Drowning in Paper(s)

Someone shoot me. Have two papers due for Wednesday. One is a 3000 word one on political thinkers and the other is 2000 words on statistics - is all fun and rocking around the clock at my place!

Bought gorgeous new dress at Zara which I'll try and take a picture of today with my vintage hat.

In addition to having to slum it this weekend have got to nip out for an hour or so, so I can get all of my poor shoes reheeled! Have gotten to the stage where I've literally got three pairs that I'm not too afraid will lock me into an escalator.

In terms of fashion, an old offering I'm afraid:

It's all a bit pastel-ly but I really like this skirt. I bought it from H&M for £30. I bought it with the 60s-ish scarf you can just see poking into the frame. I don't usually wear skirts this short (haven't the legs for it!) but I don't know...this seems to work, don't you think?

Hallelujah!

Finally got a new camera battery which is now charging so will be able to take pictures of all my deserving clothes and shoes.

Jersey Boys was great, as always, and had much fun. My friend, Fi, brought her cousin with her to the show and we had good seats - thankfully out of the eyeing up zone of the flirt, as I can't concentrate when that's happening!

Am having dinner with old boss tonight, hoping I might be able to work there again for two months in the summer, really miss working.

Tomorrow my friend, Tabs, is coming down from York to spend the weekend. We're going to make a three course meal with uni friend, go to cricket practice and watch a movie. Am making those cupcakes again so will finish polishing recipe and post it. Saturday brings shopping and Selfridges which'll be madness but good madness.

[EDIT] Have just gotten back from dinner with ex-employer. She's so great. Had liiiitle too much to drink but found another great bar and cocktail - an apple and strawberry champagne cocktail - waaaay too drinkable. More about that tomorrow.

And now, your moment of zen: my Luc Berjen vintage wedges that I bought at a charity shop a few years ago.

Fabulous cut-out shoes...

Briefly mentioned these in my last posting but thought these shoes deserved a bit more attention. They're BCBG patent leather stilettos that I bought in Macy's New York (flagship) last year on sale. Obviously I liked them when I bought them (particularly at the price - $75 - and with an extra out of state discount) but recently they've really grown on me. I think they look so grown up and sophisticated. Do you have anything in your wardrobe that you seem to like more as time goes by?

Anyhoo, as far as life goes, things seem to be going on as normal. Weather here seems to have suddenly exploded into summer, three months early. Wore shorts for the first time this year. Tomorrow am off to see Jersey Boys, again! Am a bit embarrassed about it all but I'm sure I'll have fun. Have you ever seen a show more than once?

Speak soon!

S.S.

Hometown Queen

Ta-Da! This skirt is the one I bought at the vintage fair a few weeks back - not bad, huh? I love the contrast between the pink and green, reminds me of a candy wrapper or something. Also reminds me of this pie I sometimes make (random, I know):

I'm wearing the skirt with an old Abercrombie vest, vintage brown leather belt from a coat of mine, a new pink scarf from H&M, vintage cream bangle and my BCBG cut-out shoes, so sophisticated! That's the Brighton sunset you can see out of my window...ah, home.

Will post more pictures soon!

Have fun!

S.S.

Home and Cookies

Hey there,

Terribly sorry about the long time it's been since I've blogged. Almost drowned in that last essay of mine. Anyhow, only one more paper this term, then three exams and my first year is all done!

I went home on the weekend to see everyone and whilst I didn't find my camera battery, dagnabbit, I did get to take some pictures of some of my clothes and shoes which I'll post later.

I also got to try out a great recipe that I first read on the Heather Drive blog - which is great so go take a look! - plus I forgot to take picture of the finished cookie, so you can take a gander over here:

http://heatherdrive.blogspot.com/2008/08/thick-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html.

I pretty much kept the recipe the same but twiddled with a few things. These cookies are great, but I have to say that contrary to most people I much prefer them the next day when they're cool and completely set - and extra chewy!

Cookies of Troy

(So named as they are the cookies that launched a thousand diets!)

• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda (a la baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup light brown muscavado and 1/2 dark brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325F (160C or gas mark 3).
2. Put the butter into a small bowl and microwave in 30 second segments, stirring in between. Once completely melted, give one last stir then pop into the freezer.
3. Measure the flour, salt and baking soda into a small mixing bowl and give a quick stir with a whisk.
4. In a large mixing bowl measure out the sugar and eggs. Beat the two together until you get it as smooth as you can. Take the butter out of the freezer and check that it's cool to the touch (it should still be completely liquid), if it's not, then bung it back in there for another few minutes. When it's ready pour into the sugar mix and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.
5. Slowly add the flour mix, about a quarter at a time - making sure it doesn't blow up in your face! The mix should be a little stiffer now but still soft. Add the chocolate chips, or anything else you want to add now, and give the dough another good stir.
6. I use completely non-stick pans which are great, but otherwise just thoroughly grease your baking trays and/or use baking paper. Scoop large, heaped tablespoonfuls of the dough out of the bowl and roll into a ball between your palms. Then taking hold of each side of the dough ball, twist and pull til you have two separate halves. Stack these one on top of the other with the "twisty" bits on top - see the picture at the top, for what they should look like.
7. Space them out with a good 2inches or so between each cookie and pop into the oven for approximate 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, as you don't want to overshoot. They're ready when they're still quite pale and puffy on top (they should give when you poke) and they're just golden around the edges. The bottoms should be a very pale gold. Don't be afraid to take them out! I know it sometimes seems better to give them another minute or two to firm up but they carry on cooking once they're out!
8. Using a spatula, transfer cookies onto a cookie rack and leave alone for about 15 minutes before transferring them to a plate or tin.

And there you have it! Gorgeous, chewy and hatefully moreish cookies! Let me know how you get on!

Have fun,

S.S.

Jersey Boy Flirt

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I know the one cardinal sin a budding blogger can make is failure to update, so I swear I'll try to be better, cross my heart and hope to die!
Afraid I still can't take the bloody photos of all my pretty new clothes. Picked up camera from Mom and got home only to realise that someone (i.e. Dad) has taken the rechargeable battery out. Sod's Law.
Anyways, on to the good stuff: a friend of mine and I went for a night on the town to see Jersey Boys in the West End. We went for a drink at this great, seemingly hidden, bar in Piccadilly which is really worth checking out. It's on the top of the Waterstones building on Piccadilly (between Piccadilly Circus and Fortnum and Mason - it's hard to miss!). It's on the 5th floor, hence the name "5th View", and though not very big has a nice atmosphere and weirdly I've never struggled to get a table. A well kept secret - so don't tell too many people about it! I'm a fussy drinker when it comes to cocktails - a champagne girl you might say - usually I just stick to bellinis or fraise royales but this place has my new favourite called a "Charlie Crocker" (as in the Italian Job), and it's a vanilla and champagne cocktail - what's there not to love?
We were a bit behind schedule and ended up having to miss dinner and go into the theatre hungry, never a good start. The show starts off slowly but picks up pace really well about twenty minutes in. In all the show was: A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! The sets were original, if a little precarious looking at times; the costumes made me ache with jealousy, all those gorgeous dressess and circle skirts (even the men's spangly jackets were lust worthy!); the music was incredible, I recognized quite a few and can't seem to shake them, they're so damn catchy! - really wish they did it somewhere where you could just get up and dance along! Last but not least: the Boys. Where do I begin? At the risk of going into hyperbole overload, they were all sensational. We had a substitute for Ryan Molloy who plays Frankie (the lead), Jye Frasca, who was great, but it is worth trying to catch Molloy as he is out of this world. Stephen Ashfield was adorable and had such childlike enthusiasm as he bounded around the stage as Bob Gaudio, that he was honestly a joy to watch. Glenn Carter plays the "bad boy" of the group who is irrestistably charming, and you can't help but like him despite his sins. Finally, Philip Bulcock plays the "Ringo" of the group, Nick Massi, was wonderful as the restrained, slightly OCD-ish bass singer - and very hunky to boot. As you can tell I was particularly in love with Nick.

But the most exciting thing of the whole evening? The friend who I took me to see it pointed out that one of the lead actors seemed to be making a lot of eye contact with our row, and in particular, with us...so she suggested that we walk, casually, by the stage door a few times - as you do. Once we saw the gaggle of scary fans we started to have second doubts and were just about to nip over to our favourite diner for dinner when who should rush up to us but Flirty Leading Man (not going to say which for own sake as well as his!)! Will spare the details (for now) but left feeling very flattered after he chatted the two of us up for a good ten minutes or so until we had to leave for last orders - now that's what I call service. In fact, we were so flattered, that friend has bought more tickets and we're going again tomorrow night! Feel a bit embarrassed and sure will crack up when he sees us again (we're in exactly the same seats...).
In conclusion, after that big ol' ramble, isn't it time you indulged in a night on London Town? If you have a Jersey Boys production near you: see it! Particularly if you're ever around London - Oh What a Night!

Back at School...

Headed back to uni today so I'm back in my box. Realised I forgot to bring my camera with me, dagnabbit, but should be able to swing by Mom's office in London before I go to see Jersey Boys on Wednesday and grab it. Until then will just have to describe what I bought at the Vintage fair!

1. Pale blue suede belt from the 1960s, bought for a stunning £2!
2. Dark blue velvet wide brim hat from 1920-1930 with chiffon ribbon and corsage decoration. This thing is amazing. I never wear hats (last time I wore a hat, a beret, it got blown off my head into a flooded street and run over by three cars before I could save it - I pretty much took it as a sign from God that me+hats aren't to be). But this just works for some reason, it's slightly stiff so you can bend the hat over one eye and look like a femme fatale from an old PI movie. (£12)
3. Green and pink candy striped skirt, 1950s, reaches mid calf and is made of an enormous amount of material. Tried to haggle the price down but wussed out as the stall owners were so damn scary. (£35)

In other news: have an essay due for Thursday that I've done minimal preparation for, so wish me luck!

Have fun,

S.S.

Madly, Deeply, Truly Darkly Cookies

This is the cookie recipe I promised you the other day, apologies that it took a while. This recipe makes a quite small batch, anywhere between 12 and 16 cookies. This recipe is still so worth it though. The cookies are crisp to the point of crunchy on the outside and in the middle they are almost fudgey, best eaten when still warm and they make a wonderful dessert with ice cream. And the best part of all? They are fat and gluten free!! Amazing, isn't it?

Deeply, Truly Darkly, Deeply Cookies

• 1 cup dark (70% or bittersweet) chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips/chunks
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks)
• 1 1/2 cups powdered/icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, ideally in 30 second bursts and stirring in between. Once completely melted, set to the side and allow to cool.
2. Preheat the oven now to 400F (about 180C or Gas Mark 4) and grease two baking trays, ideally with fat free spray! (Otherwise if you have some of those amazing non-stick pans you don't need to bother with this)
3. Whisk the egg whites until they reach the soft peak phase. Add 1/2 cup sugar and continue to whizz until it looks glossy silver-white.
4. In a small bowl put together the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg white (about a third at a time) and blend completely. Add the melted chocolate, making to scrape all the chocolatey goodness into the mix! The mix should be very thick at this point, so you may want to stop using your electric whisk. Finally chuck the white chocolate chunks in and give a good stir before popping the whole bowl into the fridge for about half an hour (perfect amount of time to clean up all the mess!).
5. Remove dough from fridge and quickly set about dolloping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheets, with a good inch or two between cookies. Pop into oven and bake for about ten minutes, but start checking up on them after about seven. They should look puffed up with cracks beginning to appear on the tops and should give when you poke them. Watch out for the bottoms though as they have a tendency to suddenly burn.

And there you have it! The best things about these cookies? They're so wonderfully dark that I don't feel the need to binge as they're so damn satisfying! Another upside I discovered recently is that if you manage to accidentally burn them, they're still great! The darkness of the chocolate really masks anything like that.

Am off now to have a wonder. There's a vintage fair in town so may do a fashion post later...

Have fun!

S.S.

Surf and Iberian Turf

Had a nice jaunt around town until it started tipping down on me - why does that always happen? Lunch was great but afraid I forgot to take a picture (I was hungry, ok!), here's the recipe:

• Scallops (about 7-10 for lunch or dinner and 4-6 for a starter) without roe or shells.
• Organic chorizo (I always use Iberico organic chorizo because it tastes so much better than non-organic, as it's not so sharp) in thick slices.

1. Cut chorizo slices (of a log, rather than an individual sausage) into quarters and throw into a hot frying pan - do not put any oil or fat in the pan.
2. Fry the chorizo until you see reddish oil leaking out. After a minute or so place the scallops into the pan. Season the top of the scallops with salt and pepper.
3. Remove the chorizo if it's getting a bit too crispy but otherwise leave it there, turning occasionally. Turn the scallops over after two minutes or so (3 minutes for frozen scallops) and cook for another two minutes or until slightly crispy on each side but barely cooked in the middle (i.e. use your judgement!).
4. Switch off heat and tip contents into small bowls and serve with freshly ground pepper. Eat quickly as it gets cold fast!

Am headed back to the kitchen now to make fat and gluten free chocolate cookies which may not look all that pretty but taste amazing! Will post recipe and picture later.

Have fun!

S.S.

P.S. Don't get used to this many posts a day!

Welcome to Hometown...

Hi there,

Welcome to my blog. I'm pretty certain that I'm just speaking (typing) into the void that is the world wide web, but I figure it can't hurt.
This is just a quick post to get the ball rolling so here's some general info about me:

• I was born twenty (almost 21 now...) years ago in the seaside city of Brighton, the so-called San Francisco of England (we're big on gay pride here!).
• My Nerd Family: I am the oldest of just two children but we have a big big family. My Mom is Bermudian, of all things, so I go back to the island pretty regularly and we have a tonne of Aunts, Uncles and cousins floating around. My Dad is a typical English, stiff upper lip chappie. He works at a big Newspaper in London so I get to attend some really great events such as the London Film Festival, which I'll tell you about later.
• For more than seven years I attended a posh public (for those non-Brits: private) school for girls (oh the horror). I finally escaped a year and a half ago and decided to take a year off before plunging into student life. I ended up, somehow, working for Major League Baseball in their London office - no doubt their launching pad for world domination.
• Finally in September last year I went to uni, a North-West London university where I'm studying International Politics which is fun at times and stressful at times. How weird it is to be living alone!

I have a lot of strange, eclectic interests that this blog will probably touch on but I'm going to focus on fashion (in particular: vintage; retro; shoes and eBay) and cooking - what a regular housewife I am!
For now, however, I'm starving! So I'm gonna run off and whip up some lunch (scallops and chorizo - recipe later) and I'll be back in a while!

Have fun!

S.S.