Friday Favourites - Mother's Day Feature

Here at The Amazing Blog, we know that we’ll never be able to repay our mum’s for the endless amount of love and support they give us. We may not get to see our mum’s regularly, but we always think about them and how much they have impacted our lives. This Mother’s Day, we wanted to give you a proper gift guide designed to please your mum, since she deserves only the best on this day and every day. 

To help your mum unwind on her special day, treat her with a beautiful quotation candle from Not on the High Street.

You can choose from four different quotations to put on the candle, including “A mother holds her child’s hand for a short while but their hearts forever” and “Mum, I know you’ve loved me as long as I’ve lived, but I’ve loved you my whole life” and two other sweet phrases. After the quotation, you also have the option to customize the signature, which a remark such as “you’re the best,” followed by your name.

In addition to the four different quotations you can choose from, the candles come in four colours to choose from: light stone, medium stone, pale rose and duck egg blue. It’s made from 100% natural soy wax and has an average burn time of 35-40 hours. The gift wrapping is also included with the price, plus you have the option to add a personalized gift tag to the candle to make it extra special.

Order your candle here for £25 and give your mom a long-lasting gift this year.

To give your mum time to reflect this mum’s day, give her this bold “I Love My Mum” notebook from Smythson. She can gather all of her thoughts and record all of her goals and dreams in this stylish notebook.

Featuring a lambskin cover, in a fun hot pink colour with shiny gold text, this notebook makes a statement and lets the world know how much you love your mum. It’s filled with 96 leaves of lined, pale blue, featherweight paper designed to capture every note or idea written on every page. Just like any quality journal, a sturdy pink ribbon bookmark is attached so your mum can mark her most recent page. It’s portable, easy to carry and will always remind her of you.

Head to the Smythson website here to get this lovely notebook for your mum for £35.

To add a sweet touch to your mum’s bathroom, pick up a few bars of the Lavender Hand Soap from Dr. Harris and Co. for a beautifully scented hand washing experience.

The soap is designed for delicate skin, so it will not cause any irritation if sensitive skin is an issue your mum deals with. It lathers extremely well, so let all of the lavender-scented suds wash away any impurities while deeply moisturising your skin. Hand washing just got a lot more luxurious.

Get a three-bar pack of these adorable soaps here for £17.50.

For a gift your mum can display for all to see, we recommended a Mother’s Day inspired flower bouquet from The Flower Stand Chelsea. With all of the vibrant colours and varieties to choose from, you can choose an arrangement that suits your mom and her personality perfectly.

The Flower Stand shop can be found near Fulham Road and Old Church Street, with clientele ranging from footballers to film stars. The prices of their flowers are some of the most competitive in London and are of very high quality. When you mum receives one of the bouquets, the flowers will be in top-notch condition. They are shipped from Holland overnight, and then are cut and arranged into vases within 24 hours.

The Mother’s Day arrangements come in a variety of colours, ranging from white to yellow to pink to red. Some of the flowers you can choose include lilies, roses, tulips and lilacs, depending on whatever your mum prefers.

Head to the Mother’s Day section of their website here and check out all of the different arrangements you can choose from, starting at £35.

Of course, Mother's Day wouldn't be complete without a special treat. Macarons by Babette will be having a pop up shop just in time for the holiday.

These macarons compare with the best of French macarons. With flavours like pistachio, raspberry, salted caramel and lemon, they are almost impossible to resist! These lovely treats are sold in beautiful gift boxes that your mum will love.

The pop up shop will be on 62 Old Church Street and will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 14th March and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 15th March. Can't make it to the shop? Not to worry, you can order your box of 20 Macarons by Babette here for £23.

Kokoa Collection - Hot Chocolate

We here at The Amazing Blog are looking forward to warmer weather. However, as spring hasn't quite yet sprung, we're still happy for the excuse to warm up by indulging in a cup of hot chocolate. That’s why you’ll see us sipping on gourmet hot chocolate from Kokoa Collection, as it provides us with a one of a kind hot chocolate experience.

Once you've given this fabulous luxury drink a try, your old instant hot chocolate powders will be heading straight for the bin. The delicious tablets are perfect for melting into a cup of hot milk, making a silky, creamy drink that will have your mouth watering. Whatever your chocolate of choice, Kokoa makes five different hot chocolate flavours inspired by five different areas of the world. Each product represents the unique characteristics from every country’s original cocoa plant variety. My favourite, the White Hot Chocolate, hails from the Ivory Coast and brings a sweet, creamy and wonderfully indulgent taste to the table. If you're looking for something a little more bitter, the 82% Extra Dark Cocoa blend from Madagascar is a strong, rich blend that gives more of a kick. Whatever your ideal flavour, there's definitely something for you to sip on.

Do your taste buds a favour and pick up your own packet of Kokoa Hot Chocolate here for £4.99 each and enjoy every sip of your indulgent treat.

Newby Teas - Masala Chai Black Tea

There's something quite therapeutic about sitting down with a warm cup of tea at the end of a long work day. Here at The Amazing Blog we take our tea time seriously, so we expect only the best from our favourite hot beverage. After trying the Masala Chai Tea from Newby Teas, we knew we’d found our new evening favourite, savouring every cup we pour.

The award-winning tea blend is influenced by traditional Indian culture, staying true to its roots with only natural ingredients. The chai blend contains the finest whole leaf Assam Black Tea, and when combined with cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper and ginger, it becomes a true artisan beverage. For an extra indulgence, we added a slice or two of orange, a cinnamon stick and a drop of honey. As well as looking extremely aesthetically pleasing, it added an extra dimension to the delicious tea. The enticing aroma alone will have you craving another cup before you've finished the first.

Pick up your own silken tea pyramids here for £5.85 and be transported into the wonderful world of gourmet tea. 

Popcorn Kitchen Popcorn

Here at The Amazing Blog we love a snack that is low in unhealthy ingredients and high in good taste. With the delicious popcorn flavours from Popcorn Kitchen, we can indulge without guilt. The popcorn is free of gluten, dairy, nut, soya and GMO. It’s vegan as well, so foodies of all kinds can enjoy their original flavours.

The main method of success for Popcorn Kitchen is the way they prepare their popcorn. In their humble beginnings, they used to pop corn in a giant, stainless steel kettle at small festivals and food fairs. After a lot of positive feedback from consumers, they were encouraged to start a small business in order to sell their popcorn to a wider audience.

They only use “real” ingredients, meaning products you can find in your kitchen cupboard rather than artificial flavourings. Their passion for gourmet artisan popcorn and the use of traditional handmade preparation methods make them a brand to watch.

The four iconic popcorn flavours include: Sweet & Salt, Sweet Chili, Sea Salt & Olive Oil and Simply Sweet. The Sweet Chili flavour was even a winner of a Great Taste Gold Star in 2014. Since the brand strives through their originality, the flavours they offer make for an enjoyable and unique popcorn experience. Rather than mindless eating plain kernels while watching a film, you can enjoy a true popcorn experience that is sure to please.

You can find the popcorn at a variety of grocery stores and farm shops, including but not limited to: Selfridges, Keelham Farm Shop, Monkshill Farm Shop and Natural Kitchen London. The popcorn is also available for purchase in bulk on the Popcorn Kitchen website to enjoy the great taste again and again. 

Friday Favourites - Healthier Sweet Treats Feature

Here at The Amazing Blog, we know how much joy a yummy sweetie can bring us on a Monday or after a long day at work. A sweet treat brings pleasure and is a fun way to balance out our healthy diets. We love experimenting with all sorts of different snacks and sweeties, and we’ve compiled a few of our favourite healthier sweet treats to share with you this Friday.

As expected from our chocolate-loving staff, we ate two bars of the speciality chocolate from Seed and Bean in only a few short minutes. There are so many delicious flavours to choose from in three different varieties: dark, milk and white chocolate. We received the Just Ginger Fine Dark Chocolate and the Rich Milk Chocolate, and both were heavenly. If you’re looking for something a bit more eccentric to satisfy your adventurous taste buds, they have a few very interesting dark chocolate flavours such as: Chilli and Lime, Lavender, Mandarin and Ginger and Pumpkin Seeds with Hemp Oil. 

Beyond their delectable taste, they’re also 100% organic, ethical and fair trade. All of their chocolate bars are produced at a small facility in Northamptonshire, England in order to save food miles and provide local employment. 

Pick up a few of the chocolate bars here to satisfy the chocolate lover in your life. The standard 85g bars are £2.49, but smaller 32g bars are only 99p. They also have exquisite gift sets if you’re rather buy in bulk or share the gift of chocolate with someone you care about.

These delicious milkshakes from Shaken Udder satisfy our sweet tooth without guilt. They are made with fresh British milk and all-natural ingredients, filled with calcium and vitamin D for healthy bones. They’re low in fat and sugar, so you don’t have to worry about racking up too many liquid calories.

The three flavours to choose from are: chocolate, vanilla and banana. Each one is loaded with great taste and flavour. The consistency of the milkshakes is the perfect balance between a glass of milk and a thick, standard milkshake. This makes them easy to drink and extremely portable, as they are packaged the same way bottles of milk would be sold, but have the milkshake satisfaction you desire.

You can purchase your own bottles of Shaken Udder milkshakes at Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s for £1.49 each.

For a unique chocolate experience, we loved trying the aromatherapy dark chocolate bars from JustBe Botanicals. These chocolate bars aren’t your stereotypical plain chocolate bars – they provide benefits that common aromatherapy oil treatments provide the body.

The two varieties we tried were JustBe Detox and JustBe Loved, contained first in clear plastic packaging and finally in an adorable polka-dot envelope, and finally with a blue or pink wrapper advertising the flavour on the front. The detox chocolate contains cleansing Jupiter, fennel and milk thistle, bringing a savoury blend to a normally sweet treat, while still satisfying your chocolate cravings. The loved chocolate is a bit more romantic, since it is infused with pure rose oils and aromatic rose petals, which you can see and smell when you open the bar. We highly recommend the two chocolate bars and we loved every bite.

Pick up a set of the two bars here for £8.50, or you can buy the detox and loved chocolate bars individually for £4.50 each.

Last but not least, we really enjoyed the sweet marshmallow treats from Mallow and Marsh. The independent brand offers a new spin on the standard marshmallow treat to bring a fresh experience to consumers. Since marshmallows are naturally low in fat, high in energy and gluten-free, they’ll satisfy you without the bloat or guilt.

The brand’s current flavours are: Raspberry, Roasted Coconut, Peppermint & Dark Chocolate and Vanilla. Other flavours set to launch in the near future are: Coffee & Walnut, Raspberry & Liquorice and Violet Cream. They love experimenting with new varieties and tastes, all made without preservatives and additive, so be on the lookout for even more flavours in the future.

The office favourite marshmallow was the raspberry flavour, made with 100% natural raspberry, since it was tart, sweet and delicious. You can pick up your own marshmallows here, starting at £3.