School blues - yes, literally

Michela getting some mouse practice in time for school

My daughter is starting school in September and I have been rushing around to buy clothes and shoes in the right colours - blue and white. Most supermarkets and children's stores sell clothing in black, white and grey, which doesn't help.


Apparently I left it a bit late for black shoes as I went two weeks ago and the choice was limited to say the least. All the good stuff had gone and I was lucky to find something in Primark that was the right size and colour. The pinafores, tees,  jeans and white socks were bought in Sainsbury's, while the leggings came from Primark. Having received a massive bag of clothes from my brother, I wasn't going to spend a lot of money on school clothes, especially since the colour is a bit boyish.

It's quite a challenge to find blue trousers for girls, I had to buy jeans and a pair of gym pants from the boy's area. Luckily I got a few bits with the school logo from the school fete earlier in the summer, the second-hand uniform stall was a fab idea!

I'm told Asda is very good and very reasonable, I didn't manage to get that way this time but I will check it out when I do.

Testing, testing... Carte D'Or and Kenco - plus affogato recipe

It's the summer holidays! I have received samples for two products that are a hit in our household: coffee and ice cream. My partner is the coffee drinker but I do love coffee poured over ice cream, so this PR homage was just the ticket! Affogato is easy peasy to make. I placed a few scoops of Carte D'Or Macadamia Night (a new flavour!), in a cold glass (pop in freezer for a little while) and poured over Kenco Smooth coffee (made into a small cup). If you are serving this to friends or family, you have to be quick, otherwise you will be offering sludge instead of a heavenly concoction.

 

 Affogato photo credit: Humphry Slocombe www.sfmoma.org/pages/coffee_bar

Kenco Smooth

Kenco Smooth
The new-design, slender jar contains coffee that doesn't disappoint: not too bitter, easy to drink, not too strong, exactly what "Smooth" suggests! The new jar has less glass and an eco refill is also available. From £2.98 for a 100g jar.

Carte D'Or Macadamia Night

This new flavour really worked well in the affogato, but I found it not nutty enough for my taste. Perhaps I'm a bit biased as my great Carte D'Or favourites are the Mascarpone and Lavazza coffee flavours (and yes, you can pour coffee over the coffee ice cream if you fancy a double flavour hit). Each flavour retails at £3.49 RRP.