Carrot cake, K-Mix and my sweet tooth...

Happy Monday!!

Today a few things happened: I gave my K-Mix it’s first outing, I panic bought 2 and a half interview outfits and I got my first filling,

To elaborate- I got my K-Mix for my 21st birthday way back in February but I’ve lived in a tiny flat with a tiny kitchen to match so there’s been no room for it. I moved out of my flat on Saturday and I’m currently staying with my parents until I find a job elsewhere. I’ve got a job interview on Wednesday for an editorial role at a card making magazine. Obviously, that is my dream job and I’m super nervous. I’ll keep you updated on that one! I also got my first filling today… My sweet tooth has taken its toll. 

Anyway, to christen my K-Mix I made up some carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting. They were divine. I’ve posted the recipe before, you can find it here.

Enjoy! And send positive vibes my way for my interview!!

What I'm listening to this week...

Maverick Sabre- Lonly are the Brave

I heard Maverick Sabre a couple of months ago and I only just got round to purchasing the album, Lonely are the Brave. It’s a beautiful album and I’ve spent a lot of time listening to it in the bath this week. His videos are pretty amazing too. 

What I'll we wearing over jubilee weekend...

With the jubilee coming up and mine and Rob's engagement party, I decided it was about time to give my wardrobe a seasonal makeover!

1. I saw this dress in Dorothy Perkins a couple of days ago and when my student loan came in it was purchase number 1! It's £32 and available to buy online here.

2. Chanel Rouge Coco in Rebelle. Available here for £23.

3. Red cardigan from H&M. Available here for £7.99.

4. Cork platform sandals by Dolce Vita. Available here for £155. I'm working on a cheaper alternative!

5. Nails Inc Jubilee. Available here for £15.

The past few weeks in Instagram photos...

The last few weeks in Instagram photos…

Long country walks with mama, being distracted from essays by my bbygirl, making and baking, the puppy and the cat sleeping like people, getting my engagement party invites printed, well deserved bubble baths after days of yoga and essay writing and last but most definitely not least chillin’ with my main man. 

Sophie's seafood chowder...

The other day I came across a recipe for seafood chowder in BBC’s Good Food magazine and since then I can’t get it out of my head. All I want to eat is sea food chowder (and then Viennese whirls… see yesterdays post if this confuses you). It’s my Dad’s favourite and he works away most of the time so I decided to make it for him whilst I’m at home as a little treat! 

When I went though the Good Food recipe I realised there was loads of stuff I didn’t like on it and also loads of stuff I don’t have or ever intend on getting (like mace…) so basically I just made this up and to my suprise it actually tasted delicious. It’s really easy and also quite cheap as far as sea food is concerned…

So here ya go, Sophie’s sea food chowder:

- A splash of olive oil
- 1 onion
- Chorizo (I cut about 2 inches off a longer one…)
- 1 tbsp flour (it should be plain but it really doesn’t matter that much)
- 600ml of fish and vegetable stock. (I like Knorr stock pots, one veg and one fish)
- 1 medium sized potato
- 300ml milk
- 320g pack of fish pie mix or of fish of your choice chopped into 1 inch cubes. (I used a mix from Tesco’s that had salmon, haddock and smoked haddock. I also popped in a bit of cod loin I had in the freezer.)
- 250g pack of cooked mixed seafood (again, mine was from Tesco’s and it had calamari, muscles and prawns in, but you could use whatever you like)
- Tin of sweetcorn
- A liberal drizzle of cream (single, double, it’s all the same to me… it’s not really I just don’t care)
- Pinch of chilli powder
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt and pepper

Start by heating the oil in a large deep saucepan. Chop up the onions and the chorizo and throw them in. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are starting to brown.

Make up your stock and add it. Bring it to a simmer and add the potatoes.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes start to soften. 

Measure out your milk and mix in the cayenne pepper, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Add to the pan. Throw in the tin of sweetcorn with the juice it comes in.

Pop in the fix pie mix and the cooked shellfish and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the cream. 

Simmer until your fish starts to fall apart and voila!

ENJOY!

Happy Monday! X

Viennese Whirls...

My favourite biscuits in the whole wide world are viennese whirls. Their melt in the mouth buttery goodness is irresistible to me and I’ve took a day off the diet (I’ve lost 16lbs now!) so I can stuff my face with my faves. I’m blaming this on the fact that it’s Sunday. Sunday is international fat day in my eyes…

Anyway. I’ve been wanting to make them for ages but I’ve not got round to it, and today, as I’m supposed to be writing essays I’m ‘procrastibaking’ (this is a word I’ve made up to describe my life).

I dug out my mum’s Kenwood Gormet, which is like an ancient version of my beautiful K-Mix (which is currently stuck at my London flat unused until I work out where I’m going to live…) but it worked fine. 

So here’s the recipe, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 

250g margarine or butter
55g icing sugar
225g plain flour
75g corn flour
A splash of vanilla extract/essence  

Preheat the oven to 170c or gas mark 4. 

Weigh out the butter/marg and then pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften it up a big. 

Add the icing sugar, plain flour and corn flour to a large mixing bowl.

Now I used a food blender to do this because I’m so lazy I can’t even be bothered to use a wooden spoon. It doesn’t really matter how you get it all mixed together just don’t over do it and knock too much air into it. 

Pop the mixture into a piping bag with a large star shaped nozzle and pipe onto a baking sheet. 

Put them in the oven for 15 minutes. They’ll feel pretty soft when you take them out but do not fear, they’ll harden up when they cool!

They’re not very sweet so you might want to add a bit more icing sugar in replacement of some flour- I like them like this though. They’re great sandwiched with jam and cream! Also half dipped in chocolate or sprinkled with icing sugar. They’re really easy to make too! 

Hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend!

Sophie X

The best bits of the jubilee:

For the past few days I've been attempting to write essays (which I should have been writing for months). So basically I've been procrastinating and loving on all the lovely jubilee stuff that is all over the shops at the moment. Here are my favourites:


1. Jubilee patterns from Cross Stitcher. Available here in PDF form for free!
2. Diamond Jubilee collection by Emma Bridgewater. Available here. Prices range from £17-£75.
3. British 2012 Oven Mittens. Available here for £9.50.
4. Jubilee scarf by Hobbs. Available here for £59.
5. 'A Right Royal Knees Up' outdoor scatter cushion by Hemingway Design. Available here for £25
6. 'It's British' cupcake kit by Meri Meri. Available here for $12.95.
7. Union Jack stag head print. Available here for £29.

What I'm listening to this week:

Gabrielle Aplin- Keep Pushing Me.

Rob played me this song a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it. Enjoy!

Kitchen wish list...

It’s getting to that time of year when my student loan has run out. I’m moving into a new house (if we can find one we like!) and I’m lusting after hundreds of bits of kitchen bits. I thought I’d put together a little wish list of a few of the bits I’ve found so far!

1. Chicken mixing bowl by Cath Kidston. Available here for £25.

2. Provence Rose dinner plates, also by Cath Kidston. Available here for £22.

3. Floral and gingham cupcake box by Meri Meri. Available here for $8.50.

4. Butterfly biscuit cutter by Eddingtons. Available here for £1.50.

5. Pink teapot by PiP Studio. Available here for £34.99

Another update:

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Sorry I’m so useless at blogging at the moment! Heres an update on my life:

- I’ve got 13,000 words to write and then I am officially finished my degree! Exciting but pretty scary. I thought I was going to miss London and Goldsmiths but I’m definitely more excited about what the future has to offer!

- I’m now officially self-employed. I might be crazy but whilst I’ve got a chance I’m going to make a career of freelancing. I’m spending the majority of my life spewing out ideas and sending them to various editors and plan on doing so for the foreseeable future. So if you need blogs writing/copywriting/transcription, I’m your girl!

- My darling fiancé and I are moving in together this in a months time. I’m SO excited! I feel like I’m nesting and now I’m going to be working from home I’ve developed a new obsession with office furniture. Finding it quite hard to find a kitchen big enough to have my K-Mix in though!

- I’m planning an engagement party in June because I simply cannot wait 2 years for my wedding. The other day someone asked me my name and I said Sophie McNeill… I’m still Sophie Brown until 7th June 2014!

- Other than the above I’ve just been walking around in a love daze and starring at my engagement ring for approximately 18 minutes everyday. The novelty has still not worn off and I can’t imagine it ever doing so. I might sound like a complete sap, but I can’t wait for Rob to become my husband. Very exciting stuff!

The past few weeks in Instagram photos...

My man, icecream, cats, puppies and cake…