10 ways to amp up hot chocolate - mmmmm

I had the best time putting together this article for eBay's Mum's Business website - 10 Luxurious Ways With Hot Chocolate. I used the good stuff - Belgian Callebaut dark chocolate (thanks Dad), and went to town on amazing toppings and flavourings using items you probably already have in your pantry (I did!).

Head over to Mum's Business for the full article and super-easy recipes for: basic hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, malted hot chocolate, turkish hot chocolate, honeycomb hot chocolate, flake hot chocolate, aztec hot chocolate, chai hot chocolate, hazelnut hot chocolate, salted caramel hot chocolate, and gingerbread hot chocolate. You know you want to!

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

The Seventh Duchess luxury loose leaf tea

Always a sucker for good packaging design and Australian-made goodies, I have another gorgeous product to add to the pantry - luxury loose leaf tea from The Seventh Duchess. The WA-based team behind this lovely brand have created a beautiful visual statement to represent the luxury and romance of their tea.

The Seventh Duchess tea is named after Anna Russell, the Seventh Duchess of Bedford, confidant of Queen Victoria, and a socialite of the highest inner circles in the early 19th century. It is said that the Duchess invented the ritual of afternoon tea, sharing with her friends different tea blends acquired from the Far East, as well as their origin, and different brewing techniques.

The Seventh Duchess range of quality tea tisanes and drinking chocolate contain no artificial colours or flavours. The team offers bespoke services, customising tins for weddings, baby showers, birthdays, events and corporate gifts. I'm besotted.

You can find The Seventh Duchess in the online store as well as stockists across Australia.

Images: The Seventh Duchess

It's a Hot Chocolate kind of day

 Just add marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles. Or rainbow sprinkles!

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin

The best babycino ever!

OMG I finally have an internet connection again. And we moved house! I guess there is a lot of work involved in moving an internet connection for it to take 10 days (not). Kind of miffed, but in the meantime, I have been packing, and then unpacking thousands of boxes, playing house, exploring the new hood and getting out with the little ones. We braved some epic traffic to have a lovely playdate at Pyrmont Point Park and discover the world's best babycino (unless you can point me elsewhere):

  

I'm used to the cocoa, and one, maybe two marshmallows. But five marshmallows AND a generous sprinkling of pretty hundreds and thousands on top! My girls' eyes just about popped out of their heads. 

So now I have embraced the hundreds and thousands trend. They just make things so pretty and add a bit of magic to boring old Milo or a special ice cream treat (for sore throats, of course). There's a reason why they turn a boring old slice of bread into 'Fairy Bread'. Yes, in moderation of course.

Who else is doing hundreds and thousands on babycinos? I think we need a list of the cool cafes right here...

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Great Packaging: Preshafruit fruit juice

Always a sucker for great packaging, I fell for the neat, triangle-shaped bottle of Preshafruit Pink Lady apple juice and am pleased to announce that the juice was as refreshing and delicious as it looked. Created by Australian company Donny Boy Fresh Food Company, the range of juices includes apple juice, orange juice, fruit coulis and chunky fruit packs.

Interestingly, Preshafruit juices and fruit are pressurised cold using High Pressure Processing (not heat pasteurised) to preserve flavour, texture, colour, smell and nutrients. The packaging is fantastic, fits neatly in your hand and would be great for a lunch box (and each apple juice contains only the juice of four apples - so good for you too!). I'm still using my bottle on my desk; I just can't bear to throw it out.

I have found Preshafruit at Woolworths; look out for it at a store near you.

Image: Preshafood

Great Packaging: Cafe Earth

Good old-fashioned Australian soft drink maker Wimmers, usually known for its double sarsaparilla soft drink and other old school flavours, now produces a high-end range called Cafe Earth. The line features lightly carbonated water with sophisticated flavours and low sugar content and includes 4 flavours - cranberry, pink grapefruit, natural mineral water and blood orange.

I think Wimmers has done a great job with both the flavour choices and product design. The packaging is spot-on with fresh clean graphics that make you feel like you've bought a premium product. I'm sure that Wimmers is aiming squarely at the cafe and cocktail mixer market that Tiro currently corners in Australia.

Based on the Sunshine Coast, the Wimmers brand started manufacturing in 1909, so this range is a huge step into modern lifestyle beverages for this historic company. I hope the Cafe Earth range gets great distribution, as it's always healthy to have competition in the marketplace. Now I'm dreaming of a refreshing cocktail - the Pink Grapefruit with Campari over ice would be perfect, thank you very much.

Image: Wimmers

Hip Products: Balance Water

I recently received a bottle of Balance Water at an InStyle event, and am intrigued by the concept. It is spring water from the mountains north of Sydney; non-flavoured, but infused with Australian wildflower essences with various effects on your inner health. I tried the water for women formula, and didn't detect any taste, and am not sure that the essences changed my mood or state of calm, but I don't think it hurt me either, so I will probably try it again.

You can buy Balance Water at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets as well as some specialty stores. The RRP is $2.95, which is on the high side, but if it works, I'm all for it.

Image: Balance Water

Hip Products: Alchemy Cordials

Alchemy Cordials have been around for some time - I remember when they were a couple of Brisbane-based guys with a stall at the markets; but now you can buy their delightful syrups on the Alchemy Cordial website, at Coles, David Jones, and a number of gourmet purveyors all over Australia (and now internationally).

This weekend we whipped up Love Martinis - a concoction of vodka, soda water, and Love Cordial (rose and lime flavours). They went down a treat, and the lightly pink-tinted drinks would be fabulous with a sugared rose petal floating on top.

Image: Alchemy Cordials

Hip Product: Sofia Mini

This time last year I tried out the Sofia Coppola sparkling wine in a can and it's still my favourite take-out alcoholic beverage. The Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs comes from the Coppola winery in California and is merchandised in a cute 4-pack. Each can even comes with its own straw for sophisticated quaffing. And who can deny the packaging and fabulous advertising.

Image: Sofia Mini