All Loved Up

I love today, it's love day! I have had the best day so far, and all my treats for Andy worked out amazingly so I thought I'd share the photos with you all.

Breakfast was heart shaped pancakes and this arrangement of letters which I achieved by using an empty tomato ketchup bottle filled with pancake batter. So fun and there were so many other things I could have designed and made into pancakes!
Andy actually doesn't like pancakes (I know!) so I made him eggs florentine instead but he gobbled it all up before I could snap a photo. Tasted good though!

Here are the jammy love heart biscuits that I finished off this morning before Andy came over. The recipe I used was from my sister's friend so I don't actually know if it's available online for me to include a link, but if you'd like to know how to make these I'll be happy to send you the recipe and I'll write it up on my computer especially! They look so good, I think. Haven't tried one yet but I have a feeling they'd go well with a nice cup of green tea or even a glass of fruit juice!

My main 'present' for Andy - a chocolate fudge heart cake! With lovehearts to decorate. If you read my last post on the trial heart shaped cake there is a link to the exact pan I used for this cake - it is nonstick and really works, so good. The recipe was a simple chocolate cake recipe (100g sugar, 100g butter, 100g sr flour, 2 eggs, 40g cocoa mixed with water) and the icing is a recipe from home which is quite tricky but again, if anyone wants to know how to make it I will send you the recipe with specific instructions because it is a chocolate fudge icing it requires special attention ;)

And here is what I received this morning when I was rushing about trying to get everything ready for Andy coming over. Like every other girl in the world, I absolutely love receiving flowers and these are from my 'secret admirer' ha ha! Andy knows my favourite flowers and I love these! Just trimmed the stalks and leaves actually, and they are now in a vase on my desk.

Andy also got me Tegan and Sara's new album, Heartthrob which I was so grateful for - I'm not big on 'gifts' on Valentine's day - just nice gestures, but he really pushed the boat out and has treated me. We went to Ask Italian for a late lunch and tonight we're going to see a comedy magician at the town hall. This is our second Valentine's day together and it's been just as beautiful and perfect as the last one was. Such a lovely day!


Goodbye, Flower xo

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Trial Heart-shaped Valentine's Cake

For Valentine's Day I've decided to go all out (again). I love Valentine's Day - I love love, I love loving and I love to be loved - ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, right? Anyway, I'm not big on the presents side of the holiday because I don't think it's about that at all, but I love to bake and my boyfriend loves chocolate so seeing as I made him some chocolate chip cookies last year I'm going to bake him a heart shaped chocolate cake this year.

Tonight I did my trial run with this cake tin which I purchased a few weeks ago (eager beaver) and it was fantastic! The cake slid out of the tin without a fuss and I was very impressed with how the cake itself turned out. So, I'm sharing the ever so simple recipe with you all because it was so damn fudgy and moist my housemates and I scoffed it all down in no time. No shame.
You will need:

• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g self-raising flour
• 40g cocoa powder mixed with some hot water to form a paste
• 2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 175°C and if using a regular tin, grease and line it. Beat the butter and sugar together til light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat them in. Stir in the cocoa paste, then fold in the flour. Pour into your tin (or double the quantities to make a sandwich cake and use two tins) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes without opening the door (unless your oven is temperamental and your cake needs more/less cooking time). I promise you, this cake will NOT disappoint. I do not have a picture, I do apologise - but there is just one slice left as myself and two housemates scoffed it all as soon as it was iced and ready to eat.

Considering this was just a trial run I used an old packet of chocolate icing that my Mum gave me from September's cake and bake show in London. It wasn't actually too bad but for Valentine's Day I will be making my favourite chocolate fudge icing to smother all over this moist cake. Yum!
Hope I have inspired some of you to try this out as it is so easy and delicious! Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)

Goodbye, Flower xo

Derek - Not A Controversial Topic - Just Nitpicking.

I was shocked when my lecturer raised the idea that Ricky Gervais’s new programme is cruel and unacceptable. Andy and I watched it and I really enjoyed it. That doesn’t make me ignorant, rude or disrespectful to those with learning disabilities - if anything it makes the people who find it offensive all of those things, because they are the ones jumping to the conclusion that Derek has something wrong with him. I don’t understand why people have to pick and pick and pick at absolutely anything they can find holes in.

Comedy is always going to be subjective, and although the show might poke fun at a vulnerable character, there is no diagnosis explored in the programme - clearly suggesting that it is not necessary for the show’s comedy factor or escalation as a story.

I was actually so surprised when my lecturer brought this up and everyone in my workshop agreed - I hadn’t even thought that people would be offended by this when there is absolutely nothing to be offended by. It is a comedy - not meant to be taken seriously, not bullying anyone in particular, not actually real - it is just a fictional character.

I think a lot of people just don’t like Ricky Gervais and that’s fine, don’t. But there are so many other comedians who take the mick out of their characters, in a non-specific way and it’s fine because that’s the arts - always going to upset some people and entertain others. I was especially surprised that this came from my lecturer who teaches the transgressive and experimental module - if anything is disrespectful or unacceptable it’s explicitly brutal rape, murder and other such inhumane acts that have been filmed for our entertainment.

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer Review.

I'm not big on reviews - but having looked around for a review on this product and not being very successful I began to wonder why - and I came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, I am not the only one who was not impressed with this product. So here is my review, completely honest - I don't have a huge follow base so I have no one to keep sweet. I just thought I'd share with you all my experience with this product, having used it for about a month now.

I will hand it to Nivea, their products moisterise my dried out skin very, very well, and this product is no exception. It glides on like a dream and blends well into the skin. However, the primer part of this product does not do its job, I'm afraid. It peels when I put my foundation on top and therefore my make up does not stay put for longer like the product promises to do. I have to be really careful to not let this product peel because otherwise it is a waste of an application for me and my skin is back to square one within a few hours of application. So, if you're really careful at applying foundation and don't blend it too much (ie don't put that much on at all) then this product will work for you.

However, at £4.99 I can't complain too much and I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting miracles from a primer and moisteriser combined for under £5. I will not be purchasing this product again, though. I think I'll stick to a separate moisteriser and find a better primer. Any suggestions? My skin is quite blotchy, dry and has scars from acne as well as being prone to breakouts. I have not got oily skin, though. Leave your reccommendations in the comment box below. Would love to hear from you :)

Goodbye, Flower xo