Jaffa Cupcakes!

I think these are the worst ones, the pretty ones got eaten first!

Taking a leaf out of The Cupcake Fairy's book today, I made some yummy Jaffa Cupcakes. The recipe is kinda my Mum's, all credit to her, and is something she made ages ago and I thought it was awesome, she then never made it again until I tortured the recipe out of her (muhahahahaha).

Ingredients

100g of white sugar

100g self raising flour

100g margarine

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Rind and juice of 1 Orange.

2 tablespoons of Marmalade

150g of Chocolate (dark is best)

Method

1. Set oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Finely grate the peel from the orange, keep a teaspoon of peel to one side for decoration :)
3. Juice the orange.
4. Heat the marmalade for a minute or so (so you can get the peel out of it) 1 Minute in the microwave was good.
5. Sieve out the peel from the marmalade (using a small sieve, a teaspoon and coercive words) (KEEP THE LIQUID YOU WILL NEED IT LATER!!!).
6. Blend the flour, sugar, margarine, baking powder, eggs, orange juice and peel from orange and marmalade until nice and smooooth (not more than a minute mind, something bad will happen after that).
7. Put about a tablespoon full of the mixture into each cupcake case, make sure to leave lots of room at the top!
8. Bake for 15-20minutes, til lightly sun-tanned.

THEN!
    9. Let the cakes cool for a couple of minutes.
    10. Prick surface with cocktail stick.
    11. Warm the marmalade jelly again til it's nice and runny.
    12. Spoon a small tea-spoon full of the runny jelly over each cake.
    13. Leave til COLD!
    14. Melt chocolate in bowl over simmering water until smooth and runny.
    15. Pour a little chocolate over each cake and smooth down.
    16. Sprinkle remaining orange peel over each cake (looks pretty).
    17. Leave to set, possibly in the fridge.
      Enjoy!
Eat them ASAP, it's hard not to, but you can freeze them, just DON'T MICROWAVE THEM to de-frost, just let them do it in their own time. We kept ours in the fridge for the time being, so the chocolate doesn't melt (not that it would, British summer after all!).
      

£3 well spent..

I still can't get over the price. This was in purple too, but purple's hard to wear...

This is going to sound like a blatant advert, but I thought it was about time for a girly post :)

I advise everyone, young and old to check out the sale on at the moment at New Look, some gooorgeous stuff there, including this dress, which was just £3!! :)

Toads and nails..

TOADIE!

Don't Panic! I have not impaled a toad with a nail or anything like that! Anyhoo, I suppose the purpose of Summer Holidays is to enjoy oneself in the nice weather and get on with our other hobbies etc. But with everyone away in foreign climes, I'm reduced to doing absolutely nothing for most of summer. I've become house bound, relying on the computer and other non-sensical objects for company and entertainment. To prove how little I've done in the last couple of days, the genuine highlights were painting my nails pink with blue dots and finding a toad. Yes, seriously. At least school aren't forcing me to write a diary about what I've done so constructively with my free time... Saying that, the nails look nice and the toad was a nice surprise :)

Flash doesn't favour my hands...

This wasp's nest...



It's the same size as my head!

 For about two or three months now, my family have been allowing some little wasps to build this huge nest in a prominent bush in the garden. Said bush must be walked past to continue through the garden, and it is now accompanied by a swarm of wasps. Because of these little residents, we can't have a barbecue or eat outside, for fear of they're love of human food (and their stings!). As annoying as the wasps are, their nest is truly beautiful, and huge. Made of chewed up wood and spit, it's now about head-sized and looks lovely, like swirling marble cake, mmmm. It's mesmerising to watch the busy wasps at their work, albeit from a distance, they're very territorial! When the nest first appeared, I said to my father we should remove it, before it gets any bigger. Now he's awfully proud of it, and is planning to remove it when the wasps have died off and display is along with his collection of interesting beetles. Typical man. Anyhow, if the nest gets any bigger or, horror, it is damaged, I shall report back.


One of many who call this creation home.



The Problem Of Starting Something New

        So, this is me, trying something new. The action of trying something new in itself is not a first for me (Is it for anyone, technically??), but writing a blog most definitely is. Not being a pessimist (I really am overly optomistic about everything, honest :D) but I don't think this blogging craze of mine will last. I say this not out of downright pessimism, but from limited (albeit real) experience. I may be young, but I have tried many different hobbies in my life, like the time I thought I wanted to be a sculpture, I dented some old pans and thought, "hey, in 20 years when I'm an accomplished artist, this will sell for thousands as my first work". As yet, this hasn't worked out, but I'll keep you posted :P . I have also tried a variety of musical instruments, the most successful being the trumpet ( I got to grade 2!), and none of these seemed to last once the novelty wore off.
     Apparently my generation are supposed to have very short attention spans, due of course, to how computers are brainwashing us and turning us into mindless Facebook zombies. I don't know if this is true, but it certainly doesn't exactly excuse me from giving up at new projects so easily!
      Anyhow, I intend to fill this webspace with anecdotes of my own, stories I've heard, websites and links I've found amusing/interesting, photos of things that have enthralled me and more. I may even throw in some recipes (I love to cook, mainly unhealthy things that mother disapproves of) and fashion ideas etc. (I am allowed to be a girly-girl some of the time, right?)

 Finally, I think the problem of starting something new is down to one thing for me at least; the underlying feeling that it will go brilliantly. So, for the time being, I am expecting myself to give up sooner rather than later, and now want to rebel against that. Reverse-psychology on oneself, eh? :)