12 random questions tag

Hi guys!

Today I thought I would do something a bit different and let you all get to know me a bit better. So this is the 12 random questions tag. I saw it online and thought it looked interesting. Enjoy!!

1. What do you order at Starbucks? Well I don't like coffee, so whenever I go to Starbucks I always get the hazelnut hot chocolate. I want to try out their 'secret menu' but i'm too scared and shy to ask!

2. One thing in your closet that you can't live without? I would have to say my Joni jeans from Topshop. I only have 2 pairs of jeans, but i wear these ones all the time. I'm going to have to buy a new pair soon because they are starting to look really worn out.

3. What's one thing most people probably don't know about you? Um, I have a birthmark/ bump on my forehead which used to be massive and bright red when i was born, but now it's kind of disappeared so you can hardly see it.

4. Name one thing you want to do before you die... I really want to go and see a broadway show in New York, and I want to eat sushi in Japan, and go scuba diving at the great barrier reef, so many things!!

5. What's one food you cannot live without? Chocolate. Of any kind. I just love chocolate so much. And humous, but not with chocolate, that would be weird.

6. What quote/phrase do you live by? "Reach for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars" it also reminds me of the song 'anything can happen' from Mary Poppins, which I love.

7. What's your most listened to song on itunes? 'Supposed to be' by Tom Odell. I literally listened to that song constantly after seeing him live last year. It is one of those songs that just gives me goosebumps every time i listen to it.

8. What kind of style would you describe yourself as having? I would say i'm quite girly, but also quite simple. I tend to wear a lot of plain coloured skater skirts with a white T-shirt. I actually have 6 of the same white v neck T-shirt from Primark because i just wear them all the time!

9. Favourite number? 10. It is just a nice number. Very round, and it's the first 2 digit number. My birthday is also on the 10th which might have something to do with it.

10. Two hobbies? Youtube and Ukulele playing

11. Pet peeves? Loud breathing/snoring when people are asleep (I shared a room with my Mum on holiday and literally had to buy earplugs because the sound frustrated me so much I couldn't sleep). And the chomping sound when some people eat (I have to leave the room when my dad eats cereal) it frustrates me so much!!

12. Guilty pleasures? Those crappy real time games you get on your phone. I'm obsessed with a game called tribez right now, and bakery story.

That's all for this week! As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, questions or just want to say hi, please leave a comment and i'll get back to you. Also, i'm hopefully going to do a halloween costume DIY this week or next week so if you would like to see anything specific then let me know! Have a lovely week!

Katie xx

Forever 21 haul Autumn/ fall 2014

Hi guys!

As it is autumn, i decided to do a cheeky little shop online at forever 21 and show you guys what i bought. You have to spend over £50 to get free shipping cost so that was my excuse!

First, i bought a dark wash denim skater skirt. I've been wanting one for a while and as this was only £11.50 i couldn't say no! It isn't the best quality i'll admit, it is quite thin and the zip is a little bit hard to use, but it fits perfectly (I got an x small and i'm a UK 6/8) and is a nice colour and style.

Next, I got two basic jersey skater skirts. I wish I could say I needed more skater skirts, but I didn't. I think I have an obsession with buying skirts. but these were only £5 each, an absolute bargin! They are also really lovely quality, quite thick and very stretchy. As you can see, I got a teal colour and a mustard colour- two of my 'autumn colours' for this year. These are again x small and fit amazingly well, although i will warn, they are pretty short so no bending over in these!

Next is this burgundy and navy stripe crop top. It was £6, which I thought was a bit pricy for a pretty plain crop top but they are all that price so oh well! Again, this is a jersey material and is amazing quality, really thick so no worry of a bra showing through. It is a low back though so just be aware of that. I got a size small as F21 don't seem to do x small in a lot of their tops. It fits really well though so it's all good!

I then got this burgundy cardigan. It is their 'v neck' one at £9, and it has pockets which is nice! The torteshell syle buttons add a really nice touch and it is so soft! I was really surprised at the quality. As you may be able to tell, burgundy is my other autumn colour this year. this is a size small and is a little bit big but it doesn't really matter when it comes to cardigans, it just looks a bit slouchy.












Next is another cardigan, but in mustard this time. They didn't have a mustard colour in the 'v neck' style so I went for this basic one instead which was £7. I would say that if there is a choice, go for the £9 one instead as this one is a little bit more thin and not as soft. Also, the buttons are no where near as nice, much smaller and a cheap plastic look. The colour is a bit brighter than how it looked online and is much more yellow than the skater skirt I bought, which is a true dark mustard colour. I would say this was the worst buy for me just because the colour is quite bold and i didn't really think about what to wear it with before. this was a size small again.

Finally, my favourite thing I got was this jumper in an x small, and I absolutely love it! It was £18.75 which, for a jumper, is insanely cheap, and although it looks a bit rough, it is so so soft. This jumper is a burgundy again with navy and is a lovely fitted style, but still very basic. I can imagine this looking amazing with some blue jeans and chelsea boots for a really cold day. I am so happy with this, and I definitely needed more jumpers anyway!

So, that is the end of my haul, I hope you guys enjoyed seeing a little insight into my kind of style. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions then please leave a comment and I will make sure to get back to you.

I hope you are all having a lovely week and i'll see you soon!

Katie xx

bloglovin

Hi guys!

Just thought I'd let you know that I've joined bloglovin' so it's even easier to keep up to date with my blog posts!! Just click the 'follow me' button on the right side of my blog page or, if you are on a mobile then just type in 'katieeeliza' on the bloglovin' (android, apple and maybe windows??) app and i should come up. If you have any problems just tweet me at @katieeeliza_

Hope this helped and I'll see you all soon!

Katie xx

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'stick bread' - baking

Hi guys!

Last friday i went on a team building trip with my school, in an attempt to make us all socialise and get to know each other. One of the activities we did was outside cooking, in which we made a fire then then cooked something to eat. This something is what i am going to show you how to make. It is called ‘stick bread’ and is essentially bread dough with chocolate chips in that  you cook over an open fire.

the ingredients

Ingredients:

500g self raising flour

3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

500ml water (but I only used 350ml in the end)

200g chocolate chips (I used cooking chocolate broken up but chocolate chips would work better)

Equipment:

large mixing bowl

measuring jug for the water

scales to weigh out the flour

your hands!   

add the water in

Method:

1. First you need to put the flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl and add about 50ml of water. you will need to use your hands to mix it as the mixture gets very sticky so there isn’t really much point using a spoon. start to mix it all together making sure all of the flour from the sides of the bowl is being mixed in.

start mixing

2. Keep mixing together, adding water as you need to but make sure it is only added in small amounts. if you add too much at once, then the mixture will get too sticky and you’ll have to start adding more flour and then water and it will get really confusing. 

3. When all of the flour is mixed in and it feels very stretchy but not sticky, it is a good idea to knead it for a while to made it more stretchy. I got my dad to help with this because I basically failed at it. What you need to do is pick up the mixture and push it in through the bottom. then turn and do the same. Keep doing it until it isn’t floury at all and it is a nice smooth texture.

break the chocolate

4. This next step was the hardest for me and involved a lot of trial and error. I had a large bar of chocolate so I had to put it in a bag and smash it with a rolling pin to break it up. When you have the chocolate, the first thing I tried was making a well in the dough, putting the chocolate inside and folding the mixture over the top. However, this really didn't work. The way I ended up doing it was pushing pieces of chocolate (preferably quite small) into the dough and then kneading the mixture until the chocolate is fully mixed in. Then repeat this step until all of the chocolate is gone. This takes a while but it makes sure there is a lot of chocolate spread evenly throughout the mixture.

add in the chocolate

5. After this, the mixture is done!! now all you have to do is cook it. luckily, my friend was having a bonfire for her birthday that evening so me and my friends were able to try it out properly. 

Cooking the ‘stick bread’

Equipment:

a long stick (I used a bamboo stick)

an open fire of some type

your mixture

cooking the poo

Method:

1. Find your stick. I couldn’t find a proper one in the garden so I ended up using a bamboo stick instead. just make sure that if you do use one from the garden that you strip one end with a knife (being very careful, you are basically peeling it) so that it is clean.

the finished poo

2. Pull off a section of dough from the ball of mixture. we used a small handful about the size of a golf ball each time.

3. Shape it onto your stick. At first I basically just moulded it on so it ended up looking like a poo. However, after a few goes we realised the best way was to roll it into a long thin sausage shape and to wrap it round the stick. It meant that it cooked more evenly and more quickly, and also looked much more appealing!

4. Once you have put it on the stick, it is time to cook it. To do this, you need to hold it in the embers (red bits) of the fire. Do not put it in the flame because it will look cooked or burnt on the outside but it will be completely raw inside.

5. Keep twisting the stick to make sure it cooked evenly, and do this until it is golden brown all over. Once it looks cooked, wait for it to cool down. This should only take a minute or two, but otherwise you will really burn yourself, especially if you touch some of the chocolate, which will have melted.

cooked twist

twist on the stick

6. Once it is cool enough, you just need to hold it and twist it while keeping the stick still. It should come straight off. another way we took it off was just by pulling the bottom of the twist and taking it off in sections to  share between us.  

You are now finished! I think it is a really good snack to have around the bonfire as it is sweet and filling but not sickly, which I find marshmallows can be after only a few. Another way of serving, as I have seen in other places, is buy taking it off the stick and putting jam or Nutella in the middle.

Good luck and I hope you have fun making this tasty, almost healthy, bonfire snack. If you do make it, be sure to tweet me picture!

I’ll see you all soon

Katie xx

poo on a plate