clearly the whole 'regular blogging' thing is not working for me. i apologize. i may or may not update my blog at irregular intervals, who knows. in the mean time, check out my tumblr and flickr, both of which i update almost daily. xxx

blueberry cheesecake & leon cookbooks

today i made a blueberry cheesecake, using the recipe from leon's third cookbook. i don't think i've ever made a proper cheesecake, despite it being one of my favourite puddings ever. anyway, i couldn't resist making it as it had such a beautiful photo and looked like it would be a small slice of heaven. also we have some family around so why not make a nice pudding while they're here?
so i made it. and i was right, it was so delicious! 

here is my cheesecake, after we'd all had a slice (it was so rich and creamy that we only needed small slices)

and i just want to say kudos to leon, which as well as being a fantastic fast-but-healthy-and-well-made-food chain (only in london), also have 3, soon to be 4, incredible cookbooks. i am so happy i found the first and third books in tkmaxx - they are full of really cool recipes which i can't wait to try!
xxxx

heart bunting DIY

this is a little DIY crafty thing i did a few weeks ago, and i have enough little map hearts to make more.
i had a map, and came up with the idea of map heart bunting. so i cut the map into lots of little hearts using a template. i wanted to sew them together using a sewing machine but then i wanted to make some for my sister and didn't have time so just took a needle and thread to them. it was very simple and the result was super cute :)
instructions:
- cut out hearts or any other shape, like traditional bunting triangles.
- using a needle and thread, sew in and out of each shape, front to back and then back to front
- keep doing this with as many shapes as you want, then cut the thread and tie loops at either end

a few photos from my fisheye camera, see more here on my flickr 

i really will try and post something exciting tomorrow. it's DIY-related :)

xxxx

sorry for not posting in a few days.. or has it been a week? i don't know. i missed my 'food friday' again, oops. i cook quite often but i always forget to take photos.

things that have been happening:
- i visited my sister in nottingham last sunday till tuesday (it was half term)
- got my first roll of film which i used in my fisheye camera back from being developed ... only 18 photos came out out of a 36 exposure roll of film, not sure why. i didn't do anything wrong with the camera, so i have no idea what happened :(
- the rest of the week i didn't do much, apart from a bit of work. my little cousins slept over on thursday night which was fun.
- friday my mum and i went to ikea (so much fun), i got a few little things. then we went to a gap outlet store where i got a really pretty top (will try and post a photo at some point), and 2 awesome pairs of pyjama bottoms (again, will try and post a photo). also got a huge grey mens hoody from george at asda, which is so comfy. and then we went to a huge tkmaxx where i managed to find the first and third Leon cookbooks (they are the best cookbooks ever, and leon has such  awesome restaurant/cafes)... i have the second book and i was so happy i found them both, for £10 each instead of £20
- and now i'm back at school :( not too long till i can leave though!

i promise i will post some photos soon, and i'll try and post more regularly. i might even post something else tonight... a surprise! :)
xxxx

snowy days

a week and a half ago it snowed quite a bit but most of it has gone now. i only just scanned in some instax i took of the snow, you can see them on my flickr, and that one below...

on sunday i took the train up to nottingham to visit my sister and we had a lovely time just chilling and stuff. we had a yummy lunch of a giant fajita platter at slug & lettuce, which was 50% off because it was monday - awesome. we did a bit of shopping and I bought another pair of topshop leigh jeans because they are so comfy and essentially now a staple in my wardrobe. we also saw The Woman in Black, which was really scary... I pretty much never watch scary films so I had my hands covering my eyes a lot of the time and me, my sister, and her friend were all holding hands in the really terrifying parts. fortunately the scariness of the film had not affected me at all and with hindsight i'd say it's a really good film, just rather creepy/scary. it's nice seeing daniel radcliffe playing someone else, although i still kind of see him as harry potter! 

also I started reading The Hobbit on sunday and have almost finished it, and I love it! i'm really excited for the film. 

xxxx