Merry Xmas

Hello all hope your all set for Xmas, because I'm not! God where has the year gone and how has Xmas crept up so fast.
Anyway just wanted to get us all in the Xmas mood, so let me show you the 3 yes 3 Xmas trees we have.

This is one of 2 that have very old and retro decorations 

This is our second one with old decorations 

This is our main attraction and my favourite :) 

As its Xmas and with that said we can't go on any more with out the mention of advent calendars and I'm going to start with my Mums and i got her a Yankee candle one.

Its really nice you get tea light sized candles and the smells are lovely, but the only thing i would say is it only has 6 smells in it that are repeated throughout all 24 days, and yes they are all Xmas smells but i would have liked 24 different smells.

Now for mine and i got given a Ciate advent calender and i got one last year and i was a bit worried i would get the same colours but nope so far so good I'm really happy with it.

So far, So good, So nice 

And what would Xmas be with out these two.

Merry Xmas from Stanley and Humphrey

They are sat waiting for Santa but have been a little naughty this year so may also get a small lump of coal. Naughty boys hehe.

Well thats it for this instalment i hope you all have a wonderful Xmas and a Happy New Year.
What did you ask Santa for? ;)

See you soon
Jinny xx

AWOL

Hi all sorry its been a couple of weeks since I've been about but its been a bit hectic, hopefully normal viewing will resume soon.
In the meantime please enjoy these photos of Stanley and Humphrey. They will bring a smile to your face and who doesn't want that the night before another busy week at work. Enjoy :)

Stanley relaxing on a Sunday

Humphrey sulking. Look at that face 

Bless them i love these boys and who wouldn't.

See you soon
Jinny xx

Lets have a catch up

So its been over a week now hope your all doing well, I've had a lovely past 3-4 days. To begin with i had a busy busy week at work and when it got to Tuesday PM my friend called me (the one having halloween party) and we had a chat and at the end i said see you Saturday (meaning see you at the party Saturday) she was like no Friday, the party is Friday. Doh *slaps head* i totally thought it was Saturday night, i had plans to go shopping during the day for a few bits i needed to finish things off but now all that is out the window. I ended up going home that night and getting online to order what i needed on next day delivery and phew all sorted in the end. I was at work on Friday so was a bit of a rush getting sorted but got all dressed up, ready and had a fab night everyone made a really good effort,
That was meant to be the beginning of my week off but due to unforeseen circumstances i had to pop into work Saturday morning for a couple of hours but after that i went to one of my favourite places for lunch with my Mum and Dad and that is Frankie and Bennys. It was my 1 millionth time going but it was my parents first time and we were going as a pre birthday meal. And i was waiting a little on tender hooks waiting for them to eat as i wasn't sure if they would like anything, i ordered a pepperoni pizza and a side of fries, Dad had a medium steak and fries with a pepper sauce and mum had Lamb shank with mash potato and well i was really surprised they loved it!! Mums still talking about her Lamb shank today ;)
That afternoon was just a chill out after all that food.
On Sunday it was a rainy miserable day outside so Dad suggested we carry the pre birthday celebrations on by playing one of my all time favourite games Monopoly! Yes! I didn't need asking twice so we sat eating a few snacks, i was banker as always and there is definitely no cheating whilst you play with me.

Lets begin

I got given this board as an Christmas present a couple of years ago, in this game i was the handbag (surprise surprise) Mum was the thimble and Dad was the car.

Since having this Monopoly board i haven't won one game and well...... i still didn't win :(

Look at all those hotels!

Mum won :(

Again that afternoon was just a chill one and a bit of sulking from me as i didn't win again.

And that evening we had a lovely chinese, so you could say a naughty weekend but we all have them now and again don't we.

And now we come to today (Monday) and today is my Birthday :D and i wanted to make cupcakes and butter cream and thats exactly what i did.

Went a little over the top with my piping ahh well who cares

And thats it your all caught up now, I'm now sat in my PJs watching TV whilst writing this blog and relaxing after a nice baking birthday. I hope you all enjoyed this catch up have a good week.

See you soon 

Jinny xx

Haul

Hello all i hope you are having a good weekend so far. Ive had a very busy week at work but i still had time to do a little shopping.

Firstly i stocked up on a few bits, i like to make sure i have these in my draw incase i run out. I love a back up or 2 ;) all from Boots.

Keeping stocked up

As i have mentioned before I'm a lover of stationary so i got a new 2015 diary from Paperchase and some more of my favourite perfume Armani Code from Boots.

Stationary love

I also got given an early birthday present from my Mum and Dad, a lovely Pandora charm.

I got this lovely J isn't it nice. These are just a few charms i have, i tend to swap them about, different colours etc.

And today i popped into Tesco and happened to wander down the DVD aisle and well........ just look what happened!

DVD madness

Today i have watched 2 of them already! Firstly i watched Northern Soul and i wasn't sure what to expect first of all but i must say its a good watch i really enjoyed it, i then watched Maleficent well all i can say about this is she's very misunderstood! Great movie.

See you soon

Jinny xx

Beatrix Potter Book Collection

Today i wanted to talk about my love for Beatrix Potter. When i was younger my mum and dad brought me Beatrix Potter books which i have kept to this day its not a full set but a few years ago i decided to work towards a full set of old/original books and with some books as presents for birthdays, christmas and just because i have been lucky enough to complete the full set. Most of these books are either from eBay or Peter Harrington.

My Beatrix Potter collection 

I haven't read them for years and have forgotten most of the stories but i am going to start reading them all. I may have to be very careful as some are very old and fragile but they can't go unread!

Since i have a love for the books i was really happy when the movie came out. If you haven't seen it you must. Its lovely, heart warming and you may shed a tear or two but i have watched it a few times now and i doesn't get old.

I hope you enjoyed todays short but sweet post and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

See you soon 

Jinny xx

Halloween

Well its midweek (Hump day) and what to do? Well i thought it would be nice to give you a look at some of the things i have got for Halloween. My friend and her boyfriend are having a party and for the first time ever (well as an adult anyway) I'm dressing up! I don't have much of a choice as it is fancy dress ;)

Ive always loved tattoos of Candy Skulls but I'm yet to see a design i love that i permanently want on my body anyway through the Pixiwoo Blog i saw that Face Lace have Halloween styles and they have Candy Skull ones. So there i was having my own lightbulb moment, i don't have to worry to much about my actual makeup, and it looks really cool (hopefully) and as for an outfit well anything goes really, i haven't got my outfit yet but I'm hopefully getting a long black dress to got with it.

Excited to use this

I also got some jewellery bits from New Look that goes along with the Face Lace/Candy Skull style I'm looking for.

So all being well i will get my long black dress and hopefully look the part, I'm really looking forward to it and pleased with my fancy dress choice and i think i will feel comfortable too which is important on a night out.

Now i can't buy halloween stuff without buying new pens so whilst on the internet buying my Face Lace i somehow come across these pens from Paperchase and i couldn't resist.

Stationary love

Hope you enjoyed my spooky post today and hope you had or are having a happy Hump day.

See you soon

Jinny xx

Sneak peek #2 - My Handbag

So yesterday you had a sneak peek into my makeup bag, today i wanted to give you another sneak peek this time into my hand bag. Im going to be honest its a big bag so it will have a lot of unnecessary crap in it but here goes.

My handbag is Ted Baker and for whats inside well you have been warned:-

Smints - we all may need a mint now and again
Pens - im a stationary lover sorry not sorry
Ted Baker purse - Not my normal style but i do love it
Armani Code EPD - Just incase i need a top up throughout the day
Work Keys - Cant be locked out
Carmex - Keeping my lips smooth now winter is coming
Scarf - Its getting chilly
Socks - Unsure why
Chocolate chip Tracker bar - Energy boost or just a quick snack during the day
Mirror - Just to check in
Sunglasses - Even though winter is coming there is still glare when i drive
Umbrella - For that unpredictable English weather all year round!
Tissues - For those times you may have a sniffle or watery eye
Boots vouchers - Not here for long ;)
Hair bobbles and clips - I seem to go through hair bobbles like no ones business
Juice Cube - incase my phone needs a top up
Paracetamol - Essential
Extra chewing gum in bubble gum mint - I like the flavour but it doesn't like me i think I'm allergic :(
Tesco Receipts - Im a regular especially down the DVD aisle
Work ID - Just incase they forget who i am

Note book - What can i say STATIONARY <3
Work diary - Keeping my day in check
Tampons - Just being honest
Mobile Phone Iphone 5s with ironman minion phone case - Goes everywhere with me

And a photo bomb from Humphrey (He just wanted some attention)

Now to put everything back a bit neater than it was

And thats it a sneak peek inside my handbag. Is yours like this? I can't do small handbags for too long as i try and get all this inside and it doesn't work.

Hope you enjoyed this weekends sneak peeks.

See you soon
Jinny xx

Sneak peek - My makeup bag

So today i thought i would show you in my "daily" makeup bag. On a day to day basis i don't change things up i tend to go for quick and simple.

My Ted Baker loveliness 

So for my actual makeup bag its Ted Baker, a present from mum and dad. Its big enough for my daily bits and some of my basic brushes as well.

Now to what i use on my face:-
Seventeen blemish BB Balm in Medium - I only like a light coverage
Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Eraser Eye in Light - Great for my under eye dark circles
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light 2 - If i need a little more coverage on a blemish
Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 003 Peach Glow - To set all the above

Depending on my mood either:-
benefit Rockateur Blush
No7 Coral flush Blush

Eyes:-
If i have the time
Urban Decay eye shadow primer in original - LOVE THIS!!
MAC Painterly Paint Pot - I need both these as i have very oily lids
Urban Decay Deluxe edition Underground - This changes often
Soap and Glory Archery in Brownie Points - I tend to only use the twist up end
benefit gimme brow in medium/deep
And of course Mascara
Seventeen doll'd up in Black - Gives great separation and length

Whats on my face

Ok so i need brushes to apply all this so here goes:-
Real Techniques expert face brush - for my base
Real Techniques powder brush - for powdering my face
Real Techniques contour brush - for powdering under my eyes (great shape for this)
Real Techniques duo-fiber face brush - I use this for my benefit blush
Real Techniques blush brush - I use this for my No7 blush
Real Techniques miracle complexion sponge - To apply my under eye concealer
Mac 217 - Used for my eyeshadow

Day to day tools

Now i have many more brushes then these I'm a bit of a makeup brush obsessive and swap this about every now and again especially if they need a clean!
And as for my actual makeup bits i also have a bit more than these im a big eyeshadow fan maybe one day i will give you a sneak peek ;)

I get all these products from Boots apart from my MAC  and Urban Decay bits of course.

See you soon
Jinny xx

My simple skin care

Hello all today i would like to go through my skincare routine for both morning and evening. This will probably be the simplest routine you have seen but it works for me, especially my morning cleansing routine as it has not changed in years!
I would also like to say by no way am i a professional when it comes to skincare i just know what i like and as i said it works for me.

Ok lets get started so i prefer to have more time in bed so my morning skin care "routine" is not very in-depth, first things first i get a flannel (face cloth) soak it with hot water ring it out and wipe it all over my face, wiping away anything from my face and it also gives my face a little exfoliate, after that i put a small amount of No7 advanced perfect and perfect serum on my face leave this for a few seconds to soak in and do its thing then i apply my Vichy Aqualia Thermal Riche moisturising cream all over my face and down my neck, we must not forget the neck area! Now for eyes i dab my ring finger into my Clinique all about eyes eye cream and apply this gently around my upper and lower eye area. Then i leave my face alone for 10 minutes or so whilst doing other bits before i start my make up and the only other product i use is my Caludalie beauty elixir face spray and i use this after all my makeup is done to set it, it works wonders and my makeup last all day! And thats it, simple I'm done for the day and I'm off to do a hard days work ;) Also throughout the day i will either apply Elizabeth Arden Eight hour cream or Carmex to my lips. I can really suffer with my lips especially in winter times so both these products do a great job and to make sure my lips don't get too used to one product and it stops working i swap it around every so often.

My morning products

So I'm now home from work and getting ready for bed, now this is where i really swap things around just depending on my mood. Firstly makeup removal so these are my options for eye makeup removal before i get into the shower - Loreal skin perfection 3 in 1 purifying micellar solution or
No7 Beautiful Skin eye make up remover i love both these products but i do find the No7 one leaves a small kind of greasy residue around my eyes but nothing i can't live with. I just put a small amount of either onto 2 cotton wool pads and hold these on my eyes for around 30 seconds then rub gently to remove any excess off my eyes. Now once in the shower i either use my Clinique take off the day cleansing balm or Loreal skin perfection miracle cleansing oil to take of the rest of my make now if i can't be bothered to do the separate taking off of my eye make up i will just use my shower products on my eyes to do my whole cleansing routine. I get a small amount of either product in my hands and rub together then apply to my face massaging it in i then get my flannel run it under the running water ring it out and remove all the makeup and grime from the day.  Once or twice a week i will also use a face scrub either No7 Total Renewal or Clinique 7 day scrub cream again depending on my mood.
Now if I'm going to be very naughty i will just use No7 Beautiful Skin quick thinking wipes to remove my makeup but this only happens after a night out and I'm to tired to do anything else so not very often.
Once all clean i apply the same Vichy moisturiser as i do in the morning for my night time cream maybe just a little more of it and again a little lip balm and as naughty as you may think that is i don't use anything else on my face at night, no serum, no eye cream I'm just a little to lazy to do anything else.

My night time products (don't worry i don't use all these that would be a little OTT)

And thats it, i may occasionally try something new but these have been the products I've used for some time now and i tend to get them all from Boots as i love the offers they do and adding up my points to treat myself.

See you soon
Jinny xx

Salted Caramel

Hello and good morning, afternoon or evening to you. So today I decided after making my cookies I was going to make some salted caramel to go with them.
I got the recipe from cupcakejemma on youtube and this was my 4th go at doing this. My first attempt went really well and i gave that and another batch of cookies to a friend and her boyfriend, so when i decided i was going to make cookies to take into work i thought this would be a good opportunity to do salted caramel again as it went so well the first time.
So to tell you about my second attempt before we start, i set myself up same as my first attempt but i made one major mistake that i knew i shouldn't do, i touched the sugar whilst it was on the heat and when it come round to adding the cream it was just to watery and the sugar just blobbed together. So off i went to the corner shop fingers crossed they had some double cream to have another go, as i had promised salted caramel to go with my cookies. My 3rd attempt was ok not as great as my first but still tasted great just didn't look dark enough and was a little more runny than I would have preferred.
Anyway...

What you need for this recipe:-
1 cup of caster sugar
6 table spoons of water
1 cup of double cream
1 tea spoon of vanilla extract (I use a table spoon, it's just about taste)
1 heaped tea spoon of flaked sea salt (not table salt as it dosent have the same taste)

So I've told you what not to do and that is DO NOT TOUCH THE SUGAR, and thats why I'm here having a go at these things and letting you know where I've gone wrong so hopefully you don't.
Lets get started, put your cup of sugar into a deep pan with your water place on a medium heat, now I think this may have been where I was going wrong I put mine on 3 on an electric hob I don't think it was hot enough so this time I put it on 4 which was a lot better, and now you leave it!! Now get your cream ready, pop this into a jug you can pour out of and add the vanilla extract and mix, put this aside until its needed in a bit.
Ok so keep an eye on you sugar but still hands off! Your now waiting for your sugar and water to turn into a dark amber colour syrup once this had happened take it off the heat and begin to add your cream/vanilla mix do this with a steady flow and as you do this stir stir stir, once all the cream is in with the sugar continue to mix until it stops bubbling (this shouldn't take long) Now you should have a dark Amber coloured smooth liquid, don't worry if you get a few sugary lumps in it you can always strain it with a metal strainer if you want. (I have done)
Get a heaped tea spoonful of your flaked sea salt in you hand and give it a crumble then add to the mixture and again stir until the salt had all dissolved. Now your salted caramel is done pop it into a glass jar leave to cool and ta dah all done.

Go on give it a go you know you want to.

What happens then is I get one of those chocolate cookies if it's cooled pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so to make it all gooey inside get a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top then add some of that salted caramel you just made all over and enjoy. Mmmmmmmm

See you soon
Jinny xx

The Bake Off weekend!

Hello all so i have this weekend off and its going to be a bit of a baking weekend with my mum and my new toy.

This is a wonder machine! I love it.

So firstly on Friday mum made the base to our lemon meringue pie so it was ready to go on Saturday.

Unfortunately mum is so used to making this we don't have any specific details but I'm sure if you google it you can find one but... this is what she does, get plain flour and margarine rub together until it resembles bread crumbs then add water a bit at a time to make a nice none sticky dough, roll out and line you flan dish, cover that with baking paper so you can add your baking beans on top, pop this in the oven 160 degrees until golden brown.

Once it has cooled down add your lemon curd to the cooked base (this is an easy/cheats lemon meringue you can start from scratch and make your own lemon curd if you wish) we then got 3 egg whites and a pinch of salt in the mixing bowl and whisked it in my new toy on low speed for a minute or so then turn it up a little until you get a nice white peak from the mixture at this point you want to add a table spoonful at a time of caster sugar (175g) add this whilst on a slow to medium whisk until all gone and the mixture turns into a thick creamy one with nice stiff peaks. Now what you want to do is put the mixture onto of your lemon curd and even out and decorate as you wish (we just tapped the top of the mixture once all on to form nice small peaks on top) pop this in the oven for 45 minutes or until the top looks nice and slightly browned off and your done wait to cool and have a nice slice.

Even though i do say so myself this taste sooo good.

Next mum made a quiche all you need to do for this is make the same kind of base you made for the lemon meringue. Inside was 7 eggs, grated cheese, 6 slices of ham cut up into little squares. What she done was sprinkle ham and cheese into the pastry case then pour the whisked eggs into the flan case until it is full and then top with sliced tomatoes and bake in oven on 160 degrees until golden brown and set which means the mixture is no longer wet and not wobbly.

Mums home made ham, cheese and tomato quiche. Fancy a slice?

And finally for today i made some bread rolls, i got the recipe from the side of a flour packet so the details of that is
500g strong bread flour
7g of salt
30g olive oil
7g dried yeast
310g luke warm water

I put the flour salt and yeast into a bowl and mixed together using my dough hook whist this was mixing i got the water and olive oil in a jug together and slowly poured in into the dry mixture. The machine then kneaded it for 5 minutes on a slow to medium speed the mixture will come together to form a smooth dough. Then i put it into a glass bowl (not sure if this makes a difference) covered in cling film and set aside of one hour to rest.
After one hour pop some flour onto the kitchen side take you dough out which should now be doubled in size and begin to hand knead it to knock the dough back to the original size.
Get a baking tray put a very very small amount of olive oil on the tray, i then divided the dough into roughly the same sized balls, i did 16, put these onto the tray and put into an oven of 220 degrees for 30minutes and golden brown on top. Take these out the oven be careful as they will be hot, tap the bottom of a roll to see how it sounds, i it sounds hollow then you should be ready to go, cut one open and put some butter on that nice warm bread roll and enjoy.

The smell of home cooked bread mmmmm

So thats all the baking done for today its definitely been a go go go kind of day.
Tomorrow I'm making some more chocolate cookies for 2 ladies at work and they are going pay me £5 for 7 cookies and I'm going to give that money to Macmillan. I think its a nice way to raise money for charity, i enjoy the baking and they enjoy the end result ;)

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Ohh i almost forgot whilst at Tesco i made a cheeky purchase, i will keep you all informed of any future bakes from these books.

Im going to be busy

See you soon
Jinny xx

Likes and Dislikes

Hello so i thought today i would give a little more about myself away so I'm going to tell you some likes and dislikes.

Likes:-
Tattoos, on me and are hot on men
Films and an array of tv series (to many to have just one favourite)
The colour purple
Make up
Nail varnish
Youtube
Winter
Family, friends and my pets (obvious i hope :)
Blogging
My bed
Handbags
Mums home made roast potatoes
Baking
Mario game (the original)
Norwich
Chilled out days at home with my dogs
A nice meal out with good friends
Smell of coffee

Stanley photo bombing lol

Dislikes:-
Spiders
Octopus ewe ewe ewe
Bad parking
Rude people, just say please and thank you!
English Summers
Fire works
Late night noises (people can be inconsiderate sometimes)
Long hair on men (sorry)
Taste of coffee

I could go on but these will often change on a daily basis like most people things will annoy me like someones great parking skills *sarcasm* or something will make me smile for instance one of my dogs just being silly and please don't take any of these personally its just my feelings and opinions.
I just wanted to share a little more about myself with you, whoever you may be reading this. You know now more about me then i know about you :D

See you soon
Jinny xx

My weekend

Hello all i just thought it would be nice to let you know what i have gotten up to this weekend. So towards the end of the week i started to watch the second series of Hannibal staring Mads Mikkelsen who you may have seen in Casino Royale (Bond, James Bond) and he plays Hannibal, Hugh Dancy who plays Will Graham and Laurence Fishburne. Its a very deep and twisted series but its very very good its been a while since i saw the first series but this second one well I'm on episode 6 and so far so good i won't give anything away but its definitely worth a watch in my eyes.

On Saturday i made another batch of those delicious chocolate cookies and went shopping to a couple of places in my home town with my mum. Saturday evening i had the place to myself so i sat and watched a movie with Stanley and Humphrey snuggled up on the sofa, i watch the film Julie and Julia which is about a cooking blog so i felt drawn to it for maybe obvious reasons ;)

And we now come to today (Sunday) i decided i wanted to treat myself to a lovely Kitchenaid Mixer to aid in any future baking needs. It wasn't an easy job i went to one place hoping they had it in stock but they didn't :( so whilst out i went into boots and stocked up and a few essentials.

I love Boots and at the moment it has some great offers on like 3 for 2 on all hair care products and a the minute I'm growing my hair and I'm all the time in need of new hair bobbles.
So after not being able to get what i wanted i went home thinking i will order one online and wait for it to be delivered, i wasn't 100% happy with this as when you have something in your mind and you want it there and then its so annoying to have to wait, but i would rather wait then settle for something i didn't won't. Ahhh but not all hope was lost i found out there was some in stock at John Lewis  so off i went and tah da

Here we go my new toy all new and shiny waiting to be used. Unfortunately i had nothing to bake with and had a long day travelling around so wasn't in the mood so it goes unused until my next day off when i will hopefully be making some bread and when i do i will keep you all informed as to how it went.
Well not the most exciting or adventurous of weekends but i enjoyed it.  And i hope you all had a lovely weekend what ever you got up to.

See you soon
Jinny xx

Distractions

Hello all, so whilst i was making those yummy cookies yesterday i had a couple of distractions and i just wanted to share with you what i have to put up with.

oh looking so sweet and innocent. But i know better ;)

Draw me like one of your french girls.

So from my first post you may know these two but if not then here we have Stanley and Humphrey. I love baking and learning new ways to do things and I'm very much enjoying doing my blog but when i see these two just laying here like that all i want to do is get a dvd on and snuggle up on the sofa all day with these 2 sat with me. But alas i have things to do so they had to entertain themselves and this is what i find myself looking at. You got to love these 2.

See you soon
Jinny xx

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Yummy Cookies nom nom nom

Hello all hope your having a nice week what ever your up to.
Today i would like to show you a recipe for yummy chocolate cookies.
I got the original recipe from Tanya Burr. She also has further links on her video to where she originally got the recipe from.
I would like to tell you as we go along some things i have learnt on the way that may help you with you cookie making needs.
Im not a massive sweet tooth person but i love to bake for others and get there feedback. For me its all about giving and seeing others enjoy the fruits of your labour. I love t see there faces when you make something they just love you can tell within seconds they are enjoying it.
Ive been making these oh so very chocolatey cookies for a while now and all my friends and family love them and it has been said that they are better then the ones you can buy from a certain cookie place, so hopefully you will all love them too.
So lets get started.

You will need:-
200g unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
1 large egg
275 of self-raising flour
75g cocoa powder
and 2 large bars of chocolate (one white and one milk chocolate)
also if needed a small splash of milk.
Makes 15 rather large and oh so gooey cookies.

Preheat your oven to 210/220 degrees or 200 degrees for non-fan. Every oven is different, we got a new fan oven the other day and previous to this i was ok baking on a temp of 220 degrees but i have now had to adjust this to 210/200 degrees just keep an eye on them whilst in the oven.
Your butter needs to be at room temp so its easy to work with, i recommend leaving it out over night or a few hours before your ready to bake, i wouldn't suggest putting it in the microwave as this can make the mixture to sticky to work with. Put your sugar and butter in a bowl and mix together either by hand or if your lucky enough with some kind of electrical whist until they mixture is creamy. Then crack your egg into the mixture and mix a little more once all mixed together you can now add you flour and cocoa powder and mix throughly, you may want to get your hands dirty at this point and make sure all you dry ingredients are well mixed in. If you feel at this point it feels a little dry you can add a very small amount of milk. (most times i bake these i don't need to)
Now I'm a little ocd and have tried it a couple of ways, most people put the chocolate pieces into the mixture with the dry ingredients and mix together but i feel that not every cookie gets a good amount of chocolate this way and i don't want anyone going without! So, what i tend to do is divide my chocolate in 15 piles you tend to get 3 whole sized milk pieces and 2 half size white pieces in each pile, but its up to you and you could also add more of other things like nuts, M&Ms etc it also depends on how much you eat during the whole process.
Now your going to need a tray with some baking paper on top, you may have to bake these in 2 goes as not all 15 cookies will go on one tray. So i now divide my mixture into 15 roughly same sized balls, i get my 5 pieces of chocolate and the mixture together making another ball so you can hardly see any pieces of chocolate on the outside, i flatten it slightly and place it on the baking tray ready to go, do this 7 more times and then but your first batch into the oven for 10 minutes only. Once the time is up take them out the oven and leave them on the tray for maybe 10 more minutes before moving them into a cooling rack as they may be to hot and soft to move off the backing tray too early. Repeat this process with you second batch. Once cooled to a nice temperature you can eat and enjoy the chocolatey richness of your own homemade cookies.

start to finish

I really hope you enjoyed todays post.

See you soon
Jinny xx

Winter nail varnish selection

Hello all, so its getting to my favourite time of year winter! yay and that means getting out your autumn/winter nail varnish from the back of your collection.
Today i would like to show you some of my favourite nail varnishes from my collection, some of which I'm sorry to say may not be available to buy anymore but still look lovely to wear in the autumn/winter seasons. so i hope you don't mind if i share these with you.

Some of my favourite nail varnishes have to be Essie, 2 coats is all you need and it lasts for days! I get all my Essie varnishes from Boots always good when they are on offer, I love a good deal like 3 for 2.

Essie top left to bottom right :-
miss fancy pants
cocktail bling
recessionista
sand tropez
eternal optimist
its genius
not just pretty face
hide & go chic
smokin hot
midnight cami
merino cool
chinchilly
angora cardi
over the edge
fall in line
shearling darling
parka perfect
toggle to the top

These are butter London nail varnishes i have got these online from there website and some from Boots. They are little more on the expensive side but again you get a good finish.

butter London from top left to bottom right:-
come to bed red
toff
dahling
all hale the queen
tart with a heart
saucy jack
artful dodger
dodgy barnett
no more waity, Katie

Here we have Models Own which I'm afraid to say these may have been discontinued but just look so autumn/winter don't you think? And once again good coverage.

Models Own left to right:-
purple grey
purple ash
grey day
nude beige

Again to some more "high end" nail varnish i love the Estee Lauder one such good coverage and a slight 2 tone effect to it, the Chanel ones are lovely colours but i do think they need a coat or 2 more than the rest.

Chanel and Estee Lauder left to right:-
coup de coeur 609
steel orchid
blue boy 555

And last but no means least we have No7 the beloved Boots brand, i have had some not so good colours but these ones i love they have good coverage and again look at the colour of them.

No7 top left to bottom right:-
winter tale
night silver
totally teal
grey matter
glitter bomb

Sorry there are no photos of them on my hands, but my nails are not in a great condition to be showing off on here at this exact moment.
I tend to wear the same colour on all nails but occasionally i will do an accent nail, so i will paint my ring finger nail either a different colour or maybe add a little glitter to that one nail and it can make a massive difference.
Lets be honest though you can wear what ever colour you want at any time these are just the colours i like to wear this time of year and yes sometimes in the spring and summer as well i know I'm a rebel ;)

Hope you liked todays post.
ps I'm back to work as of today (had a week off lucky me) so my posts may not be as often as they have been, but i am enjoying the whole process so I'm not going to stop.

See you soon
Jinny xx