Chocolatey Loveliness!

Hi again.
I can happily say that I am finally getting over my tonsillitis and am feeling human again today! Yay!
To celebrate I dug out one of the recipes that I had stored to make on pinterest and I have to say that it is delicious!
I'm a fan of everything sweet and cookie like so I was excited to find this recipe as it fulfills my sweetness requirements but as it also contains two cups of oats, honey instead of sugar and peanut butter to hold it together, it isn't anywhere near as sinful as most recipes out there!
So here it is, a lovely, chocolatey snack bar recipe!

Ingredients:
3tbsp smooth peanut butter (could use crunchy to add extra texture)
3tbsp runny honey
25g butter
2tsp dulce de leche (optional for extra sticky, richness)
1 bag milk chocolate chips
2 cups oats
handful of dried fruit (optional)

Method:
1. Pour the peanut butter, honey, dulce de leche and butter into a microwaveable bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir and then heat for a further 30 seconds or until the butter has fully melted.
2. Remove and add the chocolate chips, stirring until mostly melted into the mixture.
3. Add the oats and blend in fully so all are coated in the chocolatey mixture.
4. Stir in the optional dried fruit before tipping into a tray and cooling in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
5. Enjoy :)

I can promise that these treats are definitely worth making, and because they're nice and easy. they are a great, slightly healthier choice to make with children.

Give them a go and let me know what you think :)
Annie x

Festivity!

Hello-ho-ho!
So, today I am feeling amazingly festive. I know its scarily early to be as excited I am for the christmas period but after a day like today I just can't help it :D
After a week of feeling rubbish due to tonsillitis, I decided to climb out of my pit of illness this morning and do a spot of baking to cheer myself up. The result? A beautiful, fruity, nutty, cinnamon filled christmas cake!
There is nothing more festive than baking a christmas cake I have decided. The smells are wonderful and the ingredients that have to, of course, be bought specially for the occasion each year just scream out winter to me.
I'm now ready to start my shopping, put up the tree and dance around in wooly clothing listening to Slade although I fear that this sort of behaviour may not yet be acceptable. Indeed, my fiancee does not share my enthusiasm at all and insists that celebrating is not allowed until after his birthday on 22nd November. So instead I shall content myself with counting down the days until then and changing my blog background to something a little more festive than should perhaps be allowed this early in November :)
Is anyone else feeling the christmas vibe yet?
Annie x

Happy Halloween from a Happy Lady!

Hello,
Happy halloween! Hope everyone is channeling the spooky vibes! What you you planning to do on this creepy eve?
I have had an amazing weekend full of wedding related fun. The engagement party on Saturday was an amazing success and everyone had a lovely time especially the fiancee and myself who were made to feel like absolute royalty on our special night by all of our favourite people :)
One particular hit of the evening was the DIY cocktail table that we arranged. We set up all of the ingredients and a recipe for three different favourite cocktails and encouraged guests to make their own drinks and fill them with umbrellas, straws and other fun accessories. Everyone fast became experts of course :P I would definitely recommend this idea for any grown up party, it was huge amounts of fun and really helped people get into the party mood :)
I haven't had a chance to upload the photos yet but I will be sure to share any particularly good/awful/ embarrassing snaps when I do :)
Toodles, Annie x

Sorry for the neglect, I am a bad blogger!

Hi there. I have just seen how far back my last post was now and I have to say, I am incredibly ashamed of how neglectful I have been!
There's been a lot going on here in Bath and I've been doing a lot of travel across the country to Canterbury and back on a weekly basis. I've also started a new job which has been a breath of fresh air I can tell you and it has relieved a lot of stress!
I'm currently sorting the finishing touches for an engagement cocktail party so its all feeling very loved up and exciting here. I'll post a couple of photos on sunday to show off my handiwork and a fun little recipe for cookie dough treats. Those would be great to make with the kiddies!
Anyway, I'm going to love you and leave you for now, but not for long this time, I promise!
Annie x

New home :)

Hello again lovely people,
I have to say, I am completely exhausted! Things have been non-stop since getting back from my lovely, relaxing holiday and finally, after months of searching, yesterday we finally found a new house and are now in the process of sorting everything out and getting the moving date confirmed :) May well have to have a bit of a clear out of the clothes and shoes lurking at the back of my wardrobe that are never worn so keep an eye out for an ebay link in my next post if you're looking for some cheap, designer shoes, handbags and unworn clothes :)
Hopefully, normal blogging will be resumed soon :)
Annie x

Remember Me?

Hello again,
It feels like a life time has past since my last post so I thought I'd pop my head in quickly. Things are pretty busy here since I got home from our (AMAZING) holiday around europe which I will be making a few posts about in the next week or so; I've had a big order come in from my folksy shop, I've been working long hours and on top of that I've been completely worn down by two nasty infections in my chest and airways so I just haven't had time for my blog.
Anyway, I'm getting back on track now and will be clogging up the news feed once more :) Also on my to do list is write an essay for my wedding planning course, complete the order from my shop, sort and pack clothes for moving and spend a lovely, romantic evening with the OH to celebrate our anniversary :)
Ta ta for now, Annie :)
x

Bag of Nerves!

Hello,
This will be my last post for a while as I'm off on my backpacking trip later tonight and will be out of the country for three whole weeks! Eeep, thats a while!
I am a complete bundle of nerves about it, because, as a control freak, not knowing where I will be this time next week is uber scary to me! My addiction to lists and organisation will have to be put on hold for a while, I'm not even going to be taking note paper because it's too heavy :S
Don't get me wrong though, I am so crazily excited that I can't describe. It will be a great adventure for me and the lovely Mr, and I'm looking forward to seeing new places, trying new things and (hopefully!) getting a glowing tan :)

Also on the plus side, I have been calming myself down this afternoon by designing some new blog headers and accessories that you lovely people can use should you wish :)

The image above is the Garden Blog Header, it comes complete with a rounded picture frame area where you can add your own image and a note paper section where you can add your blog name and/ or message :) Click on the image to enlarge and save as a PNG file :) The image is already the right size to become a wide blog header.

This second image is a floral gift tag which you can click to enlarge, save and print to give your gifts that little extra something :)

And this third offering is a little virtual scrap that I have put together that can be added to a blog header, printed or used a a blog pretty to make announcements on your blog :)

Feel free to use any of these little freebies, and if you do, I'd love to see a link or photo of them in use! I'd also love to hear what you think of my creations :)

I'll see you again soon, have a great few weeks. Byeee!

Annie x