Recipe Box: Peanut Butter Cake

Hello!

Things have been so hectic lately, gearing up for Christmas, making our flat a home and spending as much time as possible with my man in his downtime before he flies off to the Alps for Christmas!

I wanted to bake a really special cake this weekend and I found the perfect recipe ;) Peanut. Butter. Cake. Does it get better than that?!

Quick, easy and absolutely delicious!

Hannah xo

Sweetest Blog Ever?

Howdy!

I just stumbled across an adorable blog which only makes me want a little doggy of my own even more (I never thought this was possible!).

It's called Dog Shaming and is my new addiction :)

Need proof of the cute factor?

I thought you'd like it ;)

Hannah xo

Shop Till We Drop: All Things Scalloped!

Oh, if I had more pennies...

ASOS Leather Scallop Edge Satchel

Gorgeous golden glitter garland from stephlovesben

I love this sweet little dress from Forever 21

Scallop love! So pretty :)

Hannah xo

Beauty: Jojoba Oil

Source

I've been learning about skincare lately, and in doing so I've had my best face ever for the past month or so! :) One of the ingredients I've added into my daily routine has been Jojoba Oil or Liquid Gold as it has been described. 

It is a highly versatile oil, produced from the seed of the jojoba plant. It is used for many purposes but the main one seems to be for dry skin conditions. I've been using it as a make-up remover before bedtime only, as it is slowly absorbed and gives your face a glossy sheen! It's also good for skin as not only does it not clog pores, it actually helps to unclog pores while it moisturises :)

You can also add a few drops to your normal moisturisers and your bath. Jojoba oil is also good for dry scalps and bringing dry hair back to life. Simply warm up the bottle in a bowl of hot water, shampoo your hair as normal and then massage a few drops of oil into your hair and wrap in a warm towel for 5 minutes. Rinse well (and I mean well here, otherwise you'll end up with a big gross oily head of hair like I did!) and condition if you so desire. 

It may seem pricey (my bottle cost me around £15) but as you're only using a few drops at a time, your bottle will last for a very long time. It's natural so no weird chemicals you've never heard of! And as I said, my skin looks great at the moment!

Have you tried jojoba oil yet?

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Courgette Chocolate Chip Cookies/Tray Bake

Hello!

I had a bit of time along with extra courgettes today so I decided to make some veggie cookie goodness! My lack of baking trays (I only have two!) meant that the cookies didn't have enough room to spread out which led to a massive cookie tray bake bonanza... Hey, I'm not complaining, they taste great!!

I recently bought a set of cup measures so I'll finally be joining the cup crowd! ;)

Ingredients

• 2 cups of sugar.
• 1 cup of butter.
• 2 eggs, beaten.
• 4 cups plain flour, sifted.
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda.
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 cup grated courgette.
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips. 

To the kitchen!

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius. 
• Cream the butter and sugar together, add beaten eggs. 
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate, cinnamon and salt together. 
• Add the two bowls together, and once mixed, add in the courgette and chocolate chips. 
• Once everything is well mixed together, arrange dollops of the cookie dough a few centimetres apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You may need more than one sheet!
• Bake for 20 mins and leave to cool on a wire rack. 
• Enjoy warm if possible! 

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Okra Stir Fry

Hi there!

So, for a while now I've been seeing this strange-looking vegetable in the supermarket and I've been wondering what on Earth it is. My sources told me that it's something called 'okra'. I'm a huge fan of vegetables so I couldn't let it go untasted for too much longer ;)

So, I bought a few lady fingers and used this recipe to help me try okra. I wasn't sure what to expect because I kept seeing words like 'slimy' and 'fuzzy' pasted all over the interweb but okra is seriously yummy! I loved the sliminess, how weird is that? I'll definitely be using this strange but delicious vegetable again soon :)

Here are my before and after photos!

Before - a pretty yet fuzzy vegetable

After - part of a delicious stir fry :)

Hannah xo

Geeky Gamer: The Simpsons: Tapped Out

It has been quite a while since I've been slightly kind of obsessed (ok totally obsessed!) with a game and The Simpsons: Tapped Out has spoilt my clean record. D'oh! I'll take comfort in that I didn't pay a penny for it as it's completely free! :)

Homer has once again destroyed Springfield and it is your job to help Homer and Lisa rebuild the town from scratch. It has a bit of The Sims about it as you order the characters around and build stuff. At the moment there's a Halloween theme update on the game which allows you to vandalise other Springfield towns and destroy zombies and pet zombies before they turn your characters. It's all a lot of fun! There are a ton of things to discover as you play the game and complete the quests :)

Rebuild the town and collect the taxes. 

Trick or treat? Trick it is!

And be warned, if your phone is not on silent you may find yourself hearing Homer talking to you quite regularly... Highly amusing! (My boyfriend thinks I'm texting Homer Simpson...)

Try it out, it's literally a whole world of fun ;)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Super Choco Hot Choc

With London feeling colder and colder each day, I decided to make my favourite pure indulgence hot chocolate :) It's over-the-top chocolately so not suitable for everyone but I do love to treat myself every now and again!

Want to try it for yourself? It's simple and very versatile so please do custom make your own favourite!

In your favourite mug, make up your own favourite hot chocolate as normal. I love to use the different flavours of the Options range; orange and mint are particularly good :) Pour it into a pan and heat gently. Next, add in your favourite milk chocolate bar (a regular sized Cadburys Dairy Milk is my go-to for this task!). Once the chocolate has mostly melted, pour it back into the mug. I prefer to leave a few chunky bits of chocolate in there as a nice surprise for while I'm drinking it ;) Next add spray can cream and marshmallows and a few chocolate shavings on top to make it look pretty! Easy as pie :)

What is your favourite hot chocolate?

Hannah xo

Books I Love: Wizard's First Rule

I just finished an absolute beast of a book. When I say beast I mean a whole 775 pages! Surprisingly with my new epic commute it only took me a few weeks to blast through, the perks of my new journey to work :)

And what a magnificent beast it proved to be! I picked this book up because it is the first in the Sword of Truth series and this series was the basis for a TV show I fell in love with early last year when I first started working on my current set of channels. I'm not sure if you've guessed already but I am a sucker for a fantasy series and this one had it all; a struggle against evil, magic, romance and comedy, not to mention the good looking lead character ;) I quickly became quite addicted to Legend of the Seeker and was devastated to learn that there were only two seasons and they aren't even available to buy on DVD in the UK! So, I bought the first book and boy was I in for a shock! The book is so dark compared to the series, I imagine they would not have been allowed to televise a lot of the more horrific  subject matter. Some of it truly is disturbing but is effective in emphasising the need for the triumph of the good. There are many differences between the book and the series but I certainly recognised the characters from their dialogue and behaviour and I'm grateful the show was so faithful to the characters that Goodkind originally brought to life.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Chocolate Cupcakes

Howdy!

I'm enjoying a lovely break from work so decided to do some baking. If only I had known what I was letting myself in for...

I used this sweet recipe from this lovely lady and gave it a go. It was all going to plan until I decided I'd also try out the frosting recipe and discovered I didn't quite have enough butter. I mistakenly thought I could use my non-existent maths skills to adjust all of the ingredients' quantities to meet my butter shortage and just make a smaller amount of frosting. This didn't quite work out and I ended up with a big watery slop which still tasted pretty darn good, surprisingly! I figured I'd use it as a very thin sauce to moisten the cupcakes (see photo above...). Dessert was saved! Well, it was saved until I got ill... it turns out that my body doesn't like cocoa powder and because I'd consumed rather a lot that day I landed myself a pretty hefty migraine which wiped me out well and truly. Luckily for me, it seems to be only dark chocolate which affects me and is my least favourite kind anyway. And my Grandad has already volunteered to eat all of my future dark chocolate, what a trooper! :)

Not my most successful baking mission...

But on the bright side, we now have the Internet in our new home.... HURRAY! I'm feeling better already ;)

Hannah xo

Favourite Flicks: Made in Dagenham

I watched Made in Dagenham for the first time yesterday and I loved it! It's about a group of female Ford machinists in the 60s who decided to bravely stand up and say that it wasn't ok that they were being paid a lot less than the men. Rita (played by Sally Hawkins) finds herself leading the cause whilst trying to juggle her other responsibilities as a wife and a mother, and not always receiving the support that she hopes for.

The 60s fashion is to die for and I love the sight of all the women cycling to work together to start their shift. A film which leaves you feeling proud to be a woman ;) (if you are a woman!)

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Spinach Lasagne

Hello again!

I still have no internet access at home but plodding on anyway. I do miss it so!

The cold has started to truly set in and Autumn is here, I am loving it :) Any excuse to wrap up and eat comfort food ;)

I finally got stuck into one of the many recipes I've been patiently waiting to try from a very special book I read earlier this year. This lasagne was so simple to make and perfect for a night in when it's pouring buckets outside. My man even loved it and asked for seconds even though he's not a big fan of melted cheese or spinach, though lucky for me he's willing to try anything I cook up. No regrets this time!

You can find the original recipe online here but I can't recommend reading the entire book enough.

If, like me, you're not used to dealing with cups, oz and lbs, these are the measurements of the ingredients I used. They may not be particularly accurate conversions but they worked out fine :)

• 200g lasagne sheets ( I couldn't find noodles in my store but these worked just as well).
• 200g chopped spinach.
• 500g tomato sauce.
• 250g fresh ricotta.
• 250g mozzarella.

Enjoy!!

Hannah xo

Favourite Flicks: The Birds

I know, I know. This is an old film and I'm waaaaay behind the times. There are many classics I am yet to see but I count myself lucky that there is still so much for me to discover! I was very lucky to be introduced to some amazing classics while studying for my degree and that has made me rather keen to continue discovering these hidden gems :)

I found a boxset of Hitchcock films when we moved house. It turns out that my boyfriend had it stashed away somewhere so that I'd somehow managed to miss it for two years... Maybe that shows how unobservant I am ;) I broke it open the other day and this was the first film I watched...

I will certainly be watching more Hitchcock films, I absolutely loved it and was very sad that it wasn't a longer film. I was surprised by how much it affected me. I wouldn't say it was a terrifying film but it certainly has its moments, unexpected and quite shocking. And of course there is the vintage fashion to enjoy ;) Most definitely worth another watch! Have you seen The Birds?

Hannah xo

Phew!

Hello. Hi. How are you?

The last few weeks have been mighty busy over here! We've moved house, celebrated our second anniversary, my man started his new job and I spent a week with my family :) Phew indeed! I'm still waiting for our new internet connection to be set up and I hope to post some photos soon!

I'm sure things will calm down and return to normal soon enough!

But in the meantime, I thought I'd check in on my 28 before I'm 28 list and see how I'm doing. I suspect I'm failing miserably ;) I can't believe how quickly this year is passing by...

1) Get a new job. Hasn't happened yet... I have to admit I have applied for very few as of yet. I'm struggling to find a new direction as I feel like I need a completely new career!

2) Plan out the perfect second anniversary trip. Done! I had to scrap my original plan because of financial restrictions (moving house ain't cheap, people!) but we had a lovely weekend away together nonetheless :)

3) Discover a fitness activity I actually enjoy.  Done twice over! I found love in the trees :) I tried this thing called Go Ape and had so much fun! I am definitely planning to check out other courses and dragging my friends along too. I also tried out the swimming pool in the basement of our new apartment block and I can see myself spending a lot of time there :)

4) Make my outfit photo debut. Still haven't got around to doing this despite having bought a few cool pieces lately. Coming soon...

5) Customise an old bike. Still do not have said bike. But I know what I'm planning for the bike when I do eventually get it! :)

6) Perform a full digital clearout! Started it but I haven't dedicated nearly enough time to it. Maybe it will become more appealing now that the weather is turning colder...

7) Buy a polaroid camera. Nope! I'd feel too guilty spending that kind of money on myself at the moment...

8) Make something involving a vase, twigs and fairy lights. See No. 7.

9) Board the London Eye. See No. 7.

10) Finish Star Trek original series. I've almost finished the second series, hurray!

11) Find something I'm truly passionate about. I'm still far from it, though I have a few clues now :)

12) Sort out my vast collection of stuff. Having just moved house again, this has just jumped way up my priorities list! Hauling all my junk around made me realise that I NEED to clear out my stuff ASAP.

13) Study web design. I'm so keen to learn about this, I just need to find the time to explore it!

14) Read a Spanish language book. I recently started one but then it went missing during the move... I'm sure it will turn up soon!

15) Read 6 books. Two done, halfway through two more... This should be a blast with my new reading-friendly commute :)

16) Spend a week with my family.  I have just done this and had the best time! It had been far too long since I had spent a decent amount of time with the fam.

17) Organise a girls get-together. Done! We tried and failed to go to an Ice Cream festival but by the time we got there the ice cream had sold out, d'oh! Instead we went to a favourite bar of ours and had tea and cake. The ultimate girly hang out!

18) Create a piece of artwork for our flat. Almost! I've been working on a little something ;)

19) Learn how to play keyboard (again!). Failing miserably, I haven't even got my keyboard out of its case yet...

20) Start sending postcards all over the world! I'm spending so much time looking for the perfect postcard, maybe I should just send one already!!!

21) Dye my hair bright red. Still haven't been to the hairdressers... Hoping to book it this week though! :D

22) Go swim in the sea. Well it wasn't the sea, but I did go swimming in the pool :) It feels like it's getting too cold for this now...

23) Get a new pet. I've decided to hold off on finding my new little friend for now as we're waiting to see if we may be moving again due to some very exciting developments!

24) Add six new recipes to my limited repertoire. I've added another two... I've got another four to go so I'd best get cooking! ;)

25) Visit Madame Tussauds! I don't seem to be able to bribe anybody to come with me... A work in progress!

26) Bargain hunting at a thrift store. Done! I had so much fun I may have to do it again! :)

27) Go to the cinema every month. I'm just about on target with this. Unfortunately there never seems to be anything good on when we decide to go...

28) Go to a gig once a month.  Fail!!! I've barely been to any!

Hmmm... Not as bad as I thought it would be! Still got a lot to do though... GO!\

Hannah xo

Favourite Flicks: Crazy Sexy Cancer

I just watched the most incredible documentary! It's a film made by Kris Carr and it follows her soon after she discovers she has a rare form of incurable cancer and her efforts to do everything she can to stabilise her condition. She discovers new age medicine, dietary regimes and meets other strong ladies fighting the big C.  It's a hugely inspiring film, one that teaches you that you can't take your health for granted and you should enjoy life each and every day!

I highly recommend you see this! :)

And if you like what you see, check out the lady's blog here!

Hannah xo

Televisual Treats: Pan Am

I started watching this show because my cousin landed a part in one of the episodes! I was hooked pretty quickly. The programme drips with glamourous 60s fashion and is simply a beautiful show to watch. And if that's not enough for you, there's also a rich tapestry of story lines to devour too! Espionage, politics and air travel has never seemed so fabulous! Unfortunately the show was cancelled after the first season, but there are 14 episodes to drool all over :) I'm just waiting for the DVD release...

Hannah xo

Decor Delights: Making a home!

So by this time next week we'll be in our new place, finally! I've been so stressed out with all the mechanics of the actual move that I haven't yet even thought about how lovely we'll be able to make the place!

So, I went window shopping on Etsy ;)

Because a girl can never have enough jars!

The perfect table for our new balcony!

These would look so pretty dotted around the flat :)

This chair needs a little love but would be perfect for my dressing table :)

I couldn't have put it better myself!

Only 5 more days to go!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Root Vegetable Soup

Hi there!

I made a huge pot of soup as I have a run of night shifts this week and it gets pretty chilly in our over-air-conditioned ice box of a suite! The very simple recipe below is enough for around 4-6 bowls.

Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons oil

750g carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

2 onions, chopped into chunks

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

900ml stock (chicken or vegetable)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

To the kitchen!

• Heat the oil in a large pan.
• Add all of the vegetables and toss well, coating them in oil to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Sprinkle turmeric and turn the vegetables to coat.
• Add the stock, bring the soup to boil and cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
• If you like your soup to be smooth, stick it into the food processor for 15 seconds. If you prefer your soup chunkier (like me!) mash it with a fork to break the vegetable chunks up nicely :)
• Season to taste and voila! You have yourself a tasty yet filling soup.

Hannah xo

Thrifted!

I was lucky enough to stumble across a flea market during my lunch hour at work yesterday and couldn't resist having a little snoop around. And of course I couldn't come away empty-handed ;) I came across these two sweet little jars to add to my jar collection. I can see this becoming an obsession...

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Shortbread Buttons

I had one last chance to bake something sweet before the big move and I was very excited to FINALLY try out a recipe I've had my greedy eye on for quite some time now...

 Oh yes, shortbread buttons people!!! I followed this gorgeously illustrated recipe et voila! 

Top tip if you fancy having a go yourself: shortbread dough is super sticky so try rolling it between two sheets of baking paper. Much less messy ;)

 Hannah xo

Graze!

Hello folks!

I recently had a free box of Graze and I just had to subscribe! I don't know about you but I love receiving treats through the post so the Graze boxes are right up my street :) Every week I get four surprise little boxes of treaty goodness. They have a large selection of like EVERYTHING from scrumptious flapjacks, delicious little cakes, dried fruit and nut mixes right up to little breadsticks and dips and now popcorn! Yum! If you don't like the look of something, you can 'bin' it or if you can't get enough of something, 'love' it to receive it regularly.

Here's my box for this week :)

I have several free vouchers to give away (UK only I'm afraid!). If you'd like to give Graze a go, email me with your name and address at thoseluckystarsuk@gmail.com and I'll send one on to you :)

Hannah xo

Poladroid

I've just been introduced to an app which will keep my Polaroid cravings to a controllable level until I finally get my hands on the real thing!

It's called Poladroid (see what they did there?) and it is worth downloading for free just for the sound effects!

Here are a few pics I created earlier...

My former flatmate in Barcelona.

I used to have red hair!

Butterflies are cool.

I miss going to so many gigs.

Barcelona is a lovely place :)

Have a go yourself!

Hannah xo

Recipe Box: Cucumber Maki

I love Japanese food and I have always wanted to give it a go myself so when I found a sushi kit, I HAD to try it  :)

So want to know how to make maki? There's a knack to it, that's for sure!

In my kit I received a bamboo rolling mat, 150g dry sushi rice in a bag, two sheets of nori (seaweed sheets) and 30ml rice vinegar. 

First of all you have to prepare the rice. To do this, soak the rice (still inside the bag) in a medium-sized pan of water. Bring it to the boil and simmer on a low heat with the lid on for 11 minutes. After this time, drain the water and return the rice (yep, still inside the bag) to the pan and replace the lid and leave to steam for 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare your filling. I cut strips of cucumber to 1-2cm thickness and to the width of the nori sheet. You can also use carrot, avocado or any number of other fillings! 

Once the rice has cooked, carefully remove the rice from the bag and into a large bowl. Be careful though, the rice will be very hot! Stir in the rice vinegar and leave until the rice is cool enough to handle. Mine was fine after a few minutes. 

Now for the messy part! Roll out your bamboo rolling mat and place a sheet of nori on top. Spoon half of the rice onto the nori, evenly spreading it across the sheet but leaving a gap of about 1 cm at each end so you can seal the roll. 

Then, and take your time over this part, start rolling the mat away from you, bit by bit, shaping the roll as you go. 

Eventually you should end up with something resembling this...

Make sure the end of the nori is pressed into the roll, sealing it by running a little water along the inside edge and pressing into the join with the mat. 

Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make your second roll. Next, put your rolls onto a dry wooden chopping board and with a sharp slightly dampened knife chop them in half. Then take each half and cut it into four pieces. Et voila! Well, practice makes perfect ;)

Hannah xo