Christmas Shortbread.

I'm going to post a couple of Christmas themed recipes over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas. I love baking so I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you!

I'm being quite thrifty this christmas because college and my equipment has killed off my bank account!

So I am making little hampers for people, with bits and bobs in. I'll post some ideas ASAP!

Today, it's shortbread.

I'm not a huge fan myself, but my family love the stuff so it's always appreciated!! :) and I can make vegan versions of most of these for my friends too!

Ingredients:

125g/4oz butter (or vegan option)
55g/20z caster sugar
180g/6oz plain flour

(makes about 20-24 fingers, I halved the ingredients because there was only my Mum and I eating them!)

you can add a splash of vanilla extract too if you like, but just a splash or they won't taste much like shortbread!! I put vanilla in most things, love it!

Pre-heat the oven to 190c/375f/gas 5

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Then,. slowly stir in the flour until combined and it has formed a dough ( not a super firm dough though).

Turn out on to a work surface and gently roll out until its is 1cm/1/4 inch thick.

Cut into shapes, fingers, rounds or whatever you fancy! I made stars!

Sprinkle with a little bit of icing sugar and chill in the fridge on a baking tray for 20 mins/half an hour.

Once chilled, bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Mine only took about 12 minutes, because I have a fan oven and it gets stupidly hot and burns things so I had to keep a close eye on them!!

Once they cooled, I put them on a plate and sprinkled loads of cinnamon sugar on them, because I love cinnamon and I think it's a nice warm christmassy spice!!


I just realised how crap this post is because I didn't have time to take a picture of the finished product....they got snapped up too quick!!

These also make a nice little gift if you bag them up all nice and finish off with some cute christmas ribbon!!

Good Luck!

Let me know if you make them!!

Perfume.

I am obsessed with perfume!! I love it so much. I always have a moment of panic if I go out and realise I don't have anything on! So I run to the nearest shop I can get to, to spray some!

I have a few that I am loyal to and although people buy me different ones for Christmas, birthdays etc. I still tend to stick to the ones I love and will only use the others if I run out!!

Here they are!


1) Naughty Alice by Vivienne Westwood.

     I was walking through the Trafford Centre when this very first came out and one of those perfumey sales people squirted me with it as I walked past, normally, I hate that but I got a big whiff and fell in love!! I can't even describe what it smells like but all of my friends have gone and bought it and whenever they smell it they say it reminds them of me. It's quite a strong smell, and takes a while to fade but stays on my clothes forever! which I love...I spray scarves with it...and occasionally, my pillows because I love it so much!!
The three key notes in this perfume are; black rose, ylang ylang and carnal violet.

2) Princess by Vera Wang

     Princess is a super delicate smell in comparison to Naughty Alice, so this is more of a hanging out, everyday kind of perfume. I love that it smells so girly and  I LOVE the bottle. I wear the little crown as a ring. I love that it's like, lilac in colour and looks really pretty.
The top notes in this perfume are; water lily, apple, freshly-sweet mandarin and apricot
Heart notes; exotic guava, tiare flower, tuberose with a touch of dark chocolate
Base notes; vanilla, amber and wood

3) Bohemia by M&S

     I love this and nearly always have a bottle in my bag! It smells super clean and quite sharp, when I smell it, it reminds me of Black XS for men - which I LOVE! It's only £6 for the bottle I keep in my bag and £12 for the full sized bottle. Which is a total bargain price!! I was actually surprised when I came across the M&S perfumes last Christmas, there are quite a few really nice ones. I bought Bohemia and Butterfly. I also got a couple for my friends, because they have offers on buy one get one half price and they do gift sets too!

An eclectic fragrant blend of lemon, blueberry and bergamot with floral heart notes of lily of the valley, mimosa and gardenia drying down to warm aromas of cedarwood, amber and vanilla.

I'm quite fussy with perfume. I really do just stick to the ones I love for as long as I can.

I've also worn to death, Armani Diamonds, Clinique Happy, Lacoste Touch of Pink and Tommy Girl.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE perfume.

What are your favoutites???

What I Really, Really Want is .....

So with christmas coming up and being ridiculously skintos, I am on a mad hunt for christmas presents, I am usually the just go out on christmas eve and buy whatever you see kinda gal, but not this year!

I've already bought quite a few bits for my mum and sister and have started putting little beauty boxes together for my buds.....my poor brother will probably end up with a boy beauty box...actually, that's exactly what he's getting!!

I'm gonna get to work on that in a little while! I'm pretty excited now! Any ideas on what to put in a 'boy beauty box' besides the obvious aftershave?? Please share because now I feel like my boyfriend is gonna have to have one too! haha!

Anyways...this post was about what I want! (nothing new there!) It was originally about what my little sister was getting for her 21st birthday on Tuesday BUT she might peek so I'll save that for her actual birthday....lets just say my room smells LUSH. haha!! Ok, that was poor.

Right let's get to it!!

American Apparel Rib Nylon Spandex Leggings £22 - I have no idea where my current obsession with these has come from as I normally refuse to buy American Apparel but I NEED these and one of my best friends works there so I'll only buy them if he lets me use his discount! haha!

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub £5.25 I LOVE this stuff, it smells soooo good!!! And my lips definitely need some help in winter...I'm not the best at drinking the recommended amount of water....at all.

Marks & Spencer Bohemia Perfume £12 for 100ml. This smell isn't for everyone, my sister is not a fan, but she's not a fan of my wearing men's Black XS either, which is what this reminds me of and is why I love it, it has a sort of super sharp clean smell to it. The website describes it like this : 'An eclectic fragrant blend of lemon, blueberry and bergamot with floral heart notes of lily of the valley, mimosa and gardenia drying down to warm aromas of cedarwood, amber and vanilla.' 

For £12 though, for 100ml you can't argue and they do a buy one get one half price offer and gift sets, and smaller bottles too! Really is a great stocking filler!! There's another one called Butterfly which is also nice!

Ok, so, that's some of the bits on my christmas list! I have no idea what I want this year!!!

What are you asking for???!!