Thursday 19 December 2013

I'm Dreaming of a Red, Red Christmas

Last week at uni, was House Christmas. Last year we went traditional, had a delicious turkey crown with equally delicious roast potatoes and vegetables and had a lot of fun! However this year, because we really couldn't be bothered waiting for a turkey to cook and because we thought we'd do something different, as well as having to cater to a vegetarian among us, we decided that we'd all make different dishes, something we think we all make well. One of my housemates, Shannon, we make fun of for all the gourmet-looking dishes she makes and all the expensive food she buys. Granted, its all worth it, because she not only made delicious eggnog, but she also made a mouthwatering spinach and cheese filo pastry pie that I am still dreaming about today. Yes, it was that good!

I made, as you can probably guess, a cake. I made my favourite cake, and had to do so without the help of my trusty mixer :( This included making the icing and having to beat the butter with a very short wooden spoon for about 10 minutes. Let's just say I have muscles now. Anyway I'd wanted to do something a little different with the icing, so I used some food colouring to make the icing inside green and the icing on the outside red! The icing on the inside wasn't as green as I'd wanted it to be but it was still clearly green! I thought red and green because they're typical Christmas colours...right? 

Cue an excessive and probably unnecessary number of pictures of the cake I made along with a picture of the stupendous amount of food that six people had to consume (we failed by the way, we didn't finish it all I promise, there was near enough to half left over!). 





Oh yeah...did I forget to mention that I also made 6 blueberry cupcakes with matching icing to go with the cake? Oh I must have forgotten... ;)












So this was our dinner, minus some chips that were still in the oven. So we had Curry, Lasagne, 3 different Pizzas, Garlic bread and Camembert (YUM), Spinach and Feta filo pastry pie, Mince Pies, Naan bread, chips, Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes (although the cake was eaten the next day cause we were seriously stuffed!) So yeah, we ate a lot of food and waiting for it all to be done was incredibly difficult when I'd only eaten breakfast all day! Oh but it was worth the wait! My stomach has never been that satisfied in my life! Sooooo worth the wait!


Then we had secret santa and one of my best friend's Jack got me and he got me the most thoughtful gift I think I've ever received. I love this book! Inside its got tabs for breakfasts, desserts, dinners, lunches, baking etc where I can write all my favourite recipes and there are even some slips for pictures too! Its just PERFECT!

All in the evening was absolutely perfect and I laughed so much and the people I live with are genuinely some of my favourite people! This first semester has already been so much fun and I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring!

Also last night I watched a really interesting documentary about back up singers called "20 Feet From Stardom" and it was incredible! Other than documentaries narrated by David Attenborough I',m not their biggest fan so this was a very interesting one to watch! You should give it watch if you get the chance! Below is a song by one of the people from the documentary that fits the season nicely!


I probably won't be posting on here until after Christmas and New Years so I hope you have a truly amazing and really enjoyable Christmas and New Year! Here's to 2014!

Sunday 15 December 2013

Peanut Butter Cupcake Time

Yes. You read that title right. Peanut Butter + Cupcakes + wait for it...CHOCOLATE.
You know how I feel about my chocolate guys. This recipe from tramplingrose.com is delicious and was fun to make! Fun fact about these cupcakes: I was in a bad mood which is why I decided to bake them ha!

I don't live in the US so my access to variations of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup candies was limited if not non-existent, so I had to settle for the real deal!



Also sorry for the bad quality pictures, I had to take these in the fridge with very little time because for some reason the consistency of  the icing was quite literally wigging out on me and the pattern the piping had made wasn't staying all that well! But the one below is one of my favourites!


YUMMMYYYY! One of my housemates text me when I was out of the house and said "literally the best cupcakes I've ever had, marry me?" I think that is quite possibly one of the best text messages I have ever received.  Also I think I broke my mixer :( Making a cake on Christmas day is going to be so much muscle building fun! -_-

For a quick second can we just discuss the new Beyonce album? Umm...well, anyway. Listen to it, watch it, enjoy it! I do! Until the whole album hits Spotify, I can't really help you in terms of listening to it, but in the meantime, here's one of my favourites, dedicated to my mixer.


Next up, a showstopper from my House Christmas at Uni! Stay tuned!

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Face Time

I'd like to think that I love my skin. I try (often not successfully) to drink a lot of water each day, to make sure that even when I'm very tired after a night out, that I take my make-up off and use my toner and moisturiser afterwards. My skin is fairly sensitive so I need to be even more careful than most, not only about what I put on my skin, but also about what I eat. Here's what I use on a daily/weekly basis to keep it in tip top shape:

On a daily basis I use my toner, face wash, and two moisturisers, one for my body, one for my face. Twice or thrice a week I use my St Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub. First of all its obviously, invigorating so its created to really scrub your skin and get rid of all the dead skin and dirt, and I really don't want to overwork my skin or make it too thin by scrubbing it too hard too often. Secondly, the instructions of the back of the bottle say so! Now, the Johnson's wipes are very good, but its extortion. Queue my rant: essentially they used to be around £2.50 for 35 wipes. Now they are £3.05 for 25 wipes and slightly altered, but no more appealing packaging. Why greedy Johnson's people why?

Skincare


I won't pretend, I do love wearing make-up, although most days I only wear eyeliner and brow pencil because wearing a full face of make up isn't good for anyone's skin and believe or not letting your skin breathe and having some fresh air hit it, is also good for it! Below are a some of my essentials.


make up


I love a nice red lip on a night out and Maybelline's colour is a nice alternative to MAC's Ruby Woo which is worth more than a Nandos! I also love Miss Sporty's nail varnish because the colour's are so rich and they look amazing. They don't necessarily last long but they're not expensive you can buy a lot of them and keep on painting! The red and the cobalt blue are my current favourites! Foundation is a tricky one because I'm not usually the best at matching myself and a lot of my foundation comes out slightly grey, so test it on your face before you buy!

Life is good, its almost Christmas, which means I get to bake incessantly and no one can judge me, plussssss I get to spend time with my family who I love more than anything! Happy times! Cue a good song:


Ps. My new post is up on HerUni.com so check it out here!