Wednesday 18 September 2013

University Preparations

Living in halls for the past year was so much fun and don't get me wrong I wouldn't have done it any other way. However, being in a boxy room whilst sharing toilets, showers and a kitchen between 20 girls wasn't quite so fun.

So as you can imagine, I am very much looking forward to moving into a house with 6 of my closest friends. Obviously when you're renting a house it's difficult to decorate the rooms as you're pretty restricted with what you can change. Wanting to make my bedroom my own, I decided that bunting would be a nice touch. 

Having never sewn before, I set myself the challenge of making my own bunting using a vintage tablecloth which we found on eBay. 

Cut out a series of triangles from the patterned fabric
Take two fabric triangles (I used an old bed sheet for the back of the bunting) and place them with their right sides facing inwards. Stitch them together leaving the top open. 
Trim the seam at the lower edge of the triangle point

Turn the right sides out and press with an iron
Now assemble the bunting. To make your binding fold a strip of cotton tape (2.5cm wide)  in half  lengthways and press with an iron

Place the top edge of each triangle inside the folded binding and sew through the binding and triangles

Make sure that the triangles are evenly spaced along the binding and you leave length at either end for hanging 

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Afternoon Tea

If all had gone to plan I'd be in Budapest right now. Instead, I am in rainy cold England for my last week of 'summer' before heading back to uni. 

Unfortunately, my friend Becca got severe fest flu post Bestival so we couldn't go on our mini break. We were obviously both very disappointed so decided to plan some fun days out to make up for it.

Thorpe Park was first on the agenda taking us back to our childhood days. 


Following the adrenalin filled day, we then headed to the Spa for a day of relaxation and pampering. We managed to get a great deal for the Harte & Garter Spa in Windsor. Having never been before we weren't sure what to expect as the deal seemed too good to be true! 

We made full use of the Thermal Suite, detoxing in the Sauna, Steam room and Hydropool. Both of us also had a neck, back and shoulder massage which was amazing.


On top of all of this, we were treated to afternoon tea and champagne in The Tower Brasserie. Just what we needed to complete a lovely day leaving us feeling very full!


Saturday 14 September 2013

Courgette, Walnut and Cinnamon Layer Cake

The sun has officially disappeared and winter is approaching, fast. 
All this depressing weather calls for one thing only - comfort food. With this in mind, I figured that this cake would be the ultimate cure for my summertime sadness. 

At the beginning of the year my friend Beanie set herself the a challenge - to bake the entire Hummingbird Bakery 'Cake Days' recipe book. With 110 recipes and 52 weeks in a year, it is quite a task but you can't exactly complain when you're baking cakes as good as this one... 


You will need:
For the sponge:
- 3 large eggs
- 300ml sunflower oil
- 300g soft light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 300g peeled and grated courgettes
- 100g walnuts, roughly chopped (plus extra halves to decorate)

For the frosting:
- 160g unsalted butter, softened 
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
- 500g icing sugar
- 50g plain Greek yoghurt

(We reduced the quantities for the frosting as the original recipe makes quite a lot)



Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C and line three 20cm diameter loose-bottomed sandwich tins with baking parchment.

Mix together the eggs, sunflower oil, sugar and vanilla essence until the are all combined.


Sift together the flour, baking power, bicarbonate of soda and the ground spices. Gradually add this to the wet mixture, beating well. 


Lastly, add the courgettes and chopped walnuts to the batter, mixing them in thoroughly.The courgettes are definitely the secret ingredient to this cake, they add great moisture, texture and colour. 


Divide the cake batter evenly between the three prepared cake tins and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden. 


 Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.



Whilst the cakes are cooling, you can make the frosting. Mix together the butter, cinnamon and icing sugar. Add the yoghurt and mix on a low speed until all the ingredients are combined then increase the speed and beat until the icing is light and fluffy.

Once fully cooled, spread the frosting on each layer sandwiching the three cakes together. Use the remaining icing for the top and sides of the cake. 


To finish, dust with cinnamon and decorate with walnut halves. 



Follow Beanie's bakes and the rest of her baking challenge on http://beaniesbakes.blogspot.co.uk

Enjoy!

Let the Clothes do the Talking

"Every girl needs Topshop"
Didn't get a ticket for London Fashion Week?
Fear not as Topshop are giving you a front row seat on Sunday 15th at 3pm.


Bringing the outside inside, Topshop has got a fresh new 'Showspace' located in London's Regent Park for spring/summer 2014. Giving fans/viewers a complete social media, Topshop have teamed up with Chirp to offer all customers a unique insight into the show. 

Streamed live, viewers will be able to purchase and share everything from the music to the clothes to the beauty across every channel, platform and device. 

Topshop's Oxford Circus store will feature a Chirp and Twitter garden that shoppers can walk through to receive content and images straight from the catwalk. 

The Topshop Make-Up look will be available to buy straight away after the show. 50 limited edition make-up bags have also been created using a key print from the catwalk collection.

So if like me, you didn't manage to get yourself a ticket to this years LFW, be sure to tune in at 3pm tomorrow afternoon and experience the Topshop Unique show like never before.


“Each season, we set ourselves the challenge to innovate and excite in a different way with the UNIQUE show; not only in terms of our Collection and show space, but also how to engage with and involve TOPSHOP fans worldwide. The link with Chirp is fun and we love the fact that it allows people to discover new aspects of the Collection and what goes on behind the scenes at UNIQUE through creating iconic images to story tell.  With my personal belief that product is king I am a great fan of the tag-line “Let the clothes do the talking” . 
Sir Philip Green

Friday 6 September 2013

Nutella Banana Bread

Simply delicious.
Banana bread has always been a favourite of mine, it's so simple yet so yummy. 
But, the addition of Nutella takes your average banana bread to the next level. 
Take my word for it, I promise it won't let you down.

Before you start-
Make sure you use very ripe bananas, green bananas don't work.
I doubled the recipe to make two large loafs, however you can making mini loaves works well and is a good way to keep the cake perfectly moist.

Ready, set, cook.

Recipe adapted from hungrybrownie


You will need:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup chocolate chips, milk/white 
- 1/2 cup Nutella


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas with the yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla extract. 

Slowly add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until well incorporated. 

Once mixed, stir in the chocolate chips to the mixture. 

In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the Nutella for about 20 seconds or until softened.

Divide half of the banana batter among the prepared loaf pans. 


Spoon some Nutella batter over the banana batter, swirling them together with a knife. 


Repeat the process by evenly dividing the banana batter and nutella batter among the loaf pans. Add more Nutella on top if necessary.


Bake for about 60 minutes if baking in a large rectangular tin. Mini loaves will only need half the time. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean, excluding the hot melted nutella.



Cool completely before slicing and serving - enjoy!

Sunday 1 September 2013

Aldeburgh

So after spending almost two months in Aldeburgh, I got to know the place extremely well. Considering I had never heard of the town nor visited Suffolk, I soon fell in love with the area. I won't lie, when I first arrived I wondered how I was going to cope in such a small, quiet town for an entire season. With no phone signal and no chain shops in the entirety of Aldeburgh, I felt like I was on some kind of yoga retreat however, it was all very refreshing. 

For anyone who hasn't been to Aldeburgh before, you must go - it's a seaside town like no other.


Top 5 things to do in Aldeburgh:


Thorpeness Meare
Covering 60 acres, the Thorpness Meare is a boating lake like no other. With many islands for you to discover



The Yacht Club
Catering for all aspects of sailing, Aldeburgh’s Yacht Club is the place to be. The clubhouse offers delicious food and drink as is a great place to socialise.


The Scallop
This 4 metre high steel Scallop is a famous tribute to Benjamin Britten.



The Beach
Aldeburgh’s shingle beach is perfect for a morning swim or the place to relax in the sun. Sit on the beach wall and enjoy your fish and chips and ice cream.


Thorpeness Country Club
Tennis tournaments, bingo and curry nights. The perfect place to spend summer days.


Top 5 places to eat/drink in Aldeburgh:


The Cross Keys
Located on the sea front on Aldeburgh, the Cross Keys is the best place to spend your evenings. The social hub of Aldeburgh.



Aldeburgh Fish & Chip Shops
They really are worth the wait – the queues may put you off but Aldeburgh is famous for its fish and chips for a reason.


The White Hart
\With its pub garden where you can enjoy fish and chips and its very own stone baked pizzas, this is the place to spend the early part of your evening.


Munchies
Freshly made local food, serving you the best breakfasts, lunches, snacks and drinks throughout the day. With its very own ice cream parlour, you really can’t go wrong.



The Ice Cream Parlour/Shingle & Sherbert
With 30 delicious flavours to choose from there really is a something for everyone. The biggest and best selection in Suffolk.