Transformation Tuesday: Week 66

Another week, another seven days of faffing...

Technical Thursday: Mary's Tennis Cake

It seemed rather fitting this week to be making Mary Berry's Tennis Cake while Andy Murray stormed into the final of the Davis Cup at the weekend. The amount of time I spent waiting for the sponge to cool allowed for plenty of time to watch the tennis, and it really helped to calm my annoyance at how stupidly long this cake took to make.

I felt it was a bizarre bake given how largely uncomplicated and boring it was at this stage of the competition, but at least it fell at a topical time! Plus, it looks pretty and tastes divine, so I can't really complain...

Transformation Tuesday: Week 65

I can't seem to get my head back in the game at the moment.

Technical Thursday: Paul's Flaounes

Another episode of Bake Off, another opportunity to make a recipe I've never heard of and have absolutely no clue how to pronounce... Pastry week saw the bakers tackle Paul Hollywood's Flaounes - Cypriot cheese-filled pastries flavoured with a mix of decidedly difficult to find Greek spices.

This week really confirmed for me that I'm going to have to become creative with these Technical Challenges in order to actually make the best version of them I possibly can. The previous episode called for Gluten Free-Pitta, but even after searching in multiple health-food shops and enormous supermarkets several crucial ingredients either eluded me (Nigella seeds were a mystery despite now being readily available in both my local Tesco and Waitrose) or were way too expensive (Psyllium powder in Holland & Barrett cost around £15 and I only needed to use a tenth of the pouch). As a result I decided not to make them, instead going for normal pitta. A work trip meant that I didn't have time to blog my results last Thursday but needless to say they were a success. However, they weren't exactly within the specific remits of the challenge.

Thus from now on I've decided to definitely alter the recipes so that I can feasibly complete them and simultaneously not use up all my savings in the process. This will mean finding alternative ingredients when others are too expensive/impossible to locate and essentially making do. Hopefully this will work out well!

Transformation Tuesday: Week 64

For me, there's nothing worse than the feeling of total helplessness and overwhelming panic that my head seems to default to whenever I start to minutely veer off track. It doesn't take much to make me believe that I'm going to drown in my head and that there's no conceivable way out of the abyss - it's my fault that I feel like this (I've failed again) and I deserve to suffer. However, as awful as I felt last week in the throes of a complete meltdown, I think I needed it in order to push my head back in the right direction.

Transformation Tuesday: Week 63

I don't really know how to approach writing about this week.

I've had much better weeks in the past that have really concerned people when I've written about them, so I'm a little uncomfortable going into too much detail about the current state of my head for fear of unnecessarily worrying anyone...

Coming Soon: September 2015

It's September (how?!): the month of transitions and new stationary. Summer is (almost) over, leaving behind the bland remakes, superhero movies and epic action blockbusters that seem to have characterised the last few months. In their place are Sundance hits and IMAX extravaganzas: the sorts of films that bridge the gap between the pure entertainment of the summer and the upcoming seriousness of awards season.

Achieving the perfect blend of charm, humour and emotion this month is Sundance darling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, opening today. I was lucky enough to see a preview screening last week and spent the first half of the film laughing and the final twenty minutes ugly crying with mascara running down my face. It's sweet, tender and will hit you right in the feels: it should be at the top of your September film list! Offsetting that this weekend is stoner comedy American Ultra, reboot of the Transporter franchise - sadly without Jason Statham - The Transporter Refuelled, Meryl Streep's ageing rockstar movie Ricki and the Flash, and tense thriller No Escape. September kicks off with a pretty diverse selection of films, so there's definitely something for everyone!

Other notable movies this month include Woody Allen's latest creation featuring Emma Stone and Joaquin Pheonix, Irrational Man; Bill Bryson comedy A Walk In the Woods; and Tom Hardy seeing double as the Kray twins in Legend. Towards the end of the month there are a number of critically acclaimed films: Oscar-nominated Estonian war drama Tangerines, eviction drama starring Andrew Garfield 99 Homes, and the based-on-a-true-story Captive.

Plus, there are the IMAX epics of Everest and The Martian, both of which look like they should be seen on the biggest screen possible! As ever, click below for trailers and synopsis of the best films hitting U.K. cinemas this month...

Technical Thursday: Mary's Spanische Windtorte

I've made meringue a couple of times before, and each time I've ended up with a brown, dry mess that I've had to jazz up with sprinkles or crush into a pudding to disguise the fact that it's a total disaster. Therefore, when this Technical Challenge was revealed it's probably understandable that I panicked slightly! It had the potential to go extremely wrong, but luckily for me it did the exact opposite! (If it's not already obvious, I am beyond thrilled about this!)

I'm not sure if it's my new oven or if I've finally mastered meringue, but either way this ended up being one of the prettiest challenges to date, and one that's really surprised me. Mary's delicate layers of French and Swiss meringue filled with a strawberry/raspberry/cream centre were basically heaven on a cake stand. *insert heart-eyed emoji here*

Transformation Tuesday: Week 62

This week I completed Cycle 1 of the 90 Day SSS, and to say I have mixed feelings about it would be a bit of an understatement.