Local hand-made chocolate alert! This rather lovely Spring Selection was sent to me by Marimba, the Suffolk based Chocolatiers. It's a family run business with a chocolate kitchen in Bury St Edmunds and a Cocoa House (chocolate shop and cafe) in Sudbury. The family, David and Jackie Wright, with son Brad and eldest daughter Katherine produce a Hot Chocolate Melt made from flaked chocolate, using top quality cocoa beans from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, all selected for their distinctive flavours. Be surprised dear readers as I do not usually drink hot chocolate. It's the hot milk thing that I've never been crazy about, but I always try what I've been given and the Spring Selection included a 52% Vietnam Dark Milk flake. It dissolved easily in a mug of microwaved milk and a quick whisk with my aerolatte produced a very enjoyable strong and rich, smooth hot chocolate. I've obviously not been indulgent enough with my hot chocolate before. There's an online shop with fabulous range of hand-made chocolates, thins, bars, buttons and seasonal collections. Spring Sunshine Thins are sweet (I'm double checking as I write) white chocolate, cut through with zingy grapefruit and citrussy orange and a slight tropical flavour of those old fashioned sweets; pineapple chunks. Strawberry and Mint Thins are made with Venezuelan milk chocolate, rich and robust with hints of garden mint, softer than the often strong peppermint found in some chocolate. The little pieces of dried strawberry add some sharpness now and again. I saved the chocolate collection until last. Hands up if you remember violet and rose creams of the 60's? These tasted better - a Rose and Raspberry Caramel, pretty in pink with a delicate rose and nicely tart, not too sticky, raspberry caramel centre. A Lemon and Violet Cream, with a dark chocolate and sugared violet encrusted case, and strongly scented violet and lemon cream filling is delicate in flavouring, just enough not to make you feel you're at a perfume counter. Last to try was the very cinnamony and dark, spicy chocolate truffle, think hot cross buns. Perfect for Easter!

• chocolate flakes melted easily in hot milk
• with spring brings the hope of summer
• white chocolate and citrus - a perfect marriage
• so pretty and so well scented and flavoured
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We ate Chicken Kievs from Waitrose last night and when Scarlett served them up she gave the usual hot butter squirting in your eye health and safety warning, which made me think, has anyone ever really been blinded by a Chicken Kiev?

What a brilliant idea of Pascal and Karine Canevet (from Bury's superb Maison Bleue) to create a French take-away menu that is served in simple, elegant glass pots. I ordered a family meal last Saturday, originally planning to eat it on Sunday as a casual lunch, but blown away by the delicious menu of seasonal French dishes we decided instead to set the table and sit down to a candlelit dinner on Saturday. What a menu! Every item that Pascal has created works so well in the mini Kilner style jars. There were 5 starters, 5 main courses and 5 desserts to choose from, the kind of menu that you have to dither over, as everything sounds so good. I started with a velvety smooth, brandy laced chicken liver parfait topped with a Port gelée, others in the family tried the pork, pheasant and sultana coarse paté with cranberry and also the salmon and smoked salmon rillettes with cucumber. Nobody was willing to part with their pots or share so I didn't get a taste. Crisp toast was also packed in the food parcel to accompany the pate and parfait. Any misgivings about eating food from a jar (I do like a plate) were allayed by Karine when collecting the meal who told me ' You must eat from the jars' and also seeing the care with Pascal's presentation. We couldn't possibly turn these out! Main courses which were in bigger pots took 20 minutes in the oven at 160 degrees to heat through - the contents already being cooked, so no worrying about cooking times or burning your food. There's a microwave in about 2 minutes option too, which might be easier if you are dining solo or choosing to eat for a quick lunch. My cod, tarragon and carrot stew produced forkfuls of glossy white cod, aromatically flavoured with tarragon; the King of french herbs, with sweet chunks of carrot and celery. A thickened buttery and wine infused sauce met with pomme puree at the bottom of the pot. Mum's Beef Bourguignon was so generous that she couldn't manage it all, maybe is was the side dish of Gratin Dauphinois Mum ...  Mr SFoodie chose Pork Belly with Le Puy Lentil (again, not sharing but declaring as tender, with lots of herbs) Scarlett ordered the Smoked Haddock Cassolette, which would have been my second choice for a main course. Lovely lovely smoked haddock with prawns and rather delicious and fragrant pilau rice with hints of lime and coriander. Three courses make the meal a set price of £19.95 and I'd seen the images of the Mont Blanc on Insta and wanted one. It's one of my favourite desserts, I even have a vermicelli press bought in Switzerland years ago to make my own. To be honest if it had been the size of Mont Blanc I could have managed to eat this one, with a tangy blackcurrant puree cutting through the sweet chestnuts. Mum had Rhubarb Panacotta, light, vanilla infused, creamy and wobbly. Chocolate Mousse with salted butter Caramel disappeared in front of Mr SFoodie. But what was simply 'magnifique' was the Pineapple, Brioche, Chantilly. Oh la la!

• Chicken Liver Parfait, Port gelée
• Pork, pheasant and sultana coarse paté, cranberry
• Salmon and smoked salmon rillettes, cucumber
• Pork Belly, onion compote, “Le Puy“ lentils
• Cod, tarragon and carrot stew
• Smoked haddock, black tiger prawn, leek and pilau rice cassolette
• Léa “Mont Blanc” with chestnut, white chocolate and black currant
• Pineapple, brioche and Chantilly
• we drank Chatau Vari Monbazillac with the dessert, which is why I have no photos of the chocolate mousse and panacotta
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For Shrove Tuesday, beautiful vibrant green pea pancakes made with British grown and milled marrowfat peas from Hodmedod's. Hodmedod's are the Suffolk pulse pioneers and produce a wide range of pulse flours. I bought the gluten free bundle which included Buckwheat, Yellow Pea, Green Pea, Quinoa and Fava Bean. I found that the flavour of the green pea pancakes mellowed beautifully and was even sweeter after baking in the oven. The pancakes also make excellent layers in place of pasta for lasagne and cannelloni.

• Hodmedods Marrowfat Pea Flour
• Ready to flip
• Pea Green pancakes rolled and stuffed
• Cover with cheese and bake
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