Aloha! It's day 2 of Blogmas! This post is also my 200th Blog Post! I never thought I'd see myself coming up with enough content to write 200 posts, but here we are! 3 cheers for me!
Today I have a recipe for my favourite Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, which I'm hoping you will love as much as I do!

Ingredients for the base: 

- 25g butter

- 150g shortbread biscuits, finely crushed

Ingredients for the topping:

- 300g dark chocolate (with no more than 40% cocoa solids)

- 2 eggs, beaten

- 400g full-fat cream cheese

- 150ml full-fat soured cream

- 50g dark chocolate chips or drops

Ingredients for serving:

- 100g dark chocolate

- 300ml whipping cream, softly whipped

Method: 

1. Preheat the over to 160 degree celcius. Grease the base of a 20cm spring-form cake tin with butter and line with baking paper.

2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the crushed biscuits, then tip into the cake tin, pressing evenly over the base of the tin. Place in the fridge to chill whilst you prepare the topping.

3. Break the chocolate into a bowl and melt over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally with a spoon until runny and smooth.

4. Put the eggs, cream cheese and soured cream into a separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour in the melted chocolate and whisk for a minute. Stir in the chocolate chips or drops.

5. Spoon into the tin and spread evenly over the biscuit base. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until firm around the edges and slightly wobbly in the middle. 

6. Remove from the oven and run a small palette knife around the edge of the tin to release the cheesecake. Allow to cool in the tin before transferring to the fridge to chill. 

7. Once chilled, remove the outside ring of the tin and lift the base on to a serving plate, removing the paper lining. 

8. Spread about half of the whipped cream in a thin layer on the top of the cake. Finely grate the chocolate and sprinkle over the top. 

9. Pipe or spoon the remaining cream around the edge of the cake. 

10. Add some decoration if you wish. I used Malteaser reindeers for a festive look!

In bake off style - Ready, Steady, BAKE! 

xxx

Foodie Friday // Lemon Drizzle Cake

Aloha! I haven't done a Foodie Friday post for a little while so I thought I'd show you how to make the lemon drizzle cake that I baked recently! I have to say the Great British Bake Off being back has really inspired me to get in the kitchen and bake my own sweet treats!

You will need:

2 unwaxed lemons

275g granulated sugar

175g unsalted butter, softened

200g self raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 large eggs

How to: 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (or gas mark 4).

Line the base of a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper and butter the tin.

Grate the zest of the lemons and add to a food processor, along with the butter, flour, baking powder eggs, and 175g of the sugar

Blend until the mixture is combined and is thick and smooth. 

Spoon the cake mixture into the loaf tin and level the surface.

Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Whilst it is cooling, squeeze one of the lemons to get about 3 tablespoons of juice. Mix this with the remaining 100g of sugar. 

Turn the cake out of the tin onto a wire cooling rack, removing the baking paper. 

Turn the cake the right way up and make about 50 deep holes with a skewer.

Gradually spoon half the lemon sugar over the top of the cake, allowing it to coat the top throughly. 

Leave for 5 minutes and add the rest of the lemon sugar. 

Leave to set for about an hour or until the sugar has crystallised. 

Cut into thick slices and enjoy with a tea or coffee! 

Enjoy baking this one! It is one of my favourites!

xxx

TheSundayPost - 26th July

Aloha! Once again it's time for a Sunday Post! Where do the weeks go?! 

This week has actually been quite busy! So here is what I've been up to!

1- Monday brought the usual dread of having to go to work after a lazy weekend! Honestly, I don't think I'll ever enjoy Mondays! 

2- I got these flowers for a bargain 13p on Monday night though! I love a Tesco bargain!

3- On Tuesday it was my 23rd Birthday! Unfortunately I was at work, but I still had a nice day (once I left work haha!)

4- Meet Eric! He's my sponsor cat which Mikey set up for my birthday! We can't have a cat in our flat until we buy our own place so I'm paying for Eric's place in a shelter until he finds a forever home! #goodkarma

5 & 6 - Mmmm Cuckoo's Bakery! My mum bought me this banana and salted caramel cupcake as my birthday cake! It was hands down the best cake I've ever had. If you live in Edinburgh, you will find Cuckoo's on Dundas Street & in their new shop in Bruntsfield!

1- Birthday dinner! My birthday decided to fall before payday (helpful) so we had an austerity dinner and made our own Nando's! I have to say it was pretty authentic! 

2 - On Wednesday night I decided to go spend some of my birthday money! I was in desperate need of some new make up and decided to try the benefit counter! After a mini makeover, I decided to take the plunge and buy Porefessional & Hello Flawless! 

3- The rest of the week was a bit uneventful, so I was glad to see Friday (who doesn't love Friday?!)

4 - I was in Tesco (again) after work on Friday, and spied these in the frozen aisle! Who else remembers Maxibons! I was so delighted I bought 2 boxes which between the 2 of us we have demolished over the weekend! 

5 - Yup, more chocolate. This is a Reese's peanut butter Krispy Kreme doughnut! It was pretty delicious. 

6 - And finally, yesterday was National Tequila Day! We all know how obsessed with Mexico I am, so I had to celebrate with a bottle of tequila flavoured beer (or 4)! 

And now it's Sunday, the weekend is almost over and I'm preparing to go back to work tomorrow for my final week before I move on to my new challenge! 

Have a wonderful week! 

xxxx

TheSundayPost

Aloha! It felt like this week was the longest week ever! That might have something to do with me being on the countdown to payday! 

1- It's been so bloody cold this week! Thankfully it got a bit warmer for the weekend!

2- On Monday night I managed to miss my tram stop and ended up in the Yankee Candle store. I managed to pick up these lovely little bargains! 

3- By Wednesday I managed to pick up the lovely cold that's been doing the rounds in my work. I was feeling totally run down all day which resulted in me having a day in bed on Thursday. That must have been exactly what I needed as I was feeling much better on Friday

4- On Saturday I did a little bit of baking! We were heading out to our friend's house for a bring a dish dinner party at night.

5- This was the result of my baking! Coffee kisses and cheese nibbles! Blog post coming up later on in the week!

6- And finally, this weekend we've had Mikey's brother's cat staying with us as he is away on holiday! I've really enjoyed having a little bundle of fur to look after the past few days! She's with us until Tuesday night :)

Hope the week ahead is great for you all!

xx

TheSundayPost

Hello Everyone! I missed posting my Sunday Post last week, but I am back this week! Here is what I have been up to in the last week!

The yankee candle sale started on Monday night! Obviously I couldn't resist putting in a little order! I will be putting up a January Sales Haul very soon so you will see what I bought! 

I was working right up until 12.30 on Christmas Eve unfortunately! When I got home, it was time to relax with a very fitting candle! 

Santa has been!! You can find my post on what I got for Christmas HERE

We spent Christmas morning with the other half's parents. It wouldn't be Christmas without me watching the snowman! 

This was our starter for Christmas Dinner. It was heaven on a plate! It was star shaped smoked salmon mousse with seafood sticks, lettuce, and my mum's homemade marie rose sauce! Delicious!

Smudge enjoyed his day too of course! Here he is relaxing after his dinner! 

As I was staying at my parent's house over Christmas, he got to sleep in the bed with me! Just look how cute he is!! 

So that's pretty much it for this week! As I type this, I am watching Harry Potter and munching on leftover turkey and duck curry! It's been a great week, and a wonderful Christmas! 

xx

TheSundayPost

Aloha! It feels like this week has been never ending! As usual, this week has been full of Uni and Work with a little bit of Christmas shopping thrown in too! (Finally getting somewhere with it woohoo!) Here is my picture round-up of the week! 

Not actually from this week, but I took this photo from the train on my way back from Aberdeen last weekend! It is the sunset over the River Forth with the famous Forth Road Bridge! I was really proud of this, especially since it was taken on a train travelling at 40mph! haha!

I had a right giggle at this picture! My research proposal for my dissertation is due in on Friday, and as usual I haven't even started it! Fourth year is really proving to be a struggle! I just want my degree now! 

On Thursday we got the first of our marks back for this semester. For one of my modules I got a first for my presentation, and I was one mark off a first for the report that goes with it! I was pretty happy with this, so I got a bar of my favourite chocolate to celebrate! I am expecting the first marks for my other modules back on Wednesday this week! Hopefully they are also good! 

On Friday, I had an afternoon off work so I finally got around to clearing out my wardrobe! I was pretty ruthless and got rid of anything I haven't worn in the last 9 months! I am pretty proud of how tidy it is looking! Now I just have to keep it looking like this...

On Saturday my other half was watching the rugby. I'm not that interested in rugby so I decided to cook a Lemon Chicken for dinner! It was pretty tasty. I'll put the recipe for it up later this week! 

After cooking dinner, I settled down with my favourite cider to watch X Factor! 

And finally, today has been a rather quiet day. We slept till really late then headed to the local shopping centre. I've been trying to get a storm trooper dressing up costume for my little cousin but it's out of stock everywhere! Obviously I had to treat myself to a hot chocolate from Costa whilst we were out! :) 

So that's pretty much it for this week! Now I'm going to sit down and get some blog posts sorted for next week as I'm sure I'm going to be rather busy with this dissertation malarky! 

Have a great week everyone! xx

Anniversary Weekend Part 2 - Loch Lomond

So yesterday I posted about my trip to Knockderry Country House Hotel for my anniversary! After we checked out on Saturday, we drove a very short distance to see Loch Lomond and have a spot of lunch! We visited a small village called Luss, where we had a bite to eat in The Village Rest cafe. My other half had Steak Pie and Chips and I had Lentil Soup and crusty bread! The food was excellent which was evident from how busy the place was!
Here are some pictures from Saturday!

MondayMunchies: Sweet Pepper Omelette

Hey Everyone! Today I have a tasty recipe for one of my favourite, easy meals! Monday nights are just the worst. You've hardly had any sleep the night before (is it just me who can't sleep on a Sunday night?!) and work has drained any energy you may have had! So this recipe will make your Monday much more relaxed, when you can't be bothered cooking! 

You will need:

3 Large Eggs, 

20g Cheddar (I use 1/2 fat cheddar) 

2 sweet peppers (or 1 normal pepper if you can't get your hands on the sweet ones) 

1tbsp of sunflower oil

Some salad as a side dish. 

Finely grate the cheddar, chop up your sweet peppers and whisk up your eggs (season with salt and pepper) 

Heat the oil in a frying pan, let the eggs cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add the cheese and peppers down one half of the pan (it makes it easier to fold I think)

I use a metal fish slice to get under one side of the omelette and fold over to make a semi circle! 

After letting it cook for another 2-3 minutes to let the cheese melt, serve with a yummy crispy salad! I like to drizzle some white wine vinegar and olive oil over mine to give it a little bit of flavour! I've found my favourite bagged salad is one from Asda called Italian style salad. It has a bit more flavour than your standard bagged salad! (I hate salad but I need to get my 5 a day somehow!)

So there you have it! Such an easy meal to make after a hard day at work! It can be made with almost anything as a filling too! Sometimes we have minted pea and feta cheese in ours too! 

Happy cooking!

xx