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Latte Macchiato Cocktails – Add Zing to Your Cup of Coffee

April 16, 2014 by

Creamy and frothy, Latte Macchiato is definitely a favorite among coffee lovers, especially those who

prefer smoking hot beverages. The perfect layering of latte macchiato and the creamy froth that adorns

the top is a wonderful delight, especially when you need some lifting up after a long day. However,

there is definitely one way you can make this already wonderful beverage even more delectable; by

adding a dash of liquor to it. To help you with that, here are some simple recipes using which you can

incorporate liquor with your latte macchiato.

Mozart Latte Macchiato

Marzipan cream liqueur is a luxury spirit that brings together some of the most divine flavors to treat

your taste buds; marzipan, cream and almond. A delightful color and a creamy concoction, this amazing

liqueur adds an overwhelmingly exotic flavor to beverages. Using this together with espresso to form a

macchiato gives you one of the most refreshing spring drinks.

If you have ever tasted the famous Salzburg’s Mozart Balls, you may have an idea of how this drink is

going to taste. If not, you are definitely in for a wonderful surprise!

Ingredients:

• Espresso

• Milk foam

• Chocolate sauce

• Marzipan cream liqueur

(You can use the ingredients according to the size of your serving glass and your own taste)

Instructions:

1. Take a long glass for serving and pour in chocolate sauce. On top of it, add marzipan cream

liqueur. Now slowly add heated milk foam into the glass.

2. At last, add espresso to the glass creating a perfectly layered latte macchiato. Make sure you use

a transparent glass so that you can clearly see the wonderful and colorful layers of this beverage

when enjoying it.

 

Baileys Cream Coffee

Baileys is one of the most popular Irish liqueurs known for its rich and creamy flavor. It combines a rich

and creamy texture with a flavor of chocolate and Irish whiskey. It has a very luxurious and smooth

taste that, when mixed with the strong taste of espresso and milk foam, forms a delightful concoction,

layering up to form a great latte macchiato.

A perfect combination of chocolate, cream, whiskey and espresso, this latte macchiato is another

refreshing beverage that is going to taste heavenly once you try it.

Ingredients:

• Chocolate sauce

• Baileys cream liqueur

• Espresso

• Milk foam

(You can use the ingredients according to the size of your serving glass and your own taste.)

Instructions:

1. In a tall glass, pour chocolate sauce at the bottom and then add the Baileys on top of it. Next

add the milk foam on top.

2. Slowly pour in the espresso and fill until the glass is full. Use a transparent glass so that you can

see the amazing layers you have just created with this latte macchiato.

 

Vanilla Latte Macchiato Cocktail

Combining together the rich and smooth taste of a cream liqueur with two different things, this cocktail

is one of the most unique flavors you will try. The addition of Absolut Vanilia Vodka and strong espresso

to the delightful cream liqueur creates a strong, refreshing and energizing drink that is ideal to freshen

you up after a long and tiring day, getting you into a party mood right away.

If you want something stronger, this macchiato with a dash of vodka is just what you need.

Ingredients:

• Cream liqueur

• Absolut Vanilia Vodka

• Milk foam

• Espresso

(You can use the ingredients according to the size of your serving glass and your own taste.)

Instructions:

1. Take a tall glass and pour in the cream liqueur. Next add the vodka to the glass. Add milk foam

slowly. In the end, slowly add espresso to the glass. Your macchiato cocktail is all set to go!

If you want the best flavors for your beverages, you should try the Dolce Gusto Espresso flavors, which

will give a wonderful flavor to your drinks. As a part of their promotion for spring, you can currently get

a free Capsule Carousel with three boxes of coffee, so it’s definitely the perfect time to pick your coffee

from the Nescafe Dolce Gusto selection.
guest post via Samantha c/o Nescafe Dolce Gusto




Hotel Transylvania Activity Guide

November 3, 2012 by

Halloween is a great time of year for finding things to do with the kids. We’ve been having a great time in our house, making toffee apples, carving pumpkins (carefully!) and creating our costumes for a bit of trick-or-treating.

This time of year always brings with it a few good family films as well, and this year is no exception. Hotel Transylvania is a rip-roaring piece of Halloween-themed fun that will delight the kids and raise more than a few chuckles amongst the older members of the audience – just the way a good family film should!

hotel transylvania activity guide

Hotel Transylvania Activity Guide courtesy of Sony Pictures

Adam Sandler is known for turning out some fairly turgid comedies over the years, as well as a few surprisingly good films along the course of his career too. In Hotel Transylvania he provides the voice for Dracula. He is supported by a big name cast, with Selena Gomez voicing Mavis, and Kevin James playing Frankenstein.

The great thing about this film is that it brings all the fun of Halloween without too many of the frights, meaning your little ones can enjoy it no matter their age. With monsters as the good guys, and humans as the villains, there’s some great laughs and the voice acting is of the very highest calibre.

Let’s not kid ourselves – you wouldn’t be going out of your way to catch Hotel Transylvania with your partner on a romantic night out at your local Vue Cinemas. It’s strictly kids’ stuff. But it’s good, wholesome kids’ stuff that you will happily enjoy.

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Blogging Tips for Busy Moms

November 1, 2012 by

Juggling everyday life and all that comes with it along with a blog is no mean feat. In fact, at times it is incredibly demanding and with this in mind it pays to be at least a little bit organised with your blogging so both your daily routine and blog can happily co-exist! You can create Top Rated Survival Blog.

If you are struggling with running your blog and being active in the blogosphere and find yourself wishing you could split yourself in two to achieve all that your day demands of you and be able to write your blog, then check out some of the helpful hints below that can take some of the grind out of managing your blog.

blogging tips for moms, how to start a blog

image courtesy Flickr Kristina B

Find your purpose
You will be significantly more successful as a blogger if you define some goals and a purpose for your blog. Not only will it offer you some guidelines for what to write about when the inevitable writers block comes around, it will also make it more enjoyable. For example, nobody likes to write about something they don’t enjoy and it goes without saying that if you are writing about something you enjoy then it is rarely going to feel like a chore.

Be yourself
This is a biggie – you need to be yourself. People will read your blog for you and to find out about you. If you try to hide behind smoke and mirrors or pretend to be someone you are not then maintaining a blog will take much more effort and be all the more draining when you come to write a post or two at the end of a busy day.

Plan a content calendar
This one may sound obvious, but it is vital that you create a schedule for posts and that you stick to it. For example, if you are going to write a series of posts on restaurants in your town then commit yourself to publish these posts by the second week of the month, every month. A few more ideas like this and you will have a half-full content schedule that writes itself! If you get your content planned out far in advance, or you feel like you don’t have time to write your content for whatever reason you could always look to outsource it. This essay site I found is a good example of somewhere you could get decent content written up.

Keep it fun
Possibly the most important item on the list because if blogging isn’t fun anymore, then why are you still doing it? “How do I keep it fun?” I hear you ask, well there are a few simple things you can do to help raise the fun factor. You could listen to music while you blog, having a little singing session while you write a few posts is always great. Another way to keep it fun, and a big reason for most people to get into blogging, is to make friends with other bloggers. Find like-minded moms to chat to, read their blogs, leave comments and really integrate yourself with the community. If you do this you will certainly be able to have fun and make new friends in the process!

This is a guest post provided by Laura

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Time is Money – Top tips for Budgeting Both

October 26, 2012 by

Living on a budget doesn’t necessarily mean doing without.

Being a savvy shopper takes a little practice sure, but I spend around one hour per week looking for coupons and discount codes at netvouchercodes.co.uk and other similar sites. This is not only very little time, but because I always go shopping armed with a precise list it takes me no time at all.

budgeting money

photo courtesy 401(K) 2012 via Flickr

Keeping my house warm and cozy

Our gas and electricity bills seem to take a huge chunk out of our monthly expenditures budget. I spent a little time shopping around for the supplier that would offer us the best deal and came up with First Utility.

Not only were they cheaper than our old supplier, but with a First Utility voucher code we are now expecting a lovely £180 in cash back at the end of the year, which will go into our Christmas fund.

Feeding myself and the family

I steer clear of expensive ready meals and takeaways and instead plan all our family’s meals on a monthly basis. That way I can shop at the cash and carry in bulk and have cut our grocery bill almost in half.

I then cook more than I need and freeze the rest for those days when I’m too tired to cook a meal from scratch.

To give myself more time with the children I always get them involved in the cooking process. Even the younger one can manage to mix up some batter or toss a salad and the eldest knows enough about safety to chop vegetables and stir a sauce.

We all spend a lovely hour or two of quality time together and the children eat everything in front of them full of pride in their own culinary skills.

The Dreaded Xmas shop

Spreading the cost of expensive holidays, particularly Christmas, over the year makes them easier to handle and often saves cash as well – I used to spend a small fortune panic buying last-minute presents the week before Christmas with little or no thought going into whether they were quality gifts or good value for money.

I signed up to our local supermarket’s loyalty scheme and saved up my points all year last year. Come December I was able to do our entire Christmas food and drink shop without spending a penny. I now always get the girls’ stocking fillers in the January sales, as well as all my cards and wrapping paper for the following year at a fraction of the price.

If I spot a bargain over the course of the year that I know a friend or family member would love I snap it up there and then, even if I have to put it away for almost a year.

Not only does this save me a fortune, but in December I have so much more free time than I used to as I’m never frantically dashing round the shops searching for the elusive ‘must-have’ toys.

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DSLR for Dummies-Digital #Photography How To Series Part 1

July 19, 2011 by

Photo by: Erin courtesy of Flickr

First off, we definitely don’t think you’re a dummy! But, maybe you’ve had your eye on a DSLR for a while now, and you just can’t seem to make the full commitment to purchasing one. Shops like expresswaycine.com offers camera rentals. Or perhaps you’ve already bought a DSLR but haven’t had time to learn how to use it. We get it!

Having a DSLR is no fun if you feel totally overwhelmed and don’t know where to start! So to help you learn the basics, we’ve put together a “dummy’s” guide to the DSLR. For more inspiration, also read these photographer quotes from Capture it! Photography. We’re hoping to make things nice and simple so that you can master the terms and skills you need to get great photos with your DSLR (without all the hassle)!

Let’s start from the beginning – why would you want a DSLR over a regular compact, or point & shoot camera? There are several reasons:

– Great depth of field. Don’t be put off by the technical-sounding term, it simply means that a DSLR gives you the opportunity to take photos with everything in focus, or with beautiful blurred backgrounds. In the photography world, the blurred background technique is known as Bokeh, a Japanese expression. Of course, it’s not just either or, there’s a whole spectrum of possibility when it comes to depth of field in photos taken with a DSLR.

– Flexibility and creativity. There’s a great deal of choice when it comes to lenses available for a DSLR, giving you a much wider creative scope. Most DSLRs come with a kit lens that is typically 18-55mm – a good all-rounder. Budget permitting you can add any number of lenses to your kit to get different results. Some typical lenses are telephoto, zoom, wide angle, fish eye, and prime (also called fixed focal-length). If you were to splurge on one lens to get your kit started, go for a 50mm fixed focal length with a minimum f1.8 aperture. Without getting too technical, the aperture is the hole that lets the light into your camera. A small aperture number (like 1.8) actually denotes a large aperture hole. This lens will give you fantastic depth of field, plus it’s perfect for portraits and family shots. Another great lens for beginners is an 18-250mm lens. It allows for wide angle photos, but you can also zoom in close to the subject without changing lenses. Great for keeping things simple!

– Better photos in low light, without a flash. Due to the large sensor of the DSLR you’ll get better photos with less light – provided that your model is not a squirming 2-year old!

– White Balance allows for true-to-life colors. The white balance is great for correcting color before taking a photo so that the resulting image is more life-like. The white balance presets will help you avoid overly yellow, green, or blue-tinted photos.

– Easier photo editing. DSLR cameras have the option of shooting in two different formats, namely JPG or RAW. The RAW format uses more space on your memory card and your hard drive, but because it does not compress any of the data as a JPG does, you have more flexibility when it comes to editing. A great feature for cropping or printing your photos!

As you can see there’s a plethora of benefits that come along with upgrading from an everyday compact camera to a DSLR. So with that said, we’ll let you digest all the reasons you should get a DSLR, and we’ll be back next week to help you get out of the fallback Auto Mode!

Calling all casual photographers and photo nuts don’t miss The Beginners Lens Big App Giveaway this summer! If you’re into iPhone photography, enter via The Beginners Lens to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card!! The Beginners Lens is a new online source for mobile and digital photographers, featuring tips, tricks & tutorials for beginners and beyond. With free and premium video content spanning a range of photographic topics including everything related to the iPhone camera, digital camera buying guides, gear & software, accessories, online photo services, and much much more…there’s something for everyone at The Beginners Lens.

Get more tips & tricks on iPhone photography & digital photography at The Beginners Lens.




Enjoying The Little Things In Life

July 18, 2011 by

Penelope is a NY blogger who writes a personal blog at Penelope’s Oasis, where she shares beauty tips, fun relationship ideas, health and fitness advice and more.

” Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” –Robert Brault.

Sometimes we rush through life, with big plans and big goals that we spend our time trying to attain. Big dreams are great, as long as our focus on them doesn’t make us forget to notice all the wonderful things in life we tend to not appreciate. One day we may look back and wish we had spent more time playing with our children or talking to a deceased grandparent, and find that a big house or successful career don’t give the satisfaction that we thought they would when we sacrificed family time, health, and more to chase them.

What are ways to slow down and appreciate the little things in life, so you can always feel that you live a full life and have no regrets?

1. Make family time a priority. Do not let chasing career recognition or an obsessive hobby (no matter how fun or exciting it seems at the time) take away years of your life during which your children are growing up and your marriage is growing apart.

2. Make it a priority to do simple things with your family when you are spending time with them. Don’t just watch tv together, or play video games, or give them toys to occupy them. Talk to your spouse and children. Tell them things that they’ll be glad they know when you are gone one day. Teach them things. Show them how to make a great burger or things you learned in the Scouts. Build sand castles together or look for berries.

3. Enjoy hobbies that connect you to the world around you, to people and to nature. Find hobbies that require you to slow down. Fishing with your sons is a great hobby that brings you outside, with your family, close to nature, and active. It’s relaxing and exciting.

4. Reconnect to your parents and siblings, and have family reunions and get-togethers. Don’t let your old friends and family fall apart, scattered around the world. When you are older, you’ll wish you had kept in touch with people who were once very important to you, so keep those relationships strong. You will regret not ever learning how your parents met, or what the war was like when your uncle was a child. Ask them, and listen.

5. Everyday, do something that has no point. Don’t focus only on doing productive things. Sit in the sunlight, on a bench, and just watch the world around you. Notice the beautiful weather, the grass, the people walking by. This is life, and you are lucky to be part of it. Catch butterflies and let them go. Smell flowers (really). Walk through the park. Learn to live without always feeling the need to produce results.

6. Do things you enjoy and relax you. If you love reading the morning paper and sipping coffee, but feel it doesn’t fit into your fast-paced life anymore, change your schedule. You’ll feel like you burned through your life like a match if you rush through it and never just relax and enjoy yourself. If you enjoy jogging, make sure your schedule isn’t so tight you can’t do this. Make room to enjoy the life you are lucky to have, and enjoy things you have been pushing aside or overlooking.

7. Know your priorities, and keep them straight. Everyone says family comes first, but if you barely see them because you are always working or travelling or shopping, they really aren’t a priority. If you know what your priorities are, and keep them priorities, it makes like simple. When your boss asks you to leave your family for a year for a promotion, since family is #1 and work is #3, the choice is easy. No. Having your priorities straight makes it easy to say no to friends who impose on you, tasks that risk your health, and anything that tries to take your focus away from what matters most. It makes it easy to enjoy your life and appreciate what matters when you show everyone what matters to you.

Thank you to Penelope for providing our readers some wonderful inspiration to take a step back and enjoy life.