Advent Calendar Surprises!

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to do a super quick update on my gorgeous L'Occitane advent calendar. I am such a lucky girl being spoiled by all these lovely products.

So far all the products have been amazing and I am now even more of a fan of this brand, the products feel like a luxury, but are still quite affordable if you fancy treating yourself :-) The two bottles have oil based products. One is a shampoo with five essential oils to help repair dry or damaged hair. It smells very fresh and slightly spicy, so for those of you who aren't so keen on floral scents this could well be the product for you! The second bottle is an almond based cleansing and softening shower oil. Now, I have had similar products before and they definitely work wonders on dry skin and protect them from harsher water and irritation from soaps! The smell is divine, imagine walking into a bakery around christmas and smelling that aroma of marzipan and amaretti, oh my lord it is wonderful!

I just love those cute little gift tags and I have to admit that I have already used one and have earmarked the others for presents for specific people! I am a bit of a gift tag weirdo and quite like making my own ones, but these are definitely pretty enough to make the cut. They are simple, yet festive, I basically just love them, enough said. The little pink tube has a rose scented hand cream, the rose scent is quite strong so if you aren't a fan this might not be for you, but I find that it is a nice hint of spring in the boring winter and it has become a handbag staple. And last, but by no means least, is the soap. L'Occitane soaps are always very hydrating and creamy, and it seems this one will be no different, with a lovely rich shea butter scent it makes for a very nice moisturising hand wash! My hands always feel super soft after using it.

I am so excited to open the rest of my advent calendar so keep your eyes peeled for more product updates! If you are wanting to learn a bit more about the calendar and the first day product click here. Have you guys got any exciting advent calendars? Let me know in the comments below :-)

xoxo

Apple Flowers

Hello everyone! 

At this time of year I absolutely love to experiment with cooking and new recipes. A couple of months back the internet exploded with recipes for roses made out of apples. They look so beautiful that I decided to give them a go with my housemate! Read on for the recipe and to see how we did...

                                                       - 2 apples (preferably red ones)

                                                       - 1 sheet of puff pastry 

                                                       - cinnamon 

                                                       - apricot jam 

                                                       - 1/2 lemon 

                                                       - 1 tbsp flour 

First off, cut your apples in half, remove the core and cut them into very thin slices. They should look like small bridges at this point. 

Next, put all the apple bridges in a bowl full of cold water, squeeze in your 1/2 lemon and then microwave them for about 3 minutes. This should make them nice and malleable (a.k.a squishy, I just love the word malleable!). Once the water has been strained out, leave them to one side. 

Now for the jam! Put about 3 tbsp of apricot jam into a bowl and 2 tbsp of water and then microwave the lot for 1 minute. 

Put your pastry on the board after dusting on the flour and roll it out slightly so you can cut it into 6 even slices. This will let you make 6 apple roses, magical I know! Spoon jam along all the slices and place your apple bridges along the top of the pastry with the skin on the top side. 

Sprinkle them all with cinnamon, fold the bottom half of the pastry slice up and then roll. Speaking from experience, you need to roll them up really quickly or they will fall apart. As soon as they are rolled put them in a cupcake case or baking tray. I used the silicon type cases as they are more solid and will hold the rose shape better. 

Bake your roses in the oven for around 40-45 minutes at 190 degrees C/gas mark 5. Take them out of the oven, let them cool and enjoy their beauty/deliciousness. If you want you can dust the finished roses with icing sugar for some added pizazz! 

Have any of you guys made these? :-) 

xoxo