Saturday 8 November 2014

Brownies (again)

Year 11 is more stressful than they tell you; I've had revision pretty much non-stop, so I haven't had much chance to plan new posts (sorry!).
To make up for it I'm here with what are possibly the best brownies I've ever made. They're fudgey and gooey and a little bit cakey. 
I had a look at some other recipes, then pretty much made these up as I went along.

Ingredients
200g milk chocolate (or use dark if you want a richer taste)
200g butter
100g plain flour
2tsp cocoa powder 
1tsp baking powder
3 medium eggs
125g caster sugar
Any extras you want to put in (I had some white chocolate chunks and some mini marshmallows)

Method
1- Preheat the oven to 170C and line an 8x8 inch tin with greaseproof paper, You don't want your tin to be too shallow.
2- Break the chocolate into small chunks and cut your butter into cubes. Place into a large microwaveable bowl, and heat on high for 20-30 seconds. Take out the bowl, stir, and repeat until everything's melted.
3- In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
4- Stir the sugar into the chocolate.
5- Beat your eggs in a separate bowl, then add to the chocolate in two parts, mixing well in between. Make sure your chocolate isn't too hot, otherwise you'll end up with a sad bowl of chocolate scrambled eggs. 
6- Add in the vanilla essence and fold in the flour. Add in any extras (chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts- it's up to you).
7- Put the brownies into the oven for 20 minutes. 

My favourite thing about these brownies is that they can all be done by hand, no mixers involved.
Try them! You won't regret it!

Love, Shay. xo

Monday 27 October 2014

Musical Mondays

I've been obsessed with The Sherlocks recently- I'm going to see them on 1st November in Manchester and I'm so so excited! They released a new single recently and I've had it on non-stop.
Love, Shay. xo

Monday 22 September 2014

Musical Mondays

I've decided to start a new feature on the blog! Basically I'm going to share a song that I've been listening to a lot over the past week.This first one is Robbers by The 1975. I've been in love with The 1975 recently; I listen to them pretty much every day, and I'm absolutely gutted that I can't go to see them. But at least I can blast them through the house. It's all about the perks.


Love, Shay. xo

Friday 19 September 2014

Friday favourites: Man crush

Thought I'd share a little bit of eye candy with you this week. I just want to clarify that these are not all the ones in my head, and they aren't in any particular order.

1- Matty Healy

2- Harry Styles

3- Tom Hiddleston

4- Theo James
5- Matt Hitt

6- Liam Fray

7- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

8- David Tennant

9- Alex Turner

10- Andrew Garfield

Aren't you glad I shared? I have no idea where most of these pictures are from, 'cause they're just off my computer. Now I'm going to go and do the history revision I was supposed to start an hour ago.

Love, Shay. xo

Saturday 6 September 2014

Friday favourites: Autumn

I'm really sorry this is a day late, it completely slipped my mind!
Hello! I've not done one of these in a while, so because we're getting into autumn and it's a new month I thought I'd start it up again.
I am so so so excited for autumn. It is absolutely my favourite time of year; it's still not bitter enough to be winter, but its chilly enough for big cardigans and woolly tights- both of which I'm wearing right now. All the trees look magical, and crunchy leaves are one of the best best things, especially when you find some that aren't a bit soggy from British rain. Plus, autumn is the perfect excuse for a warm milk or hot chocolate (apparently it's not acceptable to have these at four o'clock in the afternoon during English summer).

 1- Soft, woolly blankets to snuggle into
 2- Building super cozy forts with said blankets
 3- Super crunchy bright leaves that aren't damp
 4- But even when it rains you don't mind so much, because it's a great excuse to curl up on the sofa
 5- Pies that come in every shape and size. You can see how to make this one here
 6- Hot chocolates bigger than your face
 7- Bonfire night and fireworks and, um, bonfires
 8- Getting all dressed up with no where to go, also known as halloween (or, you know, every other day of my life)
9 & 10- The bestest chunky knits and cute outfits

This is what I'm looking forward to most about autumn. I'm less looking forward to being in my last year at school, but life goes on and I'm sure it'll be okay in the end. I just need to organise myself, and not burrow down with blankets and hot chocolate and books until all my work is out of the way. As much as I would like to.

Love, Shay. xo

Monday 1 September 2014

Today is: Full

Today is the last day of the summer holidays for me, so I have to go back to school tomorrow. I'm trying to make the most of the day- this morning I sat in bed for a while with my dog, just relaxing. In the afternoon I went out to film some media coursework that needs to be handed in really soon. And I still have some art coursework to do. So, full.

Listening to- Temples. I'm going to see them in December, and it's great music to listen to when you're trying to have a productive day.
Thinking about- Everything. All the homework I have to do, going back to school, when my shoes will be delivered, how much time I have before I have to do stuff before I go to bed. My mind is buzzing.
Looking forward to- Being more productive with my days instead of lying in bed all day.
Making me happy- Organising myself. Planning things. Getting myself together.

Speaking if planning, I think I'm going to go out and buy myself a bunch of cute little notebooks for loads of different things; school, blog ideas, to do lists. You get the idea.

Love, Shay. xo

Monday 25 August 2014

Cornwall

*I'm terrible. I know how terrible I am. So to make up for my terrible laziness I have a post full of photos in the hope it makes me slightly less terrible. Is that how that works?*

If you follow my Instagram you probably guessed that I went on holiday a few weeks ago. My Mum, Dad, Kate and me all went camping in Hayle. We stayed on a campsite right on the beach (literally a five minute walk away, it was beautiful) and we took a ridiculous amount of photos. I've spent ages going through and choosing my favourites to share here, so I hope you enjoy!

The drive there was long. I spent most of it asleep.
It was worth it when we got there though, we were right next to the beach and could see the sea from where we were camped.
We spent a lot of time at the beach while we were there. I think the beach is one of my favourite places to be ever.
We went on a boat ride to 'seal island' to look at seals. We saw two.
We also visited St. Ives twice and it is easily one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been.
It was nice to just be able to relax for a week (as if I haven't done that over the summer anyway. Haha.)

I'm back at school next week and I have so much work to get done. I'm kind of a bit terrified to be in Year 11 so soon. I wish I could spend all my time sleeping and watching Netflix instead. I can dream, right? 

Love, Shay. xo

Monday 21 July 2014

Carrot cake cupcakes

I LOVE carrot cake but I'd never actually made my own before, and making a whole big cake seemed a little bit daunting (even though it did look amazing), so instead I went on the hunt for carrot cupcakes- smaller, easier, quicker. I decided to use this Martha Stewart recipe, because how can it go wrong if it's Martha Stewart?
They were delicious, so you should make them. Like, now.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (from about 4 medium carrots)

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.
In another large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, egg, yoghurt, and vanilla. Stir in grated carrots. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture mixing until well combined. Divide among muffin tin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
To frost: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and confectioners' sugar until smooth; beat in vanilla and orange zest. Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of frosting and spread to cover.

I accidentally ate all the frosting before it reached the cakes, and I can't even say I'm ashamed.
But seriously, make this.

Love, Shay. xo

Sunday 6 July 2014

Chocolate cornflake cakes

Long time no see! A couple of days ago I had a major craving for chocolate cornflake cakes. I don't know where it came from, but I was determined to make some. So I did. I also made some with shredded wheat, but cornflake are definitely my favourites.


To make about 15 cakes, you'll need around 75g of cereal and 250g of chocolate. I know this is a lot, and you could do less if you wanted, but I wanted mine to be really chocolatey.
Line a muffin tin with cases. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes in 30 second lots, stirring in between each. If you want to make cakes with different cereal, pour half of your chocolate into a separate bowl and mix the cereal in. Put about a tablespoon and a half of mixture (is chocolatey cereal considered a mixture?) into each case. Using your spoon make a dip/well  in the cake, and top with whatever you want to fill your 'nests' with- I used blueberries and chocolate egg sprinkley things. Put the cakes in the fridge to harden, and devour them all as soon as they're ready.

Love, Shay. xo

Okay, so I know you probably don't actually need instructions for this, but I really wanted to share them and I thought the measurements might be vaguely helpful. Right?

Friday 6 June 2014

Friday favourites: Pinterest fashion

I love browsing Pinterest. Mostly for inspiration or crying at the things I can't have. I've found myself pinning loads on this board at the moment, so I thought I'd choose ten of my favourite things and share them with you. (You can follow me on Pinterest here!)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Don't you think they're pretty?

Love, Shay. xo

Sunday 1 June 2014

June photo challenge

At the beginning of each month, I always tell myself that I'll do a photo challenge on Instagram, but then I always forget or can't find one that I particularly like. A few days ago I decided I really wanted to do a photo challenge in June, but I couldn't really find one that I liked the look of. Eventually I just gave up and made my own.

I'm just going to put that there for you to use if you want. You don't have to, I only really made it with myself in mind, but if you want to then you can join in. (If you do, tag me in your pictures so I can nosey!)
I'm really excited for June, I just feel like it's going to be a really fun month.

Love, Shay. xo
P.S Sorry for no Friday Favourites, I've been quite busy for the last few weeks with exams and gigs. I promise that I'll have one up next Friday!
P.P.S Follow me on Instagram here! (No shame)

Saturday 10 May 2014

Friday favourites: Instagram

I've found myself on Instagram a lot lately. I don't know if it's because I love looking at pretty photos or whether I just really like having a nosey in other people's lives, but either way I'm on it at least once a day.
It can be really inspirational (I know, clichéd) to see the kind of things other people do, the kind of photos they take. 

These are five of my favourite, uh.. Instagrammers? What's the word you'd give an instagram user? How am I supposed to know anyway?






My posts are probably going  to be very sporadic over the next few weeks (as if they aren't anyway) because I've got GCSEs to do and it's a bit terrifying, so I need to revise as much as possible. I'm not the only one this stressed, right?

Love, Shay. xo

P.S. You can follow me on Instagram here

Thursday 24 April 2014

Friday favourites: Adventures

Hello! Apologies for my absence (I know, I say this way too much), school has just been, like, woah. Mock exams are hard. So is revision. But then so is climbing out of bed, and where would we be if we couldn't summon up the strength to do that each day?

My blog content is slacking (sorry times a million), so I thought it could be a good idea to do a 'Friday Favourites' kind of thing every (other?) week. Not only will it motivate me, it'll also be nice to reflect and think about things that I've really enjoyed over the past fortnight. 

With the unusually nice weather we had recently, me and my friends decided to go on adventures in our local Country Park and around the area we live in. It was really lovely, and we had spontaneous picnics and long walks and took photos and just had a lot of fun.
These pictures are from two different days and both were so nice. On our second walk we just sat down for like half an hour chatting and enjoying the sunshine. It was the most content I've felt in a while.

Jess actually wrote two adventure logs about them, too.








Sorry for the picture overload, it was just so hard to choose!

Love, Shay. xo