Chewy Chocolate Cookies 

Recipe:

150g plain flour

50g unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 baking powder

115g unsalted butter

1 egg

100g granulated sugar

100g light brown sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

100g plain chocolate chips

100g white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 160'C. Cream together sugar and butter.

2. Add vanilla essence and egg, beat well until vanilla is evenly spread.

3. Add dry ingredients (ex. chocolate chips/chunks). The mixture will be very thick, so you may want more than one set of hands to help with this!

4. Break up the chocolate bars then chop each square into 4, or just save time and use chocolate chips...

5. Mix together well and create small balls of dough using spoons. Space well away from one another on a tray unless you want a big mess.

6. Wait 12-14 mins, then EAT. 

Watch this space later: I will be making my coveted chocolate cookies !

Making these has been my project for the last couple of uni breaks/holidays, and have now made around six, though sadly I don't have photos of them all (they've all been given as presents).

The last and brightest of the three hasn't been sewn together yet in the photo, but it gives an impression of what it would turn out like I hope.

http://bakedbree.com/vanilla-bean-marshmallows
Would love to try and do this in the near future. Who wouldn't want to make homemade marshmallows? (Though I may try a different flavour to vanilla and add some natural food colouring).

Second in this 'series', just need to make another for a full set of three.

Made this on my break from essay writing using some scrap fabric that was lying around and my much loved sewing machine.

Some of my photos of London, taken on my Lomo LCA+ manual camera, to commemorate the start of the Olympics.

Some very chilled liquid DnB if that's what you're into, like I am. Freebie available if you sign up to their mailing list.
http://www.spydnb.com/

http://www.nimitmalavia.com/index.php?/process/2008---2007/

This guy has some serious art skills, worth checking his work out.

My Spiced Apple Cake Recipe:

125g butter
225g light brown sugar
2 eggs
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
4 medium apples (I used the Pink Lady variety), diced

1. Preheat oven to 160' C.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar till smooth, add eggs and beat in.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended.
4. Peel and dice apples, then add to mixture.
5. Scrape mixture into pyrex tray (or whichever dish you fancy, just make sure it has enough room to rise!) and level out.
6. Cook for approx. 55 mins. To check that the cake is cooked throughout, push a skewer in the middle, wait for 1 second then remove. If it comes out clean, then it is ready to eat!

Optional:

Create a syrup using a herbal teabag (I used Chilli Chai by Teapig) brewed in 200ml boiling water and stir in 100-150g sugar, bring to boil on hob for approx. 5 mins, or until the syrup has thickened.

Skewer the cooked cake multiple times to create small holes in the crust, and then carefully pour the syrup over the cake, making sure it doesn't all run into one area (be careful not to make it too soggy though). Leave to cool before eating.

(You will probably have some leftover syrup. But don't worry! They go wonderfully in homemade cocktails :D )
Sorry for the incomplete cake, my family apparently got peckish whilst I was out!

Here's a link for teapigs if you're interested!
http://www.teapigs.co.uk/

Homemade profiteroles

Could so happily eat a load of these right now, or make them if I had the time!

The photo is a little too dark, but here was my attempt at a Mucha.

My Top Five Songs of the Month (in no particular order as I couldn't decide!)

1. Bonobo : Kiara (Tragosode Edit)
2. Sia : Breathe Me (Haydos Dubstep Remix)
3. Basto vs. Afrojack & Steve Aoki : No Beef Again & Again
4. Florence + the Machine : Spectrum (Say My Name) [Calvin Harris Remix]
5. Avicii : Silhouettes

Maybe next month there will be more chilled songs on as I won't be trying to motivate myself to do work for deferred uni exams!

This is such a good short video.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcv6dv_pixels-by-patrick-jean_creation?start=140

Alphonse Mucha, Nouveau Art Period.

So much love for this guy. The link below has more images of his work.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7EO2ii/:1RFZyePtv:HbCCci7q/www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/images/19th_century/mucha-poster.html/

Doodling is my favourite form of procrastination. If I find the time I may try and do one inspired by all this lovely sunshine which has surprised everyone!

Taken in fields near my house. Will miss all the poppies!

After coming back from Suffolk for a week for my friend's birthday, it reminded me of the cake I made for her last year. If you want to make one of these, make sure you have the time! It was just a basic chocolate sponge covered in melted white chocolate: if I wasn't so against the idea of eating icing and chocolate together (the figurines don't count, though they were edible) it would've been regal icing. The chocolate did actually give a very nice texture once it had cooled down. 

from http://www.biancagreen.com/

Made up of bits of photos I think this would be interesting to try and imitate and do photo to fabric transfers!

Book of the Month!

I cannot recommend this book highly enough after finishing it in a few days. Without giving the plot away, its like a 19th Century James Bond novel- with some classic and some unexpected twists it always leaves you on a cliffhanger when you realise it's 2am and you should probably get some sleep. Will Walter Hartright get the girl he loves? Will the villain Sir Percival Glyde be outwitted in a game of cat and mouse, rich versus poor? Read it and you'll find out, or google it and miss out on a very good reading experience...

Must remember to try this with my film camera!
http://andredefreitas.com/Double-Exposures

For those of you who love being nosy, or inspired, here's an amazing doodler I've come across so many times and never ceases to amaze me.
http://2photo.ru/2008/08/04/illjustracii_andrea_joseph.html

Found this a while back, and is on my creative to-do list, right after getting a hot glue gun!

After much deliberation and procrastination I have finally decided to start a blog where I can share all my ideas and interests, rather than forget them (which happens more often than not!) In-between studying for my BA English degree, I have my little creative moments which include photography, baking, doodling or textiles, and on rare occasions, painting. Hopefully this blog will fairly represent each of these, and give you some food for thought.