Transformation Tuesday Week 27

Christmas is - hands down - my favourite time of the year, and I'm pleased to report that even though I didn't celebrate it in the way I've always done in the past (eating enough food to feed a family of six) I still loved it just as much as I always do. If anything, I enjoyed it more because I didn't suffer several days in a food coma and constantly feeling disgusting. I might sound a little smug in saying it, so apologies, but everything went exactly as planned food-wise and as a result I couldn't be prouder.

Best Dressed 2014

As 2014 draws to a close it's time to take a look back over the year and shine a light on the fashion highlights of the last twelve months.

Safe to say it's been a sensational year for fashion, and as a result it's been ridiculously hard to narrow down so many incredible outfits into a measly top 10 list as I did last year. Trust me - I spent the weekend trying - but I loved too much this year so deemed it an impossible task.

Instead I've tackled this annual post a little differently, and in the process I've well and truly moved away from my singular love of monochrome and discovered I'm really starting to adore patterns. Who'd have thought this was possible this time last year?!

The Ciné File Vol. 13

Christmas really is the best time to settle on the sofa under a blanket and watch films to your hearts content as every channel is always bursting with old classics, festive favourites and premiering films from the last couple of years.

This Christmas was no exception as the BBC shone with Avengers Assemble. However Sky Movies reigned triumphant with three incredible new releases on demand: Frozen, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Lego Movie. Obviously I've already watched each of them a couple of times...

Well done, Sky Movies, you won at Christmas programming this year!

Film Round-Up 2014

For me, nothing beats a good film.

2014 has been a stellar year in terms of excellent movies, from the ground-breaking that took 12 years to make; to sequels that were miraculously better than their predecessors; to yet more triumphs in motion capture and more superheroes than you can shake a stick at.

Given the fact that I watch an obscene amount of films each year - and spend more time in the cinema than is probably socially acceptable - I felt it'd be worth looking back over the last year and evaluating my cinematic highs and lows, from my top 10 films of the year to mini-awards for "The Film That Was Just Genuinely Bad" to "The Film That I Wish Everyone Else Had Seen Too."

It's a varied bunch, so hopefully it'll provide a bit of inspiration going into 2015 for films I'd wholeheartedly recommend catching up on if you missed them first time round, as well as instant classics that are fully deserving of a rewatch.

Transformation Tuesday: Week 26

It's a funny one this week as despite only having a small loss I've managed to hit a major BMI target. Hang up the bunting, it's time to celebrate.

Manicure Monday: Runway Ribbon

One of the best things about Christmas has to be advent calendars.

This year - as I can't have chocolate - I've embraced the trend of the beauty calendar instead, and now I've experienced it I don't think I'll ever be fully content to go back to a measly piece of chocolate each day ever again. 

That's where the sparkling red glitter of Runway Ribbon comes in. It's a bit different for me - I know - but I came to the conclusion after a lot of deliberation that if I'm ever going to experiment with nail polish then Christmas is the perfect time to do it.

The Ciné File Vol. 12

This week I've finally seen two Christmas classics - Die Hard and The Muppet Christmas Carol - and had a bit of a Night at the Museum marathon. Nothing wrong with that!

Caramelised Popcorn Yule Log

One of the best things about Christmas - regardless of age - has to be Christmas films. Everyone has a favourite, from the classics (It's a Wonderful Life), to the endlessly quotable (Elf), to the ones with a ridiculous cast (Love Actually), to the dubiously festive (Die Hard), and the quite frankly terrifying (Gremlins).

You might not be the biggest fan of a Santa Clause triple bill on Christmas Eve - as I am - so Bad Santa might be more your style. Maybe nothing beats watching the Muppets Christmas Carol first thing on Christmas Day while waiting to open presents. Who knows!

There's something for everyone and every channel is naturally saturated with them over the next week. Despite all the differences between all of the millions of movies on offer - festive or not - one thing remains the same: nothing accompanies a film quite like popcorn. Plus, it's Christmas, so chocolate for every meal is not only expected but also guilt-free if you believe in Father Christmas.*

*not really, but let's pretend.

This recipe is the last of my Christmas bakes, and I like to think I've saved a bit of a showstopper to go out with a bang with this Caramelised Popcorn Yule Log from John Whaite.

Eggnog Trifle

Not everyone likes Christmas pudding, but everyone needs a show-stopping dessert to finish off a gluttonous Christmas Day feast.

These sophisticated Eggnog Trifles with a mixed berry compote look beautiful, have a subtle but sweet festive hit thanks to the eggnog custard and are lovely and light, making them the perfect end to a day filled with millions of courses and a tin of Quality Street.

Often the last thing you want is to be faced with a hot, fruity (and often stodgy) dessert that'll just push a food baby to epic, uncomfortable proportions, so these individual chilled trifles are the ideal alternative.

Cranberry & Stilton Loaf

For a lactose intolerant, the nation-wide obsession with cheese boards at Christmas always seems baffling to me. I really hate the smell of cheese too, so the thought of having another calorie-laden course based around such a horrid food is ridiculously unappealing.

However, I can appreciate that not everyone is as weird as me, and for some the prospect of gorging on enough cheese, crackers and posh chutney to sink a battleship while settling down on the sofa to watch the likes of Bad Santa is potentially one of the best things about the festive season.

I'm absolutely loving finally mastering bread, so when I came across this Paul Hollywood recipe for a Cranberry & Stilton Loaf I knew it had to be included in my series of Christmas posts. This flavoursome bread is a delicious alternative to cheese and biscuits, it's ridiculously Christmassy, and let's be honest, everyone loves the smell of freshly baked bread!

Peppermint Pretzel Marshmallow Fudge

Pretzels. Candy Canes. Chocolate. Marshmallows.

It's not Christmas if you don't intend to consume at least three of the above four foods over the next fortnight. Think you might struggle to fit the last one in? Well don't panic, as today's Christmas post combines all of the above, in a delicious American recipe from Joy the Baker for Peppermint Pretzel Marshmallow Fudge.

Whether you attack a tin of this while watching Miracle on 34th Street for the millionth time or decide to give it all away as presents, this decadently sweet chocolate fudge bursting with salty pretzels, chewy marshmallows and crunchy, minty candy canes will definitely go down a treat.

Transformation Tuesday: Week 25

Genuinely surprising news on the weight loss front his week, but I think it's just what I needed to spur me on into the next few Christmassy weeks.

Manicure Monday: Sole Mate

Once again my Essie obsession has got the better of me this week - not that I'm remotely bothered - with the deep plum of Sole Mate.

The Ciné File Vol. 11

This week I've fully immersed myself in Middle Earth by spending the majority of the week rewatching the first two Hobbit films in preparation for a final journey to Tolkein's universe with The Battle of the Five Armies. It's not a perfect trilogy by any stretch of the imagination - it's no Toy Story - but I'm definitely a fan...

Cinnamon & Raspberry Whirl Wreath

Recently I've finally started to finally master bread and sweet enriched doughs, so I'm really keen to try out all kinds of doughy recipes at the moment, almost as proof that I'm no longer a total disaster in that department.

I stumbled across the recipe for this Cinnamon & Raspberry Whirl Wreath in the new Great British Bake Off: Christmas book and instantly knew I had to try it out and include it in my Christmas bakes. There's something ridiculously festive about cinnamon, and the aroma of freshly baked bread is an enormously comforting scent to be greeted with in the kitchen during the winter.

This is ideal for a yuletide brunch as it's an interesting centre-piece, is large enough to feed the five thousand, and as it can made and frozen ahead of time (up to 3 months) it's ridiculously easy to produce a complicated looking, freshly baked centre-piece at the last minute that guests will think you've spent hours preparing prior to their arrival. It's more than worth the extra effort as producing something like this is an excellent alternative to any normal pastries and breads, and adds a festive flourish to a standard brunch.

Gingerbread Latte Cake

Growing up, the first viewing of the Coca-Cola Christmas advert signalled that the festive season had officially begun. These days it seems like there's another indicator. It's the first sight of the Starbucks red cups and boards declaring the arrival of seasonal drinks in coffee shops that are the new sign that it's both the right time and finally appropriate to start feeling Christmassy.

Toffee nut lattes, peppermint mochas and orange hot chocolates are everywhere at the moment in cups covered in snowflakes, snowmen and candy canes, and it's getting harder ever day to order a drink without being offered a fancy 'Christmas blend' (whatever that is). With so many to choose from it can be a little overwhelming - in the best possible way - but the undisputed king of the Christmas coffee has to be the humble but delicious Gingerbread Latte.

I downloaded John Whaite's 12 Bakes of Christmas pretty much as soon as he uploaded it to his website, and I've been dying to try out all 12 of his bakes! His recipe for this Gingerbread Latte Cake looked so appealing that I knew I had to include an attempt at in on my blog, and it does not disappoint. Layers of rich ginger sponge are sandwiched together with the lightest and most delicious coffee frosting, making a cake that's a million times better than its namesake.

It's a bold statement, but I think this is one of the tastiest cakes I've ever made. John Whaite, you genius.

Technical Thursday: Religieuse

This week's Technical Challenge required the bakers to make 8 Religieuse - French pastries that consist of two choux buns filled with pastry cream, topped with chocolate ganache and decorated with a whipped cream "collar".

Given the fact that I've never made choux pastry before I was pretty excited to try these out, and they actually worked quite well!

Unfortunately these were victims of The Great SD Card Disaster of December 9th 2014 so I have no pictures of the baking process. Luckily there were 4 left when the nightmare began so they are photographed below as evidence that I did actually do the challenge - and make all 8 - so I'm not just pretending!

Melting Snowmen Biscuits

Today I'm continuing with my Christmas themed bakes with this super cute, super easy recipe for Melting Snowmen Biscuits.

The main appeal with these is the decoration, so if you don't fancy making your biscuits from scratch as I did then using shop bought would suffice as an alternative (I'm not Mary Berry - I'm not going to give you a death stare for not making them yourself…).

Making and decorating a batch of these would be the perfect Christmas family activity, so grab your children / sisters / brothers / neighbours / child-like friends, stick on a Christmas CD and have fun with a bag of marshmallows and a pack of writing icing pens. If this doesn't get you feeling festive, then I don't know what will!

Transformation Tuesday: Week 24

Rather boringly, I don't have much to report this week.

Manicure Monday: Metallic Khaki

A couple of months ago I stumbled into the Burberry Beauty shop in Covent Garden, and after a long chat with one of the loveliest shop assistants I was persuaded to do something uncharacteristically impulsive.

I bought a nail polish that wasn't red, pink or neutral.

I left the shop with number 202: Metallic Khaki.

The Ciné File, Vol. 10

This has been a week of Christmas films (Elf on repeat…), Toy Story (thank you Sky Movies!) and an exhilarating preview of Whiplash at the Odeon Screen Unseen on Monday.

Even with all the distractions offered from Christmas channels and festive films I simply cannot stop thinking about J. K. Simmons' terrifying performance in Whiplash. When you seen it in January it is guaranteed to leave you breathless.

Candy Cane Cupcakes

"I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel."

It's only the December 6th but I've already watched Elf more times than is socially acceptable.

With Buddy the Elf and his sugar obsession on my mind, the next recipe to try out for my Christmas bakes was a bit of a no brainer: Candy Cane Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery.

These look impressive, smell amazingly pepperminty and are deceptively easy to make. Winning on so many levels!

Classic Shortbread

Imagine your favourite shortbread. I bet it's crisp, buttery and melts in your mouth. Let's be honest, it's probably from M&S.

Well that shortbread - your favourite shortbread - is about to look about as appetising as a soggy digestive biscuit steadily disintegrating at the bottom of a cup of tea.

It's a bold claim I know, but the recipe below is for the best shortbread in the whole wide world, probably even the universe. I've made it virtually every Christmas since I was in Primary School, and I know I'll continue to make it until I can no longer physically roll out the dough. Even then I'll probably find a way. It's the type of recipe you pass down to your children and rave about to everyone you know, and at over 100 years old it's definitely deserving of the word 'classic'.

I've tried what feels like a million shortbread recipes, but none have ever come close to this one from Victorian cookery writer, Mrs Isabella Beeton.

Technical Thursday: Apricot Couronne

In this episode of Series 4 the bakers were asked to tackle sweet dough, and the Technical Challenge was Paul Hollywood's Apricot Couronne - a sweet, glazed crown of rich bread filled with walnuts, apricots and raisins.

I'm notoriously bad at any form of dough so was really not looking forward to this at all, but it actually ended up going really well… I don't want to jinx it, but I'm hoping this means I'm no longer quite so scared of sweet dough!

Chocolate Orange Cookies

As far as I'm concerned Christmas is the best time of the year. I love absolutely everything about it, and spend 11 months (im)patiently waiting for December to come round again, so I can watch Elf repeatedly, have Christmas CDs playing at full blast in my car and excitedly shop for presents before ruining them entirely with my rubbish wrapping skills.

One of the best parts though, is the baking.

In the run up to the 25th I'll be posting a series of 10 festive-themed bakes, all ranging in difficulty, and hopefully providing a little inspiration for homemade gifts, alternatives to traditional desserts (not everyone likes Christmas pudding…) and the perfect naughty treats for yourself that are totally allowed in December.

Remember, calories don't count at Christmas.*

* Unfortunately they do, but let's pretend like they don't…

It's not Christmas without a Chocolate Orange. They're practically a staple requirement in Christmas stockings, and I don't think I know any family that doesn't end up with at least one to tap and unwrap on Boxing Day. As most supermarkets will have them on offer over the next few weeks, it seemed like the right time to try experimenting and these cookies are the ideal way to put your Terry's Chocolate Orange to good use!

Transformation Tuesday: Week 23

I don't know whether it's the fact that I'm currently practically over-flowing with Christmas spirit and a little bit giddy thanks to an overdose of fairy lights and Elf, but my weight loss head's in a really, really good place at the moment.

Manicure Monday: Bordeaux

Confession time: I'm a repeat offender and I don't care who knows it.

I'm fully aware that I wore and reviewed Essie's Bordeaux really recently, but I've fallen so in love with the shade that I couldn't bring myself to wear anything else to kick off December.