A creative lifestyle blog.

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

RECIPE: GINGER & LIME CHEESECAKE.


If you are a fan of either ginger or lime this desert is seriously one for you! So easy and simple to make its almost criminal if you don't try this one out for yourselves. This recipe makes one large cheesecake or 8 individual ones. I use these little glass ramekins which I kept after purchasing Gü Cheesecakes from my local supermarket, I like being able to see the entire cheesecake and the fact you don't have to cut it up to serve is always a bonus!  

Ingredients: 
225g ginger biscuits - crushed, 115g unsalted butter - melted, 300g of full fat soft cheese (low fat tastes just as good), 250ml double cream, 2 limes - juice and rind, 4 TBSP ginger syrup and 8 chunks of stem ginger. 

Method: 
Firstly remember you will need lime zest, chopped ginger and icing sugar to decorate Then mix the biscuits with the melted butter and press into mould. Chill in the fridge for approximately 1 hour. Whip the cream and then mix in the cream cheese, ginger syrup and lime juice. Add the lime zest and ginger. Spoon onto the biscuit base and spread evenly over the surface. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm. To serve sprinkle a small amount of lime zest onto the surface and then arrange the ginger around the edge of the cheesecake. Lightly dust with icing sugar and serve! 
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Sunday, 14 April 2013

TOP 5 NAIL POLISHES FOR SPRING.


Finally spring has sprung over here in the UK. The sun is peeping through the clouds and you can actually leave the house without being wrapped up in coats and scarves - hurrah! To celebrate the sun showing up in our lives once again I have picked my top 5 nail polishes to spread a little of that precious sunshine onto our nails. Spring is my favourite time of year for nail polish simply as you can get away with pretty much anything! Whether you are a pastel fan or one for a bright bold colour spring/summer is the time to embrace them and stash away your winters greys and burgundies.


1. Models Own Utopia £5. A creamy lilac with slight grey undertones and is the perfect non brown nude. Nude nails are all the rage right now but this one completely stands out against the rest, I love a brown nude but there is something about this that is just so pretty and a really feminine neutral colour that compliments any outfit. 2. Models Own Beths Blue £5. This is the most perfect creamy pastel blue and looks stunning on absolutely everyone. A very obvious choice for spring but just too beautiful to be over looked. I personally wear this polish all year round but find myself loving it even more in the warmer months. 3. Nails Inc Baker Street £11. If you prefer a pop of colour on your nails this vibrant cobalt blue is must have for your polish collection! I have had my beady little eyes on this beaut for quite some time now and finally caved the other week and this has graced my nails non stop since! 4. Barry M Gelly Greenberry £3.99. This bright mint green is my absolute favourite nail polish of the moment, the colour, the price and the quality is just spot on! I fell out of love with Barry M for a while but these recent Gelly HiShine releases are right up my street, with a high gloss formula these polishes require no top coat and dry opaque after 2 coats. This colour will look glorious with a tan and I cannot recommend enough picking up one of these gems on your next shopping trip! 5. Barry M Gelly Papaya £3.99. Another Barry M Gelly polish that i'm currently besotted with is this beautiful creamy coral shade. At first glance this shade didn't jump out at me but after the first application I was sold. I don't own a shade like this what so ever in my collection but I couldn't love it any more. A really stand out shade that would look amazing partnered with a coral lip. 

So there you have it, my top 5 nail polishes for spring. I hope this post has encouraged you to get out the nail polishes and add a little spring to your finger tips! 
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Sunday, 7 April 2013

RECIPE: PROFITEROLES.


Profiteroles are a favourite desert of mine and have been pretty much my entire life. I'm still shocked and disappointed in myself that it has taken me till now to even attempt making them myself!When I first looked up this recipe I was put off by what looked like a hell of a lot of effort and I generally felt far from confident when it came to making my own choux pastry let alone the rest of it. To my surprise the recipe itself is actually quite simple when you break it down in to small chunks and turned out better than I had anticipated for a first attempt. These may no longer be as fashionable as they once were, but they are still a great treat, filled with sweetened whipped cream and served with a jug of hot, glossy, dark chocolate sauce. You will need 1 piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain tube and 2 baking sheets. 

Ingredients: 
(Makes a total of 48 profiteroles.)  
Choux Pastry: 100g plain flour, 1/4 TSP salt, 75g unsalted butter and 3 eggs at room temperature.
Chantilly Cream: 250ml  whipping cream, 2 TBSP icing sugar and 1 TSP vanilla extract. 
Chocolate Sauce:  100g dark chocolate. (70% cocoa), 25g unsalted butter and 2 TBSP icing sugar.

Method:
Sift the flour onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Put the salt, butter and 175ml of water into a medium sized pan. Cook on a low heat until till the butter has completely melted. Quickly bring the mixture to the boil, then tip the flour in all in one go. Remove the pan from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon. Once you have smooth dough put the pan back on a low heat and beat for about 2 minutes. Tip the dough into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool. Using an electric mixer gradually beat the eggs into the dough. Pre heat the oven to 200oC/400oF/Gas 6. Spoon the choux dough into a piping bag and pipe small 3cm mounds onto a baking sheet. Lightly brush with egg, taking care it doesn't drip down and glue the pastry to the paper. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180oC/350oF/Gas 4. Quickly open and close the door (to et rid of steam), then bake for 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and make a small hole at one side of each profiterole. Return the sheets to the oven and bake for a further 3-5 minutes until firm. Cool on a wire rack. For the Chantilly cream simply whip together all the ingredients until just stiff enough to hold a peak. Before serving fill the profiteroles with chilled Chantilly cream, either by piping it through the hole or by splitting each profiterole horizontally and using a teaspoon. To make the chocolate sauce put all ingredients with 100ml of water into a small pan and heat gently, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. To serve pile them in a serving dish or individual bowls and drizzle over the hot sauce! 

  I highly recommend trying these out for yourselves if you're a profiterole fan as I am sure they will not fail to disappoint. Please let me know if you try out this recipe for yourself and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
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Wednesday, 3 April 2013

DIY: LABEL MAKER IDEAS.


Today I would like to introduce you to this little retro creation, the OH MY Motex Embossing Label Maker. I used to steal my grandfathers label maker all the time as a child so as soon as I saw this on eBay I just couldn't help myself and had to purchase it. I'm a huge fan of personalising things and typography so it was a really exciting moment when my post man handed it over. I already have a few little craft projects lined up for this but I wanted to share two super easy ways of putting this label maker to good use. You can purchase the label maker for £9.99 from eBay and is available in various colours, with this you get one roll of black tape included. Typically me being me black was just not good enough so I chose to get this pack of neon tape for £9.99 along with my order. 

Firstly, glass storage jars. Being a keen baker my kitchen cupboards are always full of baking related items that end up getting everywhere and just generally making a bit of a mess, half used open packets really are not my friend! So on a recent trip to Tesco I decided to pick up a few of these storage jars for a couple of pound each in an attempt to keep things fresher for longer and keep my cupboards in some form of organisation. Once I decanted all of the items into the jars I realised one tiny problem, I now had no idea what was in each specific jar. In comes the label maker, simple and easy to use you simply click on the letter you want until you have the label you desire and then cut! I love these simple labels and think they really add something to the general aesthetic, resulting in me being genuinely sad that I have no room to display them in my tiny apartment kitchen and have to hide them away in a cupboard, boo-hiss! Secondly, gift tags for any occasion. For these I simply dug out some luggage tags from my craft draws and got clicking away on my shiny new label maker. I love the detail these labels add to the tags as apposed to just writing on them free hand. The neon tape most certainly brings these old fashioned tags straight into 2013. I think adding the name of the person the gift is for would be a really sweet touch and defiantly makes these more than just your average gift tag. 

Do you think you'll be purchasing one of these for yourself and be joining me in my mission to personalise absolutely everything in this world?! 
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Monday, 1 April 2013

DIY: STUDDED NAIL ART.


Today I have rustled up a little DIY for you that is super easy when you have all the right tools and a steady hand! Studded nails are an simple way to jazz up a plain polish that can be applied on all nails or simply to your ring finger for a hint of detail. I came up with 5 easy designs all from the one studded nail art wheel but there are millions of variations that you could come up with.  

All you'll need for this DIY is a base coat of your choice, a clear topcoat, some nail studs and a pair of tweezers. As you can see I picked Models Own Black Magic and Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat , I chose to use black simply as it is a great canvas and contrasts with the gold and silver studs. As for Seche Vite it is literally the best topcoat and leaves your nails with salon quality shine and dry's in half the time of your standard varnish. You can purchase this exact nail art wheel from Missguided for £3.99 or you can purchase specific studs from via eBay sellers such as this. The wheel also includes pearls and gems if you're not into the studded trend but I'll save that for another day! To achieve this look simply apply a base coat and leave to dry. Once dry add a generous coating of topcoat and then simply pick up your tweezers, select your studs and just pop them on in the design of your choice. Once finished seal with another topcoat and you are done! 

I personally love the crosses but i'm still a 14 year old goth at heart so that was to be expected. 
Which is your favourite and do you think you'll be trying out this for yourselves? 
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