Thursday 22 December 2016

Christmas Tasty Treats

I absolutely love Christmas baking, I try to make as many different Christmas themed treats as I possibly can. 


Chocolate Orange Truffles

These are super easy to make and would make a lovely gift, just put them in a gift box and tie a ribbon around them.

Ingredients

  • 300ml double cream
  • 300g dark chocolate
  • knob of butter
  • 1 teaspoon of orange essence
  • cocoa powder to decorate
Method

  1. Heat the cream over a medium heat in a pan until bubbles begin to form at the sides. Whilst this is heating, break the chocolate up into small pieces and put into a large bowl.
      2. When the cream is ready, add the knob of butter and stir until dissolved. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the orange essence then put in a fridge for around 2 hours until set.

      3. About 30 minutes before you are ready to make your truffles, take the mixture out of the fridge to go slightly softer.

      4. Put the cocoa powder into a bowl, use a teaspoon to scoop up the chocolate and use your hands to form 2cm balls. Roll them into the cocoa powder and keep in the fridge until needed. I stored mine in a tin, you can use any topping you prefer and swap the orange essence for sea salt to create salted chocolate truffles. 

 


Winter Spice Apple Pies

I am not a fan of mince pies and I feel as though I am missing out by not liking them as they are a Christmas staple. I wanted to find an alternative so I decided to make some winter spice apple pies.

Ingredients

You will get around 12 pies depending on the size


  • 2 medium sized cooking apples
  • 4 tbsp. winter Pimms
  • 3 tbsp. light brown sugar sugar
  • 1 tbsp. mixed spice
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1 packet of shortcrust pastry (or you can make your own)
  • A splash of milk
  • A sprinkling of icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a cupcake tin.
2. Peel and chop the apples into quite small chunks.
3. Cover with winter Pimms, sugar, zest and mixed spice. Mix together thoroughly and set to one side.
4. Roll out your pastry until it’s approximately half a centimetre thick and cut out 12 large circles. They should fit perfectly into the cupcake tin without too much pastry overhang.
5. Gather the remaining pastry into a ball and re-roll to half a centimetre thickness. Cut out 12 small circles of pastry to act as lids. I cut mine into star and heart shapes but you could just do circles again if you wanted.
6. Place the pastry cases in the muffin tin and fill with the apple mixture. Place the lids gently on the top.
7. Using a pastry brush, brush the pastry with milk to give it a lovely colour when baked. Stab the lids with a sharp knife especially if the lids are sealed.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
9. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Reindeer Biscuits

These are the cutest little biscuits and a great one to make with children. Children would enjoy decorating these although you may need to get some extra sweeties.

Ingredients

  • 250g butter
  • 150g light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
to decorate:
  • red smarties 
  • choolate chips
  • curly wurlys 
Method 
  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
      2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla essence, then mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda to form a dough.

      3. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to 1/2cm thick. Use a knife to cut out a blunted triangle shape to form the reindeer's head. Transfer the cookie to one of the baking trays and repeat until all of the dough has been used. bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. I had some extra dough so I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

      4. While still warm, press a red smartie in to the bottom of the biscuit, followed by two chocolate chips for the eyes and two bits of curly wurly for the antlers. 

Monday 19 December 2016

Christmas False Nails

I am obsessed with false nails anyway but the Christmas false nails have just been so cute and adorable. I have been wearing them for the whole month so far and enjoyed the different varieties, Here are my favorites. 


Although I haven't actually had these ones, I love them however I just haven't been able to get my hands on any. They are so cute and are more winter themed than just specifically Christmas themed. 

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These are the ones that I first wore, Polar Opposites by Elegant Touch. They are the cutest wintery nails, I adored wearing them. 
I really enjoyed wearing the Snow Globe nails by House of Holland for Elegant Touch. I had so many compliments and actually got quite sad when it was time to take them off. I love that they look like little snow globes.

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I am wearing the Santa Baby House of Holland nails right now while typing this post. I love them and never ever want to take them off. Santas beard did get a little bit mucky but while I was washing my hair they were spotless again by the time I had finished. These are my favourite.
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I bought these glittery ones with the intention of wearing them for New Year, I thought they would be appropriate for that time and I am pretty excited to wear these...even if it means taking off my Santa Baby Nails. Sad Face! 

Sunday 18 December 2016

Festive Favourites

My Last favourites of the year even if it is belated. Apologies for missing last months, I just hadn't really tried anything new and I did the majority of my Christmas shopping which didn't leave me anytime to buy myself anything. I am also going to add a few Christmas themed items that I have been loving too as it is nearly Christmas...yaaaay!

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I got these really cute socks from Marks and Spencer, they do different varieties but these were the ones that caught my eye. They are the cosiest socks and I jingle when I walk. I think I might have to purchase the snowmen ones, these were £5.

Argan Oil Hair Treatment 50ml Vitamin E Nourish Dry Damaged Hair Reduce Frizz
My hair has been a little bit dry recently so I thought I would try to bring it back to life with this argan oil. I have been using it every day and already noticed a difference in my hair, I got this one from b&m bargain and it was really inexpensive. 

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I have been wearing a red lip in general but this one has been one of my favourites, the NYX liquid suede in the colour Cherry Skies. It is long lasting and I just really like liquid lipsticks right now.


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Mulled wine season is my favourite which is quite strange as I am not a massive wine drinker, there is something comforting about a warm christmasy drink. 

Vintage flamingo large multi list book
I got my mum this lovely List Book from Paperchase for Christmas (don't tell her), I like it that much that I actually want one for myself. It will be so useful, you always need a piece of paper to write a list on or just to help you to be organised so this is perfect and you get a pen with it. It also has sticky notes, labels and a little to do list section. This was £12.

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How cute is this Christmas themed bedding? George have the best bedding range all year round but their Christmas bedding range is just amazing, I love it so much and it is so reasonably priced. This one is from £10.






Monday 12 December 2016

Festive Films

There is nothing better to get you into the Christmas spirit than a festive Christmas film. I like to watch one while I am wrapping my presents or while I am blogging like right now. They just make me feel happy and it gets me very excited for Christmas. I thought I would share a few of my faves and I would love to hear the Christmas films that you enjoy watching too.

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This one isn't really for young eyes however it is absolutely hilarious and a must watch film at Christmas time. Without giving too much away, Christmas Vacation is about a family who try to have the best Christmas they possibly can. They fully get into the Christmas spirit and the festivities that come with it. They end up with a house full and host a full on family Christmas. My favourite bit is when the dad (Chevy Chase) puts up the lights around the house. If you have seen it you will know exactly what I am talking about. This film is one of my families favourites. 

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The Snowman is a Classic, it reminds me of a child when I would watch this on Christmas Eve followed by putting out a carrot, a mince pie and some milk for Santa and his Reindeer's. The songs are beautiful and it is just a lovely story. I love Raymond Briggs' stories, they are so magical and heart warming. 

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Elf is usually the first film I will get out and watch. I can't wait for December to come around just so I can watch it. Elf is about a boy who grew up in the North Pole and goes on a quest to find his Dad. It doesn't really plan out how he intended however he does find a job and makes a few friends along the way. I am sure most of you have probably seen this film, I love it and it makes me laugh. My friends and I are always quoting 'Buddy the Elf, what's your favourite colour?'

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This film basically replicates all of the parents who go out of their way and do everything in their power to get their child the in toy for Christmas. It is about one Dads journey of how he goes about trying to get a Turbo Man action doll. I think so many parents will be able to relate to poor Arnold Schwarzenegger especially currently if you are trying to get your child a Hatchimal.

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I think Love Actually is one of my favourites, I could watch it any time of the year and never get bored if it. I love how all of the stories are in twined. It has a mixture of comedy, sadness and obviously Christmas. It also stars a really good cast including the late great Alan Rickman who I love.  

There are other Christmas films I love but I didn't want to pick all of the obvious ones. Home Alone is brilliant, Nativity is always on my list of films to watch in December and so is Miracle on 34th Street. Although some of these are quite old, they are just timeless,