New year, new you!

Good day friends,

How are you? I hope that you had a good Christmas/other celebration! Mine was good thanks for asking (Wow this is a great one way conversation).

For today I want to talk about new years resolutions. You know those things that you promise to yourself and then give up on after a few days. Or maybe you are one of those people that actually keep theirs, if so then what’s it like having self control?

Here are a few good ideas for New Years Resolutions:

Doing more exercise: Of course I’m not saying that you need to do more exercise that would be rude for me to say, I just mean that more exercise can be a good for a lot of things. Not only for your body but also for your productivity, brain function and will increase the amount of junk food that you can eat which is a definite plus.

Exploring new fashion ideas: What you wear is an expression and can give an impression to people around you about your personality and moods. Opening up to new clothes and colours could give you a chance to be a brighter or different person and maybe even change the way you look at life.

Trying a new genre of film: Maybe you stick to the same genre of film and when you see a film that comes out in another you don’t really care, but also that could be a good thing to change. It could open up a new genre for you, show you new actors that you didn’t know had a whole fandom with everyday people having their life changed by it, and you could become one of those people. Films can give you new ideas and strengthen emotions just like books can.

Try new things: Trying new things is always a good and exciting thing to do. Trying something new can build up your confidence and let you meet more people who have the same interests as you. Great new things to try are: Clubs, Hobbies, groups and maybe even try going more places that people hang out at.

Learning a new language: As well as making you sound a lot smarter than you might actually be, this is an experience that could open up your mind to a whole new culture, and you can develop your mind and improve your memorizing and make you faster at doing mental exercises.

And that is only  a few, there are so many different ones and when you choose one it should be one that you actually have an interest in otherwise you won’t really have a drive to actually keep it up.

My new years resolutions for this year are to make my wardrobe more colourful and more interesting, learn a new language (probably Japanese or mandarin) and eat more healthily (basically a lot less sugar). Let me know how you get on with yours.

Good bye for now x

The best gingerbread recipe!

Good Day friends! I hope that you are enjoying this festive time, eating way too much sugar and wearing garish out there jumpers which offend the publics eyes. It is personally my favourite time of year, ever, in the whole universe. Also chocolate every day is kind of a dream and this is the only time that it's really acceptable.

And today I have for you a post which is kind of a smush between two different Christmas ideas that I had, so here you have some cute baking ideas that I love, also I wanna just talk about Christmas. I'm feeling so festive its leaking out my ducts and I am so ready to rant about some stuff. This might be a long one, so grab a hot drink, a comfy blanket and enjoy.

First we have some dark chocolate reeses pieces and for those who watch Dan and Phil they will realise that this is a changed version of their monster pops recipe. I only really changed it because it was way too sweet and making cake pops can take forever, so here for you is my new, improved, tried and tested version for you:

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter - 9 Tablespoons

Condensed Milk - 2 Tablespoons

Vanilla Extract - Half a Teaspoon

Pumpkin Spice mix - Two Teaspoons (Ginger, Cinnamon, Ground cloves, Ground nutmeg, ground all spice)

Coating - 1 Dark Chocolate bar. About 170 g I think

1.        First you measure the peanut butter into the bowl and then add the condensed milk, vanilla extract and pumpkin spice then mix together until it forms dough.

2.       Line a bake tray with grease proof paper and then roll the dough into small balls onto the tray. And put into the fridge.  Keep in there until you’ve finished making the coating.

3.       Put the chocolate into a glass bowl in small chunks. Heat up for 30 seconds each time until the chocolate has completely melted.

4.       Take out the balls and cover each of them in as much chocolate as you like, then put back in the fridge for about an hour or until completely solid.

And that's all there is too this recipe, Its actually really simple and they are quite tasty too.

Ok one more recipe now: Here is my ultimate amazing Gingerbread recipe!

This is my absoloute favourite and it always works for me and is so simple for quickly whipping up a batch for Christmas day. And yes this is also an adapted version of Dan and Phil's Halloween gingerbread recipe but it just works so well for Christmas and is so soft and nice!
Here it is:

Ingredients:

300g Plain Flour/ All purpose flour

Half a tea spoon of baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

Three quarters of a teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of each, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger

175g granulated sugar

115g Unsalted Butter

1 large egg

Half a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

85g Black Treacle/ Dark Molasses

1.       In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and mix together then set aside.

2.       In a larger bowl cream together the butter and sugar until it appears to be light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides to the middle.

3.       Add the eggs, vanilla extract and molasses and beat until completely mixed in. Then add all the flour mixture.

4.       Separate the mixture into two, cover each in cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees c). Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.

5.       On a lightly floured surface and roll out with a floured rolling pin. Cut out any shapes that you like and place on the baking trays and then put into the oven. Put the cookies about 2 inches apart so that they don’t move into each other. Bake them for 11 minutes or until the cookies are set.

6.       Take out and leave to cool and then decorate if desired.

You may have realised from those that I really don't know how to write recipe instructions and that you won't be seeing my newest cook book in the shops any time soon. Also yes all the recipes are in English measurements.

I know that you can go and get these from a bakery but I think that home baking is way better than shop bought. It just feels more personal and they can be warm when you eat them.

Okay and now I just wanted to talk about the things that for me are the best parts of Christmas and what makes the time of year special. And obviously I won't just be talking about being with friends and family and being sociable because falalala.

Towns being decorated as well as houses and shops always make me smile. There is something special about everything being covered in lights and neon signs that makes me feel festive and is a great reminder that the time is here of resting and eating food for a while. There are some houses that look so amazing with just a few strings of lights going for the simplistic look. And there are also some that go completely overboard and can sometimes burn your eyes. Not that I'm complaining about people feeling festive.

Food, just food. I love the way that almost everyone I know knows that I love chocolate and basically any type of food and that means that the majority of my friends have given me chocolate and I could not be happier about it. Food at Christmas brings people together and although I don't celebrate Thanksgiving I can expect that it does the same job as well.

Giving presents. I honestly prefer giving presents rather than receiving and seeing people get a life changing present that makes their whole face light up is one of the best feelings. A good present is sometimes a milestone in a person's life and to be the one giving that gift would be a maing.

Christmas songs!! They are the most lifting and fun songs to sing with your friends and family and the oldest are always the most memorable and amazing. My favourites have to be Step into Christmas and Last Christmas, simply because they are so upbeat and almost everyone knows the lyrics so they can join in too.


Okay and I think that's everything! This might be the last blog I post before the new year so I'll see you then. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this and that you have a good Christmas/Atheist Hoedown/Other religious relaxing time.

Good bye for now x

Best books for Teen english lovers!

Hello everyone, settle down at the back please! And you coming in with your cup of tea please do hurry up a bit. Okay, so a normal thing for bloggers and vloggers to do at this merry and gingerbread flavoured time of year is a tiny little thing called blogmas, and although that does sound lovely (and not at all time consuming), I do happen to be one of the laziest people on earth and have even been procrastinating making this blog for a while. Not that I don't like making this blog at all, It's actually quite enjoyable and calming.


So now that little notice is done, we shall commence with the real blog post and today I have for you a post on some different books that I have been obsessing over and really enjoying. Throughout the week I tend to get into different moods and mind-sets and I have found a small collection of books that have always made me feel calm and happy. Also as much as I would love to write individual page long reviews for these books, but I feel that the stories do speak for themselves and that I couldn't convey that emotion into this blog. And with that here we go with my little list!

1. Me before you: A quiet and subtle romance novel based on the lives of Will Traynor (a suicidal quadriplegic) and Louisa Clark (an eccentrically dressed absent minded scatterbrain) and the love that blossoms from a first hate and misunderstanding. Whether I'm in a good or bad mood, there is always a part of this book that will calm me and touch my heart. It's quick wit from the characters and strong romance will have you hooked like it got me. My own copy is so thumbed through that it's barely keeping it's shape.

2. Wildthorne: Not always the most calming but definitely dramatic with an intoxicating story line that will draw you in from page one. The stage is an insane asylum, for the crazy or perhaps just the presumed mad and set a long time ago. A young woman dreaming of becoming a doctor and helping people is believed to be insane for the way she wants to be more than men expect her to be. It's a dramatic, historical and emotional rollercoaster with twists and turns along the way.

3. Little Women: A well known classic that is beautifully written, relaxing at first, and a gorgeous read. It's written in a way that you can imagine every single detail, from the elegant dresses to the emotions of loss and anger. These are the stories of young women finding their way whilst overcoming their own issues and the problems of their era; with the backbone themes of war, love and peace.

And now for one final book.

4. Foyle's Philanthropy: This one might not be quite a reading book but for an English lover this would be the perfect gift, as it is a dictionary of strange and uncommon words that could be used in a normal conversation if you're feeling especially pretentious. I really love this book and I know I'll end up using some of the words from this book in future blog posts.

And with that I am done, I hope you enjoyed this and maybe found it a little helpful for buying during this lovely festive season. I'll be back soon with another blog post and I hope until then that you have a good and safe week.

Good Bye for now x