This Week: In Bruges

Another week, another amazing city! I'm beginning to feel just slightly like a jet setter.. although eight hours on a coach and a rather woozy ferry ride didn't feel too luxurious at the time. A few little breaks that have been in the pipeline for a long time all seemed to have fallen within the same two months and honestly, I'm absolutely exhausted! Last year Darren organised a trip for us to see the Belgium F1 Grand Prix, which I have a sneaking suspicion was more for his benefit than mine, not that I was complaining when Jenson Button drove past us in a convertible - hands up who loves the JB ladies! Not only did we get to spend a few fun (although rather soggy) days at the track, we also got to explore Belgium itself a little.

This Week: Cake at the Seaside

Before I start waffling on about cake, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all those who commented or tweeted me about yesterday's post. You truly warmed my heart and I feel so lucky to have such wonderful, understanding readers who have left me feeling refreshed, full of positivity and ready to start a new chapter of I Covet Thee. For those worried that it meant my blogging days were coming to an end, have no fear, I'll be here talking about junk food, make up and how much I've unwisely spent at Space NK for a long time to come!

This Week: A Birthday Trip to London

I've had quite the busy time this week (makes a change from my usual pyjama's on at 4pm schedule) and got whisked away to London for a long weekend which involved a good trawl of the shops - a haul could possibly be making it's way to you very soon, an amazing opportunity to go to Wimbledon to watch Andy Murray play on Centre Court and uh, not to mention probably the highest levels of giddy excitement I've experienced since I was thirteen after Darren surprised me with tickets to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Undoubtedly one of the best experiences my inner child and I have ever had.

This Week: Gluten & Dairy Free Pancakes

After making the decision to eliminate gluten and dairy from the majority of my diet two months ago it's been quite the struggle to stay strict with my eating habits, especially when it came to cutting out all the sweet treats I was used to gorging on daily, packed full of things I really didn't need to be putting into my body.

This Week: Lily's & Leather Jackets

Since this weekend has so far, fingers crossed, been sunny all the way through we decided to make the most of it yesterday with a trip around the country side. First port of call though, of course, was breakfast which we were ready for sometime around Midday - I've become a pro at lying in on a Saturday. We nipped into Lily's Tea and Coffee House in Wickham Square and if you're from the South I'd highly recommend a visit. From the decor to the plates they serve on everything is beautiful and the locally sourced food is so delicious I couldn't even whip my camera out in time before we'd eaten it all.

This Week #57

I've been planning a trip to Sprinkles since a new branch of the dessert wonderland opened up in town last year, but every Saturday we've tried the queues have been way out the door - clearly a sign of the good things happening inside. This weekend though I was up bright and early and with the help of the speedy five minute make up routine that I posted about yesterday we were out the door by eleven - well, earlyish anyway.

This Week #56

This week the most perfect item of clothing came into my life. For almost a year I've been searching for a camel coloured coat which has turned out to be an almost impossible task. I was besotted with one from Whistles for a while but just couldn't talk myself into parting with so much money all at once. Then there was a H&M number that nearly became the one until ordering it online (and waiting almost a month for it to turn up - please sort out your shipping H&M) only to find it came almost down to my ankles.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

On the rare occassion that a food post pops up on I Covet Thee you can pretty much guarantee it's going to be Cupcake related. Who want's a messy slice of cake when you can have your own individually sized bundle of joy! These simple vanilla cupcakes are my port of call whenever a BYOBG (bring your own baked goods) situation arises, and today it's my Mum's birthday!

You will need: 110g Unsalted Butter, 110g Caster Sugar, 2 Free Range Egg, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract, 110g Self Raising Flour, 2 tbsp Milk

Cream the butter and sugar together then add the eggs and vanilla, the trick to get the cupcakes light and fluffy is to really got to town on the mixture with a whisk. Fold in the flour and add the milk last.

I like to use deep cases for maximum cake output! This mixture makes 6 large cupcakes or 12 small ones. Now just bake for 25 minutes at 180°C (15 minutes for small) and let them cool before icing.

Through a lot of trial and not so tasty error I've found the perfect buttercream icing to top these with. Beat 140g unsalted butter with a whisk until it turns almost white, add 280g icing sugar and a splash of vanilla extract then colour and decorate as you see fit. I went for yellow and pink with some edible daisies. Yum yum!


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Valentines Cupcakes

So this afternoon I've been ransacking the kitchen cupboards and cooking up a treat for Valentines day tomorrow. Love them or hate them, Red Velvet cupcakes couldn't be more appropriate for this time of year and they're super simple to make!

You will need: 100g butter, 100g sugar, 2 eggs, 100ml milk, red food colouring, 250g flour, 10g cocoa powder

Just cream the butter and sugar together, add in the eggs and whisk. Mix enough of the red food colouring with the milk to turn it bright red and add half to the mixture. Then just add in the flour and cocoa podwer, mix again and add the rest of the milk. Bake at 180°c for 20-25 minutes depending on the size of your cupcake cases, and voila! A Valenties treat. I cheated and used ready made vanilla icing but you can make your own if you're a real baking queen! The rose pattern is so simple too, just make thin circles from the outside in with a piping bag, then start again from the inside and repeat untill it starts looking something like a flower.

Ps. I promise beauty related posts will resume soon. I'm a lazy, cake making blogger!


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Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes

Something a little different than my usual Sunday posts today but I though I'd share with you a spontaneous baking session I had! It's been dull and cloudy all week and I felt like making myself some serious comfort food. Cue cupcakes. I got the recipe from The Primrose Bakery's book which is a must for anyone into their cakes, but made a few tweaks here and there mostly down to laziness.

Ingredients;

125g unsalted butter, 250g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 250g plain flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 4 bananas, 2 medium sized bars of dark chocolate

I mashed the bananas, threw everything except the chocolate into a bowl and used an electric hand whisk on it all for about 3 minutes. After that I broke the chocolate up into pieces and stirred them in. Last of all just spoon everything into cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes at 160°c.

I cheated a little with some pre-made icing, as I never have the patience to make it myself and voila, done. Super quick, yummy and perfect on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a glass of milk.

This Week #11

01. Went a little Christmas mad this week. If you follow my twitter you might have seen that my tree went up well before December. Its my first Christmas away from home and I've spent all week decorating our flat with as many lights as possible. No doubt the electricity bill is going to be astronomical this month.

02. Rediscovered my love for profiteroles at Pizza Hut, after a long day of shopping. Stuffed my face so much I could barely walk to the car. Gotta love eating double your weight in pastry and cream.

03. I've wanted a Casio style watch for ages, and saw this one on Asos a while ago. Annoyingly when I went to buy it it was out of stock. Isn't that the worst thing? Luckily though as if it was meant to be I found it going on eBay for half the price. I've had a few comments about it being a little 'bling', but I love it!

04. My hands have been so dry and chapped ever since it started getting colder and most of the hand creams I own haven't been making much of a difference. I saw Fleur mention the Banana version of this in her Winter Skin Saviours post and popped in to boots fully intending to buy it when I casually tried this Almond and Beeswax hand cream next to it and fell in love. I don't think words can describe how good this smells! Like sugary sweet marzipan. Its very thick and greasy, but left my hands super soft and nourished. I've been putting a thick layer on over night and waking up with chap free hands.

05. I bought this Turban style headband from Asos but can't decide if it makes me look like an idiot or not. Keeps my ears toasty warm though!

06. More food porn, and what I thought was just an ordinary muffin that turned out to be chocolate orange heaven. Beautiful!


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This Week #05

01. My two favourite rings at the moment. Haven't left my fingers all week! The turquoise ring is from Covet and the cross is Asos.

02. I've lived next to a swanky looking Indian restaurant now for four months, and only just decided to eat there this week. Vegetable curry. Mmmm.

03. My poor little £7.00 Cosmopolitan that looked more like a shot than a real drink.

04. I stayed at my parents this week and was a bit devestated to find that I've been moved to the spare room now that my brothers taken over my old one. I love living away from home, but there’s nothing nicer than coming back to real food and a warm bed every now and then.

05. Really got back into nails recently. Managed to produce these rainbow leopard ones while catching up on Britain’s Next Top Model and shouting obscenities at Grace Woodwood. Multitasking like a pro.

PS. I'm going on holiday tomorrow!


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