There are so many women who dream of the wedding day they will have or what their dress will look like. You’d almost somehow imagine it’s like in the movies, where if you went into their bedroom you would find a pink diary with collages of the flowers, hair and poofy sleeved 90’s dress they’d one day wear to their dream wedding.
And again theirs probably so many women who dream of how many children they will have.
Not me.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. For most of my life, I’ve been scared to dream of such events. I never had the luxury of believing those things would happen to me so I built a wall, hid them away and refused to even glance across for fear I might just want them.
Sometimes it’s just easier to pretend. And up until recently I could do it. There were moments I’d go hmmm that’s popped up again. But I’d quickly change the subject or my mind would become distracted. But then one day it came along and it stayed. No distracting and definitely no changing of the subject.
If people announced engagements, I’d shut off. If people were expecting I’d write the quick oh wow congrats and then I’d walk right back into my shell.
If I saw a woman in the street and she was pregnant, I’d feel a heavy sinking feeling in my throat and I’d turn away as quickly as I knew how. Avoidance was the key if only I knew how.
Most recently it’s been in my face, like that nagging feeling I just can’t quiet shake.
I’ve always been late to do things in life too, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more go get em, I want to go live life. Step outside and know I’ve lived life.
But this thing is out of my control. I don’t know why the universe wants me to feel it but it’s there.
That want to get married and nest in my own home, but for some reason more than anything to become a mother. Even that word gets me. Mother.

Nigella Olive Oil Chocolate Cake

I know i just published a recent post on chocolate, but this is a must. (I will accept I should probably attend chocoholics annonymous). Chocolate cake is often a must in any house, and sometimes I just want an easy cake to rustle up when I'm feeling cold or just in need of a warm cup of coffee and some sweet treat.

I came across Nigella's Olive Oil Chocolate Cake a while ago and it honestly deserves its very own headline. Its incredible. Each time it turns out different, but ultimately in a gorgeously yummy and astoundingly pretty dessert and I'm officially a fan. It's brilliant with a thin layer of nutella for icing and some sprinkles (just for complete colourful fun!) Its now my go to chocolate cake and its mouldable to any attempt of complication to impress the family. I dare you to give it a go, because i promise you will never look back!

Although I first came up with this recipe because I had someone coming for supper who - genuinely - couldn't eat wheat or dairy, it is so meltingly good, I now make it all the time for those whose life and diet are not so unfairly constrained, myself included.

It is slightly heavier with the almonds - though not in a bad way - so if you want a lighter crumb, rather than a squidgy interior, and are not making the cake for the gluten-intolerant, then replace the 150g ground almonds / 1½ cups almond meal with 125g plain flour / ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour. This has the built-in bonus of making it perhaps more suitable for an everyday cake.

Made with the almonds, it has more of supper-party pudding feel about it and I love it still a bit warm, with some raspberries or some such on the side, as well as a dollop of mascarpone or ice cream.

Photo by Petrina Tinslay.

Recipe posted by Nigella

Ingredients

• 150 ml regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)
• 50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
• 125 ml boiling water
• 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract
• 150 grams ground almonds (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 200 grams caster sugar
• 3 large eggs Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325ºF. Grease a 22 or 23 cm/ 9inch springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
3. In another smallish bowl, combine the ground almonds (or flour) with the bicarbonate of soda and pinch of salt.
4. Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.
5. Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the ground almond (or flour) mixture.
6. Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
7. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding.

How To Make Two-Ingredient Nutella Brownies

I came across this brownie recipe on one of my scrolls through a favourite website called apartmenttherapy.com. It's frightfully impressive. Plus who doesn't love Nutella. For those days when all we really want it an easy to make chocolate dessert that takes no time and very little effort, this is perfect (plus absolutely yummy!).


How To Make 2-Ingredient Nutella Brownies

OPEN SLIDESHOW

Seriously, is there anything Nutella can't do? It's already basically the mostamazing substance known to human kind, and now you tell me that I can mix Nutella with just one ingredient to make a batch of fudgy, chewy brownies?

I know — if I hadn't tried it myself, I wouldn't believe me either. But here's exactly how you, too, can make these magical 2-ingredient brownies for yourself.

I've come across other Nutella brownies using three or four ingredients, like these from Kirbie's Cravings or these from Cup of Jo. But what really piqued my curiosity was the idea of brownies made with just two ingredients, like the ones I spotted from Kate over on Tasty Kitchen, another recipe from Kirbie Cravings, and in this hilarious cooking video from The Virgin Kitchen.

These brownies are made with just a cup of Nutella and 4 large eggs. That's it. They're gluten-free, incredibly easy, and absolutely perfect for a crowd. They have a fudgy silky texture, a crispy wafer top, and deep chocolate flavor that defies all logic.

How does this work? I have no idea. It's magic.

I do know is that the key to success with these brownies is whisking the eggs until they're light lemon-colored, frothy, and tripled in bulk. This is what leavens your brownies and keeps you from making an eggy, chocolate-flavored mess. Whisk those eggs like you mean it! Keep whisking! Use a stand mixer or a hand mixer! Trust!

I like making these as brownies for an easy weeknight dessert, but I'm also keeping this recipe in my back pocket for the next time I want a flourless chocolate cake. Just imagine it sprinkled with powdered sugar, topped with fresh fruit, and drizzled with chocolate sauce — serious Dinner Party WIN, right there.

Enough talk. Here's everything you need to know to make your own batch, complete with step-by-step pictures of how everything should look!

To make these brownies, you need 1 cup of nutella and 4 large eggs.

How To Make 2-Ingredient Nutella Brownies

Makes 9 brownies

What You Need

Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 cup Nutella (slightly less than a whole 13-ounce jar)
Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts

Equipment
8 x 8-inch baking dish
Parchment paper
Nonstick spray or oil
Measuring cups and spoons
Microwave-safe bowl or cup
Stand mixer or hand-mixer
Mixing bowl
Spatula

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F: Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack placed in the middle position.
2. Line the baking dish with parchment: Cut a length of parchment and lay it in your baking dish with the ends hanging over the sides of the dish like flaps. Spray the parchment and sides of the baking dish with cooking spary. (A light spray of cooking spay under the parchment will also help hold it secure.)
3. Begin whisking the eggs: Crack all 4 eggs into the bowl of your stand mixer or your mixing bowl. With the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs together. Begin on low speed and gradually increase to medium-high (7 on a Kitchenaid).
4. Whisk until the eggs are light and billowy, 6 to 8 minutes: Continue whisking the eggs until they become light lemon-colored and billowy, and are tripled in bulk. This will take 6 to 8 minutes (slightly longer if you're using a handheld mixer). The more billowy your eggs, the better the texture will be in your brownies and the less "eggy" they will taste.
5. Warm the Nutella: While the eggs are whisking, measure the Nutella and transfer it to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the Nutella for 1 minute, stopping every 15 seconds to stir the Nutella. When warmed, the Nutella should be loose and creamy.
6. Combine the eggs and Nutella: With the mixer on low speed, drop spoonfuls of Nutella into the egg mixture using a spatula. (With a hand-mixer, add a little at a time and mix in between.) Continue mixing until all the Nutella has been added and the Nutella is thoroughly combined with the eggs.
7. Stir a few times by hand: Use a spatula to stir the mixture by hand a few times, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl where the whisk might have missed.
8. Pour into the prepared pan: Pour the Nutella mixture into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl clean.
9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes: Transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The brownies are done when they start to pull away from the sides of the dish and a cake tester inserted into the middle of the brownies comes away clean.
10. Let cool: Let the brownies cool as long as you can. They are delicious while still warm from the oven, but will easily fall apart. For sturdy brownies, wait until they are completely cooled before cutting or removing them from the pan.
11. Store for up to a week: Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or so.

Recipe Notes

• Cakey Nutella Brownies: For a cakier version of these brownies, use just 2 eggs and add 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour or almond flour along with the Nutella.

Reposted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-2ingredient-nutella-brownies-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-204550

Every woman should feel beautiful, and I mean every woman. Beauty isn't just about the stunning or the genetically gifted, and i don't just mean beauty coming from within (although girls, that totally applies!) Beauty is about confidence and as most girls know makeup and comfortable fashion are essentials.

I was addicted to the slazenger tracksuit as an early teen, and I certainly wasn't the fashionable one, but when you feel confident in what your wearing and in your beauty it shines through and when i discovered makeup and singlets, there was no stopping me. There is nothing more gorgeous (in my books anyway) than an effortless tank or singlet with a natural looking makeup and a loose 'i just threw it up and ran' hairdo. Even if it took us at least 10 minutes. And effortless often makes us feel even nicer when we know we look great.

Ive come across women who just don't feel comfortable in many things, whether it be beauty or clothing (and I'm still mastering the comfort of the top bun) I know a few women who don't like wearing more feminine attire. And I respect that because its always about comfort and confidence. When it comes to most things its about comfort and taking the things we feel most comfortable with and pushing them to out limits to explore whether we can feel more ultimately amazing.

For most women, long beauty regimes and endless hours wondering if we've put enough eye shadow on just isn't in our thought patterns some days, and we just want to chuck on a shirt and jeans and be done, but I've come up with a few tips just to make you feel gorgeous without taking up to much time (and i mean really, no time at all.)

Cleansers and moisturisers to make your skin feel clean and fresh often change the way we feel facing the day. I've gone so little as to just put a small bit of moisturiser on while I'm getting dressed and then i can do the easy makeup and I'm done. Which brings me to BB cream. BB cream seems to be a later addition to the makeup world but I'm honestly a little in love. Its a combination of moisturiser or skin UV protection with your ordinary foundation. (and its much much better for your skin!) The great thing about BB cream is that its you need less for application and its much thinner, meaning its not so heavy on your skin. (which most people seem to prefer).

Another great trick I've learnt is eyeliner. Sometimes eyeliner as simple as covering the waterline is all you need, giving the appearance of darker, bolder eyes, without appearing to have makeup on. Completely natural beauty. The waterline is the small line of skin just before your actual eye, closer to your eye than lining your lid. Bronzer is also important.

Many women use bronzer as a tanner and while you'll look stunning regardless, hold up!
Bronzer is meant to be used extremely lightly, you want it to highlight the areas of your face the light naturally shadows, to give you cheek bones a sharper line (but using a light application just to bring them out). I often use bronzer on my eyelids as well. It gives a natural highlight of your eyes, without having to use heavy eyeshadows where its evident you have makeup on.

Ultimately its about finding the makeup and beauty that suits you. Some products work for some where others don't and depending on face shape, many techniques work differently too. Makeup should be about bringing your inner beauty to the surface, because your comfort and confidence is key. Finding products that work for you is great and always choose the beauty tips you feel confident with. (stay tuned!)

Skin care is vitally important for most women and only lately have I ultimately got on the bandwagon. I'm a little nerdy about it, I've started using Cetaphil, which I'm sure most women have discovered is absolutely magical. Its so light on the skin and can be used in the complete daily routine of skin care. I've completely noticed the difference, plus its soap free, which ultimately I have come to be wary of. Some skin types can be irritated by soap in shower gels and your skin should always feel nurtured, because its important.

It's also a natural moisturiser and I know for those who have less time or simply don't want multiple products to apply (plus it saves money, and who doesn't want that?) that comes as a plus, as it did so for me. 

It's great for those who have a high level of skin irritation as well. It's gentle on the skin, so its not harsh or oil, and you'll notice that as soon as you use it. It leaves your skin clean but not oily and not dry. Particularly for those women who use makeup, its perfect because its also a brilliant cleanser for makeup removal and general refreshing of skin. Generally its considered a day and night cleanser, but it seems to work as effectively on once a day use. Plus the bottle makes for excellent long term use instead of small bottles we don't get much out of. Definitely a must recommend. It'll make you feel fresher and more in touch with the beauty of your skin.

Beauty and food are my passions, but there are so many other aspects to life and here is an extremely good place to share them. From new beauty products to fantastic recipes I come across in my daily efforts, I felt it was about time I culminated them in one exciting spot. I hope its the appropriate fit for you and it encourages you to find cool new things to bring into your gorgeous lives. Stay tuned!