[Ad- gifted experience] We do try to fit in as many light trails as possible when it comes to the Christmas season. There are always so many new ones popping up and it’s fantastic to go back to the ones we have previously visited to see how they have changed for the year. Hylands Estate has the first ever light trail that our family went to, many years ago. Enlightened does a variety of different light trails in England, of which we’ve been to quite a few, but Enlightened Hylands Estate holds a special place in our hearts.
[Ad- gifted experience] We are fans of pantomimes and get along to at least one every single year! This year, we were invited to the Harlow Playhouse to check out their Sleeping Beauty pantomime, which featured the dame that they’ve had for the last 10 years, along with Silly Billy, a fan favorite among the locals. Though we’ve been to the Harlow Playhouse for other performances, we’ve not done a panto there, so were all really excited!
Having a real tree is something that just feels magical! Being able to bring home a bit of the indoors for a little bit is something we’ve always done as a family. For the last couple of years, we’ve really grown to love our tradition of going to Christmas Wrapped Up, which is a local tree farm that feels so fancy. They sort of make an experience out of getting these trees. Behind the actual bit where they are selling their trees that have been freshly cut, they do have their growing trees ready for people to take pictures in, which we hadn’t explored until this year!
Every month, Amelia and I go to our cupcake decorating class with Sweet Designs by Jennie to spend some one on one time together and make some sweet treats! Normally, we take classes that are both fondant and piping, but this time, we went to one that was JUST piping. The Christmas Bouquet Cupcake Class is a little different from the standard class of six cupcakes, having some arts and crafts to do at the start and then lots of decorating to be done.
We have been trying to eat at every place in our town! Though I do not often pick Indian food, one of our friends suggested Belash, who recently celebrated their anniversary within our town. Belash has been in Harlow since 1977, building up their reputation for delicious curries and traditional Indian food. Though Dann has lived in Harlow his entire life, he’s actually not eaten here either, so we were both very excited to check it out!
Kofta Jalfrazi and Dansak Lamb
Now, as someone who has not had much Indian food, I wasn’t really sure what to order. The staff at Belash were extremely helpful and informed me that the Kofta Jalfrazi was spicy, but not super spicy! I went with it, as I do know I like Kofta. Kofta are these little meatballs, made of lamb, which is cooked in a Jalfrazi curry sauce. This sauce had big chinks of onions, peppers and tomatoes, and was a very nice spice level. None of the curries come with rices, so Dann and I both got mushroom rice on the side. There were good sized chunks of mushrooms in this rice and it was very flavorful. Dann got Dansak Lamb, which is lamb cooked in a sweet and sour sauce. His sauce didn’t have a ton of vegetables like mine, but it had a lot of flavor. I had a bit of it and it was delicious.
