Baby it's cold outside

It has officially been freezing lately. Although I am not a person who deals well with being cold, I do like it when December begins and the cold weather appears. It really does make you feel festive, and suits the season. Giving you the chance to snuggle up in warm layers, drink hot drinks and enjoy candles.

Now that it is December I really feel like my christmas posts can get underway! The fair I went to last month was just a taster and the beginning of what's to come.

I thought I would start off with my christmas baking for work. Ok it's not really baking, but more of a mixing of ingredients, but still they are mighty tasty!

Fudge may sound daunting, but in reality there is a simple recipe which I took from the Carnation website and is enjoyed by everyone who tries it.

It's called easy chocolate fudge and it really is that easy:

1 can of condensed milk
400g of milk or dark chocolate (I like to mix this)
100g icing sugar
25g butter

- melt the butter, chocolate and condensed milk over a low heat
- once all melted mix in the sifted icing sugar
- pour in to a tin and leave to set in the fridge (I line my tin with baking paper and leave overnight)
- cut with a sharp knife and store for up to two weeks in the fridge

I have made this recipe many a time and must say how easy it is and how adaptable it is too. I've added nuts, cranberries and white chocolate before. This time I decided to use icing pens to draw christmas images on the top of the pieces just to make sure everyone gets in to the festive spirit as much as me :-)

It'ssss christmas!!!

Ok so it's not quite christmas, in fact it's not even December yet. But that's not going to stop me from getting excited already. Yes my name is Holley and I am a christmas addict.

There's nothing more that I love than this time of year. The festivity, people getting in to the spirit, the drinks, the food, the lights, the decorations, the songs, the films. I could literally go on and on. But I think I will save that for when December actually is here.

To start off my early festive cheer, myself and my Bristolian friend Vicky attended The Spirit of Christmas Fair at the Olympia centre in Kensington. The fair was a whole day of Christmas cheer. From presents and decorations too food and outfits. You could easily plan your whole Christmas here.

Many of the items at the fair were quite expensive but they were of good quality and many items were handmade and specialist items. I managed to pick up a present for my sister but will be keeping that a surprise until the big day. Vicky got some great christmas food items for herself and her family.

The fair really made me feel Christmassy and had a wide enough selection of everything christmas related to suit everyone. I would definitely go again next year although I warn you to resist all the free food samples - lethal.

Halloweeeeennnnnn!!

As I want this blog to be a representation of me and my life. I thought what better way to share this than showing me in fancy dress, as that's obviously how I like to dress up everyday!

At the weekend I went home to Bristol to take part in an early Halloween celebration. We had some pre drinks at a friends house where we listened to some halloween themed music while strutting our stuff in fancy dress.

My outfit was a pretty lame tigger/cat but it was easy to wear and put together unlike some of the other outfits! There was a Jack Sparrow, Frankenstein, Joker, Blade, a geek, Batgirl, Poison Ivy and a clown. So a pretty mad bunch but as you can probably see from the pictures - a pretty fab fancy dress effort too!

I'm not usually the biggest fan of fancy dress and Halloween but this was really fun. Everyone got in to the spirit and enjoyed themselves and after a few drinks I did have to do a few double takes to check Frankenstein and Poison Ivy weren't real!

Gone in sixty seconds

Despite the title of this post and the subject matter of my last post this post actually has nothing to do with film! Gone in sixty seconds only refers to the amount of time my baking disappeared this week.

I thought that it was about time I made cupcakes to take in to work as I had said I made them fairly often but still hadn't made any in three months of being there.

I wanted to use up the ingredients I had in my cupboard and chose to go for vanilla cupcakes with chocolate topping. As the chocolate hardens this also makes them easier to put in a tin and carry on the infamous public transport of London.

After using a simple recipe on the back on the Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour pack, I was left with golden brown vanilla cupcakes just how I wanted.

Once cooled these were decorated with a mixed swirl of milk and vanilla chocolate and white chocolate pieces crumbled on top.

I took the cakes in to work for the colleagues and they were instantly inhaled and everyone asked if I had some more. However I don't know if this was because they really enjoyed them or whether it was just free food that got them going. Still no complaints were made so I will take that as a bonus and hopefully allow me to ask for future favours from colleagues too.

Are you sitting comfortably?!

As this is a blog about the things I am interested in, I didn't think I could not tell you about what I can only call the best cinema ever! Yes I am making that statement and I am sticking by it!

The Aubin cinema is based in the basement of the Aubin and Wills store in Shoreditch, London. Now you might think a cinema in the basement of a cinema sounds anything but good. But let me reassure you this cinema is a hidden gem.

The cinema itself only seats about 30 people which makes it cosy and intimate. Unlike the other generic cinemas where each screen is huge and you get old chairs and popcorn as a treat, at the Aubin cinema you get individual armchairs or sofas with cushions and blankets. Of course you can have popcorn here but they also offer a glass of wine for some further indulgence.

As the cinema is so small it only shows one film at a time but this does include the big blockbusters or smaller niche films. They also have special events such as Edible cinema where you can enjoy the experience of watching a film and having special things to eat which relate to different parts of the film and enhance your viewing experience.

I watched 'Killing Them Softly' here starring Brad Pitt and I really noticed that I paid more attention to the film and got into it much more than at another cinema. I think this was because I was comfortable and the fact it was quiet and cosy made for much less distractions.

I can't recommend this cinema enough and will definitely be going back. Though don't tell too many people I still want to be able to get a seat myself!

 

 

Lessons Learnt

I like to think I know a thing or two about baking. Well I do know the basics and can follow a recipe thats for sure. But there is definitely a lot more to baking than meet the eye as I found out recently.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon (yes I know that is hard to believe now) I went to Swiss Cottage to take a baking class at the house of Caroline Hope. Caroline teaches baking classes and has been doing so for more than 15 years, and is particularly interested in the history behind the afternoon tea.

I purchased a voucher for the class along with seven other women and together we spent the afternoon baking. In pairs we made small sponge cakes which included - coffee, chocolate and orange, victoria sponge and lime cake. To go alongside this we made plain and cheese scones.

A majority of the women in the class had actually never baked or didnt have that much experience in it, so Caroline made sure every step was explained and we took our time to understand each instruction.

Although I have baked before it was very useful to hear about history, tips and tricks and the reason behind why we do different things to create the cake of our choice.

I really liked Caroline's passion behind good quality ingredients. This can make such a difference even when making a plain sponge. It was also useful to be aware of taking your time and really mixing well whether by hand or a mixer. Im not sure if I will be mixing by hand again after all the mixing in the class however!

The most important thing I took away with me was how to properly heat your oven. I always thought it just had to reach the required temperature, or you would pre heat for about 20 mins, when I heard that Caroline usually leaves her oven all day it was a real surprise and something I will be looking in to for future baking.

The cakes turned out great and we all got to try some small pieces and take some home to enjoy. What we were taught during the afternoon and the time invested really showed itself in the taste and appearance of the cakes. I really felt like I learnt lots of new things and I think the novice bakers went away with the confidence to try baking in their homes.

If you are interested in any of the classes available please look at Caroline's website: www.teaandscones.org.uk.

In love

Yes I am in love but not with another human being or anything living or moving in fact. I am in love with the fabulosity of caviar nails by Ciate.

This British company founded by Charlotte Knight has quickly become a favourite of fashionistas looking for a stand out nail look. The name Ciate stands for colour, inspiration, aspiration and trend and this is what they are all about.

The caviar manicure offers something completely different. Able to put on in the comfort of your own home the nail set allows you to create 3D nails which stand out from the crowd.

There are three different sets at the moment - rainbow, mother of pearl and black pearl. Each of these have their base colour, the beads to apply on top and a funnel to be able to put any loose beads back in the pot.

Often used on fashion shoots this is a now a look we can all use for nights out and special occasions. I haven't yet bought the nail set and tried it out myself, but they do make it look easy in videos on the website (as it always does). However I am dubious to its staying power and easy on and off process.

Once I have tried it out I will report back. For now I will be in love with the pretty pictures on the website and deliberate over which set to buy!

If you would like more details please visit the official website:
http://www.ciate.co.uk/

Missing Baking

I haven't done any proper baking in a while and I really do miss it. I love being able to experiment and share the enjoyment baking brings to me with others.

Since I have moved I haven't bought the ingredients I need to bake and I still need some pieces of equipment so I can put my baking hat back on.

I think when I do get ingredients for baking I am going to try and get healthy ingredients to bake with. From doing some research there are multitude of ingredients available which allow you to bake but for it actually to be nutritious too.

Over the weekend I did have a chance to do some quick baking. I threw together (literally) these chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. Made in the heat they may have not been the best choice but they last particularly well in the fridge and this brings out the chocolate flavour further.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I will be able to share some new healthy baking recipes with you.

Olympic Style

So unless you have been in a hole its is impossible to miss the fact that the olympics have come to London. There is a fantastic vibe throughout the city and all over the country in fact. Great Britain is third in the medals table, and we keep winning more medals and sharing in this once in a lifetime event we have been able to show to the world.


 The Great British athletes have had their outfits designed by Stella McCartney, while USA had their opening ceremony outfits designed by Ralph Lauren and Italy had Georgio Armani. These outfits may be designed for the Olympics, but it has got me thinking about Olympic style and how we can have a bit of Olympic style and spirit without being an Olympic athlete.

1. Olympic nails

Nails can always be painted in various designs and colours, but how about choosing specific olympic designs or just colours. Just enough to show your support without the whole outfit. Many of the athletes from various countries have been spotted sporting colourful nails for their home country.

2. Gold, Silver and Bronze

Not only the medals, but these are great colours to wear especially on a night out. Add some glamour to your outfit with gold shoes, a bronze clutch or work those silver hotpants and show who really deserves a medal.

3. Sportswear

So if the Olympics havent inspired you to get active yet then nothing will! its time to put on the  sports wear and get out there. whether it on a stadium, on a track, in a field or even in the gym, there are outfits which will get you ready to sweat your socks off.

Tea time

Saturday afternoon in central London. The sun was shining and I was spending time with my good friend. We decided to go out for our tradition of afternoon tea which we do each time we meet up.

This time we chose to go to Sketch just off of Regents street. This place has 5 restaurants and bars and is very quirky and unique. Even the toilets are egg shaped pods which when you enter you can hear a voice talking to you through speakers.

The restaurant we were sat in had a very mix matched and kind of retro decor to it. Every table, chair and light were different. Even every set of china varied. But the restaurant did have a very comfortable vibe and we easily spent the whole afternoon enjoying ourselves.

We chose the afternoon tea menu and enjoyed tea in postbox shaped teapots which added to the charm and quirkiness. The tea itself was a lovely mix of sandwiches, marshmallows, chocolate and other mini deserts including a scone. Although I couldn't finish all of it that wasn't it say it wasn't well enjoyed!

I would definitely want to come back here. Probably for dinner and drinks which sounded just as interesting and enticing.

Sun has got his hat on

Finally the Olympics are almost here and finally we have sun! It may have taken to the end of July but it is here and we are hoping it stays!

So the sun comes out and we all fall in to one of two categories. We are either from the camp of ‘any of bit of sun is an excuse to get naked!’ or the camp of ‘omg the sun is shining what on earth am I going to wear?!’

Some people see an inch of sun and feel the need to get the hot pants and belly tops on while the rest of us are still jackets. However there is no denying that summer wear is needed in these temperatures.

But what to wear?!

Magazines are full of articles on summer clothes and the trends for this year. These often include what to wear on holiday in an exotic location and show bold prints, floaty fabrics and jewel colours. However these items are not always practical for everyday life in the real world. I may think a bright purple print dress with a turban and chunky gold jewellery looks fabulous on a model in a magazine editorial piece, but walking down the high street on a summer’s day – not so much.

For us regular folk it’s about being comfortable and cool whilst feeling stylish. We often also have to factor in the issue of work. Magazines may show summers spent abroad, but for the majority of us we are working for the most of the summer and if lucky get a week or two away.

Depending on where you work can be an issue of what to wear. Many offices now have a laid back approach to clothing and all year around is the casual look. This makes it easier for both men and women to be comfortable in the heat.

If you work in an office where there is a dress code, summer wear takes a bit more thought. For women a structured sleeveless dress, pencil skirt and sleeveless blouse or wide legged trousers and cool shirt can adhere to the dress code whilst still being comfortable and practical.

If you are lucky enough not to be in work and enjoying the sun, here are my top five pieces of clothing for summer 2012, without a pair of hot pants or belly tops in sight!

                                                 1. Bright Blazers

2. Peplum Dresses

3. Floral Trousers

4. Pastel Colours

5. Sports Wear

Cookie Monster

Everyone loves a good cookie. Whether with a glass of milk or warm with ice cream, chocolate chip cookies can provide that sweet treat you are looking for.

I like my cookies to be crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. They must be cooked but still have that slight cookie dough texture. I also like them with a mix of chocolate chips - dark, milk and white.

This recipe I found perfectly combines the texture and flavours I enjoy in a cookie and are also simple to make. The dough itself can be frozen and defrosted at another time to make the cookies when you want.

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g light brown sugar
• 2tbsp golden syrup
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 160g self-raising flour
• 150g chocolate, milk, dark or white broken into 0.5cm chunks

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat the golden syrup into the butter and sugar with the vanilla essence. Mix in flour and chocolate chunks until just combined.
3. Take a teaspoonful of the mixture, roll it into a ball, then place onto a greased baking tray, flattening it slightly with the palm of your hand. Repeat with the remaining dough, allowing plenty of room for the cookies to spread while baking.
4. Bake for 12 mins until golden brown.
5. Allow chocolate chip cookies to cool on the tray for few mins before transferring them to a wire rack.

Source: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/138328/Chocolate-chip-cookies

What makes these cookies chewy and gives them a hint of toffee is the addition of golden syrup. It makes the cookies feel like traditional American style cookies rather than the hard biscuit or cake type ones you may find mass produced.

These cookies don't last long whenever I make them and can be served either hot or cold but will last up to a week when stored in an air tight container.

Don't rain on my parade

So Britain is under a deluge of rain at the moment. Actually it doesn't appear to have stopped for at least the past couple of months, and it doesn't look like it will be stopping any time soon.

The fears of a summer drought are gone and instead we fear for summer floods. The idea of spending two weeks in the sun has never seemed to be so appealing.This is a typical British summer and throws all our plans of sandals and maxi dresses out of the window.

But what do you wear when the rain is falling and you want to be both practical and stylish? Here are my rain essentials to keep you dry and not looking like a five year old splashing in puddles or an old lady with her tartan mac.

1. Wellies

Now im not a welly sales person but if I was I would be selling Hunter Wellies by the welly load! These Wellies are classics. Fantastically made, fantastically stylish and worm by fantastic celebs and mere mortals alike. Go for classic black or pillar box red.

2. Waterproof Jacket

I think there are so many different types of waterproof jackets out there which can be practical and still look good. You can go for a mac, but to be honest these are really only suitable for a light shower when you can quickly get under cover. When the rain is at the stage of torrential and you have to get from A to B outside the best thing is a proper waterproof jacket made for the outdoors. There are some great brands including North Face, Columbia, Regatta and Berghaus which have a range of styles, colours and price ranges for every pocket.

3. Umbrella

Eh eh eh. Come on you know I couldn't resist breaking out in to a bit of Rihanna! But on another note what could be more synonymous with the rain than the umbrella. They come in all different sizes and colours and can actually be used in the rain or sun to offer shade. I would definitely suggest having one umbrella which you can fit in to a handbag and another which offers more protection from the wind and a heavy downpour. Fulton make great affordable umbrellas in every design you can imagine.


Despite this talk of fabulous waterproofs I'm going to do my sun dance now and pray for the summer outfits to come back out of the closet!

My Favourite Things

I do love the Sound of Music, but this post is not about nuns and singing. I thought it would be a good way to start this week with a list of my favourite things. It’s a good way to share things I do like and to also to keep a reminder of events going on, so drum roll please…….

1. Jay-Z at the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend

Not only did one of my favourite rappers play an amazing two hour set which had the crowds engaged at his every word. We got to see Beyonce rocking out with everyone!

 

2. Banana cake

What to do with over ripe bananas make banana cake! Not a traditional banana bread but a two layered cake filled with vanilla butter cream. I used this recipe: http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/banana-cake/ which I adapted using white self-raising flour and round tins.

 

3. Fifty Shades of Grey

Okay so I may be a bit behind on this. But this book has become a phenomenon. Women everywhere have decided that it is time for a new generation to have their own Mills and Boon erotic story.

 

4. Zara

There is nothing new or different or exciting about Zara, but this shop is definitely one of my favourite things. The Spanish clothing store, know how to do style and fit for clothes which are reasonable in cost and cover everything from the working wardrobe to a night on the tiles.

5. Wimbledon

I am a football loather, so Euro 2012 hasn’t been top of my list. However now we are out of the tournament all attention will be focused on the next sporting event – Wimbledon. This typically British affair celebrates bright whites, strawberries, cream and many bums on edges of seats as we hope that Andy Murray may do us proud.

Classic carrot

I feel bad. I have neglected you. How about I make it up with a nice carrot cake? I haven't shared any of my baking for a while and I feel it's time to bring out a classic.

If you search the Internet many a carrot cake recipe comes up some with nuts. Some with lemons or oranges and some with whole meal flour. However I chose this basic recipe: http://www.glutenfreestudentcookbook.co.uk/2012/05/06/im-back-gluten-free-carrot-cake/
I followed the recipe apart from the nuts which I replaced with raisins.

The cake used vegetable oil instead of butter, which I was initially a bit hesitant about but actually turned out well. You couldn't taste the oil, and made the cake light and moist, which is what I prefer in a carrot cake.

I decided to use a standard vanilla buttercream with a little bit of honey and cinnamon mixed in to fill the middle and cover the top of the cake. Many recipes call for cream cheese frosting but I find this particularly heavy and can overpower the subtle flavours and textures of the cake.

For a comeback cake this was a perfect choice. It made an entrance, was thoroughly enjoyed and left with dignity. Isn't that what every comeback should do?!

Red Sole Love

I know they say ‘diamonds are a girls best friend’ but shoes are pretty good friends too. In particular heels are the shoe of choice for millions of women out there. Women who want to add some extra height, women who want to feel glamorous, women who like to feel sexy, women who want to dress up an outfit, women who are going on date and for some women its just the choice du jour.

Heels may be painful or difficult to walk in, but millions of us wear them all the time because we want to. I couldn’t imagine going on a night out without my heels on, they instantly lift my mood and make me feel ready for the night ahead and good about myself and my outfit.

Now most of my heels are budget buys. I don’t have the kind of expenditure to be buying the big designer names but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to. After taking a trip to huge shoe section in Selfridges it made me fall in love with Manolo, Jimmy Choo, McQueen, Gucci and most of all Christian Louboutin.

Christian Louboutin is a world renowned designer who is world renown for his heels with the red soles. His shoes can be seen on the feet of celebrities, fashionistas, royalty and the most style conscious among us who have the money to spend on his expensive footwear. He is known for bringing back the stiletto which can be six inches in height, because as he has professed he wants to "make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [he] can."

One day I hope to have a pair of Louboutins in my own shoe collection, although im sure this is more than a few years off at the moment. In the meantime however there is a Christian Louboutin exhibition at the Design Museum in London. This exhibition shows the 20 years of history for the designer since he opened his first shop. There is a display of his workshop and depictions of his influences which include showgirls, fantasy and trapeze artistry. He is not so concerned in celebrity or fashion but rather in creating shoes which he says are ‘like jewels’. So maybe diamonds are a girls best friend!

I haven’t had a chance to go to this exhibition yet, but am definitely planning a trip there before the exhibition ends on 9^th July. I would love to be able to see his various designs which include fabrics ranging from feathers to studs and lace to latex. It’s also a great opportunity to see his artistry and the design process which is involved behind his shoes and behind his own stores in which he has great input.

http://designmuseum.org/media/item/79025/4654/Press-Release-Press-Release-FINAL-FINAL.pdf

Jammy Dodger

As the resident baker in my household, I have been enlisted with helping my sister’s boyfriend Leo in making cakes for work. At his place of work they take it in turns to bake cakes of their choice for Friday’s. Now I think every work place should have a cake Friday. Wouldn’t it just be the perfect way to the end the week?!

The idea was to keep it simple. To me the simplest type of cakes are vanilla cupcakes. They are easy to make, quick to bake and come in their own cases so are perfect for individual portions. Vanilla cupcakes are also like a blank canvas. You can add flavour and design to them to make your own creation which is perfect for different events or just to use the ingredients you have on hand.

For these vanilla cupcakes we cooked them according to a simple Hummingbird Bakery recipe: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/475442/The-Hummingbird-Bakery-vanilla-cupcakes. I actually use the good to know website for a lot of my baking recipes. They have every kind of recipe you can think of which are explained clearly and you can often see users reviews at the bottom which lets you see other people’s opinions and can give you a good idea off how the recipe works in reality.

Once baked the cupcakes came out of the oven golden brown and were left to cool. Now we could have followed the rest of the recipe which directed to make vanilla buttercream frosting and decorate with sprinkles, however I wanted to switch it up a bit. I really like a good Victoria sponge, and while the sponge itself may be light and fluffy and taste great, its really the combination of the jam and buttercream which makes it for me. This is what I wanted to bring to the cupcakes.

When the cupcakes had fully cooled, I used an apple corer to take out the central core of the cupcake which I then filled with seedless strawberry jam. This gives a great sticky, sweet centre when bit in to, which compliments the vanilla crumb exterior. It also looks good if the cupcakes are to be cut in half. For the butter cream I decided to go with half of the cupcakes having the traditional vanilla buttercream as described in the recipe and the other half had a new flavour of buttercream I hadn’t tried before– jam.

The recipe is exactly the same as the vanilla one, except you add in a tablespoon of seedless jam. The quantities of icing sugar may need to be adjusted in order to match your required consistency and sweetness. The jam buttercream came out a lovely shade of pink which looked great against the yellow colour of the cupcake and also continued the jam flavour throughout the cake.

So we had cupcakes, filled with jam and either a vanilla buttercream frosting or a jam buttercream frosting. But still I wasn’t satisfied! I like cupcakes to look as sugary sweet and eye pleasing as possible. To top them off we added sprinkles and sugar crystals which were (not literally) the icing on the cake and made the cupcakes look like they would definitely be worthy of putting you in a sugar coma.

According to Leo the cakes went down really well at his place of work, and everyone really liked the jam centres. I think you could definitely use different fillings such as Nutella, marmalade or lemon curd. Its nice to have that contrast in the middle and gives everyone a surprise as you are biting in.