Staveley Nature Reserve

Well, we have had a very active Sunday. We started the day with a swim at the local pool. I don't know about you, but swimming makes me so hungry and it is always so tempting to go for a fry up on the way home, but that kind of defeats the point of the swim so we resisted and went home for some wholemeal falafal pitta bread, which we enjoyed in the garden. 

I then decided I wanted to make some carrot, cranberry and almond muffins, I hardly ever make muffins but these came out great and were really easy, totally going to start making more muffins! 

As it was such a beautiful day we thought it would be nice to go for a walk, Mike has wanted to check out Staveley Nature Reserve for a while (he's a bit of a secret twitcher!), so we made up a flask of tea and a couple of fresh muffins and headed off. The reserve was beautiful and it was a glorious day, we walked around for nearly two and half hours, looking at the birds, butterflies, dragonfly, bunnies and donkeys! It looked like an Autumn walk, berries were in abundance in the head row and the leaves have begun to change, however it felt like mid summer, it was a strange feeling and I would like to go back there for a crisp winter walk. 

 We enjoyed our muffins and tea in a hideout and by the end of the walk had worked up our appetites again and enjoyed a roast dinner at the Staveley pub, The Royal Oak. I'm tried and full but have had a lovely, simple, humble Sunday and now I'm chilling out with a little Doctor Who as I write this post! Hope you had a great Sunday too! 

Kit Kat Brownie

After the success with mars bar crispies in the cafe, it got me thinking about other tray bakes I could make using other popular chocolate bars. 
These are goo-y, chocolate-y, crunchy, deliciousness.

Makes 18

1 1/2 cups plain flour
4 tbsp coco powder
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt 

8 tbsp butter 
200g dark chocolate
200g milk chocolate

6 eggs
3 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract 

14 double kit kats

Pre heat oven to 170 C and line a 13" x 9" baking tin.

Mix together the flour, coco powder, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, over a pan of boiling water, melt the butter and chocolate. 

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract.

Next mix the egg mix into the dry ingredients, then mix in the chocolate mix.
Once it's all completely combined spread half the mixture over the bottom of the baking tin. Next cover the mix with a single layer of kit kats, leaving a couple of kit kats for the top. spread the remaining mixture over the kit kats and bake for 30 mins, or until it doesn't wobble in the middle. 

Once cool cut into 18 pieces, then cut the remaining kit kats into three bits each and place them on top of each individual brownie. 

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Another autumnal delight! Enjoy after a brisk autumn walk, kicking all those leaves can build up quite an appetite. Wash it down with a 'good ole' cup of Yorkshire Tea. 

200g self raising flour

1 tsp cinnamon

280g brown sugar

60g raisins

2 eggs

85g butter melted

150ml milk

4 apples

Mix flour, cinnamon, sugar and raisins, then add eggs and melted butter, then milk.

Peel and core 3 apples and cut up, stir them in then slice the remaining apple and use to decorate

Bake in spring form tin at 170 c for 1hr +

Hatty's Autumn Wish List

Its officially the 1st September, and officially time to get excited about autumn. I LOVE Autumn. Its my favorite season. I love the beautiful amber colors as leaves on the trees begin to change. I love the excuse to snuggle down with a good film or book, and I love autumn clothes: chunky knits, over sized scarves, woolly socks with super thick tights and hats!

Which explains why I couldn't narrow down my autumn wish list down to one look, so here are three autumn looks I will be sporting this coming season.  

1. Woolly Jumpers - ASOS
2. Mom Jeans - Urban Outfitters
3. Leather Backpack - Grafea
4. Knitted Socks - End Clothing
5. Converse - Office
5. Hat - River Island
6. Coffee Pod - Amazon

1. Smock - ASOS

2. Cardigan - Topshop

3. Boots - Office

4. Shorts - Freemans

5. Tights - M&S

1. Super Thick Leggings - Topshop
2. Cardigan -Topshop
3. Hat - River Island
4. Scarf - Zara
5. Bag - Grafea
6.Doc Martens - Office

Ratatouille Soup

This is a lovely soup bursting with vegetables and with a perfect warm kick to it. Just what one needs as the days turn chilly.

Serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion - peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 aubergine - chopped small
2 courgette - chopped small
1 green pepper - chopped small
1 red pepper - chopped small
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
900 ml vegetable stock
20g sun-dried tomatoes 

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins without browning. 

Add half the aubergine, half the courgette and half the peppers to the pan and the remaining ingredients simmer for 20mins until all the vegetables are cooked and blend. Then add the rest of the vegetables and cook for a further 15 mins. 

Serve with a warm crusty brown roll, spread thickly with lurpak butter. Mmmmm. 

Facepack Friday

Facepack Friday was invented when Emily and I lived together and both had 9-5 jobs Monday to Friday. 

On a Friday one of us would stop off on the way home and stock up on supplies:

Ingredients for tortilla pizzas 
Ingredients for popcorn 
Face packs / ingredients for homemade face packs 
A Film
Wine / cocktail ingredients - optional  

Step 1. We'd make up our pizzas and cocktails. 

Step 2.Once the pizzas were finished we'd make up some popcorn pop on the film and take it in turns to give each other a facial, and face pack Friday was born. 

It was such a great tradition, instead of waking up on a Saturday morning hungover, we'd wake up relaxed and fresh faced, starting the weekend feeling preened and pampered. 

We don't work  standard 9-5 jobs and we don't live together anymore but we still have face pack Friday every now and again, even though sometimes it's on a Tuesday or a Saturday. 

Why not invite your friends around for a Facepack Friday, give each other facial, paint each other's nails, and top it off with some homemade snacks and maybe a homemade cocktail or two... And most importantly relax.