sunshine and shops

10th April 2010

Hello, Happy Saturday! How is your weekend going? I worked this morning but have otherwise being enjoying the gorgeous weather and spending time with my family. This included baking scones and cake for them yesterday, and seeing my grandparents today…perfect!

The ever popular cheese scones! Apparently these were even better than the last lot, but the only thing I changed was the shape!

And this is just a simple sponge cake with added mixed spice, mixed peel and white chocolate.

Yesterday was another floral outfit day, with the worlds most comfortable sweater to add a little warmth. The jumper was a gift from Mum, and came from New Look (of course) for a very reasonable £10

I am also really excited to share with you a newly opened Etsy shop from the talented Sophie, over at diary of a young designer
Sophie has long been a blogger friend of mine, so when she told me she was opening a store I was beyond delighted for her!
Her shop FunnyPeopleCo sells beyond gorgeous hand-made accessories. My top three picks from the shop are:

Embellished tights in white with black pearls, $10…you know me and my tights addiction, so you can see why I’ve fallen head over heels for these!

Golden Nautical Knot hairband. I love all things nautical (it’s my inner pirate) and I’ve recently developed a love for hairbands, too, so this is top of my wishlist right now! $13.25

Ruffles, for your hair?! YES PLEASE, this band is inspired by Gossip Girl’s Jenny and costs $16.50

so go check out her shop and show a fellow blogger some love! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Permalink 100 Comments

31.03 outfits, easter biscuits and life

31st March 2010

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good week so far? This might turn in to a bit of an epic post, so apologies in advance!

Yesterday saw me gravitating towards a lot of blue for my outfit, I’m not sure why, it isn’t a colour I am instantly drawn to, but it also gave me a chance to re-experiment with the double denim approach.

I guess it’s a semi nautical look as well? I’m not sure, I did remember part way through the day why I don’t wear these shorts often; they button up both sides at the front and are a nightmare for toilet breaks!

Today I reverted back to my more typical style, not at all weather appropriate as it is still bitterly cold and miserable outside, but it’s almost April, I’m dressing for spring regardless…

As you’ve probably noticed by now, Wednesday is my typical baking day…with Easter on Sunday I went seasonal and made traditional Easter biscuits, which are a real family favourite. These smell incredible when baking with the spices and dried fruits!

You can find the recipe I used here
when it came to adding the spice, I was very liberal…so I hope they are still edible! I used approx a tsp of mixed spice, and a further tsp of cinnamon.

I couldn’t resist breaking away from the traditional round shape of the biscuit when I re-discovered some bunny shaped cookie cutters at the back of my baking supply drawer!

And finally, on a serious note,
my appointments Monday led to me having to make a difficult commitment in terms of treatment for my eating disorder,
I won’t say more than that for now as I’m unsure as to when things will happen etc,
but mentally my head is all over the place at the moment, and so, please forgive me if I don’t get around to commenting on your blogs as much as I usually do…it’s hard to focus and find the words.
Silly to apologise? Perhaps, but I have always prided myself on keeping up to date with everyone who takes the time to visit my little blog and leaves such wonderful words for me, so I do have a sense of guilt going on
*hides away embarrased*

Much love all
xoxox

Permalink 108 Comments

Recipe: cheese scones

24th March 2010

So, as mentioned yesterday I made Cheese Scones today. I used my good old faithful Be-Ro cook book which is yet to fail me. With Dad home I had an eager taste tester and he’s put in a request for these for his lunchbox when he is back at work, after declaring them delicious. Hopefully he will save at least one for my Mum when she comes home for her lunch break!

Ingredients:

175 g (6 oz) Be-Ro Self Raising Flour (any brand self raising is fine!)
pinch salt and pepper (I added 1/2 tsp of each as the recipe in my book stated)
1 x 2.5 ml spoon (½ tsp) mustard powder (I didn’t have mustard powder so added an equal amount of mustard from a jar)
25 g (1 oz) margarine
75 g (3 oz) cheese, grated
1 medium egg
2 x 15 ml spoon (2 tbsp) milk

With the cheese, I added all the cheese to the recipe and then grated some extra for the top of the scones.

Method:

1 Heat oven to 220ºC, 425ºF, Gas Mark 7. Grease a baking tray.
2 Mix flour and seasonings, rub in margarine. Stir in cheese, reserving a little for the top.
3 Mix to a soft dough with the egg and milk, reserving a little for glazing.
4 Roll out to a round 1.5 cm (½ inch) in thickness and cut into 8 triangles.
5 Place on the baking tray and brush with egg and milk and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

[recipe from the Be-Ro website]

And of course, I can’t post a recipe and not share photos.
As you can see, I opted for rounds rather than triangles as I think they look neater. The recipe still made 8 scones.

Pre-Baking shot

These really are simple to do, they took me just over half an hour from start to finish.
Make sure to report back if you make them!

xxx

Permalink 110 Comments

11.03

11th March 2010

Hello, mis-match of a post today with outfits, new shoes and baking to share. It was fun to read your feedback on my marmite review though I refuse to believe there are so many haters out there!

First up is my outfit from Tuesday. This dress was passed along to me by a friend and I love the polka dots. It may be black and white but it feels as cheerful as wearing colour.

Shoe wise I opted for some semi forgotten about stud detail sandals. I seem to have a habit of forgetting I own things, a sign I really need to do some sorting out!

No photo of yesterday’s outfit, I can’t even remember what I wore it was that interesting 😉
I bring you this week’s baked goods instead.

Hobnob biscuits with the addition of white chocolate chips. I made these a lot before Christmas and got fed up of doing them, but these have been such a hit I see a lot of them in my future! I’ve shared the recipe before but if you want it again, just say!

I also had the arrival of new shoes to brighten up yesterday. These babies are from Matalan (£7 sale bargain) and were a present from my Mum

They have of course been incorporated in to today’s outfit, which was a case of pulling things out of drawers and hoping for the best.

I hope your all having a great week! The sun is still shining here and I shall shortly be off for a walk to enjoy it before returning to do course work and read blogs.

xxx

Permalink 135 Comments

24.02

24th February 2010

Hello, how is your week going? Same old same old here, so just a quick post with the usual outfits and this week’s baked goods.

Yesterday was cold and snowy so not much went out. Outfit was literally a case of grabbing whatever was clean and hoping for the best.

Today much the same, no real thought went in to this as you can tell. The tights are new, I picked up this pair and a teal pair for £1 each in Ethel Austin on my brief trip out yesterday.

I’ve stopped counting how many pairs of tights I own now, it’s getting ridiculous. I’ll be needing rehab soon.

This week I’ve baked lemon and poppyseed muffins at my Mum’s request. I used silicon cases in a mix of sizes, and we now have about 40 muffins to be eaten!

I’m pretty sure they wont be hanging around long, they smell incredible. There really is nothing like the smell of fresh baked goods in the house.

xxx

Permalink 130 Comments

← Older posts Newer posts →

A Daisy Chain Dream

Category Archives: baking

sunshine and shops

31.03 outfits, easter biscuits and life

Recipe: cheese scones

11.03

24.02