They make me happy!

After a thoroughly lovely evening and with another on the way tomorrow, I just wanted to put up things that make me happy/ things I would like (because they would increase my happiness to a ridiculous magnitude).
Some of these I have, others not just yet.

1) A ceiling bubble chair. Not sure why. Maybe because it's part swing (but indoors!), part comfy coolness. I'm in talks with Pops to get one put in the attic ("you need a beam to stick it into") so here's hoping my pestering works!

2) Coloring books and crayons. I find it quite relaxing and who doesn't love a brand new jumbo pack of crayons with that little built in sharpener at the side and a crisp, black and white coloring book, just waiting for the color to be spilled onto? Mmm.

3) Labs. Maybe cos I've had two I'm a bit biased. However, I don't really like pure breds cos they get a bit fat. My guys (big up to Shadow and Magnum) have been nice mixed breeds. Sooo cute.


4) Tea parties. Because at a tea party you have great company, tea pots, many cakes, floral dresses and chats. They can go on for hours. I'll just blame Mr. Lewis for getting me hooked on the idea from a young age before I even drank the stuff, merely pretended to with my kitchen set and delph tea set.


5)Pretty fabric. Oh the possibilities! Skirts, dresses, drawstring bags for a present you've made a friend, a soft cover for a notebook, etc. But not for patchwork quilting like my Mom and cousins. That is far too headachy for my liking.


6) A VW van. No, I definitely don't have one of these yet, but in time I will. Deliveries from my bakery will be brought to your door in one of these fellows. Plus they cry out to be brought on a trip. I will have stepped up a gear in terms of tenting when I get one of these! This photo is incredibly similar to the clock I have from Siobhan T.


7) Notebooks. I have many of these, filled with events which have happened since I was 8 years old and I love getting a new one and collaging it.
Note to all: If I die before you, please burn them and don't do what Virginia Woolf's pals did and publish them. I will act vengeance from beyond the grave.


8) James McAvoy. Definitely one I do not have as he belongs to the lovely Anne Marie Duff and they're having a baby soon. But I can still dream and swoon.


9) Themed days/ evenings. Like tonight I had one of the long standing traditions of a Dominos Night with Jo. Our usual half and half pizza was ordered and we watched with anticipation as people walked by the gate, hoping it was a man in a motorcycle helmet laden with boxes and a brown bag containing our drinks.
Also, I like to assign pretty days when I feel in need of a pick me up. This will usually involve a floral skirt with colorful tights, a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I don't have a snap of any of these really, so I'll just be cheeky and put a photo of a girl from lookbook who I quite like.

10) Love. Cos it's wonderful and love, actually, is all around <3

Feathery Fudge Cake

Did some baking there at the weekend!
Why I am stating that like it's an unusual event, I don't know. Go with it.
I didn't follow the recipe (more like I just didn't read it properly than me free styling it) accordingly, so it's not quite 'fudge'. I only added about half of the melted chocolate to the cake mix than I was suppossed to. I did add mixed nuts to the mix though which was pretty nice and went down well with the family. I tried to make that vanilla buttercream that I put on last week's bundt cake, but that was a failure to say the least. So I resorted to the tried and tested plain buttercream (no fanciness there, tempting failure) so I sandwiched it all together with it and placed some on top with chocolate sprinkles.
The recipe is quite simple and straight forward (when I read it properly) so I'll post it up here when I get back home as it's in one of Mom's old cookbooks. The cake was really soft and light, so it's quite easy to eat a sizeable wedge of it and not realise until it's too late... Love to you all! :)

Love Cake- A Baking Song

Laura K posted this gem on my facebook page at the weekend, saying she feels it has been written for me...Needless to say, Siob and I sang it for the rest of the day while I baked for the class! These two girls are fab!
Look at them with their little ukulele and kazoos.
Loves it.
Click here: Love Cake-A Baking Song

Cake party pics from Lisa!

The beautiful Lisa Keegan took photos the other day at the cake party in college, so I'm going to post them up! It was her birthday recently, the same for Sophie, so I made them larger chocolate chip cupcakes that you can see here. I am in love with Lisa's camera! Swoon.

Cake party a la EMCS

Since we're in our last week of classes in IADT, I decided I'd bake for my superb class to express my love of them. So Sunday I spent hours just baking. Baking away, having a ball and watching Monster House for my Gothic and Horror essay. I multi-task. So I made a new cake in a bundt tin my Mom has (again with the great supply of baking equipment...), cookies and cupcakes. For the cakes I used the recipe for the best cupcakes in the world- some were plain, others chocolate with chocolate chips. There were about 40 cupcakes, the cake and a batch of cookies. (I'm wondering can I buy cake boxes online, because all I can usually find that fit the cakes are shoeboxes!)
Needless to say, we had our fill of cake by the end of the day!

For the cake I tried a new vanilla buttercream and if Griffin's face is anything to go by, it was pretty good:) I added raspberries to the middle and top and sprinkled melted chocolate over it. It made a change from my usual 'there must be a high level of chocolate'. Okay, there was chocolate drizzled over it, but that doesn't count... Siobhan brought in buns her lovely mother Joan made which were rather divine and had a surprise jam centre. We had a lovely time tea-ing it up with many cakes to munch on.
By golly, I'm going to miss you guys x
(I wish the photos would upload in the order I want them in...but no.)

Oh the loveliness. There's so much of it!

Last night I went along to the utterly delightful night of storytelling and cake/cookie eating in Temple Bar, Milk & Cookie Stories with a bunch of pal-aroos. At each event, people who attend enter their own baked goods into a little competition of sorts and the one chosen to be the yummiest gets a little prize. I didn't get to bake this month for it, however I was allowed to be one of the judges! My ticket didn't get chosen, but Conor's did and he let me have it:) After what can only be described as the most intense cookie tasting I have ever witnessed, the baker of the fabulous chocolate chip cookie was eventually picked (well done, elusive Jamie!).
If you haven't attended M&C yet- and many seem to have heard of it- go along next month. It is such an amazing way to spend your evening. A huge congrats to last night's MCs Sarah and Ceri who were both charming and endearing. Lucky for me, I get to see and indulge in Sarah much more often than once a month. Also to the storytellers who were incredible.
You can find out more info about Milk and Cookie Stories at
Milk and Cookies Website

This weekend is going to be filled with baking! Yay! For Monday I decided I'd have a little cake event for my amazing EMCS class, a last hurrah of sorts before we dive into our books once more for the final leg of our IADT journey. And for finishing our dissertations and the last of our college work:)
Also, with a bit of luck my brother will be out of the hospital once and for all and he has requested I make him an apple cake ("nice and moist please"), so I will be making that for him as well as hopefully recreating this shot.
Bancing (baking +dancing for you not in the know) for the win.

Procrastination Attempt #26457 (and that's just today)

Rather than knuckle down and finally finish this bad boy of a dissertation once and for all, I thought I'd make some muffins. Just cos I suddenly had a craving for some. You know, cos I'm so near the end of the diss that surely it'll take only an hour when I sit down to actually do it...
Anyhoodle, so I decided I'd make apple and cinnamon ones. A recipe I found also called for raisins, so I threw them in too. Why not. They were scrumptious along with a cup of tea and the finishing off of Browning's Dracula. Nom.
Basic Muffin Recipe
(it's an American recipe, so is in cups! Sorry!)
Makes 10-12 muffins.
1 3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup cooking oil

-Oven to 200C.
-Combine the dry ingredients and make a well in the centre.
-Combine the egg, milk and oil, then add to the well.
-Stir together; it will be a little lumpy and that's fine!
-Fill the muffin cases 2/3 full, then bake for 20 minutes or until golden.