Shortbread Kebabs

I love Shortbread. A while ago we got some brought into the office and it was so tasty and crumbly and delicious and it got me hooked, I wanted more! So I made me and my family some with sweet sugar designs on top and some shortbread kebabs inspired by a pinterest I saw for a BBQ.

I'm going to write about both in this post to save all you non-shortbread lovers (who clearly don’t exist) from the boredom.

So I always use this recipe for shortbread, they come out really flaky and just the right touch of sweetness which mainly comes from the sugar on top. It is of course a bbc one and it is definitely a keeper. I would recommend making them quite thick at they dry out and become more biscuit like the thinner you make them.

For my Sweet Sugar Shape Shortbread I was at home and so had plenty of cutters to use I went with a flower shaped one to cut out the shortbread and a star and heart one to sprinkle sugar shapes on top. 

For starters I used my normal trick of microwaving the butter and creamed it together with the sugar for at least 3 minutes.

Then added the flour, I find that the mixture never really comes together until you tip it out onto your counter top and squish it with your hands.  

I then rolled it out using my Joseph and Joseph rolling pin to a 1 cm thick and began cuting out my flowers.

Once I had done as many cuts as I could I centred one of the other cutters on top of the flower and sprinkled on sugar, I think this would look really good with a coloured sugar!

Then I started all over again with my offcuts!

I used a metal spatula, the only time it has ever come in handy, to move the shortbread over to my trays, trust me it is worth this extra step.

Then popped them in the oven for 15 minutes at 170 and ate the finished product with some chopped strawberries, delicious and highly recommended.

For the kebabs I did exactly the same thing except I had to use a champagne glass as a cutter as I was at my boyfriends and I made a hole in the middle of the shortbread disks so they wouldn't break later on. 

Then all that was left was to assemble with chopped strawberry disks and whipped cream!

I think they turned out pretty good. They were a little tricky to eat but it was totally worth it!

Any one else have a soft spot for shortbread and I am totally talking about the shortbread related soft spot around my middle.

Thanks for Reading, let me know if you try out this recipe! xx

What I Wore… 29th May 2014

I am so thankful the rain stopped this morning as I really needed a flat day, I’ve got on my H&M black flats, M&S tights and my New Look striped dress.

For hair and makeup I twisted random sections on either side and pinned them roughly at the back of my head, put on gel eye liner and Rimmel with Kate red lipstick. I also have on nail varnish by Topshop.

Thanks for Reading xx

What I Wore… 30th May 2014

I went for a pocket day today and a bit of clashing prints, I’ve got on my forever 21 patterned trousers, my Zara striped top and Zara jacket and then white trainer liners and plimsolls. I feel a bit like I have stepped out of the 50s but its so comfy and how tanned do the white socks make that little bit of leg look!? I think the lighting is also helping a lot with that. Plus I have completely co-ordinated my colours! Can you tell I have a favourite colour?

For hair and makeup I put my hair in pigtails over night to get a little texture into it and then did a spray of dry shampoo along the parting this morning. I’ve put on gel eyeliner which I have been doing with a different method recently to get a thinner line closer to the lashes, I start on the outer corner furthest from the nose and work up to the middle of the eye in short strokes then switch and start from the inner corner and do a long swoop up to the middle, I like it a lot more than how I did it before, it’s a lot more subtle. I also put on mascara and Topshop Rio Rio lipstick.

Looking forward to the weekend?

Thanks for Reading xx

Swimming Rain or Shine

So this week as we all know has been miserable but I now see a silver lining to this miserable weather, no sunshine swimmers clogging up the swimming pool! Last week there were way too many people in the lane! I left feeling so annoyed because I could have pushed myself a lot harder but kept getting stuck behind people, this week I was exhausted by the end of the 30 minutes and couldn’t wait to get out the pool.

I have two stories from my sunshine swim the first is not pretty. I was stuck behind three people in my lane with another person always coming down the other side so I couldn’t get past them. After a couple slow lengths I thought screw it! I’m going to be brave and overtake at least one of these people, I came here to swim damn it! So I went for it. I did front crawl and overtook the man in front of me but then I got stuck and had to squeeze past him and another person coming the other way. Apparently I got too close to the man as when he did his breast stoke he touched my boob!!! He touched my boob!!! When you see where your hand is going surely you would stop? At least he didn’t go any lower! Then to make matters worse when I did manage to get into the space in front of him I stopped kicking my legs as I was afraid I would kick him and he got all tangled up in them and wouldn’t give me any space! It just had to be done, it was one of the messiest overtakings I have ever done and I don’t really ever want to repeat it. I might use the miss out half a lane technique next time.

Then the second story is about a lady, a lady who does not like to be overtaken. This lady was doing front crawl, front crawl is tiring especially if you do it constantly so she wasn’t going very fast. I overtook her going down one side of the lane and then right near the start of the next side got stuck behind another slow person as there was no clear path to overtake, but the front crawl lady didn’t think so, she overtook me and the slow person in front of me. When I had space I was able to front crawl past the slow person and then also the front crawl lady later in the lane. Same thing happened though, I got stuck behind a slow person so I was swimming along doing a gentle breast stroke and I accidentally kicked something.. it was front crawl lady!!! Overtaking us both again!!! Guess what happens next, I overtake the slow person then front crawl lady tries her hardest to not be overtaken, I manage to and then look behind when I get to the end of the lane and she has had to stop at the other end! I understand that she has come to swim too and shouldn’t have to stay behind slow people either but I think that you shouldn’t just barge your way through when you don’t have to and that you should go at a pace you can maintain and not be bitter and try and go faster and keep overtaking people that can swim faster than you?

After that fun week I was so happy when it came to Tuesday and it was pouring down, same lane but so much better, regular swimmers don’t mind letting you go! They don’t care what other people are doing, swimming is for you and should be self regulated, push yourself as far as you can go but don’t try and compete with other people. I mean have a race every now and then to see how you’re doing but don’t think you should be able to keep pace with every other swimmer in the pool. I had a great swim session this Tuesday I didn’t leave feeling annoyed, I felt like I had swum as hard as I could and got the most out of that half hour. I was very happy!

Anyone else sometimes wish they could win the lottery so they could have their own private pool?

Thanks for Reading xx

What I Wore … 5th June 2014

Meant to be a nice day today so I have gone for something cool with my M&S striped top with an Asos black vest underneath, my Asos blue jeans and my H&M flats. I also walked in with my borrowed Zara jacket as it was a tad breezy!? Hope that goes soon.

I didn’t really bother with makeup as I’m going swimming at lunch but I have brushed my hair, I’m really getting into this hair brushing thing I think it was probably about time at 25 years of age.

Thanks for Reading xx

What I Wore … 4th June 2014

Today I wore my River Island white lace tee with an Asos basic vest underneath, my Asos blue jeans and my New Look black boots to keep safe in the rain. It was actually really sunny for my walk home though it really cheered me up and gave me the energy to go for a run.

For hair and makeup I used my trusty brush again and put on mascara and Show off Topshop lipstick.

Anyone else have a nice walk home?

Thanks for Reading xx

What I Wore … 3rd June 2014

It’s June… June!!! Already! This is crazy. I made the most of my first healthy day in June, I got a little sick over the weekend, by wearing a new Zara dress! I love it, it has pockets and a low plunge neck which I don’t often wear and is bright red so its very cheerful. I wore it with black tights, my H&M flats and my sisters Zara orange jacket.

For hair and makeup I put in a side plait but took hair from a little further back so I still had some hair framing my face, put on gel eyeliner by Rimmel and mascara.

Thanks for Reading xx