Month: August 2015

#1 Great British Bake Off Training Session

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If you read my blog or know me even only slightly you will know that I have a growing love of baking.  And more specifically I love Great British Bake Off.  Confession: I actually have a relatively serious intension of applying to go on the show sometime in the future. So I figure it won’t harm to get my self “game ready” for that moment when the notion turns into  a completed application form.  And so begins my Great British Bake Off training, which I plan to document on my blog and will entitle as above so if you are not in the slightest bit interest in this subject matter you can click on by… There are a few parts to my training.  One simple thing I have pledged to do is try out hard recipes, ones that I would normally not bother with, like macarons, pastries, little fiddly things.  And every week I will bake at least one type of bread. This week I watched the Masterclasses of Series Two.  This has Mary Berry and Paul …

Bridget Jones, she is not.

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Last week I went to see Trainwreck at the cinema. It is rude.  I mean, Amy Schumer rude.  It’s the sort of rude that means you shouldn’t see this with someone outside of your generation.  That is to say, don’t go with your mum or dad, certainly not your granny and I reckon watching it with someone who is young enough to be your child  (in my case 23 or under) would also be uncomfortable. It is funny.  Despite my comments above I would recommend it (unless you are in fact mine or Gareth’s parents), because the offensive, graphic parts are quick and not labouring the point.  They are just the right side of shocking and then they move on so you can enjoy the story. The story is essentially about Amy.  I’m pretty sure it’s about Amy Schumer herself.  She did write it so let’s assume there’s quite a bit in there that’s a reflection of her life.  In some ways the protagonist is a modern day Bridget Jones, still single when perhaps she …

Life is like a ‘signature bake’

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In honour of the sixth series of The Great British Bake Off being aired back home at the moment, I have bought Series 1-5 on iTunes and am rather over-indulging on the highs and lows of this very wonderful BBC series. During one of my GBBO marathon sessions (don’t tell Gareth I think I watched an entire series in under 48 hours!) it dawned on me that life is very much like the baking of a signature bake.  Bear with me here, I know after the above confession you will be assuming my mind is now addled by the obsessive pursuit of the “perfect bake” and the highly sought after ” original combination of flavours”, but I honestly think there is something to be learnt from the experiences of our harangued amateur bakers. For any of you who don’t know what a ‘signature bake’ is (and frankly I’m saddened by your ignorance) this is the bake that each contestant in the GBBO is required to do at the beginning of each themed week.  So if it were “Cake Week” then all the …

Who picked who first?

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I love coming home to this. Because I like to run.  I love being out in the open air, feeling physically strong and mentally free, having time to myself, seeing the world at my pace.  And all of that feels even better when I am wearing Sweaty Betty clothing. Since my first purchase from Sweaty Betty, this brand became a Lovemark for me.  They have my lifelong commitment.  I literally don’t wear any other brand of sportswear.  I can tell you all the reasons why, but this is not a sponsored blog. Oh go on then, it’s because they make sportswear pretty and feminine, their stuff always fits well, it’s 97% perfect quality and their customer service on the 3% that isn’t, makes up for it perfectly.  Put a different way, ‘they had me at hello’. The book, ‘Lovemarks – the future beyond brands’ by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, goes into lots of depth on the subject and I’ll be honest I’ve only skim read it, but from what I gather his essential point is that …

Dreaming

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I have a dream. And I think now is the right time to share it.  To make it official.  To put it out there. I’m quite sure it’s been there since I was born.  Because so many of our dreams are.  They just can take half a lifetime to be known.  Like it’s crazy to think that I was born with the eggs in my uterus that would one day be Minnie and Jackson but it’s true, I was born to have those two people. And I think I’m made to bake.  I have the Winney gene in me so I like sweetness.  My mother is a gifted ‘foody’ so I was raised on good puddings.  Ever since I had a kitchen I have baked. Once I have my Kitchen Aid I will begin my training for the Great British Bake Off and maybe one day I too will drop a soggy pie on the floor of that marquee. This dream though.  This is a big one.  It will change my world and I hope, somehow, it …