mince pies

I made these mince pies with my boyfriend last night and they were so yummy and very easy to make!

Ingredients:
8oz of flour
4oz of margarine
3 or 4 teaspoons of cold water
A jar of mince meat
Sugar to sprinkle on top

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6
2. Measure out the flour and pour into a bowl.
3. Measure out the margarine (leave it out of the fridge for a few minutes to allow it to become soft) and cut it into small chunks and put them in the bowl containing the flour.
4. Use your fingertips to rub the flour and butter into a breadcrumb like consistency.
5. Add 3 or 4 teaspoons of cold water to the mixture, stirring each one in before adding the next, until it has become dough like.
6. Sprinkle your worktop with flour and roll out the dough. Cut it in half, using the first half to create the base of the mince pies.
7. Cut out the bases for the mince pies using a circular cookie cutter, I managed to make just over 12. Put these dough bases into a cupcake tray.
8. Put about half a teaspoon of mince meat on the bases.
9. Using the other half of the dough, cut out the tops for the mince pies. We chose star and heart cutters but I’m sure most shapes would work! Once cut out, pop the tops on to of the mince meat to complete the mince pie.
10. Sprinkle each mince pie with a bit of sugar and then bake in them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

And there you go, a lovely festive treat!

christmas and cakes

I spent yesterday morning baking these cupcakes for the Christmas dinner held by my boyfriend's flatmates. It was such a fun and festive evening! The festive activities continued the next evening as I watched The Grinch and The Snowman with my own flatmates, we all wished we had some Baileys to top the evening off! I've spent most of today watching How I Met Your Mother and in a few hours the stew I've made should be ready. This evening I'm going out for cocktails which will be a lot of fun. This time next week I will be home and I can't wait!

tinsel

As the 1st of December is now upon us, I decided to put some decorations up in my bedroom to make it feel a bit more festive! I did this whilst listening to the lovely Christmas album by She & Him.

Last night Tom and I went into town and he bought me my Christmas present, I cannot wait to stomp around in these! As soon as we got home I ordered his present, a pair of Dr Marten Langston boots. I love having a Dr Marten shop nearby!

I have a lecture on referencing (zzzz) in about an hour but when I come home I shall do what I have been looking forward to for many days, watching Elf!

take care

On Friday my best friend Georgia came to visit me and we had such a fun weekend together! After having a massive catch up on Friday evening, I showed her around Liverpool the next day. We had lunch at American Pizza Slice and I love it there! Apart from their delicious pizza slices being the best thing they sell there, they also serve Coke in glass bottles! Coke tastes the best from a glass bottles. We went out that evening and we ended up in Popworld, I think the name says it all!
The next morning Georgia caught her train home, a later train than originally planned as we were both feeling a bit worse for wear. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the flat and in the evening Tom and I went on a double date with one of his flatmates and their girlfriend. We went to Red Hot World Buffet and I definitely got my £13.99 worth of food! I still felt full the next morning!
This week has gone really quickly! I've had the mark back for an essay I did and was surprisingly pleased with the result, I've been to my first ever house viewing (most of us fell in love with the first house we saw, it was amazing!!), made a sausage casserole from scratch, and last night night I went out with Tom and our friend Pete and we always end up having a really fun night out with him (e.g I feel a bit hungover now and all I want to eat are crisps).
I think this afternoon Tom and I are heading into town to do a bit of Christmas shopping, I can't believe it's December tomorrow! I will definitely be watching Elf tomorrow.

christmas is coming

These are some Christmas decorations I picked up when I was at home for the weekend. The wreath of bells reminds me of The Polar Express, a film that I cannot wait to watch! As soon as it is the first of December I will be putting these up, stocking up on mince pies and apple cider that I can heat up, buying presents, and making a Christmas playlist! I also can't wait to visit the German market that is currently being built in town. I love Christmas!

you are a tourist

 Last Friday Tom and I travelled to Birmingham to see Death Cab For Cutie perform at The Birmingham Ballroom. After we had wandered around the wonderful German market there and had a pub dinner we went to go and watch my favourite band in the whole entire world. They were fantastic. I was slightly disappointed that they didn't play Marching Bands of Manhattan, but they did play A Lack of Colour which was just lovely. I will definitely be purchasing tickets to see them when they tour again (which I hope is very soon). We stayed at my Uncle's house afterwards and met my cousin's new chinchilla called Charlie, she was so cute! We caught a train back to Market Harborough very early the next morning to spend the next few days at home.

Once again it was so nice to be back at home. I spent a lot of time annoying my cats, I miss them so much when I'm in Liverpool. I went to watch my sister's dance show and it was great, it felt strange not being a part of it. We came home and had a curry, a post dance show tradition in my house. I spent Sunday with my Dad and we went to Rutland Reservoir before heading to a lovely pub for a drink. Sundays are most definitely my favourite day of the week. They should be filled with lie ins, bacon sandwiches and cups of tea, walks in nice weather, afternoons spent curled up on the settee with a newspaper, and finished with a delicious roast dinner. I almost can't wait to back in Leicestershire to spend more days like that.

t is for tom

I bought this yesterday from Urban Outfitters and it may be the soppiest item of jewellery I own but I don't even care. It's so cute!