Mince Pies Recipe

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I've had quite a busy week in labs so it was really nice to relax this weekend. At work every week someone's been baking something as sort of a Great British Bake Off thing and every week has had a theme. I had mine on Wednesday and my theme was Christmas so I decided to make these Mince Pies as mum's made them before and they were really good so I thought I would share them with you! :)

Makes 12 mince pies (we usually make double as we're a family of piggies XD)

Ingredients:

275g self raising flour

150g butter, diced

25g caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp milk, to glaze

Icing sugar for dusting

Filling: 275g Mincemeat

Method.

1. Rub the flour and butter together with your fingers to resemble fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and enough egg to form a firm dough and knead until smooth. Wrap in oiled cling film and then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 190C, Gas Mark 5. Grease 12 patty tins. Roll out the dough until it's 3mm (1/8in) thin on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 12 pastry cases using a 7.5cm (3in) fluted cutter and line the 12 patty tins. 
3. Fill the cases 3/4 full with mincemeat (I put roughly a full teaspoon in each one). Re-roll the remaining dough and make the lids.
4. Dampen the edge of each pastry case with water, put the lids on top and press the edges together to seal. Pierce a hole into the top of each lid with a skewer to allow steam to escape.
5. Brush each lid with milk and bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with cream/custard/ice cream etc :)

Rub the butter and flour with your fingertips until they resemble fine breadcrumbs

Add the sugar and egg and knead until it forms a firm dough

Chill for 30 minutes then roll out on a lightly floured surface

Cut 12 shapes using a 7.5cm fluted cutter and line the tin

Add roughly a teaspoon of mincemeat

Cut out the lids and place them on top

Bake for 15 minutes at 190C or until light golden brown

Dust with icing sugar and enjoy! :)

So that was my finished product! My second attempt came out much better than the first but they were both yummy! I also managed to make 15 instead of 12 which is always a bonus. I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know if you've tried them!

I also have a Homeware Haul up on YouTube if you fancied giving it a watch :)

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Laser-Cut Teal Dress

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I've had a really lovely weekend, I went to London on Friday night for celebratory drinks as she got engaged and I also finally started making Youtube videos which you can watch here if you want :)

 I've had this dress for nearly a year now and you might have seen it cropping up occasionally but I've never photographed it properly. I bought it in Primark for New Years and I really like it. At first I wasn't sure whether it would suit me and I'm glad my friend picked it out for me as I really liked it. It's a longer dress which I'm hesitant about as I'm super short but I think with heels it doesn't look too bad... If only I was taller haha!

I think my favourite thing about this dress is the colour. I have sooo many black dresses so I'm always happy when I find something in a different colour, and I like that it's not too out there. I also like the cut out detailing although it is a bit cleavagey.. whoopsy XD I decided to keep my jewellery minimal and so I wore little stud earrings although sometimes I wear it with big dangly earrings, depending on my mood. And then to finish it off I wore my shoes from Deichmann.. I like these shoes but they are no longer comfortable to walk in for longer periods of time, but they look nice so yeah :')

Dress- Primark

Heels- Deichmann

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Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. London

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I'm currently looking at buying a new car and there are so many to choose from so it's a bit overwhelming especially where I'm clueless about cars haha! A few weeks ago I went to London for my friends birthday and we went to Ripleys and then afterwards for dinner we went to the Bubba Gump Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus and we loved it! PS. Sorry about some of the slightly blurry photos.. they looked fine on the camera but evidently not haha :)

Ever since watching Forrest Gump I've always wanted to eat at this restaurant but I haven't really had the chance to. I also expected it to be really expensive but you could roughly get food for £12-15 which I think is really reasonable! As we went on a Saturday it was super busy and so we waited roughly 20 minutes for a table but that was to be expected. When we finally went to our tables I was surprised at how huge the restaurant was! I also loved all of the decorations and atmosphere I thought it was really cool!

Obviously we all went for Shrimp, and it was amazing! I got the 'Mama Blue’s Southern Charmed Fried Shrimp' in medium and I ate it all up XD Ruth got the 'Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp' and Laura got the 'Forrest’s Seafood Feast' although I think she only ate half the fries as there were so many! I think when I go again I'd maybe size up in my one because I'm a little piggy or I'd maybe get Laura's and maybe share the chips with someone or who knows :)

And then to wash it down we each got a cocktail and they were all really tasty. Ruth and Laura also got to keep their glasses which is pretty cool! :)

So that was my experience at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant. I would definitely go again and I would recommend it! Now I need to go and rewatch Forrest Gump and eat some ice cream hehe :) 

PS. I have finally decided to start YouTube so here's the video if you fancy giving it a watch! :)

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Brown Slouchy Jumpers

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I've had quite a busy weekend and I met some friends on Friday and then yesterday it was my close friend's birthday so we had cocktails and it was really lovely! The other day I went shopping and I had a mini splurge XD I bought a new bag and perfume and I also bought this huge jumper from Primark which I am in love with :)

At first I wasn't sure whether this jumper would suit me as I usually go for more fitted clothing as I'm petite and I feel like they come out huge on me.. but it's sooo warm and comfy and I thought it would be perfect for everyday and the winter months and I also feel it would look cute with a bigger statement necklace and maybe some over the knee boots. It was also only £12 so I think I will be going back to buy every colour :)

I decided to keep the rest of the outfit simple and wore black leggings from H&M, a black strappy top under the jumper as I find jumpers can be a bit scratchy sometimes and it's nice to have another layer and then to finish it off I wore my brown boots from New Look. Accessories wise I wore one of my favourite necklaces from H&M and I decided to wear tiny earrings with it :)

Jumper- Primark

Top, Leggings and Necklace- H&M

Boots- New Look

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