And The Winner Is.....

I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me the last couple of months. You have all been brilliant! I tried and failed to do a video vlog but i'm useless and it was taking forever to upload so I gave up! I used random.org to get the winner and the lovely winners name is Stephanie Gladden! congrats Stephenie and again I want to thank everyone for following.

Now I know this is also meant to be a Book blog and I haven't done a review of late or ever but I've been hard pushed to of late of a good book to actually warrant sitting down and writing about. But I've just started The Fifty shades of Grey Trilogy books and I will defo be doing a review. I've started the first one last night and I have to say i'm on the fence is it good? is it a bit weird? Yes to both those questions. Have you read them? Have you heard about them? I'd love to hear your thoughts! One thing I will say before I finish is these books are not for the faint hearted!

Thanks again to everyone!

Elle

Last Day! Giveaway!

Hey all, Today is the last day for my giveaway!

So if you haven't already Got on the band wagon, please do ;)

http://realtastypages.blogspot.com/2012/04/elizabeth-arden-giveaway.html

Big Dirty Chocolate Cake

So with this awful weather we've been having in Dublin the last few weeks, I've been craving chocolate like nobodies business. I've been trying to be real good of late but its really hard when you get in from work and its lashing rain. Its cold and its miserable out. Sunday we were all meeting up in my mam's house for tea. So I decided to make a big dirty chocolate cake for the offering. Chocolate addiction runs in my family haha well it is full of girls after all. It wasn't to hard, this recipe is quick and easy. My brother if he got of his arse from the xbox would be able to do it so anyone can ;)

For the cake

2 cups caster sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk 

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease two 9-inch baking pans (or line with parchment paper circles) and set aside.

2. In the large bowl of a standing mixer, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in hot water.

3. Pour batter evenly between the two pans and bake on middle rack of oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick(I use an old knitting needle inserted) in centre comes out clean. Allow to cool 5 minutes in pans; run a butter knife around the edges of each cake. Place a wire cooling rack over top of each pan. Wearing oven mitts, use both hands to hold the racks in place while flipping the cakes over onto the racks. Set the racks down and thump on the bottom of the pans until the cakes release. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

90g Butter

1/3 cup (80ml) Water 

1/2 (110g) Caster Sugar

1 1/2 (240g) Icing Sugar

1/3 Cup Cocoa  Powder

Combine Butter, Water and Caster Sugar 

Stir over heat without boiling until sugar dissolves

Sieve icing sugar and cocoa powder together

Gradually stir in hot butter mixture a little at a time.


When all is mixed in put in the fridge for 20 minutes.

When you take it out of the fridge give it a good mixing.

Pour a little on top of one of the cakes and carefully put the other half on top.

Pour the frosting on top of the cake a few spoons at a time and then get a knife and spread it over the cake which ever way takes your fancy. The frosting should be thick in texture after being in the fridge so should slide right on with out going all over the place.

And there you have it a Chocoholic's dream come true, A big dirty chocolate cake!

Enjoy

Elle

Rainy Days!

What a dreadful week its been, Rain, rain go away, come back another day! Its been such nasty weather the last few days its hard to get motivated to do anything never mind go to WORK ;( But I did it and its Friday ;) All week I've wanted to do nothing but curl up in bed with reruns of Gilmore Girls and episodes of Gossip Girl! My new favourite program right now and I can't believe I only discovered it last week is Revenge. However my Boyfriend also likes it, so I've been waiting for him to get home the last few nights to watch an episode.

Anyway tonight when I got home I decided to make some hot Chocolate to warm me up and as a treat. I've tried many a hot chocolate. I've made so many from scratch and so many instant ones. But I always come back to my favourite one which is Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate. I know some of you out there will accuse me of cheating but you know what, Sometimes you got a cheat a little!

A Cup of milk (I use low fat milk but that up to you)

3 Teaspoon's Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate

I sometimes put an extra half spoon in depends on taste.

A few marshmallows again depending on taste

Put the cup of milk in the microwave for 2 minutes

Take it out carefully and add the 3 teaspoons of drinking chocolate

Mix and put back in the microwave for another 2 minutes, Keep an eye on it you don't want your milk to burn.

Add Marshmallows and Enjoy!

Perfect for a nice cosy evening in front of the telly!

Elizabeth Arden GIVEAWAY!

Hi all you wonderful beautiful people! (Was that to much?! haha) I've nearly reached 50 followers and I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who has followed me!

I've decided that coming up to 50 Followers I need to give a little back. So In honor of 50 i'm doing an Elizabeth Arden Eight hour giveaway!

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Essentials:

Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant
Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturizing Hand Treatment
Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15 

As this is my first Giveaway, I will open it internationally

Right here's what I would like you to do...

Follow here on my blog

Follow my Facebook

And lastly Follow My Twitter

Comment with your user names and an email  to contact you if you win.

This GIVEAWAY is open till the 13th of May 2012.

Good Luck to everyone.

Nailed it! Or did I?

I love nail varnish. But does it love me? I’m never really sure. I take my time, First I do a under coat. Then I do about two coats of the colour I want. Its really depends on the colour or brand whether it needs a third coat. And then I do A top coat. It looks great for about a day and then it slowly goes down hill chip by chip. Of course then I just have to take it of straight away because there is nothing worse then chipped nail varnish.

And even still I take a little time to put a little varnish on and even if it only lasts a day, I take pleasure in it.

Colours are my guilty pleasures I love colour then brighter the better. I find that even on the greyish days a bit of colour on your nails does your mood so much good, well a little anyway, Its not magic it can’t solve everything but it can help! Right now I’m into pinks, oranges and you know what some nudes as well.

My favourite brands range from affordable to not so affordable. From Catrice to Chanel to Barry M.

Sometimes if I’m feeling flush or just want to treat myself I take myself down and get my nails done. General if I’m going to treat myself I get the two weeks shellac. This normally lasts me around three weeks depending on growth. I love the look and the place where I go have some really lovely colours. I have a few favourite colours, which I normally stick too. When I get this done my hands look girly and to be honest I don’t have girly hands. I have piano fingers as my grandmother used to say to me. She was being kind because there just long and manly in no way girly!

Catrice Utli Mate Nudes 030 My Café Au Lait Notre-Dame

I use a Clear Hardening Varnish for underneath

And I use a Marks and Spencer's Top Shine for on top.

This is an OPI Strawberry Margarita

What's A Girl To Do?

What's a girl to do? This weather is playing havoc with my lips and hands to very important parts of my body! ;) One minute its raining the next its sunny. Is the weather ever going to settle into summer once and for all! Knowing my luck the answer to that question is "Hell No!" To add to problems I work in a library and books, paper prove to be accurate drains all the moisture from our skin.

My Lips have been so so dry and I have been trying my best to do what ever possible to repair them. I got a great tip from a woman who worked at the Elizabeth Arden counter in boots on how to exfoliate your lips. You get a Soft toothbrush and a wet it a little and brush it over your lips for a few minutes ever second night. And when finished Put a dab of Elizabeth Arden eight hour cream on before bed. By the end of the week and just in time for the weekend your lips with be pooty perfect! I use the Eight hour cream as a lip balm, its amazing if you can get over the smell, which I of course did years ago and have never looked back. An Eight hour cream costs 31.00 Euro. I know I know expensive lip cream you say?! However here is Eight great ways to use Eight hour cream....

1. Alleviate dry skin. 

2. Great gloss for lips. 

3. Highlight eyelids, cheeks and shoulders. 

4. For after shaving or waxing. 

5. Shape brows into place. 

6. Soften rough, dry cuticles. 

7. Antidote for rough heels and soles. 

8. Best in-flight moisture booster.

So the last few weeks I have been using whatever hand cream is to hand. I have my favourite of course but I'm not fussy when you need some hand cream ya need some hand cream. The first is Soap and Glory Hand food and it came with a hand soap also. Its not going to break the bank. And it smells pretty good like all Soap and Glory products. I got this as a free gift in Boots at christmas, so not 100% how much this set costs. But a hand cream on its own will cost around 5 euro.

The second is Molton Brown Relaxing Yuan Zhi Its actually a body cream but i only use it on my hands. Its Expensive but its so worth it as its smells so good and your hands are like silk after using it a few times.

I love love love this one. This is priced at a whopper 17.95 euro. I think i got mine in the outlet so it would have been a little cheaper.

And last but not least, My number one favourite is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Hand cream. If you have never tried it, get on with it. It doesn't have the smell like the original eight hour cream. You use it once a day and you will see the benefit of it. Where some other creams you need to load up on it a few times a day, this one is you really only need to use once a day. However I usually indulge and use it a few times if I can remember that is. This is priced a 20.80 but so worth it as you only need a little pea size and will last you ages.

I hope this has helped you folk out there who are having the same problems as myself ;)