Temptation at the Chocolate Show

For those that don't know, I'm a little bit of a chocoholic - my favourites being Violet Crumbles, Cherry Ripes, and Mint Slices, none of which I can get in this country.  So to console myself I will eat other chocolates and last weekend I was in chocolate heaven at the London Chocolate Show - one part of Olympia full of chocolate of all shapes and sizes.  It looked fabulous, smelled heavenly, and there were free tasters!!  The place was packed with other chocoholics and there was lots of things to taste and buy if you were so inclined.

Apart from stalls there were several areas that had talks going on by famous chocolatiers and there was a kitchen area for chocolate cooking displays.

Not the best pic, but it's the guy out of Great British Bake-off who's baked Alaska melted

I loved the colourful chocolates and displays that some of the retailers had made and also the macaroon displays - colours to make anyone happy.

One of the really interesting stands had chocolate that was made to look like rusty metal, and had been shaped into metal objects as you'll see from the photos - I bought a lovely looking old fashioned key.

A fashion display graced one corner of the room with dresses inspired by chocolate, but the front dress is actually made of chocolate - you wouldn't want to get too hot in it, though at least you'd have something to eat.

The stand that I went back to the most for free tasters was the chocolate liqueur stand - they had a really scrummy white chocolate and grappa liqueur which went down very nicely.

The different shapes that chocolate can be put into was displayed in various ways - there were chocolate shoes for sale and a banquet table with all the food and accessories created out of chocolate.

We were very tempted by the decadent looking brownies on display.......

We were even more tempted to join in the fun that the kidlets were having making a chocolate mess in the young cooks area.

When we'd had our fill of the chocolate (I know that sounds ridiculous) we went across the road to a Persian restaurant that I've featured in our blog before - we love the food there, it's quite simple but tastes great and they've got a proper middle eastern bread oven.  Ken always ends his meal with a real mint tea, and then he did debate eating his chocolate car that I'd bought him but actually managed to leave it until the next day.

It was a lovely way to spend a day, with my beloved and surrounded by chocolate.

Until next time be good, do something that makes you smile, and eat some chocolate - you know it makes sense.

Pamela & Ken
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Pistons and Props - a boys day of fun

Pistons and props is a two day vintage motors show, both cars and aeroplanes, which is held at Sywell Aerodrome in Northampton. I'm sure you've already guessed that this day out was Ken's choice.  We just went for one day and it was a really good day looking at all the fantastic old cars from various eras, along with watching the cars perform on the racetrack.

The people who own these cars obviously spend a lot of time, love, and money on these cars - the one above was one of Ken's favourites as he likes the ratrod look.

My beloved when he booked the tickets paid for grandstand seats so that we could sit down to watch the cars showing what they're made of.  It was the best place to see all the action as from our elevated position you could see the cars right across the track.

The noise from the engines was incredible and I was very pleased to see that most of the children had ear protectors on.

There were also motorbikes from several different eras, and go-carts.  Some of the motorbikes failed to get off the start line as they're engines stopped and then the riders had trouble restarting them - people even ran onto the track to try and push start them but unfortunately this didn't work for all of them.

Whilst we didn't go in for full vintage dress I did do my best to look a little in the theme of things with my 50's makeup and one of my favourite hats.

Throughout the day there were also flybys of very old planes including the ones below taking off in the background, these were ?Yaks which are Russian planes.

The grounds were full of cars for all the men to perve on - as you can imagine my beloved was in his element, he didn't know which way to turn first. 

Note the great paintwork on this car - there are faces on the fenders

There was also a huge shed full of antique stalls and vintage things for sale.  Lots of stalls were selling vintage clothes which Ken was very tempted by, especially some of the shirts and jackets.

In amongst all the cars were some really lovely VW Campervans which were pristine.  There was also a cute little caravan that had been restored in true vintage style.

Here's a few more shots of cars and motorbikes that we liked, including two gorgeous pink cars.

We would recommend this car show to any petrol heads as well as anyone who likes a bit of vintage in their life.  Next years Pistons and Props is on September 26th and 27th.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and do something nice for someone else.

Pamela & Ken