Sunday 19 February 2017

Lush Valentine's Day Range! 2017

Hey everyone :)


I feel like it was not long about that I did my last Lush post ... This post is very, very, very late! I planned to post this a couple of weeks ago but work got in the way! As I write this (19th Feb) these items are not available on Lush's website anymore. *sad face* ... I have noticed they have Mother's Day items on sale now too! Eek! No guess what I'll be doing after typing this up!

I only bought a few items this year as most things are still similar or the same.


Cupid (bath bomb)
I don't know how many times I can start a paragraph with 'I love bath bombs!' - but I do! This is a very floral bath bomb and smells amazing! It also makes the water go a lovely pink colour. It's full of fresh raspberry juice, Persian lime oil and rose petal powder.


Prince Charming (shower cream)
I bought this last year and it rivaled my love for Snow Fairy! It smells amazing and leaves you smelling of fresh grapefruit and pomegranate. It also has cocoa butter which leaves your skin smooth and soft. There is also (I left this till last) an amazing smell of marshmallow and vanilla! Sometimes I just want to leave these creations (but I don't as I would likely be sick).


Love You, Love You Lots (soap bar)
It's pink, it has the words 'love' on the soap, it has hearts too! It's very Valentine themed! It contains rose petal infusion, rose oil and rose syrup which leave your hands smelling like a rose bed. Another floral themed item :)

Two Hearts Beating As One (bath melt)
I always thought bath melts were a bit odd - don't get me wrong - they leave the bath looking lovely mesmerizing colours but they are a little boring! The bath was lovely and pinkish, with an orange tint! It smelt mainly of marzipan and flowers! That would be thanks to the almond oil - which is good for the hair and hydrating for the skin.


Unicorn Horn (bubble bar)
Again, another item I find odd - bubble bars are crumbled under running water and normally dissolve in the warm water and leave your bath full of bubbles! I do find though that it doesn't all dissolve and when you settle down in the bath you get little bits of bubble bar stuck to you!! The unicorn horn is full of lavender oil and leaves your bath smelling so calming and relaxing (careful you don't fall asleep).

Did you manage to pick anything up from Lush this Valentines? Let me know in the comments below.




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Friday 17 February 2017

Mary Berry's Holiday Banana Cake

Hey everyone :)


What can I say about banana bread ... it's moist, it's tasty, it's easy to make, it's a brilliant cake!

I was sitting at home on Friday - and I had been thinking for ages that I hadn't baked or cooked anything. So I started flicking through Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking cookbook and came across a recipe for 'Holiday Banana Cake' (some people may say loaf as it was baked in a loaf tin) and thought I'd make that - it's a very hom-ey cake I feel and it was a wet, cold day ... so I felt it was a good fit :)

As you will see from the pictures I slightly overdid mine but I do enjoy over-baked things anyway. It still tasted amazing!

Ingredients:
125ml sunflower oil
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
3 small ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 300g)

Method:
1. You will need a 900g loaf tin. Preheat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan/Gas 4, then grease the tin with oil and line the base with a strip of baking paper.
2. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and, either by hand or using an electric hand whisk, beat together for 1 minute. Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.
3. Bake in the oven for about an hour until lightly golden on top, springy to the touch and coming away from the sides of the tin.
4. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. Cut into slices and serve plain or spread with butter.

Tips
- Overripe bananas make the best cake - so leave them to brown or ripen for a few days before making the cake.
- I like a well done loaf - I love the crisp, crunchiness it gets - but just adjust to the time to how you like it.
- Some people like to sprinkle brown sugar on top of the cake before baking that way it get a crunchy top too.
- You could also add chop chips (white, dark or milk) to jazz the loaf up a bit. Although be careful as I find sometimes they sink to the bottom of the cake.




What's your favourite thing to bake in the kitchen? Let me know in the comments below!




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Friday 10 February 2017

Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking: Mango, Lemon & Lime Mousse

Hey everyone :)


You should all know by now that I'm a big fan of Mary Berry! I love her recipes and they are so easy and simple. I bought her 'Foolproof Cooking' book ages ago and made a few recipes from it and really enjoyed making them.

I had some spare time today and decided to make something as it's been ages since I posted a food-style post on my blog. So this was a very simple, easy and no-fuss recipe. I didn't even need to put it in the oven.





Ingredients: 
- 2 ripe mangos (about 400g)
- 300ml double cream
- finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
- 100g luxury lemon curd

Method:
1. Remove the skin from the mangos and slice the flesh away from the stone, cutting it into chunks. Reserve three large chunks and finely chop them before setting aside.
2. Put the remaining mango flesh into a food processor and whizz into a velvety puree.
3. Whip the cream into a bowl until beginning to form soft peeks. Fold the lime juice and lemon curd into the cream, swirling the mixture to give a ripple effect.
4. Take 4-6 small glasses or pots and spoon a little of the pureed mango into the bottom of each. Add a little of the lemon and lime cream mousse, then more of the mango, then the mousse, to give four layers in total (two each of the mango and mousse).
5. Decorate each glass or pot with the reserved chopped mango and the lime zest. Chill for an hour before serving.

Tips:
- I found the best way to de-flesh a mango was to treat it the way you would an avocado - with a knife slice around the stone, twist to split the two, remove the stone, and using a dessert spoon, run it along the flesh and spoon out the mango.

- DO NOT (and Mary Berry even said this in the recipe) over whip the cream!

- When you add the lime juice and lemon curd to the cream it will get thick real fast - that's okay - don't panic you haven't ruined it.

- Watch your glass/pot sizes ... I used mixer glasses that were wider and I only got 3 full ones instead of Mary's recommended 4-6.



Let me know what you think - have you been baking/cooking/making anything recently? Let me know in the comments below!




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