Old School Sprinkle Cake Recipe

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Everyone’s favourite! Do you have it with custard, ice cream or just on its own?

INGREDIENTS

  • Margarine
  • Caster Sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • Self Raising Flour
  • Icing Sugar
  • Sugar Strand Sprinkles

The amount of margarine, caster sugar and SR flour you need will depend on the weight of your eggs. Weigh the eggs (in their shell) and use this amount of margarine, caster sugar and SR flour in the mix.

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to Gas 4 or equivalent.

2. Weigh your eggs (in their shell) then measure out your margarine, caster sugar and flour.

3. Cream your margarine and caster sugar together. The longer you do this step, the lighter your sponge. I leave it mixing for about 5 mins. It’ll go almost white and really airy.

4. Add your flour and eggs.

5. Fold together until completely combined but don’t over mix.

6. Empty the mixture in to a lined baking tin.

7. Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden brown and pulling away from the edge.

8. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

9. Once cooled, make your water icing. Spread the water icing on to the cooled sponge.

10. Add your sprinkles (the more the merrier!)

11. Allow a few minutes for the icing to set then tuck in and enjoy!

Caravan Holidays with Kids

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I love a caravan holiday! And luckily, Evie and Harry really enjoy them as well. We’ve recently stayed at Parkdean’s Cresswell Towers and Whitley Bay sites. After a quick browse around, I managed to book each of these weekend breaks for less than £100 so you can definitely bag a bargain, one of the many plus points of a caravan stay.

We usually book pretty local (Northumberland/Yorkshire/Cumbria). We’ve found when it comes to facilities, all of the Parkdean sites are much the same, so when we’re only away for a few days, hours of travelling doesn’t appeal to us. We’re lucky to have quite a few parks less than an hours drive away.

When booking, if an upgrade is offered, I recommend taking it. The caravans tend to be bigger and newer with central heating throughout and it’s normally only an additional £20-£30.

The caravan we stayed in most recently had these USB sockets which were great!

Parkdean have fantastic activity timetables and amazing entertainment staff. Most activities are included within your holiday price (some do have an additional charge) so be sure to make use of what’s offered on site.

After years of caravan holidays, I have my list of “Packing Essentials” hopefully you’ll find it useful

  • Bath and hand towels
  • Toiletries
  • Toilet roll
  • Pillows
  • Tea towels
  • Washing up liquid & sponge
  • Anti-bac wipes
  • Tea/coffee/sugar/milk

If, like me, you don’t fancy cooking while away, check out any offers running in the bar/restaurant. If they don’t take your fancy, there’s always JustEat 😜

Lastly, enjoy and embrace the chaos that comes with a staycation, you’re making memories that will last a lifetime!

Weekend at Stanwix Park Holiday Centre

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Situated on Cumbria’s Solway Coast, and minutes outside the Victorian Town of Silloth, we spent our weekend at Stanwix Park Holiday Centre

First impressions were good. The park is immaculate and really well kept. The reception staff were friendly and check in was a breeze. We’d booked a self catering apartment for our stay but you can hire caravans, camping pods and touring pitches.

The apartments are located right next to the entertainment complex and each apartment has a parking bay round the back. It’s all open plan and has everything you need for a break away. All of the apartments have recently been refurbished, we were particularly impressed with the full sized fridge & freezer and the patio area is perfect for a bit of people watching while enjoying your morning coffee.

The website states Stanwix offers “Amazing Facilities” and I have to agree! It has a large indoor pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, bowling lanes, snooker room, soft play area, seasonal outdoor pool, play park, MUGA courts, mini golf course and the obligatory holiday park amusements.

There was also a full entertainment programme running while we were on site with activities to keep the kids (and adults!) occupied.

Much like the reception staff (and the majority of every other staff member we encountered) the Entertainment Team were brilliant. Considering it’s coming close to the end of the season they were still super enthusiastic. Special shout outs to Liam and Brad who both seemed to want to go the extra mile to keep the guests happy.

All in all, we had a mint time at Stanwix Park! When you look at what’s available with your booking and entertainment pass, I think it offers unbelievable value for money. Evie was a little upset to be leaving but I’ve promised her we’ll be back, I’m already looking at availability for the Easter Holidays! Until next time Stanwix, keep doing what you’re doing because it’s all fantastic and highly recommended by us!!

YHA Stays With Kids

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My first experience of a Youth Hostel was at YHA York back in 2002. It was everything you’d expect from a Youth Hostel – big dorm rooms, sharing with strangers and very basic facilities. We were 18 at the time and, at £16pppn, it was absolutely ideal for us!

Since then, YHA have invested millions of pounds renovating and upgrading their sites throughout the UK, introducing private bedrooms and bar/restaurant areas to most of their properties.

During the Summer holidays, I wanted to set Evie and Harry the challenge of climbing a peak and, where better to complete that challenge, than in the Lake District.

As always, my plans were very last minute so when I tried to book accommodation in Keswick, places were either fully booked or ridiculously priced.

That’s when YHA popped up on my radar for the first time in 17 years. The more I looked in to it, the more perfect it became! So I booked a family room with shared toilet and, a few days later, we hit the road.

First impressions, we were amazed! The location was absolutely spot on, the staff were super friendly, it had facilities you’d find in any other hotel and the atmosphere was relaxed and inviting.

We found our stay at YHA Keswick really family friendly, they’ve put a lot of thought in to occupying children, from the huge stash of boardgames to the daily activities. Evie and Harry found it all brilliant.

We’d booked breakfast with our stay and, again, I couldn’t fault it. With hot and cold food options and unlimited drinks, it was fantastic value for money.

After breakfast and checkout, and with a little guidance from the super smiley Simon, we climbed Latrigg. I’m pleased to report we made it to the top without a single complaint from the ones with little legs!

Since our YHA Keswick visit, we’ve stayed at YHA Ambleside and we were equally impressed with that site.

If you’re looking for family accommodation with really good nightly rates, I can’t recommend YHA enough. The private rooms are ideal!! We have a list of YHA sites we’re planning on visiting over the next 12 months so I’ll keep you all updated with our travels

If you fancy booking a stay, the YHA website can be found at https://www.yha.org.uk

Angry Birds Adventure Golf

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Angry Birds fans will be flocking to Intu Metrocentre where the UK’s first adventure golf course themed around the game and feature films opened last night.

Located in The Qube area of the Metro Centre (upstairs in the Yellow Mall) the 18,000 sqft site is spread over two floors. After registering for your game, you can sit in the restaurant area on the right or the waiting area on the left.

You get to chose which of the two 18-hole courses you’d like to play; Bird Island or Pig City. Pig City wasn’t quite ready for players last night (it should hopefully be up and running today) so we had to play Bird Island.

After sending your ball down to the course you follow it in the lift or down the stairs. There’s caddies to help you around the golfing arena and they all seemed super friendly and helpful.

Downstairs, the attention to detail is unreal – they’ve really captured the essence of the films and everything has been superbly hand painted.

There were two of us playing last night and it took us about 40 minutes to work our way through all 18 holes. If there’s more of you playing, it’ll take a little longer.

Evie absolutely loved her time at Angry Birds Adventure Golf and is already asking to go back to play the Pig City course. If you have any Angry Birds fans it’s definitely worth a visit.

Pricing details and online booking options are available at

https://www.angrybirdsadventuregolf.com

#AngryBirds #AdventureGolf #AngryBirdsAdventureGolf #IntuMetroCentre #Newcastle #Northumberland #TyneAndWear #DaysOutWithTheKids

Psycho Path Presents Fear Ground 2019

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Last week we were invited along to “The Biggest Halloween Event In The North”

Back for another year, Psycho Path claims to be “Bigger, Better, Scarier and altogether more Terrifying than ever before”

This year, there are 4 separate Scare Attractions spread over 700 Acres of farmland. Psycho Path plus the all new Psycho City, iScream Maze and Anarchy Arcade.

The event, which is located at Lintz Hall Farm, Burnopfield, NE16 6AS runs on selected dates from the 11th – 31st October 2019 and is definitely NOT kid friendly. Anyone arriving who is under 13 years of age will be refused entry.

Last year, we attended Terror In The Trees at Beamish Hall and what a disappointment that was! It was laughable how bad it was. Psycho Path, though, is on another level! The location, the actors, the total set up is amazing!!

When you’re not being scared s**tless in one of the Scare Attractions, there’s plenty to keep you occupied; with a cocktail bar, local food vendors, live entertainment and an actual funfair.

I honestly can’t recommend Psycho Path enough. It was an absolutely brilliant night out. We were there for over 3 hours and could’ve easily stayed longer. It definitely deserves all of the high praise it’s receiving.

All event information is available here;

https://www.psycho-path.co.uk

If you have tickets for the event, enjoy your night and let me know what you thought of it in the comments

#PsychoPath #FearGround #Durham #Newcastle #Northumberland #TyneAndWear #Halloween2019

Elmer’s Great North Parade

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Elmer’s Great North Parade takes to the streets this Autumn.

Running for 11 weeks, until the 1st November, 50 big and 114 little painted elephant sculptures will be dotted throughout North East streets, parks and public buildings in the biggest and brightest art trail the region has ever seen. The parade has been organised by St Oswalds Children’s Hospice to help raise vital funds for the charity. Once the trial has finished, the elephants will be auctioned off to raise even more for St Oswalds.

Much like the Snow Dogs from a few years ago, there’s an app to accompany the trial. It costs 99p and is easy to use, showing the location of each herd member. There’s a 4 digit number linked to each sculpture which you can upload to the app. When you unlock certain elephants, you’ll be given a reward.

The best way to get around the trial is by Metro, plan your route and get a day ticket so you can jump on and off when you need to.

We concentrated on hunting down the Big Herd and last weekend we found number 50! We’ve loved completing the trial and we’ve each picked our favourite. We’ll hopefully get along to the Farewell event happening at Newcastle Racecourse on the 9th & 10th of November 2019 to see them all one last time.

So, do we start on the Little Herd now??

#ElmersGreatNorthParade #StOswalds #ProtectTheHerd #Newcastle #Northumberland #TyneAndWear #DaysOutWithTheKids