Blueberry Crumble Bars

Hello Lovelies,

I made these little crumbly bars of joy on Monday for a little picnic I was putting together, they are the perfect treat to take on a picnic as they hold together unlike taking a Victoria sponge I have done that far to many times, even dropping one in a field!  They are easy to make and your not necessarily limited to blueberries you could easily swap in another fruit or berry to give them a different feel or if you have an abundance of something.  They are perfectly scrumptious and are best kept chilled in the fridge for those naughty moments when you need a little treat!

This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups of plain flour
1 cup of cold unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of salt
juice of one lemon
4 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup of white sugar
4 teaspoons of cornflour

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) then grease a 9 x 13 inch pan, I didn't have a pan so I used a  silicon brownie tray.
2. First things first is to grab yourself a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour and the baking powder.  Once they are nicely mixed use a fork or pastry cutter to rub in the butter and egg, when you have finished rubbing it in the dough will be nice and crumbly.  Then roughly split the mixture and pat half of it into the prepared pan/tray.
3. In your second bowl stir together 1/2 a cup of sugar, the cornstarch and the juice of one lemon then mix in the blueberries.  Once the blueberries are coated sprinkle the mixture evenly over the crust then crumble the remaining dough over the layers of berry.
4. Then bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown, this always takes about 10-15 minutes in my oven.
5. Once they are finished let them cool completely in the pan/tray before cutting.

  

Does anyone else like trying experimenting with recipe?

Kick Start Your Day With a Mean Green Juice

Hello Lovelies,

I promised you all my favourite "green juice" recipe so here it is in all its green glory.  I have mentioned the benefits of "green juice" before so I wont repeat myself, but if you want a little look then it is right here.  It is so easy to juice without a juicer all you need is a jelly strainer, a blender and your green goodies and you are set.

To make this juice, you will need a chunk of cucumber, a big handful of spinach and an apple (lemon juice is optional), once your veggies and fruit are chopped, you need to throw it all in a blender and give it a blitz.

Once you have blitzed your greens pour the smoothie like mixture through a jelly strainer bag, letting it drip through then give it a squeeze to help get all the juice out. 

After all the liquid is squeezed out you will be left with a bright green pulp that the compost heap will love.

Next all there is to do is decant it into an airtight bottle or canning jar and drink away, this is the perfect breakfast juice and always keeps me full until lunch.

Does anyone else like "green juice"?

Summer Picnic

 Hello Lovelies,

Today was another wonderfully hot day so I decided to throw a picnic, my picnic buddy wasn't around, so I called upon A and K.  After having found some new picnic buddies I loaded up the picnic bag and melamine tiffin tin full of goodies and set off for the park.   I absolutely love picnics, it's the perfect mix of al fresco eating but with a laid back feel, I love being able to nibble on the culinary delights then lie in the sun and chat.

You all know I am a foodie, so a picnic is the perfect excuse to nip to the supermarket, fill my basket with yummy ingredients and return to cook up some scrumptious food.  For this little picnic I knocked up a watercress and goat's cheese quiche, some sticky chicken, fresh melon juice and a batch of blueberry crumble bars.

Watercress and goats cheese quiche:

This is an easy peasy quiche and so quick to make.

First things first is the pastry needs to be rolled and put in a greased quiche tin, you can either be good and make your own or cheat!  

Next dice an onion and roughly chop two large handfuls of watercress, then put them in a pan to sweat.

Then whisk four eggs and add milk to make it up to 1 pint.

Dice half your gout's cheese and sprinkle in the egg/milk mixture, then add onion/watercress mixture onto your pastry lined case and pour on egg/milk.

Then cut thin slices of goats cheese to garnish, then pop in you oven at 160 c for thirty minutes or until golden and set.

Sticky chicken:

Get a non stick frying pan and get it nice and hot.

Coat your chicken in some soy sauce and a teaspoon of tomatoe paste.

Put a splash of olive oil and a dash of powder in your pan then add your chicken.

Let your chicken sizzle for a while turning it to seal the meat.

When your meat is ready and sealed pour on a glass of white wine then add a couple of glugs of your favourite BBQ sauce and a sprinkle of brown sugar.

Once the sauce is syrupy and the chicken is cooked through, transfer it to a take-away container and keep it somewhere warm.

  

As well as the sticky chicken and quiche I took some boquerones en vinagre and a rather poor excuse of a salad. 

 As you can probably see the blueberry crumble bars got polished off pretty quickly, leaving just one lonely one in it's box.

A picnic wouldn't be a picnic without some fruit, especially cherries.

After eating our fill of scrummy food we lay in the heat nattering and listening to the water.

Has anyone else been picnicking in this nice weather?

L'Oreal Acid Watermelon // Review

Hello Lovelies,

I have had three of these nail varnishes sitting on the side in gorgeous summer colours, they are part of L'Oreals summer trend range and are ruddy amazing, but as I pledged to give my nails a break for the last week (they have been varnish free and recovering from persistent colour) so these colours haven't been used.
I have never tried L'Oreal polishes (apart from the confetti) so I was rather excited to give them a try.  Acid Watermelon 827 (£4.99) is part of the gel based collection, it is a gorgeous bubblegum pink colour and just perfect for a bit of fun in the summer.  Although I loved the colour the application was rather streaky, but three coats sorted that out, and I didn't really find it a massive issue as some of my favourite Essie colours require three coats.  I popped this colour on my fingers and toes and am fully embracing the summer at the moment.
Has anyone else tried the new L'Oreal nail varnishes?  

Pretty Pictures of the Week #6

Hello Lovelies,

The last week hasn't been very eventful, the weather has been lovely so there has been a lot of sun worshiping going on!

• Due to the lovely  weather the gardens have been full of children playing and paddling in the river.
• This photo was technically taken two weeks ago, but they have just been sent to me, it is of my brother, my cousins, their spouses and I all acting like idiots in a photo booth at my Fathers 60th.
• My Grandma has been staying this week and we have had a rather naughty coffee cake.
• A little pic of my brothers havaianas and mine, big foot and little foot!
• I have been loving these Saturn peaches (more commonly known as doughnut peaches), they are so yummy and a slight change from the normal peaches.  I am a complete fruit lover and these are definitely one to add to the list at the grocers.

I hope everyone has had a lovely week?

   

Juicing Joy // Carrot, Spinach, Nectarine and Rasberry

Hello Lovelies, As a lot of you will know I have a bit of a thing for juicing, recently I have been loving green juices (although this recipe isn't for green juice).  Green juices are a fab way of getting your recommended servings of fruit and veg, so if your like me and find it hard fitting copious amounts of kale, broccoli and cucumber into your diet then green juices are a fab way of doing so.  Green juices are preferable to juiced fruits as without the fiber fruit juice is basically sugar, so when making green juice you want to avoid mixing vegetables and fruits, the only exception to this rule is an apple as unlike the majority of fruits that require different enzymes to digest apples have a more neutral effect.   

This juice is a naughty summer treat and breaks juicing 101, but I like to live on the wild side!!!!  For this juice (I know it is not a pretty colour) you need one nectarine sliced, one small carrot chopped, one handful of raspberries and a massive handful of spinach the cover half of the lovely fruit and veg with water and blitz in your blender.

For those who don't have a juicer, do not fret it is still possible to create a beautiful clear juice by running the blitzed healthiness through a jelly strainer bag.  You can get them in most kitchen shops and they are pretty cheap, once you have poured it into the bag you can then squeeze the juice into a bowl and pour it into your cup of choice adding a pretty straw.
  

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable In Romantic // Review

Hello Lovelies,

I have fallen in love with these balm/stain thingies I originally bought Rendez-Vous then while I was in that very tempting place Superdrug a couple of days ago I spotted "Romantic", I love red lippy so this was a must as part of my collection.  Romantic is a warm red with an orangey undertones and is perfect for those girls who are wary of wearing red as it is not as intense as a lipstick but still has great pigmentation.  I think it is a very forging red as it has an orange base rather than blue much I find very harsh with my skin tone, I could wear this both day and night, I love that I could wear it to work without any worry of looking overdressed but could just as easily put it on and party the night away.  Overall this little beauty gets an A*.  If you want to know my thoughts on this product check out my (review).    

Swatch

On my lips, please excuse the freckles!