December Favourites

December Favourites Time!  I do enjoy doing these posts!

Home

Starting with home this month as I've got a couple of cute bits to share with you

What better way to bake melty cheese than in a melty cheese baker?! This one is from Sainsburys, they are doing a lovely range at the moment.

There is a story behind this little house. I bought it as a present from me, to me. You light the incense inside and it comes out of the roof like a little Christmas house. How adorable I thought! £25 might be a bit pricey but it's cute - that was until it turned up. I thought it was going to be the size of let's say - a small loaf of bread. It's not. It's about the size of a bread roll..... I was going to send it back but then I never got round to it so one day I decided just to light the incense and be done with it. It's on my favourites because it really is quite sweet and I like it even if it was a waste of money.

Not on the Highstreet - Log cabin - £25 (currently £17 in the sale)

With the idea that I am going to be good and leave all of the bad eating habits behind me in the New Year I have purchased a Blend Active from Breville. I've been using it to make breakfast smoothies in the morning and it is so handy as you blend it all in the container you drink from meaning less fuss and less washing up! There are lots of there on the market but I really would recommend this one! It's the family pack so you get 4 beakers with it.

 Blend Active - £29.99

Books

I got a few good recipe books for Christmas but the one I have turned quite a bit too is Sainsbury's Classic Recipes. They just have some quite tasty simple recipes in there with easy to follow methods. Plus the food photography makes your mouth water!

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat.Pray.Love fame) is a MUST READ. It is just one of those stories that you can't put down but which you don't want to end. Following the life of Alma you just become so attached to her and the life that she leads. I love being surprised by books and I was unable to guess where the story would lead me. I would highly recommend this novel - but be warned it's not a quick read, unless like me you devour books!

Music

Apart from the constant soundtrack of Christmas songs for the past month I have also been loving:

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars

Dangerous by David Guetta ft Sam Martin

Fashion

In my extensive 'I can never find anything to wear' wardrobe the one thing I do not own are jeans. I just find them uncomfortable and so I threw all mine out a long time ago. But I have discovered something which  has changed my life. I know they have been round for a long time but I tried them on once and turned my nose up. What are these life changing trousers? Only bloody jeggings. It's like I can be comfortable whilst still keeping my legs warmer than leggings, although nothing beats a double legging (Does anyone else do this?) I now have them in the colours Merlot, Grey, Green and Indigo and I couldn't be happier! I've been getting mine from that delightful shop that steals all my money - Dorothy Perkins - I find the regular leg fits quite well for someone with short little legs like myself.

DP - Jeggings - £20

I feel like this is quite a lengthy post so I'm going to leave it there but do let me know what your favourite things of the month are in the comments!

Only 1 day until the New Year!

C x

Christmas Presents

I thought I would share with you a selection of my Christmas Presents as I know I love seeing what other people received! I got some crackers of presents this year.

1. My main present from Leigh. I have been going on and on about how rubbish the lighting is in my kitchen and how I can never take decent photographs for Pourable Sunshine. All this is about to change as he bought me a photography light which should help improve the quality drastically!

2. My parents bought me the beautiful Rose Gold Michael Kors watch I have been lusting after for most of the year. I am in love!

3. Another Leigh present! An i-music pillow (which works with all devices including my Samsung. Not sure why it has to be called an i pillow...) so I can watch all of my youtube videos at night without disturbing him.

4. I received a couple of new cookbooks to add to my ever growing collection, one of my favourites was this one.

5. I got a very interesting looking bread maker from my brother and his girlfriend

6. Some lovely bowls from my youngest brother

7. Leigh's parents got me a cake stand to display my wares

8. A fondue for making melty chocolate and cheese!

9. My old microwaveable toy was falling apart so now I have a new one!

10. The sorting hat put me into Slytherin so Leigh thought I should have the scarf

11. Jelly Babies are my favourite sweet and now I have loads of them

12. This Camembert baker will be used more that it should be...


What did you get for Christmas that you love? Let me know in the comments below! I hope you had a lovely Christmas!

C x

*Disclaimer: I have not written this post to brag or gloat but merely to share what good taste my family have in presents.

A Year in Cooking

Its been a good year for cooking so I thought I would do a easy to navigate review post. I really love cooking and I hope that I can inspire you to make a few bits and pieces. Hopefully I should be trying out even more recipes next year so look out for those!

January

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

February

Chicken Soup

March

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

April

Lime and Coconut Ice-cream

May

Pink raspberry cake

June

Honey and Pistachio Cakes 

July

Granny's Pie

August

Chocolate, Cherry, Honeycomb Parfait 

September

Apricot and Ginger Chutney

October

Carrot Cake

November

Cranberry Mincemeat

December

Mini Christmas Cakes

 I hope this inspires you to try some of the recipes :)

C x

Recipe - Mini Christmas Cakes

These are just the most perfect little cakes the world ever did see. I made these to give to my friends at our dinner party as presents and are perfect if you are looking for a homemade gift (the recipe below makes 20).

Ingredients

1kg mixed fruits
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
150ml brandy
250g butter
200g light brown sugar
175g plain flour
4 eggs
500g pack of marzipan
500g pack of white icing
Apricot jam

Method to the Madness 

Put the dried fruit, alcohol, butter, zests and juice and sugar in a large pan. Bring the mixture to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Once combined tip the fruit mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 mins. Heat oven to 160C, grease your ramekins and line the bottom of each one with a circle of greaseproof paper.

Once the mixture has cooled add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir until all folded in. Divide your mixture between the ramekins until all used up. You may have to do this in batches.

They will need about 30 minutes in the oven and when they are done run a knife around the outside to loosen and tip out, setting aside to cool.

Whilst they are cooling cut out the marzipan circles and the icing circles to top the cakes.

Heat the apricot jam with a little bit of water. Spread apricot jam on a marzipan circle before pressing on top of the cake, repeat. Wet the marzipan with a little water before placing the icing on top and gently smoothing it over the sides.

Tie the cakes with ribbon for an extra Christmassy touch!

C x

Hosting a Christmas Dinner Party

Every year my friends and I have a Christmas meal together and this year it's my turn. Que carefully planned preparation. ... except it isn't like that at all which is why I have prepared this handy guide to getting round the kitchen with ease for those parties that I'm am sure you will be having!

It's always a good idea to sit down before and plan. Make a list of all the food you will need and when you are going to prepare and cook the meal. Luckily I have the day off before our meal so will be doing a ton of prep work and pre-cooking to help me out before the main event. If you don't have the whole day off then try and do bits in stages when you are free in the evening. I have also enlisted the help of my friends as feeding for thirteen is no easy task and not particularly cheap either! One couple are bringing desserts, whilst another are bringing carrots, another tray of potatoes and a big, fat meaty bird to add to the 3 others that I have cooked. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!

To make sure I get all my timings right I have created a grid so I know how long everything needs to be cooked for. I need it to be all ready to go at the same time so this should help. How much do you want to bet that I still have to microwave something though?!

If you are having a dinner party for anyone over 4 people then it might be an idea to make a seating plan. Seating plan politics are not something that you should take on lightly. I spent a LONG time trying to seat everyone and opted for the separate the couples option which should enable people to break out of their comfort zones a little bit and be paired with new people for the games,

Speaking of games, it is always fun to have a few lined up. We normally tend to play Taboo, Cards against Humanity and Heads Up when we get together and they are always competitive! This year I've also bought some really brilliant Dinner Party Napkins which have games like battleships and drawing activities printed on them - you can get them here. Try and think of a few games to play after the main meal and before dessert.

Create your playlist for the evening. As it's Christmas this was particularly easy for me as I already have one on my Spotify ready to go each year. It includes old classics, choir pieces and some pop songs too. A Spaceman came travelling is my favourite Christmas song.

Decorate the house! Try and fill it with messages of goodwill and fortune and the odd piece of tinsel. We will be eating in our Kitchen/Dining Room which currently isn't particularly festive so I will be hanging a few homemade snowflakes from the ceiling and stringing up some garlands.

Remember not to stress. At the end of the day if you ply your guests with enough drink they won't care anyway! Cheers!

C x

Recipe - Mulling Syrup

Now I don't like Red Wine in the slightest, but what I do like is Mulled Wine! It's the smell of the rich Christmas tones that make me really happy. In previous years I have bought bottles of pre-made but this year I decided to make my own and it has worked beautifully plus its hella easy and will save you money!

Ingredients

250g caster sugar
2 oranges, halved
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1 heaped tsp nutmeg
small piece of ginger, sliced
1 heaped tsp allspice
1 litre water

Method to the Madness

Put all the ingredients in a pan with 1 litre of water and simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain through with a fine sieve once cool and decant into sterilised bottles. It's worth noting that although I have called this syrup don't expect it to have a thick consistency.

When you are ready to use heat up some red wine in a pan and add roughly 90ml per large glass of red wine, although I like mine quite sweet so make sure you add a bit and taste to test. Stir through until hot and drink. This would also work with cider, I'd suggest Old Rosie's. Serve with a slice of orange or just gulp down on its own.

It really is that easy! It makes the house smell absolutely divine, I'm tempted to have some simmering away at all times just for the smell. I've already got through a bottle of syrup and am on to my second!

C x