On baking along with GBBO

Baking has been one of my favourite hobbies for as long as I can remember. As soon as I knew how to make a basic sponge cake or fairy cake/buns that was me hooked! Whilst I was at University the first time, it was my favourite stress reliever which I think my housemates were also thankful for! It was also a bit of a saviour during lockdown last year and it gave me chance to try out recipes that I'd always wanted to attempt. 
This year I decided to bake along with the Great British Bake Off which has been a really fun challenge! As there's only one week left, I thought I'd share the selection of recipes I've tried out in case you'd like to have a go. Most of them have been fairly basic as life has gotten a lot busier so I didn't have the same amount of time each week to squeeze a bake in! 
Cake Week 
This was the only week I cheated because we had just come back from our holiday and I'd been looking everywhere for this Guinea Pig cake and finally found it! We have two very pampered Guinea Pigs so these days I go mad for anything that has piggies on it! I'll make up for cake week for the Final!

Biscuit Week 
At the time of biscuit week, we were exploring becoming Gluten Free as we thought one of us seemed to be having a reaction to it so this was my first ever GF bake. They were really tasty and I'd make them again! The recipe didn't call for dipping them in chocolate but my heart did so I melted some dark chocolate and dunked them all. They had a really nice buttery texture just as normal shortbread would! 
Here is the recipe from My Gluten Free Guide: https://www.mygfguide.com/gluten-free-shortbread-biscuits/ 

Bread Week I started experimenting with bread during lockdown and came across a few simple recipes that have become a bit of a staple for us! I love cooking as well and we have home cooked meals just about every night and the following recipe usually accompanies homemade curry. It's very easy and only takes about 15 minutes to make. The dough can be pretty sticky so it's a little messy but they're so tasty! 

Pinch of Nom Naan Breads - this recipe isn't available online but is in their cookbook - https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/simple-naan-bread/ 

I'd really recommend this book, it's got lots of tasty low fat recipes in - many of which have become staples in our kitchen. As an idea - these breads only require a few ingredients including Greek Yogurt and Self-Raising Flour. They get a lovely rise and sometimes create a bit of a pocket, almost like a pita bread. I'm not sure how I've managed to do that though!! 

Dessert Week 
This was my favourite week I think! I spent a while trying to think of 

what I could just do a small amount of and came across a recipe for individual cheesecakes. I set them in whatever jars I have - we seem to have a few of these glass ramekins sitting around (not because we sometimes buy the GU pots or anything 😉) so they were perfect for this. I landed on vanilla and white chocolate and very loosely based it on this recipe from Jane's Patisserie - https://www.janespatisserie.com/2021/03/06/mini-easter-cheesecakes/  

I say loosely because you can't really go wrong with a cheesecake recipe that doesn't require any baking I don't think! I used hobnobs as the biscuit base (YUM) and used melted Milkybar Chocolate and vanilla bean paste which is just an absolute game changer in my opinion! I use the Dr Oetker one (this is what it looks like). I crushed up a few Milkybar buttons and popped them on top! They were delicious. 

German Week

This was an interesting theme and one that was slightly tricky. I absolutely LOVE Black Forest flavours, chocolate and cherry is my ultimate combination and I love apple strudel too with a bit of cream or custard but unfortunately, I'm the only one in the house who does, so they were out the window!

Instead, I found a recipe for Lebkuchen! I've made gingerbread cookies before but these ones are made with honey and are a lot more cake-y than crunchy like our gingerbread might be. The recipe made so many so I'd recommend doing half measures if you wanted a smaller batch. I also made some little stars that we dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with edible glitter!  I used this recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/831133/recipe/german-gingerbread-lebkuchen 

I realised just before making these that I didn't have the right cutter and checked out my local charity shop who just so happened to have 2 new Gingerbread cutters and a bunch of others so it's always worth checking, you never know what you might find! 

Pastry Week

I remember seeing a bit of a trend of these pastry trees a few years ago and had always wanted to try one! These are SO easy to make and make a great 'tear and share' dessert. This recipe includes Biscoff spread which seems to be as popular as ever and you can melt a little extra to use as a dip for your pastry branches. This only took about 15-20 mins to do and came out of the oven literally 1 minute before the episode started! It's not my neatest make but I was in a bit of a rush to get it finished so we didn't miss the start of the show. 
I used this recipe:  https://www.amytreasure.com/biscoff-christmas-tree/ 
I think it's a perfect Christmas Treat, served straight from the oven whilst it's still warm and gooey! You can so easily experiment with the flavours too. It's a very cheap and easy showstopper! 

Caramel Week 

I remember the first time I made these duringlockdown and wasn't expecting them to be as well received as they were! I'm still on the journey to perfecting the caramel but each time I think I'm getting a little closer to knowing when to take it off the heat and spread it on the base. As soon as we knew it was caramel week, this was the perfect excuse to make them again! This recipe makes quite a big piece of Shortbread so this one got share around 😀

I used this recipe:

 https://www.janespatisserie.com/2020/04/22/millionaires-shortbread-2/

I would really recommend Jane's Patisserie recipes - I have already used so many of them including her NYC Cookies which have been my favourite experiment so far! She has released her own cookbook too - a great one for your Christmas list! 






Free From Week 

It took me quite a while to land on a recipe for this one as it's not something I'd usually need to do. The idea was Gluten Free / Dairy Free / Vegan and I landed on a fairly basic recipe that produced some tasty treats. Although the recipe I used wasn't vegan, I did use a dairy alternative butter to make them and dark chocolate. You can easily make substitues in this recipe because it is no bake!

Here's the recipe I used for these Peanut Butter Truffles: 

https://www.sweetestmenu.com/easy-peanut-butter-balls/ 

Patisserie Week 

The week leading up to this episode was a busy one for me so I knew I didn't have time to come up with anything too fancy. I decided instead to give Madeleins a go! 

They actually were pretty tasty even though they weren't as light and fluffy as they're supposed to be! You use fresh lemon in this which gives them such a nice zesty flavour and they should definitely be served fresh from the oven. I'd like to give them another go to see if I can get them to have more air so they rise better but I was pleased with them as a first attempt. They're perfect with a cup of Earl Grey Tea!

I've never really trusted silicone bakeware because I worry about getting things out of the mould but I didn't want to make too much of an investment in the cake pan in case it wasn't used many times. I just bought a very basic silicone mould with 9 slots for this recipe and it cost less than £5. 

I used this recipe for the Madeleins:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/madeleine_15211

The video was very helpful! 

Final 

I am well aware that the final hasn't happened yet but as that week is a bit of a free-for-all, we decided very quickly what we would be enjoying whilst watching it! I first made this Guinness Cake on a whim the night of St Patrick's Day and didn't expect T to love it as much as he did. I remember trying this at University many years ago and it was one of the most memorable desserts I've ever had! I can't believe it took me so long to try it for myself. The cake is so dense and not too sweet but is balanced perfectly with the sweet cream cheese frosting. I also love a pint of the black stuff so it's a total dream cake for me on every level. 

T absolutely loves this cake too and requested it for his birthday! He requests it quite often actually 😂 After I missed cake week, I agreed I'd make this for us to enjoy whilst watching the finale! I'll be making this on Monday evening and am under strict instructions that we are NOT to share ANY of this cake!!!! 
I use this recipe which is taken from one of my all time favourite bakeries: https://hummingbirdbakery.com/blogs/hummingbird-bakery-blog/st-patrick-s-day-2018  
I used to make their vanilla cupcakes all the time as my go to cupcake recipe - the batter is really runny but they are so fluffy and vanilla-y if that's a word! 



And that's a wrap! It has been the most fun to bake along with the show and test out new recipes. I'll miss having our little Tuesday nights sat watching GBBO with something yummy but it's been a lovely season. I hope you've enjoyed it too and that you can test out some of the recipes I've tried! Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear! 

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The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

First of all, I have been terrible with keeping up with this here blog. It's been quite a whirlwind lately, filled with lots of lovely things that have been keeping me rather busy. I had a lovely 2 weeks of winter sunshine in Tucson surrounded by cacti, filled with pumpkin pie and my first dash of eggnog. Those weeks were so relaxing but as soon as I touched down, (after a rather bumpy ride home in the storms!) things went up a gear as it is now so close to the holiday season and move to Delaware day. 

All my gifts are bought and wrapped and cards are sent out, so in that way I have managed to keep organised. I have made some really nice American inspired gifts including my first attempts 'cookies in a jar,' pretzel rods, chocolate marshmallows (inspired by these badboys), easy fudge bites (which I have NOT perfected, which clearly I am not bothered about ARGHHHHHHHH), gift card holders - which made handy little envelopes for the recipe cards for my cookies in jars and I am going to make some mitten shaped sugar cookies and some exciting cupcakes. When I find a minute. 

Though I did spend an inordinate amount of time in Target whilst in the States, I did enjoy buying gifts from independent sellers this year. I have to say, I have found some amazingly talented crafty folks through the ever growing medium; Instagram. It has introduced me to loads of great sellers and stores that I would like to share with you all. They are both UK based and American but they usually ship worldwide. I've had a couple of parcels from the US that have cost as little as $3.50 to reach my door! Bargain. 

1. Polkadots and Petticoats - The shop is shut for Christmas but I got a lovely Santa scarf and some cross stitch patterns for 50% off! Great sale, lovely parcel.

2. Poppy and Fern - Hand embroidered jewellery, so cute. I am waiting on a cactus necklace that I ordered on holiday whilst they had Black Friday sales on. Exciting! 

3. Oh, Sweet Joy! - She has a lovely blog and a lovely shop. If I suited headbands or if my head would fit in a headband, I might consider buying one. Alas. My head is stupid. 

4. Sarah's Cards Ltd. - This shop is a stockist of lots of nice American craft supplies, as well as UK ones and recently had an a-m-a-z-i-n-g sale. 

5. Lovely Tape UK - If you like washi tape or nice tapes as much as I do, check out this site. I recently won some Christmas tapes from them and can't WAIT to get mi mitts on them. 

6. Poppy England - I have never bought anything from this website but I frequently dream of owning one of their dresses. 

7. The Fabbadashery - This is really local to me, but I popped in there for the first time this week and loved it. Such nice staff, gorgeous fabric and ribbons and so good to have a craft shop in town that runs fun workshops! 

8. Artsyville - This lady makes GORGEOUSNESS. So bright, fun and colourful - right up my street. I love everything she makes. 

9. Pinkfresh Studio - I'm addicted to pretty tape, please don't judge me. 

10. Pink Paislee - I also won a prize from these guys! I'm getting pretty lucky. Or I just enter too many giveaways. They have allsorts of loveliness. 

11. The Heart Gallery - My favourite shop in the whole wide Universe and stars. I love LOVE LOVE it loads. 

12. DeGrazia - I visited the DeGrazia gallery in Tucson this year and thought his works were beautiful and really enjoyed the gift shop, ha! I love museum gift shops. 

There are lots of small businesses out there that are making a living doing what they love. It's so nice to be able to pay a small part in supporting those people in exchange for nice things!!! It's also good to get some unique gifts to share with friends and family at Christmas time! 

I will aim to share my sugar cookies with you this week - virtually of course - along with some Christmassy pictures as this is my favourite time of the year by FAR. I am averaging about 5 cheesy holiday films a week at the moment but still haven't had a mince pie yet! Crazy. 

Happy Shopping! 

Much Love xxx

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Crafting Lately.

I've been doing lots of crafty things lately and thought I would share some of the projects with you. It's bonfire night here so the jacket potatoes are in the oven and we are getting ready to brave the cold to have a mini display in our garden!

I have stumbled upon loads of great blogs and stores lately that have really inspired me to get making. I would highly recommend looking up:
Studio Calico
Trimcraft UK
We R Memory Makers
Glitz Studio
They all feature different crafters and have some really good ideas, and some equally good giveaways. 

We just found out that we are going to run a jam stall at a local Christmas fair this month so we have been collecting fruit and thinking of recipes/decoration to make the jars all Christmassy. Our local TKMAXX never fails to provide for us, and we found a pack of fat quarters that are going to go really far and were a real bargain. If you want to make festive toppers for your jams; here is how I did it.

Check the size of your jam jars to make sure your fabric will cover it

I cut out squares, but circles work too! I got those pinking shears a while ago for only £8 at IKEA

Make sure you have elastic bands and labels for your jars.

Get some festive ribbons (Lidl) and Bakers twine (The Range)

Secure your fabric with the elastic bands & tie around your ribbon.

Don't forget your labels!

I have also been prepping some things to make my first proper scrapbook to keep all my memories from my internship in one place. Most things are on my Christmas list but I did manage to find an absolute bargain in TKMAXX that I am using to create my own journalling/scrapbooking cards:

The papers are really cute, and they came with a couple of large sheets that had cards ready to be cut up.

I used a template from a Project Life printable to cut out my own cards

 I don't have loads of paper punches because they are quite expensive so I used cookie cutters to cut out my own shapes for the rest! This entire pad was on sale for £4.

The last thing we did (although I didn't really help that much) was use some really cheap wood to put together some tapes and ribbons storage. I'd seen loads of things on instagram that were really fancy but expensive so I tried to think of a way to make something cheaply that I could decorate. Here's what we came up with:

I decorated this one with the Washi tape I won from Artsyville

 I used was a couple of sample pots to paint them from B&Q where we bought the wood.

The piece of wood was sawn in half, and the dowel was sawn into three (we had two pieces). Three holes were drilled into each piece of wood and were secured with a screw. It was really easy to watch haha. It took about 15 minutes to make them and not so long to decorate so I'd recommend this as an easy project that will create some cute storage that you can really make your own!

Any kind of craft whether it be scrapbooking, card-making, decorating, Project Life etc can easily get so expensive, but there are loads of ways to make it more affordable. I would say maximise your creativity to use what you have rather than over-paying for things that you might not actually need.

Happy Crafting! 

Much Love xxx

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A Pug's Life.

I am spending some time over the next couple of weeks looking after my Uncle's 2 pugs, Harry and Alfie. I have never looked after a dog in my life and up until a few years ago, had a pretty bad phobia of them. I didn't know where it came from, but I was lucky enough to meet a couple of dogs that cured me of my fears. These two twin brothers have a good routine and tend to sleep most of the time, which unfortunately seems to be making me rather sleepy too. 

They are so funny, they just follow me everywhere! I go to the toilet and they sit outside and wait for me to come back out. I get changed in a morning with the bedroom door shut and I can hear them breathing right under the door frame. I come out of the bathroom after a wash and they act like they haven't seen me in years. 

I sat down the other night at the table to do some Christmas crafts and told them to go to bed which was just around the corner but they couldn't see me - once I moved their bed so they could watch, they were quite happy. Occasionally they got up and sat right under the table so I couldn't even move my legs.

Right before bed they are supposed to go outside for one last toilet trip but in order to get their lazy bums out you actually have to plonk them outside yourself. They just look at you as if to say 'I don't think so somehow.'

The weather has been quite nice somedays and on our walks there have been some mighty fine views:

I have found some time to do a few more Christmassy stampy/decorationy things:

This is my favourite tag so far! 

Ribbons

Unfinished Salt-Dough Decorations

I have had time to watch a few movies which is good because I have a rather huge selection to go at. After years of hearing it referenced in Friends, I finally know what Sophie's Choice was and I'm currently watching 'Wyatt Earp' as I embark on the Western film selection. I had previously read about him in one of my educational Wild West books but the film is pretty good too (and 3 hours long!) I have watched both my favourite Comedies - 'I Love You Man' and 'Bridesmaids' along with a really cheesy Christmas related one I found on TV last night. 

I've started reading one of the large print westerns I found in the library for 25 pence the other day called 'Mail Order Bride.' It's great because I can read them without my glasses on in bed! Ha. I bought four at the time and went back to buy the rest but it seems that there is another large print western fan in this town, and it 'aint big enough for the both of us. I also baked some experimental healthier oatmeal dark choc-chip cookies for snack cravings that are made with no eggs or butter and wholemeal flour.

 At this point, I will say I have been here the grand total of 2 1/2 days. A lot can be done in 2 1/2 days. 

Much Love xxx

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Ode to Washi.

As many of you may know, I have been really busy lately trying to think of creative ways to fundraise for my upcoming American internship, other than relying on my fundraising page. I didn't want to simply ask people to throw their money at me to send me to pursue my dream job, but wanted to make nice things that would cause people to think of me when they are wrapping gifts, making hampers or spreading jam on their toast. Though, that does sound a bit weird. Anyway! I have loved this chance to get my craft box out and make nice things.

Recently, I was lucky enough to win a lovely giveaway, sent all the way from America from this beautiful blog created by this beautiful artist. I have had a quietly growing obsession for my beloved Filofax ever since I bit the bullet and bought one, which in-turn, has led to a quietly growing obsession for washi tape. What is washi tape, I hear you cry? My computer certainly doesn't know, as it keeps auto-correcting it to 'wash,' so I had better show you.

The Winning Washi

This is washi tape.

This is MY washi tape.

Along with this parcel of beauty from Aimee, came some other little brightly adorned things - one of which was a handy card filled with suggestions of how to use my tape:

Some of the things like sealing envelopes and using on gift bags are things that I like to do - they just make everything look so P.R.E.T.T.Y. The tapes are also quite strong so they stick to things really well.

                                               

I haven't had a lot of time to get making because I have been distracted by Christmas crafts as well as working and travelling as preparation for my big adventure, but here are some of the things I've been able to do with this tape:

I decorated plain pencils and brown tags (below)

I made cupcake flags

Geek moment. I decorated my Filofax.

I have started to make tags containing my Delaware address to hand to people so we can write to each other (these were a bit of a test!!).

I was so excited to win something, especially something to add to my craft box, especially ESPECIALLY because it came from America! This is the current extent of my small washi obsession:

Most of them were bought in small packs with 2 or 3 in for about £1.99 and all of them are being used in my fundraising craft making so that my friends, is my justification. Some of the other things I plan on doing with the tape are:

• Decorating tea-lights
• Making mini-bunting for cards 
• Wrapping Christmas presents/fundraising items
• Jazzing up my own craft items like jars/tins for pens and pencils

Some of my Christmas tags featuring the washi!

Thank you ladies for inspiring me, I wholeheartedly recommend following their blogs and checking out the artsyville store to get your own beautiful items if you are that way inclined! 

Much Love xxx

p.s. my lovely little artwork arrived today from Lori, all the way from Florida to a cold and blustery England! Thank you Lori, I love my little package !! xx 

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