Lets Eat Pet Food! Doggy Cake from Barking Bakery - by @NLi10 #Doggo #cute

My family quite like animals.  We have 4 cats - we are considered odd because we have zero dogs.  My parents have a lot of dogs - and my sister has a couple of the pedigree pups that they bred.

Here we see Rocket on his 3rd Birthday with a new toy - isn't he a good boy!

Because my sister is just as crazy as I am Rocket is having a birthday cake.

It comes as this pretty sweet kit - with little bones and some safe writing icing for the top.

My family chose a pun based on the fact that all the dogs are Papillon and added butterflies because that's what it's french for.

Rocket knows the birthday song means that he either gets to destroy some paper with food inside or he gets cake.  My sister gets to blow out the candles.

The items attached to the cake are clearly just luxury dog treats.  We shan't try those.  The cake itself is marked as not for humans, but we shall try that because snack reviewers sometimes have to eat horrible things.  Like the cat easter eggs...

As Rocket and his little sister Ponyo are well trained it's possible to put the cake on the floor next to them and tell them not to eat it yet.  I know some humans who would struggle with this.

They even pose nicely for pictures before too!

OK! (gobble gobble)

Inside it's a fairly standard looking cake - no cream and no jam as you'd expect.  Based on the cat treats we've eaten so far I expected there to be no sweetness and just the basics.

I only took a small slice - afterall we don't want to deprive the birthday dog.  

And it's actually nice.  I mean if you gave it to someone as regular cake they would know something was up - but it's sweet and has similarities to a cake.  It's a bit more like a yeastless bread, and quite dry, but it's edible.  My sister had some too and agreed - you could eat this if you were desperate.

This was however a family BBQ that just happened to coincide with Rocket's birthday so there were plenty of other sweet treats for the humans to snack on instead.  And for once - the weather was pretty good!

Earl Grey Pale Ale (Marks & Spencer) By @SpectreUK

This Earl Grey Pale Ale was brewed by Adnams Brewery in Suffolk exclusively for M&S. M&S Earl Grey tea was added during fermentation, as well as surplus M&S bread in the brewing. Any bread we don't eat I put on the bird table, not on the grass though as we have an army of hungry cats prowling the neighbourhood at any one time. The bergamot within the Earl Grey tea is supposed to give this 5% volume pale ale a citrus flavour. I'm sure the surplus bread will add to the malted flavour on the beer too.

On opening the can there was a heady citrus smell where the hops seemed to bash into the bergamot from the Earl Grey tea in some sort of noiseless revelry. This is such a strong smell that on pouring, this golden beer didn't immediately have the feel of a pale ale. On taste the sweetness from the pale malt and added bread didn't completely break through the surface of the strong citrus hoppy and bergamot battle at the height of the flavour. The citrus bitterness hit my tastebuds straight away and wouldn't stop giving all the way to a slightly malty aftertaste. I'd say this is a beer for washing down spicy dishes and fishy meals. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad beer, as it would definitely bring out the flavours in those meals a treat.

Chocca Mocca Drinking Chocolate (British Hamper Company) By @cinabar

This fine tin of hot chocolate came in my hamper that I received in the post from the British Hamper Company. It was a special chocolate edition hamper, and this is one of the many interesting treats I found inside it. I thought I would try out this hot chocolate, and have a soothing drink while working from home.
The tin looks very posh as it is modern thin and narrow, but if truth be told this does make it a little awkward to actually use. Think fiddly teaspoon, narrow container and hot chocolate drops in a bag within that. I did manage to pour some out onto the spoon and get it measured out that way. For ease I microwaved my milk and then added four teaspoons to my mug and stirred it in, letting it melt. The chocolate is in the form of Belgian chocolate drops and I thought might be difficult to mix up, but with a little stirring it soon dissolved in. From the darkness of the drink I thought the amount added looked about right.
I was right too, the flavour is very rich and this made a very indulgent hot chocolate. The taste was sweet and creamy, and it had bags of cocoa flavour. To me this is how a hot chocolate should be, essentially melted Belgian chocolate in mug, as strong or as week as you want it. Pure yum, no messing.

Pre dunked tea - Tetley Cookies & Cream (by @NLi10)

After the dunking spectacular on the BBC we’ve not got a massive amount of extra PR interest, but people who know me and saw it are now bringing me a lot more fun things to try - which is ace!

Here we have something that appeared in the free to a good home’ pile in the lab’s kitchen and was brought to my attention. I’d seen these luxury Tetley bags out and about, but I’ve never tried one. Maybe they don’t even still do them!

Here is how to make tea, presumably for any Americans that may find these.

I thought the foil was a nice touch.

And you get a slightly less transparent tea than usual in your Dirty Dinosaur mug. It’s incredibly aromatic, with the cookie smell coming predominantly from some kind of vanilla, and I think a hint of cocoa but that may be scent memory from reading the packaging.

And it’s nice enough, it does taste like it’s supposed to, and you get all the flavours of having put a biscuit in your tea with none of the crumbs from where the camera guy had you hold it in place just a little too long. After half I popped milk in and it becomes a lot smoother and the flavour more muted. It’s an enjoyable blend, but it’s still basically just black tea with vanilla. I mean I’m fine with that, but it’s not quite the revelation that some of my sisters pudding teas are.

Kit Kat Lemon Drizzle (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

I’ve tried a few different flavours of Kit Kats in the past, but Kit Kat Lemon Drizzle caused a little controversy when they were first brought out in the UK in February this year. As usual they are the two crispy wafers covered with milk chocolate, but this flavour has lemon flavour added around the wafer. At 105 calories is it an attack on a super traditional sponge cake or a new novelty chocolate break? It’s hard to say which one I’d prefer to have with my afternoon tea unless I try the Kit Kat…

On unwrapping the two wafer milk chocolate fingers look exactly like a regular Kit Kat. Sneaky… On the traditional break and snap the Kit Kat looks pretty much the same on the inside and doesn’t smell a heck of a lot different either. Double sneaky… To be honest on eating they have a pleasant lemon flavour mixed in with the regular wafer and milk chocolate taste. They taste a little bit like a milk chocolate lemon cream from a box of chocolates, with an added wafer, a little more sourness and without the cream… so not really like a milk chocolate lemon cream from a box of chocolates, but one that’s parent got a little too overfamiliar with a Kit Kat! And now I’ve eaten it I realise I’ve forgotten to make a cup of tea.