Seeing Double

I mentioned in a previous post that I had been asked to make a batch of cupcakes for the vicar's (who married us) birthday. Once I got home from work last night, after watching Doctor Who of course, I got cracking with my challenge. 

I was asked to make 24 which was pretty easy really. My Nanna lent me her muffin tray which matches mine, and I just doubled the recipe. I was a little bummed out that I didn't make a few more so that we all could have a taste test, but I will remember that for next time. haha. 

Once thing I should add is that I alway try to use happy eggs... and not just because of how happy they are in the bowl...

but because happy uncaged chickens make happier eggs. And I believe that you really can taste the difference, and I must say that the texture is also different. 

I love baking so much. I find it so relaxing and would love to one day turn a hobby into a career, but until then I'll just share all my creations with you guys. I'm also not even ashamed to say that my buns taste incredible. The sponge is light and fluffy and the buttercream is rich but not sickly. Let just say that I have been known to crave my own cupcakes... and Mike pesters me for some all the time. 

I got cracking with the recipe at about 7:30pm so that were as fresh as they could be. 

I've actually got to the point now where I don't time my cakes. I just let them cook and take them out when they are ready. I never thought that this was possible, but it is!

And there we have it. All lined up like little soldiers, with flags. haha. I'm obsessed with having flags in the buns. Mike makes them so I can concentrate on the decorations. 

When I finally woke up today (see how I didn't mention this 'morning'. haha) I had received two phone calls, both leaving a message. 

One from my Nanna and one from the vicar saying just how much they loved my cupcakes and that they went down a treat. This sounds awful, but if old people say that they are good... then they must be. Personally I think that old people are the worst critics because they just don't care. haha. 

Overall I am so happy with these. The phone calls made my day and I felt so proud. Just a shame that I didn't get to try one! 

Speak Soon, 

Katie 

x

Wedding: Cupcakes

The cupcakes I made for our wedding went down a treat. Everyone loved them. And I must admit so did I. I made them on the Friday night before our wedding day as I wanted them to be as fresh as possible, and so that the sponge was still moist. I planned on making my own cupcakes from the day we set the date for our wedding and I'm so glad that I did. The little flags in each cake were also handmade by the now husband. I told him what to do, and he made them perfectly. I am such a proud wife. 

Most people were in utter shock to find out that they were homemade, and my Nanna even wants to learn how to make them! Now this came as a complete shock to me, as it will do to you when you see the cake she made for our wedding day...

This fabulous creation was made by our 88 year old Nanna. I always wanted her to make my wedding cake, but never thought that she would be able to. I loved it. Unfortunately I don't like fruit cake, or I'd be wolfing it down. (though she did give me a bag of icing from it that I can munch on... shhhh!)

Overall the cupcakes did take four hours to make, but I loved every second of it, and wouldn't change it for the world. I think that even if I had more money than sense I still would have made my own. The whole process relaxed me, which is just what I needed the night before the wedding, it also kept me busy so I didn't think about the day ahead. 

The tricky part was transporting the cakes from our house, a 25 minute drive down the road to my parents house. haha. We had the best man in the back seat guarding two trays full of cakes spread out across the back, while holding two more, and a cake stand with more cakes between his knees. I was in the front seat with my Nanna's cake and more cupcakes balanced on top, and finally Mike driving as carefully as possible. But don't worry he didn't have any balanced on his head, though I would be surprised if he did. haha.


I've now been asked to bake some cupcakes for the Vicar's Birthday, and for me this is an honour. It'll be my way of thanking her for marrying us, and holding such a beautiful ceremony. I'd love to start my own mini business from baking, but for now baking for the Vicar's Birthday is more than enough. 

As you can tell we held our wedding reception at my parents home, and we loved every second of it. There are even people who didn't go to our wedding that are still talking about our day now. As each day goes by we hear from someone else how much they enjoyed it. 

There's definitely more to come,

Speak Soon,

Katie 

x

KatieWrites: A book review - Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Firstly, what does the writer have to say about this book?
Blurb: Falling for the fallen...
For Nora Gray, romance was never part of the plan. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgement. 
But after a series of terrifying encounter, Nora isn't sure if she can trust him. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and to know more about her than her closet friends. And when she tries to seek answers, she discovers she is right in the middle of a centuries-old battle between the immortal and the fallen... and it's time to take sides.  


I picked up this book from the young adult section following a recommendation by Sammie, so to be able to review this book fairly firstly we would need to accept the audience in which this book was written for. As the book was aimed for young adults, certain topics that would be explained within an adult book in mature manner with great detail, is only brushed upon within this story. For example relationships are explained in a simple way where different aspects can be taken depending upon the age of the reader. Through-out the story the majority of the time the reader is left in suspense. The writer creates atmosphere very easily to build fear for the characters very early on, leaving the reader constantly guessing, and with a great twist at the end, which admittedly is quite predictable, but still very interesting and enjoyable. 


Now is this the best written book? No. 
Did I expect it to be? No. 


To be honest I was not let down by this book, as my initial expectations were rather low. I wasn't expecting a strong story line, as it was aimed at a younger audience, but what I received did not disappoint. The story was very east to get into, the characters were very easy to relate to, and the mystery surrounding the storyline was very captivating. 


Would I read this book again? Probably not. But really that is a very unfair comment as I rarely re-read a book. 


The only problem I found with the story line was that it seemed to have gained influence from other story lines. 
Let me explain. 
I'm sure you have all heard of Twilight, well who hasn't? Now I'm not saying that this is about vampires or that the writer has ripped off the plot from this novel, but certain aspects have definitely made an appearance. For example the two main characters, Nora and Patch, meet for the first time at high school in Biology class. Fair enough, where else would a high school student meet a mysterious student? But was it entirely necessary for the chosen class to be Biology? Well it kind of was. There were issues raised within the book that that could only be raised within a biology lesson, so I guess we'll let the writer off with this one. 
The other plot that this book reminded me of is not a book. In fact it is the British T.V series, Hex. I'm not sure how popular this series was, as I'm pretty sure that it was cancelled after the second series. No surprise really as the main, much loved character was killed off within the first few episodes of the second series, then replaced by a much feistier, female demon killer. If you've not heard of this series it too is about a fallen angel that needs to seduce a human to spawn a child, which will bring on the earths destruction. In fact the nearer to the end of Hush, hush, the more I was reminded of Hex. This could be completely coincidental as the writer may have never seen this series, so for this we will also let her off.
(I still recommend this series by the way, but only if you can handle the series ending without all the answers being explained.)


Now to the most important part of this book review, would I recommend this book? 
Actually, I would. Though I have mentioned some bad points, overall I enjoyed the plot. I loved the characters, and I found it very easy to read. There were even some parts in this book where I was truely terrified. Now don't get me wrong this is coming from the girl who has watched far too many Zombie movies, and fears the Zombie Apocalypse on a daily basis, so I may not be the best source to judge fear, but I still enjoyed the slight adrenaline rush. I would say to anyone who was to embark on reading this book, go into it with an open mind, understand the audience to which this book was aimed at, and finally enjoy. 


I hope you enjoyed my review as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now I'm going to lounge on the sofa and enjoy the next book in my 'books I wish to read' line up, Rachel's Holiday, by Marian Keyes. I love her books, my favourite being 'The Charming Man,' which was so excellently executed, so I am looking forward to how this story unfolds. Lets picture me, sat on the sofa, cuddle up nice and snug in my quilt, with a nice cup of tea, a bun, and a good book. 

Hope you all have a good day, 

Speak Soon, 

Katie

x 

Feeling slightly under the weather

I've had a lovely day today, but now I'm not feeling quite myself as the title suggests. I think I'm starting with another cold. Fingers crossed I'm just imagining things, and I wake up tomorrow morning feeling on top of the world. For now, I'm going to stay cuddled up in my quilt on the sofa, with Millie, and Mike, enjoying blogging. (My favourite place to be to be honest.)
I've got a post to upload after this one that I'm quite proud of.
I wrote it while waiting for these picture to upload, so look out for that one. But in the mean time, heres what I got up to today.

























As usual my Sunday morning started with pole dancing. Not so usual, is that my Mum had to take me, as we suffered a major oil leak at the beginning of the week, which will keep me off the road until next Sunday. Which is probably good news to other drivers. I should make a public announcement really.

Once home, I decided to bake, which I'm loving at the moment. Since giving up chocolate for lent, I've chosen to replace the calories with homemade cakes and biscuits. I can see the flaws in this plan, but it's worth it.

They tasted so good. I wanted to make them to take round to my Nanna's. Earlier on in the week I had made some biscuits (in fact the one's mentioned here) which I'd told my Nanna I'd take round for her to try but instead I accidentally left them at my Mum's. So I made her, her very own, personalised biscuit.

Don't worry that's how we've always spelt Nanna, since I was a little girl.

I also thought I'd take advantage of the cake stand my Auntie bought me for Christmas, and while I appreciate the thought, it's bloody useless.

Why is picture tilted? I hear you ask. Because that's the only way to take a picture of it without fearing for the safety of the cupcakes. I didn't want you all worrying now did I?

Yes, the sneaky bugger is helping me with the cleaning.

Add feeding it to the dog. Licking the bowl doesn't actually count as washing the pots Mike.

And there you were thinking I'd left Mike out of all the personalised biscuit making session... or whatever you want to call it.

We then headed to my Nanna's. Walking of course, due to my car being poorly. We took Millie who insisted on inspecting everything at my Nanna's. You'd think she'd never been before. At least she enjoyed herself. It was also the first time we'd ever heard Millie belch. Shocking, but so very, very funny.

More insisting occurred, when my Nanna's gave me her high street vouchers so I could pick up some bits for our wedding. Half of me (the selfish side) is very excited to pick up my foundation, and a few other bits, the other half wishes that she had spent them all on herself. Either way I didn't have much choice in the matter, so the only way round is to pick up a few treats for her with the vouchers, as well as the bits for myself.

Once back home, and settled we realised that the only food we'd had was breakfast, and cakes, so real food was needed.
So we decided upon cheese on toast. Haha.

The husband-to-be took this one for my blog. He's such a sweetheart.

Followed by an apple. He asked if I wanted one for pudding (well we did have cupcakes for lunch) I said yes, as long as he cut it up for me. I didn't think he'd actually do it. I really have found a keeper.

Anyway, that's our day over. And what a lovely day it has been. Quiet and family orientated, just the way I like it.

Speak soon,
Katie
x

Katie and Cupcakes

For Christmas at our work, we had a large selection of food and each item was brought in by a different member of staff. So I decided to take cupcakes. Oh my gosh they were as good as they looked... amazing. If I do say so myself.

Being Katie n all I decided to make them in my PJs :D Off course. I live in PJs.

I loved making them and I will def be making more soon.

I used a normal sponge cake recipe then poured the mixture into muffin cases, which made them into huge buns :D

Below are a few pictures

The hardest bit was trying to find enough boxes to take them to work in

I love my buns lol