These chocolatey-marshmallowy bites are significantly more treat than trick, and are the perfect homemade addition to any Halloween celebrations (particularly if you're strapped for time tomorrow!).
Friday 30 October 2015
Halloween Rocky Roooooad
Halloween has crept up fast this year, and as I've been pretty busy this week any attempts at difficult, impressive or bonkers themed bakes has unfortunately had to go out of the window. However, I wasn't willing to let the day pass unnoticed, so I had a rummage around in my hampers of ingredients and came up with this deliciously simple and insanely quick to make variation of a family favourite, Rocky Road.
These chocolatey-marshmallowy bites are significantly more treat than trick, and are the perfect homemade addition to any Halloween celebrations (particularly if you're strapped for time tomorrow!).
These chocolatey-marshmallowy bites are significantly more treat than trick, and are the perfect homemade addition to any Halloween celebrations (particularly if you're strapped for time tomorrow!).
Tuesday 27 October 2015
Transformation Tuesday: Week 70
It's a bit of an odd one this week. Life is ticking along, and as I said last week I've started looking into having a helping hand with this whole transformation.
My first port of call was a visit to a dietician this week, and it was honestly one of the most pointless and disheartening decisions I've ever made. Be warned, it's a bit of a lengthy post...
My first port of call was a visit to a dietician this week, and it was honestly one of the most pointless and disheartening decisions I've ever made. Be warned, it's a bit of a lengthy post...
Tuesday 20 October 2015
Thursday 15 October 2015
Technical Thursday: Paul's Raspberry Millefeuille
How quickly have these 10 weeks gone?!
I can't believe that the Great British Bake Off is actually over, and by extension that I've survived 10 Technical Challenges (I'm counting the pitta breads in that as even though I didn't blog about them I did make them, promise!). I'm beyond thrilled that Nadiya stormed to victory in the tent - even though I'm a little bit in love with Tamal - and I loved that the final challenge tested the bakers on a skill they'd all struggled with previously: pastry.
Under normal circumstances I'm not too bad at making pastry, but this challenge had me wrapped in knots... For some reason it all fell apart slightly and I had to make my rough puff twice, plus it all went a little wrong in the oven (melted butter everywhere: such a disaster!). Somehow I managed to pull it back with the presentation, and when the time came for people to try them all previous panic was forgotten as they tasted incredible. I'm not entirely sure how I managed to pull this off, but these Raspberry Millefeuille were pretty spectacular indeed!
I can't believe that the Great British Bake Off is actually over, and by extension that I've survived 10 Technical Challenges (I'm counting the pitta breads in that as even though I didn't blog about them I did make them, promise!). I'm beyond thrilled that Nadiya stormed to victory in the tent - even though I'm a little bit in love with Tamal - and I loved that the final challenge tested the bakers on a skill they'd all struggled with previously: pastry.
Under normal circumstances I'm not too bad at making pastry, but this challenge had me wrapped in knots... For some reason it all fell apart slightly and I had to make my rough puff twice, plus it all went a little wrong in the oven (melted butter everywhere: such a disaster!). Somehow I managed to pull it back with the presentation, and when the time came for people to try them all previous panic was forgotten as they tasted incredible. I'm not entirely sure how I managed to pull this off, but these Raspberry Millefeuille were pretty spectacular indeed!
Tuesday 13 October 2015
Thursday 8 October 2015
Technical Thursday: Mary's Hot Chocolate Soufflé
Well last night was a little exciting, wasn't it?! I've been routing for Nadiya for weeks so was predictably thrilled with the results (although not overwhelmed with excitement about having to attempt pesky raspberry millefeuille at the weekend...).
In a stark contrast to the up-coming Technical, last week's chocolate challenge was largely stress-free, fuss-free and unobtainable-fancy-ingredients-free. Aside from a slight faff finding the right dish, Mary's Hot Chocolate Soufflé was a definite success. In true semi-final style it was a recipe none of the bakers had attempted before - me included - but after carefully reading the instructions and working through them slowly and methodically it all came together pretty smoothly indeed. There was no panicking, no swearing in vain at my KitchenAid, and no frantic restarts of the whole process from the beginning. It all sort of slotted into place, and while the end result isn't half as neat as I would have liked, I'm pretty proud of my first ever soufflé!
In a stark contrast to the up-coming Technical, last week's chocolate challenge was largely stress-free, fuss-free and unobtainable-fancy-ingredients-free. Aside from a slight faff finding the right dish, Mary's Hot Chocolate Soufflé was a definite success. In true semi-final style it was a recipe none of the bakers had attempted before - me included - but after carefully reading the instructions and working through them slowly and methodically it all came together pretty smoothly indeed. There was no panicking, no swearing in vain at my KitchenAid, and no frantic restarts of the whole process from the beginning. It all sort of slotted into place, and while the end result isn't half as neat as I would have liked, I'm pretty proud of my first ever soufflé!
Tuesday 6 October 2015
Monday 5 October 2015
Coming Soon: October 2015
To say there's a varied selection of films hitting cinemas this October as the transition to awards season continues would be a bit of an understatement...
The month kicks off with The Intern, the charming tale of unexpected friendship between high-flying business woman Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro, her 70-year-old intern. I saw it last week and it's as heart-warming and full of immaculately dressed Pinterest-worthy sets as every other Nancy Meyer film... Visionary director Guillermo del Toro scares the bejesus out of the world with classic horror Crimson Peak: the trailer looks terrifying (I wish I hadn't seen it!) so horror fans should be extremely pleased! The latest origin story of Peter Pan - the imaginatively named Pan - has been met with mixed reviews, but the giant CGI crocodile and Hugh Jackman's dodgy facial hair are more than enough to make it look vaguely intriguing. Plus, documentaries are having a moment, with The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution and Listen To Me Marlon screening towards the end of the month.
Then there's the more serious awards contenders. Since premiering at Cannes in the summer tense thriller Sicario has been collecting universal praise and has often been dubbed with the title 'film of the year'. Macbeth - which I saw this past weekend - is an absolute triumph and an example of masterful film-making: it's brutal, visceral and has astonishing central performances from Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Furthermore, there's Lance Armstrong doping film, The Program; vitally important feminist film chronicling the early fight for votes for women Suffragette; and bonkers dystopian film The Lobster, about a world where single people have 45 days to find a romantic partner before they are transformed into animals and sent off into the woods. Finally, the true story of Frenchman Philippe Petit's dream to walk the void between the Twin Towers in The Walk has had everyone talking recently. Apparently people were sick in press screenings from vertigo, so if you're not a fan of heights then maybe give the IMAX 3D option a miss!
Oh, and 007's back, not that anyone's really noticed!
The month kicks off with The Intern, the charming tale of unexpected friendship between high-flying business woman Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro, her 70-year-old intern. I saw it last week and it's as heart-warming and full of immaculately dressed Pinterest-worthy sets as every other Nancy Meyer film... Visionary director Guillermo del Toro scares the bejesus out of the world with classic horror Crimson Peak: the trailer looks terrifying (I wish I hadn't seen it!) so horror fans should be extremely pleased! The latest origin story of Peter Pan - the imaginatively named Pan - has been met with mixed reviews, but the giant CGI crocodile and Hugh Jackman's dodgy facial hair are more than enough to make it look vaguely intriguing. Plus, documentaries are having a moment, with The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution and Listen To Me Marlon screening towards the end of the month.
Then there's the more serious awards contenders. Since premiering at Cannes in the summer tense thriller Sicario has been collecting universal praise and has often been dubbed with the title 'film of the year'. Macbeth - which I saw this past weekend - is an absolute triumph and an example of masterful film-making: it's brutal, visceral and has astonishing central performances from Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Furthermore, there's Lance Armstrong doping film, The Program; vitally important feminist film chronicling the early fight for votes for women Suffragette; and bonkers dystopian film The Lobster, about a world where single people have 45 days to find a romantic partner before they are transformed into animals and sent off into the woods. Finally, the true story of Frenchman Philippe Petit's dream to walk the void between the Twin Towers in The Walk has had everyone talking recently. Apparently people were sick in press screenings from vertigo, so if you're not a fan of heights then maybe give the IMAX 3D option a miss!
Oh, and 007's back, not that anyone's really noticed!
Sunday 4 October 2015
The Ciné File Vol. 37
As far as The Ciné File goes, August and September were clearly a total right off.
While I may not have had time to write about every film I saw I did manage to fit in multiple cinema trips (obviously), really putting my Cineworld Unlimited card to good use and finally discovering the joys of my local Curzon. There are too many films for me to go back and review in full - sadly there just aren't enough hours in the day - but as I've been making a note of star ratings after each film in my phone I thought it might be best to assemble them all in a quick post.
A number of these films from August/the start of September are no longer widely available in cinemas, but they may have a second wave in the coming weeks (places like the Prince Charles Cinema in London are excellent for this), or might still have odd random showings in the middle of the day. As such, I've included trailers so if you see something you like then go seek it out! If you can catch the likes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., 45 Years and Straight Outta Compton then I'd seriously recommend it: the downloads/DVD releases seem too far away and they absolutely deserve to be seen!
While I may not have had time to write about every film I saw I did manage to fit in multiple cinema trips (obviously), really putting my Cineworld Unlimited card to good use and finally discovering the joys of my local Curzon. There are too many films for me to go back and review in full - sadly there just aren't enough hours in the day - but as I've been making a note of star ratings after each film in my phone I thought it might be best to assemble them all in a quick post.
A number of these films from August/the start of September are no longer widely available in cinemas, but they may have a second wave in the coming weeks (places like the Prince Charles Cinema in London are excellent for this), or might still have odd random showings in the middle of the day. As such, I've included trailers so if you see something you like then go seek it out! If you can catch the likes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., 45 Years and Straight Outta Compton then I'd seriously recommend it: the downloads/DVD releases seem too far away and they absolutely deserve to be seen!
Thursday 1 October 2015
Technical Thursday: Mary's Mokatines
These were awful: so truly awful that I will happily never make a Mokatine ever again.
I hate to blame the recipe, but there were more holes in it than a sieve. The official recipe from the BBC Food website - where I download them every week - had dodgy quantities, vague instructions and the method was so full of grammatical errors that it seemed apparent that no-one had thought to proof read it before publishing. I think it's meant to be a variation of the Mokatines in Mary Berry's Baking Bible, but I couldn't make much sense of either one. It could just be me, but it was a nightmare!
I suppose it didn't help that I was on a time limit this weekend so really could have done with it going a lot smoother than it did. For the first time it felt almost like a real Technical Challenge and I hated it! Obviously I had a lot longer on the clock than the bakers to account for photographing/tidying up etc. but it was still ridiculously stressful!
I hate to blame the recipe, but there were more holes in it than a sieve. The official recipe from the BBC Food website - where I download them every week - had dodgy quantities, vague instructions and the method was so full of grammatical errors that it seemed apparent that no-one had thought to proof read it before publishing. I think it's meant to be a variation of the Mokatines in Mary Berry's Baking Bible, but I couldn't make much sense of either one. It could just be me, but it was a nightmare!
I suppose it didn't help that I was on a time limit this weekend so really could have done with it going a lot smoother than it did. For the first time it felt almost like a real Technical Challenge and I hated it! Obviously I had a lot longer on the clock than the bakers to account for photographing/tidying up etc. but it was still ridiculously stressful!
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