Pick Me Up! 06-May-2021

I’ve been a chef for 25 years, and I absolutely love it. As a creative person, I’ve always enjoyed cooking and getting my hands dirty. For the past 10 years, I have been working for Grosvenor Casino in Blackpool as a commis-chef, and it’s been an absolute privilege. However, when the coronavirus struck, like many in the hospitality sector, I sadly had to stop working. As someone who always needs to be busy, I struggled mentally and physically. So, in October last year, when I was asked back into the kitchen to provide free meals for the community, I didn’t think twice. Dishing up to 250 meals a day, Monday to Friday, I put my chef hat on and got to work. Most of the time, it was just me…

WE’RE LOVING THIS! You must have heard about them by now! Little Moons – the delicious mochi ice cream balls making headlines this year, are fast becoming the ultimate food trend on everyone’s lips. Each mochi ball is made by wrapping bite-sized balls of creamy artisan gelato in a layer of soft and chewy mochi dough. The answer to all our ice cream cravings, Little Moons mochi balls are available in a variety of mouth-watering flavours, including vegan Belgian Chocolate, Italian Roasted Hazelnut, Himalayan Salted Caramel, Summer Strawberries & Cream, Madagascan Vanilla and Tropical Passionfruit & Mango. There’s something for every sweet connoisseur to sink their teeth into. Each ice cream mochi ball is gluten free and free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives. ● Little Moons are available to purchase…

If your letter makes Star Letter of the week, you will receive some beautiful blooms from Flying Flowers. With over 30 years’ experience of helping celebrate life’s special moments and FREE delivery by post, a gorgeous bouquet by Flying Flowers is a lovely way to celebrate sharing smiles and happiness. See flyingflowers.co.uk for more details.…

Sitting at home, a notification popped up on my phone. It was a message on my dating app from a guy named Martin McCrea. Hi there. How are you? his message read. Flicking through his profile, he looked nice. Handsome and friendly, I decided to reply. It was 2016, and although I was single and in my 30s, I wasn’t really looking for love or a relationship. I mostly just used dating apps to pass the time. Sat at home alone, it was nice chatting to people. Hey, I’m good thanks. How are you? I replied, hitting send. We began exchanging messages and I found it really easy to chat with him. It turned out, despite him being 11 years older than me, neither of us were after anything romantic,…

Martin would be out at all hours and drank a lot. He’d been like it a bit before we got married, but he’d promised me he was ready to settle down. Only now, it was worse than ever before. Within a matter of weeks, the honeymoon phase was over. Martin would go out all weekend with his mates and switch off his phone. Considering he was in his 40’s, I thought it was childish. ‘You can’t do that!’ I would shout at him when he’d finally return home. ‘I’ll do what I want,’ he spat. Things had completely changed between us and I didn’t recognise the man in front of me. This wasn’t the Martin I loved. The Martin I was best friends with. My Papa Bear… Who is he?…

Throwing another pregnancy test in the bin, I felt deflated. ‘Negative… again,’ I said, turning to my husband Inars, 27. ‘We can keep trying,’ he reassured me. I was desperate to be a mum, and after two miscarriages, every negative test hurt that little bit more. ‘I’m going to have to see the doctor,’ I said to Inars. Having not had my period for the last couple of months, I couldn’t work out what was going on. Only, no matter how many tests I took, they all came back saying the same thing. Negative. But as I sat in the doctor’s office, it was soon clear my luck was changing. ‘I think they could be false negatives,’ the doctor explained to me. Getting me to take a test there and…