Whittard luxury hot chocolate

We got a small tub of this last Christmas - the full sized 350g tub costs £6 - and used one heaped teaspoon in hot milk.  Although not as spiffy as the Harrods hot chocolate, the Whittards version does make a decent tasting chocolate.  It's certainly the better of the lower cost hot chocolate drinks - I prefer the Whittards luxury choc to some of their flavoured chocs.
It can be bought online here Whittards Luxury hot chocolate

Harrods Brompton Blend coffee.

This is another of Harrods' ground coffee's, made with Indonesian, Costa Rican, Colombian and Indian coffees and is the more "unusual" tasting coffee.  The blurb on the tin says it gives a brown sugar taste with a hint of spice....... it reminds me of a similar taste to the Muscovado brown sugar, possibly in the black treacle-y taste group.  If you don't particularly like Muscovado sugar/black treacle, this may not be your coffee!!!  The blurb on the tin also says it has a lingering aftertaste too, which I'd agree with.  It's not a horrid coffee, but I wouldn't make it every day either - I think it's more of an acquired taste, once in a while coffee.

It costs £12.95 per 250g tin and can be ordered online here Brompton blend

Harrods Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate drink.

This is, so far, my favourite hot chocolate drink.  This comes in a very smart metallic blue tin and contains 200g of hot chocolate powder.  The instructions on the back say to use 4 heaped teaspoons, but you can get away with using one heaped teaspoon of powder and still have a very flavoursome hot chocolate drink.  As with the other Harrods hot chocolates, this is priced at £9.95 per tin and is no longer available online or in store due to rebranding (As of March 2017)

However, they do have a Sea salted Caramel hot chocolate, 300g, in a copper tin priced at £12 available online HERE and also in store

Harrods Founders Choice coffee

This coffee is so far my favourite of the Harrods coffees!  It comes in a shiny brown 250g tin similar to their Hazelnut chocolate tin - possible logic to that too, as this coffee has a very smooth chocolatey type flavour.  The info on the back of the tin says it has a nutty chocolate flavour although the nutty side is not blatantly obvious!  This coffee uses a Costa Rican and Kenyan mix, and is VERY yummy!

It can be purchased online from the Harrods website for £12.95 a tin here Founders Choice 

Harrods Knightsbridge blend coffee

This is the first out of four Harrods coffee that I've tried - coming in similar tins to the hot chocolate range but a slightly larger 250g metallic tin.  It's a medium roast 100% pure arabica coffee from Ethopia and Columbia.  It has a slight "juicy fruity" taste to it - not nasty, but not the blatant strong "coffee caffeine" taste that you can get with regular supermarket brands.  I'd describe this as a "light" coffee - not strong but very smooth and enjoyable.  It's priced at £12.95 a tin and available by mail order from the Harrods website here Knightsbridge blend

Harrods Hazelnut Hot Chocolate drink

This is another of the Harrods powdered hot chocolate drink, presented in a metallic brown tin and priced at £9.95.  Again, despite instructions on the tin, only one heaped teaspoon of the powder is enough to make a really yummy mug-ful of hot chocolate drink - and this has a very nutty taste to it, too, reminding me some of the Ferrero Rocher chocolates in the gold wrapper!  This is well worth trying out and is available by mail order from the Harrods online shop HERE
This item is no longer available at Harrods due to rebranding (as of March 2017)

Book Review - Anne Frank Remembered

Anne Frank Remembered: The story of the woman who helped to hide the Frank family

By Miep Gies with Alison Leslie Gold

Published by Simon & Schuster, a Touchstone book

ISBN number 067 1662341/9780671 662349

This is a wonderful book written by Miep Gies, the lady that worked for Otto Frank's jam factory in Amsterdam and helped hide the Franks for many years in what is now called The Annexe, where Anne wrote her diaries.  It starts with Miep Gies' own childhood - she herself was a refugee from Austria during World War One, and sent to Holland to escape the bombings.  Her story then carries on through her employment with Otto Frank, and the beginnings of the World War Two and the attempted destruction of European Jewry.  It tells of arranging the hiding of the Frank family (as well as the others that hid in the Annexe) and then the final discovery and removal of the family, and continues to the end of the War and Otto Franks arrival back in Amsterdam, and the recovery of Anne's diaries.

This is a remarkable story and provides an extra insight into the story of the Frank family and is well worth reading.