Brand vs. Sachs or is it really, Brand vs. Daily Mail?

It was 5 years ago now that the creative and hilarious prank call to Andrew Sachs was made by comedians, Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. Call me biased (I am totally in love with Russell Brand) but it was rather brilliant.

I remember going to Russell's live show at the Royal Albert Hall in London just after the prank had happened. He had been receiving hate mail from brainless Manuel fans, which were just so funny. One I remember quite clearly, was a man who exclaimed he supported Sachs because he had fought in the Spanish Civil war, poor lad obviously didn't understand that Fawlty Towers wasn't a documentary. At the same show, I remember Russell had creatively made up (much like the spontaneity in the prank call) a song about the news "I'M IN THE NEWS, I'M IN THE NEWS, TONIGHT AGAIN" to which he'd added a video montage of news reporters and the iconic Big Ben clock that shows before every 10 o'clock news.

Now I don't know whether the Daily Mail is running short on stories or whether Andrew Sachs has just stopped fighting in the Spanish Civil War but this morning whilst getting some petrol in a garage, I walked passed the Newspaper boxes and had to double take. I saw a very attractive smile surrounded by a mass of hair (Brand), I quickly went in and paid but looked again when I came out. After opening up one of the boxes with a trapped Russell inside, I noticed 'Andrew Sachs' in bold below the gorgeous picture. Now yes, I'd rather know much more about Russell than anything else in the news but when it comes to something that happened 8 years ago and something that's slating him, no thank you!

This was 5 years ago! Surely not front page news? They said sorry!!!

We all know that Brand has some 'disagreements' with the Daily Mail (in other words, the Daily Mail is ridiculously shit and Russell is right about pretty much everything) so it wasn't a shock to me when I realised there was only a lovely picture of Russell on the front and none of Jonathan (I do like Jonathan Ross too, but where's the fairness in that - some selection I believe).

I opened up quickly to the relevant pages, to see this: 

Now how can you expect a sex god such as Russell to turn a blind eye to a girl such as Georgina (who wears leather and corsets), you can't. The picture of her here although not in leather or corsets etc isn't exactly how you'd imagine your granddaughter. It made me laugh, Andrew Sachs cannot surely believe his granddaughter to be innocent when she dresses like below and is part of a rock band named the Satanic Sluts?

I cannot wait for Russell's Messiah tour show in March at the Cliffs Pavillion, near to where I live. Perhaps he'll mention it, and that will be funny.

Bye!

Apple pie with cheese pastry recipe

As well as my Christmas cookies, I've decided to make an apple pie with cheese pastry.

What you'll need:

• 250 grams of plain flour
• 125 grams of butter, dice butter into small bits, plus a little more for cooking the apples
• 2 egg yolks, plus an extra beaten egg for brushing the pastry
• 4 tablespoon mature cheese, grated
• 6 medium-sized dessert apples
• A pinch of ground cinnamon
• A little milk for brushing the pastry
• (Optional) plain yoghurt, to serve 
• mixing bowl
• (Optional) food processor
• Fork
• Chopping board
• cling film
• Knife 
• Non-stick pan
• Rolling pin
• Baking tray or roasting tin

Cooking:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

To prepare the pastry, put the flour into a mixing bowl, add the butter and rub the butter into the 
flour with your fingertips (use a food processor if you prefer.)

Beat the egg yolks with a fork and mix with the flour and butter, then bring the dough together to 
form a ball.

Scatter the grated cheese over a large chopping board then put the dough on top, Knead the 
dough very lightly, pushing the grated cheese in as you go. Put into the fridge to rest, covered in
cling film.

To prepare the filling, cut the apples into quarters, remove the cores then cut the fruit into chunks. 

Put a generous slice of butter into a non-stick pan over a moderate heat, add the apples and leave to cook, with the occasional stir, until they are lightly coloured and starting to soften. Stir in the cinnamon.

Roll the pastry out into a rough circle about 35cm/14in in diameter, then transfer it to a baking tray or roasting tin. 

Pile the apples in the centre of the pastry leaving a wide rim around the edge.

 Pull the edges of the pastry in over the apples, leaving those in the 
centre quite visible.

Mix the remaining beaten egg with a little milk and brush the pastry with the mixture, then scatter
a little extra grated cheese.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden. 

Serve warm, with yoghurt or creme fraiche, if you wish.

(Before cooked) I added some decorative toppings.
A & C = Apple and Cheese
and also some leaves for fun.


Good luck & merry Christmas!! <3

Christmas cookie recipe

So as I it's Christmas tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you a recipe for cookies that I'm trying this year.

This recipe will take you 39 minutes in total
I managed to make 80 cookies but obviously it depends on your cutter as to how many you'll make.

Things you'll need:

• Cookie cutter in which ever shape you desire
• 480 grams of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 128 grams of unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
• 213 grams of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• (optional) 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• (optional) 1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract
• (optional) 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• To Decorate: (optional) icing sugar to dust
• 2 bowls
• spatula
• teaspoon
• whisk
• greaseproof/pachment paper
• baking tray
• cling film
• rolling pin

Directions:

To make the cookies:

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking flour and salt. Then set aside to use later.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time and mix until well blended.

Mix in the optional extracts and zest. 

Add the first bowl of dry ingredients to the wet and mix until it comes together and no flour is visible. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in fridge to set for 1 hour.

To bake the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line baking sheets with greaseproof/parchment paper.

Using enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking, but not too much or the cookies will be too tough. 

Roll it out to about 1/8-inch thick circle. Use a  cookie cutter  to cut out the cookies.

Set them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving some space between them. 

Bake for about 8 minutes, or until just golden on the bottoms.

Decoration:

Here's where you can get creative.

You could dip half your cookies in chocolate and place in the fridge to set overnight.

Ice them

Use food colouring gel to paint your cookies.

But for mine, I'll be dusting them with icing sugar for a simple finish.

I'll be giving mine to friends and family for an additional Christmas gift, so I'm wrapping mine in greaseproof/pachment paper with ribbon. Get creative and see what happens!

Ready for the oven!

Dusted with icing sugar, I gave them in stacks of 4

  and finally, gift wrapped them in my own handmade 
paper bags which I decorated with ribbon

                                  

Good luck and merry Christmas! <3

The Kooky Theatre Company

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't been posting I completely forgot about my blog! Oops.

I went on holiday to Cornwall (as I do every summer) and whilst I was there, I went to see an open air theatre company who specialises in productions in the woods. The production was by far the best thing I've ever seen in my life, no exaggeration!!!

It was so inspiring that I've actually decided to start my own theatre company. I've gathered some of my friends (most of them are studying drama/music) to join me in starting it up. I'll be starting rehearsals in the new year, so exciting!

I've written my own script, characters (which I've casted for already!). I've thought of costume and prop ideas which I'll be making with my sewing machine.

I've been given some dates and places to perform for 2014 so hopefully, we'll be able to start performing

Once this starts up properly I'll be making a youtube and facebook account for the theatre company so, watch this space!!!

Bye all!

My Prom

As my prom was just under a month ago I think it's time to blog about it.

Me and my friend Isaac, decided to go together because we're both singletons!

Isaac and I (above)

Pre-prom breakfast
As I'd been on a 'prom detox' two weeks before prom to make sure my skin was good and I looked the best I could my Mum treated me on the day of prom to a (vegetarian) full english breakfast in a local cafe.

2 slices of toast, mushrooms, beans, vegtetarian sausage, and I did have eggs but I was greedy
before I took the photo and they vanished into my gob! I also had a sparkling orange juice.

The Transport
I'd been thinking for months about how me and Isaac were going to get there. I detested the idea of a limousine or a hummer because they're just to mainstream and boring so the ideas tended to be whacky... Supermarket trolleys, Kids toy cars, Pogo sticks, Space hoppers.

I have such a passion for vintage things including vehicles and I've always wanted to own one. I couldn't think of any practical inexpensive transport ideas so I thought I'd try my luck and look up some vintage camper van hire prices and to no surprise I found absolutely nothing that was really worth the price.

My two friends who are a couple and were going together said they had no luck finding anything either. Me, Isaac and the two others looked together and we finally found a camper van hire which only cost £12.50 each which was an absolute bargain! Also last minute too!

The camper was so lovely and the driver too. It was a dark green colour with a cream interior and for such a low price it was definitely worth it!

My hair

There were so many issues with getting the look I wanted, many youtube tutorials were watched. Originally I was aiming for a vintage soft up do like below:

It wasn't working at all and didn't look right so I started to worry because it was only a matter of days before my prom! Then after racking my brain I came up with an idea to try a side plait which in the end looked in exactly the kind of vintage style I was originally hoping for!

My Head Garland

I'd always wanted to have some kind of flower garland so I looked around my local high street but nothing looked how I imagined it... My mum said that she made her bridesmaids head garlands for her wedding, very kindly my Mum made the garland. 

Making the garland made it so much better, that way I could choose the flowers, leaves and the colours!  I chose little white flowers and ivy leaves which I think looked really pretty and delicate.

Jewellery

Due to the embellishments on my dress all I chose to wear were rings from Primark on my middle finger and thumb. Remember less is more!

Clutch

I'd completely forgotten to get a clutch to carry my phone, camera and the things I needed with me. So literally on the day half an hour before prom I ran into a charity shop to get one, luckily there was a gold clutch which only cost £1.00!!!

Make up

As there was gold tones in my dress, I thought it would be nice to go for a gold smokey eye and a red lip. 

Base:

Eyes:

 

                                    

Lips:

                                  

Nails

As my dress had gold tones I thought I'd my nails gold. At the time I had a habit of biting my nails so my natural nails weren't long enough to look nice when painted; I had acrylic nails put on with a glittery gold gel which you can see below! I had them done by a friend who's recently started out as a nail technician. 

Shoes

My colour theme was gold, and after looking at every other high street shop I walked up into New Look and found some lovely flat shoes with some embellishments of flowers on them at the front. The shoe itself is a shimmery colour and the flowers are a mix of gold and bronze.

Sorry about the blurriness of the picture!

Pre-prom gathering

One of my friends very kindly hosted a pre-prom gathering for drinks, snacks and pictures. Me and Isaac along with our friends we were sharing the Camper Van with and some others went. The pictures turned out lovely and everyone looked so good.

My lovely prom gift from Isaac/Corsage

Whilst at the pre-prom gathering Isaac gave me a lovely corsage, following the tradition. It was two gorgeous real white roses, white ribbon and ivy on a pearl bracelet. It was such a coincidence that the corsage had ivy and it matched perfectly with the mother of pearl embellishments on my dress and the ivy on my head garland! Clever Isaac.

   

Most importantly, the dress!

It didn't actually take me too long to find my dress. I started looking in March in vintage boutiques and online; it got to the early days of April and I was shopping in a local town with my Mum and my Nan, we went into the vintage boutique there not thinking that they'd have the dress I'd want but just to be nosey. I found three dresses, unfortunately one was a size too big, the next didn't go with my hair colour (ginger) and the last was absolutely perfect! As my birthday was coming up on the 9th of April my Nan said she'd buy it for me as a early birthday present. It was a great day and I'm SO happy I got the dress that I did. 

My dress is handmade from the early 1950's. It has a shoulder cuff with a mother of pearl embellishment in the middle on the chest area. It is a quarter-length sleeve. It has a gold shimmer running throughout the colour of the dress and changes colour in different lights e.g. pale pink and gold. It's a straight down floaty skirt with three layers which finishes just above the ground.

  

 

 Prom

When our Camper Van arrived at the prom there was a red carpet going to the door. When we got out of the Camper everyone was taking photos and it was really like being a celebrity haha!

 Inside prom was like a disco basically, one of the maths teachers was the DJ, there were balloons and disco lights which was pretty good for a secondary school prom!

Heres some photos:

                 
                  

 The After Party
It's only right after a school prom to get drunk with your whole year in a small hall in the middle of nowhere! Just, got to be done!

There was a DJ and quite a lot of alcohol!

I kept my prom hair in, wore a blue floral dress and my black Doc Marten boots! It was a great night, a few friends came back to mine after the party and hung out.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post! 

Thanks loves <3