Friday 28 February 2014

One of my most embrassing moment's

Ok so I was sitting thinking about what to write today. I was a bit umm about what should it be, then I started thinking about my childhood and fashion. I had seen someone on T.V talking about stockings and how men love them, but woman hate them.
As a child stocking and the belt to hold them up were still worn by women all over. The famous tights as we Brits call them or panty hose had not yet arrived. Just about when I was getting interested in what I wore there were a couple of weddings in the family.
My cousins got to be bridesmaids and I was so jealous lol. To top it off they got to wear stockings like a grown-up while I sported my ankle socks.

My mother thought I was far to young and no amount of begging would change her mind. Even in those days I was creative , and could sew from an early age. So I set off to make myself a grown up lady.
I "borrowed" a pair of my mother stockings and then found the hold up belt did not fit me, but would I give up ........No not me!

I pulled on those stocking and tied and sewed them till I was sure they were right. My mum wasn't mad in fact she laughed and said if I were confident they would stay up we could go to the shops. I felt so good as we walk to the shop, I was a proper lady in my stockings.

Then the worst thing happened ........ we got right in the middle of the shops with loads of people , I think it could have been a Saturday so really busy and disaster struck. I could feel them slowly slipping down my legs. I tried to hold them up but before I knew it they had hit my ankle. To be honest I don't think anyone of those busy shoppers noticed  this little girl with stockings around her ankle. I however was mortified!

As I got older the panty hose came into fashion and lucky for me there never was a repeat of the descending stockings again, thankfully.

Image from www.gossiprocks.com
not quite my look but gives you an idea lol



Thursday 27 February 2014

Guilty pleasure

The theme over at sticky fingers The Gallery is "Guilty pleasure" and its hard to pick. I have a very sweet tooth so Id say any cake or biscuit would fit me just fine. I do love a cup of tea as well but this goes so nice with the cake lol.

It makes it very hard to stick to my diet when I do cake design as a hobby also lol. This is one of my cakes and to be honest a huge slice with  this would be my most guilty pleasure


The Gallery e1372717730880 Photography

Canvas design review and discount code

There is nothing better than having pictures around your house. I used to have a whole mass of pictures in frames which is nice, but now we have something better which is canvas prints. I was very lucky to get a chance to review one such company Canvas Design.

It was so easy to send off my picture via e mail to them ready for them to print onto canvas.
It was only a really short time and I had a text message to say the date my canvas would be delivered. I also got another text to tell me the time and even the delivery drivers name, now that's efficient.

My canvas around bang on time and I was already impressed with the service. My parcel was really well wrapped and so well wrapped it took a while to open it lol.


I was really excited to see what the canvas was like and when I did get it open, I was very pleased with my picture.


I was very impressed by the quality as I have had canvas prints before that were nowhere near as good. It was a nice heavy frame , and even came with all the fixings ready for you to hang your print.


The picture was a good and bright, with a nice colour in general. I thought it was very well made.
I will be using this company again as I felt the service and the product was well worth it.
So I have a nice discount for you all to use and this will let you have a whole 15% discount off your next order and its BLOG 15. So you have no excuse go buy your canvas and let me know how you got on.


Please note I was not paid for this review only receiving a sample of the product.


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Wednesday 26 February 2014

Teavivre Tea Review

Now I love a good cup of tea! In fact my day just would not get going until I have had one. I was asked if I would like to try and range of teas from China and I was very keen to try .

http://distilleryimage1.s3.amazonaws.com/eda0c1a8e57e11e2b9a022000a1fa535_7.jpg

It arrived in a nice foil packet and at first I was wondering where all the samples where lol. When I opened the packet from Teavivre I found lots of different teas.
Teavivre are a group of tea lovers from China, Canada and France who all have a passion for drinking good tea. The word Teavivre means living or life and they hope that everyone can share the love of tea.
They select all kinds of tea and then you can order online.Normally tea arrives within 2-4 days.
I was faced with a problem straight away as I could not find my tea pot lol. The tea comes in a leaf so you need to brew in a proper tea pot. I sorted it out and made the white tea to start. I have to admit I was not sure if I should put milk in or not. I do like milk in my tea so it was a bit hard to drink it neat so to speak. 
The white tea was nice and had a soft, smooth taste, I think you could get used to not having milk with this one.
There were a few other types of teas in my pack and most had a good flavour and if you enjoy good tea then you will be in heaven trying them all out. I do think for the British market maybe most would prefer milk but its up to personal preference.


I was not paid for this review just receiving a sample of the product

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Sunday 23 February 2014

Friday 21 February 2014

Ryvita Crackerbread Review

If you read my blog often ( thanks if you do lol) you will know I am trying to lose weight. I am always looking to find ways to make the food more interesting, either in the look or the taste or both. I am going to Slimming World slimming club and so far so good as I have lost 16 pounds.
I like to do what slimming world calls "Green days" so I can eat carbs. One thing I do miss is potato cakes or fish cakes with a breadcrumb coating. I could count bread but I find if I eat too much I feel rather bloated , so I try to stay away from it.

So this week I was asked to review the new Ryvita Crackerbread, and was excited to try them out.



I got the two flavour of Pepper and Cheese and my mind was off thinking of eating them or using them in other ways.
So I thought I would make my potato cakes using the cheese flavour ones.
 Off I went peeling my potatoes ! Not my favourite thing to do but it didn't take long.

I then got three Ryvita crackerbread to use. I worked out that by slimming world that they are 1 syn per bread. And only 19 calories so a much lighter in all ways than bread. I put them in a plastic bag and whacked them into crumbs.



Then I mixed up an egg in one bowl and the Ryvita  crackerbread crumbs in the other.


Then I mashed my potatoes and let them dry off a bit and cool . I then washed my hands and got some mash and formed it into little cakes.


I then dipped them into the egg and then into the Ryvita Crackerbread crumbs. One tip don't leave them in the egg too long or you will never pick them up. Then I sprayed my pan with a spray light oil, and put my cakes in to brown. They really don't take long as its just to brown them off.



Well they are so yummy! They were crisp and light and I can think of other versions such as spring onion or chili. If you are not so worried about calories or syns you could use more to get a deeper coating but I thought they were great.
So hope you try them out today and enjoy Ryvita crackerbread as much as me


Please note I was not paid for this review. Only receiving a sample of the product

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Weather

This over at the Gallery this week was " Weather", a great  subject for us Brits! We love to talk about the weather and I can say we are never happy. This time last year the view from my house was the one below. We had a lot of snow and as per normal the whole country seem to grind to a halt. I am one of those who loves the winter. I much prefer to snuggle up and be warm and cosy. I HATE being hot and not being able to do anything because the heat is taking your energy. I have to say this winter has been totally different. It has been really wet and I feel so sorry for those people who have been flooded, and there are many. It seems to have been raining  non stop for months. The worse is thi year we have had no snow in the south of the UK at all, not one bit. I so enjoy that first snow fall before it gets all slippy and a pain. Plus I think it kills of nasty bugs and gets the place ready for the heat of the summer. So as I sit in my room with the sun pouring in I can but dream of those beautiful snowy days of last year.








Tuesday 18 February 2014

The 8 Most.......

The 8 Most....... this could be a whole number of lists which mean different things to different people. So I thinking mine would be

The 8 Most things woman want!

1. To be thinner or curvy... As woman we never seem happy with our lot in life. When we are bigger we wish we were smaller and when we are smaller we wish we were bigger lol. Maybe we should just relax

2. Had better Hair..... Bigger, thicker, thinner, straight ..... shall I go on and do I need to say more!

3. More popular..... More friends or fans or just more of it all, we loved to be loved

4. Better clothes..... Nicer clothes or better ones. We all wish we could afford those expensive ones or those lovely handbags.

5. Understanding partner..... A man who loves us for who we are and understands what we are all about.If

6. A house that stays clean....... or tidy or just looks like a show home with little to no effort

7. Well behaved children (if we have them)....... those perfect little loves that behave and smile and never ever get dirty!!

8. To be younger....... Now this one is not one of my pet wishes. I prefer the age I am at but it would be nice to go back and change a few things.

Love to hear all your I most things,

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Sugar Flowers

The last few weeks I have been learning and making sugar flowers. Its something I have found I really like and find it very restful. Most flowers are simple to start with and then they can get really hard lol. If you look on the internet there are some masters at this job, much much better than I ever think I will get.

As I am in school learning cake design, part of our course was to make a sugar flower and display it and we had to make sure we stuck to the rules. I had learnt lots of different types of flowers but mainly roses and daisy's.


I thought I would be brave and try to make a flower that we had not covered in school. So I picked a orchid  It was hard as I had not learnt this during the class. I found it difficult at times as there were lots of bits which had to dry over night. So it took days to make one flower.
I was pleased with the end result and I know I will be carrying on 



This is the start point which was the item I picked to display my flowers on . As I was thinking of Orchids I thought it fitted with the theme. By the time I finished I was pleased with the look, although there is always lots of room for improvement. I think they look nice and I will keep on practising.

Photo: My level two sugar flowers



Thursday 13 February 2014

Last minute Valentine's Day Recipes




Love Hearts

Pretty as a picture, these pastel meringue hearts make a stunning finale to a Valentine’s dinner à deux.

Makes:  2 pairs
Prep time:  30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

for the meringues
60g (2½oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Golden Caster Sugar
1 large egg white, about 30g (1¼oz)
Squires Kitchen mint green paste food colour

for the filling
65ml (2½floz) double cream
110g (4oz) jar cherry compôte
Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Sugar, for dusting
Squires Kitchen crystallised natural whole roses

You will also need 2 baking trays lined with parchment paper, a 8cm (3¼”) heart-shaped cutter and a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan180°, 400°F, Gas 6.

Using the cutter, draw 4 heart shapes with a pencil on the 1 of the sheets of parchment paper, spaced apart as the meringues will spread a little. Turn the paper over so you don’t get pencil on the undersides of the meringues.

Tip the sugar onto the remaining baking tray and spread it out in an even layer. Warm through on the middle shelf of the oven for about 3-4 minutes or until the sugar feel hot to touch and has lightly coloured, stirring once. Don’t let it caramelize.  Pour into a small bowl.

Reduce the oven heat down to its lowest, 110°C/Fan90°C, 225°F, Gas ¼.

As soon as the sugar is ready, using an electric mixer, add the white to the bowl and whisk at high speed until it is light and foamy, for about 1 minute. Slowly add the hot sugar, a dessertspoon at a time, and continue whisking until the mixture has cooled and is very thick and glossy. Scrape down the sides halfway through. This will take about 5 minutes.

Using a fine skewer or toothpick, add a little of the colouring, briefly whisk again and check that it’s the colour you’d like, if not, add some more.

Use a little of the meringue to stick down the paper on the baking tray. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag and pipe the heart shapes.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 55-60 minutes. The meringues are ready when they are crisp on the outside and the bases are dry and not at all sticky. Turn off the oven and leave them to cool in the oven for a few hours or overnight.

To assemble, lightly whisk the cream, divide between half of the meringue hearts, spoon on the cherry compôte, then top with the remaining hearts.  Arrange on plates, lightly dust with Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Sugar, decorate with the crystallised roses and serve.

Make-ahead
The meringues can be made up to 2 weeks ahead and stored in an air-tight container.


Cupid cakes
These adorable pop-in-the-mouth cupid cakes will undoubtedly set hearts aflutter.

Makes:  18
Prep time:  1½ hours
Cooking time:  10 minutes
for the chocolate cakes
20g (¾oz) cocoa
2¼ tbsp boiling water
40g (1½oz) unsalted butter, softened
25g (1oz) Lyle’s Golden Syrup
75g (3oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Golden Caster Sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp milk
60g (2½oz) plain flour, sifted
½ level tsp baking powder
2 rounded tbsp smooth apricot jam

for the fondant icing & decoration
250g (8oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Fondant Icing Sugar, plus extra for rolling
4-5 tsp water
Squires Kitchen red paste food colour

You will also need 2 x 12-hole mini cake tins lined with paper cake cases, a 4cm (1½”) round fluted cutter and 3 tiny heart-shaped metal plunge cutters, available from Squires Kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan160°, 350°F, Gas 4.

In a small bowl mix the cocoa and water together with a wooden spoon until smooth, then add the butter, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, Tate & Lyle Golden Caster Sugar, the egg and milk and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and mix well to make a thick batter.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tins to slightly more than half full. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 9-10 minutes until risen and they spring back when lightly pressed in the centre.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sift the Tate & Lyle Fondant Icing Sugar into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the water, a teaspoonful at a time, and stir with a wooden spoon until it is too stiff to stir any more. Roll the icing into a ball and turn out onto a surface lightly dusted with Tate & Lyle Fondant Icing Sugar and knead for a few minutes until it becomes completely smooth, soft and pliable. If it feels too dry splash with a very little cold water and carry on kneading until the water is absorbed. If it’s too wet, dust the surface with extra Tate & Lyle Fondant Icing Sugar.

Divide the fondant icing into 2. Colour one batch with red adding dots of colour in several spots with a toothpick and knead well until the colour is evenly blended. Continue until you get your desired shade. To keep your hands stain-free, wear food-safe disposable gloves until you have finished working with the red fondant. Leave the other batch white.

Lightly dust the surface again with Tate & Lyle Fondant Icing Sugar and separately roll out both fondants to about 3mm (1/8”) thick.

Using the fluted cutter stamp out 9 circles, and lots of little heart shapes, from each of the red and white fondant icings.

Put the apricot jam in a small pan with a splash of water pan over a low heat until melted then lightly brush over the tops of the chocolate cakes.

Place the circles of fondant of top of the cakes and very lightly press down so they stick to the jam. Decorate the tops with contrasting little hearts, decoratively sticking them on with a dab of Tate & Lyle Fondant Icing Sugar mixed with a very little water to make a ‘glue’. Arrange on a plate and serve.

Make-ahead
Make and freeze the undecorated cakes in a lidded container up to 2 weeks ahead.
The fondant icing can be made up to 1 week ahead, wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge.

Have a wonderful valentines day and don't forget vote for me

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Fitbug Orb Review

Ok so you all know I am trying to lose weight and its hard for me as my fitness is not great due to medical issues. I was lucky to be able to give the fitbug a trial and I thought it was a great idea. So you can imagine I was extra pleased to try the new version.

The fitbug orb has recently been launched on the market and at £49.95 or around it is affordable for most.
There other activity trackers out there but I think this is a great one. The orb is wonderful as it has options for wearing. It has a clip, and belt hook and for me the best one a wrist band.
A few facts first

Fitbug introduced bluetooth last year to its devices to allow fitbug users to send their data in real-time to the fitbug mobile app, available on blue tooth smart ready devices. The digital health and well being coach, kik , provides personalised weekly targets based on users insights and daily health trends.

So my pack arrived this morning and I was excited to get going with it.





I totally love the options for wearing as I prefer to  it on my wrist. The clip is fab as there are times when you will not want it seen. The Orb is so tiny that its easy to wear and very light. 
I already had a fitbug account so it was very easy to add my Orb to my account. If you are new to fitbug it so simple to set up. Full instructions come with the Orb and you just follow the steps. Once you are set up  you will get daily emails that let you know more about your fitbug and how to get the most from your membership. The first week you have to just do what you normal do. Fitbug learns your baseline in week one and uses this to start setting you weekly goals. Also regular advice on @fitbugActive on twitter where you can get lots of advice and help
So I am set up with my lovely new Orb and I will do a regular once a week report so you can all see how I am progressing.  I have lost 16 pounds using my normal fitbug so I have high hopes for my new Orb.

Please note I was not paid for this review I only got a sample of the product.

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Name That Tune

I was over at my niece's blog the syders today and she was taking about her lovely mum, and special songs which make her think of her.
Its struck me as so funny as just the other day I had the same thing happen to me. I was in the car with my husband driving back from the North of England after doing a fantastic cake course, at David Cakes. We had the radio on and all of a sudden a record blasted out . It was a song called "The Last Waltz" by a singer who was huge in the 60's and 70's called Engelbert humperdinck.


We had gone into London with my mum and my older cousin Pat for a hospital appointment. We were at a huge London train station making our way home. On the platform there was a machine. A bit like those ones that take your photo, this one allowed you to record a message or a song. In those days it was very out of the ordinary. My cousin said "come on lets have a go", and in we went. It was tiny and three of us squeezed into this tiny space was a bit tight. What should we say , what should we sing ??? The we come up with "The Last Waltz" and we got ready. As the track started I remember my mum saying her butt was stuck outside the door, and much laughing and laughing started. Then we noticed it was already recording so this was all on the track.

When we finished it gave us a very thin black record, it worked very well and all the fun we had was on that silly little disc. I have no idea what happened to it and I sooooo wish I had it today as it would be fun to listen too.
I have to admit to being a bit silly and having a wee cry listening to it again on the radio , as my mum long passed away and it made me miss her a lot. Then I remember how much fun it was and how much we laughed and I was glad I got to hear it again. I hope mums up in heaven driving them all mad singing it lol.


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Wednesday 12 February 2014

Wow what a start to a new week

So its been a rough start to a new week! I went into it feeling good, I am so focused on my diet and I really wanted to do extra well this week. I have really noticed that my 15 pound weight loss has helped me so much already. Then on Sunday I just felt so cold all day.  Now for me that is odd and normally I am hot all the time.

In the early hours of Monday I was woke up with the worse stomach pain I have had , since I had children ! I have no idea what is was but maybe food poisoning or something, I only know it was so painful. I couldn't get back to sleep and then spent the next hours and hours fighting the pain. I was getting worried I have to be honest and said if it had not improved by the morning I was off to the hospital.

Then thankfully the pain started to get a bit lighter and it was such a relief. It then turned into a cold, so I am thinking that it could be gastric flu. I am normally a fighter when I am sick but this laid me out, and left me weak as a baby. I honestly would not wish it on my worse enemy.

Through it all I did manage not to break my diet and even measured out my energy drink lol
So thankfully I feel better but not totally back to normal.

I hope you have a better start to your week than me.
Oh I know I cheeky but if you enjoy my blog could your vote for me, in The Mad Awards I would be very grateful . I would so love to win one but just to get a nomination would be wonderful xxx

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Saturday 8 February 2014

Blog Blues

Blog Blues or a Blog slump .......... That's how I have felt this week. I work hard at my blog and try to be polite and comment on others good work. I join in link ups and if asked offer advice but I never seem to climb up any ranking systems at all. I agree that I started this blogging journey for my own pleasure. I never in a million years ever thought anyone would read it. So when I get comments from people from all over the world I am totally amazed. I have "met" some lovely people and had great chats which is so nice.

I would like to be a better blogger, as it is my nature to want to learn even at 55. I do try to enter into as much as I can in the blogging world and for most of the time I have fun.
I know it is rather silly but I love to see if I have climbed up a little on the blog ranks, as it makes be feel like
I got a pat on the head for a good job.

So when you have spent a whole month trying to post regular, taking part in link ups, and endlessly making comments on other peoples blogs , to find out you dropped again!!!!!!! Grrrrr
I have to admit I do think why bother? Are people finding this little blog boring? I'm I losing the plot?
How stupid am I lol! No don't answer that question!!

I will pick myself up and dust myself off and start all over again! Just as the song said I will keep going and try and remember I write for me. Not for the faceless rankings that only judge on numbers. I write from my life and my heart.

Ok rant over lol Happy weekend xx


Tuesday 4 February 2014

New Postman Pat Movie

When my children were young they used to love postman pat, so I was very pleased to see the new movie on release. It has some great names and I hope to go and see it myself, but don't tell anyone lol. The cast sounds fab and I am sure the story will be just as good as always. Good clean family fun!
Postman Pat: the Movie is released in UK cinemas on May 23rd and is voiced by actors including Stephen Mangan, David Tennant and Rupert Grint









Monday 3 February 2014

David Cakes Course

As you all know I am really into cake decorating these past few years. More important I have found a love and passion for Royal Icing. I am not saying I am expert at it but I am learning,  We cover it on my college course but I really wanted to do a more in depth course. I put Royal icing into google and up popped a company called David Cakes International School of cake decorating Art and Design in Liverpool England.

I was totally amazed at his cakes and his style and was so excited to be able to get to one of his courses. Liverpool is a long drive over 5 hrs from home, so it was something I thought I wouldn't get to do. So I was so happy when my husband said he would buy me a day for Christmas. There were lots to pick from but knowing my Royal icing love, I think you can guess I went with that.
I was a little nervous but I need not have worried at all, David and Ed who run the classes were delightful. Such a kind  gentlemen it really made you feel relaxed and happy.

We started by hearing where everyone was from and we had people from all over but the lady from Hong Kong was the one that was a long way from home . We then moved on to talk about Royal icing and how to mix for what you need. At each stage we got the chance to see what to look for, when mixing.

I found this really helpful and it is hard at times to know if you have mixed it right for what you need. Before we all went to start our icing I took my chance to get a picture with the man himself , David.



We then got to do our own cakes and every second David and  Ed were there to help or offer anything you needed. Everything was done to make sure you got the best from the day  and more important to be happy and relaxed. I think I really learnt a huge amount, I felt full of confidence and as I learnt more and more. David is a totally wonderful artist and the skill in his work is huge. I was totally in love with his cakes and I would like to share but I feel unless David said yes I would not put it on the blog as I know how careful he has to be., but you will find some pictures of his work on his web site.
If you can get to Liverpool when David is around and you love to cake decorate I'd say get there ASAP.

I can honestly say it was the best day I have had in a long time and I really need to save so I can go again. So If David and Ed read this I would  like to say a huge huge thanks. It truly was my best ever day and I am going to save like mad for my next one. I am ending with my cake





David Cakes cake decorating classes courses
David Cakes International School of Cake Decorating Art & Design classes and courses