Oddities

My parents house is full of wonderful old and weird things, excellent objects to photograph with my brand new lens.

I'm afraid there is a gratuitous shot of myself below. I was figuring out different portrait focus points in the mirror and I liked the colours in the photo. I'm not actually vain, I promise. I look pretty stupid/gormless/frightened anyway.

Christmas lens practice

Photos of Christmas time with my new 50mm lens. Very happy lady.

I made Macaroons.

I really did! Actual french macaroons! I've never made macaroons before and they are notoriously difficult to make but I think they came out quite well in the end. After every stage I successfully completed, I did an extensive victory dance around the kitchen in the style of David Brent. It was a lengthy and stressful process.

These are the Christmas presents I'm giving my friends and family because I am a poor church mouse and cannot afford real presents. But actually, in my humble opinion, these make better presents than bought presents.

jaffa cake and strawberry milkshake macaroons...

350g icing sugar

350g ground almonds

10 free-range egg whites

350g caster sugar

6 tbsp cold water

For Jaffa cake macaroons add 1 tbsp cocoa powder

For strawberry milkshake macaroons add pink food colouring

1. Line baking trays with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. To make the macaroon shells, place the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and pulse to make a fine powder.
3. Weigh the egg whites - there should be about 300g. Stir half the egg whites into the icing sugar and almond mixture to make a smooth paste. Whisk the remaining egg whites in the mixer until they form soft peaks.
4. Heat caster sugar and water gently until the sugar has dissolved then turn the heat up until the syrup reaches 115°C (use a sugar thermometer to check this). Continue whisking the egg whites on a low speed, pouring in the sugar syrup in a steady stream. Increase to a medium speed for a couple minutes then turn it down again and continue whisking for five minutes, until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed and the mix has cooled down.
5. Gently fold the almond mixture into the whisked egg whites. Split the macaroon mixture into two clean bowls and add the sieved cocoa to one half and the pink food colouring to the other.
6. Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe 4cm circles onto the baking trays. Burst any air bubbles with a toothpick and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes before going into the oven - it needs to form a skin to hold it's shape.
7. Bake the shells for 12 minutes-ish. You will definitely do this in batches, but the macaroons can rest for a few hours while you are batching. If the shells crack (like all of mine did), turn the heat down slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

icing...

200g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter

2 tbls smooth strawberry jam

Dribble of milk

1 tsp of vanilla essence

Just mix all that together until it is a smooth thick paste, pop into an icing bag, pipe a swirl on one shell and stick another shell on top.

35g unsalted butter

80g best quality dark chocolate

1/2 tablespoon golden syrup

50ml cream

150g icing sugar

Pinch of salt (to make the chocolate really tasty)

1 tsp orange essence

Melt butter and chocolate together slowly, leave to cool slightly then add golden syrup, salt, cream. Beat the icing sugar into the mixture until thick and smooth then assemble macaroons as before!

Et voila - vous avez les macarons! C'est manifique, mais non?!

Nutcracker

All I can say is that it was AMAZING. Our seats were brilliant - no need for nosebleeds or night-vision binoculars after all. It was the best two hours I've spent sitting down for a very long time. You know when your smile stretches your cheeks until they hurt and you can feel happiness like a tight ball bursting in your chest? I still feel like that two days on!

When I was back home, cocooned in my cosy bed with the Nutcracker music running through my head on a loop (which bloody kept me up all night) all I wanted to do was watch Fantasia to relive the brilliance of the ballet. Instead I got trippy dancing mushrooms and thistles and floating flower heads and strangely sexual angel fish. I fell asleep half way through and woke up to unicorns, centaurs, cherubs and pegasus. I forgot how much I love that bit. When I was younger I wanted to be the ginge centaur with a dove on her head (still the case).

If you've forgotten how much you love that bit of Fantasia, here are some pictures to remind you. Enjoy.

Tis the season to be jolly

Since September, my housemate and I have been waiting patiently to go and see the Nutcracker ballet. It is our special just-before-Christmas treat to ourselves and an indicator that it's time to get extremely excited. I can't believe how quickly the last few months have gone because our just-before-Christmas special treat is tonight!

It is the Matthew Bourne version of the Nutcracker at Sadlers Wells. We've got nosebleed seats - the stage will only be visible with night-vision binoculars - but I could not care less. I am extremely excited!

L.O.V.E

Could you be loved and be loved? Yes, if you give my housemates and me glitter tattoos to play with.

Just like heaven

There comes a time in a girl's life when she reaches absolute perfection. It happened yesterday for me whilst baking my housemate's birthday cake. I'm so proud of myself - it has surpassed all my previous baking exploits. It was like everything in the universe came together to create this incredible cake. An immaculate baking conception. And it tastes like what I imagine heaven would taste like if you licked one of the walls.

Modest, I know.

sponge...
175g soft unsalted butter

200g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150ml sour cream

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50g best-quality cocoa powder

icing...
75g unsalted butter
175g best quality dark chocolate
1 tablespoon golden syrup
125ml sour cream
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

300g icing sugar

Pinch of salt (to make the chocolate really tasty)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two sandwich tins.
2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add eggs slowly along with the vanilla extract and sour cream. Sift the flour, salt, raising agents and the cocoa powder and fold into the mix being careful not to over mix. Divide the batter between the two prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes.
3. Remove the cakes and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about cracks in the top - they will be smothered with icing later.
4. To make the icing, melt the butter and chocolate together slowly. Leave to cool before adding the golden syrup then sour cream, vanilla and salt. Beat the icing sugar into the chocolate a little at a time until thick and glossy. You may need to add a bit of boiling water or milk or more icing sugar to get the right consistency. It should be thick enough to coat easily but not drip off. Spoon a third of the icing on to the top of one cake, spread about a bit until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top pressing gently to sandwich the two together. Spread the top, back and sides of the cake with the remaining icing and decorate in any manner you see fit i.e. pearl effect spray and glitter and sugar flowers.

Swoon Murmuration

Brooklyn street artist, Swoon's exhibition Murmuration at Black Rat Projects, Shoreditch
From 1st December 2011 until 14th January 2012

All I want for Christmas

1. ASOS Blouse With Apple And Pear Print £35 ⎜2. Dipdye Angora by Boutique £65 ⎜ 3. Kenwood Hand Mixer, Almond £45 ⎜ 4. Mimi Holliday Tarte Tartin Plunge Bra £51 ⎜ 5. Cowshed Spearmint Exfoliating Sea Salt Scrub £40 ⎜ 6. Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook £8.99 ⎜ 7. Nikon 50mm F1.8D Lens £100

With two weeks (that's thirteen sleeps!) to go until Chritmas, I thought it was about time I complied my Christmas Wish List. Now I know most of the things on my wish list are really quite expensive, but it's not called a wish list for nothing...You never know, Father Christmas may be feeling really minted and generous this year.

But really, when all is said and done - and other such clichéd phrases - I am completely and perfectly content in my life as it is so all I want for Christmas is peace and love and a happy holiday for all my nearest and dearest.

(Vom)

What KT Does

I love illustrations. Quentin Blake's illustrations for Roald Dahl have always been my favourites and nothing has really come close to them since. They're comforting, like hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. They take me right back to childhood.

I stumbled across the blog Thistledown Spirits by chance, just bored (jobless) browsing other bloggers' links. I adore them. There is something hauntingly sad about them. The artist is KT Smail, a Scottish illustrator who says on her website "she makes and collects pictures like posies of paper flowers." Which is sweet.

They are for sale as well - so if anyone is still looking to get me a present for Christmas......

http://www.whatktdoes.com/