Friday 6 December 2013

Rocky Road

So. Rocky Road. I'm not even going to pretend this is a recipie, more a mixing of gorgeously delicious ingredients, pouring into a tin and chilling. Big of flavour, hugely customisable and such a good gift. I made this for my sister in law's birthday. Coupled with a MAC 217 make up brush and a Topshop statement necklace, I think thats a pretty awesome present (not biased in any sense of course...)

It is also a brilliant thing to take to parties, you can make a batch up the day before and either take the tin along (in which case I  use the disposable aluminum tins as its makes it SO much easier) or get some pretty bags or cellophane and tie some squares up with ribbon. I imgaine its also a great recipie to make with kids - assuming you dont get them involved in the chocolate melting stage.




I made this with brazils, mini marshmallows and rich tea biscuits as my main 'rocks'. However, add whatever you'd like - walnuts, macadamias, pecans and almonds would all be amazing in this, as would biscotti or gingernuts? In fact, gingernuts with crystallised stem ginger would be amazing. All over that one. Marachino cherries could be good if you like that sort of thing? Raisins, dried cranberries (so festive!), or other dried fruit would be lovely. You could add cinnamon or allspice for a seasonal take on it. I personally need the mini marshmallows in there, so small and squigdy.


Taken from Nigella Lawson's Rocky Road

125 grams soft unsalted butter
300 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces
3 tablespoons golden syrup
300 grams Rich Tea biscuits
200g Brazil nuts, bashed in their packet
150 grams mini marshmallows
Icing sugar (for dusting)
So naughty, but so, so nice...


 
Friday 15 November 2013

The Friday Feeling

Woohoo! Its Friday! The sun is shining, which always puts me in a good mood for the weekend. I am heading up to town to celebrate my sister in law's (SO weird typing that) birthday. Really looking forward to spending some time in London and visiting Anthropologie on the Kings Road. My favourite shop in London. Sadly I can't afford anything in there. Not even the hair clips. £16 bobby pins, are you bloody kidding me?

Anyway, I thought I would do a quick round-up of all the lovely things that have brightened a gloomy November week up for me.



My new ASOS bag. Kudos has to go to my sister for this one. She is pretty much the most fashionable person I know and so hinted/instructed that I needed this bag in my life. And that she would need to borrow it. Done. It's a gorgeous colour, a brilliant size, furry AND on SALE! Win win win.

 

This slouchy oversized Zara jumper. They are calling it a coat for reasons I can't fathom. Who would ever call that a coat? Must be a Spanish thing. They clearly don't get the British weather system. Regardless, it literally is the perfect snuggly, bonfire-night-attending, hot-chocolate-drinking, give-me-a-cuddle piece of kit in my wardrobe. #obsessed.


And of course, a snuggly jumper needs a snuggly friend. Enter dream furry stole from Zara. It's perfect. I dont want to take it off. Ever. I am seriously considering getting a spare for when I spill hot chocolate or chilli down the front of it. You know it's going to happen. Is that weird? Do you buy spares of your favourites? No? Just me? It's so lovely infact, that it has spurned a series of copy-buys from my nearest and dearest. You know who you are...! (I just found out it comes in Leopard. This could be dangerous...)

I am taking daily inspiration from Jessica's blog. She writes with the most amazing humour and candour, and I want to eat EVERYTHING she makes. Like, everything. I mean, this girl hates vegetables. And loves bacon. And bourbon. And chocolate. How can you NOT love her? This week I made my second batch of the most delicious Banana Bourbon Cupcakes. I finished mine off with a dusting of cocoa powder rather than the bourbon chocolate ganache because I have the patience of a flea. They were sooo delicious I actually forgot to take any photos.

Twitter. I am so rubbish at this technology lark. I need help with the whole Twitter thing. Or mainly getting over my 'does anyone actually care what I have to say?' confidence nightmare. #writersblock


And lastly, this sunset at work. I mean, how beautiful are the grounds? So, SO stunning.

So, what are you guys up to this weekend? Tell me, tell me!

Laura x
Tuesday 29 October 2013

Who's a pretty girl then?

Mouse and Lola has had a little makeover!

Okay, so with only two posts up its not exactly normal to go through a re-brand, but having messed about a bit with Blogger and being a complete novice with anything like this, I started to research into employing someone to make it look beautiful.

Silly I know, but the perfecitonist in me would NOT let me post something until it was perfect. Hence only two posts in two months. One of which has crap photography... But anyway. I wanted to put my thoughts down on a virtual space that looked absolutely gorgeous. So shallow. I like pretty things. Messy, half-assed things, not so much. I want you guys to stay and feel happy to mooch around this space and click and pin all the pretty things, all the time.

Enter Steph from Bonjour Belle. A gorgeous and totally talented Blogger who is also a brilliant designer. She whipped up the new design in no time and I am eternally grateful for her help in getting me set up. She is literally the only person I know (and that's only in internet-world) that has an actual blog, isn't that sad? 2014 resolution is to make more friends through blogging. And to get my real life friends into it.

Hang on, I definitely cannot start thinking about 2014 yet. So many more exciting things are still to happen in 2013! Birthdays, parties, secret thank-you extravaganzas, fireworks, engagement parties, BRUNO MARS and weekends away, all to fit in before the end of the year. Oh and it's eight weeks 'til Christmas tomorrow people, EIGHT WEEKS.

And in the meantime, now I have such a pretty virtual baby, you can expect lots more posts. No excuses now...

So, she's up, looking all sparkly and new. Go on, tell her she's pretty...
Monday 9 September 2013

Peaches and Cream Salted Caramel Cake




I came across this recipe in the Waitrose Kitchen Magazine and could practically taste it from the beautiful photos. My little sister had made it for a birthday and a leaving party respectively, and it was so well received that I had to have a go myself. Sugar-coated sibling rivalry and all that...
 
Now, not to get all Nigella food-porny with you, but this cake may well be the sexiest thing you've ever eaten. Light, caramel flavoured cake, softly whipped, vanilla bean scented cream and salted caramel sauce layer over juicy peaches, and (for the perfect crunch and contrast), roasted pecans. Oh. My. God.

You could easily do some serious damage to this on your own, slumped in front of the TV, but it is definitely best served as a dessert in my opinion. The caramel and whipped cream make it decadent, and yet the fruit and the pecans mean that its not too cloying. For those that haven't jumped on the salted caramel bandwagon, this is a great recipe to try. The sea salt just gives enough tang to make the caramel even more delicious, and it works beautifully with the pecans. I have to say I did half the quantity of the sea salt in the original recipe after my sister reported that perhaps it was a little too strong, but each to their own. Also, the triple cake thing looks stunning, but the cakes are super thin and a little flat - so in my version I just halved the recipe to give two beautiful, plump cakes and just squidged all the filling in the middle and on top.




 
Perhaps the best thing about this cake is the fact it uses the gorgeous Seriously Buttery Caramel Dipping Sauce - both in the cake and as the oozy, groan-inducing filling. Don't even get me started on the uses for this pot of heaven - think dipped fruit, marshmellows, cookies, drizzed over ice cream, pancakes, Ryan Gosling (whoops, my mind wandered off there...) stirred through yoghurt, you name it. I may have had to test several (ahem, six) peach slices by dipping them in this sauce as I went along. All in the name of research, obviously.

Being new to the whole blogging thing I stupidly didn't take photos of this as I was making it, nor did I have the good camera (or any idea of how to style food photos!)  Hey, sometimes it just doesn't work out like that. These photos are trusty iPhone jobs. I couldn't find the original recipe from Waitrose online for some reason, but here is the beautiful picture of it on their Pinterest page.

If you only make one thing before Autumn truly settles upon us, make it this. Perfect dinner party delightfulness, but hey, even if you just make it for yourself, you won't be disappointed
 
Laura x




Sunday 1 September 2013

My first time...

No, not what you're thinking. My first blog post. This is the beginning, the very first blog of hopefully many. The process of allowing your thoughts to spread their wings and enter the virtual stratosphere. Nerve wracking, exciting, terrifying and thrilling rolled into one big 'dare-I-push-the-'Publish'-button?' panic.


So; me. I am a twenty-something with a passion for make up, baking, interior design and fashion. I live in the South of England with my new husband, and our little yellow budgerigar. More on her later.



The aim of Mouse and Lola is to share ideas, inspire, and excite. I am starting this blog mainly to have a creative outlet. I love Pinterest (follow me here!), but feel the need to gather my thoughts in word as well as picture form. It's just for me, with the hope that you will join me too.

I will be blogging about beauty products I love, different make up techniques, easy how-to's and tutorials. There will be recipe recommendations, baking secrets, dinner party fail-safes and naughty little treats. I will be sharing with you my favourite interior design projects, cute home wares and ideas to make your nest even cosier, whatever your budget. Finally, I am hoping to share my style with you, listing and discussing my favourite looks and accessories of the season, and how I am interpreting them.

I love discovering new blogs, and hope you will find Mouse and Lola a place to kick back with a cup of tea (and a biscuit, obviously), browse the posts and get involved.

Thanks for dropping by, stay a while and feel free to leave me some feedback - comments or email are both greatly appreciated! Let me know what you want to see. More fashion? Less tutorials? I'm in your hands people. Oh, and tell me, do you remember your first time?

Laura x

 

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