Christmas Dinner, Student Style

Hello lovelies!


Next week my flatmates and I are all splitting up for the Christmas holidays which meant only one thing, we had to have our own flat Christmas dinner. A lot of planning and timetabling was involved ( a kitchen table ma or may not have been rolled down 2 flights of stairs) but I think it was quite successful. I am proud to say I seasoned and basted my own chicken which turned out delicious. 

Of course all the girls were in the kitchen ( I made my Slutty Chocolate Brownies) while the boys did nothing but that wasn't too bad because they were the ones who were stuck with the washing up.

Not too shabby for just £5 a head from good old ASDA ;)

Then to settle our bursting bellies a few of us took a stroll around campus through the Christmas fairy lights.

Who else is ready for it to be Christmas Eve already?

Thanks for reading,

Ciara xx

Super Sticky Toffee Pudding!

Hello lovelies!

Hope you're all rested and well and enjoying the last of your Sunday. I've been busy cramming for exams but have now given up because I've come to accept that no matter how hard I try to learn probability it just wont stay in my head.

Yesterday my friend and I decided to cheer ourselves up with an evening of baking and enjoyed our fair share of sticky toffee pudding whilst planning our summer holiday.

If you want to try out making this delicious pudding yourself here's what you'll need;

For the Pudding
3 medium eggs
225g (8oz) of self raising flour
150g (5oz) of sultanas or chopped dates (these are optional)
300ml (1/2 pint) boiling water
100g (4oz) room temperature butter
150g (5oz) soft, light brown, muscovado sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

For the Toffee Sauce
125g (4oz) of butter
175g (6oz) of muscovado sugar
170ml (1/3 pint) cream

Method for the pudding 

Step 1 
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius (350 Degrees Fahrenheit) / gas mark 4 and grease the sides of a roughly 22cm (8in) X 22cm (8in) square baking tin or glass bowl with butter.

Step 2
If you want to use sultanas or dates you must soak them in simmering water for about 10 minutes. And then add them to the mixture later on.

Step  3

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is pale and soft. (There should be no large bumps of butter left) For this step it's a good idea to use the tips of clean fingers to crumble all the sugar and butter together.

Step 4

Next up is to beat three eggs in a cup with a fork and add them into your sugar and butter mixture. You can then beat the mixture all together with a fork or use a trusty electric whisk.

Step 5

To your mixture add the sieved flour and 1 tea spoon of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.

If the mixture seems too think you can add a few spoons of boiling water to thin it down. But be careful; you don't want it to look like runny soup!

Step 6

By the end of all that mixing your mixture is ready to be spread evenly into a baking tin and placed into the oven for 50-60 minutes.

Method for the Toffee Sauce

While you pudding is baking away in the oven you can move onto making the delicious sweet and buttery toffee sauce.

Step 1
Place the sugar, butter and cream into a heated pot.

Step 2
Melt the contents completely on high heat and at first it should turn a dark brown colour.

Step 3
Turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir regularly. It will begin to thicken up and go a delicious light brown colour.

(excuse the terrible quality of this photo!)

When your sauce is finished all you have to do is sit and wait eagerly for the timer to buzz telling you the fluffy pudding is ready. To make sure it's completely baked all the way through insert a sharp knife into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean you know you've got a winner!

The only thing left to do now is serve it up on a plate and dig in!

If you do try this recipe out I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Thanks for reading as always,

Ciara.

P.S I have to excuse myself in advance if I go M.I.A for the next two weeks. It's only because I have mock exams until Friday the 8th and I know I won't have the time to upload as frequently as I'd like to, so forgive me!

However I will try to do my best.

New Instagram Addiction

Hello Lovelies!

Ok I have to admit it, I'm addicted. And they say the first step it admitting it so I've taken it.

It all started when I got an iPhone for Christmas. At first I was reluctant to get Instagram because I knew me being me I'd instantly become hooked. And of course I was right.

Feel free to follow me, my name is fazed_and_dazed and I make an effort to post good photos everyday. Here's a taste of my amateur Instagramin'
















Hope you are all enjoying the last of the holidays and making the most of your remaining days of freedom.

Thanks for reading,
Ciara.

Toffee Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I'm giving you all a break from Fashion Week posts and I've decided to treat you to a yummy cookie recipe. Lately school and study work have been really heavy going so my friend and I wanted to drown our emotions in chocolate and cookie goodness and here's what we came up with.

Here's what you need;
2 Packets of Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip Cookie mix
7 Pack of snack size Toffee Crisps
1 Tub of Betty Crocker's Chocolate Frosting
Water
Fudge Chunks

First of all you need to pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celcius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. 
Next you need to add tablespoons of water to a mixing bowl of the cookie mix while stirring at the same time.

 Keep adding water and stirring until it looks like this and is slightly sticky.

 

 Cut up the snack size toffee crisp bars into thirds about an inch thick and pad on a layer of the mix.

When you're finished the cookie balls should look like this.

Pop them into the oven for 17 minutes and let them cool for 5-10 minutes or else they'll be too gooey in the middle. When they're cooled you can frost them with chocolate deliciousness and fudge chunks and after that tuck in!

They are just perfect for a late night of movies and a cup o' tea.
Hope you enjoyed and will try them out.
Thanks for reading,
Ciara.

Spielburg Cheesecake, Fabulous Fudge and Mooing Neighbours.

Top o' the mourning to ya'!
So I've finally managed to set aside some time for me to write a wee blog for you guys. I've been super busy with school work and being a hermit that I just had to put down my homework and get down to it. I give you my last day in the beautiful Doolin.
The first stop we made on our way home was to a local fudge shop that caught my eye. It's a family business ran by two sisters and a friend who hand make and sell their own gorgeous fudge. What a job!

I have got to say their peanut butter fudge was just too amazing. I ate my whole slice in about 5 minutes. You can find the Doolin Chocolate Shop online here and I would definitely stop by if you're ever by chance in Doolin.

Next on the agenda before heading off was to say goodbye to our lovely neighbours and to the beautiful bay. 

 They were just perfect to spend the holiday with, hardly made a sound if you forget about  the time they scared me half to death when the walked around the tent inn the middle of the night.

 I'm guessing this is what many people think about when they picture Ireland. I can assure you it's not all cows and luscious green fields.

 

And finally the thing I had been looking forward to for the whole trip, the visit to the Féar Gorta (translates as 'the starved grass' in irish). These tea and garden rooms were visited twice by the brilliant Steven Spielberg just to get a taste of the lovely red berry glazed cheesecake. I practically hit the floor when I walked by the table stacked high with cakes and treats. 

The quiche lorraine I had was like eating heaven with bits of bacon mixed into the eggy clouds.

It's like something from one of my dreams.

Overall I would definitely head back to Doolin for the sole purpose of eating my entire weight in fudge, quiche and cakes. If you're blessed with a sunny weekend a trip to Co.Clare is in order!
Thanks for reading,
Ciara.