Showing posts with label kitchen ware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitchen ware. Show all posts

Favorites Friday! - from kitchenware to makeup!

Between now and just before Christmas I have collected a few new things that I really love and I just want to share with you! I’m going to say from the start that none of the brands or stores that I am about to mention have anything to do with this post. Everything I’m about to share with you are things I bought because I wanted them!

I don't buy a lot of kitchen stuff these days because I have most of the stuff I need. It's the odd occasion I add stuff to my collection and here are a few of the random things I've recently added!


The cookie stamp that says "Eat Me" I picked up at Home Sense on clearance for £1.99! I couldn't say no and I have yet to use it! Perhaps this post will make me go make some cookies so I can at least  say I used it once! If you have never been to a Home Sense I have to recommend that you do! It's a sister store to TK Maxx therefore it's very similar the main difference being that it's all homeware! It's wear I bought 2 of my 3 Nordic Ware bundt pans for only £16.99! 

The Mummy & Me mugs I bought around Mother's Day from Sainsbury's. My youngest loves elephants and a good cup of tea so I couldn't resist getting these mugs as a matching set! 

The butter dish is from Lakeland's and was bought with a gift card from my father-in-law gave me for Christmas! It was a little bit more spendy then just a regular butter dish, but it's insulated and is suppose to keep butter at a spreadable consistence at all times. Which has been mostly true as the weather has started to warm up. However our kitchen is the coldest kitchen and in the winter the butter was cold because the dish was cold and therefore not very spreadable! 

I used to have so many and as I love to share my baked goods with friends and family most of them have gone "missing." I decided it was time to invest in a nice set of cake tins - these are called Hearts Cake Tins and I also got them from Lakeland's with my gift card! 


I have a confession I am a coffee drinker! What I live in England! I know, but I just prefer coffee. I used to drink a lot of of those Nescafe cappuccino and latte sachets until they started effecting my bowels. No the most pleasant thing to talk about on here, but I realised that something in the sachets were upsetting my stomach so I was on the look out for an instant coffee that suited me. I have been drinking this CafeDirect for about a month and I really like it! I sometimes add the vanilla syrup to make it a bit like a latte! 


These post cards are my absolute favorite - Gotta love Paperchase! Especially the Loch Ness Monster one! As long as you believe in yourself then nothing else matters! 


Everyone always tells me to shop at Primark and when I do go in I very rarely seem to find something, but my last stop in I came across these two t-shirt and I couldn't say no! At about £5 a shirt why not? 


When I was in teenage years I loved candles! It's only been recent I've started buy candles again. The top one is from Paperchase and smells like avocado and mint - I have yet to burn it so will have to get back to you on it. The other two smell great and burnt evenly across. If a candle doesn't burn evenly and it just goes down the middle it's not a good value candle. Candles should burn straight across and another way to ensure this is by allowing candles to burn for at least an hour at a time. Of course as always with candles do be careful - never leave it unattended and in reach of children or on ledges where pets may jump up on. 


Never in my whole life have I ever been into make-up and beauty type stuff, but I suppose things change!

At the top is what I recently bought from Kiko at the Oracle in there 5 items for £10 deal. It was hard to choose, but I went with a nail buffer block, white shiny nail polish, a nude lip gloss, a red lippy and complimenting red lip liner. Wasn't impressed with the nail polish, but love the nude lip gloss!

Speaking of lip glosses I added my two favorites at the moment! Vaseline (limited edition) and classic Carmax! Keeps my lips from chapping! 

Speaking of chapping I love love love Soap & Glory's Hand Food lotion for dry/chapped hands! I have used it for years now! I also included a new face wash from Soap & Glory that I like and have been using for about a month now.

I ran out of eye make up remover and decided to try one by Simple and I find it quite nice. It doesn't try out my eye lids and is fairly gentle on my skin.

Since I had my hair cut shorter it means it needs to be styled more! When these two products, Smoothly Does It - Frizz Free Cream and Mega Hold styling mousse have been my saviours most days!

And I almost forgot the Barry M foundation primer and concealer! There isn't a bad thing about them and would recommend them to those who need make up on a  budget.


These are from Barry M - the lip glosses called Cor Balmy! are just the right about of color and moisturiser and they come highly recommended! The Sunset nail polish is also from Barry M and I have to admit I am pretty impressed with these! If the instructions are followed two coats of the color topped with the Sunset curing polish they last absolute ages! 

That's it for my Favorites Friday! There is no way I could write one of these every week or month for that matter as it's taken me months to collect all these new things! I haven't been baking as much lately because life stuff has been taking priority. It's unfortunately not easy life stuff either. I do hope to bake this weekend and will be sharing with you next week!!

Boswell & Co. - Oxford's Department Store Visit {Tea Room} closed in 2020


Boswell’s is one of the oldest department stores in England having been established in 1738. It outdates Harrods, the most famous of department stores! They have recently re-opened there tea room and had invited me to their re-opening event. However, I was unable to attend due to conflicting schedules. Of course I was upset I wasn’t going to be able to make it and luckily they allowed me to arrange a date that was suitable for me!


Having spent some time in Oxford in my college days I know the place pretty well, but honestly had never been in Boswell’s. It’s right in the middle of the high street, but if you didn’t know it was there you wouldn’t know it was there. It’s very deceiving from the outside.



Because it is huge inside! With four floors of pretty much anything and everything you can imagine! There is a pharmacy, toys, bath and beauty, kitchen and of course a tea room! Which is why I was there! It’s newly refurbished and looks great!


All the staff were lovely and helpful when we asked questions in the different departments. However, the Tea Room staff were really sweet and lovely to have a chat with. We had a debate on if I should go with a slice of cake or the cinnamon roll. If the pictures below didn't give it away I decided against a cake and went for a huge cinnamon roll. It was way better then chain coffee shop cinnamon rolls.


My friend who came with me had a slice of the Coffee and Walnut Cake which I did have a bite of, of course! The frosting was so good! It was a light fluffy espresso buttercream and it suited the soft walnut sponge perfectly.





On my next visit I will be trying the Blueberry and Elderflower cake for sure! It looked so good! The coffees were good too, I went for a mocha that was exactly what I would expect a mocha to be.


After we finished our tea and cake we had a wonder around the store and of course ended up in the kitchen and dining floor. We were there for about an hour just looking around! We both bought new paring knifes and a few other essential bits and pieces.



Boswell’s is one of those places you could get lost in with so much to look at. If you find yourself in Oxford it is worth a stop!

Boswell & Co
1-4 Broad St
Oxford
OX1 3AG

notes: I was invited by Boswell’s to visit the Tea Room with a complimentary tea/coffee and cake. No other compensation was given - all opinions are my own, for more information please see my contact/policy page in the tabs above.

Five on Friday: Five Baking Pans & Tools that I Haven’t Used

Since I started taking baking a bit more seriously I have inquired an over abundance of baking pans, tins, and tools. Some get used all the time like the 8 inch round and square tins and the brownie pan and even my first bundt tin has seen many bakes! There are ones that have only been used once or twice like the 10-inch square pan and heart doughnut pan. Then there are the ones that have never ever ever been used at all!

I haven’t done a Five on Friday in a while and I kind of wanted to get back into it. Here is a list of five baking pans and tools that I haven’t used … yet.



Twinkie Pan or Canoe Pan:
Somewhere in America
Back a while ago now Hostess announced that they were going bankrupt and some people were freaking out that they wouldn't have their Twinkies and Ding Dongs! In the midst of all the news media I was desperate to get my hands on a Twinkie pan or the generic name canoe pan; for no other reason but to capitalize on the news. My sister managed to get a hold of one for me and she bought one for her. She used it and I posted about it here, but I have never used mine. I made a pretty big deal about getting a hold of one, I suppose I should get creative and make my own Twinkies!

Nordic Ware Cookie Cups Pan
Lakelands
This was an impulse buy. I just saw it and I wanted it. So, I bought it and I have yet to decide what to make in it. Thinking mini fruit pizzas... or something to do with peanut butter and chocolate? 

Marshmallow Cutter
Lakelands
I bought this only last year as I have been meaning to make marshmallows for like ever! I even bought some natural flavorings to make flavored marshmallows and still haven’t gotten around to making them! 

Pie Dish
TK Max
I love the movie Waitress where the main character creates and names pies according to her mood. It’s very inspiring to make pies! However I haven’t even started brainstorming pie ideas yet alone make one! I have a pie tin, but it is not very deep and so I bought this one a while back, as it’s nice and deep, but I haven’t actually got around to using it. I should re-watch it and get inspired again!

Individual Square Pan
Amazon
I bought this as an idea I had for individual cakes. I don’t want to revel too much as it’s still on my to make list. It was purchased 2 ½ years ago! It’s probably about time I get my self-motivated to make my brilliant idea!

notes: I bought all these products, for more information see my contact/policy page. 

Cupcakes Collection at Dunelm Mill

I bought this for myself last week at Dunelm Mill! There were other items in the collection I might have to go back for. Possibly the cake tins, but this I thought was a fun tray to serve tea on! I love products with cupcakes or really any kind cake on it!!