COOK - Parmesan Decoration

So no matter what meal you cook, it never quite looks restaurant standard. Most restaurants rely on their presentation to make the meals look as appetising as they do. I'm going to share with you a simple way to make your home made meal just that little bit fancier!

To make these parmesan disks, you will need-

✿ Parmesan Cheese
✿ A fine cheese grater
✿ 1 baking tray line with baking parchment 
✿ A cookie cutter the size you want your disks to be
✿ A Palette knife

Preheat the oven to 180˚c, gas mark 4

Start off by grating enough cheese to fill the number of disks that you want. Place the cutter on the lined tray, and fill the cutter with about 1cm of cheese ( don't forget, the cheese will melt and become a lot thinner!)

(Mine started off too thin, so I added more cheese to them and cooked them again)

Cook the disks in the preheated oven for about 5-10 minutes, checking on them occasionally to make sure they don't burn. As soon as all of the cheese has melted, they will be ready.

Remove them from the oven, and leave for a couple of minutes until the are crisp. Then, use the palette knife to lift them off the tray.

If you want, you can drape them over the bottom of a shot glass, and gently press down the edges to create a basket. Then, you can serve vegetables or fresh coriander inside of them. Make sure to do this before they have crisped up.

BAKE - Brandy Snap Cones

So I got the inspiration for these after a recent 'Great British Bake Off' episode, where the contestants whipped up some petite fours! These brandy snaps should end up looking like mini ice creams, and should taste just as good!

Brandy snaps are fairly difficult to make, so don't worry if yours don't work perfectly. On a previous series of the Great British Bake Off, contestants have struggled with these, but however they turn out, they're bound to taste good!

For this recipe, you will need-

❂ 50g butter

❂ 50g demerara sugar

❂ 50g golden syrup
❂ 50g plain flour
❂ 1/2 tsp ground ginger
❂ 1/2 tsp lemon juice (you could use juice straight from the lemon, but I used some from a bottle.)
❂ 100g chocolate
❂ 300ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 180˚c/350˚F/160 fan/gas mark 4.

Step 1) Heat the butter, syrup and sugar in a heavy based pan until all of the sugar has dissolved. This will take up to about 15 minutes on a low heat. Don't let the mixture start bubbling, or the sugar might crystallise. 

Step 2) Remove the mixture for the heat, and leave to cool for a couple of minutes. Then, sift in the flour and ginger, and add the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.

Step 3) Spoon the mixture onto a lined baking tray, using about 1tsp of mixture per biscuit. You should have no more the 4 on 1 tray. If the mixture starts to become a bit doughy, you can roll the mixture into balls and press them onto the tray.

Step 4) Put 1 tray in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and place another tray in. The biscuits should be a dark golden colour, and should look lacy. Immediately slice the circles in half using an oiled knife (don't use your fingers as they will get burned). 

Step 5) Leave the biscuits for about 1 minute, then roll up in the shape of a cone (with the point along the straight edge). If the biscuits become to hard to roll, put them back in the oven for another 30-60 seconds, then try again.

Step 5) This part is optional, but very yummy! Melt the chocolate in a double boiler pan (or in a pan over a bowl of hot water), then dip the rims of the cones in. Leave to harden, then whip up the cream. Pipe the cream into the cones, and your mini ice creams are finished!

Smoothie Sunday - Apple and Lemon

Ever feel the need for something a bit refreshing? Sour fruits can often do the trick! You don't want to go over the top though, as you want something with a lovely flavour too. That's why I came up with this recipe; to perk up my Sunday a little bit!

You only need four simple ingredients for this smoothie-

☞ 1 apple (green will be nicer, but I only had red!)

☞ 1/2 a lemon

☞ a couple of inches of cucumber

☞ 1/2 a glass of orange juice (or any juice for that matter!)

(You will also need a blender, a knife, a cup and a sieve!)

Step 1) Slice your apple into 4, and remove the core. Then, slice off the skin (skin doesn't blend very well!)

Step 2) Juice the half lemon into the blender through a sieve, and place the apple, cucumber and orange juice in with it. 

Step 3) Blend on a slow setting to begin with to chop the apple into tiny pieces, then gradually increase the power until you have a smoothie consistency. Sieve the drink into the glass to remove any chunks.

Don't be put off by the green colour! The drink is wonderfully refreshing, and is the perfect combination of sour and sweet! Enjoy!

DIY- Cute Baggy Top

Making your own clothes really isn't as hard as you might think, especially baggy ones! To make this top, you don't need many textiles skills other than cutting and sewing, so anybody could make it if they tried!

To make this top, you will need-

﹆36 x 45 inches of lightweight fabric

﹆Sewing machine loaded with a suitable coloured thread (to match the fabric)

﹆Measuring tape and chalk.

The fabric that I chose, a green liberty print fabric.

Step 1) Fold your fabric in half with the right sides together. To make the neckline,  mark half way along the folded edge with the chalk. Measure 4 inches either side of the mark and mark the two new points. Then, cut a semi circle connecting the two 4 inch marks. Next, make the sleeves by removing 2inches of fabric all the way up to 7 inches down (see picture for help).

Step 2) Sew along the red lines, then hem along the yellow lines. To hem the edges, fold the raw edges over twice, and sew to secure them.

One of the hemmed edges.

Turn your top inside out, and it's ready to wear. Pair it with some skinny jeans and a long, heavy necklace if you're struggling for outfit ideas.

Happy sewing! 

Smoothie Sunday - Snickers Smoothie

Ok, well truth be told, this one is more of a milkshake, but Milkshake Sunday doesn't sound that cool. So this is not exactly a healthy smoothie. Actually, it's rather calorific. But on a Sunday afternoon I don't tend to care!

For 1 serving of milkshake, you will need-
☙ Half a glass of milk
☙ 1 dollop of peanut butter (smooth might be a bit more pleasant, but crunchy will work just as well.)
☙ 1 dollop of Nutella (or any chocolate spread really, but you can't beat Nutella.)
☙ Optional- fruit, just to add a kick to it. I added a small handful of raspberries, but the choice is yours.

Ok, so I forgot the Nutella, sorry...

As usual, the instructions are simple. Just blend them all of the ingredients together until everything is combined.

Enjoy your drinkable pudding!

Fashion Sketches

Drawing sketches for fashion designing is a hard thing to get used to. It's not going to come out perfectly on your first try- it takes a lot of practise to get perfect. But to learn properly, you need to know where to start. When drawing figures, you use the classic 9 Head Diagram. This just means that the height of your figure is equivalent to 9 of it's heads put on top of each other. The average person is actually only about 8 heads tall, but to make the figure look taller and slimmer, designers elongate the legs by adding another head. As you can see down both sides of the photo, it shows the length of the figure. I'm going to talk you through each section step by step, so you understand the proportions. Keep referring to the drawing as it will help you understand the instructions.

Head 1) Head 1 will just contain the head of the figure. Draw a circle about 2/3 of the head, then bring it to a point at the bottom.
Head 2) This section starts with the neck going 1/3 of the way down. Immediately after the neck, draw the shoulders at about 2 heads wide. On the end of the shoulders, draw a small circle (about 1/3 head diameter).
Head 3) 1/6 from the bottom of head 3, create 2 dots for the elbows. Join the outer dot to the edge of the circle, and the inner dot slightly below. This should form the top of the arms. At the bottom of head 3, draw a line the width of a head, and join the ends to the shoulder line. This will form the waist.
Head 4) 2/3 down from the top of head 4 are the hips. They should be about 1 1/2 heads wide. Join the hips to the waist. At the bottom of head 4 mark the groin and the wrists. Connect the arms to the wrist marks, and the hips to the groin mark.

Head 5) Half way down head 5 is where the hands end. For now, just draw the hands as rectangles.

Head 6) At the bottom of head 6, draw the knees. Both the knees together should be about a head's width. Connect the hips and groin to the knees mark as it is on the drawing.

Head 7) Head seven is empty, apart from the legs that join in head 8.

Head 8) The bottom of head 8 is the ankles. The ankles should be just thinner than the knees. Continue the legs to reach the ankles.

Head 9) This section contains the feet. Like the hands, just draw them as rectangles.

Rub out the inner lines, and you should be left with something a little like this. Again, don't worry if it doesn't look quite right, just keep practising!

It's now time to make the body a bit more curvy. Round the neck and shoulders to make them more realistic, and emphasise the curves around the bust and hips. Also, add a bit of curve to the arms and legs. The hands can be a nightmare, but keep practising. Anyway, the hands aren't necessary if the figure is going to be used to design outfits.

The next step is to start designing! I never bother with facial features other than the mouth, but you will probably develop your own sketching style.

DIY - Doily Bunting

I love decorating my room. I'm always arranging plastic flowers in pretty pots, or buying little boxes to store things in. My walls are quite bare though (other than a calendar and a chalk board), so I wanted to put some bunting up. Bunting is actually very expensive, and for a decent length you could end up paying £20! Making bunting is often very time consuming aswell, and no one has much time when school is on. Here is a quick way to make original bunting for your walls. And here's the great part- no sewing is required!

For your doily bunting, you will need-

❂ 1 Pack of doilies- any colour, any material, any size. The amount you need will depend on the length you want your bunting though. 12 will be plenty.

❂ Ribbon- about the length you want your bunting, plus 8inches/20cm.

❂ PVA glue

❂ Scissors

To make your bunting, start off by folding your doilies in half, and then back out again. Cut along the creased line.

Lay one of the half doilies facing upwards (the side with the pattern on it should be facing upwards), and squeeze a thin line of glue along the very top edge.

Carefully lay the ribbon on top of the glue and press down. Repeat all the way along the ribbon, leaving a couple of centimetres between each piece, until you reach your desired length.

It really is as easy as cutting and sticking! It's so quick and easy to make (not to mention affordable), and it looks good on any wall colour! Hope you enjoy making your doily bunting!

❤

Smoothie Sunday- Summer Memories

Okay, so it's official; summer is now over, no matter how many times we tell ourselves it isn't. But there's nothing wrong with drinking away your end-of-summer sorrows with a glass of summer fruit smoothie! So grab the chance (before the fruits go out of season), and have a nice cup of summer.

This recipe really has no strict ingredients, other than any summer fruits you can find- they all work well together! Just raid your kitchen (or even your supermarket), and collect a selection some summary fruits.

For my smoothie, I used-
⟡ 400ml of orange juice (for the base) 
⟡ 3 slices of peach (without the fuzzy rind) 
⟡ 1 green gage (again, without the rind) 
⟡ several blueberries
⟡ 3 strawberries

                                      

Blend all of the ingredients together and pour your drink into a glass. If you want to feel extra summery, go ahead and garnish your glass with a slice of strawberry!

The great thing about this drink is that it's really refreshing, and it doesn't matter if you can't access certain ingredients! You can make this using as many or as little fruits as you want, and still achieve that summery flavour!

DIY- Bows

Bows are the perfect accessory to liven up your hairstyle. They even look great attached to bags, clothes, or even presents! One bow could be anywhere up to £2 at a shop, which is ridiculously overpriced when you know how to make your own! Just follow these 5 simple steps, and you'll have yourself a cute new accessory in no time!

To make 1 medium sized bow (the one above is a large size, but I will mention about that later), you will need-

⋈ 10 by 20cm rectangle of fabric (8 by 16cm for small, 15 by 30cm for large). You can make this any size, as long as the rectangle is twice as long as it is high.

⋈ 1 small rectangle of matching fabric, about 1/3 of the height of the 1st fabric. (you can use the same fabric, or one that matches the 1st fabric, it really doesn't matter)

⋈ Needle and thread (you want the thread colour to match the fabrics.)

Step 1) Fold your larger piece of fabric length ways into 3, with the edges just overlapping. Then, do the same in the other direction.

Step 2) Using the needle and thread, sew a simple running stitch down the middle to hold the folded ends in place. Don't tie off the thread yet.

Step 3) Gently pull on the thread. This will gather the fabric, and create the basic shape of the bow. Wrap the thread around the centre of the bow to secure it, then tie it at the back (the back is the side where a raw edge is showing.). Cut off the excess thread.

Step 4) Take the smaller rectangle of fabric, and fold it into 3 like you did in step 1. Wrap it around the centre of the bow to hide the thread that you just wrapped around it.

Step 5) Make sure the ends of the centre piece are round the back of the bow, then secure using running stitch. Cut off the excess thread and fabric, then slide a bobby pin through the back. 

And there you have your finished bow! As I mentioned in the equipment list, you can make your bow any size you want!

The top bow used 15x30cm fabric, and the bottom bow used 8x16cm fabric. The middle one is the bow that I just showed you how to create.

Using a bobby pin or safety pin, you can wear these bows anywhere! I think they look great on the straps of bags, or on the belt hook of trousers, but use them however suits you best! One thing's for sure; they'll look cute wherever!