Tuesday 18 December 2012

DIY Christmas | chocolate orange truffles.

I'm starting a new series of blog posts called 'DIY Christmas'. I'm a bit late time be talking about Christmas gifts & decorations but this is my first year doing this kind of thing so I'm just documenting the things that I've enjoyed making, ready for people to get ideas for next year! (Can't believe I just spoke about NEXT Christmas when it's only 18th December!)

This first post is about chocolate orange truffles and how to make them. I stumbled across this recipe online and as a sucker for anything chocolate-orange, I had to try making them. The end product was great and I though what a great Christmas gift these would make! We all know what it's like;  the major festive stress of who to buy gifts for. My family is huge and I physically could not afford to buy for everyone. However, I can afford to make them truffles! I'm making these for aunties, cousins, uncles, friends and anyone else who enjoys a sweet treat!

My plan is to make each person a little gift bag decorated with a luggage label with their name on, some ribbon and inside, four delicious truffles of two diffrrent flavours flavours.

To make about 30 chocolate orange truffles, you will need:

200g milk chocolate
1 large orange
100ml double cream

and that is it!

method:
melt the chocolate & cream together either in a bowl above (but not touching) simmering water or in short bursts in the microwave.

whilst this is melting, zest and juice an orange and pop contents into a small saucepan. bring to the boil, simmer until the sauce reduces to about a tablespoons worth.

Add the two liquids together and simply put into a container, making sure the mixture is at least 3cm deep. Pop into the fridge and leave to cool for 2-3 hours.

Once the truffle mixture has hardened slightly, use a melon baller or teaspoon to roll a small ball, shape in your hands and roll into a bowl of icing sugar. DONE!

You can decorate these however you like. I use eBay for all my crafty things ans have bought little cases for them which worked out super cheap. And the cellophane bags are from eBay too. Perfect for Christmas.

Cornish Beauty.

chocolate & banana muffins.

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe but can be altered.  Its really yummy, uses up fruit and is so quick and easy.

I don't even like bananas but love these so they must be good!

To make 12 of these muffins you will need:
3 ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 medium eggs
225g plain flour
100g soft light brown sugar
45ml cocoa powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

First, preheat your oven to 200ºc/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases.

Next, mash through bananas in a bowl and whilst still mashing, assumed the oil, eggs & sugar.

Sift altogether, the flour, bicarbonate & cocoa powder into through banana mixture and mix together gently.

Equally spoon the mixture into the cases and pop into the middle of the oven

Within a few minutes your house will be filled with a delightful scent and within 15-20 minutes your muffins will be ready!

Leave in the tray to cool a little before putting the muffins onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Cornish Beauty.

stop smoking | update #8

Today is 18th December & im pretty upset! The most useful tool in my stop smoking journey has been my NHS smokefree iPhone app. BUT my iPhone went to Apple heaven last week & I lost all my apps eek! Not impressed at all and I had to grab the cheapest contract phone quickly so I ended up with the Samsung Galaxy S3. It's okay but jee whizz I miss my iPhone!

But anyway! My point is that I lost my smokefree app which sucks as I used it so much. So, I have no idea how much money I've saved or how long exactly I've given up for. But I do know one thing: it's DAY 74!!!

Do you know what this means?! Over Christmas I would have given up for over 80 days. I'm incredibly happy with this!

Things are great in this department. Cravings are a minimum although don't be disillusioned; I DO still get them! My chest is feeling heaps better-not tight at all and I'm feeling fresher than ever!
So it's all good. I'm going to end this post here as there is not much to say other than I'm still a non-smoker ;)

I've got loads of health related plans for the new year!

Cornish Beauty.

Monday 10 December 2012

one wish.

I've been having a SHIT few days and feeling rather miserable today. The older I get the more I notice how much people differ, but also how much I'm changing as a person. My opinions are getting stronger, I'm becoming more resilient but also the stakes are higher. This may sound vague but what I mean by saying the stakes are higher is that everything comes more important and there is more to loose. Emotions are more vivid and thoughts can be toxic if you're dying for something. But no-one can change the situation. If there even is a situation. When do you make yourself not be heartbroken and just forget and carry on. This sounds pathetic and really strange, I know but things have got to change, please? I'll do anything. Cornish Beauty

Sunday 9 December 2012

a Cornish Christmas.

Well, well, well. Against all belief, it is infact time to 'deck the halls with bells of holly'. I honestly can't believe it (sure I say this every year!) Is this time again! Sunday 9th December 2012, and the day we shall turn our home into Santa's grotto. We are pretty low-key Christmas people, especially when it comes to the decorations. But what we do have, I just love. We bought everything together when we moved into our first house and nor really changed much! First things first: I HATE coloured lights. Yellow/white all the way. Colours are just too tacky! Our tree is a 6ft (fake) slim line tree which is perfect for us, beautifully understated. With only gold/silver/cream/wood items hung from it. Most of the items are hand-made in Cornwall. We have some baulbals and instead of tinsel we prefer beads. Finally, we have beautiful gifts of tree decorations which makes it even more specular.

Other festive touches include 2x stockings,  hung on the fireplace of course.
Garland along our wooden beams & on the fireplace -a new addition this year courtesy of my mother-in-law :)

And another favourite is my home-made festive oranges! Large oranges stabbed with lots of whole clothes hung with a beautiful Christmas ribbon!

Our house looks so festive now, and this is our first Christmas in our cottage, which incidentally is made for this time of year! Starting to get excited for father Christmas coming now!

Cornish Beauty.

Saturday 8 December 2012

cornwall | lunch in Charlestown.

This Saturday saw me working a delightful shift of 26 hours (lovely) but luckily it was a pleasurable 26 hours and apart from the fact I was at work, it wasn't all that bad!

I was lucky enough to go to a near-by seaside town for lunch in one of my favourite restaurants. Wreckers is an understated independent restaurant in the village of Charlestown set back from the sea by about 50 yards with the most beautiful view. Charlestown is famous for the Tall Ships, real life 'pirate ships' I call them!!

Wreckers menu is simple but delicious and I was spoilt with the dough balls & balsamic vinegar dipping oil/mozzarella, pinenuts, sun ripened tomatoes & guacamole salad/home-made bakewell slice. Seriously good! I was pretty stuffed but completely satisfied after this feast and along with a drink this meal was a bargain at under £16!!!

Finished off with a Costa hot chocolate and a walk along a beach, today was a good (work) day.

Cornish Beauty.

PS sorry about the side-ways photos. I've got a new phone & have not figured this out yet!

Wednesday 28 November 2012

apology.

I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog but, just incase someone does, I feel there is an apology to be made.

This blog was never meant to be a super duper designed, beautiful blog, just a place to look at beauty products and for me to talk about thing important to me. But I've broken my camera recently and you may have noticed that all my posts are now a block of writing then a load of photos at the bottom. Because I'm blogging from my phone at the moment this is the only way I can do it! Sorry! I know it's rubbish not to have a bit of variety in the layout of the blog but hey ho!

Please bare with me until I sort my camera out and please remember that although it might not be as pretty to look at-the content is still the same!

Cornish Beauty.

november floods.

If you've seen the national news over the past few days, you might have caught sight of the horrendous weather we've been having in the South-West. Many towns have been flooded and thousands of people have had to leave their homes as their houses and possessions get ruined by the rain. It's just so heart breaking and my heart goes out to all those affected. Thankfully, myself and my family have been lucky and have missed the floods but I've experienced the torrential rain and it is not funny. I've never been scared driving in the rain. And I'm usually a confident driver but the past few days have petrified me.

I'm glad to say that we're now in the other side of this freak weather and Cornwall is starting to dry up. Today, actually (Wednesday 27th November 2012) is beautiful. My favourite kind of weather; crispy cold but blue skies-perfect! Makes me love autumn & winter even more!

I'm currently sat in one of my favourite pubs, relaxing by the fire. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and I'm making the most of the quiet after a hectic and stressful week, not just because of the weather.

Mmmmmm all warm and cosy trying my hardest to get in the festive mood!

Cornish Beauty.





handbag porn.

Before heading to Kingston at the beginning of November, I was frantically google-ing the town to see what shops I might find there. Living in Cornwall, it's incredibly exciting going to a big city as you find so many shops & brands that you've never seen in the flesh before!
I was ecstatic to see that Kingston town plays home to a Jo Malone & Cath Kidston shop. Two places I have only dreamed of visiting so far and only seen on a computer screen. Chris was far from amused to find out that I had figured out we are going to a town with these shops, as was his bank account ;)

I literally squealed with excitement when I saw the Cath Kidston shop. I'm constantly on the website lusting after half the stock. But what I've always wanted is a bag. I made a bee-line for this bag as soon as I stepped into the heavenly shop. I went with the Trailing Floral Day Bag at £48. (Ouch!) what's better is my lovely man offered to pay for me! Eeeeek the best birthday present ever!

It's a gorgeous bag, ideal size for day-to-day items. I carry; kindle, large purse, diary, lipsticks, hand creams and loads of other bits around all the time and there is ample space for more. The general design of the day bag is one large rectangular compartment, with one inner zip. On either side of the bag are small popper pockets, suitable for lippies or phone. There are two short handles, ideal for carrying this beauty in the crook of your elbow, which is very comfy, and looks rather elegant. The bag is made of the CK classic oilcloth which is so durable and hard wearing. Plus its washable which is always a bonus! The handles are cotton webbing with a leather trim which makes them super strong and comfy to carry. And the look of the Trailing Floral is that vintage pale floral pattern with shades of pink, red, blue, green and grey. Such subtle beauty in these bags.

I really cannot gush enough about CK. it is possible my favourite brand of handbags and accessories and so 'me'. When I own a bigger house, it will look like Cath Kidston shops! The bags are such good quality, this will last for years and in my eyes never go out of fashion, it's a times less classic item. I'm hoping to grow my CK collection soon :)

Like I said before these bags retail at £48 online or in stores and come in several different colours and designs.

Cornish Beauty.











stop smoking | update #7

It's day 54! Crazy! I literally cannot believe that I haven't had a cigarette in this many days, pretty impressive! It's been about three weeks without Champix, I am au naturel! And, I can't believe I'm saying this; it's been EASY! This is comparative of course, easy compared to some things ;)

Thanks to the NHS smoke-free Facebook, Stoptober, Champix, my wonderful stop-smoking nurse and good luck to everyone about to start this journey. I had two or three very important reasons to stop smoking and although I can't quite grasp them yet, Those reasons are always in the fore front I my mind, powering through!

Fingers crossed it will all be worth it and I will reach my dreams :)

Cornish Beauty.

Friday 23 November 2012

a weekend in the big city.

For my 24th birthday my main present from Chris was a trip up to Kingston or the weekend and tickets for us to go see Sarah Millican at the Hammersmith Apollo. I knew about this for ages and was counting down the days until we were off work and set of to the big city. It takes about 5 hours for us to drive to the London area and wow we're out asses numb! But eventually we made it to Kingston Holiday Inn. A very posh hotel too! Out weekend was filled with shoppig around Kingston and the Bentalls centre, screaming with excited ness at the Cath Kidston & Jo Malone shops (two things I'd never sen in real life before!), eating and laughing. Sarah Millican was the best comedy show I'd ever seen. What a beaut that woman is! I feel very special walking around London and it truly is so different to everything I'm used to. People don't quite realise how scary London is to a girl like me!

Nevertheless we had a fantastic weekend! And I can't wait to go to Kingston again! Thanks to my gorgeous fiancé for this trip :)

Cornish Beauty.



















I hate wrapping paper!

Why?....
It's expensive.
It's thin.
It always rips.
It's shit.

Recently I have stopped buying wrapping paper for presents, for all occasions/people. I just hate it, it's always bad quality unless you spend a lot of money and then you have to have a matching gift tag. It's just a rip-off in my opinion. So what I've been doing is simply using brown parcel wrap. Genius! It's thick, good quality, cheap as chips and you can customize it with other things such as ribbons, stamps and stickers!
For birthdays I tend to leave it plain with a luggage tag and ribbon-nice and simple. And I've just started my Christmas present wrapping and I'm having a ball making the parcels look all pretty!

This I what I'm using to wrap Christmas presents at the moment: (see photo)
Parcel wrap (25 meters for £3.45+99p delivery)
Luggage tags with string (50 for £1.15 + £1.43 delivery)
Various ribbons (from Next & eBay)

It's just great-cheap, pretty and you can put your own twist on it! I way prefer using ribbon anyway. Happy days!

Cornish Beauty.

Thursday 22 November 2012

24 years.

Last week I turned the grand ol' age of twenty four. I love the sound of this age!

That's right, on Thursday 15th November 2012 I celebrated this fact surrounded by family and love. It was actually a really busy day! Starting off waking up next to my beautiful fiancé Chris, presents in bed and a lovely breakfast of egg & bacon on toast a la Chris. I wasn't expecting anything from him as he had been more than generous by taking me up to Kingston a couple of weekends ago for a shopping/Sarah Millican trip, but to my surprise there was a little package on the bed with a bottle of my favourite perfume inside; Ellie Saab Le Parfum. What a beaut! I was thrilled to bits with that! After a shower, some baking and some eating my family started to arrive! First up was Chris' mum Carole (AKA the best mother-in-law out there!) with Granny Gladys. A beautiful bunch of flowers from nan and a chat and I was presented with a jewelry gift box from Carole and inside the most beautiful 'peace' sign diamanté as silver necklace from the states! Chris' brother Ben and our gorgeous little niece, Lilia popped over which was lovely.

Shortly after, my mum (who i haven't spent a birthday with in six years as she moved abroad) stepdad, sister, brother-in-law and Harry arrived! And what a wonderful afternoon we had! Giggles, laughter, stories, scones, presents and more. All in the venue of my snuggly lounge in my cottage. My house was quite literally full of love that day and I loved chasing Harry round the house and he is crawling like crazy!

In the evening, Chris treated me to a lovely meal and a posh restaurant near us. It was Delish! Very romantic and posh and we were treated like royalty! I had an amazing steak and the rose slipped down a treat throughout the night! What was even nicer was the fact that we were home by 8.30pm-a lovely early snuggly night in front of the TV to finish my birthday off!
....except, we both became incredibly ill when we got home! It was ever so strange. Food poisoning? Tummy bug? We're not sure but whatever it was, it was not pleasant! Pretty grim actually.

However, all in all it was a fantastic birthday, even more so as so many people made an effort to see me and be with me which is something I've not been used to in recent years.

This day was truly about the experience and love, I was, however spoilt and very lucky to receive some lovely gifts:
Ellie Saab perfume
Chanel Coco Rouge lipstick
Peace necklace
House decorations
Flowers
Smellies
And vouchers or an evening at Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Watergate Bay.

Most of all, thank you to my incredible fiancé for making my day so special, love you x

Cornish Beauty.