Let It Snow...more??

I can't believe I forgot to post these!

Although these may look very festive, they actually still seem quite appropriate considering the weather outside - we have a LOT of snow!!! Apparently temps could dip as low as -21 on Friday. I'm sorry, but did someone move me to Antartica without telling me?!?

Anyhoo, I lost count of how many of these I made over Christmas - the ones with glitter and Gingerbread men, are obviously gingerbread.

And the little red candy canes (seriously, how cute? They actually taste of peppermint too!!!) were either red velvet, or chocolate chip. The little hint of mint from the canes worked nicely with the chocolate, and I dusted a little sparkle on them to make them even more festivey!

I'm actually tempted to make more now...but what if the reason it's still snowing is because I'm still making festive cupcakes?!?!?

Hmm maybe some Pina Colada cupcakes with little umbrellas are in order...

Love,

Colene

xxx

Mission:Cookies!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This is a special blog post for my friends Fiona, Jennifer, Donna, Nicola and Debbie.

First of all - I hope you liked your Christmas presents!!!

I'm now going to tell you what to do with them. Yes, it looks like a jar of bits and bobs at the moment, but soon it will look like this!

Nom Nom Nom!!!! Cooooookies!!!!!

Now before you freak out, these are super duper easy to make.

-Pour all of the ingredients into a bowl.

-Now add one slightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup of butter that has been slightly melted in the microwave, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence.

-Mix it all up. This may seem like hard going, but if you use the back of your wooden spoon to smooosh everything together, I promise it does get easier!!!

- You might want to put on plastic gloves for the next stage as it can get quite messy. Alternatively you can rinse your hands between each cookie. Take a dollop of dough (try to get a bit of everything in it), and roll it into a 1 1/2in ball and place on a baking tray, lined with baking paper.

-Bake for 10 minutes on gas mark 4-5, or 180degrees. They;ll still be soft, but golden when you take them out of the oven - there meant to be like this, as they harden slightly as they cool, making yummy chewy cookies with little chocolate pockets - drool...

-This is the difficult bit - leave to cool. (Or eat them warm from the oven if you're a glutton like me!)

Incase you're wondering what's in the jar, here's a list of the ingredients -

Plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cooking oats, m&ms, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, brown sugar and white sugar.

I hope you enjoy making, and demolishing these!

Love,

Colene

xxx

Thank You Nigella!

I HAD to make these when I saw them on Nigella's Christmas program last week.

Anything miniature ay?

So incase you have loads of left over Christmas pudding, I thought I'd post how I made mine. They're really simple to make, and scrumdiddlyumptious!

You will need -

400grams of cooked and cooled Christmas pudding


275grams of milk chocolate


A splash of alcohol of your choice (optional)


Two tablespoons of golden syrup


150grams of white chocolate


Holly and berry sprinkles, or dried fruit





-So first things first, crumble up your pudding.

-Next, melt the chocolate and add it to the cake. Ugh how good is melted chocolate - yuuuuummmmm...

- Now add two tablespoons of golden syrup. Also add your alcohol now if you want to make these adult truffles. (Brandy is ideal, I used Cointreau and it was yummy)

- Now mash it all together. It's a sticky, chocolatey job, but someone's got to do it. It's tempting to stick your whole face in the bowl at this point, but try to refrain.

- You'll need some rubber gloves for the next stage, or be prepared to rinse your hands between each truffle. I used a melon baller to get equal sized truffles, but you can just use a teaspoon. Take out a small amount of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Yes, I know. It looks like reindeer poop. Festive ay?

-I like to chill them at this stage to allow the chocolate to stiffen up. I usually stick them in the fridge for about half an hour, until their firmer yet still sticky to touch. While they're in the fridge, melt your white chocolate. Again, try not to eat it all (I can vouch that this bit is very difficult).

-Take the truffles out of the fridge and spoon a little chocolate onto each. You could dip them, but I think it looks too neat, and having some dripping down the side looks more authentic.

-Decorate as you wish. I used berry and holly sprinkles, but I realise you're not all as sad as I am.

-Enjoy!

Love,

Colene
xxx

Things I Like Thursday December 24th 2009

Eeeeeee! It's Christmas Eve! Tres exciting!!!

Today I am having my own traditional Christmas Eve - i.e baking ALL day! Yay! Fun times! Coco a, Mika and I stick on the telly for some film-goodness, apron-up and spend the entire day making treats for friends and family.

So while I'm doing that - this is what else I've been enjoying this week!

-This Christmas card rocks my cupcake-loving world.

-Fajita night! It's like a tradition in our house. I'm a bit OCDish about my fajita construction and folding - see below. Fillings in order are - sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, chicken mix then cheese. The complete some origami style folding so none falls out!

Mmmm.

-Festive nails - White + silver glitter = faboosh nails!

-Getting my dream dress! I'm SOOOO happy! I've wanted this dress for a while now - it was one of those walk into the shop moments and - BOOM there is the dress that won't leave your mind until you get it. And luckily I got mine for 40% off! Thanks Donna!

-That you can cycle naked in New Zealand, as long as you wear a helmet! Haha! Only in NZ!

-Yoga Cats! I can't believe some people have complained that the cats look 'unnatural' in the comments section! Come on!!!!

-Speaking of which - this is one of my favourite photos of Coco - wot-choo-lookin-at????

-Setting up the Sky+ box to record some films while we're away at Christmas - Shrek 2, Happy Feet and The Incredibles all feature, as well as the BEST CHRISTMAS FILM EVER - Santa Claus: The Movie - so much 80s child goodness!!!



-Hearing Last Christmas by Wham while walking through a couple feet of snow to work - definitely cheered me up! Also seeing a man with a reindeer hat on!

- A conversation with the Kiwi where we were discussing different names for Santa, and he said 'Dr Nick'. Dr Nick is coming to town!!!! Haha!

-Wearing ridonkulous red fluffy, jingly earrings to work!

- Making these Bite-sized Christmas puddings (inspired by Nigella). This is obviously a rubbish picture (damn iPhone). I'll be making a HEAP more of these today though so will post how to make them later - great for using up left over Christmas Pud!

I'm hoping it doesn't get too much colder today, as if it does there's a chance I won't get out to my folks' house for Christmas Day!!! DISASTER!

If it does though, I think I'll take note from Coco and Mika ( who loved their presents from their neighbours Coco and Milly), and snuggle up and hibernate for a while!

Merry Christmas everyone!

P.S - if you received a heavy, jar-shaped present from me - come back tomorrow for instructions on what to do with it. Oooooh cryptic...!!!

Things I Like Thursday 17/12/2009

Ok, ok. The eagle-eyed of you will notice that there was no TilT last week. Don't get me wrong- there were plenty of things I liked last week - I just didn't have time to like them!!!



So I present, a slightly overdue but bursting with goodness TILT!

- Yes, I know I've posted about it before but it was A M A ZING! Part of me had always wished I was a little girl in 1939 when the Wizard of Oz was first released - how amazing would it have been witnessing the change from black and white to Technicolour for the first time? Anyhoo I had the BEST time watching it in the cinema! There was the sweetest little girl across the aisle from us who kept giggling at the Lion -normally this would annoy me but she had the cutest chuckle! What was also fun was that I took a WOOz virgin with me (don't get me started - how can you get to 22 without seeing it?!?!?) - and she loved it too!!!

-My Christmas night out! We had a fairly low key night, but the company was fantastic. I also found this throne which I think I should drag into work to sit at my desk on, oui?

-French Bulldogs. Do I need an explanation? They're so ugly that they're cute and they have so much attitude on their mug.

This ad was the paper this week and I had to remind the Kiwi that a) I don't have £850 to spend on a dog and b) Coco would hate us forever

-Crazy nails! I used to be really into nail art (sheep in a field? Union Jack? My name??), but haven't had the time or patience to do anything wacky recently. These started off as candy cane stripes, but I was tired and had a shaky hand, so they were changed to polka dots. Not sure if they're cute or too much like measles.

-How awesome is my mum for making me this? She's a dab hand on the computer, but leave her alone with it for a while and it can be dangerous. Thankfully this time she focussed her efforts into making me a 'guilty pleasures' list featuring some of my favourite rugby players. Bless. It now takes pride of place on my desk at work.

-I stupidly, and lazily, left my fleecy hoody in the living room last week. I only got it back yesterday. You see, Mika hijacked it. For just about 24 hours a day, he has been attached to it. To be fair, if I was a pyuss, I'd like a fleece covered cushion too. I love the fact he's hogging all the remotes in this pic too!

-Hic, drool, blabja;lhfuioa;hfj;. I'm sorry, let me regain my composure. Seriously, how perrrrrffffeeeccccttttt are these shoes??? Red? Sparkly? Bow? heel? Non slutty despite all of the above? I WANT, no, MUST OWN these shoes. Size 6 1/2, 7 thank very much.

-Coco is very much like me in the mornings - she will do ANYTHING to avoid having to actually get up. Usually when I get up she follows me around, rubs herself against my hairbrush, chews my blusher brush and gives herself a moustache with my eyebrow pencil. But one morning this week there was no sign of her. I looked around and saw this. Touche Coco. I feel like burying my head back under the duvet most mornings too.

- This is EXACTLY my sense of humour. Snort.

-Three day weeks - wooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

-Christmas anticipation. My mum has bought us all novelty gifts and so far all I know is that one of my grandparents is going to be the lucky recipient of a set of nipple tassles. Hmmm.

-Sending away the Kiwi's visa. Ok so that's one bit of worrying by. Now all I need to do is worry until we hear back! ARGH!

-Hearing that my granny doesn't have to have a HUUUUUUGE operation. SMILE!

-Eating Christmassy food before Christmas - see pate, olive mixes, antipasti meats, crackers and cheese etc

-Drinking non-alcoholic wine the night after a night on the booze - you feel hardcore, but wake up fresh as a daisy - bonus!

-SHORTER hair. Oh dear. From the haircut-phobic person I was, I've become a daredevil in the hairdressers seat. i.e I got another couple of inches off. Big news for me, but probably a normal visit for everyone else.

Right, come on. Spill the beans! What have you been up to this week?

Love,

Colene

xxx

Ginger Goodness, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow

So I've been a bit quiet on here lately, and it's mainly because a) things have been a bit hectic, and b)I've been thinking of some fun Christmas Recipes.

But in the meantime, let me show you what I've been up to in my kitchen recently.

I had two 'Mum Birthday' orders from school friends - one for 6 and one for 12. Both asked for something special, and both wanted something with ginger - nice and Christmassy.

I decided to do a classier spin on my standard gingerbread cake, so these have a golden syrup centre, with white chocolate icing, and chocolate accoutriments.

Both had very positive feedback, and I'd like to say thanks to orderers (especially Natalie who placed her order from Laaandaaan Taaaan!)

Also it was my boss's last week at work, as she's off to have her first sprog, so I thought I'd do something fun for that.

I've been waiting for AGES to try these out and they were just as amazing as I thought they would be.

Ladies and gentlemen - RAINBOW CAKES!!!

How cool is that?!?!? I love how you can see all the layers and they didn't blend! These were simple vanilla sponges, topped with fondant, a cherry and edible glitter. I wanted to something more amazing on top but I was short on time. Also, I can't believe I only took these two awful pics of them!!! Rubbbbbbish!

Anyhoo, more baking is planned this week will keep you posted...

Dear Santa...

At the moment, my work life includes creating Gift Guides for the newspaper, creating lists for her, for him, for teens etc.

What I can't get over is how unappealing and unimaginative I'm finding the kids toys that are out now! Seriously, kids need no imagination or creativity to play with these toys, and that seriously depresses me! What happened to all the cool toys at the back of the Argos catalogue that you'd circle months in advance?

So, instead of my normal Christmas list, I'm going to write my 1992 Christmas list - the things I wanted when I was 7. I'm sure you'll agree, these are waaaaaay cooler than some of the over marketed pants you get today!





1) Always at the top of ANY present wishlist - Sylvanian Families. You have no idea how much I wish I could go back into our loft (my dad put down flooring and made it into a toyroom/den for me) and play for hours with these. If you don't know what Sylvanian Families are (Where were you in the late 80s/early 90s??), they are small woodland creatures, which come in families and have a whole world of their own. I got my first Sylvanian family (The Evergreens) from my Granny and Grandad's friends and it started an obsession. My friend Jacqueline (Hi Jacqueline!) and I would hoard these inch-tall figures, and spend hours creating villages, houses, shops - anything we could think of. We cracked up laughing the day our hedgehog lost his 'hair', and ended up looking like a mole, and even my cat Squeak would come up and watch proceedings from a toy box. The best year was the year Jacqueline and I both got the Sylvanian Families Canal Boat (along with the Otter family, The Vandykes). That boat is still under my bed in my room at my parent's house, and still I get to play with it when my mum's friend's daughter Alix comes to play! (Yay!) Unfortunately even Sylvanian Families have fallen victim to modern times, with non-woodland characters added (penguins?)




2) Goosebumps, Secret Seven, Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High and Guinness World Record Books. No Christmas stocking would have been complete without one of the above. Goosebumps were amazing books that both girls and boys read at my school because they were terrifying! Some of my favs were Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, Say Cheese and Die—Again! and The Horror at Camp Jellyjam. I think the best book I ever got for Christmas was a Give Yourself Goosebumps - a standard book where at the bottom of each page you made a decision that decided how the story turned out! AWESOME! And it came with a clip on reading light - BEAT THAT HARRY POTTER!!! *

*Sorry Harry, I love you really

3) A Doll's Head - Sounds creepy, huh? What I mean is a giant dolls head that you could make over! These were ace! You could do their hair ( I think I learned to plait hair on one), 'draw' the weird plasticy make-up on with out getting messy - it was brilliant. In fact, I think my mum bought me one after I raided her make up and got it all over my friend, myself and my bedroom carpet... At least this way, little girls could play with make-up without going to school looking like transvestites or dolled up like Amy Winehouse, aged 10.







4) Playmobil - Clip on hair? Brilliant! This doesn't really count as you can still get Playmobil, but I remember it being a lot more popular when I was small. When I was 6/7 I was in hospital quite a bit with renal reflux (knackered tubes to my bladder and kidneys), and I can vividly remember getting a Playmobil set with a surgeons table, a drip, a theatre light and doctors - it was great! It came with clip on bandages, and I remember thinking hospital didn't look too bad!




5)My Little Pony, Cupcake Dolls (!) and other weird smelling plastic toys - Cupcake dolls are probably the exception to this - they smelt awesome (for the first month anyway). Turn the doll's skirt upwards and she turned into a sweet smelling cake! My Little Pony needs no explanation, although I think they've been modernised too (boo).






6) Popples - Popples were soft, cuddly teddys/marsupials(?) which rolled up into themselves, and formed a ball. Apparently they were made by the same people who designed Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears,and the idea came from rolling up socks. Whatever, they were super cute and could be used as a pillow in the car! I also had a Wuzzle, but my Popple was a favourite.






7) Cabbage Patch Kids - Not sure if these were genuinely popular in the UK, or if Jacqueline and I were just really lucky. These (butt-ugly) dolls came with their own birth certificate, and mine, bought on holiday in Florida was called Dorothy Molly. She was a redhead, and came wearing a bikini and sunglasses and get this - she TANNED! I still don't know how that worked! Dorothy featured in a series of holiday snaps for years! P.S Anyone else find the fact they had a tattoo on their arse weird?)



8) Sindy - I don't care what anyone says, Sindy will always rule over Barbie in my heart. I inherited some of my mum's Sindys (and a Patch doll) as well as some amazing 70s furniture. Over the years I added to my collection - the Dreamhouse (with a poster of Paul), a make-up counter, a Beach Jeep and a remote controlled scooter. Most importantly - I NEVER CUT MY DOLLS' HAIR!!! This was sacrilige in my book!

Also on my list - Teddy Ruxpin (always wanted one), Trolls (I remember having one whose eyes flashed. Very 90s rave), Pogo Balls (pogo sticks, without the stick), He-Man toys and videos of The Gummi Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tailspin, Ducktales and Maid Marian (so good!). Ooh and also, if anyone can get me on Funhouse, Finders Keepers or Art Attack, I'd love you forever.

Love,

Colene

xxx