Friday, Col and I started our day in Larne town. We had a list of things to do, pick up a package from the sorting office, pick up an N.I driving license application, pick up a cable for the tv. Y’know, just every day errands.
We stopped off for lunch at a place called, Ann’s Pantry. Since there’s only a few cafe’s down Larne’s main street, we figured what could go wrong, right?
WRONG. It went very, very wrong!
It was lunch time, and the bakery had run out of white bread for Col’s toasty, my food was microwaved in front of me, the service was slow, their ‘vinegar’ bottles, were malt vinegar, but had been emptied and replaced with white vinegar (I’m sure Sarsons would love to hear that!), my chicken and ham pie was made with thin sliced packet ham – not chunky, proper ham, y’know, the ham that you make a chicken and ham pie with?!?!?! The list was extensive, including the extractor vent thing in the bathroom being covered with an inch of grime and dirt. Disgusting!!!!!
Back at home, after doing all our errands and picking up a clothes horse, we were FINALLY able to embark on doing some laundry (having a broken tumble dryer, is getting old, I’m bullying Col in to getting someone down to fix it!) while watching the afternoon TV trio (“Deal or no deal”, “Come dine with me” and “Four in a bed”.)
Dinner, was from the chippy formerly known as the Frying Squad in Larne. I had a battered sausage supper, Col had fish’n’chips and, the reason, dear readers, you don’t have a picture of said dinner, is because it disappeared faster than ice cream on a hot day!
Saturday morning was one I’d been looking forward to for a while. I got to see one of my fave Scottish lass’s and one of my oldest and dearest (hockey) friends.
The location was ‘The Little Cupcake Cafe‘ in Belfast.
“Belfast’s first cupcake cafe, specialising in gourmet cupcakes, cookies, traybakes and desserts”
For those of you who’ve lived in a hole for the last year or so, cupcakes are ‘in’, cupcakes are now, they are hip and trendy and, not to mention, when done well, they can be a little chunk of heaven – without having to buy or eat an entire cake.
What’s not to like? They are mini cakes!!
In the Houston, these ‘cafes’ or cupcake bakery’s are all over the place, my most favourite, however, is called Crave Cupcakes, cupcakes are around $3.25 a piece (around £2.10) and their cupcakes are, without fail, a little bite of bliss (and by little, I mean the size of my HEAD!)
They don’t frost their cupcakes quite the ‘normal’ way, but there’s plenty of it and it’s absolutely delicious.
I think, subconsciously, when I make, buy, or try cupcakes, in my head, I compare them to Crave, every time.
The atmosphere in the Little Cupcake Cafe (LCC) was good, there were plenty of seats that, for a Saturday morning, I was surprised to find pretty full and their menu was clear, concise and, I’m told by the ladies I dined with, well-priced.
However, rolling in at £1.80, I find it hard to justify the cost, when I know I can get ones that are, in my opinion, way better, for only 30p more. The frosting was nice, but the cake itself was dry, and not as chocolate/orange as I’d expect from a chocolate orange cake.
Col informed me as we left, that if/when we move back to Northern Ireland, I was opening my own cupcake cafe. He was underwhelmed by the place and said my cupcakes are much better than those ones (though in truth, he kind of has to say that! LOL!) I think my best bet, it so bake cupcakes for Kez and Lis and see how THEY think they compare, to get an idea of where the standard is!
Just after 1pm, Col and I drove to Glengormley, to have lunch in a place where we had our second date. A place called Thunderdome cafe.
The last time we were home, this place let us down, it let us down a lot. In short, it was awful. But, we’d heard good things about it since we got home, and decided that we’d give it another shot – for old times sake.
Turns out, they have a new head chef, they’ve split the restaurant into a sports bar and a restaurant and, thankfully, the food was delicious!
Col had chicken carbonara and I had stuffed chicken with bacon and garlic saute potatoes – which, as you can see, aren’t in the least healthy!
En route home, I dragged poor Col in to Dunelm Mill, where we spent a little while shopping for sheets and towels (I LOVE Dunelm towels and after almost three years, I decided it was time to buy new ones!)
When we got home, I got the news that I had been voted in as the SSA Houston’s Chapter Coordinator for 2012/2013 winning the election with 71% of the votes. I’m both nervous and excited about taking over this position. It’s possible that I’m the youngest person to ever hold this position in Houston – not sure if that works in my favour or not!
That evening, our good friend Kathy called down to Larne, she was our first visitor down to the apartment, and, I have to admit, it was nice to not be the one running all round the country for a change. We enjoyed a yummy Golden Well Chinese and spent a few hours catching up with her on what we’ve all missed in the last two years!
Once again, I was talking too much to snap any pictures – I’m going to have to get better at this lack of pictures malarky!