Recipe: Macaroni Cheese

My favourite food in the world is Macaroni Cheese. Unfortunately it's probably the unhealthiest and I'm yet to find a recipe that tastes as good as the proper version. This is how I make mine for the days when I'm feeling particularly rubbish.

Sheffield: The Wick at Both Ends

Catch ups with my flatmate from last year seems to always revolve around food! Next on our hit list was The Wick at Both Ends, found tucked between the student bars on West Street.

First up were cocktails, of course!

Home: Uni Room Decoration

I spent most of my 1st year with bare walls in my university accommodation as I really  didn't feel like I'd settled in. However, this is probably one of the most important parts to making it feel like you live there most of the year. So this year, when we moved into our house (which by the way is so much nicer than halls) I decided to get decorating straight away.

My most recent decor change was to the bright blue pin board - I bought some fabric from eBay and covered the pin board and now it looks so much better! I thought i'd make a display of my necklaces as I have nowhere to store them.

Product Rave: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick

This is my favourite lipstick/lipgloss hybrid of the moment. I always receive compliments on my lipstick when I wear it so they must be doing something right. I spent a long time deliberating which colour to get so it's only natural that I'll go pick up the rest of the colours some time soon but I decided to go for Ole Flamingo! Maybe because I quite liked the name...

Sheffield: The Common Room

Pre-Bestival and Post-Birthday I headed up to Sheffield to check out my new student house and try and make it more homely. I also met up with one of my old flatmates, Zoe. It has become a tradition that when we meet up, we go for food so sticking with tradition we headed to somewhere we hadn't ventured before. The Common Room on Division Street describes itself as a 'unique and edgy American sports, pool bar and diner serving renowned pit grill bbq'.

Lifestyle: Bestival 2014

It's been a month since Bestival and I'm still missing the almost 24 hour music. It was my first festival and hopefully won't be my last. I spent ages trying to work out what to bring and I think I did well as I didn't need anything else and I used everything I took. The weather was on our side though so maybe I wouldn't be so positive if it was chucking it down.
Here are some of my favourite pictures from the weekend, apologies for the quality as I was too scared to take my good camera...

Lifestyle: Birthday Meal at Purnell's Bistro

After a night of many cocktails with my friends the night before my birthday, my actual birthday was a relaxed affair.. again because it was on the bank holiday. There was cake obviously, something I wish was on The Great British Bake Off as my mum's imagination ran wild by mixing my two favourite things, Bake Off and Doctor Who.

Lifestyle: 19th Birthday Cocktails

Hello! Long time no see - my excuses include laziness, going to Bestival in the Isle of Wight & lack of internet in our new student house, BT are not in my good books right now. I'm currently at home writing up a few blogposts so I can make a comeback in the blogging world.

Recipe: Gin and Lime Truffles

Brace yourselves, you're in for a treat. My hosts for while I'm on work experience have allowed me into their kitchen to bake up some sweet treats, including honeycomb, creme and brûlée and these.

After watching Sweets Made Simple on Friday Night we set out to get the ingredients for the gin and lime truffles the next day - doubling the recipe naturally. And simple it is indeed.

Travel: The Tower, Aylsham

Let me just set the scene. A few weeks ago I was bed-ridden with tonsillitis (hence the lack of posts) and dad asked me whether I fancied a little break in Norfolk the following weekend before my work experience began in London. Obviously I said yes, hoping and praying my tonsillitis would be gone by this point.

Recipe: Butterfly Cupcakes

The simplest of recipes and one that brings a massive dose of nostalgia as I think the last time I made these I was very young. I made them for my friend's little sisters and they went down a treat.

London's Calling: Theatre and Jackson + Rye

After finding some cheap tickets for the National Theatre production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, mum and I decided that was a good enough excuse for his to take a little trip down to London.
I didn't realise how hot it was actually going to be, blimey, I was glad to be moving from one air conditioned place to the next.
Once we'd collected our tickets from the box office we originally set off in search of The Breakfast Club but on the way I saw Jackson & Rye which I believe somebody had recommended to me so I decided we should go there instead. Rightly so, the inside was nicely laid out with the bar area at the forefront so you could see them making the cocktails, something we didn't end up trying.

Beauty: The Glamour Beauty Edit Box

I saw this pop up on a few blogs and thought it was about time I treated myself to some new beauty products. I used to be subscribed to Glossybox but as beauty boxes are pretty hit and miss I didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth.
This time I was extremely satisfied that the £16.95 I'd paid for this was completely worth with a couple of products I was going to purchase myself anyway.

Travel: Glastonbury Tor and Abbey

On the way back from Exeter, Dad decided we'd stop in Glastonbury and climb a really steep hill in 25 degree heat... thanks Dad!
Joking aside it was actually a really nice day and the view was incredible. It's also probably not as steep in reflection but the heat was intense.

Beauty: Current Haircare Favourites #1

Shampoo and Conditioner is something I tend to mix up on a regular basis but there are a few extras that I really think make a difference to my hair when I use them. I have quite dry and damaged hair from using the straighteners too much years ago. It's slowly beginning to improve with time and I owe some of that to these few products.

Lifestyle: A Graduation in Exeter

Nope it's not mine just yet! Last week saw me and the parents take a long drive to Exeter to see my brother, Jim for his graduation. We travelled down on the Sunday stopping for a walk and a cream tea around the River Teign and Castle Drogo.

Turtle Bay, Birmingham

I can't say I know a whole lot about Caribbean food but once I saw my friend Em recommend it over on her blog, here, it wasn't just the 2-4-1 cocktails that were tempting. So when my lovely flatmate came down 'south' to visit, I took her to Cadbury World for her birthday (apparently a 22 year old's dream) and after eating far too much chocolate we decided we could actually fit some real food in.

The atmosphere in Turtle Bay is so chilled and we headed straight to the bar to order some cocktails. Deciding was extremely difficult so I left it to Jade, we either had the Strawberry Daiquiri or Raspberry Reggae, either way it was so tasty!

Travel: A Rainy Trip to York

I've now moved out of my university halls *sad face* (half my stuff is still there as it wouldn't fit in the car) and i'm trying to manoeuvre around all the junk I've collected in my bedroom at home! But let's take a little trip down memory lane when me and 2 friends ventured to York a couple of weeks ago.
It didn't start well with the whole hour drive there in torrential rain but thankfully it calmed down once we arrived!
We didn't have very long as some of us had a bit of a lie in - oops. We wandered round the shops, Topshop was conveniently located by the Merchant Adventurers' Hall and being with two architects there were lots of ooo's and aah's even though they've been before.

Lifestyle: A Week of Freedom

So it's officially been a week since I finished exams and have clearly been just as bad as blogging (if not worse!) as I was during the exam period! I thought I'd do a quick catch up post to let you know what life's like without exams and constant revision - food and drinks mainly.

First up was a trip to Bungalows and Bears with Zoe for post-exam 2-4-1 burgers and desserts. I'm gutted they've changed their menu slightly, why have the chips changed - still delicious but not the same!
This was followed by meeting up with Zoe's coursemates at Vodka Revs and The Bowery for celebratory drinks and more drinks...

Recipe: Raspberry Cupcakes

Revision for exams is still relentless, thankfully it will be over in a week's time. Unthankfully this means 1st year will officially be over *sob*. All this revision has led to a whole lot of baking and as I'm at home at the moment it's made baking a lot easier. First up on the agenda was a simple Victoria Sponge which, not to blow my own trumpet, was pretty darn good.
On Saturday, I decided to make what I could with the dwindling baking supplies (thankfully they have now been restocked!). I went for Raspberry Cupcakes from this recipe here.

Recipe: Double Chocolate Cookie Time

These are my favourite cookies of all time and I'm currently contemplating whether to make some more...

I can't take any credit for this recipe as I followed Anna's recipe (here). I'm still wondering why mine never look like hers but they taste incredible. (I blame our uni oven that doesn't have a correct temperature gauge - argh! I also think I put too much milk in but it's all good - nobody complained) 

A Bank Holiday Weekend Part 2 ft. Hardwick Hall and The Peaks

Sunday and Monday of my Bank Holiday Weekend included the most amount of National Trust properties I've been to in the past 3 years. We used to go to loads when we were younger but then I decided it wasn't 'cool' in my teenage years. I'm now really interested in them (am I getting old?) and the weather was pretty good too which always makes it better.

We started at the Workhouse in Southwell where my dad did try and leave me behind as part of infirm residents (ha ha he's a comedian.) It was really interesting especially as I'm currently studying a module about the Welfare State so it felt like a mini field trip. I would recommend the audio guide as the rooms don't really have much in them and it gave a good insight into what it was like (pretty horrible if you ask me - but supposedly better than other workhouses).

A Bank Holiday Weekend Part 1: McBusted

Sorry it's been a bit quiet on the blogging front, I feel like I've not stayed in one place for long enough to sit down and write something this past week!
I came back to Sheffield last Sunday but was already on my way back to the Midlands on Wednesday having handed in my essay and missing my double bed far too much.

Sheffield: Mud Crab Diner

This restaurant has been on my list to go to ever since I walked past it in Freshers Week. I finally got to go this week with my flatmates, Zoe and Rachel. The inside is nice and the menu looked quite promising - see here. The water comes in a Jack Daniels bottle.

Recipe: Healthy Pancakes

Whilst I was at home I decided to test out a few recipes. It's still pancake day in my house and I think I've perfected my pancake recipe and possibly made them healthy? These are really versatile as you can serve them with whatever topping you fancy. They are like a hybrid of american pancakes and crepes, thin but fluffy.

The Happiness Diaries #6

So I'm finally back up north and guess what, it's warmer than the midlands! Who knew? So I'm back to juggling lectures, essay writing and revision tomorrow and all the Easter eggs have gone. *sad face* Never fear as I'm back to the midlands on Thursday as I'm seeing McBusted on Saturday! I can't wait!

1. 5 hour catch ups. This probably proves I shouldn't leave massive gaps between seeing people because then we wouldn't have way too much to talk about.

Fashion: Hey, I got my new shoes on

On a recent shopping trip when I wasn't intending to buy anything I bought 3 pairs of shoes. Now if anyone knows me well they'll know, I NEVER BUY SHOES. I hate shoe shopping with a passion, it usually involves trying to work out whether a pair fits whilst the two shoes are attached with a minuscule bit of elastic meaning you can't walk properly. Rant over, on to the shoes...

Bargainous boots I'd been eyeing up in H&M reduced to an incredible £7. Similar: here

Lifestyle: Wahaca, Covent Garden

I'm slowly getting through my list of restaurants that I want to go to in London. After amazing burgers at Honest last week, next up was Wahaca.
Set up by the winner of Masterchef in 2007, Wahaca is restaurant serving Mexican street food and boy is it good. It's all made fresh and includes avocados so a massive thumbs up already!

Thankfully there was no wait for food as my stomach was rumbling after watching Once, the musical. The lovely waitress showed us what the menu was all about and left us to decide...

The Happiness Diaries #5

First of all, Happy Easter!! I hope you've all eaten your body weight in chocolate today! This week once again has flown by and with a bizarre turn of events I seem to have taken up running with one of my friends and am now in need of new running shoes - recommendations welcome? I also had my first cream tea of the year - these two things probably don't go well together..

What else?

1. Ben's Cookies. I mentioned these earlier in the week but I went back again. I'm so glad I don't have one near me as nothing could stop me going everyday!

Lifestyle: Springtime in London

After a bright and early start last Thursday, I met one of my coursemates, Beth, on the train on route to London. It's so strange that we go to a university 100 miles away but only live 10 minutes away from each other at home, it's a small world!

Anyway, after a 2 hour journey we arrived in the big city which was surprisingly warm! Instead of taking the tube to meet our other friends in Camden we walked via Regent's Park.

Recipe: Creme Egg Brownies

I made these at uni with my flatmate but there are already plans to make these again this week with my home friends.

Lifestyle: The Happiness Diaries #4

This week has been so much fun.

1. A fab trip to London to see some of the uni lot. Honest Burgers and Ben's Cookies, oh my word the best food ever.

Beauty: Beauty Wants #1

1. Dr Bronner's Organic Peppermint Castile Liquid Soap. I've heard so many good things about this for cleaning makeup brushes so once I've ran out of baby shampoo I think this will be my next purchase.

Recipe: Chocolate Fudge Cake

For my brother's 21st on Sunday I made a winner of a cake already approved by my flatmates at uni! The balance of icing and cake is just right (well I think so anyway) and everyone said they enjoyed it. I can't guarantee this is particularly good for you though...

Lifestyle: A 21st Birthday

Time is flying by. My big brother has now reached the grand old age of 21! Celebrations were small but really nice on his actual birthday (Sunday) although he's off to Amsterdam next week which I'm sure will be very different and lots of fun.

The day started very late as the birthday boy had been at the pub the night before. I arranged all the presents downstairs wrapped in Thomas the tank engine wrapping paper obviously!! I also made some bunting a couple of weeks ago which I was going to stick his name on but I thought they looked great without. The big box is a Nespresso coffee machine because every student needs coffee and as he's nearly graduating he can upgrade his coffee from Sainsbury's basics right...

Lifestyle: The Happiness Diaries #3

This week has been a whirlwind. The beginning of the week consisted of presentation panic and then celebrating the fact it was over. On Wednesday I went to the varsity ice hockey match which marked the end of Sheffield Varsity 2014. The ice hockey was a lot of fun to watch and although Uni of lost, we won the Varsity overall so it's not all bad! After a night out after the game it was back to the Midlands for three weeks.
So far I've managed to catch up with so many of my home friends and I can't wait to see the rest of them in the week coming. It was also my big brother's birthday today so a huge happy birthday to him!

Beauty: Handbag essentials

I can't say I carry around many beauty items with me during the day, usually because I'm in so much of a rush in the morning. Two things I always keep to hand (ha, geddit) are from Soap & Glory.

Sheffield: Fancie, Ecclesall Road

It was a long, stressful week last week with the impending presentation for me and placement for my flatmate Rachel. Not only was Rachel going on placement but also leaving us for a month which meant a visit to Fancie was in order.

Having only briefly walked past in the first week of university, it had been on my list of places to visit. Rachel, of course, being the social butterfly that she is had been before.

After much deliberation over the cake menu. We decided to split a Chocolate Truffle and Banana & Sticky Toffee as we couldn't decide and hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows (obviously).

Lifestyle: The Happiness Diaries #2

This week has involved handing in an essay, working on our group presentation, baking a lot of cake (obviously) but all in all just getting a little bit stressed out. Thankfully I've been able to chill out a bit this weekend with food from The Forum on Saturday (see above) and a night out but I'm pretty excited to go home on Thursday.

Recipe: Banana and Nutella Muffins

I made these little beauties for my friend's charity cake sale - she will be hitchhiking to Croatia in a couple of weeks all in the aid of charity! I thought I'd help her out in the way I know best - baking!
Banana and Nutella are a match made in heaven, perfect on pancakes. I thought i'd try them out in cake form. This recipe calls for those really ripe bananas, the ones going brown and mushy on the windowsill.

Recipe: Red Lentil Ragù

This meal is perfect for those on a budget, using my measurements it makes around 4-5 portions which I've put in the freezer for a later date. All you have to do is defrost in the microwave. Quick, easy and pretty healthy too!

Lifestyle: The Happiness Diaries #1

I will openly admit that I am a very negative person so I thought a regular post about things that have made me happy in the past week will allow me to ignore those negative thoughts and appreciate the little things. The photo above was taken on a walk with my parents on Saturday, I don't think this particular sheep was happy with being my model.

Recipe: White Chocolate and Raspberry Baked Cheesecake

Hello,
For my first blogpost I thought I should start as I mean to go on with a scrummy recipe for cheesecake!
This used to be my favourite dessert to make when I was younger and definitely sparked my love for baking. I've not made one in a long time and previous escapades involved cheesecakes set in the fridge so I thought I'd try my first ever baked cheesecake.