Day 8 - Suchard Hot Chocolate

So here is my second guest review for this blog
and today it is the turn of Suchard Hot Chocolate.

It is quite a dark chocolate even when you consider that you have to put the Crema in.

The Hot Chocolate capsule is put into the machine first then you repeat the process with the crema capsule.

This makes for a very frothy hot chocolate.








It is a very smooth hot chocolate, with a proper chocolate taste to the drink, tasty but not to rich as to be sickly whilst drinking and much nicer that the Cadbury's which I have drunk before but  not yet reviewed for this blog.

Today I have been at the  8 am service, this involves me reading the lessons, saying the intercessions (prayers) and preparing the communion table for the vicar.

Today is Advent 2 and in the life of the church it is time to light the 2nd candle of the advent wreath.

Each one of the candles means  different thing and although there are different traditions the one that is followed in the church where I am on placement is that the 2nd candle is light to remember the Prophets and today's reading was the reading from the Gospel according to Matthew of John the Baptist.

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way of Lord, make straight his path"  

John was a prophet in a time when there hadn't been a prophet for a long time, and the message he brought was not comfortable for some to hear.  He even went so far as to call the leaders of the Jewish faith a brood of  vipers.  He came to shake things up a bit and get the people ready for Jesus to come.  So perhaps in this run up to Christmas what part of the Christmas story needs shaking up for us.  What part have we become blaze to?  How can we see the Christmas story afresh?

Day 7 - Caffè Crema

Day 7 - Caffè Crema

As you can see from the picture, the cup was over full, but not enough to move to the next size up, it didn't overflow but the froth was domed over the top.  Still 1 day behind but catching up fast this was my morning drink at 7 am on Sunday 8th, why was I making coffee at that time?  Well Siân is at placement in High Spen and Rowlands Gill which is a 40 minute drive, this is not to bad at this time of day but can be an issue when trying to negotiate the traffic on the A1 past Gateshead!   So Siân has gone to the 8am service and I'm at home with one bouncy spaniel, one grumpy five year old and three sleeping teenagers, whilst I try to make progress on my last formative of the year. ...



But that hasn't told you anything about the coffee!  Well firstly - I liked it, not as intense as the Cart Noire Crema Intenso but then that is what I was expecting.  A mid range flavor with a good frothy top.  Not sure if I prefer this over the Petit Dejeuner, but I will be getting more so I can have a head to head review next Year.

Well if I can manage another post today that will catch us back up to the correct date, perhaps I should get Siân to review on of the hot chocolates.

Day 6 - Caramel Latte

Day 6 - Caramel Latte -
First feature for the Costa branded coffee, with this rather attractive looking display of multi layered drink.  I love the way that the Tasi makes this 'Coffee Shop' drink.  This is the first of the 2 disc drinks that we have reviewed in this blog, for most of these 2 disc drinks the first disk is the 'Creamer' that is frothed beautifully and then the coffee disc is placed in the machine and expressed through the froth.  The results speak for themselves.








 So as you can imagine, I had high hopes for this drink; how sadly was I disappointed - week coffee with to much milk and only a hint of any sweetness.  I was expecting a big hit of caramel, I'm a BIG caramel fan, but it was so subtle I could only get a slight hint.  In the promotional photo it shows extra caramel drizzled on the top of the foam, perhaps we will have another go with added caramel, and possibly an extra shot of espresso for good measure!

Day 5  - well day 7 of the month, still playing catch-up!  Today back to Carte Noire but another one I have not tried - Petit Dejeuner. 

I had this as my early morning coffee, it massively filled the small cup as you can see in the picture and had a very pleasant aroma.  As normal I am drinking it as the Tasi makes it no sugar or milk added and I am very impressed.  Good flavor, mild with a richness that is pleasing, not as watery as I was expecting but slightly thinner than the Crema Intenso.  Just for a slight change, today the Tassimo gets a feature.  We have had it for a few months and it gets uesed 3-4 times most days, with Llewelyn and Emrys joining me in coffee adventures and Arwyn and Siân enjoying Hot Chocolate.

 As well as it being almost the end of term, with all the silliness that that involves, the deadlines for assessed work have taken their tole over the last few weeks.  Siân and I each have one formative piece of work to complete and Siân has a sermon to prepare for the 15th of December.  We have also been busy thinking about or move next year to my curacy, I will be serving my title in Leyburn and on Friday we took the boys to see their new school, the are and the new house for the first time.  More about the house in later updates.

Day 4

Back to coffee again - this post is again late - Three days late - Today its something new, very new,

Kenco Medium Roast.  It is a Rainforest Alliance coffee and lives up well to its claim of being smooth and aromatic.  The cup size was slightly disappointing as it produced a half full cup rather less than the Costa Americano but this was made up for by the good flavor.  As Im running late not much else for this post hope to catch-up soon.

Day 3 - Earl Grey.

Day 3 Earl Grey.

This should have been posted yesterday but work and family were more important.
This is a guest post as Chris doesn't drink Tea


Interesting  tea, very highly fragrance and personally I am not sure whether I like this in a tea.
The smell filled the kitchen and whilst I am not sure about this in a tea, the smell was lovely.
Perhaps I am more of a Teltey tea girl


The tea was not too full of tannin  and not to strong. The colour was something like a good malt whisky. All in all it was a pleasant drink although I must admit I feel it improved when it was not quite so hot.




So today for me as been a bit scary.  I delivered my first Thought for the Day today for my preaching module.  It has also been recorded to go on local Christian Radio which was both exciting and terrifying at the same time.



This is perhaps why I am in reflective mood and on the walk home from college today I was thinking about smells and how evocative they are.  I remember the first time I cooked with bottled gas, it was on honeymoon in Spain.  So now when ever I smell that particular smell, it transports me back to my honeymoon and the hot sunny weather.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume - John12:3 ESV

So I pray Jesus in these busy days in the run up to Christmas help me to remember that no matter what you are with me.  help me to remember that advent is a time of waiting and preparation and help me to seek to honour you as Mary did, in all that I say and do.  Amen

Day 2 - another Espresso - this time back to my normal brand Carte Noire but this is another first, their Decaf Espresso. I have little time for de-anything-ed products, what's the point on no/low alco beer! and that goes for coffee too in my experience.  But it is in the range and in the pack so as its late I thought I should try it.

So here goes; like yesterday cup not over full and not as thick a foam as normal.  Smell is good, Llewelyn thought it was the standard version, and taste is good as well, in fact on flavor alone very hard to tell from the normal without having them side by side.  However the coffee felt a little watery, almost thin, not sure how or why this should be the case or even if its just a whim but its simply not the same.  The biggest difference however is the expected or in this case not expected 'kick', yes as promised it wasn't there!  If you love decaf and this upsets you sorry, however its simply not me.

The day today has been - well - not what we planned!  I had hoped to go out for the day with Siân, but the plumber had other ideas.  What we thought would be a simple repair to the bathroom toilet took 3hrs!  With reduced time we headed out for what turned out to be an amazing lunch at Wagamama followed by some Christmas present shopping.  And tonight well Ocean's 11 with the gas fire on.  OK so its not as good as the Brat Pack version but for me tonight its about who I watch with and as its my gorgeous wife I'll settle for that.

How do we know when something is fake, when something is a knockoff?  We are waned about false prophecy in the bible but this text makes it clear -

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18 For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Jeremiah 23:16-18 (ESV)

So today I pray - Jesus help me to hear your words and see your actions, both in scripture and in the people who are your hands and feet this day.  Help me not to long for comforting words but to accept the challenges of life with honesty. Help me to stand in your council, in the strength of your spirit, to the glory of our heavenly Father.  Amen.