Lemon Drizzle and Banana Bread!

Hi Guys!
Sorry it's been a while since my first post, I've got a few things that I need to write up/edit and I've spent the last couple of days in the world of Shadowhunters! I loooove reading and first got into The Mortal Instruments a few years ago - around when the fourth book came out - and the sixth and final book was released this week and I just finished it last night! After pre-ordering it back in February I have been waiting (and dreading!) for the City of Heavenly Fire so impatiently! And now there is a hole in my heart that can only be filled in Autumn 2015 when the next series comes out! I am so excited! Anyway, this is relevant (kind of, bear with me) because I thought it was getting released on Tuesday, but it turns out it was Wednesday! So on Tuesday I was a little disappointed, so I baked!

I felt like something a little lighter and healthier than my typical go-to baking recipes (cupcakes, muffins, cookies, chocolatey goodness) so I decided to go for a Lemon Drizzle cake, and try out Banana bread. I'm not a huge fan of bananas (read: I hate them) but my boyfriend likes bananas and I like the idea of putting them in a cake, so I figured I'd try it and if I hated it then Ryan would probably eat it! (He did, the good boy)I used a couple of recipes from the good old BBC. I literally just googled the cakes I wanted and picked the first couple I saw, which is what I usually do! Sometimes I'll flick through a few and see which is easiest/quickest/has the fewest ingredients. This time I found Lemon Drizzle cake from BBC Good Food and Banana bread also from the BBC. We have most of the ingredients for basic cake mix lurking in our cupboards so I just popped down to Aldi for some fruits and extra caster sugar and then set about baking!

I found these recipes pretty easy to follow, and the cake, at least the Lemon Drizzle, were really nice! I popped some chocolate chips in the banana bread to make it a little more interesting. I also used this technique from Clean Green Simple to quickly ripen the bananas in the oven and it worked pretty well. My bananas were already quite ripe as I purposefully picked some that weren't so green and fresh, so I didn't measure the time, I just kind of left them until there were black all over. (Read: I forgot about them and noticed they were leaking a bit so promptly took them out of the oven.)

I wasn't so keen on the Banana bread, so Ryan ended up taking some into work because it ended up a pretty big batch! The Lemon Drizzle did get a little burnt on the top and sides - hence why I have shaved some off in the picture. I think the problem was that our loaf tin was too deep and narrow rather than wide and shallow, so when the outside was cooked nicely the inside was still not quite done so I had to compromise! Also because it was made of silicone, the Banana bread kind of forced the walls of the case to warp and it came it a lot wider and flatter than it probably should have! Hence the biscotti-shaped slices! So a few issues but the cake still tastes good! I'll have to get a proper loaf tin for next time.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I'll hopefully have an "Empties" video up for you later today or tomorrow!

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

I've been thinking about starting up my own blog for a while now after reading and following others. The main thing holding me up was that it is currently exam time! However since I had my final (fingers crossed) uni exam this morning, here I am! So here is my first blog post, and I thought I'd just let you get to know me and what I hope to achieve with this blog to start off with!

WHO

My name is Talia, I'm twenty three years old, just finishing off a four year BSc in Animal Behaviour. I'm originally from Surrey, but I moved to Manchester for university in 2010, met my boyfriend here and we're now living together with our two little babies - a Border x Fell terrier, Jess, and a Patterdale terrier, Max. I'm currently unemployed and looking for placement in a Veterinary surgery so that I can start training to become a vet nurse in September, and also hunting for a part time job to bring in some pennies!

WHAT

I have ALWAYS had so many opinions about everything. Probably too many! So what better place to air those views and opinions than on the internet with all you lovely people! I imagine this will be a mostly beauty/lifestyle blog, just giving opinions on products I've used/loved/hated/yearn for. I also (obviously) love animals, as well as cooking, creative crap and reading so I'm sure you'll get the odd random posts thrown in there as well! I feel like I'm using way too many exclamation points, wow, must be super excited about this blog!

WHY

My obsession with beauty products really started on my gap year when I got my first "grown up" full time job and suddenly had disposable income and could afford premium beauty products I'd lusted after through school and sixth form years. And then I went to uni, and I'm sure many students can sympathise with the lower budget you have to contend with! In my third year (of a four year course) I got a part time job which meant I didn't have to save all my money for food and I could have (some) nice things again! And then I became obsessed with nail polish. Nails may have reopened the door for me but beauty has never been far from my heart, so now I'm a real grown up (about time at 23!) graduating from university (we hope) and starting out on the rest of my life and that is where my blog begins.

I feel like this post has gone on long enough and you all now know more than you ever needed to know about me. I hope my blog provides some useful information/entertainment/ridiculous anecdotes and you enjoy reading with me!