous than the first. Worse, this enemy appears to live close to home.

A devastating set of plans is soon revealed that will destroy the lives on two worlds. And Bill is caught in the middle. Can he stop chasing ghosts long enough to save humanity from the real enemy?

I really enjoyed this book, and the next in the series is already on my wishlist.  It is set in the future when pollution on Earth has got so bad, that the human race has no choice but to relocate.  After searching the skies, Exilon 5 is a planet that would be perfect after a bit of terraforming.  Unfortunately, there is already a species that lives there, who are then forced underground.  The Indigenes want to know why people have taken over their planet and what they can do to stop themselves being wiped out.

Forgotten by Don and Stephanie Prichard

 

This book is F in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  

What I found most interesting in this book, is that a helluva lot happens in quick succession, and yet it doesn't feel rushed.  Similarly, there are periods when time moves on, and it doesn't feel like the authors had ran out of things to say so jumped to the next bit of action.  It's very well written.

Forgotten starts with Eve waking up in a hospital, having been in some kind of accident. Outside waking for her are Jake, Betty and Crystal, who survived a whole year with Eve on a jungle island.  Jake then gets taken to one side and informed that Eve has been arrested for murder.  It's not long, however, before the tables have turned and it is Jake that gets imprisoned and the only person who can save him has lost her memory of the entire year.

The Blurb says:

It’s frightening to lose your memory. Even scarier is to forget what’s at stake.

Federal prosecutor Eve Eriksson disappears under mysterious circumstances and shows up a year later in a coma. What happened, and where has she been? She can’t remember, and her life is in jeopardy. Four people are hunting her down. Three claim to have been stranded on an island with her. The fourth is her old nemesis, Chicago drug lord Danny Romero, who still wants her dead.

Jake Chalmers is shocked to discover his fiancé is a federal prosecutor. Why did she hide this from him on the island, and who is going to such great lengths to prevent their reunion? If she doesn’t regain her memory, he’ll be thrown into prison for murder.

I really liked this book, and couldn't put it down.  There is such a lot going on (and it spans several years), but as I said before, it does not feel rushed, rather the passage of time is natural.  The topics within this book include survival, murder, human trafficking, spies, revenge, justice, forgiveness, love and probably more too.  It is packed. 

Definitely one to read if you have a few hours spare!

Weekly Update

 

Over this past month, my weight is coming down!  I'm not dieting, just trying to track everything that I eat, and I try to listen to the hypnotherapy music M-F.  I'm rereading The Diet Trap Solution and trying to read my advantages list daily (ie. why I'm trying to lose weight in the first place) and when I am eating, I'm trying to eat mindfully: purposely putting down my cutlery and focus on the taste and texture of what I'm eating, slowing down, and listening to my body when it says it's full.

In life in general, I'm still really busy.  I am managing to carve out some time to read, though, so my mental health is better.  It just means I have less time to do everything else. I've made reminder post-its for myself, but they're not having much impact atm.

Can you believe it's half-term next week??!?  I hadn't realised until DD1 told me this morning.  Time is flying by, and I still feel like I have loads to do.  On which note, I best leave this here, as Monday is my day for my FutureLearn course and I missed it last week as I was so busy with HE stuff.

Have a good week, all xx

Ember by Jessica Sorensen

This is book E in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  I have read Jessica Sorensen before, and this book was no disappointment.  (In case you are confused by the naming of these books, they are all aimed at teens/young adults, but Ember is the cleaner version, whereas Ember X is the more adult version.)

The blurb says:

What if you knew when someone was going to die?

For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven.

Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind.

But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

This is a teen book.  It is set in a school and some of the characters are not as complex as they could be, but it is still really enjoyable.  I read the whole book last night (staying up much later than I intended) and would allow my daughters to read this.  It is dark (as you should expect when talking about death) and there are brief mentions of mental health issues (that in a book for adults, I would have expected to be explored more deeply), but overall it's a good read and I have added the next in the series to my wishlist. 

 

Red White and Blues by Rysa Walker

This is the sequel to the prequel series of the Chronos Books.  I read and reviewed Now, Then and Every When last September, and loved the book so much that I pre-ordered the next in the Chronos Origins series.  It was finally finished and delivered to my Kindle, so I just had to read it, even though it's not part of my A-Z challenge.

This book is as good as the first!

The blurb says:

The United States’ past is hijacked in a time-warping adventure of future interdimensional, high-risk games by the bestselling author of the CHRONOS series.

History is turned inside out when off-world travelers challenge Tyson Reyes and Madi Grace to a real-life game of Temporal Dilemma. Three rounds from the opponents and Hitler takes Europe, Pearl Harbor never happens, a fascist cloud hangs over the postwar United States, and CHRONOS itself is erased from existence.

Now Tyson, Madi, and a team of seasoned players must make their moves—in 1930s New York. Jazz and the blues waft from Village clubs. The World’s Fair draws assassins. Madison Square Garden hosts Nazis. And the Manhattan Project never gets off the ground.

Tyson and Madi have only three days to undo the strategy that changed the tides of war and the fate of the world. A surprise survivor from CHRONOS could be their best hope for flipping the timeline. If he’s on their side. But can they risk trusting him when the past, the future, and the lives of millions hang in the balance?

I really don't want to say too much about this book, for fear of giving away spoilers, but it is mind-bending, and incredibly well-written.  If you haven't read the first book, read that first, just so you can jump right into this one without too much hesitancy.  I have not yet read any of the Chronos Files series, but have added them to my wishlist, as I know once I start reading them, I won't be able to put them down.