'He restores my soul...'

Today I have had a day to myself. Sometimes, these are my favourite types of days and I started to get excited this morning at the thought of it so I thought I would share my relaxing adventure. Seeing as though I was up early, and by early I mean 9am - which is impressive considering I am way behind on sleep. I am not counting my appointment at the job centre or my 1am job application writing as exciting, but they were what spurred me on to sieze the day.


Following my appointment, I popped into Costa, where I had some time to get lost in my new book, and enjoy my favourite coffee shop drink; Skinny Vanilla Latte:

After this, I thought I would check out our health food shop - they sell such exciting food and drink that you don't get to have every day, so I treated myself to these badboys:

I had a cup of the Bright Mood tea and it was lovely, it tasted a bit Christmassy, and I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

Following this, I got out my favourite movies:

Enjoyed a bit of my guilty pleasure....

And now, I am sat with my favourite cup, watching the Olympics:

So, why am I telling you all of this? Well. Life has been a bit stressful lately, it's been a very tough adjustment and a lot of changes to cope with at once. I have filled in job application after job application and seem to be getting nowhere quickly. Losing most of my independence has been difficult and remains to be a test of my patience. Plans have been changed at the last minute, which adds to my feelings of losing control of everything. But here's the thing. Things in life don't always go our way, or the way we think they should go. Realistically, I have no idea what is around the corner. It could be anything, it might mean moving away, getting a good job and being able to afford my own place, moving in with a friend, starting over, working part time etc etc. I just don't know, and it's the first time in my life that I've felt like I don't know. I've always been in the safety net of education, meaning I knew where I would be until graduation. And now, my time in the 'real world' is actually here. In all honesty, it's pretty scary. But I know that what I need to do right now is wait. And we all love waiting don't we? Especially in this instant society, where everything I want can be at my finger tips at the push of a button. 

I went to our women's Bible study last week and we discussed this. We talked about how people would wait and wait and wait and wait for the promises they were given by God to come to fruition. They just trusted that He would be faithful, and played the waiting game. Do we know how to do this anymore? I'm not so sure. 'I want it now,' we are good at saying. But when it comes to waiting just a little while longer, we just can't do it. I'm sure in America that if your order in McDonalds takes longer than 60 seconds, you get it free - it's something ridiculous like that. We don't want to wait for quality anymore, we dont want to save up and wait for a gormet meal, we'd rather have a burger that's probably never seen a cow in its life to fill that hole as quickly as possible. What is that about? Why wouldn't we rather wait for the best? I miss the days when we used to save our pocket money up for something good at the end, it seems like that is something we have lost and I feel quite challenged by this at the moment (being a rubbish saver.)

Going back to these great folk who were good at waiting - how did they do it? 'It was by Faith.'  ¹ Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. ² Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past. Hebrews 11:1-2. The people listed in this chapter 'did not receive what God had promised.' But did they need to? Their Faith made these promises REAL. I am sure their reward is in heaven with them. But what does this mean for us? I think it means that we need to grow in Faith and learn to wait. I need to wait for God to provide for me in His timing, not my own. I need to have faith that my life rests in the palm of his hands, and that He is in control and not me. I need to learn to be content with my circumstances and seek his will in this difficult and unrestful time. I need to remember all the times I have not been let down by God, and hold this promise for the future.

  ^"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Rest is what I need, and today - rest was what I sought. 

Much Love xxx

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'I've got some new socks!'

Today I went to the park. It turned out to be a very lovely day, made complete by the return of the British Summer which is always nice because our nation are happy when that happens. Whilst we were sat in the giant sandpit, a random child came up to me to tell me he had some new socks. For him, this was really exciting news. This is what I love about children. To them, everything is so exciting. I love it when kids say 'oh wow!' to absolutely everything. There's something so refreshing about it. When I was wandering through Halifax the other day, I heard a kid shouting that he was going on an adventure. I remember thinking it was probably just a trip to a shop he liked or something, but to him it was a big expedition. I love that. 


When we were in Arizona, I experienced a moment that I don't think I will forget. We went to Kitt Peak, to observe the stars and one of the guys there was called Geronimo. What an incredible name, that guy was destined for greatness. He was self taught, and hands down, one of the most passionate people I have ever met. I remember a moment where we were all stood outside with our star maps looking up at the sky when all of a sudden this burst of joy came out so loud that I physically jumped and let out a little yelp. Geronimo saw a shooting star. I can't describe his excitement, at a site he must see most days of his life. But there was something so special about that.


The Bible talks about having Child Like Faith. I thought these little anecdotes painted a nice little picture of that. The more we learn about the world, the more we see evil everywhere. We see mindless killings, slavery, trafficking, abuse, the list goes on. The more we see of this, the less faith we have in the world and the more cynical we become. Especially with British humour - if you were as excited as Geronimo about everything in life - jokes would be circulated about you via text message. People would not want to sit next to you on a train or bus and people would avoid you at lunch time. Sadly, we are just too polite for all this enthusiasm nonsense. 




But should we be? 


As Christians, we carry this incredible hope that one day we will be welcomed into the arms of a God who knew every hair on our heads as he formed us before we were born. A God who watched over every decision we ever made and who carved out a path for us that would offer us this hope, and a bright future. He has offered us unconditional love and unmerited Grace. He offers forgiveness and freedom from fear. It doesn't stop at me having all that good stuff and keeping it to myself. It is my job to share that with people that I meet - mercy, forgiveness, love, grace, patience, kindess, joy, hope. How can we do that if we have lost the amazement in the small things that God does? When was your last 'oh wow!' moment? 


I can tell you, I had a few today.

This was one of them

"Jesus called a little child to him and stood the child before his followers. Then he said, "I tell you the truth, you must change and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child." Matthew 18:2-4

Children trust, children explore, adventure and are excited by pretty much anything (even socks). They don't have this politeness problem, they tell it like it is without holding back. They are exciting to be around and they learn new things everyday. Are we like this? Do we have regular moments where we stand back in amazement about something we see? Do we appreciate small things as well as big things? I hope we can all learn to be better adventurers on this exciting journey called life. 

Much love xxx

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Sarah's Sauce.

The other night I fancied a bit of vanilla ice-cream, but after deciding not to buy the Hershey's Strawberry Sauce I saw in my beloved TKMAXX I was kicking myself because I had nothing exciting to go with it. So after a bit of research I found enough inspiration to make my own dessert sauce that would fit the bill. I'm really glad I did because it took about 5 minutes and was rather tasty!

Sarah's Strawberry & Raspberry Dessert Sauce

Equipment:

- Small Saucepan
- Wooden Spoon
- Handheld Blender
- Small Jug

Ingredients:

- About half a pack of fresh strawberries
- About half a pack of fresh raspberries
- 1/3 Cup of Granulated Sugar (about 230g)
- 1 tsp of Vanilla Essence

Method:

- Chop the strawberries quite finely and put into the saucepan. Add in the raspberries and the sugar and reduce for about ten minutes.
- Leave to cool and then put the mixture into the jug. With the handheld blender, blend the sauce until it is smooth.
- Pour the desired amount onto your dessert (it also makes a good dipping sauce) and then put the rest into a jar in your fridge for future use :)

The yummy sauce ready for the fridge!

Satisfied my sweet tooth!

Much love xxx

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Something worth reading.

Following the tragic shooting in Colorado, my friend had shared a link to this blogpost written by a young lady who was killed in that cinema. She had already once narrowly escaped a crazed shooting in a Canadian Mall whilst on vacation. Here she shares her thoughts on how that moment changed her life, and though this doesn't change the situation - part of me was thankful for her that she lived a life grateful for everything she was blessed with. Thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of this horror, and especially for this young lady whose memoir will hopefully bless many and will help them to live their lives in this way too, thankful for every blessing they are given. 


A very sobering account in the light of what has happened to her - Please read this blogpost.


Much Love xxx

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Banana and Chocolate Chip Goodness.

So, tomorrow is my good friend's birthday BBQ in this wonderful rainy weather. I asked her what she would like me to bring, and banana cake was requested. Luckily, I have this really great recipe that I found in some random magazine and thought it sounded exciting. So I tore it out and gave it a whirl! The original recipe is iced with an incredible passionfruit icing, (which I could eat all day) but it was requested that this time it was plain. I did some playing around with the recipe anyway so it became...


Banana and Chocolate Chip Slices with Dark Chocolate Drizzle


Equipment: 


- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon/Electric Whisk
- 20cm Round Cake Tin


Ingredients:


- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 165g of Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- 350g of Mashed Banana (about 3 1/2 bananas)
- 150g of Plain Flour (sifted)
- 100g of Self Raising Flour (sifted) 
- 1 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tbsp of Hot Milk
- 1tsp of Vanilla Essence
- 80g of Dark Chocolate Chips (I do realise they come in 100g bags, but refuse to say where the other 20g went.....sometimes I snack when I bake.....)


For the Topping:


- I used this bad boy, which you simply place in a bowl of hot water until it melts, split the edge of the bag and drizzle over your cake - so easy! 

Method: 


1) Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180oC. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl (use a wooden spoon or electric whisk) until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the mashed banana.


2) Combine the bicarbonate of soda and milk in a small jug and stir into the banana mixture. Stir in the flours, in 2 batches. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and vanilla essence and pour into the tin. 


3) Bake for about 45 minutes and then place on a rack to cool.


4) I then sliced the cake, and added the drizzle - but you can leave the cake whole if you wish. 


5) Should you wish to try it with the passionfruit icing (SO YUM) simply mix 160g of Icing Sugar with 2 tbsps of passionfruit pulp and pour over the cake. 


Here they are:

Much Love xxx

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Warning: Chocolate Overload.

So, tomorrow evening I am going to our Church women's meeting and since I haven't been in a while I decided it was the perfect opportunity to bake. Again. One of my all time, never lets me down, amazing cupcakes guaranteed cookbooks is from this bakery. In London, I love visiting here - it's worth the train fair just for their vanilla frosting. I whipped the book back out and went straight for the Chocolate Cupcake recipe. I've used it and tweaked it once before and the women loved them, (and so did their husbands) I am responsible for causing everyone else's diets to stumble but if my hips are growing then it's only fair that theirs should too. So here it is:


The Hummingbird Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes


Equipment:


- 2 X Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Jug
- Wooden Spoon
- Electric Mixer
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Cupcake Cases
- Weighing Scales


Ingredients:


For the Sponge
- 80g of Unsalted Butter
- 280g of Caster Sugar
- 200g of Plain Flour
- 40g of Cocoa Powder
- 1 tbsp of Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp of Salt
- 240ml of Whole Milk
- 2 Large Eggs


For the (very rich and very yummy) Frosting
- 400g of Icing Sugar
- 100g of Cocoa Powder
- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 50ml of Whole Milk 
- Sprinkles to decorate


Method:


1) Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5 and line a muffin tin with cases.


2) Using an electric mixer/whisk, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients are well mixed and resemble fine breadcrumbs.


3) Pour the milk into a jug and whisk in the eggs. Pour 3/4's into the dry mixture and beat on a low speed to combine. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the mixture is smooth and and thick. Then pour in the remaining milk mixture on a medium speed until the batter is once again smooth.


4) Spoon the batter into the cases until they are 2/3s full. Put into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the sponge is light and springy to touch. I usually test the sponge with a bamboo skewer to see if it comes out clean. Wait until the cakes are completely cool before decorating.


5) To make the frosting: whisk the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter on a low speed until the mixture is sandy in consistency. Pour in the milk and whisk on a high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.


6) At this stage, a cut out a piece of the cupcake and filled it with raspberry jam, replacing the cake lid and then piled on the icing on top of that! Use a palette knife to apply the icing, and add sprinkles to the top.


7) Do not consume more than one of these in a day...I have absolutely no idea how many calories must be in one but ignorance is bliss, as are these cupcakes. 

The Chocolate Beauties

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'Oh well's' vs. 'What ifs?'

This week I read a really good tweet that reflects my new outlook on life. The title sort of gives it away but the full tweet was "I would rather live a life of "oh well's" than a life of "what if's." It was by a singer who supported the loves of my life aka. Hanson in their last tour of the UK. (follow her here) 

A few major things have happened this year with people close to me that have genuinely changed my life. It's so cliché to say 'life is too short' and I think it takes something huge for you to really realise this fact for yourself. I was talking to a friend about this recently whose colleague passed away. She said everyone around her wondered why God would end his life so early, but then she offered another perspective. She said, sometimes these things happen to change the lives of those around such tragedies. I agree with this, wholeheartedly. Sometimes I get so frustrated, as you can see with my previous posts relating to fear and insecurity, but I have come to conclude that it takes an event to effect you personally before this revelation really hits home. 

One thing I've been thinking about is how we compare our lives with each other. Why do we do this? Everybody is born with a different path, and different opportunities, some people are born without any. Wouldn't our energy be better used if we spent our time focussing on what we have and learn to be thankful for that? I watched a show yesterday about Utah (no surprise) and they interviewed a real life cowboy (which I enjoyed) who stated that he really was living his dream, and that everyday he woke up feeling thankful for what he has, because he knew that not everybody would get the chance to say that. I loved that. 

But what does it take to live our 'dream life'? It takes risk, it takes confidence and it takes an 'Oh well' attitude, over a 'What if I'd have....'. What if I went for that job, even though I don't think I'll get it? What if I book some time away and miss something? What if I make this decision and it's not the right one? Say you apply for a job and don't get it, Oh well. What you book a hotel and it's a dump when you get there, Oh well. What if things don't turn out how you'd hoped and you have to try something else, Oh well. 

Does everything in life go the way we think it will? NO! Instead of living a life of regrets, why don't you just do whatever it is you want to do? SO WHAT if things go a bit wrong or if you get a bit of rejection - you pick yourself up and try something new. We can't be afraid of mistakes anymore, life is too short. We never know what might be around the corner, and we can't know, for me that is the beauty of it! Sometimes I think we just need to stop thinking and evaluating and just go for it. Life is one big adventure, with all its ups and downs.

I will tell you now, if today were to be my last - I would die without regretting a thing. I truly mean that. I would also go with a smile on my face, knowing that I had learnt to live without fear. I encourage you to do the same...stop worrying, take a risk and pee into the wind.

Much Love xxx

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Confession: I cheated at baking.

So I decided it was time to try my hand at Cake Pop making. Last week I purchased a really cute book (check it out here) telling me all about it, and everyone I had spoken to had told me they were ridiculously easy to make. After I read through said book, I began to think they were a lot more fiddly than I first thought.

I continued my research and struck gold in the form of this beauty:

Here it is, the cake pop maker. It boasted that it would create perfectly round cake pops in under four minutes, no messing. Does it work, I hear you cry? Big fat YES it does. Usually, I choose to do everything the hard way when baking, I hate using microwaves and pre-packaged flavourings and much prefer making everything from scratch. I quite like feeling the burn of my biceps when creaming my butter and sugar together. So this badboy was a big step for me. 

I have promised a set of cake pops to my friend who is running a Charity Clothes Swapping party so I tried not to use up a lot of the nice sprinkles I have with my practice batch, but here they are:

I used a Chocolate Batter, and added 'Simply Melt' White Chocolate.

Now that I know the machine works, and works very well, my next batch will be on sticks as they are supposed to be and I will experiment a bit more with the decoration. I would highly recommend this product to anyone who loves baking! I'm sure it would work well if you are baking with children too.

P.s. they taste pretty nice too!

Much Love xxx

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Crumble O'Clock...

As the hunt for a job continues...so do my culinary adventures. After a nice swim this morning and some time to relax this afternoon, we took a trip to our local farm shop to get some mince for me to make chilli. They also have this great freezer section in which they keep mixed fruit, so that seemed like the perfect idea for dessert! This is so easy I don't need to share a recipe, i'll use my own experience for this one! P.s. you can easily adapt this for every season - I love adding cinnamon to it at Christmas :)


Mixed Berrylicious Crumble


Equipment:


- Medium sized pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Weighing Scales
- Mixing Bowl
- Ovenproof Dish


Ingredients:


- (approx) 250g of Mixed Fruit (any of your choice, I used berries!)
- 2 tbsps of sugar


For the Crumble topping:


- 175g of Plain Flour
- 75g of Sugar
- 75g of Butter


Method:


1. As my fruit was frozen, I stuck it in a pan for about ten minutes to stew, and added the 2 tbsps of sugar. 


2. Pour your fruit into your oven proof dish.


3. To make your crumble topping; mix the flour and the butter together into a fine crumble so that it resembles bread crumbs, before pouring on top of your fruit, mix in the sugar.


4. Pour the crumble topping on top of your fruit.


5. Bake for about 30-35 minutes at 180oC

The end result - it went down well!

We had it with Vanilla Ice-Cream :)

Much Love xxx

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Easy Peasy Lemon (Drizzle) Squeezy!

This week we invested in Paul Hollywood's new book titled 'How to Bake,' (copy and paste this link - it's got some lovely recipes: look here.


Anyway, I was flicking through it in the supermarket and quickly spotted my first challenge. It was so easy and delicious (and very fast at disappearing) so I thought this should be the next recipe I should share. 

'Mrs Post's Lemon Drizzle Cake'

 Equipment Needed: 

 - Mixing Bowl 
- Wooden Spoon (OR electric whisk) 
- Weighing Scales 
- 1Kg Loaf Tin 

 Ingredients: 

 - 75g of Softened Unsalted Butter - plus extra for greasing 
- 125g of Caster Sugar 
- 150g of Self Raising Flour 
- 1 tsp Baking Powder (which wasn't in my cupboards, o-oh!)
 - 2 Medium Eggs1 
- 1 tbsp of Lemon Curd (I used a bit more to make it extra lemony!)
- 2 1/2 tbsp of full fat milk

 For the (yummy) drizzle: 

 - Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
 - 2 tbsp of granulated sugar 

 Method: 

 1. Heat the oven to 180oC. Butter a 1kg loaf tin and line it with baking parchment. 

 2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl, either with an electric whisk or with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is light and fluffy, which may take upto ten minutes. Slowly add the flour, baking powder, eggs, lemon curd and milk, mixing all the time, until they are thoroughly combined. 

 3. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

 4. Meanwhile, for the drizzle, mix the lemon zest and juice with the granulated sugar. Pour the lemon drizzle over the HOT cake in the tin. Leave to cool completely.

5. Put the kettle on.

The Finished Cake

Ready for a slice!

Much love xxx

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Recipe of the moment: Fruit Cobbler

One thing I may not have mentioned is that I am a kitchen dweller. I love cooking and baking and am always on the hunt for good recipes to experiment with. I think everything tastes better when it's homemade, so I thought I would share a few of my favourite recipes that I pick up as I go.

Baking is so much easier than people think it is - there usually isn't much prep for simple cakes and once it's in the oven you have time to put your feet up and drink a cuppa, so it's the perfect past time! Whilst I was in America, I was introduced to The Pioneer Woman (check out her blog/website -http://thepioneerwoman.com/) and was kindly given one of her recipe books. I also had a bit of time to try out one of her dishes which is one of the easiest and tastiest desserts I've ever made!

So here it is (slightly adapted from the original!):

Raspberry and Blueberry Cobbler


You can use any fruit you wish, the original was blackberry. I've also made a raspberry and blackberry which was rather tasty!


As this recipe is American - the measurments are all in cups, not grams. For this I have a cute solution:

These are my measuring cups - that look like Russian Dolls, you can get them from Amazon, they are so handy and don't take up much room in the cupboards!

Equipment:

- Ceramic baking dish, round or rectangular

- Mixing Bowl

- Whisk

Ingredients:

- 1 Stick of Butter - equivalent to 4ounces or approx 110g

- 1 1/4 cup of Sugar

- 1 cup of Self-Raising Flour

- 1 cup of Milk

- 2 cups of Blackberries (or a mixture of whatever fruit you are using!)

Method:

1. Melt the butter either in a pan or in a microwavable dish. 

2. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in the milk.

3. Then, pour the butter into the mixture and whisk it all together.

4. Lightly grease your baking dish.

5. Wash and dry the fruit.

6. Pour the batter into your baking dish and sprinkle the fruit onto the top, distributing evenly. 

7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar on the top. (For this, I used brown sugar which gave it a darker and crispier texture)

8. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 4/180oC for one hour, or until golden brown.

9. About ten minutes before the cobbler is cooked, sprinkle on a little extra sugar if desired!

Before going in the oven:

The finished product! Serve with cream or ice-cream :)

Much Love xxx

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From flip-flop frolics to flood warnings...I miss America.

So, my American vacation has been and gone and life has returned to normal. Getting caught in the rain with my flip flops on has happened most days since I got back, and I am still in denial about my broken Cath Kidston handbag umbrella...I just cannot bear to throw it away, so I have been quite wet this week. On my first week back I have visited a few coffee shops, (I missed these whilst being in Arizona) had a few cocktails (bellini's are fast becoming my favourite) and found out I got a 2:1 in my degree and am finally a fully qualified youth worker. So this has all been rather exciting. 


Not only this, but I have decided to try my hand at cakepop making, I ordered a nifty looking machine today to help me in this endeavour. I've also started my first scrapbook to record my holiday memories and have been trying out some all American recipes which I will share on this blog. I feel very inspired to get crafty whilst I wait to hear back from the various jobs I have applied for and am excited to take a bit of time to enjoy the small things in life. 


Here are some pictures of my recent trip:

The Sunset at Kitt Peak Observatory, Tucson AZ

A rather nice view on a drive to somewhere..!

At a Gas Station in Petrified Forest

At the Petrified Forest

Beautiful Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly National Park

Hello, Utah

Myself and John Wayne posing at Gouldings Lodge, UT

My favourite picture of the holiday, Gouldings Lodge, UT

Myself in Monument Valley, UT

Monument Valley, UT

I love this picture too!

'The Sun's Eye' Rock, Monument Valley, UT

Myself with the Bar-M Wranglers in Moab, UT

At the Bar-M Cowboy Night (My favourite night of the vacation!)

Myself in Canyonlands National Park, UT

A spectacular view in Canyonlands National Park, UT

Before a fun night seeing 'Back to the Past' at the Gaslight Theatre, Tucson, AZ

The sunset of our final evening in Tucson

It was a great adventure and I loved getting to see parts of Utah, it is such a stunning state. We also spent time in Sedona which is an interesting place and of course, Tucson was as lovely as ever. It was the perfect way to celebrate 3 years of hard work, and now I have my results I feel happier than ever. 

Here's to the next chapter!

xxx

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