Helen’s Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle Blog: easter

Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts

Tuesday, 12 April 2022

Magazine Review #3 (Oh)

Name of magazine

Oh (Issue 58/Early Spring)

Who is it aimed at?

Anyone who likes art and culture would like the magazine.

It also seems to be for family oriented people.

The slogan

Mindful being – Mindful doing

What the magazine aims to achieve

The magazine feels like a comforting hug including escapist articles, and mindfulness tips.

This issue was written during the pandemic, so topics for how to keep well are included.

Favourite articles

I read this cover to cover and I enjoyed all the articles. My tops were ‘Sisterhood’ an exploration of family ties, ‘In the flow’ about why we swim, ‘Green economy’ living life sustainably, and ‘How to be still’ the practice of acceptance.

Further notes

Reading this magazine was one of my highlights of the month. Sometimes I feel with certain magazines that they are just not aimed at me but with this, I was fully interested and inspired.

Would I buy another copy?

Yes, without a doubt I would order another issue. ‘Oh’ is more widely available to buy online than other titles I have read in the past.

Any DNF (Did not finish) magazines lately?

Practical Mindfulness Book (Issue Six)

I thought I was going to thoroughly enjoy this one, but because it was too technical and jargon was used I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t find it accessible.

Have you heard of Oh magazine before?

Do you read magazines in your spare time? :-) Xx

Monday, 6 April 2020

Bunny Shaped Scones for Easter

Easter seems to have crept up on us rather quickly. I’ve been doing quite a bit of baking recently, but just not feeling like making it into a photo opportunity. I made these scones a good while back, and they are a very simple recipe which I will chat a little further about.

I used a basic scone recipe from my Cakes and Cookies for Beginners baking book. Scone recipes are all fairly similar, and so they are easy to find anywhere online. I put some sultanas into the mixture, you can too. Cherries, cranberries or chocolate chips work nicely also.

To make them look more Easter themed, I dug out my Easter shaped cookie cutters which I think I bought last year in a discount shop. They include bunny, chick, and egg shapes. I’ve seen The Works and eBay stock a lot of inexpensive Easter bits such as this.

There are other ways of adapting, for example you could dip half in chocolate or decorate with icing sugar and sprinkles. My family seemed to enjoy them without any extras, and they are a yummy treat while still being moderately healthy.

Have you been baking at the moment?

Has Easter inspired you to get creative too? :-) Xx

Saturday, 14 April 2018

My Easter Weekend Photo Diary & Chat

It’s been a little while since my last blog post, so hope you are all well and had a good Easter. I wanted to share with you some clips from what I got up to. On Good Friday, my friend and I went to Saltburn-by-the-sea for a morning out. We had a wander around the centre and discovered The Lillian Daph Store which I hadn’t been in before but it was a really cool shop, with many floors and lots of interesting homeware pieces. I’m hoping to pop in again, just for another look and maybe to capture some more photos.

Later we went into The Sitting Room café, which I’ve visited quite a few times now. They seemed to have updated the menu, I had a rose hot chocolate and it was unreal. I really want to go back to try the other kinds of hot chocolate they had. The staff are so welcoming, and the interior is super cool.

I didn’t do much more until Easter Sunday, my family and I jumped in our campervan and headed to the local woods for a walk and a brew. It was so quiet when we got there in the morning. Later in the day I had a different friend pop by for a catch up which was lovely. Easter Monday was just a chill day.

How was your Easter?

Let me know if you got any Easter eggs! :-) Xx

Monday, 2 April 2018

Easter Rocky Road & Happy Easter

Wishing you all had a lovely Easter, and whatever your plans hope you enjoy the last day of the long weekend. Today I’m back with another baking post, and I’ve been making Easter themed rocky road. I used the rocky road squares recipe from GoodFood 101 Cakes & Bakes book by the BBC. This baking book is particularly great for sweet treats, they have a lot of indulgent recipes perfect for special occasions.

I made a large batch, which after the photos were taken I cut into snack sized bites. I added marshmallows and walnuts into the chocolate mixture, and used everyday milk chocolate from Aldi which was melted on a hob. I decorated with Aldi’s own brand mini eggs which I can’t fault in comparison to the Cadburys choice. I tried to keep the ingredient prices cheap and cheerful and the cost added up to about the price of one rocky road in a posh café.

My bake seemed to go down well and I recommend you give it a go. I would love to know if you have done any Easter posts, I’ll do my best to visit them if you leave a link.

Speak soon,

H x

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

White Chocolate Cornflake Cakes with Mini Eggs

Hi and welcome to my first Easter inspired blog post for 2018. I’ve had the baking bug lately and have been busy in the kitchen making things for Easter. I first started browsing inspiration on Google images and someone had made cornflake cakes but with white chocolate. I thought this was a great adaption to a classic. I then referred to my Cakes & Cookies for beginners book by Usborne cookery school for a basic cornflake cake recipe, I kept exactly to this but instead of using milk chocolate I used white chocolate. Afterwards I decorated with mini eggs which was my own twist.

I hadn’t made cornflake cakes in what seems like forever, I forgot how simple they are! I was pleased that my white chocolate alternative was a success, it gave the recipe a slightly different look and taste. I can see myself experimenting further next time, for example I could use a different cereal or replace the mini eggs with some other themed treat. If you are wanting to whip up something quick for Easter I recommend you give these a go. You could even wait until after the weekend to use up left over chocolate eggs.

Are you going to make any Easter treats this holiday?

Wishing you a lovely week whatever you are doing. :-) Xx