Five Reasons for Working Unsocial Hours

When my youngest started reception or kindergarten last September it was time for me to venture out into the working world again. When I decided to stay at home I left a job, not a career. So, I picked up another job that has me working 4am-8am 3 days a week.

Here are my reasons for loving my part-time unsocial hour job!

Co-Workers:

Most people gasp and exclaim they could never get up that early to go to work and I believe them. It takes a special type of person to work those crazy hours and by special I mean good-humored. Which are what all my co-workers are and I love them all for it.

Family Life:

Even though I am ready for the working world again, I still have a young family. My girls will always come first. For the same reasons I stayed at home with them is the same reasons I choose to have a job that allows me to pick them up from school and have dinner with them and put them to bed.

My Time:

Since I finish work early from starting early I still have my whole day. I don’t nap because it would mess with my bedtime. The girls are at school and I am free to have coffee with friends or bake or read or what usually happens laundry!

People or Lack of:

Unsociable hours mean you only have co-workers to deal with. Not having to deal with the public so to speak is always a bonus in my book!

Stress Free:

I go in I do what I need to do and then I leave. It’s not a job that comes home with me or stresses me out. I might be a bit tired and if you ask my husband a little crabby by the end of my three days, but there is little to no stress involved. With all the other stresses of life, I am thankful my job isn't one of them.

One day I will find a way to make a career out of doing what I love. Supposing I ever find something I love enough to make a career out of it! I have so many things I enjoy to do, but sometimes I like the separation of a job and the things I like doing!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! 

Love, Chocolate #thepastrychallenge April Link-Up

April Showers bring May Flowers or so the saying goes. This "saying" is the reason I always stuck up for rain. It has such a bad rep. especially here in England.

We need rain. Without it we wouldn't have food or pretty things like flowers and green foliage! It should be worshiped and idolized for bringing us these things. Also for giving us a reason to stay in and relax in our sweats with a hot drink and chocolate.

Yes, another excuse to eat chocolate, like we need one of those! However I am about to give you another very good and valid reason to eat chocolate. This month's Pastry Challenge!! You probably already guessed it, but the theme is chocolate! 

In the tab above is a full overview of the new challenge but here are a few reminders of how it works!

First bake a pastry! Any you like and this month have it feature something chocolaty!

Second blog about it! Be sure to link back to both myself Lisa at United Cakedom (unitedcakedom.com) and Jen at Jen's Food (jensfood.co.uk)
If you tweet use the hashtag #thepastryhcallenge and be sure to include us @unitedcakedom & @JensFood
Please use the image above (right click and save) in your post as a way to help spread the word.
I will be adding the entries to the official Pastry Challenge Pinterest board as they come in, please follow along to see past, present, and future entries!

Lastly link it up below, following the instructions on the widget/gadget below.

A few reminders we are looking for new or re-posted posts following the instructions above. Feel free to enter more then one entry. Also if you have a few minutes check out the entry before yours and leave a comment! Any questions please feel free to contact either Jen or myself!

We look forward to seeing all your amazing chocolaty pastry creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

March Round-Up: Beware the Ide's of March

March has been one crazy month. I went home to America for nearly all of it. It was my mom’s diagnosis of a rare form of lung cancer that made me take such an impromptu trip. I wasn’t even sure I was going to mention it here on my site, as it’s a very personal thing.  I am not 100% sure I’m ready to talk about it in too much depth on such a public forum. However, I didn’t want to not say anything. If that makes any sense…

Anyway, while I was away I managed to read 4 of the books listed on my Spring Reading List … recently I won a stack of new books from a twitter giveaway so my list just got a lot longer! I can highly recommend the Lunar Series by Marissa Meyer’s. Also Life after Life by Kate Atkinson is definitely interesting…

Before I went away I managed to get several posts up. I reviewed two books: thehummingbird bakery: Life is Sweet & Love, Tanya!

I made a Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake from the first and themost expensive brownies I have ever made from the latter.

There was a giveaway in association with OXO Good Grips, now closed, a winner was chosen! They won three silicone spatulas in different colors.

With a new Five on Friday every Friday except last Friday, it looks like it might last longer then it did the last time I tried to get it going. The first one I wrote Tips on Traveling Abroad with Children, it was fitting as I would have just flown with my two to America. Then it was Five Things My Mother Taught Me, also fitting for mother's day and all the stuff going on with my mom. And lastly my Five Favorite Baking Ingredients; we all have tastes that are superior to others.

Before the month closed I managed to get these Nectarine & Almond Tarts made to enter into the new blogger challenge called The Pastry Challenge. Hosted by my good friend Jen over on Jen’s Food and myself! To see all the other lovely entries we had in March visit Jen's Food!

Happenings and Going-ons in April:

Continuing from above I will be hosting this month’s Pasty Challenge! I will be your host this month and the theme is chocolate! 

There will be a new #storybookbakes this month and a few posts associated with one of my favorite cake mix brands.

Talking of books April 23^rd is World Book Night and this will be my fourth year as a giver! Watch this space for more information! In the meantime check out my past World Book Night experiences: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Judge Dredd (first ever graphic novel to be included) - The Recruit by Robert Muchamore 

Besides that it will be more of the same with some new Five on Fridays, pastries, and other tasty bakes!

Nectarine & Almond Tarts {#thepastrychallenge}

If you were to ask me to bake you a cake I’d reply “Of course, no problem.” However, when it comes to pastry’s I couldn't reply that confidentially. It’s one of the reason’s I am super excited to be a co-host with Jen from Jen’s Food on the new monthly Pastry Challenge!

Jen is hosting this month and as it’s the first month the theme is anything goes! Typical me leaving it literally until the last minute to get my post written and linked up! Which is very like these tarts. Super easy and perfect for a last minute dessert or breakfast or just because!

We had them as an afternoon snack and what a good snack it was! These would a great picnic addition too. I have spring and summer on the brain ... already talking about picnics! I am ready for warmer weather, but while I wait I will munch on one of these! 

Nectarine & Almond Tarts

500g all-butter puff pastry

flour for dusting

120g unsalted butter, soft

75g sugar

100g ground almonds

1 egg, room temperature

dash of almond extract

3 ripe nectarines, sliced thinly

Heat the oven to 220C and line 2 baking sheets with grease proof baking paper. Roll out the pastry to 4-5 mm thick. I used a cereal bowl that had a 14cm diameter to cut out six rounds. Place on the prepared baking sheets and set aside.

Whisk the butter, sugar, almonds, egg, and extract together until well combined. Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of each pastry round. With the back of the spoon gently press it down. Circle the sliced peaches around the pastry circles. Gently pressing down as you go along with spread the almond mixture out perfectly. If you want thicker slices of nectarine, you might need an extra one.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool only slightly before tucking in or adding a scoop of ice cream on top!

Check out the other entries on Jen’s site and if you didn't get an opportunity to join in this month I’ll be posting the theme for April on the 1^st!

notes: for more information on the pastry challenge click on the tab above! Recipe adapted from the Jamie Magazine recipe yearbook 2014/15. 

Five on Friday: My Five Favorite Baking Ingredients

As a blogger I start a lot of my posts out with I love love love this or that. Apparently that's annoying. There was a person on twitter saying so. Ever since then I try really hard not to gush about my favorite types or flavors of bakes too much or in that way. I try to be a bit more natural about it.

However I do have a handful of favorite baking ingredients. If I had to choose between these five things I would have to walk away as I couldn't decide I love all of them!!

Apples:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! It counts if they are baked in pastry or cake or cookies!! 

Check out my apple bakes!

Cinnamon: 

Works so well in bakes!! It's got a bit of heat and always makes me think of fall/winter! 

Things I've made with cinnamon!

Peanut Butter:

Reminds me of my childhood and tastes great paired with chocolate or on it's own!! 

Look no further for my favorite recipes using peanut butter!

Coconut:

You either love it or you hate it!! 

If you love it find recipes here!

Coffee: 

I not only love drinking coffee, but I love coffee flavored cakes, frosting, ice cream, and so on!

See how I use coffee to enhance my baking!

What are your favorite things to bake with? 

Most Expensive Brownies Ever {aka Amazing Brownies}

With a title like that you may be thinking that these brownies are made with gold or silver. Close, but no they are made with raw coconut oil, coconut sugar, ground almonds, and avocado.

All those ingredients are a little on the pricey side. Now before I made these I had a few questions.

First, do I spend the extra money on trying them out? Second, will they be as good as promised therefore making them worth the effort and the money? And third, what the heck is coconut oil?

The answers? Clearly I decided that I would dish out the cash to try them out and yes they are as good as promised and worth the effort and money. And coconut oil is a substance that has many uses. You can eat it, but it’s also a great way to keep your hair and skin healthy. Apparently. Who knew, right?

The brownies are expensive to make therefore I wouldn't be making these everyday however for a special almost healthy treat I would totally make these again. They are also a great way for those who gluten intolerant. To make it dairy free use dairy free dark chocolate!

Expensive Brownies:

100g coconut oil

300g dark chocolate

290g coconut sugar/nectar

100g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1 avocado, smooshed

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

Heat the oven to 180C and line an 8 in/20 cm square pan with greaseproof paper. Melt the coconut oil and chocolate together in a large saucepan. Take it off the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding in the rest of the ingredients. It does make it easier if you gently beat the eggs and vanilla together before adding in. Fold it all together until just combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 26-30 minutes. The less you cook them the gooeier they are and the more you cook them the more cake like they are. These need to be cooked for a minimum of 26 minutes. The top should have a nice shine, but it will be a bit wobbly if shook. If you cook it for a little longer then it won’t be noticeably wobbly. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving up! You could top with yogurt, fruit, ice cream, crème fraiche, whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce?

notes: recipe adapted from Love, Tanya by Tanya Burr. Please see previous post for the book review! I am complaining about the cost, it's just not every day I fork out 6 GBP for 1 ingredient (coconut oil) and the other ingredients aren't necessarily cheap either. Therefore these are the most expensive brownies I have every made! 

Love, Tanya by Tanya Burr {book review}

This isn't a baking book or a cookbook per-say, but it’s a book written by Tanya Burr who made a name for herself on YouTube. As a person trying to make a name for myself in the food blogger world, I admire people like Tanya who have succeeded in her topic and medium!

She starts out with giving us a background of how she grew up and how from a young age she had a love of dressing up and being in charge! A typical characteristic of an older sister! I know I have one.

After finishing school she found a job at a make-up counter and with help from friends started a YouTube channel giving tutorials on how to achieve different looks.

When she started it wasn't to become a big YouTube star, but as it started to take off and her views and subscribers started going up she was smart about it and made so good business deals. Today she not only has a successful YouTube channel but her own make-up line and now her own book!

The rest of the book is focused on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle tips and recommendations. There is also a section on baking/cooking, self-confidence and YouTube!

At the end of the chapters’s she has sections where she suggests you write down your favorite things and memories.  I think it’s a great idea; it’s an interactive book!

The book is just like her YouTube channel full of many different things! It’s amazing how popular YouTubers are, the other day I saw a magazine full of UK YouTubers! It’s a great way for people to showcase what they know and gain confidence in who they are.

I do have a YouTube channel, but I have yet to really dive into. Just wetting my toes so to speak. Perhaps one day I will get around to making something of it.

Overall I enjoyed reading Tanya’s book. It’s nice to learn more about the person in front of the camera and she really knows her stuff when it comes to makeup and hair and life!

notes: I bought this book, all opinions are my own, for further information please see my contact/policy page! Check back tomorrow as I tried one of her recipes from her baking section! The video below is a video of her Lemon Drizzle cake which is also in her book!